#I mean for me it’s a bit of a mix and my perception of him has changed over time

[doumadono]

My sincerest congratulations on your milestone, hon! 🎉🥳 I want to request "Realizing they’re falling in love" with Dabi, Hawks, Shoto and Bakugo, if possible in headcanons format

BNHA boys realizing they’re in love - headcanons

A/N: thank you oh so much, love! Your support means the world to me ♥

MASTERLIST

Dabi

Dabi's realization that he's falling in love is marked by an internal struggle. He's fiercely independent and has always believed that emotions are a weakness, so acknowledging his feelings is a battle against his own principles.

His attraction is laced with a sense of danger and forbidden allure. Dabi finds himself drawn to your unwavering determination and willingness to stand by his side, even as he remains shrouded in mystery.

As Dabi falls deeper, his rough demeanor occasionally melts away, revealing a more tender side. He may let his guard down when you're alone, sharing stories from his past or allowing a genuine smile to grace his lips, only for it to vanish as quickly as it came.

He often finds himself lost in thought, pondering whether he deserves happiness or if his actions have forever condemned him to a life of darkness.

He starts paying more attention to the details of your interactions, almost obsessively analyzing every word and gesture. Dabi's internal struggle manifests in his occasional distance, as he battles his own inner demons.

While uncertainties may still linger, he's come to realize that the depth of his emotions is a strength, and that love perhaps has the power to reshape not only his destiny, but also his perception of himself.

Hawks

Hawks' realization that he's falling in love comes with a mix of surprise and intrigue. He's used to navigating complex situations, but matters of the heart have always been a bit of a blind spot for him.

His attraction to you is accompanied by a desire to make you smile. Hawks becomes increasingly attuned to your moods and goes out of his way to provide comfort and support, often resorting to his sense of humor to lighten the mood.

He finds himself seeking out your company not only during downtime but also in the midst of his hero duties. Hawks secretly enjoys your conversations and becomes a master at multitasking, balancing his work and his growing affection.

Hawks' love is built on mutual respect and a shared sense of purpose. He's attracted to your determination and your unwavering belief in the importance of heroism, and he finds himself more drawn to you as you work together to make the world a better place.

Despite his easygoing facade, Hawks experiences moments of vulnerability when he's alone with his thoughts. He questions whether he's capable of reciprocating your feelings and worries about the impact his dangerous lifestyle might have on your potential relationship.

Hawks' journey towards embracing his feelings becomes an integral part of his character development. He learns that vulnerability doesn't equate to weakness and that opening his heart might be his most courageous act yet. As he navigates this new territory, Hawks finds himself on a path of self-discovery, growth, and a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be a hero.

Shoto

Shoto's realization that he's falling in love is marked by a quiet and introspective process. He's used to keeping his emotions in check, so acknowledging his feelings takes time and careful contemplation.

His attraction is rooted in a deep admiration for your strength and kindness. Shoto finds himself drawn to your unwavering support, especially during moments when he grapples with his past and the complexities of his family.

He might leave a carefully selected book on your desk or prepare a warm cup of tea after a particularly challenging day, using his own experiences to empathize with your struggles.

He becomes more open about his own emotions as he navigates his feelings for you. Shoto shares his thoughts about his parents and siblings, his struggles with his dual Quirks, and his dreams for the future, creating a deeper level of understanding between you.

Shoto's love is quiet but steadfast. He's willing to stand by your side through thick and thin, offering his unwavering support and stability even as he continues to grapple with his own inner conflicts.

He finds solace in the simple act of holding your hand or sharing a comfortable silence, allowing your presence to be a source of healing and reassurance.

Bakugo

Bakugo's realization that he's falling in love is met with intense frustration. He's not one to easily acknowledge his emotions, and the idea of being vulnerable in this way infuriates him.

His attraction is laced with a mix of admiration and exasperation. Bakugo finds himself drawn to your ability to stand your ground against him, even as he struggles to come to terms with his own feelings.

Bakugo's expressing his affection through action rather than words. He might go out of his way to train with you, pushing both of you to your limits, or subtly lend you a hand when you least expect it.

He starts showing a more protective side, even if he tries to hide it behind his explosive temper. Bakugo's concern for your safety becomes evident when he's more willing to work as a team and takes extra precautions during battles.

Bakugo's love is fiery and intense. He becomes fiercely loyal and is willing to face any challenge head-on to ensure your happiness and well-being.

Despite his gruff exterior, Bakugo experiences moments of inner turmoil. He's torn between his pride and his growing feelings, leading to inner monologues where he wrestles with his own vulnerability. "Damn it, fucking shit, why does this have to happen? Stupid emotions! I don't have time for this crap!"

Bakugo's gradually letting his guard down in your presence. He might crack a rare smile or engage in playful banter, allowing glimpses of his more genuine self to shine through.

[delululand]

hi could u pls do txts turn ons + offs in a partner ?? tysm <33

hiii and sorry for long answer, it’s here~ hope you enjoy it~

txt turn ons + offs

I wasn't sure how you wanted this to be, so it has some mentions of NSFW content, but not a lot

soobin

turn ons: i talked about this before, but I think he's really into the cute type and we all know how he likes anime (does he watch hentai? idk but guess yes) and this got me thinking about whiney girls. it's a little hard to explain it completely, but his love for anime (and a shit that's in hentai)+his love for cute types+some aegyo type in korea, which isn't considered weird like it is for people living in europe and america, it all comes together such vibrations… so i guess groaning, moaning, whining it’s really his turn ons (but not too louder? hahaha I just immediately remember how he always “shhhh🤫” beomgyu when he starts being noisy)

and also being call some pet names? he’ll really like it

turn offs: okay i really think one of the biggest turn offs for him is degradation and any form of rudeness. he mentioned so much time that he prefer cute vibe and I really think that this extends to how he is in bed. I see him as a soft guy and if someone (especially his partner) were rude to him, even if during sex, it would most likely surprise and upset

and also just dishonesty, deceit and some shit like that

yeonjun

turn ons: I want to write so many things but I remember one of his live where he said something like "the way you perceive me seems a little distorted. off screen, my and soobin's personalities exchange". he didn't specify what exactly he was talking about or what part of his personality it was about, but it pops into my head every time I think of him. maybe it's a bit of a distorted perception, but can I really see him in something like a partially toxic relationship? I'm not talking about abuse or anything like that and I don't mean this in a bad way, but I think he would be interested in a relationship with some game?

it's like that girl who looks like an arrogant bitch (but she's actually nice) and she gives him mixed signals, secret dates and everything seems obvious, but no one says anything out loud and all that

it’s like 밀당 (밀고 당기기) this is a very popular thing in korea and literally means “push and pull”, first a person devotes a lot of time to the person he likes and flirts, and then pretends that he is not particularly interested in order to attract attention to himself

p.s. for my personal opinion it’s a strange shit, but a lot of people really into it

turn offs: this may sound a little contradictory, but actual arrogance and bad treatment of people? it's one thing to have arrogant bitch vibes, but to be a kind person, but to actually be an arrogant bitch is something else entirely

controlling and obsessive behavior (in a bad way) like I really see that if his partner was jealous of him, he would be flattered and he would take this situation into flirtation, but if his partner tried to control him 24/7, constantly wrote and called with questions about where and with whom he is, this would greatly alienate him

beomgyu

turn ons: ohhh that guy… firstly it’s catching his vibe? he has a specific sense of humor and it would be important to be on the same wave with him in general, but he also makes “suggestive jokes” most often and he’s the biggest dirty minder of all members. so one of his turn ons is someone who could not only take his jokes well, but also be able to answer him in the same manner and actually i think this boy reaaaally into dirty talks

turn offs: first of all I think it has two sides: 1. not taking his jokes and being sarcastic in a bad way (like not making jokes pretending that he is annoying because he would like that, but on the contrary answering rudely or something like that) and 2. not taking him seriously. yes, he is really funny and jokes a lot, but he also has feelings and would like to be able to talk about it seriously, discuss different topics with his partner and know that he will be understood and accepted

taehyun

turn ons: first, he’s really a smart guy and i think intelligent conversation and debate it’s one of his turn ons. but also an even bigger turn on is when he explains something to you? something like you ask him how this or that thing works and he tells you the story of how and why it works the way it does and the moment you nod at him with eyes full of interest his dick literally twitches in his pants.

secondly, he said he's not the type to take initiative (especially in showing affection) because of fear, so if someone had the courage to be more proactive it would touch his heart. like you know for example you're still at the just friends stage and you link arm in arm when you're crossing the road, lightly stroke his back when you hug him or put your hand and lean on his lap when you're sitting next to him and laugh. these actions are simple and innocent enough, but would literally drive him crazy

turn offs: total pessimism and whining all the time. everyone has problems at some point and it's fine if a person wants to get support and share it with someone, but I'm talking about people who literally whine 24/7 about everything and don't want to solve problems. does he really seem a little cruel about it? like he'd have no problem supporting you if something happened and helping you as long as it took, but he wouldn't coddle someone who's infantile and can't solve the slightest problem on his own

huening kai

turn ons: watching and discussing anime with him, don’t ask me why, i just feel so hahaha

paying attention to the smaller things that demonstrate true thoughtfulness and kindness and compassion towards others. he is sooo cute, kind and caring person and he'd really appreciate it if his partner showed the right attitude towards other people.

and also being able to show affection openly, giving him words of encouragement, praise and all of that

turn offs: ignorance and intolerance, too self-centeredness, i wrote about it above and I think it just goes against his values in life and what he might like

and also being closed off and emotionally unavailable like. he has a hard showing his feelings and if his partner is even more closed off, they just won't connect?

p.s. i would also be very interested to hear your opinion on this topic, maybe you have something to add?

[aprils2ndhandshop]

hi i love your blog, your writing is so good! may i request what type of arguments the ‘03 boys would have with their s/o? like what would the argument be about? are they upset for a long or short amt of time? how do they make up with their s/o? hopefully that makes sense, thank you!

Arguments w/the boys ‘03

All 4!

Summary: what I think the boys are like during arguments with their favorite girl.

Hi friend! Thank you for your request and the super sweet words! Sorry for the long wait, love you!

Michelangelo;

Mikey definitely isn’t one to start or enjoy fighting with you… with his brothers, duh! But not with you.

The fights he starts -if one could even call them fights, are small, light-hearted and innocent. He is essentially just pulling your leg and trying to be a pain.

“Y/n! You can’t just walk past the t.v mid play! You made me lose the game!”

“I think you lost the game because you chose to focus on throwing pillows at me instead of playing your stupid game!”

Those fights don’t last long as the moment he thinks it’s actually stressing you out, he stops.

“I’m kidding angel! I’m kidding!”

He makes up for it every time with a kiss on the cheek too.

Generally, you’re the one who has to start the fights with him - even if he’s the one with a problem.

And trust me, he may not flat out say he has a problem with you but he sure can’t hide it.

Que the slight pouting and undeniable tension on his part. He can’t fake his feelings ever.

And don’t forget all the passive aggressive, smart ass remarks he makes under his breath when he’s annoyed.

Fights with Mikey are rare but when they do happen there is a common theme, a need for your attention.

Remember, Mikey is a needy boyfriend. It has pros and cons.

Pros - he’s doting, always makes sure you know just how much he cares, always makes time for you, remembers important dates and puts in all the effort a boyfriend should.

Cons - a bit too clingy.

“I feel like you don’t ever want to see me anymore, like you just come around to make me happy.”

“Why do you even think that, Mikey?”

“Because! I wish you wanted to see me as much as I want to see you!”

Fights with him never last long, ever! He’s the kinda guy that refuses to go to bed knowing you’re sad.

He also spoils you rotten after :) Gifts, food, foot rubs, everything!

Raphael;

Raph is a nightmare to fight with and we all know on some level, he loves to fight. More with Leo than anyone but still.

In regards to arguing with you, it definitely lies in a strange grey zone for him. He hates making you upset but also has a bad habit of enjoying a good conflict.

He hates that about himself.

Not to mention how bad he is at holding his tongue.

“I’m pissed, okay? I’m mad and I need to get away from you before I say stuff I don’t mean!”

“I don’t want you to go out there and get hurt!”

“You don’t get it! I’m not like you! I’ve been fighting my whole life and it’s hard for me to just stop!”

In the midst or after every fight, he disappears for a couple of hours. Cooling off is essential for you two to figure out the problem.

Surprisingly, fights between you and Raph are rare. Partially because he’s working on anger management but mostly because he tends to lock his emotions inside before having a massive blow up.

Once he’s calmed down, he always goes straight to you, full of shame.

“Hey baby.”

“Hey.”

One of the best parts about Raph as a boyfriend is how self perceptive he is, he always apologizes for what he did wrong and fully understands why it was wrong.

“I promise I’ll be better to you, and that I learned from my fuck ups, y/n/n.”

After fights, he’s a lot more affectionate with you and uncharacteristically, even keeps that energy in front of his brother.

Donatello;

Donnie and fighting really doesn’t mix well, it’s rare but when it does happen it’s always over dumb stuff.

The arguments start more like debates, his nerdy side comes straight to the forefront as he feels the need to correct you on everything.

“Y/n! I’m proofreading the piece you wrote and look! Are you sure this is really the angle you wanna argue your point from, beautiful?”

Now that sounds pretty innocent but if Don is one thing, it’s a little bit condescending - not on purpose or with malicious intent but nonetheless, condescending he can be.

Things that may seem like no big deal can turn into tension and fighting for hours very quickly.

Typically, you are the one that starts the fight but usually because Don accidentally did something to start the fight.

“I feel like you’re nitpicking to make yourself feel so much better than me, Don. It’s so frustrating!”

“Look doll, I’m just trying to make sure your don’t come off a little bit… foolish.”

Donnie is definitely book smart, but emotionally smart, not so much.

He has a bad habit of saying mean stuff he doesn’t think is mean that ends up hurting your feelings.

And sometimes it takes awhile for him to notice.

“Y/n?… y/n?… hellooo y/n! Are you giving me the silent treatment? Why?!”

He is kinda clueless about this stuff.

But when he does catch on, he’ll do the most mature thing and approach you to hear you out.

He’ll be engaged and ask all the important questions so he knows how he hurt your feelings and can properly apologize.

“You’re the smartest girl I know! I misspoke, I just wanted to be useful to you, sweet girl.”

Leonardo;

Okay hear me out on this one!! And don’t ever make any assumptions about thee Leonardo.

This man is whipped and it pretty much makes him incapable of starting a fight with you ever.

He will let you get away with just about anything and approaches any and all rough topics with you so gently.

“You don’t seem entirely like yourself, angel. Are you feeling okay?”

Even if your response is snappy, he is always gentle in his language and tone.

“Can I do something to help you, y/n/n?”

Fights between the two of you need to be started by you but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll fight back much.

Everything you would expect to happen, expect the opposite.

You give him the silent treatment, he’ll give you some space and come around later to talk it out.

You full on snap and scream at him, he’ll let you take out all your anger on him and tell you he understands why you are mad.

Complete princess treatment with him.

But don’t think he’ll always agree with you, absolutely not. He’s just patient and explains his point of view rationally.

“I really do love and understand you, y/n, but you have to learn to express yourself with me better. I don’t want to fight with you, because baby, I’m always on your side anyway.”

Sometimes fights with Leo can last pretty long, at least in comparison to Mikey and Don - but only because he backs off and gives you space.

When the arguments finally subside, Leo continues his princess treatment for you.

He just becomes even more affectionate than he usually is.

Missed you guys, hope you are all good!

[gmanwhore]

The inhabitants of Sunshine Terrace/Apartment Block 5598: Personal notes by The dOOrman! You know. The doorman. Of Sunshine Terrace.

Roman Stilinsky: Pleasant. Like no real stuff for him. We rarely ever talk. I mean, like. We talk enough for me to know him I guess? He hates the taste of black tea and he likes jazz. That’s all I really know. 

Lois Stilinsky: She’s a bit of a gossip, and is probably the best at makeup in the whole apartment! She’s not a huge fan of having to keep her looks the same all the time. She loves the smell of grapefruit and her favorite perfume smells like it. 

Robertsky Peachman: He doesn’t talk much! He’s not stupid like some people think, he’s just like that. He’s a hard worker and I can respect that. He can’t stand loud noises.

Albertsky Peachman: He can be just a bit rude, but it’s ok. It’s not often. He just wants to get home. I just don’t think he likes people all that much. He always shuts the door to the front lobby behind him even if it closes on its own. 

Angus Ciprianni: I don’t have mush to say anything but he is so fake. He also throws a lot of parties to literally everyone’s annoyance. Especially me! His shoelaces are fake, he can’t tie them and he hates birds. 

