#like i made an entire world up just for demises backstory

[ganondoodle]

utterly random late night panic thoughts but

if you read my zelda comic and like it i love and appreciate you but i really do need to be upfront about it being very much a self indulgent enemies to lovers story with a villain at the center that has done bad but isnt bad at his core and is struggeling to come to terms with the fact that he doesnt actually want to be the evil beast he and almost everyone else believes he should be

yes im one of those people ... fake villain fans or something ... i think .. i dont know the rules to that ... q-q

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Hello! I just read Heart of the World, and I loved it. It expands all the charm and mind-bending-theming of the original, but cuts out all the filler (and the copyrightable stuff, of course)—you did an amazing job with the adaptation. I especially love the new characters—Ilyn, Elizabeth, and Theyn are all developed so well. Furthermore, Lily and Wizard Lenin’s backstories now suit them in a way Harry Potter’s setting never did. Character-wise, Lily being alone, knowing humanity only through a television like Plato’s cave prisoners works so very well. Wizard Lenin’s backstory is perfect because you kept the absurdity of the original—I suspect John Jones was a Tellestrian like Tom Riddle is a half-blood, and so him nonchalantly saying God no, I don’t believe in any of the revolutionary zeal I peddled except kicking out the monarchy—well, it’s just so him. I especially liked his, “‘Chin up, Lily. (...) Most of us don’t have a destiny,” since it draws attention to how he made or defied his own destiny—rejecting being forgotten, and then rejecting his demise.

I could probably write for days about all I love about this book. I haven’t even talked about Ilyn in detail! The reveal around his pocketwatch is set up so well, and I’ve come to adore this strange, curt pyromaniac. Trotsky’s introduction hit me like a bat to the face, as Trotsky always does. You’ve taken all the quiet horror and made it loud, and it makes me feel some very intense things.

Anyhow, great job, 10/10, would read again and any and all sequels released. This entire post is an outlet for the tragic lack of AO3 comments for physical books. 

Finally, while pretty much everything is stellar, I noticed some typos—seems inconvenient. I’ve made a list of them in the following google doc; fix at will.

Thank you! I'm really, truly, flattered by this very high praise and glad you enjoyed it so much. It's always good to hear when this has been in my head so long and finally out there.

Also, you're a godsend for the typos, I swear, you think you catch them all and then they just sneak up on you after staring at the same document so long/having to format things.

[lunadorned]

I’ve been thinking of some theories. These ideas tie in with the concept that the Maasverse explores the same world in different time periods, with ToG being the oldest of the three, followed by ACOTAR and then CC.

(Disclaimer: I’m just playing around with some thoughts. I don’t have the time to back up my thesis with citations at the moment, so the ideas presented are based upon my recollection of reading the books in the past few years. I’m well aware that I’m human and, as such, able to make mistakes, so. Don’t take this as a full-bodied literary analysis, just a simple thought exercise.)

I think that Rhysand is a descendent of Maeve via his father’s lineage. Those violet eyes and dark hair? A monstrous form? Mind reading and thought manipulation? We’ve seen all of these traits in the false faerie queen. And Rhys’s father had a penchant for cruelty—just like Maeve.

Which begs the question, who could have fathered Maeve’s line?

Consider who in ToG was able to step in the space between. Who was able to “winnow” before this skill was called such? We’ve got two candidates and both of them (unfortunately) had relations with Maeve: the wolf twins.

I think Maeve specifically chose the twins because they were rare among their kind and they had magic she did not possess.

Fenrys mentions at one point that even he’s not quite sure how his magic works—it’s a kind of ability without much information, and hence, rare. To Maeve, this would be a coveted skill.

So, okay. One of the twins could have conceivably fathered a child for Maeve. If that’s the case, where’s the kid? Why did no one ever see them? Did Connall have privy to that kind of information?

My theory is that Maeve’s child is the owl with whom she was often seen. Although rumored to be a healer, the bird didn’t exactly have a confirmed backstory. What if, like their wolf father, the child was a shapeshifter? SJM didn’t explicitly state how the shapeshifter gene works. A case could be made that the gene could be passed on without a specific animal being attached to it.

Even if the owl is not Maeve’s offspring hiding in plain sight, there are still plausible theories as to where the child could exist. Maeve could have easily hidden a child in her kingdom and manipulated the minds of caregivers to obscure identity. In this vein, she could also have erased any knowledge of a child’s existence or of her potential pregnancy from the minds of The Cadre, Connall included.

Maeve may also have gotten rid of Connall for this very reason. If she only required a child (perhaps multiple children) from Connall, not true companionship, then he would have at some point fulfilled his purpose. He would have become disposable, especially if Maeve wanted her progeny kept secret. At some point, the kid would likely start asking after their parentage. As a single parent, Maeve would have total control over the child’s life. We know she loves to be a puppeteer; she’d never allow anyone else to pull her kid’s strings. Or, maybe Fenrys is the true father, and Connall figured this out. Either way, Maeve couldn’t risk that knowledge getting out and making her vulnerable.

I already suspected that Connall was manipulated into his own demise, but the theory that it furthered Maeve’s hidden agenda (while also causing Fenrys pain), gives additional weight to the idea.

And when we think about Rhys in connection to Maeve, many puzzle pieces begin to make sense. His mind-bending abilities are unrivaled. He can break a brain with little effort. Rhys was even able to hide an entire city for decades. He shape-shifts into a monstrous form and struggles with this dark side. Sounds like Rhys has a lot in common with his violet-eyed ancestor. And let’s not forget that Rhys, just like the wolf twins, is one of the characters able to winnow in ACOTAR.

Mor, Rhys’s cousin with the same lineage, can also winnow. Yes, there are others in ACOTAR who have the winnowing ability, and that could mean potential mixing of lines for those families. It’s worth exploring.

Updating to add:

Forgot to mention that the word “Daemati” suggests these mind-reading powers are “demonic”. And Maeve was a demon/Valg.

Thanks for reading!

What do you think? Did Maeve have an heir? Multiple heirs? If so, with whom? Is Rhysand Maeve’s descendant?

[zaynes-ocs]

Tempest

Tw for graphic descriptions of execution via electric chair

This is part 3 of milo’s backstory read parts 1 and 2 here:

Part 1

Part 2

He was going to die.

He was just a boy.

He was going to be executed.

All of these realizations had slowly settled in on Milo’s psyche as he had sat huddled in his cell for the few days he was allowed as the world around prepared for his death while he was left to stew in the anxiety of it all. Every set of footsteps echoing down the hallways sending a jolt of terror down his spine, wondering if it was finally his time until his anxiety ran him numb. At some point, he stopped caring, though he couldn’t for the life of him remember when, so when those footsteps finally halted in front of his cell one day, he found it easy to stand.

He didn’t resist as he was guided down the hall, chains jangling like the bells that would toll for his demise as his feet shuffled against the cool cobblestone floor towards his doom. His tears had long dried from the hours if not days upon sobbing he did in his cell, and quite frankly he was over it by now.

Even as the doors moaned open into a dimly lit room, he felt nothing. His dull, lifeless gaze settled upon the only piece of furniture in the entire room as he entered. A single, wooden chair was bolted to the ground, metal restraints that shimmered like the foaming waves of the trecherous waters of a flood were attatched to the arms and legs of the chair while another sheet of metal lay in the seat. Up the oaken backing stuck another line of frigid metal leading up to an odd mechanical circlet hanging by looping wires that spiraled up into a cold and clinical cobweb of copper and iron.

“Take your seat.” Came the guard’s command, to which Milo silently complied, wincing breifly as the metal cuffs of the chair bit and constricted his wrists and ankles, a discomfort that he promised himself would disappear soon, as dead people dont feel.

The chair was uncomfortable in design, forcing Milo’s back staight as the cold metal backing pressed up against his spine while the circlet clenched like the fangs of a predator against his temple as his guard checked over his restraints.

“Sorry to have to do this to you kid… but orders are orders…” The guard sighed as he took a step back, glancing over the young boy’s form with a grimace of discomfort. “If you have any final words to get out… I’ll record them for you if you’d like.”

“Alec is a lying bastard… and I hope he rots in hell.” Milo softly snarled, surprising even himself at the venom that drolled off his tongue, astonished to the new feeling of pure, vengeful rage that held no room for fear to prevent him from speaking, for what place does fear have in a dead man’s body anyways?

The guard’s mouth formed a fine, grim line in silent understanding of those words before he swiftly made gis departure, leaving Milo alone in the room with only the feeling of impending demise and the ever present weight of his mother’s ring boring a hole through his pocket. At least he’d have a chance to apologize for being late to dinner this way, he supposed.

