#and a bunch of deeply silly people think this is progressive

[communistkenobi]

this episode literally ends with kirk reading the US declaration of independence to the aliens lmfao

[fumifooms]

What do you think of Lamari (Laios and Namari)? Both as a ship and the relationship between the two.

I don’t like it sorry broski 😔 Seeing them interacting in ep 9 again made me see the appeal more, it’s cute how they interact, how they trust each other’s abilities and judgement! But ship wise…… I can’t. I’ve been seeing cute fanart of them around though, and I know a few people on discord that like them too. Like hmmm I guess I can see the appeal in the dynamic even if it doesn’t grab me but I can’t form a narrative for them… Usually I need both to truly get into a ship, a dynamic I find fun or interesting + some sort of progression and impact it’d leave on the characters, I don’t really see the character/relationship arc that’d happen, or at least not one eventful enough for me. When it comes to how I think their relationship is during canon, I see it as being professional and hinting at maybe friends, a neutral rather than negative thing mind you.

With Laios, well I’ve spoken about his character and arc before a bunch, but with Namari the part that interests me most is the whole exile thing, how she works hard to fit in both with keeping a good work reputation and shaving, for example, and how she’s not all that good with it because of presumably her bold personality... Because of this and more, and spoilers but I’ve planning on making a rarepair post about it for a while, I like shipping her with Toshiro mainly. I think that she balances out his doormat tendency but his cool attitude would be soothing and grounding and- Well gdbdgdg you see how it is. And to a certain extent I can see why people would want to apply the same logic to lamari, but… I don’t even think Namari and Laios would be able to bond over both being foreigners much tbh, I feel like Laios would sort of remain an odd mystery to her and though they could connect in a weird roundabout way I don’t think they’d exactly understand each other— and see this is the part of lamari appeal I get, the sort of tentative tension of "oh you actually respect me. That feels… Rare. And nice." Thouuugh like I was saying to be fair, it’s true Laios also tries and fails to fit in so that could be an interesting angle to go at it with. I think Namari wants stability and I just don’t really think it complements Laios well. I think trust’s the most important thing with Laios so on his side him liking her enough to be interested or open to a relationship I could see, though in a kinda mild and dry way imo… Like with Laios especially when defining how he and someone fall in love, there are sort of two modes right, and of course these coexist to some degree, but there’s Laios being his partner’s silly goober, and there’s Laios being very mature, more of his subdued stoic but composed self, all king-like, the more like connecting through meaningful conversations side. And idk how to put it into words but with lamari, I feel like Namari being paired with him doesn’t give a fresh spin on the former, and with the latter I feel like they’d always keep missing each other halfway communication wise, I don’t see them ever getting to that level where they deeply intuitively know and understand each other and how they work, maybe Laios -> Namari yes but Namari -> Laios I don’t see it, like I said I think it’d remain like, a mystery that nags at her and she might feel attracted if anything, but I can’t see them as more than casually dating idkk idk.

Namari has that fun ‘gets fired up about what odd things Laios is doing and reigns him back in’ dynamic but it’s something that literally so many other characters have too. I’m not knee deep into Namari yet so who knows maybe I have a wrong angle, but I did start giving her some thoughts bc I have a fic I have in mind for toshimari I wanna do. But yes it’s cute how protective she can get even if it’s shouty or tough love, like how she looks out for Laios’ equipment and for him not to get scammed, or brings in Toshiro here in the convo because she doesn’t want Toshiro to do his conflict avoidance thing and not stand up for himself & stay in the party even if it sucks hah. That bold borderline rude protective personality of hers with that awkwardness with intimacy/non-professional relationships is what’s unique to her I think, but yeah the laios & namari duo strikes me as strangely distant yet strangely interested coworkers who exhange glances over the cashier desk but personally I can’t see myself doing anything with that.

I’m not here to say it’s a bad ship or anything obviously! It just really doesn’t call to me personally and I don’t see stuff with them that I’d find interesting to analyze, if anything it’d involve the wider party a lot. I do want to make a masterpost on Laios’ career history and the old members of his party so I might analyze how Namari and he interact in those pre-canon comics idk. But yeahh like I find nothing to dig deeper at personally, you could make cute fics of them hinting at interest between the two, if Laios went to get drinks with her at a tavern etc etc, but all I see with them is just what canon straightforwardly showed us and I don’t get the urge to explore the possibility of them at all.

Sorry to disappoint, but yeah I won’t be a good source of lamari content or thoughts. I have wayy too many drafts I actually want to get out so I’ll be storing further Laios & Namari analysis for a big maybe, one day. I feel so bad I really hate to be negative at all and as a fellow rareshipper I send u my best wishes truly, good luck y’all deserve fellow stans and content. Feel free to leave pro-lamari arguments in the comments or reblogs if you want idm but preferably not asks (and just don’t be aggressive & don’t expect me to respond/react 🫶) like truly this post isn’t meant as a diss but anon asked me about my personal thoughts so… I love youuu lamaris hope y’all thrive 🙇🙇

Trying to think of crumbs and it’s true she blushed when she saw him in his cape at the end so y’all got that W. Namari having a thing for tallmen is so real

Edit: oh she went with him for equipment shopping… Ok that’s cute

[andro-dino]

Fuck it we ball here’s a very long, unfinished shogun steel ramble I’ve had sitting in my drafts for like a year and a half (probably more tbh but idk I have no perception of time). I hadn’t reread this in ages before the other day but yk what this banged I love loving shogun steel so I’m gonna share this 🔥

I’ve got a big ol rant abt my ideas of the shogun steel characters and their comparisons to the original cast and how their specifically different and how that feeds my headcanons for them oooohohoooohoh

The way I interpret it, I like to think that the characters in shogun steel are a little younger than where the main cast started and juuuuust before where they were in fusion skill-wise. Like, most of the characters in fusion are introduced right off the bat as already being incredibly skilled bladers and they only get more and more insanely strong as the series progresses. When it comes to shogun steel, I like to think that they even though they are strong, they’re not quite where the original cast started yet. That’s something that I find very charming about them. It’s clear that they’re still young and a little rough around the edges, but they’re all so deeply impassioned to surpass those who came before them that that fire inside them burns tenfold and they work even harder to refine themselves and hone their skills and grow and change even more and I really like that. A lot of shogun steel characters very obviously parallel earlier characters (i.e. Zyro and Gingka, Sakyo and Ryuga) but what I like about them is that even though they play similar narrative roles and have those connections drawn, they make a point to make them distinctly different. I like that the shogun steel cast really feel like they’re learning and growing and not just that they’re the replacements for the og characters but that they’re learning to be better than they were. They’re not quite the legends they’re looking to surpass yet, but they really make you feel like they’re gonna get there.

Now, I like looking at this not only from a skill angle, but also from how they are as people. I’ve joked about it before but I really do quite enjoy that my silly little self-indulgent hc for these guys is just “they’re communicative and they work to support each other and talk through their issues and they love each other and show that in healthy ways.” Obviously, the shortness of shogun steel doesn’t give the characters a lot of time to go through extremely fleshed out character arcs, but those arcs exist nonetheless. I know it’s just a pacing issue but I like how these kids are able to pinpoint their issues and work on solving them and figuring it out. A whole bunch of them (Shinobu, Kite, and Sakyo mostly, just to name a few) go through their own little “edgy angsty teenager who doesn’t need anyone or any help” moments, but they are SO quickly ripped out of them by their friends just being like “NO. WE LOVE YOU AND WE’RE HERE FOR YOU AND YOU DESERVE SUPPORT” and they’re like “oh fuck fr? I mean yeah ok makes sense sorry for being an ass” AND ITS THE GREATEST. THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR ISSUES AND THEY WORK THROUGH THEM AND GROW STRONGER AND CLOSER BECAUSE OF IT. They’re angsty kids and they’re messy and rough but work to become kinder and more supportive people and it’s so nice to think abt. I KNOW THIS CAN BE APPLIED TO EARLIER CHARACTERS BUT LISTEN. IT JUST FEELS DIFFERENT TO ME.

Outside of canon, it just brings me a lot of comfort to think about them finding different coping mechanisms and communicating their struggles and boundaries with each other and striving to support one another and just being human. It’s nice to think about these fucking kids just living and learning and doing it all together and coming out closer and stronger because of it.

I love thinking about them being affectionate with each other too. They always so openly voice their support for each other and feel such protectiveness and pride over each other. They have healthy banter but so clearly love and care for each other. I like to think of them all as each other’s hype men. They feel like the type of friend group where if one of them wanted to show something off, all of the others would be totally hyping

-

And that’s where the draft ended. I’m not gonna continue it but you can kinda figure where my train of thought was going for the most part at the end there. In conclusion I love shogun steel amen and happy new year

[arzner]

Maybe I just notice it more now that I'm in my 30s, but it seems like in so many different places I read just for casual conversation/gossip, people seem absolutely fixated on believing that women need to act in a ~certain way~ once they hit 30. You have to put away all "frivolous" hobbies and interests, you can't have any fun anymore, you have to be extremely mature and sure of yourself and never petty or flawed, you have to have Settled Down in life, etc. I find it really ridiculous. Then I wonder if I'm just particularly immature for my age or something, but I don't really think so. I just don't think there's that big of a difference between your late 20s and early 30s, I don't think that everyone needs to be on the same timetable or doing the same things in life anyway, and obviously I certainly don't think that women need to be hidden away at home raising children and serving men and doing nothing for themselves or whatever it is these people think women "need" to be doing by a certain age.

I don't want to pin this on any one group or start any silly generation wars, but it does seem like a lot of this comes from people a generation or so younger than me...which I guess is somewhat natural: when you're really young you sometimes kind of think everyone older than you is Old, but in some ways it seems more pronounced in this group. Fear of aging is not new in the slightest, but I've had to spend some time with people about a decade younger than me lately (when usually I find myself around people my own age or older) and they seem really fixated on ages even down to thinking, for example, that a 24-year-old is markedly older than a 22-year-old, and they talk about age constantly. Maybe it's just the particular people I've been around. I don't know. It's just not something I remember my peers being as obsessed with when we were their age. I remember thinking that everyone within about five years of my age was the same as me when I was in my 20s.

It's all been bothering me lately, and I should probably just ignore it, but I guess it's hitting me at a time when I finally felt like I'd mostly gotten over all the fears and insecurities about aging, and it's sort of dragging me right back. It also depresses me that so many people, even self-proclaimed progressives, truly think that women don't deserve to live our lives for ourselves...and that having hobbies and interests past a certain age is pathetic, that spending any time online past a certain age is inappropriate, that our only purpose in life is settling down with a bunch of babies and a husband. They may know better than to say this so explicitly, but it's clear that this is what they believe deep down.

Maybe people want to believe that something mystical happens the day you turn 30, but it really doesn't. You don't change overnight, you don't unlock any secret wisdom, you aren't suddenly ancient... You're the same person you were the night before when you were 29. It's also frustrating that so many people think having kids and/or marrying men is the only path to "maturity" for women. I know plenty of immature parents and plenty of mature childfree people, plenty of 30-somethings who are totally unsure of themselves and plenty of 20-somethings who are quite mature... I don't say any of this to discourage growth or encourage immaturity and helplessness in adults -- I just think there are so many different ways to live your life, and I'm deeply tired of running into these totally regressive, sexist attitudes lately. Way too many people have such strange ideas about what a woman in her 30s "should" be. Maybe they haven't been around enough people in their 30s, but we're as varied as people in their 20s are.

[wysteir]

Wisteria' FG Journal

S1 In Review

Around the start of this year I decided to try and get into fighting games! This post will have notes about my journey and learning experiences in the first 3 months

My first* fighting game was Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising! Asterisk because it was the first game I actually wanted to try to learn all the ins and outs of fighting games seriously.

Before this year the bulk of my experience was whatever odd fighting games we had lying around, including Samsho V, One Of The Mortal Kombats, and One Of The Dead Or Alives. Later got Skullgirls and Street Fighter 4 but never got deeply into either, and I'll include any time I played playing Whichever Versions of smash.

Either way, having fun with them casually, but never really thinking about actual strats. I wanted to fling specials at people and hit then with heavy buttons hahaheeheehoohoo

Granblue stood out to me because

1) A bunch of folks I knew were playing it

2) It touted a relatively low skill floor

3) Fox gal with huge fluffy tail

So I steeled myself for losses, and dove in, except - where do I even start?

Well thankfully my friends had my back on that one. I got linked copious amounts of resources, and of them the most important ones for me personally were the ones related to keeping a healthy mental game.

