#getting really close to the end of my original 103

[sugar-grigri]

Hi there! Hope you are having a nice day! I really love your csm analyses and meta! It's specially great because I don't understand literary symbolism at all, I'm learning a lot. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on my boy Yoshida. What do you think is his role? Is he only an obstacle for the romantic relationship between Denji and Asa? In a world where every detail has a deeper meaning, why an octopus? Hope you have a great day!

The octopus trap 

I think that if I asked every Chainsaw Man reader about Yoshida, most of the time I'd be told either "I have no idea what he's going to do" or, more precisely, "I keep expecting him to do something, but he doesn't end up doing anything".

You mustn't let your hair stand on end when you read remarks like that. Yoshida is my favorite character of Part 2, yet if I were to describe him succinctly it would be in exactly those terms.

When I say not to be annoyed by these remarks, it's because they're not the result of a lack of writing, a lack of development or even a depreciation of the character, these descriptions only underline the originality of Yoshida's writing.

Yes, it's surely worth clarifying what I mean by all this... 

Let's take a look at things chronologically. Yoshida's first appearance comes just after Asa, who has just discovered she's possessed by the war demon, is unable to set foot inside her school, a victim of anxiety, school phobia and, above all, Bucky's death. 

Yoshida suddenly appears during this scene. He is also quickly associated with Asa, as the demon-hunting club puts him in Yuko's and the protagonist's group. We all said to ourselves: great, something's going to happen between these two! She's dying of shame, so Fujimoto is bound to use this to create more interaction between them.

When Asa comes across her bullies, who have attacked her locker and shoes, only Yuko comes to comfort her, and Yoshida simply fades into the background. It's strange, because it was as if he had brutally hidden himself from the progress of the scenario and the reaction he might have had to this kind of situation. Keep this in mind. 

Then Yoshida reappears in chapter 103, as if Fujimoto were accidentally placing an ink blot in the background, Yoshida simply blending into the background until he hits his target. For the reader, this creates a certain "ah yes, where the hell has he been?" situation, and the element of surprise is intensified by the fact that this is Denji's first appearance as a human in Part 2. This time, Yoshida doesn't disappear into the background, as if evaporated, he appears when no one was expecting him.

Put that in the back of your mind too. 

Then, when he tries to put Denji's goal of a girlfriend into action, he introduces him to Asa Mitaka, whom we suspect, subconsciously or consciously, to be Chainsaw Man's love interest. So we're all thinking (myself included at this point), he's surely going to be the magnet between the two! Which turns out to be completely untrue, as Yoshida brutally declares that Asa has no business getting close to Denji.

This point not only shows that Yoshida's narrative function is hard to pin down, it also proves something else: he's not omniscient. He's not, as I've read, this absolutely perfect string-puller, since it's clear that he doesn't grasp until later that Asa may not simply be a young girl obsessed with finding a boyfriend, but a possessed one who might disturb the target he's watching: Chainsaw Man. 

The aquarium was Yoshida's observation ground. Yoshida has no desire to be active, as evidenced by the telephone scene where, after Asa has been humiliated by his failure to call anyone, he shows Denji his phone, arguing that he can't get a signal anyway. Now I'll get to that line : "Do you think CSM would eat it for us ? The Death devil"

Whether it was making you believe that Yoshida is a genius string-puller, this line made you believe that the boy had something to do with the demon of death. Fujimoto wouldn't ruin so many mysteries surrounding one of the most anticipated demons so unskillfully. That's why it's necessary to interpret it differently. A line belongs to a whole, and this scene between Yoshida and Denji is not a scene that escapes its whole, on the contrary, it has consequences.

It serves to show two things: firstly, Yoshida is aware of Chainsaw Man's ability to erase other demons, which was surely reported by Kishibe who learned of it in chapter 84, proving firstly that the public hunters are now aware of this ability. Something that had never been said before. Then we come to the most interesting part. Yoshida makes it clear in this scene that they've been locked up for three days, and the cases illustrate how each of the students is dealing with their own mortality, with Haruka crying, Nobana flips out, another prefers to be physically active to keep himself busy, while Yoshida prepares to die. As for Denji, he's been through worse, and is cooler than the others.

Then Yoshida pointed out, "Do you think Chainsaw Man would eat the demon of death?" This triggers Denji's act of kindness, as he realizes that he can also "suppress", "devour" fears in his human form, by taking action. Denji has noticed that Asa is looking to be active; she's the one who offered her a date, so she's the one who has priority to receive comfort, so Denji comes to devour the fear that paralyzed the protagonist. All the more ironic given that the demon they were all really facing was the demon of famine. 

I know everything I'm saying sounds disjointed at the moment, but hang on, I need to be a bit descriptive before I connect all this.

The same phenomenon of script feinting will occur, not to make it look like Yoshida will be a love rival, a friend of Asa, the magnet between Denji and Asa, or the demon of death.

No, this time, in chapter 133, Fujimoto makes it look like Yoshida will be a great antagonist by proposing Denji's horrible dilemma of either being human and living with his family or being Chainsaw Man without it. But it all falls apart when he realizes that Denji chooses both, leaving Yoshida completely out of his depth. This time Fujimoto erases all the mystique around this character, he's not the player who moves the pieces against Fami, he's just a mediator. 

The same phenomenon occurs when he locks Denji into this normal life that doesn't suit him, placing him in Fumiko's hands, leading to one of the least "normal" chapters, chapter 137. 

I think that with all this, you're beginning to grasp a certain idea: Yoshida's purpose is a narrative feint, he's a character with indecipherable eyes for us to place all our doubts and mysteries in. The questions just pile up, and we project them through Yoshida, who answers none of them. 

So who is Yoshida ? 

The only thing I can say is that he's a mystery. And when I say this, it's not to clear my name, as nothing can be said about him, because he is written as such and should be appreciated as such. I often read that his eyes, fully black like Kishibe's, are not only perhaps a sign of kinship but also a sign of deep despair. I think it's precisely in this way that we can miss the originality of these characters. 

Kishibe is not placed in the deepest despair, what makes him so strong, what makes him still here, being practically the only veteran of the public hunters (did you notice how young the public hunters still were?), is that he has accepted and internalized the madness of the system, bows to it instead of fighting against it, but is not dominated by it as someone unreasonable would be.

Whether it's Yoshida's black eyes or Kishibe's, the latter are simply the eyes of acceptance of the system. That is to say, their pupils are no longer illuminated by that little personal glimmer, seemingly devoid of emotion, since they are simply a reflection of the darkness of the system, of what's going on through them.

Yoshida's eyes are the eyes of a mysterious system that constantly stares at the characters without responding to them. 

And now you're probably wondering, Anon:

What about the octopus ?

This is surely the most interesting answer to Yoshida's question.

When you're looking for meanings for octopuses, your first instinct is to think of mythology, isn't it? Leviathan, Kranken, Akkorokamui, the octopus is the subject of a multitude of legends, whose interpretations are intertwined, creative, healing or destructive, beneficent or maleficent, or even the subject of great divergence from the public, cute? Or monstrous? 

This follows on from the previous statement: the octopus is a being onto which all concepts can be projected, even if they are contradictory. Yoshida's narrative function is the same: we project whatever we can onto him without him acting on it.

What's the one piece of information you could give me with any certainty? The fact that he's a demon hunter, right? In other words, the only thing you could say about the octopus is the environment it lives in? No ? 

Do you know how octopuses are caught ?

Have you heard of the Japanese octopus trap? Specifically, the takotsubo? In fact, they're not really traps at all, but a form of passive fishing in which simple pierced stones or clay pots are placed on the seabed. The octopuses then enter these pots to protect themselves, using them as shelters to protect their fragile bodies. Above all, when the pots are brought to the surface, the octopuses don't even try to escape, pressing themselves against the walls. 

Yoshida acts like these octopuses, not fighting the system, but rather embracing its walls, thinking he's safe when in fact he's trapped.

Hidden within this obscure system, the octopus has no idea that it's not safe, but has headed for its own destruction.

Now the connections make themselves. The only answer those big black eyes can give is a reflection of the system.

Asa is rejected by her classmates, by this micro-society that is school? The system appears.

Fans cheer Chainsaw Man on, as society is increasingly forged around him. The system takes an interest and invites him for coffee.

As Asa is rejected after her second date with Denji, the system will only add to her loneliness.

Chainsaw Man is a being whose function is to eliminate fears? The system will remind him of this.

Is Chainsaw Man an idiot? Will the system still try to control him, even if it means inhibiting him?

What if we were to use the metaphor of the octopus trap to provide the opposite answer ? Yoshida sticks to the walls of the system.

What does the system do? It weaves itself around Chainsaw Man.

Is this such a good idea ?

[voidlightcomix]

Feast Your Eyes: Fandom Cookbook Recipe Review #7

Blue Noodles And Sweet Failure - Star Wars Ultimate Cookbook + Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook

Tonight's menu: sourced from Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge + Star Wars Ultimate Cookbooks

Main Dish: Gormaanda’s Glowblue Noodles, pg 103 of Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook

Side Dish: Hanava Pods, pg 185 of Star Wars Ultimate Cookbook

Dessert (not pictured): Aleen Firefly, pg 125 of Star Wars Ultimate Cookbook

Full review under the cut!

Aurum Leuci’s Log:

[Begin recording.] I just left the outpost. There was a chef in the tavern that let me help make a send-off dinner, and it turned out pretty good. I’m off through the multiverse again, towards one of the locations I ended up in on accident when the portals were miscalibrated. Not much else to report. Wait for my next transmission. Aurum Leuci out. [End log.]

Please see this post for my full review scale!

Main Dish: Gormaanda’s Glowblue Noodles

RATING:

Difficulty: 5/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 5/5

Time: 5/5

End Result: 4/5

TOTAL RATING: 24/25

This was a fun recipe, and I was excited to do it since I finally got the butterfly pea tea bags for the colorant (no gel food coloring here!) When I eventually make it again I think I’ll probably use a thicker noodle, since the angel hair rice noodles were a little rough to work with, and the cookbook’s image resembles a soba noodle rather than such a thin noodle. The original recipe called for mozzarella balls (which I couldn’t find a vegan alternative for) so we just compensated with a couple extra tomatoes. It was delicious and alien and exotic, and at the same time incredibly homey and comfortable.

Side Dish: Hanava Pods

RATING:

Difficulty: 4/5

Ingredients: 4/5

Immersion: 3/5

Time: 5/5

End Result: 5/5

TOTAL RATING: 22/25

Not much to say about these; the recipe is a little overcomplicated (don’t boil your frozen edamame, just put them in the microwave). But aside from that, they were pretty well seasoned and tasty. The ichimi togarashi (japanese hot pepper flakes) was super, super spicy! So definitely wash your hands thoroughly after eating these.

This really only loses points for telling you to boil frozen edamame, and also for just being… edamame. They aren’t terribly immersive. But they are tasty!

Dessert: Aleen Firefly (mocktail)

RATING:

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 5/5

Time: 1/5

End Result: 0/5

TOTAL RATING: 12/25

If you look at the picture of today’s dinner, you’ll notice that there is no mocktail. Did I just forget to photograph it? Was it labeled wrong? What’s up with that?

Well, friends… I was very excited about this recipe. It was essentially a soda with pineapple juice and little jello cubes at the bottom. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trusting the cookbook in its explanation of how to prepare jello. (Don’t do this.) By the time dinner rolled around, the jello had only sort of set and had just kind of turned into… pretty sludge?

Anyway, after trying to put it together as a cohesive drink, I realized that I wasn’t going to get anywhere close to the cookbook’s version (which looked very cool and pretty), so I decided to just try a sip of it. Even if it had been visually successful, I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste, so this recipe ties Pandora’s Shoreline Salad for lowest rating thus far. At least this one didn’t clog my sink!

Tune in this Friday (6/28/24) for another fandom cookbook review!

[artist-fan146]

I posted 1,014 times in 2022

That's 893 more posts than 2021!

197 posts created (19%)

817 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fishstickfeind

@aurora-ze-aquarius

@penname-artist

@chicks-mustache

@disneytva

I tagged 641 of my posts in 2022

Only 37% of my posts had no tags

#disney - 183 posts

#pixar cars - 144 posts

#ducktales - 111 posts

#ducktales 2017 - 84 posts

#please don’t steal my art - 71 posts

#please don’t trace my art - 69 posts

#artist fan146 - 68 posts

#cars fandom - 52 posts

#darkwing duck - 52 posts

#cars pixar - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#'cause i started off comparing gyro's height to huey and boyd's but then you have to consider that mads stands up straight and wears heels

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

As much as I love The Owl House for its lgbtq rep on the big screen coming from Disney, I feel like Ducktales 17 should really get more credit then it deserves for its rep! I mean literally they walked so TOH can run!

