#but the kenny crowd are usually the ones fighting with everyone about what a sad backstory he has and why that excuses everything he did

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I loved your ranking of Jane! She gets way too much hat. Tbh I like her way more than Kenny

Thanks anon, glad you enjoyed the post!

But yes, I agree. I think Jane gets too much hate and I believe it comes from a misunderstanding of her character, as well as a lot of bias set in Kenny's favor.

Believe me, I understand a lot of the criticism with her character and I don't fault anyone for disliking her. To each their own, y'know?

I find her compelling and way more likeable than Kenny, and while I stand by the Wellington ending being the best outcome for Clementine and AJ, I loathe that you only get it by going with Kenny. Personally, if forced to throw out the Wellington ending, Jane is Clementine's best option as far as S2's ending goes...

...We don't talk about ANF Jane. ANF is forever on my shitlist for what it did to Jane. You ever want to study a great example of writers fully misunderstanding a character then writing a total character assassination? Then look at Jane in ANF.

But anyway, Jane isn't heartless and she actually listens to Clementine when she chews her out and tries to improve, something Kenny just... doesn't do, no matter how many times he says he will be better. Actions speak louder than words, my guy.

One example I can give comes with Arvo. Jane will threaten him with a gun and suggest they take his stuff, that she doesn't care about his supposed sick sister, all that... no matter the outcome, Jane shows remorse for her actions and questions how she got to the point of threatening a kid like Arvo, someone clearly powerless against her and in a position to be taken advantage of.

Then you have Kenny who treats Arvo as a personal punching bag and never once does he feel remorse. Kenny just treats him as an outlet for his rage, nothing more. Arvo isn't even a person to him. Hell, he cares more about going after Arvo and beating his ass than he does if Clementine falls through the ice while trying to save Luke.

You know who pulls Clementine out of the icy water? Not Kenny. Jane does, and she's the only one in a huge panic about her freezing to death, running around looking for a way to start a fire and what is Kenny doing? Right, beating Arvo again.

That's just one example. Also, to touch on the topic of Sarah, because I know that's a big thing for people who dislike Jane which fair enough, I get that. I don't have time to give a full analysis, but Jane's backstory is a huge part of why she tells Clementine that Sarah's going to bring her down. Sarah isn't in good shape after Carlos is killed, and you can't just pretend that she didn't endanger them when she refused to move. It makes sense why she doesn't, and it's incredibly tragic, but Jane can see as an outside observer with no attachment to Sarah that if they stay here, they're all going to die. So, either Clementine forces her to move, abandons her, or dies with her.

There are plenty of flaws with how Sarah is portrayed and handled in S2, again I don't have the time to give a full analysis, but Jane is gentle no matter what Clementine decides to do, save her or leave her. She doesn't chew Clementine out, she doesn't say, "I told you so." Jane explains her story with her sister, and the Sarah situation clearly triggered that trauma for her.

Again, soooo easy for people who hate Jane to be like "see?? she left her sister to die?? Jane bad, she want Sarah dead too," but that's just purposely ignoring the nuance and grey of the situation so you can think easy. And no, Jane doesn't want Sarah to die, that's just a straight up lie.

When Sarah is trapped, Jane will put aside her beliefs and safety to help Sarah when Clementine asks her to. It's not Jane's fault Sarah died. Maybe if she hadn't been hit with that plank of wood, she could've gotten to her faster. Maybe she would've died because Sarah was such in a state of panic that she would've brought her down, too. Y'know that drowning metaphor-- a drowning person will almost always pull you down, is it worth sinking with them? all that.

I want to make it clear that this isn't Sarah's fault. She's a victim here, both in the situation and in the games writing. Jane knows this, too. She's sincere in her apology to Clementine, and seeing Sarah die is yet another trigger that causes her to leave.

There's so much about Jane's character that I could get into, and I plan on it at some point. Like I said in my tier list, Jane is a great character and I'm tired of pretending she's not.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Caught In The Storm" *Part 7*

I'm sorry I cut the last one at a REALLY bad part and this chapter HAS to end here. I'M SO SORRY It's so short!

....Especially because I think I'm gonna wait to post the rest tomorrow. {later today?}

I'm so sorry don't hate me!!!!

PART 8 IS HERE!!!

Tag List

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@gibbs274

@lolliepopsicle

@milkshqke

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@aprildecker-blog

@word-scribbless

@objection-argumentative

“Hey baby I grabbed us some champagne,” Nathan smiled, coming back with two glasses of champagne. “Hey guys isn't she amazing?” He acknowledged the others.

“She really is,” Olivia smiled back.

“Hey So--sweetie, I know that this is your big night. But I've got a really big case tomorrow so I need to take off. Are you going to be okay?” Nathan made a “Sorry” face.

You looked back at him, stunned. Was he really going to take off on your big night? You looked at the group of your family who didn't seem as offended as you felt; which was weird, because they usually feel more protective of you than you do.

“Are you serious?” Rafael suddenly came up from behind you out of nowhere. “You're going to abandon your girlfriend on the biggest night of her life?”

“Rafael.. I don't think you need to be so hard on him,” Olivia told him through gritted teeth.

Something was going on. Something Rafael was clearly not in on. He looked at Liv, still confused.

“How are you not more upset about this?” He asked her. “I'm the biggest lawyer in New York and I'm not even leaving for a case!”

“I just think that you should let Nathan do what he needs to do,” Olivia insisted.

“Whatever,” Rafael rolled his eyes while You looked between all of them with a super confused look on your face.

“I mean if you have to go, then you have to go. I'll see you tomorrow,” You smiled awkwardly at Nathan.

“Thank you baby I promise I'll make it up to you,” he smiled. “I love you very much and congratulations again I'm so proud of you!” He said before running off into the crowd.

“Can you believe the nerve of that guy?” Rafael scoffed

“Why do you care so much?” You suddenly turned back to him with an angry look.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you care what my boyfriend does?” You asked him again angrily. How dare he just insult Nathan like that.

“I don't,” Rafael scoffed.

“Bullshit,” you spat. “You constantly drag on him at work. He tells me things, Rafael. That’s what two people do when they love each other, they TELL each other things,” You enunciated, making it clear this was bigger than Nathan.

“So why are you so mean to him?” You accused him.

Olivia, Nick and Fin watched the fight unfolding between you two in nervousness, looking around as if they were waiting for something to pop off quickly.

“I just don't think that he's good enough for you!” Rafael finally yelled, causing the others to gasp softly.

“Barba, I really don't think that now is the time to start this…” Amaro tried whispering to Rafael, but he was too angry to hear anything.

“I'm sorry, he's not good enough for me?!” You laughed sarcastically. “Then tell me Rafael,” you started, with tears starting to form. “Who is good enough for me?”

Before Rafael could answer, you heard someone tapping on a mic. You looked to the stage to see Nathan standing there with a huge smile. You looked to the left and saw Sonny and Amanda had returned with food watching anxiously. You looked at Rafael who was staring in horror. You felt your heart racing.

“Please don't be happening….” You begged Silently.

“Hello all. I don't know if you know me but I'm Nathan Price, Y/N’s boyfriend. I know that this is the biggest night of her life, I know it's something she's wanted for a very long time, and I am so proud of her.” He looked at you with love and affection.

“And I know that tonight is all about her and her album, and her accomplishments and I don't want to take away from that but..”

“No no no…” you thought you heard Rafael whisper. You glanced over but Nathan started talking before you could see him.

“Y/N could you come up here please?” He asked.

Everyone in the room turned to look at you. You took a shaky breath and made your way up to the stage. You could feel the hot lights burning down on you like the sun. You knew that you should be absolutely ecstatic In This moment, if it was going to be what you expected it to be.

“I love you so much Y/N and I am so proud to call you mine,” he started. “And I want to be able to call you mine for the rest of my life so…” he knelt down and pulled out a huge diamond ring.

“Will you marry me?”

You could hear the whole room gasp and then go so silent, you could hear a pin drop in the room.

You looked out into the crowd searching for Rafael's face to see if he was excited for you or something else. But all you could see was the bright lights, nothing else. You felt your hands shaking, your whole body was shaking, your breath was quickening, you were sweating. You should be absolutely happy in this moment, here was this great man, asking you to be his.. his? Like you were his property? Whatever. He's asking to spend the rest of his life with you and he was a good kind man. And you didn't have anyone else.

After a very long time of you in your head, in a very awkward silence Nathan jokingly whispered. “Kind of leaving me hanging here babe,” with a nervous laugh.

“I am.. I.. well..” You took a deep breath and put on the biggest smile you could.

“Of course I will, Nathan,” You answered as tears were lining your eyes. You knew that people would think that you were crying in happiness, but you knew that they were for a different reason. Nathan smiled hugely and put the ring on your finger and then picked you up and spun you around.

