decimater

[helladventurers]

(long negative rant, be aware)

I think i'm starting to pinpoint one of the biggest reasons I can't really connect with the plot of botw and totk anymore 😫 and it's because I'm really tired of the "peaceful world whose entire source of conflict can all be pinned into a single, cartooningly evil individual/organization" trope

I'm rewatching some fire emblem playthroughs, another series who relies on that plot narrative too much, and it's exhausting to me 🫠 I thought that totk was a step down from botw plot wise, but it's really Nintendo's incapability and refusal to evolve and to make stories more complex than bog standard "evil always falls and light destroys darkness" kinda stories

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 12/14

Just a few more... (人◕ω◕) Tomorrow might be special. We'll see.

Today's spotlight goes to Mirajane Strauss~... \(人◕ω◕)/ I probably could have saved her second for last, but... Eh. I'm flexible with these last four. (人◕ω◕)

When did they meet?

Mira is... definitely one of the oldest acquaintances of Natsu. After he arrived in X777, I mean. (人◕ω◕) About a year after he arrived in Fairy Tail, the Strauss Siblings were brought in. Although to be honest, Mira-chan was... rather different in the beginning. (人◕ω◕);;; It mostly has to do with the fact that she was reviled for her Takeover Magic until Makarov found her; though in those early days before Fairy Tail, Mira kept her head down because she needed to supply for her siblings, Lisanna and Elfman.

... When they had a new, stable home in Fairy Tail, Mira was allowed to be more, uh... free-spirited, shall we say? (人◕ω◕);;;;;;; She had a ton of aggression to work out of her system from so many people giving her crap... And, well. Mira-chan was strong as heck. Who wouldn't be proud of being a prodigy? She takes demon power and uses it as her own. (人◕ω◕);;; Of course, this led Mira-chan to be rather spunky, and butt heads with Erza who was so uptight all the time.

Mira was something of a bully to Natsu when they were kids. (人◕ω◕);; He was always picking fights, and Mira-chan was always willing to bring it. ... And she also had a fondness for making Natsu cry, which Lisanna and Erza both lectured her about... Though Erza was more firm about making Mira face consequences. (人◕ω◕)

Regardless of the friction between Erza and Mira, though... Natsu got along well enough with Lisanna and Elfman. And it seems like the main reason for Mira's aggro behavior was that Natsu (and Gray) were in Erza's camp. They... didn't have much of a choice in the matter. (人◕ω◕)

I did want to bring up a detail I haven't touched on yet, apparently. Seems a bit silly... But since we're changing things left and right in this series, we'll talk about Natsu's rank. (人◕ω◕) In this series, Erza took more of a shining to Natsu from the get-go, and worked more in-depth with him to become strong together in their early years. I bring this up because it shakes up who became S-Class at what times; Erza held off on the S-Class trials in X780 because she wanted to advance with Natsu. So Mira went for the trials instead, and became S-Class in X780. Then Mystogan became S-Class in X781. And in X782, Erza and Natsu became S-Class together. Effectively blackmailing Makarov to do it, but hey. They weren't gonna take no for an answer. (人◕ω◕) In X783, Gray became S-Class.

This is important, because around X782, Lisanna "died". In this series, this happened shortly before the trials of that year... So Mira was the one lording her status over Erza's gang when she took Elfman and Lisanna on that fateful mission. (人◕ω◕) Understandably, Natsu and the others could tell Mira and Elfman were deeply impacted by the event... Erza was cautious in provoking Mira too much, not wanting to kick her rival while she was down. And Mira, well... She became an empty husk of her former, scrappy self. :/

When did they grow closer?

Despite Erza's warnings to leave Mira be, let her mourn... Natsu was never a good listener. Not when his friends are hurting. Elfman might give him the cold shoulder for prying too much, but he can see Mira's just... shutdown. She doesn't lash out at him for hanging around their home so much, waiting for her to come out... After a few days of brooding in her room, and knowing Natsu was waiting right outside... Mira eventually comes out, hugging the stuffing out of him and crying her heart out. Natsu hugs it out with Mira, and they resonate over the pain of losing Lisanna. He won't rush Mira to come back to the guild and get back into the swing of things; this was a huge loss, and Natsu wants to give Mira all the time she needs.

After a few weeks of Natsu coming in to check on her at home (on top of Makarov's check-ins), Mira eventually returns to the guild... Though she's not in the mood for jobs. She takes up a job as the bartender and chef, and she winds up talking with Natsu, Erza, Gray, Cana, and Elfman the most in-between quests. It takes some time for Elfman to regain his former energy, but he eventually does. And before long, Natsu and Erza are S-Class like Mira.

... This development does make Mira feel... conflicted. An S-Class quest is what robbed them of Lisanna. She's not so eager to let Natsu wade into danger, even if he did earn the rank... Mira ends up exchanging harsh words with Erza over it, and Erza promises things will be okay. It's not Mira's duty to coddle the Dragon Slayer; if Mira hadn't been so arrogant before, she could have seen Natsu was getting a lot stronger the past couple years. ... But Mira can't quite get over her anxieties.

After a few S-Class quests, and Natsu makes it back and happily tells Mira about the adventures... The Dragon Slayer can tell Mira's still worried sick. So he decides to show her the "grave" he erected for Lisanna, where they used to play. Natsu promises to never, ever forget about Lisanna, and one reason he wants to keep getting strong is so that he can protect Mira, Elfman, and everyone in the guild, so that they never experience a tragedy like that again. It's not just about finding Igneel anymore... though he's still determined to find his dad someday.

Mira's touched by Natsu's passion and heart, and they settle into a routine of Natsu going on jobs with Erza and Gray, and then coming back to chill with Mira and catch up with her. Mira does wish that she had the courage to go out on jobs herself, that she hadn't lost her magic... But it is what it is.

Before long, a couple years pass. Lucy joins the guild, and Team Natsu. There's still a strong bond between Natsu and Mira... And things change again when Mira's able to use her magic again, when Freed incites her enough during the Battle of Fairy Tail. She doesn't quite go back to full-duty with quests, Mira's come to accept Makarov does need the help managing the guild... But sometimes she'll go out on a quest or two. Sometimes she drags Natsu along. (人◕ω◕) Much to Erza's frustrations. They renew their rivalry somewhat... Though Mira's done bullying Natsu. They've been through too much to go back to that dynamic. ... Doesn't stop her from teasing him, though. Very flirtatiously. Stuff that goes over his head, but not Lucy's. ... Or Erza. Especially not Erza. (人◕ω◕);;;

Eventually, Lisanna is returned to them after Edolas arc... And while Mira's overjoyed, and the Strauss Siblings spend a lot of time together after that reunion... Mira doesn't forget her bond with Natsu. If anything, she's even more drawn to him. Cuz he gave her hope to carry on when they thought Lisanna was gone forever... And now Lisanna's back. (人◕ω◕) Yes, Mira-chan is quite... clingy with Natsu. ... Perhaps a little too much.

When did friendship turn to something more?

Honestly? Mira is one of the earliest ones to develop feelings for Natsu. (人◕ω◕) He's just done so much to protect and support her and her family. She does get into it a bit with Erza... But frankly, Erza's hesitancy because of her past with Jellal, it gives Mira the courage to press forward with Natsu. ... Cuz Erza's conflicted. (人◕ω◕) Of course Erza gets pissed. Jealous. But for a while, Erza just doesn't know if she should pursue Natsu. She thinks Jellal needs someone... And well, Mira's not gonna whine about it. If Erza wants to keep putting her foot in her mouth and make Natsu miserable over the whole Jellal business... Mira will be there for Natsu. She has absolutely no problems with that. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)

But... the thing about Mira being one of the first to fall for Natsu means that she must watch her loveable Pyro win over many hearts. Without even realizing. He already has her and Lisanna (... And conflicted Erza). Over time, he also wins over Juvia, Cana, Wendy... and then the other ladies just keep waltzing riiight in... Kagura. Yukino. Meredy. Ultear. Sayla. Chelia. Brandish. Mira might have a private "no touchy" policy when it comes to other women and her Pyro, but she's not about to shoot down Lisanna's chances... Or, grudgingly, anyone else's. (人◕ω◕)***

That one-year trip together after Fairy Tail "disbanded" was lovely. She and Lisanna got very intimate with Natsu during that time~... Even happily discovered why Erza liked taking baths with the Dragon Slayer. (人◕ω◕) ... That said, she could've done without Sayla popping in... (人◕ω◕)*** Mira would have vastly preferred that. After finding out that she and Sayla are perfect foils of another in their powers, that demon is maddening to have around... Especially when she plays with Natsu and Lisanna via Macro. (人◕ω◕)*** Mira has words. ... But Natsu approves of having her around, so Mira can't really do much else besides give her... blessing... (人◕ω◕)*********

Doesn't get much better when Sayla's reborn as a human, after Alvarez. Sayla still ends up retaining her Macro powers... though it's not a curse now, so it's arguably less potent. ... Doesn't stop Sayla from being a thorn in Mira's side. (人◕ω◕) Honestly, the ones that get Mira's goat the most are Sayla... Cana... Ultear... Sorano... And Erza. (人◕ω◕) Brandish is a brat, but she doesn't bother picking fights unless they're in her way of getting Natsu. Kagura would be more aggro, considering her ties to Erza... But Kagura-chan's respectful. Mira will give her that. (人◕ω◕) Cana's always done what she wants... And Ultear seems to make it her life's mission to get in Mira and Erza's nirvana. (人◕ω◕)

Natsu for his part has a deep love for Mira, too. It's one of those things that just "happened", but it's also one of those things where it was a long time in coming. (人◕ω◕) Mira's beautiful, strong, and makes lots of yummy food... She's pushy, though. The "bully" within her gave way to a controlling mama-like figure. He'll often comply with Mira's demands out of impulse, but when it's between following Mira or Erza's orders... Well, he's boned. (人◕ω◕) All he can do is try to reconcile them. ... Or more often, just let the "adults" do the talking and sort out what he'll be doing for the foreseeable future.

