#Kaiser being kind and wise

[vilandel]

Silver Cats & Black Roses

Chapter 11 – Different Talks

A/N Trigger Warning: Papa Silva Cosy Warning: Kaiser Granvorka Since this chapter is not the fluffiest one, I will post chapter 12 just right after. But just so you know, I love the scene with Kaiser, one of my favorites in this story 💜💙 And yes, I gave Kaisers wife a name. For me, she is now Isabelle^^

Ao3 link

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Two months later

“Wasn’t so bad, right, handsome?”

Nozel just shrugged. It probably wasn’t so bad as he feared, but he won’t go back to Black Market this soon. Between the fact you had to go through a literal wall, the more than suspicious merchants, merchandise and shops, the suffocating air and probably the thieves hidden here and there, that wasn’t a place for him to just go shopping.

But Vanessa liked that place…

And this was the reason why he came along in the first place. Just for her. It wasn’t the first time Vanessa invited him on a shopping trip when none of the other Black Bulls wanted to accompany her and well, it became more and more difficult for Nozel to say no to her. Was that what love did to people, among other things? Heck, he even accepted to enter the Black Market for the first time, just for her.

Nozel sighed. He realized and somehow accepted that he was in love with Vanessa two months ago, but that was it. He was still frozen by many things instead of going forward. By many more reasons he originally thought of.

Of course, he couldn’t forget that he didn’t deserved that kind of happiness, after all his past mistakes. But as hurtful as it was, he find it more and more difficult to live up to it. He used to know this for so long that it became almost like a second nature. Yet today, he was needed to hammer those words in his mind over and over again in order to not taste that forbidden fruit. But he wasn’t as successful as he thought. Was he not trying hard enough, maybe? And did he still wanted to believe it, deep down?

Nozel also got silly reasons, for which he was truly ashamed deep down. Because it made him sound like a stupid lovestruck teenage boy. He had no idea how to court a woman. The only experiences he had was reduced to a short and shameful period of some flings, as well as fade dates arranged by a trice person. In short, he had absolutely no idea how do everything in a courtship and he would be damned before he would ask Fuegoleon for advice. Also wasn’t like he would court Vanessa anytime soon.

Besides, what they had right now was so nice just as it was. Again, more than he deserved, but being in Vanessas company was something he couldn’t help but enjoy. Rarely did he had such kind of happiness since his mother died. So innocent, so pure… Nozel was afraid to corrupt it by pushing something he had no right to obtain in the first place. This was probably acting like a coward, but he already knew that for years. Vanessa deserved better than a coward, who was chained by duties, guilt and so many issues.

At least, Nozel still could love her in a courtly way. Like a knight of ancient times, he gave his heart to her and hold his secret love dearly, even if she would never love him back. He doubt she would. Vanessa was so different from him, everything he wasn’t. He could only be her knight in secret. He couldn’t be hurt too much if he had not a lot of hope to begin with. Too much hope had a great risk of pain, Nozel knew that from experience.

But… there was a problem. As beautiful the idea of courtly love seemed to him, it probably also was a naïve one and Nozel wondered if it was just another excuse to not start to court Vanessa properly. Because the dreams he had of her at night weren’t as pure and innocent he wanted them to be. Or at least, not in the way of courtly love. He imagined so much to know her better, to go on official dates with her, to slowly start to see a future with her, to hug her like a lover, not just a friend, kiss her, feel her lips on his… And there were other dreams and fantasies that weren’t innocent at all.

Nozel felt the blood rush to his cheeks and slightly shook his head to not see those images again. It already wasn’t helpful that Vanessa usually wasn’t wearing much. Always more skin than clothing. Nozel refused to reduce Vanessa to that. He loved who she was mostly, but of course, he couldn’t help that his love for her was a bit mixed with lust as well.

Did Fuegoleon felt like that with Lital Lys as well? Even after ten years?

Nozel would never know.

Was he maybe complicating just complicating things more than what they should be?

“Are you alright, handsome? You seem a bit hot.”

And now she was right in front of him, caressing his cheek softly, her eyes concerned about him. Nozel froze again under her intense glance.

It’s always had been like that since a few weeks. There were moments of tension between them from time to time. Not due to fights, thankfully. It was a strange tension, awaiting but still comfortable. Intense, yes, but comfortable. As if time decided to stop altogether just for them.

It was a silly thought, he knew, but Nozel started to grew fond of some silliness. Him, a captain. Who put so much importance on discipline and order, for his squad, for his house, for his life.

But in moments like these, none of it seemed to matter anymore. Nothing mattered to him than those mesmerizing amethyst eyes, the rosewood curls falling on porcelain shoulders like a soft waterfall, the entire woman in front of him, who glanced at him just as intensely as he was glancing at her.

During those moments, Nozel wondered if Vanessa would ever fall in love with him…

And that was the moment he had to stop this comfortable tension before he could start to have false hope.

“Thank you, but I’m fine…”

“If you say so, sugar.”

She just giggled as if he said something stupid – which honestly happened quite often to him when he was around her – and took his arm before they started to walk.

Nozel didn’t show it, but he was quite shocked at the gesture. It almost felt so terribly intimate, as if they were really a couple and not just two people who happened to enjoy spending time with each other.

And still, somehow it felt right.

The walked through an empty street full of trees and sunlight. It was a nice late afternoon, warm but not too hot for summer. Perfect for shopping in Vanessas books and since Nozel had practically no shopping experience, it was fair to assume that she was right.

“Were you able to get every ingredients you wanted for your potions?” Nozel finally asked her. Not that he was interested in potions and other witch things in particular, but… Vanessa was a witch, it was her world and she loved making those. He was interested about her, every bit of her.

“Yes. I especially happy that I got those blue poppy leaves. They’re extremely rare to get outside of the Black Market and the only merchant who sells them is such a thief, he changes the prices every time I’m there.”

“That was somehow the feeling I got.”

“Right? He’s not even subtle about it! Usually I end up slapping him so that I can get those leaves. But he seems to have a good day today, he didn’t argued too much.”

Nozel smiled. That might be because he discreetly put some of his own money in Vanessas wallet. She seemed to need and want urgently those blue poppy leaves, given how she argued with that corrupted merchant.

Actually, despite the moments of strange tension between them, despite the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to act with his feelings, despite his guilt, Nozel liked to spend so much time with Vanessa. He liked how more open he was around her, only for her.

He couldn’t deny that having Vanessa in his life was more than just a good thing. Maybe it was good to allow himself some happiness.

Suddenly, Vanessa stopped to walk and looked in front of her, frowning.

“Vanessa, what’s the matter?”

“Do you perhaps know that man over there? He’s looking at us in a way I don’t know if I should like or not.”

Nozel followed her stare… and froze when he saw the man looking at them.

Those white hair tucked in a ridiculously complicated hairdo, those arrogant magenta coloured eyes, this moustache subtly curled, this grin that looked like a crueller version of Solids smile.

Oh no. Why is he here?

“Darling, are you alright? You look horribly pale.”

Nozel wanted to reassure her, but it would be a lie. He couldn’t say anything at all, as the man walked swiftly to them, while looking he had every time in the world.

“Hello, son.”

Nozel felt Vanessa flinched heavily against him. He never told her much about his father, but still enough that she knew what this reappearance was implying.

Lac Silva gave them a smile that didn’t reached his eyes. Of course it didn’t, his smiles were always fake. Especially for his children and his late wife.

“You don’t greet your own father? Where are your manners, Nozel, I teached you better than that.”

“You teached me, but you never raised me.”

Nozel hated for once how quiet his voice sounded. Normally, he never needed to yell or scream to make everyone obey him. But with his father, his usual authority wouldn’t work. In fact, he never had any authority in the presence of this man, instead he felt and sounded more like a child who was getting punished for something he didn’t made.

He felt Vanessa hold his arm slightly tighter and despite her presence, Nozel couldn’t find any comfort. He wished she wasn’t here, so that she wouldn’t witness how pathetic and weak he was against his father or worse, that Lac Silva would somehow hurt her.

“Teaching and raising are one and the same for royalty, Nozel. But would you please introduce me to your… charming companion?”

Nozel flinched and he felt that Vanessa did as well. That tone, that choice of words… Subtle and clear as crystal at the same time, Lac practically implied that Vanessa was nothing more than a fling, a grisette with a humble job and low morals, who choose a noble or royal protector to gain a bit more wealth until she was considered too old.

Vanessa wasn’t that and Nozel would rather give up his royal status than treating her that way. But his father wouldn’t care for that.

“A witch wearing a Magic Knight robe. Oh, a Black Bull… you must be the Drunken Witch, then. How delightful to make your acquaintance”, Lac said with a sickening smile and taking Vanessas hand to blow a kiss on it. Nozel clinched a fist. It looked so disrespectful when his father was doing it and all he wanted was to kiss Vanessas hand, in a naïve attempt to wash away his father’s touch.

“Sir,” Vanessa simply said with a cold nod. He never seen her like this and it hurt to see her with a similar cold mask to his.

“Son, I’m quite surprised that you are in the company of someone way too far away from your status and one of Noelles squadmates at that. Still feeling ashamed to be directly in your little sisters company?”

There was it again. The ultimate strategy of Lac Silva. Never lying, but telling the truth in a way so that it would humiliate his opponent and be beneficial only for him.

Like always, Nozel had no idea what to say.

It was Vanessa who replied instead. “Not true, they’re getting along better than ever!”

“Oh, really? But Noelle is still a Black Bull.”

“She’s very happy in this squad, I won’t take her away from them.”

“So, she’s still happier away from you, dear son?”

That hurt so much more than it should and Nozel had a very hard time to not look down. But even if he did, Lac knew that he hit a nerve, given his slight victorious smile.

“That’s not true, Noelle is-“

“Miss witch, I don’t think you have any concern into the affairs of house Silva.”

“You neither, you left your children alone for years when they needed a father the most.”

Lac stopped smiling, looking now terribly insulted. Vanessa looked at him with anger and protectiveness towards Noelle and… Nozel.

She was protective of him? Why?

“Miss witch, you-“

“Her name is Vanessa!”

Both looked at him, Lac with outrage, Vanessa with surprise and something he couldn’t really identify. But Nozel didn’t care. His father could insult him every time, he could live with that. But Nozel just couldn’t tolerate this man insulting a woman he fell hopelessly in love with despite every issue he had.

“Miss… Vanessa, you should go, I have something to discuss with my son without any witnesses.”

“I won’t let you-“

“Vanessa, please, it’s alright.”

She looked at him, clearly not believing it would be alright. Nozel didn’t believed his own words as well. But he wanted her out of here, out of this situation before she could be corrupted and getting cracks for interacting with Lac Silva.

Despite his father’s presence, he looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would somehow understand.

It was just a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity until Vanessa nodded slowly. “Will you call me later.”

“Yes.”

That seemed enough for Vanessa. She looked at him intensely, with the same comfortable tension they always had since two months. She tighten her grip on his arm for a second, as if she tried to give him some comfort, before she took her broom and her bags, flying away.

Just as she disappeared, his father turned to him and said with cold tone he used only for Nozel, “You won’t call her back.”

“You have no right to tell me what to do,” Nozel replied coldly before turning his back to his father. He started to walk away, which was useless, but he still had to get out of here as quickly as he could.

“Oh, because you’re a thirty year old grown adult? Don’t be silly, Nozel. Given all the stupid decisions you took concerning house Silva since you took over, I think I have every right to,” his father replied. Nozel heard him walk behind him.

“You only consider those decisions stupid because they don’t help you for your own schemes. Do you really think I’m stupid? I know that you less married mother and more house Silva, I know that our family is just a stepping stone for you.”

“Haven’t you learned anything, Nozel? In an arranged marriage, it never matters who you’re getting married to, but from which house your spouse will be. Acier was just the only Silva princess left to marry, since Océane was married into the Vermillions and all the others died already. Typical Silvas, at least I gave this four heirs, which is always the main reason why a house who loses members quite often should get marital alliances… and shall I remember you that your dearest mother was more than willing to have children with me.”

Nozel knew that Silvas had a strange habit to die mostly young and in celibacy, he knew that his duty of arranged marriage implied to conceive heirs. But he hated how his father talked about it, as if it was his achievement only.