“Now it's the happiest day of my life!” He laughed.

Afterwards you went and found your family in the crowd. They were all smiling hugely.

You knew this was going to happen didn't you? You asked

“Maybe... Olivia smiled. You looked over to Kelsey and Kenny. “And you too? Maybe…” Kenny Laughed.

You looked at Kelsey, who had a guilty look on her face. This is exactly why she was trying to talk you out of being sad last night. She knew that Nathan was going to ask you to spend the rest of his life with him, to trap you. Trap you shouldn't be the first thing you think of when being engaged you realized. Then you also realized that Rafael was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did Rafa go?” You asked innocently and you saw everyone's faces but Nathan's turned into weird looks.

“Oh I think he left,” Kelsey piped up. “I think he actually did have a case in the morning,'' she added with a smirk. You wanted to yell at her that he wouldn't do that, especially after he gave Nathan such a hard time.

You wanted to yell at her that she should have minded her own fucking business, and now she was setting you up to be stuck for the rest of your life. You wanted to tell her that a best friend would never let their best friend be anything but happy. But instead you just smiled sadly and said:

“I guess so,”

Outside the party, Rafael was standing outside practically hyperventilating. He couldn't believe that he had screwed this up so bad. He couldn't believe that he didn't stand up and say something while that stupid prick was talking. He couldn't believe that he hadn't said anything sooner. He regretted so many things, so many times and now he really had lost his chance and he'd have to live with it forever. He broke down crying as he sadly walked away from the party and you, forever.

[omegatheunknown]

AEW ALL OUT 2021

In which, not to get ahead of myself here, AEW puts on one of the best major wrestling shows in several years*, following the simple yet effective principle of giving the people what they want and sending everyone home happy and hungry for more.

- The incredibly 'Nitro' ending of the go-home Dynamite, which ran a little long on the 'heels beat everyone up and strut around like assholes almost too in desperate need of comeuppance' bit, short of garbage raining into the ring, did actually increase the heat for both promoted matches. Again, not rocket science, but executed perfectly. Catharsis was on the card, and catharsis went over several times Sunday. - Again, it's time to move on from the Casino theme, shuffling the deck and drawing suits really only detracted from the Battle Royale and seemingly always throws the production crew a curve. If they haven't hammered it by now, it's not going to happen. - Bit unhappy about the PAC/Andrade situation, but still over the moon with Andrade's promo style and Chavito being unhelpful at best.

*Pre-Card

Best Friends and Jurassic Express v The Hardy Family Office and The Hybrid 2 (**) - Not usually much to say about a loaded-up multiteam boondoggle, particularly when the show has yet to begin, but there were some moments worth sitting up to take notice -- there's a lot of talent in the ring, even if Jack Evans/Angelico aren't going to be more than mid-level mooks, little matchups with guys like Luchasaurus and Chuck Taylor are opportunities for innovative/weird spots. - Really this match exists to show-off Jungle Boy, play his theme song twice, and work him in to the aforementioned spots. I don't rightly know what Jungle Jack's ceiling is, but it sort of feels like he's plateauing, at least this version of himself. - Dan Lambert thing is interesting in that it doesn't seem to easily lead to something obvious... I mean who are Scorp and Ethan Page feuding with by proxy here, the concept of contemporary professional wrestling? Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega?

*Main Card

Miro (C) v Eddie Kingston for the TNT Championship (***1/2) - 'Redeem Deez Nuts' T-shirts now available -- and made immediately redundant now that Miro has graciously redeemed Eddie's nuts. - Imagine looking at Miro, listening to Miro talk, and not really being able to figure out this guy is money. Also imagine panicking when he took a little while to find his groove in AEW. 'The Redeemer' is both entertaining and terrifying, and this match delivered heavily on the promise of two big fellas smacking together repeatedly. - Not only does Eddie's arsenal of power moves target Miro's neck, he may also be quite difficult to put in the full reclined camel clutch. Or he'd quite literally snap in half. It didn't come to that. - Weird heel turn by Bryce's attention span and the overall weirdness of the finish is all that kept this from being an excellent match, otherwise this was a tremendous curtain jerker and started off a dangerously fun run of pure adrenaline.

Jon Moxley v Satoshi Kojima (****) - The stakes were nebulous, the build was abrupt, yet this was a fantastic match and tremendous showcase for an underappreciated great who has been more or less just toiling for a bunch of years as a NJPW Dad. Same deal for Nagata, and I assume Tenzan is the same, Taka Michinoku even -- let's see it. - I have to assume the Cozy Lariat might have put Mox down, but Kojima otherwise played the hits (Koji Cutter, Piledriver, Brainbustaaaa) in a big way and Moxley once again proved he's become a very well-rounded wrestler who can match the intensity of just about any former IWGP champion. - More to the point-- KAZE NI NARE -- out of nowhere, too. Or out of nowhere to those not paying attention to the whereabouts of Minoru Suzuki (Right, he's just over here to fight Daniel Garcia and not Mox?), which I guess is to my own peril. Wow, though. Surprise Number 1- a complete surprise, and a welcome one. Let's have it.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD (C) v Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship (****) - I love Kris and her best friends but she didn't have a prayer of dethroning Britt. She got one promo, several weeks ago, and though she did make a meal of Hayter and Rebel, the chase has been abrupt and not given much discussion, other than Mark Henry and whomever else acknowledging what is extremely evident -- Statlander is stronger than she looks, and she looks really strong. They've got her doing Cesaro-level 'modify your grip while holding your opponent's entire weight' nonsense, and it's amazing and scary. - Even with the reign of the good doctor not being credibly threatened, this was an excellent match that demonstrated the continued growth of the competitors in the women's division, even as it underlined that their storylines remain undercooked and perfunctory: Orange Cassidy whipping off his shades to urge Stat to get up was a beautiful moment. Britt's Panama Sunrise, also, too sweet. Statlander eating shit on her 451 and her pendulum moonsault was properly brutal, as were Britt's curb stomps. Really great match between these two. - Again, if they had bothered to write anything into this story, such as Kris' alien physiology making her immune to the lockjaw or something... actually, maybe that's a terrible idea. it's an idea. Undefeated challenger is defeated, on to the next for Dr Britt. Statlander and OC should tag against some of the boys.

The Young Bucks (C) v The Lucha Bros for the AEW World Tag Team Championship(*****+) - Can't not mention the insane entrance lined up for Fenix and Penta. It was bewildering, it was enchanting, it was aggressive, it was hype. It also reminded everybody how very badly we all wanted the Lucha Bros to win. The crowd has been setting new peaks with their volume since Punk showed up, but things were absolutely thunderous and ecstatic at the end of this match. Absolutely valid response. I yelled on the couch. - Nick's facial hair was a bigger tell that it was time for the Bucks to lose than anything else about this build. There's literally nowhere to go from there -- they've done the hair, the bandanas, the kicks, the animal print, the dangly earrings -- peak visual heel for this time and place. - Sincerely thought this was going to be too much of a full sprint spot-fest (the PWG-esque circle of trading blows is not really 'my thing') but even so they kept finding gears, and ramping and ramping and adding blood and brutality along the way. Even a bit of levity, with the tacked up sneaker, followed by the sincerity of Penta throwing himself in harm's way to protect his brother. Immense match, I think you'd have to go back to the Bucks vs the Addiction and MCMGs Ladder War to find a more thrilling tag team gimmick match. - If there's a single flaw to be found it's in the production not really settling on wide angles for simultaneous action at the start of the match. They figured it out. - Rey Fenix is the best luchador in the world.

Women's Casino Battle Royale (**1/2) - If nothing else, this really shows off that they now have a surplus of women's wrestlers who deserve time to hang in the ring. Unsurprisingly, the match picked right up when Thunder Rosa and then Jamie Hayter got to the ring, with additional props to Tay Conti and Jade Cargill, who was dumped rather unceremoniously given her general booking... - Okay, there was something else. Welcome to the rechristened Ruby Soho, who I've not seen a lot of outside of her extremely limited showcase in WWE, but she has so many friends in the back and in the industry and that's never for nothing, not in wrestling, anyway. Intrigued to see where she fits, and if the women ever get more than a match per show. - Touched on this in the preamble but this was the roughest part of the night for the home viewer, just weird decisions on cutting away from various entrances to show... nothing in particular happening. Also while the commitment to not-kayfabing the countdown clock is... admirable? It makes the pacing hinky. - Almost everyone who got new gear for tonight was looking like the white ranger -- Nyla, Swole, Bunny, someone I'm missing. Except Anna Jay, whose stars and glitter gear looked great.

