#And the actual plot started from vol 4 like......

[bookskittychad]

I love how dramatic fence is, I especially love how not even half of the drama has been unpacked yet lol. Like jesse and nick JUST met like its just so funny to me.

[gayofthefae]

They've said they want their show rewatchable. As someone who wasn't like SUPER invested in the ships/show before, the most rewatchable thing they can do is Mike's queerness.

I would not have rewatched it until season 5 came out. Maybe once before then if I got bored, but definitely not as much as I have without it. And the plots for Will have been too supernatural focused (also a good rewatch point after season 5 comes out, I'm sure) to be worth rewatching for his queer personal plot for two seasons before we even really get to it too much.

But Mike? Everything Mike does is impacted by his queerness. Will? Obviously. El? Most DEFINITELY. The Supernatural? You mean the thing that only ever affects Will and El? Yup.

Do you know my first thought, as someone not yet obsessed, when it started to become more clear that Mike was queer? "Oh, that's more interesting"

The average person isn't gonna drop the show because their ship broke up amicably. But they are going to if they get bored.

Mike having been queer the entire time, who cares if planned, as long as it isn't contradicted by anything prior (which is not possible because queerness is not disprovable) just gives a whole new view to everything he's ever done, making it less straightforward than you thought it was, changing your original view of the events, making you want to rewatch just to see how each moment is impact.

Making it more INTERESTING.

It's simple, honestly. Speaking as someone who passively thought the couples were cute and generally wanted the characters to be happy but wasn't deeply attached or fixating on any part of the show, Mike being queer is just more interesting than him being straight. That's all the people really want.

They've already gotten lots more residuals from this. And I'm sure they know that at least half of it isn't just because of the vol 2 lore drop. And it isn't because of what we think is gonna happen for Will in season 5 either, why watch seasons where it also hasn't happened yet. It's because of something else, much like the lore, that affects every facet of an entire plotline from the first episode. Not even the lore actually does that, it's just interesting to know, but that one's easier to connect back in your memory, but isn't as deeply rooted that you need to think through every singular behavior of the mind flayer. But with Mike, we know it affects it, but we immediately had to know how.

I probably would have rewatched it once by now. Maybe one more time a year from now to prepare for the season 5 release, but maybe not. I didn't do my rewatch before season 4's release, so I might not have. But instead, because of Mike and Mike only, I'm currently on my third watch since 2022. Maybe fourth, I'm not sure. Not just because of a ship I wanna see again because they're cute. Because I'm LEARNING something new every time I see his face on my screen. Not because I ship it, not even because I personally want it to be true for any character's sake.

But because Mike being queer is just. more. interesting.

[dukeofdelirium]

In complete honesty, I kind of wish that Stranger Things would have just been two high quality seasons. They should have let El die in S1, and then focused on Mike, Will, and the origins of the Upside Down in S2. At this point, the story has been dragged on for so long, and, if S5 fails to recontextualize a lot of things from S3 and S4, there was a lot of unnecessary filler that just weighed the entire show down.

I agree with this pretty heavily. It’s obvious that they dragged storylines out and didn’t have everything completely plotted by how dysfunctional s3 and 4 are in comparison with s1 and 2. It almost feels like two completely different shows. When s3 first aired, I almost didn’t finish it because I hated it that much. S4 was pretty similar tbh… the NINA plotline and the Russian shit was so terrible that me and my sister debated skipping the scenes I’m not even kidding lol. Literally the only thing that kept us watching vol 2 was any crumb of Mike and Will scenes and then seeing what happened with Max. That was fr it. The second we finished vol 2 we immediately turned off the tv and then started shit talking it 😂 we were NOT impressed lol.

The Russian plot was dumb as fuck in s3, and it was even worse in s4. Literally the dumbest thing this show ever tried to pull and comes across as more unbelievable than inter-dimensional monsters lol. Idgaf about the Russian fuckery. It’s fucking stupid as hell and I can feel myself losing braincells in real time whenever I have to rewatch scenes of it. Idgaf about the NINA bullshit, when the hell are we gonna move on from this dumb lab/rainbow room/Papa nonsense and get to shit that really matters?

The whole Russian thing is actually what makes the Hawkins lab and stuff dumb lol bc it went from the American gov being the enemy to now suddenly it’s evil Russians like stfu get out of here with this nonsense I cantttttt

And don’t even get me started on the dumb relationship drama in s3. If I wanted to watch a show about middle schoolers making out I wouldn’t be looking for it in stranger things, that’s first of all. Second of all, none of this has any depth and the only reason it matters in any context is to develop Byler and their rain scene is one of the only memorable scenes of the season. Idgaf about hopper and Joyce acting like 12 year olds. Idgaf about Billy’s wack ass redemption. Idgaf that El raises her hand and screams for the billionth time or that she loses her powers cuz guess what… she gets them back. *pretends to be shocked*

Fr, s5 has to recontextualize multiple seasons or else this show will have been a huge disappointment. S4 was ok. But as I said, that’s all it was. Okay. Not great. Not even necessarily good. Just meh. The only good parts were the Hawkins group with Max (she was the best part of the season) and then Mike and Will’s scenes. That’s literally it lmao. The Russian plot? Dumb. El and the NINA shit? Dumb. Yawn, don’t care. Let me spend time with characters I care about please and thank you.

I long for the return of s2 quality….. when Mike realizes Will is compromised and that he’s the spy and Will sends all those soldiers to their gruesome deaths…. come on that was peak cinema. Bring it back. I miss it…. we were a country once

[redgoldsparks]

March Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 4 by Ryoko Kui

I'm reading these books so fast I can barely remember which parts of the plot happened in which volume but know that I am still having a great time!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 5 by Ryoko Kui

Oh, this story has taken a darker turn, and also just introduced a whole bunch more characters. Will I be able to keep track of them all? I hope so!

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, read by Anne Flosnik 

Unfortunately, this is definitely the weakest Robin Hobb book I've read so far. I was expecting to like it less than the glorious, 5-star previous trilogy, but I actually think I'm going to skip the rest of the Rain Wild Chronicles and read summaries online to get to the next Fitz books. This book follows five main POV characters. This works fairly well for the first half, when the characters are all in different physical locations. However once all of the characters meet up, we start getting the same scene from multiple different POVs, which feels extremely repetitive. Also, almost EVERY SCENE includes a flashback, often a lengthy flashback, sometimes to something that happened only the previous day and could have been told as present-moment action. This writing choice baffled me. It's something I can't remember struggling with in any of Hobb's previous books, but by the end it was driving me up a wall. The book also moved very slowly; the stakes feel lower, and the character far less emotionally true than in the two Fitz trilogies. Disappointing, but I will keep moving forward towards the next part of the series I want to read.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 6 by Ryoko Kui

Damn, a lot of characters get murdered in this volume! Good thing almost everyone who dies in the dungeon can be revived. Also, very excited to finally meet the cat ninja I've been seeing fan art of since before I even started the series :3

Delicious in Dungeon vol 7 by Ryoko Kui

I am still completely caught up in this series. I love the glimpse of Senshi's past revealed in this volume, and the lore of the dungeon that is still being revealed. There was a line in here about how the dungeon leaves you alone if you don't ask much of it, but that if you have strong desires it throws even more obstacles into your way. Our heroes have such big goals right now, but they're marching ahead regardless!

School Trip by Jerry Craft 

A satisfying new installment in the New Kid series from funny, talented, charming Jerry Craft! I appreciated how this volume started to complicate some of the students who had been left a bit one-dimensional in previous books. Several people stood up to and called out a bully; new friendships were built; and Jordan Banks left Paris even more inspired than ever to follow his dreams of becoming an artist. This series has a lot of jokes, but also a lot of heart!

A Frog in Fall (and Later On) by Linnea Sterte 

Minor frog is less than a year old, and is dismayed when winter begins to steal all of the light and warmth from his world. Instead of bunking down safely with his mentor to wait for spring, he sets out on a journey with two vagabond toads passing by on a quest to make it all the way to the tropics. They tramp through the Japanese countryside, encountering tree spirits, new friends, dangers, and views the likes of which minor frog had never even imagined. This is a gorgeous book; every page worth pouring over, an economy of line and detail building a beautiful and mysterious world of talking animals and miniature packaged foods. Made me want to draw.

Dark Rise by CS Pacat read by Christian Coulson 

In 1820s London, orphaned Will tries to earn enough as a dockworker to survive- and evade the killers pursuing him. Violet dresses in her half-brother's clothes and sneaks onto a ship in the Thames to watch a man be branded with his master's mark. Katherine excitedly anticipates her engagement to one of London's richest and most mysterious lords; his gallantry nearly makes up for the fact that he's twice her age. And in the bowels of one of that lord's ships, James tortures a man for information. All of these characters are 16 or 17 years old, but all of them are tangled in an ancient conflict between the Light and the Dark which stretches back into an age of magic before history. This is CS Pacat's YA fantasy debut, and it contains a lot of tropes very familiar to both YA and high fantasy- there are shades of both Tolkien and Rowling in this. Its fast-paced and action-packed, but especially in the first third of the story, the characters all felt fairly thin. None of them have quirks, hobbies, career hopes, relationships outside of immediate family, school, or work; or much more than a brief sketch of past. It took until the mid-way point for what I consider Pacat's major strengths as a writer to emerge: intense, homoerotic interpersonal sparring between characters operating under major power imbalances. Every scene in which the seductive, manipulative, powerful evil gay faced off against the good boy chosen one crackled with energy. Unfortunately, there were only four of these scenes in the whole book. It ends on a cliff-hanger, because of course it does, with a tempting set up for book two; but that doesn't entirely excuse the fact that the first 50% felt like set up. I will definitely keep reading, but long-time Pacat fans should take note that this is toned down version of what I expected based on Captive Prince.

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls (re-read before event)

What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do. Re-read it for a second time and got even more out of it on a second pass.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 8 by Ryoko Kui

Laios and company realize that their encounter with changling mushroom rings had more consequences than they'd realized- its the body swap episode! This visual humor is contrasted against increasing dangers from both above and below, as nastier monsters and political machinations begin to close in on our heroic adventuring party. I'm now over halfway through this series and almost feel like I should start reading it more slowly to savor it, but I'll probably just keep devouring it instead.

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham

High school senior Val grew up knowing her family was unlucky in love; for generations, relationships in her family have ended in heartbreak. Her childhood love of Valentines Day ends with a shocking family revelation and what feels like the beginning of a curse. Then her Vietnamese grandmother sweeps her off to a Lunar New Year celebration in downtown Oakland and a pair of cute lion dancer boys catch her eye. Could one of them break the spell on her heart? This story offers a classic and satisfying rom-com, with Val torn between an outgoing, rich, but flaky boy and a broody, shy, loyal one. The story takes several kdrama style twists and includes ghosts, saints, red envelopes, confessions, fights, reunions, tears, and kisses. For a comic, its wordy; the pages are dense with small panels and thick with dialogue, but also illustrated with such warm, humor, and realism. I really liked that the story included as much of Val's relationship with her family and best friend as romance. And the lion dancing scenes practically leap off the page with color and energy!

Witch Hat Atelier vol 10 by Kamome Shirahama

This series remains as visually stunning as ever but I'm struggling with how every single book expands the cast. There are so many characters now that I don't care about that much, and have trouble remembering from volume to volume. I wish the story line would stick more closely to Coco, her classmates, and their main mentors!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 9 by Ryoko Kui

Oh the stories are all converging! The savior at the bottom of the dungeon is probably a demon! Ituzumi saves the day! I am still having a great time reading this series.

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson read by Abby Craden 

A short, very queer, very poly retelling of Dracula focusing on his coven of enthralled lovers. I liked the way the book breezed through history, as the dysfunctional little family moved from one major European city to the next, with snatched moments of glittering joy interwoven with violence and plague. The story is fairly simple, and has a happier ending than I expected, or honestly think the characters deserved.

City of Dragons by Robin Hobb

I DNFed the previous book in this series and just read a summary online before skipping ahead to this one. I think that was a very good choice for me. This third one was more engaging and a bit more action packed, with some cool discoveries about the city of Kelsingra and the nature of Elderlings. But the Rain Wild Chronicles as a whole do not stand up to the quality of the Farseer books. There are so many POV characters that a few of them get only two or three scenes in this whole book. I don't feel that I deeply know any of these characters; while at the same time watching Hobb pair them off at an extraordinary rate- in the last book five sets of characters got together and in this book an additional two couples are developing feelings for each other. Between this and a kidnapping, a birth, a murder, and a lot of blackmail, this series feels like a soap opera.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 10 by Ryoko Kui

Almost two TPKs in this volume, yikes!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 11 by Ryoko Kui

You know shit's getting serious when the character who has been the series main villain up until now is partially devoured by a different, worse villain. Exciting changes coming to this dungeon under it's new lord and master!