- Dt17 started in 2017, TOH started in 2020

- Violet canonically has two dads

- LP is canonically Bi

- Penumbra is canonically a Lesbian

- People who worked on the show drew art of Della and Penumbra together

- Gyro is labeled as a chicken but DOESNT have features that other roosters in the show has, and his outfit from the flashbacks from Astro BOYD can probably show he is transcoded!

-Similar stuff with Violet! In real life, Violet Saberwings are only Male but in the show, she is a Violet Saberwing, hence her name and a female! She is also transcoded according to me bc I make the rules!

- Boyd was given the opportunity to chose his identity and his own proper name at the end of his episode, and he took it! and that in itself is rep!

- Lena got to choose her own identity and was still discovering herself in season 2&3

- Thanks to @bardicinspiration-blog for mentioning this! Webby is Scrooge’s clone but they are different genders! However with May and June being Webby’s clones, they are both female! Which means that either Scrooge or Webby are trans!

So as my point proves, DUCKTALES 17 DESERVES THE AWARD FOR LGBTQ REP IN DISNEY FIRST!!

@negawingduck

97 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

#4

See the full post

100 notes - Posted August 1, 2022

#3

Spoilers for Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers if you haven���t seen the movie yet!

So I was rewatching the movie on Disney +, and for a split second I noticed Launchpad in the background! It was during the scene where all the bootlegged charcters were set free! Its pretty hard to see but If you look close enough, you can see him!

And I’m going to tell you all a headcanon that I had and shared it with @negawingduck

See the full post

103 notes - Posted May 21, 2022

#2

Oh man I finished watching the new Chip ‘n Dale movie on Disney + and I have a lot to say about it! Spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet!

- I absolutely admire that they were able to incorporate so many different animation styles in this movie!

-The 2d animation is interesting and i dont hate it so that says a lot!

- The story that was told, I enjoyed it and I liked the mix of toons and the living world living together

- The elements used in this movie are really cool!

-CAMEOS!!

-I like that they brought back Gadget’s original VA for this movie

- Ugly Sonic…?!?!? And they fact they brought in the original animation style that the first Sonic movie was supposed to use before the movie got delayed and we got the new style

- Gadget and Zipper have kids? Idk how to feel bout that! 42 kids… and counting??!?! WHAT?!

- After seeing the scene where Chip and Dale were about to be bootlegged in that machine the first time, it actually freaked me out

- I absolutely loved the callbacks to the original show! So smart and since I started watching the original show I absolutely loved that!

-The Disney Afternoon era references, Genius!

-DAKRWING DUCK AT THE END?! Best part in my opinion! COME ON DISNEY, GIVE US THE REBOOT!!!!!!

See the full post

302 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

MY GOD I LOVE THESE CARTOON REFERENCES!!!!

WAIT… I NEED THAT WANDER PLUSHIE!!! SOMEONE GIVE IT TO ME!!!!

751 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[metalbvcky]

I posted 1,865 times in 2022

84 posts created (5%)

1,781 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@musette22

@bubbarnes

@love-buckybarnes

@thedamageofherdays

@sebastiansourceurce

I tagged 1,865 of my posts in 2022

#till the end of the queue - 642 posts

#sebastian stan - 545 posts

#stucky - 336 posts

#chris evans - 325 posts

#bucky barnes - 231 posts

#stucky fanart - 227 posts

#fanart - 201 posts

#steve rogers - 120 posts

#fav - 103 posts

#writing tag - 85 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#prnstar au part 3 is gonna get ANGSTY because it goes in depth of the lore of like steve's career and bucky's life since he moved to NYC

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I took my love, I made him mine

You know, there's nothing like the comfort of a cabin fic set in late autumn! Which is why I wrote this :3

@buckybarnesbingo - Adoptable square. KINK: Kitchen Sex @mcukinkbingo - I: Comfort Sex

Pairing: Steve/Bucky Word/Chapter Count: 1,657 (1/1) Tags: Canon Divergence, Cabin Fic, Smut, Kitchen Sex, Bottom Bucky, Top Steve, Post-Serum Steve, Beffy Bucky (see full list of tags on AO3)

🍂 Summary 🍂

“Something smells awfully good over there,” Steve says from afar, and his words die in his throat when he steps into the kitchen.

The first thing Steve’s gaze lands on is ass, peeking out from an apron that’s loosely tied at Bucky’s waist. He lets his eyes wander the smooth, bare skin, of ripped shoulder blades and massive thighs.

"What’cha waitin’ on, Stevie?” Bucky smirks, eyes sparking. “Come and get a taste of this pretty peach.”

--

Or, how Steve and Bucky spend their cabin getaway after a long mission.

Read on AO3

110 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

#4

Shelves of Aster Chapter 1 (Part 1 of I Never Bloomed 'till I Met You)

It feels surreal posting this now that it's almost been a year since I started writing the first fic for this series. Now here we are, at Steve/Bucky's origin story! It's gonna be much longer than Rose Blue, so it's an unfinished WIP :) I hope to update every now and then, but I'll be hopping between this and my SFS bang fic for a while.

A big shoutout to @appleschloss who is very much as absorbed into Bloom as I am <3

Pairing: Steve/Bucky Current Word/Chapter Count: 10,344 (2/?) LONGFIC! Tags: Modern/Bookstore AU, Dom/Sub, Dom/Top!Steve, Sub/Bottom!Bucky, First Meetings, Meet Cute, Falling in Love, Fluff & Smut (see full list of tags on AO3)

📚 Summary 📚

Steve had just about everything he could want, and he wasn’t even forty yet. A nice penthouse in Brooklyn, heated floors in all bathrooms, and a closet full of tailor-made suits. It was almost complete, but one thing was missing.

A sub, preferably a twink. Maybe a partner as well? He’d also love to have a sugar baby to spoil.

But Steve was too busy with work to jump back into the dating scene, as bringing Tony’s fantasies to life was time consuming. Had it really been a year since he hooked up with someone? It felt longer, considering he’d been active in the lifestyle for over a decade.

Then came an encounter on a late evening, when he ran to the nearest store in need of paint. It was as if his thoughts were heard and the perfect match for him had fallen into his lap. An adorable twenty-something with beautiful blue eyes and short brown hair. Unfortunately they were about to close, so he hadn't had the chance to talk to the cashier beyond exchanging a couple of words.

But what were the odds he was interested in kink too?

Read on AO3

(A reblog is greatly appreciated! <3)

112 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

#3

Fame and Exposure

My first fill for the fourth round of @buckybarnesbingo! And it's all @appleschloss's fault :P

Pairing: Steve/Bucky Word/Chapter Count: 3,089 (1/1) Tags: Modern P*rn AU, Top!Steve/Bottom!Bucky, Smut, Daddy Kink, Roleplay, Silver Fox Steve, Twink Bucky, P*rnstar!Steve, Sex worker!Bucky (see full list of tags on AO3)

🎥 Summary 🎥

Bucky storms into the office, panting, acting as if he had just run half a mile. “Look, I-I know— I know that I’m— I’m—”

“Late?” Steve finishes for him, arms crossed as he leans against the desk. His navy dress shirt exposes the hairs on his chest, the first two buttons loosened, as with his tie. “Typical,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “What’s your excuse this time?”

Bucky fiddles with his hands, not meeting Steve’s gaze. “Um...I had to take a detour?”

“Bullshit.”

“But sir, traffic was heavy!”

Steve surges forward, coming to wrap a hand around Bucky’s jaw to force eye contact. While Bucky gets lost in those sharp blue eyes, Steve’s dark tone causes a shiver to roll through him. “You listen to me, boy,” he growls, “because I won’t repeat myself.”

--

Bucky's first ever p*rnshoot ends up being with Captain Rogers, an attractive silver fox who frequents Bucky’s wet dreams.

Read on AO3

121 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

#2

Tom Holland during the puppy interview: aw aren't you all sweet? so the question--

Chris Evans: CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M BUSY HERE!!!!!

150 notes - Posted June 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

When you're writing a longfic and have to go 20k+ words back to refresh your memory on a small detail in order to continue with your current place

504 notes - Posted May 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mouse-on-venus]

I posted 3,478 times in 2022

That's 773 more posts than 2021!

79 posts created (2%)

3,399 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lasnevadaslaborunion

@squareupgod-inactive

@nightferns

@griancraft

@lostglassguitars

I tagged 1,913 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

#irl - 649 posts

#osmp - 103 posts

#.txt - 101 posts

#dsmp spoilers - 68 posts

#mouse squeaks - 68 posts

#love is dead - 53 posts

#srb - 38 posts

#scu - 32 posts

#please - 29 posts

#tftsmp - 28 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#they dont really understand the specifics.. they saw the twitter cancellations and the annoying loud ones and decided that theyre all bad

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Don't forget about me, please.

[ID: A digital illustration of Wilbur Soot's Origins SMP character. He wears a light sweater and there are skeletal bird wings on his back. He is kneeling on the ground with his back to the viewer. On the ground before him is a patch of warped nylium with a sign reading "the love of my life." The drawing is colored in shades of pale yellow and blue and the background is an empty shade of gray with specs of light. End ID.]

319 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#4

My attempt at @bounckery 's DTIYS!

[ID: A digital illustration of Tommy's Dream SMP character, shown from the chest up, looking slightly down with his eyes closed. On his face is scratches, a bandaid and a bruised eye. In his hair is a blue flower. He wears a blue sweater and a green bandana embroidered with yellow, white and red flowers. The background is green with similar flowers. End ID.]

392 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

#3

‼️wake up new origins lore dropped‼️

[ID: A digital illustration of Wilbur Soot's origins SMP character. He has a sweater, dark curly hair, angular freckles, fully dark eyes, and skeletal bird wings on his back. the image shows a side profile of him from the chest up, facing the right of the frame and smiling blankly. He is colored in dim shades of yellow and blue, and bright specs of light are seen all over the drawing. End ID.]

811 notes - Posted January 19, 2022

#2

This is not a drill

[ID: Two images of Technoblade's Origins SMP skin. He wears a white sweater with purple flowers on the sleeves, blue and beige overalls with a carrot on the front, white bunny slippers, a golden crown, tall white bunny ears and flowers on his head. The first image is a digital illustration depicting a humanized interpretation of the skin, showing him standing with a bored expression, loosely holding an axe. He has neck-length pink hair, fluffy pink rabbit legs, a rabbit nose and markings on his face resembling whiskers. He is colored in a soft pink-tinted palette and he stands on a light blue background. The second image is a screenshot of his character in-game, shown holding an iron axe. He has the classic Minecraft pig head and crown, but the rest of his skin is modified as described above. End ID.]

830 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My attempt at character reference sheets

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1,656 notes - Posted April 17, 2022

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[neko0sims]

PROJECT LOOKBOOK 2.0 - Day 100

JEB and KNOX GREENBURG

So, I tried to keep Jeb in his signature Paper Bag look, except on the sleeping look. They look really cute together in my humble opinion.

[marauder-exe]

Prompt List #2

Welcome to my biggest prompt list ever

if you wanna request something from this list, just use the character and ‘ prompt 34 from prompt list #2′ thank u!

Theres like 200 so be wary

Angst

“I love you ! Is that what you wanted to hear ?”

“I love him/her, and I know that I shouldn’t.”

“Can you just shut your mouth ?”

“wHY DO YOU KEEP LYING TO ME ?”

“We both know that I should walk away, but I can’t.”

“Wait, he/she has a girlfriend/boyfriend ?"

“I lo—-” “No, please… Don’t say that. You love her/him, not me.”

"Could you just take this pain away ? It hurts, so much… Help me.”

“You’re safe here, I got you.”

“Don’t ask her out again, please… You’re killing me, every single time you ask that.”

“Look, he/she wants you, just make him/her happy.”

“If you go, I’ll know that you never loved me.”

“We never were just friends, and you know it.” “I know it, but you deserve someone better than me.”

“SHE WAS CRYING BECAUSE OF YOU!!!”

“You love me like I’m the person who actually deserves your love.” “But you are the only one who deserves it.”

“I know for a fact that you’re not “fine”.”

“You’re looking at me like.. you’re disgusted. What did I do? Just tell me what I did, please!”

“What happened between us?”

“Nothing has changed!” “Yes it has, and you know it.”

“Love isn’t supposed to hurt this badly.”

“You said you needed space. You were 5,000 miles away for a year, and you’re still unsure. I’m starting to think that an entire universe apart wouldn’t be enough space for you.”

“I remember when he/she/they used to look at me that way”

“I want you to list every lie you ever told me. Then I’ll forgive you.”

“I don’t hate you. I hate that after all of this, you’re still trying to lie to me”

“I can’t keep this secret for you anymore.”

“I’m sorry I’m not what you signed up for.”