His fists clenched in nervous anticipation as a soft electrical hum filled the air, almost a squealing shrill scream that danced through the wires before it roared into a cacophonous buzzing as untamed blue light shot down the wores, igniting across the metal of the chair before sinking its prickly fangs into Milo’s nervous system, his skin clicking and popping as sparks jumped between him and the metal, forcing his body rigid as the sheer power overrode his body as his execution began.

He couldn’t scream, nor control any of the haphazard spasms and convultions that rocked his body against the chair, his jaw forced tight as lightning danced hotter than fire through his blood, burning and stinging far worse than he could even imagine as his heart was forced to thunder with every spasm, constricting and gasping for every missed beat as it tried to keep up with it all. Milo’s very spine scalded like magma as it was forced against the metal, his skin feeling like it was boiling from the inside as the tingly sensation of needle-like sparks jabbed and stabbed at the very bone, sending shudder after shudder to the rest of his limbs that rattled and bashed against their restraints that only served to burn him further, condensing the circut into only his body and leaving the excess nowhere else to go as it was forced to burn its way back through the body reversably.

The circlet atop his head bit and hissed as a bolt of energy danced across his face like a thunderclap, searing its way over one of his eyes with a terrible flash that nearly blinded him as his eyes watered with tears that wished to express themself, his lip tearing and cracking as the lightning tore him apart from the inside. His heart hammered faster and faster until he was certain it had stopped completely before it seized once again, his organs twisting and churning just like his limbs with no way for him to control their movements before the electricity finally ceased, and his heart lulled to a final stop.

Mere seconds had felt like an eternity as Milo’s head slouched forward, his snowy hair straying from the path of gravity with wn electric hum to it as his mind slowly began to fuzz and fade, his last few surviving moments of air to his brain dissappearing with every sefond as his vision grew darker and darker, conciousness fading with it as he was faintly aware of the sensation of his restraints finally loosening before a sudden, violent spark leapt between his fingertips and danced its way back through his body, and his heart began to beat again.

Gasping out, Milo lunged forward with a vicegrip, holding on for desperate life as his systems reinstated themselves and his vision returned, only to find his hand wound tightly around the neck of one of the guards and his pocket filled with a warm, energetic buzz that drew him like a moth to a flame. Wordlessly, he dug his other hand in, finding a small sapphire ring hidden amongst the cloth that hummed with purpose and gave off a faint glow almost that mesmerized the newly awakened elf as the cogs in his mind slowly began to turn, remembering once more who he was, where he was and what exactly had just transpired before a roar of rage shot through his body, a surge of energy flowing through his arm like a tidal wave before it slammed into the helpless guard with a violent electric flurry, brilliant blue sparks shooting out and swarming his arm like ribbons.

The guard lay bloodied and motionless on the floor of the chamber, earning nothing but a glower from the elf a gave him nothing more than a glance before turning his attention back to the ring in his pocket which slipped flawlessly onto his finger, calling to him like destiny as he shed what remained of the shy, quiet boy from the village and donned a new outlook on life and an all consuming rage the likes he had never felt before. His very mind itself had changed as he stormed his way out of the prison like a hurricane, wind and thunder smiting any who blocked his path as he had only one destination lingering in his mind.

They wanted a monster to blame so badly?

They’d get their monster.

Part 4 - FINAL PART!

[patches-bitsandbobs]

started: 2/7/2018: Mr. Green’s yoyo is stolen, and he finds himself within the strange world of the Noid Void!

he'd lost interest in what was happening the moment he'd fallen into the Noid Void. a random assortment of sentient pizza toppings, scattered Domino pizza boxes, a vast emptiness that seemed to stretch on forever; really, it wasn't enough to captivate his attention, and he was still pretty salty about his recent loss to the Noid. to make things worse, he found out that his yoyo was missing off his person, and that was before being teleported to where ever the fuck he was now. and sure, he'd found his yoyo; pretty recently after he'd lost it, too, but god, at what cost?

he couldn’t help but think if the entire thing was a trap. with how much running he’s had to do in the span of a few short minutes, the idea seems more and more likely.

at first, he pinned all of the blame on the red bastard, who was continuing to make his life forevermore miserable. but when he paid attention to the details, he realised that that was giving Noid way too much credit. sure, he could be a mastermind at destroying pizza - dare he even say that he could destroy them in a creative manner - but to do all this? even he hadn't thought of such a demise - to trap someone in a world full of toppings and boxes, and worlds compromised souly for completing the Domino tower to somewhere. that would have been an even better plan to take over New York! just keep everyone stuck in a void of nothingness, forced to eat nothing but Dominos pizza!

so, after hanging around, he guessed that someone really had it out for him. as if he deserved such treatment. he'd never done anything wrong in his entire life, and the havoc of New York obviously didn't count. nope, he was innocent; a pure hearted soul. if anyone deserved this, it was the Noid, not him.

he ends up at the top of the completed Domino tower, after gruelling hours of going through each world, swinging and jumping and climbing to reach those sweet sweet boxes of pizza goodness. he's thrown into a black and blue world, and at that point, he is beyond pissed off. he swears that whoever's behind this fuckery is going to get a swift punch to the face. as if the Noid wrecking his plans and ruining his reputation wasn't enough humiliation; now he had to put up with this shit too. it was insulting! oh it made him positively seethe!

after scaling some static filled TV's and doing some more light swinging, he breaks a cracked TV with a die and falls into a large room that architecturally makes no sense. he see's a man on a separate platform hunched behind a desk, looking bored yet interested at the same time, and pure rage boils from his core.

'yo, where the fuck am I, crayon man?' the man's response is silence. it didn't help improve his mood. 'uh, can you talk over there, chump?'

'what's the matter?' the man finally said, his voice all weirdly pitched and robotic. 'did you stink of failure so much that you had to change suits, or did red become a boring colour to look pathetic in?' that especially bit at a nerve.

'who the fuck do you think you're talkin' to, guy? do I look like that red piece of shit, or are you jus' blind and stupid? as if I'd look any good in red anyway! so fuckin' insulting!' the blue haired man looked taken aback and, quite frankly, insulted at his snap.

'do you kiss your mother with that mouth?'

'my backstory wasn't developed enough for me to honestly answer that question.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'then beg.' the man looked irritated, and he shook his head.

'enough! are you the Noid, here to stop my plans, or not?'

'the fuck I ain't, chump!' he placed his hands on his hips, frowny eyes deepening in their spite. 'I might look like his twin, but that means fuck all. I ain't as dumb as him, for one, and I can ask animals and men alike to do my evil biddings for me. all he does is destroy pizzas- anyway fuck all'a that, are you the bitch that stole my yoyo?' obviously, from the mans bewildered expression and stunned replies, the hellhole he'd experienced hadn't been meant for him. fucking wonderful. 'are you tellin' me,' he began, as he stalked towards the edge of the platform, 'that this entire thing weren't even meant for me?'

'you look no different than him! and I'm sure that erasing the world with you in it would make little difference to the outcome! I am going to release the Vocal Noid whether you stop me or not!' the man stood up, hands flat on the desk, determination in his grimace, and Mr. Green had no clue as to what the fuck he was going on about. 'that Noid is already dead! his five minutes of fame are already over! it means little to me that I get rid of his counterpart too! in fact, it would do me more favours, with getting rid of your pesky existence!' 

'watch that mouth'a yours my dude, least you want to keep usin' it.'

'HA! and what are you going to do? as if you could jump this gap.' now he sounded impossibly smug, and it was in that one moment that Mr. Green deemed the man to death. 'I programmed this part of the world specifically for this one moment, so there is no way a dead mascot like you could ever make it without needlessly tumbling to your death over and over again-' he stopped running his mouth when he spotted two green ears in front of his desk, softly bobbing up and down. he peeked over the edge, and saw two beady, angry eyes and a malicious, open-mouthed grin greeting him, his arms swinging by his sides in an almost taunting manner. he hadn't even head his footsteps, nor his menacing "HEH" when he'd bridged the large gap. 

Mr. Green hopped up on the desk with ease, a mitten-gloved hand clenched tightly into Mike's vest faster than the Vocoloid could react, and suddenly he was face to uncomfortable face with the not-mascot. there was no way Mr. Green was allowing someone to continue living when they compared him to the Noid.

'told you I weren't that red bastard, shit for brains.' 

and now he's stuck in that world, because he killed Mike by punching him in the face so god damn hard, his metallic brain had exploded out the back of his head. he's pretty sure that his hand is broken, but it's not his yoyo-ing hand, so he's relatively fine with it. the world is now, by definition, saved, since Mike is dead and the Vocal Noid was never truly allowed to be released for the world to dematerialise, but the heavenly spire never returned to its place either. Mr. Green got out of ??? ??? and returned to the Noid Void, and upon finding out that nothing had changed in terms of his freedom, he figured, "fuck it, this is my new home now. even if it sucks ass". 

so he lives there with all the other toppings and a broken hand, and he supposes that things could be ultimately worse. it's a kinda happy ending I guess

the Noid, back in the safety of New York, happily walks home none the wiser, with his bundle of pizza boxes stacked under one arm, and his other hand bouncing his yoyo up and down.