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

When Becca gets invited to sit with the popular girl clique at her new high school, she's thrilled. But the friendship turns bloody and complicated when she learns that her new friends are actually werewolves who need to kill and feed on a human once a month. If she joins them, Becca will gain superhuman strength and a pack; she'll never have to fear a male predator again, because she will be a predator herself. I loved the queer rep and the twist on werewolf lore; I wish it had been a little longer and more developed. Give me multi-page transformations sequences!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 12 by Ryoko Kui

I love seeing all these plot lines come together! Building towards a wild climax.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 13 by Ryoko Kui

I went out and *bought* vol 13 of this series because my library didn't have it yet, that's how hooked I am. And now I have to wait until JULY for the final volume! (But also, thank goodness I didn't get into this series any sooner or I'd have a much longer wait).

[mono-blogs-art]

Tsukutabe Vol 3 English Release, A Review!

A few days ago I was finally able to get my hands on the long awaited third volume of the Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat) manga! Here are some of my thoughts - first, no spoilers, and then under a readmore I'll discuss some specific scenes I really liked.

I was very excited to finally read ahead - since the TV live action adaptation covers the same plot points as the first two volumes of the manga, and since there are basically 0 spoilers floating over from the jp fandom into my periphery, I truly had no idea where it was going. And what can I say but it was an absolute delight.

Like in volume 2, we are keeping a balance of the silly, everyday life of Nomoto & Kasuga and their cooking adventures, interspersed with quite serious, even dark moments in their personal lives. In fact, this volume features probably the darkest scenes in the series yet, more on that in the spoiler section later, but I truly had tears in my eyes for a bit. However I love how the focus when discussing these serious topics is always on the character and their feelings in the moment - how they can recognize what's been in their past, and how they've been able to move on and find happiness again, expressing a desire to do so. They've been hurt in their lives - mostly by their families that they've left behind, or by coworkers and strangers - but they are allowed to work through those feelings, take no shit, and say "No, I deserve better than this." There's also more focus again on LGBT advocacy now, with Nomoto coming out (to herself) at the end of volume 2, we now see her try to get comfortable with the lesbian label and how it affects her. There's also discussion on asexuality and its many shades, which I really appreciated!

The biggest change in volume 3 is the addition of two new characters - Yako-san, one of Nomoto's online friends who starts to become a bigger part of her life when Nomoto starts opening up about her sexuality; and Nagumo Sena, who is their "middle neighbor", the person who moved into the apartment between Nomoto & Kasuga that's been empty for the previous two volumes. Nagumo starts to befriend Kasuga when the two have a run-in. So a lot of the volume we actually see the two new pairs interact, and the focus is away from our main couple for a bit (but not really). Rather than new side characters, Yako and Sena feel more like an extension of the main cast, an extension of their little family, and they are immediately likeable and mash well with the rest. Speaking of family, although it's been a theme before, volume 3 really makes the central theme of "found family" very explicit. And it really warms the heart.

And my favourite part, without giving too much away, Kasuga also again receives chapters with her as the protagonist, rather than having Nomoto be the narrator all the time. This is actually the only thing I really miss in the TV live action, there are only a couple of scenes in there where you can see Kasuga's train of thoughts. The manga gives you much more insight into her inner workings. I'm hoping this will change for season 2 of the show, especially knowing what's in store.

Overall, the third volume brings a lot of fresh turns but stays true to its vibe and feel at heart. And of course it doesn't forget that there's also a love story, with Nomoto & Kasuga inching ever closer to each other. But I think this volume is where the story makes a point to say, Hey, This Isn't A Romance Series - it's a series about healing from past trauma, family, and especially found family, tackling everyday misogyny and homophobia, and all that through the very mundane task of cooking. I can't wait for volume 4 to come out, and season 2 of the live action series of course!!

The biggest thing I wanted to talk about was the conversation Kasuga has with her father on the phone. It's just so fucked up. We've only seen her family in flashbacks up until now, and reading the conversation between the two of them shows how far Kasuga has come in the 10 years since she's left home. Unlike Nomoto, who has a rocky relationship with her family but still keeps in contact, Kasuga has cut herself completely off since she left, and her views on family are central to her storyline. She wants to eat whatever she likes and not be shamed for it, own the things she wants, live in her own space, work a job that she choses. She wants to be herself.

At the same time, Kasuga is also the most family-oriented character. She loves to take care of others, make them feel at home and feel included, and she wants others to care for her too, unconditionally. When she thinks about what she values about "family", and the things she desires, there's only one logical conclusion to come to.

Kasuga's ties to her family also make her the perfect person to bring in Sena to the group. Sena is the total opposite of Kasuga, yet they're able to connect because of their shared traumas connected to food and family. When Kasuga bluntly accepts Sena without a second thought, the two really start to connect and it was just so sweet. Sena's whole backstory really touched me a lot and I definitely cried xD

These are the main two things I really couldn't wait to talk about!!! I really love Sena a lot and I'm excited to see more of her in the next volume. It's also very funny that it takes her, what, a single evening to immediately get that Nomoto and Kasuga have mutual crushes on each other, lmao.

The other new character, Yako-san, is also really fun. She's the confident, take-no-bullshit counterpart to Nomoto, and she proudly identifies as both a lesbian and asexual. Apart from that, we haven't seen much of her and her backstory yet - I'm hoping there'll be more in the future, especially with her in parallel to the main romance (idk if she's also aromantic, but it might be hinted at already?). I can't wait to see!

Those are some assorted thoughts... I really love this series and I appreciate it for the simple yet concise storytelling, and the love Yuzaki-san puts into her characters. They feel like real people, reflecting real insecurities and problems you'd run into in real life, even when it's exaggerated in a comedic manner. Can't wait to see where it goes next!!

[mythical-fangirls]

Watched Apothecary Diaries and then I bought vol 1 & 2 of the manga and read them both within 2 hours so I probably should've bought vol 3 as well but I didn't.

Anyways, differences from the anime vs the manga, mainly small details I like from both. Edit: Any Light Novel Readers, please correct me! I would love to know what was cut when it was turned into a manga!

In the manga we see Maomao put the flower with the note on the table for the respective concubines to find, as opposed to a windowsill in the anime

Jinshi, in the anime, is shown to gush over Maomao's disgust of him to Gao Shun twice as opposed to once. And honestly that just makes it funnier

The physician gives more background info on Concubine Fuyou in the manga. How the officer she was going to be given away to is a childhood friend of hers, which adds more context to who the soldier is

But the extra scenes from the anime on the couple is honestly so precious

Also, the incident with the poisoned food from the village, apparently the level headed soldier in that is the same one Fuyou ends up with. It's an anime exclusive

Chapter 2 & 3 are relatively uneventful, mainly filled with more information on things so those two chapters make up the whole of episode 2. Meanwhile episode 1 & 3 are whole chapters, with added scenes to add more context

It didn't feel obvious to me in the anime, but Jinshi did snag a piece of Maomao's snack during that neck kiss. In the manga he's seen wiping his lip, probably from the extra chocolate

Wording differences between the manga & subtitles. Depending on scene, I prefer one more to the other as. Ex: Maomao's explanation of why she can eat the chocolate thing as a snack and not worry about its effects. Her wording in the official subs is weird to me, while in the manga is more straight to the point

The increase amount of chibi kitty maomao in scenes in the anime, 10/10

In the manga, it seems that Maomao lived in the brothel but worked with her dad for apothecary stuff

In the anime, it's more coded that Maomao lives with her dad and just visits the brothel often

Speaking of, added scenes prior to Maomao becoming staff for the Inner Palace in the anime that shows her life before hand

Consort Gyokuyo laugh is cute in both, but her laugh in the manga looks cuter to me

The woman who requested to have tea with Jinshi is a mid-tier concubine. Three concubines have invited Jinshi to their private chambers, all of varying tiers (Manga)

A consort's place in the tier varies depending on several factors outside of status. It grades intelligence the strictest of all (manga)

Jinshi does know of others who have taken no carnal desire to him but looking at him with such blatant disgust is new (Manga)

Maomao's chocolate making includes some herbal oil and spirits, and the exact thing she wanted was solid cacao but they only had powder (Manga)

Maomao's chocolate cubes are bread that soaked up the excess chocolate, while the ones made for the Jinshi use dried fruit (Manga)

Due to remember the smell of many drugs and poisons, Maomao is also good at remembering foods

They made the scene with Maomao saying that the chocolate's aphrodisiac effects being three times stronger than the normal stuff a lot funnier in the anime lol

A detail I like in regards to episode 3/Chapter 4's main plot, is that episode 3 implies that saving that village from being wrongly prosecuted got the soldier high prestige while Chapter 4 states that he has worked hard for it

Fanfiction writers, I suggest having that incident in the village/barbarian attack be the final tipping point into Fuyou's childhood friend/lover reaching a certain level of prestige to be rewarded Fuyou's hand

So the explanation was confusing to me in the anime, but the second courtesan incident Maomao speaks of is that she feigned sleepwalking to be sold at a lower price to the man she actually wanted to be with. Because he lacked the silver to free her, so he had an acquaintance request to buy her, she starts to "sleepwalk" and the offer is dropped and due to her being sick the price is lowered (manga)

Concubine Fuyou looks happy on the day she leaves the Inner Palace in the manga

Little bonus manga pages. Xiaolan does Maomao's hair in a style popular with the other servants while Maomao's asleep. Jinshi is the one to see her and point out her hairstyle

Chibi strips, one is Maomao apparently gaining weight due to being the poison checker and being fed by the other ladies-in-waiting. Jinshi asks if she's been gaining weight

The second one is Maomao being thinner and Jinshi feeling guilty because was it what he said?

No, Maomao's workout routine is just getting distracted picking medicinal herbs as fast as possible

And I believe that's all that comes to mind? If anyone else who's read the manga wants to add more details please do!

Also, Maomao is my demi-aroace icon (demisexual & demiromantic btw). I can't wait for episode 4, I have no idea wtf the release schedule is like for this series

[newx-menfan]

Moments I REALLY want to see in Flashbacked to in NYX (part 1):

(Warning…this is a LONG POST lol)

1. Rockslide and Anole’s friendship 

I really hope issue three will address Rockslide’s “death”, (especially with a mutant Shay dying)…

Out of all the Anole plot points- the ptsd, the Popeye arm, dating while being a mutant… I actually think his friendship with Santo was the most compelling and it’s egregious to me that Marvel has ignored it. It’s like Logan ignoring Kurt’s death….

2. Hellion’s Appearance in the first issue of NXM

While there was LOTS of instances of Julian being a shit in New Mutants Vol.2… (I even debated about including Prodigy first meeting Julian in Logan’s karate class) I really love this moment between Sofia and Hellion, along with showcasing just WHO Hellion was when he initially started at the school…selfish. vain. elitist. a jerk.

While Laura and other characters have somewhat more nobler memories of Hellion- David always remembers Julian as that insufferable privileged little shit 🤣

3. Hellion’s Magneto-esque speech

Let’s be honest…it would be heinous to leave this moment out…

It’s one of the major moments people questioned Julian turning evil and Elixir even REFERENCES Magneto; where it was once there to narratively show Julian’s loyalty despite disagreeing with a lot of the tenants the X-Men held… it now seems more or less like foreshadowing…

It would be SHOCKING to me if David didn’t recall it when first seeing the Krakoan…

4. The first time Hellion and Prodigy faced each other 

Another MEMORABLE moment into “will Hellion go rogue?”….Julian trying to bail out Wither and fighting the FBI was the first moment the New Mutants went toe-to-toe with the Hellions and I think it deserves to be included.

5. The many, MANY Prodigy/Hellion power struggles

Let’s be honest…David and Julian NEVER got alone…their dynamic was always a much more venomous “Cyclops and Wolverine”…

Even with “Childhoods End” softening a lot of petty, childhood grievances…they were NEVER on great terms…

Where Elixir and Hellion or Surge and Hellion seemingly were able to mend some bridges…or at least tolerate one another… Prodigy and Hellion still hated one another…

I am actually really interested in seeing David’s reaction…because while I definitely think there will be a moment of “I told you so”… I actually do think David will feel some disappointment and sadness in Hellion’s heel-turn. I do think over the years they begrudgingly developed a sort of “respect” for one another and I think it WILL be a moment where David actually regrets being right…

6. Hellion Losing His Hands

It’s the elephant in the room you can’t ignore.

