#also spoilers: something i love about it is how the real villain turns out to be prejudice that people can overcome

[weedle-testaburger]

i just finished the witch boy and it's wonderful and trans af, but I'm just fixating on this...

shoutout to charlie for trying to get aster into su

[ushiromiya]

(madoka magica / rebellion spoilers below. TW: suicide and controlling behavior)

I don't know the direction in which walpurgisnacht rising will take homura's character but I can say with confidence that from at least where rebellion left off that I truly believe that homura made the decision that she felt was the most correct one even if it meant she had to become a monster in the eyes of every person that loved her. she felt that if things were left in the way the law of the cycle was currently running things that it was inevitable that kyubey would eventually capture madoka in her goddess form, study her, and use her to as a source for mass amounts of energy at the suffering of herself, the others within the law of the cycle, and magical girls at large again. this is something he explains very clearly when talking to homura before her transformation into homulilly.

I get so exhausted when I see people try characterize homura as an actually evil person with completely selfish desires and no regard for others. all of her actions, while not explicitly explained outright, when looked at closely always indicate that she does things out of her care for the other girls but feels like she bears the burden of having to do it alone because she believes she's the only one who doesn't let her emotions get in the way of protecting madoka and the others from kyubey and sometimes each other.

I will always use the scenes of her interactions with mami and sayaka in rebellion as huge examples of this. she has no reason not to kill them if she's a completely selfish and unemphatic person that only cares about madoka and no one else when given many opportunities to do so. I also don't personally think she keeps them around JUST because of madoka's happiness either. she very easily could have suppressed their roles in madoka's life with the world rewrite and clearly choose not to. I believe her mocking sayaka and acting in a clearly "evil" manner is deliberate acting on her part to frame herself as a villain. she might believe this would her actions more palatable and will create distance between herself and everyone else to protect them as well as allow her to assert more control in this situation. it is further emphasized how she truly feels with imagery displayed in homura's new world around herself (shoes abandoned on the side of a building to potentially indicate suicidal ideation, a half moon alluding to homura feeling unfulfilled and unhappy with this decision, her dancing around happily before stopping and slowly falling off the cliff side with a similar implication as the shoes).

homura's relationship with the others is incredibly complicated but she cares for them deeply too as they are also people she considers friends, she just had a particularly strong attachment to madoka. we don't get to see as many instances of her interacting with them as we do them interacting with each other as we are unfortunately only really privy to homura's life after she began looping for the most part but we can see it in the way she has expresses concern and distress for them in moments where she believes they are in real, tangible danger of being hurt (she's winces and tries to turn away when aiming for mami's leg and screams out when she believes mami is about to be truly harmed after their gun fight, which neither ever had the real intention of hitting one another with any of those bullets in the first place). her entire witch's labyrinth is one where everyone is happy and gets the lives they desire. why would her labyrinth, which is meant to reflect in-part her inner feelings and desires, appear that way if she didn't truly want that for everyone?

rebellion is so compelling to me for all of this and so much more!! (I could write a whole other post on the way it presents it's freedom with danger vs control with safety question at the end of the film) she is a girl who has repeatedly suffered incredibly traumatizing events and longs for a world where the person she loves and the friends she considers dear are safe. homura is not really the devil, but she wants to appear to be because being the devil would be easier than being a human being in these circumstances.

[night-market-if]

Spoiler Ask

So I'm going to address it all here under the cut because I've gotten a few asks in that are pretty similar and I'm sure I'm going to get more. So I thought instead of answering the same thing over and over, I'd just do a response below. Warning, spoilers for the end of book 1.

Full disclosure. I am sick. We are going through a lot of family things at the moment. My patience is probably thin.

For everyone that says MC is already too forgiving of Milo. Milo has not even come into the story yet. You've only observed memories of him. If you feel like you need an inner dialogue to tell you how angry you are over this "betrayal" or "death", I don't know what to say here. Because MC is literally just observing things at the moment. Any options that have been put forth to comment on Milo and what has happened, have been more to lay ground work and to also give a scope of the type of emotions that will be offered in the game. But literally, Milo has not even shown up yet into the story in a real capacity. So please stop sending me asks about how you are upset that MC has "forgiven" him because there has literally been no real interaction between Milo and the MC.

As for this betrayal and death thing. I am going to state this now for those who aren't going to like where my story is going so you don't need to read if you don't want to. As the Night Market, you knew you were going to die. You gladly came down and wanted to experience death. You looked at what Milo (a non magic user) was doing, and said "hey, this would be a cool experience" and then you came down here. So, yes, you are going to feel the full range of emotions that come with it. But you are also going to need to take some personal accountability for your actions. That is what is going to be explored in this book. An entity that didn't realize what emotion actually meant, came down thinking it wasn't going to be a big deal to die, and it turned out it was a big deal. A big fucking deal, in fact and that by doing so, they actually hurt people they loved. So, don't forgive Milo. I'm not forcing anyone to. But, I will not be writing an MC that puts all the blame on him. Because guess what? The Night Market would have died if he didn't do what he did. So, everyone also saying that he killed the MC? No, he literally saved the MC and billions of people. And I don't care what way you spin it? One person is never worth a billion souls. And with the MC being someone that literally cut themselves open over and over again to save most of the people living within the world, I would think they would probably not be too keen on Milo sacrificing them so they could die together in some bullshit Romeo and Juliet act.

Now, I am all for exploring how an MC comes to terms with the feeling of betrayal along with the feeling of needing to take responsibility. I am all for exploring an MC that goes "holy shit this emotion thing is way bigger than I thought and I'm angry and confused". I'm there for it. I'm excited to write it. But, I will not be writing a willfully ignorant MC that doesn't take into account that they did this to themselves as well. And yes, if you choose to not acknowledge it in game, others are going to acknowledge it for you. If you want to not read because you can't become a villain, rock back and forth in a corner and weep, or violently get mad at someone who saved the world? That's cool. I'm not offended by someone not reading it. Anyone coming into my ask box and saying "I just am not going to read now because you aren't doing xyz" I wish you a good night and hope you find something else for you because there are thousands of stories out there.

I am not interested. Nor will I ever be interested. In writing a story where I add to the plague of ignorance that is this world. Aren't we kind of all struggling enough with that in our own lives? MC is a being of compassion. They will always be a being of compassion. That is going to shift and change based on circumstances and there are going to be moments where that compassion can fall into question. When it comes to Milo, it is going to be a messy bit of confusing emotions because there is so much more than just the black and white strokes of "OMG he killed me" that seemed to be the rhetoric on here. Now, you don't want his character around? Alright. Other than when you have to see him for Gatekeeper purposes, you probably won't.

To all of you guys complaining or sending me ask after ask stating how you don't like what I am doing. I am going to tell you this and it will not ever change. If you don't like reading this, then don't read. I am not here to write a story for you specifically. You don't like the direction of a work and can't ever broaden your scope of fiction to give it a shot? Then please don't. But to have this kind of messages coming through when literally we are a chapter in? Seriously. The instant gratification is bullshit. I'm going to suspect this is coming from the younger half of my audience who is way too accustomed to a confirmation bias internet algorithm and who has had a very small scope of real life. This is of course not all of the younger crowd but it's starting to seem like a pretty good amount.

I love having conversations with everyone. My discord is always open but most of you anons hide because you are far too scared to come at me with your user name or engage in a conversation feed where more than just me can answer. I mean, you guys send me asks, citing others user names, to call them out through me. It's laughable at this point.

I love having discourse with all of you but I'm not going to keep answering the same thing over and over again and justifying my work when it doesn't need to be justified. This is a small little bit of fiction in a vast sea.

If I sound pissed, it's because I am at this point. And I'm sure I'll get more asks in that are stating they are jumping ship or that they are disappointed in me or what not. I'll delete them and move on with my evening.

To all of you who are here for the ride and just want to experience what I'm writing? Thank you. Fiction is just meant to be a form of entertainment. I am not writing anything profound. To anyone that is looking for something more, move on. I'll see everyone who wants to get mad or saying I'm too harsh, in my inbox, I am sure. Thank god you can block anons.

[vinelark]

do you have any good reverse robins fic to rec?

oh hell yeah!

Reverse Robins: Joker Junior series by miyaji_08 i rec’d the second fic in this series over here for the timkon of it all, but the series—two parts, both complete—is also one of my absolute favorite reverse robins stories. it goes the joker junior!tim route, so heads up for A Lot of tim-centric trauma, but gives tim (and everyone else) so much healing, too. it also gets creative with the robin of it all, as in, the call sign for batman’s partner is different from the jump because dick wasn’t around to originate “robin” for it, which i always think is a fun extra detail. the batfam characters are great and the young justice crew is also great, so read for top-tier hurt and comfort and great characters and satisfying plot and tim and damian competing to see who is the most Tired big brother of the bunch.

blood of the covenant by envysparkler robins are angsty in any order, but man does this hit the angst sweet spot, which in turn makes the soft parts feel even softer. i genuinely can’t decide what my favorite dynamic is in this AU, between damian & tim (damian wracked with guilt, tim hurting and still wanting an older brother even if he’d never admit it) and tim & jason (no spoilers but chapter 4 especially lights my brain up like a supernova) and tim & dick (i think about the part where dick grayson [tiny, cheerful] uses tim [undead, annoyed] as a jungle gym like once a week).

Wing Beats in Reverse by firefright a longfic where jason gets kidnapped by the mysterious red hood, who turns out to be jason’s not-so-dead predecessor. the jason pov here is great, and i was so compelled by how this AU explored his place in the bat family, and how it managed the emotional fallout from the kidnapping. tim is also so interesting in this—it does something i love in a reverse robins concept, which is make tim’s motivations (and lazarus pit effects) less about anger/hurt/revenge and more about ice cold logic, about being the villain so the bats don’t have to/whether they want him to or not. plus some league of assassins trauma as a cherry on top. also, kon gets to show up for a bit. (as a fair warning—and spoilers ahead—the fic has a somewhat hopeful ending for tim, but doesn’t reach full reconciliation in the scope of the plot.)

i woke up so worried that the angels let go by circees a short but potent batkids age reversal au that’s also a grisha au, starring duke as the coveted sun summoner that damian is trying to deliver to safety without mentally adopting a new brother (damian fails on the second part). even with my limited memory of grisha lore i could tell a lot of thought was put into this au, and i have a feeling it would be even better if you are able to catch all the details. i also love that even in a fantasy world where some of the bat family have magical abilities, duke is still extra special—a great analogy to being a metahuman among the bats.

The 90s Are Back! by RedWritingHood saving the two silly ones for last to lighten the mood! in this one, red hood!tim gets de-aged to sixteen and meets all his new siblings. it’s like .01% angst and 99.99% shenanigans, and pretty much all the dialogue is super quotable but Dick holds out his hands like he's calming a bunch of wild animals. "Okay, I know everyone's real upsetti spaghetti right now, but I think we all just need to calm down." might take the cake.

