#character I wish I could assassinate: e*

[nyikondlovu]

“Ricky should be single and go to therapy.” What is unloveable about people in therapy that they can’t be in a relationship at the same time? Plus, he was single for 2B and all of S3. We never saw him in a relationship with Lily so y’all can’t count that. Why do people in therapy not deserve love and happiness and relationships to you?

“Gina’s character was ruined.” and all that’s happened is she’s accepted that S1 her wasn’t a bad person and that ambition, confidence and knowing your worth isn’t a bad thing. She made a choice good for her by breaking up with Elton when he wasn’t giving her what she needed and she made the choice to kiss the boy she’s always liked A MONTH LATER.

“Ricky is so different this season.” Yeah, it’s called being happy babe, we haven’t seen true happiness from him since the show started. He’s actually fun and focussing on helping his friends and having a great time.

“Rina came out of nowhere.” And it’s the ship that’s been set up since S1 ep 5 - S3 ep 8. Like, it’s always been coming, you simply chose to ignore that your ship was a plot device☹️

“I hope Gina’s miserable next season.” Why are you wishing sadness on a black woman? Why don’t you want her happy? What do you have against black girls thriving and being loved?😕

Ain’t no assassination happen, y’all just wanted Gina to stay in an unhappy relationship because Eej was your favourite character and not for HER happiness and y’all wanted Ricky to stay miserable like in S1 and 2 so he can’t grow enough to be ready to be with the girl he likes

[theoutcastrogue]

That said, the D&D 3.5 Paladin was bad. It was badly designed, it had bad rules, and in conjunction with the other notoriously bad rule, alignment, it could cause havoc.

Now personally, I never had ANY problems with it in my tabletop games. I played paladins and loved it, and I loved it when other people played paladins, and it was great. But that's because, collectively as a group, we took ONE look at that terrible rule where the paladin's code of conduct prevents them from associating with Evil characters or "someone who consistently offends her moral code", and immediately went, "that's stupid, we ain't doing that, it would ruin the game".

We also didn't love the concept of alignment as a cosmic force, and didn't care for Usually Evil Goblins and Always Evil anything. And when a class's signature ability fully depends on whether creatures are capital E Evil, well that affects storytelling, doesn't it? But we all saw it the same way, and we were happily able to change it without any disagreements. In the end we had a Paladin… similar to 5e now that I think of it: completely ignore the Code's association clause, tailor the Code to personal stance or a specific Order, Detect only fiends and undead and the like, Smite anything you want, Fall only if you really fuck up, and never presume that just because you haven't Fallen yet everything you've ever done is justified and correct and anyone who disagrees with you is objectively wrong.

Basically, there were 2 options in 3.5. You either houseruled and/or handwaved things, and in matters of alignment interpretations erred on the side of "what makes the game go",

OR, you played with Rules As Written, and filled the forums with questions like "should the paladin fall?" (one such thread per week, conservatively), "we got into a fight over the Paladin, what to do?", "is it Evil to pick pockets? because we have a Paladin in the party", "the Assassin uses poison, shouldn't that offend my moral code?", and shit like that. Just... pointless strife, all the time. Again, never happened to me, but I was appalled to read about it, over and over and over.

People got intense with 3.5 Paladins (both pro and against) because it was BADLY DESIGNED and had BAD RULES. Its mechanics forced narrative choices on the entire table, and the only way to make it frictionless was having a party where no one wishes to explore a character's bad side ever, no one does things that aren't bad but WotC branded Evil™ in this or that splatbook, and everyone magically agrees all the time on "what is right and what is wrong" and "what is Lawful and what is Chaotic", which is simply impossible. The most subjective thing in the world (ethics!) was presented as an objective cosmic force, and how you interpreted it would determine how much damage the Paladin deals in combat, and whether the Paladin could keep associating with the party, and if the Paladin is still a Paladin. And all that in a game, let's not forget, whose basic, fundamental premise is "kill things and take their stuff". I'm sorry, this is tremendously stupid. It's the WORST design.

I know that for some people it worked as written, and good for them, but for the many many people it didn't work, well it's obvious why.

[white-sinner]

Poly Yandere Alphas Asano & Karma x Male Beta reader (assassination classroom)

They force reader to wear a collar with their names on it.

Marking, reader being tied up, degrading, sadism, treating reader like a pet.

They say many things that bring down beta’s, and how they wish he was an omega, how much better he would be if he was. That he shouldn’t worry, they’ll still like him regardless of the fact that he’s a beta. Stuff like that.

Please?

you can try to resist but this is a challenge that you too know you will lose..

WARNING: kidnapping, threats, force collaring, knives, marking, sadism, sex, mention of pheromone

A/N: are we all aware that these two as yandere would be impossible to stop? with the controlled/rational personality of Asano and the sadistic one of Karma I think our dear Male reader has no hope of getting out of this fall into hell

Orange=Asano

Red=Karma

Black=reader

* ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ►* * ◄ ◊ ► ◄

a couple of hidden lovers born in the seventh grade who despite the difference in classes continue to live and be stronger and stronger but what will happen when these two Alphas find in M ​​/ n the omega they were looking for?

for Karma and Asano it had never been difficult to get along their two characters intertwined perfectly but then there was a change when 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High moved M/N L/N a beta, the first to notice it was Karma who was truly amazed by your skills against Korosensei not to mention your splendid personality and your scent which, despite you being a Beta, goes more sweet like vanilla and caramel since you arrived Karma feel a strong sense of protection and with your being kind but also knowing how to stand up to him,he understand that you were the missing omega that he and Asano were looking for but despite your being Beta he didn't care you were definitely a omega for him and no one could change his mind. obviously Karma as a good alpha and boyfriend reported everything to Asano who thanks to social networks, acquaintances and stalking in the end he too fell in love with you so the two devised a plan to get you

the two of them started leaving on your desk, folder and even mailing them to your home! they started giving you anonymous teddy bears/t-shirts and even used underwear…. now if you were an omega you got those things for your nest and as a clear sign of courtship that an alpha wanted to make you his but being you a beta you couldn't even recognize whose scent it was but things got worse in class when yet another soft toy appeared on your counter

“Another gift from your secret admirer?”

“I wouldn't call him a secret admirer but more perverted stalker *huf* I swear Nagisa if this dude doesn't finish it I'm going straight to the cops why doesn't he go fuck a bitch instead of bothering me"

poor man M/N he didn't know that the "pervert" he was talking about was watching him Asano was out of class and Karma near the window

in the chats between Karma and Asano

“it seems that your plan has failed”. my beloved psychopath 8:13

"I notice ugh he's getting on my nerves why he doesn't understand we're just trying to make him understand that he belongs to us?" my control freak 8:15

“now now don't get angry maybe our dear M/N needs to be put in his place and submit to his mates”. my beloved psychopath 8:16

so Karma stopped you outside school after class was over but as he spoke to you he took your hands and pinned you in the wall as ticked off Asano who with a syringe the rest was too blurry to remember

you woke up tied to a chair and in front of you with an evil smile your two captors

“but coincidentally, it seems the bitch woke up "

“wha-Karma Asano?!"

“Is this the way to address your mates? it seems that our omega likes to be punished”

what the hell were they saying omega, mates have they gone crazy?!

“haha look at that really adorable confused and scared expression”

“what the heck are you saying are you crazy I'm not an omega! release me immediately you ugly sons of bit-*slap*

” ugh and so that you address your alphas! first you called us perverts then this… I think you need to learn some of the rules Bitch”

at that moment Karma untied you and threw you on the bed and he cut your pants with his knife

"it's a real pity that you're not an omega right now you could be in heat and we would have helped you little slut"

said Asano while he was thrusting his cock into you without even getting ready!

“aAasano stop…Mmhm~”

“nonono this is not the way you call us”

Karma approached with the knife making a cut on your lips and then licking them

“so tell us bitch are we really perverts like you said?”