//

this is stupid 3jsdhgsdf the original is still up on AO3, and it even had images?? I got no idea what they even were, but if I had to hazard a guess, it was probably this

[jikookiekosmos]

Classified & Confidential || kth (Part 1)

➥Pairing: detective!taehyung/reader

➥Summary: It’s been years since your close friend passed away, case going cold due to lack of evidence. You never once believed the story the police gave you, since they classified it under an ‘unfortunate accident.’ Now that there are telltale signs of something similar at play regarding someone else you hold dear, you decide to take things into your own hands. You hire world renowned private detective, Kim Taehyung. And he goes above and beyond everything you expected.

➥Genre: strangers to lovers (kinda slow burn), detective au, mystery, angst, eventual smut, fluff

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: ~7.1k

➥Content Warnings: detective/mystery au, (tw: mentions of death, brief mention of suicide in relation to a criminal case, implied foul play, stalking behavior, non-graphic detailing of a crime scene), slight forensic talk, mentions of nervousness and anxiety, some cursing, mentions of cops/police, unhelpful law enforcement (like they’re kinda terrible with the whole solving this case thing), feelings of unease and tension, we get bestie hoseok, tae is kinda extra but for good reason, no suggestiveness/smut in this chapter but it’s still 18+ due to it involving some of the aforementioned warnings

A/N: This will be a multi-part series that explores some darker themes, and each part will have appropriate content warnings listed; please read at your own risk. This part touches on backstory and introduces the characters, things will start getting a little more intense in the following chapters. I don’t have any kind of specific update schedule but ideally I’d like to get updates out every few weeks at the latest! I hope you look forward to this, and if you wanna be added to a taglist, please let me know~

Thank you @dntaewithluv​​​​ for your constant motivation and support (and for always beta-reading for me, even when we scream at each other about our ideas); hopefully I do Tae justice for you! I love you lots ❤️

taglist: @inlovewiththemoonn @mwitsmejk​ @bangtanhome

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

5 Years Ago

The night sky was dark, blanketed by stars as it emitted a peaceful aura. There was no way to bask in the calmness of the night, however, with all the hustle and bustle that surrounded you outside of the apartment complex.

Crime scene tape marked off the area, and many onlookers had gathered to try and get a glimpse of what happened. You were one yourself, but you weren’t there out of sheer curiosity.

Your breathing was ragged, staggered, as you tried to hold yourself together and observed the scene in front of you unfold.

Police wouldn’t let you beyond the tape, despite knowing the person currently covered by the white tarp.

Minutes prior, one of the cops had been politely trying to hold you back as you thrashed around, mind muddled by the vision of your best friend’s face before the tarp concealed it.

“I’m sorry, we can’t let anyone unauthorized come past this tape, please stay where you are.”

“You don’t understand, that’s my best friend, please let me through, please-”

You couldn’t control the volume of your screams, prompting a few of the other bystanders to try and calm you down seeing as you were very clearly distraught.

An unknown amount of time passed before the thickest part of the crowd decided they’d had enough excitement for one night, retiring to their own homes. You stayed planted in your spot, prepared to not move until you got more of an explanation for what was going on.

You’d resigned yourself to the fact that if someone wanted you to leave, they’d have to do it by force, but you eventually complied after two cops convinced you to come down to the station and issue a statement, given your relation to the victim.

They didn’t grill you hard, which was something you appreciated at the time, since you were really in no state to handle a grueling interrogation. You knew you could be marked down as a potential suspect, but everything from their investigation pointed to them believing it had either been an accident or a possible suicide attempt, the latter of which would almost entirely exclude your involvement.

Over the next few weeks, you cooperated with the investigation and helped them with whatever leads you could provide; you were determined that foul play was involved, because you knew your best friend better than anyone, and the story the cops were feeding you wasn’t adding up.

The theory as you knew it was this: she jumped from her apartment window, which was up a significant amount of stories, more than enough to kill a person. A potential suicide note was found at the scene on the nightstand by her bed, typed on a sheet of paper, so handwriting analysis wasn’t an option. The apartment was undisturbed aside from the window having been open.

It almost seemed like a cut-and-dried case, aside from one other small factor: unknown DNA from a hair follicle was found in the apartment alongside the victim’s own.

This didn’t surprise you…at first. You knew Ky had been perusing multiple dating apps and would often invite people over to her place after successful dates. But as far as you also knew, Ky hadn’t recently been on any dates, so there wasn’t a clear reason for that DNA to show up.

Ky had told you in the weeks leading up to her death that she was afraid someone had been following her around, and it unsettled her so much so that she deleted all the dating apps on her phone until she felt safe again.

Sadly, that day never came, and this fact alone caused the nagging suspicion of foul play to burrow itself even deeper into your subconscious.

Since the DNA was unknown, tracing it would be no easy task, but that didn’t stop you. Anything you could do to shed light on what had actually occurred, you were going to do it, plain and simple.

Which is why when the police decided to close the file on the case and label it as an ‘unfortunate accident,’ you were floored.

You begged them to keep focusing on leads when there really weren’t any, offering to aid in any way you could because there was no way that there wasn’t something missing.

Their response?

“Go home, Y/N, there’s nothing else you can do.”

You left the station that day only after you had caused somewhat of a scene, arguing back and forth with one of the lead detectives until you were ‘carefully escorted’ outside. Enraged, you banged your hand against the glass of the door before you slid down the wall beside it, hugging your knees as you tried to compose yourself.

You weren’t sitting that way for long before you felt a gentle tug on your sleeve. You looked up reluctantly and were met with one of the softest pairs of eyes you’d ever seen.

The stranger offered you a kind smile, one that made your heart ache in the aftermath of everything you’d endured the last several weeks. You’d been tackling this situation all on your own, with barely any help from mutual friends or Ky’s family since she’d been estranged from them.

But now, this man stooped down in front of you and smiling at you like everything would be alright…

It almost made you want to believe it.

“Hi, I uh, couldn’t help but overhear about your situation,” he finally spoke up, sounding somewhat bashful. He had bright red hair that peeked out under a cap he wore, and he was sporting a rainbow colored sweater.

A tinge of embarrassment fluttered through you. “Oh. Sorry you had to witness that.”

So this random stranger heard you telling off the police by yelling at them in broad daylight. Way to make a first impression.

To your surprise, he simply shook his head, smile widening. “No, don’t be sorry! I was, uh – happy to be able to listen.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “Ok…may I ask why?”

“Well,” there was that bashful tone again, hand flying to the back of his neck as he looked to the side, “I’d been coming up here for a while, hoping to hear something regarding this case specifically. Usually when I stop by, there isn’t much going on and it’s not like I can just walk in and ask for classified information-”

He stopped speaking immediately once you held up your hand. You didn’t want to be rude, but you were thoroughly confused.

“Is there a reason why you’re eavesdropping for information about this case?”

He nodded eagerly. “Sure is! See, I’m working as a crime reporter, and-”

You scoffed as you pushed yourself to a standing position. “Unbelievable.”

Without sparing another glance to the gentleman, you shouldered past him, earlier hopeful mood soured by the fact that he was just another person looking for a scoop about Ky’s demise.

He was quick to follow, almost jumping down the steps to catch up to you.

“Hey, wait! Please.”

The way he begged pulled at your heartstrings because of how genuine he sounded, and for reasons beyond you, you turned around to face him and decided to hear him out.

You crossed your arms as he sighed with relief.

“Thank you. Ok, to start with, I’m a crime reporter, but I’m not trying to report on this case as everyone knows it.”

Another eyebrow raise from you. “What do you mean?”

The man smiled shyly, brushing away the red hair in his eyes. “I want to bring the injustice of the system to the public’s attention.”

That got your attention. “You do?”

“Yes. And I think your story could help with that.”

“My story?”

He nodded again, this time more eager than the last. “You’re pretty adamant that what happened to your friend was no accident, am I correct?”

Any mention of Ky caused the dull pain in your chest to come back, but at least this time, she wasn’t being mentioned in a gruesome or negative light.

“Yeah, I really don’t think it was an accident. But no one believes me.” You looked down at your shoes, scuffling one against the pavement.

You only looked up again when you felt the stranger’s hand on your shoulder.

“I believe you.”

All of the breath was knocked out of you.

“You…you believe me?”

The smile he gave you this time was bright and sincere as he dropped his hand by his side. “I do. I’ve been following everything posted online or in the newspaper about this case, and some of it just really does not seem plausible. And then after hearing you today, it made so much sense as to why.”