Selenne and Elenois Sverchtz: They are the faces of the “sameness is beauty” movement, a new trend encouraging people to stick to particular outfits and looks and not change them. As twins they were deemed the perfect candidates for this. They are a bit uncanny as they do in fact. Just act like the same person just reflected in a mirror. They also have cats. Two. They are twins. They are pleasant to be around, but tend to leave other people out of their inside jokes. One of their jokes is laughing at palimdromes. 

Arnold Schmicht: He used to be a horror writer before. Ten years ago. He is not trying horror writer anymore, he tends towards more domestic pieces generally inspired by our neighbours. I’ve read a few of his books, both old and recent. I find his new pieces also have a certain sense of dread built into them, like he wants so desperately to explore those darer topics again. You also wouldn’t clock him as a horror writer! He loves jokes, and is a very bright, talkative man. He’s also just great to hang out with. He loves being asked about his latest project, and he likes eating lemons like oranges. 

Gloria Schmict: She isn’t as done with everything as she looks! She’s just usually really tired after a long day of helping people at the bank. She has quite the dry sense of humour, but that doesn’t mean she’s not fun to talk to! She’s one of the most observant of my neighbours, which also makes her slightly paranoid. I definitely get it, though. We have a sort of solidarity I think. She’s afraid of spiders, but she likes snakes. Her favorite colour is yellow. 

Izaack Gauss: Despite his general air, he’s actually really easy to talk to. While I’m not close with him at all I get why people like him. He swears by using Gerome’s Hair Gel, it’s the only brand he uses. He also can’t stand the taste of mint unless it’s mixed in with something. 

Margarette Bubbles: Her favorite things to sew are dresses, and she actually specialises in bridesmaid’s dresses though she does do general repairs for people. She always has her bag of sewing materials on hand, and has a great eye for colour. She actually can’t really see out of her lazy eye, though she has horrible depth perception because of it. She’s a gossip QUEEN and knows quite a bit. Her house is really comfortable, and she has a lot of hand-sewn dog stuffed animals there since she loves dogs but can’t have them. She has a bias for St. Brenards. She makes the BEST turnovers I have ever eaten and she refuses to tell me her secret to them. Her favorite colours are burnt orange and royal purple, and she loves the smell of pine. 

Nacha Mikaelys: She almost always has something sticking out her hair, things just get tangled there! She says she’s been meaning to cut her hair for a while but she’s worried about getting mistaken for a doppleganger so she’s waiting until we have to get new ids. She’s really loud, but in a good way! She wears jewlery usually, she says she has a little bag for her earrings and bracelets for when she’s cooking. She owns a chef hat for home but doesn’t wear one at work. She collects her daughter’s broken slinkies and keeps them in her purse and she has a locket she refuses to tall me what’s in. She loves banana bread and her favorite animals are pigeons. She also has lovespoons hanging up in her apartment!

Anastacha Mikaelys: She doesn’t really like people, she gets overwhelmed easily in social situations so she avoids them. She likes slinkies, and the smell of normal household soap. She actually has a huge slinky collection, but she only lets you see them or play with them if she trusts you. She wants a hamster, and Nacha told me not to tell her but Nacha is saving up to suprise her. 

Mia Stone: She doesn’t believe fully in the dopplegangers and can be quite rude when coming through! She almost always “forgets” to tell me when she leaves so I can’t add her to my list. She is curt and to the point when she talks, and tends to overexplain things. Then again she works with small kids so I can let that slide. She knows how to tango. 

Dr. W.  Afton: He also thinks having a doorman is stupid, but he’s a bit ruder. He doesn’t really say hello to me and tends to turn his whole body to the door when I say he’s cleared to go. I think he doesn’t like the wait. His favorite colour is olive green. 

Francis Mosses: He isn’t all that interesting. He doesn’t hate his job, but he doesn’t like it. He jokes about just sleeping in his car a lot, and sometimes he just. Randomly breaks into scared ranting about our situation. He tends to stay alone, and when I went over to his house once it was. Kinda depressing, it didn’t feel like he actually lived there at all. He likes ribbons and collects them off the street, and he says his favorite colour is scarlet. 

Steven Rudboys: He’s much less serious than he comes off. He speaks quietly and mumbles a lot, but he gets loud when he’s excited. He has a passion for the history of planes, but not really of flying. He only really became a pilot because he struggles with doing matinence on the planes. He likes puns, and when he realizes he has an in he lights up a bit. He likes cats and birds, and he’s really good at making a duck call. 

Mclooy Rudboys: He called me “sweetheart” once and I tried blowing him up with my mind. He makes jokes about his son possibly not being his??? He’s divorced at least three times and told me “he’s lost count” and apparently he fought in World War 2 and retired from being a pilot after that. He likes eagles and only smokes cigars. 

Alf Cappuccin: He’s sort of hard of hearing and tends to not like. Understand what I’m saying so I have to use cards so he gets what I’m saying. He’s a few years younger than McClooy. He likes his porridge with brown sugar and raspberries and he likes the smell of brown paper bags. 

Rafttellyn Cappuccin: Rafttellyn tends to be quite nervous and timid, she doesn’t really talk much. She has the highest voice by far. She dyes her hair, it’s actually grey but she gets a bit nervous about it. She loves apples and always has them in a wooden bowl on her table. Her perfume smells like old roses.

[weirdmageddon]

yesterday i wrote a scene where jade wasnt a plot device and was left the hell alone in A6A5 because this being dave and jade’s last proper conversation in years made me sad and i wanted to see them reunite properly. i mixed a bit of narration in too even though it was rare around this point in the comic but its just to paint a better picture. also i wouldnt mind feedback on character voice (it’s important to me that the dialogue sounds believable)

[3 years are over, everyone is in the new session. The prospit ship is on LOMAX, as is everyone who arrived on the meteor, safely warped by Jade onto LOMAX as well. Jade has banished B2 Jack to the Furthest Ring already. She hasn't seen her friends in 3 years, not to mention she never met the trolls in person yet.]

[Jade teleports to LOMAX where John was talking with the meteor crew. Her eyes widen when she sees the trolls, giving everyone a greeting. Jade waves to the trolls.]

You’ll have time to catch up with them later. First you want to reconvene with Rose and Dave.

> ==>

Dave... Oh my god! DAVE!!! That’s right! The last time you saw him, he died in your arms after Jack redirected the bullets from your gun into his body!

JADE: dave!!!! DAVE: hey DAVE: this has been three years coming hasnt it DAVE: cmere

> ==>

[Dave hugs Jade with a slight grin on face. He notices her… sniffing him?? but doesn’t even bother to question it.]

JADE: it is so nice to hold your body when its not a corpse :) DAVE: ok DAVE: weird thing to say DAVE: actually who am i kidding who gives a shit DAVE: i almost forgot how much i missed the enigmatic riddlefuckery that is your phrasing DAVE: fortunately i have context for this so i know what youre saying DAVE: humor me for a sec and imagine that i didnt DAVE: but first DAVE: are those dog ears JADE: yes! i am part dog now JADE: because i prototyped my dreamself with becsprite JADE: jadesprite became part of me! and so did her doggy traits from bec DAVE: got it DAVE: oh yeah john mentioned that on the back of his dumb poster inside that bucket that appeared out of thin air DAVE: right before we had to haul ass out of there before jack caught up to us DAVE: karkat had a complete fucking meltdown over that btw i wish you couldve seen it DAVE: damn it feels like so long ago now JADE: heheheh i remember JADE: john realized it at the last second but it was too late! DAVE: of course it was johns idea only he could do something that gooberish DAVE: you know what this means though JADE: yup!! woof woof DAVE: it means youve done it harley DAVE: youve finally done it god damn it DAVE: the evolution of humankind is finally upon us DAVE: the scientists said it would never happen in our lifetime DAVE: but look what we have here DAVE: before me stands mans first legitimate furry subspecies DAVE: homo canis DAVE: as the name implies theyre gay as fuck btw DAVE: its too bad all those scientists are dead and cant witness this phylogenetic breakthrough DAVE: rip to the science community yall wouldve lost your collective shit DAVE: hey jade lets pour one out for the science community for being real ones

> ==>

You are still nestled into Dave’s shoulder. He’s taken a sort of protective position over you. Your perceptive barkbeast ears can hear his formerly bullet-riddled heart beating a mile a minute with the regularity of quartz beneath his time-branded pajamas, all the while he continues to ramble to you about certifiably dumb shit. You can tell Dave is psyched to see you again, even if he expresses it in his OWN bizarre way, which means extended metaphors and topical tangents. What a hypocrite, calling YOUR phrasing perplexing! You sure missed this guy.

You realize you started tuning him out while thinking about all this.

DAVE: jade JADE: umm homo is the species name JADE: so wouldnt that mean were all gay? :p DAVE: yeah that sounds about right DAVE: anyway enough of this bullshit

> ==>

[Dave motions to retract his arms since he doesn’t want it to get too weird, but Jade squeezes tighter. Dave immediately yields to the movement]

DAVE: jesus wow ok DAVE: really happy to see you too DAVE: like if you had a tail it would be wagging so forcefully youd be knocking over all the fucking furnishings in the room DAVE: just slapping it so hard on the owners thigh that it feels like theyre being flogged DAVE: talk about getting bitch slapped JADE: :D DAVE: so howve you been JADE: really really excited to see you guys all again!!! JADE: and to meet the trolls! DAVE: yeah theyre pretty weird DAVE: and im still not used to it DAVE: but it gets more manageable the longer youre around them DAVE: by the way JADE: ?

> ==>

DAVE: sorry you had to go through that JADE: through what? DAVE: seeing me die and stuff again DAVE: except that time right in front of you JADE: .... DAVE: when we were gathering up all those frogs i knew jack was going to appear DAVE: i was waiting and waiting to play it out DAVE: mentally rehearsing my fucking torso getting turned into swiss cheese and knowing you would have to watch on top of it DAVE: i had to make sure it happened to protect the integrity of the alpha timeline DAVE: but if you knew this was going to happen you wouldve tried to prevent it and created a doomed one DAVE: and so i didnt say anything DAVE: i couldnt DAVE: so DAVE: sorry for putting you through that JADE: oh..... JADE: dave D: JADE: well im here JADE: if you ever want to talk about it DAVE: its cool DAVE: you just deserve to know what happened there DAVE: but thanks DAVE: so am i JADE: yeah i know JADE: i guess i should be glad you did that then... JADE: even though i was freaking out when it happened ._. JADE: otherwise you wouldnt be here will us now dressed in your red god tier time pajamas DAVE: yeah these magical rags really are comfortable arent they DAVE: and they stay like perma clean JADE: they are! i would wear mine over and over for days on end JADE: id take a nice shower and put it right back on JADE: and you know how much i love cycling my outfits through my wardrobifier JADE: by the way dave your cape is sooo cool! :o DAVE: thanks DAVE: yeah i love it its hella soft DAVE: its like ive got a portable snuggle blanket with me in case i ever need to drop to the floor like a tired sack of shit and get my snooze on DAVE: ive got a permanent personal reservation at club bed featuring dj pillow and mc blanky JADE: heheheh JADE: can i touch your cape? DAVE: of course go nuts JADE: yaaaay!!

[lipstickchainsaw]

what are your thoughts on contrarian? not my fav voice exactly, but i thought he was interesting in the ending where you leave with the stranger

Woo, it's been almost two weeks, but I've been thinking about this one.

I think the Contrarian is a very interesting voice, because he's just very much enjoying getting to annoy the fuck out of the narrator, but at the same time, he raises so many goddamn questions.

I first came across him during the Razor, where he (alongside the Broken, but who cares about the Broken) joins the Cheated in Chapter 3, and let me tell you, the Cheated and the Contrarian are an amazing combo, and they played off of each other well, although the Cheated is obviously more emotionally invested in beating the system than the Contrarian.

It was only when I got the Contrarian on his own that, uh, some things stopped making sense to me.

To get the Contrarian as a voice, you have to avoid the cabin as much as you possibly can, which means you don't even meet the Princess in Chapter 1. To the Contrarian, then, the Princess doesn't even exist as a real being; the only person existing outside of you (the protagonist) is the Narrator, and so he makes poking at the Narrator his entire existence.

When he does meet the Princess, he still doesn't see her as a real person, just as a vessel to annoy the Narrator, and this even makes some degree of sense! With every choice you make down there, you break reality a bit and create another Princess! So of course he doesn't think the Princess is real.

It's only when the various Strangers mix into one messy whole, where he realises this was an actual person, and his empathy rushes in to go 'oh shit, what did we do?'

'I didn't think our actions would have consequences.'

And this is really compelling, story-wise! I like it a lot!

It just doesn't make any goddamn sense!

Because the common theory is that you influence the Princess through your perception and belief of her (and your refusal to see her turns the Stranger into a Schrödinger's Princess, so this makes sense), and how the Princess sees you influences what voice you get.

Except you haven't met the Princess.

So where the fuck does the Contrarian come from? What is he? We have good reason to believe the Voices are the result of the messy split between Shifting Mound and Long Quiet, right? But clearly it's not the Princess causing the Contrarian to arrive. There's only one person outside of you who knows how you behaved in Chapter 1, and that's the Narrator, except the instance of the Narrator dies at the end of every Chapter 1!

And anyway, why isn't the Narrator ever confused about the presence of other Voices? He doesn't ever seem to be surprised when they show up, even if he might be shocked at their abilities, but at the same time, he doesn't know what it means for there to be multiple of them, either?

So what the fuck is going on here? Is it really the Narrator's final impression of you that spawns the Voice in the next chapter, and not the Princess?

But even then, the Contrarian is special, isn't he?

He's the only non-Hero voice that can show up in the Cabin at the end, if you started with the Stranger route, and you know what he says?

He says he's 'right where you left [him]'. What the fuck does that mean? Presumably it's similar to what happens when you kill the Shifting Mound and the other Voices show up to join you in the new world, but the Contrarian still plays a different role.

I feel like there's answers to be had here, but I'm clearly not big-brained enough to figure them out just yet!

[bratkuna]

Shyness

Pairing: shisui Uchiha x reader

Pairing: Shisui x reader

A/N: The lack of shisui content is sad!!! so I had to contribute something lol. No warnings just shy shisui fluff with some jealousy mixed in :)

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

It may have went by unnoticed by others but there was another side to Shisui that you began to take notice of— a subtle undercurrent of… jealousy. Whenever someone else would engage you in conversation or even offer a friendly smile, Shisui's eyes would darken ever so slightly, his attention fixated on the interaction. He desired your attention, your closeness, and yet his shyness held him back from expressing those feelings openly.

You had found yourself sitting with shisui by your side under the shade of a blossoming cherry tree, enjoying a quiet moment of respite from the world. The serene atmosphere seemed to embolden you, prompting you to broach the subject that had been weighing on your mind.

"Shisui, there's something I've noticed," you began, your voice gentle and filled with genuine curiosity.

He glanced at you, his obsidian eyes shimmering with a mixture of uncertainty and intrigue. "What is it?" he asked, his voice carrying a slight tremor.

"It's just... I've noticed that you sometimes act shy around me," you admitted, studying his reaction closely.

Shisui's cheeks reddened, his gaze briefly dropping to the ground before he met your eyes once more. "I-I suppose you've noticed," he mumbled, his voice barely audible.

A faint smile played upon your lips as you reached out, gently taking his hand in yours. "It's endearing, Shisui. Your shyness only makes me appreciate you more."

His eyes widened in surprise, a mix of emotions flickering across his face—shyness, relief, and a lingering touch of jealousy. "You... appreciate it?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

Nodding, you leaned a bit closer, your voice softening. "And there's something else I've noticed too. Whenever someone else gets my attention, I see a flicker of jealousy in your eyes. Am I right?"

Shisui swallowed hard, his gaze growing more intense. "You're perceptive, as always," he admitted, his voice tinged with a touch of vulnerability. "I can't help but feel jealous when it seems like someone might take your attention away from me."

Your heart swelled with affection, understanding the depth of his emotions. With a gentle touch, you reassured him, "Shisui, you hold a special place in my heart. No one could ever replace you. I value you and the connection we share."

A mix of relief and adoration washed over Shisui's features. "Thank you," he whispered, his voice barely above a breath. "I've always treasured our bond too, and knowing that you feel the same... it means everything to me."

[inkblackorchid]

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 4)

*Deep breath* Okay, everybody. Let's do this one more time.

First off, hello, or welcome back. Let's get the introductions and disclaimers out of the way, shall we?

This is the fourth and final instalment in my very, very long-winded attempt to analyse the character writing of Crow over the course of the entirety of yugioh 5Ds. For everyone who hasn't read the previous parts of the analysis, you can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.