Clowns Don’t Kill People by mademoisellePlume very short, very silly reverse robins brother shenanigans, in which tiny dick grayson isn’t scared of recovering joker junior!tim because dick, having been raised in the circus, doesn’t associate clowns with evil yet. the fic is fun (and a great palate cleanser if you need a break from the angst above), and the author’s note at the end made me fully laugh out loud.

[woosaaghh]

Spoilers for Wyll's story!

I'm so fucked up about Wyll's storyline. He has quite literally never made a selfish choice in his life. He exudes goodness in almost every interaction the player has with him. His kindness is infectious, his optimism is overwhelming. He spends every moment thinking of how to help others simply because he thinks it's the right thing to do. He's been that way since he was a boy, going so far as to be entrapped by Mizora into trading his soul to save Baldur's Gate. He's 17 years old and has never made a selfish decision in his life, but his father can't give him so much as the benefit of the doubt. He makes a life for himself as a savior of the people, and then gets kidnapped by mindflayers and infected with a mindflayer tadpole and his immediate reaction is "Whelp guess I'd better go help these tiefling refugees near where I crash landed from this spaceship."

In my playthrough I saved Florrick with Wyll, speaking with him made her choose not to give up and hold on to hope, she thanked him for helping her see it wasn't too late. What a lovely interaction. That night we spoke to Mizora and she offered Wyll his freedom, I told him to take it. The next day when I entered the city the same Florrick came and literally spat at my Tav's feet, told me that she was there for Wyll's head because Mizora said he killed his father because he was mad with power. The man who saved her life THE DAY PRIOR.

No one in this damned game other than the tadfools are ever willing to give Wyll the benefit of the doubt, nothing he could ever do would be worth them having faith in him. He accepts his banishment as his father doing what he believed was right and never resents him for it, still loves and misses him. He takes on Mizora's punishment for not killing Karlach without flinching because he knows what he did was right and Karlach deserves to live. At the tiefling party he isolates himself to keep from making others uncomfortable with his devilish appearance. And he's so alone: no mother, his father abandoned him, he has been travelling alone for the past 8 years just helping whoever he sees in need of it. Then, when you go through the steps of saving his father, that ass is willing to make Wyll a villain again, until Tav steps in and shares their memories. You needed a stranger to show you all of this to believe your own child wasn't evil incarnate? Was it not enough to have known him, did you ever even actually see your boy when he was in front of you?? Or was he just something to be molded and thrown away when you thought he didn't turn out right?

As someone who grew up closeted and still am to my relatives outside of my immediate family Wyll's tragedy hits far too close to home for me, the idea that no matter who you show that you are or what you do, the people you love the most, who are supposed to love you, are willing to drop you immediately and take back their love because of a single fact about you, without ever trying to understand more.

Wyll's story may not be as hard of a life as some of the others, but it messes me up in a way I hadn't expected. I wish Wyll had more story, and I wish I could use the tadpole to mentally berate and verbally eviscerate Ulder Ravengard for 30 real life minutes about how no matter how honorable and just he may be seen as in the eyes of the people of Baldurs Gate that he'll always be a failure of a man and a father.

(Also, I understand that they all have grounds in reality: terminal illnesses, chronic pain, indoctrination, physical and sexual abuse. But for the severe lack of Wyll content in the game you sort of have to read between the lines for it to hit as hard as it did me, it just made me wish there was more exploration of Wyll's feelings in game.)

[anglosky]

Smile for the Picture! 📷 Pt. 1

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

Lee: Saiki

Lers: Kaido and Aren

Anyone still in this fandom?? Anyone?! I hope so, because I adore this anime so much!! Apart from the inappropriate jokes, I really love the plot and how comedic this anime is!! I barely see any comedy anime's that are actually good, but this show LITERALLY has me on the floor.

I still need to finish season 2 and get on with season 3 🥹

This is more so a comedy fanfic than a tkl fanfic, but bro still gets tickled, so 🤷‍♂️

Summary:

Kaido and Aren both drag Saiki along to the mall to have their photos taken as a fun way to get out of the house. What sucks for them is that Saiki is having a hard time participating smiling for the camera.

Warning:

| tickling | claustrophobia descriptions |

Enjoy!

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

'Nothing like reading a comic on a clear Saturday evening to bring this peaceful evening together.. ' Saiki thought to himself. He held up an action comic that he had for years, untouched until this day. His dad bought him this comic when he was 14 for him to read, but Saiki had never gotten around to actually reading it because he thought it was something more of what his dad liked than himself. He proved himself wrong however, because he is now in the middle of reading chapter seven. He was nearly at the end of the comic while hoping that it would not leave off with a cliffhanger.

It explained the main character fighting this villain who just got done with its sappy story of how no one cares for his personality and likeability. 'ppt.. How pathetic, you chose to be a villain.' Saiki thought. Though, he can also understand why the character turned out to be a cold hard villain in the first place. I mean, who WOULDN'T understand one's backstory?

As he continued to read, he felt his telepathic senses tell him that someone was coming up to his door. Saiki scoffed at who it could be this time since everyone kept bothering him before picking up the comic.

"Hey, Kusuo? It's your dad.. There's people outside for you. They're wanting to know if you could go visit the mall real fast." The voice from the other side of Saiki's door could be faintly heard.

'What a bother. I finally chose a day to relax, and this is how the world treats my day off?' Saiki, once again, had thought to himself. He was irritated. Not only did he just finish the book that unsurprisingly left off with a cliffhanger, he now has to deal with what he assumed were two idiots who wanted to drag him along to the mall, and for what?!

'This could be a good time to search for the two other comics.. I mean, dad did only buy one of the other three.'

Saiki had to think about it for a moment longer. If he stays home, he could enjoy the peace and quiet for the first time in like, forever for the poor soul. But if he pushed himself to be dragged around by two fools who have no idea what it's like to favor time with being alone, he could find those two other comics that he desperately wants.. No.. Needs!

At the speed of light, Saiki got dressed in a casual, but yet a usual set of clothing. He looked around his room one last time to make sure he's not forgetting anything; not like he needs anything other than his wallet and cellphone. He did however, catch a glimpse of his Germanium ring that was sat neatly on his dresser, untouched.

He stared at the ring for a good minute or two before deciding that he should probably wear it in case of hearing unwanted spoilers for his comic that he is starting to realize, but won't admit to, to be obsessing over.

He walked out of his room once he had put the ring on, and headed for the front door rather excitedly than usual.

"Oh! Kusuo, deary! You're rather excited. Anything particular happen? You're not hanging out with some girl.. Are you?" Saiki heard his mother and her overly sweet, yet invasive tone, and stopped in his tracks to look at her with a deadpanned face.

'Welp, the excitement is gone now, thanks Mom.'

"What? Don't look at me like that sweetie, I'm only asking!" Kurumi said while walking up to the door to block it. She wasn't going to let him go until he tells the truth. It's not like he wanted to go or anything.

"I'm going out to get two other comic books that I started reading, now let me pass." Saiki kept it truthful, but left out crucial details to savor any more bombardening questions.

"Uh-huh? So when I open this door-" Kurumi started to say, going for the knob.

"Wait, don't open that door! You won't get off my back if you! -" Saiki reached out his hand to try and stop his mom from opening the front door, but missed by a millisecond, as she opened the door to show two patient students out front. 'Great, this is going to be a long day of parenting 101 questions..'

"Oh! Hi Mrs. Saiki! I hope we're not much of a bother, but we're just gonna empty your hands by taking your son with us to the mall to snap a few pictures for memories!" Aren, who was the first to speak, reassured Saiki's mother on instinct. Aren assumed that Saiki's mom was rather irritated given that her face looked like it was about to fly off her silhouette of a head. Too specific??

"Oh.. Oh! Ahaha, I should have known! My apologies, kuboyasu! You boys have fun, I don't want to keep you guys here any longer!" Kurumi placed her hands on Saiki's shoulders to gesture him out the door. She waved a goodbye to all three of them, and closed the door gently.

It was a good day to not hear the mopes of his own mother during this time. Because right now, she's probably thinking of how much her child has grown up to be hanging out with other people for once..

﹏﹏﹏

As the three walked together to the mall, Aren and Kaido were rambling like usual. Saiki instinctly followed behind so he knows that those two won't wonder off somewhere without his telepathic powers to notice.

'I guess this is babysitting but for the rookies.. I don't have my powers so it's going to be very tough to predict their thoughts and movements with this ring. It's a good thing that I don't actually have to talk though.' Saiki thought to himself.

"So! Saiki, I was quite surprised that you accepted our invitation on this journey. I thought you would say no and go read or something that you usually do." Aren blurted out.

'Well, there goes that assumption.. I was reading until the book left me with a cliffhanger..' Saiki thought once again.

Aren then walked a bit slower to get to Saiki's pace.

'What does he want now?'

"Is there any particular reason why you accepted to come with us to the mall?" Aren said, looking at Saiki with interest.

Saiki cursed at himself for not bringing the comic book with him to just show it to his classmate, but this is what he gets when accepting plans that he didn't want to participate in the first place.

"Just came for a couple of comic books.." Saiki said without glancing at Aren. It's unlike of Saiki to us his actual voice to speak, but he had no other choice so he just rolled with it, hoping for the best.

"..Huh. So you didn't want to take a photo with us?" Kaido budded in, slowing down to get on the same pace as the other two now.

Saiki only shook his head this time. He really didn't have time to enlight in conversation.

"Well, TOO BAD! because look!" Kaido linked arms with Saiki, surprisingly enough for him, and pointed at the mall in front of them.

"We're going in there to have our pictures taken, and we brought you along to join with! So let's go!" Kaido then sprinted, with Saiki being dragged, into the mall.

'What a p-pain.!' Ow. The grip that Kaido had on his upper arm was really getting to him. Who would have thought that the grip of a usually weak boy could do this much pain?

The mall was pretty huge for Saiki. He rarely goes to the mall, so anytime he does arrive he's always wondering if the building somehow got bigger. Who would of thought? Sometimes renovations can happen even for huge malls like the one that these two students dragged him along to.

As they got inside, Saiki started to look for a book store that might have obtained his comics. He saw clothing stores, shoe stores, food stands, jewelry stores, toy stores, but no book stores to be seen. It's not like this mall has a second story anyway?

"Hey look! The photobooth is right there, c'mon guys!" Kaido said. He started to run, not even realizing that he still had a death grip on Saiki, and he pulled him along with.

Saiki let out a gasp and a cough at the same time due to not realizing the grip as well, and because of how painful the pull was, but he managed.

Eventually, all three of them arrived at the photobooth, going in one by one. Kaido went in first, the boy to be the most excited for these photos, leaving Saiki to be uncomfortablely in the middle, and Aren coming in last. It was a tight squeeze, but they all managed to sit on the seat. It was fortunate that they were all in frame of the camera.

"Alright guys, I'll pay! The first set of photos we're going to pose all handsome and hot, the second photo is going to be a funny picture, and the third photo, we're going to make scary faces!" Kaido said quickly.

