#i really don't see him that way and never gave any indications I was interested in him romantically

[nadjabear]

Girls when they think they have a good friendship with a man but then they start to like you romantically (I’m girls)

[motherloads]

After the Storm

Just finished watching OPLA, and I have been inspired. Watching it whilst doing my readings for class got me hyped. Now, I'm watching The Little Mermaid and a little something piqued my interest.

I'm a sucker for crossovers that people never create, but do be warned all of my fics are literally the same. I realized this while typing this out. Oops lol.

Couldn't decide between Sanji and Zoro, both very lovely beings. I eventually did figure out who but I love tough decision-making.

Summary: Reader silently grieves her loss of her family. Fortunately, she focuses on her new found feelings for a certain Pirate Hunter. Not one to return feelings, she feels herself begin to spiral over his ignorance.

A jump that creates worry and a short confession ensues.

-> Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Reader

-> One Piece/Percy Jackson Crossover

-> Warnings: None!

⋆｡°✩

So if you need a hero Just look in the mirror No one’s gonna save you now So you better save yourself

"I like you," She broadly proclaims to the green-haired man in front of her. Tapping her foot patiently, she awaits his answer. His look gave no indication that he felt anything about her broad claim. Still, she smiles up at him, waiting.

"I know," He answers instead, "You tell me every week since we met. My answer won't change." She pouts at his answer, shaking her head in denial.

"People's hearts always change, Zoro! You may never know when you will fall in love with me," She teases, poking his arm in a teasing manner. Instead of waiting for his response, she hums a goodbye, skipping away from the man who made no move to leave the spot he was rooted to.

Once she was gone, he felt his shoulders sag, feeling the stress of her new proclamation take a toll on him. It wasn't as if he didn't have any interest in her because he absolutely did.

But, in order to become the greatest Swordsman, he couldn't afford any distractions. Whether it would make him feel things he silently longed for.

"Luffy," She speaks up, finding the captain in the kitchen and eating the leftovers of Sanji's meal. The boy perks up at his name, smiling at the woman with a mouth filled with food, "I need to speak with you."

Taking a big gulp of his milk, Luffy pats the seat next to him, "What do you need? How has your stay been since you joined the crew!" When she sits, he slings an arm around her, "Had any luck with that goal of yours?"

Luffy, ever so oblivious of her onslaught to Zoro had assumed she had another goal in motion. He was not wrong per se, but she had put off that goal when she realized it may not be feasible.

"Don't think it's worth pursuing anymore," She fiddles with her thumbs, ignoring the pain she felt from the memories resurfacing of her family. "It'll never happen anyways. It's an impossible goal that I don't think anyone could ever get."

She missed them.

"Why not? No pirate should ever have to give up their dream!" He stands up abruptly, slamming his hands on the table, "You can't give up! I believe in you, whatever your goal may be!"

She laughs at Luffy's free spirit, the way he held himself as if there were no current problems in this world. As if the bounty now over his head wasn't a looming future of what his life would be like as a pirate.

"You are really like him," She muses, pushing Luffy's shoulder playfully, "Every time I speak to you, it feels like I'm speaking to an old friend."

"Boyfriend, perhaps?" Sanji speaks up, entering the kitchen to prepare for the dinner, "What a shame, thought I could have you all to myself!"

Luffy snickers at his comment as she rolls her eyes at his words, "Just an old friend. Someone I miss dearly." She stands up, waving at the two who waved back, "I'm going to take a quick nap. Tell me when the food is ready." She leaves after hearing both the men confirm.

Her shoes hit the floor as she leisurely walks towards the place where she can rest with the rest of the crew. She sees the men's quarters open ajar. Looking inside, she sees Zoro sound asleep. His singular katana is beside him, resting.

She provided minimal information to the crew about who she was. She had a preference for swords, but she neglected to inform them that she had the capability to wield any weapons. She enjoyed swimming, but she avoided informing them that she could enter the depths of the ocean and be able to breathe. That the moment she stepped out, she could be as dry as the desert.

If her emotions grew haywire, she had the capability to do unimaginable things that a simple human cannot do.

It was just the perks of being Posideon's daughter, she mused in her head.

She sits on the floor near Zoro's head, analyzing his relaxed facial structures quietly. A whisper of her fingers outlined his nose structure. To his lips, she lets her hand slip away back into her lap.

Her first meeting with Zoro sticks to her mind.

The amount of alcohol she had consumed today had caused her to be slightly tipsy, but she ignored how her eyes fluttered. For once, she felt free from her thoughts.

She quickly follows behind Zoro who stops in his path. He turns his head to her figure as she pauses in her own path. "Do you need something?" He questions her, already bored by their interaction.

"I think you're really cool," She announces, taking out her hand as she introduces herself. Zoro has turned his full attention to her, crossing his arms, refusing to shake her hand. She shakes her own hand in response.

"I don't know you." He feels his lip twitch at her friendly personality peaking through with her manners. The way she played with the hem of her sweater that was already falling apart. Then, with the way her eyes glowed brightly--he felt almost entranced with how she stared at him, unafraid. He noticed that she was shoeless but somehow, her socks stayed perfectly white.

"We can get to know each other!" She smiles, stepping closer, "I'm really interested in traveling with others. I've heard several stories of Monkey D. Luffy and he is your captain, right?"

"What's it to you?" Zoro steps closer to her as well, narrowing his eyes at how her smile didn't waver.

"I'd like to join the crew! If he'd let me, of course. I have many talents, so I think I could be beneficial to you all."

"And why would I let that happen?"

She pokes his arm, a sly grin replacing her smile, "I'm too trusting and serve for the people who help me in return. You and your captain help me with my travels, and I'll help you all as well."

Zoro stays silent for a moment until he tilts his head and beckons her to follow. Following quickly, she began to walk side by side with Zoro who avoided looking at the woman who continued to eye him. He started to grow nervous with her stare until he found where he knew Luffy was.

Hopefully.

He opens the door, letting the woman step inside as she looks around the empty kitchen. Apart from the boy in the straw hat who hummed while scavenging for food. Zoro clears his throat as Luffy turns around, a grin replacing his humming.

"Zoro! Hey!" Luffy exclaims, taking his hands out from the jar of cookies as he goes to hug Zoro. Zoro ignores the look he receives from the woman as Luffy brings him in with excitement.

"I have someone who wants to speak with you." Zoro tilts his head towards the woman who smiles at Luffy. Luffy smiles back as she takes out her hand. He lets go of Zoro and shakes her hand frantically. They both opted to ignore the crumb-filled hands he gave her.

She introduces herself, as Luffy does as well. Zoro watches the interaction silently, leaning on the counter.

"It'd be an honor to join your crew. Like I told Zoro, I think I'd be beneficial to you all." Luffy, as the boy he is, immediately agreed.

Zoro shouldn't have been taken aback, but somehow he still was.

"Luffy, I understand how easygoing you were when Usopp joined, but seriously, you didn't think twice." Zoro shakes his head as the duo turns to look at him.

"I trust her! Plus, it'd be nice for Nami to have a girl friend in the crew!" Luffy exclaims, not understanding the gravity of his actions. "It'll be fine! She wouldn't betray us!"

She grins at Zoro, nudging his side with her elbow, "It'd be nice. We already have so much in common." Zoro immediately disagrees, not seeing anything that he has in common with the woman.

"I don't think--" He gets cut off, lost for words as in a blink of an eye, two swords appeared in her hands. She easily moved the weapons with ease, preventing the two men from being nicked. In a light manner, she pointed the tip of her swords at each of the men's throats.

'WOAH!" Luffy shouts, "Where did they come from?! That's sooo cool!"

Zoro is lost for words at her weapons, staring at how the swords glint because of the lights, "The material...what is it?"

"Something a friend of mine created. He's outstanding with making weapons that work on mor--that works for me." She tilts her wrist, watching the swords disappear from sight.

"How did they just disappear! That's amazing! Do you think you can teach me that?!" Luffy shakes her, his laughter makes her laugh with him.

"Unfortunately I can't. That's my little secret." She winks at Zoro. He stares at her quietly with nothing to tell her. To say that she has already made an impression on him, he felt...good.

Unknowingly to her, His heart skipped a beat at this realization.

⋆｡°✩

Without thinking, she begins to speak, "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you. You're unique, in your own way and it's cute, the way you won't give up." She paused, looking back at his singular sword, "The amount of times Usopp retold the story of your defeat is uncanny, and I applaud your effort." She traces her finger along the dents on the floor.

"Luffy and Usopp remind me of Leo. He's energetic, and he loves building otherworldly things. Not only was he a big goof, he was a fireball, literally." She smiles at the memory, "Nami is like Annabeth. They're both intelligent and do not need anyone to get out of tough situations."

"Sanji protects his friends no matter what. I heard what he did for that Chef who took him in...he really is like my brother. Although Percy doesn't flirt with every woman, they both would do anything for their loved ones."

She runs her hands softly through Zoro's hair. He didn't move an inch, "I don't belong here. I'm an outcast compared to the rest of the crew. I already have my own." She stands up, looking down at Zoro sadly, he made no indication that he was listening.

"This is my goodbye Zoro, Maybe I'll see you around?" She leaves the room, leaving the man alone.

Awake the whole time, he opens his eyes and stares at the open door. She couldn't possibly leave, she had no way to leave. They were in the middle of the ocean with no land anywhere near their vicinity. Where is she going?

Standing up, he leaves the room, looking for the woman who had taken his breath away when he fought with her. When she easily maneuvered out of his traps and created her own. At some points, he felt like she was going easy on him as if he wasn't doing the same.

He bumps into Sanji, who informs him that dinner is ready. He ignored the blonde man who took great offense to it. Sanji follows behind him when he realizes that Zoro is off.

They find Nami, who looks at them in confusion, and why Sanji gestured for her to follow. With no hesitance, she followed.

Luffy, who had begun eating and talking animatedly with Usopp paid no mind to the trio. He continued to slurp his food until he felt Nami pulling his ear and taking him with him. He grabs onto Usopp, who is dragged away to whatever they are following.

She steps on top of the head of the ship, looking down at the raging water awaiting her. The familiar hum of the ocean lulls her closer. She steps closer to the edge, taking a look behind her. There was nobody there. Now was her chance.

She already removed her shoes, finding it better to swim with only her socks. She knew her shoes wouldn't get wet if she did not allow it, but her mind screamed to leave them behind.

She spreads her arms wide, letting her body lean forward into the water. The splash she had created felt soothing against her body, as she felt her body sink lower and lower into the ocean. She feels another presence in the water. When she opens her eyes, she is face to face with Zoro.

His wound hadn't quite healed, and he struggled to swim closer to the woman who looked shocked at his appearance. His shoes were still on, he didn't stop to take them off. None of that mattered. He needed to save her.

He reaches out for her, holding her body close to his. He was slowly losing his ability to hold his breath as he kicked upwards to hit the surface of the water. When the water began to grow restless, he felt himself lose grip of the woman who made no effort to swim up with him.

In a split second, Zoro was able to breathe again. He greedily took breaths of the air he was lacking as he coughed out the water choking him. He hears a soothing voice urge him to breathe. When he sees water begin to float out of his mouth and into nothing, he allows himself to breathe.

He finds himself in a bubble in the water they were traveling in. In front of him was her. She was safe. And somehow, she was dry. That was when he realized he was dry too. Zoro pinches himself, making sure that he wasn't dreaming.

The sea creatures swim around the bubble, creating their own smaller bubbles of excitement from seeing the woman. To see the Princess back in the waters in which she belonged.

She pushes Zoro's bangs to the side, holding his face in between the palms of her hands as a soft smile blooms from her lips.

"I wasn't doing anything bad if you thought I needed saving," She whispers, "I had to go for my own good. I couldn't do this anymore."

“What—“ Zoro’s breathing finally begin to stabilize, “What is this?” He pokes at the barrier keeping them from the rest of the ocean, keeping them from sinking and losing sight of the ship. If he squinted, he could see the blurred body of the crew.

“A bubble I created.” Was her only response. She wasn’t planning on revealing anything to him. She was still convinced she was going to leave. It’s not like they could swim fast enough to catch her.

Zoro notices how the conversation about the bubble had immediately ended. Deciding to figure that answer out in later time, he answers back to the beginning of the conversation.

"I know." He tells her, "I heard everything. You have another crew. But..." He hesitates, trying to find his words, "We're friends too, right? Please, stay. "

"I don't see you as a friend, Zoro."

"I-" Zoro pauses, "I don't either."

"You don't have to tell me just because Zoro. I've asked you countless times."

