#because he just makes the WORST decisions

[lu-is-not-ok]

*rises from the grave*

*trips and falls flat on my face*

Heyyyy, it's ya boy, your favorite chronically exhausted Hong Lu identity that forgor about posting to Tumblr. Hi. Hello.

So. Timekilling Time, huh? Very fun, very exciting, we love focusing on Sinners that are misunderstood both in and out of character. We love Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu focus. We love Ryoshu's butch mustache swag.

Anyway, allow me yap about it a bit, because I took frame by frame screenshots of the teaser and I haven't yapped on Tumblr in a while. I'll also give a general update on how I've been doing at the end of the post for those who are interested.

The first thing I've noticed in the teaser is Dante actually lays out the exact traits that their choice of Sinners would need. These being (exact wording):

Someone who can support Dante

Someone who can remain laser-focused on the case

Someone who can be free from biased judgement while making rational, quick spur-of-the-moment decisions

In other words, we need Sinners who will help Dante out, are able to stay focused, and who can think on their feet without relying on their own internal biases.

I think it's important to lay those out as clearly as possible, because it makes the selections made by Dante and Verg very interesting, and also kind of funny.

Let's look at Dante's picks - Yi Sang, Meursault, and Faust. These are all, at a surface level, decent general picks, as all three of them are seen as smart and rational. However, if we look at them while keeping the previously mentioned traits in mind, it turns out these three might just be some of the worst picks Dante could ever fucking make.

The biggest issue - none of these bitches can think quickly. Faust is especially notorious for this, as it's consistently pointed out how she always needs a long time to come to a conclusion or otherwise has to pause to come up with answers. We also know Yi Sang is the type of person to get lost in his thoughts and just meander instead of getting to the point. Meursault is a bit of an outlier in that we see that he can think quickly, but if he's not given any orders he's never gonna act on those thoughts. Admittedly, he has been getting better at speaking up over time, but he's still mostly in this "only does what he's told to do" mode of operations.

This is where their issues split up a little bit.

Yi Sang is probably the most likely to be supportive of Dante out of the three - we see that he cares about others and has learned to interfere and give advice when he feels it's necessary (though who knows if he's doing well enough to keep that up after Canto 6, oof). No, rather his other issue lies in the focus department. This is the guy who, as I previously mentioned, meanders all over before getting to the point. Again, like Meursault, he has been getting better at not doing that, but he's still got ways to go.

Faust and Meursault on the other hand have the opposite issue. While they're fairly goot at staying focused on what they have to do, the issue is that they never fucking speak up. They're probbably the furthest from being supportive of Dante. They're most likely to learn info and just keep it to themselves until everyone has wasted way too much fucking time. Hell, Meursault would probably make a decently good detective if allowed to do the case all on his own, but since he's meant to be a part of a group, he's unlikely to help out that much without Dante directly ordering him around.

Now, onto Verg's picks - Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu. This is where things get really, really interesting. Because we have the reverse situation to Dante's picks - on the surface the choices seem random and counter-intuitive, but if we look deeper, it turns out they all fulfill the requirements surprisingly well.

I'm about to go on a tangent here, but I find it extremely important that we're focusing on this group of Sinners in the first Intervallo between what I consider to be the most thematically different arcs within Limbus. The first half of Inferno has been pretty squarely about confronting one's past, whether learning to face it properly after running away from it (Gregor, Rodya, Sinclair), or learning to move past it after refusing to let go of it (Yi Sang, Ishmael, Heathcliff).

However, looking at the Sinners we have left, it feels like the second half of Inferno might be focused less on the past specifically, but more about the Sinners' general reality. Especially the next upcoming trio of Cantos - Don Quixote, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu - have some heavy thematic focus on the idea of one's perception of reality, especially fitting for the three Sinners with weird eye shit going on.

With Timekilling Time focusing on the Sinners most misinterpreted by others in-character (and out of character), it feels like the perfect intro to this switch in thematic focus - exploring the actual realities of people who are otherwise hard to understand.

Anyway, back to discussing how Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu fit Dante's requirements.

Supportive of Dante - this is the requirement all three fulfill pretty well. Let me explain.

Rodya is probably the most obvious - she's a hypegirl through and through, and happy to take the reigns in some way or another if nobody else is able to, as we see in Canto 2. She's often one of the first people to point out when someone is not doing well, and shares a lot of her insight if in the mood, but she also knows when discretion is necessary.

Hong Lu is a fun one here - he's extremely perceptive and insightful, often sharing his thoughts with very little prompting. His only issue is that he tends to backpedal when he feels like he said something wrong, or generally just words shit in weird slightly offensive ways. He's supportive, he just doesn't always talk like he is.

Ryoshu is one I find most interesting here, as a lot of people seem to miss this about her character - despite her short temper and peculiar manner of carrying herself, she's actually pretty understanding and helpful towards people she's on amicable terms with. She always explains her acronyms if asked (and when she doesn't it's usually because people stop asking or Sinclair translates instead), she listens when told to stand down or otherwise do something when asked of by Dante or Sinclair, and the reason she tends to stay quiet is because she only speaks when she feels what she has to say is important.

Staying focused - this one is a bit harder to judge, but I'd say the only one who might not fulfill this one is Hong Lu, but only by a margin. Ryoshu is shown to get so focused she gets impatient when she can't get to the point, and Rodya always has her goal in mind even when she might act like she doesn't. Hong Lu is a bit harder to judge, as he seems to be the type to prioritze gathering information and satiating his curiostiy over the main goal, but in a case like this that might just be a massive plus.

Unbiased quick thinking - again, all three fulfill the quick thinking part very well. Rodya shows it constantly throughout Canto 2, Hong Lu shows it best in social interactions, and Ryoshu just doesn't want to waste time and so she naturally thinks quickly as well. It's when we come to the unbiased part that things get extremely interesting.

As individuals, Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu are all very biased people. Rodya sees the world from the perspective of someone who suffered in the poor Backstreets. Hong Lu sees the world from the perspective of a rich Nest dweller coming from a family of dubious morality. Ryoshu sees the world from the perspective of (probably) an ex-Ring member obsessed with the art that is reality. Their backgrounds color the information they take in a lot.

However... this means that as a group, all three balance each other's biases out. Rodya's cynicism gets balanced out by Hong Lu's idealism, which is balanced by Ryoshu's realism. Their backgrounds couldn't be more different, and thus give the widest possible perspective when put together.

I think this is the point Verg is making with this selection. Dante's selection is the easy way out. It's people that Dante already knows how to deal with, and would rather pick even if their skillsets don't fit the situation. Verg is making Dante learn how to work with Sinners who might be harder to deal with, but have skillsets more fitting for the situation at hand.

Dante can't keep half-assing everything by always turning to the same few people. Every Sinner in the group has their use and are smart in their own unique ways. They have to figure what every Sinner's strong point is, otherwise they'll end up putting everyone in danger by relying on people who are simply not good in a situation while ignoring those who could help.

So... that's what I think.

Anyway, personal general update - I'm still alive! And also very swamped with college and constant exhaustion. So, things will have to change a bit moving forward.

Number one - I will not be returning to old analysis requests. There's too many at this point, and I just don't have the time to sit down and write longass posts whenever I want anymore. However, that isn't to say E.G.O and Sin analyses will never return! I have plaaans for what I want to do with those moving forward, it just may take some time to materialize.

Number two - I'm generally just more active on Discord than on Tumblr. Yapping on Discord feels more natural for me, as it's just... less formal than making a full post I guess. So, if you want to discuss things with me, or if you're on a server that you think would do well with having me yapping in there, feel free to shoot me an invite link in replies (or in DMs if you don't want it to be public)!

Number three - Go check out the Absolute Pride Resonance event on Youtube! I'm not a part of it maybe next time wink wink nudge nudge, but you should still check it out cause it's a bunch of cool people doing very scuffed streams, as is fitting for the scuff Project Moon is known for.