Fighting games are hard to learn because it's a skill like any other. Learning an art is hard- music, visual arts, writing, dance: all of these are skills that take time and have difficult aspects to learning them.

They should also bring joy when engaging in them, both through the fun of doing, but also the satisfaction of honing a skill. This is where healthy mental comes in. I didn't want to be stuck in a bad mental state learning fighting games. That would cascade into my attempts to learn and would spoil my fun- and at that point why bother?

Staying realistic while taking as much pride as I could in my progress contributed a huge amount in how smoothly I ramped up. In many ways I benefitted from being almost entirely new, and starting with upholding mental first. Note that it was also important to me to not dismiss my feelings or bottle them up. These things linger in the subconscious, they are mind killers and they need to be treated with care.

Immense damage was dealt to me by the North American Education System and Familial Expectations. Part of my journey in fighting games involved a continuation of dismantling the shame in perceived failures. I would let nothing stop me from finding joy in learning, and being silly with it. A key thing for fighting games is that for better or for worse, there's a common perception that the failure state is getting KO'd. After much deliberation, I personally refuse to view it as such.

Winning is merely a side effect of good play.

Losing is an opportunity to hone my skills.

Success to me is the 50/50. I'm a performer by heart, I love the drama, the thrill, the narration. And over and over again, I see my goal in others' replays and tournament footage- it's the 50/50. Being evenly matched with my opponent became an immense source of positive vibes, and as I improved, and got closer to it, the joy I got grew more and more. Most notably, I hit a point where even fighting players who could 10-0 me wasn't even daunting anymore, because every round we played I got just a little bit better, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I could turn it into a 10-1.

Mental is the most important thing because it determines how efficient you are in terms of learning, performance, and inspiration. Once mental tanks or ges overwhelmed, it's time for a break!!!

The next important thing for me was defense and taking back my turn.

I thought about it, and realized that at my skill level, I would probably be on the losing side of the fight more often than not. What I needed wasn't the most damaging combo, what I needed were the skills to get myself out of an inevitable scenario.

A dependency comes about from this then:

1) If I'm knocked down or in the corner, my priority needs to be taking my turn back. I can't do anything else if I'm under attack with whatever mix tape my opponent is blasting on loop.

2) If we're in neutral, I need to find the best way to get into a position to establish offence (or just establish it outright)

3) If they're blocking, I need to mix them and watch out for when they want to take their turn back

4) If I'm hitting them I either won or I'm about to get sent back to 3

Combos ain't shit actually!! They kinda fucking suck for a new player!!!! Combos and Complicated Hornswogglery won't save the new player from the situation they'll be in most of the time, ie- blocking in the corner

Second most important is playing neutral to try and prevent getting hit and cornered in the first place.

When I first started playing Granblue the most I could do was a basic baby auto combo into 236L and easy input super for offense, but I learned how to jab out of pressure, I learned how valuable reversals were, as I spent less and less time in the corner I learned how to approach and counter in neutral, and everything else was the fun fancy stuff that most resources list in great detail.

So! Behold, my power 9!

0) Preliminary research on game specifics

1) Learn how to maintain good mental

2) Learn how to block/evade/tech

3) Learn how to escape pressure

4) Learn how to skip/hold neutral

5) Learn a basic midscreen combo

6) Learn Okizeme/counter reversals

7) Learn a basic corner combo

8) Learn the advanced mechanics

Throughout the discord server I'm in I have lists and lists of things I felt I wanted to learn and some little victories and eureka moments

The 9 things above basically cover the gist of things

As I learned more and more granblue basics I also ended up playing guilty gear strive more often, and applied the same principles. Strive has more mechanics/resources than granblue so some of them came hand and hand with the 9, but I'm sure you'll find they slot in easy

By the end of March I was at a relatively low Mental and was taking it easier, but by then I was also playing in a way I didn't see myself being able to do for at least 6 months.

And now, even only 2.5 weeks since then? I could deck the halls with my March self

And if you've ever been interested in fighting games, you could learn them well too!!!

[daenystheedreamer]

Are you RPF positive? How do you feel about ships like Gaylor or Phan or Larry? Phan actually turned out to be true LOL

short answer its funny and harmless long answer below the cut tldr its funny and feel free to be cringe but also everyone has a line they draw in the sand and even if you think you dont, you do. and me personally my line is further than others, nearer than some. if the rpf is fanfic where harry styles bottoms for louis tomlinson thats mostly just teenagers being silly and harmlessly cringe and if the rpf is AI deepfake of them its bad. also sometimes the rpf is real. and also phan is a can of worms im not touching with a ten foot pole. again long answer below the cut ^_^ rambling

ok so celebrities in general i roll my eyes at the thought of caring about them. everyone is just a regular human being who is kind of stupid and lame. everyone has positives and negatives etc. so to me when i see someone act parasocial about some youtuber/singer/actor etc im like thats just a guy. so already rpf is simply not for me.

secondly i think it is mostly harmless. if you are writing gay porn about frank iero and gerard way well that is between you and god and the ao3 staff. gets cringe and weird if you go up to jensen ackles at a con and say heh so which of you is the seme 😏 that is a socially insane thing to do sorry

thirdly it is super funny. gaylor is hilarious to me its like a bunch of generally progressive young girls who feel the need to morally justify why its okay to like taylor swift. Oh she dates weird men oh she has a bad carbon footprint Well actually she is a queer woman oppressed by her management and her conservative family. thats hilarious to me i love how there is no one on earth who isnt a little conspiratorily minded. tbc im not gaylorphobic i have gaylor friends.

fourthly i have seen the moral depravity of man. you can find genuinely deeply morally and ethically disgusting content about real life minors. 'its fiction its just writing they wont see it' grow up go talk to a therapist. AI deep fake porn is disgusting. its weird and socially inept to bother actual human beings about your kink. again fine to have that kink but dont go asking random people if theyre secretly in love with their friend.

hmmm fifthly and lastly i think often people just dont have a holistic view of the world they dont understand cultural/social context. there is a social barrier between you the audience and the people on your screen. also when you get into fandoms like kpop, you need to understand that its a product. these arent authentic human beings they are products they are actors they are selling you an idea. its yaoi in a way! its playing on homosocial/homoerotic tropes that female fans tend to enjoy. im sorry but seokjin and taehyung arent secretly boning they are coworkers. sorry.

that being said i think ben affleck IS in love with matt damon and i think theyve jerked off together or had sex by proxy via threesome. nothing will change my mind on this.

[karlyboyyy]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Okay first of all - thank you so much for sending me this ask! I haven't received an ask since like 2018, and I really like answering questions! (are any of y'all old enough to remember Formspring? I loved that shit lmao)

Second of all - this took me forever to think of! I suddenly forgot all pieces of media that I've ever consumed. Plus I wanted to make sure I had a mix of stuff lol

Anyway, here's what I've come up with, in no particular order :)

David Rose | Schitt’s Creek

David Rose is honestly so important to me. When I first started watching Schitt’s Creek, I was just like “oh haha sassy queer man, so funny!” But then as the show progressed, I found myself identifying so much with the character. And then I decided to rewatch the show… four more times over the next few months. Like I just kept going back to it. And eventually I thought “ya know… why do I identify so much with a queer man? I’ve never thought of myself as queer and I’m not a man… so why?” Which led me down the rabbit hole of watching other queer-centric shows and doing a bunch of internet searching of sexuality and gender identity. And I honestly learned so much. Like it’s crazy how much I just assumed about a lot of stuff without ever thinking too deeply about it. And wouldn’t you fuckin know it, I realized I was bisexual. And then the more and more I thought about how I see myself and how I wanted others to see me, I decided that yep, I’m not a man… but I’m also not really too attached to being a woman either. So here we are today, just a big ol’ bisexual nonbinary androgynous blob. All thanks to David Rose!

2. Karasuno VBC | Haikyuu!!

Is this answer cheating? I feel like it’s cheating. But I’ve tried - I’ve reeeally tried - to pick a favorite character from Haikyuu, and I just cannot. So I’ve chosen the entire ‘12-‘13 Karasuno High School Volleyball Club (coaches and managers included!). I just love them each so much for different reasons. Like, Hinata is such a sweetheart and I’m so proud of him by the end of the series! Kageyama is my baby, my sweet grumpy dumb-dumb baby. Sugawara is probably the one I relate to the most, coming off as shy and calm but in reality he’s a little insane. And Asahi! My sweet sensitive Asahi, I love him so much. I could ramble on for days, but I won’t. Just know that I would fight to the death for these fictional characters. 

3. Power | Chainsaw Man

Since I’ve decided that I’d only do one cheat answer, I can’t list the whole Hayakawa family as one character. That said, I’d have to say Power is my favorite of the trio. She’s loud and obnoxious and egotistical and powerful and silly and gross and honestly everything I wish I could be. 

4. Xie Lian | Heaven Official’s Blessing

Xie Lian is so awkward, but he’s low-key hilarious. There’s a moment in chapter 6 of the first novel, where he was worried because he didn’t have any shrines or worshippers dedicated to him in the mortal realm. But then, there’s this excerpt: “And one day, on a whim, he suddenly thought: If no one worships me, I’ll worship myself! None of the heavenly officials knew how to respond to that. Who had ever fucking heard of a god worshipping himself?! To reach such tragic heights, what was the point?! However, Xie Lian was used to receiving nothing but awkward silence the moment he spoke and thought amusing himself could be fun.” Like… that whole ‘fuck it, I’m just gonna do whatever the hell I want’ attitude gives me life. On top of all that, he’s a cheapskate scrap collector, a terrible cook, and has the worst luck. But he’s a total sweetheart, he tries his best at everything he does, he’s always trying to help people, and HELLO he’s got Hua Cheng wrapped around his finger. 

5. Uramichi Omota | Life Lessons With Uramichi-oniisan

My favorite depressy boi. Life Lessons is so freakin funny and way too goddamn relatable. I think I have four different magnets at my desk at work with images / quotes of Uramichi from the show and manga. There's not much else I can say other than he speaks to my soul.

6. Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo | Mob Psycho 100

The goodest boy!! A friend actually recommended Mob Psycho to me, and at first I was a little skeptical. But by the third episode I was hooked. And by season 3, I found myself literally sobbing. Just seeing Mob’s growth throughout the show, and how his kindness impacted so many people around him… it just fills my heart. But also the moment where he almost loses himself to the ???%… just wow. The whole message of that show is so so good and I will literally recommend it to anyone and everyone. 

7. Sasaki Shuumei | Sasaki and Miyano

The sweetest cinnamon roll!! The way he truly loves Miyano is so refreshing. Sure, he has the whole “but he’s a guy…” thought at first. But he gets over that fairly quickly. He just knows that Miyano is cute and he genuinely wants to get to know him. He actively engages with Miyano to try and learn about his interests and hobbies. He reads all the BL Miyano lends him. He gives his honest feedback about each story! He stands up for Miyano’s interests. He confesses to Miyano pretty early on, but recognizes that Miyano may not reciprocate those feelings right away. He continually reassures Miyano that his feelings are strong, but he’s not pushy about it. It’s more like he wants to make sure Miyano doesn’t see his feelings as a passing whim. And when they finally get together, he’s not shy about their relationship. He talks about it to his friends and family. When the two of them start to get more physical, Miyano voices his concern about who’s going to be the “bottom”. And Sasaki’s immediate thought was that he didn’t really care which way they went, he just knew that he wanted it to be with Miyano. And my GOD I loved seeing that. I feel like discussing your sexual preferences with your partner and figuring out what you’re comfortable with doing is SO important, but that aspect of starting a new relationship isn’t portrayed nearly enough in BL stories. It’s usually just one guy being a little nervous about being bottom and the other guy automatically assuming they’re the top, with zero communication. Anyway, I digress. Back to Sasaki. My cinnamon roll. I just love him. 

8. April Ludgate | Parks and Recreation 

Parks and Rec will always be one of my comfort shows. And I first watched it when I was about the same age as April - young enough to not really know what I wanted to do in life and also not really caring about that stuff just yet. I loved her dry sense of humor and her sarcasm. And watching her grow into someone with more confidence in her career and relationships was amazing. Also fun fact, when I interviewed for my first role at my current workplace - which happens to be an Indiana government entity - I was asked why I was interested in government work. And I straight up said that Parks & Rec made it seem interesting lmao. They must have liked that answer, because I’m still there almost 4 years later and have promoted up since then! 