... And if Natsu is whisked away by someone else while Mira and Erza are... negotiating, that isn't on him. Nope, no sir. (人◕ω◕)

Whereas Ultear's one of the first to crave and want kids from Natsu, Mira on the other hand is among the first to propose to him. (人◕ω◕) Mira-chan knows what she wants. And she's veeery determined to get what she wants. No regrets~...

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

ok ummm ummmmmmm ummmmm. im going to try to arrange this in a way that makes sense umm umm

-Starting this off with the concept that They are like. cosmic eldritch entities that live in the very depths of the sea. like, mind-melting sea creatures that lurk at the very bottom of the oceans

-And if you ever get down there and ARENT crushed by the weight of the ocean completely tearing you asunder. you will probably be turned INTO one of those cosmic eldritch mind-melting sea creatures. because your Mind got Melted

-to keep up with the performer motif (bc. i like it its one of my favorite motifs). and also as a nod to summoning sea beasts in sea of thieves (my main inspiration for any pirate au and i'm not even ashamed to say it), i like to think that They- whatever they are- have an affinity to song and worship through such, due to the ancient people who worshiped them before in a similar manner. while not placated by it, they're attracted to it and they think its kind of funny

-um ok now picture this. Creature Seeker maxwell carter going out in search of Powerful Beasts to harness the ability of. with, of course, the aid of his musically talented assistant, charlie whatsherface. the two of them sailing off like "oh no charlie dw abt it i've had sooo many encounters with fucked up sea beasts. if you just lure it in through. song or something like that. then i'll handle the rest and it'll be fine"

-it wasn't fine

-while Maxwell didn't suffer enough damage to permanently doom himself to the fate of being a Complete and Utter Sea Freak, charlie absolutely could not say the same. she's a Sea Freak now. what type? oh i'm not sure. though i've been considering either a squid type creature (darkening the waters with jet black ink and having many tendrils for grabbing and clawing would fit in with a lot of her motifs) or maybe a lurefish like creature (bc lurefish are freaking based)

-max, caught horrifyingly somewhere between being half a sea beast and half a man, spent who knows HOW long just kind of. being stuck down there in The Deep- desperately trying both to evade Them (+ charlie) as well as actually make it up to the surface

-though i don't know much of where i plan to shoehorn him in outside the fact, i think it only makes sense that wilson is the one to 'find' him- probably on accident while trying to dredge up other, lesser (but still dangerous) sea beasts and kinda. catching him in the crossfire. not like max is going to complain though he's been stuck in The Deep for like. years. getting dragged back up by the neck is a small price to pay to get sunlight and surface air again

-this is where things fall apart a little bit bc the parts i've added the most sustenance to in regards to this hypothetical are the parts where my favs are involved. but i was kind of thinking something along the lines of a steadily building ragtag group of criminals totally regular and cool and NOT criminal pirates coming together for one common goal

-said common goal actually just. an excuse for max to try to get charlie out of the deep. but he doesn't tell them that, or that she's down there, or that he's been down there (ignore the fact he looks abnormally pale and has slits on his throat stop asking a man about the slits on his throat don't you know that's fucking impolite)

-the only person who probably KNOWS max's angle is. winona. who probably knew max at least a little bit before he went gallivanting off with her little sister and nearly got the both of them freaking murdered. she kind of reluctantly has to keep everything under wraps a little bit, if only because the two of them need the others to see this plan through to the end, and if the rest knew the stakes they were dealing with they might bail out

-but like. idk the rest of them are there probably for reasons that loosely align with their standard reasons for coming into the constant to begin with (wilson desiring the recognition of capturing an evolutionary marvel, willow getting to spend the rest of her life in peace knowing the shores of her home won't be haunted by Sea Beasts anymore (chat nobody tell her they're not actually planning on killing the 'sea beast'), and um. ect ect.

-also wagstaff in the bg maybe trying to tame said Sea Beasts to obey his every whim? who knows

-and theres sea shanties also :)

[rolandrockover]

Right the Psyche

Have I actually ever written anything about mid-sections in Kiss' songs before? Sure. But it I guess doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, as long as something comes out of it.

And because I always have to make comparisons, the first two songs that came to my mind on this subject are Psycho Circus and its counterpart Right Here, Right Now.

It's debatable when exactly Kiss started to incorporate something like an extended mid-section part into their songs, whether it was on their debut with Black Diamond (1) or not before The Elder, where it's literally teeming with them (2), I'm reluctant to tear my hair out over this question.

Psycho Circus' mid-section forms a song-complementary momentum, which remains true to its circus theatrics, and consciously uses the opportunity to open the curtain behind the scenery and allow a supposed look inside, ultimately and faithfully to the main theme, of course, only to reveal all the more magic, epic depth and perhaps even a little piece of infinity. Needless to say, Paul the ringmaster reveals himself for a few moments as Paul the magician, and all in all, impressions are awakening on many levels that we are only at the beginning of a long journey. Not bad for a band with 25 years under their belt, but considering that this was only the halfway point, I guess you can accept that.

Right Here, Right Now offers us in addition a wonderful contrast program that seems almost all too suitable. But that's not meant to be criticism in any form, because Right Here, Right Now, and I mean its mid-section, does pretty much everything right. If I want to look at it as a more or less neo-klassikal element of Kiss' song structure, which, for a change, does not behave as a rip-off, but rather as an opportunity for mature self-reference, without following the usual patterns. Sublimity and dignity are the first words that came to mind, and therefore also inseparable self-confession.

On Monster they somehow manage to pull off this trick several times, something Sonic Boom for example never manages to do, which is not to diminish my love for it. It's just that little goosebump moment in the mid-section of Right Here, Right Now that conveys such finality, as if it were the very last written and performed song of a band just moments before their consciously recognized, inevitable end. Aware of all their highs and lows, glories and disgraces, and with the heads held high. Face to face with fate.

It's hard to imagine what the result would have been if they had continued drilling in that direction, but unfortunately that was as far as it went.

If I used emojis you could see a very sad one at this point.

Side Note:

(1) One could also claim that half of its studio version consists of this.

(2) On Revenge as well, by the way.

To get to the Alpha and Omega please press the highlighted links:

Psycho Circus (1998)

Right Here, Right Now (2012)

[wornoutmouse]

@midoriyaprofessionalslut

I can't even begin to describe the ask I received so I'm just going to leave screenshots😅😅

Also in the new mha season, I thought Tsu was being petty when she called Mineta Grape-Juice and Shoji Tentacle. But nope, those are their hero names.

Side note: I feel like when Mineta gets old and knows how to work his quirk better, he'll be able to control if they stick or not.

Slight racism, usual smut.

NOT PROOF READ SO LET ME KNOW IF U SEE SOMETHING

 If you imagine Mineta as in the picture above and with a mature voice, this is more enjoyable. Or you can imagine someone else entirely.. Cause even as someone who's tolerant to Mineta I can't imagine him getting any hoes much less smashing (at least not on top). It would be like watching a chiwawa top a mastiff. 

"This is some bullshit." You shuffle through various papers on your desk, each containing the receipts of Pro-Hero Grapejuice's celebratory purchases. Most of it was random appliances that could in no way be used on a day-to-day basis, but there were others….a shiver goes down your spine, there were others that were just downright perverted. "What even is a nub tickler?" 

Being an accountant was something you were good at, the numbers came easy and it was interesting to see the income and ways of business that different people in power displayed. Planning meetings and getting the occasional phone call made everything a breeze, but it wasn't what you wanted to do. Or in better words, this was not whom you wanted to work for. Even being number 6 causes the workload to be higher than should be physically possible in the hero world. That's one of the reasons you never gave praise to the rankings because no matter how low in the chain, a hero’s work is always taxing. 

Shifting in your seat you look at the analog clock on your desk. 3:45, you were supposed to come to work at 5:30 which means you once again have no time to sleep. Having these late nights had increased 10 fold whenever Mineta went up in rank even by a little. His way of celebrating was spending his money carelessly and leaving you to fix the balance. Though you supposed it may be your fault for never objecting when he barged in your office showing his trinkets as well as leaving his credit card.