“Four heirs, but only because I didn’t got a magic with water affinity like you. Otherwise, I would have been an only child. You never enjoyed fatherhood anyway. You only accepted to have more children the moment you learned I have mercury magic.”

His father didn’t answered, which was the proof that Nozel did hit a point. But he couldn’t rejoice this small and rare victory, as his father now got a grip on his arm, holding him back.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you won’t meet up with this… witch again, whatever her name is.”

“That’s not up to you to decide, you never cared about my frequentations before. So why now?”

“Because you never dealt with people who weren’t part of our circles outside of you work as Magic Knight before. I don’t have personally something against witches, but you shouldn’t frequent them. Think of your duty.”

“Since when has it to do with my duty that I shouldn’t meet up with Vanessa?”

“Son, you seem to be more stupid than years ago. It doesn’t matter which witch you met up with for some luxurious activities, that’s not the point. It is already rather stupid and naïve of you that you’re frequenting a witch, this is worse than with just peasants and commoners. Royals don’t mix with witches in particular, our terms with their queen are peaceful but fragile. But the worst part is, that you prefer following your braindead sexual instinct instead on finally focusing on your duty.

Nozel felt nauseous and angry at his father words. How dare this man believe that? How dare his father insinuate that he… treat Vanessa that way, just for his own fun? Even though he was always taken aback by her beauty, it was more than anything her personality that touched his heart!

“How dare you… Vanessa and I did not-“

“Oh, do you perhaps think that your lust is love?” The fake pity was so sickening and Lac Silva certainly knew that. “Nozel, my dear son, you must have forgotten. Royals don’t love. Royals. Don’t. Love.”

“Not true! Don’t you remember mother? It might have broken her heart in the end, but she did love you!”

“Acier loved me? Well, her mistake, her weakness.”

“Don’t talk about my mother like that!”

“Still the mama’s boy, I see. You were always behind her skirts when you were a little boy, always looking up to her and I have to say, Acier spoiled you rotten, cherishing you instead of being a proper royal parent. Your grandfather, may he rest peace, already had concern that she was going to be too soft with you. And he was right. You might look all cold and stern on the outside, but you’re weak. You played your role well, I was impressed. But unlike the nobles, I am not a fool. You and your mother, you might think that love is a good thing, but no. It is a weakness, makes you braindead and it’s overall just a flimsy emotion, be it for royals or peasants. Why do you think that most scandals involving love end tragically? All those secret weddings of the past? Eloping only makes you happy until the bliss of an adventure fades away and you’re stuck in an unstable life with a partner you have nothing in common with. Why are so many divorces occurring after many so called love weddings happened? It is pretty common in the Common Realm and unlike nobles, commoners at least have nothing to lose after a divorce. Why do most so-called big love stories end tragically? I can tell you two examples from my youth, it portrays the generality of this nonsense. I remember lady Gloria from house Pompadour, who fell in love with a foreigner from the Heart kingdom and instead of letting go of it, she threw herself out of a cliff when her house make her lover disappear for her safety. Or lady Desirée from house Évantail, she loved her husband and when she found out he had a mistress, she poisoned herself. Not to mention your own mother, little mama’s boy. Didn’t she ended up broken hearted after years of living in a delusion of true love?”

Nozel wanted to protest, but he knew he was useless. Not because his father was stubborn, bluffing or desperate enough to cling on this belief.

No, Lac Silva was effortlessly convinced on what he just said. For him, it was just a fact and there was no way anyone could convince him otherwise.

Lac Silva never used lies to convince. Only the truth and for him, this was the truth.

His father took his lack of answer as a success, as he continued with a superior smile, “You know how fragile house Silva is right now. There’s only four of you and none of you are married, not to mention that none of you have at least one heir. Nebra should have been married a decade ago, Noelle at least engaged and even though Solid is a difficult cause, a search for a potential spouse for him should start soon. And you, Nozel… unlike your siblings, you aren’t so much of a disappointment, except your magic affinity. You should think of your future marriage instead of playing with a pretty witch. At least, you’re quite concious of the stupidity of adultery, so you will not have manipulative mistress once your married. But stop postponing it. This is just calling for me to take this matter into my own hands.”

“I will NOT let you decide upon my life anymore!”

“Then you should stop acting like a child.”

Nozel snickered unhappily, “You say that, but you still treat me like a child. And you don’t really want to stop me to actlike a child, it makes it just easier for you to manipulate me. And on the other hand, when I was a child, you treated me like I was already an adult, but a stupid one who had no idea of the world. When mother died, you weren’t even there, not to mention you were absent at the funeral. All I got from you is a note saying I should pull myself together and that sadness is a weakness.”

“Well, it is.”

“I hold back my sadness and any other so-called weak affections for almost two decades, just for the sake of the house! I was a child, too young for this burden… but my own father just called me pathetic because I was cursed and made things even more difficult for me once I became Head and since he’s so popular within nobility, it was already his word against mine! And you’re still wondering why I refuse to let my life be a chess piece for you? Despite your reputation, you only married into royalty, but I’m the head of house Silva, I’m a captain of a royal Magic Knight squad and it’s my decision alone if I get married for political reasons or out of love.”

Nozel tried to sound calm, but it was clear as crystal that he didn’t have his emotion under control. Never in his father’s presence.

The choice of his words, how he formed his sentences, spilling out his grudges against that man… all that was a clear indicator that he was in control of the situation.

Lac Silva knew that. He looked at him with an air of superiority, caressing his moustache and smiling, amused and disdained at the same time.

With all the love Nozel had for his mother, sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder what she actually saw in her husband.

Nozel wanted to walk away again, but of course his father didn’t let go of his arm.

“I might accept to let you choose your future betrothed, if you hear what I have to offer you.”

“Don’t take me for a fool. Since are you making deals that might be not beneficial to you?”

“Just listen. You are a Magic Knight and despite it is clearly not the a very useful job given what happened the last two years, you’re taking it very seriously… And since I heard that all nine squads are currently dealing on a matter of thievery in the Common Realm, I’m ready to give you some help for this ridiculous affair.”

Nozel flinched. Well, he had to admit that help was indeed the Magic Knights needed help with those thefts that were putting the Common Realm on edge. Since they had learned that a secret and very well prepared organisation was pulling the strings in the background, they were very cautious with anything tied to this affair. Nozel would admit that he had thought more of Vanessa than this organized thievery during those past few weeks, but still, he couldn’t forget his duty as a Magic Knight and as a captain. They indeed might need help on this.

But… accepting help from his father? Even if that man wasn’t lying and even though it wouldn’t be bad to have some help from someone more neutral than the Magic Knights, it wasn’t right still. Because Lac Silva didn’t offer help out of generosity, he wanted something in return.

But what exactly? He was offering his help and in exchange, he would accept to let Nozel make his own decision about his future spouse and marriage. It sounded fair. But Nozel just knew that it wasn’t, not with his father.

Whether he let him choose on his own or not, now that Lac was on board on that topic, he would gain something out of it either way. That much was clear to Nozel. By ruining a noble house, making his daughter-in-law is willing or unwilling ally… he would gain something out of it either way and it would serve and his goal, not the Silvas.

As for the help he could offer the Magic Knights, Lac Silva would consider that the Wizard King and all nine squads would owe him something in return. And he was eloquent enough to make it sound like they owe him big and he would put the nobles on his side. Given how the Magic Knights weren’t already well received within nobility these days, it would be a piece of cake for him.

“Consider it, son. You have everything to gain. It’s not like you want to be happy in marriage, am I right?”

Why did it sound so wrong coming out of his father’s mouth? Why did his conviction falter for a second?

And why couldn’t he stop thinking about Vanessa, longing for her presence and at the same time, be afraid should find him pathetic and stupid?

“No.”

It came out before he could even think about it. But still, it felt like the only right thing for him to say.

“No? Hm, guess I was wrong, perhaps. If this is your answer, maybe being a Magic Knight and a captain isn’t that important to you after all. Maybe you hang on it just because of your mother, like the perfect little mama’s boy you are. What would your witch think of that, I w-“

“No, you’re wrong. It is important for me, not only because of my mother. I’m very aware of my duty and I learned from experience that help that comes in the form of deals shouldn’t be trusted on this matter. And don’t you dare think this poorly of Vanessa. You don’t know her, she’s not driven by ambition and she’s not hoping to gain something by being around me. She is not my mistress, she doesn’t deserve to be called like that. She… means a lot to me and unlike you and most nobles, she… likes to be with me. Vanessa is kind and honest and everything you consider weak, but she is strong. Now, leave me alone!”

“I’m here only for the day before I have to follow my important duties. I can give you some time if you want, but I’m not finished talking to you, Nozel.”

“But I’m done listening to you… Lac.”

There was no way he would call this man directly father. It felt so wrong.

Lac continued to talk, but Nozel refused to listen. He pulled his father’s hand from his arm, summoned his mercury eagle and flew away.

He didn’t know if this was a victory or not. It didn’t felt like it. Even worse, Nozel didn’t felt like the thirty year old adult, captain, knight and house head, he actually was, but more like a teenager.

Like the fourteen year old boy who lost his mother and who cried all alone, next to her dead body.

Maybe that fourteen year old boy never disappeared, maybe he never stopped crying in silent and all alone, during those seventeen years.

Nozel felt himself like crying right now. He probably made things worse for him and more importantly, for his siblings during this interaction with Lac Silva. What if that man would try to marry Nebra or Noelle off behind Nozels back? What if he threaten Solid with a political marriage that would end in disaster, because Solid was Solid and Lac would be able to turn this disaster into an advantage?

What if…

Nozel stopped. He was overthinking again. Lac surely had other duties to follow, he said it himself and he wasn’t a liar. King Augustus, Achilles Vermillion and the vast majority of the nobles either trusted or admired him. Lac wasn’t the type to waste his time on bothering, at least. And Nozel knew that he would give him some time. Lac reminded him of his duty to his house and at the same time, managed to make him feel completely lost.

He was pathetic, so pathetic. Nozel had no idea what to do. But mostly, he couldn’t help but think about Vanessa. How would she feel about him, seeing him like this, being played like fiddle by father? Would she be disgusted, disappointed? Nozel didn’t want Vanessa to think badly of him! But why would she even think of him as someone wonderful? He loved her hopelessly, but Nozel knew that it was irrational to hope for something like that.

Lost in his thoughts, Nozel didn’t realized that someone was following him. A very specific witch, who actually didn’t exactly left after he asked her to go.

Nozel didn’t know yet that Vanessa heard everything…

♣♣♣

“I’ll bring you to captain Kaiser.”

“Yeah, geez, you don’t need to be this nervous.”

The Purple Orca – Digit or something like that – who was leading the captain of the Black Bulls through the headquarters just nodded, but didn’t get less nervous. Weird, Yami didn’t even tried yet to be threatening or something.

Looking around, Yami was surprised that while everything looked cleaned, it was also really cosy. Not up tight, not random, not military, just cosy. Back when that traitor ham Gueldre was the captain of the Purple Orcas, the headquarters just looked nasty, suspicious and full of unfairness. Now, it was both cleaned and cosy. Yami was used that cleaned places weren’t cosy at all and that cosy places weren’t cleaned.

It looked like the purple moustache grandpa actually did a very decent job to turn the Purple Orcas back into a proud and more than decent squad. Well, a proof that kindness wasn’t a weakness at all.

Yami sighed. It had ask a lot of his own pride to come here and actually ask for an advice. Since two months, the tension between him and Prickly Queen just grew more and more intense. The weirdest part was actually that the tension didn’t felt in any way negative. He never had something like that before and even though he hated to admit it, but it was freaking him out.

The shock over her lost brother’s identity was calmer now, but not really over. Charlotte hadn’t been ready to tell Luck the truth immediately, which Yami totally get. Oh, he had no concerns about Lucks reaction, honestly. But the hardest part was always before the revelation and Prickly Queen needed some time to prepare. At least, Charlotte asked if she could visit the Black Bulls and Yami accepted. It seemed a good idea, allowing Charlotte to get used to her brother’s squad and getting Luck used to Charlottes presence before he will learn the truth about their family bonds.