9. Dorothy Zbornak | Golden Girls

I first watched Golden Girls when I was in college, when my roommate was like “I promise you’ll like it, it’s so funny” and I was like bitch… it’s an old show about old ladies. But she was RIGHT. It’s hilarious. And honestly so wholesome. And ICONIC (I mean come on. This show talked about women's sex lives, old women's sex lives at that. And LGBT+ issues. And workplace harassment. And invisible illnesses / disabilities and the struggles of getting your doctor to actually listen to you. All of this in the '80s, no less!) And I feel like most people liked Rose because, duh it’s Betty White. But Dorothy was my jam. She was sarcastic and always annoyed by something (same). But she genuinely cared about her friends. And look. I ain’t gonna lie. That deep, almost raspy voice of hers? Hot. 

10. Jake Peralta | Brooklyn 99

He’s honestly so annoying, but I love him. He gives off this “I’m gonna do the bare minimum and be silly the whole time and STILL get the fuckin’ job done” vibe, and ya know what? He does just that. He’s actually a great detective and problem solver. He just also knows how to have fun. And his relationship with Amy is one of the few straight(-passing) relationships that I honestly love so much. They’re so cute and pure and goofy and relatable. And don’t even get me started on his friendship with Rosa. I mean, he went with her when she wanted to come out as bi to her parents!! Aahhhh!! Lastly, his flannel / hoodie / leather jacket combo? Pure bisexual fashion and I am here for it.

[caffeineandsociety]

Genuinely I think one of the most annoying things to deal with is stereotypes that are decoupled from the demographic they're about, so they end up flying over a lot of people's heads - and to some people, they still evoke An Image, but to others, they either don't evoke an image of Actual Human People at all, or evoke an image of something completely different.

Namely I find this so annoying because of how we treat "Doing Something Racist/Sexist/Etc." as a Horrible Mark Of Evil Person Shame, Something No Good Person Ever Does, which means if you point out when someone does, say, use a fantasy trope that's based on a racial stereotype, or repeat a joke that's been decoupled from its shitty origins and doesn't outright mention the demographic being mocked, a lot of the time they'll insist you must be wrong because THEY didn't think of that demographic.

For instance, most of us on tumblr at this point know a lot of standard high fantasy goblin tropes are born of antisemitic stereotypes...but while we're over here discoursing about what do DO about that, there are a whole bunch of people who don't have a single fucking clue that those are stereotypes of ANY real human demographic. They're just silly little guys who only exist in a fantasy realm, to them. They're not being indoctrinated into intentional antisemitism by playing a stereotypical goblin in a video game because they're not making any connection between those funny little fantasy guys and real human people - as is one of the two ways propaganda can largely fail -

But by continuing to use those particular tropes, they are unwittingly perpetuating those stereotypes, by potentially passing them on to people who DO make the connection.

The ideal reaction, when someone credibly (...we are acknowledging but not getting into those cases where the complaint is some asshole weaponizing progressive language for less than progressive ideals) points out that you've done something like this, is "oh, shit, well that is NOT what came to my mind at all, I won't do it again/do you know how I can fix it?/[some other relevant statement or question about moving forward]" -

But because so much of this culture is obsessively punitive, because we have culturally decided that the goal of these conversations is not about minimizing harm done but about identifying Who Is An Ontologically, Essentially, Evil Bad Person, instead...people get defensive, which helps NO ONE involved.

Now, I will always say that in the case of an infrequent fuck-up, a brief reminder that a mistake was, in fact, a mistake rather than intentional harm is usually a good thing, because it's reassuring. "Oh shit I honestly had no idea"...is what I expect to be true if it's someone I'm willing to actually bring something up to, but it's nice to hear it confirmed. In fact, while it shouldn't be a default approach, for me personally sometimes I even like to hear the internal logic that led someone to do something assholey and think it was harmless at worst; I like being able to dissect where this shit comes from, what people are and aren't being taught about social issues, and what (if any) connections they're seeing instead, knowledge is power and all that (...as this blog is kind of a testament to).

But...that's only if they're. You know. Open to acknowledging that they fucked up in the first place. Which a lot of people aren't because we treat every single mistake that accidentally hurts someone else as some kind of mark of intentional evil that will, like, bar you from getting into heaven or something. In a lot of cases this ends up affecting even people who know better because one, it's deeply culturally ingrained, and two, it's never just about one person; you have to take into account whether or not anyone ELSE involved is still buying into that crap.

In short, it's a mess.

[astroninaaa]

Hot take; one of the most poorly written arcs was the eggpire arc since no eggpire controlled characters were developed prior to the arc like BBH and Skeppy so it felt awkward watching the two go through this arc with no prior foundation on the relationship they share. It's not even just that arc too, The Mexican L'manburg was one of the shittest excuses of filler I had to watch. Its weird watching it knowing that it's intended to be taken seriously. And with that...

ngl i didn't watch most of the eggpire arc because most of the people on it stream when it's fucking 3am for me and i didn't watch the mexican l'manburg thing either bc i didn't really watch quackity streams then but i still disagree. i completely disagree.

for one, i don't think the mexican l'manburg arc was made to be taken seriously. it was just a bunch of ccs who are friends joking around. that's like saying wilbur's drug empire arc at the beginning of the smp was shit bc it was too jokey. like,,,,,,, that's the point. it's not serious lore like las nevadas or the exile- it's just people playing in a minecraft server and making up a silly story that was later incorporated into lore, you know? so i don't think it's really fair to judge it like that.

on another note. i truly think the eggpire arc was well-developed. it had months in its making and so much things happened in it before it reached where it is right now. i have only read summaries of it because once again, timezones, but even then. you can see that it's a well-built arc, even if messy (which is also unfair to judge it by since most of the arcs are a little messy. it's because they aren't professionally written these are a bunch of kids on a minecraft server-), it's well developed. am i frustrated by how it apparently finished and with how it suddenly stopped? yes, actually! i am! but prior to the red banquet i believe it was a very, very well done arc. i truly do. i watched only some of the streams and they were all so good. a personal favorite is the one after c!tommy died- that was so fucking good. the absolute terror of watching the eggpire celebrate a child's murder,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that was so good. it really made it sink in to me that they were absolutely fucked up, and that they were nothing like the people they were before being corrupted by the egg. also, the whole premise of the egg promising people what they want most- i like that. i think it's a good motive for people to just go batshit crazy. good storytelling, in my opinion.

on skeppy and bbh: i also think it's unfair to see it like that. we had no prior development of c!clingyduo's relationship and we had no difficulty in seeing them as brothers. same goes for c!crimeboys and even c!techno and c!wilbur and c!emerald duo. a relationship doesn't need to be extensively developed beforehand for the viewers to understand that it's a relevant relationship to the story. is it fun to see relationships get developed? yea. c!beeduo's relationship progression is literally one of my favorites in the entire story. it isn't necessary for every dynamic tho. i think sometimes you have to just get the context clues ("okay, so c!bbh cares deeply about c!skeppy. they live together. alright."), but even more than that, c!skephalo's relationship has a lot of intricacies that showcase how important it is.

c!bbh's soul is tied to c!skeppy's. that's a canon thing, c!bbh can't die while c!skeppy is alive. they have a whole soul connection thing going on, and that has been canon for months before the egg arc even started. it's unfair to say they had no good relationship development prior.

to be fair, however, i have not watched most of the eggpire lore streams, so i could just be wrong. if anyone with more knowledge on it would like to talk about it feel free to!!! ye

send me a hot take!!!

[fancytrinkets]

writing tag game

Thank you for tagging me @johaeryslavellan!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

31

What's your total Ao3 wordcount?

246,241

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The top 4 are Good Omens fic followed by one Dragon Age 2 fic from years ago: 

The Angel Line (humor) (Aziraphale/Crowley) 

The Naked Truth (humor) (Aziraphale/Crowley) 

Obliviate (romance, bittersweet, happy ending) (Aziraphale/Crowley) 

The Last Battle (humor) (Aziraphale/Crowley) 

In Good Hands (humor) (FHawke/Varric)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I didn’t used to respond to every comment back when I started posting, but now I reply to everything. I just love the whole commenting process. I like talking about the world I’m writing in with other people who love it, too. I am always SO EXCITED to see the (1) notification for my ao3 inbox. And it is unbearably wonderful to see a (2), (3), or more at a time. I’ve noticed I’m usually equally excited if it’s a comment on my fic or a reply to a comment I’ve left on someone else’s fic. (Sometimes I experience a mix of appreciation and disappointment when it’s a new comment for me if I’m expecting a reply back from another writer about their fic. That’s such a strange feeling and I wonder sometimes if other people get that, too.)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, I don’t really do angst. And probably that’s not what people want from me anyway, judging by how many of my top fics are humorous.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I mean they all have some degree of happy ending, so I’m not sure how to measure them against each other. For some of them, the happy ending is also a ‘happy ending’ if you know what I mean..

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I don’t. Unless you count the silly stories my friends and I wrote for each other in high school? We definitely had some X-Files, Lord of the Rings, vampire universes intersecting with each other, but I can’t really remember a lot of that because I was 15 then and now I am 40.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I haven’t. I’m very glad about that. 

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh, yes I do. It’s the loving, vanilla kind mostly. I am willing to read more adventurously than I’m interested in writing.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. I mean I hope! If I have, I haven’t realized it!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! A bunch of my Good Omens fic has been translated into German and Russian, which is so cool. I love that people translate fics. I can’t read either of those languages, so I can’t personally vouch for how the translations turned out in terms of mood and tone and pacing with the word choices used, but that’s part of the beauty of being in fandom spaces where everyone is coming in with their own talents to share and develop. Translation is an art that needs to be practiced and no two translators will approach a work the same way. 

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not, though it was something I was interested in — and seriously considering — with a wonderful, talented Good Omens writing friend before I kind of lost all my steam for Good Omens writing.

What's your all time favourite ship?

Whatever ship I’m into at any give time. So that means right now it’s Dorian/MTrevelyan from Dragon Age, but who knows what it’s going to be in 5 or 10 years...

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Oh, I have a Good Omens fic set in 1885 that stalled out because I was doing too much research and not enough writing. I’m not sure if I want to finish it, though. I just put a lot of outlining and drafting time into it. And then I just lost momentum. I doubt I’ll ever come back to that and I’m okay with it. 

What are your writing strengths?

I’m good at dialogue. I also think I’m good at keeping an eye on the pacing at the scene level — speeding things up when I need to, slowing things down when it’s called for. And I am REALLY good at editing. I don’t hang onto stuff that doesn’t fit just because I like it. I have removed thousands and thousands of words of writing I really love just because it’s not quite where things need to go. I find that fun. I always save what I cut and sometimes reuse it later.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I really struggle with character voice. While dialogue is a strength in general, that same thing can be really tough when I’m not hearing the voice of certain characters the way I’d like to. I also think a potential weakness is how I don’t like putting characters through deeply traumatic experiences. I like caretaking and treating the characters I write with gentleness. It’s deeply enjoyable for me, though perhaps it’s not always what makes a story satisfying. 

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don’t do it. My native language is English and my two learned languages —Spanish and French — are so long abandoned that it would be difficult to get any of it back. So I tend not to include other languages because I don’t have that expertise. When I’m reading a fic in English — because that’s all I can read well — I always appreciate footnotes with translations for the parts in a different language. I don’t tend to have the sustained focus to go back, copy-paste, and Google translate everything. So anything that isn’t translated in a footnote is just content I miss. That’s totally fine if the writer isn’t writing it for me — if they want to add extra layers of meaning for multilingual people. But if the writer wants everyone to know, then please, yes, put the footnote in!

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The X-Files with my friends in high school, but while there was an internet back then, none of us had connected computers, so these were just stories we wrote for each other.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

I don’t know if I can pick one! I like most of what I write even years later, but I don’t know how to stack them against each other. Some are serious while others are funny, and even cracky — some stick close to canon, while some are deeply transformative and weird. They all feel so different to me. 

Right now I am really enjoying my Dragon Age Inquisition work-in-progress, Bold Indeed, a Trevelyan/Dorian romance that deals with: love, friendship, loss, gentleness, justice, what we owe each other (yes, I thinking of you, Chidi from The Good Place), what it means to become a ‘good’ murderer as part of your job, how easy it can be to fit within authoritarian structures, how difficult it can be to push against and overturn an established order, the inadequacy of kindness — but also the potentially transformative power of kindness. And all of that is tucked into the story of a mature and gentle romance between two people who are each going through a process of personal growth and change. Anyway, it’s a weird writing project, but I love it despite my occasional anxieties about whether I am a deeply bad person (hah, yes, I know how that sounds, but I also feel it seriously sometimes). 