"Yeah, it's time to go." You muttered as you read the words, "Dwarf Cow in the left lot of Wisconsin."

 The next hour, you take a detour from your office for the first time in months. Heading down the hall you watch the walls go from the pale greys to deep purple and violet splotches splattered along the wall before it inevitably melds into solid purple walls as you get closer to the front door of his office.

Hesitantly you knock on the door and wait until a muffled "Come in." Rings through the thick wood. The room itself was just as flamboyant as the walls leading to it. A beautiful fuchsia carpet on the floor made you realize that calling in your two weeks would have been better than walking into the Willy-Wonka factory that was this office. Various spherical decorations hung from the chandelier, and even something as simple as the legs of his desk was made up of crystal spheres.

The man himself sat perfectly balanced on a large purple ball most likely of his own creation, meanwhile, various children sat around him slipping and sliding on smaller balls in an attempt to copy him. "Ah, here is my beautiful assistant!" The compliment made you cringe as you fiddled with the end of the sleep-wrinkled white blouse you had worn for 2 days straight. "Can we talk sir? It is important." Mineta raised an eyebrow at your formal speech before shrugging. 

In an extravagant display of balance, Mineta does a handstand on the ball with one hand before flipping to the other side. "Well kids it's time for me to get done as a hero’s job is never over and blah blah blah the gift shop is giving out free plushies and you can keep your ball." The teacher does her best to usher out her students and the sound of childish screams resound down the hallway even though the door was shut. "How can I help you Y/n?" Mineta offers you his ball to sit on and you reluctantly take the offer as you grate in multiple directions in order to stay afloat. 

Mineta watches you with hidden interest as he interlocks his hands underneath his chin. "I didn't know you even knew my name?" Mineta Laughs exposing his annoyingly perfect teeth. It was hard to associate this face to the pictures you see when you search for his early years. "Of course I know your name, I stole your nameplate off your desk 2 months ago." Ah, so that's where it went  "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

You sighed, "I would like to put in my two weeks." Mineta goes slack-jawed before composing himself "Why?" Mineta looked at you earnestly, completely confused on why you'd want to abandon your post as his secretary- I mean assistant. "Working for you has become a hassle with your lack of financial maturity." Mineta mock shivers, "Oo big words, me no likey." Mineta hops onto his desk as if he weighed nothing more than paper and squats in front of you, "How about this, you don't quit and instead help me learn how to...how did you say it? Be financially mature." You lean back in your chair unconvinced that he was taking this seriously.

With the final nail ready to be hit, Mineta adds, "How about I give you a raise of 10 percent and a promotion?" You stand up in your chair with an eager grin, "That sounds great!" Mineta smirks to himself but you did not pay any mind to it. "Great, how about we discuss this over food, dinner date?" Your internal celebration screeches to a halt, " Dinner Date-" Mineta looks at you shocked, "Dinner date? Great idea, why didn't I think of it myself!?" A firm hand slides you towards the door as Mineta starts a complimentary speech giving you no room to object, "This is why I need you, you're so smart, I wish I was like you, tomorrow at 11?" You sputter trying to slip past his arms, "11 but I-?!" Mineta loudly gasps again, "There you go doing it again I'm so lucky to have you, tomorrow at 11 my treat!"

The door is shut in your face and the sound of the lock clicking seals your fate. What did you get into?

Cut to 4 years later and you are still not sure of that answer. Simply being bis accountant you had a glimpse of his perverted tendencies, but as his girlfriend, it was further exposed to depths you never could have found yourself imagining. You shuffle papers in the printing room as you do your best to ignore the faint tingling sensation in between your legs. Yet another whim you found yourself following on Mineta’s behalf despite the ever-present fear of being caught. The vibrator comes to life before going back down as quickly as it came. You toss a middle finger to the camera in the top corner of the room knowing he was watching.

"Miss L/n, can I ask you something?" You slap your arm down to your side in embarrassment. I hope he didn't see that.  Your coworker walks up to you holding a small stack of papers. "Yes, how can I help you?" The man shows you various forms as he talks, for once you were thankful for Mineta not embarrassing you in front of others. "Oh I see where you went wrong, this right here would be a 20% increase, not 18%." The man applauded you and graciously wrote down your explanation. "Thank you so much, my name is Kaminari by the way." 

"Ah hello, Kaminari, and no worries I'm always glad to help!" You turn back as your papers finally scan through but can't help notice Kaminari lingering. "Say Y/n?" You open your mouth to respond only to close it again as the vibratory comes back to life strongly. "Hmmm?!" Kaminari peers at you, your reaction was strange but he couldn't figure out why. "Um, never mind, have a nice day Miss. Y/n, maybe we can get together over coffee or something?” You shrug turning away from Kaminari in fear of your eyes rolling up. The man sways from foot to foot awkwardly before leaving the printing room. 

Snapping out of your personal flashback, you look over at your fiance signing autographs for his adoring and objectively feminine fan base. While it was extremely unnerving how unknowingly close they were to your home, you weren't resentful of their gushing.

Your engagement and your overall relationship had not been made public in fear of your personal life being exploited by paparazzi. That doesn't mean, however, the next thing you witness doesn't get your blood boiling.

A girl, no older than maybe 22 waltzes up to Mineta with the confidence of Muhammad Ali in a ring match. Her raven black hair fell flawlessly down her back with not a single split end. Almond eyes decorated with precise coal blink rapidly to draw attention to her seemingly natural eyelashes. With 4 inch wedges. a black halter top, and cuffed jean shorts, it was clear she was someone on a mission. She effortlessly pushes past the nearby fans as they stop to quack at her rivaling beauty. A smirk draws itself with her soft pink lips as she hears people muttering around and about her.

"Wow she's so pretty"

"They would look good together just look at them."

"Ugh, such an attention whore, not giving the rest of us a chance!"

"I bet a 20 she's his type."

"Is she famous?"

The chatter comes to a close as the girl hands Mineta a notebook, "Can you sign right here?" Mineta flips open the book and his eyes widen a fraction before he puts on his heroic voice, "Wow it looks like you got all of Japan's heroes in this book!" The girl smiles as she watches Mineta scratch his signature, "Don't be afraid to leave your number in there too Mr. Minoru." Mineta pauses at the statement for continuing his elaborate handwriting, "I don't think that would be very plus ultra of me so I'm gonna have to pass." Smug pride fills your chest as you watch the annoyance cross the girl's face.

Mineta finishes signing and hands her back her book, she, in turn, forces a small piece of paper in his hand before holding his chin and kissing him. At that moment nothing else mattered but beating that bitches ass as you yanked her black hair and dragged her to the ground. "This ain’t Wattpad bitch get your hands off of him!!" You turn to Mineta making him flinch with a sharp glare as you yank her hair again, hopefully pulling a few strands out. "You just gonna let her kiss you and not do anything!?" Mineta stretched his hands towards you cautiously, "Y/n calm down, if you would have given me a chance I would have settled it-" "No, settle it now!"

Your rage is diminished by the judgmental looks coming from the fans and you realize your brazen display was out of order.

"Who is she"

"I think she's the secretary l, so why is she so mad"

"Delusional just cause you're with him all the time doesn't mean you're together"

"I hope he fires her."

"This is why we shouldn't let them in Japan"

The girl whose hair you have in a chokehold stands up unbalanced before pushing your hands from her hair. Satisfied at the disheveled look of her previously perfect strands, you turn to walk back to Mineta, your anger having been sated, "Black Bitch." You turn around and go charging towards the girl again grinning when she flinches. Your rampage is stopped as Mineta wraps his arms around your waist and picks you up, "Sorry for the disturbance, we deeply apologize!"

It's almost comical how your mouth spews vulgarity that would make a sailor blush as Mineta drags you behind your apartment building. He ushers you through the back door leading to the washroom, "I can't believe she'd do that in front of me, and you let her!" Mineta shuts the door quietly, leaning his ear against it to listen out for any lingering fans. You sit on top of a washer still ranting as your blood cools down. "The nerve of some of these people is outrageous, even if she doesn't know about us that is still sexual harassment!"

Mineta doesn't look at you and instead peeks through the blinds lining the washroom windows. "I think they are gone, come on." The two of you sneak out the door and walk at a moderate speed all the way back to your front door. In hindsight, you knew that causing a scene like that was a bold move on your part. If anyone was recording the whole ordeal you knew Mineta’s name and possibly yours would be in the headlines by later this evening. 

As the last one entering, you lock the door behind you, forehead scrunched together with apprehension. "Mineta I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me. I just saw her touching you and saw red." You face away from the door with an earnest look on your face. Mineta has a cheeky look on his face that can only mean trouble. Despite your similar slim build and height, Mineta easily corners you against the door. "I know exactly what got into you." Mineta’s pointer finger taps your nose. "Jealousy."

You sighed, putting your head down nodding, "Yeah, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just-" "shhh." Mineta lips your head back up with a hand under your chin. "It's fine Y/n. It's not like I expected a perfect little cocksleeve like you to be okay with sharing." You stare blinkingly at Mineta. 'Oh, he's in one of those moods huh?' As expected from such a fiend like Mineta, he was quite possibly hard the whole time he was watching you beat that girl's ass, and for some reason that irked you even more. “Mineta I’m being serious.” The words leaving your mouth did not phase Mineta, he holds your hips and pulls you close to him in order for you to feel his bulge. 