Which was today. Prickly Queen got a grip on herself and decided to tell Luck that she was his half-sister.

She wanted to do it alone and Yami let her be. Not only because it would indeed be better for both siblings if Charlotte did it all by herself. But also, all this weird tension and emotions and thoughts around Prickly Queen became really unbearable for Yami lately, to a point he decided to ignore his pride for once and ask for advice.

Actually, Kaiser wasn’t just a random choice. Yami came to some kind of partly conclusion lately. It just didn’t make any sense when it came to Charlotte for him, but since nothing made sense with her… Kaiser just happened to be nice guy, pretty chill and who was in a happy marriage and unusual for a noble, that man married out of love. His marriage also wasn’t only happy, but also calm and apparently, one of Kaisers favourite thing to do was spending some nice quality time with his wife.

All that put together, it was probably the best person Yami could ask advice for. Okay, Finral was happily married as well, but he was a Black Bull and Yami would NEVER ask one of his subordinates for help. He had still some pride left, for fuck’s sakes! As for other captains, Fuegoleon was apparently in a very happy relationship, but he still wasn’t married yet. Kaiser was older and that meant he had the most experience out of all the people Yami knew. Also, he probably won’t be judging.

So, this morning, Yami put his pride aside and called the purple moustache grandpa if he could come over for a talk. About something personal, he needed to add.

Kaiser didn’t sound surprised and didn’t ask any questions. He practically invited him to the Purple Orcas headquarters in the afternoon. Right during the time of Charlottes visit, which was perfect. Yami had no idea if he was able to face her right now.

So, in the afternoon, Yami took his wheels and ordered him to bring him to the Purple Orcas. Thankfully, Finral had been there before. Now, he was waiting outside and having small talk with some young Orcas. When Finral asked his captain why the sudden visit, Yami just said something about squad business and while his wheels frowned, probably sensing the lie, he was also clever enough to not pry.

“We’re here, captain Yami,” the nervous Orca finally said, stopping at a door, knocking on it and leaving immediately.

Yami sighed, before slowly opening the door. Depending on this talk, he would either get even more confused or finally got his answers.

Entering the office, Yami was taken aback again by how cleaned and cosy it looked. Heck, the office looked like the perfect mix of a captains office and a cosy living room.

For the first time, Yami wondered if it wouldn’t be too bad to have his own office back at the Hideout. He needed to talk with Henry about it.

“Welcome Yami, I was expecting you,” Kaiser stood in front of his desk, actually smiling and even handing him a glass of whiskey. Not full, of course, by nobles fucked up logic, the best way to enjoy whiskey was only to put not much in a glass with some little ice cubes and to took only sips from it for an hour. Yami would have preferred a full glass or even better, some booze.

But at the same time, this was going to be an important talk for him, so he better needed to not get drunk.

“Geez, thanks,” Yami just said, taking a small sip. Hm, that whiskey was pretty tasty. Purple Moustache Grandpa had some good taste at least.

Kaiser made a gesture, inviting him to sit at the desk. He even was actually polite enough to wait for his visitor to sit down, before taking place himself. Unexpected from a noble but at the same time, Yami knew already that Kaiser was just a nice moustache grandpa.

“I had to admit that your call from this morning surprised me, Yami. Not in a negative way, of course not, but still surprising. Is there something bothering you?”

“Ya can say that, Moustache Guy,” Yami replied, taking another sip from his drink. A bigger one this time, because he really needed some courage right now.

This never happened before to him and Yami wasn’t sure to like this new side of him. Well, hopefully his brats wouldn’t learn or he might risk to lose his authority among them.

“Well, moustache… Kaiser,” he finally started, hating how unsure his voice sounded. Thankfully Kaiser probably won’t be judging for it. “I might… need some advice for… something very specific and complicated to explain. Well… I came to you because, um, you’re married for years and, um… having a happy marriage and you… um, love… your wife.”

“Does it have something to do with Charlotte?”

Yami was very happy that he didn’t take another sip from his whiskey, because he would have spit that excellent drink directly on his host in this very moment.

“How… how did you know?”

“Well, ever since I’ve become captain, I noticed pretty fast the tension between you both. I even sit next to both of you during most captains meeting, but to be fair, I think everyone noticed it. But that tension honestly became more intense after Spade, especially those last few months.”

“Wait, there was tension before?”

“Yes, there was. I don’t blame you for not realizing it immediately. It me also some time before I understood what was specifically between you and Charlotte.”

Yami didn’t know what to say. Kaiser had no reason to lie to him and according to his Ki, he didn’t. But if there was already tension before between Prickly Queen and himself, why didn’t he noticed it?

Either they just had a weird and unique way to act with each other… Or Yami had to admit that he had been terribly dense.

Kaiser smiled, while looking at a framed portrait standing on his desk. A rather round grandma with a shining smile was on it. Probably his lady wife. She wasn’t a proper beauty by nobles standards, but Kaiser still looked at her as if she hung sun, moon and star all by herself.

Proof for Yami that he actually knocked on the right door.

“I feel honoured that you’re asking me for advice on this matter, Yami. I understand first-hand how difficult it can be when you have romantic feelings for a very specific person. And given your situation… Well, how about you first tell me everything.”

“Okay.”

Yami told Kaiser everything he knew, everything that happened since Spade and even what happened before when Kaiser was asking, everything that was just so unique and weird and without any sense concerning Charlotte, just… everything. Yami never would have imagined how good it felt to open his heart to someone, to just put all his worries and everything he couldn’t understand into words.

Kaiser was also a good listener. He didn’t interrupted, asked for some more details here and then and most importantly, he wasn’t judging at all! Just understanding and thinking.

It took longer to put everything into words, especially since his colleague was also asking some questions, who seemed random at first but by answering them, Yami had to admit that those were clever details to ask for.

After a long while, both captains were silent. Kaiser actually gave Yami another glass of whiskey and this time, it was full.

“Well, Yami… There’s a lot of unspoken things between you and Charlotte. But in my books, you actually came to the right conclusion.”

“So… I love her.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Yami had no idea what to think exactly or to even feel. He was so surprised to find out he was head over heels for the Prickly Queen, but at the same time, he wasn’t. It just made so much sense, given… everything.

“And… Charlotte?”

“Oh, I can tell you for sure that she loves you as well, Yami.”

Again, so terribly surprising and at the same time, it made so much sense. And everyone else but him probably figured it out. Yami groaned. Had he been really that stupid, that dense? Seemed like it. Goldie Guts already pointed it out that he might wasn’t able to recognize if someone was in love with him, despite his Ki reading.

But how would he have ever been able to get it, with how Charlotte treated him for years? Okay, he never questioned in the first place and never asked himself if she was just putting on a mask or not. But still!

And… what now?

That was honestly the real question in this very moment. Concerning his brats, he never cared if they fell in love and with whom. Why care about the consequences, when all you had to do was surpassing your limits?

But now that he was in a situation like this, Yami felt that he couldn’t just waltz in, tell Charlotte he was head over heels for her and they live happily ever after, everyone’s happy, who cares for the consequences?

Their circles were different, Charlotte cared a lot about her duty, she fight a lot against the sexism concerning her rank and position… She would care about the consequences and who was Yami to go against her will? He never needed to tell to surpass her limits, she always did it all by herself. To a point that she actually needed to relax and rely on others. If they wanted to be in a relationship, people would help them. But others would put stones in their way. Nobles never cared for a relationship who didn’t apply to their marital standard and even more to their own selfish schemes.

Besides… Why would Charlotte even love him? Why him of all people?

Fuck, was he actually doubting himself right now? Never happened before… What Charlotte thought of him was also really important for him.

“What do I do now?”

Kaiser didn’t answered directly, just silently thinking, his eyes focused on the portrait of his wife. But when he spoke, his voice sounded concerned and caring, like the nice grandpa he was.

“Listen, Yami. I won’t lie to you and won’t try to tell you to just jump in without any care. You must be well aware how nobility runs in our poor kingdom. My marriage with Isabelle was an exception and even today, politics, fortunes, reputation, alliances are considered to be some of the most important topics for a marital bond. Love is considered as flimsy and stupid, a nice bonus at best, one of the most terrible weakness at worst. House Roselei is from high nobility and Charlotte, who cares about her duty as you know, is one of the most renown parties on the noble marital market.”

Kaiser made a pause, before continuing with a smile, “But I also won’t tell you to give up. Arranged marriages are maybe the norm, but it shouldn’t be, as they’re mostly awful. Love is a very good reason to go against this status quo and it’s worth all the difficulties. You love Charlotte and she loves you, both of you have a good reason to take the risk. You just need to be careful, to not take unnecessary risks. I firmly believe that this would be a fight you can win. And don’t forget that both of you aren’t alone, people would help you.”

Yami knew all of this already, but it was good to heard it confirmed from a more neutral party. It made everything more real.

But there was still something that made Yami weirdly unsure. Unusual for him, but maybe it was probably a common issue for every people in love. Did Finral felt like this too with his beloved Finesse?

“How… can I tell Prickly Queen, um, Charlotte that I… well, you know.”

“Every romance is different from each other, so it won’t be the same for every couple. You and Charlotte are very different from Isabelle and me. All I can advise is you is to be yourself and to feel it for yourself, as well as for Charlotte. And to not let your doubts and fear be stronger than your love for her. She means a lot to you already. You wouldn’t have come to ask for my advice otherwise.”

Very true. Yami did made a good choice to ask this specific colleague for help. He’ll never admit it out loud, but for once he needed advice. The right advice.

Kaiser just smiled at him with an understanding look in his eyes, not judging at all. Wasn’t this the proof that some people won’t be upset to have him at Charlottes side?

[popponn]

how one looks. [isagi yoichi x f!reader]

notes: this was born out of love and rage for his anime official arts' clothes because why is my man dressed like t h a t way too many times already... so i will bully him a bit (then feel bad about it. and it shows). other than that: fluff, yoichi got so sappy and so smitten for a hot sec, yoichi's fashion sense slander (and lets be honest. it deserves it. yoichi's plus point, many. negative point, his closet.)

“You know,” you began and Yoichi instantly felt like he was about to get a ball kicked to his face. “I had been thinking. Why do you look like an unfashionable grandpa sometimes?”

“…huh?” Yoichi responded, not really knowing how to answer to that. What should a guy do when their girlfriend of three years plus a half, who is also probably the love of their life, insinuate something about their appearance? Neither Blue Lock nor his parents prepared him for this.

With your eyes squinting at him, you leaned towards him from your seat in the armchair. One hand perched on the armrest and supported your chin as your face scrunched up from your thoughts. “I mean, I do think you are cute and handsome. Charming too,” you said.

Yoichi tried not to melt. Years passed and he is still weak whenever you praise him out of blue like this. From his parents to his teammates to Noel Noa knew about this—so, in attempt to be normal, Yoichi tried to kept everything under a soft smile directed to you only, “Gosh. You know, you are—”

“Hey, this is about you not me. Shush, shush,” you scolded him lightly with a finger pressed to his lips. This time, Yoichi could only blinked absentmindedly as you continued in a serious manner, “But, you see, if I look at you properly without bias—I wonder why I could think like that.”

It was at this point Yoichi realized you were trying to call him not cute, not handsome, and not charming in a very roundabout way. Again, confused on how to react to things like this, he said, “…uh?”

You were not Rin, Barou, Kaiser or anyone he shared competitive trash talking with hell and back—and even calling him ‘ugly’ really was tame to the shits spitted out straight at his face. You were never like this and Yoichi knows since the four years ‘unclear situationship’ period that his appearance really does not matter to you who would look at him gently even with his face dressed in odd drawings courtesy of Bachira’s oil markers. With that being said, he really didn’t understand what was going on.

“Your hair is honestly generic. Like, I really get why Rin said he called you NPC back then,” you explained and Yoichi tried not to wince. “Oh, but don’t change it! If it changes, especially without me knowing beforehand, I probably won’t recognize you. Though what’s a bit unique about them are probably only your sprout and bangs…kind of?”

In silence and in attempt to be a good boyfriend, Yoichi could only nod.

“And then, your fashion sense…” you continued, pity coloring your face, “…actually, where do I start on that one? I think that one part of you is so hopeless it kind of turn around to cute… in a really naive and stupid way though.”