"I didn't want to admit it to myself." He reveals, holding her hands in place on his face to stop her from removing herself from him, "I have to focus on my goal. I can't be distracted. Next time I see Mihawk, I need to defeat him."

'Stop being prideful, Zoro. Ignoring how you feel and assuming such things are not it."

"What about you? Leaving us because you think you're an outcast." He glares, "We need you. I need you. You can't go. We're a crew, whether you already have one or not."

“They aren’t a crew to me. They’re my family,” She reveals, looking behind Zoro as a sea creature swims past them, “I don’t think I can go back anyways. It’s not a possibility I foresee.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“I’m tired, Zoro.”

“We can be tired together.”

“A tired duo?” She laughs pathetically, “You’re really good at convincing me to stay.”

“I’d do anything to have you stay.” He informs her, bringing her hands towards his chest. She feels his heartbeat for a moment as she gazes at the previous wound he received from Mihawk. For a long moment she stared, brushing her fingers on the gauze that began to bleed through. In a careful motion, she untangled the gauze. It stuck for a moment before falling in Zoro’s lap.

She traces the outline of the harsh lines, feeling the difference in skin compared to the rest of his body. It was another minute before she collected the water surrounding them and directed it towards the wound.

The blood mixed in with the water for a moment and Zoro expected the wound begin to sting because of the salty water. Instead, he felt a soothing sensation from the wound that began to scar over. As if it had been healed for a long time.

“What are you?” He sets his eyes on her face. She avoids looking at him, staring intently at the scar on his chest, “Anything you tell me, It’ll stay with me.”

“The others—“ She looks up at the blurry figures who still looked over the edge, “I’ve told Nami snippets of who I am. I think she’s keeping them from jumping overboard.”

“Tell me.” He urges, leaning in closer to the woman, “Please.”

“Only if you don’t reject me again.”

“You’re persistent,” He replies instead, “Okay.”

She leans in response, gazing at his eyes for any more confirmation. That he would change his mind and pop the bubble and escape from her reach. She waits for the moment he calls her a monster. He was a hunter after all. When he made no other sound, she leans her forehead against his. Closing her eyes, she felt his calloused hands rest on her neck. Feeling the ghost of his lips on the corner of her own made her shiver.

She does the same to him, following a path closer to his ear. She is near his earlobe as he feels her soft breath against his ear. He shivers in return, closing his eyes and relishing the moment.

She kisses him there when she finally whispers.

“I’m the daughter of Poseidon. God of the Sea. A demigod.”

[writergirl2011]

Regarding Hyle Hunt

There's been a little discourse regarding the role one Ser Hyle Hunt will play in Lady Brienne of Tarth's storyline going forward. Some people seem to think that he is her perfect match because they hate the idea that Brienne deserves to have a romance with the man she wants--aka one Ser Jaime Lannister--because that messes with the narrative they want to push, whatever that narrative may be.

Some people think that Ser Hyle Hunt is a more interesting and more remarkable man than he truly is, when nothing he's said or done to this point has shown him to be anything of the sort. Personally, I'm not impressed with a man who set up a bet with his buddies over a young noblewoman's virginity--which was essentially the kiss of death to said young woman, who didn't have much going for her on the marriage mart in the first place. (Don't give me the "men will be men" explanation. That makes you no better than Randyll Tarly.) And his proposal of marriage boils down to: "Hey, baby, you've got an island and a lot of money, I've got a functional dick that's already proven to be fertile. I can close my eyes and blow out the candle. Let's do it." How romantic.

There has been absolutely no indication that Brienne will ever love this man, or even care the slightest for him. Threatening to turn someone into a eunuch isn't playful banter, especially not when said man once bet on her virginity and the last time she confronted someone(s) in that bet, she beat the living shit out of them. She hasn't forgotten, and she really hasn't forgiven. And when it comes to Hyle, she never really will, because in her eyes, what he did was the worst of all of them. He came the closest to winning by doing the one thing none of the others did--he made her feel included, like she might be earning a little bit of respect in that camp. Then she found out it was all a lie.

"But she hated Jaime at first!" Yeah, but that was before Jaime: told a lie about Tarth's wealth to save her from rape; shouted "sapphires" and risked a beating to save her from rape again; risked his own life to save hers by jumping unarmed into a bear pit (with only one hand to boot), and revealed the truth about why he killed Aerys, thus revealing that rather than it being a callous act, he'd saved an entire city of innocents--a noble act. THEN he put his trust in her to find Sansa, gifting her with a horse, armor, and a priceless sword. He gave her the respect Hyle only pretended to give her, expecting nothing in return.

What has Hyle done on their road trip? When Brienne kills the three former Bloody Mummers, I'm curious: how long was Hyle there? At least long enough to see her and Pod burying Nimble Dick, but the way he's described sitting there casually makes me think he'd been there longer. Watching. Sitting back doing nothing while she might've been killed. And we don't know what his true motives are in following her. If she finds Sansa, is he going to help her get Sansa to safety--or is he going to betray her and try to turn Sansa in to the Crown for the reward?

If you want any further proof that she doesn't care about Hyle, think about who she tried to bargain for when Lady Stoneheart was about to hang them all. Not herself, and certainly not Hyle. Podrick, the boy. And when they were hanging, as she was dying. the only person she had eyes for was Pod.

And who did she presumably agree to kill Jaime for? Podrick.

Yeah. She's really going to come around on Hyle.

[ilooklikeaburntchickenugget]

Greek Tragedy

A/N: I got this idea today and spent hours just writing this. Frat boy Steve is just such an interesting character and honestly, I think I might do more one-shot, small stories with him depending on the reception of this story. Hope you guys enjoy! Pairing: Frat!Steve Rogers x F!Reader Word count: 6,017 words Warnings: Groping/sexual assault (big trigger), swearing, mentions of hazing, alcohol

Summary: Steve's fraternity takes everything seriously (as they should). They don't mess around with anything happening to any girl on their watch. But what happens when a girl in a sorority they're close with, who happens to be the one Steve watches over, finds herself in an extremely drastic, upsetting situation?

Steve didn’t really want to be here. But he also understood the deeper importance of this whole operation set up by a group under risk management. No one here wanted any girl to get hurt, let alone one in the sorority they happened to partner with the most. A girl getting hurt at the frat party they hosted because there weren’t more precautions was Greek life suicide. It was practically a frat digging their own hole, six feet deep.

“Rogers you’re on-“

“Y/N.” He finished before Sam could finish his own sentence. It was the same girl for every event, something that he had grown fond of the more he had gotten to know you. Not that you really needed him, the feisty little thing you were. Most of the time when a “problem” came up (AKA a random guy harassing you) you stood up for yourself with ease. Quick remarks and a heavily judgmental face were all you needed to fend off most guys.

His fondness of you would have not been known, however, if it wasn’t for Bucky in the corner with a smirk on his face staring at Steve, and in return guys around him catching on with small smiles at Steve. He really had to hold back a eye roll, knowing that would only entertain them more.

“Again, if you need to go do something where you can’t see the girl you’re assigned to, you ask another brother. Got it?” Everyone replied with a simple “got it” somewhat out of sequence. “Now don’t fuck up tonight. Some of you have gotten way too close to losing a girl. Don’t let it happen.” Everyone nodded. “Meeting adjourned.”

Steve got up similarly with Sam, gathering up the papers that outlined this meeting. Bucky made his way over, filing through the various guys either talking, heading towards the door, or up to their rooms. Despite the whole idea of “brotherhood” no one ever thought of helping Sam and Steve clean up after these, excluding Bucky. “You guys ready for tonight?” Bucky asked. Sam was quick to speak up.

“Never.” He replied, “I swear if I see one more drunk girl on our porch sobbing over her ex-boyfriend I’m going to resign.” Steve chuckled. “Hey, don’t be laughing when you always get the easy one to deal with.”

“Yeah, Y/N actually helps those girls. Makes our lives easier.”

Steve could recall many times you happened to be at their parties, walking outside to get a breath of fresh air. You were always overwhelmingly kind to the pledges they had on “this door is not an entrance duty”, sometimes even aiding them in telling guys to fuck off. Then you would inevitably see a girl on the ground crying her heart out, and not only offer your time but usually your lap to let her cry into. Steve recalls one time when you actually got thrown up on by another one of your sorority sisters who was going through an awful breakup with a guy who didn’t deserve to see the light of day after all the shit he pulled on her. That ended with you in his room with a pair of his sweatpants and one of his t-shirts on.

“Thanks again, Steve.” You said with a smile so big it gave away any indication of soberness. “These sweatpants are very comfy.” He smiled softly back at you.

“Any time.” He replied, “I wasn’t gonna have you walking around in those clothes.” You nodded at him.

“Could I stay up here for another minute or two?” You asked, “I don’t mean to intrude but I’m kinda overwhelmed with downstairs-“ He nodded before you could even finish your sentence. His room happened to be incredibly well kept for a frat guy, especially since it actually smelled decent. A made bed, clean desk, the only clutter were the piles of text books stacked in a corner and a couple different papers here and there.

“Of course.” He replied quickly. You nodded back, “Do you need water or anything?”

“A water would be great actually if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not,” He smiled, “I’ll be right back, stay put sweetheart.”

It was the sweetheart that really took your breath away. I mean, Steve had always been the type that was just pure eye candy. Every girl left and right at least acknowledged that they would like to have something with him through small moments when their eyes laser-focused on him. Some even being drawn closer to where he stood, typically near a wall talking to Bucky or Sam with a drink in his hand. But here he was acknowledging some form of admiration towards little old you. The girl who was found at parties and was secretly looking at guys, but was too busy with her friends to realize it wasn’t that they didn’t like her back, she just never gave any signals.

That night ended up with the two of you staying in his room and talking until the early morning hours when you finally declared that you needed to go back to your apartment, especially while your roommates were flooding your phone with every form of communication to make sure you were okay. Steve was quick to order you a car and pay for it, even after offering to have you stay in his bed and he would take the couch. But you were sobering up and knew going home was a better option. Sleeping in the bed of the guy you happened to really like was enticing, but far too quick for you.

“How many guys do we think we’ll let in tonight?” Bucky asked. He happened to pretty consistently be on entrance duty, considering he could quickly put on a harsh and powering demeanor to tell guys to leave and never come back if he needed to.

“Hopefully not many,” Sam replied with a sigh, “Let in any guy that you know, and depending on how many girls we have, let in a couple more. But you already know the ratio.” “75 to 25.” Bucky smiled a bit, leaning against the doorframe to the chapter room.

Steve was placing the final folding chairs in the closet of the room, the key in his pocket ready to lock up. “You sure you doing alright?” He heard Bucky come up behind him. It just happened that Bucky knew Steve better than he knew himself at times, a blessing and curse the two of them had learned to live with through their years together.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded, grabbing the key from his pocket and turning it in the lock. Giving it one solid pull and the door not budging, Steve placed the key back in his pocket and began walking towards the stairs, Bucky right next to him.

“Ya sure? You seem a little nervous.” Steve held back a scoff that would have worked on anyone else, but not Bucky.

“Not sure nervous is the right word.” Steve countered, checking the time quickly on his watch. Two hours til doors opened.

“About Y/N?” Bucky asked. Steve sighed.

“She’s-“ He began, stopping himself as his thoughts were running in all different directions. “Buck, you know I’m not good with women.”

“Yeah, and you’re into a girl who doesn’t think she’s good with men.” He softly chuckled, Steve scrunching his eyebrows. “Trust me, I’ve talked to enough of the girls when they’re drunk and I’ve heard all about her drunk thoughts. She has no confidence with men.”

“She’s stunning.”

“I know, but women get called ugly once and it’s all over, man.” Bucky explained as the two began to head up the stairs, “Just be genuine, not over pushy, just nice and respectful. She thinks any attractive guy that talks to her is doing it as a joke.”

“She seems so confident.”

“She is until it comes to men.” Bucky said, “Trust me on this, I’ve had three different drunk girls in that sorority tell me the same thing. But they’ve also told me she’s super into you. Take that for what you will.” He left down the hall towards his own room with a smile.

Steve had his eyes on you from the moment you walked in. Fashionably late as always, and clearly having pregamed a decent bit, or else you wouldn’t be dancing so freely and up against a friend like no one was watching. He was hoping no one was, but him.

That damn tight crop top really pushed your breasts up to a point where he questioned if one wrong move would even hold them in. And the tight shorts that shaped your figure perfectly left just enough distance covered on your upper things to wonder how they looked underneath. Your makeup was consistent and natural, except for your eyeshadow which you always put glitter on. By the end of the night your mascara would be smudged and lipstick nonexistent, and even then you made that look curated and like you were made for it.