“Oh come on, after seeing you be so possessive for me, how can you not expect me to be a lil turned on?” Mineta’s hands circle your ass before slapping it, “Made me feel special.” Rolling your eyes you lean into the lingering kisses he begins to leave on your shoulder. His grip tightens as he shuffles you to the nearest surface. “Makes me feel all giddy inside to know that you do this only for me and no one else.” Minoru unbuttons your dress pants and removes your belt, “But doing that in front of all those people was stupid.” A shiver travels up your arms from the feeling of lips caressing your ear. Mineta dips his hand into your cotton panties and immediately draws attention to your clit.

“Look at me, Mineta Minoru with a girl like you that would fight for me. Who would have thought?” You ball your fists on the table, hanging your head low. “You’re not going to make this easy for me are you?” Mineta slips his other hand beneath your blouse to cup your breasts. Short l  rub down your slit collecting your slick. The feeling was warm and buzzing just underneath your skin, the bastard was well trained on how to slowly but surely bring your pleasure to its peak and hold you there. Your muscles begin to feel more and more like jelly, you sigh “Oh God..” Mineta pushed his body further on yours, rutting against your body. Up until now, his other hand was simply resting on your skin but once impatience overcame him, he used it to pull down your pants. 

“You know this will be in articles tomorrow right?” Two fingers curl inside of you making you squeal, “Y-Yes!” Something hard and slick smacks against your bare ass as Mineta removes the bottom half of his hero costume. “So how are you going to compensate me for what I’ll have to deal with tomorrow?” You turn your head to the back with a small pout on your face, “She shouldn’t have touched you.” Mineta coyly smiles before pressing your head down against the table. “You should have let me handle it.” 

Mineta was an average of 5 inches in length with conservative girth. But so far he’s been the only man that really added proof that size doesn’t matter. Mineta pulls away from you and leans down to riffle through his pants. You hear a crisp pop of a cap being opened and a slick splatter is heard afterward. A shaky breath leaves Mineta’s lips as he lubes his cock up. Penetrating is a struggle at first, the longer it takes for him to push it in the more both of you become frustrated until he finally pulls your waist back against himself. “S-So good!” The pleasure causes his childhood lisp to slip through as he waits for you to acclimate to the stretch. 

You shift your feet when Mineta refrains from moving. "Tsk, you really don't understand the meaning of patience do you?" Your hands suddenly become cool to the touch as Mineta covers them with medium sized spheres temporarily gluing you to the table. "Mineta this isn't fair! Please just a little bit to the left!" Now having you helpless Mineta puts one hand on your back while stroking the base of his cock. "It's not about being fair, it is about teaching a sneaky brat like you to know their place." Mineta begins to move but it's not right, he needs to go more to the left, "Mineta what are you even talking about!?!" 

A sigh leaves Mineta's lips, "Don't think I forgot about that slick shit you tried to pull with Kaminari." Mineta watches your ad shake and bounce everytime your hips meet. Your arms twitch and pull at themselves wanting to find purchase on the flat surface. Groans leave your lips as Mineta comes closer to hitting your spot,  "Slick shit?! Y-You're the one that wanted to do that stupid little piano in the first place!" You couldn't see it but Mineta had a deep seated glare on his face. He loops his fingers underneath his yellow scarf and rolls it around long ways. 

"I'm really tierd of your mouth. What you think because I let you beat that girl out their I'll let you beat me?" The middle of the scarf is put in your mouth and your head is pulled back by it. Mineta holds both ends of the scarf to slam into your cunt. "Just a greedy little bitch aren't you?" You scream into the cloth as Minetas cock finally hits your spot just right. The constant pulling on the corner of your mouth burned everytime the fabric rubbed against the sensitive flesh. Your feet rise to your toes in a fruitless attempt at getting a break from the pleasure. Mineta holds his scarf in one hand and pushes down your waist. "Didnt you want this? Don't run from it now."

Your pussy squelched around his cock the faster he went making you go cross eyed. "Fuck you feel so damn good.  The table rattled and scraped across the floor with every thrust. "oh fuck, I'm gonna cum!" Your nails scraped the table as you closed your fist, had you had claws it would have been a whole different story. You beared down on his cock, trying, begging to feel more inside of your walls as he moved faster. Suddenly your argument fel worth it.

Mineta knew many things about himself. He knew his birthday, he knew where he was in life, and he knew he had come 6 minutes ago and was bordering hysteria as he pumped his overestimated cock into your wet heat. Each drag made years collect in his eyes.  Tiny whimpers left his lips and his hands squeezed your sides harder and hard.  "So fucking warm. Squeezing down on my dick like that." 

He bowed his head and rested on your back,  kissing the sweaty skin as he pushed through the painful pleasure.  "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Mineta slaps your ass  before pulling out and shoving his fingers inside your pussy. "Cum for me, Y/n. That's it cum on my hands." Mineta's fingers were the only thing that never really grew on him. They were relatively short but thick so even three of them were able to stretch your hole the way you needed. 

"Y-Yes, right there shit!" Your cum drips down his arm soiling the fabric there as you squint around him, "That's it give it to me." Mineta buried his face in your pussy licking you clean like a man starved. It wasn't until you whined did he stop and pull his fingers out. 

Luckily for you, his spheres were just about coming close to their time constraint. You stand up rubbing your wrists and drinking some water Mineta brings you. A snort captures your attention and Mineta holds up his phone, "Not even an hour." Writing in thick bold words read. 

"Obsessive Secretary Snaps on Camera!"

You snort, "I'm the obsessive one huh?" It was going to be a long day tomorrow 

[esther-dot]

1 fatal tidiness, lol forever! I keep thinking what might have happened those crucial days when DnD met with M in his house. M: you see, it's all abt Jon and Dany. DnD: Right; we knew that; it's THE romance. M: no, it's abt their confrontation. DnD: ...? M: You see, Dany is a threat like Ice. Fire-Ice, get it? DnD: ... we can live with that. So, Jon is good, Dany is evil, Tyrion is good, Sansa is evil -M: No, tyrion is bad news; he'll try to get WF for Dany. You don't have a marriage like that

😂 I do think their meetings as the series went on had to be very distressing to poor Mr Martin!

This is the last paragraph of that blogger's thoughts you’re referencing:

"I'm not saying it made good sense - quite the reverse. But narratively, you could see what was being aimed for. Your big questions were answered, but the answers were stupid. It lacked that element of chaos and incompleteness that can empower bad finales of other shows to actually energise their fanbases. There was a fatal tidiness to it." (link)

They are specifically talking about GoT, not ASOIAF/its fans, and speculating why the finale straight up killed all love of the franchise, and I think they're right. A show fan doesn't know the depths of Jon’s love for the Starks, and in the show, he died for the Free Folk, so for Jon to end up with them "makes sense,” but it’s still a letdown of an ending.

Dany stans are never going to be ok with her ending, but to a general fan of the show, hearing that the girl with dragons who has been threatening to burn cities and take the throne for seasons eventually burned a city and took the throne only to be killed the same way her dad was...I mean, it undeniably makes sense. It just feels pointless because we weren't allowed to consider this a victory with the underdog Starks taking out an overpowered Dany.

I think the emotional distance that this kind of fan has would allow them to think exactly what that blogger said. Everything is answered, but these are stupid answers because D&D didn’t set them up well. The fatal tidiness is that it did give endpoints that in the abstract made sense, but the characters who survived had been so neglected, for the average viewer, the show stopped dead in it’s tracks with that ending. It is over when with writers who cared, it could have felt like a beginning. They didn’t finish the show, they murdered it and our ability to happily engage with it.

Also, for a less invested show fan, the Starks weren't the heart and soul of the story (because D&D didn’t like them), so their reactions would be as "shallow" as the show’s answers. These fans were never looking for the resolution of inner struggles because D&D never did much with that. Their questions about their fates might go like:

“What about the other Starks?”

“Arya goes adventuring.”

“That’s cool.”

“Bran becomes king.”

“REALLY?!”

“Yeah, because he’s like, a god.”

“Oh. Wow. Ok.”

"Sansa?"

"Becomes QitN."

"Oh yeah...she wanted to be queen in the beginning."

Hardcore fans won't accept certain things because they have way more questions, they bother to ask those questions and really want the answers, but the vast majority of the show watchers didn't/don't. Because the show told us Dany was the center of the story, her death did end it. All along we were being force fed this idea of Dany as a revolutionary figure who would make life better for the downtrodden and D&D cut out everything that undermined that, so fans think, “after all that, the status quo remains. Lame.” Whereas (I’m assuming), in the books Bran and Sansa will be the most dedicated to creating and preserving peace which is why they will rule. The future they create will be better, but there’s precious little time dedicated to that idea in GoT. All the same, the general fans can shrug and say, “oh, I guess that makes sense” because there were one or two things that served as justification for these endings.