For all of the terrible things that happened to Hellion- losing his hands took the biggest toll on his psyche and completely changed his dynamic with the NXM. 

It’s the event that lead to Laura and Hellion inevitably falling out. It’s the moment that lead to his closest “heel turn”. It’s what created the biggest resentments he had for the X-Men…

7. Laura’s First Meeting and Interactions with Hellion

Even from the beginning- Laura and Hellion had an “interesting” dynamic…

I always wanted a bit of Laura’s POV on it…because even when Hellion was being an asshole, she seemed totally attracted to him from the get go- stopping the Brood attacking him in the danger room simulation and treating him like he was a helpless puppy, always standing close by Hellion, Hellion saving her during Emma’s hunger games competition…

Hellion WAS the one male relationship Laura seemed emotionally taken by. It was the one she regularly SOUGHT out and I think that is important.

8. Hellion saving X-23

While people like to debate when Laura developed a crush on Hellion…some arguing she never did… 🙄

It’s undebatable that this moment was probably one of the most important in their dynamic.

Hellion, despite being terrified and creeped out by Laura…risks life and limb to get her to Elixir…getting a makeshift power up in the process.

I would be SHOCKED if Laura DOESN’T tearfully at some point recall it…

[m0e-ru]

tohruest adachiest manager's choice experience as compiled by the tumblr branch moel gas station 2023

helloooo my dearest okyakusan my most wonderful customers whether you have a membership card or just passing by. Here is the manager's choice of how to have the most tohru adachi experience ever 📣📣📣

this post will have a breakdown of the whole diagram with highlights, and my own opinions of each medium stated. Otherwise, here's a summary as a list!!

YES!!

Persona 4 (PS2 2008)

Standalone Drama CD Vol. 3 (scattered cameos)

Manga Adaptation (Sogabe)

adachi jumpscare table

Vol. 10; Chapter 54

Vol. 12

Arena Ultimax; Episode Adachi

Arena Ultimax Manga Adaptation (Rokuro Saito special mention!??)

this is a bit cool too

The Golden Animation

Blu-ray/DVD Vol. 2; Bonus Drama CD: A Sense of Gratitude

Blu-ray/DVD Vol. 4; Bonus Drama CD: Boo ~ I bear a grudge on you ~

The Animation

Standalone Drama CD Vol. 2: You'll understand when you get older

The Golden (PS VITA 2013) (Social Link, new events, etc.)

um

The Golden Animation

Episode 6: See? I told you Yu.

Episode 7: It’s cliché, so what?

Unaired Bonus Episode “Another End Episode”: Thank you Mr. Accomplice

other opinions 

I’ll be linking all available online resources for everything I’ve stated!! If a link is broken or the media is inaccessible, hit me up!! I have my own personal archive.

YES!! segment !! wahoo !!!!! this is where i constantly stuff my nose in whenever i want a good reference on adachis character. AND THEY'RE ALL PERFECT TO ME!! <- about the media

Persona 4 (PS2 2008)

Back to basics everybody!!! Let’s remember who this goofball is from the start. Forget he has a social link and see him be the bumbling fool for plot exposition and the real murderer !!!! Just like how I tell you not to reference the attendant during 3/20, we can put Shadow Adachi’s mannerisms and his influence under literal god aside and try and focus on what that means as symbolism and extra information on Adachi himself!!

Standalone Drama CD Vol. 3

THIS IS A FUN ONE he has scattered cameos throughout the drama and was essentially being dragged around by Dojima.

Basic premise of this volume that it’s sports festival season!! Yasogami’s at it and the IT are participating, as well as Nanako—although she worries that her dad won’t even come to see her and that she wouldn’t even be able to do the family three-legged race.

Adachi’s appearances here are so stupid, he says he was an “elite” then flops trying to help high-schoolers with homework because Naoto’s there. He does his usual begging and whining with Dojima etc etc he also drove Dojima to compete with Nanako after saying the man finished all his reports as fast as possible.

I like this one because it reinforces who Adachi is based mostly from the main game. With the context that fans listening are aware he’s the culprit (or not), they do sprinkle in his “emptiness” (<- no i'm exaggerating it sorry) and bring it to the front of the picture a bit.

Translated Transcript: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14uOTyzic9Ij9DjN4ZRNBLFTcGe0UF-PvX4qMnqcs2Fk/edit#gid=283104639

Available video link: https://youtu.be/p3yDNbczEqg?t=228 (timestamped to 3:49)

Manga Adaptation (Sogabe)

SOUJI SETA TRUTHER COMING IN STRONG also i just adore Sogabe’s adaptation on the game as a whole. While I am Marie lover#1, this manga did begin in 2008, and I like to think it’s the hypothetical that Marie really was expunged completely OKAY WHERE WAS I

As mentioned, this whole adaptation focuses on the game before Golden was ever a thing. No scooters, no extra events, no nothing. Although, Sogabe did write in a bit of Adachi’s Social Link in a context best suited for Souji.

I like Sogabe's take on Adachi in the manner of how he draws him and writes him as a character. It's not as whimsical or lazy like the anime, and the way he took the downhill spiral of the Hospital arc, from November to December, just actually felt like my emotions were ready in the right places. Surprisingly, in every adaptation, I was really enamored to see how Adachi acted differently in each one.

In the manga, he didn't seem as slack jawed as he did in the game at least. He looked like he was trying so hard to act concerned when he he actually feels guilty for everything going down !!! OR MAYBE NOT !!!!!!!

compared to the game, you can really how much he exudes of being so. plastic. ung kaplastikan. and you're mad not because you're stuck with ps2 limitations of three polygons of an arm waving around, but you're mad that he reeks of faking concern. But also unlike the game, you don't understand what's going on anymore because of the things that have transpired in relation to Adachi's character. Which is Sogabe's adaptation of his Social Link with Souji through having dinner with each other.

and Souji doesn’t know him! They share things with one another that one dinner but otherwise, Adachi’s never rambled on about himself as much as he does in a normal Social Link run. There is a different sort of motive with Souji and he wants to some things wrap things up while everything else is falling apart around him. If there’s a chance to help someone, even if he’s only talked thoroughly once or twice and that the other party’s opened up a single time to him, he’s the boy who wants to get through to people either way. What if Souji’s a bit selfish himself and wants to be in control of things when everything in his life and vision are literally blurring as he breathes? (takes place in november when nanako's hospitalized btw)

I love the lack of intimacy between the two, contrary to what majority of the fan base wants or even BELIEVES. Souji is a kid with a year in Inaba, of course he does a million other things with his time than hang out with an adult that’s some kind of darker version of himself and a representation of a possible bleaker future considering how similar they are. 

As for the specific chapters, I think it’s fulfilling to go through the whole manga from the start. Like, forget everything you know about P4 for a second and experience it as fresh as possible. Then you get to Chapter 54 to see Adachi’s condensed Social Link and get to Volume 12 to see things come together. Sure, I start getting a bit iffy with Volume 13 but I enjoy the parallels between the two, genuinely.

i have more stuff locked and loaded but uhmmm yeah 👍

Available manga link: https://manhuascan.me/manga/persona-4-official 

VISUALIVE (stageplay)

you will never see adachi ever act like a cunt like this ever again. he only does it once because hes gay.

i have made a million essays about this this is the foundation of this gas station itself

Available video links to the only things i’ve subbed ever because they’re the most important ones to this fruit’s development:

https://youtu.be/mWRB1dIgFNE

https://youtu.be/QRps3M9uXiw

or you can watch the whole thing because Masami Itou’s portrayal of him is just delightful: https://youtu.be/7oTpjmeD-mk 

Arena Ultimax; Episode Adachi

hahaha. haha. laughs weakly. haha.

I would kindly ask everybody to do this in Japanese dub but otherwise ehmmm yeah ! Episode Adachy. I do enjoy how they try to elaborate how his personalities are coalescing into a single face as he doesnt have to fake around people anymore. Like the fact that his lame humor is still present and he’ll do stupid voices, which makes you wonder if he was always like this or that it’s something he adopted while acting out the last facade he’s done for over a year—or more. 

HE IS SO FUCKING OPINIONATED AND THINKS HES SO COOL he has SO MUCH PRIDE but also he doesnt at the same time. you think hes a soldier surviving in the idgaf war but hes still dying in the mines he planted and crossfire for multiple reasons. hes simultaneously a teenage girl and a man in his late twenties.

Adachi is totally giving a fuck, not just in a white girl bully “I’m better than everyone” kind of way but like he’s totally giving a fuck about a lot of things. “Oh I gotta stop whatever this god has going down for this city in bumfuck nowhere because the case is going to go around in circles and i’ll never serve jail time in peace” how many times has he turned corners in an alleyway maze just by saying this.

hes literally trembling in his shoes with everything happening in that hour but hes just so good at bottling up emotions from others and HIMSELF. Theres only so much he’ll admit in his own monologue—in his own thoughts. That hes aware of things but he’ll never say it out loud even in his own head i’ll tear him apart with my bare hands <- i am just genuinely annoyed he can do this and not me but i should be grateful that i can express myself than be an emotionally repressed asshole 

He finds kids who are mirrors where he sees himself in. One, a goody two-shoes who has it all, the other an actual brat with a fucked up life from loneliness, isolation, and abuse (a million other things). And he’s not annoyed only because he finds similarities between him and them, but the fact that they’re children and they have at least a decade more than his ass which he spent sulking about with.

He’s mad at Bancho because he has his way from the kindness and generosity of his time he’s spent with others, something Adachi didn’t do; in which he could use his situation with his family and education as an excuse, but he never brings that up because as much as he likes seeing others eat shit and he has his way, Adachi also considers himself a fuckup. can you see this irony. So many chances to get out there and socialize, but he stuck his nose in his studies thinking a good future’s already laid out for him—BUT THE BUBBLE POPPED which is what fucking happens when youre in Japanese economic depression after the bubble economy. and you dont bother to leave your comfort zone either EVEN WHEN YOU DONT NECESSARILY like the things youre doing because it’s the only damn thing you’re used to !!!!

He’s sick of Sho because he’s an oversized 10 year old who’s doing the exact same thing Adachi’s done in the past and Adachi is sick of that. he hates himself. and he’ll hate a kid for acting the same way. He’ll project so much he’ll fix another person’s mistakes not out of pure goodness of his heart, but because he doesnt like himself as a person no matter how much he tries to deflect these thoughts in his own head.

Adachi’ll scoff and nitpick Narukami because he doesn’t want to admit this better version of him is better. That he’s not this other guy, but rather, he’s just himself. He complains and whines about Dojima and even says he “hates him,” but is everyone not aware he’s the second biggest tsundere in this series next to Marie at this point. they are COMPETING for that number one title.

no matter how many times he tries to sever connections for the sake of the other party, those bonds are developed enough for the other party to WANT to tie it back together. he doesnt know how to build bridges, but he doesnt know how to properly burn them either. hes sloppy at everything he does. he is gay.

okay sorry about that im sososo dizzy honestly. where was i. i talked about his issue with his Persona before and how it isnt his Persona a million times on this blog sorry i really everything's spinning right now 'and you're still writing an adachi essay?' hushup

Japanese Bubble Economy: https://www.britannica.com/topic/bubble-economy 

Available Video Link: https://youtu.be/0TkRLCGqT3g 

Arena Ultimax Manga Adaptation (Rokuro Saito)

this is a bit funny. i read it mostly for Sho like. while i do adore it as very beautiful adaptation. when it comes to adachi uhh. hmm. looks around. the rokuro saito effect. he did mementos mission too if you're wondering and what I mean by this.

I mean he did reinforce Adachi getting proper police training and essentially being above average to the top of his classes (krav maga, shooting accuracy, detectivisms, etc.). His humor and mannerisms are also delightful i think personally with the way they're illustrated and essentially visualized. Rokusai has his quirk for drawing everybody really pretty which he does really well for Persona characters, but it also caught me really off guard when he works on adachi like okay! sho breaking his ribs can fix everything itsok.

Available manga link: https://m.manganelo.com/manga-cn116859

OH now this is the section where im a bit iffy with the characterization here but i still like to reference it sometimes

The Golden Animation

Blu-ray/DVD Vol. 2; Bonus Drama CD: A Sense of Gratitude

Adachi doesnt have a big part here he’s literally there to help with the Dojima garden and Narukami plants cabbages for him.

