#Vash just had his Ego moment

[ohitslen]

Sharing a meal

I wrote something for this below the cut if you’re interested :)

They never eat anything too tasty, surviving with packeted rations and canned food in their journey. Sometimes they would stop at a little restaurant and eat a nice meal; it really tasted like something gourmet after days of going with grain bars and dry jerky.

There were fleeting moments in between conversations in which one of them would remember some dish, from back in the day when things were easier and they didn’t worry about too many things. They never went deeper into the topic, just mentioning how they missed a good meal.

Staying at an inn or any motel was an expensive thing to pay for. However sometimes they had some extra money from an odd job Vash did or from Wolfwood’s undertaker services, and they would always rent a room as a treat for themselves.

It was a surprise when they entered the room and saw a small kitchen. The space was a little too cramped but it had everything they needed, it was like a deluxe room when they though about all the places they had been at. None of them had a kitchen at all, maybe they had a tiny stove or a mini fridge, perhaps a table sometimes but never the whole set together.

They both looked at each other to confirm they really were seeing the thing, smiling excitedly.

They could make a meal for themselves.

Vash knew how to cook, he had done some work on kitchens throughout his life. A few times he helped Rem when he was a child, he knows how to defend himself. Yet he didn’t know any recipes by heart, not any that would be inside their budget at least. He could get creative and probably whip up a thing or two if he was given enough time.

“I know what to do” Wolfwood said with a smile that irradiated a melancholic warmth interrupting his thoughts . A smile Vash had only seen when he talked about the things he loved.

Vash didn’t suggest anything in the end and just followed what the other man told him to do.

He went to buy all the things Wolfwood asked him for. Vegetables and some thoma meat. There seemed to be some spices in the room so he only bought garlic and onion as per Wolfwood’s request.

When Vash got back, he found Nick at the table arranging the ingredients the kitchen already had. He was already showered, hair messy and with droplets of water hanging on the tips. Getting closer, he could smell the soap, the cheap shampoo and the lingering scent of nicotine that never seemed to go away. He was changed into a black, long sleeved shirt and a pair of loose dark blue pants.

His overall appearance made Vash think how the edges of the man were less sharp, he seemed more relaxed and at ease, even if it wasn’t entirely the case. He just looked, soft.

“Hey welcome back, did you bring what I asked you for or will I have to use your meat for this?” Wolfwood greeted him without looking up from his task, the ingredients being the most interesting thing in the world it seemed.

Something warm pooled at the pit of Vash’s stomach, he didn’t know why that was and didn’t bother to think about it either, just enjoying the feeling.

Smiling, he placed the bags on the table in front of Wolfwood, taking out its contents. “I’m sure I brought everything yeah, I hope my life can be spared”.

The priest snorted at him and grabbed a potato that was rolling off the table. “Aight then, make yourself useful and start washing these and then chop ‘em to reasonable bitable sizes”. Losing no time, he took the meat and was cutting it while giving out the instructions.

While Vash was washing and chopping, the other was already preparing the meat putting it in a pot with boiling water. Once Vash was finished with all he was asked to do, Wolfwood ushered him to take a shower while the food was done, wanting to have more space in the narrow place. Vash did as told in that as well.

The shower felt great, all of the gross stickiness from the sweat and other things were finally washed off from his body. He felt light and a thousand times more content.

As he opened the door the smell hit him in the face, a delicious scent that surely tasted even better. Wolfwood was stirring the pot, poking some of the potatoes to make sure they were on the right term, and they seemed to be as he turned off the stove.

Vash got closer, mouth already watering just from the thought of how it’d taste “That smells so good! What did you make?” He asked with a big grin plastered all over his face.

Wolfwood pointed at the table with his hand, signaling him to sit down a little dismissively while he looked for the bowls on his own. It seemed like he was the kind that with less people on the kitchen when he was there, the better. “Just a broth, nothing too wow it’s something easy, and on budget”. Vash hummed with wonder and served two cups of water to busy himself with something.

Wolfwood poured the two servings of the broth, it was still hot and the bowl must surely be scalding. Yet Wolfwood’s calloused hands never flinched, placing their food on the table without much trouble along with a pair of long spoons.

“Be careful or you will murder your tongue” he warned and Vash chuckled.

“Thanks for the heads up chef, ‘preciate it” the other just scoffed at the title and sat down across him .

They both mixed the broth while blowing at it in hopes for it to cool down a little. However seeing how they were both starving and didn’t care too much about getting burnt or not, they just started to dig in.

Wolfwood was eating eagerly, having spoonful after spoonful of his food. He was beyond delighted. It had been a long time since he had the chance to prepare the broth he used to have back at the Orphanage.

“It’s…delicious” he heard Vash say in a low and calm tone. When he looked up to see the man, he was shocked to find him with reddish eyes that were glistening with tears. It didn’t seem like when was doing a show or anything of the sorts, he just seemed…at peace.

It wasn’t anything extravagant, quite possibly one of the most simple dishes Vash has ever eaten. It was made with the things that they could afford with the little money they could spare, the ingredients were definitely not of the best quality, the vegetables could have used a little more time on the pot. And it was delicious.

Vash felt incredibly warm inside, similar to how he felt when Wolfwood greeted him when he got back, just a thousand times stronger. The first sip he had of it tasted like the best thing ever cooked in his whole life, something he would have every day of the year for the rest of eternity. He didn’t know why that was at first, but after having a second spoon of it he could tell what it was.

It tasted like home.

The flavor of it, it was homely, the savor of melancholy. It tasted like their conversations about missing the past. The tang of the times they would have a peaceful night in the desert grilling worm meat around a campfire. It reminded him when he got sick and an old lady had given him a bowl of soup. It tasted like the first time Rem had given them a try of what meat and vegetables tasted like. It tasted like all the things he missed, and the things Nicholas most likely missed too.

The familiarity of it made him feel fuzzy and full on the inside, and he couldn’t stop eating. He was slow while doing it, wanting to savor every bit of what he could have while it lasted. It was rich, it was simple and it was perfect.

“…You want some more?” At some point, Nicholas had already finished his own bowl and brought the pot over to serve himself again. He looked at Vash with something soft in his eyes the other could not name, his voice was gentle and gravely, sweet and easy on his ears just adding more to the warmth inside of him.

“Yes…yes please” Vash answered, voice cracking a little. Nicholas served him, the sound of the liquid being poured soothing his soul.

Vash ate again, and Wolfwood was looking at him. The priest was taking small sips of water from his cup, always holding it against his mouth even if he wasn’t drinking anything. Vash didn’t really notice when he had started tearing up, thick streams of salty water running through his cheeks, a pool of them welling up at his chin and falling down the wooden table making a puddle of happy tears.

Vash enjoyed the heartfelt broth. He was happy, that bit of simplicity was enough to make him forget of everything else and just focus on that moment.

It was so mundane. Vash smiled with overflowing tears in his eyes while Wolfwood just watched with a fond smile of his own behind his empty cup of water.

At that moment, they were not in a random room at a random place. They were in a place where they had brought their home to, sharing a meal with each other.

[nanomooselet]

Episode Eleven: To a New World

Deep breaths. Uh, pre-emptive apologies; I keep the tightest grip I can over my tone, but this ep sliced me off at the knees. There's a lot of anger in it.

I like Wolfwood. Lots of people do. And I like Knives. Besides Vash himself they pop up on my dash more frequently than any other character. Maybe I like Knives more than Wolfwood because I enjoy poking his horrible trash brain with a stick, but Nick's certainly got his charms.

But I can't get around it. This is the episode where Knives... violates Vash. And this is the episode where Wolfwood turns his back as Vash is screaming in pain and despair, reliving all the worst moments of his life. For reasons (I'M WORKING ON IT and they're not that Meryl is The Girl), Wolfwood was never going to be the one to save Vash from his agony. Back in the initial watch, before I knew anything else, I knew it just wasn't going to happen.

So, sorry, Nick - you’ve had a rough time, but I still giggled when Meryl kicked you in the shin as you tried to pretend you didn't give a shit. I needed the levity. Off you go, brood over your sins and the whatnot. I'm sure Vash is gonna be just fine.

And you, Millions Knives. Today it's the tire iron.