And, I don’t have faith that Martin isn’t going to punish Jon however nonsensical it seems to me. He always leaves wiggle room in his answers to questions, but everything he said over the years spoke of his conviction the show would give the mains his ending and after the finale, he continued using the same examples, no back tracking. I’m not claiming there’s no chance what you speculate happens (I hope some of it does!), but the fandom likes to act like all the blame is on D&D (all the mischaracterization certainly is), but I think all sides of the fandom are setting themselves up for disappointment by assuming it all is on them. I think stuff none of us want will happen.

That being said, there is a lot of room for interpretation in the ending we got, maybe you’re right that D&D thought Jon being in the North was close enough to married and in Winterfell, but speculation is speculation, and until Martin stops calling GoT a faithful adaption, I'm not going to believe that we will be getting something better in the books, no matter what I hope. 

[to-come-alive]

Ada Masalı 1x05

Yeah, I know I took too long to post this review but I was kinda busy with other things. Well, I still am but I want to do this now. So let's begin:

Yeah ... they came back to be what they were before the 'gitme' moment. I'm a little disappointed by that but how could I expect smth different? They're so into each other that being more than they are rn means them being together for real. And it's only ep 5, it's too soon for them to be together.

Didn't think Haziran's relationship with her mother was so bad. I imagined that her mother could be a little too much but not so much that Haziran had to go to a boarding school to be away from her. And their problematic relationship helps to understand why her father's death was so difficult. I mean, it's always difficult to lose a parent but maybe her father was the one that really cared abt her. He was, I think, what kept their household stable. And when he was gone, things began to fall apart.

I remember seeing someone saying that Haziran was a superficial character, that she needed more depth. I don't agree with that. I think she has more depth than Poyraz even. There's her relationship with her mother which is complex to analyse, and her father's death is still a trauma for her. And speaking of trauma, her fear of the sea is not smth natural, she developed that due to some trauma, most probably related to her dad. So, for me, Haziran has layers.

I was hoping, in that scene of her mother's arrival, that they focused on Poyraz's confusion with the whole situation. Cuz he was the only one that didn't know who was Zeynep (except for Nehir who didn't know her either, but she knew abt Zeynep's bad relationship with aunt Selma), and everyone got so restless after her arrival that I could only think abt what was Poyraz thinking abt all that.

Loved that Poyraz went after Haziran after her talk with her mother. He worries abt her and just wants her to feel good. I personally love this trope of the guy consoling the girl.

I love how everyone agrees that Poyraz and Haziran are a couple. Especially after the 'gitme' scene. And I also like that they're trying to understand their relationship and maybe bring them together. They're not just ignoring the fact that poyhaz are maybe a thing.

I'm growing more and more to like Biricik. She's so cute! While I'm growing more and more to dislike Idil. She really thought that she would ruin Poyraz's life and he would run to her?! (although yeah I know he doesn't know she's the reason but he doesn't even look at her, let alone fall in love with her). I'm glad Haziran didn't tell the truth to Poyraz. He wouldn't believe her anyways and this would only make them fight. If Poyraz doesn't want to see who is Idil, then leave it to fate, this is not her job.

Does Poyraz see that Haziran does NOT like Hakan? Or he just chooses to ignore? Cause the girl obviously can't stand that guy and Poyraz simply doesn't see or acknowledge that. I understand him not talking abt Idil and Haziran's problem with each other (I don't really understand his relationship with Idil. Does he know she likes him and just not talk abt it? Or he doesn't know? I don't know!!). But doesn't he find it weird that Haziran always go away or makes some unpleasant face whenever Hakan comes? Idk, it's weird.

OMG his grandma woke up?!! I thought this was smth that was gonna happen in like ep 10 or smth. Well, I don't think she's gonna remember all of Haziran's talks with her right now. She was in a coma! She needs time to recover herself from that. Maybe in the future she will have some glimpses abt that. Let's see.

That's all for now. Bye!

[askfreddiemercury]

I walk southeast out of Goodsprings then take another road heading south to Primm. I need to figure out if Johnson Nash can help me find the men (or the one guy) who shot me. The trail is long but luckily I'm used to how hot the day can get, even in the summertime. It makes me wish for nuclear winter.

~~~~~

Soon enough I finally make it to the famous gambling town of Primm, but I’m not allowed to survey the area just yet as I’m attacked by two people who don’t last very long against me.

Freddie: What a welcome party that was.

I reload my shotgun and take a look around. I see the Mojave Express first, the very place that hired me to be a courier, there’s also a man in front of the office, dead. Those people must’ve killed him some time ago. I rush over to him.

Freddie: Daniel Wyand huh. What’s this?

I pick up a note from his body. “Mojave Express Delivery Order (4 of 6)?” Guess this guy was a courier like me, looks like he made his delivery but must’ve been shot up by those people. His order is very similar to mine but he had to make a delivery of “Two (2) Oversized Dice, composed of fuzzy material.”

Freddie: Odd.

Leaving the note with the man, I turn to see “Vikki & Vance,” a pretty popular casino in Primm. Obviously. If people would hide anywhere from whoever is attacking the town it’s got to be in there.

~~~~~

As soon as I walk in an older man takes me aside.

Johnson: I don’t know what it was brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink your plans. Town’s gone to hell.

Freddie: Uh, do you know where I can find the courier office?

Johnson: Sure do. I run the courier office out of my shop. Leastaways I did before things went to hell around here.

Freddie: I’m a courier with the Mojave Express.

Johnson: Well, I don’t got any work right now, sorry to say.

Freddie: I’d hate to say this, but I lost a package I was supposed to deliver.

Johnson: I’ll tell you whatever I can. Do you have a delivery order you can show me?

I pull out my order and hand it to him, he takes a look in which his expression changes.

Johnson: Oh, so you’re talking about one of them packages. That job had strange written all over it. But we couldn’t turn down the caps.

He hands the paper back to me.

Freddie: What was strange about it?

He places a finger over his chin.

Johnson: That cowboy robot had us hire six couriers. Each was carrying something a little different. A pair of dice, a chess piece, that kind of stuff. Last word I had from the office, it looked like payment had been received for the other five jobs. Guess it was just your chip that didn’t make it. First deadbeat we hired to do the job canceled. Hope a storm from the Divide skins him alive. Well, that’s where you came in.

A cowboy robot?! Could he mean Victor? If so, just what the hell is Victor up to? I also find it strange that my package was the only one to gone astray, even Daniel managed to deliver his before coming back to Primm and getting shot up while going to collect his bonus.

Freddie: You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the people who stole my package, would you?

Johnson: Well, now that you mention it, a few nights back one of the townies was out scavenging for supplies. He said he saw a fella with a daisy suit come through with some of them Great Khan misfits. They was talking about a chip.

Freddie: One of those men shot me. I need to know the best way to get to them.

Johnson: Well for that your best bet is going to be talking to Deputy Beagle. Since they came to town he was keeping a good bit of notes on them, and he was slinking around Bison Steve when your pretty-boy friend came through. He may have heard where they were going.

Freddie: Where might I find him?

Johnson: Last I heard he was locked up inside the Bison Steve. Those escaped convicts must’ve done so.

Freddie: Thank you. I’ll take care of any other convicts I see.

Johnson: Don’t go getting yourself shot now.

Nice joke, Nash, a bit too late for that now.

~~~~~

I head on over to the other casino, taking out other convicts I see along the way. Once I’m inside and I move around a counter, I see a man with his hands tied, kneeling on the floor.

Deputy Beagle: I don’t suppose you came here to recuse me? I’d cross my fingers but my hands are numb.

Freddie: You must be Deputy Beagle.

Deputy Beagle: Why, yes I am. It’s pleasure to meet you.

I’m in a bit of a predicament here. I’d be most appreciative if you’d set me free.

Freddie: I hear you may have information on some khans that came through here with a guy in a checkered suit.

He nods.

Deputy Beagle: My good sir, I believe I may have some information that would prove useful. If you would just untie my hands I’d be more than happy to share that information I have with you.

I untie the man and he stands up to stretch his hand around. What a relief that must be.

Freddie: So, what can you tell me about those guys?

Deputy Beagle: I overheard them saying that they are on their way to Novac. If you want to follow them I strongly suggest that you follow the road through Nipton. There are a lot of dangerous things out in the desert, and you won’t have me with you to protect you, as I need to stay here and keep Primm safe.

Freddie: Don’t you worry, Deputy, I can handle myself just fine. It’s going to take a lot more bullets to put me down.

I say proudly and with much confidence like I can definitely hold my own out there. I’m a simple mailman. I might as well not set my standards too high.

~~~~~

After helping around Primm for awhile and even getting my first companion, a friendly little eyebot named ‘ED-E’ like the rusted license plate on the side of its body says, ED-E and I head east towards Nipton. But as soon as I see the town, I see smoke rising from many buildings! What’s going on?! I rush forward and see a man running towards me, but he seems, happy?

Oliver: Yeah! Who won the lottery? I did! Smell that air! Couldn’t ya just drink it like booze!

Freddie: What sort of lottery did you win?