This post, and my analysis as a whole, is neither meant as a Crow hate post, nor as a manifesto to convince people who don't like him that they're wrong. It's as genuine an attempt to simply look at and dissect what the show gives us about him as I can make, though I admit to personal bias because I do like Crow. That said, I'm trying to stay as neutral as possible, because the aim of this entire post tetralogy is to look at the writing decisions made for this character and how they impact him—and how they possibly influenced the audience's perception of him.

My previous three posts all reference this as well, but since I still see these things parroted all across the internet to this day: Please don't read this post under the assumption that any of the 5Ds production rumours are true, especially not the ones surrounding Crow. Because, to make this as short as possible, every popular theory as to why certain characters were mishandled during the later parts of the show fails to line up with the production timeline of said show. Chiefly among those theories, the idea that Crow was meant to be a dark signer and that his popularity correlated to his cards, and the idea that Aki, specifically, had to give up her screentime for him because her VA got pregnant, which both lack any basis in reality, as you can read in the posts I linked. (One final shoutout to @mbg159 here, who compiled these incredibly comprehensive posts and can also be found here on tumblr. Huge thanks.) So if you can do me one favour, please just let the 5Ds rumours die already and read this analysis without the hope of seeing any of them confirmed. I'm so sick of these crackpot theories at this point that I can hardly find the words for it. And while we're on the topic, I also don't want to see this post used as a means to pit Aki and Crow against each other in any way—both have good reasons to be well-liked and both deserve their spot in the narrative, all right? All right.

And now, at last, let's get down to business. The last time I got on a virtual soapbox and yelled about Crow, I covered the entire WRGP, murder-duel-robot induced break included. That means that for this, final stretch, we'll be looking at everything from episode 137 onwards—the Ark Cradle arc. (A side not for dub aficionados here: Episode 136 was the last episode that got an English dub. In other words, everything I talk about here never even made it into the English version. Because 4Kids, I guess.) As we've done before, we'll take a look at what exactly Crow gets up to during the final stretch of the show (and, notably, the epilogue), then see whether any of it needed improving, and if so, how it could have been improved.

You'll find all further yelling below the readmore, and I'll leave you with the other, usual warning here, as well: This will be long. Even if the Ark Cradle arc, relative to the rest of the show, isn't, this post most certainly will be. So get some snacks and perhaps don't start reading this late at night unless you're good at knowing when to stop and reading stuff in bursts. (I'm not.)

As I concluded at the end of my last post, the WRGP ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for Crow. He's there, he duels, but at the same time, despite being positioned as an equal third of a protagonist trio, he's notably less important and arguably also weaker than Yusei and Jack. Moreover, where the plot is concerned, he sure didn't get too much to do—not to speak of the fact that the writers didn't grace him with any meaningful interactions with a certain character who'll become very relevant here.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, the preamble.

With the end of the Team New World duel, the final arc of the show drops the by this point unexpected arrival of the Ark Cradle right on our heads. So, what does Crow do here, at the start, other than be shocked? Well, not much. A lot of the first episode that introduces the Ark Cradle focusses more on the imminent threat said structure poses to New Domino City, and we flash back to our protagonists mostly to ascertain that things are, in fact, going to shit. Even once that focus on the city evacuating shifts again, the episode concerns itself more with Yusei than with Crow. However, meagre as it is, we do get the first interaction between Crow and Sherry during the Ark Cradle arc in this episode.

(Uh.... at least they're technically talking to each other?)

And frankly... It's not much. Unfortunately, up until the duel where he faces her, the Ark Cradle arc continues a trend regarding interactions between Crow and Sherry that we already saw in the WRGP: They barely get to interact, and even when they do, they never have anything so much as resembling a meaningful conversation, mostly because Sherry basically never addresses Crow directly, nor seems very interested in him, while Crow is usually there only to react to what she's saying, rather than actually talk to her. While digging through my mountain of screenshots, I found that latter part to be especially interesting, because as it turns out, this is a trend not just in Crow's interactions with Sherry, specifically. Many moments that probably contribute to the nefarious "screentime" (I've explained my gripes with this term in part two) some people like to accuse Crow of hogging have him only be part of a scene so he can react to what happens in it, to the point of him sometimes feeling like a stand-in for the audience reaction the writers might be hoping for. The above is a perfect example, because as far as character writing is concerned, Crow's "interaction" with Sherry here is utterly devoid of meaning. He's just there to communicate his disbelief over the ominous prediction that Yusei is guaranteed to die if he goes to the Ark Cradle, which feels like exactly the kind of reaction the writers probably wanted from the audience. After all, it's a bold, shocking statement to make. The protagonist, dying? In a card game anime geared towards twelve year-olds? It's downright preposterous. And Crow seems to agree with that, if his dialogue is anything to go by.

This one and other scenes (mostly the kind that contain plot elements that Crow doesn't actually interact with) got me thinking, though, and after having gone through so much of the show with a fine-tooth comb now, I think I've come to a conclusion, so permit me a tangent here: I believe the choice to let Crow, specifically, be a character who often only reacts to events or interactions after the DS arc, rather than contributing much himself, is deliberate. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's the only character who is frequently put in this position—Aki, the twins, and even Bruno, especially when they're on the sidelines in the WRGP, also often only seem to be there to react or comment on things, perhaps partially to remind us viewers that they still exist, despite not being in a position where they contribute anything to the plot. With how much the twins and Aki got pushed to the side after the pre-WRGP and the Unicorn duel, respectively, and with how toned-down Bruno's entire character is until the very end, as not to spoil his tragic antagonist status too much, Crow in particular ending up as an often reactive, rather than active character stands out a bit more, though. And I think this has everything to do with his personality, because it contrasts that of Jack and Yusei. Think of it. Sure, Crow is shown several times to be just as cool and competent as the other two, but what he has that the other two crucially lack is the ability to freak out like a normal person. I'm being hyperbolic here, of course, but I do genuinely believe this, because when I think back to the show, Jack and Yusei, due to their character writing, only ever seem to be allowed to lose their cool during pretty specific circumstances, and only in very specific ways. Jack, for example, only ever gets to freak out either when a scene paints him as the butt of the joke (like during his infamous, dramatic outburst over cup ramen), or when the freakout is caused by—and expressed as—righteous (or not so righteous) fury (like when he storms off angrily after catching everyone watching his old duel with Dragan). Meanwhile, Yusei is played so straight that we barely ever see him lose his composure at all, outside of intensely dramatic, high-stakes situations (think his dark signer duels with Kiryu, his confrontation with Roman, his initial failure to accel synchro). Hell, the closest we get to ever seeing him be mildly upset about something like a normal person, as far as I can recall, is when he gets embarrased by Martha calling him out on his perceived crush on Aki. That's it.

Crow, though. Crow's allowed to do something the other two aren't: He's allowed to react to the world around him like your average guy. Jack blows through their household money for expensive coffee. Crow gets upset. Understandable. Crow gets injured right before his big debut in a turbo duelling tournament and is upset to the point of snapping at his friends over it. Understandable. Seeing Yaeger's kid cheering his dad on and knowing that this kid will cry if his dad loses makes Crow relent and throw the match. Understandable. Sherry predicts Yusei's imminent death due to hocus pocus and Crow calls bullshit. Understandable.

Do you see what I'm driving at? With how the show treats the other two Satellite boys, I'd argue none of the moments above would have worked anywhere near as well if the writers had tried to make Jack or Yusei take Crow's place in any of them. Because while Yusei and Jack, I feel, were certainly written to be the coolest characters (at least to the target audience), Crow seems like he was written to be the most relatable. He's the guy who takes on a delivery job when they need money. He's the guy who complains about his cranky landlady. And he's the guy who reacts to insane nonsense happening around him a little more realistically than his defeated-an-ancient-devil-to-absorb-its-power brother, his shouldering-the-guilt-of-a-cataclysmic-event-decades-ago other brother, their mutual previously-violent-psychic-who-was-part-of-a-cult friend, and the one-of-us-can-see-spirits-and-we-share-a-weird-kind-of-magical-bond twins. As such, it doesn't feel too out there to me to claim that in many situations, they made Crow the stand-in for the audience, because he has a less iron composure than Jack and Yusei, is readily available in many scenes by virtue of living with the other two, and happens to be the guy who has the arguably most normal backstory out of the signers. (Save, perhaps, for Rua, but I've already addressed before why the writers barely ever pulled Rua centre stage for anything. And they certainly wouldn't have pulled him centre stage for this, either.)

Now, as far as character writing is concerned, assuming I'm at least halfway correct with my hunch above, I feel that whether or not this decision is good or a shot in the foot on the writers' part depends largely on every audience member's individual perception of Crow after the DS arc. If you liked seeing this scrappy guy introduced during the DS arc, of course you would have been happy to see more of him! Even if he's only present in scenes to comment on what's going on and doesn't actually get to do anything meaningful. If you didn't like Crow that much, though, I can see how him popping up so often only to yap a bit and contribute essentially nothing could have grated on you. And as I said, I think this is where the "screentime" discussion comes in again, because yeah, Crow is very much on screen in all these little-bit-of-nothing scenes. He doesn't get to do much and his character isn't fleshed out or reinforced in any way, but he sure is there. For better or for worse.

And this—this is where I can finally get back to him and Sherry. Because in his interactions specifically with her, it is for worse, due to the fact that all the scenes that contain both of them before the Ark Cradle duel are pretty much exclusively these kinds of little-bit-of-nothing, reactive scenes. Crow doesn't get to interact with Sherry meaningfully, and he never—and I need to empathise this—, not once gets to interact with her one on one, not until the end-of-series duel both of them take part in happens. What makes Crow's lack of meaningful interactions with Sherry even worse is that his later duelling partner against her is Aki, of all people, who by contrast gets to interact with Sherry a whole bunch, most notably during her duel against Yusei. Not only that, but Sherry is also shown to actually be interested in Aki, which cannot be said for Crow. Yet, still in the same episode I was describing above, while the Ark Cradle begins its descent, it's not Aki, but Crow who is entrusted with this card by Mizoguchi/Elsworth:

(I'd like to point out that the dialogue following this moment doesn't make it clear whether Crow even knows what Sherry's connection to this card is. For all we know, this could be the first time Crow sees it, without being aware of any of the context surrounding it.)

You know, the card that's essentially a symbol of Sherry's attachment to her parents and her commitment to revenge. The card that basically her entire character revolves around. For a single piece of cardboard, this thing comes with a lot of narrative baggage attached, yet canon doesn't even take the time to assure us that Crow knows what Z-ONE means, other than it being a memento of Sherry's parents, as Mizoguchi explains. And frankly, this all feels like a rather ham-fisted attempt to get some last-minute setup for the later confrontation between Crow and Sherry in. It's like the writers desperately wanted to feel the emotional moment in the duel later to feel earned; they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. There's only one problem: They didn't even bake the damned thing, the ingredients are just sitting around, untouched, as if staring at them long enough will magically make a cake manifest.

But, well, since I'm already talking about this, I may as well get into the actual meat of the matter, because frankly, it's not like Crow gets much else to do at the start of the arc. Yusei takes off because he at first wants to go to the Ark Cradle alone (like an idiot), leading to the signers coming after him (and telling him he's an idiot). Joining this effort and assuring Yusei that they won't let him die alongside the others is as much as Crow gets to do before the inevitable three-way duel starts.

(That said, while it doesn't accomplish anything, I've always appreciated this little moment while Yusei still tries to pull his stupid kamikaze plan—Crow would know more shortcuts in the BAD area than he does. After all, he lived there for a good while!)

After that, everyone gets up to the Ark Cradle and, as we all know, the signer group is forcibly split up by Z-ONE before deciding to go to a Yusei gear each in order to shut down Ark Cradle's negative Moment. (Top ten sentences that wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who isn't up to their neck in 5Ds lore.) And the very first duel on the menu in this final stretch of episodes is also Crow's final duel in the entire show.

(Drumroll please.)

Here's the thing. I love this duel, actually. I get extremely hyped every time I rewatch it. BUT. But. I do not love it so blindly that I couldn't see that it has not one, but several issues. Not only that, but those issues don't just rest on Crow's shoulders, they sadly rest on the shoulders of all three participants in this duel, because frankly? Alongside the four-way Jack/Rua/Ruka/Aporia duel, this duel is one of the Ark Cradle arc's desperate attempts to tie up loose ends. Because as much as I enjoy this arc, that's exactly what it is: A race to the finish line, an attempt to tie as many loose ends as possible up in as little time as the show could get away with. To make clear why I think this, let me just list off all the things this arc resolves or at the very least tries to tie up with a neat bow:

It reintroduces Aki's psychic powers, which we were previously led to believe she'd lost. Notably, we didn't get a reason for why they disappeared and don't get a reason for why they reappear, either. It also turns them into healing powers in an attempt to establish a reason for why she later studies medicine.

It explains what happened to Sherry and what actually drives her revenge. Furthermore, it releases her from her narrative fridge-prison in order to actually let her duel Aki (yes, Aki, specifically), which is a confrontation that was subtextually implied several times previously.

It resolves the question of Bruno's identity by revealing him as an antagonist.

It finally reveals Life Stream Dragon, who was at this point teased over seventy episodes ago.

It also finally rewards Rua, who was teased to possibly become a signer during the DS arc, with an actual signer mark. (As short-lived as it may be.)

It actually explains Iliaster's real plan, which is Z-ONE's hope that the 5Ds gang can actually save the future.

Speaking of which, it actually explains who Z-ONE is and why he's a big deal. (Remember, this guy was first teased a good while ago at this point in time.)

Alongside Sherry, it dusts off several protagonists who didn't get an opportunity to duel on-screen and lets them duel one, final time. (Notably, Aki, Rua, and Ruka, who at this point haven't been seen duelling since the early WRGP or even pre-WRGP.)

You may notice that none of these bullet points contain Crow. They do, however, contain Aki and Sherry, both of whom went into this finale with several unanswered questions as to their characters. Crow, not so much. But let's just put a pin in that for now while we actually jump into the duel.

*Cracks knuckles* Aki & Crow VS Sherry. Here we go at last. Fair warning, the character writing of all three participants of this duel overlaps a fair bit here, so expect to hear a bit of a mishmash about our revenge trio.

So, how does this duel start? Firstly, with Sherry waxing poetic about why she's even opposing Team 5Ds now.

(A dramatic switch of sides that sadly doesn't hold a candle to Bruno turning out to be Antinomy. Which, funnily enough, might be why this duel is front-loaded and Bruno's comes later.)

I won't dig into this too much, but I just want to point out the one thing this moment gives us: It establishes character motivation. Sherry claims she can no longer get revenge and has thus lost her purpose. (The reason why she can no longer get revenge, if you're interested, is because Moment Express, her final lead, vanished in its entirety, as far as canon is concerned.) Thus, she took the bait when Z-ONE offered her a new purpose, and, more importantly, a reward. Now, Aki and Crow at this point in the episode don't get to hear what that reward is, but for our analysis, it's important to keep in mind: Z-ONE promised Sherry he'd alter the timeline so she would get her parents back if she helps him. And I think this is immensely important because this is not only Sherry's goal in the present, I think it's actually the core of her character from the very first moment we meet her. In classic, tragic-avenging-type character fashion, she claims to want revenge when what she's really doing is trying to numb the pain of the awareness that she'll never get her parents back. (Though I'll admit this may also be my generous read of her as a person who likes revenge-obsessed characters.) And then, Z-ONE dangles the actual thing she wanted all along before her. Of course she took the bait.

This brings us to the start of the duel itself. As we know, Sherry employs some tactics that feel quite different from what she previously did in this duel. First and foremost, she messes with the mechanics of the duel itself by using the field spell Ecole de Zone, creating an illusion that confuses Aki and Crow into duelling not her, but each other at first. Sherry, meanwhile, takes a very passive role, clearly intent on letting the two destroy each other while she sporadically activates card effects to accelerate this. What makes all this stand out as even more unusual for her is that she sets this up by lying. At the beginning of the duel, she tells Aki and Crow that there's two of her, and that each duellist will fight one copy of her on a seperate field each, but this is a misdirection to make the two signers duel each other instead of her. And, look. I don't need to tell you this is out of character for Sherry. Canon literally does that for me.

(Case in point.)

It's only after Crow and Aki catch onto the fact that something's wrong and after Aki destroys the field spell that Sherry uses her "real strategy", switching to Soul Binding Gate, which inflicts real damage every time a monster with less attack points than her life points is summoned, in order to whittle away at both other duellists' life points. This is also the point where she reveals to her opponents that she's doing all this to get her parents back. While she does that, we get a bit more back and forth in terms of cardplay, until Aki sets the field up just right so Crow can land a very high-damage hit with Black-Winged Dragon to end the duel. And that is pretty much the gist of it on the duelling side of things.