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 21: 3x04 And the Children Shall Lead

Okay, I’m finally going to write up my thoughts on And the Children Shall Lead. I think I’m (mostly) over all of my excessively-strong emotions about this ep lol. Maybe going through my notes will bring them back. Or maybe not. I’ve felt very tired and uninterested in everything today so it’s hard to tell. So far the process is not going well: tumblr ate my first attempt at a post, like literally I wrote a few lines, clicked to a new tab, and when I clicked back the post was empty so thanks for that, and I keep on just generally not being interested in the task. So, we’ll see.

The tl;dr is that I don’t see why this ep is considered one of the worst. I actually really liked it!

Single-color jumpsuits: the fashion of the future.

Another old Kirk friend! (This isn’t even important lol; it never comes up again or matters that Kirk knew this guy, but we must always be reminded that he is the best networker in Starfleet.)

“He’s dead, Captain.” Not “he’s dead, Jim”?? Sounds wrong.

“The enemy within.” I thought that was a S1 ep?

Ah, another bunch of creepy kids. In pajamas this time, apparently.

Kirk is not having fun being the center of their creepy little rhyme.

RIP to McCoy but my diagnosis is “alien shenanigans.”

“I’m sorry, Captain Kirk.” Such a polite little alien.

McCoy corralling the kids

This sounds a lot like Miri, except purposeful—something targeted all the adults but left the kids, just like the virus in Miri affected all the adults, but not the kids.

…A disturbance in the cave!

Lol at Kirk’s anxiety face. I feel you, man.

Spock’s never experienced anxiety? My first thought is ‘sounds fake’ but actually… maybe he really hasn’t.

“There has to be an explanation.” This is the MOST Jim line.

I like these kids. They’re actually pretty cute. Also love Kirk trying to relate to the kids.

Where are they? Is this Sulu’s greenhouse lol? I love it. They should have used this set more.

“That place is for adults.” Gotta say, I wrote this down but now have no recollection what it actually refers to. The bridge? I think it’s the bridge.

Are they performing witchcraft? Intriguing.

“Friendly angel”—nothing creepy about that at all.

Got a little alien cult going on here. Every time I feel anxiety from now on I’m going to assume it’s an alien cultist nearby.

“We’ll pursue this in my quarters.” Wink wink.

Can’t fool Uhura.

Never mind. Yes you can.

For someone who wanted the kids guarded all the time, Kirk sure was ok with them just traipsing around the bridge. I mean the guards are at the door but like…they’re only at the door.

Never really thought about how there’s apparently an…engineering component... to flying the ship? I don’t know, I don’t really get it but it’s cool.

"Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth." Damn. Great line.

BAND OF MARAUDES. That’s a cool backstory for the dead alien society. Basically, they’re ghosts. Greedy ghosts. Alien ghost pirates.

Great triumvirate scene. McCoy want to protect the kids and Kirk’s like “…but the ship, though?” Which is fair!!

What does the ghost want? Um, a ship to maraud in, were you not listening to Spock’s exposition of the back story?

No don’t beam anyone down!!

Love any time Spock pushes someone else out of the way so he can man the transporter. He’s somehow the second-best expert on it on the entire ship.

Eeek, low-key gruesome death there. Look, I know that this is one of the scenes that haters love to point out as a reason to despise the episode but I personally don’t think deeply enough into the transporter situation to wonder how much information they have or assume before they beam people anywhere. Also…weird alien stuff is happening, guys. Just attribute it to that. Also also, if you’re gonna nitpick like that, be prepared to hate all of TOS.

THE KIDS STOLE THE CAR.

“Sulu, what did you to do my ship?”

Uhura’s watching this little witchcraft scene from the background like ‘aw, so cute.’

“Call upon their beasts.” Metal.

“Go to your stations.” This little kid is a future Captain in the making.

SPACE KNIVES

Kirk's like "Oh no, my crew is deserting me, I'm gonna have to fly the whole ship by myself AGAIN.”

“Captain, why are we bothering Starfleet?” Et tu, Spock?s

How did they get to Spock? He doesn’t seem scared of anything…more like he’s under the influence of a general hallucination, like the others seeing the planet on the screen even after they left orbit.

I remember this part, with Kirk freaking out. Spock doesn’t like it one bit.

He’s just being a littttle Dramatique.

Cannot believe that all Spock has to do is say “Jim” in a quiet, intimate voice and Kirk is immediately okay. Just let it out of his system, grabbed onto his friend, heard his own name, and the beast is defeated.

“My Vulcan friend”? Lol.

Kirk’s face when he realizes they’ve got Scotty too…

“Go away or we’ll kill you.” That was legitimately creepy. Scotty gone rogue.

Aw, Spock was worried about him again.

“Without followers, evil cannot spread.”

“Where did you hear this order, Chekov?” / “The voices in my head.”

It’s interesting that Kirk and Spock can’t be manipulated—perhaps because they have each other?

Enough of this—fight time!

That guard sounded like he really liked that nerve pinch; he was kinda moaning as he went down.

“Spock, corral them to their rooms.”

Outta the chair, brat.

Is Kirk going to defeat the alien evil using logic?

Summoning the “angel” by using the old recording is very clever.

When did they decide to start calling him the Gorgon?

“It lost its power in the light of reality” = “I looked into Spock’s eyes and knew myself again.”

HE IS GENTLE. It’s true and you should say it.

And he doesn’t even dispute it. “AND we are ALSO very strong.”

"You are full of goodness. Such as you cannot be changed."

So the girl is Jankowski.

This is very Candyman. The alien needs their belief to live. When they cease to follow him, he literally disappears.

Honestly, this whole alien scheme starts to look equal parts silly and sad, trying to call the crying children "generals.” They’re babies!

McCoy loves to see children in tears lol.

Kirk just hands them all off to McCoy, like ‘well, my work here is done.’

Okay, now we reverse course to pick up those stranded security guards still on the planet, right? Right? No? Okay, guess not.

Uhura, immediately ready with the paperwork lol. Now IS the time.

The end!

Now to try to interpret all of my other, more general notes.

The way I interpreted Spock being able to defy the mind control was that he was affected by Kirk. Because he clearly was affected, but then when he saw Kirk starting to freak out, he looked concerned, and then got them both off the bridge—he had a breakthrough of clarity long enough to understand he needed to get off the bridge. Then he’d be away from the kids, and they wouldn’t have as much control, and he could snap Jim out of it, too.

Like I’m sure his Vulcan resilience could easily have been part of it, too, but that resilience wasn’t enough to keep him from being affected at all—and of course they could have easily written it that way—and it seems obvious that his moment of clarity was caused specifically by watching Kirk starting to lose it. There are so many shots of him specifically watching Kirk and the guard.

The K/S vibes were so strong. Spock was so protective, then they get in the lift and Kirk basically clings to him. All he has to do is say Kirk’s name and Kirk is fine, which is basically the power of true love. And then even outside of that scene… for the whole rest of the ep, they’re a duo. It’s not just Kirk against the Evil of the Week, it’s Kirk and Spock, working together at every turn. Neither of them could have done it alone.

it's a pretty classic trope, in fact, especially in s1, to have Kirk all alone, abandoned by all...where he's the last man standing, the one who has to run the whole ship and save the whole day. Naked Time, This Side of Paradise, and Trouble with Tribbles (kinda) all come to mind. But this time he has Spock! You see the progression of their relationship in that.

I really enjoyed this episode in general. Lots of classic tropes: creepy children; surprise alien; old alien society not as dead as we thought; Kirk has to run the whole ship by himself (with Spock); heroic!Kirk saving the day… It has it all. It’s clearly revisiting some older themes and ideas, but in a sufficiently unique way that it doesn’t just seem like a rehash of an older plot. In some ways, it felt like a Classic S1 episode to me. It has some Miri elements, some Charlie X elements, some Naked Time elements…

I literally don’t understand why it’s so disliked.

Skimmed the wiki and the only specific criticism in there is that Kirk shows an “unmistakable hostility to the children.” Well first of all, he doesn’t. He might not have the best manner with them, but why should he? He’s certainly not mean or cruel to them. He recognizes they’re a danger to his ship, and to the whole planet of Marcos-12, which by the way is objectively true, but that’s not being hostile. McCoy is the one who represents ‘exclusive care for the children’s welfare’ in this ep, but he CAN do that, because he’s not the Captain. He represents that perspective, he gives his opinion, which is both his job on the ship and his role on the show, and then Kirk takes that into account while doing HIS job, which is running the ship. McCoy would have literally let the kids take over their ship and conquer the galaxy as part of their grieving process lol. Kirk was right and I should say it. (Also btw he understands that killing the kids might be an option—but he obviously doesn’t actually do it.)

I actually think this ep is a great example of the triumvirate functioning--McCoy reminds Kirk that the children are just traumatized children, and Spock reminds him that he's responsible for 400+ people on the ship, and Kirk makes the decisions that vanquish the evil, save the ship, and free the kids.

And look, even if you don’t like this episode, you’d have to argue very hard to convince me it’s the WORST, as in worse than Spock’s Brain, worse than The Alternative Factor, worse than Assignment Earth (not even a real TOS ep!), worse than The Omega Glory.

Some stuff I actively liked: the concept of the alien taking over the children specifically (both creepy and…kinda makes sense? That they’d be vulnerable); the message that the followers of demagogues can be both truly dangerous and objects of sympathy; the backstory of the evil empire of pirate aliens—and how greed doesn’t die; the witchcraft aesthetic, ESPECIALLY when paired with the kid antagonists, since kids are so into that like chanting, incantations, rituals thing; that the ep used every single main character (when was the last time a TOS ep did that?). Also I thought the kid actors did a good job!

The theme about the authoritarian and the cult followers was actually quite resonant, I thought; inevitably made me think of Tr/ump and his Tr/umpies. Just like in this episode, you must have some kind of… if not sympathy, at least willingness to do the hard work of deprograming and then bringing them back to the fold, or else the country is never going to heal and it’s never going to be able to go forward in a positive way. It might not go forward at all! But fuck it’s hard to have that sympathy; they’re so abhorrent. Here, you see the terrible things the kids do, and yet sympathy isn’t so hard, because they’re kids. You see how much they are victims/pawns also. And so in that sense, Kirk’s ability to deprogram them is comfortingly optimistic—a little bittersweet, as TOS often is, because the kids have done horrible things and seen horrible things and now they’ll have to live with it, but comforting nonetheless.

I can’t even think of that many things I didn’t like in the ep. Mostly just nitpicky things. Like, was McCoy a little inconsistent in what he thought should be done with the kids? Yeah, but we get the general idea. Did Kirk drop the ball when he let them hang out on the bridge? Yes, especially as he knew how dangerous they were at that point, but I actually don’t mind it so much because they’re kids—it’s understandable that their true dangerousness didn’t fully compute to him. I don’t see that as a mistake or sloppy writing tbh. And was it an amateur hour mistake to beam two people into space? Yes, but it made up for it in being creepy and upping the stakes of the ep.

I guess I could see how the fist gesture could be seen as a little silly. But the other option, having them speak rhymes each time, would have been distracting—and probably also looked silly! Also, as my mom pointed out, it looks like a kid’s game (sorta like the start of rock paper scissors) so it fits appropriately with the theme.

I really liked how they wove in the aesthetic of kids’ games, kids’ manners of playing, into the narrative. Kids can be really creepy! They like creepy things! So the ring around the rosy rhyme at the beginning—a quite disturbing chant, of course, about the Plague, that is also very commonly sung by actual kids—foreshadows the summoning chant that brings the alien to them. It’s all of a piece. And just like the rhyme is just a rhyme, and they don’t know the real meaning behind it, they probably also don’t fully understand the meaning of the summoning chant or the alien that comes with it. It’s all one big game to them.

It’s interesting that the alien seemed to play off their desire both to punish their parents for working too much ("they like the planet, they're always busy") and to have freedom from parental rules (how they react to any instructions from adults, the alien's promise that the whole universe will be their playground, etc.). He really picks their sore spots as kids specifically and turns them into his “generals” accordingly. Like all kids, they don’t think too much about the larger consequences of their game because in some ways, it really is all just a game to them.