"to me the only bitch looks like you M/n look at Asano he's not fucking you even for 15 minutes and you already look like you're about to pass out"

continued Karma before he positioned himself on your face putting his cock in your mouth by now those two were gone in sync it was too much for you after a while Karma painted your throat white and you came

“wouldn't you like to be an omega? being inside a nest made with our clothes feeling the need to obey your alphas…having our children inside you”

“mmm after all look at you you are already below us for being a beta you are a shame”

they continued while karma came for the second Once Asano hadn't come yet! karma take his members off you and kiss you furiously making your tongue stick out and came again

“you know M/N you are really cute when you cry but I think you need to remind you who you belong to”

with that he took the knife and carved his initials and Asano's on your arm while you cried in pain and Karma licked your blood Asano came inside you

"if you were an omega by now with us you'd already be pregnant so you couldn't open your legs to anyone and you won't"

he approached your ear and whispered to you

“try to escape from us and we will kill all your loved ones remember the packages we know where you live"

having said this the two of them attacked your throat covering it with hickeys. a few minutes later and Asano also came out of you

"we have a gift for you go get it Asano"

Asano come back with a red streak collar and an orange heart with Karma Akabane and Gakushu Asano properties written behind it

"that's it, what are you saying Asano him Isn't he just adorable?”

“very Karma so how do you say M/N when your mates give you a present?”

you answered Asano in a low voice even though he was out of you you still felt him inside

” thanks Asa-“

“I think you were wrong try again or do you want to be punished”

“thanks alphas…”

before you could say anything other karma and Asano they made you spread on their chest and they ignited you with something

“don't worry M/N although you are a beta we love you the same but wouldn't it be better to be an omega? betas are less strong than alphas and more useless than omegas and then to be a beta you are a shame you smell so sweet and you let yourself be used as a sex toy"

" this syringe contains omega hormones we will continue to give it to you for a while you will see that in a short time you will assume your true behaviors "

you wanted to fight back but you were too tired so you closed your eyes hoping to wake up from this nightmare

* ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ►* * ◄ ◊ ► ◄

[arceus-insanity]

With the Series Ending

I decided to do this solely based on canon, except for F which are so bad that they transcend the rule. I also put this in the lens of do I enjoy watching them, or do they infuriate me. Most of the ones in G are there because I can't tell who they are from the picture, or are so minor I don't get why they were on the list to begin with

Hawks was the hardest to place because as I've mentioned before I love villain fanon Hawks, and hate Canon for all the missed potential and the guy being shit.

Before the last arc, Deku would have been in C, and I felt most criticisms of him were undeserved. I still feel a lot of them are dumb, however, he's canonically a hypocritical, suck-up to labels, abuse apologist, idiot, etc. As much as it feels like character assassination it's canon, same with Shoji. I also just don't care to read fanfiction of him, and feel he takes a lot of roles where other characters would make more sense. If I'm not already following someone I'm not going to read fanfiction with him in it

Most of E I hate as much if not more than F but the fandom either doesn't write about, or treat them like the pieces of crap they are, looking at Mineta of course.

Fun fact Edgeshot is in E for bringing Bakugo back, and causing me both meta and dramatic issues for me. What the fuck was the point of killing Bakugo to immediately bring him back. How the fuck did Edgeshot know he could do this? How the fuck did he know how to do this? Why the fuck is he doing this for some random teenager he has never interacted with before, in the middle of a war? And now why the fuck does this fucker get to live, no one gave a single fuck about Edgeshot but he gets to live!

Centipeder would have been in E if not for the fact I know what my ringtone for him would be, Red Flags by Tom Cardy

Uraraka owes her rank in B for her arc with Toga, otherwise, she would have been in D. For the plot forgoing her original motivations so they could turn her into a generic love interest. Toga tried talking crushes with her 'twice' everything else regarding that shit, which started before they ever met, is on her

I actually love Endeavor fanfics as most of them either a treat his abuse for what it is, or b I view them as an own on canon Endeavor and his incredible laziness and selfishness. But Twitter exists and they flock to him and his bullshit so to F with him.

Speaking of Fs, Bakugo is a whiney spoiled rotten brat with a silver spoon shoved into his mouth since birth. I hope he never breeds. Damn near every shit thing that has happened to him, was either brought on by himself, literally applied to everyone, he literally doesn't care, and even with the two exceptions I'd give this, the Sludge guy, and being chained up at the sports fest (he should have been disqualified), do not justify his shit

Congrats to Dark Shadow and Tokoyami for being the only hero (student) to make it past B

Needless to say I love villains, Dabi is by far my favourite, followed by Himiko, they are way more engaging and convincing than the heroes. And by convincing I mean it actually feels like they are going to put in effort to make their goals happen, not just wish really hard. I truly wish we could have seen how Shigaraki's goals shifted during his reign over the PLF. We had already seen how he wanted the League to be happy and an exception to his goal of destruction

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

Hello again!

Thank you so much for welcoming me into your corner of the internet (it really feeds into my Ac obsession, as if I needed more of that lol, but really it’s nice to see other ppl that like some side characters ahem *likeFedericoand Greencoat*ahem). And thank you for your answer abt Feducia as well, I’m glad you liked the library gifting idea for I have another one : Imagine if the library had secret alcove(s) and/or passage(s) and one of them lead to a small balcony. Do you think Federico would stand below said hidden balcony to read poetry/Lucia’s favourite pieces while she stood up there and admired him from above ? (A bit like the infamous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, the inspiration came after reading @giuliettaluce’s seriously adorable fanfic “Upon their holy act, the heaven smiles”)

Oh! I also really like your Aranea x Mephisto ship and I’m so excited abt your new(?) OC Tatiana Volkov bc I seriously thought the Flables/The Wolf Among Us fandom was dead when I arrived late as usual 😂 And I love both ships dynamics, I think it just suits them very well

Hope you had a good day and keep going, xx

(Ps Im sorry abt the long long asks I’m just excited to share my ideas with you)

Hello there again, Nonnie!!!

Please, do partake in coffee that I just made (wish I could truly offer you one through the screen)!!

AND OMG YES. PLEASE, DO ALLOW ME TO ABSOLUTELY FEED INTO THE HYPERFIXATION FOR ASSASSIN'S CREED.

I myself have been going strong for almost 5 years, AND AM STILL GOING STRONG.

THE OBSESSION IS REAL

So please, do sit tight and enjoy the ride!

AND OMG YES. YES.

FEDERICO AND GREENCOAT ARE MY BEBE.

Like, I still get super SUPER salty about the fact that Federico has met his end basically 5 minutes in the game (infact, around here, we absolutely throw canon out of the window, and Fede is alive, well and living his best life with his love, somewhere in Italy - in my particular case, in the Kingdom of Sicily with Lucia. Trapani has never been more beautiful than when they lived there!).

To say *absolutely* nothing of HOW SALTY I AM ABOUT GREENCOAT. 2 MINUTES OF TRAILER, AND UBI HAS NOT DEIGNED TO GIVE US A *GLIMPSE* OF WHO HE WAS, WHAT'S HIS REASON WERE, HIS PURSUITS, NOTHING.

BUT.

As salty as I am about that, I am also immensely grateful, because if the Baguette Bois were full-fledged NPC, then I would have never created my Mathias, and as you will see now that you are here, he is my most beloved brainchild alongside my darling Dorothea <3.

SO YES.

WE STAN THE TERTIARY CHARACTERS THAT ARE BASICALLY OCS!!

Now, onto your question:

YES.

YES.

TRIPLE YES.

I *absolutely* believe that Federico would stand below said balcony and recite Lucia's favourite poems ( probably the Canto 5 passage of Paolo e Francesca from Dante's Commedy, her most favourite AMONG ALL).

I can envision it so well, with Lucia just beaming and listening to him as he recites those poems, waiting for him to just climb up her to her balcony (because she KNOWS he would do that. Man cannot stay away from climbing around, as much as he likes to make it believe that it's becasue he needs to follow Ezio and make sure he's not going to fall face first lolol).

AND OMG YES, JUST LIKE ROMEO AND JULIET. ABSOLUTELY

(it kinda helps that my FC for Lucia is the beautiful Olivia Hussey as Juliet from Zefirelli´s movie).

AND I KNOW RIGHT??? @giuliettaluce IS THE *ABSOLUTE* PROFESSOR WHEN IT COMES TO ROMEO AND JULIET, AND HER WRITING IS JUST SO IMMENSELY BEAUTIFUL.

Seriously, she wrote for me the Federico/Lucia one-shot based on Romeo and Juliet that was EVERYTHING, and she wrote for me a one-shot about Mathias/Dorothea that I have never shared, but that I reread truly often and it melts my heart each time. She is such precious friends and beautiful person, it warms my heart SO MUCH knowing that you appreciate her writing <3 she deserves ALL THE PRAISE.

ALL THE PRAISE.

AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

MY MEPHISTO/ARANEA AND BIGBY/TATIANA.

they are my "dark pairings", so to speak, because while I love to dwell in FLUFF galore, and this is something that I generally explore with my Assassin's Creed pairings (though, there is a certain dose of darkness there as well), with Mephisto/Aranea and Bigby/Tatiana I LOVE to explore the darker side of the relationship between two lovers (though, tbh, Mephisto/Aranea take the crown in this, but that's easy because Bigby and Tatiana are still very much decent people altogether, while Mephisto is a freaking Archdevil and Aranea is his Warlock/Consort, so they are bound by their own character alignment - which is firmly on the evil side).

AND OMG, LISTEN, NO FANDOM IS TRULY DEAD UNLESS I AM DEAD, TRUST AND BELIEVE.

I AM STILL HERE, WRITING AND DRAWING STUFF FOR FFXII, AND IT HAS BEEN ALMOST 20 YEARS SINCE ITS RELEASE.

So trust and believe, no fandom is ever truly dead, and you are MORE THAN WELCOME to discuss whichever fandom you fancy at present! :)

(and please, do not worry about sending me long asks. I *ADORE* reading them, the longer the better. GIMME A DOORSTOPPER ASK OR GIVE ME NOTHING LOLOL I am kidding of course! always feel free to send asks as long or as short as you prefer, at your own convenience <3 just know that they are always welcomed! <3)

WISHING YOU A PLEASANT, BEAUTIFUL DAY NONNIE.

HERE, TAKE SOME LASAGNA I MADE AT LUNCH.

*gives lasagna in tupperware*

--Nemo

[haleigh-sloth]

What are you think are some things that could've been done better in Assassination Classroom?

I don't think there is anything that could be done *better* but I can think of things I would have *liked* to see.

I wish I could have gotten more Gakushu and seen him interact with class E more, just because I saw so much potential there. In a perfect world he would have fucked up so bad his dad threw him in class E as punishment and he would have been absorbed into Korosensei's safety bubble. But that wasn't the direction his character went nor his dad's story, and the manga had a short timeline and there just wasn't room to explore him more. Other than that though honestly, I really have no complaints or critiques on AssClass.....I truly give it a 10/10.

I've said it a million times but the emotional gut punch it gave me speaks for itself I think....I didn't cry because I was disappointed, I cried because I really fucking felt the situation in the story and it was just a lot for me lol. So I honestly view it as a 10/10 because I just have nothing bad to say about it.

[no-naem]

Rewatching Detective Conan movies reallyyyy really really makes me wish there were more AssClass movies. Like, they could all be noncanon, but that would mean they could go BUCK WILD like the DeteCo movies and writers won't have to worry about continuity.

Idk what the stories would be about, though. Maybe it's all about another huge assassination plan. Maybe another formidable assassin that Reaper 2.0 failed to kill again shows up. Maybe it's another Class E vs Class A event and we could meet the other Class A students. Maybe it could be a "what if" where Kayano doesn't reveal herself, so the students come up with creative winter themed assassination plans. And go on a trip to a mountain for snowboarding and skiing because yes and I love the winter. Also an Akari and Aguri thing would be nice plEASE PLEASE PLEASE-- Maybe there's a "murder mystery" and Fuwa takes upon the role of the detective and drags a few characters around with her. Yeah, getting a bit DeteCo there. Maybe we can see more of what everyone's up to past high school, college, and their adult lives. Or how about whatever the hell is going on with Karasuma and Irina in the graduation album????

But YEAH I want more OVAs and movies. I don't care if they're noncanon, I just want more official material.

[the-abyss-watcher]

Earlier you and I (and this is how you'll know who I am) were talking in someone's comment section about the two hacktivist groups, Anonymous and User, the latter of whom I figured you were, and I couldn't answer you while there, so I've come here to tell you the difference between the two groups, though it also helps to look these people up.

Anonymous Let's start off with the group almost everyone knows about. Anonymous is the group most notable for the slogan "we do not forgive, we do not forget", which refers to its interest in the justice of the world, which, under its veil of literal ambiguity, it pushes for against those in power who wish to stall it. This veil extracts a sense of quantity out of its identity, as the vastness of anonymity, which is inspired by the 4chan presence of peoples whom an "anonymous" name have been applied, as well as the character V in V for Vendetta who shows that it can envelope all forces and functions as it refers to all figures unknown, is akin to an ocean, one which can blur the concept of whatever a perpetrator may be. They, using the ocean that is themselves as a self-enforcing unifying force, also take inspiration from the alter egos of vigilantes of stories of old, though things are not always black and white, as the herd mentality implied by this ocean can, like the ever-changing winds, lead Anonymous to also commit less than stellar acts, as the ocean is only as good as the droplets in it. They are the soul of the web, able to come forth into the world of life to manifest as shadows to enact vengeance upon those they deem wrongdoers.

User User is a group whose mental conception is similar to Anonymous but with key features. A vigilante presence that operates under the milieus whereupon violence and justice are not perceived as the primary key modus operandis, they, while not under a veil like Anonymous, operate under some sense of ambiguity, not which one can say stems from identity but rather imbued in the aura of their actions, which one can say extracts a sense of quantity as well, which are the Machiavellianism/resourcefulness to Anonymous' crackdown, the independently-thinking "trickster character" Loki to Anonymous' herd-thinking "vigilante" Thor. They, in a vain not unlike Anonymous, in a similar self-enforcing unified way via the self-applying implications of their rationale which they don't believe is wrongful so as long as they do it for good (which, like Anonymous, is not an inherent adjective for them, should circumstances guide them off like seismic forces to a more or less desirable direction), believe in a restoration of all that is appreciable in the world, but, defined by the above difference, adhere to a modus operandi that sees them affected by an ambiguity bestowed by the likes of proxies, maneuvers, and what might be called consequentialist actions, with their names having similarly group-oriented origins, with User coming from the hidden nature of an individual whose actions cloud themselves in concealed side-effort methods in order to achieve the end goal, such as, for example, the Ismali Muslims (who invented Assassin's Creed by the way) posing as important people using their voice to guide the right people in place before they could kill rival powers once all the circumstances were facing the right way, which as I read about your ten e-cepts at https://www.deviantart.com/triagonal/art/The-Ten-E-Cepts-written-based-on-one-s-experience-899257268 and https://www.tumblr.com/deviantartdramahub/725681730451800064/i-have-a-question-about?source=share was a thought that came to mind, though it could be interpreted as being of both groups, both in the great web and even the noosphere.

User, with its own slogan of also not forgetting but also encompassing rather than ever judging, is at times the ally of those who call themselves Anonymous and other times its rival and even foe, similar to the ninja and samurai, due to their different ethical-inspired approaches to issues plaguing the world, but they always share the same struggles.

I know, my friend, I know. And you know why.

"User" is also an acronym, at least if you ask some circles.

[seriouslycromulent]

So now that I've finally watched The Blacklist series finale ...

... I thought I'd share my Top 15 favorite episodes out of all 10 seasons it was on the air.

What? I fangirl hard. I won't apologize for that. 😏

Don't worry. I didn't just remember all of these episodes off the top of my head. I basically did a series 3-9 rewatch last fall before the final 10th season started. Then, I did a rewatch of the first 2 seasons while the 10th season ran because I couldn't remember some of those details they kept referencing.

Enough dilly dallying. Let's dive in, shall we?

Btw, these are in chronological order, and I've pinched the brief descriptions of each episode from IMDB.com:

Luther Braxton (s2, e9)

The task force tries to save Red when he's arrested and taken to a secret detention facility. At the facility, Red tangles with a thief with whom he shared a complicated history. Guest star: Ron Perlman as Luther Braxton

T. Earl King VI (s2, e14)

A former paramour involves Reddington in a deadly game with a wealthy and powerful family dynasty whose ill-begotten fortune was amassed from an underground auction of human and material contraband. Meanwhile, Tom takes on a new mission.

Marvin Gerard (s3, e2)

As Liz pleads for her safety in the Russian Embassy, Red discovers a new plan devised by the Cabal to kill her. A familiar face reaches out to Ressler. Guest star: Fisher Stevens as Marvin Gerard

Kings of the Highway (s3, e8)

Red and Liz are separated when Red falls into a perilous situation. Elsewhere, Samar makes a risky choice to help Liz, and Tom and Cooper continue their quest to exonerate Liz.