“Why she/her/them? It could have been anybody, and you chose to betray me with her/him/them.”

“This will be the last time you lie to me.”

“You never loved me, did you?”

“You made me miserable and I still loved you.”

“Everytime something goes well, I momentarily forget how much I despise you.”

“We’re never going to have a happy ending, just remember that.”

“Don’t pretend like you’re not happy to see me like this.”

“Your mind must be a horrible place.”

“Hand me the gun and I’ll kill him myself.”

“And I thought you loved me."

" And I thought I loved you."

" Aren't you even going to cry?"

“I didn’t expect you to wait forever. I just hoped…”

“Did you always know that you were going to leave?”

“If you cry, I’ll stay, and if I stay that will just give you another reason to hate me.”

“I’m addicted and at this point I don’t think anything could make me stop.”

”If you wanna know, then ask.”

“You never asked because you knew I wouldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”

“We grew apart, and at this point I’m glad.”

“Find somebody else to kiss your ass.”

“When are you going to stop clawing for something that’s never going to happen?”

“What you’re doing is going to kill you one day.”

“It was easier to believe that the you I knew was dead than deal with the fact that I still have to see you every day.”

“What you’re doing is going to kill you one day.”

Fluff

51. “You’re hair is really soft after you wash it.”

52. “Ssh. Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair.”

53. “You smell really nice.”

54. “Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you.”

55. “I might have slept with your robe when you were gone.”

56. “If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you.”

57. “Here, let’s share the blanket.”

58. “You’re comfy.”

59.“You are very endearing when you are half-asleep.”

60.“But I want to hear you sing.”

61.“Don’t get up - I’ll do it.”

62.“Care to give me a back scratch?”

63.“I think I love you.”

64.“Your bed head is really cute.”

65.“How about a kiss?”

66.“You made this for me?”

67.Aw, you’re blushing.”

68. Uh oh, I know that look. What do you want?”

69. “Let me help you with that.”

70. “I don’t want to forget this moment.”

71.“Are you really flirting with me right now?”

72.“I like the way your hand fits in mine.”

73.“You have something in your hair, umm… Do you want me to get it out?”

74.“It’s nice that your voice was the first thing I heard today.”

75.“This movie is really scary, but you’re into it so I’m trying not to cover my face the whole time, but- WHAT IS THAT?”

76.“Wait, don’t pull away… Not yet.”

77.“Half the time I get too embarrassed to say anything”

78.“No, it’s fine.  I can wait until you’re done talking to them.”

79.“No, like…. It’s just, I can’t believe you’re actually wearing my clothes.”

80.“You’re a big piece of inspiration for this, honestly.”

81.“I’ve been trying to get ready for like an hour and a half, because I know you’re going to look so good and I need to try and match up.”

82.“I wanted to say “I love you” for the first time without stuttering, but that failed.”

83.“My friends get so annoyed by how much I talk about how sometimes.”

84.“No, mom, don’t tell him/her I said that about him/her!”

85.“I can’t get over how a few months ago I wanted to learn your name and now you’re having breakfast with me in my sweater.”

86.“ You are so beautiful — So fucking beautiful. “

87.“And just WHERE do you think you’re putting your hands?”

88.“Wow, you look even better in the daylight.”

89.“I don’t remember ever having this many hickeys. But I don’t mind.”

90.“We could order pizza and just stay like this all day.”

91.“It was always you.”

92.I love you in every possible way.”

93.“I didn’t mean to love you so much.”

94.“Don’t you hurt a single hair on his/her/their head.”

95.“Duck, you idiot!”

96.“Hey. Pal. I’ve got a wand and I’m not afraid to use it.”

97.“Shh, you’re safe. I won’t let you go.”

98.“It’s not a double date. We’re just third and fourth wheeling.”

99.“Look, I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’m still worried about you. No one deserves to be alone.”

100.“I remember practicing how to ask you out in the mirror..”

Sarcasm

101.“Define normal.” 

102.“Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?” 

103.“Just remember if we get caught, you’re deaf and I don’t speak English.” 

104.“Don’t look for any redeeming qualities. I don’t have any.” 

105.“It’s amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total shit storm.”

106.“I love you. You enormously stubborn pain in the ass.” 

107.“And you wonder why you’re still single.”

108.“Remind me to kill you. Please.” 

109.“That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

110.“She’s crazy. And just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of her craziness, there’s a crazy underground garage.” 

111.“She may seem like lollipops and rainbows but I bet behind close doors she’s latex and whips.”

112.“If my day gets any worse, I’m asking hell if they’re having an exchange program.” 

113.“Sorry. I don’t speak skank.” 

114.“My middle finger salutes you.” 

115.“I don’t have enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel.” 

116.Somebody’s cranky.” “Somebody needs to shut up.” 

117.“Oh darling. Go buy a brain.” 

118.“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” 

119.“All due respect, but that’s a bunch of crap.” 

120.“I am one of the few people in the world who can murder you and leave no forensic evidence behind.”

121.“Excuse me. I have to go make a scene.” 

122.“What did I tell you about calling her/him the devil?” “That it’s offensive to the devil?” 

123.“I heard that!” “You were supposed to!” 

124.“I need therapy after this.” 

125.“You didn’t get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly.” 

126.“I turned out liking you a lot more that I originally planned.” 

127.“I think you’re weird.” “I think you’re boring.” 

128.“I’m afraid I’ve been thinking…” “A dangerous pastime.”

129.“Wow, there’s a big surprise. I think I’m going to have a heart attack and die from surprise.” 

130.“I’m gonna hit you so hard, it’ll make you ancestors dizzy.” 

131.“Sarcasm is the body’s natural reaction to stupidity.” 

132.“Well, excuse me, psychic wonder!” 

133.“Don’t look in her eyes, she might steal your soul.” 

134.“She’s hot, but she’s evil.” 

135.“Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably.” 

136.“I already know that I’m going to hell. At this point it’s really go big or go home.” 

137.“I’m not a damsel in distress. I’m a damsel doing damage.” 

138.“So stick that in your juice box and suck it.” 

139.“Never take life seriously. No one ever comes out alive anyway.” 

140.“Sometimes I question my sanity. Occasionally it replies.”

141.“Why should we date?” “Because we are attracted to each other.” “I am attracted to pie, but I do not feel the need to date pie.” 

142.“Neither one us is drunk enough for this conversation.” 

143.“You’re questioning my methods.” “I’m not questioning it, I’m saying it’s stupid.” 

144.“Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal.” 

145.“I didn’t do it!” “Then why are you laughing?” “Because whoever did it is a freaking genius.” 

146.“Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots.” 

147.“You couldn’t handle me even if I came with instructions.

148.“Obviously you have mistaken me for somebody who gives a shit.” 

149.“Rule number one: don’t bother sucking up. I already hate you, that’s not going to change.” 

150.“You make no sense to me.” “Welcome to my life.” 

Drama

151.“Can you stop thinking about yourself for once?”

152.“Can you stop thinking about yourself for once?” 

153.“Don’t think I forgot about what you did last time.”

154.“I know you lied to me.”

155.“I’m not even sorry.”

156.“You backstabber!” 157.“I never want to see you again.” 158.“You never mattered to me.”

159.“I knew this was a bad idea.”

160.“Rot in hell.”

161.“It was supposed to be a secret!”

162.“No one loves me.” 163.“He/she/they is/are so petty…” 164.“You made me cry.” 165.“I don’t know who you are anymore.” 166.“How DARE you?!” 167.“I know you’re not talking to me…” 168.“I SAW you with him/her/them!”

169.“Just leave me alone.”

170.“What did you do?!” 171.“I told everyone that I didn’t want to talk but I’m actually dying for attention.”

172. “Just admit that was extra…”

173.“I forgive, but I don’t forget.” 174.“Did you see what he/she/they was/were wearing?” 175.“So what if I had sex with your ex?” 176.“There’s something I have to tell you…” 177.“I can’t do this anymore.” 178.“You weren’t there for me when I needed you the most.” 179.“I never loved you.” 180.“It’s too late.”

181.“Quit ignoring me.”

182. “Don’t you get it? It’s because I love you!”

183.“I love you. I’m sorry.”

184.“I don’t want to be friends.”

185.“Can we please pretend I never said that?”

186.“Friendzoned again.”

187.“You should’ve loved me when you had the chance.”

188.“Fuck you for toying with my emotions like that.”

189.“I was there for you when no one else was!”

190.“Alright – I can tell a ‘no’ when I hear it.”

191.“I’m sorry I acted so creepy.”

192.“Fuck. It’s like what they say – nice guys finish last…”

193.“I’m tired of keeping this secret. Even if you don’t love me back.”

194. “I knew that’d be your answer. That’s why I never told you before.”

195.“When I said I loved you, I meant it.”

196.“Is there any part of you, deep down, that might love me back?”

197.“You were the one that left all those notes for me?”

198.“You’re in a relationship with another person – you know this can’t end well.”

199.“We agreed this was just physical!”

200.“I love you. I know you don’t love me, so don’t say it back.”

Ahhh im sorry that was so long, but if you read all the way to here, your a real one.

Again i write for all Hp characters! Feel free to use these prompts as ur own

[cathrrrine]

RUN | Pietro x Reader

Originally from my Wattpad , 2017

CHAPTER 02 - GRIME

I recommend listening to 212 by Azealia Banks for the feel of this chapter!

(Words in bold = Russian) ————

I put on my black leather jacket - although, mine wasn't really something I could say. I stole it. And the sunglasses on top of my head? Same. I wasn't fond of thievery, but I had an excuse. There were Russian spies after me. What more could I say?

As I was walking, I made sure of how I moved. I wanted to blend in to the crowd. Standing out might get me killed. If I moved too fast? They might shoot. Too slow? They might catch up to me.

Just as I had suspected, a man in dark attire glanced my way, talking into his phone later. Oh, they're fast. I literally just blew up their building two hours ago and they were already onto me.

Now, you could say I'm paranoid, but in this case, I knew that the man wasn't a normal civilian. You're never just paranoid with Hydra. They were never keen on traitors.

The man turned his body so that his back was to me. I scoffed — as if that would make him invisible.

I slipped the shades on, shoving my hands into my pockets. I wanted them to get to me, I wanted them to try. Let them.

As I turned a corner down to an alleyway, the same man I had eyed before appeared right behind me. I looked over my shoulder subtly, and sure enough, his weapon was at the ready.

"Lisa." He snarled, we were close enough to hear each other. "Good to see you."

I gave him a sickly sweet smile, one too wide to be friendly. "Oh, hello."

At the corner of my eye I could see one of his goons trying to sneak up to me, his gun visibly pointed to my back.

"Save your breath, bitch."

My grin dropped immediately, and I rolled my eyes like a child would. I made sure the one in front of me took notice, I wanted to annoy him. Haven't they learned their lesson?

As quick as I could manage, I turned around to land a kick on the one who planned to shoot me. He groaned and fell on his back his head hitting the ground a little too hard. His gun slid to the far side of the alley. I allowed myself to chuckle out of pure spite.

The other one let out a grunt as he ran towards me. I ducked when he attempted to throw a punch, jumping back up just in time to hit him in the throat in a chopping motion. I hit him harder in the gut with my fist. He came back at me with a growl, pouncing on me. I was trapped in his arms for a moment, his foul breath blowing at the nape of my neck. I got out of his grip and turned hit his nose with the heel of my hand. Head butting him after. Blood oozed out of his nostrils and he held it in pain. When I feared that wasn't enough, I threw a leg up and pushed him so he fell to his back.

That left him distracted, but the man I thought I left unconscious suddenly tackled me from behind. I trashed around like a fish, struggling to get out of his grip. I was in the same situation as I was before, but the moves I pulled on his friend wasn't working on this one. I was choking, gasping for air.

When I realised he had a stronger grip than me, I came to the conclusion that trashing around wasn't going to work. So, I turned around, hooked my right leg onto his shoulder and propped myself up so I was sitting with my thighs around his neck. I crushed my thighs tightly together—he would be the one choking now.

I hit his head with my elbow repeatedly until he ran out of air eventually. I felt his body go limp under me and I waited until his eyes rolled to back of his head before I jumped off of him, landing next to the gun that had slid before. That was fortunate.

I grabbed the gun, adjusting my grip to it.

The previous one with the bleeding nose was trying to get up, and I'd be lying if I said he didn't look scary with blood smeared all over his face, a sarcastic grin stretched wide on it.

I cocked the gun, aiming it directly at his head. He wasn't unconscious, but he was obviously in no shape to fight.

"You little girl, " he spat. "You're nothing. You're not as tough as you think."

That was the the most incredible thing I've heard. "Little girl? Not as tough?"

"Well, this little girl just killed approximately 103 of your friends and now," I turned, gesturing to his unconscious partner. "104."