Alright, that's it. I still don't know how to end Tumblr Posts. Bye.

[one-idea]

Here's an idea: time travel fix it, but the time traveller is Zeff.

Casually fixing what he can for his Eggplant's future Nakama, like bribing Mihawk with a nice wine to mention what Arlong is up to to Jimbe.

I love a time travel fix it with an unlikely hero. Because the Strawhats have a lot of information about what needs to be fixed. Their time travel fix it’s make sense. But the fun ones are their allies who know major events but don’t know everything.

(I saw someone try this with Mihawk and like the man only knows major events that the strawhats get into. Also he’s way more likely just to show up and watch the chaos while drinking wine.)

Zeff being sent back is so fun. 1) he’s a great character who obviously loves Sanji and would want to do what’s best for him. But also 2) he has no idea what half the inciting incidents are! How will he ever know what to stop?

He does have some information though. So let’s say he gets dropped 21 years in the past. He’s still a pirate. Ohara was just burnt last year and Rodger died 3 years ago (fact check me)

Most importantly Sanji is about to be born. His little eggplant is about to be born into one of the worst family on the sea. Well not if he has anything to say about it. He’s still Red-Leg Zeff, the pirate captain.

He knows they can’t do a full frontal assault but some sneaking around gets him to Sora. And a quick “how do you feel about taking all the kids and running?” She’s in. Anything to get them away from Judge.

And it’s stupid easy because they are babies who are only a few days old. Judge only cares about their test results he isn’t watching them. So Zeff and a few of his crew just nab Judges wife and kids, and quite a bit of loot.

Zeff is booking it out of there. But not without kick judge through at least one wall durning the escape.

He makes the decision to quiet the pirate life early. He’s got Sora and the kids to worry about. They open the Baratie early. He knows exactly which cooking staff he’s hiring.

As he separated from the crew he tells them that if they run into a girl named Nico Robin to bring her to him.

He starts establishing the Baratie as a location for all to dine in. But this time he’s focused on making connections. Keeping his thumb on the pulse of both pirate and government movement.

Raising the five kids he’s acquired along side Sora, the genetic programming takes but without it being supported as they grow eventually gets out of their systems. Sanji being the most in touch with his emotions followed by Reiju. Their brothers struggle with emotions but are a lot better and more adjusted than they are in cannon.

About two years into this restaurant one 11 year old Nico Robin is delivered by his old crew. The girl is super freaked out but he sits her down and tells her that’s she’s safe, he’s got ears everywhere and will know if the governmental coming after them, and he won’t let them take her. Plus who’s going to be looking for her at a high class restaurant. It also helps that he’s got a gaggle of children already so she can stay off the floor hanging out with the kids. Sora also dyes Robin’s hair purple and that with age is enough to make people not immediately recognize her from her bounty poster.

5 years later the red hair pirates a bouncing around the East blue and Zeff waits. Waits until one day Shanks comes in one arm short and bragging about his son. (It helps that Sanji and his siblings are helping out so Shanks and Zeff are just casually talking about their kids.) He grabs the captain and pulls him to the side and tells him that Luffy is in danger and that there is another little boy on that island, a boy who is the son of his old captain. Shanks thinks he’s crazy at first but he knows things about Luffy. The scar under his eye, and other things.

Enough to make shanks curious enough to turn around and find Luffy and his TWO new brothers. He quickly collects three children and returns to the Baratie. (Kicks door open while holding three children “you were right!” Zeff surprised by the third child but not mad) (I don’t think he knows about Sabo)

Luffy and Sanji get on like a house fire with Luffy loudly declaring that Sanji will one day join his crew as his chef. And Zeff is standing there watching them with a proud smile, because somethings are just meant to happen.

Meanwhile Shanks as turned to look at Zeff

“anything else I should know about?”

Zeff just snorts “a lot. You still friends with Hawkeyes or have you to made it official yet?”

(With the Baratie around earlier he had to witness young Shanks and Mihawk flirting, it was painful)

Shanks gets sad “he’s mad about well you know…” the missing arm. And Zeff feels bad about that but he had no clue how the man lost it in the first place so there was no way he could stop it.

“If you run into him tell him there’s a crazy kid in the east blue gunning for his title. If he wants to keep things interesting he might want to train him.” (The Baratie is Mihawk’s favorite establishment Zeff could also tell him but he has a feeling the swords master would listen to Shanks over him.)

This is how Mihawk shows up at a dojo where a 10year old Kuina and 9 year old Zoro are training. (A year before Kuina’s death) he sees their skill and hears Kuina’s father’s opinion about females and training. He knows it’s an opinion that is also popular in Wano where this man is obviously from, but it’s not the way the rest of the world works. He approaches and offers to take over the training of the girl “who won’t make anything of herself” and the “feral gremlin using sword handles for teething.” Kuina’s father isn’t to sure about all this but he can’t really refuse the greatest swordsman in the world nor will Kuina or Zoro stay once they hear about the offer.

Mihawk has now obtained one verbally polite girl who will break every rule the moment his back is turn and one backpack leash gremlin.

He and Shanks are regulars at the Baratie for parenting advice. Luffy meets Zoro’s and again claims him as part of the crew. Years later Zoro and Sanji argue over who will be the first official member (Sanji: Luffy asked me first! Zoro: but I was the first one to physically join the crew!)

But currently the three run a muck on the Baratie pulling pranks on their older siblings (Ace, Sabo, Kuina, and Reiju are all the same age) or just Sanji brothers (they are still learning emotions and will sometimes join in on the chaos, other times they are a rival faction but if they ever get to mean Luffy and Zoro put them in their place)

but eventually Luffy runs into Robin (she tries to stay out of the way as much as possible to not get the Baratie in trouble. Zeff tells her she doesn’t have to but Trauma is a thing) Luffy loves her instantly. She quitely reading a book and Luffy joins her for story time and she never gets mad at his interruption and is so patient with him. He looks at her with a grin of a small sun and tells her “when I’m captain you’re going to be on my crew!” Robin is a little freaked out because she doesn’t want to bring the world government down on this little boy. But Zeff talks to her later and tells her that Luffy isn’t a force that can be stopped. It takes time but in the next ten years Robin comes around to the idea of being on Luffy’s crew with Zoro and her little brother Sanji. As soon as Luffy claimed her he told the others. Sanji was pumped! Zoro just accept it but he comes around to really love Robin.

At the same time that the boys are all being adopted Zeff is making some calls and contacts. The Baratie has been open for over 9 years he’s got some high connections. He eventually gets a hold of Jimbei and tells him that Arlong is in the East Blue and causing trouble. (Arlong has just started in the East blue, Zeff has no clue of the time clock) he points Jimbei in the direction of Cocoyashi.

Jimbei gets their right at the time of Arlong raid in the village. He walks in right as Arlong and Bell-mére are having their confrontation. I don’t know exactly what happens (I haven’t met Jimbei yet) but he’s able to stop it.

Bell-mére asks how he knew they were in trouble and he tells them about the Baratie. The village wants to thank the man who alerted Jimbei so Bell-mére goes (she is a retired Marine and probably the best sailor.) and takes Nojiko and Nami with her. Of course Shanks is visiting with the boys and Luffy and Nami instantly hit it off. “This is my Navigator!!!” Shanks is laughing because the kids going to have a whole crew before he has a boat.

Once Luffy is ready to set sail he meets up with Zoro and the two head to the Baratie to pick up Nami, Sanji, and Robin. Zeff points them in the direction of Suyrup village to “get a ship” where they pick up Usopp and save Kaya. (This absolutely does not make Usopp’s feeling of inferiority worse by the time they get to Water 7. No way. It’s not like everyone else on the crew until Vivi and Chopper have known each other for 10 years. He’s not the odd man out in any way.)