Mr. Gregory Devry (s3, e11)

With her name finally cleared, Liz attempts to reclaim her former life. Red works with the task force to infiltrate an assembly of high-level criminals at large in a rare, risky opportunity to capture the heads of the world's most lethal organized crime syndicates. Guest star: Jake Weber as Gregory Devry

The Apothecary (s4, e15)

Red has to figure out who betrayed him when he's poisoned; Liz and the task force look for the toxin's designer to save Red's life. Note: Even though season 4 had my favorite "Big Bad" of the entire series, I could only choose one episode from this season to include in my top 15.

Abraham Stern (s5, e11)

Red goes on the hunt for a legendary treasure; Liz studies the methods of one of the Blacklist's most dangerous criminals. Guest star: Nathan Lane as Abraham Stern

The Osterman Umbrella Company (s6, e14)

Red directs Liz to investigate a secret organization of assassins hired by global intelligence agencies to eliminate former agents, a case with ramifications that will change the task force forever. Note: This episode is probably the one that broke my heart the most. If you've seen it, then you'll know why.

Cornelius Ruck (s7, e12)

Secluded on a private island, Red reunites with an old flame and a ring of thieves in a plot to make millions off of stolen art. Plans are quickly derailed, however, when guests on the island mysteriously show up dead. Guest star: Joely Richardson as Cassandra Bianchi Note: I really liked this one as a nice one-off from the usual formula the show followed.

The Wellstone Agency (s8, e6)

Red and Dembe go to great lengths to fulfill the final wishes of a dear friend; Aram goes undercover as an interpreter to a company that provides services to criminals; Park helps a friend in trouble. Note: The sweetest goodbye I've ever seen a TV series give to a recurring character since The Big Bang Theory.

Anne (s8, e13)

Red enjoys a quiet visit with a friend at her home in rural America. Note: Another great one-off with an ending that made me hate Liz even more than I already did.

Ivan Stepanov (s8, e17)

Red tries desperately to rescue an old friend at all costs, while Liz and Townsend conduct an interrogation. Guest stars: David E. Harrison as Ivan Stepanov and Rana Roy as Priya Laghari

The SPK (s9, e3)

A new case involving stolen artifacts reunites Red with a former Blacklister. Aram faces a difficult decision. Guest star: Stacy Keach as Robert Vesco

Eva Mason (s9, e14)

While searching for Senator Panabaker's missing daughter-in-law, the task force learns there may be a larger pattern of abductions. Red continues to piece together the mystery behind Liz's death. Guest star: Lea DeLaria as Nurse Binstock

The Four Guns (s10, e3)

An assassination attempt on Sen. Panabaker leads the Task Force to a group of renowned pickpockets; Red sends a dangerous gift to an old friend in custody. Guest stars: Stacy Keach as Robert Vesco and Jacob Pitts as Quentin Dodd Note: The scene between Reddington and Quentin where the latter "reads" the former on command and almost perfectly characterizes him is one of my favorite scenes of the entire 10th season.

And that's it folks! I've liked a lot of episodes over the show's run, even when Liz made me want to pull my hair out or when the writing was not as strong as I hoped.

But these 15 episodes above are probably the ones I would recommend to someone who has never seen the show, but wants to know what I liked about it so much that made me stick with it until the end.

As I mentioned before, season 4 had my favorite major villain (aka "Big Bad") but I only picked one episode from that season to add to this list. And although I think season 8 was the most infuriating in terms of characterization, it actually had a lot of great episodes that I would watch over and over again.

I think it's interesting that I didn't have any episodes from season 1 on my list. 🤔

I'm not going to review the series finale or the show overall. I just wanted to mark the occasion and say that I'm happy to see the show sunset, and I will be forever grateful that it gave us 10 years of James Spader on my television.

Yes, I hated that they didn't answer any of my questions about who Red really was to Liz, but I'm still feeling very, very grateful because this character was one for the ages.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, February 6

Kendra: So, you believe that Spike is attempting to revive this Drusilla to health? Giles: Yes, well, I-I-I-I think that's the, uh, the dark power that your, your Watcher re-referred to. You see, uh, you see Drusilla's not only evil, she's, uh, well, she's also quite mad, and-and-and-and if she's restored to her full health, then, uh, well, there's no, absolutely no telling what she might do. Kendra: Then we will stop Spike. Buffy: Ooo, good plan, let's go, charge! Giles: Buffy... Buffy: It's a little more complicated than that, John Wayne. Giles: Yes, I'm, I'm afraid it is. You see, Spike has also called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way. Kendra: The assassins? I read of them in the writings of Dramius. Giles: Oh, really? W-w-which volume? Kendra: I believe it was six, sir. Buffy: Um, how do you know all this? Kendra: From my studies. Buffy: So, obviously you have a lot of free time.

~~Buffy Episode #22: "What's My Line, PtII"~~

[Chaptered Fiction]

If We Could Freeze Time Ch, 25/60 (Buffy/Spike, E) by cosplayermadness

One Day You'll Know Ch. 9/9 (COMPLETE) (Buffy/Spike, M) by HaleKent

Staying Afloat Ch. 5/? (Willow/Oz, T) by dwinchester

Aspect of Lust Ch. 1/3 (Buffy/Giles, E) by Skylark62

Encased by Sunshine Ch. 32/? (Buffy/Spike, unrated) by Acb6293

49 Cemeteries Ch. 2/? (Buffy/Spike, E) by firemanwhenthefloodsrollback

hit rewind Ch. 31/? (Buffy/Spike, M) by untiljanuary

Bark like a Stray God Ch. 2/? (Dawn, Buffy/Spike, unrated) by driyaad

Stab in the back, Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, E) by MelG_2005

Encased in Sunshine , Chapter 33 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Acb6293

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Beefcake (Angel & Spike) by MamaBewear

Artwork:Willow by taniaairiarte

Artwork:Willow & Tara by emmakubert

Artwork:Giles & Ethan by yarboyandy

Manip:Spuffy Manip by agentkikirogers

Video: buffy & angel | you're losing me by lostlcve

Video: Angel the Series: Crack Edition by Jess Wilson

[Reviews & Recaps]

ReWatch: Angel - S2, E19 - 21 by kimannebb

ReWatch: Angel - S2, E16 - 18 by kimannebb

[Community Announcements]

SIGNUPS NOW OPEN!!!! by spangel-fic-marathon-2024

[Fandom Discussions]

Do you like Buffy? Who are you her ship with? by awinterrosesstuff

Buffy: “I was I was a star athlete or student.” Babe, you’re a literal superhero. by nevergonnabemuchmorethanweather

you guys, it really fucks me up by gothamstreetcat

Cops as sidekicks - doesn’t work? (Supernatural dramas) by Taake

Wishlist: Pairings on BTVS/AtS We Needed More Of? by hoponlilmama

The Sunnydale Diaries Podcast Season 2 by thesunnydalediaries

Omg Buffy, get out of here with your designer peacoat. by alrtight

Can you really blame them? by MysteriousProduce816

Did Giles make the right decision? by Vlade-B

Buffy/Angel watch order by red_guy442

Do you think that principal Snyder worked with the evil forces in Sunnydale by ShutupNobodyCarez

What contemporary prose and poetry would Spike be into? by alrtight

Guess how old Buffy Summers is by QualifiedApathetic

What are some scenes, episodes, or anything Buffy Summers experienced in general that would make you instantly revoke your slayer card if you were in her shoes? by Opening_Knowledge868

Primal Xander fanfiction by menapawz

Missing special effects at the start of AtS season 3? by FullyStacked92

If you were Buffy, would you have made money on your powers? by invisiblebyday

Looking for ONE episode that will convince a friend to watch Buffy by r4nkl3

Most memorable questions on the show? by InfiniteMehdiLove

Is this Faith's best scene in the Buffyverse? by jdpm1991

Which minor character do you wish had more screen time? by pudgypickle

Re-watch season 7 by SharpieD85

What Buffy: The Vampire Slayer First Impression You Had, Came True? by Big-Restaurant-2766

Rewatching s6 finale by Effective_Pea1309

One of the funniest, running storylines in the show by Alive-Hamster9789

Buffy once managed a *decapitation* with one of these... by sakura_drop

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

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[fireflylitsky]

Another beautiful gift from my lovely and skilled art friend without socials, so I post this on her behalf. We are probably the only two MadaKaku shippers on the planet, but PLEASE prove me wrong XD Loosely inspired by the snippet below featuring young buck Kakuzu just after his defeat by Hashirama when he meets Madara for the first time (and hates him) Rating: E Word Count: 680 Characters: Madara, Kakuzu

Kakuzu lies still, the coldness of the river is not quite enough to numb the pain of defeat, but it does something for his wounds. That will have to do. He’s washed up onto an embankment, and for a while he just exists there like any of the stones and waterlogged debris around him. 