MJF v Chris Jericho for the fate of Jericho's in-ring career (***) - MJF's unauthorized homage to Y2J's entrance: good. Fozzy's guitarist going off tempo with the instrumental Judas: weak, and would've been sad if this were the end for Jericho. Especially as the build has felt... muted, somehow. - Props to the commentary for continuing to feed the red herring of 'in AEW,' as a caveat to stipulation, it did feel like... a remote possibility that MJF would win. - Credit to Aubrey for calling this one down the middle and not putting the fix in for her friend Jericho, and I guess the Dusty finish will give MJF plenty to gripe about. - MJF wrestles with a pure heel style, holds, chops, blocks, and Jericho is fifty years old, so the level of wrestling on exhibition in these matches is well beside the point. It was solid to good, and I was fighting burn out from the first half of the card's level of excitement.

CM Punk v Darby Allin (***1/2) - There are a couple benefits of Darby as a dance partner, and it's certainly better than having to watch Punk return against like, QT Marshall or Shawn Spears. Darby does make everyone look slow, but he can also be tossed around, and this raises his profile even in defeat, obviously. That said, the stakes here are... meta, at best, in that we want to see the man look good and justify the hype. It's a weird thing to root for. He certainly does look good. (Tights? Tights!) - It's fun to theorize about actually booking an angle where Punk is rusty and needs to regain his prowess, and maybe he'll stumble, but maybe the most we get out of that angle is hitting the GTS a little close to the ropes so Darby falls right out of the ring, in what was, for me, the spot that justified this whole match. - Sting's proud step-dad aura is still a hell of a thing, I really liked the end of the match kudos all around. - Match was good, hard to hang my emotions on. I wasn't watching WWE when Punk was in WWE. Definitely feeding off the excitement of others a bit here, and he sure can talk. I'd like to see him cultivate a stable, certainly.

Paul Wight v QT Marshall (n/r) - ...popcorn match? QT Marshall is like the anti-Daniel Garcia in that while his prominence and presence is just as inexplicable, I don't want it to continue, and he doesn't justify it in the process. - Match was two minutes longer than it needed to be.

Kenny Omega (c) v Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship (****1/2) - Crowd was both burnt out and more or less waiting for the post-match angle. Which I get. it's hard to cruise to the main event and having seen all the different things we've already seen on this card, even a singular performer like Kenny Omega and a legend with whom he (surprisingly? fittingly?) has superb chemistry with in Christian Cage were up against it to deliver something memorable. - Context dependent, I can definitely see rating this below their Rampage match, especially since... I mean Christian isn't winning the AEW title off Kenny at this or probably any other event. - But! It was really good! It was very good! They really do match-up well, and Kenny's v-trigger has rarely looked more devastating than when it knocks Christian flat. Christian got cut open in a novel and initially worrying way, and Kenny followed up a botched moonsault with a harder version of the same move off a rail, but it was a really great match and it deserved more energy than was available.

Post-Show - Calling back and inverting the end of Dynamite, The Elite strut about the ring, slightly less stoked than they were on Wednesday, but with the Bucks smiling through the pain, and Jungle Boy once again subjected to violence for his misguided heroism, Kenny 'not much a promo' Omega lays down a killer line about nobody being fit to challenge him who isn't unavailable, already tired or dead. - The Undertaker ADAM COLE, BAY BAY as Surprise #3 was a minor stroke of brilliance, and a fun swerve because while it's exciting to see him, his appearance at this point in the narrative does nothing to solve the problem of The Elite beating up Christian and Jungle Boy. Unless he's still sore about his unsolved murder, which he isn't. Storytime with Adam Cole is back and it's beautiful. Also Jungle Boy died for this. - Okay. But. Just. Okay. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are All Elite. They will hopefully tag together. Bryan will head to NJPW, almost definitely. Minoru Suzuki just walked in and started slugging on Mox. The Forbidden Door is wide open. Will Kenny Omega one day return to Wrestle Kingdom? There are so many possibilities and they are all very exciting. This was a phenomenal show and it didn't have Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, PAC, Andrade, Sammy Guevara, Team Taz, and the rest.

- Wrestling is good, actually. Imagine watching like five hours of wrestling and loving wrestling at the end of it.

*What competes- WK11, Dominion 2018, 2019, DoN 2019, 2021.. All-In, probably. Wrestlemania 30. A few Takeovers. Kris Wolf's retirement show...

[popculturebuffet]

Final Space: And Into The Fire Review or Now with 110% More Homoerotic Telepathy

Welcome  new and old to my first Final Space review! If you’ve never seen the blog before, and given this is the first “new” series i’ve covered as it come out in some time that’s probably quite a few of you, welcome. I’m Jake, I do recaps and reviews of various animated shows and comics, mostly just stuff I want to do, often on comission (5 dollars an episode if theres any episode of the first two seasons of this show or any episode of any other show you’d like tos ee me cover), or for my patreon patreon.com/popculturebuffet. And it is my utmost honor to add this show to my rotating roster of shows I cover as they come out. 

I friggin love Final Space. I was intrigued by it back when TBS released the animatics alongside Close Enough (Wth the two shows ironically finally together on HBO max as of earlier this month), for their doomed block. I heard a lot of good things about season 1.. and let it get away from me, not watching it till Season 2. But both seasons had more than enough to pull me in with intriguging characters, even greater jokes and a truly unique idea for a premise involving giant monsters, an edltrich god and lots of cookies. 

So while it took an extra year given Covid, I’m super friggin pumped to get into season 3 at long last after the hell of a cliffhanger, especially since ironically last night I saw Steven Yeun’s oscar nominated performance in “Minari”. Now i get to watch him play a cat teenager again too.. and in a few days Mark friggin Grayson. It’s a good week to be a fan of his is what i’m saying and a good week in general. 

Previously on Final Space Yo!: Since it’s been a year and while the series provides  a recap , I’m going to be doing these anyway so:

Our heroes finally got all 5 dimensional keys and freed Bolo, and in the process also freed Avacato from Invictus, the horrifying entity controlling final space. Meanwhile Tribore got Sheryl to stop being a selfish prick and she joined the team trying to be a better mother from now on. But freeing Bolo came at a high cost as Nightfall sacrified herself as the sixth key (KVN was natrually both Gary and Bolo’s first choice, but was inllegible. ) So we ended the season with our heroes entering Final Space and Gary reuniting with Quinn.... while Invictus loomed. So over a year later we finally get some answers so join me under the cut for spoilers, recaps, and homoerotic text ahoy. 

Something i’m doing since both the roster keeps changing.. and as I correctly guessed from the trailer, and the general tone of the promos for this season, that everyone won’t be all together all season.. or even in one piece.. i’ll be doing a silver age style roll call to let us know who all we have on the Team Squad for the episode Roll Call: Gary, Quinn, Avacato, Little Cato, Ash, Fox, KVN, HUE, AVA, Sheryl, Bolo, and Tribore

So we pick up right where we left off, Gary tearfully reuniting with Quinn, with Quinn wishing he hadn’t come for her, and Gary being Gary naturally having ignored that, and actually been more determined since that made it forbidden which made it extra tempting and him want to extra do it. God I missed this glorious idiot let me tell you. 

So things are quickly interrupted by invictus, who turns out to be a giant flaming head.. thing... and chases them and the crimson light, which has to start speeding with our heroes tethered to the outside, Quinn holding onto Gary. 

So we get one hell of a thrilling chase as the Crimson Light outspeeds the demon head and runs into two titans, but Bolo shows up to take out one, with Mooncake trying his dimension shattering blast thingy on Invictus.. and naturlaly g ven this is the big bad we need to show off how horrying they are, and it does NOTHING. But Gary catches his little buddy so we’re alright. 

Sheryl also shows off her badass bonafieds by LIGHTFOLDING THROUGH A TITAN... granted she still has some parenting skills to learn as “lightfolding while your son is hanging out the back through an edltrich god” really isn’t a motherly thing to do.. but neither is trying to murder your child several times or blaming him for how shitty your life turned out so ANYTHING is a step up for her. 

But.. it’s not enough. While she does manage to kill ONE the Crimson Light is too badly damaged to go on and we get two tragic deaths in one go... The Team Squad is forced to abandon the Crimson Light.. and AVA is too damaged to Upload into HUE. “I’m Sad” “For who?” “For you.. and for us. “ God damn Tom Kenny is amazing. You don’t need me telling you that, but sometimes you need a reminder. 

So our heroes end up on a desolate mystery world, stranded in final space with no ship, no suplies and no hope. The only thing to do now is survivie and hope they can continue the mission at some point. 