Oliver: What lottery? The lottery, that’s what lottery! Are you stupid? Only lottery that matters! Oh my god smell that air!

Freddie: Alright, time for me to go.

Oliver: Later.

I get hit with whiplash on how calmly he said that but what lottery? Does it have something to do with why the town is burning? I look over a flag, it has a bull on it. I walk carefully into town and see a big pile of tires in middle burning away with a bunch of burned skeletons too. What is happening?

Walking towards the town hall I spot people that have been crucified on crosses, who would do such a thing?! I walk closer and these people in crimson armor walk towards me. One has the head of a wolf around his head, he must be the leader here. We stop a good distance from each other, he smiles.

Vulpes Inculta: Don’t worry, I won’t have you lashed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates. It’s useful that you happened by. I want you to witness the fate of the town of Nipton, to memorize every detail. And then, when you move on? I want you to teach everyone you meet the lesson that Caesar’s Legion taught here, especially any NCR troops you run across.

Why did he say Caesar like that? It sounded more like ‘Kai-sar.’ Also, who the hell does this guy think he is? Telling me what to do.

Freddie: What ‘lessons’ did you teach here?

Because putting someone on a cross to die sure is a lesson.

Vulpes Inculta: Where to begin? That they are weak, and we are strong? This much was known already. But the depths of their moral sickness, their dissolution? Nipton serves as the perfect object lesson.

Huh? The hell is he talking about?

Freddie: What exactly happened here?

While I can’t see his eyes I know he’s looking at me like I’m stupid by the way his mouth turned into a frown.

Vulpes Inculta: Nipton was a wicked place, debased and corrupt. It served all comers, as long as they paid. Profligate troops, Powder Gangers, men of the Legion such as myself - the people here didn’t care. It was a town of whores. For a pittance, the town agreed to lead those it had sheltered into a trap. Only when I sprang it did they realize they were caught inside it, too.

Is this guy even speaking English? What is this very old world tone?

Freddie: You captured everyone?

Vulpes Inculta: Yes, and herded them to the center of town. I told them their sins, the foremost being disloyalty. I told them that when Legionaries are disloyal, some are punished, the others made to watch. And I announced the lottery. Each clutched his ticket, hoping it would set him free. Each did nothing, even when “loved ones” were dragged away to be killed. We must go now, but be reminded that there will be more lessons to learn. Head the warning.

Vulpes and his men turn east and start walking. I have the choice to put an end to these guys but something is stopping me from pulling out my shotgun. These are bad people with bad intentions, what’s going on?! Maybe it’s fear, but of what I don’t know. Could be that there’s too many of them or maybe I’m just scared of Vulpes himself. Whatever the reason I must continue on my journey by heading northeast to find Novac.

Freddie: Let’s hurry, ED-E, before these guys decide to shoot us when we’re not looking.

He makes some beeps and boops conforming that we should go.

~~~~~

As I headed northbound, killing any wild creature that dares to attack me, I see what seems to be a large T-Rex statue. You don’t see that every day. This must be Novac. I get closer and see that it is, the sign out in front has gone from ‘No Vacancy’ to ‘Novac.’ I love that. I walk a little closer to admire that statue I see.. Victor?! I see him from the corner of my eyes and I can’t believe it! What’s he doing here?!

Victor: Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, if it ain’t my old friend from Goodsprings!

Charming.

Freddie: What are you doing in Novac?

Victor: Don’t rightly know - I just got the notion to make my way to New Vegas. Reckon I’ll find out when I get there.

Freddie: Quite a coincidence us meeting like this.

I laugh nervously.

Victor: Seeing how this is the only road around, I’d be a sight more surprised if we didn’t run into each other from time to time.

Freddie: Just stay out of my way, robot.

Victor: I’ll let that slide seeing how you gotta mind full of vengeance for that no-good polecat and all.

He then carries on like normal, I better watch out for him in the future. ED-E and I walk into the main office of Novac.

Jeannie: Well. Welcome to you. You look tired from the road. Why don’t you relax a spell, let this fine town take care of you?

Freddie: I’m looking for a man in a checkered coat. Have you seen anyone like that?

Jeannie: Well he might’ve been wearing a fancy outfit, but he wasn’t any kind of a gentleman to me. Had his nose stuck so high in the air, you couldn’t see it above the clouds. City folk, they always think they deserve better than what they got. Those hoodlums he was with seemed to know Manny for some reason. He’s our daytime sniper, up in the dinosaur’s mouth.

So, those Great Khans know this Manny fellow, best have a talk with him.

Freddie: Thanks for the information, and yes I’ll be renting a room for tonight.

~~~~~

I tell ED-E to wait for me in the motel room, he beeps and floats off while I make my way into the dinosaur to talk with Manny, I walk into what seems to be a shop then walk some stairs to the sniper’s nest. As soon as I open the door, Manny turns around.

Manny: What’s going on, man?

Freddie: I’m looking for a man in a checkered coat.

Manny: Sure I know him. What do you want with him?

Freddie: I have a score to settle with him.

Manny: Doesn’t surprise me. Guy seemed like he’d do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Probably makes a lot of enemies. Well listen, I can definitely help you find him, but I’ve got problems of my own. Maybe we can do a trade. You need my help. There’s something I need, too.

Freddie: What do you need?

Manny then goes on to tell me a story about scavengers and ghouls, he goes on to ask me if I can go and clear out the nearby REPCONN test site from all the ghouls that sometimes like to wander a little too far from the test site. Alrighty, if I’m gonna get information out of him I need to do this job. I agree to help, so I go on and get ED-E to help me take these ghouls out.

[mittensmorgul]

Wow, I have such a kink for 8.2! I'm cutting work to watch this again LOL!

Oh dear! Confession time, I was up until like 4 am (no that’s a lie, it was almost 5 am), and woke up to find Mr. Mittens watching it. It was the bit I’m currently watching right now, at the riverbank in Purgatory.

“Let me bottom line it for you. I’m not leaving here without you. Understand?”

In my groggy state, I blurted out, “Oh gosh, we’ve come so far since then.” And then I ran to the living room and turned on the other tv, rewound it to the beginning and watched the whole thing again.

I still get skeeved by this entire auction. Like they deliberately invited Crowley and a representative of Heaven to drive up the price of the tablet. I mean, who else would have any interest at all in the Demon tablet? It’s like Plutus just... stole stuff and held it for ransom under the guise of this freaky auction. I mean, god of greed, so it seems logical, but >.>

Another bit that’s always bugged me is not the line itself, but the fandom misinterpretation of it as a Canon Fact:

Linda Tran offers her own soul in trade for the tablet and Kevin, which Plutus accepts with this reasoning:

CROWLEY: If it's souls that you're after, I can give you a million souls.DEAN: Hey, flyboy, are you gonna get in on this?SAMANDIRIEL: We guard the souls in Heaven. We don't horse-trade them.CROWLEY: So we have a deal.PLUTUS: It's not about the quantity, chief. It's about the sacrifice. This little lady's soul is the most valuable thing she has. It's everything. Are you willing to offer everything, Mr. Crowley?DEAN: Tick-tock.CROWLEY: Fine. You win. I bid... my own soul!PLUTUS: [laughs] Mr. Crowley, you don't have a soul. [to MRS TRAN] Congrats, sweetheart.

The key here is that Linda’s soul was valuable because it was the largest SACRIFICE she was capable of making. Like Plutus said, “It’s everything.” So Crowley’s offer of a million souls, which after s6 we know would’ve been a major power trade (he loaned Cas 50k souls to smack down Raphael, but it still wasn’t enough to defeat Raphael-- hence the grab for Purgatory souls. So a MILLION souls was a significant and substantial quantity of power to give up). But in Hell, new souls are showing up every day. They’re a renewable resource. Short-term it would’ve been a high price to pay, but long-term? In the bigger picture? Meh.

But in that same vein, when Plutus points this out, he asks if Crowley is willing to offer EVERYTHING he owns, and Crowley takes that to mean his own soul... but that’s hardly everything Crowley owns that is of value, you know?

First off, he really doesn’t HAVE a soul. Demons ARE souls. The smoky thing we see is what Hell does to that bright and shiny human soul we’ve seen before numerous times. I don’t think Plutus was saying that Crowley really had no soul, but that he didn’t have one to TRADE, because it was his entire BEING, you know? And it’s certainly not the extent of the things Crowley COULD sacrifice-- like the entire realm of Hell.

Plus, that matter of the fact that the “Mr Crowley, you don’t have a soul” line was a direct quote of something someone once said to the real-life Aleister Crowley. (a fact that is now impossible to google because of the millions of results it returns about this scene...).

SAM: Dean, were you really going to, uh...DEAN: What? Slit soccer mom's throat? Yeah, I was. I wish I had.SAM: Dean –DEAN: It was Crowley, Sam. No matter what meat suit he's in, I should have knifed him. I mean, yeah, it would have sucked, and I would have hated myself, but what's one more nightmare, right?

And Dean’s takeaway after Kevin runs for it? That people he doesn’t “need” anymore tend to die.

Which gives a HELL of a lot of weight to the statement in Purgatory to Cas:

DEAN: We'll figure it out. Cas, buddy, I need you.