Available Video Link: https://youtu.be/1SNKljdyUcY?t=640 (timestamped to 10:40)

Blu-ray/DVD Vol. 4; Bonus Drama CD: Boo ~ I bear a grudge on you ~

THIS. this, goodness gracious it was so silly. Adachi’s here for a few segments with Dojima in the pub. Detective yaoi if thats what you’re into I guess. He also sounds a bit cheeky here in speaking tone and the scheme he’s pulling to call Naoto to do their job while Dojima’s knocked out on duty.

Available Video Link: https://youtu.be/PasKTZtKx_c?t=720 (timestamped at 12:00)

The Animation

i dont have much to say about the actual anime i dont really watch it, but i respect the Narukami truthers out there. It’s just not for me, nor do I reference it for Adachi at all. why does he look like this

i dont have that much judgement to say if it's good enough to use as reference for Adachi besides it visualizing how much of a goofball he is, I guess I could mention that. I have issues of it depicting lore but otherwise i dont think it's that much different than what the base game pulls besides it different pacing to better fit the animation medium.

Standalone Drama CD Vol. 2: You'll understand when you get older

Not particularly partial with this one because the anime gave Narukami a face, like he’s his own character here. Dojima makes Adachi go to Okina and deliver something because his clown ass forgot to hand it over to the other prefect police who visited within the day. Narukami’s off to go help Ebi stand in line for a makeup promo and Dojima says they can go together. There’s a subplot with the IT where they think Narukami’s being arrested lol so they go follow him throughout the rest of the drama.

Adachi just hangs out with the silly billy that is his boss’ nephew who has so much kindness and generosity that it could get the kid killed one day.

Available Video Playlist Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Wysh6PBhe_jyqxxIcyt_XrW6GcKHRn0 

The Golden (PS VITA 2013)

I scratch my head and wonder what they were going for with Adachi’s Social Link besides the fanservice. I mean thats what they did with akc in royal i guess. <- has my own opinions about this but im closing my mouth.

It feels a bit too… intimate for me? What’s the deal with WANTING to invite him for dinner… without Dojima around either. Like they’re a two in one package for me, you can’t see one without the other most of the time. Like Adachi’s slacking off work while Dojima’s slaving away by himself? I’ve always believed they get off at the same time or something because of the subordinate status.

I did enjoy the Junes segments though, it kind of felt like it was a good placement—if you move things around a bit. Him hiding behind your back while you’re doing groceries so it looks like he’s busy was a bit funny, and him chatting you up while you’re supposed to be busy yourself is also silly if you consider that Bancho himself wants to bail and was just caught into his chismosa and whining. He has enough of a degree of association with you as you’re putting your nose into the murder case and that you’re his boss’ nephew, so that’s kind of why you’re the only few people he can talk to.

(pauses yes or yes ) i also ate ice cream where was I going with this

dont make me talk about the accomplice ending that thing’s pretty corny to me but also unnerving i dont want to think about it alot.

With the way things have gone for Adachi’s new characterization with the added Social Link and the new events for Golden, it personally made me think twice about it all, especially when his TV studio and Shadow self ended up the same. There’s a lot to go about this? (<- deranged) and I will admit that I myself got sucked into the idea that he’s an antagonist and couldn’t truly experience everything right at that point. whoopsie. Then again, looking at it at this point in time after a few years makes me realize yeah maybe this does make a bit of sense! The nature of the fog has changed, which can explain the drastic change in character between Namatame and Adachi. which is an essay for another day I really feel a bit out of it.

The “um” segment. Stuff I dont really like to reference nor put in the pot that makes adachi soup because im really iffy with it and how the writing was taken liberally for the sake of the audience rather than the reinforcement of source material itself.

The Golden Animation

The Adachi centric episodes 6, 7, and the accomplice ending bonus episode lol, as the whole Golden anime was really for Marie and other new Golden add-ons like Okina and scooters and ski trip and etc. 

how do I put this. im really opinionated on this segment it’s okay if you dont take my word for it. I dont like the production quality. The animation is honestly really bad and the artstyle itsnt tasteful with how it’s executed. There’s enough frames of Marie that people looking over my shoulder while I watch would call her Adachi. It really is a boatload of a cashgrab and fanservice that kind of adds new insightful things to the lore but honestly? I don;t trust it. Like the writers forgot what they were writing about and started writing fanfiction of what they originally made.

It did give some insight with Adachi, but I hate how they just made Narukami the way he is for this adaptation. Like the boy does have all the time in world and hes not an overworked high-schooler with so many commitments now he can… make a man dinner and deliver it to him…? I would definitely say “> Adachi doesn't seem to lead a nutritionally balanced life...” and leave it at that, i am not making him dinner i dont have time for that. can someone get this guy a girlfriend please. Don’t get me started how they treated his character development and lore surrounding him overall im sick of it. At least Sogabe made it all look pretty.

anyway here’s the part where i can add my closing thoughts as someone who fills a niche solely because they think and enjoy things so differently than the present majority. I don’t think im mature enough to enjoy things peacefully in a community full of different people but also because im losing the idgaf war myself. I’m glad I can enjoy a media in general and I’m so happy when people can enjoy it with me. (had to stop the cat from clawing on the vacuum he likes the texture apparently) where was I

hold my hand as i go through a hundred coming of age arcs in my life and that one day i wont be as embarrassed as i am now to admit i like tohru adachi as a character and talk about him with a restraint so childish because I dislike how a majority depict him. he’s part of my journey as i learn things about myself as much as mimi but in a more human way because. hes human. or something. one day i can forget his reputation in the community and create all the things i make with pure love that is not fueled by spite to be right and correct. I already know i am right and correct because everyone can enjoy things their own way and find things that they like in one thing that are different from things others like. for now, i will still treat him like an insufferable uncle older brother thing whose arm i periodically chew on until i reach bone and let him carry me back to bed when im tired of being annoyed of him. 

[archangelmacaron]

more Noe analysis has been requested but I'm thinking on what I want to go feral about. 🤔

Like honestly what I MOST want to yell about is Fanbox, BUT

1) it is definitely not meant to be shared, which I will respect by being vague about specific things I am referring to.

2) you cannot fucking paywall things so most fans will never encounter them and it can't be publicly discussed without violating those terms, and expect it to be treated as canon (which maybe he doesn't, idk). While obviously people respect Word of God, to me if it's not specifically stated in the game as a canon fact, rather than one interpretation of events, I will treat it like any other person's opinion. I don't want to talk about my take on events like what the ending means or potential post canon and get interrupted with "but behind a paywall, he said—" I literally do not care and you should not either ESPECIALLY when their take directly contradicts some things that were expressly canon, like how a certain character who gave up everything for another wouldn't dare commit a crime they had already commited once before like dude seriously. SERIOUSLY?

"Death of the Author" is pretty important and I want to talk about what was actually in the work and how people interpret that, not feel stuck by paywalled opinions expressed after the fact. (I mean if the literal majority of your audience has one read on something, and you have to say 'actually I wanted this to mean x' maybe you really sucked at expressing that? Idk!)

3) frankly getting extremely obvious he is so fucking over Noe and IMO, has been kinda mean spirited about it in an effort to get people to shut up and stop asking because he only cares about working on his new game. Which he basically said directly in the latest that he considers it "shelved."

Which I am sympathetic to to a point! It's clear he worked on this game for a near full decade, and I think scope creep meant it really started to get away from him towards the end and in some areas, it really shows. I know how it feels to tackle a project that gets so overwhelming, but also how frustrating it is where you already released half so you can't go back and "correct' anything you realize now is plot breaking. That can really drag your enthusiasm to an absolute halt!

What I am NOT ok with is acting surprised that people are giving you money because they enjoyed your most popular project and thus want to know more about it, rather than your new COMPLETELY DIFFERENT project that's had like concept art and a few screenshots released. Like sorry dude but the crossover between people who like story and character driven adventure games and those that like daughter waifu sims is extremely small and maybe you should be nicer to the people who will support ALL your projects.

4) The big one. This all combined has made my friends sad. I am not ok with that. I don't see how you can answer a fan's hopeful question about a character's future with a "ok so like I know it's canonically possible but actually here's (my opinion) on why it isn't, so consider that canon-compliant avenue CLOSED :)" I just feel like he is annoyed by how much these characters mean to people. And to me it is heartbreaking to see the wind just pushed out of someone's sails! It would have been so easy to say "it's up to you, I'm done with this story!" you know?

5) I am starting to feel like he "accidentally'd" into all the best parts rather than wrote them with intention, which isn't a fair take. He's probably just ready to move on and happens to be being kind of a dick about it.

And in closing:

6) the lack of enthusiasm is apparent not just in fanbox, but in the total silence in terms of the complete pack or promotions beyond occasionally rting a sale post. This concerns me and I HOPE I am completely wrong, and there are more things behind the scenes going on like fanbook vol 2, the light novel continuation, etc. but I feel like there isn't despite a worldwide release being prime time to push things like merch. The manga hiatus isn't on him, but the fact that even the most hardcore fans didn't even know a chapter was released in Feb says something!!!

Ok i am done lol. Hopefully no one is offended (not like he'll ever see this!) but it was just a good time to vent.

[greenconverses]

Recently read: The end of March/beginning of April was full of Greek myth-based books. Always nice when I cultivate an accidental reading theme.

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth was an in-depth exploration on how the various goddesses are portrayed both in the original myths and current pop culture. I don't know if I'd say I enjoyed this book, but it was interesting and a nice refresher on Greek mythology. I do want to read some of Natalie Haynes' other Greek myth books though! (★★★.5)

Lore Olympus: Vol. 4 continues to be fun and enjoyable. Really wish my library would hurry up and get the next two volumes so I can catch up! (★★★★★)

Annnnd then there's the Dark Olympus series, which is the absolute opposite of fun and is annoying dark romance edgy nonsense. I skipped the fifth book because it was a poly quad with characters I have absolutely no interest in seeing together, but decided to give Midnight Ruin a try because hey! Libby had it. Bad decision. I am extremely not into pup play/humilitation kinks and this book has it, soooooooo lmao. Katee Robert, you gotta actually start developing these damn romances and not rely on smut to do the heavy lifting, especially if you're going to keep doing complicated triads and quads. I also still do not give a shit about the main overall series plot. Why are there still five billion books to go in this series before we get to Zeus/Hera and I can stop caring? God. (★)

Girls Before Earls by Anna Bennett started out good, but as the romance developed, it began to lose some of it's shine. I didn't find the heroine's interest in the hero all that believable, possibly because the book felt very wallpaper historical rather than "true" historical. At least it was an easy read. (★★.75)

Legendborn is another book I've had on the shelf foreverrrr that I finally got around to reading. I liked it well enough, but holy god, the exposition and info dumping almost did me in. Aside from the main 3-5 characters, I could not tell you anything about the rest of the Order or a lot of the extended cast. The reveal at the end saved it for me, but the bulk of story was a bit of a slog. Hope the second one is a little less clunky and brings the energy from the ending! (★★★.75)

[lunar-wandering]

what's boboiboy

ive had three people ask me this and im so sorry for the long ass ramble you’re about to get hit by (for the sake of being Understandable for a specific part of this im gonna be using the Eng Dub names; but will be putting the OG names in quotes)

Okay so Boboiboy is a Malaysian 3d animated cartoon that you can watch for free on youtube (either in the original Malay with eng subs or the eng dub). There’s 4 seasons and 2 movies- albeit, the 4th season is technically a soft reboot, despite the first 3 seasons + first movie still being canon to it, the MC’s powers get reset to the beginning, basically.

Said 4th season is called Galaxy, and currently, Galaxy season 2 is being published in the form of a comic (to make things easier for the animation team, as they’re also working on other projects). Each comic volume is equal to one episode, basically. There’s one more comic to come out (vol. 26) and then they’ll do a season 3 in comic form. Supposedly the animated version of season 2 is set to drop sometime this year, but I don’t know the specifics of it. I’ve only read up to vol 12 of the comics- webtoons has an official english version thats up to vol.8, and there’s a fandub of the comics up to vol.12 on youtube that has english subtitles. (There’s also an official comic dub that’s up to vol. 3).

Anyways; the plot, so, like.

Okay.

The initial plot at the start of our show are these Team Rocket-esque (in terms of vibes and how incompetent they are) aliens are trying to steal cocoa powder from earth because it’s a powerful energy source. Eventually this plotline gets left behind in favour of other ones, and in Galaxy it switches to protecting Power Spheres.