'Yeah, like I'm doing any of what you just requested. A normal blank face is all I'm really up for.' Saiki thought.

"Can't we just pose like normal? I don't think the first one is really necessary." Aren chimed in.

'The first and probably last time I will ever agree with you, Aren.'

"Fine fine, it's whatever! You guys do what you want, but I'm at least getting a smile from you two!" Kaido gave both Saiki and Aren a glance before pitching in his two dollars for photos.

As the booth counted down from 5, Kaido did what he requested earlier and went for a "hot" pose, while Saiki and Aren went for the 'peace sign' pose. Saiki had a blank face and as for Aren, he held up two 'peace signs' with a small smile and a wink.

3

2

1

*Click*

The booth made a clicking sound and showed the results on the screen infront of them.

It was at that moment that Saiki got scared with what the photo will show. 'Dammit! I forgot that any photo taken of me with these booths won't actually show my silhouette, making it seem like anyone who has ever took a photo with me in any booth, my mom and dad for example, will have them gasp and then do a double take with paled faces.. If they find out that I have psychic powers, it's over for me-'

"That's perfect! Saiki, could you express more with your face? Your blank stare is scary looking." Kaido blurted out, pointing at saiki's blank expression that was giftedly shown in the photo.

He blankly stared at the photo, seeing none other than him sitting in the middle with his pose. And then he looked at his germanium ring. 'Oh.. I forgot I had you on, you almost scared me half to death.' he then looked back up to Kaido and gave him a shoulder shrug. No way is he expressing more than just a stare to scare off any child who dares to look at someone else.

"C'mon Saiki! It will be once in a life time that we get 'high school Saiki' smiling for a photo! Do you know how rare that would be to us?!" Kaido all but begged to Saiki now, holding onto the psychic's leg.

'What a bother.' Saiki rolled his eyes and waved away Kaido's hands that were practically glued to his leg.

"Fine then, if you won't smile for the picture then have it your way." Kaido said, crossing his arms in a dramatic way whole pouting like a five year old.

'Like that's going to make me smile? You're at a loss pal.' Saiki just stared back at the camera, already assuming that it was going to count down soon.

5..

4..

As the booth counted down for a second time, Kaido went ahead and did a funny lookin' face that looked like it was aimed for Saiki to try and get him to crack a smile, but it was no use since Saiki didn't glace at him once, but Kaido still kept the pose for the picture.

Aren did a funny face as well, having both of his fingers to stretch out his mouth a bit, and had his eyes crossed inwards to look at the bridge of his nose. Unlike of Aren, but nonetheless, Kaido was going to be pleased with it.

And again, Saiki held a straight face for the camera, already knowing those two are wanting to get a reaction from the boy. He wasn't going to let that happen.

3

2

1

*Click*

The booth clicked on time to get a photo of the three. Kaido reached out for the photos to see how Saiki didn't lift up any corner of his mouth to make a slight smile.

"You've got to be kidding me! Saiki~ why can't you just smile for once in your life? this is just sad man!" Kaido whined to Saiki, shaking the boy by the shoulder.

'I'm not going to let in on your games, Kaido. I came here for a specific reason.' Saiki thought. He stared at the camera, not wanting to look at either of the boys. Unfortunately for him, however, Kaido had a mischievous plan to get Saiki to smile. He's never done anything like it before with Saiki; sure, he's done it with many of his friends, but Saiki? That boy is too stoic for his own reputation to get what's coming to him. Poor dude can't even sense what's about to happen because of the germanium ring, and yet Saiki is congratulating himself for putting it on to block out any and all thoughts around him.

"Okay guys, let's all smile like we mean it!" Kaido said, putting on an innocent smile for the camera. He swung his arm around Saiki's shoulder, having his hand rest just below his collarbone in a respective manner.

Aren then made a peace sign with his hand that was closest to Saiki, and held it up behind Saiki's head just enough for the camera to get it in; all the while tilting his head a bit towards Saiki, and smiled sweetly.

Saiki didn't think much of what they were doing, though. He had thought that Kaido tried to just urge Saiki to try and smile for the camera, but he wasn't going to let up on the act. And as for Aren? It's a weak move to try and gain any reaction over. He just kept a straight face with no interest whatsoever. How regretful he was going to be after making that decision..

"C'mon Saiki, smile~" Kaido sang, putting pressure with his fingers just below Saiki's collarbone. He didn't get a dramatic reaction from Saiki, but he did see how Saiki's eye had twitched from the on going touch.

'This is no funny business, Kaido. What are you doing?!' Saiki had thought. He tried to move his shoulder to dislodge the boy's hand, but he soon realized that Kaido wasn't going to let up until he smiled for the camera. 'What a bother..'

Aren saw what was happening when glancing over, and decided that he wanted to join in as well. He lowered his peace sign hand to now bring attention to the back of Saiki's neck to scribble the two fingers gently. This caused Saiki to twitch his head back just slightly before going back to his usual pose.

"C'mon Saiki! We know you want to~" Aren Dragged out, now moving his hand to the side of his neck with a bit more pressure than before.

"Y-you've got to be kidding me.." He whispered just enough for them to hear. He lowered his head down a bit, trying everything in his power to not make it seem like it's bothering him. If he ruined his "normal boring student" reputation, it's all over for him. I mean, who gets taken down by just a few tickles?

"Saiki~ the camera is about to count down; you better start smiling or we might never stop." Kaido said. He reached his other hand to squeeze at Saiki's side, which caused an embarrassing gasp from Saiki.

He grabbed at Kaido's torturing hand, and tried to pry it off his side, but Aren thought faster and grabbed at Saiki's bombarding hand to cease any escape. It was no use for poor Saiki, and he knew it.

5

4

'Good.' Saiki thought. 'If I just wait until the count down is over with a straight face then it will be all over.'

Well.. It was until Kaido decided that he was bored at squeezing his side and just reached for Saiki's armpit that Aren was closest to, thanks to him for pulling at Saiki's arm to reveal his vulnerability.

"AH-aha!" Saiki immediately ducked his head down, desperately trying to get his arm free as Kaido dug into his underarm. Saiki replayed the word 'embarrassing' in his head over and over again.

Kaido looked at Aren with a surprised, but hopeful face when hearing Saiki blurt out a laugh. "Saiki~ was that a laugh we just heard? Do it again, but look at the camera this time!" Kaido said, using his other hand to try and lift Saiki's head up. They just wanted his face in the camera, nothing more.. They were desperate to know how he looked when smiling, let's be real.

"F-fuhuck off!.." was all Saiki could say before he fought the accusing hand that was lifting his head up; he bit his lip to quit from laughing out loud and loosing his reputation. It's just two people Saiki, come on now, bud.

"Surely Saiki has a weak spot somewhere! We just have to find it in time before the timer goes off." Aren said while sneakily moving his hand away from his neck and now down to where his bottom set of ribs were. This made Saiki violently flinch away from the touch, and decided to us his free hand to grab at Aren's wrist to try and pull it away, but it was no use.

You know.. For how long this was going for, they all were surprised that the booth had stopped counting from 4.. Oh well! More fun for Kaido and Aren, at least. Not so fun for Saiki though, because he was desperately trying to keep his child-like giggles on a down low.. His bottom ribs weren't his weakest spot, but it still held some sort of sensitivity for the young boy to squirm a bit in his seat.

Saiki had pushed himself closer to Kaido to get away from Aren's hand, but he followed the poor psychic.

"Why can't you just smile for the picture?! That's all we want." Kaido urged to Saiki, digging a bit deeper in his armpit now. This earned him a surprised squeal and an inch closer of Saiki, who was trying to not push himself into Kaido, but it was hard to do so since both of them were attacking one side at once.

Saiki all but shrinked in on himself as well. All this tickling was a new feeling to say the least. He's been tickled before, yes. Many times actually; his parents always used to tickle him when he was a kid, and they always went for his weakest spot since discovering that his psychic powers limited his sense of sensitivity except for that specific spot. But ever since he's gained control of his powers, he knew when they were about to strike, and so he used his powers to get away from their daily tickle attacks until they became subtle. But right now? He's in ticklish agony! He's never felt more skiddish and childish ever since he was a kid until now. It felt weird to him, but surprisingly, he didn't quite mind the affection.

To be quite honest, he misses the affection. He was touched starved for sure, but he never realized he was until he put on that germanium ring. It was all new to him. It was overwhelming, sure, but it was definitely a new experience to have his touched starved thoughts be lifted away by a few tickles by his classmates.. Classmates. It makes sense for family to do it, but for classmates? Saiki was confused by it. It was all so new-too new. He was confused on why he was letting himself shrink to be this tiny version of himself just to get away from the touch. Why he felt the need to come into contact with Kaido so much when he desperately doesn't want to make the situation weird because he's usually not the touchy, or "clingy" type, from what he thought of it at first. In fact, He was more so confused on why he was letting himself finally laugh out loud with ease to his classmates for them two hear clearly now..

"Ahahah! Nohohot theehehere! Nohohoh! Stahahahap, AH-Ahahahah!" Saiki giggled out loud. He twisted as his back now faced Kaido, and with his free hand, he began to try and push Aren's hand away from his hip. His weakest and most sensitive spot. Saiki desperately tried to pry off Aren's hand, but Aren was too busy taking in Saiki's laugh to even register that he was trying to fight back.

Kaido just put his hands on Saiki's shoulders now that he doesn't really know what to do or what to expect now that he's finally hearing Saiki laugh. And it wasn't an obnoxious laugh as he thought it would be. It was like airy, child like giggles. His giggles weren't too deep, but they weren't too high either. It was like any other ordinary giggle that a boy would have. It was all too sweet for Kaido to handle that he just sat there and smiled out of pure joy. What can I say? His giggles were contagious.

For Aren, he looked at how Saiki was handling the tickling on his hip since he figured that this was a bad spot for him. Saiki had he's head down still, but he was able to see the corners of his smile to know that it was wide enough to show his happiness. And when Aren lightened up from digging into his hip, to lightly squeezing it now, Saiki squirmed even more, and allowed himself to hiccup every now and then from the touch-Both boys will remember that. It was an endearing sight to see for Aren.

"Okahahay *hiccup* okahay! Ihihi'll smihihile fohohor thehe-" Saiki was cut off by a click and a flash from the booth. All three boys looked at the camera, and saw how the photo came out of the slot.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Kaido said, lookin at both Aren and Saiki.

"I don't know, but at least it got it!" Aren said, looking at the photo with enthusiasm. And for some odd reason he was still tickling Saiki's hip.

"L-lehehet gohoho ahahalreahahady!" Saiki said, pushing even further into Kaido, which ended up with the blue haired to be squished against the booth wall.

"Woops! My bad.." Aren said, letting go of Saiki's hip. He turned his head to Kaido, who had the photo.