So what's going on on the narrative side of things, then? Well. Let me front-load something I've noticed on the narrative end: This duel heavily interacts with Crow's and Sherry's characterisation, but barely at all with Aki's. I'll make clear what I mean by that below. For now, let's just get an overview by going through the character moments as they occur in the duel. Why go through all of them? Because most either interact with Crow in some way, or set up a later interaction in the same duel that he's a part of, that's why. I'll get into the nitty-gritty of what this duel did well and what it didn't after that. (Mostly. You may have noticed I like tangents and rambling excessively.)

So.

The first moment belongs to Aki and Crow in equal measure, and happens just as Ecole de Zone is destroyed—which Aki accomplishes by using Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, as well as prevent that synchro summon from being negated through the same monster's effect, so she can use her dragon's field wipe to get rid of Sherry's field spell. When Sherry is surprised by this, Aki and Crow explain that they memorised each other's cards as part of a strategic effort as a WRGP team.

(Friendship is, in fact, magic.)

Not only does this explanation make perfect sense, it's also an excellent little tidbit to tie Aki and Crow together as a tag-team here, as it strengthens the connection between them. The only gripe I could possibly see with this is that it feels like this didn't necessarily need to be a surprise, end-of-the-show reveal. Frankly, it could have been pretty cool to see this much earlier, to have members of Team 5Ds realise what their teammates were getting up to during the WRGP duels, for example. (Instead of so often having the other signers react just as shocked as the announcer to their teammates' plays—I'm side-eyeing the infamous "a trap from the graveyard"-moment in particular. Like, Aki, sweetie, if you memorised Crow's deck, why are you surprised that he has a trap he can activate from the graveyard? I digress.) Moreover, this could have built anticipation for this particular duel, as viewers would have been excited to see what Aki and Crow would come up with to defeat Sherry as a team. So this moment is not bad, really. Just a bit underutilised, at least to me. (The word "underutilised" might become a trend in this post.)

Every other character-driven moment from here on out is shoved into the second duel episode, 140. Speaking of which, this episode starts with Aki and Crow getting the reveal of why Sherry is helping Z-ONE, where she admits that she joined the bad guys because she wants her parents back. She even goes as far as stating that because Z-ONE showed her the future, she has no hope that it can be saved and thus at least wants her lovely past back so she can have some solace before everything goes to hell for humanity. But we already went over that above.

Next up, albeit this moment should probably be considered more of a running theme than just one self-contained thing, we have Crow's struggle with Soul Binding Gate. Remember, the effect of this field spell causes all players to take damage every time a monster with less ATK than Sherry's LP is summoned. And at this point in the duel, Aki is barely above 1000 life points, so Crow worries about triggering the field spell's effect and hurting her, which leads to him playing suboptimally because he's more concerned about his friend than about winning the duel. Notably, Aki calls him out on this.

(She has a point.)

Outside of providing an internal conflict for Crow to grapple with, this isn't much to write home about. (Side note: I do find it interesting that they introduce the fear of physically hurting someone in a duel specifically in connection to Aki here, though, given that through her psychic powers, she had to grapple with this exact issue many times in the past. I have no idea if this was intentional, though.)

Between this and the next moment, there's a nice bit of interplay between Crow and Aki again, where he activates a card to refill her life points just in time so she doesn't drop to zero through Soul Binding Gate, while Aki uses a defensive trap to protect Crow in return.

(This is just here because it's a money shot to me. The juxtaposition of their faces and their life points, showing that while Aki may have the lowest life points, she still has the coolest head in this duel, and while Sherry technically has the upper hand, she's beginning to falter because she didn't anticipate the other two to work so well together. It's chef's kiss. Mwah.)

What follows after this, is, of course, the Big Moment. Where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit so she can win and have Z-ONE change the past. And this is the one I really need to dig into.

With Sherry's earlier admission that she's on Iliaster's side because she wants her parents back acting as setup, she begins her attempt to sway Crow by telling him that if he had the opportunity to change the past, he would do it, too. And while Crow initially protests, Sherry challenges this, then proceeds to show him what Z-ONE's power could accomplish, and we get a lengthy sequence where Sherry, through weird cyborg-techno-magic-shenanigans that are never explained, takes Aki and Crow to a dreamlike space where Crow sees the orphans he used to take care of being happily reunited with their parents. Sherry also ominously tells him that this is "what he desires deep in his psyche" before promising him that if he surrenders the duel, Z-ONE can give him a world where Zero Reverse never occurred and all the kids can have happy lives with their real families. (I wanted to post most of this sequence in screenshots, but while I have them, I've realised I'm only a few images short of tumblr's limit already, so forgive me because I will need those remaining image spots.) This moment proceeds to introduce some serious doubt on Crow's end. Aki, meanwhile, remains steadfast, telling him not to fall for Sherry's manipulation, which leads to her giving an almost Yusei-style speech. In a moment where Crow wavers, both because he's genuinely considering whether taking Sherry's offer might be the wiser choice, and because he doesn't want to hurt Aki by triggering Sherry's field spell effect, Aki calls out to him and tells him to snap out of it by reminding him of how Yusei reached out to her during their second duel. This speech is a bit, um. Clunky, I feel. (At least if the translation is correct. If it isn't, then that may be the issue.) See, she tells him that Yusei "saved her from the darkness of her psychic powers", that "he wasn't concerned about his own safety and risked his life to persuade her", that, because her psychic powers are now gone, she's "renewed" and that this somehow brought her to the epiphany that as long as she believes in her own potential, she can change the future. This is lifted almost verbatim from the scene, by the way. Leaving aside the fact that half of this feels like a mild to severe misrepresentation of Aki's character arc during the DS arc (don't talk about it, don't talk about it, I need to make this another post of its own, damn it), I, personally, can't exactly follow how she ended up with that final epiphany from the circumstances she listed. But lucky for us, Crow apparently gets what she's driving at, because he quickly echoes her statement and they both conclude that Crow's kids also believe in the future and fight to live, that they're not sad about their lives the way they are right now, even though they don't have parents. Thus, Crow catches himself, echoing Aki's sentiment and telling Sherry that he, too, believes in the future. And through the power of Friendship and Believing in the Future, he manages to use Aki's cards to land the final hit, nicely mirroring how she used his to destroy Ecole de Zone.

...Phew. Okay, look. First off, that above, large section is basically several character beats stacked on top of one another. On Sherry's end, we have the intriguing fact that she's specifically trying to manipulate Crow, not Aki. In fact, she doesn't so much as try to sway Aki, as though she knows it's no use. Then, on Aki's end, we've got her pulling a real Yusei, staying level-headed almost the entire duel and reaching out to make sure Crow stays on track. This moment also ties back to her own conflict with her powers again. (Which, unfortunately, I will talk about, and yes, I'll be chewing drywall the entire time I do it.) Finally, on Crow's end, we've got a nice, proper moment where he doubts himself and, by his own admission, nearly makes a terrible mistake because he wants nothing more than for the kids he used to take care of to have good lives.

Now, before I go over what worked about this moment and what didn't, let me just chew through the rest of the actual duel itself, too, then circle back too highlight some things. In other words, time for me to chew some drywall.

*Sigh*

At the very end of the duel, there are two more character moments that are noteworthy.

First, right before the final hit, we get Sherry desperately defending herself against Aki and Crow's newly strengthened belief that the future can, in fact, still be saved, which she does by (rather heartbreakingly) asking what's so wrong about wanting her parents back, about wanting their love and warmth back. It's at this point that Crow's allowed to get back at Sherry by challenging her beliefs, telling her that people "work hard to live because they only get one chance at life", and that there's no point in trying to go back to do things differently, that the only way to keep going is to believe in the future, regardless of whatever painful and sad events one has had to live through. I'd say this sentiment certainly fits Crow, character-wise, especially given his rough Satellite background. It does partially fall flat because it feels a bit weird for him, specifically, to now be acting like he knows Sherry inside and out, much like she did with him earlier, but again, this is simply a matter of setup and I'll try not to belabour that point again. The horse is already dead, no sense in beating it. It's after this speech and the final attack that Sherry finally realises her error.

Buuut this leads us right into the next character moment. Because as the duel ends, Sould Binding Gate physically falls apart, pelting all three of our duel participants in debris and threatening to crush them under it. While everyone does briefly fall over (and Sherry gets a moment to realise that her father wanted her to live strong, not accept seemingly inevitable doom and die weak), they soon realise they were not, in fact, buried under rubble, though. Because guess what! Black Rose Dragon to the rescue. Black Rose Dragon, who can suddenly physically affect her surroundings again. You know, that thing we were led to believe Aki could no longer make her monsters do because she lost her powers completely out of nowhere. And there's more! Because not only does Black Rose Dragon take care of the debris for the trio, as she disappears, she also heals all three of them, and in response, Crow gets a line that I unfortunately cannot for the life of me discuss without bias because it kills me every time.

(Crow. Crow, please. You're killing me. I beg you.)

This line out of Crow's mouth feels extremely weird to me, and in the process of typing up this post, I've been trying to find the reason why. Here's the conclusion I've come to: Firstly, it feels a bit out of place from him, somehow. A line hypothesising about what psychic powers can or can't do—this is something I would have expected out of Aki's mouth, but not out of Crow's. I believe what makes it feel so out of place, though, isn't necessarily that it seems a bit odd for him, specifically, to theorise about this, but that when I hear it, I don't feel like the character is saying it. Instead, in this moment, moreso than in some others that suffer from the same issue, I hear not Crow, but the writers speaking. I hear them telling me "look, we know we made it seem like Aki's powers are super gone and like they were super, irredeemably bad, and like she and you should be happy that they're gone, but here, see, this is what they're really like. Don't you think we came up with something clever here, to set her becoming a doctor later up nicely? No, this isn't because we needed to backpedal on our decision to make her lose them and be happy about it at the last second, why do you ask?". And yes, I concede this might just be me. (So feel free to disregard this in terms of analysis, I just have some weird kind of vendetta against this line.) But still, even without my personal issues hampering me, this line of dialogue out of Crow's mouth is just plain odd. After all, how would he know what "real" psychic powers are? Since when is he the expert, especially considering we've never so much as seen him comment on Aki's powers before? (And for the record, this line would have seemed just as weird had any other character other than Aki said it imo. It just has that unmistakable "writers trying to justify something at the last second"-tang to me.)

And do not. Do Not get me started on the fact that the writers, despite going to such great pains to paint Aki's psychic powers as an exclusively negative thing especially during the WRGP arc, decide to reintroduce them here, suddenly as a good thing that can also heal people, which directly contradicts every choice they've made when it came to Aki's relationship to her powers ever since the Team Catastrophe duel. While crucially also lacking the one thing this entire duel is practically begging for: Fucking. Setup. But at this point, the handling of Aki's powers, specifically, really needs its own post, so I'll hold off on any further comments here and come back to that another time. I feel like I'm beginning to talk in circles, anyhow. Setup. Setup, setup, setup. This duel wishes it had it, because then the ideas presented here—which, in a vacuum, are compelling—might have worked smoothly.

But, with that. We have finally made it through the duel itself. Sherry, at the very end, gets her change of heart and at last cements herself as a good guy, and that concludes the first duel in the finale, and also both Aki and Crow's last duel in the entire show.

And good lord, was this duel all over the place. Though I think my meandering scene-by-scene breakdown of it showed as much. Now, onto the proper evaluation of what worked and what didn't here. First, let's get the good these two episodes do out of the way, shall we. (Because there is a lot of Bad I need to yell about, unfortunately.)

By virtue of being one of the final duels, this is Aki and Crow's last chance to shine, and shine, they do. Both in the duelling department and in the character department. Aki makes two major plays that upend Sherry's strategy and Crow's perfectly in sync with her, showing that the two truly are teammates, and paying off all the character moments they had specifically in the Team Unicorn to Team Catastrophe section of the WRGP. Their friendship and cooperation is believable and entertaining to watch. Then on the character side, Aki's growth is (somewhat) paid off—where she used to be a character that doubted herself and was afraid of hurting people, she is now the one who can keep a level head and help others fight their self-doubt. Meanwhile, Crow gets to show off his unfailing dedication to community and family again, both by watching out for Aki and by selflessly desiring not for himself to have a better life, but for the kids he used to take care of. And Sherry, who was previously removed from the narrative in such an unsatisfactory way, finally gets to duel again, gets to explain why she actually does what she does, and gets to join the heroes at the end, permanently joining the ranks of the good guys instead of the villains. Happy endings all around.

Ehem. And this is where I'm gonna be less nice about this duel. Because the problem is, due to the specific constellation of characters involved in this duel and how they previously interacted in the show, there's a lot of stuff here that doesn't work nearly as well on a second watch as a first watch would like to make you believe.

First, a broader issue on the card game end of things: The way this duel feels, it's very much more Aki's duel than Crow's, which is also kind of confirmed in the card plays being made. Though it's Crow who's first shown to catch onto the fact that a third party is activating additional card effects out of nowhere, it's Aki who fully solves the mystery, uses Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, then activates her dragon's effect to get rid of the illusion for good. And while Crow gets to land the final hit, it's Aki's setup and her trap, Synchro Stream, that make it possible for him to win for both of them. And yet. On the dialogue- and character-interaction side of things, this duel is made out to be much more Crow's than Aki's. Because, perhaps surprisingly to some, Aki doesn't waver one bit in this duel. She's got her head in the game the entire time. She's here to do business—that business being defeating Sherry—and by god, does she do it. Moreover, unlike Crow, she has much, much better setup to be duelling Sherry than he does. And this comes right back around to the main thing this duel suffers from, which I've already harped on about: Crow and Sherry, up until this point, have not interacted in a way that would make the connection between them seem in any way significant. Unfortunately for this duel, though, Aki and Sherry have.

From the first episode where we're introduced to Sherry, she's shown to be interested in who Aki is and what she can do. During the duel between her and Yusei, she comments on Aki's powers. Later, when Aki is getting her turbo duelling license, Sherry watches on with interest. At some point while Aki's training, Sherry drops by to speak with her and Yusei again. My point here being, of course, that Aki, unlike Crow, got several scenes where she interacted with Sherry or had Sherry meaningfully take note of her existence before this point. Yet, whatever dynamic the writers may or may not have been aiming for between these two is, at best, underutilised in the final duel, if not completely ignored, at worst. Instead, the writers shift their focus to Crow and try to make us believe that Sherry, a character who has barely acknowledged his existence thus far, would know him well enough to consider him the better target for her attempt at manipulation. (And don't get me started on how the hell Z-ONE's weird robot magic is supposed to expose what Crow "desires deep in his psyche". That is simply a chasm the show expects us to suspend our disbelief over.) And look. The thing is, I don't think the Big Moment where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit is terrible in isolation. Like, they could have made this work, had they given these two setup, had they given us, the audience, reason to believe Crow could be swayed like this (which they, notably, also didn't), and had they given us the impression that Sherry knows Crow well enough to pull something like this. What hurts the scene immensely, however, is that it's preceded by everything before, starting from the WRGP, where there is no setup between these two, no reason to believe Crow could be convinced to forfeit a duel against a major antagonist, and no meaningful interactions to support the belief that Sherry knows who Crow really is at all.

What also stands out to me is that Crow really doesn't feel like the best character to parallel Sherry, here, either. Parallel in the sense that she tries to get to him by expressing a desire she believes they both feel—getting a certain, nicer version of the past they never had back. Because the thing is, Sherry and Crow hardly feel like they have very much in common, and there's certainly no previous hints to make anyone believe they would have this in common. (So for all we know, Sherry could have just been taking a shot in the dark by trying to convince Crow.) You know who could have made for an excellent character to mirror Sherry, though? Yeah. The third person in the room during this scene. Aki.

See, here's the thing about these three as characters, in relation to what this scene tries to accomplish (getting a protagonist to waver by having the antagonist appeal to certain emotional similarities between them): While Crow may perhaps be more relatable to the audience, he isn't all that relatable to Sherry. He comes from dirt poor origins, she from rich ones. He doesn't even remember his parents, she defines herself by the memory of hers. She's a lone wolf, he's incredibly community-focussed. The only parallel you could have drawn between these two, up until this duel, is knowing what it feels like to want revenge. (Sherry with her parents, Crow with his kids back in the DS arc.) But guess what, unfortunately, Aki knows that too, what with her past as the Black Rose Witch and wanting to make people pay for ostracising her. And to make matters worse, she has a lot of other things going for her that parallel Sherry much, much better, too. They both come from well-off families, both have had major, traumatising events in their lives revolve around their parents, both left their initial family structure by way of drastic changes in their life, both are intimately familiar with the desire for vengeance, and, most damningly, Aki knows what it's like to stand on the side of the bad guys—like Sherry is doing in that very scene—because you feel like it's the only place that gives you hope/meaning. Not to speak of the fact that Aki, given her turbulent past with her psychic powers, would probably know exactly what it feels like to want a past you never had back. There would have been so much to work with there, and it makes whatever they were gunning for with Crow look... lacklustre, to put it mildly, by comparison.