“You gonna go talk to her or keep staring?” Sam came up with a smile, drunkenly dancing his way through the crowd. For a fraternity president, he was oddly charismatic to everyone and hadn’t established a superiority complex over the title. Steve gave him an eyeing glance.

“Letting her have her fun.” He justified.

“Hm.” Sam questioningly asked looking back at her, drawing Steve’s attention back to you as well. There was a guy clearly trying to dance with you, nearing a desperate level. You didn’t really notice until he got a little too close, which resulted in him getting a really passive aggressive look from you of pure silent judgement that was borderline screaming at him. Steve let it be. If he touched you, then it would be a problem. But Steve knew you could handle yourself, very well actually.

Sam trusted Steve, more than any other guy here. Even Bucky, who would occasionally let his guard down if a pretty enough girl came up to him. But Steve- he would completely ignore the prettiest girl in the world if it meant someone else was in trouble.

You weren’t really sure which drink you were on, but at this point you didn’t really care. The mediocre tasting seltzer in your hand had the after taste of gasoline, but it was making you feel even better than before, which was enough justification for your already intoxicated mind and body to keep drinking them. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Steve against one of the walls talking to Sam. You turned more towards that way to observe them. Steve’s tight dark blue shirt and jeans were making your mind react in only instinctual ways. A blush crept on your face making it even more red on top of your makeup and the heat from dancing shoulder to shoulder with other people. Your thighs tightened together as you bit the inside of your cheek.

But Steve Rogers was way out of your league. Whether you were drunk or sober, you knew you were simply not pretty enough to get him. Well, that’s at least what your mind was convincing you. All your friends always gawked over how gorgeous you were, and how you could pull him. But the ghost of ugly girls pasts kept you from advancing in the realm of Steve Rogers and stayed at bay with the weird barely friendship you two had established.

Besides, most guys just wanted to fuck you once and leave. Not that Steve seemed the type to do that, but you couldn’t tell nowadays with the number of guys who had said no to you after disclosing you wanted more than just sex.

“Babe!” You heard one of your friends shouting over the music. You turned to her, “Let’s get another drink!” Pulled out of your trance you nodded, grabbing her hand and weaving your way through the crevices between sweaty bodies dancing like no one was around them. You patiently waited in the line for the bar still swaying your hips back and forth to the fading music, mouthing the words you knew in the song.

A hand on your shoulder pulled you away from the mind-lifting music and into a face-to-face situation with a guy you had already dealt with tonight. Clearly, your glaring at him wasn’t enough for him to acknowledge that you had no interest in him. “What do you want?” You asked with an annoyed expression, your tone of voice accenting that.

“Damn, why are you being so mean?” He asked, “I’m just interested in you, why’re you in such a bad mood, baby?” You got a large amount of ick from the conversation alone, but the detail of ‘baby’ only set your annoyance off even more. “I don’t owe it to be nice to a guy I’ve never met,” You explained, “Let alone one who I’m not attracted to. At all.” You made it very clear. “Now if you’ll excuse me-“

“What, you got a boyfriend or something?” He snarked back, getting closer to you.

“Like that’s any of your business.” You countered, “Now fuck off because you’re not getting anything out of me, ever. I wish you luck on finding any pussy tonight, you’re definitely going to need it.” You didn’t even notice the crowd swarming around you but a sudden eruption of “oohs” took over and made you realize that you had successfully publicly humiliated another desperate guy. He gave you a look of fury and stormed off in another direction leaving his confidence and dignity in your back pocket.

Thankfully, the guy running the bar quickly recognized you. Being in a sorority had it’s many perks, but getting drinks at the bar of a frat you knew well was one of them. He immediately gave you a hefty pour and a smile, “That was badass.” He added on. You smiled back at him and took your drink, departing back to the dance floor with your friend.

As soon as you reentered, Steve had eyes on you again. You looked more annoyed than before, not an amazing sign, but according to a text he had gotten from Scott, who was bartending, you had just embarrassed a random dude in front of two dozen people flawlessly, and verbally kicked his ass. So your current state was by no means shocking.

He promptly decided this was his time to at least let you know he was here. He slowly guided his way through people, trying to not knock over girls while not really caring about the guys, and finally placed his hand on the small of your back. Bold, yes, but he didn’t want to completely startle you with a shoulder tap or yell.

“What the fuck-“ You quickly turned around with a face of once again annoyance, before realizing it was him. As soon as your eyes met his your face melted back into one of apology. “Oh my- Steve I’m so sorry!” You yelled over the music. He chuckled to himself, smiling at you.

“It’s okay,” He replied quickly, giving you a quick up and down now that he was closer to you. Your boobs somehow looked even better than before. He also had the realization that red truly was your color, it looked amazing with your skin tone and hair, and even better when it was tightly wrapped fabric around your chest. “I heard what happened at the bar, I understand.”

You groaned loudly, “So everyone saw that?”

“Not everyone, but a lot of people.” He smirked. “It’s alright, keep it up and we may just have to make you an honorary member.”

“Will I have to pledge?” You asked with a small smile, “That may be a deal breaker.”

“I would never let a woman go through what the pledges go through,” He explained, “Let alone a pretty one.” It just slipped out. You tried to hide the shock in your eyes with a smile on your face, but your brain was clearly malfunctioning when you heard that. “If you need anything tonight, you know where to find me.” He said, motioning towards the wall right next to the main entrance to the floor. You nodded as he gave you one more smile and left back to that area.

“He wants you so bad.” One of your friends quickly spoke up with a big smile, “His eyes were all over you, they were practically undressing you!”

“Yeah, that’s probably all he wants.” You replied knowing how guys were nowadays with relationships.

“Oh please, that’s Steve Rogers. Yeah, he could get whatever girl he wants, but the one he actually wants he’s gonna stay with.” She replied, “He’s the definition of a golden retriever, absolutely gorgeous and loyal as hell.”

Steve knew something was coming. His intuition read the room he was in and told him there was going to be something tonight. There was every night, it was just more a question of how drastic it was going to be. Judging by the fact the guys not in the frat were getting rowdy, the number of girls who had run past him with a friend to puke in the bathroom, and the growing line outside of underage first years who were apparently trying to start stuff with the door guys, it was just a matter of time until something boiled over its pot and into flames.

“What’s up?” He asked Sam who approached him with a stern face. Unlike earlier, soberness seemed to consume Sam as he stood next to Steve.

“Too many bastards harassing girls.” He sighed. “None with any of our girls that seriously, yet.” He emphasized. Steve nodded, going back to eyeing everyone on the dance floor, his eye now more narrowly looking than before. “Not sure how you could show up to someone’s else fraternity and be a dick like that. We don’t even do that in our own house.” Steve didn’t have a response for that question, but even if he did he was far too busy making sure any of the girls he knew didn’t find themselves in that situation. Specifically, you.

“Have we stopped letting guys in?” Steve asked, not changing his gaze away from the crowd.

“Yeah, a while back.” Sam replied, “A lot of them have been here since we opened though.” Steve chuckled.

“Desperation.” He smiled at Sam and Sam smiled back.

“Yeah, we got a lot of that tonight.” Sam sighed, turning over to the two of three couples of sorts making out in various corners. “Wish I had that much absence of dignity.” Steve smiled at that. If he was going to do anything with a woman it would never be this public. Two people were meant to have those moments together, not have the world there to frown down on it or comment on it. In his mind, this frayed some of the little purity left in relationships.

“Fuck,” He heard Sam mutter besides him, glancing at his phone. Steve gave him a questioning look, “Apparently the guys outside have made the mistake of not backing off of Barnes, gotta go aid.” Steve nodded as Sam departed the other way.

Steve’s heart sank as soon as he looked back to the floor and spotted you. The guy from earlier tonight, and the one he assumed had tried to talk to you at the bar, was now way too close to comfort. Within a second, Steve had begun navigating the floor knowing the loser wouldn’t leave you alone until someone else came in. His mind was busy with finding you, but his body was distracted by trying to get by people. Despite the fact he was known here, and the mass space his body took up, everyone was far too drunk to even take a slight hint he was there.

“Are you fucking crazy?” He heard a yell that he could easily identify was your voice. That cry for help put his mind in overdrive, and onto aggressive autopilot. Now he was shoving dudes left and right and could give a shit if he stepped on some girl's shoes. As soon as he found you, there was a small circle around you and the guy as you fired off insult after insult berating him. Steve was still lost at what was fully happening, or more importantly how the situation had escalated to where it stood now, but that was very quickly revealed in your unapologetic monologue.

“What the fuck made you think it was okay to grab my ass you dick!” Before Steve could even process fully what you had said, the clearly clueless culprit across from you responded, somehow thinking that was a good idea.

“With the shorts you’re wearing you’re basically asking for it!”

Now that set Steve off.

All you could see at this point was red, but before you even got a chance to slap this guy, he was pinned up against a wall. There was some yelling in the background calling for backup or something along those lines, but all you could focus on was Steve’s back flexing under his shirt that was far too tight for this moment and the side of his face showcasing a clenched jaw bone protruding past his skin and redefining his face into pure rage. “What the fuck did you just say to her?” He asked, holding onto the collarbone of the guys t-shirt in clenched fists, veins about to pop.

For the first time all night, the harassing dick was left truly speechless. “Say it one more time to me, huh? I fucking dare you.” Steve started again.

“Steve, let him go.” Sam’s voice bellowed behind you. It was an order, and one that took Steve a moment to process. He slowly dropped the guy and backed up only a step, letting him regain him place standing against the wall. He looked tiny compared to Steve. “He’s not worth it.” Sam said, approaching besides him. “Now you, get the fuck out and never come back.” Sam told the other guy, pointing firmly towards the door.

He seemingly put his hands up in surrender, before making yet again a dumb move. Possibly his most stupid of the night. “It was worth it.”

Not even a second later, the guy was on the floor, clutching his face as the crowd around you “ooh”ed yet again. This time not for you, but Steve. His right fist clung to his side as it had just been weaponized across the guy’s face and straight into his cheek and nose. The impact could be heard from the back of the room you bet, and left you speechless, mouth agape as you stared at your perpetrator on the floor, and back to Steve.

“Barnes, take Y/N upstairs. Now.” He looked back to where Bucky stood a few feet from you, he quickly nodded beelining to you and putting his arm around your waist.

“You alright, hon?” Bucky asked, but you were too entranced still with looking back at Steve. Despite Bucky moving you away and your feet following, you still stared back at Steve with the same expression of worry and surprise. It clearly took Steve a minute to figure out what exactly he had done, then he turned back to you.

As soon as your eyes met, his face relaxed. His brain was still furious, his body stiff with rage, but his face was now worried. He was able to at least know you would be safe with Bucky, you would either end up in his room or Steve’s, but either way you would be physically okay now. Then he turned back to Sam who already had guys escorting whatever the fuck he was out with firm shoves. “I need to check on her.” Was the first thing he could muster out and say.

“Calm down, Steve.” Sam tried to rationalize. “She’s with Buck, she’s okay.”

“I need to see her.” He said again.

“Steve,” Sam grabbed his arm this time, trying to pull him back to reality. “Go downstairs. Breath. Then come back and I’ll see what I can do.”

It took Steve another moment to process what Sam was saying, his vision still outlined with red. As soon as he understood, however, he nodded and made his way to the door. He couldn’t even bother to look at nor care about everyone staring at him, bodies making a very clear path for him to get by. He made it to the stairs, walking down slowly. The basement was empty, he was glad they kept it that way. There were a few old recliners here and there, a partially ripped couch, and some old photo albums and collages of pictures stacked in various places.

He took a seat in one of the old leather chairs, placing his head in his hands. He was always composed, had a clean record here from everything. He didn’t have an ounce of regret, at least yet, but he was aware of how escalated he made the situation. Though he wouldn’t change any moment of it. Other than protecting you from that happening in the first place.

He just wanted- needed you to be okay. He needed you. He had never acted this way with anyone else. Yes, he would stand up for any girl. But he wasn’t sure if he would fight for any girl other than you.

“Peter, water. Now.” Bucky demanded the smaller guy who stood in the doorway. He feverishly nodded before running off past the doorway and towards the stairs.

“Pledge?” You asked Bucky. He smiled.

“How did you know.” You lightly laughed, sitting on his bed in his slightly messy room. It was actually very nice for a frat room, but for a regular room, subpar. His walls were decorated here and there with nearly nude women who either had advanced plastic surgery or had a poor editor somewhere slaving over Photoshop for hours to make them look better than Barbie. His bed was honestly not all that comfy, and you wouldn’t have been shocked if the mattress under the comforter and sheets had been hand-me-down in the frat for years.