It still bothered you a bit that you were loud enough in the station to be heard outside, but that worry was now being overshadowed by the possibility of having someone else who could stand by you on your conviction.

“It…really means a lot to me that you would even consider my side of things. Truthfully, I think the police only tolerated me this long due to protocol.” You wrapped your arms around yourself.

The red-haired man grimaced at your remark. “Yeah, no kidding. For as long as I’ve been in this line of work, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them take things as seriously as they should.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“About a year. But trust me, I’ve seen a lot during that time.” His determined expression might have made you giggle under other circumstances because it clashed so much with the rest of his soft demeanor.

“I don’t doubt it.” You walked over to the nearby bench seated a few feet away and the stranger followed hesitantly, only sitting beside you when you didn’t give him any indication his presence was unwanted.

The both of you turned toward each other slightly before you spoke up again.

“So, how can I help you with what you’re wanting to do?”

He seemed pleased that you were on board, eyes shining. “For starters, do you think I could interview you? I’d have to ask some sensitive questions, but I feel like I could have a better understanding of the case that way…only if you’re comfortable, though.”

You swallowed as you thought it over. Your participation in the numerous interrogations during the investigation had now proved to lead nowhere, but maybe this time the outcome would be different.

“Sure, I don’t mind. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, to the best of my ability.”

The stranger beamed, looking happy enough to nearly jump out of the bench, despite the current subject matter. “Great!”

His cheerful nature was a little infectious, you had to admit, because you already started to feel a little lighter in his presence. A hand appeared in your line of vision.

“My name is Hoseok, by the way. We haven’t been properly introduced yet so that would be the next best step, I think.”

You did giggle this time at his action. “Nice to meet you, Hoseok. I’m Y/N.” You took his hand into your own to give it a small but firm shake.

“It’s my pleasure, Y/N. Now,” he regarded you with that same soft look he had in his eyes when you first saw him at the station, “what do you say we discuss some logistics over lunch? My treat, of course, since you’re agreeing to help me.”

For the first time in ages, the smile that graced your face was wholeheartedly genuine. “Sounds good.”

Thus, the beginning of a beautiful, long-lasting friendship bloomed that day outside of the one place you’d begun to loathe more than anything else. Over the next few years, Hoseok stood by your side in more ways than you could count, and he was now someone you considered to be one of the best friends you’d ever had.

One of the only best friends you’d ever had.

What you never expected was to be seated with Hoseok at the same diner that started your initial conversation about Ky’s case 5 years later, discussing something much too similar for your liking.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Present Day

You sipped from your coffee mug, enjoying the warm beverage as you waited at the diner. The weather had been less than ideal, with rain pouring all day long and displaying little signs of stopping.

But Hoseok had been adamant about the two of you meeting up after your voicemail you left the previous night.

As you were thinking about your close friend, you heard the bell above the diner door ring, signaling his arrival. He spotted you across the room and quickly rushed over to your table, leaving rain droplets in his wake.

Hoseok shrugged out of his soaked jacket and tossed in into the booth seat beside him as he shook his head to – hopefully – rid himself of the water trying to slide down his face.

“Hey,” he finally breathed out once he was settled. His usual wild red hair was darker now thanks to the rain, stern expression plastered onto his face.

“Hey.” You responded meekly, attempting to give him a weak smile. Your stomach was churning with unease at the conversation you were about to have.

Hoseok took a deep breath before he folded his hands together and rested his elbows on the table. The coffee you’d ordered for him had been pushed to the side, momentarily forgotten.

He lowered his voice. “Are you sure the pattern of behavior is the same?”

You nodded slowly, going over all the details again in your mind. “I’m positive. The only difference is Yuri waited longer to tell me that she thinks she’s being followed than Ky did.”

Ky. Not a day went by where you didn’t think about her, seeing her smiling face when you would close your eyes at night and try to drift off to sleep.

Slumber came much easier these days than it did those first few months, but every now and then the same nightmare would plague you about the night you saw her on the sidewalk.

You shook your head to shrug the thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time.

“Shit,” Hoseok finally responded. “That doesn’t seem like good news for us.”

“My thoughts exactly. Who knows how long this has been going on. And she’s been receiving the same kind of ‘gifts’ Ky would get, too. Random text messages, voicemails from unknown numbers…she tries to brush it off, but I know this scares Yuri.”

“She doesn’t recognize who’s speaking in the voicemails?”

You shook your head solemnly. “No, they’re using some sort of voice modifier.”

Hoseok cursed again, this time under his breath. “Well, what do you want to do?”

You gulped. Truthfully, you didn’t know the answer yourself. On the one hand, everything currently happening to your friend mimicked what happened to Ky, almost exactly. But on the other hand, Yuri made it known time and time again that she thought you were too paranoid for your own good sometimes.

So, you were at a loss.

Yuri and you were close, in a sense. You’d been friends for the last 4 years, working at the same company after graduating from college and even getting transferred to a new one in the same division so as to not be separated. Outside of Hoseok, you considered her your dearest friend.

But at the same time, you knew that Yuri had those she held very dear in her own life that were there before you, and you’d never try to overstep.

Still…the events surrounding Yuri were too specific to be coincidental in your opinion, and if the hunch you had right now was correct, you needed to do something.

You wouldn’t – you couldn’t – let another person die. Not if there was some way for you to prevent it.

Something you didn’t do with Ky, and that would haunt you for the rest of your life-

Hoseok pulled you out of your thoughts by calling your name, frowning deeply once your gaze focused on him again.

“I…I don’t know. I feel like if I push too hard on this, I’ll also push Yuri away, and I don’t want that.” You worried at your bottom lip, your most infamous nervous habit.

“Be that as it may, this doesn’t seem like something you should ignore either. What’s worse: pushing her away but potentially saving her life, or not saying anything and she ends up in danger?”

A heavy sigh wracked through your body.

Your silence was enough for Hoseok to continue with his own line of thinking. “Well, we could consider going to the police-”

“Absolutely not,” you answered fiercely, with more emotion than you’d displayed the entire conversation, “not after how they handled everything with Ky and how they treated you.”

You and Hoseok had made a name for yourself throughout the town as ‘Public Enemies 1 and 2’ with the local police department. You, due to your persistent insistence that they were wrong in their deduction about Ky, and Hoseok because of the article he published that shamed their name.

The article was the first – and last – one that he published under the company that had hired him to be a reporter, seeing as the police department had enough sway to get him fired afterwards. He wasn’t able to find another reporting job anywhere within the town or those surrounding it.

There also weren’t any remaining records of the article anywhere online or in paper publication, but as a ‘fuck you’ to the department, Hoseok had a copy of it printed and hanging up on his wall for anyone and everyone to see. You had always admired how he handled the situation with grace even though it made your blood boil every time you thought about it.

Even so, some good had come from the whole ordeal. After failing to find another reporter job, Hoseok had made a somewhat notable career as a crime novel author, popular among locals because of how he came to be a novelist, and eventually rising to fame due to his own amazing writing skills.

He enjoyed his career and had a happy life, but that didn’t mean you had to forgive and forget the shitty events that happened to get him to that point.

Hoseok nodded in understanding. “Ok, so no police. Does that mean we try to tackle this whole thing by ourselves?”

“Neither of us have any legit experience with this kind of stuff, so that’s out of the question, too.”

Hoseok tapped his chin as he pondered another idea. The way his eyes lit up as it came to him made your lips curve upward.

“What if we go to someone who isn’t involved with the police but does have experience with that?”

“…not sure I’m following you.”

Hoseok huffed in an endearing way. “Have you ever heard of a private detective?”

The word ‘detective’ made you wince, considering your last encounter with one evolved into a screaming match…but it was also how you met Hoseok, so there’s a silver lining for everything.

“I’m not familiar with a private detective, but I’m open to listening to your idea.”

He grinned. “Perfect. Ok, so in my research for my latest novel, I actually ended up looking into some real-life private detectives.”

“And what did you find?” Your own curiosity was definitely piqued now, as it always was when Hoseok would talk about something so passionately.

“There’s one who’s basically world renowned, like he’s really fucking good. And his office isn’t too far from here, it’s basically in the next town over.”

You took another sip from your coffee, swirling the now lukewarm liquid around in your mouth as you contemplated.

“What else do you know about him?”

Hoseok’s shoulders slumped slightly at that. “Not much. The only information I have on him is his name and how you can contact him. From what I’ve read, he seems to be pretty selective with clients.”

“No idea what he looks like?”

Hoseok shook his head. “None. There weren’t pictures or anything like that, I’m not even sure how old he is.”

You hummed as you pictured this mystery man in your head, automatically defaulting to envisioning an older man, maybe in his 50s with already graying hair. A wise old soul who had seen so much in his long years of investigation work.