The worst part is, I think, that the blame lies neither with the characters nor with the scene concept here. Solely with the execution. Because I truly think they could have made this work. They could have made the entire duel work, big character moments and all. But the keyword is and always has been setup. Setup, which the writers, at least in part, strangely gave to Aki, but not to Crow, which is what hurts particularly his portion of this duel, and, arguably, his character writing in general. Because—and this may be a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but permit me this—while Crow wanting a better future for the kids he used to take care of over a better future for himself feels perfectly on brand, the idea of him forfeiting a duel against a major antagonist, while the threat of the entire city being destroyed is hanging above his head... doesn't. Like, yes, I've talked about the fact that Crow is the only character in 5Ds who ever actually loses duels on purpose. What you may remember, though, is that both occasions we've seen him do this—against Lyndon and Yaeger, respectively—were much lower-stakes duels than this. Not to speak of the fact that it also feels a little odd that Crow, of all people, would buy into the idea that Z-ONE's genuinely powerful enough to just give those kids their parents back, given how liberally he called bullshit on pretty much any and all supernatural mumbo-jumbo claiming that fate is inevitable, or that the gods have this-and-that power, or what have you the entire show. (Also, doesn't he strike you as the guy who'd wonder why Z-ONE's not using his fancy powers for better things, if the extent of them is so great? Or is that just me?) It's a moment of character doubt that tries to sell itself as believable, even though we've never been given any hints that this kind of temptation, specifically, could work on Crow.

Ultimately, Crow & Aki VS Sherry feels like a very hot-and-cold duel. On the cardplay side, the teamwork between Aki and Crow is well done, yet the duel does feel like it skews more towards Aki than towards Crow. Sherry, meanwhile, plays tricky and mean like a proper antagonist, but does so at the expense of sacrificing all her previous tactics and monsters (and, arguably, some of her character, though this is probably on purpose, given her transformation into an antagonist). Then, on the character side, we've got Aki in an interestingly Yusei-ish role, which, while it feels like a good way to show how she's matured and learned, wastes her character dynamic with Sherry. On the other side, Crow and Sherry interact in several personal ways throughout the duel that leave you wondering when exactly these two got to know each other so well, because the show certainly didn't give us a visible progression of their dynamic. The only dynamic that leaves nothing to be desired is that between Aki and Crow (stilted speeches aside), because it excellently showcases their friendship and teamwork. Very weird decisions made in the writing here all around.

We'll get into the nitty-gritty of what changes I would have suggested to improve this duel below, but first: What happens after this duel? Well, two more Yusei gear duels, Aporia briefly standing up to Z-ONE, and then, the final, big clash between Yusei and Z-ONE.

Given that Crow isn't even present for two of these duels and then barely gets more to do than stand on the side and react during the final two, I will dare to skip all that, though. Because really, Crow's occasional comments and the play-by-play he sometimes joins the others in giving when spectating a duel don't exactly contribute anything to his character. They're just there so he gets something to do and doesn't fade into the background entirely when a duel that doesn't involve him is going on. This includes the moment where he, much like the other signers, gets to give Yusei Black-Winged Dragon for the final duel, as well as the later moment when Yusei uses it, chanting in tandem with Crow as BWD arrives. And other than that and the tear-jerking moment when he later reacts to Yusei returning despite all odds, he really doesn't get any noteworthy scenes.

In other words, we are skipping straight to the end. So, where do we find Crow there?

(Oh, y i k e s.)

There's a popular post circulating around this site that goes something like "the worst thing you can do to a character is make them a cop during a timeskip". And, look. I don't think I need to tell anyone that becoming a sector security officer is an extremely jarring character choice for Crow. Crow, of all people! The guy with the face full of markers, who used to be part of a duel gang, who was introduced in the show gleefully stealing from security Robin Hood-style, and who has every reason to despise law enforcement! (Leaving aside the obvious logistical issue that Crow in no country in the world could have completed his police training in the few months between the Ark Cradle debacle and this scene. But given that 5Ds generously brushes realistic concerns like this one aside on multiple occasions, this is, funnily enough, the thing I'm also more willing to overlook here. The character dissonance, however, less so.)

I'll try to be generous and guess that the writers were aiming to convey a message somewhere along the lines of "even someone who's done bad things in the past can become an example for others" or something like it. The problem is just that Crow didn't need any such message because he was already the good guy while he was still actively stealing from security. He was the lovable rogue to a T, damn it! But this, in particular, is a surface scratch hinting at a bigger issue, I think—namely, the issue of the show's complete pivot when it came to the depiction of law enforcement after the DS arc. Because when we think back to that part of 5Ds, good security officers were the exception, rather than the rule. And this is exactly what makes Crow of all characters becoming one even weirder. He would know, would remember how security used to treat him, his kids, his friends, his brothers. And if the idea here was that, well, he's trying to improve sector security by joining it and changing it from the inside, so to speak, then guess what was missing again: Our good, old friend setup. I'm starting to feel like a broken record. So yeah, I don't think a ton of people, whether they like or hate Crow, would disagree that this is a supremely weird position to put his character in.

As we find out through 5Ds' epilogue, however, his sector security job isn't quite what Crow actually wants, though. (And thank god, because that would have been such a bizarre position to leave him in.) Instead, we're shown fairly quickly that several duelling leagues are apparently trying to scout Crow out, and that he's tempted to accept one of the offers and go into pro duelling. This is at first shown in a short scene where something like a league scout follows Crow, then later, when the whole group—sans Jack, at first—is getting together and everyone starts discussing their futures. Aside from complaining a bit about his job and upsetting Aki without meaning to, Crow doesn't get much to do here, either. For what it's worth, at least him feeling tempted to ditch the security job feels more in line with the original Crow we got than with whatever strange twist the writers were going for after this shorter timeskip.

What follows is the very last duel of the show, the long-awaited Yusei VS Jack rematch, of course. And while he doesn't get to participate in this one, Crow, much like Aki and the twins, spectates the duel and ends up having an epiphany about what he wants to do. This epiphany ends up being that he does want to turn to pro duelling, and as a reasoning, canon provides us with this:

(As is known, intense card games are the only way to make children smile.)

Personally, I wouldn't say this is a terrible or out of character reason for Crow to decide to go pro. But there's more to that I'd like to discuss. First, though, let's take a quick look at where we find Crow after the second, bigger timeskip, which is inserted right in the middle of Yusei and Jack's final duel.

(Okay, yeah, I'm a sucker for the bullet earrings.)

The quick scene Crow gets here makes it unmistakably clear that he did go into pro duelling, just like he decided during the duel in the past, and not only that, he went into tag-team duelling and apparently managed to reach world champion status with his teammates. The above scene, however, is the exact same moment he decides to leave said team, so he can instead go solo and (presumably) try to beat Jack.

Now, we can discuss this in a bit more detail. Personally, I'm extremely in two minds about Crow being one of three characters, total, who ends up becoming a pro duellist after canon. Jack seems obvious, especially given the pivot back to his more Fortune Cup-esque persona the writers did around the Red Nova episodes. Rua also makes sense, given that Jack was his idol from the start. Crow, though, feels a little more complicated. The thing is, like so many things surrounding Crow in the Ark Cradle arc, the writers gave us no indication pro duelling is something he's really passionate about before this point. Worse, they didn't even really tell us what reason he saw to participate in the WRGP with his brothers beyond "could be fun". So there isn't really a connection here. The same thing goes for the fact that he specifically talks about teaching his teammates above, which is also something he wasn't associated with all that much previously. Though this one is admittedly less egregious, because at least Crow was seen briefly coaching Aki as she prepared to take his spot during the Unicorn duel. Still, while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's an out of character choice for Crow to go pro, it still feels a little odd that he went down the same route as Jack. Personally speaking, it feels like the writers didn't quite know what to do with him. Because as I said, Jack is obvious and Rua also makes sense, and I'd say the same goes for Yusei. Then there's Ruka, who is treated about as in-depth in the epilogue as she was throughout canon, and Aki, whose "setup" for her timeskip self was done extremely hasty and last-minute, but at least it was there. Between all of them, Crow occupies a weird spot where it doesn't so much feel like he ended up on the wrong trajectory for his life, as it simply feels like there were choices the writers could have made that would have fit him much better. What with his theme of legacy and community, trying to make Pearson's dream of a place where disenfranchised children can learn good life skills a reality would have been a good fit, for example. Especially considering his close ties to the Satellite orphans he used to take care of, which, funnily enough, are reinforced one more time as canon flips back to present day and Crow is seen bidding his kids goodbye.

("Come back"? When, precisely? And what part about "literally saved the world twice" doesn't qualify you as a hero to a bunch of kids ten times over already?)

Considering canon seems hellbent on making sure we know the signers went their separate ways and that they aren't anywhere near each other by the very end of the show, though, my guess is that Crow had to end up doing something like pro duelling, in order to get him out of New Domino City and away from the friend group whose shenanigans we were so accustomed to following by that point. Of course, there's also the argument to be made that Crow staying in NDC and getting a more community-focussed ending would have also been significantly less cool than making him a kickass pro duellist with bullet earrings, which circles back to how the writing interacts with its target audience.

The only thing that follows after this, then, is the big goodbye, and with that, ladies, gentlemen, and other lovely 5ds nerds, we have successfully followed bird boy's path throughout the entire show. And what a ride it was. (I did not think this analysis would end up stretching over a whole four posts.) Time for some closing thoughts before I do my thing and suggest some rewrites that could have made all this feel more coherent one more time.

Crow's character arc, if it can even be called that, feels about as hot and cold as his and Aki's final duel with Sherry over the course of the show. His introduction is fast-paced, he's made to be likable quickly, and his integration into the main protagonist group is as quick as everything else about his narrative. Between the way he shows up out of nowhere, briefly disappears without fanfare, and is then reintroduced with even more importance before slipping into the signer group like he's always been there, it truly feels like his entire inclusion in the narrative was a last-minute decision by the writers to include that one, additional character concept Kazuki Takahashi had originally created after all. If there was one way to describe his whole arc, it would be that it's a rush. At the start, the writers are in a hurry to make him likable, then they're in a hurry to make him a signer, then they're in a hurry to give us a whole backstory for him, then they're in a hurry to give him a believable character dynamic with Aki, and at the end, they're in a hurry to pay off a character dynamic with Sherry they didn't properly set up with him. You may notice that leaves significant gaps, and the lack of balance between those gaps and the rushes surrounding them, I believe, are part of why he's such a polarising character.

Crow is integrated so thoroughly into the signer group at the end of the DS arc that, much like Aki and the twins, he gets stuck in the position of being a character that cannot simply be removed from the narrative for a longer amount of time. And this, I think, ends up biting him in the ass, because in the gaps where the writers don't rush to do something big with him, it often feels like they don't quite know what to do with him at all. So, he instead gets relegated to small side tasks, like inane duels that don't affect the plot, or becomes the person who reacts to unfolding situations in whatever manner wouldn't fit Yusei or Jack. He feels like he's the third portion of the protagonist trifecta only in theory—the status of an equal third player seems to be what the writers had in mind, yet, looking at the show, it feels like an honorary title, at best, because the writing choices made for him don't convey anywhere near the same amount of thought and effort as those of Yusei and Jack. Crow's backstory doesn't intersect significantly with that of his brothers, his dragon is introduced way too late and never given an upgrade, he never gets to clash with Iliaster until the Team New World duel, and throughout the entire WRGP and Ark Cradle arc, there isn't a single duelling victory that's solely his. People who prefer other characters over Crow like to harp on about how much screentime he gets; I argue that this is exactly what showcases how poorly the writers took care of him in many instances. For as much as Crow is plastered onto the screen and given the aesthetics of an equal player in a protagonist trio, his many appearances are as much of a curse as they are a gift, because too many of them aren't spent setting up anything meaningful or developing his character in any way. Speaking of character development: There is none. Crow exits the show pretty much exactly the same as he entered it, brief security stint aside. And, look, this need not necesarily be a bad thing. Static characters exist and they have their place in stories. It's just that in Crow's case, his utter lack of development feels like another damning indicator of the writers' cluelessness when it came to utilising him, given his weird, sort-of-elevated-protagonist. Aki, who is so often weighed against him, gets significantly more development than he does. And though Jack also ends up in almost the same place at the end of the show as he was at the start, at least he had a dip in the middle where his character was somewhat malleable and not set in stone. Crow didn't.

What we end up with, then, is a character whose concept is perfectly fine on paper, but whose execution proceeded to turn him into the one and only favourite for some, and the embodiment of piss poor writing for others. Having now looked at pretty much his entire run in the show with a bloody microscope, I end up somewhere in the middle, myself. He's a good character and much of his writing is confusing at best, utter dogshit at worst. As for what decisions in the writing room led to him turning out like this, I'd still pay good money to know them. For what it's worth, I've tried my very best to make an educated guess as to all of them.

And now, for the final time, allow me to do my very best to suggest how the issues of the Ark Cradle arc could have been addressed in order to make Crow's part in it less messy.

In previous posts, I've split up my rewrite suggestions depending on one circumstance: Whether or not Crow stays a signer. However, this time, I will deliberately forgo this, for one, very simple reason—Crow's status as a signer doesn't matter one bit for the Ark Cradle arc. Regardless of whether he has a mark or not, his duel with Sherry remains unaffected, and so does his later timeskip-self. Thus, pick your favourite, both versions work for the Ark Cradle.

Now. Onto the elephant vengeful Frenchwoman in the room. Let me repeat my favourite word in this post one more time. What the dynamic between Crow and Sherry needed, more than anything else, in order to satisfyingly be paid off during their Ark Cradle duel, was setup. There was so much time Crow spent on screen doing fuck all, and some of that time could have so easily been allocated to him interacting with Sherry in a meaningful manner. (I'm side-eyeing especially his pre-WRGP duels. Those did nothing to add to his character and could have easily been replaced with episodes where he actually gets to talk to Sherry one on one.) And if not that, then the writers could at least have done themselves the favour of letting Aki talk to Crow about Sherry, which would have arguably set up their three-way clash even better. Moreover, show us how the hell these two characters parallel each other and how they differ, damn it! The main issue with the big moment Sherry and Crow had in the duel was that Crow's faltering and his sudden, deep understanding of Sherry came completely out of nowhere. So what if they had shown some of that earlier, then? What if they had shown where the lmits of Crow's resolve lie, what could get him to doubt himself? What if they had drawn the parallel of Sherry and Crow both supposedly being characters that sometimes wistfully think about a past they never had earlier? It would have done so much to make that duel hit exactly the way it was probably meant to. As a bonus, if we had gotten Aki and Crow talking about Sherry, too, the scene of talking Sherry out of helping Z-ONE could have been a team effort, just like their card playing was. Both of them would have reasons to know different aspects of Sherry each, and both could have brought up good arguments. And this is really all this duel woild have needed to be better on the story end, I think: A solid, narrative foundation to make it obvious to us why it has to be these three characters duelling, why it could have only been this setup, why it made the most sense to let these three bounce off each other. Crow only needs that extra step to slot in better with the girls here.

As for the epilogue, I don't think anyone will be surprised to read that I would have never made Crow a cop, not even temporarily. The depiction of law enforcement 5Ds gives us during the DS arc is too damning for that. However, given the way the ending is structured, he does need some sort of occupation that feels like it's not quite the right thing so he can later change his mind about it, of course. Here, though, is where I, purely in service of Crow's character, would suggest a change that probably doesn't work with the ending's final aim of separating the 5Ds gang by hundreds of kilometres each. I would let Crow go into pro duelling first, then let him figure out that's not what he actually wanted. Crow, to me, is a character who is so intrinsically tied to community and family that turning him into a solitary pro duellist—even if he claims to do it to make the kids back home smile—feels off to me. Thus, from a character standpoint, I would let him pivot back to wanting to take care of those kids. Either through what I suggested above, letting him carry on Pearson's dream, or, which also feels fitting to me, by letting him help out Martha again and setting him up as the guy who'll take over when she can no longer run the orphanage. It's not the cool, glamorous end the show gave him, but it's what feels more like the family-focussed guy we first met in the show. It doesn't gel with the idea of permanently separating him from the other signers, though, unfortunately. To do something like that while keeping his community theme, one would probably have to send him away to shack up with Brave or something, to help orphans in other countries. But this, I think, nicely showcases the dissonance between what Crow's character writing would suggest he might do at the end, and what the show demanded he needed to do so he'd no longer be close to the others. Because my focus, as always, is only on character here. And Crow, with his personality and his writing, feels like the character who chafes the most against the idea of striking out solo, abandoning his ties to the community he was so invested in previously. To that extent, the above suggestion is the best I can provide with what we were canonically given. If we wanted to keep the canon ending he gets and actually make it make sense why he suddenly wants to be a lone wolf pro, the only thing I could suggest would be more setup for that. (Ah, there it is again. One final time.) Show Crow having some actual competitive drive, show him enjoying the whole tournament thing more than he thought he would during the WRGP. Just give us something that shows why he would want to go down this path, and why some other things that were previously important to him might not be a priority anymore. It all comes back to setup.