This is the first time we finally see him fully revealed - full face, cloak discarded, even his thoughts themselves laid bare. (By the way, he's not actually naked; that's just a very, very tight bodysuit. I think he wears it so he looks like his idea of what a Masculine Plant is, like an Italian Renaissance sculpture. Also pretty sure he made it himself. Without it, he'd look just as human as Vash does.) Knives spends a lot of time talking, often very passionately... but you still cannot trust anything he says to be the truth; not about himself, not about Vash. At best, there might be a tiny sprinkle of truth prettying up a great big lie. Or he genuinely believes what he's saying; it's just that he's confidently wrong. I don't doubt, for instance, that Vash really is motivated by a lot of guilt over the Fall, not least because Knives was the one who put that guilt on Vash and left it to slowly consume him. Nonetheless I always think back to the line, "Does their praise cure it? The loneliness?" because, well, no? It doesn't? Because that’s not the point. Vash doesn't do what he does for praise or to avoid loneliness. If you try and tell him he's good at something he brushes you off - "just lucky!" and then he's vanished through the backdoor before you can thank him.

Similarly, we see a moment where Knives just straight up changes reality to suit his narrative - when poor Rollo called for Vash, he said that he wanted to live. In Knives's world, he begs Vash for death.

When Knives says these things, it's not accurate criticism of Vash, or of his philosophy, or even anything to do with the Plants. It's not the truth. It's not an argument. It's a probe.

Especially in this episode. Knives is trying to rip Vash open. He’s searching for the points where he can apply pressure - the most efficient means to break him down. How true his words are is not relevant. Only whether or not they hurt Vash, weaken his resolve, undermine his ego and confidence - which he already barely has anyway because of Knives.

Why the hell would he do this? I mean, as much as I can be sure of anything with this guy, I’m sure that Knives loves Vash very much. His brother might well be all that he loves - all that he has left. We can argue about what kind of love (though it's really not a debate I want to get into, so I’ll capitalise the words Very Normal and leave it at that). But it is love. Forget about the higher plane and the dependent Plants (which is to say I'll try and find a way to get down my thoughts on them, but not at this time). Knives is doing what he’s doing because he loves Vash.

Specifically, he’s doing it so that Vash won't leave him.

Imagine how the moments before the crash must have felt for Rem. Every second counts in an emergency, and yet she took the time, perhaps selfishly, to ensure her children escaped before anyone else. I think she'd already decided to go back for the sleepers, but the longer she went without doing so the less possible it became and the harder it got to keep her resolve. Still she took those precious moments, the last they ever had together, for the love of her boys. A chance was all she had to give them, but her work was done too soon.

And Nai. With the knowledge of the rest of the series he was acting so calm because he planned this, and it went just the way he expected it would – until the moment he reached out his hand, and Rem said no. We don't see his face, but we do see Vash, pleading desperately, thrown hard back into his seat, and it was Nai who did that when Rem refused him.

Remember? Nai offered Rem a choice.

So to Knives, that left Vash to be only thing in the world that matters as much completing his crusade. I suspect he views the two as the same goal – having Vash back means killing the humans, and killing the humans means Vash is his. His and Vash's safety, togetherness, and freedom means there must be absolutely nothing left of humanity.

Even if it's the intrinsic humanity of his brother. (And of him. But he's not going to acknowledge that. Nope.)

So Knives didn't simply want Vash without his memories. Knives is a perfectionist - he hates to even admit to the possibility that he might have made a mistake, to the point where he assigns all blame for his actions to Vash. Vash's emotional development under his total control would be too unpredictable, too likely to fail. If given a choice, Vash could make the same choice that Rem did (again), and that risk is simply unacceptable.

So what Knives wants is for Vash to be without autonomy, devoid of independence - a shadow that he casts, empty of agency save that which Knives enacts through him. A graven image. Depending only upon him. Needing only him. If it means he'll finally be first before humanity, rather than alongside or behind them, he won't be all alone. It's only together that they can be perfect, because it's obviously what Vash is for.

After all, they're twins. Vash was born to be with Knives.

I'm sure he's just happy to be useful.

[inlocusmads]

I'm sure this opinion might be unpopular but I just think PB is trying to Lord of the Rings-ify Blades a lot, by introducing so many characters and relying on standard character archetypes to drive the story forth.

Of course, yes, you can only do so much with 18 chapters, but Blades is, like most Choices stories, memorable because of the characters and how they interact with their surroundings more than the larger overarching plot (though it comes a close second.)

Rant follows below, spoiler alert if you haven't read the latest chapters:

@choicesbookclub

I'd love to have Willow, Cherta and the Shadow Court members again for a chapter or two and maybe, y'know Kade?? Since he's our literal brother?? And he's constantly sidelined even though he is the reason why MC bothered with the whole Shadow realm thing in the first place??

I feel like a lot of times we could have had the characters react to certain things that aligned with their beliefs more. I loved the arc of Tyril questioning how convoluted magic can be and it isn't the one-dimensional thing he is used to or Nia standing up and taking risks against her sheltered upbringing. I feel like a lot of times all of the LIs had some really choppy writing given to them, besides the paywalled scenes because I personally believe if you have to paywall scenes to drive the characterisation forward, it lowkey sucks and very money-grabby. It comes with the writing! Paywalled options shouldn't gatekeep them!

Mal's apathy is never really addressed, even though the fandom lost their minds over it. Tyril has some golden moments here and there but it is glossed over completely and sometimes inconsistent at parts (where did the battle-mage Tyril go??). The only thing driving Nia's personality now is just her Shadow alter-ego being this wowie contrasty thing to her 'golden retriever' personality. Imtura's just the muscles and they gave her a semi-character arc-ish to take over from her mother, which completely skids through her complicated relationship with her (at least they could have given her some time to think if she wants to rule over or at least figure out the semantics of a ruling council until after the battle).

And Aerin and Valax have the forbidden-romance route to them. Let's not even like, talk about how Aerin's been missing for a chunk of chapters for reasons beyond why and Valax's route is also weirdly written where in she had no time to acknowledge MC's feelings?? Even when she's so new to romance, relationships and so on? Or like, even a friendship. For someone who doesn't trust easily, I can't really bank on the probability MC is just so alluring enough to rope them into a friendship within days to spare in Ironbreach.

Which comes to the problem, Blades stuffs a lot of characters in.

In Book 1, it felt a little balanced considering the overarching plot was for them to just get to the Shadow Realm to rescue Kade and the friends made along the way were instrumental in that success. Even if we don't know a lot about Adrina or Scholar Vash or Kaya or any of the side-characters, it made it very clear that this was the Party and we'll only be focusing on these people. And even then, taking an example, Adrina got a full story on her own. She helped Tyril with House Starfury's doings, taking over his shoes in the wake of his departure and ensuring things ran smoothly, Adrina helped the Party recoup and recover, even giving them drakes to get to Whitetower and she ended up being the next head(?) heir(?) of the House. Her efforts weren't wasted and it still felt like we got a promising story for her.

In the case of Cherta and Willow, they were "added" to our Party roster -a mechanic that previously wasn't used for the likes of other people, say Aerin, even (even though he did travel with us for a brief chapter and a half in Book 1) and we sort of expected they'd get a side-LI treatment or at least, a character arc like Adrina's, but their stories kind of fell.. flat in my opinion. We leave before Cherta is able to process her grandmother's passing. Willow and her story is just a one-off problem and she's now living her life in the Light Realm.

I don't know exactly why PB added the "__ added to party" game mechanic because it wasn't really necessary in my opinion because it is unlikely we'll see these characters again at least until the final battle (if the final battle involves literally everyone - light versus shadow cagefight and becomes a TC&TF Book 2 scenario) but it does feel weird to have bought their loyalty by doing them favours instead of actually getting to know them. I don't know, it's just my personal opinion.

I do know that 18 chapters is very little to work with, but it can be improved with pacing. PB has a bit of pacing issues going on with Book 2. The woods chapter and Zaradun didn't need to take like, 6 CHAPTERS to make a point! And that's covering the two rifts! If Cherta and Willow were supposed to be one-off characters, why not have one 15 or 17-minute chapter for each one of them and one for the journey from the woods to Zaradun?

I also think that PB doesn't really follow up with how the characters interact to the lore. A lot of times the lore is just wasted upon extra dialogue material or social quests, but if it had some impact on the Final Puzzle we solve to unlock Shadow secrets or whatever or at least a lore callback, it would have been so much fun. Like dwarven culture is so important they dedicated like ONE FULL CHAPTER to it (or at least half a chapter) and they never revisit it, besides Cherta's storyline.

And the lore tablets - ughhh my problem with the lore tablets being, they don't offer any ammunition to the storyline. They're just.. there as "additional info" to spare characters from doing infodumps. Apart from their collectible mechanism, they're just no fun from actually doing the exploration part. The Party's quest to look for Zaradun is a million times more interesting than slapping it on a lore tablet! Like why can't we have bonding sessions like that more often? Or the pit-stop at Riverbend (we'll ignore Kade wasn't even mentioned there).