“Not like all that really matters, I guess. Do you think I should reach out to him?”

Hoseok nodded around his coffee cup before he tilted his head back to take a large sip. “That’s our best shot right now. And if it doesn’t work out, at least you tried.”

Such a simple statement but it made your stomach twist at the memory of Ky and how you weren’t able to save her because you didn’t know how. “Right.”

Hoseok pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through what looked like Google search results. When he found what he was looking for, he texted you the information.

“Kim Taehyung?” You said the name aloud, making sure you got the correct info.

“Yup, that’s him. If you do decide to contact him, let me know how it goes, ok? I’m already worried as is about you delving into something like this again.”

You patted his hand. “I know, Hobi. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful, and I’ll keep you updated as much as possible.”

He smiled brighter than the sunshine. “That’s all I can ask for, bub.”

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

You paced around your apartment, staring at the text that Hoseok had sent you earlier. The rest of your time with him at the diner had been calm and helped to quell your nerves, but now that you were alone again, you were riddled with anxiety.

You had typed in this Kim Taehyung’s number into your phone, ready to call him and just get it over with. The worst he could do is decline your ask for help, but you wouldn’t know unless you tried.

After a few more minutes of useless pacing, you finally hit ‘send’ and raised the receiver to your ear.

You were met with an answering machine almost immediately, wondering if maybe you typed it in wrong until you heard ‘you have reached the number for Kim Taehyung.’ The name had been uttered by a human voice, one that was deep and took you off guard.

You had barely enough time to ponder over the voice before you heard the tell-tale ‘beep’ signaling for you to start your message.

“Oh! Um, hello, Mr. Kim. This is Y/N- well my name is Y/N. I was referred to you by a friend of mine who said you may can help me with a situation I’m having. There’s…some suspicious behavior involving someone dear to me and I’m afraid they could be in danger, but I’m not sure who to turn to. I-If you’d like to give me a call back, you can reach me at this number…”

You finished your voicemail with your contact information before thanking him and wishing him a goodnight. Once you pulled away your phone, you checked the time.

10:36 PM. No wonder you got his answering machine.

The anxiety that had settled down while you were leaving your message started to come back, so to combat that you made the decision to go ahead and get ready for bed. There wasn’t anything else you could do right now, anyway.

You texted Yuri just to wish her a goodnight, and when you received a response almost immediately, you breathed out a sigh of relief. At least she was alright and that was one less thing to worry about for now.

You didn’t dream that night – which was a blessing in its own right – as you thought about the deep timbre of the voice from the answering machine. You’d only heard it briefly, but it left enough of an impact, that was for sure.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

You awoke around 8 AM, your typical time no matter what day it was. It was the weekend, so you could get more sleep if you wanted, but a quick check of your phone had you sitting upright at a record speed.

[Unknown] 6:28 AM: I got your voicemail. If you want to discuss your case, meet me at this address.

Your heart thumped faster as you re-read the words over again. The following message had an address attached, and when you opened it, you noticed how it was for the neighboring town.

With all of the context clues, and taking into account everything Hoseok told you yesterday, you figured that it was Mr. Kim who had texted you. Obviously it would be from an unknown number, and he wouldn’t give out any explicit personal details to lead back to him; that’s just how he did things, as Hobi had mentioned.

And if he contacted you back, that meant he was interested in helping you!

Well…he was interested in hearing you out, at least. Still, you wouldn’t pass up on this opportunity. You quickly crafted a response before you started to make yourself presentable.

[y/n] 8:03 AM: Thank you! When should I meet you?

You had just finished brushing your teeth when you heard your phone chime again.

[Unknown] 8:06 AM: Whenever is best for you. I’ll be here all day and don’t have any other clients lined up.

You clutched your phone to your chest. This was really happening.

Once you were done getting ready to head out, it was just past 9 AM. You called Hobi to let him know what you were doing, and his excitement was tangible even through the phone. He urged you to keep him posted about all the details, which you assured him that of course you would.

The drive to the address you’d been given didn’t take too long, maybe around 20 minutes or so. What surprised you when you arrived, though, was the outward appearance of the building.

It looked abandoned, for lack of a better term, and you checked the text message 3 more times to make sure this is where you were supposed to be.

[y/n] 9:28 AM: I’m here…but I’m not sure if this is the correct place?

There was an eerie feeling settling in your stomach as you waited for a response. Maybe this had been some sort of trick? Had someone set you up?

The sound of a deadbolt clicking grabbed your attention, and the door a few feet in front of you opened up to display an older woman. At first, she seemed a bit disgruntled at having an unexpected guest, but before you could apologize for intruding, her gruff expression was replaced with a warm smile.

“I take it you’re Y/N?”

You gulped and nodded, placing your phone back into your jacket pocket.

“Follow me.”

She turned on her heel to walk back into the building, not bothering to wait and see if you would obey. You quickly scurried after her, only stopping once you were a foot or so behind.

You walked through about 3 or 4 different hallways, trying to remember the directions you’d taken but failing miserably. There wasn’t much to this building…you saw what appeared to be a few offices here and there but otherwise, not much else.

“Here we are,” the woman croaked, gesturing with her arm to a much nicer looking door that had gold lettering on the window.

The etchings were bold, and it was very evident where you were as you read the words:

KIM TAEHYUNG

Private Detective

The older woman rapped on the door 3 times with her knuckles before she walked off. You were standing there, dumbfounded, until you heard a voice softly telling you to come inside.

The doorknob clicked easily under your hand, and as you entered the room, you were in awe of how different everything looked.

The office was tidy and, dare you say, extravagant compared to what surrounded it outside of this room. There were two brown leather couches that had a decent sized coffee table seated in between them; further into the office, you saw the same type of leather chairs, one in front of and one behind a large wooden desk. You also spotted a few plants that looked to be well taken care of, one sitting in a windowsill and the other on a small table next to some black filing cabinets.

Whoever had designed this room clearly had a knack for matching furniture together, because it all meshed well and you appreciated the sleek look to everything.

Your eyes ended their scan as you looked over to the far wall, almost letting out a gasp when you noticed the figure across the room whose back was turned to you.

When you softly shut the door, the other person in the room turned around. It took you a second to start thinking properly again, because he was not at all how you pictured he would be.

For starters, he looked much younger than you thought originally, closer to your own age, which you thought was admirable considering his high status as a detective. He had brown hair parted down the middle that was slightly wavy, with bangs covering his forehead. He had very handsome facial features as well, some of the most handsome you’d ever seen, if you were being honest with yourself.

He was wearing dark jeans and a shirt with black and white print that was hidden underneath a black leather jacket. Everything about this man seemed to scream fashionable and it was throwing you for a loop. You weren’t trying to stereotype him based on your own experience with detectives in the past, but he was just…so not what you expected him to be.

You were wondering again if this might be a prank, until he finally spoke up and acknowledged your presence.

“Y/N, is it?”

You nodded dumbly, scrambling to walk across the office as he motioned to the chair in front of his desk. He sat down in his own once you were close enough, and you shrugged out of your jacket before following suit.

There was a moment of silence between the two of you, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, you felt small under his scrutinizing gaze. He was leaning on one elbow, chin resting in his palm as he stared at you with intensity.

He spoke suddenly, almost making you flinch with surprise.

“So, you mentioned a friend of yours might be in danger?”

You nodded, not sure what to say or if you should say anything.

“Does this friend know you’ve come to a private detective about their situation?”

You opened your mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “Well…no.”

The man nodded, more to himself than you, it looked like. “Alright. That’s not an issue, just have to cover all the basics first.”

“What do the basics entail?”

He seemed amused by your interest as you took the initiative to ask questions now.

His fingertips drummed along the desk, a rhythmic sound that you found to be oddly soothing.

“It entails me finding out as much about your case as I’m willing to before I decide whether or not it’s something I can assist you with.”

He started twirling a pen with his unoccupied fingers, clearly waiting for you to speak first again before he continued.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you feel is pertinent to tell me.”

You sighed. “Well, to start with, I think my friend is being followed by someone-”

“Proof?”

You frowned. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Do you have proof? Does this friend have pictures or a video of them being followed, or is it just a feeling?”

“To my knowledge…no. It’s more that they sense it than have actually seen it.”

“And you want me to find out if this is happening or not?”

“Um…yes?”

It was his turn to sigh this time. “You don’t sound very confident in your answer, Y/N.”

His tone rubbed you the wrong way. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What it means,” he broke off to look away from the pen to your face again, “is that I need to know what it is you want from me before I can agree to help you.”

You were catching onto his game now. He wanted you to very specifically lay it all out for him, instead of leaving him to figure it out by grasping at straws.

“Well, Mr. Kim-”

“Taehyung.”

“Sorry?”