Our MC is named Boboiboy, and to simplify things as much as possible, this Power Sphere Robot named Ochobot gives him and his friends power watches that give them different powers. Gopal can turn inanimate objects into food, Ying has super speed and can slow down time, and Yaya can control gravity. There’s also Fang, who is an alien, and he’s kinda like... the Red Son or Macaque of the show at first?? Redeemed villain kinda. His main goal was wanting to be more popular than Boboiboy, I think. (Its been a WHILE).

And as for Boboiboy, he gets the ability to control up to 7 elements, as well as the ability to split into 7 (albeit, he does so only once or twice in the actual canon, his normal split is into three). The NOTABLE thing is that each element develops their own personality, they’re all still Boboiboy and share traits with him (main ones i can think of are being a Dumbass and Forgetfulness- albeit the forgetfulness is actually a side-effect that happens if he remains split for too long, he slowly becomes more amnesiac the longer he’s split). The elements also have a second tier, with different names, that are far more powerful (and apparently theres a THIRD tier too albeit only one of them has unlocked that as far as im aware). The elements (and their personalities + how they manifested/unlocked tier 2) are as follows;

Lightning (Petir) | Thunderstorm (Halilintar) - was one of the first three elements Boboiboy got, achieved tier 2 after being. Effectively tortured by his phobia and getting pissed about it. Serious and cool/aggressive. Is basically the Emo of the group?? definitely the one that would be called “Shadow the Hedgehog” jokingly. I can think of no other way to describe him. Arguably the fan fave.

Wind (Angin) | Cyclone (Taufan) (i’ve also seen him be called Hurricane) - was one of the first three elements, achieved tier 2 by... basically getting high on poisoned cookies. no i am not joking. Cheerful and carefree. He has a hoverboard in tier 2. Kinda gives off skaterboy vibes???

Earth (Tanah) | Earthquake (Gempa) - was one of the first three elements, achieved tier 2 via protecting the others. Composed, protective, and reliable. Is jokingly referred to as the Mom friend by people in the fandom and they’re honestly not wrong.

Fire (Api) | Blaze - manifested as a result of Boboiboy being overly stressed, achieved tier 2 in battle. Spontaneous, instinctual, and mischievous. Swings back and forth between being a kinda innocent kid and being the hot-head of the group, from what I remember his whole thing was just wanting to relieve some stress.

Water (Air) | Ice (Ais) - was forcibly manifested, manifests when Boboiboy is relaxed, achieved tier 2 in battle. Calm and relaxed. He’s honestly kinda a bit lazy?? But he gets more serious later on. Effectively the polar opposite of Fire (Api), which makes sense since they’re basically twins due to manifesting at around the same time.

Leaf (Daun) | Thorn (Duri) - manifested during battle in tier 2 first, but didn’t truly manifest on his own outside of that until Galaxy, where he manifested via Boboiboy falling into a tree and hitting his head. Naive and a jokester. Acts the most childlike out of all the elements, which is funny since he’s not the last one to manifest.

Light (Cahaya) | Solar - manifested during battle in tier 2 first, didn’t truly manifest on his own until the season finale of Galaxy, where he manifested in the middle of a battle (albeit it is said that this element is summoned via increasing one’s knowledge, which Boboiboy actively did before this battle). He achieved tier 2 again after getting knocked out into space and getting charged up by actual solar beams. Confident and focused. Very overconfident and kinda cocky- an “I can do this by myself!!” kinda guy who thinks he’s the smartest one in the room.

So, those are the elements. The way the elements interact with each other is RIDICULOUSLY funny, by the way, they basically treat each other like siblings, it’s great.

Anyways I... think that’s about as much of the plot that I can give without frying my own brain right now hnsdlfksjlfkjsdfs.

Oh wait!!! also there’s fusions!!!!!! Frostfire (Blaze and Ice), Glacier (Earthquake and Ice), Supra (Solar and Thunderstorm), Sori (Solar and Thorn), Sopan (Solar and Cyclone), and Gentar (Earthquake and Thunderstorm). Admittedly I don’t know enough about them to make statements on their personalities- for some of them it’s fusions of both of the element’s personalities, and for some of them it’s just the complete opposite of both element’s personalities.

There’s also a tier 3, which only Cyclone has managed to achieve (becoming Tempest), but that’s also a comic event, one that I haven’t reached yet, so I don’t really know what’s happening there either hsdklfjslkfjslk.

Anyways thats,, it. I think.

[maripr]

My thoughts on the RWBY x JL movie, copypasted from Twitter

So i watched the #RwbyxJLspoilers movie and my opinion it's that it's stupid as all fuck, but not necessarily in a bad way.

A lot of plot points are somehow in common with RWBY volume 9, which i liked but also they weren't as well written, but also they didn't need to be because this is basically Fanservice: The Movie. A lot of empty action, arcs that go nowhere (as for now at least), weird shipping love triangles drama that really didn't need to be there, but also what else are these characters supposed to do? A lot of "but also".

Ozpin and Oscar were in the movie for a total of 2 scenes and had like 4 lines of dialogues in total, and Ozpin continues having no nails which is very funny (EDIT after having checked: He has them. They're just very hard to see). But past the disappointment, they were there for much longer that i initially expected.

Which is saying something. Them being included at all is a small victory, tho I'm holding on to 0 hope that we're getting them in part 2.

The easier thing to do with Oscar at this point in time, if you're writing spinoffs or non canon movies is either set things in vol 1-3 so he's not there, or set things in volumes where he's present, but write around him. Because we don't know the full extent of what he can do. You can rewrite the justice league's powers to fit the rules of the setting but you can't rewrite Oscar's magic because it's an exception to the rules as a plot point. Also, kid got a portable nuke.

Also if you're wondering how i watched the movie, unfortunately i don't have my copy yet because the region lock, stupid as it is, it's absolute. I can't find a way to go around it, which will mean I'll sadly have to wait to throw money at it, but I'll do.

Would it have liked this movie better if i knew anything about the justice league? Or would i despise it and call the depiction of supes and his band Ooc? Idk. Right where I'm at, i liked Jessica the best and i didn't even know she existed before this movie. So...

What i can say to the portion of JL fans that will undoubtedly be pissed off at this movie is that this movie actually made me wanted to read some JL. Dunno where to start, but I'll find something. Also green lantern. If you told me u would ever want to get into green lantern before this, i would have laughed. But only if it's Jessica. Or not. I can give other green lantern a chance, if you rec them to me.

I also think Bruce Wayne being the resident cringefail baby boi is a very interesting choice, and i like it.

OH WAIT i almost forgot that Ozpin and Oscar are at the center of two jokes i really liked.

One was the "how old is Oscar even?" joke. I like nice self digs like that.

The other was not intended as a joke maybe, but i laughed aloud: "Ozpin always knows what's going on."

[voidstilesplease]

for @steodiscord's Steospooktober Vol. 4 prompt: vampires

bedazzled

word count: 6k | rating: e | tags: alternate universe - vampire, bite kink, prostitution, light angst with a happy ending, blood and gore, porn with feelings

summary: “When I was watching you feed earlier, I was… fascinated.”

“'Fascinated’,” Theo echoed in loathing.

“Yes,” Stiles insisted, licking his lips. “I wanted to know how it felt.”

“To be sucked dry?” Theo snarled.

But Stiles was persistent, “To be bitten.” To be your source of strength. To give you my share of life.

Lightning quick, Theo grabbed the back of Stiles’ head with his bloody hands and pressed their foreheads together – vehemence gushing through his still starving bloodstream. With their lips merely a hairsbreadth apart, Theo whispered viciously. “You – are fucked in this lovely head of yours.”

“Yes,” Stiles whispered back, nodding eagerly. “I am.”

sequel to enthralled (@msmischief101 & @amatchinwater, I just saw that you left your thoughts on the fic a year ago saying that theo needs to get stiles back - so here it is! I wrote a part 2 that's kinda like that)

Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine;

Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not look for wine.

The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine;

But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine.

***

The tale of how Theo left didn’t start the last night they spent together – with that last bite to the neck, that farewell fuck, that confession that ended with Theo using his thrall to send Stiles away.

It started long before the first bite to his neck, before the first feed, the confrontation that catapulted their arrangement into more than just between a wealthy bachelor and his kept whore.

It started when his secret was exposed, and Stiles didn’t go running in the opposite direction. But it wasn’t Stiles that set the time bomb – no. Theo started plotting his exit the moment his secret tore open a portal to hell – and Stiles offered his hand to walk into it hand in hand with Theo.

***

Stiles was surprised he was allowed into the building at all. After what happened three nights before, he was sure Theo would never want to see his face again. He waited two nights for Theo’s men to come to him and slit his throat in his sleep. But no one came to seek him out and threaten him for his silence. Instead, the closest encounter he’d had with Theo since, was the transfer of a huge sum into Stiles’ bank account. Of course. It was evident he didn’t think it was worth the time or effort to harass Stiles into shutting up or killing him when he could pay him. It was what he did best, after all. He spoke to Stiles in the language they knew most – money.

But unlike Theo, who deemed words unnecessary, Stiles thought words would be helpful, actually. Like, how are fucking vampires real ? How many are they? If vampires are real, what other creatures are real and hiding in plain sight?

Why did Theo defend him from another vampire’s attack when it was easier to let it happen and find a new oblivious fuck toy than upsetting his own kind and dealing with a stubborn whore like Stiles, who would sure ask him all these questions?

Does he have a secret coffin lair somewhere in the building?

The elevator pinged, and Stiles nervously rubbed the bruises around his wrists from the attack three nights before. He exhaled a shallow breath, becoming all too aware of quite a few things at the same time. He hadn’t fully realized before that he’d requested a private audience with Theo – another vampire that could easily put more bruises on his body. None of the likes he usually indulged with Theo in bed.

When the elevator opened, Theo was already waiting for him, swirling a glass of wine in one hand and wearing nothing but his black pants.

Stiles’ first thought upon laying eyes on Theo wasn’t ‘monster’ like one would expect – no, far from it. His first thought, even after what he’d witnessed three nights ago, was ‘gorgeous’.

Theo was gorgeous, even as he pinned Stiles with a gaze that was one second away from lethal. He looked like an angel of death coming to collect Stiles. He swallowed around the lump in his throat as he stepped into the threshold.

He was not further than two steps in when Theo’s voice reverberated around the relatively quiet space.

“Garlic doesn’t hurt me,” Theo started, taking idle steps forward as he spoke. “Crosses? I’ve none to bear at this point of my existence. They don’t do anything but annoy me, and that was even before I turned into the creature of hell I am now. And holy water? That may irritate me, true, but it would cause more harm to you than me. You see, I have snapped someone’s neck for less.”

Stiles was rooted to the ground by sudden fear. He knew there was something about Theo that wasn’t quite human – but he never imagined being correct about it in the most literal sense. Stiles had always thought his eyes were too unnatural. But now, Theo was showing him exactly how haunting they were. Stiles only stood there helplessly as Theo neared and neared, walking barefoot to his victim as he casually sipped wine.

“If you want to do real damage,” Theo said, inflicting a conspiratorial tone. “A stake through my undead heart won’t cut it. Or exposure to the sun, as you already know. Hiding in plain sight made it more a child’s play to us when we developed tolerance against the unforgiving heat of the sunlight.” He chuckled, a predator taunting his prey. “No. If you want to kill me, you would have to sever my head from my body, chop me limb from limb, then burn all of me to ashes.”

When Theo was in front of Stiles, he grinned through protruded fangs and reveled in the sharp hitch of Stiles’ breath. “Then again, that’s only if you could outrun me.”

Despite the threat of his knees buckling and folding, Stiles exhaled a shaky breath, “Who said anything about running?”

It was evident that Theo wasn’t expecting any rebuttal. His grin slowly receded, and Stiles took that as an opportunity to barge on.

“If anyone’s running, it’s you,” Stiles struggled against all instincts to keep quiet. Because he couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let Theo decide that it was through between them without putting up a fight. “We agreed to pay me for companionship, for sex, right? So what was that payment you made?”

Theo’s smile was gone now, replaced by a sneer. “I thought that was obvious.”

Stiles shook his head, “You really think I’d go around telling people that you’re a vampire and expect anyone to believe me?” he pointed out. “So you’re a vampire. You could still fuck me, then pay me, can’t you? It’s not like I wasn’t scared before. At least, now it makes sense.”

“You think this changes nothing, do you?” Theo’s voice rasped against his throat – a telltale sign that his anger was brewing inside.