"You're stupid enough to kill them without a good reason. Hydra will never let you off the hook for this." He seethed.

I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of his words. "Without a good reason? Oh, so Hydra has morals now or are you just weepy because your friends got to go to hell and you didn't?" I mocked a pout.

He didn't respond. He just laid there laughed like we were a part of a sitcom.

"Besides, I had a good reason." I placed the end of the gun on his temple. "He called me a bitch. Just like you did."

The shot echoed throughout the alleyway, the sound bouncing off the narrow walls. I wiped the blood—I didn't even know whose, I seemed to have a lot of problems with that —off of my face.

I was covered in grime, and blood that wasn't even a hundred percent mine. I needed to leave this place, and I needed a new name. Fast.

———

With another stolen jacket, I walked up to the first car I saw, breaking the glass with the back of the gun that was also stolen.

I reached in to open the door, ignoring the loud alarms blaring from the car. Just as I managed to successfully hot-wire it, a guy in a button down t-shirt came running out of a shop, his face contorted in anger.

"Hey! Stop!" he yelled, running.

I smirked, giving him a little wave from the rearview mirror. Then I hit the gas pedal.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review , ch 102- 106

I thought abt skipping those chapters cuz the difference from the anime are’nt big & there’s hardly any tohru in them which I know where the great difference between anime & manga is. However, I like yuki & I was delighted to see the difference between manga yuki & anime yuki! Really, furuba anime makes so much focus on him & all, yet manages to miss the mark when it comes to his character. Yuki is such a prince “from a fairy tale but with trauma” in the anime which contradicts his vision of himself in canon as he said it IS fake, but in the manga he’s a real character with layers. 

A-Chapters 102 & 103/ se03, ep 3 ( A dynamic Yuki vs a prince):

Not much change in the plot from the anime, se03, ep 3, except few things I’ll highlight here:

MACHI: ch.102 is basically machi’s story that we saw in se03 ep 3 first half before the motoko part. but it’s fascinating how the anime handled it greatly & how the manga had its unique touch. The anime gave machi’s part its own color, mood & focus, while the manga excelled in the facial expressions.

YUKI: In ch. 102 & 103, Yuki in particular had many facial expressions in such a refreshing way different from the anime. In the anime, yuki emoted exclusively with kyo & kakeru in ways that you don’t need to hear his monologue to understand his thoughts, he was also allowed expressiveness with machi in the anime but with maintaining big doses of his princely aesthetics & mannerism cuz we see him from achi’s perspective. Ironic cuz she calls him imperfect but the anime gives him lots of shojo bubbles from her pov. In the manga, yuki is way more expressive with lots of characters!!! Even with the fanclub girls, he had funny expressions, & we see a cute scene of machi trying to cheer him up!

in the manga, yuki & machi both are given expressive features. Machi isn’t silent with her head down 95% of the time & yuki is is not living in his own head & is very dynamic with other characters as well, which makes him feel real.

Also, in the manga, yuki isn’t super skinny like the anime! I love how he fills his school uniform without it looking so baggy. In the manga, yuki looks like a grown teenager boy reaching his 17!!! In the anime, yuki looks the same all seasons.

In the anime, the clear body growth was exclusive to kyo in se02, during beach arc mainly cuz the plot required it as tohru kept commenting on kyo growing up physically & told Kazuma. So, the anime made huge effort to make kyo look grown physically. Also, in the anime, yuki is given a princely aura from se01 to 3 as his physical appearance & aesthetics remained the same minus his interaction with kakeru where you see glimpses of a more firm & free character. A peek into his soul perhaps?

B-Ch 104 -106, Anime, se3, ep 4. (Isuzu’s Arc closed, Akito’s begins!): 

I love the way the page transitioned from Isuzu’s hair at kureno’s feet to Haru’s entering akito’s room!

I love akito in this chapter/ep, not love her as in support her, no. lol. but love how this chapter/ep sheds light into her twisted mind. Great writing! The way Akito was shocked at kureno’s betrayal of saving Isuzu is why Akito’s growth from abuser to feeling guilt & repent is not satisfactory in the anime ( I’m yet to reach this part in the manga, so I’ll wait to see if it was handled differently). Akito was way more self-centered & concerned with her delusions to stop a bit & entertain the thought that isuzu was on the verge of death. This is a huge red flag. This is sth you can’t brush under tohru’s healing words of feeling similar to akito & akito finding “ true friendship” as a healthy replacement to her delusional “ together forever”.

-The core characters that the entire show/ story/ manga is built upon their views are tohru & akito. You can’t spend 2 seasons & a half faintly touching these characters’ pov & trauma, then give quick hasty focus, then hit them with “ healing growth”. Both tohru & akito needed more screen time/ spotlight to dwell into them cuz they’re fascinating characters!

This chapter the focus is on haru & isuzu, however, these two characters arc would pretty much be wrapped after this chapter/ep minus few cleaning here & there. Akito’s descending into darkness truly begins here. This is what should be followed & given much care!

I love how this line connects what seems like a sub-plot story to the main story of the original zodiacs!!! In the original story, the cat refused to be by the Ruler’s side & it was percieved as the cat betraying him & the others. All the rest of the animals must ALWAYS be on the Ruler/Akito side & not copy the Monster/Cat behavior. Excellent foreshadowing & a twist to kyo’s/ akito’s / kureno’s story! The cat was right all along, but it’s not abt right or wrong. It’s abt choosing sides. With us or against us. If you are not with us, you are the barbaric enemy/ monster. ( kinda similar to our real world issues & politics)

Side Notes:

I have nothing to say abt motoko except in a 13 ep core & major final season with thematic & plot focus, she really got her share. Out of all the content to cut. what logic? I can never understand..... Not hating, but truly bewildered & confused. Fan service? Gotta be. Wasting valuable screen time for a character with no effect on plot or characters or anything.. I mean if it was a 26 ep season, then okay... but the nope! lets chop chop core plot & give motoko an epic send off!

Maybe Motoko got pity love from the anime team? She wasnt given yuki’s love, so the decision maker whoever they are, gave her better emotional focus than the actual love interest (machi) has got! XD (again not hating, but amused! XD)

I love how furuba’s writing don’t need over-exaggerated drama at all. All the pain is in the writing. in the characters themselves. The anime only needed to focus on them & get rid of the theatrical display of emotions & forced fast paced & unrealistic timeline. sigh~

Still, I love how ep 4 was directed in the anime starting the 2nd part, it was given its own mood & colors.

I love that Haru didnt just find Isuzu in the streets right wawy but waited few days to meet her. It hammers the importance of pacing time in the manga, but I also understands why the anime needed to go directly to it seeing that as I said haru & isuzu are reaching the end of their arc here & they want to close the door behind their issues once & for all. lol.

Everthing else abt Machi story, haru & isuzu, akito & kureni, I have already said before in my weekly anime reviews when se03 was airing.

I peeked into ch. 107 first two pages!!!!! Tohru’s focus???? Is this the beginning of the weakly directed ep 6? YESS!!! I cant wait to read it next weekend! <3

[cyanocoraxx]

wait omg the ask feature is literally 4 sending ASKS... ok question.

i need ur thoughts on:

metal sonic is sonic roboticized theory

ARCHIE COMICS.. (ik you like shard so i have to ask)

when/where was metal sonic created, (on little planet, before cd, cd future, orrr???)

IDW IMPOSTER SYNDROME COMICS PLSS PLS PLS

idw comics in general, how far in are you and what do you think of the story's trajectory so far?

MECHA SONIC ! do you think he died after the events of Sonic 3 & knux? or where did it go otherwise?

this is a more questions than i originally intended i just think ur opinions on these subjects would be awesome to hear<3<3

1. i used to subscribe to this theory!! however my thoughts on it have changed a lot over time and now i don't think it works for a few reasons, personally. first and foremost, sonic himself has been roboticized in the comics before and wasn't called metal sonic and looked/acted different - if we count the comics as canon in any way, it kind of eliminates the theory because a roboticized sonic should resemble metal more closely than he did on those occasions. also, a few people have said, in relation to this theory, that only living beings can use chaos control - but then we have mecha sonic, who undeniably CAN. there's also metal's last words in the ova, "there is only one sonic" - he yields to sonic and makes no further attempt to prove that he's the "real" one or the better one. he admits it himself that sonic is the only real sonic in that moment. in sonic 4 episode 2 it's said that metal was built by eggman. robots other than metal have rebelled against eggman (e-103 gamma, e-123 omega), so metal rebelling against eggman isn’t exactly proof of his past as being sonic either in my eyes. also, in heroes neo says "i was created for the sole purpose of destroying you" rather than specifically alluding to being organic once - he also emphasises the importance of robots in his future as well rather than organics which makes me lean more towards being against the theory. i also think that, if this was canon, eggman would make more of a show of it. i feel like he’d use metal’s past as being a real sonic to get under sonic’s skin more often. it’s still a very compelling theory regardless and if you do subscribble to it then fair dos!! more power to you <333 i’d love to see it as an AU or something for sure it’s very cool and also angsty

2. hoo boy. archie comics. what a rollercoaster of fuckery and weird shit. ken penders? literally batshit. i only ever really looked at the archie comics when the robots (sonic’s dad jules is a fucking legend) and scourge were involved tbh, also SHARD ??? MY SON. MY BELOVED. HOW DARE THEY KILL HIM??? AND HE NEVERGOT TO CONFESS HIS LOVE FOR HIS AI GIRLFRIEND? god. jesus. overall though they definitely handled shard’s development really well - going from a “powerful, unfeeling robot” sacrificing himself for sonic and tails to becoming a hero in his own way. it’s basically like crack for my robot edge brain and he’s one of my most loved blorbos for sure. i also love how he refers to metal sonic as his brother on numerous occasions. good SHIT GOOD SHIT!!!!

3. i like to think metal was made on little planet. partly because in the fleetway comics, eggman cyber-forms it to use it as a power source for the metallix. maybe he used the planet in the creation of metal as well in some way. i also note that metal sonic’s armour is made with a tektite alloy. tektite is a natural glassy object that is made during a meteorite’s impact - basically, material from the ground is melted by the impact, splashed up into the atmosphere, and then falls back down. in the good ending of sonic CD, sonic watches as little planet produces lots of cosmic stars - so it’s not unlikely that “shooting stars” would collide with the planet from time to time, leading to a natural source of tektite. I ACTUALLY HAVE A PIECE OF TEKTITE MYSELF:

4. I’M NOT CAUGHT UP ON THAT PART YET SADLY. I KNOW I’M A FAKE SONIC FAN SORRY. SORRY. this is what my crystal ball of future telling shows though. like this will be ME:

5. i’m not very far into the IDW comics, i mostly stayed for neo metal’s arc and the metal virus arc and then my interest declined a bit after that - but i do intend to go back to them. i think theyre handling a lot of things well and i enjoy a lot of the newer faces they’ve brought to the series like surge, they cool

6. i personally don’t think that mecha “died” as such at the end of the boss battle - we don’t see them like, expLOTE exactly, they just kind of disappear from the screen and then everything whites out. i do think it got badly damaged tho and was out of commission for a long time. if it was me writing that scene personally i’d say he was out of commish and basically offline for some time as his systems recovered, which couldve taken like weeks seeing how badly he got fucked over by knuckles. once he was able to i would say he returned to eggman by himself, eggman probably believing he was completely destroyed didn’t go looking. he was never deployed again after his failure unless we count the archie and fleetway cameos. in my eyes he stayed with eggman to help command other bots behind the scenes and when metal sonic was created, mecha was kind of forgotten about in favour of the newer, more advanced robot.

[themattress]

Because of Iris’ return in Pokemon Journeys coming up, I wanted to look over Best Wishes again, specifically 20 recurring plotlines / characters that AREN’T Ash and his Pokemon (since that’s all the Pokeani fandom really cares about in any given series and I’m tired of it).

IRIS:

Of course, we need to start with Iris. She was introduced in episode 1, in a way that linked her to the appearance of Zekrom (a legendary Dragon-type Pokemon) which made it pretty clear that the original intention was to have Iris play a substantial role in the show's Myth Arc. Unfortunately, the Myth Arc ended up having to be changed, so all the foreshadowing of Iris' role in it early on amounted to nothing.

Fortunately, Iris' character arc is still exceptionally handled. She meets Ash and formally establishes her character in episode 2. A few episodes later, in episode 9, she reveals the most basic details of her backstory and her motivation to become a Dragon Master, plus reveals the problems she is having with her Axew and her Excadrill.  Episode 30 resolves her problem with Axew, while episode 36 resolves her problem with Excadrill. She gets an Emolga in episode 27, encounters a problem with it in the very next episode, and resolves that problem in episode 43, with the following episode 44 providing her with a new breakthrough with Axew and an even greater victory with Excadrill that shows just how much her hard work has paid off. Axew has another breakthrough in episode 87, where he's actually able to knock down Cynthia's Garchomp!