"Guys, look! It's showing Saiki's smiling face!" Kaido said, happily. He held up the picture infront of Saiki, who was finally able to turn back to sit normally on the chair, and Aren.

"Awww, for someone who had their picture taken from their side view, I'd say this suits you, Saiki. You look cute, man!" Aren said, going for his hip again, which caused the teen to flinch again.

"Aah-!" Saiki quickly moved on instinct to get Aren's hand off of his hip, which worked this time. He held his hand in the air for the time remaining of being in that booth for his own safety. Uncharacteristic of him, he of course thought to himself, but nonetheless, it's do or die.

﹏﹏﹏﹏

The three all got out of the booth, and started walking around the mall since Saiki had mentioned about the comics.. Not that he wanted them around, but his mom would kill him later if he just ditched them like all the other times he ditched them.

"What comic are you looking for exactly?" Aren questioned, looking at Saiki as they all followed.

"It's called 'The night Lurks within' these forests.'" Saiki said, blatantly. He looked from left to right, trying to find the comic store, but was faced with clothes stores and food stands.

"That sounds like something that a kid would read, haha!" Kaido blurted out.

Saiki stopped in his tracks to turn to look at Kaido with a straight, but offended face. "It's not a kids comic. If you read this comic, you'd be traumatized by how much gore and foul dialogue it has." Saiki said before turning back to look for the comic store.

Kaido all but had fear in his eyes when hearing Saiki be that straight forward with him. He looked at Aren who gave him a shoulder shrug, and then back to Saiki.

"I.. Uh, ehehe.. I know where a comic store would be in this mall-" Kaido started to say before he got interrupted.

"Where!" Saiki had stopped and turned to face Kaido again in a serious manner.

Then they were off. Kaido had shown the way to where one would be, and Saiki was following with enthusiasm in his steps. When they got the comic store, Saiki had stormed off, temporarily ditching Kaido and Aren to fend for the two other comics that he was desperate to get through out this whole trip.

"Saiki is a different person when trying to find something he's obsessed over, huh?" Kaido had said, looking at Aren. They waited on a bench that was close to the book store while they waited for Saiki to return with the comics.

"Yeah.. But I kind of like this side of Saiki. He's always so blunt and careful of what he does or says, so seeing him like this brings so much relief off my shoulders." Aren said without looking at Kaido once.

"Yeah, I think the same. I always saw him as someone who didn't care about anyone or anything, but this alone debunks my thoughts about him. I wonder why he's not like this at school."

"I don't know.. People can be too much for someone like him. He likes to be left alone, unbothered. I used to be that way, too. Even though I was in a gang. Being left alone is a great feeling until you find out that you really want to be with someone. Which I think is why he's acting so out of character with us all of a sudden, because he realized that he really needed someone to boost his social battery enough to act like himself." Aren said quietly, but just enough for Kaido to hear.

Kaido was quiet now. He understood what Aren said, and took it all in to realize that it might just be what it was that had Saiki be like this. Though it's subtle, they still knew that Saiki was acting different than when he was usually with them at school.

Just then, they see a satisfied Saiki who was holding two comic books in his hand. Did he also get a chocolate jelly out of a comic store?!

"That was quick! Did you find the right ones?" Aren said, looking at him with a smile.

Saiki just nodded happily and started to walk in the direction of where the exit doors were of the mall. Kaido and Aren both looked at each other with smiles on their faces, and walked with him to the doors.

Maybe Saiki isn't just this stoic and blunt person they mad him out to be afterall.

[shxtodxroki]

𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍

Summary: Keigo nearly meets his end thanks to a recently freed petty criminal with a revenge streak. Thankfully, you’re there to catch him when he can’t save himself.

Flufftober Day 1 Prompt: “I’ve Got You”

Warnings: Mentions of death/Keigo nearly dies, SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA (specifically chapter 385 I believe), reader flies but it’s not specified whether it’s from their quirk or just from support gear

Pairing: Hawks (Keigo Takami) x Gender Neutral! Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Check out my full Flufftober masterlist here!

This is it. Keigo Takami, former number two pro hero in all of Japan, is going to die, and he’s going to die in the most pathetic way possible.

It had been about a month since he had lost his quirk. A month since the world’s greatest, most feared supervillain snatched his fierce wings from him, barely allowing him to escape with his life. The emotional fall-out that followed the incident was conflicting, but Keigo trucked on out of necessity more than anything else, attempting to figure out what to do with his hero agency now that he couldn’t realistically do any of what made him the number two hero in the first place. He felt useless when he was at the agency, in all honesty, but he also felt free. The weight of the world had been taken off of his shoulders, and for once he felt like he could just be Keigo, live as normal of a life as he could in this world, and come home to you every evening. The light of his life. Despite the sadness, he felt freer than ever before.

He supposed that was ironic now, as he fell through the air to his certain death below. His freedom stripped in a second by a low-level villain with a grudge, a grudge with fatal consequences. 

He hadn’t even recognized the man’s face at first. Keigo rarely remembered the villains he took down, simply thankful that they no longer had the ability to cause more harm to the innocent people of Japan once he had locked them behind bars. But when this man came crashing through the top-story window of his agency right where his office was located with his own set of wings, screaming about how Hawks had gotten him arrested years ago over an attempted robbery turned hostage situation, he was forced to realize just how vulnerable he was now. He had a target on his back from the many recently freed villains who he had once locked up, and no quirk to help him escape or fight back at all. And so, before he could even process what was happening, Keigo was thrown out of the window by the villain and sent flying full-speed to his death, forced to accept his mortality for the second time in only a month. 

There isn’t even time for his life to flash before his eyes. Not that Keigo particularly wanted to remember much of his life in the firdt place, but still. There’s truly only one thing he really cares about, one person he'll miss more than anything when he crashes onto the street and loses his life, one person he wishes he could at least see one last time.

Your face floods Keigo’s mind as he hurdles towards the unforgiving ground at incredible speeds, and that, at least, he’s thankful for. If he’s going to die, then at least he’ll die with the person he loved as the last image in his mind, a beautiful send-off into whatever afterlife lays waiting for him on the other side of death. It truly feels like he can feel your warmth surrounding him as he nears the cold, harsh pavement below, like he can hear your voice calling out his name, pleading with him to come home alive. The thought brings tears to his eyes, wishing he could come home to you, but he’s thankful that you’ll be the last thought on his mind before he meets his end.

Just as Keigo begins to close his eyes, accepting his fate and realizing that he's truly met his end this time and couldn’t escape death after all, your voice suddenly sounds much closer to him, much more real. A harsh gust of wind and the prominent feeling of something wrapping around his body causes Keigo’s eyes to shoot open, and when he sees your face staring back at him, eyes wide with unshed tears as you stare at him with a gaze of pure fear and clutch him tightly in your arms, he can’t tell if he’s already passed on or if somehow, he’s truly seeing you in front of him right now.

“Please Keigo, I need you to look at me. I’ve got you, you’re safe, so please just say something.” He hears your wobbly voice begging, pleading with him. It doesn’t sound far away, doesn’t sound muffled or fuzzy or any other indicator that this isn’t real. It sounds anxious and shaky and real, and finally, Keigo manages to understand that he’s no longer flying to his death, instead safely cradled in your arms as you charge towards the safety of the ground with him. 

Oh.

You saved him. 

Keigo’s mind feels eerily quiet, as if nothing around him was processing in any way, but he can see across your face just how terrified you were, how scared you were that you’d somehow already lost him. Even when he felt lost, you were the one thing he always knew, the one person he could read like the back of his hand. So he pushes himself out of his mind fog just enough to soothe you, just enough to show you that you had saved him and had brought him back from the brink of death.

“Hi, baby. Fancy seeing you here.” He coughs out, his voice a little weak as he attempts to put on the same teasing tone he always uses when trying to ease your mind.

He can see that you want to cry, that you want to yell and chastise him for being so nonchalant about this, for the fact that you could have lost him without a chance to see him even one last time. But he also knows that you can see straight through him as well, that you know how terrified he felt as he was falling, and that you were the only thought on his mind as he was forced to accept his death.

So you let it go for now, opting to comfort him and discuss this matter more seriously in the privacy of your own home later. “You’re just lucky I was here and saw what happened in time to grab you.” You mumble as your feet touch the ground, and the moment you set him down his arms are wrapped around you and his head is buried in your neck. Your fingers quickly entangle themselves in his messy, windswept hair, pressing him closer to you to ease both of your minds, to ground you and show both of you that he’s alive and well and will be coming home with you tonight.

“Thank you for always being here to catch me.” He keeps his tone light but you can feel the relief in his words. You’ve always, always been there to catch him when he’s down, and he couldn’t possibly be more thankful that you managed to be there for him even now, in his absolute worst moment when he truly needed you the most.

“Don’t worry about it.” is all you whisper in response, holding him close for another moment before pulling away enough to look him in the eyes as your hands gently squeeze his arms. “I knew something was wrong the second I saw someone go flying into your agency’s building, so I called in for backup. They should already have the guy who did this taken care of by now.”

Those words ease the last of the worries in Keigo’s mind, now knowing that the man who nearly ended his life is once again in the custody of the heroes, unable to harm any of the other employees at his agency. He quickly decides to allow himself the relief of taking the rest of today off, knowing he couldn't possibly get any work done anyways, so he lets you lead him along the sidewalk with his hand linked in yours.

“Come on, let's get you home. You’ve had a rough day.” You smile softly at him, and though his mind still feels foggy and his stomach still feels scrambled from the fear and adrenaline, you manage to put him at ease for just a moment as he nods and smiles back at you, thankful he has someone who will always be watching over him even when he can’t watch over himself.

Request - Anonymous said: hello! for flufftober, please consider writing something for gojou (jjk), saeyoung (mysme) or keigo (bnha) ):

Anonymous said: hi ~ hope you're doing okay! i saw your flufftober thing and i wanted to request something for keigo, pretty please??? 

A/N: Hi everyone, welcome to Flufftober 2023! :D I’m super excited to kick this event off, fluff has always been my specialty so I’m stoked for this! Honestly I’m just a little worried about the writing I’ve done for this event, since I usually write in bullet-point style but decided to go for a more traditional one-shot style when writing in this event, and I hope it doesn’t sound too awkward or clunky as the month goes on since I’m not used to writing like this! Honestly I’m pretty happy with how this one came out, and I promise most pieces this month won’t start off this sad lol it’s just what came to mind when I read this prompt! My requests are also open right now, so if you have any requests please feel free to send them into my inbox! :D

Taglist: @applepie-macaroon @babaukulele @swiftbyul @shinsosmatcha @tsukkisukkii @awkwardaardvarkforever @shotos-angelic-whore @flufftober

If you’d like to be added to any of my taglists, you can fill out this form here! Thank you for your support <3

[the0retically]

The Suckening #7 The Pulse of the City:

Just my thoughts, spoilers below :)

- Cumpire lore let’s go?????