But Cas still ended up stuck in Purgatory anyway. As if Dean’s “need” for him wasn’t even enough to save Cas from that fate. And then months later in 8.17:

Dean: This isn’t you. Cas, I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me. Cas, it’s me. We’re family. We need you; I need you.

And... it WAS enough to “save” Cas that time, but still not enough to get him to stick around. Heck, so much of s8 was about need...

I mean, while I was typing this up, I let 8.03 run in the background.

We already know from the jump in s8 that Dean’s pissed off that Sam walked away for an entire year, leaving Kevin running and fighting for his life alone. It came up again in 8.02, with Kevin still not really trusting Sam and Dean, and running off on his own again (with Linda this time).

And in 8.03, Dean finds yet another thing to harp on Sam about his own year off:

DEAN: All right, man, look, I get it. You took a year off to do yoga and play the lute, whatever, but I'm back. Okay, we're back, which means that we walk and kill monsters at the same time. We'll find Kevin. But in the meantime, do we ignore stuff like this? Or are innocent people supposed to die so that you can shop for produce?

Because while researching, Dean discovers the pattern of deaths repeats every six months, and Sam had’t even noticed it, let alone investigated to try and save these people, meaning the three people who’d died that week were on Sam for not having ganked the thing that killed them the first time it went on a killing spree... Yeah, Dean was angry, but meanwhile Sam had been in that “I don’t fight anymore, I watch the bees” sort of state of mind during that whole year.

Nothing says family like the whole family being dead (or as near as... )

But then Dean discovers Sam was considering going back to college. He tells Sam that this is where they’re best-- hunting down monsters together:

DEAN: I know where I'm at my best, and that is right here, driving down crazy street next to you.SAM: Makes sense.DEAN: Yes, it does.SAM: Or... maybe you don't need me. I mean, maybe you're at your best hacking and slicing your way through all the world's crap alone, not having to explain yourself to anybody.DEAN: Yeah, that makes sense, seeing as I have so many other brothers I can talk to about this stuff.SAM: Look, I'm not saying I'm bailing on you. I'm just saying make room for the possibility that we want different things. I mean, I want my time to count for something.DEAN: So, what we do doesn't count?

And this is so important, the first suggestion that Sam and Dean want different things in life, and that eventually that might even be okay. But hooboy does it ever cause a lot of conflict between now and that impossibly distant potential future:

DEAN: Wow. Back in business. Got the win. Admit it – feels good, huh? You know, I was thinking about what Randa said about, uh, you know, what it feels like to be a warrior. I get it, man, I do.SAM: I know. I know you do. I don't. Not anymore. Hell, maybe I never did.DEAN: Come on, Sam, don't ruin my buzz, would you?SAM: Dean, listen, when this is over – when we close up shop on Kevin and the tablet – I'm done. I mean that.DEAN: No, you don't.SAM: Dean, the year that I took off, I had something I've never had. A normal life. I mean, I got to see what that felt like. I want that. I had that.DEAN: I think that's just how you feel right now.

And that’s setting up everything that’s come after in the brothers’ relationship with each other, the first chip knocked out of the giant mountain of codependency. It comes roaring back with a vengeance by the end of the season (granted, via the end of their close brush with hubris in their attempt to close the gates of hell), but at least all of this brings those issues glaringly to the surface where they can’t really just keep on keeping on the way they always have anymore.

Need vs want

I think this is also foundational to Dean NEEDING people rather than being able to admit that he WANTS them in his life. That he wants people to stay in his life because he loves them, not because he needs them for a specific purpose.

Because when Dean doesn’t need people anymore, they tend to end up dead... And just loving people, needing them just because he loves them, he sees it as selfish. And his personal needs aren’t enough to keep people he loves from dying.

Boy howdy did he ever internalize that to a toxic extent.

Dean has clearly not shed the “I’m Poison” thing from s7, and in some ways it only gets worse over the next few seasons, like he’s got to get to the very root of that feeling, plumb the depths of his own self-loathing and become the absolute worst possible version of himself (hello, Demon Dean), and come through the other side with a healthier sense of self, a healthier sense of his relationship with Sam, and an acceptance of his personal need for Cas.

Now he just has to find the right words to express all that. Saying his piece to Mary in 12.22 was a good start.

And oh gosh, 8.04-- Michael gave up his personal time with Kate to go along with Brian, because apparently Brian had no one else to hang out with. At the time, it sounds like Sam agreeing to go along with Dean on these hunts, leaving Amelia behind because Dean had no one else to hang out with... And the whole situation turned into a toxic mess. But the parallel isn’t perfect. Dean wasn’t motivated for the same reasons Brian was. Brian wanted what Michael had. Dean didn’t want what Sam had.

Dean just wanted everything to stay the same. But again, his needs are poison.

Heck, this got away from me again didn’t it?

[opendoorlorien]

I'm curious what are ur thoughts on Takumi? I personally don't like him, but I always give ppl the chance to try to change my mind abt him

lol I had a feeling sooner or later that someone was goingto ask me my opinion on this kid. OKAY BUCKLE UP. There’s no way I can be brieftalking about a character like him so here we go.

Takumi is without a doubt one of the more complex andlayered character of Fates (but not the most, no, that honor would go to Xander.But Takumi is definitely just behind him.) This is a great and welcome change fromAwakening where most of the cast just were as they were and didn’t have anydevelopment or character arcs or great change for better or for worse duringthe entire story (the only ones who really did are Chrom (a bit), some villainsif you count spotpass which is barely canon, and perhaps Lucina a tad). Fatescranked this up quite a bit with many of the royal family members going throughgreat character arcs for better and for worse in both routes, and some nonmain/royal characters who have smaller���but still powerful and significant—charactermoments… some being only for the worse (like Flora and Gunter to a similarextent).

But the real question here is how I feel about Takumispecifically. And I don’t suppose that’s really a simple question to answer (Ialso figure you sent me this ask bc you want to see me analyze him and talk indepth about his character lol. So I’ll do that a bit here too instead of justgiving my opinion.) For one I actually really like complex and multi layeredcharacters. I tend to avoid or disregard the ones that don’t really haveanything going for them (I feel like if Kaze didnt have all his character stuffI might not have liked him as much. If anything it really works to his benefiton how he appeals to me (and a reason why I like him better than say, Frederick)). So as long as a character is complex and goes throughsome nice development, even if I dont like their personality, it’s hard for meto at least not respect how they were written as a character, you know.

And I think that describes how I feel about Takumi too lol.NOW DONT GET ME WRONG, I definitely don’t hate him in any sense of the word.It’s just that……… I don’t like tsunderes lol. And here I’m going to usetsundere here as an umbrella term for “a character who is mean to you but doesn’treally hate you, necessarily”. Fates actually has a few of these characters invarying levels of intensity: Saizo, Rinkah, Selena lololol. And Takumi is oneof them too. But honestly I like to give Takumi the benefit of the doubt herebecause among them all, he’s has the most understandable and relateable reasons for acting the way he does to you.  Like Saizo is an ass just because lol (I get his pricklypersonality also stems from how he was brought up and the position he wasmeant to fill and everything but geez dude CHILL). Rinkah is an even worse casehere since she’s just very angry and snippy to everyone bc LOL FLAME TRIBE GETIT!? SHE’S LIKE FIRE LMAO. AND THAT MEANS SHE’S ANGRY LOLOLOLOLOOL.

And while I generally dislike tsunderes (or at least maletsunderes because I find they’re generally more harsh and brutal to you), I’mwilling to give Takumi a pretty big benefit of the doubt here because of what MADEhim the way he is. He has a LOT of reasons why he developed his harsh and coldattitude toward strangers. I feel like most people who dislike or even hateTakumi have no compassion for what he went through and just disregard it asirrelevancy. Like they’re just either unwilling or unable to understand him. AndI get it, like sometimes you’ll come across a character that you can’t findyourself liking no matter what. But I feel like when you understand whereTakumi’s coming from and what made him this way, he becomes MUCH less of a shitand much easier to sympathize with.  

Okay so a lot of people give Takumi shit in his firstappearance for being really mean to both you and Azura. Like literally thefirst thing you hear him say (outside of the weird dream battle in the prologue)is that he doesn’t trust you or Azura and he’s not really going to give you achance. Now the game doesn’t really explain why he’s so harsh to you from theget go (which is why I think people get upset with Takumi and his first real appearance gives you a bad impression of him from the start), but guess what he actually has a legit reason for how he acted here. I’m not going to go superdeep into why, but instead I’m going to recommend you watch the Fates drama CD.More specifically the Birthright one which recounts chapters 4ish to 6 in Fates,from mostly Takumi’s perspective. And these tracks humanize him WONDERFULLY andexplains and justifies PERFECTLY his attitude toward you in his firstappearance AND afterward. Like Takumi actually REALLY did want to like you, getfamiliar with you as his family, and form a relationship and a bond with you.Just… a lot of unfortunate things kept getting in the way. It’s DEFINITELY wortha watch and honestly just tore at my heart strings, and put a lot of things in perspectiveand set up the beginning of Takumi’s character arc perfectly. Long story short?It’s all Saizo’s fault lol.