For a moment, Yoichi remembered how he used to think in Blue Lock some people could be very harsh in commenting. Turns out, listening to your girlfriend obliterating you appearance wise is a whole another level of ego bruising experience. “Now, come on, you know I’m not good at those mix matching thing…” he admitted with pain in his voice. Because at this point what could he do?

“Of course I know,” you said as if he was saying that sky is blue. “I mean, remember how I used to tease you about ‘all point in soccer and social skill, zero in others’?” Yoichi doubted that it was all ‘teasing’. At this moment, it felt like lighthearted bullying. “I’m not exactly a hundred percent kidding, you know.”

At least he saw this one coming.

“Ugh, what brought this on suddenly, seriously?” Yoichi asked with a groan. Did he do something? He didn’t forget an anniversary or something, right?

You hummed, before answering hesitantly, “Hmm…nothing much actually?”

“So you just said all that for no reason?!” he cried out, not actually buying you answer. At that, you stayed silent for a moment.

“…actually, it’s because I saw a photo of you online, not the most recent, I think,” you finally admitted, your eyes slowly drifting away from his face. “…your clothes was so ugly there I felt like burning your closet suddenly.”

“Please don’t,” Yoichi said quickly, before prompting you to continue. “And?”

“…it’s a waste,” you continued. “You are handsome, cute. Your eyes look good when you are focused. You are like a really handsome cat who is really good at soccer. But you dress like an unfashionable grandpa who really loves neon green sometimes, so it’s a waste.”

Listening to your explanation, both fondness and exasperation overcame Yoichi in a wave that felt like a pleasant breeze compared to whatever you just dished out to him seconds ago. “Don’t burn my closet though,” Yoichi said, utterly serious and yet somehow still couldn’t find it in himself to be even be a little stern on you after such honest praises.

Suddenly feeling a bit shy and tired, Yoichi buried his face in his hands. He knew for sure his face was red. And he knew how obviously weak he is for you. From the back of his mind, he could hear some familiar voices poking at him for being like this, but in the end there will always be a part of him that is so in love with you it becomes straight up stupid.

Maybe it indeed is so dumb and selfish, because as long as you are happy and it is a time shared with him, Yoichi probably wouldn’t really mind having to listen to you calling him an ‘unfashionable grandpa’ everyday.

He, more than anyone, understands how the two of you has dreams and life that took the two of you away from each other. And even then, Yoichi knows that that one part of him—one that always gaze at your sleeping figure silently, wondering how he could have this and why someone as wonderful as you is here by his side—is rightfully fearful of a ‘bad ending’. Yoichi knows you love him. Yoichi knows he loves you. Yoichi got called selfish, egoistic, self centered, and self serving many times already in matches, and that is exactly why—he knows himself.

If it’s for you—for every part of life you had given to him, for every part of you that he had fallen in love with—he is ready to be as selfless as he could.

Happily and gladly.

“Hey, you have been silent for a while now.” A pair of hands warped itself around him, meekly, as your head rested on his back. “…sorry. Was I too much? I made you overthink, didn’t I? You know I still love you, right? Even if you suddenly wake up as a wrinkly grandpa with creaking knees tomorrow.”

Yoichi laughed at that, still covering part of his face. “I don’t want to retire yet so that better not happen,” he replied lightly, going along with you.

“…you are not crying, right?” you asked, guilt written all over your tone. Yoichi tried and failed to held back a chuckle. So, accepting his fate as a lovesick asshole, he turned and pushed you to the sofa, laying his face down on your stomach as he settled in an uncomfortable position to hug you.

Yet, without paying any mind to his lower body that remained sitting whilst upper body rested on you, Yoichi said, “I’m not. How could I with you hugging me like this?”

“…really?”

“Really.”

“…should we really stay like this any longer though…?” you asked, eventually. “I’m worried for your hips.”

“I’m fine,” Yoichi said while nuzzling his face slowly to your clothes. “Just think of this as payback for bullying me.”

You scoffed lightly at that, “And you said you were fine.”

“Yeah, I am,” Yoichi said as he felt your fingers combed through his hair. So much for commenting his hairstyle. He made a note to tease you later, but for a bit longer—

“Just, let me stay here, okay?”

[maochira]

Can I request a itoshi brother's younger sister reader x nagi seishiro

like the reader has the quiteness of her brothers and also their skills but didnt get the under eyelash of her brothers because she has their mothers facial figure, so some blue lock players where shock to see the female players rankings that there is a girl with an itoshi surname in the RANK 1, and now they know that your brother is rin and sae

somewhat there is a blue lock program for female football players,

there is somewhat a thing between the reader and nagi that nagi's teammates somewhat observe,

nagi blushing around when the reader is walking pass the blue lock hallway (there is a different building for female and male players but eats together in the building's massive canteen), gets motivated in games whenever they look into each others eyes

Gets jealous when kaiser flirts with the reader, and the reader find kaiser weird so she stays quite (nagi and her brothers protective traits unlock 😭)

OKAY SO FIRST OFF this is a great request!!! But I only write gn!reader so I hope you don't mind,, it's pretty much all written in the second person tho so no use of third-person pronouns anyways. I also changed some story aspects a tiny bit

Requests are open!

Masterlist and upcoming Blue Lock writing event

Tags: gn!Itoshi!reader, reader is a year younger than Rin so 15, reader is in a team that's currently training in Blue Lock with the Blue Lock Eleven and U-20 team before Neo Egoist League, Bastard München is there for some reason (it's only so I can fulfil the request of adding Kaiser), really canon-wise and lore-wise this makes no sense but it's my silly brain producing silly headcanons and scenarios

-you're amazing at soccer, your skill being extremely close to Rin's. But despite that, you're kind of an outsider in your own team. During matches you work great together, but off of the field there's no connection

-that means, you're pretty much a loner in Blue Lock. Especially because you know no one in the other teams, except for your brothers. But they're not exactly on the best terms with each other, so you never get to spend time with both of them.

-sometimes players from the other teams talk to you, but it's only because you're an Itoshi sibling. Besides that, so far no one has been interested in knowing you as a person yet

-it's very obvious how most of their interest in you is because you're an Itoshi sibling. Because at first, no one cared about you. You weren't noticed as an Itoshi sibling because you look a little more different from your brothers, especially your eyes. But as soon as there was a ranking list with your name, of course, suddenly everyone wanted to know you

-but your quiet personality makes them lose interest quite fast, so you're not being bothered for longer than a few days

-ever since seeing you for the first time, Nagi often watches you from a distance. He has figured out at what time you eat dinner, so he tries to be in the dining hall at around the same time, because he really wants to see you

-it really doesn't take him long until he develops a crush on you. And he crushes real hard. Always blushing when he walks past you or when your teams are at soccer practice together

-he doesn't know how to approach you, so he doesn't. Although he thinks about ways to talk to you whenever he lies in bed, unable to fall asleep because all he can think about are your pretty eyes

-it's one of those evenings when you're having dinner all on your own. Occasionally, Nagi's gaze wanders over to you

-by now, you've noticed how often he looks at you and you've noticed him blushing when near you. But you've never talked to him so far. You're kind of interested in knowing what kind of person he is, though. You've seen him play soccer and impressed with his skills (although you believe you're better than him)

-you're minding your own business, eating dinner. And then he sits down next to you. Michael Kaiser.

-he attempts to flirt with you, for minutes, despite how you show no interest in him at all. You only roll your eyes and try to ignore him

-Nagi sees all of this and walks up to you and Kaiser. Somehow, he gets Kaiser to leave you. Nagi asks if you're okay and he's happy he finally got the courage to talk to you

-but before you get to answer, suddenly both of your brothers stand behind him

-they make Nagi leave, and although he doesn't want to, he really doesn't feel like starting an argument with your brothers, so he leaves and returns to the table he was sitting at before

-the next day, you're a bit late to dinner. It has Nagi worried because he thinks you ate earlier today, so he's a bit disappointed he doesn't get to see you

-when you enter the dining hall, you see Nagi sitting on his regular seat with some of his teammates. While you're getting your food, you get the idea to sit next to him. So that's what do you

-you walk towards Nagi, asking if it's okay to sit down next to him. And that's the first time you see him smiling so brightly

[saharaadesertt]

˖˚˳⊹Blue Lock University: an Uni AU˖˚˳⊹

included: aiku, chigiri, gagamaru, kaiser, isagi, nagi, reo, rin, sae, shindou

note: already thinking about uni even though i still have two months LMFAOOO i am catching up on bllk and i finally made it to the different team battles. idk y'all manshine city kinda slaps all of these HC's are not official! check out part 2!

aiku

oh god, this guy gives off business major energy

most definitely in a frat, you can't prove me wrong

the kind of student that slacks off and parties all night but manages to do decent on exams and in class

not stellar but decent

insanely popular, gets all the girls but doesn't know how to keep them

the class clown

professors hate him so much but he does well enough where they can't lecture him

chigiri

Sports medicine major: wants to help people the way doctors helped him when he tore his acl

also oversees track and xc meets because of his speed

can be spotted at the cafe studying most of the time

likes to spend time to himself but doesn't mind seeing friends once in a while

but when he has a deadline he will focus on that 1000%

Everyone likes him, he gets good grades and is always very good with finishing things on time

His sister and mom visit him often, a family boy!

loves when people compliment his hair

gagamaru

Agricultural science or archeology major: mans is in the mountains constantly

probably does research there

a little bit of an oddball, mostly on the quiet end in class

that being said, he's an underdog in his class rank and always performs suspiciously well

people are scared of him because of his stoic aura but is a genuinely good person to get advice from and study with

if you get past his quirks, he's a great friend and an ever better person to depend on when you need it

kaiser

please hear me out

at first i thought "another business major but THEN"

i realized he could also be a really self-centered, full of himself STEM major

so i am going to say he is in computer science and thinks he is the true pioneer

honestly, the person that people complain about after class

tryhard and complains about getting a B on something

that being said, if you get on his good side, he is slightly more kind to you

isagi

kind of the same as kaiser but a psychology major, more popular, and much nicer lol

likes to study athletes and wonder if their personalities line up with how they play

a hard worker and studier, his weekends are rarely for rest

likes to go out though, he takes comfort in small things like visiting friends and grocery shopping

believe a healthy body is consistent with a healthy mind so is constantly health-conscious and drinks a ton of water

his parents send him care packages occasionally :))

nagi

this guy is undecided for now major-wise but will probably do something in video game development or digital communication

possibly cybersecurity if he actually wants to put in the work

lazy as hell but we knew this

constantly skips or sleeps in class but manages to do well

reo has to wake him up or call him if he has an early class he cannot miss or an exam or else nagi would legit miss it

isn't seen out much but when he is, he's with reo

fond of arcades, hoodies, and sweatpants

president of the gaming club and is surprisingly popular because of his gaming abilities

i believe him and reo share an apartment that the mikages help with financially because at this point nagi is like a second son to them <3

reo

another business major, this time marketing

president of the uni's business frat for sure

the definition of star student

everyone loves him but he only hold a few close to him because he knows a lot of people gravitate to him for his money

despite his family line, he is the most humble person you'll ever meet

super polite and respectful

he and nagi live in a shared apartment and only a select few friends get to come over

but when they do, reo shows them the best hospitality and above all, they actually study since he is a man of his word

rin

Definitely doing something in sports administration

the tryhard that is usually quiet, but piss him off and he WILL let you know

part of the school's podcast and newspaper club, where he works on reporting sports and talking to athletes

hates to be compared to his brother who is in the same major as him

gets jealous easily and finds it hard to keep a relationship because of this

communication is key for him in all aspects

sae

also sports adminstration

quieter than his brother but also has more attitude

enjoys being alone no matter where on campus he is in

but also popular

an ace student

is a part of a soccer travel team so is away a lot

drinks venti cold brews

shindou

biology... i don't need to explain LMFAOOOO

is VERY interested in all that stuff

actually a good student but is a class clown

doesn't take work seriously but does well enough

befriends everyone although he is a little unhinged

no filter at all

loves sugary coffee and staying up until the sun rises

would be part of the improv team bc he has a quick mouth and is quick thinking

thanks for reading!