I also think PB has a problem with the Chekhov's gun rule in writing. They set up these brilliant character arcs for characters and let them down later. I'd say Tyril's whole beef with magic could have gone to Nia, who has dedicated her life to magic and is under the whole 'Light heals, Shadow ruins' impression. Mal's apathy clashes with his whole motive for opening up an orphanage. If he cared so much about MC to open up something so thoughtful with his money in their favour, why does he act like MC's dead or something? Apathy could have gone to Imtura - the person who is the only one who actually expresses her emotions and it would be interesting to see her go all quiet and numb throughout the story, only for her to feel like herself and take on a new responsibility after her mother's passing.

And Aerin and Valax, godddd, way to half-ass romance routes PB. If it weren't for fandom digging into all the subtext and making up subtext, the story would be far less interesting. (this is just my opinion once again) Aerin had so much potential as the cat-on-the-wall character and him journeying with MC and the Party could have actually made him more perceptive and understanding. He could have even bonded with Tyril and Imtura even - them being 'heirs' to houses/kingdoms and coming from a different lifestyles and life obligations.

Valax's storyline felt so last-minute. I definitely feel like we could have added her to the Party long before Chapter 13 when she joins us in the flash flood. It could have made the Watcher character more fulfilling considering how MC would have to make a choice between being on the Light or Shadow side in the debate. Valax could have had her own reasons for closing rifts (or opening rifts) to get to the other side (maybe put in a collectible mechanic there) and not closing rifts/closing rifts could have had some long-term consequences.

I know, it is hard to program it, but this is the same company that brought you old books where your choices did matter and take you down different routes. I just wish they were more adventurous in their programming or at least, fixed their pacing issue because while I still enjoy Blades 2 for what it is, it is kind of a.. mild let down after waiting this to be 3 years in the making.

okay that's it lol.

[nicholas-wolfwood]

He’d been watching the man from the moment he entered the bar. The leader of some gang, most likely. Tall. Strong. Not too bad-looking. He was known for his womanizing ways, ruthless manner, and was respected by his men.

And he’d shot Vash.

Whether he’d been after the old bounty, some personal grievance, or just trying to make a name for himself, they didn’t know, but the gang leader had opened fire on the Humanoid Typhoon once he’d recognized him in the street. Not an unusual occurrence, Vash would shriek as if he were frightened while effortlessly dodging the shots his way until the attackers ran out of bullets or the Sheriff showed up to see what the ruckus was about. This time, however, there had been civilians in the crossfire, and the man used them to his advantage. Knowing Vash would dive in the way, he’d fired on an older couple too slow to flee, and Vash- that idiot- had flung himself in the line of fire. He was in the hospital now, and while Wolfwood knew that idiot would be fine (he’s had worse injuries than that before), there was still some business he had to attend to.

Rising to his feet, the priest made his way up to the bar, on the other end as his target, signaling to the bartender for another whiskey. He heard muttering coming from the far end. Good. He’d gotten his attention. Halfway through his drink, the shooter approached him.

“Hey. I recognize you. Weren’t you in the square durin’ that fiasco this morning?” He wasn’t wrong, Wolfwood had been further back in the crowd, not trusting himself to intervene. He knew he’d likely kill the man, and get yelled at by Vash for it later. But Vash wasn’t here right now.

“I was, yeah. Surprised you can tell.” He leaned back on his bar stool, giving the gang leader a once-over. He was taller than him, that’s for sure. Probably consider himself stronger, too. Heh, wasn’t he in for a surprise... “Quite the mess, heard you were goin’ toe-to-toe with the Humanoid Typhoon himself. Takes some skill to do that.”

“That’s right!” The gang leader’s chest swelled with pride as he took the seat next to him, his buddies remaining on the far end of the bar once it was clear their boss wasn’t about to start a fight. “Recognized the outfit. Not to mention that big ol’ cross of yours.” He nodded to where the Punisher was leaning propped up against the wall. “It’s kinda hard to miss. Anyways, looks like the legendary outlaw was no match for the likes of me! It’s just a shame the Sheriff showed up or I’d of finished him right there!” He didn’t notice the ‘priest’s’ hand tighten on his glass.

“Well if that’s the case, why not a round to celebrate yer near-victory.”

Wolfwood spent the next twenty minutes or so fluffing the man’s ego, easily goading him into round after round of drinking until the man could barely sit up straight. He’d caught the hint of interest in the boss’ eyes, fueled further by the drinks. After the sixth round, Nicholas had gotten up, announcing he was headed out back to ‘stretch his legs’. As he passed the bar, he could hear the gang leader following behind him, telling his buddies he’d be a few minutes.

Once the drunken fool got out back, however, a swift blow to the throat had him on his knees, gasping for air before he could even comprehend what hit him. Another hit to the small of his back had him reeling, looking up from the dirt to stare down the barrel of a gun.

Wolfwood’s aim remained steady as the gang leader choked and wheezed, likely attempting to call his men or plead for his life. Piece of shit. He hadn’t cared about the lives of those he put in danger with his little stunt, he likely wouldn’t care when he goes to the next town and kills more people. The world was better off without men like him; besides, he’d forfeited the right to live the moment he’d turned his gun on the man he’d been ordered to protect. He pulled the hammer back, ready to fire.

‘Thou shalt not kill, remember?! What kinda churchman are you, anyways?!’

“Dammit, Spikey, get outta my head!” Nick growled under his breath, shaking his head as if it’d dislodge any second thoughts. He was a top member of the Eye of Michael, dammit! A Gung Ho Gun! He’s killed men for lesser crimes than this, and he’s done so without a second thought, so why was he hesitating now!?

It was his job to protect Vash from pieces of shit like this. Not only that, he wanted to protect Vash from pieces of shit like this! Dammit, ever since that blond-haired bimbo crashed into his life, nothing made sense anymore!

He was one of Knives’ pawns. He was Vash’s friend. He’d been raised to kill, knew it was the best way to keep fuckers like this from attacking his charge again, simple as that! But he remembered Vash’s face that day with Rai-Dei...

“.........” He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t get that idiot’s annoying voice out of his head, those disapproving eyes that pierced right through his soul, judging him for all his crimes in the past... But beyond that, he didn’t want to see that look of pain and anger directed at him again. Not until the day finally comes where he has to betray Vash to his brother, at least...

That said, he couldn’t just let someone like this go on his merry way, could he? After all, the only rule was ‘thou shalt not kill’~!

......

“Early this morning, a man identified as Gregory Mason, the leader of the Mason Moonriders gang, was discovered in an alley behind a bar with all four limbs broken. He claims he was too drunk to remember what happened, and is currently undergoing care at the local hospital. The perpetrator has not been found, but police suspect rival gang activity.” Vash frowned, looking up from the morning newspaper delivered to his hospital bed. He gave the priest by the window a look. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this, would you, Wolfwood?”

“Nope.” The priest innocently sipped at his coffee. “Not a clue.”

[guideaus]

late trigun stampede ep 7 thoughts

the orphanage is called hopeland... where ur hopes of ww being alive die...

once again wish the character designs were better

i think tristamp is v weird abt comedic timing? trigun's always had goofy little moments in any serious scene, but stampede feels weird for some reason

meryl's faces were cute

vash ran away from wolfwood, to meryl and roberto (without intending to meet them), and turned back around...???

the zazie mouth bit was fun. i think they did that before in the manga but i think it was weird then

ww just has an unlimited supply of those drug things

ww's attitude is still frustrating

and lighter tricks seems a little silly, but idk lol

at least they didnt ditch razlo?

idk why the hell meryl and roberto are there. anime meryl and millie pt 2

livio operating under some... unattached mindset feels lame

vash did nothing while livio killed himself?? anime ww death pt 2

legato seems to have replaced the real chapel, and livio defiitely feels like an entirely different character. stamp legato is trying to make ww how livio was in trimax

ig legato is still weird... but really focused on nick. for some reason

i genuinely cant tell what theyre doing w roberto. at first i was like "why is a lackluster, apathetic drunk replacing milly" but i remembered trigun humanized a character who was an alcoholic very well, so i thought that might happen, but he just seems to occasionally be gifted w perception (though other characters will randomly do it, too, so it doesnt feel exclusive to him), and i cant tell if his "oh, this sucks, let's give up" is supposed to be funny or not?? at first i thought it'd be an act to protect meryl from the more ridiculous events, but he keeps doing it, and its like. what is the point. he is STILL annoying me in ep 7??

none of the main cast is reacting to livio apparently killing himself..? vash spent the entire last ep and half of this one interfering in ww's personal business just to let this guy die when he tries to kill himself lol? mr. "I disapprove of suicide the most"

there's just an entire room of the ship that's left alone?

ww yells so much, he feels like the delinquent/jock anime cliche

did the bad lad gang leave or what... what happened w them lol?? what did they even do before??

it feels like no other characters except the main cast exist. how are there wide shots of the trigun version of a cruise ship and there's no normal people anywhere

the gang really left w/o doing anything 😭??

i think meryl mentioning tonis is good, and she's finally disobeying, but also i cant help but wonder why it took her 4 whole eps to even show she's affected... but i guess its better than nothing ever

FKSDJFSD THEYRE JUST TRYING TO LIFT THAT THING WITH THEIR HANDS??

and legato didnt stop it?