Zeff doesn’t have a lot of information about their adventures so he can’t truly stop anything but he does know some thing. (Nami leaving the crew. Luffy and Zoro being from the east blue and having connections with Shanks and Mihawk (Mihawk totally goes the the Baratie to drink during the time skip. Zeff knows Zoro is his kid) he knows Ace is Roger’s son and that he dies. But he doesn’t know anything that isn’t in Sanji’s letters or the news paper (which is full of lies)

He makes the best decisions he can for Sanji.

He saves Sanji from Zeff as soon as possible

Accidentally saving Sora, Reiju, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji

After Sanji set sail Zeff decides to expand the Baratie. It’s a chain

Patty and Carne take over the East blue branch

Reiju runs the one in the grandline.

Ichiji runs one in the west blue

Niji runs one in the south blue

The north blue doesn’t get one until Judge is dead they all agree on that

Yonji bounces from place to place helping as he is needed

Zeff and Sora open one in the New World.

Zeff might not know everything the Strawhats went through but he knows the major events and by having a home base in almost every sea he’s got ears everywhere. His old crew is still out there acting as ears for him and bring him news.

Anything he can help the Strawhats avoid or remove from their path he sends word

He tells Shanks about Ace.

Accidentally getting Luffy, Ace, and Sabo adopted

Saving Sabo from the Celestial dragons

Giving all three boys the chance to train with the Red Hair Pirates and learn Haki early while also getting a feel for the Grandline and New World

Ace’s death is prevented because he knows about Blackbeards plans and tells Ace to watch out for the man and to not trust him. It helps that Ace grew up with Shanks who never liked Blackbeard at all.

He tells Mihawk about Zoro

Kuina is accidentally saved

Both get to train with Mihawk far before their adventure. Mihawk loves it because the two are “trying to kill him” but they are also competing with each other and it’s MESSY they are so dramatic in their own weird way and he’s living for watching this gremlins fight while he drinks wine. When Perona shows up he finally has a goth child who wants to dress presentable and drink wine while making his other children. The family is complete.

He puts out feelers for Robin having no real hope she will show up

Accidentally gave her a loving home and help her feel safe while also preparing her for the adventure ahead.

He points Jimbei in Arlong direction. He has no clue what Arlong is truly up to.

Accidentally saves village

Saves Bell-mére’s life and kick starts the Strawhats.

The Strawhats still have a lot going on but because of advance trading some received as children and the stronger bonds.

He can’t do anything to Chopper, Franky, Brook or Usopp because their trauma is already passed Franky/Brook or he doesn’t know their stories well enough to intervene, Usopp/Chopper.

But he does make the safest home possible for his little eggplant.

[angyo]

HOT DAMN ik i already said a bit abt csm 167 but i keep thinking of more extremely interesting shit here and the sheer inner turmoil in the shared body of asa and yoru

I was wrong, it's not yoru masterminding this. Maybe she is, but we've already got so many hints that yoru and asa are starting to rub off on each other, w/ yoru feeling asa's emotions and asa getting more nonchalant about death and killing. Everything until now has been a relatively clean merge, something neither of them even notices too much.

But denji is a jagged edge. Asa and yoru have very different approaches to love and interpersonal relationships. Asa being a sex repulsed and desperately lonely romantic and yoru being the embodiment of war, uninterested in love, & intimacy only being violence (because war).

The merging can't go unnoticed anymore, it's not just massaging red play doh into blue play doh anymore. Their feelings regarding denji and chainsaw man are so different and entirely irreconcilable the merge is hacking off a hand and painstakingly sewing each individual nerve and vein to the end of a fraying rope.

Here yoru is her usual uncaring self. Denji wants to lose his cock, so be it. Who cares, she's war, she's done worse and feelings never got in her way before.

When denji knocks the knife away that's a very asa face and reaction despite the scars showing it's clearly yoru. Yoru isn't this clumsy. It's not like denji peeled her hand open, he knocked it away and yoru wouldn't have such a loose grip on a weapon.

Yoru is shocked. This shouldn't feel too different from any other fight for her, why is she so shocked? I thought she was unaffected by emotion, so why would she feel even a second of confusion about hurting denji? It's like she's shocked at herself, and she reasserts herself by doubling down on the violence and gripping his balls. Doubt isn't like her, it must be a fluke. She'll finish it quick.

Once again, that is an Asa face with the yoru scar, immediately followed by yoru attempting to regain herself

And failing. This is yoru, why is she so confused? If she wanted to assault denji it wouldn't be unwarranted from War, but there's emotion in that kiss. She looks so shocked when she pulls back, this isn't yoru's idea nor is it asa's. Again it wouldn't be surprising if war decided to idk assert dominance by assaulting denji, but if that was her goal she'd be as confident and unphased as she usually is in fights. At worst she'd be angry if he didn't go along with it, but panicky? Confused? That's not like her

She's too emotionally involved to be yoru, but too sexual to be asa. This is the ugly joint of fraying rope and nerve endings. A girl neither asa nor yoru recognize as themselves and one they can't control as individuals. They are merging, but they can't merge into 1 whole person, they're so diametrically opposed in their views of interpersonal relationships that they can't fuse cleanly together and instead their jagged edges get smushed together with such force it makes a 3rd person they mutually hate and are unable to control.

Finally they split again and asa is so deeply fearful she takes over again. But despite losing the scar she keeps the horseman eyes, and the paneling splits her in half implying we are seeing both of their reactions here. And despite having seemingly been in control and making the decision to assault denji, asa and Yoru are equally terrified by what just happened.

This wasn't yoru raping denji then leaving asa to handle it. God that'd almost be better since at least then asa could blame her, but she can't. This was the ugly frankenstein joinery of yoru and asa acting here. Both individuals lost control of their shared body entirely while their desires were mangled and reshaped into something they find mutually disgusting but are forced to feel as enjoyment. Yoru experiences sensation and emotion she considers so far below her and is terrified by this loss of her devil nature. And asa is lost in indulgence of violent sexuality the likes of which she never could've previously imagined enjoying, let alone forcing onto the only person who ever gave a shit.

As a person she is so deeply concerned with morality and righteousness she won't even cross a red crosswalk with no cars around at night, but she's been forced to commit a crime so heinous as rape against the boy she likes and gain enjoyment from it.

It's so deeply violating not just of her agency but her existence as an individual it's hard to define in words, but i can only imagine asa scrambling away. Frantically she screams at yoru for fucking it all up so badly, only for yoru to be equally as scared and disgusted. This wasn't yoru's doing. This devil that has had such tight control of her for so long is completely clueless as to what the fuck even happened or why and points at asa because if it's not yoru it's asa yeah? But if they look deep inside themselves, they'll see that their reflection isn't them. Neither of them know who this is, and they can't talk to her or control her even as they get sucked into this singularity.

[ladyamortencia]

This poor girl's mind will not shut the fuck up long enough for her to enjoy anything

This author has another thought to share. I think that it's not that Penelope isn't excited here. Like, of course, she is, she just got finger blasted in her family's carriage engaged to her best friend. It's pure anxiety taking over. She is so used to not being accepted, specifically with her own family and the ton as a whole. For years, she found comfort in the Bridgerton home. She says as much to Colin but makes note to say that it isn't that way anymore. Things changed. Her relationship with Eloise was shattered because of Lady Whistledown. Her expression here conveys the overwhelming anxiety as she goes through every "What if" scenario when they walk into a room with all of Colin's family.