ONE MONTH LATER

Things have not gotten any better, as naturally , our heroes have only found weird cartoon eyed worms that regrow their heads when you bite them off. So while this means unlimited food, it’s also disgusting and Garry hates it. “This may be a head but it tastes like a butt”. Quinn and Tribore are with him and Quinn hasn’t been ready to talk about her experiences trapped in this hellscape and still isn’t but being a good dude, Gary dosen’t push her on it. Though the weird red veiny thing on her arm tells me maybe one of you should speed that up before she explodes or gets cronnenburgy. Just saying. I’ll also say i’m not huge on the one month time skip, as while I feel they probably have a reason for being that specific i’ts a bit TOO long and I question why have that long a period of a jump, not the longest but still long enough for things to happen with nothing changingin that time? Still it’s a minor nitpick in an otherwise fantastic episode so I can let it go, I just don’t get it. 

What we do get is some Gary Corpses dropping and Invictius puppeting them... i’m with gary that is bowel openingly scary. I also do like how despite the FAR more dire circumstances, they still get in the requisite shenanigans this series requires. I’ts not to the network mandated subplot levels where it distracts, but it’s enough to help ease the terror of the situation and isn’t around for situations like the opening where it really SHOULDN’T be. As the series always has when something big happens, the bollocks goes away. Once we’re in between we can get back to literal pissing contests, KVN leading a crowd to their deaths and HUE in a pimp hat like god intended. 

So yeah our heroes have to outrun the horrible horde of Gary’s, though Little Cato catches on something’s wrong as Tribore makes gary cary him as foreshadowing for later and Sends mooncake down to asssit. Our heroes escape.. but a cave in happens.

After the break, Gary wakes up confused with the party now split in two: Gary, Quinn, KVN, Tribore and HUE on one side and Avacato, Ash, Fox, Little Cato and Sheryl on the other. So Gary does the logical thing... and take his shirt off telling Avacato to feel him. 

I mean I didn’t even ship them before this scene but... Gary claims because of their bond he can telepahtically connect with Avacato. That’s normal Gary shenanigans.. except not only does he shrug off his girlfriend asking why they can’t do that.. but it WORKS. We have a scene of the two telepahtically talking in a wheatfield that is so homerotic I guarantee there only wasn’t the Careless Whisper sax because they couldn’t afford it.. or their saving it for later this season. Look sometimes you don’t ship a ship because you just.. dont’ care that strongly one way or another and sometimes you just need an incredibly gay scene to see the light. Same thing happened with Weblena same thing here. 

Fox also says “that was glorious to watch” same man. That was freaking art. So our heroes split up into three plots. As usual for me

Team Gary: So yeah... Triobore’s pregnant. No way to really softball into that. He’s been pregnant this whole time. So we get a stupid and mildly horrifying gross out sequence with Gary having to look Triobore in teh eyes and Quinn having to “uncork him”. Which is code for ... you know what i’m not going to say it. If you’ve seen the episode you know and if not your better off not visualizing it trust me. Point is this whole sequence is dumb and the worst part of the episode by far. And the series CAN do good gross out. While Olan Rodgers regrets it, the pissing contest was one of the funniest scenes of season 2, and managed to make a gross idea on paper actually pretty damn funny. This.. this is just “Haha males giving birth and tribore’s an asshole”. There’s no joke here just a .. plug. .. gah.. the vomit is rising let me tell you. 

We do get something good out of this nightmare, Tribore’s son who hatches as the army of gary’s dig their way in, Quanstranstro, who rapidly ages into a stylsih spanish speaking adult badass. He is fucking awesome and a great addition to the team and the sheer.. oddity of his birth is wonderful even if the actual birthing was not. Then the climax happens so before that. 

Team Avacato:

Avacato and Co come across a sleeping giant robot cyborg .. thingy. Naturally Fox wakes him up. Little Cato remains not suprised. It occelates between panicking over it’s legs being gone and amenisa and is pretty damn funny. It’s voiced by John Dimagio. But it gets serious as we find out nothing has ever made it out of final space, and things.. change the longer there there. And Quinn’s been there several months if not a year. Whuh oh. This part is much better both due to better jokes and plot advancment.. though again Quanstrano is still fucking amazing. 

Team Bolo: Bolo meanwhile returns and fights a titan, and has mooncake help him rather htan join the others, but looses, hitting the planet with his body.. I mean he might not get back up.. but the impact shatters the caverns and causes an explosion. Everyone but Gary, Quinn, KVN and HUE are MIA, as our remaining party find earth floating overhead. 

TO BE CONTINUED> 

Final Thoughts: A decent start to the season. Like I said the whole birthing sequence can die in a fire and reminds me of the terrible comedy subplots adult swim wanted grafted onto two episodes.. but otherwise it’s a tense stark opener that sets up the bleak tone while still keeping the series rediciulous shenanigans in tact. It’s the perfect welcome back after so long. I mean the gay telepathy alone would make it a winner. 

Next Time on This Blog: We dive into a little history with HIsteria. See you at the next rainbow. 

[yrpspiritsintheshadows]

Para-Normal

Para-Normal

“Don’t forget, we have dinner at my mom’s tonight.” Carmen reminded as Eiji hurried by her, getting ready for work.

“Mm-hm.”

“And we’re bringing the cider I bought.”

“Mm-hm.” Eiji looked through his bag to be sure he had all of his notes and lesson plan ready. Had he remembered to grade those papers? No, he definitely had. He walked by Ken, who was trying to eat as slowly as possible. “Finish your breakfast please, I gotta get you to school too.”

Okami whined, laying next to Ken’s seat, looking up longingly at his plate, watching each bite the young boy took.

Ken took a deliberately slow bite, keeping his eyes locked with his father’s, mischief dancing in them.

EIji reached over, swiping a piece of the pancake off his plate.

“Hey!”

“C’mon, kiddo, finish your food so we can get a move on.”

Ken quickly finished his food before getting up, hurrying to grab his backpack.

“By the way, Eiji?”

“Mm-hm?”

Carmen walked up to him, tying his tie for him quickly, giving him an amused look.

“Now you can go, Mm-hm.”

He grinned sheepishly, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek. He touched his forehead to hers as he gazed into her eyes.

“I love you. Sorry I’m so scatterbrained this morning.”

“I forgive you and love you too. Now, go. You too, mister.”

Ken rushed up to her as she knelt down for a quick hug.

“I love you, Mommy!”

“I love you too. Now, be good.”

“Si!”

With a wave, both father and son were out. Ken reached up at the banister to the porch stairs, trying to heave himself onto it. Eiji lifted him up without effort, hurrying to the car.

“No.”

“Uncle Chase said I got good balance.”

“Uncle Chase also still free runs to work… but I won’t deny you do. Just don’t want you doing dangerous stuff.”

The mornings were almost always like this. Hurrying because of one reason or another… or staying up way too late in the case for Eiji.

“So, how’d you sleep, huh?”

Ken didn’t answer him at first, staring out the window at the scenery that passed them. His eyes fixed on something else.

“... I had nightmares.” He finally said after about five minutes.

Eiji frowned.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Ken shook his head.

“No thank you.”

Ken had nightmares, unfortunately, rather frequently. Not as often as when he was much younger but when they happened, they were pretty bad.

They always left the boy with an odd feeling. Like things were going to change or that something was going to happen.

“You sure?”

“I'm okay, really.”

“You got a weird feeling?”

“.. Yes.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me if that gets worse, okay?”

Ken nodded, perking up as they pulled into his school. Eiji reached over, ruffling his hair.

“Now, have a good day at school. Give ‘em Hell.”

“I will! Love you!” Ken grinned before running off to go meet up with his friends.

Eiji watched him for a moment before sighing, grabbing his phone to text his wife.

“Be careful. Ken has one of his feelings again.”

oooooo

Eiji paced across his classroom, reading from the book in his hands aloud as his students listened with rapt attention.

“There are places you can go.” Ariana tells him, “and a guy like you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen.” He read off, glancing up to be sure his students were paying attention. He noted one sneaking a glance at her phone and loudly cleared his throat, gaining their attention. He gave a stern look. “Let’s not interrupt class now, hm? Please show me the same respect you give your internet friends.”

“Y-Yes, Mr. Miyamoto.” She tucked the phone away, giving a sheepish look.

Eiji smiled, giving a nod as he turned back to the book. Being an English teacher lead to some liberties of how he could run his class… and in this case, the class book was one near and dear to his heart.

He knew he had some reluctant readers in his class. He couldn’t blame them. Some of the books they had to read in their previous years were ones he hadn’t been interested in either as a teen. So, he wanted to go for something that would be more fun.

He was still firm but this was just part of routine.

At least he didn’t have Chase’s class, he figured, fighting down a smirk.

“Eiji, kill me. They want me to teach them parkour. They know what I do in my off time.”

“I thought you wanted to be the “cool” teacher.”

“What am I supposed to do with that though!?”

“Tell ‘em if your teacher was gonna jump off a building, would you do it too?”

“... I swear sometimes I want to just smack you.”