Episode 34 reveals that Iris is afraid of Ice-type Pokemon, a fear that is resolved much later in episode 83 (thanks to her rival Georgia, ironically enough!) Episode 58 is an episode that makes it much clearer what the common threadline in Iris' arc is and what will be the thing that helps her become a Dragon Master: learning to better connect and empathize with others, both people and Pokemon, usually through overcoming her own personal problems that are serving as empathy blocks. Her greatest test comes in the form of her selfish and ill-tempered Dragonite, a plotline that runs through episodes 91, 92, 93, 94 and 99.

Episodes 102 and 103 are the climax of Iris' character arc, with her returning to both the Village of Dragons and Opelucid City, showing just how far she's come with both a flashback to her childhood and her present-day actions, and the revelation that she's slated to inherit Opelucid Gym from Drayden finally made to both her and the audience. My only quibbles here are twofold. Axew may be more powerful now, but he's nowhere close to being a Fraxure let alone a Haxorus, and yet the Village Elder still gives Iris a passing grade even though she specifically said Iris needed to raise Axew to its full evolution. And nothing in BW itself actually provides pay-off to the Opelucid Gym revelation: Iris isn't ready to take over the Gym quite yet so she keeps traveling with Ash and Cilan and we never see nor hear about her returning to fulfill her obligation until Journeys. I suspect this wouldn't have happened if the original Myth Arc was maintained and/or Decolore Adventures! never happened, so I suppose it's yet another consequence of executive meddling.

Decolore Adventures! did at least give us a coda on Iris' dynamic with Ash plus a meeting with Clair that led directly into her post-BW special, which does a good job capping off Iris' arc by having her connect with and catch a Gible with ease, while her Dragonite is able to go toe to toe with Clairs' own. It’s certainly a lot better than what poor Cilan got.

I think my biggest complaint with Iris' arc is simply that the writers neglected it for a lengthy period of time - there's basically nothing for her between episode 58 and episode 83, unless you count that bizarre Bouffalant episode, which I don't. This made it even more awkward when B2/W2 made her the Champion, which meant that the writers suddenly needed to go from zero to eleven in their handling of her by giving her a fresh Dragonite out of the blue.

However, unlike many in the anime fandom, this is far from a deal-breaker for me: the usual messiness of being a merchandise-driven show is not enough to keep me from considering Iris as one of the best-developed heroines in the whole Pokeani. And her as the Champion of Unova in Journeys is only going to vindicate me on that point of view.

CILAN:

Cilan is a victim of the producers and writers being too literal-minded. As a Gym Leader that Ash faces in episode 5 and who then joins him as a travel companion, Cilan is BW’s equivalent to Brock just as Iris is its equivalent to Misty. But unlike with Iris where they evolved and improved upon the way she was written compared to Misty, Cilan just played the Brock role straight in that he has no personal arc, no real character growth at all. He never makes any strides to become an S-Class Connoisseur, nor does he ever have any real engagement with his “rival”. He’s there to be the “adult” figure in the group, and little else.

Even in his post-BW special where he meets Brock and the post-XY special where he meets Clemont and Bonnie, he’s the exact same character as he started out as. And mind you, I really like his character! But it’s still disappointing that it never grew into anything more. 

TEAM ROCKET:

I have said a lot about Team Rocket's time in Unova elsewhere. Long story short: they're amazing, being stylish, badass and competent villains who actually progress the plot rather than the pointless, so-called comedic characters who had been running on fumes throughout the Diamond & Pearl series. The only times they felt inconsistent were their transition from black uniforms back to white uniforms and the episodes that immediately followed where they were just doing mundane crimes again (it thankfully didn't last, since they're back to serious undertakings to conquer Unova under the supervision of Dr. Zager in episode 37), and their return in the first half of Episode N where they suddenly have their Meowth-shaped hot air balloon and original motto back, return to "blasting off again" instead of escaping on jetpacks, and possess two new and highly underdeveloped Pokemon - Frillish and Amoongus.

Other than that, Team Rocket always keeps things fresh with the various missions they undertake. Their first mission (with them in black uniforms) to harness Dream Energy and weaponize it in combination with the Meteonite is done in James Bond-esque super-spy fashion with a touch of noir mystery. Their second mission to rob Nimbasa City’s Pokemon Center and escape on the Battle Subway is a straight-up heist thriller, with a more minor spy element in Meowth’s role. Attempting to draw out and capture the Forces of Nature on Milos Island is an epic mythic fantasy, trying to open up a time portal on Twist Mountain is a science-fiction adventure, and the climactic mission involving Meloetta, Abyssal Temple, the Reveal Glass and the Forces of Nature’s Therian Formes is straight-up Lovecraftian horror. And then there’s their battle with Team Plasma in Episode N, which is refreshingly even-handed and with some great chemistry shared between them and the maniacal Dr. Colress. 

Honestly, Team Rocket’s plot might be the most successfully executed one in the entire Unova Saga, which makes it all the more disappointing when Decolore Adventures! regresses them back into incompetent irrelevance. We never got a proper Team Rocket villain arc for the anime back in Kanto and Johto, so it’s great to finally get one in Unova. 

TEAM PLASMA:

Team Plasma is alluded to by Giovanni as “a mysterious secret organization operating in the Unova region” in episodes 1, 2 and 7. When they show up wearing their crusader outfits in episodes 23 and 24, it was supposed to set them up as major players in the Myth Arc throughout the series, with them pursuing their self-righteous goal of “Pokemon liberation”. 

However, the B2/W2 games scuttled the original plan for the Myth Arc, and as a consequence Team Plasma only reappears in Episode N (they are specifically a presence in episodes 112, 114, 116, and 119 through 124), now in their more villainous-looking terrorist outfits and not dressing “Pokemon liberation” up as anything but a way for them to take over Unova and then the world. Team Plasma is on the whole well depicted and their plotline well written (honestly moreso than the primary source material), especially in regards to Dr. Colress who is behind the development of a mind-control device that will forcibly “liberate” Pokemon from their trainers and pursues this objective with his trademark amorality plus a deliciously sinister and hammy attitude. Conversely, Ghetsis is the weakest aspect, coming off as just a generic villain rather than the absolute bastard he is in the games, and even worse barely doing much of anything in spite of being Team Plasma’s alleged leader. Beyond performing the ritual to awaken Reshiram from the Light Stone and his role in N’s backstory which is tap-danced around for the most part anyway, he’s just the boss of Colress who’s in on his plan.

As I’ve said before, liking the Team Plasma arc we got doesn’t mean I’m not going to be disappointed on what might have been. B/W’s Team Plasma is inherently more interesting that B2/W2′s Team Plasma, after all, and them pursuing Pokemon liberation as a noble goal rather than an evil goal could have provided some interesting situations, especially in regards to Pokemon like Ash’s Snivy and Ash’s Tepig / Pignite. Their rivalry with Team Rocket also would have been more interesting, since they would seem like polar opposites (Team Rocket is all about Pokemon exploitation for human greed, after all), whereas the rivalry we got centered around the two groups being fundamentally the same.  But at least Team Plasma exited the anime the same way they entered: being talked about by Giovanni. That kind of puts it into perspective just how badly Team Rocket overshadowed them in this series, huh?

SANDILE / KROKOROK:

Before being caught by Ash, the sunglasses-wearing Sandile / Krokorok was a recurring wild Pokemon who sought to defeat Pikachu, appearing in episodes 3, 12, 20, 23, 66 and 67. He was enjoyable in this role, but I’m confused as to why the writers abandoned him for such a lengthy period of time. His sudden reappearance at the end of episode 66 is so long after his previous appearance that many viewers are likely to have forgotten about him at that point! 

THE FORCES OF NATURE:

After the destruction of the Meteonite, Giovanni learned his lesson - if you want to take over Unova, skip the threats and just straight-up use the super-powered thing you’ve obtained. That’s where the Forces of Nature - Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus - come in. Through episodes 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62, Team Rocket attempts to draw the three legendary Pokemon out on Milos Island and capture them. This fails, but in episode 88 they discover that Meloetta’s song is the key to unlocking the seal on the Reveal Glass, which can summon and forcibly control the Forces of Nature. They finish recording the song in episode 97, obtain the Reveal Glass in episode 98, and take control of the Forces of Nature in their Therian Formes in episode 99, putting the Unova region in the greatest danger it’s ever put in across the whole series. This was a very well-executed plotline, as was the one that tied into it... 

MELOETTA:

I love Meloetta; she’s one of the most endearing Pokemon characters in the entire Pokeani’s history. Introduced in episode 84 and hanging around the sidelines of episodes 85 and 86, she takes center stage in episode 87 and remains a guest-star party member of Ash and his friends all the way through episode 99. The mystery behind her and her song and what Team Rocket wants it for, her development as she goes from timid and shy to energetic and bold, and her emotional send-off are all perfectly handled. What’s particularly interesting is that Meloetta’s arc is actually a retooling of what Takeshi Shudo wanted to do in Johto, with Celebi coming out of the GS Ball and following Ash and his friends around while being sought by Giovanni. Shudo died a few months before this arc was written, so it’s definitely a tribute.

ZEKROM:

Oh boy. Not since Ho-Oh has a legendary Pokemon had such a memorable introduction and then amounted to nothing in the Pokeani. Zekrom’s debut in episode 1, which continued into the start of episode 2, ultimately just served to nerf Pikachu, since the further plans for Zekrom in the show’s Myth Arc didn’t pan out. There is focus put on Zekrom and Reshiram having statues in the Village of Dragons, but the Village of Dragons doesn’t end up mattering to either Pokemon. The effect Zekrom’s energy had on Pikachu returns in episodes 23 and 24, but the matter is settled once the Meteonite is destroyed. Most egregiously of all is episode 66, where Ash and friends join Cedric Juniper in exploring the Black Hero’s Ruins and discovering the Golden Dark Stone, a tool that the Black Hero used to summon Zekrom. This is an obvious Chekhov’s Gun, but it never goes off, because it’s never seen again after the heroes leave the Ruins. It’s the GS Ball 2.0, except mercifully limited to just one episode.

As part of N’s full exposition on the Heroes Legend in episode 112, Ash flashes back to his encounter with Zekrom at the start of the series, reaffirming that he’s basically the modern-day Black Hero since Pikachu was chosen by Zekrom to carry its electric legacy. Despite this, we still never see Zekrom except in the opening of episode 125...in a dream sequence.

RESHIRAM:

Reshiram, by contrast, lucked out. While its role in the original Myth Arc also didn’t end up happening, it still got to play a central part in the Myth Arc by combining its role from the B/W games with Kyurem’s role from the B2/W2 games, being a central focus of Episode N and being seen or heavily discussed in episodes 111, 112, 120, 122, 123 and 124, plus the dream sequence at the start of episode 125. Sadly, Reshiram isn’t all that impressive when it’s on-screen despite the anime’s best efforts. The Forces of Nature come off as more formidable.

THE HEROES LEGEND:

I believe that the Heroes Legend about the Black Hero representing Ideals and the White Hero representing Truth comes off better in the anime than Zekrom and Reshiram themselves do. It’s first alluded to in episodes 23 and 24, with Team Plasma talking about “the Hero”. In episode 66, we learn a lot about the Black Hero and how he pursued Ideals alongside Zekrom through Cedric Juniper’s exploration of the Black Hero’s Ruins. 

In episode 111, Cedric calls in to reveal that he’s discovered the White Hero’s Ruins and is currently excavating it, setting Ash and his friends off on their quest to get there. They meet N in episode 112, who explains the legend of the two Heroes in greater detail, with the obvious subtext being that Ash, who had an encounter with Zekrom, is the modern day Black Hero who stands for Ideals while N, who had an encounter with Reshiram, is the modern day White Hero who is seeking Truth. In episode 119, we see that Team Plasma is spying on Cedric’s excavation of the White Ruins, and we learn why in episode 120: they want Reshiram to be the leader of their Pokemon army they plan to conquer Unova with, and N was deliberately raised to become the White Hero in order for this to happen. But Reshiram sensed this evil desire and angrily retaliated by burning down Team Plasma’s castle on N’s coronation day. In episode 121, Ghetsis reveals that Cedric has uncovered the Light Stone, which is Reshiram’s dormant form. With both it and Dr. Colress’ mind control machine, Team Plasma can re-awaken Reshiram and forcibly put it under their control; no N required.

In episode 122, we learn that the original Truth-obsessed White Hero became a self-righteous tyrant, and this is what pitted him against the Black Hero. This is why Reshiram was so angry with Team Plasma’s attempt to make N into the new, similarly tyrannical White Hero. But after Ash and N finally reconcile their Ideals and Truths and then work together to save Reshiram from Team Plasma, Reshiram is put at ease on the current state on humanity, as now the Black Hero of Ideals and the White Hero of Truth are able to co-exist peacefully. 