In the first episode of season three, Philipa mentions Penelope's "precious Bridgertons" which is really glossed over. The Bridgertons were Penelope's safe haven. Where she could go to genuinely be herself as she says. They treated her like family when her own family could not care less for her. I'm sure her first thought walking into that house was if they would feel the same way about her being Colin's SO and not just Eloise's friend. Her second thought is probably how it will hurt the Bridgertons' reputation to be associated with her. Her third thought is how Eloise will react. Her fourth thought will be preparing for the fallout and so on and so forth.

I genuinely believe that she does not have a single thought about this going well. Everything is the worst-case scenario because something always goes wrong. This isn't one of her books where she knows that everything will be a happy ending. She has never had a time in her life when involving others has gone well. Lady Whistledown was her creation alone, another reason she doesn't want to share it with anyone. Even still, Lady Whistledown is the reason that Eloise can't even stand to look at Penelope, even though Penelope knows what she did was justified. When she tries to get closer to Colin, he leaves at the end of season one and then says he would never dream of courting her at the end of season 2. Even though it worked out, Colin also technically ruined the only marriage prospect she had because she decided to agree with him in helping. Befriending Marina led to heartache and decisions that she didn't want to have to make. Every time Penelope steps out of her introverted comfort zone, she gets hurt.

Penelope is terrified that as soon as she walks into that room, she will lose the only family she has ever truly valued, because that has been the only possible outcome in her life.

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapter 7 Review

‼️SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER‼️

Warning(s): unhinged behavior, fat shaming, unnecessary use of foul language, osamodas slander

This chapter made the stupid decision to edge me.

We come back to Yugo having an episode from the poison he just drank and he is going through it hard.

My guy is coughing up blood, eyes are turning red, body is shaking like a mad man, screaming in agony, and his wakfu antlers are even going crazy…

To top it all off, he’s now having a series of igniting explosions because of the dofus residing in him. Like you can’t make this shit up, my guy is literally creating explosions from the inside out. Look at the damages.

(damn, amalia is carrying this whole banquet. look at her saving these ppl what a queen ✨)

Which clown decided it was a good idea to poison a demigod in charge of six dofus and expect nothing abnormal or deadly to happen?????

Oh yeah, the blue-skinned cows.

I don’t care what anyone says. The osamodas family was in charge of the poison attempt, I don’t care if it was that Sadida woman’s idea since it’s obvious she’d know more about poisoning. The osamodas are at fault, the osamodas king told Aurora that they should wait and let them enjoy this last happy occasion. He also told Aurora that they knew about the marriage but weren’t invited?? Come on, they’re clearly at fault here!! They’re the ones who told the Sadida servant to do something about it and she improvised! But what these two bozos didn’t know, was how it would backfire on them. This is stupid to think about because they KNEW Yugo wasn’t a normal person. Poisoning Yugo is like trying to poison a deadly cobra. Or in this case, A FUCKING DEMIGOD. Either way, you’re gonna get jumped.

Like, OF COURSE Yugo’s gonna have a freakout and fuck shit up when his body had been messed with a deadly substance.

OF COURSE, he’s gonna hurt a lot of people around him if he’s around anyone.

OF COURSE, he won’t fucking die cuz of his divinity status.

OF COURSE, he’ll start ruining the kingdom these two fucking dumbasses want for no reason.

You can’t make this shit up.

These two are so bad at being villains, they don’t even know what the fuck they’re doing to people they don’t bother knowing more about. They don’t even know who their target is.

After understanding what kind of poison Yugo drank, which was the belladone, we now know why Amalia knew what was in the cup. She probably recognized the smell of it.

Amalia: “Adamaï…The belladone is the worst of poisons…”

According to how she describes it, this poison is so deadly that it kills the person or animal who drinks it in under ten seconds. The victim first drinks it and then foams at the mouth before collapsing and dying.

We’ve seen the same thing happen in another era of the World of Twelve and that was back in the Cire Momore backstory which was an event around the Dofus era.

The daughter of a queen tried poisoning her for all the suffering she’s endured and had the help of a painter to do it.

Gustave (painter): “I found the berries at the exact place you indicated.”

Princess: “Perfect. Do not forget to carefully wash your hands. The belladone is highly toxic.”

Based on this passage alone, we’ve learned that the belladone are purple berries that are so toxic, that they can even damage you if you don’t properly wash your hands after you pick them.

After that, during the banquet, the princess secretly poured the poison into her mother’s wine. But just before she could drink it, her dog suddenly jumped at her, causing her to drop the wine, which made the pet drink it from the ground instead.

The results were exactly what you expected to happen.

Once the dog drank it, he foamed at the mouth and collapsed, immediately dying from the drink.

So when we compare this instance to what happened to Yugo, we can see a huge difference.

Unlike what happened to the dog (or any mortal), Yugo is still standing but is terribly shaking, coughing blood, and having an episode. His body is trying to get the poison out of his system by coughing but his body is still alive.

The only thing Yugo can say while in this situation is “It hurts”. My guy is in severe pain but he’s still breathing, I don’t think anyone in the history of the krosmoz has ever taken the poison like this, let alone a divinity of all people.

Yugo: “Sor…ry. The…pain.”

Bro even has the time to say sorry while kneeling on the ground and holding his stomach. He’s literally at death’s door, grasping for life, his body trying and struggling to reject the poison, and he still finds the time to apologize for something that wasn’t even his fault.

What a chad.

Amalia: “Yugo…He should already be…”

Adamaï: “My brother isn’t like everyone! He possesses the six primordial eliatrope dofus, if he manages to take hold of himself, then he can take it…”

Even Amalia is shocked that Yugo is still breathing. But Adamaï over here is telling her that he WILL survive this if he can perfectly control it with the eliatrope dofus.

And we all know how that ended up for him the last time he used them…

So Adamaï flies in and takes Yugo away from the banquet before he actually hurts somebody.

Adamaï: “Yugo, you have to focus. Or else you’ll destroy your kingdom or end up killing someone!”

But bro is not listening cuz the second Adamaï pulls him up, dude just overcharged himself before exploding AGAIN.

JUST LOOK AT THE DAMAGE!! THAT LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE A CRATER!! You can even see how perfect the circle looks from this shot.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

AMALIA FUCKING GROWING SOME BALLS AND JUMPING ON THE OSAMODAS.

Nah cuz this scene was what we needed! THIS was the moment we wanted to see ever since that blue-skinned woman started breathing in front of our screens!!

As soon as Yugo caused another explosion, this was it for the stupid clown ‘royal’ family. They signed their death sentences and Amalia is fed up with their bullshit.

Cuz trying to make her marry one of their relatives, being disrespected by them while her brother did nothing, getting told to leave her home and kingdom, being told that she should be replaced, sure she could manage all that.

She can take it. But seeing her husband being poisoned like that on the same day that a wedding was supposed to happen AND having the osamodas randomly being there to witness it, was the last straw before she finally fucking snaps.

She had just lost her whole family in a short period, she wasn’t going to lose her husband to some clowns.

(Also what the fuck were they thinking of poisoning her husband when she had already lost so much?? Did they really think this whole thing wasn’t going to backfire on them??? What a bunch of amateurs.)

And look at them just standing there looking 😮😱😱😱😧😮 LIKE OF COURSE SHE WAS GONNA KILL Y’ALL, YOU BOTH LOOK LIKE THE ODD ONES OUT HERE ‼️‼️

They even looked caught off guard when they saw Yugo causing explosions.

You got Aurora over here with her dumb ugly bat pet looking all shocked, covering her mouth as if she was surprised to find out her dad’s shenanigans wouldn’t work. And then you got animal king over here realizing he fucked up.

And right when they get confronted for their repetitive bullshit, they see literal death looking back at them with the most bloodthirsty eyes they had ever seen before.

Amalia’s so pretty in this shot ready to rip them apart 🥰🥰

Like yes queen, cut them to pieces, we’re about to have a barbecue 🤤🤤

As soon as they get caught red-handed, that’s when they suddenly turn soft and act like victims.