I liked how the episode characterized Kirk’s ability to interact with kids. He’s not bad with them at all, but he’s not like McCoy or Chapel either. He “wants to communicate with the future adult in the kid,” as my mom put it, which is perfect. He doesn’t exactly treat them as mini-adults—he doesn’t say inappropriate things to them, and he does simplify his language and his ideas for them—but he does treat them very seriously. And he’s probably best at one-on-one interactions like with Tommy. I think this makes total sense for his character: he doesn’t have kids (David aside lol), he doesn’t have younger siblings, he doesn’t work in a place where he’d see other people’s kids, he doesn’t get to see his nephew much, etc.

…Okay those were all my notes. I know I had other thoughts that were a little less scattered later, but… I’m tired. And most of it is probably in here in some form or another. I also found a list of, like, actual critiques of the episode, and I was considering going through them and addressing them all, and I might still do that. But I think that’s for another day.

[wagonlitcommunitytheatregroup]

So this is why as an atheist I'm never really that impressed when the Pope does something good.

I roll my eyes every time the Pope does something that's somewhat near the 21st century and the reaction online suggests that we're all supposed to lose our minds about how great it is.

I just feel like the secular (this includes those who are only mildly religious) world is MILES ahead of most religious traditionalism so I get a little sick when we have to stop and clap for a thousand year old institution to heave itself past a goalpost the rest of us passed a long time ago. I feel the praise is a little much. Like good job but never lose sight of the fact that you are very much playing catchup.

Also, I don't really care about the opinions of someone who holds an office I think is silly and lives in a palace I think should be a museum no matter how humble he is.

Like when he told that kid his atheist dad was going to heaven. People came to me like "See! Pope Francis love you!" And I just felt "..ah yes the Pope's approval. That's what I'm really after."

You may be saying "But progress is progress." And you are absolutely right. The smallest gains are good but it just highlights for me how much faster the progress would go if we didn't have to negotiate it with a bunch of people who wrote their morals down 2000 years ago. They wrote it down to have it translated hundreds of times by many different people who spoke many different languages with many different levels of proficiency and many different biases. So why do I care that someone FINALLY arrived at an interpretation of that text I agree with?

It reads to me very much as "Oh great now the people who have to be instructed to love me and my friends finally have permission to see me as a person. How lucky am I?"

And most of the people who don't see me or those I love as a person are still going to keep thinking that with or without the Pope's permission because people pick and choose what they want from every philosphy.

I've had people I went to college with saying that without gods love I myself am incapable of true love on twitter. I know I know "not a true Christian" and all that but come on, that person isn't the only one to hold views like that and that person also speaks to a wide catholic echo chamber that agreees with them on Twitter. So that wears my patience pretty fucking thin.

That was one of the only times in my life I have been truly and deeply offended.

I've also had family members tell me publicly that I'm spiritually diseased and need to be healed but I don't realize I'm ill. (And I'm sure some of you think that too.)

So I just....don't care that they made some tiny stride toward having the ethics of a modern human.

And to be clear, religious people like you reading this and others I have no issue with. I stopped arguing or caring about the question of the existence of a deity a long time ago. I don't see it, it makes no sense to me, but it also doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

It's the rest of it where it has to do with people that I have real issues with. Thankfully there are good people like you reading this and others that use their religion as a tool to help them be better but others use it as an excuse to feed the worse parts of themselves while telling themselves they are righteous or that "they aren't predjudiced, God is very clear what he likes and dislikes I'm just following orders" And if you don't beleive in any of it at all, those excuses become piss fucking poor.

So Pope Francis did a good thing. He has done many good things and I think highlighting the socialist aspects of Christianity has been invaluable but doing the bare minimum for gay people when the official doctrine is still regressive just isn't worthy of praise in my book.

And before anybody comes at me saying that I'm speaking from a position of privilege here, yes in many respects I am. This hypocrisy that I've described, this feeling that I'm told I should be happy with the small amount of respect I'm given has really helped me empathize with other marginalized groups that face much harsher discrimination than I do.

I realized in college that it was EXTREMELY lucky that I was allowed to grow up secular but explore other avenues at my leisure. When I was president of Campus Atheists and Agnostics I became very aware of my privilege in that respect. I met so many people who have had to overcome tremendous guilt from their religious upbringing that I never had to deal with. This helped me to understand privilege in other areas too and recognize my own white, straight, male, and American privilege

[quercussp]

Sunshine and daisies

Rating: G

Word count: 1.3k

Summary: Phil goes for a walk.

Authors note: This is a fic written for @velvetnautilus as part of the blm fundraiser, hope you like it!

Thank you to @det395, @alittledizzy and @insectbah for the help!

Warnings: mention of covid

[read on ao3]

Walking down the street felt very weird after weeks and weeks of being at home. And sure, it was weird to see people in masks and signs to keep your distance in every shop, but at least he was out on the sunny street with people around. It felt like the weather was celebrating the end of the lockdown with everyone. The clear blue sky made the world feel happy and big. There was a pleasant cool breeze rustling the leaves on the trees, there were colorful flowers planted along the sidewalk, and the air felt fresh and rejuvenating.

 As Phil turned the corner, he saw the familiar logo of a Starbucks. When he left for a walk this morning, leaving Dan to brainstorm on the next chapter, he didn’t have a real goal in mind, but getting a fancy ice coffee felt like a really good idea.

 He adjusted his face mask (with a corgi pattern, of course) and took his place in line (6 feet behind the previous person, of course). Taking out his phone, he considered texting Dan and asking if he wanted something but then decided against it. Dan was working and pulling him out of his focus for coffee didn’t seem worth it, especially since Phil was fairly confident he could guess what Dan would prefer. Instead, he opened twitter and scrolled through his feed.

 The line looked long, but it took only 10 minutes for Phil to get to the register and order his Caramel Ribbon Crunch frappuccino (the name itself made Phil’s teeth ache in anticipation of all the sugar) and an Iced Matcha for Dan. He also ordered a cake pop for himself (he was an adult, no one could tell him what to do) and an almond croissant for Dan.

 Phil left the coffee shop and slowly walked down the street towards the apartment, drinks in both hands and the pastries under his arm. A woman with a baby stroller walked past him, talking on the phone with someone. A young man in a mask jogged past him and Phil had to actively stop himself from doing a double-take (he had quite nice shoulders). Phil felt as though his breaths were deeper and almost sweeter than usual. It felt good. Life felt good.

 He was passing the little flower shop that Dan liked to frequent and suddenly felt the urge to go in. Dan was the one who loved to buy flowers. Every now and then he would come home from a walk with a large bouquet. Sometimes he would say that they were for Phil and blush a little. Sometimes he would just put them on his desk and not mention it. And sometimes Phil would kiss him on the cheek and say “Such pretty flowers, Danny.”

 Phil walked inside the store and breathed in the smell of the flowers. He walked around the different displays, looking at the different plants, trying to decide what to get for Dan.

 “Sir, can I help you?” A voice interrupted Phil’s thoughts. He was so startled that he almost dropped one of the coffees to the floor, but caught it just in time. The bag with the pastries, however, fell down.

 “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” The young sales assistant rushed to pick up the slightly beaten bag and handed it to Phil.

 “No, no, it’s all fine! I just didn’t see you there!” Phil put down the cups on the counter, adjusted his facemask, and shoved the bag back under his armpit.

 “Is there anything I can help you with, sir?” the girl asked again, in a quieter voice.

 “Um…yeah, I wanted to buy some flowers…” Phil trailed off. There was an awkward pause.

 “Well, this is the place for it! What kind of flowers are you looking for?”

 “They’re for…a friend. A boyfriend.” It was still weird to be able to say it out loud. 

  It’s been a year since I could first say it on the street, Phil thought to himself. How has the time flown by?

 “Oh, ok! What kind of flowers are you thinking? What does he like?” She started walking around the shop pointing at different flowers. “Lilies? Or maybe some roses, is he a roses guy?”

 “What about these?” Phil pointed at a bucket. “They’re daisies, right?”

 “Yes, those are a great choice! Did you know that in the language of flowers daisies mean ‘I love you truly’? How many do you want?”

 “All of them,” said Phil before he could stop himself.

 If the sales assistant was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Ok, great!” she said and started wrapping the giant bunch up into fancy paper. Phil felt a little silly watching her wrap up what must have been several dozen of the white flowers, but said nothing and just awkwardly stepped from foot to foot.

 “There you go, that will be 94.60!”

 After paying, Phil tried to arrange all the packages in his arms without dropping the coffee, but nearly tumbled over. 

 “Here! Let me help!” exclaimed the flower girl and carefully handed Phil the cups after placing the bouquet under his free arm. “I’m sure your boyfriend is gonna love them! Have a nice day, stay safe!” She opened the door for him.

 The walk home, while still quite pleasant, was definitely a little tricky. As was opening the door and pressing the buttons in the lift. And he didn’t even attempt to unlock the front door, and just banged on it with his foot until Dan opened.

 “What’s all this?!” Dan looked rumpled and a tiny bit annoyed, although his face quickly turned to surprise and his ‘Phil what are you doing but also you’re so cute’ expression.

 Phil handed Dan the (very much melted) matcha and the pastry bag. “For you,” he said, walking into the apartment and placing his cup on the table. After tearing off his mask, he gave Dan a quick peck on the lips and stepped out of his trainers.

 “Daisies?” Dan asked, looking at the giant bouquet.

 “Also for you.” For some reason, Phil felt a little hesitant now. They were a little ridiculous. They probably wouldn’t fit into any vase they had.

 Dan looked into Phil’s eyes for a bit and then proceeded to give him a slow kiss. “Thank you. I love them,” he said and took the flowers out of Phil’s arms. “Now go wash your hands, mister, don’t want any of that virus on my furniture.”

 When Phil came back after washing up and changing into his pajamas, Dan had assembled the daisies into smaller bouquets, placing them in 5 separate vases, and was now arranging them all across the flat.

 “They’re a bit ridiculous, I know.” 

 “Hey, don’t say shit about my flowers!” Dan countered. “But what did you do, buy the whole stock?”

 When Phil didn’t answer, Dan started laughing and kissed Phil on the side of the head. “They’re beautiful, Phil, and now I have enough to put into every room.”

 They ended up finishing up their drinks and pastries while sitting on the sofa, legs tangled together. Dan told Phil about his progress (or lack of it) on his book, and Phil told him about what specials were at Starbucks. They watched a couple of YouTube videos and at some point, Dan stood up to continue working.

 “They mean I love you,” Phil blurted out before Dan had a chance to leave the room. “The daisies. The store woman said that they mean ‘I love you deeply’ or something like that.” He trailed off, a little embarrassed.

 Dan turned around and walked back up to Phil. He pulled him up from the sofa and wrapped himself around Phil and squeezed. “Oh, Phil, you spork,” he whispered into Phil’s hair and kissed him on the temple. They stood wrapped up together for a minute or two, until Dan untangled himself, gave Phil a last kiss on the lips, and went up to his office. He took the biggest vase with him.

[queenofeden]

okay so look, i wasn’t going to make a post about this because i genuinely didn’t think it was anything worth making a post about “publicly” but apparently some people disagree and i’m petty enough about this to not want there to be any confusion on where i stand.

i really enjoyed the new prologue update, and the changes made to the routes (minor ones, and i’ve only play tested nadia and julian so far to see them but they are there) to reflect them. i really enjoyed the last update they made to it as well. i always enjoyed the prologue, clearly it’s what got me into the game in the first place. i found it engaging and fun to play and i enjoyed the characters immediately off the bat. 

however that prologue was written a long time ago. 2016 if i remember correctly, and a lot about the game has changed since then. the prologue, even up to yesterday, was still full of what i would consider hanging plot threads and characterizations that simply no longer reflected or suited the game that we have today. a game which i love very much and still actively enjoy the direction of.

i really want to thank @raquellle-arcana for their post on the matter (linked here) because it was the first one i saw that reflected my same excitement amidst and field of far more negative feedback, but especially for this quote, 

“I love that they went back & changed it, like that to me, shows how much they still care, & that the creators genuinely want to improve & nurture their game”

this is what it comes down to for me. as a creative and a creator, i think it’s really important to be able to look at work u have made, work you’ve been proud of, and still acknowledge that it can be improved. this is not a published novel that lives in perpetuity, this is an interactive narrative game. as the narrative progresses and matures and expands, things that used to be priority no longer are and that is okay. looking back on where the characters and the story were based on the information given in the art book vs where they are now is fascinating to me, and i love seeing how the game has evolved and grown. i agree wholeheartedly that it does show a genuine love and care for the game on their part.

it shows that they want and continue to want the game to be relevant and enjoyable, that they want the “new” routes to have more substantial representation, that they wanted to integrate the new plot lines into the prologue in a way that made them make more sense as potential outcomes as opposed to “well they just had to make them different from the original 3″. i don’t know a single writer or artist or any creator that doesn’t look at their old works and wish that they could change things or, if they had known then what they know now, go back and adjust for it. the devs have the opportunity to do that, and i’m glad that they continue to take those opportunities to make their game, a living document if u will, the best version of itself that it can be.