"what about the people on the ship" bitch, what people. they all got raptured

ww is being pretty negative when they just accomplished that feat. i'd absolutely get an ego boost. maybe they can stop the ship w their bare hands too, who knows.

vash doing fucking puppy eyes after ww saying he'll kill him is so funny. it makes no sense. he killed ur pal 2 eps ago

NICK BEING LIKE "IM THE PUNISHER >:( THE PUNISHER >:((" IS SO FUNNY TOO FJSDJS?? why did they make him like this ohmy god

idk why the hell this ep is called wolfwood. in trimax its when he has his first fight w vash over their ideals, and the 2nd is probably when he dies, idk, but neither happens here

its weird in the manga the plant is out of control and vash goes to calm it for the ship, but in stampede its just... there, and he's asking it to like take control of the ship...?

i guess livio isnt dead lol. they did pass his ass though

i cant say i like the plant's design either :( that is a fantasy fairy/mermaid/whatever. not to mention, another instance where the writers cut out the christianity themes. i guess for the next ep there'll be some explanation why vash and knives look different lol, and theres no way this time they were made by humans i guess.

with stampede's pacing so far, i can get why they'd reveal vash isnt human here. there's no way they'd hold out w all their other choices so far.

i also dont like those plant lines. it feels like... idk, a lame idea of how aliens or whatever would look like. i probably just like my aliens like the nge angels or the typhon from prey.

glad the end card isnt sexy ladies this time

[trashyswitch]

7 Fluffy Balls of Joy

Chapter 7: The Puppies First Grooming (DIY Version)

The 5 Jacksepticeye Egos decide to try grooming the growing dogs for the first time. This leads to more hard work than they expected, and some play time too.

This fanfic is for Shannon. I hope you enjoy more of the puppies! :)

Henrik walked out of his bedroom and widened his eyes. They had gotten so big! Where did the time go?!

“Oh good lord...You’re getting very big!” Henrik reacted.

The puppies turned right around and howled towards Henrik. Henrik laughed and knelt down, looking at the puppies. “Hello babies! More like teenagers now.” Henrik joked.

“Good morning Henrik!” Jackie greeted.

“Guten morgen!” Henrik greeted back. “Zhey’re huge now!” Henrik reacted.

“I know and SO FLUFFYYY!” Jackie was fluffing up their fur.

“Yeah...Zhey kinda need a hair cut…” Henrik told him.

“Do they though?” Jackie asked.

“Ja. Zhey do.” Henrik replied. “And zhat’s vhat ve’re gonna do today. Ve’re gonna vash, cut and groom zhe puppies.” Henrik decided.

“But that’s gonna be so much wooorrrrrrrrk.” Jackie whined.

Henrik chuckled and looked at him with a side grin. “Should’ve zhought of zhat vhen you brought home 7 puppies and a mama.” Henrik told him.

Jackie sighed and nodded. “True…”

“Oh! Ound I have a collar for Angel!” Henrik declared. He picked up his little Angel, placed the puppy onto the couch, and hooked up the magenta pink collar to the puppy. “Zhere. You are mine forever!” Henrik declared.

“Yay! Another doggy’s been claimed!” Jackie declared.

“Yeah! I hope Marble is enjoying zhe new family.” Henrik said.

“The kids did seem really excited!” Jackie told him.

As soon as Chase, Jamie and Marvin were up, Henrik and Jackie explained to the boys that they were gonna get the pets groomed. And they were gonna do it themself.

Jamie widened his eyes and let out a breath. His whole face basically said ‘this is gonna take forever’.

“I know…” Henrik muttered.

“Not even magic will be able to make this go any quicker.” Marvin told him.

“I know.” Henrik told him.

“This has been a great experience so far...but I did not sign up for grooming a litter of growing dogs.” Chase reacted.

“Okay okay, ve get it! So let’s get started!”

The boys started off with cleaning the dogs first. All 5 boys got their swim trunks and bare backs on, and started cleaning the dogs outside. Each of them had a bottle of shampoo, and were getting the dogs all lathered up. Chase shrieked as his dog shook some of the soap off, while Jamie spat and made throat noises as bits of dog soap ended up in his mouth.

Marvin groaned as the dog he was bathing, winded up rubbing her body all over the grass as she was lathered with soap. Marvin put the soap bottle down and grabbed the hose. “Good enough.”

The boys each took turns to clean the soap off the dogs with the hose, and a bucket of water. Marvin picked up cups of water, and sumped it onto the dog to let it run off the body. Meanwhile Jamie was doing it the easier way with the hose against the dog’s fur. As soon as Jamie was finished, he passed the hose to Henrik.

“SCHEIßE!” Someone shouted.

Chase turned to look at the source of the sound. But he knew exactly who it was. It was kinda obvious…

It was Henrik...With his trunks down to his knees...and the dog holding onto them, pulling them aggressively…

HOLY SHIT it was the best thing Chase had seen all month! Angel was literally pulling Henrik’s shorts down in an attempt to play with him! And Henrik was basically naked right in front of them!

“Sie mich nicht an! Don’t look at me!” Henrik reacted, covering up his sensitive areas with his hand. His face was so red...he looked like a strawberry.

Jamie was the first to burst out laughing and actually snort in response. Chase bursted out laughing right after, followed by Jackie and Marvin. Everyone was laughing at Henrik while he got his swim trunks out of Angel’s mouth. “Trottel…” Henrik muttered. “Let go!” Henrik ordered. “Verschwinde!” Henrik spat.

Angel immediately listened to Henrik and let go of his trunks. With the boys still laughing at him, Henrik growled and pulled his swim trunks back up onto his bottom.

With that hilarious moment out of the way, Chase returned to cleaning the shampoo off of his chosen puppy. While a couple of the puppies proved to despise the water, Chase’s puppy seemed to like it! He was panting, running for the water, and trying to eat the water that came from the hose. Chase giggled at this and splashed a bit of water onto his face. This made the dog shove his face into the grass and rub his back all over the wet grass. Chase was laughing as he watched. But his laughter quickly turned to surprise the moment the dog jumped and tackled Chase onto his back with its wet body.

“Ahahahaw, come on man! So much for being dry…” Chase reacted.

“You’re a naughty little guy, aren’t ya?” Marvin teased Chase’s dog. “Yeah you are! Such a mischievous little nut!” Marvin teased.

The dog started barking and wagging his tail faster than the wind. He looked ready to sprint a marathon.

“What? You wanna run? Or jump around?” Marvin asked.

Suddenly, the dog pounced onto Marvin next and knocked him right down to the ground! “Ohoho man! You’re stronger than I thought!” Marvin reacted.

“He’s like a quarterback!” Jackie reacted.

Hey, that’s not a bad idea” Chase reacted. “There just might be a name idea for you!” Chase reacted. “Maybe Rebel? For Dublin Rebels?” He asked. “Or...” Chase added.

Jamie ran to Chase and fingerspelled a word for him:

‘B-L-I-T-Z’

Chase looked at the dog and smiled. “That’s perfect! Couldn’t have come up with anything better.”

Jamis smiled proudly.

“Blitz. His name is Blitz.” Chase decided.

Marvin smiled and knelt down to pet Chase’s dog. “Blitz...It suits him!” Marvin told him.

“Never heard of a dog being named something from football before!” Jackie reacted.

“Well, Air Bud is already taken.” Chase mentioned. “And I wasn’t gonna steal their name for the heck of it.” Chase added.

“True…” Jackie mentioned. “Alright! So we have Matilda, Angel, Marble and Blitz!” Jackie declared. “Well, kinda Marble...He’s off living with a new family.” Jackie added.

“Now: Let’s get these guys cut.” Marvin declared.

Boy oh boy, was that a process! Most of the boys only used scissors, while Henrik went for the full shaving to tackle all the hair. “If I shave it, I will not need cut it for a vhile.”

“But she’s gonna look ugly if you do that.” Chase warned. “You don’t want people cringing at your dog, do you?” Chase asked.

A couple seconds later, Henrik grabbed the scissors. “Zhey’re better anyvay.” Henrik told them.

“I wonder who told you that…” Chase muttered with a smirk on his face.