THE BADGE QUEST:

Ash’s Badge Quest in the Unova region goes through episodes 5-6, 14-16, 18, 22, 25, 51-52, 59-63, 69-70, 80-82, and 85-86. It’s mostly fine, but there are two major issues: the first one being the battle with Skyla in Mistralton Gym that has a horrible story attached to it that actually contradicts the entire central theme of the B/W games, and the other one being that the 8th badge being won from Roxie at Virbank Gym instead of Drayden and/or Iris at Opelucid Gym is a transparently obvious and jarring change of plans due to B2/W2-based executive meddling, and I say that as someone who likes the two-part battle with Roxie. 

TRIP:

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a somewhat snobbish preppy boy travels through Unova in order to become its strongest trainer, since he idolizes Champion Alder. However, Alder himself ends up challenging his preconceived notions of strength, which makes him angry and conflicted until he finally learns that the journey and those he shares it with are more important than the destination. That sums up Trip's character, but it also perfectly describes Cheren from the B/W games, whom Trip is a clear stand-in for. Trip is Cheren combined with traits of previous rivals like Gary and Paul; not all that original of a creation.

In spite of this, he was used frequently enough early on (episodes 1, 10, 22, 34, 41, 42, and 54) that he started to forge something of his own identity, and if the original Myth Arc had been maintained and he still continued the Cheren role in that it could have led to some great things. But something changed around the time the Donamite episodes were being made. It seems like around that point, the negative fan reception to Trip for allegedly being a Replacement Scrappy to Paul came through and the writers accommodated it (the head writer never seemed to care much for Trip anyway). He was humiliatingly beaten in the first round again, by Bianca of all people this time, and once again left rather than stick around like the other rivals. In the Junior Cup, his character arc was rushed to a conclusion and he was very blatantly replaced as Ash's main rival by Cameron, who is introduced by running into the frame right after Trip walked out of it. There was nothing else left for the writers to do with the character but ax him off in the first round and have him leave for a third time; this time for the Unova League Tournament, as the first opponent that Ash defeats. OUCH.

Trip deserved better, but the fans and writers just wouldn’t let him have it. :(

BIANCA:

With Bianca, we have kind of the opposite situation to Trip - whereas there we had an OC whose characterization and development was clearly taken from one of the B/W games’ rivals, now we have one of the B/W games’ rivals whose characterization and development is so wildly different from the source material that she might as well be an OC! Appearing in episodes 13, 26-28, 41-44, 51, 64-65, 72-75 and 105-110, Bianca was clearly a favorite of the writers’ due to the comedy they could provide with her, and to be fair she can be genuinely amusing with her zany shtick. However, I feel like the writers missed the forest for the trees here, since on the whole this is a poor representation of Bianca’s character from the games.

Bianca could be flighty and clumsy and scatter-brained and not the strongest trainer around in B/W, but she was also insightful and empathetic and willing to look on the bright side of any situation even when dealing with her own troubled self-esteem. She was sheltered for a long time, and yet this makes her that much more passionate about broadening her horizons rather than shying away from a challenge. She even saw the bigger picture when few others did, and this allowed her to become an apprentice Pokemon professor. The anime’s rendition of Bianca is....not this. She’s a ditzy, hyperactive joke dispenser and a punching bag of a rival ala Barry from Diamond & Pearl, and in spite of her overexposure she never contributes to the Myth Arc the way her games counterpart did. It’s to the point that in the one episode where she’s written in-character with the games version and adapts a situation from the games, episode 51, you still kind of want to side with her father because everything you’ve seen of Bianca thusfar suggests that he’s right: she’s not ready to be a Pokemon trainer yet.

She doesn’t fare any better than Trip when it comes to how she ends up, either. Right after Trip is defeated by Ash at the Unova League, Bianca ends up defeated by Cameron, and she ends her first-ever Pokemon journey collapsed onto the ground and sobbing. Bianca is a great character for bouncing off of others in the anime, but taken on her own, she’s a mess.

STEPHAN:

Introduced as seemingly just a character-of-the-day in episode 31, Stephan returned for the Don Battle tournament arc of episodes 41-44, then in episode 71 which segued directly into the Donamite tournament arc of episodes 72-75, and finally the Unova League tournament of episodes 105-110. An easily likable guy, he also surprisingly ended up being Ash’s most successful rival in all of BW, since not only was he the most impressive trainer but he also had a full character arc about becoming a renowned and respected enough trainer so that everyone knows exactly how to say his name. This arc is especially central to the Donamite, which he wins by defeating a rival of his own, Montgomery. It’s honestly bizarre that the writers were able to pull Stephan off so well despite botching Trip and Bianca so badly.

CAMERON:

To this day, I am baffled as to why anyone on the writing team thought that Cameron was a good idea. He shows up out of nowhere to replace Trip as Ash’s biggest rival in episode 95 (after Ash has already collected all 8 badges, mind you!), then faces Marlon at Humilau Gym in episode 96, and finally shows up at the Unova League tournament in episodes 105-110 where he not only defeats Bianca, but also defeats Ash. Cameron doesn’t work not only due to how late in the game he appears but because he’s too much of an idiot while also becoming too successful in spite of his idiocy. It’s especially insulting that he defeats Ash even after he only is able to enter the Unova League because of Ash (thrice-over, in fact!) and after bringing 5 Pokemon to a 6-on-6 battle (which should have been grounds for disqualification!) He’s not interesting, he’s not funny, he’s not likable...he’s just awful.

VIRGIL:

Appearing in episodes 104 through 110, Virgil exists for two reasons: to promote Eevee-lutions and to be the winner of the Unova League, mercifully defeating Cameron to do so. Aside from that, he’s just a bland “cool guy” type of character. But for some reason, he really caught on in Japan, and even became the star of a Movie 16 tie-in special. Go figure!

GEORGIA:

Iris’ rival Georgia was introduced in episode 36, and reappeared in episodes 41-44, episodes 72-75, episode 83, and episodes 92-95. The self-styled “Dragon Buster” serves as a cracked mirror to Iris - both girls are hot-tempered, insecure and hypocritical, but Iris has a firmer grasp on reality than Georgia does while Georgia has a firmer grasp on herself than Iris does. Across the series, they help each other develop as both trainers and people: their first encounter helps Iris fix her problem with Excadrill, their time together at the Don Battle makes Georgia begin to see Iris as a worthy rival whom she wants to see become a Dragon Master, their time together at the Donamite makes Iris begin to take Georgia more seriously as a trainer, their team-up at the Ferroseed Research Center cures Iris’ fear of Ice-type Pokemon and nudges Georgia outside her usual comfort zone, and their time together at the Junior Cup makes Iris realize the problem she has with Dragonite and Georgia realize that she needs to train Beartic further to raise its defenses. It’s a very healthy (and hilarious) rivalry.

The one real problem I have with Georgia is that because of the executive meddling forced onto the show, she doesn’t get one last solo episode to round out her appearances and send her off properly. The last we see of her (discounting the final ED theme) is at the Junior Cup, meaning that she is MIA for the entire third/final year of the series. Both she and her frenemy Burgundy (who share golden chemistry) deserved better than that. Oh, and speaking of... 

BURGUNDY:

Cilan’s rival Burgundy lands squarely between Trip/Bianca and Stephan/Georgia when it comes to how she was handled. Unlike Trip she always sticks around after her losses in the first round of every tournament she competes in so we get to know her better, and unlike Bianca she was invented as a comedic character so her mostly being used for jokes isn’t as unwelcome. But sadly, unlike Stephan and Georgia she doesn’t truly challenge her rival at all, nor does she learn anything from their so-called rivalry. Cilan is an A-Class Connoisseur, Burgundy is a C-Class Connoisseur, and this never changes. Burgundy becomes slightly more respectful toward Cilan and less good at covering up her crush on him, but that’s about it, and it’s still dwarfed by her hilariously vitriolic attitude toward everything. And like Georgia, she also doesn’t get a send-off episode in the third/final year due to executive meddling.

I blame the writing for Cilan more than I do the writing for Burgundy here. If the writers had let Cilan have his own character growth and commitment to advancing as a Connoisseur, then he and Burgundy could have shared a rivalry more on par with Iris and Georgia’s. But as it stands, Burgundy is a wonderful character who is also a huge wasted opportunity as a rival. 

LUKE:

I’m bringing up Luke because I really don’t think he was supposed to ever come back after being a gimmicky side character for five straight episodes (40-44). But then B2/W2 introduced Pokestar Studios, and how could the writers NOT bring back their amateur filmmaker character then? Him winning the film festival at Pokestar Studios actually gives Luke something of a character arc in the series despite it not being intended at first, and the producers must have realized that because he is rather tellingly included in the final ED theme’s big circle of friendship in spite of only showing up in six episodes. 

N:

N is the focus character of, well, Episode N, showing up in episodes 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, and 124. The anime version of the character combines his personal development from the B/W games with the supporting protagonist role from B2/W2, and while that’s certainly disappointing to everyone who had hoped to see N’s antagonistic role as King of Team Plasma adapted into the anime, I think that the series nailed his actual character. It isn’t quick or easy for him to accept that views he has long held as truth may not be true and that the relationship between people and Pokemon isn’t as disadvantageous to the latter as he believes. But we see him gradually open up his mind and heart to Ash’s Ideals, which influence his perception of Truth until he at last becomes the Hero of Truth he was meant to be, one who won’t fall prey to tyrannical self-righteousness like the original Hero of Truth did. Even with the change to the original plan made, both N’s character arc and his role within the Myth Arc were well handled. The anime certainly did him better justice than other adaptations (I’m looking at you, Pokespe, and your creepy-ass dark-eyed N from the B/W Chapter!)

[dtrhwithalex]

TV | Loki (103)

103: LAMENTIS

D: KATE HERRON. W: BISHA K. ALI. Original Air Date: 23 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the third episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

We open on the Variant and Hunter C-20 in a bar, having drinks. It quickly becomes clear that this is a memory the Variant is manipulating in order to extract information from C-20 about where the Time Keepers are located and how to get to them.

Picking up from last weeks episode, we see that the time window the Variant has opened, leads to the TVA. The Variant makes her way to the golden elevators leading to the Time Keepers and, confronted by Minutemen finds out that her magical powers are useless here, so she sticks to physical combat and using the TVA's disintegration staffs to fight the Minutemen.

Having followed the Variant, Loki finds himself back at the TVA as well. Taking his knives from Hunter B-15's locker, he goes after the Variant. Their fight in front of the elevator is interrupted by Ravonna Renslayer showing up, and in order to escape, Loki grabs the Variant's TemPad and transports them out of the TVA.

The escape lands them on the moon Lamentis-1 in 2077, during one of the worst apocalyptic events in recorded time. Unable to escape this place and return to the TVA because the TemPad has run out of charge, Loki and the Variant find themselves stranded. Albeit reluctantly and with a lot of argument, Loki and the Variant -- who introduces herself eventually as Sylvie -- decide to team up and find something with a big enough power source to recharge the TemPad which Loki has magic'd away out of Sylvie's reach.

Coming upon an old woman in a largely abandoned place, they learn that there exists an escape pod -- the Ark -- which a train nearby is taking people to. Smuggling themselves onto the train through disguise and manipulation, Loki and Sylvie head to the Ark. They exchange a few details about what kind of Variants they are and then decide on a momentary truce to get them both out of this apocalypse. However, while Sylvie rests, Loki gets drunk and engages the other passengers in a sing-along of a Lamentian folk-song (or maybe Asgardian?). Having shed his guard disguise, the guards eventually catch on, and after a brief fight, Loki is thrown out of the train. Sylvie follows because her only hope of getting off the planet is the TemPad in Loki's possession -- which, it turns out, just broke when Loki was thrown off the train.

Deciding their only chance at escape is highjacking the Ark, Loki and Sylvie make their way to the train's destination and find the city full of guards trying to keep more people from getting to the Ark. Fighting their way across the city and toward the Ark's launch pad, Loki and Sylvie, for the first time, really fight together. However, before they come near the Ark, the planet above is torn apart and they watch as large meteoric pieces destroy the Ark and with it their hope of escape.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

All the banter scenes, to be honest. There was so much fun dialogue in this episode. The whole tech-savy bit, what makes a plan a plan, Loki conjuring a feather and parchment to take notes sarcastically -- just so good.

Overall favourite has got to be their conversation about love on the train though. I absolutely love this show for the bit about what kind of lovers Loki had.

Sylvie: How about you? You're a prince. Must have been would-be-princesses...or perhaps, another prince. Loki: A bit of both.