“Taehyung. You can call me that, if you want. I’m not super big on formalities for myself.”

You chewed the inside of your cheek. Why was his presence so overwhelming?

“With all due respect, Mr. Kim, I’ve never done this before. All I know is something isn’t right, and I don’t trust the police to offer assistance in the way I need.”

You swore you saw something flash in his eyes.

“Why don’t you trust the police?”

You crossed your arms and leaned more into the chair. “The last time I worked with them, it didn’t end well.”

“You’ve worked on the force?” He almost sounded impressed.

“No, sorry, poor choice of wording. I tried to help them with a case before.”

“Ah,” his eyes narrowed as he busied himself with the pen again. “Were you a suspect, or?”

“I was close to the victim,” you said softly, almost a whisper.

For a moment, his expression softened. “I’m so sorry.”

You shrugged, inhaling a shaky breath as you looked at your lap. “It’s fine. Just…there’s your answer. I don’t want to work with them again, so I came to you.”

“If I’m able to take your case, I’ll make sure you don’t regret that decision.”

His tone had you picking your eyes back up. You noticed a fire within his own, one that made you feel like he meant every single word he’d just said to you.

“Thank you.”

He carded a hand through his hair, the action drawing your attention to the silver watch that adorned his wrist.

“Can I ask…could you tell me about the case you were involved with?”

A slow nod from you. “If it’ll help, I can do that.”

He motioned for you to continue. As you started telling him the details, you noticed as his eyes widened. At one point, he politely interrupted you.

“Sorry, just – I remember that case. You were involved with that?”

“Yes.” You were twisting your hands together in your lap. “Ky was my best friend.”

“And the police just let the case go cold, without considering all traces of evidence?”

“I begged them not to, but there wasn’t much I could do. They made that known several times,” you trailed off. You thought you heard some semblance of a growl coming from the detective.

“I always knew something was weird about that…every report they published made no sense, and none of the pieces of evidence seemed to corroborate their theories.” His hushed tone suggested he may have been talking more to himself, but you didn’t question it.

“There were signs of suspicious behavior leading up to her death that they never considered, and any time I tried to bring it up, I was shut down immediately.”

“Are these ‘signs’ something you’re noticing now, with your other friend?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Taehyung hummed. “I see. You want to inspect this before it gets out of hand, so you came to me because the police are a lost cause.”

You nodded feebly, voice softer than ever when you spoke again. “I don’t want to see another person die.”

“You won’t.”

His answer startled you, even if it was as quiet as your own. Your eyes met briefly before he started looking anywhere but your face.

Another hush befell the room, and this one seemed more awkward than the last, considering Taehyung cleared his throat before he rifled through one of his desk drawers.

“Before you tell me anything else, I need you to look over something first.”

“Sure, whatever I need to do, I’ll do it.”

A crooked smile tugged at Taehyung’s lips. “You know, you’re a lot more obedient than most of my other clients.”

You…weren’t sure how to take that.

“I am?”

“Yeah. Most of the time they come in with demands and don’t like to listen when I push back on something. It’s part of the reason why I’ve gotten choosier about who I decide to do business with these last few years. But you,” he fished out a piece of paper from the drawer, “are proving much easier to work with. I appreciate that.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

He chuckled, the sound low. “You’re also way more polite than most people I encounter.”

You smiled at him for the first time. “I’m grateful you’re taking the time to hear me out.”

His eyes lingered on yours for just a second before shifting down.

“First and foremost,” Taehyung slid a piece of paper across the wooden desk that separated the two of you, “if we agree to do business, you’ll need to sign this contract. It lists my stipulations and services I can provide.”

You picked up the paper, not quite sure what to expect.

“Take your time to read over all of it carefully, just so everything is clear on both our ends.” He leaned back in his chair, the sound of squeaking leather breaking your concentration for a moment.

You scanned through every line, all of the contract terms seeming straight-forward and easy to agree to-

-but the last line caught your attention.

“Could you explain this last part, please?”

Taehyung leaned over to look at which line you were pointing to before he let out a soft chuckle. “Ah, that. My #1 most important rule. Never get involved with clients’ personal lives.”

“But don’t you have to sometimes?”

“For work, yes. But this is more referring to what happens outside of that. Things can get…messy.”

“You talk like that’s happened before.”

Taehyung smirked but offered nothing more to that specific conversation.

“So, are we in business?”

You didn’t have to ponder long before you signed the contract with a flourish. When you passed it back across the desk, Taehyung smiled.

“Perfect,” he stood up to shake your hand, “I’ll be in touch with you shortly, once I’ve reviewed your case.”

You returned the shake. “Thank you, Mr. Kim.”

He squeezed your hand once before letting it go.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

You waited to see if there was anything else he might need from you, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. He leaned down and sifted through his drawer once more, this time pulling out a Manila file folder.

“I use these to get the typical information needed for me to start my research. It just asks for client’s name and contact info, as well as a summary about what you’re wanting from me and other names of those involved. In this instance, it would be your friend. You can give me as little or as much info as you think I need.”

He handed the folder to you, and upon opening it up, you saw everything he had just mentioned to you on a sheet of paper stapled to the inside.

“I’d prefer you fill it out now so you can leave it with me, but of course I can’t force you to do anything.”

His tone suggested he was teasing, but you were quick to sit on one of the couches and begin filling out the paper. It didn’t take you very long, and when you were done, you noticed he was sitting on the opposite couch, elbows resting on his knees with his hands folded.

“Finished?”

You nodded as you slid the file across the coffee table, his pen placed on top. He accepted both and smiled at you.

“Alright, if that’s all you want to discuss, you’re free to go. As I mentioned before, I’ll be in touch with you after I’ve looked over everything and have some sort of plan on how to proceed. And of course, all of this information is strictly classified. You read that in the contract, but I always reiterate it anyway, due to some problems I’ve had in the past.”

“Of course.” You agreed with no hesitation. Honestly, you couldn’t fathom just how much he’s had to endure in his line of work, how many times he’s probably had to change locations and phone numbers.

Hell, Kim Taehyung may not even be his real name, and you’d never know.

“Any questions for me?”

You mumbled some form of ‘no’ as you shook your head. Taehyung walked over to the door to open it for you, and you certainly weren’t expecting the same woman from before to be out in the hallway, but there she was.

“Ms. Choi will show you out since this place is a bit of a maze,” his tone was light, a sheer contrast to the mood that had settled over the two of you from when you stepped into his office. “Don’t forget: I’ll contact you.”

“Yes, sir.” You couldn’t help the authoritative term as it slipped past your lips, and you walked through the door before you could see the look on his face. You thought you might have heard some sort of laugh from Ms. Choi as she escorted you back to the front, but your imagination liked to play tricks on you sometimes.

Besides, Taehyung said he wasn’t one for formalities, so it didn’t really matter that much, did it? He had to be older than you anyway…right?

You spent the entire walk through the building trying to justify in your head what had just happened, and Ms. Choi gave you a soft smile as she held the door open for you to leave.

When you settled back in your car, you gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath, leaning your head back as you shut your eyes.

You still couldn’t quite believe that the last 30 minutes or so had happened. Taehyung had proven to be quite different than what you anticipated, but he was truthfully better than you could have hoped.

He seemed driven and motivated about his line of work, and the way he reassured you when you had your doubts-

-it made you feel…safe. Like this was a step in the right direction after all.

As you called Hobi to fill him in on everything during your drive home, you started to believe that maybe, just maybe, things would turn out alright.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

➥Part 2

➥Series Masterlist

➥All Works Masterlist

[mercurygray]

So, I Hear You Liked: 1917

More World War One Films

I was very excited about 1917 when it first came out because it almost perfectly coincided with the 100th anniversary of the First World War, a conflict that I love to read about, write about, and watch movies about. This period is my JAM, and there's such a lot of good content for when you're done with Sam Mendes's film.

Obviously there are a lot of movies and TV shows out there - this is just a selection that I enjoyed, and wish more people knew about.

Note: Everyone enjoys a show or movie for different reasons. These shows are on this list because of the time period they depict, not because of the quality of their writing, the accuracy of their history or the political nature of their content. Where I’m able to, I’ve mentioned if a book is available if you’d like to read more.

I'd like to start the list with a movie that isn't a fiction piece at all - Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old (2019) is a beautifully produced film that allows the soldiers and archival images themselves, lovingly retimed and tinted into living color, to tell their own story. It is a must watch for anyone interested in the period.

Wings (1927), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932, 1957), The Dawn Patrol (1938), Sergeant York (1941), and Paths of Glory (1957) are all classics with a couple of Oscars between them, and it's sort of fun to watch how the war gets changed and interpreted as the years pass. (The Dawn Patrol, for instance, might as just as easily be about the RAF in World War 2.)