Returning to his village after failing to defeat Senju Hashirama is not something he wishes to do, but after an appropriate amount of wallowing, he decides it is time. Dying would have been easier, but here he is, pushing to his feet with a grunt.

“Finally. I was beginning to think he actually killed you.” The unfamiliar voice comes from behind. It is deep and low and has an obnoxious amount of arrogance lofting it up. 

Turning to look, ready to snap, the growl building in the back of his throat catches there and he halts. “Uchiha Madara,” he realizes aloud from appearance alone. 

"Oh good, so you know who I am," Madara says with casual relief. "That saves me some time.”

Though they’ve never met, Kakuzu knows enough–what he looks like, his bond with the Hokage–and he can only come to one conclusion about his presence here and now. “Come to finish the job then?”

To his absolute anger and puzzlement, this man actually laughs. It's not exactly malicious, but it's plenty to pit some fresh rage in Kakuzu's gut. Madara doesn't seem to notice or care about that though, he just shakes his head and pushes off the tree he’s been leaning against. “If only,” he sighs, “but no. He sent me to check on you, actually."

Kakuzu makes a noise of disgust. His defeat was dishonorable enough, this is just getting ridiculous. The last thing he wants is the Senju sending his Uchiha dog to check up on him.

"Putting you up against the Hokage like that?" Madara pauses to draw out a long whistle at the apparent severity of this. "Someone definitely wants you dead," he points out matter-of-factly, examining his nails.

Scowling, Kakuzu takes a challenging step towards him, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg. “I was chosen for my strength.”

"No," Madara says, slow to tear his attention away from the hangnail he's picking at, but when finally meets Kakuzu's gaze, he smiles as some mockery of sympathy. “You weren’t. You were chosen to die.”

Kakuzu is certain he will never meet anyone more infuriating in his lifetime. “What do you care, anyway?”

“Oh, it’s not so much that I care,” he muses. “Hashirama, well… he can be quite curious. As for me, let’s call it bored.”

Far from how he envisioned this night going, Kakuzu takes a moment to stare and process. “So you’re not upset with the fact that I tried to assassinate him?”

“Heavens no.” He's positively flippant and there's that smug look again, like Kakuzu could not be any less of a threat as he folds his arms over his chest plate with a shrug. “It was a cute try, don’t get me wrong, but no. I wasn’t exactly worried, Kakuzu."

Kakuzu just stares back with a dumb, blank expression because never in his life has he been spoken to like this. Before he can even think of a response beyond some feral growling, Madara is goading him again. 

"Do I have that right? It is Kakuzu, no?”

If the flaring of his nostrils and clenched fists at his sides are any indication, Kakuzu is, in a word, mad.

"Calm down," Madara offers with a sigh that verges on laughter, stepping closer. "I know you're angry. I would be too. I almost am for you." He pauses and smiles, not in any friendly way, taking note of Kakuzu's deep set scowl. "Almost."

"Keep your pity, Uchiha," Kakuzu manages to grit through his teeth. 

"You know who I am," Madara says. "Then you should also know that I don't give pity often. So enjoy it, really. Think of it as my gift to you."

Every word that comes out of this man's mouth makes Kakuzu want to end him.

[freeuselandonorris]

✨💌

(for the writer asks here!)

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

hmmm. a lot of my fics are either for very niche pairings, niche fandoms or niche kinks, so I’m kind of used to posting into the void to an extent 😅

that said, two fics I’m particularly proud of that didn’t get huge traction are:

all the blood runs hot before it’s cold (F1 RPF, toto wolff/christian horner, christian horner/geri halliwell, E). look, i get it. it’s a weird fic about two very rich and quite obnoxious middle aged men being vile to each other, and one of them gets pegged by a spice girl. it’s not for everyone. but I love what I managed to do with that fic and I think it’s the one I’m proudest of overall in terms of showing off my actual writing ability.

crosstown traffic (our flag means death RPF, taika waititi/rhys darby, E). this one actually did okay for the bounds of a tiny fandom, given it was posted between seasons. but again, I feel like I did a decent job of making this a character study of LA Taika (as opposed to Aotearoa NZ Taika, a very different beast). I’ve actually been thinking about doing a sequel to this at some point, set during the filming of Flag S2, where I look at Aotearoa Taika in more depth, like a mirror image piece somehow.

I guess I haven’t entirely answered the question directly here but yeah, I think they’re the two I would be happiest for people to revisit!

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

oh god I have like…five WIPs on the go currently because I have poor impulse control.

so I’ve been working on a sequel to the toto/christian fic I mentioned above, set from toto’s POV this time (one of my favourite POVs to write from).

“You know,” Toto says. “I read this book over the winter break.”

“Oh dear,” Christian looks pained.

There’s something different about him today. In the intervening period since Toto was last alone with him, something has changed. He’s taking up the whole cradle of the armchair like he thinks he belongs there.

“It was about Mithridates,” Toto continues, ignoring Christian. “He was the ruler of Pontus in Anatolia in the first century BC. His father was assassinated at a banquet, and so Mithridates spent seven years in the wilderness, ingesting poisons at sub-lethal doses.”

“Right,” Christian says impatiently. “Why, exactly?” His fingers twitch against his thighs.

Toto leans back against the desk, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. The sharp edge cuts into his glutes. He flexes, letting the discomfort translate itself into another stirring of blood.

“He built up an immunity,” he says, and leans forward. His cock throbs with every beat of his heart. “Eventually, these repeated small exposures to the deadliest of poisons accumulated in his system. It no longer affected him.”

I also started writing girl!Lando/Oscar filth yesterday whoops

“Hey, Osc.” Lando drops her phone to her chest and fixes Oscar with a scrutinising gaze. She’s been sprawled on Oscar’s sofa for the past hour, feet up on his coffee table, gnawing on the beads of her bracelets and largely ignoring him. “You ever made a girl squirt?”

Jesus. Oscar should be used to this kind of thing by now, really, but it never stops startling him when Lando pipes up have you ever done spanking or did you know that you can train yourself out of a gag reflex if you like, really commit apropos of nothing.

“Uh,” Oscar says. “Nope. Can’t say I have. Have you?”

and wonderful OP I realise you might be glazed over now while I talk about motorsports fics when you followed me for Flag stuff! but the other day I remembered I got halfway through a Roach/Blackbeard cannibalism fantasy (look, it’s canon, alright) fic that I abandoned a few months ago. I’d like to go back to it at some point, though!

“They say you’ve tasted human flesh,” he says. The words are astonishing coming out of his mouth. He keeps his voice deliberately low, his words audible only to Blackbeard before the breeze and the waves wash them away.

“Do they, now,” Edward says, musing. He’s still smiling, but it’s changed now. He’s eyeing Roach speculatively; Roach feels pinned, like something to be inspected under glass. He forces himself to look up at meet Edward’s gaze, more boldly than he feels inside.

Edward leans a little closer, voice low. “Yeah, I’ve tasted flesh.”

Roach can’t stop the way his eyelids flutter, hearing it. He sucks in a breath. “You have?”

“Oh, yeah,” Blackbeard says, and tilts his head. “A man can work up all sorts of appetites under the right circumstances.”

thanks for asking! 💕

[salsedine]

Per l'ask game propongo Solas e Anders di Dragon Age

Ps ho schiacciato sul blog sbagliato e ho mandato un ask per sbaglio all'op voglio morire

Hello e grazie mille per l'ask! Credo che l'op non se la prenderà, ci sono ask decisamente peggiori in questi lidi 🙈 E se può consolare, una volta Tumblr ha glitchato di brutto inviando un mio messaggio critico verso uno show molto popolare ad un blog iper fan del suddetto show. Capisco l'ansia!

Daje now we'll switch to badly written English.

Solas: I wish I could say something, but I still haven't played DAI 🙈 (and i don't even know if I'll be able to without melting my laptop). However, from posts and fanarts I deduced that he is some kind of old god/trickster archetype/the dreadwolf thingy that wants to destroy the world. Interesting!