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 95 and 96 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 93 and 94 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-95: A Ruthless Brotherly Duel -- Ryou VS Shou

Wishing for his kind and respectable brother to be himself again, Shou challenges the Hell Kaiser to a duel. But a callous Ryou conditions it on having a duel in which an electric current will rush through them with every drop in their Life Points. And so, a brotherly duel begins between Ryou and Shou. Shou does develop his dueling--respecting his opponent as always--but Ryou pounces on him, in full command of the Cyber Style's Reverse deck.

TURN-96: The Relativity Field! Judai VS the Genius Doctor

In order to take back one of his important keys, a Saiou struck by the Waves of Light once again sends in an assassin against Judai. The assassin is Zweinstein, a genius physics expert with a deck made logically--Judai's weakest point of all. Zweinstein activates his Relativity Field to start things off. He then summons* a Monster that negates Judai's Fusion, his forte, gaining an edge as the duel unfolds. *This is referencing Singularity Demon's effect in the episode, but he doesn't actually summon it; it's more of a hand-trap he discards to negate Fusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got my subs for episodes 95 and 96 all nice and finalized!

These two episodes are a great time, but 95 in particular is great. It's the culmination of those little bits we've had of Shou observing Ryou's fall from grace since his loss to Ed, knowing he'd face him one day and preparing himself for it, and the whole time they're dueling, he holds onto some hope that he can turn Ryou back into the big brother he knew--only to realize by the end that Ryou, after what he's seen underground, really is just focused on winning, willing to be as "cruel" or "foul" as it takes if it helps. You do feel for the little guy, moreso when this gets flashed back to in 137 during Season 3 (another favorite, as it's a big development episode for Shou). Also, Judai being a friend and watching over him knowing this was his choice to make, building him up about using Power Bond, rushing over once the duel's over--it's sweet.

96 is also one of my favorites because of the good art/dynamic animation, courtesy of Kyoung Soo Lee's animation team (especially those last few scenes after Judai destroys Relativity Field, but just the Solid Vision putting them in space the entire time). The premise isn't too bad, we check in with Misawa who's realizing that just joining the Society of Light isn't enough for him to make a name for himself, and he bumps into God Einstein Zweinstein who tells him that logic beats "coincidence," before he tries to convey this to Judai and prove his Grand Unified Duel Theory. I like the Dueling Physics idea and the Einstein parody (he won a Nobelly Prize!), and the match between his logic and Judai's intuition--and who doesn't enjoy the randomness of Misawa's extra Eureka moment, lmao. Still a bit meh on it being the last we see of him for a while, but it is nice seeing him when he does come back. (Also, I like how it's not at all mentioned how Ojin managed to get a recording of Chronos calling for Judai to trick him with... very GX lol)

Edit-wise, both episodes had a fair amount of animation error fixes I applied; 95 saw more card-related errors than the quick one in 96, while both had a fair share of more quality-of-watching ones with split-screens, incomplete footage frames, or miscolorings (and in Burstlady's case, another missing shoulder strap). Due to Tumblr’s dumb link limit in posts yeeting them out of the tags used for them and limiting their reach, and since I still wanted a visual element to it, I’ve made a separate post here with my usual fix/edit breakdown for the interested--altogether, that's about 26 between both episodes, which I think I hit sometime in S1 when doing double-releases for a bit, but since most were quality-of-watching things, they were pretty quick to work on for the most part.

Anywho, enjoy! Looking forward to revisiting 97 and 98 next as we circle back to the Pro Leagues and get Ed's best episode of the Season in the process; as Judai put it in 96's preview for 97, "Ed's Wheel of Fortune'll suddenly start to turn..."

[bachirasbodyguard]

Best and worst match in the NEL so far

Thank you for the question!!!

My answer is going to be greatly influenced by what characters are in the teams that BM was facing and my personal preferences so this will be biased as fuck. Also, I think it’s a little hard to evaluate because the circumstances were so different for each one re Isagi’s role in the team, but here's my take.

The Barcha match: Way too short. A HUGE plus was simply Bachira being there though (and Otoya's scrawny ass as well). Also, I really like Lavinho. I think Barcha as a team has great vibes and swagger and I'm really sad we didn't get to see more of them.

Obviously, it's understandable why this game was so short - it just served as an introduction to how this arc was gonna work and who Kaiser is. Still, I wish there had been more...

The MC Match: The length and pacing of this game were great. Unfortunately, I can’t evaluate this match very fairly because I simply do not give a single shit about Nagi or Reo, and since so much of the focus was on them, I just didn’t enjoy this game that much. One big plus was Chigiri being a baddie and the amazing ending with the whole “how does it feel to be a clown in my story” spiel. Also, I liked seeing more of Noa and learning about his attitude towards Isagi.

I think Isagi's and Kaiser's relationship/rivalry was explored so well during this match. Additionally, and very, very importantly, I really liked seeing Isagi... struggle. I liked seeing him fail and lose his shit and be desperate and angry. It added stakes and anticipation, and really left me as a reader wondering what he was going to do next. It was great.

The Ubers Match: I love Ubers as a team because many of the characters I like are on it + Lorenzo was a great new addition + the team has a great dynamic.

The one huge fucking minus was that during this game things started going well for Isagi to an almost cartoonish degree. The flip from "Isagi is struggling! How will he ever beat Kaiser and become the best? The suspense is killing me!" to "Isagi can do everything and everything goes his way. C'mon, he's the main character," was a little too fast for me; I kind of didn't enjoy it. He became too successful too fast. I hope the PxG game fixes this somehow.

What I did enjoy immensely however was whatever the fuck was happening with Kaiser and his character development. Like all true Kaiser fans, I want to see him fail and cry and scream and throw up, and we actually got that here! Here's to more of that in the next game. 🥂

To summarize: I have no idea bro. I think that overall the MC game was probably the best one pacing, story-telling, and stakes-wise, but, again, I didn't personally enjoy it that much simply because of who is on the MC team. I liked reading through the Ubers game the most but I don't think it was the best writing-wise.

[thepariahcontinuum]

Cape powerset ask thing

Blaster/striker who can make thorns out of any non living substance and send them about as fast as a .22 bullet at opponents.

Otherwise squishy, except overuse of their power makes thorns start breaking through their skin, first in their arms and then throughout their body.

Most likely a vial cape but not a case 53 just really unlucky.

See you said Vial Cape so I'll go with that, but at the same time....If you change the thorns for strictly metal, this could honestly be another Blaster expression of the Anders family tree.

But okay the fact this is a Cauldron Vial Cape automatically means that this is someone whose personality is more likely to be in line with a traditional hero, due to both the lack of mental baggage from a trigger event as well as the screening Cauldron does. It also means that they either are, or are related to someone with financial means because we'll, Cauldron vials aren't cheap.

So let's go with a mix of Battery and Batman then....this is someone from a wealthy family who lost that family at a young age due to crime, entirely unrelated to Parahumans; just normal, run of the mill and totally pointless crime. This kid made it their life's mission to stop criminals, learning law, honing themselves to peak physical condition, studying all kinds of different subjects and fields all whilst deliberately trying to give themselves a trigger event....One failed attempt put them in hospital and that's where they were approached by Cauldron. Cauldron appreciated their commitment and unwavering morals and was willing to give them the powers they needed to make a difference, in return for the entire family fortune and shares in the various companies.

For a kid who lost their parents and is trying to make it right, that's a bargain.

So we get a Cauldron hero who, unlike Battery doesn't owe anything to Cauldron. All debts are paid.

Personally wise, this is someone with a few facets and all of them seem older than they are. On the one hand they can be as stern as Batman at his toughest, on the other hand they can be the kind and understanding person they needed....Think the scene of Flash dealing with Condiment King, or Batman comforting Ace.

They are extremely aware of how violent their power can be and take use to balance it's effectiveness against being needlessly heavy-handed and keep finding new and unexpected ways to use a seemingly simple power.... This is someone who I imagine would actually have sought out Taylor during the two year time skip just to talk shop, definitely has a level of respect for Weaver's abilities if nothing else.

Costume wise: Green sleeveless bodysuit, silver detailing with something layered over it... I'm not sure if a cape would be too much but they definitely have utility belts full of stuff to use their powers on and tons of tinker-tech they've traded favours for along with other tools. Bare arms, so they can use the fact their skin grows thorns as they overuse their power as an intimidation tactic if needs be. face is covered with goggles, tinted lenses.

Cape name: "Phalanx" because it's spiky and defensive and feels like it fits the Worm style of naming.

Also, if I had gone with the "E88/Related to Kaiser idea"....'Stielhandgranate' would work as a basis for the name even if it's a little clunky

[saekkas]

RINRIN EUGH EUGH I JUST HAD SOME TIME TO READ YOUR NEW KAISER PIECE IM SCREAMING CRYING SLIDING DOWN A WALL

It truly is how I can picture a relationship with Kaiser would go. The worst thing in scenario is that in the end there is really no one to blame. The worst mature realisation is that love sometimes is not enough. It can be as strong as it wants but if it does not come with matching expectations from both people in terms of other aspects, it hurts more than it is worth for most. Kaiser is a star, true prodigy and it is natural to have this ambitious drive. The question is if you have the same vision of your life, chasing your own career and having a strong separate life from your lover or slowing down to enjoy domesticity and prioritising it. Neither is wrong but only one would match him.

I need three to five business days to recover from this.

- 🗿

ah but that's the thing, isn't it? sure, love isn't enough but if two people are desperate enough to keep the flames going, only pride and ambition are standing in the way, no?

i see kaiser as someone who is incredibly selfish. this isn't a bad thing, not at all, sometimes greed is needed to propel yourself into your dreams. he's going to put himself first in the relationship, career wise and all but when you choose to do the same? i don't think he'd be the kind to let it slide. he'd want you to be there when he comes home, to cuddle with him and tell him that he's done a good job. to let him take his frustrations out on you, even if it means shouting matches at 3 am. because you love him, right? that's what a good lover does.

i also see him as a coward, someone who only fixates on one thing (this being soccer) because that's what he's good at. that's what he's supposed to do. you need to understand that it's the only thing he has. he doesn't care if it tears a hole between you, either you take it or leave it. and that's where his cowardice lies, he's afraid of wanting you as much as he wants soccer. so, he'd rather push you away than admit it to himself. he'd rather avoid, run from the thing that actually has him happy because failure? that's not something he can tolerate especially as a so-called prodigy.

you know what, anon? i might need three to five days to recover from this, too.

[littlemissferret]

01 ,, BEDWARS

series : BASTARDS IN MÜNCHEN <next chapter: 02>

sypnosis: you find out who put the bastard(s) in bastard münchen

no prns used (reader). bm academy era. they're all 15/16-ish? cw: swearing. use of word "smegma". petty arguments. *note: "schnick, schnack, schnuck" is german's (childish) version of "rock, paper, scissors" & its not used in all regions !

You don’t know what you had expected. Years long of being involved in the sports industry, playing football with all kinds of players. You should’ve expected these bunch were no better than the average rowdy teens from back home.

“Hey, man. Why not we schnick, schnack, schnuck* for it? ‘Cuz I’m really not excited about being stuck in here with you stubborn smegmas for the whole day doing this.”

“Tone it down with the crude language, will you? And you’re just as stubborn!”

“Great! It’s settled then. You both will duke it out over there while I have my beauty sleep right on this bed.”

Kaiser walks over to the bed the two other men were pointing at, deeming himself to be the one worthy of the soft mattress. Flipping his stomach onto the duvet as he shoves his face into the fresh pillow.

“Hey! We haven’t decided who gets the bed yet!” The nerve of this guy, Ness thinks to himself. First day of the prestigious Bastard München Academy, and he’s already so restless talking to his roommates. Oh no.. how well are they going to fare on the field if this is how they act over a bed?

Well, whatever. There's nothing you can do about their behavior anyway. Footballers will be footballers, stubbornly fueled with their (still-subconscious) ego. If sleeping arrangements are what they're pettily fighting over right now, then so be it.

You, of course, as the bigger person- will help them settle this case. Just this once.

You decide that you were rightfully the one worthy of the said bed. So you walk over to the group, frowning as you start poking and pulling on Kaiser’s hair.