(cut for length bc i continued to ramble and also potential spoilers for the new content)

i love that asra and mc’s relationship is well established now, i love that so much of the story and lore feels organically given and much more show and not tell. i love that asra’s characterization feels more consistent with how he is in his and other routes instead of the hinted but never actualized “ominous, dark, and vaguely spooky” angle (which don’t get me wrong, is a really valid and interesting version of asra that i do love to play with but tonally it just didn’t work with where he’s ended up now). 

i love that julian is no longer so bent on a revenge angle that is never concluded in his route bc it was no longer relevant. i love that his background and involvement is more well integrated. even so far as his acknowledgement of malak, not as his magical familiar obviously, but just in that he’s clearly important to julian specifically. the wanted posters were one of the things i loved best about the first prologue update, just that little bit of information felt like the sun parting the clouds so far as world building and i’m glad that kind of thing was expanded upon even further with him.

i love that nadia’s motivations are much clearer, and that her characterization is much more in line with her morals given in the text. truly, i felt that she read as so much more competent in this newest version, something i never doubted about her, but really seeing it so early made a huge difference to me. i’ve always been a nadia main and i have loved her from the moment i set eyes on her, but i i’m well aware that many people do not feel that way and never get to her route where many of the criticisms no longer hold water. i’m hoping that this is no longer the case. it makes me happy to see her relationship with lucio cleared up, that thirst to prove herself is made very apparent, but at the same time so is her genuine compassion and kindness. the explicit statement that the masquerade is no longer a celebration hinging specifically on the murder of julian makes SUCH a big difference. nadia states over and over in her route that that is not the kind of ruler she wants to be so it’s lovely to see that reflected. she is a woman searching for the truth, no matter what it is, something that the high priestess would be proud of i think. 

i could go through and itemize everything that i loved about what they’ve done, but we would be here for 12 hours and nobody wants to read a post that long, i know. to mobile users, i’m already sorry lmao.

but listen, much as i am excited about the new stuff and the updated stuff, i do understand being disappointed at things that have been taken out. i do, i really do. i also loved feeling julian up, but on the whole i also acknowledge that scene as deeply fanservice-y. that’s not a problem by any means, but it’s also something that i think shows the devs and their growth as writers to potentially be able to look back on that and say, “this was fun and we liked it but it doesn’t actually serve the story in an appropriate way anymore”. that takes a lot of maturity, and i think that maturity is reflected by the state of the prologue now. it feels much less at times like a “silly, horny otome game” and more like a proper visual novel with a lot of meat to it. and there’s still plenty of room for the fun horny stuff. it’s littered throughout the routes and not at all absent in the prologue, just, i think, integrated in a far more natural, gracious way.

i felt, on the whole, at least so far as my MC’s personal characterization, that in the old prologue i was much more wont to pick paid scenes bc i had bought them and i wanted to see them over whether they actually made sense narratively in my version of the story, or whether my apprentice would actually do them. i didn’t feel that conflict anymore, anything i wanted to do, i felt i was able to do and with a level of choice i was comfortable with. not only did the canon characters feel more “in character” now, but i would argue that MC feels more like a real character far more quickly than they used to.

i’m sorry to the people who feel disappointed by the new updates, or that in some way the game has been “ruined” for u. your opinions are yours, and your decisions with what to do next are your prerogative. media consumption and how someone interacts with it is a deeply personal thing. i only wanted to speak my mind and make this post if only because these attitudes were all i was seeing, and i was suddenly inundated by the negative reaction and it was upsetting to me. it made me angry. i’m still a little angry, and i could certainly cite and quote a bunch of the nonsense i’ve seen spouted off in just the last few hours alone but honestly, i’m too tired for it and i’m liable to get catty and petty.

what it comes down to is this, the new update made me excited about the game again, it made me want to replay everything with fresh eyes, it made me want to dig my fingers into the lore again, it made me want to talk and play and enjoy canon for what it is after being very much more consumed with aus lately. i want to openly thank NH and @thearcanagame for continuing to make a game that is fun to play, a story that is engaging and keeps me on my toes, and for sharing something that they’re clearly proud of and want to continue to be proud of. that level of responsibility and dedication to their work is inspiring to me as a creator and as a fan, and it makes me proud to be even a tangential part of the whole of it. i hope that over the months and years, the game continues to update and improve and build upon itself, even if for whatever reason i’m no longer around to see it.

[argylemnwrites]

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment - Chapter 16

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (Canon Divergent from Book 2, Chapter 15)

Word Count: ~4000

Rating: R (language, as usual)

Summary: Friends are reunited, but Hana’s trip to NYC might not be going as she envisioned it. Meanwhile, investigations continue in Cordonia.

Author’s Note: Ehh, first half of the week is almost a Monday posting, hahaha! I’m getting better, I swear! Sorry about skipping a chapter last week, but between New Year’s, switching to a new cellphone, and an unexpected visit from a friend who lives in a different country, I was just too swamped. But hey, three chapters in four weeks is a lot better than I had been averaging.

This series diverges from TRR canon, where instead of waiting to discuss his relationship with Riley until their last night in NYC, leaving her a note while Liam is proposing to her, Drake tackles this topic as soon as possible after Tariq makes his statement and Riley’s name is cleared. To catch up on this series, you can find the previous chapters in my masterlist (link is located in my bio).

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Riley hadn’t meant her question to sound so harsh, but she was just caught very off guard. Hana was probably the last person she expected to walk into this bar. Well, no. Madeleine would be more unlikely. Tariq would be another one she couldn’t imagine showing up. But there weren’t many people that would be more shocking.

Hana spun to face Riley, letting out a sigh and smiling when she saw her. “Oh good, I am in the right place,” she said before she walked around the end of the bar and over to Riley and gave her a warm, enveloping hug.

Riley blinked several times before she responded, placing her hands gently on Hana’s shoulders. It was all so surreal, like a weird fever dream or something. Hana was supposed to be in Cordonia, not here in New York. 

Eventually, Hana pulled back from her hug, staring at Riley intently. “Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

“Oh,” Riley hadn’t heard her question at all, so shocked by this turn of events. “Yeah, I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

Hana frowned slightly, “I wanted to come and see how you were doing.”

Riley shook her head, trying to wrap her head around things. “I need to get back to work. And you shouldn’t be behind the bar.”

“Oh, sorry!” said Hana, stepping away from her and back to the other side of the bar. “I’ll just sit here and wait until the end of your shift.”

Riley sighed. She couldn’t deal with this right now. She needed to stay focused, and Hana’s presence was making that hard. She couldn’t afford a meltdown like she’d had the other night.  “I’m working a closing shift, Hana.”

“That’s fine,” she replied, climbing onto the closest stool. “I don’t have anywhere to be until Monday.”

“I work this entire weekend.”

“I suppose that’s the risk of a spontaneous trip,” she said with a smile, “Like I said, my time is entirely free until Monday, so I can work around you and your schedule. I just wanted to see you.”

Riley pinched her eyes shut briefly. She needed Hana to get out of here so that she could collect herself. She might be able to handle seeing her tomorrow, but right now she felt overwhelmed and ambushed. Hana wasn’t supposed to be here. She should be in Cordonia. And Riley could not even begin to process anything about that at the moment.

When she opened her eyes, Hana was staring at her carefully, almost as if she was trying to read Riley’s mind. After a couple of seconds, she said, almost timidly, “Don’t worry about me. Go ahead and do your job. I’ll be here when you get off.”

“I won’t get off until after three in the morning. And with jet lag and the time zone change, I kind of doubt you’ll make it that late.”

“Well, how about I start with a wine list, and we’ll see how I do.”

Out of excuses, Riley passed her their wine list and circled around to check on the drinkers scattered around at the booths off to the side. When she came back, she poured Hana her requested glass of Merlot, glancing around. Thankfully, the bar was beginning to fill with people out for Friday after-work drinks, and Riley had plenty of customers to keep her busy. Over the next several hours, she only had to check in on Hana a handful of times. She was just there, on her phone, nursing her glass of wine. Once, Riley caught her brushing off a guy in an ill-fitting suit who was clearly trying to get her number. Sometime after nine though, she noticed Hana yawning deeply. It was about four in the morning Cordonia time, after all.

“Hana,” she said, approaching her after bringing another round of martinis to the group of coworkers getting progressively louder at the far end of the bar, “you need to sleep. Why don’t you go to your hotel and we can meet up for brunch tomorrow?”

Hana nodded, the tiredness evident in her eyes. “I’m trying to stretch my money, so I’m at a more budget friendly option. It’s called the Hampton, I think?”

Riley just shook her head. Of course Hana viewed a lovely, but not extravagant, hotel as “budget friendly.”

“That’s a chain, Hana. Just text me what location you’re at, and I can meet you there in the morning.”

“Okay, I know you aren’t much of a morning person, so should we say 10 o’clock?”

“Can we make it 11? I’ll be here-”

“Until three, yes. Of course, you told me that. Sorry I forgot, and sorry I’m too tired to stay here any longer. Will you be okay getting home?”

Riley swallowed roughly at that. Hana’s simple, polite question triggered a bunch of conflicting emotions. Affection for the best friend she’d probably ever had. Memories of Drake walking her home at the end of basically every shift. Loneliness in general. But she had to keep things in check. She was working. So she simply nodded, took Hana’s cash, and waved goodnight to her. Then she took a deep breath and got back to work.

Thankfully Fridays were typically busy, at least until the last couple of hours before closing. So Riley was able to distract herself with mixing drinks, pouring shots, and collecting glasses until the last 90 minutes or so of her shift. But eventually, things died down as the customers either went home or moved on to other clubs. And that left Riley with a little more time to think than she really wanted.

Hana being here was not something she would have ever considered. She had no idea why she was in New York. But now that she was here, Riley was going to need to make some adjustments to how she was processing all the changes she’d had in her life recently. Her strategy of dividing things into her “New York life” and her “Cordonia life” was not going to work with Hana here in the flesh.

When she was a broken little girl in foster care, she’d shoved people away. Harshly at times. She’d lashed out, said cruel hurtful things, tested everyone’s patience. After all, if you never let someone get close, you never end up hurt. But that existence had been a lonely one, and Riley was extroverted enough that she actually wanted to spend time with people. So, somewhere along the way, she’d learned how to keep everyone at arm’s length while still being friendly. She was everyone’s good time buddy, someone you invited to your birthday party, but no one that you would call when you were going through a breakup or a death in the family. She had become fun and silliness and energy personified. People liked having her around, but they demanded nothing serious from her. It was the perfect set-up. The joy of spending time with others without any pain or vulnerability. Or so Riley had thought for many years.

But things were different when she got to Cordonia. There, starting with Hana and Maxwell, but quickly expanding to include Liam, and then Drake, people just seemed to see her as someone with more depth. Hana had trusted her in a way no one had ever before, and it just set the tone for everything else. Riley had finally understood what true, real friendship felt like. And it was nice - actually caring about someone and feeling cared for in return. So she’d opened up and connected in a way that she hadn’t since she was little, before she realized her mother needed her next hit more than she needed her daughter. 

Since leaving Drake in Cordonia, she’d been trying to separate her experience with all of them from the rest of her life. After all, her relationships there had been wildly different than any other relationships in her life, it all almost felt like a strange dream. But if Hana was coming to intrude on her life here, she was just going to have to keep things casual with Hana. Because otherwise, it was all going to hurt too much when Hana left her go back to Cordonia and she was all alone once again.

Mind made up, Riley worked on closing out the last few customers' tabs before making her way home. Tomorrow at brunch with Hana, she was just going to have to be good-time Riley. It was the only way to move forward at this point.

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

Hana ran a brush through her hair, clipping her fringe back out of her face. She really needed a trim, but she was considering changing up her look. Maxwell had encouraged her to do something bold to her appearance. While her fractured relationship with her parents wasn’t truly a “breakup” in the traditional sense, he’d told her she should do something to commemorate her newfound “freedom.” And, he’d insisted a dramatic new hairstyle was the time-honored traditional way to do it. While Hana wasn’t quite ready to make the dive into dyeing her hair pink just yet, she thought growing out her fringe might be a manageable place to start.