And a fun fact. For... quite some time I used to think that Solavellan was the name of an actual character. In my defence, it sounds legit for a fantasy setting.

Now, let's move on to the character that will make people stop talking to me lol. Under the read more because I'm on mobile and have no idea how long this is going to be.

* First impression: hello fun guy that hates the chantry and is obsessed with cats, I like your earring! Oh you refused to speak and ran away multiple times so... they left you a year in solitary confinement?? Oh and then your ex/first love is illegally magically lobotomized as a threat against you? WTF WTF WTF.

* Impression now: I pretty much like all the characters, but he really grew on me. I find him very interesting and compelling, BUT I also want to hit him with a brick for every bitchy/condescending/hypocrite comment towards Fenris or Merrill. I also suspect that with him the writers tried to portray mental illness or something similar? I think I read something somewhere.

* Unpopular opinionS: ehhh, here we go. It's called "the last straw" and not "I'm going to commit a political assassination at the first inconvenience" for a reason. I agree that it could have been handled differently (with more time- this game definitely deserved more development time), but it wasn't on a whim, nor I see it as some grand machination that he planned for years. It's a very desperate act that was preceded by years of activism and trying to find a compromise. A compromise that it is impossible to reach, imho, because compromises in order to work need good faith and/or some kind of leverage. Mages have no leverage and Meredith (and Elthina too) have no good faith. Meredith explicitly wanted an excuse to kill them all, and the right of annulment has been sent for... how can you compromise with someone that considers your existence a mistake to correct? I can see that it's a political situation that would have required more nuance than what the game had time to provide - but overall I think it's pretty clear why he did it.

* Favourite moment: The "hello Varric, take my mother's embroidered pillow, just in case something happens ahah I'm so subtle" scene is quite sweet (despite everything that follows), and while I affectionately mock it for being very loud, the First Big Kiss in the sewers is a classic. And any mention to cats is very much appreciated, obviously.

* Idea for a story: the 3 years gap between the acts are full of possibilities, and I love missing-moments stories. Also! If the "something here is a metaphor for mental illness" idea is true I'd definitely love to read some in-depth exploration of it.

* Favourite head canon: considering what I saw from the official writers about him after the events of DA2, I'd just say "the opposite of that".

* Favourite relationship: platonic, I'd say Varric ("let's brainstorm how to kill my brother :D! Also I'm paying criminals to stay away from your underground free clinic, bye"). Romantic, definitely Hawke. But with a disclaimer: I've tried the romance path thingy with a male rogue/archer Hawke (after much consideration, I was really curious about Fenris and Isabela too, but the "ten years, a hundred years-" quote got me) but I still haven't finished it. So yeah, I'm aware I'm missing pieces here -and this is why I looked for all the spoilers. "And I love you so much I'm going to let you kill me" indeed, mrs Welch singing during the end credits, indeed.

Thanks again for asking! 💃✨

[edit] finished the game - he is now in the top 10 of my favourite characters, huge fan of the romance with Hawke (friendship route and 'let's run away' ending).

[game-boy-pocket]

I like when Mario and Zelda reference each other like the references here and there in Ocarina of Time/Major's Mask or Mario characters just straight up being in Link's Awakening, or the Zelda dungeon level in 3D Land and the Link sprite puzzle in 3D World, or Link Super in Mario Maker 2. I'm sad that the Link costume didn't make it into Odyssey. And not only did Link appear in Mario Kart, but the Master Cycle that debuted in Mario Kart, became canon in the Legend of Zelda. Mario and Zelda are sister series created by the same guy, so it only makes sense that these things happen. I would not mind seeing it more often.

But what I really want is an actual crossover game... or games... I don't mean Smash Bros, cuz Smash Bros is not one thing crossing over with another thing. It's a big multi series crossover.

Zelda can be whatever it wants to be. You can't tell e Zelda is too different to work with Mario. Just take something like the Link's Awakening Switch remake aesthetic, maybe slightly more detailed and less toy-like but not exceeding Mario's level of detail and bingo bango you got a Zelda that could cross over with Mario. Ganon can be just a skosh more menacing than Bowser but he does not need to crank it up to "leave no survivors" levels for one entry and still not be a total character assassination.

As for what form this game would take, I don't know, I just know that I'd want it to happen.

I've always liked the idea of what Crash Bandicoot and Spyro did years ago, where the protagonists of those games simply just swapped worlds and two games were released..... I didn't play those games and I hear they're bad, but it's the idea I like. I kind of wish other crossovers would try that approach. Then there's also the "Sonic Adventure" approach where it's multiple playable characters that play differently, have different stories that occasionally intersect.... something like that.

I just want another crossover video game that isn't just "Hey here's this completely neutral game where crossovers happen in it with no context and no story mode to explain anything and nothing is canon so everything is played very safe to the IP owners. Look, Naruto and Thanos are flossing. Please buy more Roblox Bitcoins.", I used to dream of crossover games all the time but when they happen, they just don't feel like they matter.

[girlablaze]

THE  EDGE  OF  SWORDS  presents   :   druian  navar .

introducing  one  of  our  main  protagonists  of  teos  ,  druian  of  navar  is  many  things  :  son  of  an  outcast  ,  huntsman  to  the  nine  realms  ,  traitor  to  his  people  ,  MURDERER .  exiled  from  his  realm  for  aiding  in  the  assassination  of  his  beloved  king  &  queen  ,  druian  is  cursed  to  live  the  rest  of  his  endless  days  wandering  the  dark  wood  searching  for  a  forgiveness  he  did  not  deserve    ——    OR  .  .  .  perhaps  the  villain  is  much  more  than  the  twisted  features  and  ghastly  fangs  he  is  painted  up  to  be .   a  father’s  son  falsely  accused  ,  a  boy  led  astray  by  those  seeking  only  downfall  ,   an  innocent  man  wrongly  dealt  a  death  sentence .  

druian  has  been  offered  the  opportunity  to  earn  his  redemption  ,  if  only  the  world  had  not  taught  him  the  cruelties  that  hide  behind  offers  too  good  to  be  true . 

NAME :   druian  navar . MBTI  :  istj  ,  the  logistician .   ALIGNMENT  :  true  neutral .  ENNEAGRAM  :  type  one  ,  the  reformer . TEMPERMENT  :  melancholic . INSPIRATIONAL  QUOTE  :  so  violently  do  i  know  the  world .  (    rainer  maria  rilke  ,   fragment  of  an  elegy .  )

CHARACTER  CONNECTIONS .  

MARJA  :   a  thorn  in  his  side  ,  but  perhaps  an  endearing  one  nonetheless . druian  swears  to  the  gods  she  is  only  a  means  to  an  end   -   another  conquest  he  can  twist  into  his  own  design  ;  another  favor  he  will  undoubtedly  collect  when  the  time  comes  to  harvest  what  he  has  sown .  but  he  has  grown  strangely  accustomed  to  the  feeling  of  her  standing  by  his  side  ,  how  he  watches  her  curiously  whenever  she  turns  away .  (  a  peculiar  creature  ,  a  powerful  one .  )   the  both  of  them  come  from  two  vastly  different  worlds  ,  and  if  she  ever  knew  who  he  really  was  -  what he  has  done  -  druian  is  afraid  she  would  begin  to  believe  the  stories  of  his  monstrosities    ——    she  is  the  sacrifice  he  will  inevitably  make  when  he gathers  the  courage  to  do  so  ,  and  he  can  already  feel  the  knife  slicing  her  free  from  a  man  like  him .

NAZ  :  the  two  of  them  have  stood  by  each  other  since  the  were  children  ,  when  everyone  ridiculed  him  &  everyone  tried  to  control  her .  they  both  found  some  form  of  comfort  in  each  other  that  not  even  their  families  could  provide  ——   druian  would  even  go  as  far  as  to  call  her  sister  ,  for  she  is  the  only  one  that  followed  him  loyally  into  oblivion  and  sacrificed  all  she  was  to  inherit .  naz  can  understand  him  even  in  his  petulant  silence  ,  and  pulls  him  into  line  when  his  insolence  grows  so  intolerable .  (  she  is  not  afraid  of  his  monstrosities  ,  for  they  are  hers  to  bear  also . )   for  druian  ,  there  is  guilt  whenever  he  looks  into  her  eyes  and  seems  a  homesickness  that  has  not  been  overcome  ,  but  for  now  he  will  try  his  best  to  be  everything  she  asks  of  him  :  friend  ,  family  ,  a  consistent  thing  in  an  inconsistent  world .