- GOD THE INTRO EVERY TIME JUST SLAPS I LOVE IT

- “If you don’t call me the suckener, I’ll…KILL YOU!” Charlie pleaseeee

- Oh god the pheasant and the old people, I forgot about them

- “I think he feels guilty for not feeling guilty” shilo you’re so interesting

- “Oh? Still covered in blood” “are you just trying to make things worse?”

- Shilo please be safe, this officer isn’t good get out of there!!!! Prince Edward as the savior???? WHAT???? NO NO NO NO

- HE COLLAPSES?? Feigns unconsciousness???? Shilo please you’re alone with a follower of Edward twilight

- God fuck Edward twilight

- OH! The officer contacted Deacon though! That’s good

- DEACON ARE YOU PART OF EDWARDS THING??? NOOOO

- Deacon semi papa of shilo!! Wooo!!!!

- Arthur!!!!!!! Dude you don’t even know where the twins are uh oh

- But hey Arthur is able to follow the tracks of the bus!!

- Spirits touch????? Arthur????

- Ooooh the audio coming in from the fight is so well done

- HAHAHA ARTHUR PLEASE!!!!! “He’s pretty stoic but he looks horrified by what was said”

- They really just keep bullying Grizz to use spirits touch on the pheasant pleaseee

- “Something is Wrong with this pheasant, it’s not you, but something is Wrong”

- Oh god he takes the pheasant with him

- “I’m coming for you baby boy. Sorry about the other baby boy, but you’re in a sewer and I’m scared of sewers.” GRIZZ OH MY GOD

- “It’s all in a bad state deputy, but just close your eyes.” Deacon please do not hurt Shilo, he trusts you

- Arthur and Grefgore night in!

- Oh no, Grefgore please be ok

- “Hi…..my boy” “hi my boy! :D” oh I love them

- Grefgore don’t leave!!!!!!! The sun is about to rise!!

- Arthur???? You’re leaving?

- And hi to deacon?? Arthur?? 👀👀

- I love Grefgore he’s so fun. He’s just the most himbo someone can be

- What are they doing with the demons and the fangs?? This is So Strange

- “What are you wearing? Demon clothes?” “I’m naked, I wake up naked” “Oh God” HAH OH NO EMIZEL

- “Do you want to kill him? Cause that’ll kill him. ‘Nice cock man’ and you kick his head off” oh my god??

- Oh god Charlie this is a horrible image, “a twisted fashion studio” oh god, Charlie please this is horrifying

- “Their very demeanor scratches my brain” Grizz I’m with you but also Vex is terrifying

- “Do you want to be the guy on the table Grizz?” Oh no, ok but pop off Grizz good voice acting

- “I will be your mommy :)” oh god

- Charlie, Charlie please this now a for sure a horror campaign

- My eyes are just wide, WHAT ARE THEY CONSTRUCTING HUH???????

- Charlie is too good at being a deranged villain

- “He has had no reason to look for you, yeah, yeah he’s in his work right now” my stomach just fell, why is that so scary

- Like goodness Props to Charlie the suckening has me way more scared than bitb ever did, like I love and adore bitb so much and there were moments where I was terrified but there’s something about this that is so haunting. I can just see it in my head so clearly and it’s so freaky

- They never expect Emizel to come back!!

- Oh god but please emizel don’t die again already

- Love how Grizz is just simping for Vex because me too

- “They’re two dogs in me and they’re fucking” WILLIAM WISP IS THAT YOU??

- God I love how Grizz and bizly and just speaking as the ghouls during this fight Charlie is just like “…what?? What are you even saying right now”

- Emizel please just get out of there they’re both already your enemy you don’t need one to hate you more because then they’re going to target Your twin so PLEASE JUST LEAVE

- They’re just singing the climb now oh my god iconic

- Emizel just lying to Viv about how he’s a real boy and doesn’t burn in the sun “but we saw you burn” “it was an illusion, I’m a magician”

- “Vex have you-“ “YES I KNOW!” I love them, they’re fun

- “And you turn around away from her” emizel oh my god

- “You cannot use your twin name and not mean it” honestly based

- I ALMOST SPAT MY WATER OUT OH MY GOD “your name is shameashmai”

- “I’m not letting you guys do this again” “no I’m having all the fun in the world right now”

- DOES EMIZEL LOSE HIS RIBS???? OH GOD

- VEX IS FLESH AND VIV IS BONES????? HAUNTING SO SO SCARY

- “Enjoy the ribs, I’m gonna head out” “what do you mean you’re gonna head out??”

- “Can I prepare an action to kill myself?” “He hasn’t taken his glasses off yet so we’re still ok!” “It’s just me as a dm thinking about splitting the dice pool for movement and killing yourself” I’ve never laughed this hard holy shit “as soon as I see this thing I want to run and kill myself”

- “Bizly give me the scariest animal you can think of” “….peacock, no” “FUCK OFF!”

- PLEASE HE JUST KILLED HIMSELF IN FRONT OF THEM OH MY GOD?? AND HES BEEN NAKED THIS WHOLE TIME

- “One of mine or one of yours” sooooo Viv and Vex have some stake in the fangs and the demons, but what does that mean??

- SHILO TIME! Please be ok

- Why is shilo healed and ok, this isn’t real it can’t be, Charlie is too smiley right now, he sounds way too happy

- Fucking Edward twilight oh my god why is he like this

- THEYRE BLOOD BONDED????? OH NO I cannot believe this

- Grizz is just loving this encounter

- Why is this so sexual I hate this, Edward twilight please stop why are you crawling up the sheets to shilo???? This is so—I cannot

- Deacon! You’re here!

- God why is Edward like this, Charlie really just locks in as him it’s insane

- Oh god shilo has to tell Edward about emizel oh no

- Shilo tripped no!!

- The wallpaper is Edward in the phone oh my god

- I do love shilo and deacon’s relationship though, he seems to genuinely care for shilo and I just love them

- Back with Viv and Vex! Oh god

- Ok thank god he’s just leaving

- “William wisp mode” emizel cosplaying as William is so funny like Grizz called it, that’s exactly what he looks like

- GREFGORE FOUND SHILO!!!!!!!! AWWWWWW LETS GOOOOOO

- HE FOUND EMIZEL TOO!!

- I love Grefgore so much

- Arthur just left them? Ok the boys gotta find him

- What is happening to emizel and shilo? Why do they have pain? WHAT?? It’s the Edward twilight smoulder??? Huh??? Charlie WHAT?

- SOMETHING TWISTED IN LA?? What did Edward do?

- A full day good god

- Arthur’s just on a plane omg

- ITS AFFECTING ARTHUR TOO???

- Absolute bat shit episode I loved it

[wherewolfwasteland]

Apollo justice + some dual destinies (ace attorney spoilers and rant !!!)

I've cleared the game a little while ago and while there was some aspects i liked,overall I was very mixed . First of all I love phoenix and his character change , it makes things interesting and I don't mind that he just goes back to himself later in the game . I also really like ema skye and how despite her talent she didn't make it into the job she wanted , it's realistic and gives her even more character growth . The soundtrack and animations were beautiful as well and the first case was one of my favourite first cases (tied with the first case of trials and tribulations)

Now for the things i didn't like (there's a lot unfortunately)

- apollo justice: first of all I won't be the first or last person to say he was a side character in his OWN GAME but that's not all that I don't like about him . First of all it really annoys me when he points out people's nervous traits every single time. I understood the first time since it was new to the player but everytime after that? Its cringe . I'm sorry but if I were a witness and the defence attorney told me that I was playing with my hands when I was nervous or something , I'd make a conscious effort to stop doing it . Uggghhh so cringe . It makes all of the witnesses look stupid af . Another thing i don't like about him is how little we actually learn about him . I like how he deals with his own trauma (pushing it away) and even in dual destinies going his own path was very interesting. But his inner monologue was very lacking in personality or anything really. Honestly it sucks because I do like him as a base character but the fandom definitely made me like him, and gave him more characterisation then those two games ever did .

Trucy : don't get me wrong , she has her great moments and she's super cute (I do love her overall) but I have some issues as well . First of all I hate the fact they made her super pale , there are no black characters in ace attorney , and even though I understand her not being black , she could have been tanned like her father. I don't wanna hear no "ace attorney is made in Japan so no black people" bullshit. This game isn't very realistic in the slightest so when people use that as an excuse for lack of diversity it annoys me so much ! And one more thing I don't like about trucy is that she is used as a panties joke wayyyyyy tooooo muccchhhhh , I'm sick of the panties !!!! Give it a resttttttttttttt . Ah I do love her lots and lots though . Okay okay moving on .

Klavier : and this is going to piss people offfff i know!! Bur he is just really really boring!! Which is so unfortunate because he had all of the makings to be great . He's in a band (that's awesome!) And he has great charisma and presence. But over the game when though so much happens to him he just brushes it all off, and not in a pushing away his trauma like apollo way either. It's always going to be harder to portray a character the player doesn't get to play since we can't hear his inner monologue (which would have been so cool) but still - I mean his best friend / band mate and his own brother both turn out to be murderers and he literally does not care in the slightest . Don't even get me started on how weird he is in aa5 . Also the fact that he was supposed to be your rival throughout the game and he really wasn't at all made going against him boring too . Don't get me wrong, going into a case I already know I'm winning , but in this game I knew I was winning if you get me . Other then the huge lost potential with him, I do think he is interesting, unfortunately mostly in fanon .

Kristoph: I mean I really really liked him as a villain I did ! But it was all too soon. This man had no real motive at the end of the day and he was gone before I even cared enough about him. He was apollos mentor and klaviers brother and he could have been given so much hype before the twist but no , first case and I'm over him . I don't even care he forged the evidence at that point . I knew he was evil. Also they should have made him go all out ! Like kidnap trucy at the end ! Go completely nuts !!! Especially since he has those 5 black locks , he could have been one of the greats .

Others : now there was other small things I liked and didn't like , overall I am happy that I played the game , I like the added characters despite their flaws and I like how they expanded their powers and stuff . I know some people don't like the fantasy elements but I like them a lot . I think it can add fun gameplay and stuff so yeah!!

Lastly here is somethings I would have done to change and improve the story (this is my opinion . I'm a meer fan with no writing experience so take this with a grain of salt)

Firstly I would have had kristoph be apollos mentor throughout the game until the last case . This way we grow attached to him as apollo but also it would give klavier someone to bounce off of . If he was going to be nice to apollo maybe he could have disliked his brother and been mean to him in the court (kristoph being mean back of course ) or they could have had that strange love hate siblings rivalry going on . It would give us a chance to really get more out of klavier. Kristoph (him manipulating apollo making us even madder at the end when we figured it out) and apollo , finding it hard to trust phoenix at first and growing to trust him later in dual destinies (until the last case where he departs the agency and yeah we all know what happens) . It could have been such great insightful character development.