“How are you feeling?” He asked with genuine concern.

“Alright,” You said with a shaky breath, “Just- shocked, I think.” He softly smiled, kneeling down in front of you to be on your eye level.

“Can I get you anything else? I can order you food, if you wanna lay down that’s fine too-"

“No, Buck. It’s okay, really.” You lightly smiled. You had suddenly very much sobered up. “Maybe food in a bit. Though I don’t know how much I can eat right now.” He sympathetically nodded. The room fell silent for a few seconds. “Where’s Steve?” You asked. Before Bucky could even acknowledge what you had asked, Peter came back.

“Here’s the water for you,” He said handing to Bucky, “James Buchanan Barnes.” You had to hold back a laugh as Peter exited the room again. Bucky handed you the water.

“Do you really make pledges call you guys by your full names?” Bucky nodded with a small smile.

“Tradition.” You rolled your eyes at that. “Steve is downstairs I think, basement.” Bucky replied, “That’s where Sam sends guys when they need to calm down.”

“So this shit happens frequently?”

“No, and you know that.” He playfully said back, sitting next to you on the bed. “But sometimes stuff happens between guys. So it's a decompression area. Not much down there, so it’s nice if anyone needs to punch something.” You nodded.

Another minute of silence fell between the two of you. You sipping the water from the red solo cup, Bucky looking around the room and back at you every once in a while.

“You know Steve really likes you.” Bucky pointed out. You gave him a confused face. “He would kill me for telling you, probably will. But he really likes you, more than any other girl I’ve seen. And I’ve seen lots of women around him.”

“You’re joking.” You replied, “That’s cruel, Bucky."

“No, I would not lie to you.” He replied seriously, “Especially after tonight.” You looked up at him again, eyes meeting in a silent lock of sorts. “Just trust me, give him a chance. I know you like him too. Be the first move, it’ll pay off. Trust me.”

There was a soft knock at the door, its hinges creaking as it opened and Sam walked in. He gave you a soft smile. “We wrapped up the party.” Sam said, “Not many people left over down there anyways.” You cringed a bit to yourself, but before you could say anything Sam continued, “And don’t you dare apologize, it’s not your fault. At all.”

Bucky’s hand grazed your back in a circular motion, a silent agreement with Sam. “You can wait in his room if you want,” Sam mentioned, “Or stay here.”

“No, I want to see him.” You replied, “I can uh- head over there.” You told Sam, getting up and turning to Bucky where he still sat. “Thanks again, Bucky. Really.”

“Least I could do.” He insisted with a tight smile, “Good luck.”

Sam led you to Steve’s room even though you already knew where it was. His was a corner room, vice president privileges you supposed. He opened it with a spare key, letting you in and turning on the light. It was kept as it always was. It smelled like soft cologne that didn’t sting the corner of your nostrils when you inhaled. Like mahogany, whiskey, and a hint of vanilla. What he always smelled like.

His bed was strictly made, making you hesitant to sit on it despite Sam telling you it was more than fine. It would crease it, and you weren’t sure if that was more of an invasion than what you had already been. The bed was shockingly comfortable, clearly a new mattress and topper. His closet doors were closed, and a laundry hamper next to it was only half full. His desk was clear except for a lamp in the corner, a closed laptop in the center, and a notebook next to that with two or three pens. His walls were pretty bare, which honestly made you feel uncomfortable. You thought it was better than Bucky’s walls scattered with various unrealistically perfect and nearly naked women, but the walls in the bedroom of your apartment were scattered with posters and pictures.

He had exactly three pictures in the room. One on his nightstand of him, Sam, and Bucky with arms around each other and smiling on some form of a retreat or vacation. One of him and Bucky as little kids, no older than six or seven you guessed. And finally, one of him and his mom at some fancy event judging by her dress and his suit. He looked to be in late high school there.

He looked a lot like his mom. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Her face was much softer than his, which made sense judging by how muscular his body frame was built to be. She had a beautiful blue dress on that accented both of them well, him in a simple suit with a black coat, white shirt, and black tie. You knew he loved his mom dearly, especially since he was raised as a child with just her. You recall during one of those late night conversations it coming up. He talked so highly of his mom, the way he still called her multiple times a week just to talk and check in. Her food and the traditions the two had made for Christmas and Thanksgiving when they spent it alone. How much he hated leaving her for college, feeling like he abandoned her, but her reassuring messages over the phone saying anything but that. You wished you had a relationship like that with your mom, but then again, you had an amazing dad. You win some, you lose some, as you had always reminded yourself.

You were drawn away from your stare towards the photo on his desk as the door opened, and there stood Steve. His face was unreadable, something that scared you in the moment. “Hey, um I’m sorry, Sam suggested I wait here for you-"

Before you finished he was kneeling in front of you as Bucky did not so long ago meeting your eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked with such a genuine tone. His hand placed itself on your cheek, engulfing it. You nodded with a small smile.

“Yeah, I will be.” He took a small sigh looking down.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there earlier.”

“Steve, no-“ You were quick to reply as he stood up.

“No, that should’ve never happened. And I should’ve been there to throw that guy out way earlier.”

“Steve, you did more than I could’ve asked for-“

“You shouldn’t have to ask me to do anything. I should be there to protect you, be proactive about it-"

You quickly stood up, interrupting his rant by grabbing his face with your hands and pulling him down as you stood on your tip toes to your best ability, placing your lips on his.

For a moment he was frozen, before realizing what was happening and kissing back. He quickly took one of his arms fallen at his side and wrapped it behind your waist, pulling you promptly so your body fell flush with his, pressed against his shirt. His other hand found the back of your head, running his fingers through your hair as one of yours found its way to his own. After a solid 10 seconds, you pulled away a bit, looking up at him as you caught your breath.

“I’m not drunk, I promise.” You told him, watching his wandering eyes scan your face. Without a word of response, he placed his lips on yours again moving synchronously. You reveled in the moment, feeling his body heat surround you, your senses at all new heights, his wandering finger tips on your back causing you to move even closer to him, a sign of encouragement. After a minute or two of the necessity of a make up session, a silent reconciliation and agreement that everything would be alright, you both pulled away.

Both of you smiled at the same time, then laughing a bit at that, and finally finding comfort in each other’s arms. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?” You asked him. He looked down to you again with a small smile creeping on his face.

“Yeah,” He replied, “Tomorrow.”

Without a word more spoken, you sat back on his bed, removing your beer and dirt-stained shoes, he went to his dresser and grabbed one of his t-shirts and sweatpants, handing them to you. “I can change in the bathroom.” He insisted. You gave a small smile of appreciation as he left the room with his own change of clothes and closed the door.

You quickly removed the constricting top that had nearly become one with your skin, placing his shirt on and sweatpants. He came back with a knock, you replying with a “you can come in”.

He let you choose the side of the bed you wanted, which happened to be the one closer to the window. He climbed in next to you, allowing the small lamp in the corner to stay on but turning off the one next to him. There was distance at first, quickly closed by you as you rejected the pillow on your side for his chest, placing your head on it, one of your hands sprawling to the other side of him. He placed one of his hands on your back, pulling you tighter and beginning to trace small shapes on the fabric and to your skin. He gave you a soft kiss on your temple, holding it there for a few seconds.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

[skyepixels]

The Welcome Home Website!!!!! She is Beautiful~! And She Leaves Us With So Many Questions!

First off, I am absolutely astonished at how beautiful she is!!! Clown, Puzz, and everyone else has worked so hard and they've exceeded everyone's expectations with the site!!! What a wonderful little Home they've made, and I'm excited to experience it as a fan!!!

I know that everyone's combing through the new website update with a fine toothed comb so I won't be sharing anything we've already found. I don't think I've found anything new in the site that others haven't already found, but oh boy!!!! Does everything there only raise more questions!

What I do love is how all the audio files we've been given through the "bugs" has really shown what everyone's personality is like! I love every one of them, and the voice actors captured them perfectly! Oh and the little tidbits of history with the merchandise, the telephone calls, the little skits! Be still my beating heart~!!!

AND THE WALLY LIVE INTERVIEW. I CANT! It's sooo darn cute!! And Nick Nocturne (I know it's him, that interdimentional cat demon) as the interviewer was such a lovely touch! I cannot wait to hear about that from his YT channel!!! And Wally was so coy with the romance question~ and I think that's the perfect way to answer it for everyone who loves him! Keep it vague, let everyone make their own conclusions and be happy! (I know I certainly will for the time being, and will love him no matter what!) I am so curious about the underlying story here: there's so much to think about it's driving me crazy! They gave so much and answered so little! We can only theorize from here! So here's my little thoughts! None of it's cohesive in any way, nor does it really have all the details or tell full story yet, so just take it in sections if you decide to read it! ______

!~OBSERVATION TIME~!

I think that Wally, Home (And maybe everyone else, not sure) are trapped somewhere. Where exactly isn't certain, but very trapped indeed. My first indication of this from this response in the guestbook for Tayla (Page 8):

"eu não sei onde estamos" - I don't know where we are (A bonus for the multi-lingual side of things there, it makes me really happy to see it!)

I have no concept of what happened to everyone else, but from the little drawings he's made on the guestbook, he's constantly telling people things like "Oh, I'll tell Eddie." or "I'll tell Frank." these messages, but we never get a direct response from any other neighbor! It's always him talking! Just him. He tells people their responses, but we never hear anything direct from the other neighbors! The quick reference I can bring up is the hearts PNG in the guestbook for Kazoo:

itoldhim_hesaidhesflattered_idontknowwhatanyoneistalkingabout_.png I feel like those collections of audio clips with all the neighbors (1-14 to 14-14) are a recount of events throughout an entire day that previously happened that may give insight into what happened to Wally. I think this is the case based on the last audio in the list, 14-14 bh audio, when Barnaby notices Wally acting strange:

BARNABY: Yeah, yeah, real funny! A poor little guy like me deserves some sympathy! A clown without a kazoo is like… Like an artist without his paintbrush! Go on kid, tell ‘em! …Hello? Buddy? Pal? …Hey, you stopped paintin’. Everything alright, Wally?

Well, something happened there. Maybe a change in his psyche, how he perceives things - some strange realization that terrified him. Maybe he got angry at something. What it was? I have no clue.

Another addition that I think is interesting! Frank wrote to Wally describing the unusual bug he found. In the beginning of that letter, Frank says this:

"I know you would ask if you are here." Where is he?

The nature of how Wally and everyone communicates is so vague and weird! I think the telephones, the mail, the TVs - all these things are means of communicating, but there's no direct connection to us! Any time a phone call is made, they can't hear us. This I have inferred from the "It's for you!" Talking telephone toy! They can talk to us and we can hear them, but they can't hear us! What's causing this disturbance? That's the real bug here, and I'm clueless on what that means or how to break through the surface!

Most importantly! I think that Wally specifically trying to communicate with that one person on the WHRP team. That person... is experiencing a lot of heavy sh*t, because I think they remember Wally and the show. They're the closest person right now that's able to help him (either willingly or not!)

I also believe he's specifically working with that WHRP member because in the phone audio (the one you click on when interacting with the toy telephone on the merchandise page), he says:

"You have to go too. You have work to do."

From what I can interpret from the live interview, I think that it implies some semblance of back story! Wally did interact with people and the outside world during his prime in the 70s, when the show was really starting to pick up speed. He was calmer, more in tune with his character and fame. He was in character most of all, and I think being in character was a sense of identity for him that he could rely on!

But those secret audio files we hear from him now? He sounds desperate, like he can't breathe. He's practically breaking from his usual character. What did he realize? What does he know? All of those things boil down to this sentence:

"I will help you understand. I will find a way soon, Neighbor."

Wally (and Home?) are working away at a solution wherever they can I think that WHRP member is the key to that! (Although the methods of how they're doing it, i.e the black paint that apparently you shouldn't touch with bare hands, the mind-boggling phone ringing in that person's ears, the complete distortion of reality - definetely implies a few things.)

I also think that the highlighted in invisible ink is Wally's words throughout the email compilations and other documents! The one where he says "Im so sorry." - I feel like that's him showing some remorse for his actions there, but it's like a sorry that says "I'm sorry, I have to do this." kind of deal (which is... oof)

Also - quick note! Wally keep insisting on being let in, rather than being let out. "Let me in." - Let you in to where? Our world? Reality? Oh so many questions!!!

I also am curious about the WHRP staff too, and their interactions with the Question-Answerer, the Marlo company, the Playfellow Workshop! There's two sides to this story; the human side and the puppet one, and it's so multilayered here that at this point, I'm inclined to distrust what anyone on that website says until we know what's going on!