“Ahuh. You got leaves in your hair. Again.”

“DANGIT!”

Chase was an intelligent man. There was a reason he was their go to for info on haunted locations in their town and the towns nearby, but he had his quirks. They all did.

It just seemed like a stroke of luck that he wound up working in the same school, a room over from one of his closest friends.

With that thought in mind, Eiji kept on with his class until the lesson was ending for the day. He glanced at the clock briefly, lowering his reading glasses.

“Alright, I want you guys to read chapters ten to fifteen tonight and then tomorrow we will go over it and see how far along we can get. That’s all the homework I’m giving you guys this time.” He turned to put his book away, glancing up once more. “Also, I will know if you guys decide to not read and try to bullcrap your way out of it. Okay?”

“Yes sir!”

“Atta kids.”

The bell rang as his students started to get up. He held up a hand.

“One more thing.” He gave a gentle smile. “If you guys ever need to talk about anything, to an impartial ear or just need someone to vent to, don’t hesitate to come find me, any time during the school day or after. Okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Miyamoto!”

“Thanks, Teach!”

“Hey, do you think Connor’s gonna make it?”

Eiji chuckled.

“Well, read and find out. Be safe now.”

They all started to head out but one boy slowed to a stop. A young man of about fourteen, with long shaggy black hair tied back into a ponytail. He looked back at Eiji, his eyes having a sad look to him.

Eiji frowned.

“Something wrong, Hideki?”

“Um... “ Hideki had something cross his gaze Eiji couldn’t quite make out before shaking his head, forcing a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Nothing. See you.”

“You sure? I got time.”

“N-Nah. It’s stupid.”

“Hideki-”

The boy was gone in the crowd seconds later. Eiji sighed heavily, hoping he would be alright.

He sighed again, packing up his things.

He would open up to him in time, he hoped.

“Pssst.”

“Hm?”

“Eiji-boy. Over here.”

He looked over to see a man his age, with curly blond hair, leaning in the doorway. His hazel eyes danced with mischief.

“Hey, Chase.” Eiji chuckled. “How’d class go?”

Chase sighed.

“The usual. “Mr. Armati, can we learn Parkour?” before class. I should’ve been a gym teacher.”

“Naaah. So, what else?” He raised an eyebrow with a grin. “I was just about to check the site.”

“Way ahead of you.” Chase pulled his tablet out from behind his back, closing the classroom door behind him. “We got a call from this woman who keeps having all kinds of crap happen.”

Eiji took a look over Chase’s shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the letter written.

“Dear Mr. Miyamoto,

I’m not sure where else to turn. My family has been under attack for the past year and I can't take it anymore. I live at home with my husband, our two cats and our four year old son.

We’ve heard our names called, things have been moved, I’m seeing shadows out of the corner of my eye and my son keeps drawing these strange things… He’s starting to sleepwalk too.

I don’t know who else to turn to. Please, help us.”

Eiji let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That cannot be easy.”

“Yeah, given you know what it’s like to have a kid influenced by this stuff.”

Heck, I know what it’s like to be the kid affected…

“Lemme at that.” Eiji swiped the tablet, typing a response. “Long as I don’t have to bail on Carmen tonight.”

“Family thing?”

“Visiting her mom since Ken hasn’t seen his grandma in a few weeks. We’ve just been so busy.” Eiji shrugged, sighing a bit as he read over the letter again. “You know the drill, start getting info about the place as soon as we can interview her. Given this sounds a bit more active than the last one, get EVERYONE on board with this.”

Chase gave him a good natured grin.

“You know I’m good for it, Eiji. We’ve been the P.A.C.K. since high school.”

Eiji grinned.

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

oooooo

Ken was having a grand old time, playing on the jungle gym in his school yard. He was waiting for Eiji, one of the teacher aides standing watch nearby.

Whenever their back was turned however, he would get a bit sneakier.

He was alone… for the most part. Ken dusted off his hands before taking a glance to the teacher aide’s direction. She was distracted, giving the child a moment.

“Alright, gimme a boost.” He whispered, the person beside him cupping their hands to give the boy a boost.

He grinned, giving the figure a thumbs up as he climbed to the top of the jungle gym, arms out wide to balance.

It wasn’t at home. He wasn’t breaking any rules.

“Careful, Kenny!”

Ken gave a thumbs up to the child who helped him. Someone his age who the teacher didn’t seem to notice.

“I am!” He giggled. “Watch this!”

Ken took another look around before grabbing onto the bars of the jungle gym and maneuvering until he was doing a handstand. The child below him clapped, laughing a little.

“Thank you, thank you!” He laughed before going back to being upright. He wanted to do more tricks but he also knew there was stuff Chase hadn’t shown him yet.

And the last thing he wanted was to get caught doing something dangerous and get caught by Eiji… or the teacher’s aide. He took another look. He noted her head was down, looking at her phone, giving him more time to run around.

“Just a little bit more…”

“You can do it, Ken!”

The bars were cool in his hands as he shimmied and maneuvered, trying to get higher up. His companion watching him with glee.

“Thank you, thank you!”

“KEN! Your father’s here!”

Ken looked over to see Eiji waiting beside the teacher’s aide, waving to him.

“DADDY!”

Ken hurried down, rushing up to him. Eiji knelt down, arms outstretched as his child ran into his arms.

Eiji scooped him up with ease.

“Hey you! Been a good boy?”

“Mm-hm! Been a good teacher?” Ken giggled as his dad ruffled up his hair. “Hey!”

“Been doing my best. Ready to go get some food?”

“Ahuh!”

They bid the teacher’s aide farewell as Eiji lead him off. He glanced back as Ken kept his gaze fixed on the jungle gym.

“What’s wrong buddy?”

“Just hope my friend doesn’t mind me leavin.”

Eiji took note there wasn’t anyone there that he could see. He ruffled Ken’s hair, giving him a gentle look.

“I’m sure they won’t mind at all. I know a little thing or two about friends like that.”

Ken smiled a little.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Now, your grandma’s been texting your mom all day about how she can’t wait to see you and how grandpa can’t wait to work on your guys’ little project.”

Ken’s eyes lit up.

“The Lego Death Star?”

“Darn right.”

“YAY!!!!”

Eiji chuckled, making sure Ken got settled before starting the car. He started to pull out, driving past the playground.

He didn’t miss the fact a swing was moving by itself, despite the lack of wind.

The drive was quiet, for the most part. Eiji glanced behind him in the rearview mirror at Ken.

The boy’s eyes were locked on the scenery, his face nervous. The boy fiddled with his jacket, trying to bring it around him more.

“You cold?”

“M’fine…”

Eiji shrugged, focusing on the road. He wouldn’t deny, he wasn’t feeling right either. He had drove down this same path dozens of times. It wasn’t like he was visiting a house he had never been to before.

“Ken?” He spoke up, startling the boy as he jumped a little.

“Y-Yeah?”

Eiji was about to ask him about his nightmare, when the boy’s head turned, focusing on the road through the windshield. Ken’s eyes widened as he leaned forward.

There was some kind of animal in the center of the road. It looked like a hyena… If hyenas were made of dripping ooze and had eerie whites for eyes. It was chewing at something before looking up at the boy.

Ken shuddered.

“Daddy… Daddy don’t keep driving forward. Go around it.”

“Go around what, Ken?” Eiji narrowed his eyes. “What are you looking at?”

Ken reached a shaking hand out.

“The bad thing from my nightmare.”

That sentence alone made Eiji take a sharp turn as Ken watched the creature through the windows until they were around it completely, speeding ahead a little.

Ken heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back in his seat.

“We’re okay now buddy?”

“I think so…”

Ken looked back, swallowing hard as he saw the creature wasn’t in the road anymore. It was just gone.

“I think so…” He shook his head, trying to put it out of his mind for a bit. “When is everyone coming over again?”

“Tomorrow. We gotta get ready for meeting with a client. So, it’ll be your Uncle Lucian, Auntie Skyler and Uncle Chase.”

“Yay! Wolf Pack!”

Eiji smirked.

“You know it kiddo.”

Just… wish I could still see what you see, Son.

[broadwaycantdie]

Volunteer at a Food Kitchen - Newsies Month: Holiday Edition . Day 8

a/n: so even when i have no excuse, i still post late ? AND it’s shitty ?? okay , go me ig

tagged: @newnewsieprice

warnings: none // canon-era

————————————————————————

“You sure it’s clear?”

“Yeah, promise. Ain’t no one gonna see us.”

Elmer and Sniper quickly walked through the alleyway and stopped near the back entrance of an unfamiliar building.

“I don’t know about this, El.”

“I don’t either, but it’s worth a shot.”

Sniper and Elmer usually didn’t spend a lot of time alone together. Not that they didn’t like each other or anything, they just hung around different crowds (tho, in the same main group).