The dog hair that came off the dogs was overwhelming. Chase considered grabbing a vacuum cleaner to use on his clothes, while Jameson was fluffing his choice dog every 5 minutes to get all the hair out. Both cut and uncut hair would fly out of the dog’s coat and into his face.

“I wonder if paying for a groomer would be cheaper and less messy than cutting them ourselves.” Jackie asked.

“Cheaper? Nein. Less messy? Ja.” Henrik replied.

“I didn’t ask you.” Jackie told him. “I asked everyone but you, because we all know what your answer would’ve been.” Jackie explained.

“Youch…My feelings…” Henrik muttered.

Soon, the cutting was finished and the dogs were done. Jackie used a bag of treats to get the dogs to follow him, while Chase and Henrik gathered a majority of the dog hair with the vacuum cleaner. “Who knew we’d be vacuuming grass?” Chase mentioned.

“Not me.” Henrik replied.

“It’s not far off from a carpet, actually. It just breaks a little easier.” Chase admitted.

“Ja.” Henrik replied.

Chase smiled as the dawn looked cleaner. “All done!” Chase declared.

“Now to-” Henrik had turned around and stared with wide eyes at the new mess that had been made.

“Uuuugh...Jackie! Vhy?!” Henrik asked.

“Because they need it!” Jackie reacted.

It turns out that Jackie had taken the time to brush the dog's fur. This created a brand new gigantic pile of dog hair.

Henrik growled while Chase sighed. “I don’t even know if the vacuum can handle much more dog hair…” Chase muttered.

“Ve could make anozher dog vizh all zhis dog hair.” Henrik told him.

“Maybe even summon a new golden retriever with this much hair.” Chase joked.

“Ja, basically.” Henrik replied.

Henrik and Chase took the time to further clean up the lawn with the dog hair. “I wonder...does dog hair turn into a type of fertilizer? Or does it just turn to dead skin that looks like ash?” Chase asked.

“How about ve DON’T zhink of zhat?” Henrik suggested.

“What’s wrong Henrik? Don’t like the idea of dust mites taking over the lawn?” Chase teased.

“Nein! Nein nein nein! Deesgusting!” Henrik reacted.

“Awww, the poor doctor is a germaphobe! He’d better watch out! Cause there’s one evil germ he CAN’T wash off with water~” Chase teased.

“Vell, zhere’s technically-” Henrik’s words were quickly interrupted by a squeal of his own. Chase had squeezed his sides, causing Henrik’s knees to buckle. “VAHAHAIT! NEIN! NOT KITZELN! NAAAH!”

Chase sat right down onto Henrik’s hips and skittered his fingers all over Henrik’s belly. “kitzeln kitzeln kitzeln kitzeln kitzeln kitzeln!” Chase said in almost perfect german.

Henrik shrieked at that and giggled like a little toddler. Chase’s german voice sounded a little too much like his Dad’s teases from when he was a kid. “bihihihitte hör ahahauf damihihihit aaaHAHAHAHAHA!” Henrik’s laughter doubled in severity the moment his armpits were attacked.

“Oooooh! Ticklish in the pitsies, huh?” Chase teased.

“NIHIHICHE MEINE FÜHÜHÜHÜßE!” Henrik begged. “BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ES KITZELT SO SEHEHEHEHR!” Henrik laughed.

“Damn! I can’t even understand you right now! All I know in German are the words ‘Nein’, ‘Ja’, ‘halt’, and now ‘kitzelt’!” Chase reacted. “And those all mean ‘No’, ‘Ya’, ‘Stop’, and ‘Tickle’!” Chase reacted.

“Teheheheuflisch! TEUFLIHIHISCH!” Henrik yelled back.

“I wonder what that means...Maybe ‘bastard’? Or ‘enough’?” Chase asked.

“IHIHIT MEHEHEANS EHEHEVIHIL, YOHOHOU IHIHIDIOHOHOT!” Henrik yelled back.

“Ooooh! You called me evil in German?! How dare you!” Chase reacted.

“Evil?! Well if THAT’S the case:” Jackie got into his superhero costume in a snap, and quickly started tickling Chase.

“Wait WHAHAHAHAT?! OHOHO NOHOHOHO!” Chase laughed.

“Jackieboy Man to the rescue!” Jackie declared.

Marvin ran to Blitz and put a treat into Chase’s pocket. “Hey blitz! Sick ‘em!” Marvin encouraged.

Blitz jumped at Chase and tackled the man down to the ground. “OHOHOHOW! Ohoho geheheez! OHOHO NOHOHO BAHAHAHAHAHA!” Chase bursted out laughing as Blitz started digging his snout into Chase’s hip. “BLIHIHITZ OHOHOFF!” Chase tried to tell him.

But the dog didn’t listen and just kept tickling as he dug for the treat. The dog made borking noises and dug its paws in to get the treat as well. But it was proving to be harder than he expected to get it out.

“HEHEHENRIHIHIK HEHEHELP!” Chase begged.

“Naaaaah! You’re fiiiiine! You’re getting zhe kitzeln! Kitzeln kitzeln kitzeln!” Henrik teased. “Ist Rache nicht süß?” Henrik joked.

“YOHOHOU BAHAHASTAHAHAHARD!” Chase yelled as he shoved his face into the grass. “IHIHIT TIHIHICKLEHEHES!”

“Entschuldigung, my irisch friend. I don’t quite understand you very vell.” Henrik complained teasingly. “Vhat does ‘tickle’ mean again?” Henrik joked.

“SHUHUT UHUHUP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Chase laughed and squealed.

“Rude! So rude!” Henrik reacted. Henrik walked up to the dog, and removed the treat from Chase’s pocket for him. “Zhere you go Blitz.” Henrik replied. “Poor Blitz, being deprived of zhe treats. Especially for being a good boy!” Henrik said in a baby voice. “Good doggy! Zhat’s a good doggy!” Henrik started petting Blitz more and fluffing his fur around.

The dog woofed proudly and tackled Henrik to the ground to give him endless licks on the chin. Henrik giggled at the ticklish kisses and took them. “Zhahahank yohohou Blihihitz!” Henrik said to him.

The dog did one last bark of a reply before licking his face again.

Chase smiled as he watched. Perhaps the crazy grooming idea was worth the precious time with the puppies.

Soon, the boys decided as a collective to call a groomer for their dogs’ next haircuts.

[discotreque]

Picard 1.08: Broken Pieces

I'm so tired, y'all. My cat ate one of my hair elastics, because she's an idiot, and she was up all night puking extremely loudly all over the apartment. I have reached the age where I can't just bounce back from a sleepless night with a couple of Red Bulls and sheer force of will, so I'm kinda wrecked.

But I don't think I've ever been so wrecked that I couldn't ramble about Star Trek for a minute, so—shall we?

Spoilers:

We open on Aia, "The Grief World," possibly the most extra name for a planet in all of Star Trek canon.

This flashback is set 14 years ago, and Ramdha is present. But when we met her as one of the disordered Romulan xBs, they said she and her ship were assimilated 16 years ago. Either I'm misremembering or that's an obvious error. Which happens—I'm not mad, just confused.

Speaking of confusion: we see only female Romulans experiencing the Admonition (cool name btw), and Oh mentions a tradition passed down from their "foremothers." Are the Zhat Vash a female-only sect like the Qowat Milat? If so, what's Narek's deal? Or are only women Admonished, and male Zhat Vash agents just have to take their word for it?

None of this actually matters. I told you I was tired.

I really liked the scene with Narissa and Ramdha, mainly because I like Peyton List a lot and she got to show some complexity for a change, but Narissa remains an uncompelling villain to me. Even if she thinks she's working to save trillions of lives, she's indulging in an awful lot of sadism along the way; you get the impression she'd be torturing and murdering people even if she weren't an anti-android crusader.

They told us up front that Rios had a tragic backstory, but wowwwww. Two weeks in a row, this show gets us grieving for a character we've never met—impressive.

Prop watch! The phaser Raffi pulls on Soji looks more like a 21st-century firearm than any weapon we've ever seen on Star Trek, which added some possibly-unintentional heft to the scene. You just don't get the same visceral reaction seeing someone held at dustbuster-point.

The return of Admiral Fucking Bongwater! I worry Oh's going to get her before this is all over, though.

More infinitesimally tiny nitpicking: the JJ Abrams movies introduced the idea that phaser bolts on "stun" are blue, and ones on "kill" are red, and as far as I could tell, the first two seasons of Discovery used the same convention. (Which is a retcon I'm fine with: it makes fight scenes more visually understandable.) We've seen both red and blue phaser fire on Picard, and every confirmed phaser kill has been from a red shot. This episode, we see Seven shoot a bunch of Romulans with blue bolts, but later Narissa says they were killed by phasers. I don't know what to believe anymore!!!