Fatty: “Stay back my daughter, this girl has lost her mind.”

“StAy bAcK mY DAUghTEr, ThIs gIrL hAs-“

Shut yo dumbass up little boy you knew something like this would’ve happened stop playing with me.

He’s over here acting like a random passerby when a second ago he told Aurora that they should wait a little more for something to happen.

So when he gets cornered by the very same girl who he had disrespected and ignored in Season 4 and wanted to be replaced so his useless trophy daughter can take the throne, now she’s suddenly “lost her mind”???

Fuck you.

Amalia: “YOU MONSTERS! I WAS READY TO CONFIDE YOU MY KINGDOM!”

Fatty: “I don’t know what you’re imagining, girl, but…”

That useless fat fuck KEEPS PLAYING THE CARD VICTIM EVEN WHEN SHE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO BLAME HIM.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

WTF IS WRONG WITH THEM?!!?

She has EVERY RIGHT and he’s over here HEARING HER say that she was ready to give him the kingdom but this fatso is too high up his own ass to hear her cuz he’s still delusional and telling her he didn’t do shit. Even when she was this close to giving it to him, this guy was not budging from the victim card.

If I could spit at anyone in my life, it’d be him. What a sad excuse of a man. I bet my own kidney Chibi can take him in a fight.

This is literally my favourite panel of this WHOLE volume so far.

Amalia: “You poisoned my husband.”

I love it so much ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

LIKE YES FUCKING KILL THEM RIP THEM APART THEY’RE JUST STANDING THERE LIKE PROCESSED MEAT READY TO BE CUT‼️‼️‼️‼️

DO IT ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

I just love how the more Amalia becomes enraged, the more her speech bubbles tremble and shake, implying that she’s slowly but surely becoming more unhinged and losing it.

Fatty: “Crazy girl…”

Takes one to know one, bitch.

This chapter genuinely edged me, I WANNA SEE SOME BLOOD ALREADY‼️‼️

YOU’RE CO CLOSE JUST KILL THEM‼️‼️‼️‼️

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DOT IT DO IT DO IT-

I PRAY that these poor excuses of antagonists DO NOT appear in volume 2. The chapter cover of the tenth chapter only features the Sadida servant who poisoned Yugo and she looks completely calm, almost like Yugo’s explosions and Amalia and Aurora’s fight have calmed down.

SO PLEASE TOT PLEASE DON’T PUT THEM ANYWHERE ELSE ANYMORE.

Seasons 3, and 4, and the great wave’s first volume are already enough. So cut it out. Let me have a day where I don’t get a migraine just thinking about what kind of dumbassery these fake osamodas will do in the next chapter.

[kyletogaz]

the fall: part two cw: angst, hurt/no comfort, death mention, flashback part one

you miss kyle. 

you know he shouldn't be on your radar, but it's been almost two months since you've last seen him. sometimes you wonder how he's doing, and if he's safe. cutting off all contact with kyle was the best thing for you and your sanity, but it was also one of the hardest decisions you've ever had to make.

the next time kyle shows up on your doorstep, it takes you by surprise. you were certain that he would stay away after the verbal lashing you gave him.

your eyes are wide and your voice is tinged with shock when you question him about being at your door. “i thought i told you to-"

"go to hell? yeah, i heard you loud and clear, darling.” kyle will never tell you, but he loves it when you put him in his place. “i just wanted to talk, if you’ll let me.”

you refuse to look him in the eye as you step aside to let him in. you know for a fact that he won’t leave you be, so you’ll just have suck it up and get through this visit with your sanity intact. when kyle is finally inside, you close the door and lock it, then follow him to the living room. he makes himself comfortable on your couch and you have to resist the urge to make him leave. you were already starting to regret letting him in.

pretty brown eyes look at you expectantly, and you know he wants you to take the seat next to him. you don’t. and perhaps it was done out of spite, but you chose another seat instead. kyle frowns at the distance between you two, but he doesn't comment on it. he eyes you for a moment, before he lets out a shaky sigh and opens his mouth to speak.

you beat him to it.

“you left me.” it breaks his heart to hear how small your voice sounds, and how you stare off to the side with an unhappy look on your pretty face. “and the worst thing about all of this, is how i went back on my word because i’m too fucking blinded by love and a pretty face.”

you meet kyle’s gaze head on when he apologizes, as if it would mend your poor fractured heart. “you can’t be too remorseful, if leaving was your first choice. do you have any idea how it made me feel?” you ask, your voice full of fury. “it made me feel like i meant nothing to you, like i was nothing more than a one night stand. is that what you think of me? that i’ll always be good enough for you to fuck, but not good enough for you to love?” you watch him wince at the venom in your tone.

he shakes his head in denial and tells you that he does love you, but all you can do is stare at him in disbelief, as your eyes glisten with tears. "i’m not even sure if i believe you, kyle,” you manage to choke out while you try to regain control over your emotions.

kyle watches you with a heavy heart. he did this, never expecting for you to fall in love with him. but when he realized the exact moment your feelings for him started to change, he never mentioned it to you. it was inconsiderate of him to let it happen when this wasn’t what either of you agreed to. he should have ended it when he first got the chance, but deep down, he wanted you to love him.

“did you know i was in love with you?” the question had been gnawing at your brain for the last couple of days.

you finally get the chance to ask kyle, and he doesn’t bother responding. how can he, when the answer is written all over his face. it shocks you to your core. he’s sitting across from you with tense shoulders and a jaw that’s clenched so tight, you think it might shatter. he won’t even look you in the eye. you’ve been struggling with your feelings for weeks and he knew. it hurt to know that he’s carried your secret around with him for god knows how long, and not once did he ever acknowledge it.

you don’t even bother kicking kyle out. he watches you storm away from him and into your bedroom, the sound of your door slamming traveling to his ears. he runs a hand down his face, before swearing loudly. he knows he fucked up and he’s not even sure if he can fix it. with a sigh, kyle strides down the hallway to your bedroom. he doesn’t knock. he sits on the floor with his back resting against the wall across from your door as he listens to your sobs. he wants so badly to open the door and go to you, but he knows his presence will only make things worse.

kyle’s not sure how long he sits there on your floor with his head in his hands, before you emerge from your room. he straightens up when he hears your door creak open, his face falling when he notices your red eyes and the pained expression on your face. “you’re still here,” you comment softly as you stand in the doorway.

kyle leans against the wall with a sigh. “wouldn’t have been right for me to leave you.”

like you did before, you think to yourself bitterly. you can’t bring yourself to say it out loud. you were already hurting enough as it is. it makes no sense to pour more salt into the wound.

kyle watches you shift from foot to foot, before you sink down to the floor across from him. the look on his face is unreadable and it makes you nervous. you want to know what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling. you want to know if what he said was true.

“what you said before—” you bit your lip nervously. you’re not exactly sure if you want an answer to the question you’re about to ask. you pause for a moment to gather up the courage to just spit it out. “you said you loved me. is that true, or were you just telling me what i wanted to hear?”

kyle has to look away from your imploring eyes when he tells you that he meant what he said. you expect to feel some kind of warmth from his words. It should make you happy that kyle loves you, but it doesn't. your feel your lips tremble, as you suck in a breath to keep your tears at bay. when kyle meets your gaze again, his eyes are wet with tears, and the look on his face is just as bad as the one on yours.

"i don't understand," you whine as you brush your tears away. "why didn't you say anything, kyle?"

"because i'm selfish. i wanted your love even though i never planned to let you have mine. and i hope you'll forgive me for everything i'm about to say." he pauses to take a deep breath. he's not sure how this conversation will end, but he has to get it out, for his sake and yours. "i could have told you months ago that i was in love with you but i decided not to. and as much as it pains me to say this, i thought it would be easier for you to love someone else. i’m a soldier, sweetheart.” he’s got too many enemies lurking and too much blood on his hands. “you deserve someone who won't leave for deployment and come back to you in a casket. i won’t ruin you like that, lovie. i should have broken things off with you as soon as it became too much for me. that was always the plan."