“Because nothing has to,”

All in one second, Theo’s eyes blazed, and Stiles gasped in shock as Theo’s free hand suddenly wrapped its way around his thin, breakable neck, closing against his airway. “Do you think this is a game?” Theo snarled. “Do you find it pleasing to be at the mercy of a killer?”

Stiles was gripped by fear for his life and sick excitement, too. He held onto the strong arm lifting his feet from the ground, feeling how powerful it was under his hand. Wheezing, he managed to open his mouth to say, “Exhilarating… actually,” Theo’s grasp tightened, digging his fingers into fragile skin, but Stiles blundered on. “I’ve been at the mercy of a killer all this time, and yet –“ Stiles choked in a breath. “And yet, I’ve never been more alive… than when you bend me over and own me.”

Stiles’ words had the desired effect because Theo’s grip loosened instantaneously until he eventually tossed Stiles to the floor, turning his back with a snarl. Theo paced and smashed his empty glass to the floor as Stiles coughed and wheezed, rubbing at his neck where he was sure Theo’s handprint was forming.

He’d always been too easy to bruise. It was part of his charm, according to Theo.

Theo spun around a moment later, glaring down at Stiles’ sprawled form on his plush white carpet.

He pointed an accusing finger at him, “You – are mad. A deviant. You doomed yourself – and me.”

“And you want to fuck me,” Stiles gritted out. “So, do it. You were a vampire before I knew you were. What difference does it make now?”

In a blink, Stiles found himself pinned to the floor by the weight of a furious Theo, stealing his breath again but for an entirely different reason. His heart was a thundering mess, pressed against Theo’s cold, bare skin. And Theo’s fangs were right there – right above Stiles’ skin. He could draw blood anytime.

“The difference,” Theo grumbled from deep in his throat, “is that now that you know a monster is in bed with you, nothing is stopping that monster from showing who’s really fucking you.”

One day, Stiles thought. You would be the death of me.

“Show me.”

I'll not have it any other way.

***

Theo was cruel. Not in the way that a monster was cruel. He was cruel in the way a human was cruel.

Humans became cruel as a response to fear. But what did Theo fear when he was the killer in their pair? Nonetheless, he had fears, though unspoken. And because of those fears, he reeled Stiles in – keep your friends close, your enemies closer – because the higher he raised Stiles, the more fatal it would be when he dropped him.

***

As much as Stiles insisted that nothing changed, it would soon be apparent that he was wrong. For a while, they blissfully existed in make-believe before the inevitable next crack in the glass. To Stiles, it didn’t seem like another nail to their coffin. But to Theo, it was another signal for him to escape.

It happened after Theo came home from a business trip – only it wasn’t the usual trips where he secured million-dollar accounts and came home richer than he was when he left.

Stiles was asleep when his phone rang. He kept it on all the time in case Theo contacted him – which he rarely ever did. If Theo wanted him, he would ask Josh to send Stiles a message. He only ever sent Stiles one direct message: You could have spared us the agony and run. He sent it after the first night they fucked as the vampire and his whore. Stiles had replied: Against my better judgment, I couldn’t. There was no more since.

But his decision to keep the notifications on had proven wise, tonight of all nights, because when he opened the message, it was, indeed, from Theo. The second direct message he ever sent Stiles. He shot up quickly from his bed and hastened to read.

It said: I need you.

He never needed Stiles before – he ‘wanted’ him. Josh’s texts would read: Mr. Raeken wants you to come over, Mr. Raeken wants me to collect you in an hour, Mr. Raeken wants you to wear the blue cardigan he bought you last week, Mr. Raeken wants to know if you’re allergic to any shellfish... Want, want, want. Because he was a paid bed-warmer. Need was… intimate. It was something more. But straight from Theo, he needed him.

So Stiles scrambled to put on clothes, pressing number 7 on his speed dial: Josh, Theo’s valet. It barely rang before the call connected.

“What happened?” Stiles asked in a rush, grabbing his jacket and keys and sprinting out of his apartment.

“We’ll be there in five minutes,” was Josh’s terse reply before disconnecting.

Exactly five minutes later, Theo’s Chevrolet Suburban pulled up in the parking lot of Stiles’ building. He wasn’t used to seeing that car since Theo rarely used it to pick up Stiles. He didn’t recognize it at first, so he palmed the Swiss knife that Theo gave him and made him keep it in his pocket at all times for self-defense. But it was Corey in the driver’s seat – Theo’s driver. Josh opened the door and ushered Stiles in, looking bedraggled. No sooner than Stiles could sit down, the car speeded into the night back to the penthouse.

“What happened?” Stiles addressed the question to both Josh and Corey, as soon as he could get a breath out.

Josh opened his mouth, but Stiles’ phone started ringing before he could say anything. He looked down, widening his eyes when he saw that it was Theo. Theo never rang. He immediately picked it up and answered, “Theo? Are you all right?”

There was a few seconds of inarticulate heavy breathing from Theo’s end which only spiked Stiles’ worry, before he rasped out with clear difficulty, “Are you with –” a groan falling from his mouth interrupted his question. Jesus, what was going on? “Are you in the car now?”

Stiles hurried to assure him, “Yes, yes, I’m with Josh and Corey. What’s happening?”

“Donovan is behind you –” Theo coughed, cutting off his statement again. Stiles’ fingers nervously combed through his hair. Theo never got sick – one of the perks of being a bloodsucking immortal. Something was seriously wrong. After his coughing fit, he managed to finish with a strain, “– should you require him.”

Stiles glanced behind him, and sure enough, Theo’s white Cadillac – the usual one he rode and drove around – was tailing them closely. Donovan was Theo’s chief security – a vampire like himself.

“Are you in danger?” Stiles tried again, feeling his panic rise evermore.

“No,” Theo answered promptly. “But I need you.”

He couldn’t understand why his eyes started stinging from hearing it straight from Theo’s mouth. Probably from all the mixed emotions he was feeling: fear, confusion, the mother of all worries… he just wanted to get to Theo as soon as possible.

“I’m coming.” He promised.

He wiped the side of his eyes when the call ended. When he looked up, Josh was looking at him calculatingly.

Sniffing, Stiles pleaded. “Tell me he’s all right.”

Josh visibly considered lying, but he eventually confessed, “He’s in a bad shape,”

Stiles exhaled the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“I had to pay a ridiculous amount to the blood bank to give me all the fresh supply of blood they had,” Josh informed him. “He’s been starved.”

Stiles’ head snapped up in shock. “He was gone for two weeks,” he couldn’t believe his ears. “Who would do this to him?”

“One guess who,”

“Josh,” Corey spoke from the driver’s seat, warning in his tone. “Don’t.”

Josh scoffed, “He ought to know. He’s the reason.”

Corey shook his head in disapproval but otherwise didn’t say anything further. He looked away when his eyes met Stiles in the rearview.

“I’m the reason for what?” Stiles prompted impatiently.

Josh looked at him, resentment palpable in his eyes. “He made an impressive number of enemies when he attacked his own to save you – his human whore.”

His breath caught in his throat. Stiles couldn’t even find it in himself to be furious by the insult. All his mind could think about was how he knew that vampire was going to come back to bite their asses.

I need you.

He needed to get to Theo as soon as possible. Stiles needed him too.

His heart leapt to his throat, ready to burst by the time the elevator to the penthouse opened. The sight immediately horrified Stiles – it was like a scene straight from a nightmare. His stomach churned at the stench, and bile threatened to rise out of his mouth.

Stepping inside, he followed the trail of thick blood on the ruined carpet leading up to the corpses of about a dozen rats scattered in different places as if mindlessly thrown. Not farther away, he spotted Theo leaning against his discolored leather tufted sofa. His mouth and face were smeared with blood; his shirt and pants thrown to the devil knows where, and his head hanging forward while his eyes fought to keep open. His skin was deathly pale – paler than Stiles ever saw it.

He crossed the room in under five seconds, kneeling in front of Theo and taking his face delicately in one hand, unmindful of the dead rats in their midst. He reached inside the backpack full of blood bags that Josh tossed to him as soon as they parked. He wasn’t allowed into the penthouse, and none of them were – not unless Theo specifically instructed them to come. So it was up to Stiles to deliver the blood to Theo.

He guided the first bag to Theo’s mouth, who immediately sniffed and grabbed it from Stiles’ hand. For the first time, Stiles saw him feed – saw how those fangs pierced through plastic and how Theo’s lips sucked all of the blood’s content in no time. Stiles raptly watched how Theo’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and how his eyes closed in ecstasy. When he was done, he crumpled the plastic, threw it aside, and seized another bag of blood to do the hypnotic cycle all over again.

When he was through the second bag, he breathed in deeply and finally opened his eyes.

God was Theo messy; everything was messy. But Stiles had never seen Theo as beautiful as he did now – in his rawest form.

His hand dropped the empty plastic bag, slumping back against the sofa. “Sorry you had to see that,” Theo’s coarse voice said.

Stiles shook his head, sagging forward with a loud exhale as his adrenaline started melting away. Suddenly, the stinging in his eyes was back. “Theo…”

“Don’t say it,” Theo asserted. Stiles raised his head, looking at him through misty eyes. Through a bloody mouth, Theo swore. “There was no way I was going to let him hurt you. I knew this was going to happen eventually.”

Stiles sniffed, “And if it happened again?”

“It won’t,” Theo assured him. Groaning, he leaned forward towards Stiles to meet him eye to eye, taking his chin in his blood-stained hand. “Viggo’s family should be opening the gift I sent to them now,” one corner of his mouth pulled up in a malicious smile. “His head sprinkled with his body’s ashes inside a velvet black box wrapped in velvet red ribbon.”

Stiles gasped in horror, backing away, “You killed him?”

“I sent a statement,” Theo corrected. “Not to challenge me again. Or touch what was mine.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing – didn’t Theo make it worse? And for what? Stiles was not even his lover – he was his whore. Josh was right to be livid at him.

Stiles was silent for a while, lost in the sea of so many thoughts. He snapped back to the present when he felt Theo’s hand reaching for the backpack again. Stiles hurried to help him. “Are you still hungry?”

Theo grimaced as he looked at the mess he made, especially when his sight landed on the rats. “I had to make do – after all, blood was blood. It soothed the pain no matter where it came from. Luckily, I was too out of it to remember how ghastly the experience was.” He licked his lips, shuddering. “I haven’t had rats since the early days after my turn.”

Stiles avoided looking at the drained rat corpses to control the bile still threatening to rise from his stomach. “Do you think you have enough to get you back in shape?”

Theo scanned the inside of the backpack, making a noise of approval, “Josh did an excellent job – all of these are fresh bags. That would help. The fresher it is, the quicker it gets me there.”

A horrible idea formed in Stiles’ head at the statement. A horrible idea because no one would agree with him – not even Theo. But his mind was dead set – he was going to try everything to achieve it. He touched Theo’s hand and forced him to look at him. When he had Theo’s attention, he said, “So why don’t you feed from a human – directly?”

Theo leaned back in surprise, his voice gaining a hard edge when he asked, “What did you say?”

“Feed from a human,” he repeated, earning a growl from Theo. “Why settle with blood bags when you could drink straight from someone’s veins? You said you used to feed from your sister when she was alive, and she was all right the entire time, wasn’t she?”

Theo was angry now. He likely knew where this conversation was going. “I shouldn’t have told you that,” his teeth gnashed. “Besides, she was my sister. She wanted to help me adjust to the life I was thrust into against my will. Who do you think would be sane enough to consent to become a vampire’s personal blood tap and chew toy?”

“I would,” Stiles replied without hesitation.

Theo’s growl deepened, his chest vibrating with the sound. “That is because you are not sane. If you were, you would have been long gone.”

“No, listen,” Stiles moved to straddle Theo’s hips when he attempted to leave. Theo hissed and bared his fangs but otherwise stayed on the bloody floor, flashing his eyes in warning not to say anything stupid further. But Stiles was not to be deterred. “I would do it – for a price,” he added the last thought hastily.

It didn’t calm Theo. “If you wanted a raise, you could have just said.”

“No,” he released a frustrated sigh. “When I was watching you feed earlier, I was… fascinated.”

“'Fascinated’,” Theo echoed in loathing.

“Yes,” Stiles insisted, licking his lips. “I wanted to know how it felt.”

“To be sucked dry?” Theo snarled.

But Stiles was persistent, “To be bitten.” To be your source of strength. To give you my share of life.

Lightning quick, Theo grabbed the back of Stiles’ head with his bloody hands and pressed their foreheads together – vehemence gushing through his still starving bloodstreams. With their lips merely a hairsbreadth apart, Theo whispered viciously. “You – are fucked in this lovely head of yours.”