Sniper mostly hung around Finch, Smalls, Tommy Boy, and the twins. While Elmer usually hung out with Buttons, Jojo, and Kenny (while trying to keep up with Race and Albert). Though, they were still family.

Sniper was tough. He claimed he “ain’t need no help from no one” and “ion want anything I can’t get myself”.

Elmer doesn’t like asking for help, but needs it. He has a big family (besides the newsies) but he doesn’t let that weigh him down. He does everything for his siblings but sometimes he can’t do it all alone.

The boys stood outside the door, trying to build up the courage to open it.

They finally got over themselves and walked in, each one trying to push the other to go first.

They kept their caps down, walked with their eyes on the floor, and kept their pace steady. Neither of them wanted to be noticed.

Each boy grabbed a tray and walked up to the line of people. They stood there, not looking up from the ground and moved with the people. They each lifted their trays to get plates and heard a familiar voice.

“Hey guys!” a cheerful boy said.

Elmer and Sniper looked up in surprise to see a smiling Henry, holding a plate of food.

“W-what are you doing here?” Elmer said, still trying to cover the look of embarrassment.

“I volunteer here! Usually I’m in the back cooking the food but today I came up to help serve it”, Henry replied.

He didn’t bother asking why the guys were there, he knew why. Times are tough for all of us.

“You told me we’d be safe, you said no one would be here”, Sniper whispered at Elmer.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I thought we’d be okay”.

“Are you guys okay?” Henry spoke out, interrupting their whispers.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we be?”, Sniper confidently said.

“Um, Henry? Do you mind not telling anyone we came here? I just—we just don’t want anyone thinking we need help. We don’t. We can do it. We’re fine. Okay?” Elmer said, increasingly getting angrier.

“Guys, you know it’s okay to ask for help, right? No one will make fun of you or be mad that you came here. You know we’re a family. And by the way, I volunteer here because they helped me eat too. I use to come here before I was a newsie. My dad died and for a while I was living on the street with no food. This place helped take care of me and I want to give back and help others. You guys don’t have to be embarrassed. But if you really don’t want me telling anyone I won’t”. Henry told the boys, sincerity in his eyes.

“I just don’t want the other guys to worry about us. They already work so hard to get money to feed themselves. I don’t want them to have to worry about us too. I know I don’t sell as much as the rest of the guys, and what money I do make has to stretch between 8 other people. It’s just—it’s hard”.

Elmer started to cry by the end of his sentence. He broke down. He couldn’t take it anymore. He was always the one to be the oblivious idiot—a comedian in times of sadness—someone to have a laugh with. But that wasn’t all he was. That’s just who he tried to be. All the time. It was so exhausting.

Henry walked around the counter and went to comfort Elmer. Sniper put down his tray and showed a side he usually doesn’t show. He cried. He cried for Elmer. He cried for the newsies. He cried for himself.

Sniper never asked for help. Ever. If he couldn’t do something himself he didn’t do it. He always had to be the toughest and fight for himself or else he wouldn’t have survived. People can be mean, yanno. He never imagined he’d be coming to a food kitchen. He never wanted to think he had to. But times have been really hard on everyone and Sniper hadn’t eaten in days because of it. He wasn’t feeling right. And he cried.

Henry held them both close and after some time of comfort quietly spoke up.

“You guys can come here whenever you need to. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. But hey, we know how hard you guys work, and we will always be here to help you. What else is family for?”

[ephemeralem0tions]

Stow Away PART 4 - Levi: No Regrets

So this is part 4, which means part 5, the last part, will be next week. I’ll already give it away tho because I can’t contain myself T.T If you are looking for the ‘aftermath’ of Stow Away, or the period wherein they go back to motherland and who knows what will happen :P, then the very last chapter is the one you are looking for. But in the meantime, lets sail the Levihan angst ship for now otay :)

Theme: Captain Levi and Stow Away

Rating: PG

Warning: Curse Words, Eye Water? Maybe, Graphic depictions of violence (does this count as nsfw?)

AO3 version overe here x

Send a request here >>> ASK

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 5

He looked at her boastful smile as she waved to him, ignoring the crowd that started pooling around her, singing her the praises she deserved. She got what she wanted, from day one of her training to the last. She was assigned to the research fleet, being able to graduate with the highest ranking just a cherry on top of the icing.

“Levi!” she marched towards him, a few petals scattering off the ground, leaving a trail on the path she carved. A small medallion hung from her left chest, signifying that she indeed finished military training with flying colors. She could have instantly become a General if she decided to fight in war, but he knew she never wanted any of that.

His gaze returned to her smile again, one that matched the happiness in her eyes. It had been a while since he saw her genuine joy. He winced at the thought of her looks when rage over took her the moment they lost Farlan and Isabelle to the Titans. He thought he was most intimidating when he gave off an angry aura, but she beat him never the less.

“I pray that the left troop had killed him off while I back up the hell around here” he heard a disgusting, boisterous laugh. His gaze directed to her shattered goggles on the floor, her head whipping to several directions, desperate to see a thing. Anger boiled inside him, as if it couldn’t become any more hotter. She looked so beat up, but never giving up either way, just like she always did.

“You’ll pay for what you have done to all my comrades” she hissed, the Titan’s cackle getting more louder by the moment.

He watched, as her grip tightened around her blade, her enemy, alas stopping right in front of the huge bonfire caused by all the bombs thrown in the area. She dug the weapon through her opponent’s flesh with all her might, his feet padding faster through the ground, wanting her to stop the monstrosity.

No this was not the woman he taught and watched grow into someone more competitive when it came to skill. Her carefree nature totally left her as hatred surrounded her once happy eyes he liked seeing the most. Fear encompassed him as he made his way to her, wanting to stop her madness.

“Hanji!” she dropped down to the ground, dropping her weapon in the process. She looked so broken, crying, sorrow taking over her rage.

“Levi!” she returned to him. He knelt down and looked at her clearly as she bowed her head down, trying to hide an unfathomable fact from him. He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him straight in the eyes. He found guilt, sorrow, sadness and a dying hint of fury mirroring her brown orbs.

His thoughts drifted back to his original agenda, the reason why he went from the right to the left flank, killing every terrorist that came in his way. He was just taking his usual walk when his insomnia took effect. Hanji was not there to train nor just to talk with him under the moonlight due to her final test. Isabelle and Farlan were already soundly sleeping in the barrack when the Titans appeared. He suddenly remembered that he was here to look for them, and wondered why Hanji was here instead of the other camp.

“Where are Isabelle and Farlan?” she froze up, his eyebrows were furrowed and his frown becoming more evident. “Where are they? Please tell me” she cried even more, hiding her face from him yet again. His heart started thumping faster, then stopping then fast again inconsistently. He suddenly felt constipated, awaiting for the next things he was about to see. No it could not be good, if she had lost her confidence to tell him, then it could not be good.

She raised her arm up, finger pointing to one particular direction. He gathered his thought first, before he followed his gaze to where she shown. She started to shake, as he froze. There laid the people he treated as family, beheaded and the other, partially burned. His throat ran dry, eyes suddenly getting pricked by the tears that raced down to the ground. For the third time around, he lost the people who were dear to him. First, was his mother, second was his uncle who disappeared, and now his friends who he grew up with and treated as brother and sister. He felt disappointed at himself, the blame directed to him and only him.

“I’m sorry” she choked out, coughing as she cried her own tears” I’m sorry” she cried out to him again. “I’m sorry” then he knew, he wasn’t the only one blaming himself, she was blaming hers too.

“Its not your fault” he hushed her, his arms making their way around her, to keep her safe. She looked at him again in the eyes, searching for something.

“But, I should have stayed, then maybe they’d be still alive” his heart broke, hearing her regrets and her hatred for herself. No he did not want her to feel all those. She was the only remaining important person to him right now, and he didn’t want her to feel agony and remorse.

“Don’t” he whispered and brushed away her tears. “The only thing we’re allowed to do, is to believe we won’t regret the choice we’ve made”

“Levi!” she waved a free hand in front of him, the other preoccupied with a bouquet, half tarnished after all the excessive movement she had been doing since she stepped off the small make shift stage. “You don’t seem too happy, upset that I’m leaving so soon?” she teased, his brow arching up at her.

“You wish shitty glasses” he huffed, earning a small chuckle from her.

“Grumpy as always”, her playful aura changed into a serious one. “But seriously, will you be fine?” she asked him, concerned. It had also been news during the ceremony that the newly graduated troops are no exception from the next expedition, to give them a fresh experience. She’d be leaving in a few days for God knows how long.

“I’m more worried about you actually” he sighed.