I have literally never been more attracted to Jeri Ryan than in this episode. What a babe.

Every conversation about Data on this show ends up making me weepy. "He loved you" was the heavy hitter line, of course, but Picard saying that he felt as limited in his own emotional capacity as Data also had me reeling.

I totally called the engineering hologram being Scottish. Is it a terribly clever joke? No. Did I know they would be powerless to resist it anyway? Yes. Did I laugh my ass off when it finally came to pass? Absolutely I did.

Moving stars around the galaxy is pretty cool, but I read a novel once where some hyper-advanced aliens were moving stars back in time. Way cooler.

The physical comedy in the scene with Mr. Hospitality the close-talker and Raffi, who has a basic normal sense of personal space, was hilarious.

Rios is a sad boy who listens to sad songs on vinyl records and reads sad philosophy books. So basically he's every guy I knew in my 20's, zing!

Say what you will about the writing on this show, but the acting is almost uniformly phenomenal. I've heard more than one actor say that being on a show with Sir Patrick Stewart makes you instinctively up your acting game, and honestly, I think it shows all over the place, even when P. Stew's not in the actual scene.

All of that last point was basically to say Jeri Ryan is also acting her ass off this episode. I always thought she was a great actor, all the way from her debut on Voyager, but she is taking it to another level here and I cannot look away.

Can't decide who's showing off more in the scene with all the holograms: Santiago Cabrera or director Maja Vrvilo. Standing ovation to them both.

Raffi calls Rios's record player a "Walkman," which is adorable.

I will literally bet money that, had we seen Beautiful Flower (RIP), he would have been played by a relatively makeup-free Brent Spiner. Furthermore, I predict we're going to see another android from that line (i.e. Spiner returning sans the Data makeup) before the end of the season. And if it doesn’t happen and I remember to, I will call myself out.

Agnes is like "I promise I won't kill you," and Soji's just "Like you fucking could."

There was a cute moment on the Ready Room this week when Wil Wheaton mentioned seeing an early cut of this episode without most of the VFX, and Jeri Ryan's immediate reaction was "Oh, so I looked like a total idiot!"

All those Borg being vented into space was rugged as fuck. This show has gone to some lengths to establish individual Borg drones as not only victims, but victims who can potentially be saved. On TNG and Voyager, you cheered when a Borg cube blew up. On this show, when thousands of drones are unceremoniously killed, it feels like the massacre it is.

Everyone who's been whining about the nasty, nasty language on this show is going to have a fucking field day with this episode.

Speaking of f-bombs, I get the feeling Picard should have called Clancy back with the news that her head of security is a Romulan agent. Seems like information she should have, um, ASAP?

When Soji took over La Sirena with zero difficulty I burst out laughing. Like father, like daughter!

I am extremely interested to see what happens next with this Borg cube.

Picard's speech to Rios feels like the thesis of this whole show. I like it.

And fuckin' Narek is still around. Ugh.

Next week is Part 1 of the two-part season finale: "Et in Arcadia Ego." How's that for a title?

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

“My eyes hurt… why can’t I see?!” Ooo what if Henrik accidentally ran into the reader (maybe going too fast around the corner into a room?) and spilled some sort of chemical he was carrying on the reader's face. The egos of course jump to help but even after washing out the reader's eyes they still can't see. (Angsty things seem to usually be Marvin's or Anti's fault so its Henrik's turn now)

“I knew I should’ve gotten lid for zhis..” Henrik grumbled as he looked at the container in his hands, which was filled with a green, bubbling chemical. But he simply shrugged. “Ah, vell. Dr. Schneep best be getting back to–ah!” 

He turned the corner and accidentally bumped into someone. 

Then he heard a splashing sound, glass shattering…and a scream of pain come from you.

Henrik gasped in horror, seeing that the chemical was all over your face and shirt. “I-I’m so sorry, [y/n]!” He stammered as he grasped your hand. “Come vith me! Ve have to vash out your eyes zhis instant!”

“M-My eyes hurt..” You whimpered. “Why can’t I see?!”

“I-It’s chemical! You got chemical in eye! But don’t panic! It’s not lethal!”

Soon enough, you and him arrived to his clinic. The other Septics heard the commotion and rushed in there as well. After Henrik quickly explained what happened, they all helped you flush the chemical out of your eyes at the emergency wash station, hoping it wasn’t too late.

Anti quickly glitched away and returned with a clean shirt and some towels. But even after washing your eyes several times and changing shirts...you still couldn’t see a single thing when you opened your eyes.

The Septics noticed and led you to the nearby bed, having you sit down. “Does it still hurt?” Marvin asked, putting a hand on your shoulder.

You shook your head. “N-No but..I still can’t see anything at all..”

“Hmph..I’m gonna go figure out how to reverse this. I’ve been working with time magic, so I’ll try to be quick.” He looked at the others. “We should all leave [y/n] and Henrik be so he can check the severity.”

“..y-yes.” The doctor swallowed the lump in his throat. “You all can go now. [Y/n] vill stay right here till zhey can see again.”

Even though they were greatly worried, they all egos left the clinic, leaving you and Henrik alone. Once they were gone, he turned back around to face you. 

He didn’t know what to say--he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could say after what he just did to you.

But when you reached your hand out to him, he flinched…only to see you gently take his hand and squeeze it.

And in that moment, his resolve broke. “I’m so sorry..I-I..I’m a stupid idiot.” He bit back tears. “Didn’t look vhere I vas going. Had I done zhat…you’d be fine a-and-”

“It’s okay, doc.” You smiled up at him. “I’m not angry with you. It was an accident.”

But Henrik just shook his head, despite knowing you can’t see him doing that. “No..no doctor can afford to have “accidents” happen. I-I’m just..careless.”

“You are not careless.” You squeezed his hand tighter. “And you’re especially not stupid. You’re a brilliant man-”

“Apparently not brilliant enough to stop zhis from happening..”

As he wriggled his hand out of yours, he forced a shaky smile and pulled up a chair. “Just..relax zhere for a bit. I’ll check the severity of damage.”

“Henrik-”

“Please.” His voice grew thicker. “Just..l-let me take a look.”

[ronanbloomfield]

After 2 a.m.

by Ronan Bloomfield

I see him. Everywhere. On the kitchen counter, legs dangling off, talking to our friends. His hands, on her waist. His eyes, searching, curious. His laugh, loud but unoffensive. He makes the whole room focus on him. Vash, in all his curly-haired, dark eyes, wide smile bravado, made his way into our circle without so much as dropping a sweat. I should’ve brought more liquor if I knew he’s the one Michelle brought for a date.

New Year’s at cousin Mark’s town house is a huge deal this year. He announced that he won’t let anyone pass inside without bringing a plus one. I brought Patrick. Mark wasn’t so thrilled about that since Patrick happened to be my cat.

At the countdown, everyone seems pretty wasted. A clear sign of Mark’s year-end objective is people making out in the open with careless nonchalance. My job is to take decent snaps of everything indecent that’s happened.

Vash sweeps in and out of the room, towing Michelle, whose neutral expression always seems to be lying across between bright and blasting; a firecracker never running out of sparks. There was phrase in Latin I always use to describe her, in omnia paratus, ready for anything. Standing by the sideline and noticing everything, I made room for the pulsing life of the party, without being in the party.

After the countdown, Vash, the center of this universe, gave a toast to welcome another decade.

“May misfortune follow us all the way through,” he raised his cup. We booed.

“And may it never catch up,” he continued. We drank to that.

Unless they’re Irish, who else makes up stuff like that when they’re only 16% sober?

Mark’s house eventually got quiet as people slumped into couches and the available rooms. Some couple mysteriously disappeared halfway through eating the 2020 cake.

It’s 2:15 a.m. and after drinking booze more than both my fingers can count, I am officially tipsy. It sucks. I just can’t get drunk enough to not mind the empty cups and bottles lying around the living room, the wine spilled on the kitchen floor, throw pillows askew on the couches; every mess I spot seems to loom in on me and vacuum what’s left of my sobriety.

I grabbed the trash bag and made my way through every spot that we partied on. The room is spinning too fast for me so I slowed down and played a soft music from Spotify. I let it travel from the living room to my last destination, the kitchen.

“I didn’t know they invited a Monica Geller!” a voice behind me said a little too loud. I turned around only to find Vash, still standing straight and slightly red in the face.

I continued my work, scrubbing the sink immaculately clean while he sat there, by the kitchen isle, watching. I looked at him once, no twice, yeah alright, 14 times to make sure he wasn’t about to fall off from the high stool he was sitting on.