“so you’ve decided for the both of us, then.” you hate the way your voices cracks as you say it. you haven’t fully processed kyle’s answer. it wasn’t something you thought you would ever hear from his mouth.

“i’m sorry.”

the cord keeping you tethered to kyle snaps violently when you tell him it’s over and that you’re done.

it’s for the best, you think over and over again as you watch kyle walk out of your door, and out of your life. this isn’t what you want, but since kyle’s determined to keep you at arm’s length, he’s not giving you much of a choice.

when you no longer see the taillights on his truck, you brace yourself for the flood of tears you’re sure will come. and when they do, you don’t fight them.

damn you, kyle.

the shrill sound of your phone ringing snaps you out of a daze, the high volume making you flinch a little. when you look down to see who’s calling, you see kyle's name. you don’t even hesitate to answer.

“hello?”

"good evenin’, doll. i'm sorry to be callin' you so late." it's simon. what the hell was he doing with kyle’s phone, and why was he calling you and not kyle himself?

"simon?" you must sound confused because he apologizes again. "it's fine. something must be wrong if you're calling from kyle's phone." when the silence lasts a little too long for your liking, you snap out a firm, “simon, please."

“it’s kyle, he’s hurt.”

a/n: thank you to @starsofang for the inspiration. ily 💕

don’t jump me, i’m working on part three right now so y’all can get a happy ending.

part three sneak peek

masterlist

[justatalkingface]

Hi there,

I'd love to know your ideas and opinion on Hori going out of his way to make Bakugou the second OFA user as it was shown in the movie. Are you a fan of it?

This post has aged badly because of how long it's been sitting in my inbox, but... well, I was the one who did that, so that's my own fault.

Hahahahahah, yeah, wow, sweet flying fuck no. In a series that has been escalating in how many bad decisions they've made lately, that is one of the worst. More than that, it is telling, in this deeply concerning way, about how little Hori seems to like his own main character.

I've never watched the movie, and I have no desire to, because I'm pretty sure all that'd happen if I did would be me spending the entire movie picking out plot holes than anything, but I have done some basic research on it, and my impression is that it's very... Naruto filler-movie-y, where the protagonists get Random Power up that is basically never spoken of again (note that this is basically official confirmation of Bakugou's promotion), the same general kind of big fight sequence where both of them work together, etc.

It's just... it's just shallow, though, is the thing. At least the filler Naruto movies had the basic decency to make up whatever power up they used and threw away; here Izuku is taking one of the foundational parts of the entire story and just.... giving it away. All of his emotional attachment to it, as a Quirk, as his Quirk, as part of a legacy connecting him to All Might, One For All, and what is singlehandedly keeping him in his current place in society (since at this point he wasn't allowed to be smart anymore), and he just throws it away to Bakugou.

And then, to top it off, it just comes back to him. Some Fucking How(TM). And, because this is, again, one of the foundational parts of the fucking story, that just leaves... so many questions. So many.

Like. If the Quirk could yeet itself from hosts it doesn't like, could AFO ever really take it? Or would it Yeet Thyself from his body, and presumably take a copy of AFO with it in the process (and doesn't that mean, since there was that nod to this happening in canon, that Izuku should have Explosion now? That he literally, by Hori's own logic, has taken that fundamental core of Bakugou's character, and should be in the perfect place to invalidate his entire, badly managed and over all atrocious 'character arc'?).

Really, the more I think on this, the more I realize that that is proof that, not only was Explosion drastically warped to contort to Hori's whims, but so was OFA; OFA, originally, was just supposed to support Izuku, as an assistance to his character, but as time passed, it became clear that that was no longer true, and Izuku only existed to assist OFA. And no, I'm not even talking about the actual person, I'm talking about the set of powers Izuku's entire purpose in the story had been reduced to helping display on demand.

And the fact that, looking at it with that symbolism in mind, that movie's ending was a perfectly horrible encapsulation of what happened in the overall story, of Izuku handing his entire self identity over to Bakugou, for him to take and use however the hell he wanted.

...Fuck, that's depressing. Really, honestly, I wonder why the hell Izuku even exists. Seriously. It's clear that Hori doesn't want him, and he wants all the good Izuku things to go to Bakugou; there's plenty of manga and anime with an asshole of a main character, although a lot of early things would have to be changed to explain how that'd work...

I wonder, but I actually know that answer: beyond needing a more acceptable hero, beyond changing plans, having Bakugou as the focus the way Izuku was would, A, put a spotlight on the traits of him Hori clearly wanted to avoid doing, and B, would put more pressure on Hori to make Bakugou change in way he so clearly wasn't allowed to do, to make the reality of him match up with the narrative version so many people love (You could argue that Izuku, in a similar place, stopped changing after awhile, but at the same time his complete lack of growth is the main reason why the people stopped liking him anymore, because he stopped feeling like a person, and one of the major reasons the second half of the story became so overwhelmingly shit, to the point even people just casually enjoying the story on a surface level read couldn't miss; combining that clusterfuck with Bakugou's shit characterization is probably the only reason Hori didn't just... have Izuku die at some point so Bakugou could flat out replace him, along with shallow nods to their 'rivalry' (like this movie!) to help the story sell).

...I've gotten off topic. So, to sum up: No. No, I hate it, it's terrible, I'm glad I've never had to actually watch it happen.

[lizaluvsthis]

To love and what-not?

-New fixation because I said so-

I am now having thoughts if Smg4 either is having a hard time for himself and with the fact that also involves smg3 by his side. And maybe trying to keep their friendship stable and not going beyond that line?

Smg4 is really REALLY trying hard to keep his attachment with other people work out fine. Ever since after the arc he still can recall "who knew you could play an antagonist so well!"

He had scars healed right after his arc from IGBP which was the one we had seen it worst, but coming to him realizing about PV who has been the one behind all of that?

Man it sucks. He had every right to be angry and bash that TV's head up to the sky.

Because he thought to himself that he's already the worst from all of his friends, so what else there is to try and fix even tho it's all been damaged?

But ofcourse smg4 didn't know that it wasn't his fault- it was PV's fault. But since it's hard to believe it- he let pride and enviness consume him to get what he ever wanted.

This causes four to back up for a bit because he doesn't trust himself for being open due to those things he and his friends went through because of one simple mistake. (Nice- butterfly effect)

He may hide that from us but we've seen him hurt plenty of times, like how he hides it.

Wondering if he's that oblivious enough or he already knows due to three being a tsundere when he's around. What if right after that search history he had from "what does a tsundere mean?" Maybe him finding out three has a crush on him?

Maybe it worries him that he might hurt three even more because of his struggles so that he casually plays it off as friends.

Maybe this is more than just saying no? Even tho they're cosmical partners they're in a mutual bond. Because last time we've seen for Smg3 he never took a shower.

(Meaning he might had that possibility due to his fall of depression getting a bit worse that he didnt even bothered to take care of his own body)

Since our boys are not healthy at their physical and mental state- I am a hundred percent sure that they're still dealing with their own problems still so it takes them for a while.

Maybe in a coupls of seasons? When will this be canon? No one knows, maybe because it's "not their time" yet.

Not just yet they're not. But maybe just maybe.

Since three is his friend he meant so much already and he doesnt want to lose him too. And three doesn't want as well as for just "crushing on him" because of his decisions.

Three doesn't want to make it obvious which he wasnt sure but to four I think he's to oblivious to know but there mightve been a possible chance he DOES know but doesnt say anything about it.

And maybe if so he doesnt want to tell four just yet to find the right time that he does and probably wont even at all anytime soon thinking it'll pass.