*Deep breath*

So, here we are, then, and this is it. This is all I could make of Crow's character writing in the entire show. To everyone who read this post in its entirety, a heartfelt thank you. To everyone who read the whole series of posts in its entirety, I'm so glad you're as insane about this show as I am, it makes me feel incredibly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the ride, more meta posts will come eventually, just about different topics. In the meantime, see ya.

[rainontherooftops]

Sweet Souls create Sweet Blood

Summary: Taravella "Tav" Greenleaf sneeks away from camp one night to have a good cry. Her friend Astarion, ever vigilant, comes to talk to her - finding out what makes her so sad. Add a concerned wizard to the mix...

Fandom: Baldurs Gate 3 Pairing: Gale x Tav - Platonic! Astarion x Tav (Virgin!Tav) Rating: T Trigger Warnings: Low self esteem, talk of sexual intercourse, self doubt, tears, jealousy, rejection Info: This is set between Act 1 and Act 2 of the game somewhere.

*

Sweet Souls Create Sweet Blood

„Tears are really not attractive, darling. You should stop crying.”

Taravella “Tav” Greenleaf chuckled through her sobs and tried to wipe her cheeks. She’d thought she was alone this night, sitting at the edge of the small plank that reached into the river that flowed past her, her feet dangling lazily in the current.

Tav didn’t need to look to see that a vampire was near. Her new friend and companion Astarion sat down beside her on the wooden walkway, looking out onto the water and watching the moon reflect on the surface.

“Why the tears, my dear?”

She wasn’t really surprised that he wanted to know. Ever since the party at their camp to celebrate the Tieflings rescue, the two of them had become more friendly. Not in a sexual or romantic sense – but somehow, unspoken, they had woven a small but strong strand of friendship and trust between them.

“Because I think Gale tried to kiss me and I blew it.”, she finally admitted, being more open than she’d wanted. But there was no use in lying. And if Astarion wanted to be her confidant, why not?

“Really now? I understand why you’d want to cry then. Did I tell you that he allowed me to take a nibble the other day? The man tastes like bile.”

Another chuckle.

“But I’m very perceptive. By now I think the whole camp knows that you want him to kiss you. So, I ask again. Why the tears?”

Sighing, Tav leaned her throbbing head on Astarions shoulder and let his arm sneak around her in a comforting gesture.

“I’m not surprised that it’s that obvious”, she finally said.

He squeezed her shoulder to nudge her along.

“Can you taste if someone is a virgin or not, Astarion? In their blood, I mean?”

From the corner of her eyes, she could see that he looked a bit taken aback. Apparently, one could not taste that someone has never had sex by sucking their blood.

“You act quite innocent, and you didn’t indulge at the party like some of the others – but I didn’t really think you were still an innocent”, he finally answered.

Tav shrugged. “It just hasn’t happened yet. Haven’t met a man or woman in my past that was interested in me. And look at me, I’m not exactly a price…”

“Nonsense, darling. You might not be as beautiful as me, but you have your charms.”

Another chuckle. Tav could feel that the conversation between them slowly lifted the weight on her heart.

“The thing is”, she continued, nudging a bit closer for warmth, “I like Gale. I really… really do. And the other night I think he tried to kiss me. But… but I backed away.”

Astarions grip tightened just a bit, a growl in his voice.

“Did he try to force himself on you? Because if he did…”

Tav shook her head vehemently. Gale would never….

“No… But when he tried to approach I suddenly… well. He’s been in bed with a goddess… An actual goddess… and I’m… Well, I know the mechanics of sex of course, and the people in camp are not exactly quiet, and I’m a healer so of course I know what part goes where and what to look out for and how to be save and…”

“You’re spiraling, darling.”

Another sigh.

“I just found myself asking: Why would he want to be with boring, plain me? I can never measure up to Mystra.”

Astarion was silent for a while and Tav relaxed under his soothing half-hug, her feet still being tickled by the cold torrent of the water.

“Do you know what makes blood taste sweet, darling?”

Confused, she leaned back to face her vampire friend, shaking her head.

“I thought Gale would taste rich, like a fine aged red wine – but the magic orb inside him makes his blood taste awful. Given his character though, I thought he would taste sweet.”

Tav listened, fascinated.

“I told you drinking the blood of thinking creatures was different. So, what makes blood taste sweet, sour, spicy, awful, rich or stale is entirely up to what their soul is like. You, my darling, are sweet, caring, helpful, have a heart of gold and most of all – you are kind. Which is why your blood taste sweet, like honey being put into a rich cup of tea. And if the wizard doesn’t fall in love with your soul, then he is a fool.”

It was perhaps the most wonderful compliment anyone had ever given her. So wonderful even that Tav started crying again, hugging Astarions midriff and sniffling, staining his expensive shirt with her tears.

Before the vampire could react however, someone behind them cleared their throat quite loudly.

“Apologies for the interruption”, Gale said, not sounding sorry at all.

Astarion acted so fast that Tav only later realized what he had done. He muttered “thank me later”, into her ear before laughing and pushing Tav into the cold river.

It wasn’t very deep and the current not as strong as she had thought. When she stood up, the water reached her bellybutton.

Tav could hear Astarion laughing, sauntering away while Gale was running along the edge of the plank to lean down and give her a hand.

“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

Tav shook her head, suddenly shivering, while she took Gales hand and let herself be pulled from the water.

“Why the hell would he do that?”, the wizard growled as he cast what Tav could only assume was the Gust of Wind spell as she felt a warm breeze envelope her and slowly but steadily drying her clothes.

“It was a prank”, Tav fibbed. “We were having a rather… illuminating conversation and I think he wanted to lighten the mood a bit."

Gale was still holding her hands in his, looking down at her face, his features sinister.

“And the tears…. Were they because of him or because of me?”

Damn. Was she that bad at sneaking away from camp? She had hoped the impromptu dip into the river had masked the fact that she had been crying, but apparently not.

When she didn’t say anything, he must have assumed that her silence was an answer, because he backed away slightly.

“Ah, I see…”

“Gale- “

“No need to explain. I clearly misread your behavior towards me. Or perhaps I’ve been blinded by wishful thinking. That doesn’t mean that your rejection hurts any less.”

“Gale, I’m not…”

“But I really thought we shared something.”

“Will you shut up for a second you stupid wizard?”

Gale stopped his speech and looked at Tav in confusion and shock – but to his credit, gave her the time to speak.

“I… I like you, Gale. I like you a lot. But…”

Now or never, Tav. Your blood is sweet. Your soul is sweet. You can do this….

“I… I was afraid that… I am afraid that you might not want to be with me because…. Because I’ve never been with someone. Ever…”

For all his intelligence it took Gale Dekarios a long while before the copper dropped. His eyes went wide before he looked Tav up and down – and then the most delicious blush covered his face.

“Y-You… you mean like…. Never ever?”

She shook her head, sheepishly.

“And… and I thought I could never in a million tendays live up to the experience you have… I mean you’ve slept with a goddess and I…”

Tav was silenced by a tentative but determined fingertip to her lips.

“I admit that is not what I expected to hear tonight. And it does put a few more steps into my plan to romance you properly on my to-do list. But, Tav… Mystra may still be my mistress. But my thoughts and my heart are with you. Have been for a while…”

There were no words for the next few minutes as Tavs heart burst with joy and she suddenly had the urge to wrap her arms around Gale and kiss him.

Unfortunately, the wizard was not well balanced, and for the second time that night Tav landed in the river below.

But this time it was not as cold – because she was wrapped in the warm embrace of the man that she was slowly falling in love with.

**

AN: This is my first fic for Baldurs Gate 3 - and gods do I love these characters. I really really would like to have Astarion as a friend - so giving him a friend to console when she pines for Gale was something that I wanted to write.

I hope you enjoyed this!

anyone up for a NSFW Part 2?

[subwaytostardew]

Hello! I’ve been following this mod for a little while now and I want to say!! How absolutely impressed and blown away how amazing it is!! The story and world building is so much fun! And the sprites and the amount of effort you put in each animation is phenomenal! The pokemon look so good and I adore how you made emmet and Ingo’s walk cycles different, and just the! Writing and seer amount of programming done is just! Amazing! Super bravo! You two so clearly but so much thought into (1/?)

First off, I'd just like to say thank you for taking the time to type out all your messages! It really means a lot whenever we get feedback like this!

Kade is brilliant on the world-building aspect of things and coming up with ideas... She sent me a whole google doc with a draft of their schedules a day after I managed to get Emmet in game. Really helped give this project a sense of direction!

I wasn't too confident regarding writing and pixel art at first, but having her take charge with scripts really helped me stay on track towards a higher state. After so many events, I feel like we have a good idea as to how to write their characters. Making Emmet's sprite first did make Ingo's a bit of a pain to draw (since he does not walk like that) but I'm glad I committed to the bit from day one.

I've been staying up late (I get too excited working on the mod...), but I'm making sure to sleep in to account for that! It'll be a while until we get around to releasing platonic versions of their routes (don't get me wrong, it's first on our patch priority- especially since so many people following this are aromantic! We just still have a long way to go regarding the base mod.), but I'm glad what we have is still enjoyable for now. Emmet's part of Ingo's 10 heart event is still one of my favorite things I've written. It wasn't in the original draft and was only added in during the coding phase, but everything is constantly evolving!

As for Chandelure and Ingo, they can understand each other, just not in the way the farmer can understand Pokemon. We actually discussed the logistics and capabilties together but I don't believe we've ever published it in a post. The farmer understands Pokemon as if they were recieving instant translations to English from the noises they "speak". Farmer has a bit of telepathy in a sense because sometimes, they're just making noises, but they can read their thoughts in words. (When writing Joltik, I don't actually have any text in my head... it's just babbles of "bah" and "wawwawawawawa" in my head. Baby noises.) Farmer also has an absurd ability to eavesdrop, so they can just tell if a Pokemon is thinking/saying anything.

Ingo and Chandelure have their souls bonded, but Ingo can't quite decipher what Chandelure's chimes mean exactly in words. He reads her through a mix of tone, how her flames burn, charades, and any visions she transmits into his mind through active effort. In the tunnel, she's just transmitting what she wants to say into the farmer's mind. Ingo can't pick up on that. When Chandelure communicates with Ingo, she has to will his perception, and it's only in images. If Ingo had the image of hand-holding with his crush flashed into his mind, he would just get flustered and eventually assume it's his imagination running wild again. He does get caught up in his ideas, so Chandelure can easilly gaslight him into believing it's his own train of thought rather than her fault.

In that same line of thinking, Chandelure could convince him that he's super down bad for the farmer with enough suggestions since she kind of wants to win a bet with Grandpa saying that they'll get married in three years. Ingo feels haunted about having a crush for a reason.

▷ Station Steward Thylak

[hansols-yoda-boxers]

Oct 9th [Yeosang + Orgasm Denial] (also mean!yeosang and degradation)

[1:14] You bit down on your lip as Yeosang’s fingers sunk into your core. Your hands grasped nervously at his thighs on either side of you as you rested back against him. It was too easy to be cocky with him. All day you were a teasing little brat and you knew he wouldn’t stand for it but you just couldn’t help yourself. Out in public he was so cute, he got so flustered when you flirted with and teased him. You always had to see just a little bit more of it.

He curled his fingers just how he knew you liked it. You let out a shaky breath, keeping your legs open for him and feeling the pleasure curl through you from each movement his long fingers gave you. They reached just the right spot and he knew it. He could make you cum so quickly if he wanted to and that’s what made you nervous.

He didn’t tell you what his punishment plans were, he just told you to strip and sit on the bed for him and you did just what he said. It didn’t help that the teasing made you all worked up too, so needy for him that he barely needed to do anything before he could sink his fingers into you.

“You wanted this so badly, didn’t you?” He murmured in your ear.

“Yes,” you breathed, eyes falling closed.

“Is that why you’ve been such a little whore today?” You couldn’t help the grin that tugged at your lips but you weren’t expecting him to notice. “Oh, you think it’s funny?”

“No,” you said in a completely unconvincing voice.

“You think teasing me all day is a good idea? Am I push over to you?” The tone of his voice sent shivers down your spine and you loved you. You arched back against him, letting out a wanton moan as he curled his fingers into you even more agonizingly slowly.

“Of course not,” you moaned, savouring the intoxicating feeling and trying to keep yourself from fucking his fingers. He was far too perceptive.

“You’re already so desperate,” he murmured. “Trying to keep your hips still. You want to fuck my fingers so badly, don’t you?”

“Mm I always do,” you grinned. “So good.”

He chuckled and it made the nerves rise in your stomach again. You still didn’t know his plan and maybe pushing him wasn’t the best play at the moment. You could never help it though. Being cocky was so much fun and if it meant he would make you cum over and over as punishment that was more than welcome. He could pick something else but that was his favourite.

“Such a greedy little whore. You think I’ll just give you everything you want?”

You leaned back and opened your eyes, giving him the sweetest gaze you could muster as his fingers started moving faster. His other hand was slipping down your body and your stomach tensed under the touch of his fingers in anticipation.

“You always make me feel good,” you moaned. “And you always give me what I want.”

He gave you a grin that was decidedly cold and it chilled you more than any of his words so far. You bit down on your lip, squirming and feeling more nerves that only mixed with your arousal, making it that much more potent. 

“Is that it?” He murmured. “I’m your little puppet? Doing everything you want, hm?”

He pressed a third finger into your heat and started moving them faster, still reaching just as deep. Each movement brought a wash of pleasure through you and the warmth in the pit of your stomach was curling tight, muscles starting to tense and thighs twitching.

You weren’t sure if it was wise to agree with him or not. But you had a big mouth and very little filter when you got fucked out you started talking back before you could stop your self.

“Just my puppet, my dom who does everything I want.”

You let out a cry as the fingers of his free hand found your clit, started to rub rough, quick circles against the sensitive bud. Your thighs tensed but you did your best to hold them open. You leaned back against him fully, letting moans pour from your lips as your eyes fell shut, feeling your high approaching.

“Just a glorified sex toy to a pretty whore, hm?” He growled. “That’s all? Just here to do your bidding and make you cum all over my fingers like the needy little slut you are?”

“Yes, please,” you moaned out, whole body tensing and back arching away from him as you moaned out. Nearly there.

In an instant he pulled his fingers away. Before you even managed to whine he had a tight grip on your wrists and had slammed them down on the bed to keep your legs open. You squirmed in his grasp, whimpering as your high started to ebb.

“Please, I was so close,” you whined.

Yeosang’s breath was hot on your neck and the skin of your ear as he spoke. “I know. I know just how close you were.” You gasped as he pulled your hands behind you roughly, he held them with one hand while he grabbed something from the bedside table before tying your wrists behind your back. 

“Did you really think I would let you cum?” He laughed.

“I-I” You tried to twist around to look at him but he held you still. You felt dumbfounded. You expected him to overstimulate you, maybe even edge you for a while, or get him off. Not deny you completely.

“B-But.”

“But what? You think a slutty little brat deserves to cum?”

“But I wanna cum,” you whined, still not quite believing it. He pushed you down off the bed, onto your knees on the floor. You hit the floor with a gasp and gazed up at him as he got off the bed and stepped in front of you, one hand sinking into your hair and the other undoing his belt.

“And I want a good sub, looks like we’re both disappointed.” He yanked your hair back. “Now, open your whore mouth and put it to good use.” He gave you a cold smile that sent a thrill down your spine and nearly could have made you cum on the spot. “Maybe I’ll let you cum tomorrow.”

[zapreportsblog]

↱ debts and new beginnings ↰

➘ summary : Tobikichi Usahara didn’t expect to ever clear up his debt. Turns out all he needed was a push in the right direction.

 ➘ Tobikichi Usahara x reader , Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan x Reader

Tobikichi Usahara gazed out of the window, his mind swirling with a mixture of anxiety and uncertainty. The bustling city below seemed like a blur as he grappled with the weight of his mounting debts. Despite the vibrant colors of the streets and the cheerful chatter around him, his thoughts were dominated by the shadows of unpaid bills and overdue loans. His days on the set of the popular variety show "Together with Maman" were filled with laughter and camaraderie, but his nights were haunted by financial worries that refused to let him rest.

Tobikichi's co-worker, Yuki, who played alongside him on the show, noticed his distracted demeanor during a break. Yuki had always been perceptive and quick to offer support when needed. As the crew dispersed, Yuki approached Tobikichi with a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, Tobikichi, I've noticed you've been a bit down lately. Is everything okay?"