“Yes,” Stiles whispered back, nodding eagerly. “I am.” Then he grabbed Theo’s face with both hands and crushed their lips in a searing kiss.

It should be revolting, the way he could taste the rust from Theo’s lips on his own tongue. It should be repulsing, the way Theo stood and carried him like he weighed nothing to press him onto the stained couch, the dead rats littering the floor around them. It should be sickening how the stench of death perfumed their writhing bodies, seeking a desire that walked hand in hand with their doom.

Stiles opened his legs when Theo nudged them apart, bared his neck for Theo’s kisses, and offered his wrist when Theo licked against the skin.

Theo looked at him again, his blue eyes lust-blown and hungry, and Stiles nodded. Enthusiastically. Desperately. He carded the fingers of his free hand through Theo’s matted hair and pulled Theo’s head down. Kissing the shell of Theo’s ear, he whispered, “Please, Theo.”

And as Theo’s fangs penetrated the skin of his wrist, he ground his hips forward, too. Stiles threw his head back with a moan, closing his eyes to the pain and pleasure. As he felt his blood rushing to give Theo what he needed, he thought, now you’re mine as I am yours.

***

It quickly became the new arrangement: Stiles let Theo sink his teeth into his skin and fuck the senses out of him, and Theo paid him a much bigger sum than the last. It was only a matter of time before his friends found out. It didn’t go well – predictably.

Lydia was the first to notice – as she was wont to do. She cornered him and demanded answers to all of the right questions. She’d clearly done a thorough research, which didn’t surprise Stiles the least. If anything, it astonished Stiles that it took her nine whole months to get suspicious.

“I was suspicious seven months ago Stiles,” Lydia spat furiously. “What I am today, is appalled.” She paced, holding her head with both her hands. “Consorting with the likes of that guy – he’s not even human, for Christ’s sake. Why couldn’t you just go with a mafia guy?” She paused in her pacing and marched to him, grabbing his arm and shaking her head in repugnance at the telltale puncture wounds. Her eyes flashed, “And what if he goes too far?”

“He won’t,” Stiles assured her.

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t,” Stiles agreed, pulling his arm back and covering it with the sleeve of his hoodie. He sighed. “But I trust him.”

Lydia scoffed, shaking her head at Stiles. Her eyes had a knowing glint when she asked, “How long ago since you sold your body and not your heart?”

Stiles was taken aback for a moment. He'd never thought about it. But instead of denying it, he replied, “Fuck knows."

It was the most honest reply he could make.

***

After Lydia found out, the entire gang followed. Needless to say, it was a madhouse.

“Why couldn’t you just ask for help, Stiles?” Scott shook his head, upset. People were shaking their heads at Stiles a lot these days. “If you needed money, we would have helped you.”

“I didn’t want to burden you. We all have our own situations,” Stiles tried to explain. “I wanted to earn the money by myself.”

“By becoming a prostitute?” Jackson jeered. “How fucking noble, Stilinski.”

Stiles fisted his hands, “How I earn my money is none of your business. If you think I’m so dirty now to be your friend, then fuck right off.”

Jackson went straight for the door, “As you wish.” Scott followed seconds later.

Scott and Jackson didn’t talk to him for days. Scott eventually caved first but he spent the next few days begging Stiles to leave Theo – leave the country if need be. Allison – whose family moved around the supernatural circle, Stiles soon discovered – offered to help ‘eliminate’ Theo.

“It would be difficult,” Allison said determinedly, holding Stiles’ shoulder with a gloved hand. “Our family hasn’t encountered vampires in decades when I searched the archive. But it’s definitely doable.”

Stiles smiled timidly and took Allison’s hand into his. He met her eyes and said sincerely, “I appreciate it, Allison, offering me help and telling me about your secret. But…” Stiles bit his lip, squeezing Allison’s gloved hand. “I’d sooner cut my own wrist before I let anything happen to him.”

Allison’s brows furrowed in surprise. It wasn’t the response she expected to hear. “If it’s about the money, Stiles, I’m sure there are other ways to earn it,” she insisted. “I’m not sure you understand that it’s quite literally your neck in the line every time you come near this monster.”

“Theo's not a monster,”

“He’s got fangs that he uses to drink blood from you, take advantage of your weakness. What’s not monstrous about him?”

“You’ve got weapons and an archive that details how to ‘eliminate’ a vampire who was turned without a choice – who has tried and succeeded to live normally for the past fifty years without hurting anyone,” Stiles retaliated. “What’s not monstrous about you?”

Allison dropped Stiles’ hand, clenching her jaw. “If he drains your blood, don’t tell us we didn’t warn you.”

Stiles nodded, “If he drains my blood, it’ll be because I asked him.”

Allison left in frustration while Lydia blamed the vampire thrall.

“It’s his eyes,” Lydia said as soon as Stiles opened the door to his apartment, a couple of days after the Allison encounter. “He’s controlling you with his eyes.” She invited herself in and looked around. Her eyes narrowed, pointing at the coffee table, “Is that a Mies van der Rohe?”

Stiles shrugged and looked at her blankly. He had no idea what she just said. Theo bought him the coffee table.

Crossing her arms, she clicked her tongue. “Vampires' eyes have powers – it’s called thrall. He’s using them to keep you coming back.”

“I don’t know,” Stiles said, leaning against the archway. “I close my eyes when he fucks me, and there’s no broken spell, is there?”

Lydia's mouth thinned to a line.

“I’m not looking at his eyes now,” Stiles added. “But I still terribly miss him, don’t I?”

She rolled her eyes, “That’s not how it works. You don’t just close your eyes during sex or not see him for two days for the control to slip up. You have to stay away – for real.”

Stiles smiled at her regretfully, “I guess if I were really in thrall, I’m too weak to resist it. I don’t know the first thing about staying away from him.”

Only Kira didn’t blame Theo or the money he gave Stiles. Stiles was not sure if it was better.

“You’re not in danger, I don’t think,” Kira said, stroking his hair as they lay on Stiles’ couch. Stiles had just told her about Allison and Lydia’s visits. “You’re the danger.”

“What do you mean?”

Kira placed her free hand over Stiles’ chest. “Your heart – it’s an unbelievable thing. Any weaker heart would go running in the opposite direction as soon as it discovered what you discovered. Predators drive their prey away half-scared to death – that’s how nature works.”

Stiles tilted his head to look at Kira. Playfully, he asked, “Are you calling me prey?”

Kira smiled, “If you were the prey, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”

Stiles’ smile retreated. Even then, he realized she was right.

***

Only a week after his conversation with Kira, Stiles put the final nail in their coffin.

Stiles tilted his head backward with an echoing moan, laying it against Theo’s shoulder to allow him more access to his neck. His arms reached out behind to encircle Theo’s head, long fingers grabbing at Theo’s wet hair as he continued charting little islands of bruises into his pale skin while his hips continued their brutally slow and hard pace.

The warm spray of water against his overheated skin and the cold touch of Theo’s hand, mouth, and naked body against naked body made Stiles delirious. He felt Theo’s blunt teeth scraping against his skin, his lips sucking hard, and then his tongue soothing the assaulted area. Theo’s hands ran all over his slick body, squeezing, massaging, and imprinting into his skin, his soul – deeper than his bare cock inside Stiles’ body. Stiles was so gone for this man.

It was too much – he was going into overdrive by all the sensations Theo was making him feel. But it all crested when Stiles felt Theo’s fangs grazing against his pulse as his cock pressed into his prostate. And instead of pulling away, Stiles pressed himself closer to Theo and urged him, “Do it,”

Theo’s hand tightened around Stiles’ waist, his other leaning against the tiled wall to anchor their dancing bodies, his chest grumbling against Stiles’ back. He swore he could feel a heartbeat where there was supposedly none.

“You naïve little human,” Theo spat against Stiles’ neck, angling his hips expertly to pull a scandalous moan from Stiles’ mouth. “You don’t understand what it is you’re permitting me to do.”

“I think I know,” Stiles whimpered when the tips of Theo’s fangs pressed dangerously close to breaking the skin. He tightened his fingers on Theo’s hair, moving his hips in rhythm to his lover. “I want you to feed where you’ve never fed before – where you’d never feed from others,” he gasped after another well-aimed thrust. “I want that to be mine.”

Theo’s hand sneaked to yank at Stiles' hair while the other grabbed his chin in a painful grip, exposing his neck more. Their movements ceased for a moment, their eyes meeting even at the awkward angle – one blazing with fury and one reckless with passion.

“Do you not fathom how foolish you are?” Theo sneered into his ear. “How horrendous your devil-may-care attitude towards this whole affair is? All of your friends have warned you.”

“And they are right,” Stiles panted. “And so are you.”

He nosed against the shell of Stiles’ ear, tightening his grip on Stiles to still him when he attempted to get their bodies moving again. Theo growled. “So – what are you still doing here?”

“Fuck knows, Theo,” Stiles answered helplessly the same way he answered Lydia before. And repeating Kira’s statement days ago, he finished with, “My heart – it’s an unbelievable thing.”

His nose flaring, Theo stared into his eyes, reading Stiles’ desperation there. Finally, he violently pushed their bodies forward, forcing Stiles to let go of Theo’s hair to place his hands against the wall for purchase. Without another word, bared his fangs and descended onto his neck – impaling them right at the spot where Stiles’ heart beat the most.

***

A month later, he used his thrall to erase himself from Stiles’ memories. The irony wasn’t lost on Stiles – Lydia always accused his thrall for keeping Stiles coming back. Now he used it to leave Stiles.

Because Theo was cruel. Not in the way that a monster was cruel. He was cruel in the way a human was cruel. There was no need to draw blood when you aim at the heart.

***

But this isn't all about the tale of how Theo left. This is also the tale of how he comes back.

***

“Quite a bedazzling outfit, you got.”

Stiles jerks in surprise as a figure slips onto the seat beside him. The man signals for the bartender with a nod before turning to him.

Stiles frowns, looking over his shoulder in search. He finds a bustling bar with tables full of people in extravagant and over-the-top costumes, but none near enough for a chat. It's a holiday and it's the first new establishment in their little town in six years or so; people are supposed to be too busy enjoying the novelty to pay lonesome strangers by the bar any attention. He turns back to his stranger – a startlingly attractive stranger with a magnetic blue stare, Stiles realizes – and points to himself.

“Are you talking to me?”

The stranger smiles and says simply, “Yes.”

Stiles blinks. “Are you making fun?”

The handsome stranger’s thick eyebrows form a slight frown, in confusion, but otherwise, keeps his pleasant smile. “Why would I make fun?”

Stiles scoffs. His brain instructs him to say ‘thanks’ and let it go like any normal person would do, but his mouth has a mind of its own. And he’s also got half of his half-pint in his system. “You do see I’m only wearing a cheap cape, right? With a Led Zeppelin shirt underneath.” The stranger merely shrugs so Stiles gestures at an item on the counter beside his half a pint of beer, “And plastic fangs. Bought from the dollar store two blocks away. I can point at least fifty other people in this bar wearing a better costume than me. So, I would hardly call it ‘bedazzling’ .” And before he can stop himself from adding, he snorts and shakes his head. “Who even says ‘bedazzling’ anymore?”

The smile on the handsome stranger’s face only widens, “I concede,” he says. “Perhaps, it was not the outfit that bedazzled me into approaching, after all. Allow me to rephrase: quite a bedazzling sight you are – cheap cape, plastic fangs, Led Zeppelin shirt, and all.”

“I –“ Stiles stammers, taken aback by how smoothly he fell for that.

The bartender wordlessly slides a cocktail glass in front of the stranger and leaves without waiting for any acknowledgment. The stranger takes the glass and lightly swirls it, all without looking away from Stiles.

Stiles clears his throat, feeling his face warm up. And certainly not from his beer. “What drink is that?” he asks, both to say anything and out of genuine curiosity. He watches as the content swirls around with the motions of the stranger’s wrist. “It’s so thickly… red,” he wrinkles his nose. “It’s like blood.”

The stranger chuckles, “Of course, it is blood, as you should know,” he replies. “What else do vampires drink?”

Stiles gazes up to the stranger’s bright blue eyes and handsome smirk and feels his entire body developing jitters; his veins pulsing and heart racing under his skin. It’s not an entirely unknown feeling, but it’s been a while since he experienced it. There’ve been plenty of opportunities, but none quite like this. Stiles has never seen a more ‘bedazzling’ smile and enthralling eyes.