Just saying SMG3 fell first, but SMG4 fell harder.

And three just wanting to just pull out that "if we're in good conditions I'll just wait for the time until he does it first. For now I'm not gonna mention anything" BECAUSE THREE DOESNT LIKE TO RUIN THIS BOND BETWEEN HIM AND HIS CLOSE FRIEND-

two of them have been through SO MUCH- you can even tell out much of a person SMG4 is like to lose a friend that meant everything to him. (Adds to the point he saved THREE back when a baby just TOOK him away)

Like how the comparisson faced over to three seeing four get taken away, he didn't even hesitate to get him back he LITERALLY CAME BACK FOR HIM

and to four seeing three GETTING TAKEN AWAY- you know what he did? The same exact thing. HE CAME BACK FOR HIS FRIEND. AND NEVER SAID ANYTHING BECAUSE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO EVEN SAY- (left from more dialogues three just says to four then a "baka" at the end-)

Maybe four is new to this feeling? Of what it feels like to save a friend? Maybe its more than that? Maybe its how he remembered that time when three was the one who saved HIM without hesitation during igbp.

Maybe his head wasnt responding correctly because he had been constantly staring at SMG3 while he speaks- maybe he's been sent with mixed feelings? Mixed signals? Between the two?

I just- I just UGRGHHHHHH THE URGE...

[calware]

Further details on those spaceship groups I made up a while back:

1. Every team had a preset captain+first mate(scribe/Operator/whatever), but everyone else was chosen by the captain.

2. The setup is a combination spaceship simulator/combat exercise (the characters are at a space military academy thing)

3. Selections were performed between each group of 4

World's Worst Polycule: Dave (chosen as captain to make him more responsible), Tavros (chosen as first mate to help him become more independent by working with other independent people)

All the other 3 were chosen in the moment by Dave; he decided who he thought would be the most fun to work with (which typically coincided with independence).

Jane: given automatically after all other alpha kids were picked.

He thinks Terezi is fun, and she's good at large field presence without working closely with others

He thinks Gamzee is fun/ his squad mostly fights independently

4 and a Half Girls: Feferi (chosen as captain b/c powerful family), Sollux (assigned first mate because of good computer skills/parallel processing)

Her other 3 were picked with the aim of making a setup most comfortable for them all.

Jade: Feferi usually has a sniper on her team in Eridan, so she made sure to get a sniper ASAP

Roxy: she got to pick first here, so she took the best all-rounder. Roxy can fit into whatever team composition they end up running.

Nepeta: given to her automatically when all other midbloods were picked

Toxic Magic Bullshit: Dirk (chosen as captain to force him to make decisions and figure out what's best for other people), Vriska (chosen as first mate to force her to both listen to someone else's orders, and to force Dirk to listen to his subordinates)

His other 3 were decisions mostly made from the limits of other people picking first.

Rose: Dirk and Vriska were both good short-range, so he wanted the mid-range Rose over the close-range John.

Aradia: given automatically as all other lowbloods were either captains or first mates (error on my part. Oh well!)

Eridan: you know how Dirk can't stand people who are too similar to him? That's why he took Eridan over Equius.

Almost Stable: Karkat (Technically the leader of his original team, but Sollux and Aradia are powerful enough to just do whatever they want), Kanaya (effective second-in-command, helps Karkat get used to actually leading)

Karkat had very bad luck with pick order.

John: given automatically after all other beta kids were picked

Jake: Jane scares him

Equius: given automatically after all other highbloods were picked.

All of these groups have some form of dysfunction, whether it be the Dave-Terezi-Gamzee hell triangle, Sollux dealing with exclusively people more energetic than them, Erivris, or Karkat's gripes with the fact that he barely picked anyone on his team + inexperience with actually leading.

They all have more problems than just those, but those are the standouts.

these character pairings are very interesting to me i'm rotating this in my mind

[lookingfts]

Hi! May we see Anthony getting ready to pick Kate up for dinner in Tripped and Fell? And him showing up at her door and immediately deciding, "Well, obviously, we're going to have sex now."

He did it all wrong.

He knew it the second Kate grabbed her jacket and stormed out of his flat. For the first and the last time. What else was she supposed to do, when he told her to leave? When he told her, point blank, that he would never give her what she was asking for?

And all she had asked for was him. His pain, his troubles, the worst parts of him, so that she might help him bear his burdens.

It was the one thing he’d never been able to show her, imagining that she might run screaming for the hills if she realized what a disaster his life was. A feat he seemed to have accomplished anyway.

Things were easier in the beginning, when Kate was tentative and easily distracted. She would notice the crease in his brow, the tension in his shoulders, and run her hands soothingly over his skin as she encouraged him to open up to her. So many times, he was tempted. Tried to convince himself that he could lean on Kate, show her the weak spot in his armor and trust her not to shove an arrow into that exact spot.

But it was selfish to put his heartache on her. She already had enough to handle with her own family; she didn’t need his chaos and failure on top of it.

So he kissed her instead. Slipped his fingers between her legs, used his mouth until she was crying out. Fucked her repeatedly, filthy words in her ear as she shuddered around him. Making sure that she was sated and sleepy and happy to drop her line of questioning.

For a while, he could forget the rest of it. Feeling her around him, tight and wet and hot. Having her curled up in his arms, watching him affectionately. He could forget everything that was wrong in his life and focus on the one thing that was right.

But it wasn’t enough for her. Time went on, and Kate didn’t let things go so easily. Grabbed his hand as it slipped down her body, pulled away when he went to kiss her, pleaded with him to finally let her in. Just a little.

And then she was gone. His life lonelier and bleaker because of it.

---

He learns how to be better. How to talk about his stress, how to have honest conversations with his family. How to take better care of himself so he doesn’t burn out so hard.

Over the next six years, he thinks about Kate often. Fights the urge to call her, to tell her he’s more of the man she wanted him to be. To tell her that he misses her, to tell her that no one else has ever measured up, not even close.

But, inevitably, Anthony remembers her face the night she left. How miserable he was making her.

Kate has a better life now. He’s sure of that. Maybe she’s married to someone who’s good for her. The thought of that burns, but he’ll survive it. She deserves to be happy. She deserves to have everything she wants.

And then on some random, completely ordinary day: he sees her again.

More beautiful than his most vivid memories. It’s not fair, he thinks, for her to be so painfully stunning. For the air to be sucked out of his lungs when he lays his eyes on her.

Anthony feels so fucking relieved when she’s not wearing a ring.

She clearly hates him.

He can’t blame her for that.

---

It doesn’t stop him from trying to make amends. If she’ll let him, he’ll tell her everything, he vows. He’ll apologize for being so closed off and pushing her to leave. He’ll open up to her about his family. He’ll explain how he feels and ask for a second chance and respect whatever decision she makes.

Because it’s still her. Anthony has always thought that, somewhere in the back of his mind, but now he knows with certainty. No one else will ever feel as right.

His well-planned speeches dissipate into nothing as she opens the door. Kate is wearing a yellow halter dress that makes her skin glow, her hair curled and her eyes heavily lined.

Suddenly, he thinks he’ll die on the fucking spot if he doesn’t touch her. He’s never needed anything like he needs her in this moment, needs to prove to himself that she’s real, needs to make up for all the pleasure he’s denied them both for six achingly long years. He might be a fuckup, but he’s always known how to make Kate feel good.

“Kathani,” he gasps, his chest so tight he may be having a heart attack. “Christ, I can’t breathe.”

And she does the one thing that breaks him entirely. Scrunching her brows, her eyes big and dark and full of emotion. “You wanted to talk.”

“And we will,” Anthony promises before gathering her in his arms. She goes willingly, kissing him back with just as much fervor, and he feels something in him release. The part of him that has only ever belonged to her.