Lastly, I'm not certain how much we as viewers of this story are involved. While I believe that he's working to get that WHRP member to let him in, he does acknowledge us through the guestbook. Although, I don't think truly aware of how much we see him. i.e "idontknowwhatanyoneistalkingabout" line from the heart PNG.

While I want to believe that Wally can see us through our art, specifically when we draw or recreate his eyes, for engagement's sake (audio from this link), I also am inclined to believe he's refering to the eyes that the WHRP team member keeps drawing on those sticky notes and other places throughout the restoration site:

And and and!!! I think that there's got to be something upcoming with this link: https://www.clownillustration.com/error404

You find this link on the staff-only page at the bottom with the text "It's in here." And I think that with any future updates, the next section of the story will be coming from here.

AHH~! I rambled on too long! Hope you enjoyed it!

[noellawrites]

Special - Yandere!Eli Moskowitz x reader

summary: Eli has his eyes on you— to him, you’re special.

The first time Eli Moskowitz ever talked to you, you were sure you were hallucinating. He was the dorky-nerd-turned-impossibly-cool-karate-champion, which made you like him more. You felt like he might understand you even more deeply than any friend you'd ever had.

After graduation, you gave up on ever being asked out. You hadn't been appealing enough in high school so you figured it wouldn't ever happen until you were prettier or more mature.

But everything changed when Eli walked in with his friends to the waterpark you worked at over the summer. You watched from the concession stand as he entered with some other karate students you recognized.

Your eyes followed the group and you felt a pang of jealousy as they congregated by the lawn chairs. Deep inside, you had always been slightly interested in joining one of the dojos. However, once the drama and rivalries started, you decided to keep your distance. Better to keep out of it and avoid drawing any attention to yourself.

You were jolted out of your thoughts when you realized someone was in front of you, clearing their throat to get your attention. You sat up straighter in your chair. It was Eli.

"Hey, you went to West Valley, right? Aren't you (y/n)?" he asked, and you nodded in response.

As he examined the laminated snack menu, your hands shook. He recognized you! Your chest burned with a mix of excitement and fear.

"I'll take the chili dog and your number," he said with a slight smile.

"M-my number? I thought you had a girlfriend?"

"Nah, Moon and I are way over. I covered up her tat, see," he leaned over the wooden desk, pointing at his new inked-over chest. You tried to avoid glancing down at his karate-toned abdomen.

"Oh, well in that case, here."

Hands still shaking, you grabbed a scrap piece of paper and scrawled down your number.

—

You now stood on your porch, watching as Eli drove up in his mom’s old van.

His first date idea was hanging out at his place followed by a trip to Golf ‘N Stuff, which you were fine with.

“Hey babe,” Eli shouted out the window as you opened the passenger seat door.

You tried to push back the thought that you’d completely forgotten to send your address to Eli, but he managed to find your house anyways. Either way, you hopped in the car, excited for your first real date.

—

Eli grew impatient when he couldn't win the purple stuffed bear you wanted. He was playing the milk bottle game, where he had to knock over the metal milk bottles with a ball.

"Fuck this stupid game, it's totally rigged!" he yelled, throwing the ball at the poor game attendant, who cowered as you did.

"Eli, let's just go get some food, 'kay?" you suggested as he put a hand on your arm.

“No! You’re my girl, and I’m going to win you this fucking stuffed bear if it’s the last thing I do!” He screamed, nostrils flaring.

Terror rushed through your veins. You felt like you had seen a glimpse of the violent Hawk from sophomore year, stalking through the halls as he searched for karate enemies. The prospect that he hadn’t changed as much as you thought since high school made you scared.

You tugged him away, towards the food trucks. "I'm your girl, huh?"

"Well, obviously. Just a couple more dates and you'll be ready to move in with me," Eli said. There was no indication of joking in his tone.

"Oh, well I don't really know if—"

"Are you saying you don't want to move in with me? What, you still wanna live with your parents? That's pathetic," he laughed.

"Eli, um, I would really like to move in with you but this is our first date," you explained. Is this how all adult relationships are?

"But babe, I feel like I've known you forever," Eli insisted, bringing you in for a kiss. You knew he just wanted you to stop arguing with him.

You were pretty sure he would never let you go, you just weren't sure if you were okay with it.

[mauesartetc]

Thoughts on Helluva Boss Episode 204 ("Western Energy")

Well that was a whole lotta nothin', wasn't it.

Let's discuss.

Pros:

-Edward Bosco does a fine job with Striker's voice, and Bryce Pinkham has a couple surprisingly powerful line deliveries when Stolas has reached his lowest point. It's nice when the story gives this character some emotional range outside of horny and mopey.

-This character design is way too cool for this show, like damn.

-Striker's living space was unique and interesting, and the magma in the environment matched his horse well.

-The fight scene with Moxxie and Millie vs Striker was well-choreographed and the camera didn't move around too much. Looks like the animators learned their lesson from last time.

-I liked how Moxxie took a chance and used Striker's homophobia (or perhaps disgust toward "lesser" imps?) against him to escape his grip.

-The devil horns on the EKG screen were kinda cute.

Cons:

-What the hell's up with this title. "Western Energy"? Is that a reference to something? Is it a pun? I get the "western" part, but "energy"? It puts me in mind of some obscure Zen concept rather than this episode. Just vague, confusing and not clever. Hell, "Take The Shot" was right there! I know there's not much shooting in Striker's plotline (we'll get to that bit of stupid momentarily), but this references both the A- and B-plot! C'mon, writers. At least act like you care.

-Again with the arbitrary censorship... I think multiple characters utter the word "cunt" in this episode, but it's bleeped each time. Guys... This is an internet show. This isn't network TV. If you're worried about getting demonetized on Youtube, don't use that word in the script to begin with. Easy.

-Not many laughs in this one, huh. In the last couple episodes I've found at least one thing to chuckle about or say, "Hm, that's kinda clever, I guess", but man, I was stone-faced for the duration here.

-Is that really how you pronounce "Andrealphus"? I've been saying it "An-dray-AL-phus", but Stolas says "An-DREE-ul-phus". People who are more familiar with demonology than I am, feel free to weigh in.

-Speaking of which, it's quite an accomplishment to make Andrealphus look even worse than he did in his illustration. Something about how tiny his head is in proportion to his body throws me, and of course it doesn't help that his face was always pinched in a teardrop shape with a tiny beak (which looks nothing like a peacock, because fuck accuracy). And if anyone's wondering if he uses any ice powers this episode... He doesn't. He uses telekinesis to drop a couple lumps of sugar into his tea, but that's it. You rip off Elsa and set the guy up in an ice castle but couldn't even give him ice powers? What a load.

-Kinda floored at this line from Stolas: "Cheating implies a betrayal. This woman never gave two shits about me, or our very much arranged marriage."

For fuck's sake, writers.

"You guuuuyyyys, it technically wasn't even cheating, see? Stolas is totally innocent and pure and you should like him!!!" The camera even trucks out dramatically as if he's saying something heroic. Christ...

Even in an utterly loveless marriage, there's still the expectation that each party will be faithful to the other, and having sex with someone else is a betrayal unless both of them previously agreed to open up their relationship. No indication that ever happened here, so...

All this scene demonstrates is that Stolas hasn't learned a thing about being a fucking adult and owning up to his mistakes. This just doubles down on the whole "I'd feel bad if I hurt you" thing (when you obviously did hurt her, you twit). Does Viv Medrano seriously believe admitting fault and apologizing makes a person weak or unlikable? Because I have news for ya: It's very much the opposite.

-Also, Stolas ends that mini-speech with, "As far as I'm concerned, this divorce is far overdue." But... Stella and Andrealphus have already agreed to that. That wasn't even a question. They're just trying to settle what Stella will get in the divorce. Do these people even read their scripts out loud?

-Striker's return comes way too late in the series. There are too many episodes forming a cushion between his introduction and Western Energy for him to feel intimidating. It's possible IMP could've discussed a plan of action regarding Striker, but no one mentions him once. If the characters don't see him as a threat, why should the audience?

The tension would have remained high if, immediately after the harvest moon episode, IMP moved Stolas and his family to a safe house while Striker was still on the loose. Little does Stolas know, however, he's a sitting duck, since Stella has called Striker and informed him of their location. Feels like that'd be much more exciting than just ignoring his existence for five episodes.

-When Stolas calls Blitzo, he refers to Striker as "that little cowboy friend of yours", implying he remembers him from the Harvest Moon Games. But, um... Question. Did Blitzo ever tell Stolas Striker almost killed him?! We have no idea! It's never confirmed!

At the end of the harvest moon episode, I seriously thought the team just forgot to write Blitzo warning Stolas about his would-be assassin. I know the story's trying to get across how little Blitzo actually cares about him, but this is a pretty huge conversation to overlook. Like damn, just how thoughtless can one person be. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!

-(Also, who the hell says they were "stolen", Stolas. You're not an object; you're a person. You were kidnapped. I know this is bordering on grammar pedantry but it's distracting how much this weird phrasing sticks out.)

-Once again, the symbolic sin colors are inconsistent. I mentioned in the last review that the Greed ring in Helluva Boss is green despite the fact that the traditional color for greed as a sin is yellow. In this episode, we glimpse the Sloth ring, as this official tweet informs us:

One problem: Sloth is pink instead of the traditional light blue.

I wouldn't mind this if the ring colors broke from tradition across the board, but they don't. The Wrath ring is red and Lust is deep blue, as is customary. So it seems the art direction is throwing darts at a board to see which rings get the "lol, random" color treatment and which ones don't. These odd choices would be much more understandable if there were a story reason for certain rings looking the way they do, but at this point, I think we know better than to hope for that.

-In both this episode and The Harvest Moon Festival, Striker is characterized as self-aggrandizing. His previous appearance saw him declare himself superior to other imps, while this one shows off his giant statue with an enormous boner. Why, then, is he annoyed at the little imps singing his theme song? Wouldn't that be an ego boost? It would've made more sense for him to play along with it, or even better:

STOLAS: How does one get their own theme song?

STRIKER: (smiles, rubs his thumb and fingertips together) You pay for it.

-All the scenes with Blitzo and Loona in the doctor's office could've been cut and the story wouldn't have lost a thing. You can show them arriving and show them leaving with Loona wearing the cone, but everything else in the B-plot is filler. These episodes aren't beholden to a TV schedule that demands the duration falls within a certain range. There's no reason this episode needed to be nineteen minutes long.

-Getting pissy at some rando wearing the same hat as you is just about the dumbest reason to start a fight I've ever heard. Let's change around the dialogue a bit:

BIKER: Lookee here, fellas! The city slicker got himself a cowboy hat! That is sooo cute. Well, if you wanna dress the part... (cracks knuckles) might as well play it. It's not perfect but holy shit, I came up with that in two minutes. What the fuck, Viv. This is why you have co-writers. They aren't there to kiss your ass and mindlessly accept everything you do; they're there to catch little things like this and make them better.

-There's no "thump" when the top of the exploded gas station hits the ground, and judging by its size and implied weight, there should definitely be a sonorous thump.

-Striker mentions that Stella paid him to give Stolas "the royal treatment" (aka a slow death), but if that's the case, why did he try to shoot him at the Harvest Moon festival? Why did he shoot at him in the cafe?? If one of those bullets hit, wouldn't that affect his payday? Also, can't help but notice how terribly convenient this is. We wouldn't want our expert assassin to be too efficient, or precious Stolas would be dead. God damn this is contrived.

-Here's a line with a ton of story potential that goes unexplored (and will probably remain as such for the rest of the season, let's be honest): Stolas points out that Striker "is working for a royal right now", exposing some hypocrisy in his hatred for them. This brings up an interesting question: Why is he in cahoots with this one specific royal despite detesting all others? Why is she the exception? Could it be his loyalty to her transcends a simple business relationship? If he has angelic weapons and wanted to kill just any royal, he could have done it. But maybe this is more personal. Maybe Stolas needs to die because he hurt Stella.

Perhaps on the other side, Stella shares Striker's belief that he's superior to ordinary imps- another exception. Giving any other imp the time of day would disgust her, but Striker's just different somehow. And being as athletic and rugged as he is, he's a far cry from Stolas, who she's never found attractive.

I know it's a pipe dream for this series to develop any romantic pairing besides Stolitz, but how interesting would it be if Striker and Stella were having an affair of their own, and genuinely loved each other? How would they reconcile their personal feelings with long-held prejudices? What kinds of effects would hiding this shameful secret have on them? Would they make strides to be more open-minded? Would they see how their relationship mirrors Stolas and Blitzo's and reach an understanding with them? Will Striker's anti-royal principles override his love for Stella? Will he, in possession of angelic weapons, fulfill his quest to kill all royals, including her? There are so many possibilities here.