She checked her appearance in the mirror before adding a touch of lip gloss. She thought her outfit was appropriate for brunch with Riley, but she was really sure. Was a midi dress the right choice? Was it too formal? Not formal enough? Normally, she would have called or texted Riley to ask, but last night had not gone as she expected.

She wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, but it was pretty clear that Riley had not been pleased to see her. It was not what she was used to when it came to interacting with her. From the first moment they met in that boutique, Riley had been so kind, so supportive. That first night, she’d even followed her out of the ball when Olivia’s words got to her more than they should have, when she had no reason to pay her the time of day. But yesterday was strange. Riley had barely hugged her and had clearly been trying to get her out of her bar.

With the texts she’d gotten, she’d known that Riley was hurting, but was trying not to show it. All of the texts had been casual, but way too generic for Riley. They were bland, not playful or joyous. When Drake had mentioned that he could identify all of Liam’s cues for not coping, it had struck something inside of Hana. Granted, she hadn’t known Riley for anywhere near as long as Drake and Liam had been friends, but she still felt she understood Riley fairly well. So when Drake had mentioned needing to be there for Liam, it had dawned on Hana that she could do the same thing. She could be there for Riley.

She’d made countless calls, sent numerous emails, and over the course of two days, she’d arranged to move up all her New York meetings she was planning for either January or February to the upcoming week. Then she’d gone to the bank, transferred her trust fund, the one account to which her parents had absolutely no access, to more liquid accounts, and booked flights and a hotel. 

Her plan had been to spend the weekend with Riley, doing whatever she could to cheer her up and show her that even with an ocean between them, she would never be alone. Having the meetings would serve as an excuse if Riley hadn’t wanted to see her, but she hadn’t anticipated actually needing that excuse. She figured Riley would feel better having a close friend near, someone to talk to about whatever was going on with her and Drake in person. But her behavior last night had suggested otherwise.

Hana was doubting the wisdom of showing up in New York unannounced fairly heavily at this point. She debated sending Riley a message and cancelling brunch, but a quick check of the time made it a moot point. Riley was supposed to meet her down in the lobby in less than 15 minutes, and seeing as Hana had no sense of how far away Riley lived or how long it would take her to get to this part of the city, she knew it would be rude to cancel at this point. So she slipped into her jacket and made her way down to the lobby where she sat patiently waiting until Riley arrived. 

“Hey, Hana,” Riley called out as she walked through the automatic doors. She was smiling and seemed happy to see her, a total contrast to how she’d been in the bar. To further emphasize the difference, Riley walked over and threw her arms around her as Hana stood to greet her. It was nearly night and day, the difference in Riley’s behavior.

“So,for brunch, I know a great place, but it’s a bit of a haul from here. How do you feel about public transportation?”

“I’ll defer to your judgement. This is your hometown, after all.”

“Great! Let’s go!” Riley said, spinning around and bounding back towards the doors.

Hana followed her out onto the sidewalk and crisp fall air, making sure not to lose her as she wound around people for several blocks before ducking down a flight of stairs to a subway station. As Riley purchased a ticket for Hana at some automated kiosk, Hana tried to search through her mind for topics of conversation that wouldn’t be likely to send Riley back to her awkward mood from the night before. 

It turned out, she had no reason to worry. Riley chatted extensively, about funny customers she had, about the restaurant where they were going, about Anderson’s excitement at meeting another corgi on their walk around the block the other day. She seemed bubbly and chipper, but somehow it all felt off. “Maybe,” Hana thought, “she was just cantankerous because she was at work last night.” Still, Hana felt like everything was just a little strange. 

As they walked into the restaurant and perused the menu, Riley started asking her about what plans she had next week. As Hana explained her meetings with her contacts, her goal to develop a organizational plan and to obtain some funding sources, Riley was certainly listening intently. She asked numerous follow up questions and seemed to show a genuine interest. But Hana couldn’t help but notice that every time she mentioned something about Cordonia, be it Maxwell or the palace or anything, really, Riley would direct the conversation away subtly. It was like she wanted to pretend that she and Hana were just two friends from New York, that their connection didn’t originate in some other place where they both had deep connections. 

It was a very intentional move on Riley’s part, Hana decided after it happened for a third time. It could not be a coincidence that Riley wanted to talk about anything besides Cordonia. Hana wasn’t sure if it was deep denial or just an attempt to prevent conversation from drifting to Drake, but regardless, it didn’t seem entirely healthy. But Hana didn’t want to push Riley. She was here to support her, and if a lighthearted brunch was what she needed, well then that was what Hana would provide. So she told more about her evolving plans and upcoming meetings, hoping that just her presence was at least a little bit helpful. But as she allowed herself to be talked into a shopping outing for proper business clothes, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was taking the appropriate approach. It just didn’t feel right. Because the comfort she was providing could be provided by nearly any casual acquaintance. Hana was going to have to figure out how to provide the comfort of a best friend; it was her new goal.

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

Drake leaned against the wall in the corner of the conference room, listening in as the various intelligence agents recounted their summaries of their interrogations to Liam, Bastien, and a few other key members of the King’s Guard. It would have almost felt like old times if Olivia wasn’t standing there as well, skulking right along with him.

“Incompetent pieces of shit,” she muttered under her breath, “If they had just given me five minutes with any of those traitorous assholes, I would have had twice as much information already.”

“Yeah, only because they thought you were in on their plan.”

Olivia twisted her head around to scowl at Drake and used her middle finger to scratch her cheek. Drake figured it was the most subtle she’d been in a spat with him since he’d returned from university.

“This is taking forever,” she whispered as the next agent started recounting his interrogation of a man named Claudius.

“We can’t play all our cards too early in these interrogations. They just start with initial questioning to get every suspect’s baseline statements. That way, there are going to be a shitton of discrepancies, not only between what they say and what we know, but also between the different assholes’ statements. It makes ‘em more likely to turn on each other to try and save their own skins.”

Olivia leaned back, bringing herself slightly closer to Drake, presumably to make sure their whispered conversation didn’t draw too much attention to the two of them. They’d both been invited to listen in on how the investigation was progressing. Olivia, presumably because she was instrumental to all the arrests happening. Drake, presumably because Liam would have always done so in the past.

Since their fishing trip, Drake and Liam had fallen a bit into their old pattern. In some ways it felt like normal, like they were returning to a familiar routine. But in other ways, things felt entirely shifted. There was a tension there as both of them fumbled through finding a new normal. There were lots of apologies for little things. Liam being a few minutes late. Drake getting caught rolling his eyes. It was like they both were trying to find a new balance in their friendship and were worried that they were pushing things too far. It was still a work in progress, but at least they were talking again, Liam running through things with Drake at the end of each day like they had done for so long, clearing his mind and enjoying some whiskey. Bouncing ideas off of him, Drake serving as his ever-skeptical sounding board.

“When did you become an expert in terrorism interrogations?” Olivia asked, drawing Drake back to the moment.

“I’ve been sitting in on meetings like this for years, Olivia.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. What the fuck did you think I was doing with my time?”

“Drinking Liam’s whiskey. Moping around and complaining. Buying more denim. Take your pick.”

Before Drake could snap back, Bastien called for a fifteen minute break. Most of the agents got up, clearly eager to stretch their legs, get some water, or just plain get out of the room they’d all been in for the past 150 minutes. Liam and Bastien called over Stefan, obviously wanting to review some points in the notes he was recording. Drake didn’t feel compelled to move. He’d learned over the years that staying in one spot at these types of meetings often turned him basically invisible. He assumed Olivia would take the opportunity to get away from him, but to his surprise, she stayed leaning against the wall as well, taking the break in the proceedings to talk just a little more freely.

“Given your presence here, I take it you two kissed and made up,” she said, jutting her chin towards Liam. 

Drake rolled his eyes. “Like you even care. You would love it if we stopped talking to each other.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yeah right.”

“Believe it or not, Drake, you don’t have a fucking monopoly on caring about him. I don’t want him to suffer any more than you do. And while I might never understand it, he clearly hates when you two are being fucking idiots and tiptoeing around each other instead of just punching each other and being done with it.”

“How would you even know?”

“Who do you think he talked to when you weren’t here, dipshit?”

Drake paused at that. He had never considered the possibility that Liam might have opened up to Olivia in his absence. And he was shocked that learning that fact filled him not with repulsion, but something more like gratitude.

“Wow. I’m… I’m glad.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” she replied, giving him an exaggerated eye roll.

“Nah, I mean it’s weird to me that it’s you, but I would much rather he has someone who knows him well that he can actually talk to. It’s kind of… well, a relief actually.” Drake turned to fully face Olivia at that, not exactly surprised that she mirrored his motion. She stared him straight in the eyes before giving him a little nod.

“Like I said, you don’t have a monopoly on caring for him.”

“I know.”

Drake just looked at Olivia, feeling like, for the first time in well over a decade, he was seeing traces of the little girl he’d grown up with. And while he knew the two of them would probably never be that close again, he could at least respect that she clearly wanted the best for Liam. Liam the person, not Liam the King. It was probably the one thing they had in common.

“So, when are you heading back to New York?” Olivia asked. Her tone was genuine, no sarcasm or condescension. 

“Eager to get rid of me?” he teased, trying to keep his tone light, preserving whatever little truce they’d just stumbled into.

“Of course,” she said, giving him a genuine smile to let him know she wasn’t trying to offend or insult. It was a rare look on her face. “But seriously, when do head out?”

Drake bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what to say. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure if he was wanted back in New York.

Riley was ignoring him. He had to face the facts on that front. She’d sent him exactly one text since she left Cordonia, letting him know her flight landed safely. Since that time, it had been radio silence. He would have been terrified that something had happened to her if his texts weren’t all getting marked as read.

Of course, he wasn’t sure his texts were any better than the nothing he was getting from her. Granted, he had never been some great texter. Combine that fact with the unsettled way he’d left things with Riley, and it was a recipe for awkward little questions. He’d asked her if Anderson was okay. How her day was. How her shift was. It was fucking small talk, but he didn’t know what else he could send. It’s not like he was gonna pour out his heart in a fucking text. So all he’d been able to do was send meaningless garbage. He figured at the very least, she would know he was thinking of her.

“I’m not sure,” he said, dropping his eyes to the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to say anymore. Hell would freeze over before he opened up to Olivia Nevrakis, regardless if she was Liam’s new confidante.

He could feel Olivia still staring at him, but after a few seconds, she simply said, “Oh, alright. I’m going to go get something to drink.”

As Drake dared glancing up again, he found her already walking towards the door. Letting out a sigh, he realized he was now grateful to Olivia for three things. For bringing in evidence on the attacks. For taking care of Liam. And for giving him relative privacy just then. Because figuring out what he needed to do, what Riley needed from him, was not going to happen in the middle of a security briefing. He just wasn’t sure if he was going to ever be able to figure out that answer. And that thought terrified him to his core.

Permatag: @mfackenthal  @lilyofchoices @thequeenofcronuts @jamesashtonisbae

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @kingliam2019  @sirbeepsalot  @texaskitten30  @princessleac1  @ladyangel70  @dcbbw​ @yaushie​ @octobereighth​

Drake x MC only: @jovialyouthmusic​ @iplaydrake​ @gibbles82​ @drakewalkerisreal​ @riley–walker @notoriouscs​ @butindeed​  @addictedtodrakefanfic​

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment: @wickedgypsymoon @thesumofmychoices​ @cosigottahavefaith​ @thequeenchoices​ @katedrakeohd​ @feartheendlesssummer​  @ao719​  @ooo-barff-ooo​ @sunnyxdazed

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 227: Basically Just Me Saying “Holy Shit” a Bunch

Previously on BnHA: We went on a semi-enlightening romp into Toga’s past. Basically she was an adorable child who just so happened to have a taste for blood. And whoever’s job is was to explain to her, “hey Toga, I know you like blood, but other people like being alive, so, you know. Let’s explore some other options for you,” they basically dropped the ball there. So after she murdered her hapless Deku-looking classmate in middle school, she went on the run, and we basically know the rest. Back in the present, Toga had just been blown up from the inside out as you may recall, so she spent most of the chapter kind of out of it. At one point Kizuki even started talking about her like she was already dead, reassuring her that she’d become a martyr for the Army’s cause (which, no thanks). But then Toga managed to stumble to her feet and transform into Ochako as she tried to flee. It was revealed that while transformed, she can use the quirk of whoever she’s turned into, and she proceeded to demonstrate this by floating Kizuki (and half her redshirt goons) a hundred feet into the air before dropping her back down to the pavement. Yeah. So I’m pretty sure she’s dead now. Ah well.