They fall together as easily, as passionately as they ever did. Kate feels like heaven when she comes, like absolution, like something familiar and brand new. She holds him tenderly, and it takes everything in him not to murmur I still love you into her skin.

He tells her a different way. Tells her everything that terrifies him, about his family’s struggles, about his own flaws.

It’s just the start. But it’s enough for her to let him stay.

That night. And the next. And the next. Until she asks him to stay permanently.

[jillapril]

Have to admit these Alicole rumors hit me hard and now I‘m feeling really confused. I’m like thinking back and forth how this could make any sense, because obviously to me it doesn’t make any. To me it was just so clear that she saw him as a useful alliance and he put her on a pedestal like a holy Madonna. Both completely aligned on putting duty and (a questionable idea of) rightfulness first. I always understood Alicent as someone who completely repressed her own feelings and longings from her teenage years on - and the only person who ever was able to stir her well controlled emotions in both the sweetest and the ugliest way was Rhaenyra. I believe she always loved her and hated herself for it, tried to kill it all off by turning love into hate, but failed over and over again. And I believe her relationship towards sex is traumatized and not good at all - we all saw what it was with Viserys and we know how she deals with Larys.

But now. These rumors suddenly threaten everything I thought about Alicent and my whole (up to this point very dramatic yet delightful) experience of watching HotD!

I mean imagine they are true and there will be a sex scene between her and Cole in episode 1. I guess there are two options - this either has been an affair for a while now or it happens for the first time ever.

Scenario 1 would make her the worst hypocrite ever seen. And I really fear this scenario, given that the mysterious third son Daeron seems to be out there somewhere. I’m scared the writers felt pumped by the thought of starting off season 2 with the reveal that Alicent never was who she seemed to be in season 1. GoT always loved to shock. This scenario would completely break my heart I guess.

Scenario 2 just feels completely out of place to me. I mean during the last hours she had to bury Viserys, fight for Rhaenyra not getting murdererd, crown Aegon and getting the ceremony bombed by Rhaenys and receive the news that Aemond killed Lucerys. How the hell could she now be even thinking about sex?! There is just no way it makes sense to me. Would be different maybe if we were already some episodes into the season and we would have seen Alicent trying to find out what she really feels and wants and during this self-discovery makes the weird decision to try out Criston as well. But in episode 1?! This just causes error in my head.

All in all I guess I just wanted to say: I‘m really scared for the Alicent I perceived and loved and I fear that I will be wishing HotD could just have ended with season 1.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I like that, something so simple yet encapsulates the failures of Andre in such a direct way, something that would keep him awake at night, that would torment him for weeks or months at the time, always reminding of his failures and that he truly destroyed his only truly loving relationship beyond any repair, maybe driving him to drink and drugs to try and numb the pain while he fails miserably at his dreams and his life work crumbles around him,only having his second wife pity as a low comfort.

MM.

Yeah like this is part of why the hotel ends up in disrepair. He's just kinda drowning himself in everything else about how he fucked up and definitely can't fix it.

Zoé wants nothing to do with him. Audrey signed the divorce papers immediately and blocked all forms of contact. Even if he could talk to Chloé, get past Audrey's blocks or track her down after her name change, would she want to come home would she believe that he'd do better?

(Chloé doesn't know what she would've done. He kicked her out and sent her off with the worst possible option. He never talked to her. Then he died. She doesn't know if he regrets that decision or not. She wonders if she would've tried talking to him if he reached out.)

So he doesn't. And mostly wallows in his own pity and ignores the problems of the hotel. He manages to keep up appearances. Put on a front enough to get his second wife to fall for him. She makes him feel better. She doesn't know his past, can't criticize him for his mistakes. She fell for him and whenever he's in despair she's trying to cheer him up because surely a nice man like him is just dealing with regular stress and depression and not haunted by the skeletons in his closet.

(She's confused when she first hears about Chloé. She's horrified when she hears what happened. She questions everything and regrets a lot, though Chloé assures her it's not her fault and she couldn't have known.)

[ssreeder]

I RESENT THAT "NO LONGER GIVES A FUCK" STATUS, I DO GIVE A FUCK, MANY FUCKS, TOO MUCH FUCK, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY I'M HAPPY WITH JETS SUFFERING

Hold on. Ok

The way i see it, Just t *owes* me his suffering for what he did to Zuko and accidentally killing Shen. I'm fragioe with MY babies. Jet is the bastard that hurt them, so i want to see him writhe in pain

After his suffering he can apply to become my dear baby but only if he stops trying to get zuko killed (bc I'm not sure he'll backtrack all his dying progress when he realizes zuko didn't actually die and sokka is still happily with his boyfriend lol). Alternately, even if he's still awful but powerless against zuko, AND he starts the domino effect towards zuko and sokka being able to openly be together? I can forgive his entire existence

So you see, I'm very soft and malleable. I just require a bit of suffering to forgive

-An absolute Fragile Heart

TSK TSK

Jet felt like he was backed into a corner, and you never corner a wild animal. (Yes we could argue he is a human not an animal but Jet doesn’t always live up to the human being standard so wild animal it is)

He reacted from his own trauma and did what he thought was best, no it wasn’t good, but he tried. In all fairness he didn’t think through the fallout of his letter… oh well, you are correct Shen did die & Zuko was delivered almost dead so yeah you’re right.

Oh Jet is suffering haha & will continue to suffer but it’s hard to say what his reaction to Zuko being a live will be lol. We’ll see…. :D

[wayward-wren]

Actually no. Anyone who doesn't like Adric clearly doesn't have a younger brother.

[dhmis-autism]

i feel like the original series was red guy centered, the first season was for yellow guy, and i am BEGGING AND PRAYING that season 2 will be more about duck!! i will probably cry if anything happens to him though lol 💀 everytime writers break a comic relief character i just OUGSHGS.. it gets me.

h well I don't think you're wrong about that! Webseries being Red Guys time to shine, S1 of the TV show being for Yellow (esp the last two episodes I think? Even thought outside of that, he does get a lot of focus/he IS the one who talks to the audience the most directly). From what I remember hearing, the pilot was pretty Duck-centered.

But I think even if he GETS his big moment in the sun, so to speak, it's NOT going to be as emotional as the other twos. On top of him just not being a very um… let's say sentimental character, he's just not the make-you-cry type! It's just not him imo!

IDK, I operate under the opinion that… in his weird little head, the most important thing that he values over everything is keeping the three of them together. Both because he thinks of them as a weird little family AND because he really doesn't have anyone else outside of the trio. We also know from the interview, and you could maybe argue from the Family episode ( Who do you love?/Anyone who loves me back., I asked every member of my family who they loved the most, and they all said me ) that being loved is something that he actually values QUITE a bit! More than you would assume on first glance! He's weirdly upfront about it haha!

In that way, I imagine that if they were to TRY to pull something to put him in the spotlight in the way you're imagining (i.e. something emotional and focusing on his issues like they did with Yellow & Red) it would either focus on his desire to be loved OR his dedication to keeping the three of them together. But I would argue they both already did that in the Family episode AND put him through the worst case-scenario in regards to those more emotional aspects of his character ( here I think the worst case scenario to him is the other two rejecting him, harshly, unambiguously and to his face, multiple times and the three of them separating ). AND THE THING IS… THAT ALREADY HAPPENED! THAT DIDN'T BREAK HIM!

He had his little pout over it in his dress and was like FINE! I DON'T NEED THEM ANYWAYS! So, I really don't think that big "character-breaking" moment is coming. If the Family ep didn't get him I honest to God don't think there's anything else the house could throw at him that could get under his skin.

[danidoesathing]

I know I should have never looked back

But you ain’t gonna win a woman’s heart like that

I never should have called his bluff

I was born to lose 'cause I’m a fool for love

Fool For Love - Lord Huron