But of course, wringing any kind of compelling narrative out of this show's villains would require the writers to treat them as complex people rather than caricatures, so... yeah.

-If Stolas' legs are untied, what the fuck is stopping him from getting up and sneaking out of the cave after Striker leaves him unattended? He even has enough range of motion to kick him in the face. Obviously his leg wound would cause mobility issues and he'd have to stop the bleeding so Striker wouldn't track him easily (perhaps rolling into a magma stream to cauterize the wound? If demons are immune to fire, as Episode 1 established, I don't think magma would hurt much), but goddamn, try something. If you're going to die either way, you don't have much to lose, do you?

OR, why doesn't he just roll off the back of the horse when they're still in the city? Just check behind you to make sure no cars are coming and bail, dude. Striker might not even realize you're gone until he's entered the desert.

This is the exact same problem Stolas had in Seeing Stars, where he was so helpless against the plot's demands he couldn't even climb out of a van window, or morph into his full demon form like he did in Truth Seekers, or just leave the studio to find his fucking daughter. Y'know how I keep saying these characters have no agency? These characters have no damn agency.

-Kinda weirded out by how flirty Andrealphus is with his sister. "You're so lucky you're attractive"? "My fiery vixen"? Just... why. I get that incest used to be a thing in real-life monarchies, but assuming Andrealphus has other romantic options readily available to him (see also: ambiguous bird class), this fixation on Stella doesn't make much sense. If Viv wanted to make him subtly creepy, well... there are other ways to do that.

And let's be real, we can safely surmise Viv hates research with a passion, so I'm betting she didn't get this idea from history, but from Game of Thrones. I get a strong feeling she sees real-world facts as boring homework and the fictional world as exciting and full of wonder. If a person just cherry-picks different elements from fictional media they like and stitches them together like Dr. Frankenstein grafts body parts, that'll result in something great too, right? ...No.

-You're seriously telling me Stella didn't know how royal lineages work after being betrothed to a prince since childhood?

I mean wow, the show has portrayed Stella as inconsiderate and comically sadistic, and now she's stupid as well? These writers are hell-bent on giving her zero positive traits, aren't they.

-"A Goetia's never behaved like this before." Are you shitting me, Andrealphus? Hell's existed for (presumably) thousands of years and not a single noble has fucked an imp before? I could maybe buy that none of them have been as stupidly blatant as Stolas has, so perhaps these affairs have gone unseen and unremembered. But assuming they never happened? Come on now.

-Where'd Striker's horse go?? Feels like he could've been helpful in the fight against Moxxie and Millie, but after the theme song, he's completely missing. We don't even see him in a stable or anything. I know he's animation-intensive but y'all could at least give us a narrative reason he's not on screen.

An easy fix to this would be to show Bombproof (yes, that's his name, and it's awesome, and I hate that the characters never say it) out of breath at the end of the long journey, and Striker telling him he's earned a good rest. He could then hop into a magma pool and disappear under the waves for the remainder of the episode. There ya go. Simple.

-If Millie's ordinary axe can chop Striker's angelic pistols in half, why are angelic weapons such a threat to demons? During the yearly extermination in this universe, what's stopping them from forming an army and shooting the angels' weapons full of holes? Crazy how a single scene can unravel Hazbin Hotel's entire conflict.

-Did y'all want any kind of satisfying closure between Blitzo and Stolas regarding what went down in the Ozzie's episode? Well keep dreamin', because we've got this horrendously half-assed, tacked-on bullshit that you'll easily miss if you blink.

Fuck you, show.

And in another text following this, here's what Stolas says:

"If you don't feel like coming, that's OK! I'm sure I can do without [the grimoire] for one month."

Why do you need the fucking book at all, Stolas.

He's used it to make the harvest moon visible at the festival, but it's never clear what purpose that serves. We've never seen him use it for anything in his daily life; just that thing that happens once a year. Come to think of it, we've never seen Stolas in his day-to-day job. As a Goetia demon, he has legions to command (Andrealphus even mentions them), but the story never shows us the political, leadership-driven side of his life. He just sits around doing sweet fuck-all. Striker's argument against monarchs is that they "talk over [the lower classes]", but there's a strong case to be made for them simply contributing nothing of substance to society.

All in all, this episode made me feel nothing. There was no meaningful progression in the story. Sure, Stolas is injured, but he has the exact same problems of being married to someone he wants to divorce and Blitzo being emotionally distant. Stella has the same problem of Stolas being alive, even though she herself called off his execution. Striker's still at large. Moxxie and Millie still have a squeaky-clean relationship, Blitzo's still an ass, and Loona will likely return to her regular self in the next episode. Functionally speaking, everyone ends the episode in the same place they began, making me wonder what the point of it is in the larger narrative. Getting a hunch that Viv just needed an excuse to hospitalize Stolas so the audience would pity him.

I'm calling it now: Stolas is out of the hospital in the next one. He might still have some bandages and whatnot, but his injuries won't present any real obstacles to him until they're convenient to the plot. I'm betting there won't even be scars where Striker stabbed him, because at this point, continuity is WAY too much to ask of this show.

If this were a better-written series, Stolas would actually use his damn wealth and political power to put a bounty on Striker's head that'd have everyone in Hell gunning for him. Or why not use those legions he has at his disposal? Furthermore, now that he knows Stella hired Striker, what's stopping him from having her executed, or banished, or imprisoned, or something? But then if the characters used their brains, Viv wouldn't get the plot she wants, and we can't have that.

The previous episode had me curious to find out what would happen next. This one just added nothing to my life. I don't know how much longer I can keep watching this show. I'm not a fan of hate-watching media as life is short and there are numerous shows and films out there that'll make much more enjoyable use of my time. "If it sucks, hit da bricks" and all that. Yet Helluva Boss still has a pull in being an incredible teaching tool for how NOT to write a series. Writing these reviews has been thoroughly educational for me, and it seems they've helped others as well. But fuck, man. At what cost. When will I finally throw up my hands and say "Enough"?

If I hear the next one's not terrible, I might give it a watch. But that's a pretty big if. I'm very tired.

[beevean]

It intrigues me that some of the most interestingly baffling takes I see about characterisations are on Gerald of all people. There seem quite a few takes here that he was irrevocably evil, rotten to the core, cackling manically as he hurt and damaged the being he'd brought into the world with no regard for Shadow's wellbeing, and so on and so forth. And that is barely putting it as graphically as the statements about all the "torture" "Shadow" "faced" on the ARK I have read before.

But to me, Gerald seems so incredibly heavily driven by love instead? He originally did not even want to create the Ultimate Lifeform, as he deemed it something humanity should not muddle with, but his love for Maria and desperation to save her life made him accept this burden. He very explicitly calls Shadow his son, tells him he's made a mistake with accepting Black Doom's help, and worked to ensure humanity had a defence against the Black Arms. He gave Emerl and Shadow a soul like Maria's, so that these weapons of mass destruction would never fight and only use their powers selflessly. In Battle, Rouge could not spell out more to the nose that he was researching ways to bring hope and happiness to people (similarly discussed by Shadow and Maria in SA2), but forced by those in power to use his creations for war instead. When Gerald goes insane, he himself talks about the fright it gave him, that he can only think about revenge. With the added complete lack of indication Shadow was ever mistreated in any way on the ARK, the idea of Gerald as some conniving bastard gleefully causing Shadow suffering (or even just somberly causing him suffering In The Name Of Science) holds no more water at all to me. He is not at all a flawless person, but until the point he learned he lost Maria, all his concerns were centered around the happiness of the world instead. And personally, I find the idea of a person driven by love to go insane because that love caused him to lose his most important person, which only then makes him hurt his other creation he earlier regarded as a son, a lot more interesting than someone who simply always was evil and disdainful of said creation and just regarded him as a tool to help someone else. Shadow was more to Gerald that just that, of that I am certain.

I'm very glad I did not encounter a single instance of what you saw :) but I don't doubt that some fans really headcanon Gerald as being cruel. After all, apparently some are going around painting Sonic & co. as monsters for not playing therapist for Neo Metal Sonic...

It makes sense. If a fan really wants to imagine that Shadow suffered like hell on the ARK, it goes without saying that in this interpretation Gerald was a bastard who didn't care about his creation.

Anyway, it is inconceivable to me to play SA2 or ShTH (not even including Battle as at this point I think only 5% of the current fandom even remembers it) and come away with the conclusion that Gerald didn't adore Maria and Shadow. But, well. I may have answered my own question :P

@skaruresonic did you see anything resembling this?

[animentality]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm curious. How much of a part do you think ketheric played in durge's downfall? I recently replayed moonrise and ketheric is smirking and gloating and the narrator even mentions he knows exactly who you are but will never tell. Gortash's memoirs indicate that they learned about the elder brain after visiting moonrise, and the warden says that durge only ever visited once and never left. Maybe durge and Gortash learned about the brain then just ran off to conspire together, giggling and plotting, and ketheric was just done? Especially since Durge and Gortash came up with the plan without him - leaving ketheric out while in his own domain. Plus, how did orin know they were even there? I can't see durge telling their underling about their plans. Did ketheric somehow find out about her and contact her like "I know how you can remove durge. Btw pretend to be Gortash, trust me"? She had no reason to be there. Plus the way ketheric smirks at durge, commenting "treat me like you would any other chosen" when it had been just him, durge, and Gortash previously, which is basically him saying to give him the respect durge gave Gortash. I feel like ketheric probably played a major role in it and I'm interested in your take on it. Thanks so much!

I never considered the double entendre of "treat me like you would any other chosen" and that was DEFINITELY Ketheric being a little cunty elf, like ok queen, I see you, I hear you, I feel that.

EDIT: Ok, I just checked, and he apparently says, "Obey me like you would any other chosen."

Which is less iconic. But still. Have a cookie for writing that little double entendre better than Larian.

Not so sure on the "obey" part in terms of durgetash though. I highly doubt the Dark Urge ever "obeyed" Gortash just, without question.

But as for if Ketheric was involved...I don't know.

He didn't seem particularly happy to have Orin on board. The plan really started unraveling when the Dark Urge was deposed too. I doubt he liked the power struggle. I don't think he really had a huge issue with the Dark Urge, all my joking aside, only because the plan was going along well when the three of them were working together.

Him smiling and being coy could just be him being amused at their state, since he's an asshole, and the last time the Dark Urge was at Moonrise, he was mad at them about something...

Although...to be fair...I guess we never did know why he was angry at them.

The Dark Urge specific scene says that the Dark Urge was "demanding" something from Ketheric.

But I don't think we ever really know what?

Like they were working together on their brain thing...the fuck were they annoyed about? What were they demanding?

Also...in the timeline where the Dark Urge just dies...Orin hikes their body all the way back to Baldur's Gate, fully intact?

She went all the way to Moonrise, then lugged it back?

I guess that's just nitpicking, but it doesn't totally make sense to me because, first off, I don't understand if Orin tadpoled Durge at moonrise or somewhere else. secondly, I just don't see why Ketheric would support an usuper instead of the Dark Urge.

Ketheric being a smug little bitch only because he hates you on principle would make SENSE. Because he definitely knew you got fucked, since Balthazar is his advisor, and he knows what happened to you. There's no way Balthy wouldn't have told Ketheric, right? So Ketheric just straight up didn't tell Gortash because he's an ass.

And he smirks at you because he's remembering how annoying you are, and he's glad to see that arrogant bhaalspawn put in their proper place.

But the story in terms of how/when the Dark Urge got tadpoled is very scattered! I am not the only person who's noted this. It's a MESS in terms of timelines. Especially where the Dark Urge is concerned.

I really don't know how involved Orin was in the Absolute Plan before she usurped the Dark Urge.

Was she their right hand, and thus, well known? It might make sense for Ketheric to hear her out...but again, I don't think he'd be fond of a power struggle?

Also.

You get tadpoled in the opening...but the Dark Urge is the first tadpole victim.

So I guess you had the misfortune of being tadpoled twice (ahaha, just kidding, this is a nitpick, I know it's the same for everyone).

More seriously though...so the Dark Urge seems to know Enver Gortash is the Chosen of Bane BEFORE they did their little Hall of Wonders date.

But Gortash says that their gods came to them in a dream? And named them as Chosens together, and to seek out Ketheric Thorm?

But then...then they didn't come up with the plan...they got sent to Moonrise...

"Together?"

But...the Dark Urge only went to Moonrise ONCE?

So????