All Quiet is based on a famous memoir, and A Farewell to Arms on a Hemingway novel; both have several adaptations and they're all a little different. Speaking of iconic novels, Doctor Zhivago (1965) based on the Pasternak novel of the same title, examines life of its protagonist between 1905 and the start of the second World War.

I think one thing historians agree on is that the start of World War One is worth discussing - and that there's a lot of backstory. Fall of Eagles (1974), a 13 part BBC miniseries, details the relationships between the great houses of Europe, starting in the 1860s; it's long but good, and I think might be on YouTube. The Last Czars (2019) takes a dramatized look at the Romanovs and how their reactions to the war lead to their eventual demise.

As far as the war itself, Sarajevo (2014) and 37 Days (2014) both discuss the outbreak of hostilities and the slow roll into actual battle.

The Passing Bells (2014) follows the whole war through the eyes of two soldiers, one German and one British, beginning in peacetime.

Joyeux Noel ( 2005) is a cute story - it takes place early in the war during the Christmas Peace and approaches the event from a multinational perspective.

War Horse (2011) is, of course, a name you'll recognize. Based on the breakout West End play, which is itself based on a YA novel by Michael Morpurgo, the story follows a horse who's requisitioned for cavalry service and the young man who owns him. Private Peaceful (2012) is also based on a Morpurgo novel, but I didn't think it was quite as good as War Horse.

The Wipers Times (2013) is one of my all-time favorites; it's about a short lived trench paper written and produced by soldiers near Ypres, often called Wipers by the average foot soldier. The miniseries, like the paper, is laugh out loud funny in a dark humor way.

My Boy Jack (2007) is another miniseries based on a play, this one about Rudyard Kipling and his son, Jack, who served in the Irish Guards and died at Loos. Kipling later wrote a poem about the death of his son, and helped select the phrase that appears on all commonwealth gravestones of the First World War.

Gallipoli (1981) is stunning in a way only a Peter Weir movie can be; this is a classic and a must-see.

Gallipoli is a big story that's been told and retold a lot. I still haven't seen Deadline Gallipoli (2015) an Australian miniseries about the men who wrote about the battle for the folks back home and were subject to censorship about how bad things really were. For a slightly different perspective, the Turkish director Yesim Sezgin made Çanakkale 1915 in 2012, detailing the Turkish side of the battle. Although most of The Water Diviner (2014) takes place after the war is over, it also covers parts of Gallipoli and while it didn't get great reviews, I enjoy it enough to own it on DVD.

I don't know why all of my favorite WWI films tend to be Australian; Beneath Hill 60 (2010) is another one of my favorites, talking about the 1st Australian Tunneling Company at the Ypres Salient. The War Below (2021) promises to tell a similar story about the Pioneer companies at Messines, responsible for building the huge network of mines there.

Passchendaele (2008) is a Canadian production about the battle of the same name. I'd forgotten I've seen this film, which might not say very much for the story.

Journey's End (2017) is an adaptation of an RC Sheriff play that takes place towards the end of the war in a dugout amongst British officers.

No look at the Great War is complete without a nod to developing military technologies, and this is the war that pioneers the aviation battle for us. I really wish Flyboys (2006) was better than it is, but The Red Baron (2008) makes up for it from the German perspective.

One of the reasons I like reading about the First World War is that everyone is having a revolution. Technology is growing by leaps and bounds, women are fighting for the right to vote, and a lot of colonial possessions are coming into their own, including (but not limited to) Ireland. Rebellion (2016) was a multi-season miniseries that went into the Easter Rising, as well as the role the war played there. Michael Collins (1996) spends more time with the Anglo-Irish war in the 1920s but is still worth watching (or wincing through Julia Roberts' bad accent, you decide.) The Wind that Shakes the Barley covers the same conflict and is excellent.

The centennial of the war meant that in addition to talking about the war, people were also interested in talking about the Armenian Genocide. The Promise (2016) and The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017) came out around the same time and two different looks at the situation in Armenia.

This is a war of poets and writers, of whom we have already mentioned a few. Hedd Wynn ( 1992) which is almost entirely in Welsh, and tells the story of Ellis Evans, a Welsh language poet who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele. I think Ioan Gruffudd has read some of his poetry online somewhere, it's very pretty. A Bear Named Winnie (2004) follows the life of the bear who'd become the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh. Tolkien (2019) expands a little on the author's early life and his service during the war. Benediction (2021) will tell the story of Siegfried Sassoon and his time at Craiglockhart Hospital. Craiglockhart is also represented in Regeneration (1997) based on a novel by Pat Barker.

Anzac Girls (2014) is probably my favorite mini-series in the history of EVER; it follows the lives of a group of Australian and New Zealand nurses from hospital duty in Egypt to the lines of the Western Front. I love this series not only because it portrays women (ALWAYS a plus) but gives a sense of the scope of the many theatres of the war that most movies don't. It's based on a book by Peter Rees, which is similarly excellent.

On a similar note, The Crimson Field (2014) explores the lives of members of a Voluntary Aid Detachment, or VADs, lady volunteers without formal nursing training who were sent to help with menial work in hospitals. It only ran for a season but had a lot of potential. Testament of Youth (2014) is based on the celebrated memoirs of Vera Brittain, who served as a VAD for part of the war and lead her to become a dedicated pacifist.

Also, while we're on the subject of women, though these aren't war movies specifically, I feel like the additional color to the early 20th century female experience offered by Suffragette (2015) and Iron-Jawed Angels (2004) is worth the time.

As a general rule, Americans don't talk about World War One, and we sure don't make movies about it, either. The Lost Battalion (2001) tells the story of Major Charles Whittlesey and the 9 companies of the 77th Infantry division who were trapped behind enemy lines during the battle of the Meuse Argonne.

I should add that this list is curtailed a little bit by what's available for broadcast or stream on American television, so it's missing a lot of dramas in other languages. The Road to Calvary (2017) was a Russian drama based on the novels of Alexei Tolstoy. Kurt Seyit ve Şura (2014) is based on a novel and follows a love story between a Crimean officer (a Muslim) and the Russian woman he loves. The show is primarily in Turkish, and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who plays the lead, is *very* attractive.

Finally, although it might seem silly to mention them, Upstairs Downstairs (1971-1975 ) Downton Abbey (2010-2015) and Peaky Blinders (2013-present) are worth a mention and a watch. All of them are large ensemble TV shows that take place over a much longer period than just the Great War, but the characters in each are shaped tremendously by the war.

[ohmygodtheywereparabatai]

please god let me overanalyze this literal five second bit for christmas

Zhao’s Demise but Actually I Talk About Why He’s a Viable Candidate for a Redemption Arc

—

So, Zuko offers his hand, Zhao refuses, his pride becomes his own downfall. Done deal, no need to read further into it.

Most people arrive at the conclusion that his arrogance is cause for that ultimate look of ‘eat piss’ on his face... I’m most people. I’m not arguing that. What I didn’t notice the first time around was the penultimate expression, one I believe is meant to convey something slightly more human. People have made note of this too, called it a moment of recognition or humility, anagnorisis. I’ll throw up the screencaps, second for second, and walk you through. The reason I do this is, considering how much time and effort goes into animation, I will be treating each and every frame as if it has earned its place in the episode’s run time, 100%. Bryke are the masters. I am but a humble consumer.

Two parts encapsulate Zhao’s final moments. The first, before cutting away to Zuko’s outstretched hand, has nothing to do with vanity or hatred. Rather, it’s the farthest emotion from both, and more importantly, it’s genuine.

He turns to look at him, at the banished prince he’s hunted and ridiculed relentlessly. Zhao doesn’t sour on the onset, at the mere thought of being rescued by someone he regards as a failure and disgrace. Instead it conveys surprise, expected of Zuko’s offer in spite of the heated rivalry they share. It’s everything he doesn’t understand, a merciless man shown mercy, a poster child for rage and grudge given a chance to live by a scarred boy with every right to hate the world around him, and get rid of his competition to achieve the only ends that will restore him. It cuts away after this look, face buried in the ocean spirit’s massive hand:

Looks almost repentant, if the context were switched up a little. Doesn’t it? ;p

The next part is, maybe, even harder to digest in its entirety without really slowing it down. Instead of the dramatically retracting his arm and delivering that lasting, withering look designed to ring with absolute contempt and self-absorption... Zhao reaches back.

His hand moves closer to the lower lefthand corner of the screen. His fingers curl inward, and for a terrifying instant it looks as though he intends to grab Zuko and drag him down with him. The anger fades again, however, and with no reason or motive to not maintain that facade, I assume the next few shots are also authentic, human.

Zhao’s hand falters. It moves back, and the slant of his eyebrows is not so severe. This doesn’t quite come off as the beginning stages of a royal ‘fuck you’... so what’s up?