“Seriously,” he belched, “how can you be cleaning after drinking that much alcohol?”

I ignored him. I am not known to be famous with small talk. Or any talk, for that matter. I’m the silent twin, fluent in the quiet, overshadowed by the loud personality of my other half. I spoke only once, when he asked what my cat’s name is and since then it’s been Vash and his surprisingly loquacious alter-ego. He took it as his job to fill the gap in the air and talked about, yep, SpongeBob.

“He taught me how to handle my autistic younger brother. Man, he’s the best.” I’m not sure if he’s aware that he’s still talking while petting Patrick.

He went on, still talking, and followed me to the front porch where I deposited three bags of trash. I sat down by the stairs because it has been unbelievably exhausting as much as it was satisfying.

“By the way,” he sat right next to me with Patrick on his lap. “I believe we haven’t been officially introduced. Michelle said she would... but you know Michelle.”

I nodded. Of course, I had to share a womb with her.

“Anyway, I’m Vash.” He extended his hand, which is strangely old-fashioned for a guy just two years behind our age.

“Michael,” I said in reply.

We shook hands. And I wished it felt as simple as flesh touching flesh. Instead, it was a Stupefy spell which backfired. I withdrew my hand quickly, not eager to do anymore self-damage.

I believe in deep talks. But most of all, I believe in the deep talks held in the dark. That’s why sitting there by the stairs, the cool air on my face and the stars carefully mapped out above us, it felt easier to say something rash.

“I knew you from college.”

His eyebrows arched upwards. “Oh?”

My throat felt dry all of a sudden. “Yes,” I looked down. “You once slept… on my books at the library.”

His face broke into a grin. “For a minute, I thought you were going to say I slept with someone and you knew about her.”

I laughed with him too enthusiastically.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about your books. I can’t even remember that since I made passing out in the library a habit.”

“Don’t worry,” I said dismissively, “I was just using it for props, anyway.”

He laughed. It was gentle this time, syncing with the soft music still playing. We stayed like that for five minutes during which Patrick transferred to my lap, purred and fell asleep.

“I think I’ve noticed you somewhere around campus, too.” He glanced sideways at me, a smile overstaying its welcome is on his face.

My heart doesn’t know chill. It’s threatening to leap out of my chest.

“Did you give any speech back then?”

I wiped a hand on my face and cursed. At that, he let loose a provocative snicker.

I have been roasted all my adult life because of the drunk speech I gave to all scholars in our university on our senior year, and I still can’t get out of the hot seat fast enough and unscathed.

“Can there be one person, just one person in this world, who doesn’t know that story?”

“Hey,” he said, arms gesticulating, “just fulfilling my character flaw.”

I shrugged, not having anything to say anymore. This isn’t the deep talk I had in mind. The heat on my face is still subsiding when he continued.

“Were you…” he paused as if he’s actually traveling down his memory lane.

“Were you in theatre?”

I nodded.

“You didn’t play any character.”

“Oui.”

“You just directed it.”

“Careful on the ‘just’.”

“You’re right, you’re right. You were THE director.”

“Better.”

“You were the platoon leader first and second year in ROTC.”

I looked at him because now, I just realized he’s reciting things about me from his memory and I thought he just met me tonight.

He bit the inside of his lower lip and thought some more. His eyebrows are knit together in complete focus. I can’t believe this. Michelle, you tattletale.

“You almost drowned in swimming class.”

“You got excellent academic credentials.”

“You’re a good impersonator; your piece of Tyrion Lannister could land Oscars.”

“You’re funny enough and you notice everything it’s almost freaky.”

I want him to stop. This is not helping me get a grip. But he continues, unaware; his face getting sharper in the background as I was starting to get out of the haze that clouded my better judgement. This was a stupid, bad idea. Nothing good happens after 2 a.m., I knew that.

“You think sunsets are overrated.”

“You think feelings are, also.”

“You don’t like coffee or girls. Or—”

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

He stops talking. I continued.

“I might have already, way, way, way before we met.” I feel really close to vomiting at this moment, but what the hell.

“Seeing you tonight is weird and I know what you are. You’re the boyfriend of this month or this season, depending on what my sister decides later.” My breath isn’t catching up the right way but that didn’t matter.

“I know what I’m not. I’m not really a stranger to you, am I?” I finally had the nerve to look at him. He looked like he hasn’t breathed in since I interrupted him.

“Please say something so I don’t let my cat scratch my face willingly.”

[mangled-dreams]

The septic egos get into a fight because they found out Jameson lied about where he was going that night. He said he was going to the cinema, but he went to the forest, and was found almost dead by Dark and Wilford. The two Iplier egos brought him to The septic egos house, and are met with a chorus of shouts. (Jameson went into the forest to be alone but an animal or something attacked him.) Maybe, if you wanted to, have Wilford and Jameson be boyfriends or Best friends. Just for the fans :3

Bickering.

“What do you think we’re going to do? We’re going! We made the commitment.” Marvin bellows trying to be heard over the other egos. It’s not a common occurrence to see the whole house up in arms but today is an anomaly. No one really remembers what triggered the spat, but later it’ll be determined it was something Anti said in passing, for now no one give a flying fuck what started it. Mainly because every other word seems to be fuck.

As the voices rise in the living room Jameson finds he can no longer get the peace he needs to ignore the shouting. It’s not even the shouting that bothers him anymore, he just hates seeing his, for lack of a better word than doppelgangers, brothers ready to rip each others throats out. It’s like all there aggression and mixed feelings explode and anything and everything is suddenly and issue.

It always seems to happen when Sean is in a bad spot mentally. Right now Sean is over seas in Ireland visiting his family. Jameson just knows there is a problem with Sean and his family, he feels it deep within his soul. As connected as they all are to Sean not everyone can feel where their anxieties, their spikes in anger, fear, and insecurities come from.

Sitting up Jameson grabs a light weight jacket from his closet and makes his way to the front door. Just as he turns the knob a hand grips his shoulder. Glancing over his shoulder Jameson catches Henrik’s eye.

“Jay, vhere are you going?”

“To the movies.” Jameson responds shaking off Henrik’s hand. “I’ll be back later.” He adds leaving hoping to escape unscathed by the verbal and possible physical assault.

Breathing freely without feeling the stress and tension resonating through out every fiber of his being Jameson feels... relieved. He’d thought about actually going to the movies but the moment he stepped outside he ventured to the right and walked right into the woods. They only recently moved from California the wild lush green of Oregon. It’s a nice change of pace and it makes Sean feel more at home.

However there is a draw back, and one Jameson hadn’t thought of. He’s never wondered through a forest before, or even just a grove of trees. He has no idea where he is going or which direction is home. Usually he follows the road to Wilford’s home not far from his own. The Iplier’s had moved up years before his own family had. 

Pausing to look at the moon Jameson tries to figure out in which direction it is moving and work backwards from that information. This idea does him no good but to drive him further into the trees. Taking a moment to rest on the mossy floor it’s not long before the soft silence of the forest and focusing on the moon lulls him into a light slumber. The summer heat bleeding into the night giving a comforting warmth.

Jameson doesn’t know what exactly woke him, but from the moment he came back into consciousness he’s immediately on alert. Something triggered his fight or flight reaction. Scrambling to his feet Jameson looks around he forest.

Screams in the night wakes up Wilford and Dark from their slumbers. Wilford immediately goes for a short barreled Daniel Defense, a DDMK18. With a 10.3 in long barrel the compact hunting rifle and Wilford loves the sound it makes. One of the only reasons Dark allowed Wilford to bring anymore weapons into the house is for protection against the creatures that can become hostile. 

“Wilford.” Dark greets meeting Wilford at the glass back door. The pair nod at each other and head out. In the three years they’ve been living the only times there are ever screams in the night is when there is an attack on a lost hiker. 

Calmly the pair sweep through their extensive back yard. Scream after scream they track down the source. Wilford lines up his shot and stalls. “Jameson!” Wilford shouts dropping the rifle his heart nearly stopping at the sight of Jameson being attacked, he can’t even hear Dark shout his name.

Moving quickly Dark takes the rifle from Wilford’s hand and takes aim. The sound is deafening in the silent woods. Keeping the fallen beast in his sights Dark cautiously moves forward. A lone wolf. 

Looking around Dark tries to determine if more will come out to attack. Wilford brushes past Dark, nearly knocking him over to scoop Jameson up into his arms. Keeping his attention around them Dark asks, “Is he breathing?”

“He’s alive. We have to get him inside. It all seems superficial, but he’s bleeding really good.” Wilford says cradling Jameson to his chest. Dark nods looking around again. 