It's CONFLICTING information! It gets even worse when you realize ok, so they went to Moonrise together (maybe?), found the mindflayer colony, realized they could enslave an Elder Brain, then decided to seek out Helsik to steal the Crown...but when they stole it, it's mentioned by Gortash that they "crowned" the Brain and THEN started the cult of the Absolute?

So the Dark Urge would be running through the streets murdering people????

So...where in the plan did the Dark Urge go missing?

So in short.

I really don't think Ketheric was involved in the Dark Urge disappearing...and insofar as, when and how did Orin kill them...

I don't know, but their body is literally in her bedroom if the Dark Urge dies in that timeline.

So...she never tadpoled them...then...who was the first victim?

And also. WHEN DID SHE DO IT?

AAAAARGH.

Anyway.

The wiki conflicts with info in the game, Gortash is a lying slut, the Dark Urge only has three notes and two of them are just thirsting over Gortash, and the other is inviting Orin to split their skull open...

We don't have any correspondence with Ketheric on the Absolute Plan because it's too early to find that out in act 2...

It's a mess, my guy (gn).

I don't even try to piece it together most of the time.

If anyone knows...dm or anon me, and we'll figure this out.

[arxxq]

𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄❀

╰┈➤ ❝ [What flower represents you? ] ❞

IN WHICH—The famous prodigy named Itoshi Sae slowly falls in love with a girl who works as a florist

Part two..

Afab florist reader

(Fun fact: I had to learn flower language for this btw—)

||❀᪥𑁍❀᪥𑁍❀᪥𑁍❀᪥𑁍❀᪥𑁍᪥❀𑁍᪥𑁍||

It's a normal and sunny day. Itoshi Sae decided to why not add a little color to the place he was staying in. So he decided to ask his manager on what he should do.

"Well I suggest maybe you could buy some flowers? Although you will need to water it to make sure it doesn't wither..." He thought of what his manager had said. His manager meanwhile thought he disliked the idea so he was about to appologize until Sae's words had stunned him.

"Well maybe you're right..is there somewhere you recommend me to go?" He asked. His manager was still in the state of shock tho. "Uhm well theres one that almost everyone recommends since the service there is quite great...maybe you could go there?"

So now here he was, Infront of a flower shop. He didn't really expect to ever step foot into a flower shop but I guess now he did. The moment he entered, the aura was felt like a warm welcome along with the gardenia scent.

"Oh uh welcome! You can go look around a bit but if you have any questions you can ask me," He was met with a woman, it seemed like she was the owner of the store..and maybe he was right cause there was no one but her.

He took a look around and made a choice to ask her a very odd question. "Excuse me but would you mind telling me what flowers suit me?" He question. The woman looked at him and smirked. "Well let me have time to think..."

"you're known as itoshi sae..so from what I heard you're quite blunt and you're prideful. So I'd say an Amaryllis and Borage describes you. Besides that you're quite attractive so a hibiscus might suit you?" Your words struck him. It was as if time stopped for a moment.

"so is there anything else I could help with?" He was broken out of his trance from your words. "Yeah uh just choose some flowers for me and I'll just buy them," The woman smiled. "Is there a specific color you need?" He shook his head to indicate no.

As she was choosing the flowers he was mesmerized by her every movements and also her features. He noticed the woman had (e/c) enchanting eyes along with her (h/c) to match. "Soo what brings you here actually..? I mean I would never think a football prodigy would just come to a flower shop out of the blue,"

"My manager suggested I come to this store if I needed flower decorations," The woman rose a brow at him but gave him the bouquet of flowers anyway. "Oh? Well that's interesting," She giggled and gave him the bouquet of flowers she had chosen. "You don't have to pay by the way..consider it as a thank you for coming to my store?" Just as the woman was about to go back to what she was doing previous..Sae spoke out something and intrigued her.

"Hm I didn't get your name.." The woman grinned. "Why are you wondering..?" She tried to tease but it didn't fazed the man one bit. "You know mine..it's only fair for me to know yours am I not right?"

The female smiled at his response. "Y/n, Y/n L/n.." Sae just stood there trying to process the name in his head. "Alright thank you.." "No problem..I'll be looking forward to meet you again!"

Sae went out of the store and went into the car where his driver was waiting for him. Sae looked at the view at his window and silently mumbled something that only he could hear to himself, "Yeah there's no doubt you won't see me again.."

𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗦:

"Ooh nice choice of flowers you chose there sir!" His manager stated. Sae looked at him confused. "I didn't choose this, the florist did..why is it a good choice?"

The manager smiled at him. "Well each flower she chose has meanings to it.." "care to explain what you mean by that?"

"Well you see..it's called flower language,"

"the flowers she chose has a specific meaning to it..

Yellow roses means enthusiasm and friendship

Carnations means gratitude

And the last bouquet of flowers she had chose for you

Are orchids which symbolize love, strength, luxury and beauty

Does that make any sense?"

That moment Sae swore to himself that he will try to learn flower language..

How was it? I didn't double check it since uhm well I'm quite lazy. I might make a part 2 for this if necessary. This was made just to clear my mind of the request I had since..well I don't know how to start it since I have little knowledge about it (╥﹏╥) but like I said I will try to write it...if I can manage.

Hope you enjoy :D

[shuttershocky]

Finished the FF16 demo and while I had a decent time with the combat (don't believe the internet though this is hardly DMC level of combat don't expect that sort of depth) I found—to my horror—that I did not care about anything that was going on in the game.

Nothing about its setting felt remotely interesting, none of the characters are any fun to watch, I cannot tell you a single personality trait of any of the cast members. FF15 ran circles around 16 personality wise in its first 5 minutes where you just push a car with the bros than 16 did in 3 hours of its demo. Every character can be boiled down to "some guy with a thick british accent".

It takes itself so seriously, and not in the charmingly hammy way Final Fantasy takes itself so seriously. There's blood and gore and heaps of Clive saying "Fuck!" and two pairs of characters that almost fuck so you know it's all adult and this ain't your mama's Final Fantasy back when they would censor Barrett by having him say "sh't", but shit dude you gotta give me a reason to care first and playing through all that while also reading every lore entry in their big codex that you can check anytime during cutscenes* never gave me a reason to care.

I don't like any of this. I'm pretty damn easy to please (I mean, I'm a fan of FF15, you don't have to be a very good or even finished game to please me) but this was some PGR vibes the way I was satisfied with the combat but was completely uninterested with the world and story no matter how much I tried to pay attention.

It's obviously very competently made. The accessibility options are especially impressive: you can customize SO much from getting a slowdown dodge prompt to actively dodge attacks yourself even with bad timing to just autododging and autocomboing if you really can't do real time combat, to having visual indicators for sounds from behind the camera if you are hard of hearing, to having a dedicated button telling you where to go in case you forget, there's a lot of good stuff in here. It makes my apathy with the game all the more frustrating.

I'm pretty disappointed. I really wanted to see a singleplayer story made by the FF14 Shadowbringers creative team, since I keep hearing it's peak FF but can't play it for myself, but this did not excite me even a little.

I suddenly appreciate FF7R more now. I got to hand it to the weird Destiny ghosts I was too busy getting mad at them to ever actually get bored.

* actually kind of a rad idea btw. Getting to press a button and get an explanation in case you don't remember who this guy in the current cutscene is is a really good feature for working adults that can't really play through a game straight and remember every detail.

[a-s-levynn]

Okay so the tags all day under my high water small offering genuinly made me super emotional..

I don't know if anyone would be interested in it seeing almost step by step while i ramble about it a bit? But i did it anyway. I'm missing a lot of stages because i wasn't planning to do something like this. I'm not even completely sure why i scanned some of the steps to be honest. But at least you can see some of the progression of it?

Anyway if any of you is interested in it i put a rundown under the cut. Also the obligatory measuring tape/ruler shots at the end of it, because yes i've seen those tags as well. Spoiler for those who understandably do not want to chew through my pointless ramblings: yes, it is fairly small.

Disclaimer: It's long and rambly, you have been warned

Just to preface this: this is not advice on art because i can't give you that. If you ask me how i do stuff i can tell you but beyond that i'm useless. This is just for funzies.

Okay so i don't have the step with sketching Vessel, but you still can see some of what is left from his torso and head and spine-line under the cloack. Maybe even traces of the right arm connecting to the torso.

When i draw figures, i usually start out with a line for a spine and then build it outwards. And i always draw them semi-naked first. It's so much easier for me to dress them, rather than go for the clothed version immediately. Helps me a lot with the fold placement.

Also for pose references i use a free browser app. I certainly can't draw human figures from scratch if the pose is more dynamic or the angle is something more complicated, but i'm decent at eyeballing what i can see. This one didn't really needed that 'cause Vessel does this a lot and i looked at the man's pictures and videos so much at this point, i can kinda mock it up. And like.. i usually draw up a standard male figure and just.. make it slightly skinnier and bam. Vessel proportions. Or something close enough to pass for it. But in general i look up a lot of reference photos for stuff because it is easier to understand something you see rather than something you imagine. At least for me.

Initially i was planning to add tendrils into the waves to indicate that those are raising the water around Vessel. That pulling himself beneth the waves maybe not so much just his own decision he just can't fully see the outside force hiding inside the water or something something i don't know i'm not smart for stuff like this.

What you can't see is that i was thinking about putting a faint silhouette of the tmbte moon behind the clouds but i quickly forgone that, because it was just not dark enough visually that way and also felt far too busy.

So i laid out a rough shading idea for where i want stuff to sit tonally and was like, nope, still not dark enough.

And so darker it got. But the sky felt flat, it needed something. So i was like, okay i have no moon or anything but like i could warp the clouds towards Vessel. Like as if the sky is collapsing into him or sending him a sign or maybe it's just in his head or whatever? I'm still not smart enough for concepts.

Also rain had to be added, because "wash me clean again before..." you know. To stick to the prompt.

It's almost there at this point but the waves look so sad and got smaller than the initial sketch. But i knew there is going to be froth on top of them so it was not a big deal. I knew they would be a sorry sight if i only do it with pencil anyway. It was never an option. So the trusty gel pen came out and it is such a drastic difference:

It also gave Vessel and the stone he stands on a sharp edgelight which is super dramatic looking. Also lifts him out from the background a bit more so he doesn't fully disappear into it. And the waves actually started to look like waves insted of weird grey cones.

And here again the finished version:

There is not much thought or like amazing skill that goes into these, i'm just trying to hide what i can't do and lean into what i can. And what i can do is shading. Someone told me close to two decades ago now that "don't rely on the outlines, shade behind the things to create depth" and that is something that my brain just latched onto and wanted to do that. And so i did. Or at least tried. Didn't took long for me to really start to enjoy shading and got fairly good at it, because i did that most of the time. And that's it, i guess.

Also yes it is small-ish. I'm using two relatively small sketchbooks, the "larger" one (with the ecru/yellowish paper, which i use for the small offerings <- this is where tha name came from originally) is 15x10,5 cm, and a slightly smaller one (with the grey-ish reused paper, which i use for everything else currently) which is 14,5x9,5cm. The card i did Ash's ballpoint pen iii is 16,5x11,4cm.

Basically everything i do is kind of small. I don't know how to draw large anymore to be honest. If i can't see the entire piece properly in one i mess up proportions big time. And i love detailwork and if i draw small the less detail i have to put into it. Because i'm also lazy.

So Vessel is about 4,5cm tall here... which is only a cm taller than the average height of Tiny Token.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you have an opinion on the fanon ships of Lukagami and Felila ? People expected them to become canon before S5 shut the possibility of both of them down, especially Lukagami which from what I read had the red oni/blue oni paralel with their characters and also apparently the Snake and Dragon are supposed to be perfect matches in the Chinese Zodiac.

Lukagami

Generally speaking, I'm really not a fan of pairing up the rejected love interests. It often feels like it's only done to give everyone a romance-based happy ending and not because the rejected love interests are actually a good match. So, if it's a story where Luka and Kagami get together off screen or otherwise feel like their relationship is a consolation prize, then I'm probably not going to like it. I don't think that every character needs to be paired up for a story to have a happy ending.

However, I have now written these two characters in a fic where I gave them the non-love-interest-based roles that I think they always should have had. As a result, when I was writing them, I wasn't worried about the consolation prize issue and I can now see the appeal. I really came to enjoy their interactions! I even low-key ship them to the point where they may end up together by the end of that story even though that wasn't my original plan. They have a very fun dynamic when you let Kagami's rigidity play off of Luka's more go-with-the-flow nature, which is a variant of that whole red oni/blue oni thing.

I can't comment on the Chinese Zodiac part since I know very little about it and I don't think that canon actually used Chinese beliefs to assign characters to their miraculouses. That being said, I would love to see a story from someone who understands it all! Using the zodiac to hint at/guide who ends up together could be a really fun way to explain this part of Chinese culture.