“Go find your own bed to sleep on, I need a rest having to witness you all kick the ball around like primary schoolers on the field today.” Relentlessly trying to display your fatigue, you fake a yawn after your short statement- as if you didn’t just spit an insult at their previous play on the field.

Irked by the constant tugging of his blond tresses, Kaiser turns his face sideways on the pillow to glare at you- as you’re still jerking his golden locks to your direction.

“Excuse me? I can clearly recall absolutely destroying you and your team today. The loser’s bed is thataway,” with an eyebrow raised, he catches your criminal hand and lifts a delicate finger to the direction of the two bunk beds near the door.

“I haven’t lost at all,” you retort, cocking an eyebrow to mimic him as a challenge. “Out of everyone on the field, I was the only one that has single handedly managed to read the moves of every single one of you out there- and reacted to them.” You boast cockily, discarding the fact that your team had lost to Kaiser and Ness in that practice match.

Ness frowns at the blatant shit-talking, “Then why didn’t you react to Kaiser’s shots?” Calling out your bullshit, he presses on. “Weren’t you just standing there most of the match watching everyone run around? How did coach not sub you out, honestly.”

You roll your eyes, sighing and all to be dramatic as you wave your hand dismissively at him. “I was simply wisely spending my first day scouting out my opponents. Besides, I didn’t need to react to your plays because even if I did, my teammates would be either too caught up with you or too far up from defence position to assist me anyway.”

Kaiser smirks as he waves his finger at you, “Excuses, excuses. Have your loser’s lament on the bunk beds, won’t you? This sturdy bed is for winners. Now shoo, I’ve got no time to spend on listening to you losers whine about your loss.”

“Huh? But I won too, I was on your team!” Ness furrows his brows at Kaiser’s unwillingness to budge, “...Fine, then I’ll take the top bunk of this one.” Given that it is getting pretty late, he scurries to climb up and claim one of the top bunks before anyone else does.

“Ugh, if I’m off to take a late night shower to cool off. All of your bickering pissed me off,” spoken like no one ever, Gesner huffs, slinging his towel over his shoulder and walks out of the room. “I’m not happy with this arrangement by the way, we’ll continue this tomorrow!” He voices out in the hallway.

By a miracle, Grim was already dead asleep in bed. (The bottom bunk, boy is too sad to give a rat’s ass about sleeping arrangements. If there’s a bed he’ll take it.)

“Whatever, I’ll just have to win the next match tomorrow and take back my bed then.” you scoff, giving Kaiser a stink-eye as you walk to the other top-bunk.

The messy blond displays a shit-eating grin, then yawns sarcastically at you.

“Try your best, you eristic loser.”

© littlemissferret 2024 ✦ do not repost, translate or modify .

personally i would NOT take that level of disrespect ...

- here's a short scenario! i wanted to write reader to be a lot more stubborn than this, but was afraid that i'll get carried away - hoping to make this a bm academy timeline series but we'll see 🙏 yes its my first time writing a fan-work how could u tell 😭

[soleilonthesun]

answering the questions !!! (i hope not too late TT)

1. Which Blue Lock character do you like? Are there several? Or is it one? And why?

I like a lot of the characters but my favs are rin and chigiri since i relate to them a lot :) i feel like personality wise im similar to chigiri with his goals/motives but i relate to rin a lot too because of the way we both process things/how i react to in person interactions.. playstyles too!!

2. What do you think will happen in the Blue Lock manga after Kaiser's past?

I hope he overcomes his burdens and uses it as motivations to push through!!!

3. What does Blue Lock mean to you? Since when did you start being a fan of anime?

I started watching blue lock pretty late but I enjoyed it since I've been playing soccer in a club for a while now, it means a interest to go to whenever im bored and a motivator to improve in the sport myself (lol isagi is so inspirational sometimes ,, i don't wanna be lukewarm either so i'm working hard!!)

4. What is your favorite color or colors?

i like purple...like a lot.. also pinks though!! i like cute color palates(did i spell that right?) in stuff for my room or accessories but I really only wear black haha..

5. What does CF GIRLFRIEND mean to you?

a fun community that shares interests and feelings together!! it's still kind of surreal that i get to be considered a member of fc girlfriend as i felt like a lurker for the longest time ,, ty for letting me join this lovely c̶u̶l̶t̶ i mean community!

6. How much do you like my interviews?

love them so much!! it's always a big mood booster whenever ANY of your posts show up on my feed and even better when i get to read about little interactions you came up with :)) your creativity and efforts are valued heavily by my loser self <333

(p.s i hope i didn't type way too much TT once i get going i can't stop)

✨️Thank you very much <3333 ✨️

[boinin]

Blue Lock Manga

Scanlation of Chapter 220, "See-Saw Game", just dropped! Chow time!

Thoughts under the cut. There will be two weeks between this release and Chapter 221, which will release in Japan on 7 June I believe.

Previous chapter analyses

I love this goofball. Can't start without saying that.

Anyway, what a chapter. It's very action orientated, and that speaks for itself: holy fuck Kaiser. But as usual, I have brain worms, so I'll share as is routine.

In one chapter, Kaiser collectively reminded the fandom why he's NG11, why he's been manmarked by another NG11 since the beginning of the match, and of the gap between him and the other players. No sweat for the 👑 Also, clear Predator Eyes in action, right? 🐱

It's an excellent play. He scored in spite of being pressed by two defenders, through the legs of another and past the goalkeeper. It got so close to Aiku, man must have feared for his future baby-making capacity 💀

Isagi's good. Kaiser is on his own level.

It's spelt out in the chapter: in the face of opposition from Aiku, Isagi did the rational thing and passed, forsaking a score on his own terms. In much worse circumstances, Kaiser believed in the impossible and scored. This is the fundamental difference in their ego and approach to football. I hope they revisit this theme in the next chapter.

It's going to be titled "Take Me" 👀 I'm dying to know who that refers to, especially if it ends up being shipbait. Ness? Isagi? Hiori? Who knows?

A shout out to our newly minted redhead. He gets clowned on, but I liked seeing him swap to a defensive role. Noodle legs, go! 🍜 It shows how well Ubers, and in particular the former U20s team members, can reforge themselves around new strategies and playstyles.

Also, Aiku is one of those captains with a coaching/affirmative leadership style. He endorses Sendou here, and Niko in the chapter before. Can't help but simp for the guy, even if he's a scumbag in how he treats women. 🐍

I don't have much more to add! Art-wise, it was glorious: Kaiser's goal is rendered vibrantly, from multiple perspectives. As usual, the reader gets a great sense of where everyone is, and their reaction. To the end, Ubers put up a good fight, and as mesmerised as you are by Kaiser, I really enjoy that the artist knows where the other players are in the context of the goal. Great spacial awareness, Nomura-sensei!

My favourite panel outside of His Excellency's is the one where half of Isagi's face is dissolving into puzzle pieces. It's more grotesque than it usually is, maybe showing how pissed off yet amazed he is by Kaiser. I love that Isagi hates him, but doesn't deny his talent. The best sports anime protagonist *pats head*

Random thoughts corner: Yukimiya didn't get much to do, but Lorenzo abandoning his mark is an indicator that he posed a significant threat to the goal. I'm kind of hoping he gets the next BM goal (if BM indeed win). I say him over Kunigami, because Kunigami HAS to get a goal against PXG (else we riot).

Speaking of, Kunigami is specifically mentioned to have vacated the goal area by Isagi. Wonder why? He's a goal poacher, so you'd think he'd be around somewhere... I'm kinda hoping he calls out Isagi for that ball steal last chapter, although that's my bias showing haha. In chp 219, Isagi's rationale for stealing was that Kunigami didn't have the capacity to evade the defenders. But Kunigami's levelled up his dribbling and speed since the Manshine match... I imagine he's nurturing some resentment in that little emo brain of his. Remember, he and Isagi are rivals to unseat Kaiser and become BM's lead striker in the NEL.

...just give us some Kunigami development. PLEASE.

Ness has done absolutely nothing but whinge since chapter 218. Kaiser just proved he doesn't need assists to score... in light of Ness's derailment, is it time for a substitute? manifesting that hiori sub c'mon

Last one: how many Ubers broke ranks this play? Sendou's a forward that ended up tackling Kaiser in the centre back lines. Lorenzo left his mark too. Now, arguably it was his only choice, in light of Yukimiya being unmarked and a valid threat to the goal, while Kaiser remained deep in defender territory, but nevertheless... will we see any remorse from Ubers? Any comment from the GOAT coach himself, Snuffy?

Two weeks until we find out 🥹

Prediction tracker

(alternatively: how wrong can one nerd be week to week?)

Last week, I predicted: Isagi will try to beat Aiku one-on-one, or maybe use Yukimiya as a decoy to do so. This is based on the recurring references to winning one-on-one duels being the key to beating Ubers. Also, Isagi’s got a hang up about passing near the goal, which he’s got to overcome at some point.

What I’m (and mostly everyone else) certain of is, Isagi’s not scoring the next goal. There wasn’t a peep out of Kaiser this chapter… maybe he’ll spring a surprise Kaiser Impact on Ubers while they’re busy fending off Isagi?

Actuality: Isagi passed, Yukimiya gets blocked by Lorenzo. Isagi himself was the decoy, and Kaiser manages to execute a brutal goal.

I got some of it! /copium Kaiser scoring was a foregone conclusion though, so not throwing everything away to go into fortune telling just yet.

Three more chapters for Hiori get subbed in. Otherwise, one of my hats is in danger... 🐑

Chapter 221 will be both teams reckoning with this goal. We'll likely get input from both Ubers and BM, and some sort of change in dynamic--be it a substitution or the coaches opting to play (reeeally doubt this will happen though, unless they get a nudge from Ego). In particular, I'm eager to see how Lorenzo and Hiori process this. Also, someone's going to yell at Isagi. Kunigami or Raichi are my guess.

[shihalyfie]

How do you think Takeru would get on with Kouichi? I've seen a few crossovers where we get to see how Takeru reacts to Kouichi's Darkness element. How would Hikari take Kouichi too?

I think a big part of the issue here is that Adventure and Frontier have different takes and contexts on the light/darkness concept, but as far as Takeru goes, I don't think he's the kind who flips out at the concept of darkness just by existing (after all, he's the one who reminds Ken that you can't get rid of it completely in 02 episode 37). Rather, Takeru's anger is mostly directed at those who try to manipulate it like a toy (like the Kaiser in 02 episode 19), and he even refers to BlackWarGreymon as a "sad life" that was created as part of the process. In fact, 02 episode 35 has him say that there's no inherent good and evil to a life, so it's not even that he hates BlackWarGreymon in the sense of hating him as an entity, but rather that, at the time, it seemed there was a likelihood he was a being made of nothing but destructive dark impulses and needed to be eradicated for that reason. (Remember that Takeru also advocated for fighting Patamon for the sake of sparing him from Evil Ring-induced servitude in 02 episode 11, so it's perfectly possible for Takeru to take a full-on no-compromise stance even if he pities the potential victim involved.)

So Takeru honestly might get along fine with Kouichi, and if anything would be upset at Cherubimon on his behalf (for basically toying with Kouichi using that power), whereas he might be rather impressed with Kouichi for doing his best to master and wield it with respect instead of treating it like a toy.

I think Hikari would be roughly similar. She's sensitive to contexts where the darkness is overwhelming, and my impression of Adventure's narrative is that it didn't necessarily consider it inherently a bad thing as much as all of the evil forces were toying with it or trying to drown everything in it, but Kouichi is a sensible person who uses his abilities wisely.

[grimoireofwritings]

Headcanons: The Magic Knight Captains & Their Art Styles

Just some random idea that came to me today while reminiscing on what the Captains do in their free time. I began to picture how it would play out if each of them were instructed to show us their art skills! Here's what I came up with.

Captain William Vangeance:

This man is not too bad at art! He doesn't put a lot of pressure on himself to make perfect sketches and he has low expectations for himself... So he mainly considers it a hobby set aside for his rare moments of leisure time. Since he's so chill about it, his sketches come out looking nice when he's more relaxed. This is usually the case since he prefers using his bird journal - he likes to bird-watch and put together little drawings of the winged friends he sees while laying all content out in his garden. He's no prodigy but his hand-eye coordination is pretty good and after years of practice his birds and trees turn out pretty impressive. Very embarrassed if asked to show people though.