ZETH  :  bastard  of  a  man .  zeth  only  knows  druian  as  he  is  today  ,  and  not  for  what  he  once  was  before  he  was  cast  to  the  shadows  of  the  dark  wood   —   there  is  some  consolation  in  that  ,  although  druian  will  not  admit  it .  the  both  of  them  have  trained  together  ,  competed  against  one  another  ,  and  now  they  cannot  sever  their  tethers  to  each  other  no  matter  how  hard  they  try .  somehow  the  fellow  soldier  always  seems  to  find  him  -  always  manages  to  slither  beneath  the  armor  druian  has  crafted  over  the  years  in  exile .   they  do  not  call  each  other  friend  ,  or  brother  in  arms  ,  or  anything  other  than  an  annoyance  they  wish  to  be  free  of   ——    but  on  the  battlefield  the  two  fight  well  ,  and  although  they  would  not  admit  it  ,  the  two  can  think  of  no  better  swordsman  to  protect  their  backs  in  the  midst  of  a  war  neither  of  them  could  have  ever  predicted .

THE  UNDYING  PRINCE  :   the  very  mirror  of  who  druian  is  lies  within  the  man  he  despises  most .  every  action  druian  has  ever  made  -  every  lonely  path  taken  -  has  led  him  right  back  to  the  prince’s  shadow     ——    druian  doesn’t  know  whether  to  be  relieved  or  haunted  by  it  ,  for  this  reflection  of  his  true  self  is  something  perhaps he  does  not  wish  to  fight  anymore .  maybe  ,  it  would  be  easier  to  submit  to  all  the  promises  the  prince  is  offering  him  in  exchange  for  loyalty  ,  and  inherit  a  kingdom  more  despicable  than  the  one  that  cast  him  down .  the  world  has  never  been  kind  to  him  ,  so  why  should  he  be  kind  in  return ? 

tag  list  below  the  cut !  (  comment  /  message  to  be  added !  )

tba . . .  it’s  been  so  long  since  i  posted  that  i  forgot  (  oops . )  but  let  me  know  if  you’d  be  interested  in  being added  /  readded  ,  tho ! 

[rayezaeri]

Spoiler warning for the anime’s Assassination Classroom, Nichijou, Black Rock Shooter, Girl’s Last Tour and 86.

I just feel like ranting about my top five favourite anime’s and so now it’s your problem. Before I start though I shall run a quick summary of each anime.

Assassination Classroom:

Yellow octopus threatens to blow up the Earth in a year and wishes to spend the year teaching a group of outcast kids who have to kill him to save the world.

Nichijou:

What?

Black Rock Shooter:

Lesbians unknowingly have epic mind battles with each other for the sake of friendship, I do mean that quite literally, they are clearly gay but no one gets together by the end.

Girls Last Tour:

Two girls who are either siblings or lesbians I really can not tell, explore a dead world.

86:

Trauma.

So now that the summaries are done it’s time to get to the actual ranting as to why these 5 anime are my favourite anime’s of all time so far.

So starting with Assassination Classroom, first let’s get the obvious reasons as to why I like this anime over and done with. I quite literally owe a decent portion of my life to this anime, if it wasn’t for my discovering it chances are I would not know most of my best friends, so already this anime has a special place in my heart.

Now for the actual anime. Personally I can see why the anime would be off putting to others, the very first episode is quite literally an info dump that looking back at it makes you think it’s just the ramblings of someone on drugs. We know nothing other than the fact that this weird yellow octopus blew up the moon, he is going to do the same to earth but first he wants to teach a class of outcasts who are tasked with killing him. Fucking bizarre out of nowhere concept that initially makes absolutely zero sense, of course some people would be put off by it, but if you stick around, in my opinion it becomes one of the best found family troped anime out there. Some of the students are quite clearly more involved than others but every character gets their screen time, we get to see all of them grow throughout the course of this anime thanks to some weird yellow octopus. The main reason I found myself enjoying it is because it provoked a sense of want in me, as I continued watching it I found it as something I would really want to be a part of. Of course the downsides being you only get a year and of course either you die or you kill the octopus who has quite literally become the best dad you could hope for in a million different lifetimes. For the students of E-class, it’s very much a year to remember, and it’s that sense of just throwing everything to the wind, shits fucken weird, may as well enjoy it. Form relationships I never expected, be taught life lessons that’ll haunt me when I need them to in the most unexpected situations, sign me up. As you watch and get invested in the anime, it just makes you want to be there more.

There’s a theme of attachment and detachment throughout the entire anime within the students of 3-E that I really enjoy, it’s quite literally like they’re losing themselves in a fantasy. They can’t really tell the outside world anything in general because the Octopus is a state secret, but we don’t get to see much in the world outside of E-Class. Sure they go to different places around the world for trips but it’s within the class bubble. We get to see Koro-Sensei (the octopus) going about the world in his shitty human disguise but those are tiny snippets. We know the government is here and there being the assholes they are but it’s never a focal point until the very end. E-Class has detached themselves from the world essentially, and become attached to each other, their class and the people within it. This year is for them, sure it’s to save the world, but in the process they have been taken from what they vowed as the deepest pit of hell in their life to quite literally the very top, all thanks to this class. It’s a real life fantasy, who would want to leave.

Now time for Nichijou, easily the weirdest anime on this list. There’s a video on YouTube by Brandon Talks titled “This anime is batshit insane” and I feel there’s one phrase he uses which sums up this anime perfectly. “This is supposed to be a slice of life but it’s more like a slice of weed”, and as someone who has never taken drugs in their life (not sarcasm) I can fully agree with this statement. It explains nothing, and this can be a bit detrimental for the show as some clips do require culture knowledge, but then again one of the most common known facts of comedy is that explaining the joke doesn’t make it funny. In my opinion there is no specific target audience when it comes to Nichijou, you either like it or you don’t. Some people will love it because it’s just so random and chaotic, others will hate it because it’s just so random and chaotic. There isn’t much of a plot to Nichijou, mostly just a series of small stories which some extended throughout multiple episodes, such as the tale of Mio and her hair cubes. Whether you like the show or not will very much be a gamble but a gamble you should definitely take.

My own little personal view on Nichijou is that it’s a bit nihilistic. While slice of life’s aren’t necessarily known for a driving plot or having an end goal, an end goal usually exists, we are witnessing the everyday individuals but things will always change. Nichijou doesn’t change, in terms of being weird that is. It’s chaotic nature is the anime’s own way of saying, “life’s fucked, may as well have some fun with it”. Nothing makes sense, the most absurd random bullshit can happen at literally every second of the show.

Personally I feel it’s main plot is simply the school trio and the Shinonome household becoming friends, purely so that more weird and chaotic things can happen. I’ve come to find that every anime has a certain moment in it when it just dawned on you that it’s going to end soon. Every anime has that one episode with that one point that just makes you feel deathly aware that the end is close, even if you have been paying attention to how many episodes there are, it’s this moment that makes you truly realise it’s coming to the final stretch. For its last few episodes, Nichijou takes a slightly more serious approach, closing off small little plot lines that it played around with throughout the anime, showing more genuine moments of friends being friends and having fun rather than just complete randomness. It’s when it gets to here that I get the feeling, “it’s going to end soon.” However Nichijou is still the slice of weed from the very beginning, as the anime ends our two main groups are together as friends now, the possibilities of randomness has grown, they can do so many more things. It’s the anime’s final way of displaying its message, life is weird and unpredictable, shit happens, randomness happens, completely unexpected events happen, yet who cares. That’s just life being life, so grab some idiots that you enjoy spending time with and embrace the chaos that is existence.

Black Rock Shooter. I don’t have any long paragraphs that go in depth to the anime for this one, in fact I could not for the life of me tell you why I like this anime so much, I genuinely have no idea what draws me to it to consider it my third favourite anime, but hey it’s here, and I’m glad it’s here because it’s a fucking amazing anime. Go watch it, it’s like magical girls but they’re mental illnesses. Quite literally the best way I can think to describe it.