We have a male and a female Loki (although I'm still suspicious about Sylvie and still not entirely sure about the whole two actors playing the same genderfluid character thing) and now we have this magnificent dialogue -- finally I get my canonically bi/pan genderfluid God of Mischief in the MCU! Huzzaaaah!!!!

And coming back to the love thing, I also absolutely adore Loki's analogy he comes up with while drunk off his ass: "Love is a dagger. It's a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful. Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it... *makes the dagger disappear*". I absolutely love it. I love this Loki so much. Finally, he is the chaotic, mischievous idiot I love so much.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

Still very much Loki, obviously. I love him more the longer this show goes on. I love this Loki so much. He is so much fun. And Tom Hiddleston is marvellous.

I do really like Sylvie so far, too. Her banter with Loki is fantastic, and I enjoy their dynamic a lot. But I wanna know more about her, I can't wait to find out more of who she is, exactly.

I also very much liked the old woman in the abandoned town who blasts both their asses away. You go, lady. You show them.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Uhm? The whole "all TVA agents are Variants" reveal?? That opens up so many doors. Cannot wait to see that explored. I mean, that is huge??

Again, who exactly is Sylvie. I've seen some theories floating around that she isn't a Loki but rather Enchantress, but I am not very well versed in Marvel Comics knowledge, so I don't actually know who that is or what that means, and I won't google it because I like finding out stuff as it happens. But...very curious.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really liked this episode, it was great fun. I loved the banter, I loved the character dynamics. I did find myself missing Mobius a lot, though. I really like him. One of my favourite things in this episode was the sequence at the end with Loki and Sylvie fighting their way to the Ark. I love the visuals of that city a lot. And the camera movements and the specific shots in that whole sequence was absolutely fantastic. It honestly felt very much like a video game to me, and I kept thinking that I really would love to play this sequence in a game. Absolutely brilliantly shot. Also fantastic opening song choice. Overall, yeah, great episode, once again. Can't wait to see where next week takes us.

[still image taken from the marvel homepage]

[itslovethatsavesthem]

“From Alpha to Alpha we trek, ‘til homeward bound we be.” 

According to Plutarch's natural order of attribution of the vowels to the planets, alpha was connected with the Moon. (1)

Hence “Alpha to Alpha” = from Catha to Ruidus, where they’ll somehow find a way into the Astral Sea and to the city? Presumably on Ruidus, given the associations it has (and that Molly rather than Lucien is/was a worshipper of the Moonweaver who is associated with Catha - Traveler Con feels like a missed opportunity to have been able to ask that, but then they didn’t know he was already back alive at that point).

"Ruidus itself, some are believed to have been either a pre-creation, back when the elements themselves were consuming all of Exandria, but others believe may have not originally existed, may have been a creation by the Betrayer Gods and was some sort of long-running mysterious plot that was cut short during the end of the Calamity and when they were banished away.” (2)

Moreover, there are nine Betrayer Gods, and rather than interpreting Somnovem as “Sleeping Nine” the way Sam suggested and that seems to have been taken up by fandom from what I’ve seen so far, my first association was a somewhat changed bit of Latin (see Zemnian not being all the way like original German) standing for “sum novem”, I am nine, which would make sense for a Nonagon (Neun Augen = Nine Eyes; I mentioned this in chat a couple of weeks ago, but am sure I’m not the only one who came up with the connection) becoming a vessel for...something that might easily be the nine Betrayer Gods in their bid for getting past the Divine Gate and back into the world via the living city of Cognouza (probably from Latin “cognoscere”, to know, to learn, to experience, of course related to words like “cognizant”): 

And they flick and bend, organically, shift like they're alive Roads pulse. This is weirdly familiar, but so alien. Thousands of minds within are the city. It doesn't make sense. Hungry, seeking. There's another flash. Within the minds of Eyes of Nine, flash back, the vessel, the city draws close. (3)

All of this while Ruidus is prominent (for a given value of that) and visible in the sky (4) (5). 

I don’t really know where this is going, but maybe someone can run with these connections?

Plaintext links under the cut because tumblr is a jerk about them:

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha#Plutarch (2) https://kryogenix.org/crsearch/html/cr2-74.html#l1h37m55s (3) https://kryogenix.org/crsearch/html/cr2-105.html#l2h55m23s (4) https://kryogenix.org/crsearch/html/cr2-76.html#l1h44m27s (5) https://kryogenix.org/crsearch/html/cr2-103.html#l0h53m51s

[particularemu]

Sharing is Caring | A Lee Know/Lee Minho Scenario

Word Count: 1412

Prompts: 103 (Sharing is caring. Now give me your fries.) 

Author’s Note: This was a request, but I also want to tag @chrono-miroh​. I do have an original Valentine’s fic in the works for you, but because I was sick as shit yesterday I wasn’t able to get it done along with the other fics. So don’t worry bby. Yours is coming! 

This legit almost ended up being a smut fic. Whoops

I’m not taking any requests from this list anymore, but the prompt in this fic is from this prompt list. 

Having Lee Minho as your best friend was quite a chaotic experience. Over the years he threw you for a loop — the incessant teasing, bickering, and fun memories made you fall for him… HARD. Being best friends with Lee Minho and having feelings for him...

Ouch. 

It’s not that you couldn’t tell him how you feel, it’s just that this chaotic and caring man was one of the few people you could actually be yourself around, and you didn’t want to lose that. He comforted you when you were sad, took care of you when you were stuck in depressive episodes, AND he forced you to leave the house when you were being a lonely little hermit. 

You couldn’t afford to lose that. 

Obviously, if he were to turn you down, he’d probably say something along the lines of “Don’t worry, this won’t change anything between us.” Even if that phrase was a complete lie, he’d do his best to make sure you don’t feel like shit. 

Truth is, you weren’t worried about him cutting contact. You knew that you would be the one to distance yourself until the friendship was completely gone — the way all your other friendships ended. 

“Hello?” Minho waved his hand in front of your face, laughing when you came to. “I swear, it’s like talking to a brick wall.” 

You chuckled. “Why a brick wall? What if I’m a statue?”

“Aren’t statue’s supposed to be pretty?” Minho snickered when your mouth dropped open.

“Rude.” You grabbed a couple of fries and shoved them into your mouth to hide the obvious pout that was bound to form. Even though you knew he was kidding, that joke stung. “Too far bud.” You mumbled, face falling a bit. 

“Hey.” Minho reached across the table and tilted your chin up, forcing you to look into his eyes. “You know I didn’t mean it, right?” 

You chuckled and shook your head. “I know.” 

Minho knew this look all too well. You were feeling down about yourself again. Despite the effort he put into hyping you up all the time, you still managed to sink back into your negative thoughts. 

“How long?” Minho turned his attention to his food, taking a bite of an onion ring on his plate. 

Your head shot up, confusion evident in your features as you shoved some more fries in your mouth. “What are you talking about?”

“How long have these feelings been back.” 

You paused. Fuck he figured it out. You tried to keep a bright smile on your face — you tried so hard to appear happy so he wouldn’t get sick of your negativity. 

You wouldn’t blame him. You were sick of yourself. 

“A while.” You responded, suddenly becoming very interested in the way your fingernails looked. 

Minho nodded as if this was common knowledge. “When did you plan on telling me?”

“Honest?” You reached for one of his onion rings, munching on the fried vegetable while you waited for his response. 

“Always.” He took one of your fries and shoved it in his mouth. 

“Never.” Again, what is with that nail? Why does it always split?

Minho reached across the table and took your hands in his, turning your attention to the man in front of you. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m here if you do.” 

Your eyes glassed over as he let go of your hands. You reached for one of his, feeling comfort wash over you when he laced his fingers with yours. “Thanks.” 

“Mhm.” Minho eyed up your plate before asking, “Can I have some of your fries?”

“You’ve been eating my fries this whole time.” You giggled. “No, if you wanted fries, why didn’t you just order them?” 

“I didn’t want them at the time but now they look good.” Minho laughed when you glared at him. 

You released his hand, guarding your plate as you frowned. “No you aren’t getting any of my food.” 

“Sharing is caring. Now give me your fries.” Minho slipped past your shield and grabbed a bunch of your fries. 

“I don’t care about you.” You smacked his hand, causing him to drop a couple of fries on the table. 

“You and I both know that’s bullshit.” He chuckled, shoving the fries in his mouth. “Besides.” He chewed on the mass of potato slices until he could form a sentence. “Even if you didn’t, you owe me.” 

“Umm excuse me?” You scoffed. “Why do I owe you anything?” You couldn’t recall any lost bets… and you definitely didn’t make the mistake of stealing his snacks again. What’s he talking about?

“You’ve been keeping a secret from me.” Minho shrugged as if it was common knowledge. “You never told me you had a big fat crush on me,” Minho smirked, making your cheeks flush a bright shade of red. 

Oh shit, he found out! 

You frowned and looked at your food, avoiding his gaze. “Look I understand if you don’t feel the same way. I just hope this doesn’t change anything.” 

You really didn’t want to lose him as a friend. It would be tough to lose the late-night cuddles sessions, binge eating ice cream sessions, and the BEST pillow fort builder the world had to offer. 

“Wait? Seriously?” Minho’s eyes widened — shock replacing the shit-eating grin that was once plastered on his face. 

You panicked as you asked, “What?”

“You really do?” Minho paused, chuckling nervously before adding, “I was just teasing you.”

Oh…

“You know what? You’re an asshole.” You spat as you grabbed your purse, throwing the strap over your shoulder. 

“Wait sweetheart, hold on!” Minho reached out to you, gasping when you shoved his hand away.

“Fuck off.” You turned around and left, slamming the door behind you. 

You were done — done with all the teasing, done with those dates that weren’t really dates, done with all that flirting. You were done with it all! You’d be happy if you never saw the boy again. It’d give you a chance to move on. 

You stormed off home, throwing your purse onto the bench before plopping on the couch. Realization hit you all at once. You just lost your best friend… The person who has been there for you through everything. The man who comforted you during your last horrible breakup. 

Five years. Five whole years you dumped down the drain. 

Tears streamed down your cheeks as your brain attacked every little bit of you. You were such a horrible friend! You didn’t even give him a chance to speak. God, you fuck up everything! 

A knock on the door shook you out of your negative thoughts, attention suddenly shifting to the man behind the door. Was it Minho? God, you hoped it was Minho. You needed to apologize for being such an ass. 

You ran to the door and opened it, sighing in relief when you saw Minho on the other side. He instantly closed the distance between you two, lips pressing against yours for a second before he pulled away, hands resting on your cheeks. “You have a horrible habit of not listening.” He kissed you once more, moving you into your apartment as he kicked the door shut with his foot. 

Minho’s tongue slipped past your lips as he guided you to the couch, separating to allow you to lay on the couch. “I’ve loved you for so long.” Minho hovered over your body, smiling when your legs wrapped around his waist. “I should have confessed ages ago.” Minho’s lips were back on yours, tongue swirling around yours as you pulled him closer. 

You separated to say, “I love you so much.” You practically moaned when Minho kissed down your neck, tongue darting out every now and again. Your hands ran up his back as he sucked on your neck lightly, leaving a light purple bruise. “Hey…” 

Minho stopped all movements, eyes boring into yours as he waited for what you were about to say. 

“Does this mean I get to steal your hoodies?”

Minho lost it — his head dropped onto your chest as he laughed loudly — the boyish giggles echoing in the room. “Really? That’s what you’re going to ask me about right now?”

“I want to know.” You giggled. 

“No.” Minho smiled. “You don’t get to jack my hoodies.” 

“Sharing is caring.” You giggled as Minho pressed his lips to yours, effectively shutting you up with a kiss. 

[shoyodon]

𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!

Hi! oh my gosh It feels like my blog grew really fast? I’m really grateful to every one of you and I’m so glad that I get to do what I love while also making you guys happy! My 500 follower celebration may not be the most exciting or original but I wanted to do something different for the occasion! Im putting my WIPS on pause and opening up prompt requests! 

Send an ask with a number w/ 2 characters max and I’ll write a short fic or HC (depending on prompt) about it!  Both HAIKYUU! and BNHA characters are available!

*depending on amount of requests, I will cap the amount of requests I take on, sorry 🥺

Requests closed!!

The prompt requests will be open until tomorrow at 6pm CST so send them in! below is the prompt list, all credit for this list goes to @marauder-exe​ !

Angst

“I love you ! Is that what you wanted to hear ?”

“I love him/her, and I know that I shouldn’t.”

“Can you just shut your mouth ?”

“wHY DO YOU KEEP LYING TO ME ?”

“We both know that I should walk away, but I can’t.”

“Wait, he/she has a girlfriend/boyfriend ?"

“I lo—-” “No, please… Don’t say that. You love her/him, not me.”