Credit: Found in a "how to draw" guide.. no name

Captain Nozel Silva:

He prefers appreciating sophisticated art made by others.. and really doesn't care much for making it himself. If he draws anything, it'll usually be rushed - as he knows he's got more important matters to focus on.. Still, he is capable of putting together a sketch every now and again of something simple. Usually plain posable objects. At the end of the day, he's not really a big art freak and even at a nice art museum he gets bored after an hour or so.

Credit: unlisted. Message if you know where it's from!

Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion:

He likes art, a lot! Like William he's no prodigy, but it makes him happy so that's enough for him. He prefers to paint, and his subjects are often women, focusing on anatomy because he enjoys exploring movement / dimension through bodily posing. He likes painting silhouettes that are dancing and often have flowing clothing, or hair. Definitely focuses on the beauty, passion, and artistic self expression side of it. He isn't as open about it because Mereoleonna poked fun at him for it so much and he'd rather not deal with any of that again.. but people who know about it always talk about how he's quite talented.

Credit: Anastassia Orehova

Captain Yami Sukehiro:

He's listed in the manga's assorted questions brigade as the #2 ( Behind Rill) judge of artistic style and taste! He's got an excellent eye for art, and he can be really creative medium wise, but I still feel like he's a bit too lazy to sit down for a long time and really commit to a canvas or sketchbook. He doesn't find it rewarding enough for his attention span.. but he seems to be pretty good at making simplistic, cartoon styles really expressive.

Credit: Olga Shvartsur

Captain Rill Boismortier:

He is ALL about color, vibrancy, and bold presentation! His paintings are always so full of vivid life and brightness, it's clear to see he's a person carrying a wondrous imagination and endless creativity. Everything he's made seems like it's bursting with optimism and excitement, as if the artist couldn't contain himself. He is extremely versatile and can tackle almost any subject, which is super impressive for his age. His one flaw I'd say is that sometimes his paintings, despite being gorgeous technicality wise, can get a little busy or cluttered as he struggles to not get carried away with all the different expressive ideas he comes up with. He's still learning!! ( Bonus headcanon: Rill has a mandatory weekly art class set aside as "training" for the Aqua Deer magic knights.. Everyone attends regardless of their actual interest levels because nobody wants to handle seeing Rill devastated that people didn't show.)

Credit: Svenja Jodicke

Captain Dorothy Unsworth:

Pretty self explanatory? She's a kawaii sailor moon theme anime waifu. All her drawings are magical anime girls... But they only appear in her dreams, so nobody knows she can draw well!!

Credit: source link to deviantart page was a removed account 😭 please lmk if you know the artist

Captain Jack the Ripper:

Nobody wants to talk about Jack's art. He doesn't wanna draw and nobody wants him to draw. Anything he makes is simply a cursed image, no questions asked. He's got the artistic skills of a grade schooler... And even though he can be somewhat creative, the fact that there's always some kind of disturbing / violent undertone incorporated within the picture... It just looks like a demented child's drawing.

Credit: could not find name but it's a canvas displayed in "The Museum of Bad Artwork" labelled as "The Butcher" and tbh that makes it even more terrifying

Captain Charlotte Roselei

She's listed in the top three WORST artists / judges of fine arts in canon... Which is interesting to me, lol. I think she probably stopped trying a long time ago after being teased for how her stuff turns out, lol. She tried drawing or painting and would get frustrated with her inability to create an image she's picturing in her mind.

Credit: could not find name but it's a canvas displayed in "The Museum of Bad Artwork"

Captain Kaiser Granvorka:

I don't know a whole lot about him tbh but I know he is also listed as an excellent artist next to Yami. I think he'd be really into sophisticated art! Kinda like Nozel but far more dedicated and passionate about it. Still-picture images, but he finds a lot of joy in shapes and objects, and messing around with shading.

Credit: unlisted. Message if you know where it's from!

And that is all my friends!! I am still trying to hunt down some art credit for these images, some were on Pinterest or just unlisted altogether. I'm gonna put them down once I come back and edit this post when it's not 3am 😂 plz let me know if y'all can help me out with that. I know there's an online site somewhere that's made for this but I forgot what it's called???

This was a lot of fun to make though. If you disagree or have thoughts, feel free to reblog or come chat in my ask box! Goodnight luvs 🥰

[ryttu3k]

Finishing up SoNY, ‘bad’ end and final thoughts!

But first, the early game over.

Wow, she just gets shot. Not even slurped? That’s rude as hell XD;;

And on to the ‘bad’ end!

Beginning is much the same, ofc.

“You’re too in love with weaving a good story and establishing a seductive narrative to let facts get in the way.” Foreshadowing for the ‘good’ end, maybe?

God that Embrace scene gives me literal goosebumps.

Alright! Last time I did Danse Macabre and Retributive Justice, let’s try The Risks of Swiping Right!

lmao god I’d eat this guy too. Back to the ghost club! That legitimately is a really neat scene. ...Ooh yes so that’s where the girl was from.

Panhard just lowkey dying at the mental image of Katherine Weise in a fast food restaurant is so good.

The sweet scene between Julia and Dakota hits a bit different after the ‘good’ end XD;;

Went to the park, reminisced, and helped out the guy. That was sweet ;_; High-humanity Julia, this time!

‘Fairy God Mother?’ is great but ‘Vin Diesel?’ is objectively the funnier response.

“Shining even more brightly than usual, Aisling.” Samira got a cru-ush~

Poor Julie. It’s probably been tough without Sophie around :(

Huh. Interestingly, refusing to lie to Mia results in Julia actually feeling genuine loyalty to the Cammies (for now, at least).

Believing Agathon is still alive = more optimistic = different dialogue! See, this is how you make choices have consequences, game!

Oooh boy time to meet Adelaide XD;;

“She uncrosses her legs in a strangely seductive motion. In her mind’s eye, it probably looked like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, but in reality, it had all the grace of a tracksuit Slav squatting.” *snickering*

Fight me, Adelaide >:(

‘sup Nastya. Went with the slightly less disruptive routine here XD Huh, she’s an aspiring DJ! Julia is deeply confused as to how being a DJ and being head of security works together.

lmao Julia referring to Hope as a girlboss. That phrase has lost all meaning to me...

The conversation between Julia and Father Leonard is still really interesting. Man, you know who I want Julia to talk to? Anatole. Interesting insights into balancing being queer Catholic vampires there for sure.

lmao oh my god I want to fight this street reporter.

‘I can almost feel my brain losing its wrinkles.’ *snort*

Yeaghhhh the Abyss bit is still so creepy...

Oops. Being honest regarding Tamika and Torque’s relationships gets a fail :(

Oh, or not XD That works! Also, uh, apparently the giant albino ghoul alligator is real, according to New York by Night. He’s Calebros’ pet.

“Because I think I have a pretty good nose for people’s auras. And when I take a good look at you... ...somehow, I have a feeling you’re a surprisingly decent person. Whatever way of unlife you choose, I hope you don’t change it. And that you remember my advice.” :)

“I know.” Oof.

“Hi.” “WAAAH!” lmao sorry Princess XD;; Just trying to imagine Qadir’s face as he tells Julia to find a 1990 glass statue of Scrooge McDuck... dying...

Oh she’s so a Toreador XD Low art options are a fantasy book, an anime DVD, or a video game... those can all be arty, though! And went with the anime DVD called ‘Ririsu no Daibouken’... that translates to ‘Adventures of Lilith’. How on the nose XD “The cover says ‘Lilith’s Carnal Carnival’.” Oh. Yeah, that’d do it XD

“This 90s original video anime presents us with a tale of five big-bosomed samurai warriors travelling through America in search of General Hastavista, The Incubus King. Don’t let all the titillation misguide you: the main draws here are peerless direction, a nearly avant-garde editing rhythm and dialogue that coyly comments on traditional gender roles in anime. Once you see the animation in the final battle, you’ll understand why it never fails to set a sakuga fan’s heart ablaze!”

She’s my new favourite.

“So can I know your name now?”

“Hmmm... Let me think...

No. <3″

I need to stress that the heart appears in the dialogue box. Like. The actual less-than-three heart.

Didn’t investigate the rat this time, so Qadir did and I die. “Glad you’re alright, little guy.” Qadir...

Still not over the drunk blood doll rats.

Kaiser’s still a goddamn creep and this time Julia is not going too far. She still has her humanity, dammit. Final set of traits:

Loyal to the end

Glass half-full

Not into a bad cop schtick

Honesty is the best policy

No more human, still humane

Onwards to the ‘bad’ end! Oops, and Dakota still did the Single White Female thing XD;;

Man I’m still really curious who the ‘good friend’ is!!

Okay! Time for end game!!

So that’s the good friend, huh? “Let me phrase it differently, then. You’re not Ecaterina the Wise, the Agitator of Prague, a Brujah elder causing turbulences all over the world... are you?”

Mention of Christof! Mention of Christof doing shady shit :| Poor Hana.

“An immigrant from Eastern Europe comes to New York City, takes the position she always expected to find herself in, is molded into someone who is no longer herself.”

Julia and Dakota representing Carthage is kind of neat.

I want to say the mention of St Jude is a reference, but I’m not sure what to XD;; Is that from Redemption? Christof could have been the one to tell Hana that.

“Like a two-person human centipede loop or something. An Ouroburos? Or an, uhh, Mobius strip?” No, that’s the other traditionally Sabbat clan XD

That‘s. That’s a hell of a reconciliation XD “Yeah, let’s give it a try. By the way I’m on the run for my unlife, want to go to California and try to find utopia?”

Julia, wear a fucking mask XD

“Hey.”

“Yeah?“

“Do you love me?”

“... Of course I do. For now, at least.”

I still don’t know if I love her. Or even if I can love anyone, for that matter. I’m a fucking monster, after all. I don’t even know if we’ll exist next month. The prospects are not looking good. But although I can’t see myself in the rearview mirror right now...

...I will remember this image of us leaving the city, somewhat melancholic, and somewhat hopeful, forever. And maybe the meaning of this image will be clarified with time. Or maybe I will just force a more positive description on it, and that is what I’ll believe.

No matter what happens... even if oceans of blood lie before us, I will make this a cherished memory.

Whatever possible salvation still remains for me... ...it probably lies in the eyes of another.

Oh dang I have chills.

So the ‘bad’ ending is about the subverted compromise. Julia resigns herself to letting the compromise about the truth of Callihan’s death go ahead. ‘Catherine’ is a walking compromise to hide the Ecaterina’s real deeds. But while Hana is still stuck in her role for now, Julia refuses to accept the compromise she’s made, both the one relating to the investigation and the compromise she made of her own views and morals. It might blow up in her face, yeah. But damn, she’s going to try.

So, final thoughts! For the sake of completion, this is what I said about Coteries:

And of course this is the part where the game all falls apart :-\

Just… god. This is probably the biggest problem with CoNY, and the reason I didn’t bother getting it until it was like… 60% off. The bulk of the game is great - the writing is intriguing, the design is stunning. But the choices themselves are so limited it’s barely worth even getting it at 60% off!

You have three choices of characters, with their own opening chapters and own individual scenes with their touchstones. You have four choices of coterie members, and three sidequests. You can probably get in at least three full story arcs and a sidequest or two, but you’re only ever limited to two of your coterie members showing up at the not-yet-endgame.

So let’s say you decide to play all three protags, which, indeed, is encouraged (there’s an achievement for it). You are going to repeat coterie arcs and side quests, because there simply aren’t enough for three unique playthroughs.

And then you get to the end and literally everything is scripted. You get attacked by the SI. You get rescued by your two coterie members (and then never see them again, despite the game being called Coteries of New York). You meet Torque, you escape the SI, Sophie reveals her plan to Torque, you go to Ellis Island, Adelaide kills Sophie (and despite the fact that you’re given multiple options there, none of them work), Arturo does his spiel, end of game. You don’t even get to choose between ending up blood bound or going “no fuck you” and at least dying with a bit of dignity!

I just. I really want to like it, and there genuinely is a lot there to like! But uuuugh the ending. Like damn at least give the poor protag the option to choose what happens to them!