As far as canon goes, I briefly thought that we were going to get Lukagami during Frozer. I thought that Adrinette's obvious disinterest in their dates was going to lead to a "you snooze, you lose" crush flip, but I quickly realized that was not going to be the case. I also thought that we might get Lukagami after the whole wax museum date at the start of season five, but that quickly went nowhere. Outside of those two moments, I don't think that Lukagami has much backing in canon since the two don't interact outside of the episodes where Adrien and Marinette need chaperones for their dates.

Final verdict: I think this couple has high potential. It's easily my favorite canon-based pairing for both Luka and Kagami. But I'm not surprised that it didn't happen it canon as I never really expected it to.

Felila

I adore villain couples who are insane about each other and villain couples who are just using each other, but may end up falling in love along the way. (It's one of the rare enemies to lovers setups I that I actually enjoy!) In other words, I'm at least theoretically here for Felila. I think it could have been a lot of fun!

I also think it has zero backing in the actual show. Felix and Lila never met and there was never any indication that they would. Even if they did, it's hard to picture a scenario where they'd get together. Their canon goals are just way too different, plus I don't see how a relationship would be mutual beneficial. While I could see Lila wanting the prestige of dating Felix or the in she gets from his relationship to the Agrestes, there's very little that Felix could get from Lila. She's a social climber with no true connections and he'd realize that in a heartbeat since Felix is allowed to be smart.

The stories I've read where these two get together almost always age the characters up and/or massively change the plot. They also tend to make Felix want a hot model girlfriend while not caring if she's just using him for status, which has no backing in canon. I'd argue it's actually a pretty major change to his character, though not one that ruins him by any means.

In other words, you need to make some serious changes to the story or the character or both to make this couple work. I am happy to indulge those changes in fanfic, but I just can't picture anything remotely close to canon that makes Felila work. If you've got a fic that proves me wrong, feel free to send it my way! I love seeing the clever ways that authors massage canon to make their ships work.

Final verdict: I could see a fanon version working, but I never thought it'd be a thing in canon nor do I see a way to make it work in canon.

[asmallmoon333]

Do you ever wonder what L would do if he thought Light didn't love him back? If Light was determined to not show his feelings at all and stay away because of it?

Sorry, I'm probably reading too many trope-y romance web novels 🙈.

Honestly, I gave this way too much thought before actually sitting to write an answer. (You're not the only one obsessed with trope-y romance web novels btw.)

So this has a few different answers depending on what you meant.

Canon L: So in a situation in which canon was the same and L was in love with Light but thought Light didn't reciprocate, I honestly don't think L would do anything about it. He would acknowledge it to himself, but it wouldn't go further. Not only cause of Kira-case reasons, but because I don't see L as a person who chases a seemingly uninterested partner for his own romantic desires. In Kira-related reasons, L would be pretty sure such info would allow Light to manipulate him more easily (and kill him more easily, because L would be correctly sure that Kira wouldn't let 'love' stop him), so it would also be for L's own safety that he never reveals his feelings to Light. Furthermore L, I think, only takes steps if he's pretty confident that he holds the upper hand. A situation like this where he thinks Light doesn't love him (and if L really believed that, then Light is really, really selling it, cause L can generally read him like a book) would just end in silent pining on his end and no romantic progression. And as this is canon, also in L's death. Rip.

Time Speaks L: If you mean what would L do in my story, then he would chase Light. But in Time Speaks, the situation is very different and unique. L here knows that Light is Kira from the start of the story, so that was no obstacle anymore. More importantly, by the point in the story where they meet again, L also had years of experience about what the world was like for him without Light. In this situation, he would (and did) chase Light because the alternative (being alone) was proven worse. L knows he'll never just 'get over it' (and I don't mean only his romantic feelings, but his entire obsession with Light). But while he would chase him, I don't think L would chase with the desire or expectation that Light would fall in love with him in return. Mostly, just out of a desire to have Light by his side in any/all ways, and in that case Light's romantic reciprocation doesn't matter, lol. Light's full attention would be enough for L, and they both know he'd have it even without love involved. Interestingly, L might not even be chasing Light for love, or so he'd say. He'd give some other logical reason for it, in which there was no 'loss' on L's end from the whole situation. (Cause L actually has a lot of pride as well, but the way he expresses it and his bottom lines are very different from Light's.) But the main issue is, in my story L never really thought Light didn't love him back. Maybe, in a case where L thought Light fell out of love with him, he'd hesitate and retreat for a bit, lick his wounds, but he'd still go back in the end. (And if he dared not to, Light would get revenge, lol. They both know that, which is why L would be confident enough to go back and chase. Obsession, after all, is something different than love).

No-Kira Au L: Third option is just an AU in which there was no Kira and none of the massive obstacles associated, would L chase a Light who "doesn't love him"? Sadly, I think this is still a no. I just don't see him as the type to woo someone, I see him as the 'acknowledge his feelings, shrug, and figure they'd go away' type. L would probably distract himself with a bunch of things in the meantime, until Light was married lmao. Again, no real progression here. Basically, in all situations, I see L as someone who only chases when there's something to chase after. In the case of love and a romantic relationship between them, it would always have to be Light first indicating an interest in L. This would make it clear to L that there was something there to pursue. This would appease both his pride and his natural tendency to just ignore his own bodily needs. Tangent, but Light wouldn't chase either btw, that would be 'below his pride.' But he'd make it clear L's attention was welcome (in a convoluted way that he could deny (and gaslight) anyone but L into believing they were just imagining). Cause he's a bitch, lol.

Anyways, that's Lawlight's dynamic as I see it!

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 33 and 34 of Gideon the Ninth

Stuff I said way back when that turned out to be correct, actually:

I was wondering here if Corona was not a squib, based on this early piece of Ianthe dialog. And then when Magnus and Abigail died, the book said this:

And I thought, this could be an indication that Corona isn't actually a necromancer and is just pretending, but then I decided that it was too early in the book to be coming up with wild conspiracy theories based on a single line of dialog and didn't say anything

Anyway, there was also this:

Apparently, that is in fact what "one flesh, one end" means, and the body-sharing challenge they did was indeed in preparation for that.

Also, I think I understand the key shenangians now, things just happened in a confusing order. First, Palamedes said to Harrow that he wanted her help to pick the lock of the Sixth House Lyctor door, which corresponded to the grey key, which was the key that Dulcinea had originally had which was taken by Mayonnaise Uncle, and which she also showed to Palamedes. They then proceeded to a completely different Lyctor door, which was not the one corresponding to the grey key, but the one that had the keyhole stuffed up with regenerating stuff - Palamedes didn't want Harrow to pick this lock, he just wanted her to confirm that this had happened after they got to Canaan House. Then later, they actually did pick the lock on the grey key door, using the visualization thing and the mind-reading thing that Harrow had learned to do, so the door they opened in Chapter 32 was the grey key door. And the door in this chapter belongs to the key that Magnus and Abigail found, which was the one that was considered missing for most of the book.

Harrow has now seen the red key theorem, the white key theorem, the grey key theorem, the three theorems associated with Palamedes' keys, which I'm sure he duly gave her access to in payment for her help with the grey key door, and now the theorem associated with Magnus and Abigail's key. So she has seven out of eight, the last one belonging to the black key that Mayonnaise Uncle has, which is now free for the taking. Mayonnaise Uncle claims to have never entered any of these doors, but I think that's probably not correct - Ianthe has been following people into locked rooms this whole time to get the theorems, but the only person who's had access to the black key room this whole time is Mayonnaise Uncle. She claims she didn't need to see any theorems and figured it all out just from the challenges, but I don't believe her - if that was the case, why did she need to use Magnus and Abigail's key to access the last room, and she claimed that she only learned the last theorem in the last room. But I'm not sure which of Ianthe's steps the red key room contributed to. Probably the white key is the last step, and the grey key is the seventh step, though.

So, someone blocked the keyhole on the last room, and hid the key in Abigail's body. I don't think it was Ianthe, I think Ianthe just figured out where the key was before anyone else did. So it must have been Dulcinea, right?

This fight shows that Lyctoral immortality is in fact the kind of gory wounds-just-seal-up-automatically immortality from Lexx, I'm glad this book didn't let me down there

So, I think what happened here, if I'm not misunderstanding: Colum is Gone at this point, but I think Naberius's ghost must have taken advantage of that to possess him, and attack Ianthe without intending to actually kill her, because she was having some kind of argument with him at this point. They don't really seem to like each other much, and they probably don't enjoy sharing a body. Then Ianthe managed to get Naberius back under control, and that's the point when Colum got possessed whatever eldritch monster instead and killed Mayonnaise Uncle. It's kind of interesting that the eldritch monster targeted Mayonnaise Uncle and not anyone else in the room. Like, Colum getting possessed by a monster and killing Mayonnaise Uncle was pretty much foreshadowed when he tried to do the siphoning to necromance Magnus and Abigail, so it wasn't super surprising, but there were six other people there to attack, and four of them weren't immortal. And Gideon goes to attack it and Harrow acts like she doesn't want her to, but she did say this to her just before this:

So anyway, if Dulcinea is Lyctor, that explains why she had to reanimate someone to be her cavalier, since she presumably absorbed the soul of whoever her original cavalier was.

And this is interesting:

Maybe Corona did want to be the cavalier? Or she was just depressed because she wasn't born the way her parents wanted her to be born, and wanted to die, or just wanted to be useful to her sister, even if it meant she had to die. Now that I think about it, I think necromancy can't be simply genetic, if babies dying at the time of your birth or conception can make you a better necromancer, and it's heavily implied here that Corona and Ianthe are identical twins, so they should be genetically identical. I guess maybe whatever thanergy existed at the twins' birth all went to Ianthe for whatever reason, then?

I sort of wonder what was going through Harrow's mind when she said this during the fight:

There are three chapters left - I think what is remaining is Dulcinea's reveal, the answer to who the second person in the furnace was, and possibly the room locked by the black key, although that might be irrelevant at this point, and maybe the arrival of the Emperor, although I could see that maybe not happening until the next book

[himebushou]

It would be really interesting if Kazuki and Rei decided to stay as hitmen at the end of Buddy Daddies.

A lot of time in series where the protagonists are 'bad guys', they end up changing their behaviour in order to become better people. This can involve giving up jobs which are morally questionable, altering world views and so on. In essence, the change from 'bad person' to 'good person' serves as the story's narrative arc.

However, Buddy Daddies has repeatedly demonstrated that Rei and Kazuki are loving individuals; their ability to love is used as an indicator of their goodness. These men are flawed, complex and idiotic. Nevertheless, they both demonstrate the capacity to care for other living beings, be they people, plants or animals.

Although looking after Miri does interefere with their work, they're still able to execute their jobs with (some degrees of) professionalism. They question the compatibility of looking after a child while being killers, but this plot point appears to be more or less resolved by the end of Episode 3, when they decide to take Miri home. The decision of whether or not to live with Miri could have easily stretched over the entirety of the series — but the conflict finds a conclusion in the first quarter.

Arguably, the central theme of Buddy Daddies is loneliness. Kazuki is abandoned by his parents, Rei is effectively disowned and Miri is given too much freedom for a child so young. Yet, the trio are able to combat their collective pain by becoming a family; in turn, they confront and overcome the individual hardships that had deeply impacted their lives and regain some feelings of self-worth. Kazuki is finally given permission to be happy, Rei is at last allowed to be vulnerable and Miri is never resented for acting her age. She is occasionally on the receiving end of some scolding, but Kazuki and Rei's reactions to Miri's antics typically involve confusion — never outright anger.

So, in some ways, I'd really like to see Kazuki, Rei and Miri stay as they are and for Buddy Daddies to wrap up as a 'Family Story of Two Killers and a Girl'. It would be subversive. It would be fulfilling. It would be interesting.

Personally, I also feel that being hitmen is too large a part of Kazuki and Rei's identities for either of them to suddenly give it up (before the last few episodes, I thought that Kazuki had gotten into the underworld due to his connection to Rei — I was really pleased to see that Kazuki had been a hitman prior to ever meeting Rei because it gave Kazuki authority, making him a partner rather than a sidekick). They probably wouldn't know what to do with themselves. And the main motivations for having to give it up i.e. that anyone could die at any time, or that Miri might find the truth scary, simply don't apply. Miri adores the fact that Rei Papa is good with a gun. She brags about Rei's skills whenever the opportunity arises.

In fact, when her life is in danger, this precious and precocious girl:

Taps the gun curiously.

So, how will things work out? Roll on Episode 9.