Like imagine , this mentor has been by your side the whole game , helping you win ! Boosting you up (to make his brother look bad but you don't know that. Oh and also to be a better attorney than wright in a way , I like the idea of him hating phoenix and wanting to best him (so giving him the forged evidence) just not in the way it was done. I want him to really hate phoenix for phoenix and not because some guy chose phoenix over him once) anyways. This guy, you grow to trust him , even defend him against his brother even though the brother is being sweet to you, no way would your mentor be awful ! He's definitely lying . (He's not lying) and yeah the final case, he kills trucys father or he could even kill trucys father at the first case and produces forged evidence so that he gets off free !! Could be interesting and would have no effect on apollo since kristoph would be the one to forge it . Anyways either way . He kills trucys dad, forges wrights evidence , maybe even forges his own . He kills another person and also gets desperate as he realises that phoenix is onto him (he's kinda desperate but also thinks phoenix can't really get him since he's barred) , he kidnaps trucy because she has been too close to his crimes and then as apollo you are trying to solve the murder, find trucys kidnapper and discover the culprit behind the forgery all along . You slowly piece together that it was your mentor who had lied and manipulated you (apollo) this whole time and you can't believe it . (Heck klavier can't even believe it ! He knew his brother was awful but he never would suspect that ) kristoph is sent to prison , trucy is saved , phoenix is dropped of his forgery allegations , the person who got a guilty from the first case is set free ( if they decided to have kristoph produces forged evidence then) and apollo and klavier sit down. Get a drink maybe some food . And they bond over their shared trauma and hurt . Leading them to be best friends in aa5

Other thoughts :

The gameplay was great in apollo justice (not so much in dual destinies tbh) so I definitely would have kept that the same with less flashbacks , telling me what to do too much and the whole apollo telling people their nervous traits .

Next the story of trucy and apollos parents (mother especially ) was very very very very messy . Idk how to fix that jdjskskskx also it's just gone after this ?? Phoenix doesn't tell them and their mother also doesn't care about them ?? Also also another thing I want to mention ! I wish trucy didn't have the same power as apollo . I know his is stronger because of the bracelet but still . It cheapens his abilities because they aren't special at all . Like I feel that pearl and maya , even though had similar abilities were both useful in their own way but in apollos case sometimes it really seems as if trucy is better than him at his own ability idk . I would have definitely made it so she didn't have that ability.

Okay okay I'm rambling at this point ,I really am but ugh so many thoughts in my adhd brain that won't shut up (so I'm sorry if this is messy) but yeah I do want to say again I do love these characters and stuff so no hate :3 (thank you )

So yes this rant was all over the place but I hope for the most part it was legible ! Please comment below because I'd love to talk more about this but for now, rant over :D

[ifeelprettyandwittyandgay]

I really like how headless wrote their characters into stereotypes, and then broke them out in the best ways possible. I'm only going to use the main four as examples but I'm sure there are more. this is just me spilling my thoughts onto a page, it's not going to be super detailed. also, lots of spoilers.

ok so basically, each of the main four kinda fall into a highschool clique stereotypes/tropes (ie. nerd, jock, goth/emo, popular) and yet each character turns that stereotype on its head.

kat is immediately portrayed as the love interest, somewhat just there for Ichabod to fall in love with. but then, the finale. shes the villain, and she's been playing him the whole time, stringing him along and manipulating him into helping with her plan. she becomes her own character, proves herself (to be evil, but still). she has desires, flaws, a tragic past. from her first interaction with Ichabod we can see the tropes she is put into (with the music and the name thing), and while I still would have loved watching that and still would have thought she was an amazing character, everything the persauds did to create her into the character she was made her 1000% better.

Brom is the jock. hes the gym teacher, so obviously. but other than the whole thing with Ichabod, he's a nice guy, who wants to be a better person and genuinely listens when matilda tells him off for being mean to Ichabod. when he and Matilda get married, he truly cares about her, and proves his loyalty to her and Ichabod in the end. always loving, always trying. he's not an asshole, he genuinely cares.

Matilda is the goth/emo. she's immediately portrayed as cold, kind of pushing people away, but as the show goes on she shows how much she cares about people. despite her initial misgivings, when she and Brom get married, she shows that she cares for even, even if it might not be totally romantic (qpr all the way). her entire arc with Kat is about her learning to trust other people, and learning to move on. she finds real friends in Ichabod and Brom, and they help her get through the hardest time in her life.

Ichabod is the nerd. duh. have you seen the amount of sweater vests he owns? just to be clear I do not mean that in a a bad way I also own many a sweater vest. anyway, Ichabod is the new kid in town, the kid who gets bullied, etc. the absent glory thing establishes him as someone who doesn't have a lot of confidence, but who believes that he has the capacity to do something good ("I think it's a chance to prove..."). and he becomes the hero. he wins using his wit and his heart, showing Matilda that other people care about her and that she is not alone. at the end, when Henrietta presents him the sword, giving him glory, he proves himself as a hero and a friend. he becomes the hero without losing a part of himself, especially not the amazingly charming nerdy part.

anyway, yeah. thats kinda it. :) go watch headless if you haven't, you won't regret it!

[sarahjtv]

So, My Hero Academia Chapter 387 (MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD)...

That was a really, really good chapter, but hoo boy that fucked me up real bad and I need to get some thoughts off my chest before I go to sleep.  Tumblr is the best place to post this; I’m not spending $8 on Twitter Blue to type this out.

First off, more eugenic stuff yay...  This time with Rei’s family, the Himuras.  So, turns out that Geten (the ice villain following Re-Destro) is a part of that family which means that he’s the Todoroki’s cousin at best.  I think Rei would’ve said something if he was her brother. 

And that the Himura’s have been inbreeding to keep their bloodline “pure” and their ice Quirk in tact...  And forced marriages were also desperate attempts to keep this in check.  UM WHAT THE FUCK, HORIKOSHI???  I’m not saying this is a bad thing story-wise, but it makes the Todoroki Family situation so, so much worse if that was even possible.  And sadly they’re not the only family to do this... 

So, if Rei was a product of inbreeding, then (and correct me if I’m wrong) the Todoroki children are technically inbred too on top of being born out of a quirk marriage to begin with INCLUDING SHOUTO WHO’S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH (I need to clarify that I’m not criticizing Rei or her kids, it’s not their faults. I’m criticizing the practice of inbreeding itself).  I feel ill just thinking about that.  This is some royal family shit that should never be a thing to begin with.  I don’t care if marrying your 2nd cousin shouldn’t fuck up the kids too badly, it’s still extremely fucked up period!  This is honestly worse than the quirk marriage imo and that was bad enough as it was.  I kind of wish Horikoshi didn’t include this because it’s sadly kind of warpping my perception of them, but I’m not going to fly over to Japan and throw hands with him over it.

And this puts more context into why Rei chose to marry Enji because agreeing to be bought into a marriage with Endeavor to create the perfect offspring with Fire and Ice is somehow better than MARRYING YOUR FUCKING COUSIN AND HAVING A CHILD WITH THEM!  She never had a good choice to begin with; she just chose the best one that was given to her.  God, I feel bad for this woman.

I honestly need a few days to process this because it was dropped so casually and now I need to sit down and think of the implications of it while working on my finals 🥲

Onto Dabi who is fighting his dad with like half of his body remaining.  How the hell this man is alive is a goddamn mystery because he looks like a burning skeleton.  And this whole thing has caused his Quirk to evolve to the point where he’s now producing ICE ❄️!  HE HAS AN ICE QUIRK NOW TOO!  IT’S EXACTLY THE THING ENDEAVOR WANTED THIS WHOLE TIME AND NOW HE HAS IT IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE!  I WANT TO SCREAM!  SHOUTO AND DABI ARE REALLY 2 SIDES OF THE SAME COIN! 

There really is no way of knowing if Touya would’ve unlocked this part of his Quirk if he trained more with Endeavor, but the fact that he actually had the potential to become exactly what he was born for is devastating.  He could’ve been what his father wanted him to become, but his Quirk was too dangerous to himself to try.  If this happened, Natsuo and Shouto might not have been born (I’m glad they were born tbh), but at least the family would’ve been spared a shit ton of trauma.

Oh, and it looks like that massive fire punch he threw at Endeavor completely burned off his right arm and now he’s right armless like Endeavor.  That one panel of them “dancing” with right fire arms is haunting.  You could write a whole short essay on that panel.  Horikoshi loves parallels and I do too.

Honestly, I really expected Horikoshi to just kill off Endeavor and Dabi at the same time this chapter.  It looked like that’s where it was going.  There are a lot of ways their fates could be going and I can see it happening all those ways.  Personally, I want them to live at least until Shouto finally gets there.  I think Horikoshi is setting up that “Todoroki Family Reunion” he’s been planning since Chapter 300 or something especially with Rei entering the battle field.  What happens next is something we’ll have to wait for.  I want Endeavor to live honestly.  But, I can definitely see Dabi dying at the end because I really don’t think he’s going to survive at this rate.  Horikoshi cooked him too well 😂😭.

And finally REI TODOROKI!!!  The block or whatever her and her family were being transported in was stopped right below Gunga Mountain last chapter and they were forced to go up to the surface to make sure they avoid Dabi’s fiery explosion.  That’s why she’s up on the surface to begin with.  I do want to know how the hell she got to the battlefield so quickly though.  I don’t see her as a fighter, but maybe she trained her Ice Quirk to glide on it like Shouto does.  I’m really curious to see what she does because she does hold some responsibility for how Dabi turned out and I think she’s trying to atone in a way too.  This better not mean she’s dying though.  I don’t need the Todorokis to deal with more trauma, especially Shouto.

Anyways, there’s a lot to unpack in this chapter and there’s probably more to dive into.  Um, I’m glad to see Mr. Compress again like Horikoshi promised.  He’s probably still assless though.  Where are the 2nd year UA students you promised, sir???  But, yeah, the Todoroki drama continues to be more and more fucked up by the weeks.  Please let this family have peace one day I’m begging  🙏.

[lunerna21]

Book 7 Chapter 3

***SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOOK 7 CHAPTER 3 AHEAD!!***

...I'm not even sure where to begin with chapter 3...

I'm still reeling from the way they ended the previous chapter

We start off seeing Idia sleeping, but Idia dreaming about Ortho being alive, Idia having more confidence, and being unable to be afraid to speak to other students.

....and then Malleus's mysterious timing, him being super perceptive about Idia possibly waking up from his dream. I WAS REELING LIKE MALLEUS!!

YOU REALLY TURNED INTO A FULL FLEDGE VILLAIN!!

Also side note, was anybody else like me losing their minds during the entrance ceremony?! Just seeing everyone interacting like it's totally normal EVEN THO THEY AREN'T REAL?!

SEEING THESE TWO, I HAD TO STOP AND SOB MY EYES OUT LIKE WHY MALLEUS I WANT TO SEE MY BEST FRIENDS SAFE AND SOUND!!