“Don’t worry about me” she tilted her head towards the left, accompanying it with a small grin. “I’ll just remember how to dance, and know that nothing is fair in war so I should look out like always”

“Our self advices really sound like shit” he growled, contemplating his, and her, admittedly, greatly helpful battle mottos.

“Yeah, like the sound of you groaning in one of the toilet stalls when you are constipated” she laughed, quite loudly, earning a few weird stares from others while he cringed. She was really an abnormal girl, but he couldn’t call himself normal either.

Remembering his real agenda, he took the small leather guard that was tied at the back of his waist while she doubled over the laughter. He grabbed her ponytail, gently but securely at the same time. He pulled her face towards him, so she could look at him straight in the eye.

“Always stay safe, four eyes” as much as he wanted to protect everyone who is important in his life, he had already well known that he could not always be there for them. He had already learned his lesson when his mother, Farlan and Isabelle died. He could not let her be gone as well.

He loosened his grip, revealing the lacquered wood that was imprinted with tiny, intricate silver swirls. The blade was no less than its grip’s design, it may look plain, but the steel that was used to make it was one of the strongest and sharpest amongst all weapons.

“This” she silenced afterwards, admiring the dagger he just handed out to her. Then she looked at him with sympathy. “I can’t possibly take it”

“And why not?” he retorted.

“Because its yours!” he rolled his eyes at her statement. It seemed to him that the smartest woman among the soldiers, also had a loose screw sometimes, not that he didn’t already know long ago. “It has its sentimental value to you I can’t just have it”

“Its a duplicate you dummy”, her mouth turned into an ‘O’ shape in realization. Truth be told, the knife was a replica of the one his Uncle Kenny gave him before he was left all alone in the slums. It was his companion, his sole definition of safety for years, even after finding the comfort of Farlan and Isabelle.

He didn’t know how he thought of giving Hanji the same blade, but it felt right. He considered her proximity one of his safe havens, after they weeped in front of each other during the tragedy. A mystery on how they were the only troops alive aside from those that were able to escape to safety. He wanted her to be safe, and so, he gave her the same thing that kept him from harm in the long run.

“Thank you!” he found himself enveloped in one of her bone crushing hugs. On normal occasions, he would have thrown her over his shoulder, or wiggled his way out then run as fast as he can to hide, while she tried to catch up to him like a dog catching its tail. But this time, he stayed right in her warmth, even returning the favor and wrapping his arms around her waist, a product of height difference, the only part he can reach.

“Just make sure you’ll return after your voyage” he whispered.

“Of course I will” she returned. “I promise”

"Levi!" She waved at him, a tiny spec in the distance, quickly running towards him, while he rolled his eyes and kept his usual scowl on his face. He was on the mandatory jogging sessions in the morning just like always, yet he was aware that it was the day she would be leaving for her third expedition.

"Shitty glasses what are you doing here, aren't you supposed to leave at damn five in the morning? Took a quick crap or something?” he greeted her, while the grinned wickedly, mimicking his stance and jogging along side with him.

"Yeah, quite a long shit actually" he tripped at her words, her chuckle growing ”I'm just here to say goodbye"

"You talk like you'll never return four eyes" he hissed. He was used to her leaving, then returning after a few months. But he could never get used to saying goodbye, deeply upset that he won’t see his safe haven for quite a long time.

"Of course I'd be back!" she assured him. "Just not leaving for five months without you knowing. Plus you'd be graduating in a few more weeks, I figured I should say good luck for your final assessment and congratulations for being a General” He froze on his spot, hearing that he would be graduating with a rank even before his finals.

"What do you mean General you four eyes?" he whispered, disbelief evident in his eyes. The woman could be fooling him, like she always does for him, yet never played a successful joke on him ever since he joined the military. If this was another prank, she had him good, and would succeed for the first time.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, but Erwin had plans to make you a General” He knew she wasn’t playing. Her last task involved sailing with the Commander, and he knew she would not lie about such important matters. Before he could even confirm things that are too good to be true, she already had her back turned away from him, sprinting back to the ship where she would set sail in a few moments.

"Oi shitty glasses come back here!" He growled, her laughter ringing out towards him through echoes from the horizon.

"I'll be back I promise!” she screamed. He watched her, leaving a small smile on his face as she made her way up the galleon. When she promises something, she never broke it. She had always promised him that she’d return every time she went on a journey, and she always did.

News had gotten out to the barracks that the troop sent out on an expedition a day ago had already been spotted near shore. His heart raced, rushing along with his feet as he hurriedly ran towards the docks, fear creeping up his spine.

Silently, he hoped that the galleon just had a minor problem and needed to turn back, but his heart broke, limbs frozen and hearing suddenly deaf despite the many murmurs of the people around him. Only one single wooden raft emerged from the horizon, the sky in deep grey and the ocean seeming a bit too quiet and serene.

He shoved his way to the front as the boat docked, ignoring all the angry screams coming down his way. His sight searched desperately for the eyes he loved the most though never admitted. Yes he knew it now, he cared for her and found safety in her not just because she was a dear friend, but because he loved her.

Moments they spent together suddenly flashed before his mind. The way he slowly turned her into a strong and amazing woman, from just brain, to also brawn. The way she saw him at his best and his worst, how she spent her free time with him during training and even after. How she would visit him after her expeditions and be around him even if sometimes she just annoyed him. How he would assure him of her return every time she left. Now he would just look for the little things he only realized now, that mattered.

He desperately looked for her brown irises, any sign that she was there, alive, breathing and alright. He searched in the small crowd of twelve that all looked devastated, yet he never found her. His gaze wandered off, towards the most familiar face he saw in the crowd. He rushed towards him, showing a stoic but evidently concern facade.

"What Happened? Where is she?" he gripped the boy's frail shoulders despite him being taller. He was desperately hoping there would be a second batch of boats that had her with them, that she was alive.

He wasn’t sure how to react when Moblit slouched forward, looking as tired and as guilty as ever. His eyes were slowly run over by salty tears, sadness taking over his emotions.

"Sir Levi" the boy cried, tears dropping like the rainfall that decided to accompany their sorrow.

He dropped his grip on the poor boy, shoulders slumping forward and head bowing down. as if he had lost all his energy, he dropped to the ground, knees hitting soft sand that was beginning to get wet by the rain and his tears. He had lost her, the moment he knew his love for her, it was too late.

“We’ve searched for the fourth time now Erwin. No galleon, no other survivors, no girl” his eyebrows creased even further upon hearing the muffled voices. He knew it was sanctioned for suspension if he eaves dropped on any of a Commander’s whereabouts, but he never cared.

“Then search for the fifth time” the Commander replied.

“It would be pointless!” another one screamed. “We found no boat, some of the ship fragments that resurfaced were just that. No sign of life” he pressed.

“Still, search” he heard a sigh.

“Alright then” the man hissed, probably getting annoyed. “But this will be the last time” he growled.

“Thank you” he made his way to the side of the door as the Commander dismissed his company, footsteps making their way closer towards him, then out of the room without even noticing his looming figure.

He gave a few moments for the Commander to recollect himself, then entered the office. Mike, who was a Corporal under Erwin’s fleet was looking out the window behind the table. Erwin sat on his chair, arms propped to the wooden desk, and chin resting on his clasped fists. The two men acknowledged his presence, whipping their attentions towards him as he placed a single peice of paper on the desk.

“What is this?” Erwin asked him.

“You know what it is” he returned. It had been the fourth time he filed the document, after the four times the search party had failed. As expected, the Commander sighed and put his paper aside, probably about to reject it like the first ones.

“The request you are making is not an easy one Levi” he stared, disinterested despite the man in front of him being a superior. He had utmost respect for Erwin, yet he couldn’t bring himself to be courteous when he had practically lost someone important over an unexplained situation. “You are a valuable asset to the military, the rank you are asking for means you’ll be degraded. You will not be able to fight, a waste in my opinion”

“I don’t care about any of that bull crap” he hissed “If they can’t find her, then I’m finding her”

“Please think about it first” the man pleaded.

“No” he answered firmly.

“Just please” he still kept his stand. “Just give it one more thought. This is the last time I’ll be sending out people to find. If all else fails, I won’t reject the most immediate wish you will make”

Although he didn’t want to waste time, he knew he couldn’t persuade his superior so easily. He creased his forehead even deeper and placed his palms over the desk, going closer to intimidate the Commander although it didn’t seem to work.

“Keep your word Erwin, This is the last time I’ll let you send aimless brats across the seas” he hissed, before turning around on his heel and leaving the office, closing the door harshly with a bang.

He whipped his knife from his side, letting it spin momentarily on air then grabbing it, before lunging for the Titan in front of him, the small crowd of soldiers that were watching from outside the cell hysterically running around and looking for the Commander. Although fuming with anger, he stopped just under the culprit’s chin, managing to leave his throat clean, and the person very much alive.