Jesus. He’s never even thought of the word before, let alone use it to describe someone.

“I see,” Stiles starts, playing along, eyes scanning the man’s crisp white button-down, black dress pants, and leather shoes. “So, you’re a vampire too, I suppose? Only, too snobbish to actually wear a costume, unlike the rest of us?”

The stranger’s blue eyes sparkle in amusement, “But we must admit, capes are a little bit medieval, wouldn’t you say?” He brings the cocktail glass to his nose, sniffing it. “Vampires in the modern world dress like young billionaires rather than brooding viscounts.”

Stiles arches an eyebrow, commenting, “And they drink blood from cocktail glasses.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” the stranger remarks, meeting Stiles’ eyes through the rim of his glass. “A human neck is still the sweetest tap to feed from, but that privilege is reserved only for those with the most exquisite blood.”

Stiles holds the man’s gaze as he finally tips his cocktail glass into his lips, and empties it deliberately. The glass clinks when it’s brought down to the counter, its previous content leaving a dark red trail around its inner surface and staining the stranger’s lips. When he grins, his teeth are tainted too. It should be a disgusting sight if anything, but Stiles is too busy being mesmerized to keep that in mind.

Stiles swallows through his dried throat, “That makes a very convincing blood,” he says distractedly.

The man grins, unmindful of his stained mouth. “And I?” he leans closer. “Do I not make a convincing vampire?”

His eyes flicker helplessly down to the man’s lips. The red stain is even more captivating this close – he can’t look away. The bar is still as full and loud as when he arrived, but somehow, everything has muted down to background noise. Unconsciously, his tongue darts to wet his equally dried lips. “How does it taste?” he asks, breathless.

“Adequate,” the stranger answers promptly – like he doesn’t have to think about it. Then Stiles watches, almost in slow motion, as the man reaches out to touch him, taking his cue from the hitch in Stiles’ voice before laying his strong, expert fingers on Stiles’ skin. He uses them to lift Stiles’ chin and coax his gaze back up straight into his.

Stiles breathes through his mouth, enthralled by the invisible force of the stranger’s blue eyes. Instinctively, Stiles leans his body forward as if heeding a tug. His body seems to comprehend all the stranger’s little prompts even when Stiles doesn’t. And powerlessly, he tips his head to the side when the stranger guides it, baring his neck.

“But you,” the man speaks lowly, making his words more personal. Something in Stiles knows this isn’t any normal interaction between strangers in a bar. By the second, he realizes nothing about this is by accident. It couldn’t be. Not from the look of yearning from the stranger’s eyes and certainly not from Stiles’ surrender of power. His mind doesn’t remember this man, but his body does. The way it shivers as the man’s fingertips trace the point where his neck and shoulder meet. The way Stiles’ breath stutters when his thumb presses against that particular area on his neck where his blood pulses the most, against the scar of puncture wounds marking his pale skin. The way the stranger whispers to him, “You… are exquisite.”

It’s like Stiles could hear his own heartbeat; thumping loudly across the room. The phantom stinging on his neck that oftentimes visit him in his sleep – that one he couldn’t decide whether a dream or a nightmare.

“I couldn’t stay away,” the stranger tells him apologetically. “I spent the past year in torture. I was foolish to think there was getting rid of you.”

Without meaning to or knowing where it comes from, he breathes out the man’s name.

“Theo.”

Sharp fangs dropping, the stranger smiles.

***

Theo Raeken exists.

I love Theo Raeken.

Theo Raeken loves me.

***

I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honouring thee

As giving it a hope, that there It could not withered be.

But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent’st it back to me;

Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee.

- Jonson

[juststeveandtonythings]

At long last, I'm finishing up the Uncanny Avengers run. We open with Hydra Steve and Doctor Stasis plotting. Hydra Steve wants to be known as "Grant". This is mildly interesting, as 616 Steve does not canonically have a middle name - well, he sort of did, but it was a false memory. But MCU Steve DOES have a middle name. Weird retcon. Anyway! Subsequent panels are kind enough to inform the uninformed reader (me) that Hydra Steve is "the dark reflection of Captain America created by the Red Skull and resurrected by Selene at the instruction of Doctor Stasis", so that's what's up with him.

Right, so Hydra Steve is on a rooftop fighting most of the Uncanny Avengers (some are at Empire State University). Some of them canonically refer to Hydra Steve as Stevil, which is hilarious because I totally thought that was a fandom nickname. The ESU members are trying to figure out how to deal with the nuke that Hydra Steve stole and conclude that they need a retinal eye scan from him, which means regular Steve can disable it himself, but it's actually a trap - which means that there isn't actually any way to deal with the nuke, period.

Without any other options, Rogue takes the nuke and starts flying it toward Area 51 with the understanding that she'll probably perish once it goes off. Wade freaks out, and Hydra Steve implies that he knows Wade has feelings for her.

But it's okay! Turns out they have a plan. Quicksilver drops Deadpool off at Area 51 so that he can share his healing factor with Rogue once the nuke detonates, and they hold hands and chat as skeletons. Everything is alright!

Oh, just kidding. Hydra Steve goes on trial but is... let out? I don't know. He gives a big speech in front of the courthouse about how he's not actually a cruel man, he just wants mutants to all hang out on their own planet, far away from humans. Many people in the crowd surrounding him appear to agree. Anyway, he apparently takes on the mantle of Flag-Smasher because he thinks the government has let everyone down.

Steve, standing with the other Uncanny Avengers and watching from above, says he's angry, but he knows now to keep his powder dry. He and the others do a team pose as he declares that "I'll bet on me and my friends [...] any day. And I haven't lost yet." It's sweet, but you have to wonder how okay things are going to be if you're living in a world where Hydra Steve can apparently like, bomb a government building and steal a nuke and still be allowed to walk free, but shh.

And that's the end of this miniseries! In the end, ummm. Well, I don't know if any bad guys were actually taken down, since Orchis and Hydra Steve both appear to still be doing okay, but at least a nuke didn't go off, I guess?

- Uncanny Avengers Vol 4 #5 (2023)

[wondernus]

alright nu, I remember giving you a list of recs before and now I bring more with commentary 😏 now you don’t have to read any of these but they’re some of my current reads that I dig :D

Starting off with…..

1. Lion Heart by Choi Soohyun

Manwha, Josei, modern, medical romance, married-to-work-chaebol x equally-married-to-work-surgeon, he fell first then fell harder, hilarious side characters, contract relationship, immaculate chefs kiss, INSANE ART pls they’re so hot

Season 1 complete, season 2 just started

2. The Top Couple Is a Bit Sweet

Manhua, shoujo but walks the line of josei a little, modern, romcom drama, showbiz, another contract relationship 🤩, more insane art with a hot couple, I haven’t read very far but the vibes and chemistry are off the charts tbh, he totally fell first, power couple frfr

Season 1 almost complete I think

3. I Stan The Prince

Manwha, shoujo, historical but lots of modern references, romcomfan, TOOTH ROTTING SWEETNESS, ML has actual mfing emotions and shows them, she fell first he fell harder ordeal, original work so no novel, not as cliche as you may think, MORE INSANE ART, one of my top faves of all time omg, this one is for the kpoppies

Season 1 complete, season 2 just picked up after a two year hiatus 🥹

4. The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague

Manga, josei, modernc slice-of-life, supernatural office romcom, SO WHOLESOME, lot of memes in this one, ML is sososo sweet, FL is too cool, japanese lore is what makes this supernatural, side couples are equally amazing, just super cute light read

Volumes 1-7 completed, vol.8 ongoing

5. Run, Meil

Manwha, shoujo, isekai, historical, romcom, memes are abundant here too, girl gang is so comedic, ML is sweet, FL isn’t dumb and is actually smart nor does she care about original storyline, og!fl is a cutie too and gets her own happy ending, miscommunications are mild and get spoken through, I’m super picky about shoujos but I love this one

Season 1 complete, season 2 TBA

6. The Girl and The Geek

Manhwa, josei but cute like a shoujo, modern, romcom, slide of life, MAJOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, super sweet and natural love, they make each other better 🥹🥹🥹, their families can be annoying, her family I can’t really forgive, but his family is only initially overbearing but you def warm up to them, humble rich CEO dude, miscommunications but their handled pretty well and actually does something for the plot, ugh the story is so good

COMPLETED WITH SPECIAL EPISODES

idk if you follow Stray Kids but ml is so han jisung coded, there’s a recent photo of han that is soooo this ML 😭😭

HONORABLE MENTION BC IDK IF I REC’D IT BEFORE BUT I’VE TALKED ABOUT IT

7. You Are My Desire (aka Daydreaming About Me)

Manhua, josei, romcom drama, starts off in high school but later half is in college, first loves, some mature topics in relation to family problems, idek what to say but god I just love them sfm and I think the artist is from the same studio as the Hidden Love artist, the novel is sauuuuur good, comic does it justice but I recommend the novel even more

Season 1 ongoing but novel is complete

HI AUTUMN!! i'm sorry this was from so long ago alskfjlasjdf but I added every single one of these recs onto my reading list so I'll be getting to them when I have time and when they're close to being finished. here are some of my recs in return!!! (these are all completed)

L -> R

father I don't want this marriage: I think this one just ended but GOD I love a good reincarnation manhwa and a DILF. the plot is really cliche but I just love the genre so much

the dilettante: E2L mafia member x secret agent. what more do you want?? (I wanted so much more that I looked up the original korean novel and went to a forum to read about what happens in the novel)

bring the love: I hate how some people dropped this because they didn't like the art style but this literally has to be one of the best romances I've ever read. the characters are mature and they communicate really well. they touch upon a lot of social topics that aren't usually talked about in the historical genre. green flags all around.

do you know anything about tpo kageyama-kun?!: plugging a kagehina dj because I squealed when I read this and literally reread it over and over bc of how cute it was

[thestarminstrel]

TL;DR: rivals to lovers doesn't happen quickly, and i feel that nick and seiji's progression into the friends stage is going too fast considering their characters and history together.

i think one of the biggest reasons folks say that fence lost its rivals to lovers nichoji is just the fact that, rn, it looks so different from what the trope entails. whenever i read the trope (and it's done well), there's so many ways it could go, so many ways it could explode in our faces at any point, but there is still that slow and gradual shift from "wow i hate your face" to "i actually...don't mind your face" to "wow...i think i want to kiss your face". it's subtle and agonizingly slow as the characters are forced to confront the fact that their rival is actually this incredible person that they could get along with extremely well as a friend and a partner. it's not meant to be a short process because there are dozens of things that need to happen first. people can be incredible stubborn -- especially if they're holding onto feelings of animosity -- and it's not believable if they're able to get over themselves so quickly.

perhaps i just have really, really slow tastes, but nichoji just...doesn't have that in canon rn. there has been too little screentime for nick and seiji to go from beating each other up in a closet to seiji sharing really heavy emotions re: jesse (regardless of whether you think they dated or not). seiji is such a closed-off individual, and it just doesn't make sense in the overall timeline of the comics for him to open up so fast. if anything, i would have much preferred nick following seiji out to challenge him (vol 3 led me to believe he's fiercly devoted to being seiji's rival and ergo a lil bit jealous of jesse) only to end up listening and awkwardly comforting seiji. because it brings us back to one of those little moments i mentioned earlier: it forces nick to confront the fact that his rival has hidden hurt. from then on, perhaps, nick starts seeing the same things about seiji in a different light and now we start getting some development as nick starts reaching to seiji to connect rather than to frustrate and annoy.

i fully recognize the limitations of the comic format and the fact that fence is in such a place publishing wise where it really can't plan its plot too far ahead, but it is sad that the sacrifice involves well-developed nichoji. their relationship just doesn't feel authentic to me as a rivals to lovers one because it just feels like we tumbled into the friend stage of it instead of working for it. for nick to be so friendly with the boy who halted the progression of his first competitive fencing season on the first match over so little time and development? it doesn't make sense. nick is someone who feels things deeply and strongly in both vol 1-3 as well as vol 4-5 (despite the jump in character). seiji helping him out a few times and having a soft moment or two is not enough for nick to let go of his animosity so easily. i'm not saying that they should still be at each other's throats all the time, dragging each other into closets for fights, but they definitely should still be sniping at each other, annoying the hell out of each other about bathroom water usage, and nick's terrible fencing (that's improving with seiji's grudging advice). following the characterizations of vol 1-3, nick's too stubborn and seiji's too much of a jerk for them to have such an easy transition into friendship and eventually romance.