Today on BnHA: Toga passes out in a shed after a job well done. We learn that the MLA is recording all of the fighting, most likely for propaganda purposes because as we have previously established they’re a bunch of dicks. Hanabata confirms that Kizuki is dead and gets the Army all fired up. They charge at Tomura, who is really fucking sleep-deprived you guys, and as he stands there blinking at them he has another flashback. Turns out the little girl from the previous flashback was his sister, and back when they were cute lil munchkins and she was still alive (sob), she showed him a picture of Nana and told him that their grandma was a hero. Tomura doesn’t remember this clearly, but he remembers the accompanying emotions, which is enough to get me hyped out of my mind fyi. Back in the present, Tomura disintegrates I’m-gonna-go-with-about-200 Army henchpeople basically instantaneously without even touching some of them, which, oh shit. And then Dabi is all “oh cool I want to do some mass murder too” but before he can let loose, some dude with fucking ice powers shows up to challenge him. I guess this means we’re never going to get Touya VS Shouto, or if we do it’s going to be very repetitive. But it’s not like I’m complaining either way. Here’s hoping the villain flashback trend continues next week because omfg.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter like an hour ago lol. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity, but aside from that this is as close to a live liveblog as I’m going to get. It took two-thirds of a year, but these recaps are finally caught up.)

this is so exciting guys. I mean, for me the reading process is basically the same, but the posting process is going to be a new one since I’ll be trying to get this up the same day once I’ve read it! so you can expect many exciting errors and brain farts! prepare for the full brunt of my unpolished rough draft thoughts!

so anyway, here’s Toga

lol so much to analyze here. real quick:

“sleepy.” if that isn’t the most relatable chapter title in the history of time, though

loving the “my villain academia” logo in the background! as far as I’m concerned that’s the official title of this arc

“the conclusion of the battles” y’all I read this and I was like “what?! already!?!” but then I realized they’re talking about volume 23, which features the conclusion of the joint training battle arc. so who knows how many more villain battlin’ chapters we’ve still got ahead. I have a feeling we’re already winding down, though

note how all of the stuffed animals are stabbed. ah this girl

it’s 2214, who the fuck still uses polaroid cameras. that would be like someone in our time using a [googles inventions from 200 years ago] modern suspension bridge. ...wait

anyway you guys maybe I should start reading the actual chapter already if I want any hope of actually getting this posted before fucking midnight though

oh hey, so Toga is dying in a shed you guys. fun

I’m not really thrilled about this! to be honest! I mean for fuck’s sake she’s only 17. she was blown up from the inside out. and although the consequences initially seemed to have possibly been handwaved, it appears that no one can escape BnHA’s realistic injury clause for long! so. yeah

I get why she hid, because it’s not like the others are just gonna drop everything to come help her (although Twice, though...), and there are enemies everywhere so this is probably safer. but it also means that if she passes out here there’s a good chance she’s not going to wake up again! and that is bad! that is very much not good

what she really needs to do is call Ujiko! hitch a ride out of there while you still can! he is a doctor, right? even if it is the questionable mad scientist type! worst case, you end up as a Noumu. actually, wait a sec, maybe we should think this through

and yet the fact that she’s still laughing, though. just. goddammit. I love her so much. I swear to god Toga if you fucking die...!!

so now she’s curling up in the fetal position and thinking “once again I’ve gotten closer to you”

yeah, Deku really does do this every other week. or he did for a little while at least sob

and now we are cutting to ReDestro who for some reason is monologuing about Toga!

oh right, because he had the cameras and shit set up to livestream that shit

okay but is it just me or is he not looking at any cameras. he’s just enjoying the view from his little observation tower same as before. does his quirk allow him to see everywhere at once or what

is it bad that I barely even paid attention to the actual content of his ramblings lol. it’s just the same old same old. blah blah society rejects anyone who’s different, it’s so unfair, blah blah

it’s not a bad point, mind you; it’s just that RD and his army are completely full of shit and acting like they’re so much better even though they’re just a bunch of mur-diddly-urderers. it’s like how PETA acts like they’re champions of animal rights when really they mostly just kill shelter animals, insult Steve Irwin, and claim that milk causes autism. but I digress sob

oh shit I forgot about this dude

here I was thinking there was only the one other miniboss to go before the big bad. silly me. how could I have forgotten that two page spread and our friend here with the Gorillaz mouth and the Beatles haircut

wow are you serious?

Giran sitting there with one skeptical eyebrow raised thinking about how these guys threatened to kill him in order to lure his friends out so that they could, you guessed it, kill them!

and also, way to completely disregard the dozens of other minions who already bit the dust before Kizuki. like, your entire town is basically doomed, guy. but sure let’s cry for the one dead villain who actually had a name though

holy shit you guys

are you telling me that’s why you were recording the whole thing? is that why you invited the League here in the first place?? for the fucking publicity? kill the bad guys and earn the public’s good will? did I miss that part of the planning sesh, or was this objective already painfully obvious and I somehow either missed it or forgot all about it?

either way it’s amazing how these guys become bigger assholes with each progressive chapter

oh now he’s explaining it all on the next page lol. so I guess I didn’t miss the memo, good

okay but first he’s getting real physical with my boy Giran here though

okay first of all, all he did was say “footage...?” like wth was so fucking impolite about that. and second, why do I get the feeling that there’s probably a fair percentage of people who read this chapter and got to this panel and now suddenly ship it sob

I mean, he just got so up close and personal though. all up in his face. this guy has such a weird energy and it’s really creeping me out now ngl

anyway so here we go with the explanations

holy shit you guyssssssssss

when did Giran get so fucking hot?? and is he single?! asking for a friend???!

anyway so now RD is wiping away his crocodile tears and says Giran is lacking in imagination

oh hey

what an interesting segue back to Tomura!

wow, Spinner’s asking how much longer until Big G wakes up, and Compress says one hour and twenty minutes. so that means they’ve already been at it for like an hour and fifteen minutes! minus however much time it took to warp over and then follow Back-Stab n’ Go out to the center of town for the ambush. even if that took a whole half hour they’ve still been fighting for a long time! but I guess they’re more than used to that by this point, thank you so much Ujiko and your six weeks of brutal endurance training

Spinner’s all “no matter how many we defeat, they just keep on coming!” and I know, dude, it’s almost like there’s over one hundred thousand of them or something dfskdj

although to be fair, probably not every last one of them is actually there. can you imagine. it might take a whole nother hour to beat them all

now Hanabata is driving in on the back of an election van. because apparently he just fucked right off in the middle of his fight with the League, and then came back. with a van

so he’s all “EVERYONE I HAVE SOME DEEPLY SADDENING NEWS” and oh my gosh what is it

oh

yeah dude we already been knew. RIP and all that

so the crowd is all distressed and asking what the Supreme Leader said

really?? that’s what they call him?? yeah you guys aren’t evil at all

and Hana quotes, “‘do not let her sacrifice be in vain’“

sorry bruh. but. it’s gonna be in vain. hate to break it to you

right??

GASP

TWICE STOP BEING AWED AT HANABATA’S INFLUENTIAL AURA AND START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DUDE WHO’S SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU AND TRYING TO SNATCH YOUR MASK OFF

anyway so in the meantime this is happening

maybe there are 100k of them. seems like there’s a lot. I do like that from this angle it appears that Tomura and the others have holed up in a relatively narrow alley, thus creating a choke point and limiting the number of enemies who can attack them all at once. although this panel does make it look like there’s just a big ol’ wave of bad guys surfing their way towards them though, so it remains to be seen how effective this strategy will actually be lol

eh?

yeah no shit boy you’ve been fighting Daruk from BotW for the last month and a half

anyway so apparently he’s feeling ~weird~ though

I shit you not guys, my sister was hospitalized a couple months back (she’s fine now) because she started hallucinating after a three-day bout of insomnia. shit is no joke. don’t be like Tomura. go to bed and don’t stay up all night fighting villains

-- OH SHIT!?!

ASDFALSDFHLKSDHLFKJHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S A LITTLE GIRL!! AND SHE’ S OPENING A SECRET DRAWER!!

SHE’S ALL “IT’S OUR LITTLE SECRET!” OH MY GOD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SWEET JESUS MARY JOSEPH!? HORIKOSHI DO YOU FUCKING READ THE THEORY POSTS ON TUMBLR JUST SO YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY SHIT ON THEM TWO DAYS AFTER?? HOW THE FUCK

AND IS NANA’S SON WEARING DEKU SHOES?? OH MY GOD PLEASE

AND THIS MEANS THE LITTLE GIRL IS ACTUALLY TENKO’S SISTER SOBBBBBBBBB NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE THIS MAKES TOMURA MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GO APESHIT ON AFO’S ASS IF HE COMES TO REALIZE THAT AFO INDIRECTLY MURDERED HIS SISTER OH SHIT

BUT SHIT YOU GUYS, SHE’S SO CUTE AND SHE’S FUCKING DEAD NOW SOB THAT’S SO FUCKING HORRIBLE I MEAN IT I’M REALLY UPSET THOUGH

BUT LET’S CONTINUE WITH THE FLASHBACK TO SEE IF HORIKOSHI WANTS TO TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS ANYMORE!!

NANA DIDN’T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB ERASING ALL TRACES OF HER CONNECTION TO HER CHILD AND IT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN HIS DEATH OH SHIT. I’M SERIOUSLY SO UPSET ABOUT THIS??

NOTE HOW BABY TENKO’S FACE IS PURPOSELY BLACKED OUT EVEN THOUGH (A) HIS SISTER’S IS NOT, AND (B) WE SHOULD, IN THEORY, ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THE SCARS OR THE WHITE HAIR YET CUZ AFO HASN’T WIPED HIS MEMORIES. [nods sagely as though I have any sort of proof of this whatsoever and it’s not all just wild speculation and conjecture]

HANAAAAAAAA oh shit I better come up with another nickname for Hanabata then. looks like it’s Back To The Full Name for you mister

!!?!?!?

okay you guys I think this is intentional misdirection. we’re meant to believe that Tenko’s dad was perhaps abusive and that his behavior toward his son ultimately triggered the awakening of his quirk and led to all of the subsequent Horrible Things happening

but I think what it actually is is that Tenko’s dad probably resents Nana for giving him up. and maybe Tenko wanted to know more about her and maybe he got in trouble for it? because now Hana is showing him the picture, and then talking about this mysterious conversation with their dad and saying she’s on Tenko’s side. so that’s my bet

anyway! but this means Tomura might not need as much convincing as I previously speculated! I figured he probably wouldn’t know much, if anything, about his grandma even if he did somehow get his memories back, because he was only four when all that shit went down, and Nana had parted ways with Tomura’s dad years ago. but if he actually did know a bit about her and even possibly felt a connection with her, as this flashback suggests, that could go a long way towards fueling his eventual breakaway from AFO’s side once All Might is able to explain the truth

ahhhhh you guys this is exciting I’m excited. though also still very sad though because wtf seriously

so Tomura’s tiredly thinking that the least his stupid memories could do is show him the whole picture instead of these fragments. “it’s like a broken tape recording or something”

HOLY SHIT

...I have no words. holy shit

anyone else getting flashbacks to the Highway to Hell though? what is it with Tomura and periodically pulling off the most badass stunts in the whole fucking manga. all because he didn’t get his nap dsflkjlk

ReDestro look at this loss of life. are you crying again. no, I can’t imagine that you are. you ass

you guys are probably getting tired of me just going “holy shit” over and over, but

hooooooooooooly shit

guys, if Tomura can dust people without even touching them he might as well just change his name to fucking Thanos and we’d better start praying this kid gets redeemed and soon

so now there’s a panel of Tomura being all drooly, and honestly he looks like he’s about to pass out. not sure if this is intended to be a glam shot or what lol

ohhhhSHIT

YESSSSSSSSSSS DABI. DRACARYS

!LKJDSLFKJLSDKJF!!

OH SHIT YOU GUYS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE ABOUT TO GET ALL A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE UP IN THIS BITCH

who is this weird little black mage. I’ll tell you one thing, he’s the only guy I’ve seen so far who’s actually dressed appropriately for fucking December weather, though, so good on him

will he defeat our boy Touya (spoilers, he won’t)? will Touya have some flashbacks of his own (TOUYA PLEASE), since that seems to be what all the cool kids are doing these days? will I lose my fucking shit all over again next week? stay tuned! but yes I absolutely will, oh jesus this is awesome