“Where is she?” he growled, more of demanding for an answer rather than asking.

“Levi” Erwin’s calm voice automatically made him back away from the captive. This was the product of the fifth search, a lead, but no Hanji.

He retracted his blade back to its spot, hidden around his thigh. He hissed, stepping aside and giving the Commander some space. Mike, and the man who conducted all the searches whom he now known as Flagon — Another Corporal like him and Mike — just a few inches behind them.

“We found some heinous things along with this culprit sir” Flagon stated, sweat dripping from his forehead as if he was reminiscing such a disgusting scene. “We have also retrieved Ms. Ilse Langnar’s body and a few things after finding them in a secluded island near the area. She was beheaded, but he kept her corpse safe under a huge tree and actually guarded it”

“Did you find out why?” Erwin asked, the usual stoic and unaffected look still plastered on his face.

“No. He had never said a word about the incident nor about Ms. Langnar. We did try to interrogate him at the ship before we reached shore, but all he did was moan or growl incoherent words” He wasted no time, without any word from is superior, he grabbed the Titan’s hair and kicked his knee towards the culprit’s shin, earning a loud growl in pain.

“L-Levi!” Flagon uttered softly, taken back by his actions. Erwin and Mike couldn’t care any less, they just watches as he continued his fury, beating up the prisoner a few good times before inching his face closer to the now battered man.

“Where is Hanji?” He snarled again, getting more pissed by each second that passed by. “There were only three of them amongst the intelligence division that boarded the damn boat. She had shitty glasses and a bird nose tell me if you’ve seen her” he hissed, receiving only moans in return. He dropped his grip and balled his fists, punching the man’s face till it was black and blue. Nobody dared stop him, not like he would let them anyway.

“He has no intention to talk” Mike spoke, evidently sniffing the air in the room. “It smells like dishonesty, even if you get something out of him”

He grabbed his dagger yet again, gripping it tightly within his palms, knuckles turning white due to all the sorrow and rage he felt.

“Hold it Levi, we must let the jurisdiction decide upon this” without listening to his superior’s words, he drove the blade through the Titan’s throat, blood sputtering right to his clothes as he mumbled a small ‘tsk’. Gurgling sounds accompanied his assault, the slowly dying body thrashing on the chair then suddenly going limp as blood pooled on the hard cold floor. His gaze turned to the mess below, mercy and every once of patience leaving his system.

“These Titans aren’t human Erwin, they don’t need a fucking trial” he hissed. “They don’t need to be disciplined like a human, they kill just to gather territory and have fun. They don’t deserve to live”

A small white envelope was handed out to him by a subordinate. Erwin’s short note about fulfilling his promise and a finally signed and accepted request laid before him. He sighed, accepting the blessings the Commander had given him, encased within the file.

He was finally going to become a Captain, driving a ship instead of leading troops and going to the field as a General. Erwin had graced him with the S.S. Wings of Freedom and had given him the condition that his service was to be used for trade and loading purposes. He had also been informed that Mike was to resume his vacated position and was already packing for his trip to Germany for a gala that was happening in two days. Although Erwin had already briefed him about the first assignment he was to receive as a Captain, another file clearly stated the task at hand. He was to acknowledge the fleet that was assigned to him, and sail to Greenland the following morning.

So this was the fate he chose. Letting all opportunities others could just dream of, slip by right at the tips of his fingers. But the important thing was, he was doing this to find her. No matter how much he thought, his decisions feel right. He was never going to doubt himself, he will borad his boat, and face the seas with no regrets.

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 5

[placetobenation]

Inductees: 

Depeche Mode   (Inducted by: Charlize Theron)

Doobie Brothers  (Inducted by: Brad Paisley / Nancy Wilson)

Whitney Houston  (Inducted by: Alicia Keys)

Nine Inch Nails  (Inducted by: Iggy Pop)

The Notorious B.I.G.  (Inducted by: Sean “Diddy” Combs / Lin Manuel Miranda)

T. Rex  (Inducted by: Ringo Starr / Billy Gibbons)

Ahmet Ertegün Award: 

Jon Landau / Inducted by: Bruce Springsteen

Irving Azoff / Inducted by: Don Henly / Joe Walsh / Jackson Browne

A nice video tribute to Eddie Van Halen was shown which was touching. It wasn’t about his family or his band or anything. The piece focused on his music and and his playing – which really is what changed the world.  It was hosted by Slash and Tommy Morello and they did the Guitar God proud. I mean, you simply can not dispute the greatness and the extremely heavy influence Eddie Van Halen had on music and on guitar playing. 

What is so terribly sad is the In Memoriam part of the show – you just have no idea how many tremendous musicians died this year. I don’t know if it was because of Trump grabbing headlines every single day over the stupidest things – or if these people were just easily forgotten. Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, Leon Redbone, Art Neville, Dr. John, Charlie Daniels, Neil Peart, Frankie Banali, Eddie Money, Mac Davis, Ric Ocasek – these are no small names, these are icons, and I completely forget about most of them. Ugh 2020 is such a terrible year. 

This year  The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame had their ceremony – with no live performances and in no rock arenas or any other kind of public space. 

Dave Grohl kicks it off with a speech saying how this year would be different, and that this year’s ceremony will not include a massive jam or any other kind of performance. Which is nice, because it’s not live – they made his self serving rambling as least boring and offensive as possible. We know Dave loves to be a part of this thing and if the Foo Fighters could be the house band, you know they would just salivate at the chance. 

Since you know most of the performers, let me just tell you about the ones you don’t know about. 

Jon Landau is an inductee, but not a performer. He was a writer for Crawdaddy magazine and also for Rolling Stone. He is the critic who published the famous quote – “I’ve seen rock and roll’s future and it’s name is Bruce Springsteen.”  Jon followed Bruce around from small club to small club, and fell in love with the guy and his E Street Band. Jon had been looking to get involved in producing music and saw Bruce as his golden chariot. Bruce said yes and the rest was history. Jon became his manager and co-producer from that day forward, and their first project together was Born To Run. The two are still inseparable, in fact, if you watch Bruce’s documentary, A Letter to You, on Apple TV, Jon Landau actually makes a brief appearance in the studio and everyone there hails him like a king. So it is very safe their relationship is going strong. Bruce himself took the time to tell the story and it is a good one, a positive one, and a heartwarming one. In fact those 5 minutes or so is more heartfelt and touching then Bruce’s entire Letter To You documentary. 

Irving Azoff is not a performer but a huge huge fan of music and the business. So much so that he allowed, if not started, change in the industry itself. Irving comes from the midwest – went to Los Angeles after college and began working for Geffen-Roberts Management. In 1972 he was assigned to help out with The Eagles. Well he helped out, he hung around, he became their friend, he told them truth about everything,  and they are still friends to this day, almost 40 years later. 

Irving was more then a manager of an artist, he was a fan, and that showed in all the ways he cared for his clients. Most notable in music publishing. He wanted artists to get their fair shake – and he always told them the truth of the matter and the truth of the position they were in. Irving started to dabble in movies like Urban Cowboy and Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but it was his service in music that is most appreciated. Fighting for the artist, helping them in their relationship with the big bad record company. Irving was and still is trusted by many big names to help them not get cheated or taken advantage of. His story is one of the good ones in the biz. 

The list of inductees goes on and on and you all know the performers are – Trent Reznor and NIN, the goth industrial revolutionary band. No man or band has made that genre more popular or more accessible then Trent has. It proves once again, like Bob Marley – when you are great at your genre, it breaks down all barriers. In other words – when you’re good, you’re good. 

Depeche Mode, B.I.G., T. Rex, Whitney Houston, I think they all belong here and I’m glad they were all inducted.  The ceremony this year was not a party, but more like a tender Zoom moment. I think it should be done like this every year – and then show the live performances and the big jam at the end. 

No musician wants to stand up there and give a 5 minute speech to a live crowd – let them do their speech on video, like they did this year – so it’s not frightening or awkward, and then they can just perform live to the arena like they do normally. I think they would be a lot more comfortable doing that. 

I really do love this new format – plenty of old pictures, old videos, behind the scenes footage, and a simple narrator guiding us all through it all. It goes faster, it’s not awkward, and no one is fumbling over the words or burying their head into 10 pages of handwritten notes. 

If you get a chance to see it, I would highly suggest viewing this year’s format and show- it is great to see great artists, especially relaxed in their homes, talking about the old days and all the battles they went through. It was personal, intimate, smooth, and went by in a flash. I believe the entire program is only 2 hours and 5 minutes. A huge improvement over the 3 or 4 hour fiasco’s we are usually subjected to. 

Check it out, these artists are legendary and it’s great to see and hear them again. And catch me here every Thursday on PlaceToBeNation.com. Thanks for reading.