Tobikichi sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's these loans, Yuki. They're closing in on me, and I can't seem to find a way out."

Yuki nodded understandingly. "I've been there before. But you know, there might be a way to get some relief. Have you heard of Business Loan Helpers?"

Tobikichi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Business Loan Helpers? What's that?"

Yuki leaned in, her voice lowered as if sharing a secret. "They're an organization that specializes in helping people like us who are buried in debt. They pay off your loans in exchange for your commitment to work for them. They offer various jobs, and you work off your debt through your hard work."

Tobikichi's interest was piqued, but his skepticism lingered. "Sounds a bit sketchy, doesn't it? What kind of work would they make me do?"

Yuki grinned, reassuringly. "It's not as bad as it might sound. They focus on community service – things like making delivery runs, assisting at animal shelters, and helping out at homeless shelters."

Tobikichi's curiosity battled with his reservations. "Community service? That doesn't sound too bad, I suppose."

After a few days of contemplation, Tobikichi found himself standing in front of the Business Loan Helpers office. The sleek glass doors and modern interior design gave an air of professionalism to the place. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and entered the reception area.

A young woman behind the reception desk looked up from her work and greeted him with a warm smile. "Welcome to Business Loan Helpers! I'm (Y/N). How can I assist you today?"

Tobikichi cleared his throat, feeling a mix of nerves and hope. "I've heard about your services and thought I'd come to learn more."

(Y/N) gestured towards a comfortable seating area. "Of course, please take a seat. I'd be happy to explain everything."

As Tobikichi settled into a chair, he took in the office's clean and inviting atmosphere. "(Y/N), how exactly does Business Loan Helpers work? How can you help me pay off my loans?"

(Y/N) leaned forward, her expression empathetic. "We believe in providing individuals with a fresh start. We pay off your loans for you, and in return, you work for us. The work we offer focuses on community service – things like making delivery runs, assisting at animal shelters, and helping out at homeless shelters."

Tobikichi leaned back, considering the proposition. "So, I'd essentially trade my debt for my time?"

(Y/N) nodded, her smile warm and encouraging. "Exactly. It's a way to not only alleviate your financial burden but also make a positive impact in your community."

Tobikichi's skepticism still lingered, but a glimmer of hope began to emerge. "It's an interesting concept, I'll admit. But is this all above board? I mean, it sounds almost too good to be true."

(Y/N) chuckled softly. "I understand your concerns. We're a legitimate organization, fully registered and operating within the bounds of the law. Our aim is to help individuals while also contributing positively to society."

Tobikichi tapped his fingers thoughtfully. "It's a unique proposition, no doubt. If this is a chance to finally break free from my debts, maybe it's worth a shot."

(Y/N)'s smile widened. "That's all we ask for – an open mind and a willingness to take a step towards change. We'll provide you with all the details, and you can decide if this path aligns with your goals."

As Tobikichi walked out of the Business Loan Helpers office, a mix of uncertainty and newfound hope churned within him. The idea of swapping his debts for meaningful work was intriguing, but he knew that challenges would undoubtedly arise. Little did he realize that this decision would not only reshape his financial landscape but also lead him on a journey of self-discovery, unexpected friendships, and the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the lives of others through the act of service.

Weeks turned into months, and Tobikichi's days became a whirlwind of activity as he juggled his responsibilities on the set of "Together with Maman" and his commitments to Business Loan Helpers. With each passing day, he felt a growing sense of fulfillment that he hadn't experienced in a long time. The weight of his financial burden was gradually lifting, replaced by a newfound purpose and a community of like-minded individuals.

Tobikichi's interactions with his co-stars and the crew on the variety show began to evolve as well. He found himself sharing his experiences with Aoi and Yuki, his once-private struggles now serving as a bridge to deeper connections. The camaraderie that had always existed on set deepened, as everyone rallied around each other's victories and challenges.

One afternoon, during a break on set, Yuki approached Tobikichi with a smile. "You seem more alive these days, Tobikichi. Something's changed."

Tobikichi chuckled, a genuine warmth in his eyes. "It's true. Ever since I joined Business Loan Helpers, I've found a sense of purpose that I didn't realize I was missing. Helping out at the shelters, making those delivery runs – it's been eye-opening."

Yuki nodded, clearly pleased to see the positive impact that Tobikichi's decision had brought to his life. "It's amazing how sometimes the most unexpected choices can lead to the most fulfilling outcomes."

As time passed, Tobikichi's involvement with Business Loan Helpers became more ingrained in his routine. He became adept at his delivery runs, navigating the city streets with ease. He formed bonds with the shelter animals, providing them with much-needed care and affection. And as he helped out at the homeless shelters, he began to understand the stories and struggles of the individuals he encountered, building bridges of empathy and compassion.

One day, after finishing his shift at the animal shelter, Tobikichi received a call from (Y/N), the founder of Business Loan Helpers. Her voice held a note of excitement as she shared some news.

"Tobikichi, we've noticed your dedication and the positive impact you've been making. We'd like to offer you an opportunity to take on a leadership role within our organization."

Tobikichi's heart raced, a mixture of surprise and pride welling up within him. "A leadership role? What would that entail?"

(Y/N) explained, "We've seen your commitment, and we believe your experience and enthusiasm make you a great fit to help guide others who are starting on this journey. You'll be responsible for mentoring new participants and helping them navigate their own path toward debt relief and community service."

Tobikichi's mind raced as he considered the proposition. The idea of mentoring others resonated deeply with him, a chance to pay forward the support and guidance he had received.

"I'd be honored to take on that role," he replied, his voice filled with determination. "I want to help others discover the same sense of purpose and empowerment that I've found."

(Y/N)'s smile was evident in her voice. "We're thrilled to have you on board, Tobikichi. Your journey is just beginning, and we're excited to see how far you'll go."

As Tobikichi hung up the phone, he couldn't help but reflect on how far he had come since that first hesitant step into the Business Loan Helpers office. The shadows of his financial worries had gradually given way to the light of meaningful work, personal growth, and the warmth of new friendships. With a renewed sense of purpose, Tobikichi looked toward the future with anticipation, ready to embrace the challenges and joys that lay ahead on his path to financial freedom and a life rich with purpose.

As the days turned into weeks, Tobikichi's involvement with Business Loan Helpers deepened. He embraced his new role as a mentor, guiding others who were walking a similar path to the one he had embarked upon. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he found solace in knowing that he was making a real difference in people's lives.

Among those he mentored was a young woman named Mari, who had recently joined the program. She had the same initial skepticism that Tobikichi had felt, but his stories of transformation and growth had inspired her to take the plunge.

During their first meeting, Tobikichi found himself recounting his own journey, the doubts he had overcome, and the unexpected rewards he had reaped. Mari listened with rapt attention, her eyes filled with a mixture of curiosity and hope.

"You really think this can work for me too?" Mari asked, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.

Tobikichi smiled warmly, his own experiences lending him a newfound sense of confidence. "Absolutely, Mari. It won't be easy, but if you're willing to put in the effort, you can change your life in ways you never thought possible."

As Tobikichi continued to mentor Mari, he found himself reflecting on the impact that (Y/N) had on his own journey. Her guidance, encouragement, and unwavering belief in him had been pivotal in his transformation. And as he spoke about her to Mari, he couldn't help but notice a growing warmth in his heart.

The more time Tobikichi spent at the Business Loan Helpers office, the more he found himself drawn to (Y/N). He admired her dedication, her passion for helping others, and the way she seamlessly balanced the demands of her role. Her presence brightened even the gloomiest days, and he felt a deep sense of gratitude towards her.

One evening, after a busy day of mentoring and community service, Tobikichi found himself alone in the office with (Y/N). They had just finished discussing the progress of some of the participants, and (Y/N) turned to him with a smile.

"I've been hearing such positive feedback about your mentoring, Tobikichi. You have a way of inspiring others and helping them find their own strengths."

Tobikichi's heart swelled with pride at her words. "(Y/N), I have to admit, your support and guidance have been instrumental in my own journey. I wouldn't be where I am today without you."

(Y/N)'s cheeks tinged with a faint blush, her smile softening. "I'm glad to hear that, Tobikichi. It's always rewarding to see the impact we're making in people's lives."

As Tobikichi looked into her eyes, a warmth spread through his chest. He admired her even more for her humility and dedication, and he couldn't deny the growing affection he felt towards her. But he also couldn't shake the feeling that pursuing anything beyond a professional relationship could complicate things – not just for him, but for the participants who looked up to him as a mentor.

As the days turned into weeks, Tobikichi continued to spend time with (Y/N) while focusing on his mentorship role. Their conversations deepened, and he cherished the moments when their paths crossed. And though he kept his feelings in check, he couldn't help but wonder if (Y/N) sensed the subtle shift in his demeanor.

With each passing day, Tobikichi's admiration for (Y/N) grew stronger, and he found himself more thankful than ever for the chance Business Loan Helpers had given him – not just for the debt relief, but for the opportunity to connect with someone who had played a significant role in his journey towards a better life.

[deargravity]

Akashi for 1, 3, 8, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21 for the character ask game please!

why would you give me the hardest one ever. do you hate me. be honest.

from this

why do you like or dislike this character?

okay, more importantly, why wouldn't i like him. i just think what i want to say has already been said so now i have no idea how to answer this. uh, i think liking akashi came as a pretty big surprise for me though in retrospect i shouldn't have been surprised - he's intelligent and tortured, and i love that combination in a character. like oh, you possess precognition and competence to predict / secure future outcomes but even then, no amount of striving will ever free you from your own fate? you've been running your whole life without knowing what from and where to because you've known no other option? you're revered by your peers and you want to care for them but your own needs disgust you so you'll never be able to expect reciprocity for all your love because you feel ashamed by your own wanting? you've lost touch with what it means to be a person because you've been forced to be a prodigy your whole life? you choke on your words because you've never taken a real breath and don't know how to be vulnerable in a way that doesn't defy the ideals you've grown up with? wonderful, i'm keeping you. also i think i just picked him up like a wet cat and decided to never let him go.

i don't know if it was intended but i think it'd be funnier that akashi is the closest i've come to finding an osdd experience that really aligns with my own. (i say closest because we have different types of osdd) i guess he was first a tool for my own self-assessment before i came to genuinely care for him the way i do now. it's so embarrassing to say but he was kind of a talisman i clung to if and when i dissociated. made the experience a little less painful and alienating. anyways that is my beloved cat.

3. least favourite canon thing about this character?

erm, i think i speak for everyone when i say the scissors scene was really unnecessary. but i've never made a point of appreciating the writing in knb so this is unsurprising. like you can't give him the symptoms of already highly stigmatised disorders (osdd, npd) and then write him doing something like that. but it's a can of worms i really don't want to open. either ways, i have mixed feelings about the scene because on one hand, it could have been an excellent opening to discuss how life experiences can be so debilitating and mental illnesses / disorders have the capacity to damage world views and perceptions of morality. (everyone wants to be pro mental health until the disorders in question result in behaviours that defy conventional morality and disrupt the social order.) but this is a sports animanga so i really think the scene shouldn't have been there AT ALL because this is too big a discussion to be covered in a basketball manga. the mangaka bit off more than he could chew with this one, tbh, but trust me if i'd written knb i would have done this better.

he is just a kid, he should have been having sleepovers with his friends and eating ice cream after games to celebrate with his team. i will never hold it against him either because if kuroko "violence isn't the answer" tetsuya and the others didn't report him, they are all culpable. if the social order and morality of a situation is that important to someone and they refuse to stand up for it when it matters, they are equally to blame when things fall apart without consequence. but what do i know lol.

8. what's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

okay, i'll be honest i don't mingle in fandom spaces because i've realised that it genuinely affects me when my faves are mischaracterised or perceived differently from the way i do. i just stay out of fandom spaces and i'm not very active in interacting with other people unless we've been mutuals for a while and i trust their judgement. so i wouldn't know. i just know if anyone did anything with akashi that i despise i would delete my social media and disappear into a cave. and i'm being serious i don't think my ego could survive this.

but well, i don't like people calling him psychotic / psychopathic or writing him to fit their yandere fantasies (i have unfortunately stumbled upon too many of those things in the tags). he is just a kid, he was going through a tough time managing grief and abandonment and impossible standards. leave him alone. LEAVE HIM ALONE. ugh. i usually scroll, mute, or block (or all three), but this has happened with so many of my faves already and the way people perceive these traits also directly affects the way they treat others in real life who exhibit these traits and it's very often that malicious intent is directed to those who are simply a product of their circumstances rather than the system that created these issues / the responsible figures in their life that failed them. but that's too meta. whatever. you get my point.

12. what's a headcanon you have for this character?

i feel like i'm really alone in this and it's not a specific headcanon but i think akashi is clumsy and kind of messy by nature, he's just working full-time to make sure he's achieved the image of perfection everyone assumes of him. sure he's a basketball prodigy and trained equestrian and he's athletic etc. etc. but i think he can be awkward and messy at times. i just desperately don't want him to be perfect outside of those two things. i desperately want him to be a little awkward and messy.

he doesn't know how to eat stick ice cream because it drips everywhere and makes him nervous. his teeth hurt when he drinks / eats anything cold. when he's wearing full-sleeves he somehow always manages to stain his cuffs even when it doesn't seem humanly possible, but he's gotten good at being able to remove them. he has to rehearse an entire conversation in his head before he actually engages someone, but he's taken speech and elocution classes (courtesy of his dad) so it compensates for when he trips up to make it look natural and smooth. he's just always trying, trying, trying. and maybe for once he wants someone to call him out on all this effort and tell him, hey it's okay to screw up something or the other. but of course he never asks.

also he cries when he gets frustrated but never in front of other people. he spends a lot of energy on regulating himself when he has to be present for others so he doesn't process anything until he's on his own and it all hits him at once. and it can be the smallest of things. bus came late on a rainy day? he's in the back seat, holding back tears all the way to his destination. he raised his hand but he answered a question wrong in class? his face is burning and he has to excuse himself to the washroom to breathe or cry or both. he got 99 on a test? he cries because he's sick of feeling relief over accomplishments that should be bringing him joy. just like a few tears. i don't think he's every full-on bawled about anything. maybe one day he'll have the opportunity to do so without feeling ashamed of himself. praying for that

15. what's your favourite ship for this character?

i don't really think about ships that much unless it's in queerplatonic way, which then begs me to answer that i like every akashi ship where he's loved and treated as someone worth caring for rather than a symptom that needs to be managed.

i was a huge akakise fan for a while simply because they both have similar problems. hear me out on this. kise and akashi both struck me as people desperate for connection but kise has been made to doubt the realness of his connections (because of how deceiving and opportunistic people have been in trying to be his friend for status) and akashi has grown up believing he doesn't deserve any kind of connection unless he's fought and earned it (because he's only ever gotten praised by his dad, without ever believing he's loved). i think they'd make a nice pair, romantically or platonically or otherwise. i love akakise, and i will die on this hill and go down with this ship or whatever the kids these days say.

18. how about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

anything with rakuzan. do i have to elaborate. i love them so bad. i can't even talk about it. whatever akashi shares with the rest of rakuzan is so sacred and important to the community.

19. how about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

errrrrrrrrr... i don't know. i don't spend a lot of time thinking about things that i don't like.

maybe anything during teiko era with akashi and the rest of the team but it's not that i dislike it. i just think it is unfortunate that whether or not akashi had known they had faith in him, it wouldn't have exempted him from feeling abandoned. it was a very sad time for all of them, so i dislike everything about it.

21. if you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favourite thing to do when you're writing for this character? what's something you don't like?

i haven't written much for akashi tbh, or i haven't written as much as i'd like to but i have written exactly (1) character study fic for him and my favourite part was trying to bare his inner world to the readers through excessive use of metaphors. i love introspection a lot and i think it works well to reveal that akashi is just scared and vulnerable but overcompensating for that by affecting an air of neatness and certainty. i love that stuff. i would also love to explore his shame a lot more - i think shame is a constant companion for him, because he's ashamed of his own failings, he's ashamed of his own needs and he's ashamed of his own personhood, and i think he's also ashamed of the way he's turned out to be because of his dad, he may even be ashamed of his dad and his family name, and then he might be ashamed of feeling ashamed. i think if i ever write him again the cycle of shame will take the front lines. so we will see

if you've made it this far, thank you for reading. i hope you liked watching me be crazy.

[adarkrainbow]

what exactly is 'the bad “woke movement'. you mean Disney's attempts at political correctness in their casting choice? describing it as "woke" is a serious misuse of black slang.

I was a bit confused at first since I have switched the subject out of the Disney Snow White controversy some times ago.