Girls Last Tour, once again I can see why people would drop this anime or not be at all interested. There’s a total of only 7 characters, only 2 of which (the main characters) are recurring. In the simplest terms, it’s boring. Nothing happens. The world of Girl’s Last Tour is a post-post-apocalyptic one. Maybe add one more post there. The world is quite literally dead, the apocalypse so long gone there aren’t even corpses to prove that people once lived there, belongings don’t seem to exist, practically every house or building is stripped clean, no belongings, no furniture no nothing, just an open and empty building, the only food the girls can really hope to get is ration bars that were once used by the army but even they have become incredibly scarce. The entire anime is just us following these two girls as they just simply survive. The city they’re in is layered, and the goal they have is to reach the top, an incredibly long journey that they might not even make successfully. The reason I like the anime is because it speaks to me in my desire to study people, I’d love to one day just have unlimited access to everything about everyone, just to see all the little bits of people that they crafted to make themselves who they were. Being on a planet devoid of life but me would be great because I could just scavenge and study to my hearts content. Another reason is that for me it has a similar vibe to Nichijou of essentially just saying fuck it. The world is dead, so dead that there aren’t even remnants of a civilisation that did exist (except for the files found in the camera), there is no hope of regaining this world, so much so that in one episode, a robot decides that it’s time for his facility to be destroyed, it’s time for him to go because there is nothing left, the only reason it is prevented from completing that goal is because our main girls want to protect what is quite possibly the last fish ever alive, a creature they will probably never see again. This world is beyond repair, there is no hope for it, and yet when they are so deep into the depths of hopelessness, every character still holds out some kind of hope.

We encounter two different other people within the entire anime, each is only there for the episode they are introduced but they are there, and they embody that sense of hope in hopelessness. The first character is a man who’s decided to make it his purpose to make maps of the world. A seemingly useless thing in such desecrated world, and yet he does it anyway, plotting all of it down on paper. Towards the end of the episode he and our main girls are riding up an elevator so they can get to the above level, he drops the bag containing the map of the previous level he had worked so hard on, and the bag falls of the elevator, opening and letting out every individual page. At first he’s understandably devastated, but then after seeing the two girls do what they can to keep him from joining his maps, he decides, fuck it, I’ll just do it again. He’s on a new level and so he may as well just keep mapping. There’s no point to this, as I mentioned within this anime there are only a total of 4 humans we see, the only people who had ever seen his first map where the two girls, in other words his maps are basically useless. The only person they’d help is him but he’s not trying to find anywhere, he’s just seeing what there is, but it gives him something, a purpose which allows him to grasp a small bit of hope that lets him keep moving.

The second human we meet is attempting to make a plane, she has no experience flying a plane and so far has not successfully made safe and operational plane, our main girls agree to help her in response to her fixing their vehicle for them. By the end of the episode she has successfully made a functional plane, the girls make note that she could very well be the last pilot in all of history (if memory serves correctly, I feel I do remember this but my memory is terrible) either way it’s a bittersweet moment. She has achieved her goal and is now going to attempt to fly to the next layered city, except it all goes to shit. Once up in the air the plane brakes apart, Ishi is thankfully saved by her foresight to wear a parachute, and as she starts descending the levels of her world, she isn’t filled with anger or a sense of defeat, she just smiles, happy to be able to try again one day.

There’s just something attractive about the whole hope in a hopeless land theme to me, and it makes watching the journey that Chi and Yu go on so much more interesting to observe.

And finally 86 (yes I started a sentence with and, to those of you that are triggered by this just know your suffering makes me happy). Out of all 5 of these anime, Assassination Classroom and 86 made me cry, they are the only shows I’ve ever watched that have made me cry. 86 definitely did the better job, had me crying at the end of season 1 and at the end of season 2. The main thing which I think 86 does well, is making you attached. In 86 we follow the story of a group of soldiers who are discriminated against, they live in an 85 districted society full of people who are assholes. Every individual within districts 1-85 have white hair and I think those are silver eyes. Anyway they all deem themselves superior because of these factors, the 86 are the outcasts, they do not all have white hair and silver eyes, they have all sorts of different coloured hair and eyes. They don’t really live within the districts, they live in the danger zone, in the outskirts, referred to simply as the 86th district purely to give the assholes something to refer to the 86 as. The anime does an incredible job of showing just how dehumanised the 86 are, quite literally to the point that before I saw them in person I genuinely thought they were just machines. Lena (one of the white haired individuals) is told by her superior to stop marking down any human casualties, the 86 are so dehumanised they aren’t even counted as deceased in battle reports despite basically being the only fighters of this empire. So already we are led to one of two different paths, path one thinking along the lines of, is this just quite literally racism, or did the 86 actually do something that caused such oppression against them, and path 2. Omg screws these fuck heads, 86 rule, rebel and kill all the fuckers. Either way our attention is clearly meant to be drawn to them. And then (yes I did it again) we get introduced to Spearhead Squadron, quite possibly the most heartbreaking thing among the 86. It’s no secret that the 86 are the main fighting force of this empire, they pilot machines used to defeat their enemy, that being just simply machines inhabited by the souls of the dead. It’s a losing battle for this empire, the best they can hope for is continuous suicide attacks to keep the enemy at bay, hence spearhead squadron. To put it bluntly spearhead squadron is the chopping block for 86, they aren’t sent there to lead the war effort or anything like that, they are sent there to die. Spearhead squadron will receive no new supplies, no new comrades to replace the fallen, they will fight until they are wiped out, or until they are sent on their “final mission” which is just the fuckers fancy term for, rush the enemy and pray to god you survive. Once one spearhead squadron is done for, another is set up to take its place, the worst part is the 86 know this. Throughout season 1 we follow 1 spearhead squadron, and it is revealed towards the end that they are all aware they are on the chopping block, a fact that not even their handler (Lena) is aware of. Lena actually cares about the 86, especially those in spearhead and she tries desperately to get them more supplies and allies as their numbers dwindle until they finally tell her the truth.

Lena asks them why they seem so content being where they are, and for them the answer is simple, war and despair is all they really know. This anime does a good job of showing the affects of racism but it doesn’t show the 86 as being perfect like we would hope them to be, the 86 in spearhead fully admit they are aware that the 86 back in their home towns aren’t angels. Do the 86 deserve all of this oppression, no, but that doesn’t mean they’re amazing, there are shitty 86 who will turn on other 86, they aren’t united, they’re just trying to survive.

The way I feel this anime makes you attached is quite unique, whereas typically most shows would aim to get you as emotionally invested in a character as possible in order to make their death hit harder, 86 doesn’t necessarily do that. Just like with Ass Class, there are members within Spearhead that clearly get more screen-time, these are our characters to survive longer essentially. The ones with less-screen time however aren’t neglected, Spearhead view themselves as a family essentially, everyone in the squad is a part of that. 86 doesn’t focus on making you emotionally attached to each member of Spearhead, because most of them die, but they aren’t wasted deaths. The first casualty of Spearhead that we see happens quite quickly after we introduced to the squad, we don’t get to know much about the guy other than he’s a bit of a goof and a softie, and then he dies. Barely enough time for us to get to know him, but enough time to establish his role in Spearhead. He’s been their comrade for a while, we may not have any emotional attachment to him, but the rest of the characters do, and 86 uses that to make us care. His death is used as an introduction to the very dangerous lives this squad lives, as well as an introduction to how close they are together. With every death that gets added to the toll, whether it be a character with a lot or a little screen-time just keeps adding to that. We begin to get attached to the idea of the squad, the family they have created, so eventually, even seeing someone who we barley knew die becomes just a gut wrenching blow as seeing someone we did know die.

The real kicker for this is the commander of Spearhead Squadron, code name Undertaker. He’s been in service the longest and has been named the 86’s personal reaper, this is because back in his original unit, they made a pact to carve every person’s name into a broken piece of their unit once they die, last one standing would carry the rest on with them, Shin is always the last one. If it becomes clear that a comrade won’t survive, he mercy kills them himself, with every death in this squadron, each person is not truly gone as they are carried on by the living reaper, we begin to feel for Shin who carries a box with over 500 names in it. This anime makes us care about every 86 we see in this squadron by making it clear how much they adore each other.

Overall it’s a great anime that really tugs on your heart strings and will do everything it can to make you invested, would definitely recommend.

Anyways, these are my 5 favourite anime’s and the reasons why they are my favourites, I recommend you watch them all even with the spoilers you have gained from this post, and don’t blame me, first two words literally say spoiler warning, you knew what you were getting into, anyways bai.