Anyway. Not sure what’s next. To get all the achievements, you have to finish with all three protags, so that’s three full runs and a lot of repetitiveness (compare to, say, Bloodlines or Night Road. I have eighty-five hours on Night Road and there’s still stuff I haven’t seen!), so I can’t even just… rush it through up to the meeting with the touchstones on the third play. Nope. Gotta finish it :-\

Final rating: 6/10

8/10 characters, 9/10 atmosphere, 8/10 story aside from ending, 3/10 story ending, 2/10 replayability. Final consensus: get it on major sale if you can, otherwise, you might as well just watch an LP. I might do that instead of doing a third run, although I at least want to do a second.

I ended up revising that 6/10 to 5.5/10 after finishing all runs and getting the achievements just out of how goddamn repetitive it was. So, how does Shadows measure up?

Absolutely continued with all the things I enjoyed about CoNY (characters, atmosphere, and writing), and of the bits I hated (cookie cutter protagonists, lack of real choice, repetitiveness, the godawful ending), every single part has been completely improved.

Instead of three fledglings so similar they even have the same internal thoughts, we have Julia, who’s got such a distinct voice that she becomes the most memorable game protag I’ve seen in years, and I’m including non-VtM games in this. This is absolutely her game, and it’s just... absolutely fascinating to read and watch.

Related - actual real choices. There are five key choices that determine the ending, and every single one has actual consequence in-game. You get different dialogue. Different introspection. Different philosophies. And this carries across - if Julia believes Agathon is alive, she’s more optimistic about her relationship with Dakota, too. And of course, both endings are completely distinct and incredibly written - the ‘good’ ending where Julia gives in to her most Lasombra instincts, plays the game, wins it, gets power and respect at the expense of her humanity and avoiding all those wraiths... or the ‘bad’ ending when she listens to her morals, reconciles with Dakota, and leaves for California, uncertain, but hopeful.

Not a lot of repetitiveness. Yes, by design, you’ll probably do two playthroughs. The main plot is much the same, but there are enough options there to get multiple dialogue options and stuff. And for the little sidequests, you can actually get all in with just the two playthroughs, only repeating like... two, I think. Still, I wasn’t feeling actively bored like I was midway through my second run of CoNY!

Loved seeing more in-depth backstory and development for the coterie members. Agathon’s section was particularly fascinating, literally getting into his head.

And just. Atmosphere and music is so, so good.

Final rating: 9/10. Thank you, Draw Distance, you hit it out of the park.

[locke-writes]

First off:

CONGRATS ON THE 1.7K FOLLOWERS!!! You've most definitely earned everyone, you absolute powerhouse!!!

Secondly . . . I'd like to request an OC playlist. But be warned: Of the OCs I have, they're either underdeveloped because I haven't tended to them in a long time, or because they're so freshly-baked that I'm still trying to figure things out 😅 But hey maybe bouncing off what I have so far might give some clues as to where I'm going right, where I'm going wrong, and what sort of playlist they inspire. Probably something gloomy or nonsense because of underdevelopment but --🙃

Now prepare for the world's most lame infodump!

The most recent one and the one I'd really like to put more work into, though, doesn't really have a name currently. But I currently have her placeholder name as Atarra because I want her name to begin with an "a", but also because that "tarra" bit is a reference to the name "Tara", which means "star" in Sanskrit, but also references earthiness when in English. And the reason that's important to me is because Atarra, as she is currently, is a human who quite literally stumbled into the position of being a fairy princess without any awareness she was ever human.

The idea was that as a toddler, she quite literally fell into the Fae Realm "like a falling star" and because I had apparently just recently watched The Prince of Egypt, I was hooked on the idea of her being brought before that section of the realm's royalty to figure out what to do with her and the queen deciding to take her in as one of her own. So her name would be a reference to being a falling star, while also having earthly roots as a human.

Because of her constant exposure to magic, she has longevity and does gain certain mutations as a result such as wings. However, because she's still biologically human, these mutations only go so far: Her wings appear underdeveloped when compared to biologically fae folk so she can't really fly anywhere and has to settle with walking or climbing, and she doesn't really have the ability to harness magic of her own, instead having to store it or use conduits.

Though, the fun thing about her being forced to use items to store her magic, though, is that it gives way to creative possibilities. Like, have you ever seen a fairy use a Super Soaker to shoot out magical blasts? No? Well neither has any other fae who hasn't interacted with any form of the human world. They'll be so busy staring at the thing and trying to figure out what the heck it is that they won't have any time before their face gets blasted off with 100% concentrated Abraca-Fuck-You!

She honestly has more or less become a metaphor for a person with disabilities/neurodivergency, so I might've unintentionally put a bit of myself in her in terms of shyness and how she interacts with the world around her.

The juxtaposition between her being royalty and her also having these limitations (she was raised to have no idea that she's actually human) leaves her starting off a bit insecure but wanting to nonetheless avoid disappointing her family; she knows she's off compared to most of her peers, so she feels she can't really slack off or else it'll make her look even worse than what she really is. She's the middle child with the queen's (biological) daughters, and sort of takes on a bit of their traits, trying to be dutiful and refined like her older sister while also being unable to stop herself from being playful and curious like her younger sister. She acts almost as a bridge between them because haha middle children be peacekeepers.

Because of her natural feeling of not quite connecting with others, she can get quite anxious around nobility of other kingdoms and tries to keep to herself. She'd much rather hide away in the astronomy tower to read, or steal away in her younger sister's hideout, theorizing about creatures they can't quite experience due to their pampered lifestyles (the Unseelie who live below the treeline, humans, etc).

Admittedly, because she was raised in Seelie territory, she has prejudices she has to work out, such as thinking lesser of Unseelie for things they have no control over.

Once she manages to interact with humans, though, she's unable to keep her curiosity at bay and has a tendency to wander and can't read the room for shit, partially because of her royal upbringing. Because of this, she can be a bit easy to manipulate, especially since she never wants to let anyone down.

Likes include walking barefoot, human junk food, climbing trees (because it's the closest she can get to flying), and messy art.

Dislikes include getting her hair braided (she likes the results aesthetic-wise, but the actual practice of it hurts), stiff posturing, regalia with tight sleeves, large parties, and the possibility of disappointing people.

I'm sure there's more but I've blabbered on about nothing long enough 😅 Hope any of that was useful . . . If not, feel free to message me about trying somebody else!

Thank you, and once again

CONGRATS, YO!!!!

Northern Lights - Death Cab For Cutie

Be More Kind - Frank Turner

Home - Harsh Krieger

Born to Be A Dancer - Kaiser Chiefs

World In My Eyes - Depeche Mode

When I Grow Up - Garbage

Bright Stars Burning - Hey Marseilles

A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers

Healing Star - Dishwalla

Sideshow Entertainment - Goodnight Sunrise

Dream - Imagine Dragons

Trickery - Landon Pigg

Ocean Of Night - Editors

Wings In All Black - Gregory Alan Isakov

Claim Your Dragons - Iron & Wine

All I Have - Mat Kearney

Be Ready When I Say Go - Emperors

Flower Power - Greta Van Fleet

A Bolt From the Blue - Meg Myers

People - JonPaul Palombo

[ridasverkisto]

for the black clover meme ask: 1, 13, 23, 30 and 48

Oh! I didn’t actually expect to get any asks for it...cool! For reference, the ask meme post is here.

1. Favorite Character?

This is a hard one—I don’t usually tend to have only one favorite character, but a herd of them that I love for a lot of different reasons. The two that jump out at me off the top of my head though are Dorothy and Noelle—Dorothy just because she’s fun and I love her, and Noelle because I love her character arc. Noelle specifically is the only character I’ve yelled at a TV screen for lol 😂

13. Favorite Clover Kingdom place?

...see, I don’t usually think about this sort of thing, just because I don’t get attached to places unless I go there in person. I guess just off the top of my head it would probably be the Capital, if only because I’m a shameless worldbuilding junkie and I’m extremely curious to see more of it.

23. Any (hetero or LGBT) romantic/platonic pairings you’re fond of?

I think the biggest is Magna/Luck, either romantic or platonic—I’m soft for two dumbasses sharing a brain cell and being best friends, regardless of whether it’s romantic or not. I also once saw a pairing for Charmy/Rill/Langris and I hold it close to my heart if only bc the potential for comedy and character growth is amazing.

Finral & Langris is also a good one, so long as it’s like...actual Sibling Energy and not thinly veiled incest wishing. Oh! And Yuno & Asta. I understand why people ship them romantically, and I can see it to some extent, but...you can’t tell me Yuno isn’t a Dramatic Bitch specifically to troll Asta, and if that isn’t peak Sibling Energy I don’t know what is.

30. Least favorite fandom theory?

Without a doubt, the idea that Dante could be Asta’s dad. Don’t get me wrong, I can see where the thought came from, but it just—it completely goes against how Black Clover handles tropes, and it’s just. Ugh.

If Tabata goes that way, that’s fine and I’ll live—but as it stands without better evidence and set up it just feels gross and I really don’t like it.

48. What do you feel is the series’s biggest flaw? How would you have handled it differently?

Hm. This is a hard one, bc overall I really do like how Tabata has been handling the series. I think the biggest flaw to me, personally, is how he handles his female characters in presentation. Like, personality-wise they’re pretty good overall (various female characters, each with different personalities and motivations, thank you!), but. How he handles crushes in the series, plus how Noelle and Mimosa in the art have been consistently drawn in fanservice-y ways is really bad.

First and foremost, let me get this out of the way: it’s not that I disapprove of the crushes in the series—in fact, I think they’re all believable. It’s the way the characters—specifically Charlotte—hem and haw around being adults about their emotions. Noelle and Mimosa—cool, fine, they’re 15, they’re not supposed to be adults about their emotions. And Charlotte’s a bit of a neurotic mess sometimes, so her struggling to tell Yami makes sense. HOWEVER.

I’m aware Tabata doesn’t rly want to write romance into the series (he’s on record saying so, tho I can’t find the source as of rn), but if you don’t want full on romance, then a crush shouldn’t be such an integral part of how you present a character to the audience. I’m also aware that this is probably mainly an anime problem due to fillers, but the point remains—Charlotte’s personality gets filtered down to “strict and serious on the battlefield” and “oh no it’s Yami 😖😳”

It’s a less serious problem with Noelle and Mimosa because we see more of them, and we get to see parts of their personalities that don’t revolve around their crush on Asta, but like. Maybe it’s because I’m aromantic, but constantly seeing “will-they-won’t-they” is so tired at this point.

My solution? Either a) don’t focus on it so much—flushing, being tongue-tied, cool, fine, but it’s not the CENTER OF THEIR PERSONALITY FFS. Or b) have one or all of them confess to their crush. Have it actually go somewhere, with the growth that entails; because whether or not Yami or Asta, etc., accept their feelings, that’s a change in the status quo. It’s progress and development. It’s INTERESTING.

Or you know, instead of having all of your romantic stuff being crushes, have someone like...Vanessa or idk, Dorothy or David or something with a background relationship. Not just a barely mentioned one with Kaiser—but one that is shown in the text and shapes part of their growth.

Also, male crush representation! Let the guys want a relationship and have a crush. Finral and Asta are the outliers here and they’re both treated as comedic relief—Asta has a sort of creepily insistent puppy crush on Sister Lily, and I really really wish it was written differently, and Finral is working on getting better already. But let the guys have interpersonal wants and needs without constantly playing it for comedic effect! Or using awful tropes!!

Basically, my take is that how romance and certain interpersonal relationships in the series is handled isn’t...terrible, exactly, it’s pretty Shounen standard, but how I’d like to see it handled is with more variety and respect. If you’re gonna write in crushes and implied romance, then actually commit to the bit and do something with it.

(Also please don’t get me started on the Silvas and how their treatment of Noelle gets sort of...hand waved, after they apologize during the Reincarnation Arc. Forgiveness and rebuilding a relationship of any kind from abuse like that isn’t easy, and I hate that it just sort of...gets ignored like everything’s fine now. Because it’s NOT.)

...that got long, sorry. I have issues with how mainstream media writes romance a lot of the time, and I think it shows. 😅