“We’re closer to his house than ours. Let’s go.” With that the pair of them pick their way through the woods to the Septic household. While they walked as quietly as possible all they hear coming from the house is shouting and screaming. Knocking urgently Dark waits with Wilford for someone to answer. 

Nearly a minute passes and Dark’s anger gets the better of him. With a swift kick the door bursts inward, slamming into the wall silencing the bickering inside the house. Stepping into the entry way a gathering of angry and confused looking duplicates stares at the trio.

“What are you... What the fuck happened to Jay?” Anti shouts moving quickly to Wilford. In the light of the house Jameson’s wounds look worse. Blood coats him from nearly head to toe, his breath heavy as he clings to life.

“He was attacked in the woods. Now I understand why he was alone. I’d want to get away from the screaming match in here.” Dark responds glaring through the guilty faces.

“Attacked? MOVE!” Henrik shouts rushing through the crowd to look at Jameson. Quickly he orders Wilford to take him into the living room and lay him down on the couch. Wilford helps remove all Jameson’s clothing and assist him with cleaning and assessing Jameson’s wounds.

Dark steps back watching before turning to the worried household members. “What brought this on?” He asks meaning the fight.

Guilty looks cross between the faces. “We... we couldn’t agree on a...” Chase has tot stop and wipe his eyes. “It was stupid and we couldn’t... now look at him. Look at Jay.” He weeps scared to lose the youngest member of the family.

Eyes look away from the couch. 

“He vill live.” Henrik calls from the couch. He and Wilford are covered in blood and dirt but there is relief in Henrik’s eyes. “It is all superficial as Vilford had guessed.” Henrik says wiping off what blood hasn’t dried to him.

Dark looks a the group. “Perhaps you should take a look at what you’ve almost lost and rethink how you should handle your disagreements.” His tone is neutral. He knows they are hurting, if the roles had been reversed he would be besides himself. “Wilford I will assume you are staying.” He can see Wilford will not leave his best friend in such as state much less with the noise they were greeted with. 

“I’m staying.” Wilford says. Whether the Septic family wants to accept it or not Wilford will not leave the house until he knows Jameson is well again. 

“You are good student, Vilford. I vill need you.” Henrik says handing Wilford a clean towel. “Vash off in zhe bazhroom. I vill get you fresh clozhes.” Henrik adds nodding to Wilford.

“Thank you.” Wilford says leaving the room with one last look to Jameson. 

Dark nods his head. “I’ll have someone over in a few hours to change out the door.” And with that Dark leaves. Past this point it is a private family matter. Pausing a moment in the ruined door way. “I do apologize for losing my temper.” 

Anti and Marvin simply stare at the door then to Dark’s form as he disappears into the darkness. They can’t believe that he considered ruining their door was a slight temper out burst.

“He broke our fucking door.” Anti says in disbelief.

“I’d hate to see him completely enraged.” Marvin remarks walking over to the door and attempts to close it. At the slightest touch it falls completely off the hinges. 

“He saved Jameson when we were clueless. I think a door is the least of our worries.” Chase says keeping watch over Jameson. His little brother, and he failed him. “We’re grown men, how did we let this happen?”

“He said he was going to cinema.” Henrik responds changing a few bandages.

“He obviously lied.”

“We didn’t even notice a car hadn’t been turned on.” Eyes shift from one face to another then to the ground. “How did we miss this?” 

Wilford stands in the arch way to the living room leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest with the towel wrapped around his waist. “Is something wrong with Sean?” He asks watching everyone look to him.

“What?”

“Sean--Jack, however you refer to him as, is there anything wrong with him right now? As alter personalities born from the same person. His moods affect you.” Wilford tells them.

“His uncle recently passed in a car accident.”

“That’s why he’s in Ireland right now.”

Wilford nods his head. “His grief can affect you all in different ways. You have to be aware of when you are acting out and take a moment, like Jay does, and breath. 

Chase looks at the others. “I’ve noticed it, but I ignored it. I didn’t understand what was happening because I didn’t want to deal with it.” 

“I never put two and two together.” A few agree with Marvin. Wilford nods his head. 

“Whether you believe it or not, we talk in our house. We check in on Mark when we begin to feel an over abundance of emotions.” Wilford admits earning shocked expressions around the room. 

“Even Dark?” Anti asks unable to wrap his head around the idea that Dark talks about his feelings. 

“Dark is the one to put it together. We do not get along everyday, but we do not allow our differences and disagreements to tear us apart.” If he didn’t look so dead serious and certain about his words everyone would assume he was joking. “Start with talking. Work on a plan to keep this from happening again. Never allow this to happen again.” Wilford suggests glancing over at Jameson asleep on the couch. 

Henrik had administered a sedative to keep him rested and still. Henrik nods. “You are right, Vilford. Zhank you for your input. Ve obviously needed it. However, please do get dressed.” Henrik asks noticing the towel around Wilford’s waist is about to fall.

Nodding Wilford turns away from them. The towel seemed to know the exact moment to give up the struggle and falls giving everyone a lovely view of his naked backside. He continues back to the bathroom to dress.

“He’s not wrong.” Marvin says wishing he could wash his eyeballs.

“No, when Jameson is better we should talk as a group. We cannot lose him because we are not willing to talk about our emotions.” Chase says committed to ensuring the arguing is cut down. 

Heads nod. For the remained of the night the egos sit around Jameson in the living room and talk to each other with some prompting from Wilford. Using the computer Chase calls Sean, bringing him into the discussion as their creator. By the end everyone is exhausted and ready for a long sleep. 

When the morning comes Wilford returns home to change his clothing and eat while Chase takes his place as Henrik’s assistant. As a whole everyone agrees to take the day to focus solely on helping Jameson get better. Everyone feels the guilt of driving their brother into the arms of a monster to be slaughtered. 

Sean had been mortified at the news of the attack Jameson lived through and the information provided by Wilford. He apologized over and over again, crying at the sight of Jameson laying prone on the couch, each could feel it in that moment. The power of Sean’s emotions washed over them, heightening their own sadness. 

They understand. They know exactly what Wilford had been talking about now that they are aware of it. They promise Sean to take good care of Jameson and to talk more when he’s back home. 

When Jameson finally wakes up he’s greeted with thankful smiles and happy tears. Everyone has to fight hugging Jameson tightly and instead sees to his comfort. To lose one would be devastating, to lose that one because of personal negligence and ignorance is a tragedy. 

Now they have the tools to keep from losing themselves and each other.

[fardell24b]

Star Trek: Picard: Et In Arcadia Ego overall finale review

Spoilers

Et In Arcadia Ego Overall two part review

The finale two parter. Overall, it is more similar to The Next Generation in tone than the previous episodes were. Quite nostalgic. Most of the plot threads that had run through the season converge to a conclusion as events come to a head on Coppelius. But was it satisfying? Yes. There are at least six different threads to tie up. The crew on La Sirena, Narek, Elnor, Seven and the other XBs on the Artefact, Oh and the Zhat Vash fleet, Riker and the Synths on the planet below. Quite a lot to deal with.

Of course, when it comes to La Sirena, the tale mainly focuses on Picard, although Jurati and Rios also get some time in the spotlight. Picard confronting his mortality as neurological condition took it's toll was done rather well (even if him ending up in a Synth body seems anticlimatic). Narek's story seemed to be a sideline, with the him seeming to be forgotten by the end of the second episode. Even so,he did play a role. His strategeum of projecting a fake image of his ship in the fight against La Sirena.

And his relating of the Gamadan history/prophecy to Rios, Raffi and Elnor was also an important part of the story. Most of the XBs may have been sidelined, but Seven also played an important role. (Not sure what to make of that moment at the end between her and Raffi at the end of the episode.) The Romulan fleet seemed to stall as it came to the point of firing at the Synth settlement. It wasn't just the Orchids, or Riker's fleet getting in the way. She deliberately stalled. (Maybe having second thoughts?)

(Or Maybe not.) Riker leading the fleet was good, but the ships being mostly the same class (or two very similiar classes) strikes me as laziness. At least the ships look good, and a natural development from 25 years earlier. But it is the Synths (and Soong) who play the most important part in the story. Sutra may be synthetic, but it seems that she was as much a victim of the Admonition as Jurati was. Brainwashed into doing something she wouldn't have otherwise done. Her killing of Saga can be compared with the murder of Maddox in that way.

(Although what would become of her after Soong deactivated her would be an interesting question. It most likely isn't the same as what happened to Lore). There are also the extra-Galactic Synths. What is their motivation, and is there any link to those who created V'Ger from Voyager 6? More on this in the complete season review. (Not sure why they would retreat when the beacon is turned off.) Overall it's an interesting ending to a rather good season. 8.9/10.