MALLEUS MALLEUS MALLEUS MALLEUS I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE I LOVE YOU, BUT I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE ESPECIALLY THESE TWO LITTLE SHITS I LOVE SO MUCH

So, of course I'm curious as to where we were, and when they showed Mickey's room I HOLLERED, HOT DIGGITY DOG, AND SCREAMED LIKE A PSYCHOPATH

MICKEY MOUSE!? WE FINALLY MEET IN PERSON!? AND WITH MY HAIRY BABY BOI GRIM!?!? I WAS FLABBERGASTED!

LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT IT!!

I NEVER IMAGINED THIS DAY WOULD COME, BUT THIS DUO TOGETHER IS SO FREAKIN CUTE!!!

But as I'm watching this happen, I realize Malleus intentionally cut us out of the picture, out of everyone's reality, because he experienced many different emotions but yet was vulnerable around us since we don’t see him in a terrifying way while also appreciating life because of meeting us and getting to know the others at NRC…

The one thing that really really, REALLY concerns me is this reference from Mickey

.......Something is going to happen to Ace and Deuce, right? And it won't be a good thing considering the cards are covered in ink...

I have a small suspicion (and hope pls don't judge me) that we get to see other overblot forms. Like potentially Ace and Deuce, but the thought of that IS NOT OKAY I DON'T WANT ANY HARM TO HAPPEN TO THEM!

And as we're about to get attacked by these blot monsters, Silver just coming to save us was amazing! Whoever does the VO for Silver is so damn good

I'm not used to seeing Silver show so many emotions, but he could be the perfect definition of a night in shining armor.

AND WE LEARNED SILVER'S UNIQUE MAGIC AND ITS SO COL!

So we only have Ace, Lilia, Sebek and potentially Grim (also maybe Ortho but I'm not too sure on that) that haven't gotten or revealed their unique magic.

IF ACE IS THE LAST ONE TO GET HIS UNIQUE MAGIC I'M GONNA LAUGH BUT ALSO SCREAM BUT I REALLY REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE GETS

I won't talk too much about Ortho interacting with his parents, but it was incredibly heartwarming that even though Ortho is a humanoid, they still love and treat him as their own child.

Damn Disney, you really know how to get the waterworks going

As we're watching Sebek's dream, I'm just incredibly nervous about how Malleus was acting completely normal, and I wasn't entirely sure if Malleus was monitoring everyone's dreams or what...

Welp, I was right. Once Silver spoke to Sebek and reminded him about Lilia leaving and potentially dying, Malleus lost his goddam shit

Did anybody else absolutely get scared shitless?! I mean he's fucking gorgeous and I love him

But I did not expect to have goddamn chills and become extremely nervous instantly.

MALLEUS IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING, I TELL YA

THE FACT THAT MALLEUS IS LITERALLY DOING ANYTHING HE CAN TO KEEP EVERYONE IN THEIR DREAMS TO "MAKE THEM HAPPY" TO THE POINT OF PUTTING US BACK UNDER ANOTHER SLEEPING SPELL IS REALLY SCARY

MALLEUSSSSSS WHYYYYYYY

AND THE RING HELPED US ESCAPE!! SILVER, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU!?!?!

AND FINALLY, we witness Lilia as a war general AND HE LOOKS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING YET ALSO TERRIFYING (but not as terrifying as someone who completely changed and now scares the absolute living shit out of me)

AND AND AND we FINALLY got the teaser for Lilia's SSR card, folks!

LILIA?! LILIA VANROUGE!?! LIKE WOW OKAY HE LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT MY FAVORITE CARD OF HIS

I'm sorry it took so long to post this, but I'm super excited (and of course nervous) to see what happens next with Lilia's dream!

BUT I JUST WANT TO SEE ADEUCE TOGETHER WITH US AGAIN I MISS THEM AND I WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY DREAM ABOUT

Until then, we can only wait till Thursday for the next update...

(Also, this image was amazing to see I love everything about Sleeping Beauty so I was fangirling like a psycho but I love how heavily involved the movie elements are used in Book 7)

Enough for now~~! Let me just go imagine everyone's dreams and while also coping with the fact that we’re going to get more heartbreak and angst THAT IM NOT READY FOR!!

THURSDAY CANNOT COME FAST ENOUGH~~!!!

[beasts-of-jadewood]

Super Lesbian Animal RPG Is The Best Video Game I've Played Since Minecraft

Now that I've finally regained my ability to make publicly visible posts, I'd like to take a moment to gush about the critically acclaimed indie game classic Super Lesbian Animal RPG by @ponett and associates.

Holy shit. Holy shit? This game is so fucking good you guys. Are you kidding me? I know the title sounds like a stupid joke and there is actually a lot of humor in this game but you know what? This is a video game that's worth taking seriously. I've never given a shit about romance as a genre before getting into @slarpg because all the romance stories I've seen as a kid are either dragged-out "Will They, Won't They?" types, painful divorce stories, or fucking Romeo and Juliet. There seems to be this overwhelming belief in the genre that the greatest obstacle faced by a truly happy couple that's meant for each other is the process of getting together, and once they've gotten together the story can end. Of course, anyone who's ever had parents knows that shit isn't true, which is why I'm so fucking happy that SLARPG is a romance story about a couple that's already together and it showcases how they can have disagreements and awkward moments but still overcome them and keep going. I love that shit.

In my opinion, the most important thing a turn-based RPG developer needs to do is make sure the plot of their game is solid. With a more action-oriented game like the Souls series or Armored Core, the story doesn't fucking matter and nobody cares about it. People are in it for the exciting, challenging gameplay. If you show them a crisp parry animation that feels better than sex when you time it perfectly or a sick-ass command grab from a boss or whatever, then they're already sold without even knowing who any of the characters are. But you can't have those things with a turn-based RPG so the story is the most important part, and holy shit did SLARPG have the story nailed down on a cross and ready for worship.

See, I've spent my entire life searching for more stories that are relatable to people who live in the real world but at the same time provide a better alternative to the bleak reality we all know and don't love. SLARPG is one of those stories. Melody and Allison will talk about shit like housing being too expensive and Claire will mention how she doesn't talk to her transphobic parents anymore but they're also able to find happiness and stability with the power of love. It gives the game a sort of hopeful undertone that it's meant to represent the real world if people had the courage to do something about all the awful shit we have. Basically, SLARPG shows that misery exists in its world without normalizing it. Every drop of tear shed by Melody is treated with the immense gravity it deserves. At no point did the game say "This suffering you feel is just what happens in the world, better get used to it kid." but it also simultaneously shows how it's possible to move forwards from that sadness one step at a time. I fucking love that shit.

Read more for spoilers.

Now, getting into spoiler territory. I really like how this game also managed to marry its personal, emotional conflict with its greater, physical conflict. At no point in the game are you made to feel like the action-packed excitement of "Fight enemies, save the world." is interrupted so the characters can work through their private emotional insecurities. No, the characters' emotional insecurities and the world-ending threat they face feed into each other and feel as though they're one in the same. Even the main villain was revealed to be someone suffering from similar insecurities in the end and it's the protagonists' ability to make a positive example of themselves that played a key role in defeating her.

Speaking of the villain, she actually made me briefly consider not liking this game since she initially said that she wanted to destroy all the world's evil and recreate the world in a better state, only for the heroes to immediately try and stop her. I had a huge issue with this plot development at first because I hate it when people who wish to change the world for the better are portrayed as the bad guys for some reason. That is, until SLARPG revealed that its main villain was just making up an excuse and simply wanted personal revenge for the perceived murder of her wife that didn't even actually happen, while the heroes wanted to stop her because they were understandably ignorant and afraid of what the fuck her plan actually meant and how many casualties it might cause. In other words, the villain never actually intended to make the world a better place and was thus not portrayed as a bad person for doing so. She wasn't portrayed as a bad person at all, in fact. Rather, she's more depicted as someone blinded by her own rage and victimized by enabling trolls who wanted to start shit for fun, which made her far more relatable and interesting in my opinion.

All in all, I think SLARPG was great. It's a thematically consistent and tonally hopeful story with a good message and relatable characters. The game itself also left quite a few unaddressed antagonists like the evil crypto-mining corporation that keeps the reanimated corpses of former employees as slaves, or the mysterious being from the astral plane that possessed the protagonist and was never truly defeated. These things make me hopeful that we'll get a sequel or DLC or something one day, and I'll be there to support this series every step of the way. Bobby, if you're reading this, thank you so much. I haven't seriously enjoyed a contemporary work of fiction for years now but this game reminded me of how it feels to actually love a video game for once instead of playing through it out of spite like I did with the Souls series. Keep up the good work, for real.

[brekker-by-brekkerr]

general messy thoughts about sab s2 (spoilers ahead)

Things I liked:

- Genya. Daisy Head SLAYED completely she was SO GOOD. I didn’t like them downplaying her scars and I wished we had gotten the line “I am not ruined I’m ruination” especially knowing how much that line means to so many people but other than that Genya was everything Daisy did an INCREDIBLE job of playing her. I actually got teary-eyed at several points this season (and me and my emotions are not at all close so that’s a feat) and they were all either Genya or GenyaDavid scenes, which brings me to…

- Genya and David. They were so good. So wholesome. The best part of this season IMO. Like their brief scenes, them hugging in the woods, the tiniest moments STOLE the show. I cried for these two and these two alone. Also, David was so well-portrayed like I loved these two so much. 

- Several soft Malina moments that gave me butterflies and I felt accurately showed their dynamic, more toward the beginning of the season but they were there.

- Jack Wolfe as Wylan. I have some not-so-positive thoughts about the aged-up crows in general, but I still think Jack was a convincing Wylan and you can tell from both the show and from his interviews that he really cares about Wylan and his portrayal. Every time he LOOKED at Jesper I was like…wow just WOW.

- Getting to see Nina interacting with the Crows was nice. Especially when they turn around and she has waffles and Kaz has that annoyed moment but then we find out Nina got them the info they needed because she’s a spy and she’s incredible? 10/10 and one of the few moments that felt accurate to the real crows. Also, that part where she was talking to the guard and pretending she needed to pee (idk that was a weird way to describe it I know) but that was so Nina

- Also, just them together in a restaurant vibing was what I needed

- “The barrel doesn’t belong to kings. It belongs to bastards.”

- Tolya and Tamar were so cool in their introduction like they’re so hot and cool and powerful ahh

- When Genya, Alina, and Zoya are all at the Darling’s funeral pyre that was chilling

- The slivers of foreshadowing with Zoya.