"Could you just take this pain away ? It hurts, so much… Help me.”

“You’re safe here, I got you.”

“Don’t ask her out again, please… You’re killing me, every single time you ask that.”

“Look, he/she wants you, just make him/her happy.”

“If you go, I’ll know that you never loved me.”

“We never were just friends, and you know it.” “I know it, but you deserve someone better than me.”

“SHE WAS CRYING BECAUSE OF YOU!!!”

“You love me like I’m the person who actually deserves your love.” “But you are the only one who deserves it.”

“I know for a fact that you’re not “fine”.”

“You’re looking at me like.. you’re disgusted. What did I do? Just tell me what I did, please!”

“What happened between us?”

“Nothing has changed!” “Yes it has, and you know it.”

“Love isn’t supposed to hurt this badly.”

“You said you needed space. You were 5,000 miles away for a year, and you’re still unsure. I’m starting to think that an entire universe apart wouldn’t be enough space for you.”

“I remember when he/she/they used to look at me that way”

“I want you to list every lie you ever told me. Then I’ll forgive you.”

“I don’t hate you. I hate that after all of this, you’re still trying to lie to me”

“I can’t keep this secret for you anymore.”

“I’m sorry I’m not what you signed up for.”

“Why she/her/them? It could have been anybody, and you chose to betray me with her/him/them.”

“This will be the last time you lie to me.”

“You never loved me, did you?”

“You made me miserable and I still loved you.”

“Everytime something goes well, I momentarily forget how much I despise you.”

“We’re never going to have a happy ending, just remember that.”

“Don’t pretend like you’re not happy to see me like this.”

“Your mind must be a horrible place.”

“Hand me the gun and I’ll kill him myself.”

“And I thought you loved me."

" And I thought I loved you."

" Aren't you even going to cry?"

“I didn’t expect you to wait forever. I just hoped…”

“Did you always know that you were going to leave?”

“If you cry, I’ll stay, and if I stay that will just give you another reason to hate me.”

“I’m addicted and at this point I don’t think anything could make me stop.”

”If you wanna know, then ask.”

“You never asked because you knew I wouldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”

“We grew apart, and at this point I’m glad.”

“Find somebody else to kiss your ass.”

“When are you going to stop clawing for something that’s never going to happen?”

“What you’re doing is going to kill you one day.”

“It was easier to believe that the you I knew was dead than deal with the fact that I still have to see you every day.”

“What you’re doing is going to kill you one day.”

Fluff

51. “You’re hair is really soft after you wash it.”

52. “Ssh. Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair.”

53. “You smell really nice.”

54. “Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you.”

55. “I might have slept with your robe when you were gone.”

56. “If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you.”

57. “Here, let’s share the blanket.”

58. “You’re comfy.”

59.“You are very endearing when you are half-asleep.”

60.“But I want to hear you sing.”

61.“Don’t get up - I’ll do it.”

62.“Care to give me a back scratch?”

63.“I think I love you.”

64.“Your bed head is really cute.”

65.“How about a kiss?”

66.“You made this for me?”

67.Aw, you’re blushing.”

68. Uh oh, I know that look. What do you want?”

69. “Let me help you with that.”

70. “I don’t want to forget this moment.”

71.“Are you really flirting with me right now?”

72.“I like the way your hand fits in mine.”

73.“You have something in your hair, umm… Do you want me to get it out?”

74.“It’s nice that your voice was the first thing I heard today.”

75.“This movie is really scary, but you’re into it so I’m trying not to cover my face the whole time, but- WHAT IS THAT?”

76.“Wait, don’t pull away… Not yet.”

77.“Half the time I get too embarrassed to say anything”

78.“No, it’s fine.  I can wait until you’re done talking to them.”

79.“No, like…. It’s just, I can’t believe you’re actually wearing my clothes.”

80.“You’re a big piece of inspiration for this, honestly.”

81.“I’ve been trying to get ready for like an hour and a half, because I know you’re going to look so good and I need to try and match up.”

82.“I wanted to say “I love you” for the first time without stuttering, but that failed.”

83.“My friends get so annoyed by how much I talk about how sometimes.”

84.“No, mom, don’t tell him/her I said that about him/her!”

85.“I can’t get over how a few months ago I wanted to learn your name and now you’re having breakfast with me in my sweater.”

86.“ You are so beautiful — So fucking beautiful. “

87.“And just WHERE do you think you’re putting your hands?”

88.“Wow, you look even better in the daylight.”

89.“I don’t remember ever having this many hickeys. But I don’t mind.”

90.“We could order pizza and just stay like this all day.”

91.“It was always you.”

92.I love you in every possible way.”

93.“I didn’t mean to love you so much.”

94.“Don’t you hurt a single hair on his/her/their head.”

95.“Duck, you idiot!”

96.“Hey. Pal. I’ve got a wand and I’m not afraid to use it.”

97.“Shh, you’re safe. I won’t let you go.”

98.“It’s not a double date. We’re just third and fourth wheeling.”

99.“Look, I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’m still worried about you. No one deserves to be alone.”

100.“I remember practicing how to ask you out in the mirror..”

Sarcasm

101.“Define normal.”

102.“Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?”

103.“Just remember if we get caught, you’re deaf and I don’t speak English.”

104.“Don’t look for any redeeming qualities. I don’t have any.”

105.“It’s amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total shit storm.”

106.“I love you. You enormously stubborn pain in the ass.”

107.“And you wonder why you’re still single.”

108.“Remind me to kill you. Please.”

109.“That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

110.“She’s crazy. And just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of her craziness, there’s a crazy underground garage.”

111.“She may seem like lollipops and rainbows but I bet behind close doors she’s latex and whips.”

112.“If my day gets any worse, I’m asking hell if they’re having an exchange program.”

113.“Sorry. I don’t speak skank.”

114.“My middle finger salutes you.”

115.“I don’t have enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel.”

116.Somebody’s cranky.” “Somebody needs to shut up.”

117.“Oh darling. Go buy a brain.”

118.“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

119.“All due respect, but that’s a bunch of crap.”

120.“I am one of the few people in the world who can murder you and leave no forensic evidence behind.”

121.“Excuse me. I have to go make a scene.”

122.“What did I tell you about calling her/him the devil?” “That it’s offensive to the devil?”

123.“I heard that!” “You were supposed to!”

124.“I need therapy after this.”

125.“You didn’t get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly.”

126.“I turned out liking you a lot more that I originally planned.”

127.“I think you’re weird.” “I think you’re boring.”

128.“I’m afraid I’ve been thinking…” “A dangerous pastime.”

129.“Wow, there’s a big surprise. I think I’m going to have a heart attack and die from surprise.”

130.“I’m gonna hit you so hard, it’ll make you ancestors dizzy.”

131.“Sarcasm is the body’s natural reaction to stupidity.”

132.“Well, excuse me, psychic wonder!”

133.“Don’t look in her eyes, she might steal your soul.”

134.“She’s hot, but she’s evil.”

135.“Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably.”

136.“I already know that I’m going to hell. At this point it’s really go big or go home.”

137.“I’m not a damsel in distress. I’m a damsel doing damage.”

138.“So stick that in your juice box and suck it.”

139.“Never take life seriously. No one ever comes out alive anyway.”

140.“Sometimes I question my sanity. Occasionally it replies.”

141.“Why should we date?” “Because we are attracted to each other.” “I am attracted to pie, but I do not feel the need to date pie.”

142.“Neither one us is drunk enough for this conversation.”

143.“You’re questioning my methods.” “I’m not questioning it, I’m saying it’s stupid.”

144.“Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal.”

145.“I didn’t do it!” “Then why are you laughing?” “Because whoever did it is a freaking genius.”

146.“Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots.”

147.“You couldn’t handle me even if I came with instructions.

148.“Obviously you have mistaken me for somebody who gives a shit.”

149.“Rule number one: don’t bother sucking up. I already hate you, that’s not going to change.”

150.“You make no sense to me.” “Welcome to my life.”

Drama

151.“Can you stop thinking about yourself for once?”

152.“Can you stop thinking about yourself for once?”

153.“Don’t think I forgot about what you did last time.”

154.“I know you lied to me.”

155.“I’m not even sorry.”

156.“You backstabber!” 157.“I never want to see you again.” 158.“You never mattered to me.”

159.“I knew this was a bad idea.”

160.“Rot in hell.”

161.“It was supposed to be a secret!”

162.“No one loves me.” 163.“He/she/they is/are so petty…” 164.“You made me cry.” 165.“I don’t know who you are anymore.” 166.“How DARE you?!” 167.“I know you’re not talking to me…” 168.“I SAW you with him/her/them!”

169.“Just leave me alone.”

170.“What did you do?!” 171.“I told everyone that I didn’t want to talk but I’m actually dying for attention.”

172. “Just admit that was extra…”

173.“I forgive, but I don’t forget.” 174.“Did you see what he/she/they was/were wearing?” 175.“So what if I had sex with your ex?” 176.“There’s something I have to tell you…” 177.“I can’t do this anymore.” 178.“You weren’t there for me when I needed you the most.” 179.“I never loved you.” 180.“It’s too late.”

181.“Quit ignoring me.”

182. “Don’t you get it? It’s because I love you!”

183.“I love you. I’m sorry.”

184.“I don’t want to be friends.”

185.“Can we please pretend I never said that?”

186.“Friendzoned again.”

187.“You should’ve loved me when you had the chance.”

188.“Fuck you for toying with my emotions like that.”

189.“I was there for you when no one else was!”

190.“Alright – I can tell a ‘no’ when I hear it.”

191.“I’m sorry I acted so creepy.”

192.“Fuck. It’s like what they say – nice guys finish last…”

193.“I’m tired of keeping this secret. Even if you don’t love me back.”

194. “I knew that’d be your answer. That’s why I never told you before.”

195.“When I said I loved you, I meant it.”

196.“Is there any part of you, deep down, that might love me back?”

197.“You were the one that left all those notes for me?”

198.“You’re in a relationship with another person – you know this can’t end well.”

199.“We agreed this was just physical!”

200.“I love you. I know you don’t love me, so don’t say it back.”

[phoenixmaiden-gaming]

Hollow Knight part 42

I finally did it! I beat the game! There was nothing stopping me from finally going up against the final boss with everything done. It was a little bit easy but still took me a few tries before I won. And I found out that I have 103% completion of the game. Nice!

The first thing I did was equip the Grimchild to see what would happen since I had the flames.

I showed the Troupe Master the Grimchild but all he did was make it bigger and now I had to go find more flames...yeah, not going to do that. Not now anyway.

I went down to the now Infected Crossroads and made my way to the Temple of the Black Egg. It was completely infected with those orange bubbles full of infections.

When I got close enough, the door to the Black Egg that had the seals on it broke open and I could now go inside.

I walked down a dark hallway until I got to a bench where I sat to save my progress.

Right next to the bench was a pedestal and when I looked at it, it called me a Vessel and that Hallownest will be whole again. I could also now see my Completion Percentage in my Inventory. Cool.

And yep, there it is. I apparently have a 103% completion rate. That is really cool and not surprising. I’ve been very thorough in my gameplay.

I continued to the right and found a figure done up in chains. I had to break all 4 of the chains.

After breaking the chains the figure was released and it was the Hollow Knight. He was infected with the orange goop and I had to fight him.

My fight started and it was very straight forward and didn’t have too much trouble but I did die a few times, or several. I just had to not get hit so often, but I did get to the point where the Hollow Knight would start stabbing itself and then I would die again.

I finally made it to the point where I the Hollow Knight just started loosing control and I could see that it was completely infected. I changed my charm set up to give me more health and that helped. I still died though. I just need to slow down. I have that problem a lot. I need to slow down.

But finally I was able to win and the Hollow Knight started to expel the infection.

I was then prompted to focus and pull the infection into myself.

The chains that were once holding the Hollow Knight bound me and I was now taking over the Hollow Knight’s spot and holding back the infection.

With that, the door to the Black Egg sealed shut with me still inside. And that was it. The credits rolled. 

After the credits, I got a Congratulations message from the team that made the game.

I also got a Game Completion list with my 103% completion and also the fact that I have played this game for over 65 hours. Wow.

I also unlocked a special challenge of Steal Soul Mode. Where if I die, I die. I don’t have a shade to save me. Cool, but don’t think I’ll do it.

So, from what I learned is that the original Hollow Knight had been sealed into the Black Egg to hold back the infection and after a while, the infection started to come out which is what happened to all the bugs down below. They went mad with the infection, So the Knight that I played went around trying to find out what happened and releasing the seals in order to take the place of the Hollow Knight and be the replacement to hold the infection back. How long that would last, I have no idea.

But yeah, that’s it. I do know that there is another ending and I will try it out and see what happens. But that is for next time. Until then, Happy Gaming!!