Takumi gets his best development and most exploration ofcharacter ironically in Conquest. Also, personally, I just find Conquest to,generally, be the best written of all three routes. Yes Takumi does have somemoments in Birthright, but they either exist for eerie foreshadowing for whatwill happen in Conquest

or they just aren’t written that well. 

sigh.

And when I play Birthright, I find that is the route I enjoyTakumi the least. Yes my feelings are still far far away from hate. But whenhe’s not pushed into the extreme downward spiral situation like he is inConquest, he just ends up acting like a snippy tsundere. I mean even toward hisfamily and very late in the game too he keeps acting this way with theoccasional snarky comment or “more harsh than he meant it to comeoff” remark. Which wore on me a little bit but nowhere near as much asSaizo or Rinkah’s constant mean attitude. Takumi’s support with MU is also agood example of this. And since M!Corrin is canon with BR, and F!Corrin iscanon with Conquest, I think Takumi’s support was written with M!Corrin inmind, no matter which one you pick. Which is why I think he acts so mean to youin that support.

Despite my gripes with Birthright, the one valuable thing itdoes show us about Takumi’s character is his dorky side. Because this boy is adork lol. And this is actually a surprising, but also very welcoming, side ofhis character to see. I don’t think Takumi’s tsundere side is who he is. It’sjust an unfortunate byproduct of his inferiority complex and ptsd from Corrinbeing taken away and leaving a huge void in the family. It’s not who he is. Andin Birthright we really get to see more of Takumi’s better side in a morecasual and less extreme environment in supports with other people in the army.We get to see firsthand he’s actually a very sweet, kind and well meaning boy.Yall haven’t forgot that DAD IS ON THE WAY comment right lol. Takumi is verypure of heart and its really nice to see this part of him in BR. Like, look, he is a NERD

(lol Kaze lurkin in that img I didnt even notice)

AND in his support with Oboro when she makes some clothes and asks his opinion he says “this gets the Takumi seal of approval” AND do you remember how he pushes Leo’s back and brings him closer to the group in that very last cutscene of Rev? YEAH

In my Revelations opinion piece where I talked aboutcharacters, I mentioned the four big ones who get the most development andcharacter focus in this game, those being: Xander, Ryoma, Leo and Takumi. Nowthese four are similar in that they both kind of have a good end character arcand a bad end character arc depending on whether you’re playing BR or Conquest.Like Xander gets his best end in Conquest while BR is his WORST.

So, naturally, the same is applicable for Takumi whereConquest leads to his bad end. Or… does it?  

Now everything here begins with Anankos. It’s never actuallyofficially stated anywhere exactly WHEN Takumi was first possessed by him, butif I were going to put my two cents in, I would say it happened when Mikotodied in chapter five. Now going back again to the drama CD, we get to see morehere just how deeply this affected Takumi. In the game Takumi only talks to youpost battle in chapter five where he just screams curses and blame at you. Ifyou don’t know where he’s coming from, this also puts him in a kind of badlight. But the drama CD gives us another more focused account on what Takumiwent through in the direct aftermath of Mikoto’s death and its really notpretty. And if there was any perfect time to want to brainwash this kid, itwould have been here.

Now Leo and Takumi are sort of similar as characters in thatthey kind of have the same problems and struggles. Like they both haveinferiority complexes, and are desperate to live up to their over achieving siblingsect. I think the most important part where they differ—and why Takumi waspossessed and not Leo—is that Leo has his pride. I feel like he has less selfdoubt than Takumi and a higher opinion of himself than Takumi does of himself.(I’m also sure Leo’s magic power helped to stave Anankos’ influence off a bit).Takumi was also put in more extreme situations than Leo was. Keeping in mindTakumi is kind of weak of constitution and has a low opinion on himself, andthat he just saw the woman he’s known as his mother killed before his eyes,gives us more than enough reasons for him to fall hard victim to Anankos’influence here lol.

When you take into consideration everything that happens toTakumi in Conquest, its honestly not hard to understand why he became this way.Firstly, I believe Anankos’ endgame goal here was to kill Takumi, and as soonas possible. For whatever reason, Anankos can’t completely control someoneunless they’re dead first (as evidenced by all the other people he controlslike Sumeragi, Arete, the people of Valla, Garon too—though its not really madeclear to us how or when he died).

Like, we don’t get this

 until Anankos hassuccessfully pushed Takumi beyond the breaking point and gets him killed.

Before then Takumi is very angry sure, but he’s stillhimself to at least some extent. He’s not ‘completely lost’.

So what Anankos did instead to further his agenda wasamplify Takumi’s emotions of anger, rage and hate and push him to the breakingpoint. I think Anankos actually kind of sees himself in Takumi because theyboth had similar issues and personal downfalls, and that added with Takumialready being kind of mentally weak and vulnerable, was the perfect recipe fordisaster here.

In Conquest, Takumi suffers. A lot. Think about all of thisfor a second. He fights and loses to you in chapter 10 which, in his mind, allowsyou to move forward and attain greater power that he knows you’re going to useto harm his friends and family in Hoshido. And him losing to you only adds tohis inferiority complex because he was unable to stop you. In chapter 13 afterhe loses to you, Hans goes on a bloody killing spree, brutally taking the livesof Orochi, Reina and Scarlet. And Takumi has NO reason to think you didn’t havea hand in either helping Hans or allowing him to go through with it. And thelast time you see him alive in chapter 23, you’ve just started your invasion ofHoshido, have captured Sakura, her retainers, and Yukimura, and you’ve just gotdone killing Oboro and Hinata—because let’s not mince words here, they do die inchapter 23. So, honestly, taking all this into account, even WITHOUT Anankosbuffing his rage, Takumi has every right to act as angry and frustrated withyou as he does in Conquest. And anger blinds.

And all of that finally culminates to Takumi DOING A FLIPoff the Great Wall of Suzanoh.  And nowthat he is dead, Anankos has more control over him. Based on what we see ingame I don’t think Anankos can 100% control a person like a puppet, but more orless influence their extreme negative desires. When we see characters likeTakumi or Garon as a goo zombie, they don’t even mention Anankos by name, impliedor otherwise. When you see Takumi again he’s gone FULLMADNESS and his onlydesire is to kill you, which were his biggest defining thoughts when he wasalive in Conquest, now pushed beyond to the extreme now that he’s dead and completelyunder Anankos’ influence. He’s basically just a zombie made out of nothing buthate and the desire to kill you. I actually think Anankos probably wanted touse him as a trump card just in case you ended up stopping Garon, which you did.

Luckily we still got the power of love to contend with here.The ‘dream sequence’ at the very end of Conquest does wonders for both Takumiand the viewer. Like, even if you DON’T like him, you had to have feltsomething here. What both Corrin and Takumi needed in this route more thananything, but didn’t get the chance to do until now, was to TALK IT TF OUT. Andtalking it out can really do wonders. Takumi in this dream sequence appears toyou as his truest self and is able to give to you all of his honest to goodnessfeelings and smooth things over for the most part. And as a bonus he infusesYato with some Fujin Yumi goodness so you’re all good. (Which, now that I think about it, is some kind of symbolism with him truly forgiving you, apologizing to you, and giving his heart to you)

The Conquest finale will always be incredibly special to me.Because unlike in every other FE endgame where you just kill a transparentlyevil big bad dragon (or in Sacred Stone’s case—SATAN) after all the horrible,cruel, bloody and nasty stuff you went through in Conquest, after hitting rock bottomafter rock bottom, the last thing you do in the route is fight to save someone’ssoul. And that is honestly so powerful to me, and a reason why I’ll alwaysprefer Conquest over BR or Rev.

That’s more or less all I have to say about Takumi opinionswise. He is a very extreme character, and because of some of his actions inConquest I can understand people not liking him. But, much like Xander, he is avery complex and layered character who has a lot going on for him. He’sdefinitely not one of those characters you can just write off at first glancewithout trying to understand what makes him who he is, and why he acts theextreme ways that he does, and understand the reasons why he does the thingsthat people give him flack for.

It’s definitely okay not to like him if you don’t want to—I appreciatehim a lot as a character but I could really take or leave his tsundere side—buthate him or not, you got to admit he’s one of the best characters in this game.If everything you read here didn’t change your opinion on him or cause you tosympathize more with him, then I gotta recommend you go watch/listen to thatDrama CD because like I said, it really does WONDERS for Takumi as a character,explaining where he’s coming from, his stand points on things, and explaininghis volatile attitude toward you. He really doesn’t hate you at all, butsometimes people can let their emotions get the worst of them without meaningto—and when a centuries old evil helldragon is controlling you, it’s honestlyno wonder things got so bad, right.

And, all in all, TAKUMI DID NOT DESERVE THIS SUFFERING AND HE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE AND DESERVES HAPPIEST END

Also here’s a link to that drama CD on youtubePart OnePart Tworecommended tracks if you dont want to watch the entire thingVol 1. Track 2Vol 2. Tracks 4-6 and 8CHECK IT OUT