Things I didn’t like:

- The weird slow motion in some of the fight scenes was so unnecessary lol

- Okay I’m not a fan of the Darkling and I’ve made that quite clear in the past, but I do think he’s a good and interesting villain and I like the Flavour he adds to the story but this season the Flavour was just…not there. It’s funny how many Darkling stans I’ve seen angry about this season because for once we’re in agreement. Like he was so boring and weird and just creepy instead of interesting and creepy? I wanted to skip all his scenes. Also, they took out so many of the awful things he did in the books like what about him killing Ana Kuya? When he says “you’ll have no shelter but me” that line hits so much harder and is so much more chilling and awful because he’s literally killing off the people in her life. Turning Nikolai into a monster himself?? The moment Alina loses her powers in the books and the Darkling tells her she’s nothing is SO IMPORTANT because it shows he’s just interested in her for her powers, which is a big theme in the books. As wonderful as Nikolai is, he needs Alina for what she can provide for Ravka. The Apparat just sees her for her power. Everyone wants to use Alina for something except for Mal who just wants them to be happy and able to make their own choices. Anyways, the Darkling didn’t feel like the Darkling from the books at all. Also, he was just cringy. Like I was laughing when he was like “I have returned. And I’ve made some new friends” and stared at the camera it was so bad.

- Ruin & Rising is my favourite from the trilogy and I was so disappointed with how much was cut out for the most random crap, like hallucinating and eating butterflies?? Instead of the bonding time with the whole TGT crew? And no Oncat I’m crying. There’s so much character growth that happens and so many relationships that are deepened in Ruin & Rising and WHERE WAS THAT?

- Personally, I didn’t think Paddy was giving Nikolai. Like he seems like a good person and actor and all that jazz but he just didn’t feel like Nikolai and since Nikolai is my favourite, this kind of hurt.

- Erasing Mal from the story and his struggles. Look, Mal is not by any means a perfect character. And he doesn’t need to be. Let him be messy. Let him struggle and sometimes be rude and make mistakes because that’s real that’s compelling. They could have shown all the book!Mal haters that maybe they were being too harsh on him because he was struggling SO MUCH but instead they just turned him into Perfect Supportive Man. His character growth in Ruin & Rising is so good especially after you’ve spent Siege & Storm thinking “what is going on with this man.” Seeing him owning up to his actions and seeing him working on his flaws and seeing his support for Alina is so good and we deserved it especially considering how talented Archie is.

- Cutting Zoya almost completely out, especially since this is the book where she goes through a lot of growth. Also, the fact that Alina choices they’re making are cutting into Zoya’s future story >:(

 Things I HATED:

- Killing off David. WTF. Obviously we didn’t see a body so he might come back but like…what’s the point. We didn’t even get to see Genya and David get married.

- Almost all of the Crows content. The rushed Crooked Kingdom plotlines with none of the significance from the books. Rushed Wesper. Matthias working with Pekka. Nina’s character completely revolving around Matthias. Kanej focusing on Kaz’s trauma but not Inej’s and making her contract with the Menagerie all about Kaz and his vendetta against Pekka and killing off Tante. Actually, pretty much everything Kanej this season was so awfully handled. Also, just not a fan of the Crows being aged up and I tried to be okay with it but this season made me more upset with the casting choices. The Crows stuff was so so so badly done I want to cry. Comfort rereading the duology right now

- The ending. Just…frick the ending. I hate it. Too many thoughts I just hate it I can’t even talk about it

- I’ve already reblogged a lot of posts that go into things I hated but just in general it was such a mess they combined too many stories without doing them justice and there’s more I’m upset about but this is it for now

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x09 Our Man Bashir thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [2 July '23]

*window crash* wait, no, is this...? AH YISSS, IT'S OUR MAN BASHIR, I am so hype to see this again!

I mean that the glass bottle trick was smooth

"Bashir. Julian Bashir." And then Garak starts clapping, hilarious

Aww, Garak being sad that Julian has been too busy with his new holosuite programme to spend time with him - when he finds out it's a spy programme, to boot, do you think he felt he was being replaced by something fancier and better? That Julian only hung around with him because he was a spy?

"It's so unusual for you to have secrets"... little do you know, Garak. If you're excited about this, how much will you enjoy his augmentation secret?

WHY ARE THEY STANDING SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER (gayyyyy)

"I wonder what scared her away. You must be incensed." Garak is baiting him so much XD Yes, Julian, he wants you to be mad

This is already such a fun episode, I'd forgotten quite how much!

"I think I joined the wrong intelligence service." IS THAT AN ADMISSION, GARAK?! You've never admitted to being a spy before, I am sure!

Why does Julian need to get his suits made by Garak if the holosuite can produce clothes - or are all of these costumes his valet is bringing out ones he's bought and somehow saved in the programme?

"Nerys, please." There's just something about the way he says this. He's not acting angry like he is at Garak, he's seemingly more cautious about telling her off for being here? I guess he's starting to think it's not Kira?

Odo going "That sounded like Kira!" even though she sounds Russian... Something something universal translator? Or he's just so attuned to her?

Julian is so pissed with this turn off events disrupting everything into something lethal. He just wanted a fun time

I have never noticed the falcon on Miles' eyepatch before!

"But that's Miles." - The way Julian says that is so gentle...

His soft "Sorry, my dear" to his dead valet - oh, my love :3

"Right behind the spatula." Oh, ROM. Incredible engineering XD

"Welcome to paradise." Okay, Avery Brooks just stole this scene.

How have I only just realised the symbolism of the villain, who is trying to flood the world and restart a better life, being called Noah?

"O'Brien's gonna kill me when he gets back." XD

Ohhh I was wondering how they got from Dr Noah's room to the tunnel - I had forgotten the being-tied-up scene

"Honey, will you grant me one last request and take off those glasses?" Yes Garak, that eye roll is what we're all thinking... Julian's acting is so ridiculously earnest XD "Kiss the girl, get the key - they never taught me that in the Obsidian Order." Garak is being so unusually frank! Is this part of his ploy to win back Julian from the game? Trying to remind him that I was a real spy, you know, my dear doctor?

The waver in Julian's voice as he says "If you call for the exit, you might kill Sisko and the others..." :3

Boy, their argument in the tunnel is such a tense scene, even better than I remember!

"You dream of being a hero because deep down you're not." OUCH. The worst thing is, Julian probably agrees.

"That's all about to end now isn't it?" - bit of London accent sneaking in there

"It's working just as you planned! You've done it, Doctor." "Yes.But somehow I didn't expect to win."

Oh I love everything about this sceeeeene

"Lunch tomorrow?" "Of course. But why don't we have it at your place, in Hong Kong?" I DO NOT REMEMBER THAT LINE. WOW. GAY.

Okay, yeah, this is the point where they get together imo.

I mean everyone knows this episode is fantastic, but also, THIS EPISODE IS BLOODY FANTASTIC AND I LOVE IT TO BITS.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 22 Collusion

Spoilers below

-Gabriel doing his usual bit of talking to a corpse

-Dude really showing he's desperate

-Emilie knows her husband is batshit crazy

-The Adrinette is so f***ing cheesy I love it. THEY CALL EACHOTHER WHILE BRUSHING THEIR TEETH. UGHHHHH. Its dopamine

-And Gabriel just f***ing ruins the mood. The shift in adrien's expression, Just distraught.

-ADRIEN. MY BOY. HE CALLED OUT HIS S*** PANCAKES. I am so proud

-Plagg be spitting facts. Too bad neither of them know Adrien really has no choice in the matter

-They are trying to kiss but they both cant. Its cute but also... FUCKING KISS ALREADY! JUST KISS! YOUVE KISSED ALREADY. YOU CAN DO IT!

-Rose representing all of us right now

-" YOU TWO KISS OR I WILL KISS BOTH OF YOU?" Rose I dont think thats the threat you think it is

-Oh kwami they ARE INSUFFERABLE and I love it. If this was real I would HATE THEM SO MUCH. I feel Rose so much.

-Chloé and Sabrina are no longer friends after last episode, and Chloé just now a mean girl alone. Its just sad now.

-Lila (if that is her real name) still be out here plotting.

-So mendeleiev is the new principal, and just like before Chloé has the principal wrapped around her finger. This is getting really boring

-And cue Lila's plan

-Oh my gosh is this going to make Ms.Bustier go into Labor?!

-Ms.Bustier still trying to appeal to whatever organ is pumping the blood in Chloé's body. But this is season 5 Chloé, not season 2 or 3 Chloé.

-So Ms.Bustier got fired and I think Marinette is expelled. Sure feels like a recycled season 3 episode.

-WAIT... IS MS.bustier going to get akumatized and then they have to fight a PREGNANT WOMAN?!

-Ms.Sans-Culotte? Interesting reference

-Oh damn, she broke free. Impressive. She said no thanks and just broke the akumatization

-Monarch got akuma blocked

-So Ms.Bustier is leaving with a moderately attractive woman on a Motorcycle... Guess everyone is a Lesbian this season.

-Has no one seen robocop before? I know they have since there is an akuma parody of him. Its a bad idea

-OH NO ITS EVIL MARINO (lila as a waiter)

-Chloé now is just a mindless mean puppet. This is sad, At least before Chloé was mean and it was her choice and she did her own stuff, now its more like she is just a muppet to be used. Its sad really

-Lila manipulating Gabriel here, I respect the play, but im still annoyed by how dumb this is. Is chloé actually going to become the mayor?

-Tomoe out here just reminding Gabriel every chance she gets he's dying

-Rose, I love where your head is at, but not right now

-Andre talking to Gabriel about the good old days. Oh if only I cared about Gabriel in the slightest.

-Andre has a point, but he really should put a stop to the BS.

-And Gabriel creates Edited out of context videos using Alliance rings. Next time, deep fake images

-Gabriel selling out his homies like the bitch he is

-Yep, lesbians. Not surprising

-And now Bustier is going to get akumatized

-And just like that she gets akumatized

-Oh man that... that is just tacky. I dont like this at all

-And using the pig power

-SHE TURNS THEM INTO BALLOONS

-THE STAY PEACHY BIOGRAPHY IS BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE. HYPE!!! I HAVE BEEN SAYING SINCE SEASON ONE THEY SHOULD BE DOING THAT.

-Did... did she just advocate for state propaganda?

-Adrien was probably going to tell her... BUT interruption

-Lila really acting like Chloé's braincell. Is Gabriel really going to make Chloé mayor? They pulled this whole Villain is the Mayor s*** in Danny Phantom and it was stupid then

-Well Gabriel and Tomoe were right about one thing, the cops are useless here

-I feel like this message is hitting a bit too close to the French revolution

-Ladybug and Chat noir really just clowning on these akuma these days

-Ah some Zoebug, interesting

-So the mayor just quit, did not see that coming

-That was anticlimactic... something is not right here

-That was an onscreen kiss. Oh that is getting censored in the other areas

-THE LUCKY CHARM WASNT FOR THE AKUMA, IT WAS FOR CHLOÉ!

-And Chloe becomes mayor/dictator

______________________________________________________________

This dumb, this is really dumb.

I love the lovesquare stuff, but this show really jumped the shark. Chloé became Mayor with Robots, Lila/Cerise or whatever has multiple identities and puppeteers things is just already too much. This has just started going off the rails WAY too fast.

The show just feels so... off.

The episode was 5/10

I cant say I hated it, but i just cant find any enjoyment from this arc aside from the Lovesquare.

I cant say I feel as enthusiastic about this season as I was during Elation.