I am sorry to inform you that the use of "woke" as a deragoratory term to designate the people we once called ironically "Social-Justice Warriors" is actually not a "black slang" anymore. In fact I didn't even know it was supposed to be a "black slang" originally, my perception of it was that it was originally a term that was created on the Internet in a positive way, to designate people that were actually fighting against all sorts of discriminations and social problems, and opening their eyes to the wrongness of societies and modern age... Only to then be switched, by the Internet itself at first, and then by the media who took the word back, to be used as a designation of extreme social-justice warriors, or people who'se extreme self-righteousness, mixed with either hypocrisy or just ignorance, resulted in them coming of as a more mad or harmful than helpful.

If you do not like me using the term, unfortunately for you you'll have to go after pretty much every American media, then after after European media - and I am not even counting the politics of both America and Europe! The term "woke" has left its Internet-exclusivity a long time ago, and now is used even in non-English speaking countries (such as France) to designate the extremes to which some people or groups carry on the "social war". Now the thing to be careful of is that many extreme-right or very hateful people will use "woke" as a way to degrade or humiliate rightful defenders of things such as feminism, transgender rights, homosexuality, etc, etc... So I want to insist: I am not susbscribing to any extreme-right ideology, and I know very well they are using this term for their own negative agenda.

But I am not of the extreme-left either, and as someone who saw very well the dangers of any kind of extremes, I have to recognize that there is indeed a bad, extreme "woke" movement, that ranges from the ridiculous to the hateful. It exists. To imagine that all fights for the right reasons are done with the right means is to be too naive.

A very recent case - which is not woke, because it isn't about social justice or social blights, but about ecology, however it illustrates VERY well the stupidity and hypocrisy of some of these modern extreme groups. In France there is an extreme ecological group that has been making a lot of noise and some extreme actions to alert people and authorities about climate change and asking for something to be done. Interesting, right? Good, right? Except that their actions are VERY dubious in effect. For example some times ago they did protests related to, I think it was the droughts and water supply handlings? I can't recall exactly the why of the protest - but they did so by destroying entire fields and putting several farmers in difficult position because they had their entire crops gone. It wasn't some big mass-industrial farming, it wasn't genetically modified stuff, it was just your regular farmer with his fields, and he had his whole crops destroyed by the group's protect - which wasn't even aimed at him (if I recall there was something about them mistaking his field for another nearby, or something). Now my memory of this case is very blurry as you can see - but one other case popped up just two days ago so I can clearly tell you the problem this time: a few days ago, the group protested against the instalation of a toxic waste disposal site near a city and precisely near a river that passed by the water's city. To protest that and alert the city's citizens, they poured tons of products in the river's water that turned it bright, glowing green - to show them the fear of toxic products reaching them by the water.

But what's the twist of the story? To make the water bright green, they poured ACTUAL toxic chemicals and colorants in the water, which resulted in killing numerous fishes of the river. It went viral on the Internet, the whole "ecologists kill fishes" thing, but it shows how by ignorance (here ignorance of the toxicity of the products you use), those who fight against pollution become the pollution-makers themselves.

Now, that was not related to social things so "woke" isn't to be applied to them - but it is a good illustration of how fighting one extreme can lead to another. But if you want a case of "bad woke" actions I have a perfect one for you - which is from before the term "woke" was taken back by the media. It was something that happened in the French part of Canada (and in general when you want some misguided and extreme woke behavior, you can go to Canada, they are very talented here at misguided good actions). It was a gesture done by Christian (Catholic) religious groups, related to the whole dreadful rediscovery of the horrors of the special so-called "schools" they had prepared for First Nations kids. You know, the ones with mass graves and such. To show that they wanted to bury the past behind them and reject the discrimination of Native-Americans, they decided to collect all sorts of old classics of French childhood literature that had depictions of First Nations people deemed offensive (for example Lucky Luke and Asterix comic books)... and they burned it in a huge bonfire.

Of course, thats CERTAINLY the best way to prove you want to help the people you have persecuted and killed for so long: do not give them money, do not change the laws, do not actually do something for them, just become book-burners! That's CERTAINLY going to help and that's CERTAINLY going to make you the "good guys".

You see what I mean by the "bad woke" movement? It isn't a movement in itself, but just the extremes these attempts at "good" and fighting against discrimination can lead to. Sometimes to the point of just coming off as a new form of discrimination. Another case, that was in France, and done in Paris. I personally think that it was a dubious idea, and maybe someone will disagree with me, but it was a project brought forward - to handle the help provided to rape victims. The whole idea was that man should be banned of all groups, organizations and help systems brought to rape victims, because in the politician's words, women had to stay between themselves, and rape victims had to cut all ties with men to get better. Another similar dubious "woke" incident (it happened, just like the one above, in Paris, because Paris recently went through a wave of bad-woke incidents and propositions thanks to the local government in power), was when a "set of safe space" was created, from which men were banned - all men - and which only welcomed... "Women and transgenders". The phrasing and formula might seem weird, and that's literaly how it was said, and it took not a long time to understand the problem: it welcomed all transgenders, and all women, but banned all men. Aka: transgender men either had to be banned from it, because they were men (so they lied upon saying they welcomed all transgenders) ; either they were allowed in, but thus not recognized as actual "men" and still considered women.

You see how there's some good intentions buried down there, but in effect it is twisted and warped in another form of discrimination?

When it comes to my worries about the new Snow-White movie, it isn't about an active, harmful, reverse-discrimination type of "bad woke". But I do fear about the "accidentally harmful" and "plain ridiculous" bad-woke. To handle the idea that a character named "Snow-White" is black is something that needs carefulness and intelligence - and Disney's had the bluntness and grace of a hammer wielded by an angry bear recently. I have one precise fear for example that I keep repeating around: if they choose to still refer to Snow-White's name as a reference to the fact she has a lighter skin and thus is beautiful because of it, and given they have chosen an actress with a light skin tone - it can result in a scenario enacting "colorism" fully. Aka, a practice and set of worldviews put in place in the slavery and discrimination-era America, about how the lighter the Black person's skin, the "better" and more "beautiful" they were. This resulted in practices such as putting "lighter" Blacks above "darker" ones, for example choosing Black people with light skin to oversee "darker" slaves and the "lighter" ones being given a less harsh treatment than the others.

Its a whole another cesspool of discrimination born of the horror that was America in this era - but it is still something that Afro-American people fight against and dislike today, and something many media have been accused of doing by putting "lighter skinned" Black characters in the position of "prettier" or "better" characters than "darker skinned" ones.

No need to tell you the whole dwarf issue is also a big "bad woke movement" move on the part of Disney. To answer to a loud minority that thinks the dwarfs roles in Snow-White is backward and insulting, they simply decide to erase them from the story... Despite the role of the seven dwarfs being something that many actors with dwarfism enjoy and defend because it was often their first entry into the acting world, and despite the fact that the original Disney seven dwarfs were positive and complex characters that were far more compelling and powerful than many other Snow-White adaptations (in fact, that's the problem, the reason the dwarfs are seen as "backwards" today is because so many post-Disney adaptations reduced them to goofy, joke secondary characters as flat as a cardboard cut-out). There are tons of ways of making the dwarfs strong and badass and cool and powerful characters - and it has been done before. (Just remember how the dwarfs in the original Disney movie are the only ones who stand up to the evil queen, and the only ones who make her VISIBLY AFRAID as they hunt her down to kill her in revenge).

So we come with the mixed and complicated result we have: Because a role is deemed "problematic", it is erased and replaced - but as a result, erasing an opportunity for actors with dwarfism to become famous and appear in a big blockbuster seen by millions is perceived as discrimination against said actors with dwarfism, as they are replaced by so-called "normal" people. They could have simply worked on making the dwarfs' characters a badass role the actors could have had no shame of playing, and they could have just gone wth what the original movie did - make the dwarfs the true heroes and protagonist of the tale. But they rather decided to close the door and make actors with dwarfism even less visible on screen.

I hope it clarifies my whole position on the subject.

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

So I’ve been meaning to ramble about the beauty of four walls for so long now but am only just getting round it so i really apologise because the amount I’ve enjoyed reading every chapter and just the pleasure the story has bought me I should’ve been leaving huge appreciation on every chapter. You’re so talented.

I’m just gonna start by saying that four walls is one of, if not the most, thought provoking and intimate things I’ve ever read. I don’t really have the vocab to explain what it is about it, but the way you portray emotions and just the delicacy of every situation, especially in chapter 8 where they finally get together, is just something else. There’s this underlying yearning and carefulness in each chapter that’s just so realistic, and seeing it written down and feeling that ache in my chest whenever something you’ve written just encapsulates that so perfectly is just heaven.

Also the way you depict insecurity ;-; Alex thinking miles is suddenly going to start looking at him differently. And that possessiveness of miles and confusion he feels about Suzy because she’s more than just a fling and is in Miles’ personal space and bubble that Alex sees as his but now includes her. I just can’t because it’s so relatable and written SO PERFECTLY.

And the little details? THE LITTLE DETAILS! These tiny bits of intimacy like the mixed jackets and the shoes next to the door and the description of miles’ belt buckle and how it moves with his breathing is just- omg. And the little addition of Alex always trying to unlock each door with the wrong set of keys? And the ‘where’s home’ ‘here’ ’me too’? SOBBING. It’s honestly a little scary how perfectly you depict that kind of lostness that can be common for people who are constantly moving about and find that security in that one person who’s always been their person no matter where they are. Sometimes I really think you must just be one of them writing their actual story just pretending it’s fanfic xD

And the nerves, and that doubt, like even though Alex must know deep deep down that miles feels the same he just needs to provoke it until Miles breaks and he can be sure. And that ‘c’mon al, it’s never just you, is it?’ That miles says because it’s just them, on the same wavelength, overthinking themselves into being convinced the other doesn’t want them. And the HURT omfg the hurt. Miles thinking Alex is just pushing to see what happens and to get his own way like again I can’t explain how incredibly you do that and how realistically you portray it and without seeing inside Alex’s mind it does seem like that’s exactly what he’s doing. But Miles’ perception of him vs the way Alex sees him as home (like ‘just the two of them alone in the room Alex most often sees when he closes his eyes to escape other rooms’)just ASGDKFLFOENDB. Babies.

I’m really really late going somewhere and this isn’t nearly the appreciation I want to show for you or four walls, nor is it anywhere close to highlighting all the things that are just phenomenal about the way you write and portray these characters. But the way you write has honestly introduced me to this whole new world of how characters emotion’s should look, and how it’s this simmering beneath the surface that you do absolutely incredibly that makes the characters so much deeper and more vulnerable and just perfection

So thank you so so much, honestly love this story and your writing beyond belief <3333333

hii 💖 oh my GOD where to start??? this is so unbelievably, UNBELIEVABLY lovely i don't even know what to say 😭😭 genuinely, i can't even begin to tell you how much this made my day (scratch that. my whole WEEK) when it popped up in my inbox 🥺

writing four walls over the past year has brought me so much joy, so to hear that this little world i've created has been bringing other people joy too is truly the most special feeling in the world ✨💫

your kind words about how i portray emotions and inner workings is just - god, i don't even know what to say 🥺 that's always been one of my favourite things about writing, but when you immerse yourself in a character's headspace as much as i have with alex in this fic, it can also make it really challenging. like i definitely spend a LOT of time going back and forth and worrying that i haven't got it quite right to make sense for his character, or that i've spent too much time on the introspective side of things vs dialogue. so yeah - to hear that when you're reading it all the emotions feel that real?? aghhhhh. that's everything i could possibly want and makes all the challenges of writing it feel TOTALLY worthwhile 💗 (also, i love that you feel that ache in your chest when you're reading, because that's what i feel when i'm writing them in this fic too 🥺)

i'm also so glad you think all of alex's feelings of jealousy/insecurity around suzy work - that's been something i've really enjoyed writing actually, it feels like her presence is (slowly 🤦‍♀️) helping him unlock a lot of doors that it might have taken him a lot longer to notice otherwise! it's been really interesting to write that dynamic.

AHHHHH as i'm sure you can tell, i'm an absolute sucker for little details, so it makes me SO HAPPY that you enjoy all those elements of the fic 💗 also all your comments about chapter eight specifically and how everything unfolded there have made my heart absolutely sing 🥹 i was actually really nervous about sharing that chapter and worried that it wouldn't measure up, so hearing your lovely words about that scene is just - thank you 🥺 it truly means so much💖

honestly it's not the first time someone has said that they think i must be either alex or miles writing this, and each time i hear it it just leaves me speechless because that is just the BIGGEST compliment ever??? 😭 obviously we only get glimpses of what they're like from interviews, lyrics etc - but they have *such* a special dynamic and are such fascinating people, so to feel like i've managed to capture even a semblance of who they are is truly so special, thank you 💗

i'm going to stop flailing at you in a moment because i feel like i've rambled on quite long enough now, but this: "the way you write has honestly introduced me to this whole new world of how character's emotions should look" THIS??? this has to be one of my favourite things someone has ever said about my writing 🥺 i want to print it out on a post-it note and stick it above my desk ✨

thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful and generous comment - i truly can't begin to tell you what a gift feedback like this is, and how much it inspires me and keeps me going through the tougher moments of writing 🙏 you also sent it at a time where i'd been struggling particularly with self-criticism and doubt around the chapter i'm currently writing, and honestly reading all your kind words just restored so much confidence and joy in my writing. thank you so very much, i'm wishing you the most wonderful day and sending all the best vibes your way 💜💜💜

(PS the next chapter is nearly ready now! 💖)

[rainytypology]

ATEEZ Mingi MBTI Analysis

- ESFP -

An in-depth analysis of an idol's MBTI type. Based on my opinion and observations, may change later. Not an expert.

Also happy birthday to this lovely man :)

ESFP (Se - Fi - Te - Ni)

Dom: Se (Extroverted Sensing)

A perceiving function that uses our 5 senses to process the external world.

Snippet from his September Singles interview:

I debuted to show people my dance and vocals. But it is true that I hadn’t thought too deeply about how celebrities are expected to be more responsible and lead flawless lifestyles. I’ve always wanted to live as free as a bird, so these expectations felt like a huge burden at one point. But now I think they’re good for me. Having to live up to so many expectations means I have so much room for improvement at all times.

As Se is a present minded function, it seems like Mingi usually makes decisions on a whim - he didn't fully think about the problems of celebrity life as he was only focused on being a performer. He just jumped into it. Se can be prone to being impulsive as it's often a "just do it" mindset.

When writing songs, Mingi takes inspiration from his current surroundings. He talks about it in their little interview with Jonathan, how he gets inspired from what he sees on the streets.

Mingi, who explains his process of cataloguing his many thoughts to later draw from. “I write down a lot of them as memos on my phone, so I always go back to them to see if they match what we’re going through (as a group); that’s how I write my lyrics,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll think of it as writing a script, to really get into that persona." - i-D vice interview

Aux: Fi (Introverted Feeling)

A judging function that uses one's own values and belief to compare and make choices

Similar to Fi dom San, Mingi has a focus on being genuine as well. He wants a certain image for himself and puts in effort to build that image (fashion, the way he writes music). He only cares about his own perception of himself and wishes for others to have the mindset as well.

Mingi's always been a free spirit, but his longing for authentic self expression clashed with having to conform to idol standards. This likely caused an internal self conflict within Mingi. During his hiatus, he mentioned taking the time to have deep reflection on himself and wanting to be himself more, wanting to be better. High Fi users often want to work on expressing themselves authentically, wanting to be their most honest and best selves.

Tert: Te (Extroverted Thinking)

A judging function that uses established facts and systems to make objective, working decisions.

Mingi has stated he likes to gain new experiences as they can serve as some sort of life lesson. A bit of a mix of Se - Te statement though; Se likes experiences and he is able to put these lessons to use (Te).

Inf: Ni (Introverted Intuition)

A perceiving function that uses one's own personal insights and ideas

He seems to have some decent use of Ni - he has been planning his career and goals since he was a teenager and has successfully reached those goals. Still it is inferior as most of his choices have mainly been spontaneous. However, he's still glad of the way things turned out for him in the end.

I would also like to think Ni helped Mingi with his self reflection during his hiatus. Se doms can use their inferior Ni to search inside themselves to see what they truly want in life.

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Why he's not an ENTP (Ne - Ti - Fe - Si)

I do not see Ne dominance in Mingi or any Ne usage in him in general. Comparing him to actual Ne users Yeosang (INTP) and Yunho (I'm currently unsure if he's an ENTP or ESFJ. That Ne - Fe is strong in him tho), even to inferior Ne types like Hwa (ISFJ) and Jongho (ISTJ)... I do not see it strong enough in Mingi for him to be typed as an ENTP or any Ne type.

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Other analysis:

Enneagram | Birth chart

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Kpop typology list