And there you have it. The most baffling expression to witness on one Admiral Zhao, personally speaking.

It’s as if his hand has gone limp. His eyes are grave, and his anger has dissolved. Into what, is up to interpretation - easily the core of Bryke genius. I see it as mercy. Something Zhao only learns in his last moments, from an adversary, no less, and returns by refusing Zuko’s hand. Either Zhao believed himself worthy of more than damsel-esque rescue from the treacherous enemy of his nation... or he believed in the exact opposite. It’s that kind of realization, which, in my opinion, renders the expression above.

And so, he ends on a characteristically haughty note of dismissal, superiority. His iconic, scathing features return, and like most soldiers, choosing death is in and of itself an act of defiance, and at the same time a display of servile, unimaginable loyalty. Dying for honor or a cause is no light topic... if anything, this scene reveals the extent of Fire Nation nationalism. And we know how it’s repaid, how his story finally ends in a maddening, eternal fog.

So, Redemption Arc?

Yeesh, grim portrait of such a scoff-able moment. But bear with me. Redeeming Zhao deserves an entire post of its own, but I’ll lay down the bare bones of such a hypothetical.

Consider any other ATLA villain that shows such drastic change in their character - a brief, shining moment of humanity, vulnerability, or conflict. Zuko aside, and the crazed Azula, there’s little to nothing to work with. Long Feng, Combustion Man, Firelord Ozai - stagnant, little backstory. There’s a moment in Zuko Alone where we see Ozai standing over the turtle duck pond, regarded as an attempt at processing Ursa’s loss. It’s even said that the royal family was truly happy once. Scant, but plenty to expand on, right? Except Ozai remains the worst father in the history of fathers, and status as a genocidal maniac is generally seen as a hard pass.

Take Zhao, then. Complicit, or a pawn? Arrogant ass, or a brainwashed soldier, raised on the wrong ideals? We’ve seen Fire Nation schools. We know our own history. In both occasions where he’s on the verge of killing a minor, something that immediately lands a ticket to Irredeemable Land - he fails, embarrassingly so. Are his hands clean? Certainly not. Show-wise, however, he’s depicted as a laughable fool, his shot at greatness reduced to insignificance... just like Uncle Iroh’s heart of gold takes precedence over a history of warmongering. It’s framing, and it’s deliberate.

In the end, I leave anyone still reading with this.

If Zhao could learn mercy and return it in the last split-second before his defeat, if he genuinely saw Zuko, for the first and only time, and made a radical choice in light of it... what’s to say he couldn’t learn - or unlearn - more? That he couldn’t make another good choice, and another, if his mind wasn’t being rotted out by fog? *suspicious shrug emoji*

At the foundation of his character is a soldier. Someone hungry for glory, sworn to serve. He hunts the Avatar, he attacks the Blue Spirit, he besieges the Northern Kingdom and yes, takes the moon out of duty - a distorted notion of honor and destiny, and a destructive root to firebending influenced by a century of war. Seems to carry the faintest hint of PTSD. Any chance the show might contain such a hint?

Ah...

[slimesidian]

I noticed on Slime's Wormman art that their Zed had robot parts, plus it was mentioned that Zed occasionally joined in on Hermit Debug week as of recent, so when/how did Zed get these robot parts? Or just give Zed headcanons in general! :P

I was actually really really hoping somebody would notice that I gave Zed little robotic face plates so first, thank you for noticing my lidl details :D. Secondly I’m gonna just ramble bout my Zedaph headcanons because oh boy oh boy do I have….a lot. This will tie into my Team ZITS backstory headcanons by the way, as this is Zed’s part of the story. I’ll cover Tango’s if I ever get asked about it don’t worry.

-Mod Slime

Origin

Zed, like Mumbo, is a robot. Now, the thing about this is Zed doesn’t actually know this. He and Mumbo are similar in a lot of their design, actually, as they were made by the same person, Zed being made after Mumbo. The biggest difference is Mumbo was scrapped early, so he was fully aware he was a robot, but Zed was fully finished and thus had this knowledge hidden from him. Zed isn’t a Redstone robot in the same way that Mumbo is.

When he first woke up, he was alone in a survival world, or, he thought he was alone. The only friend he had for a while was a little brown sheep that he met in his first few minutes of proper existence. He didn’t even really know who or what he was at this time, and was actually just walking around shirtless for a while. 

He was eventually found and given shelter by another Player, which, he didn’t think there were other Players in this world. Turns out, said Player is Skizz. He lets Zed stay with him and asks about his life, and Zed admits that he knows… nothing about his life. He has no memory of anything before this world, and Skizz assumes maybe it was a glitch or something when Zed spawned in. Whatever the case, at least he has a roof over his head now.

At some point, the two gently shear the sheep Zed had found, and used the wool to create Zed’s sweater, the buttons ended up being a bunch of mix matched colors and shapes, but Zed likes it.

Eventually, the two go to the End and find Impulse. Zed can quickly detect that Impulse is speaking Galactic and begins translating so Skizz can understand what he’s saying.

(From this point, everything lines up with the Impulse headcanons I gave a while ago.)

Moonlight SMP

While in Moonlight SMP, Zed created a superhero alter ego, aka Wormman. He would supposedly retire this persona for a few years. This comes back later which is why I mention it now.

Hermitcraft Backstory

When Zed showed up on Hermitcraft, he traveled by portal. There was an accidental glitch and… well Wormman manifested. 

Zed pretty much just kinda chills until he inevitably does meet Wormman, and is very confused by the fact that his alter ego is his own person. He rolls with it though, and just kind of accepts that yeah Wormman exists

Also Zed can split timelines. Nobody ever really discusses this fact, but he did do this once in S5. 

Nothing truly eventful happens to Zed in season 5, at least, in terms of backstory, but Wormman on the other hand, is left in the S5 world after the world ends. This is awful because the S5 world is basically cursed and got completely overtaken by the jungle, which means Wormman… yeah you can figure out what happened. 

He gets out though! He kinda… lost his soul, and got possessed by death due to this. Thus Zedeath was born. When he showed up on Hermitcraft 6, Zed did not realize that Zedeath is the same person as Wormman

Again there isn’t really anything backstory wise that’s too important until S7 because that’s when Zed accidentally learns that he is a robot. 

He glitched one day in the first half of the season(probably around November), didn’t entirely know why. He calls Tango over to help, since Tango can access the code, and Tango can’t entirely figure out what’s wrong. He calls Impulse over, and Impulse recognizes that Zed’s code is extremely similar to Mumbo’s, almost identical.

This leads the two of them to realizing Zed is a robot. Now how do they prove that this is true? Well, they remember that Mumbo’s synthetic skin came off when he tried out the uh… I don’t remember the name of it but the spookificating thing that was in the Shopping District.

So Zed pretty much goes into that, and when he comes out it is revealed that he is in fact a robot, and he looks almost identical to Mumbo in basic design(like the chest cavity, the location of the metallic plates, etc…). Zed basically has a breakdown about this because he doesn’t know if his feelings are real or not. 

He ends up asking Mumbo how he copes with the fact that he’s a robot, and they kinda have a sweet little heart to heart about it, and Zed comes out of it being mostly comfortable with the fact he’s a robot. He gets new synthetic skin, but he leaves certain areas uncovered so he can see the metallic bits. He wants to love that part of himself.

This is around the time that Zed starts taking part of the debug weeks. 

And this is basically all for the in universe “lore” stuff. Other important thing is that Wormman/Zedeath has been using Zed’s Void hole to reach Ex in the Void.

General/Other

Zed has pointy ears, he doesn’t know why he was designed with them, but he honestly doesn’t mind. For the longest time it made him think maybe he was some kind of hybrid.

Zed’s eyes glow purple, and so does his robot chest cavity. He doesn’t really know what causes it to glow purple

Zed, being a robot, has a very close relationship with any contraption or mechanism he builds, especially after he learns he’s a robot. 

He doesn’t actually need sleep, which is why the other Hermits won’t really try to force him to sleep the same way they will with Impulse and Tango. 

Being a robot means that Zed can’t handle the Void without dying particularly faster than other Hermits(again save for Mumbo because robots :D). 

Zed is chubby. Fight me. 

His hair is really soft

Wormman/Zedeath Headcanons

Wormman is a clone of Zedaph’s memories, not Zedaph himself. As in, Wormman is not a robot, where as Zed is. Wormman is memories from when Zed thought he was an organic being rather than mechanical. Wormman has every memory that was created while Zed wore the costume. This actually means Wormman has two birthdays, but he considers his true birthday to be the day he became his own person, rather than, when Zed first wore the costume. 

Zedeath and Wormman are the same person. Wormman is technically soulless after being abandoned in season 5 and things….happening to him. He could never really die, though, and the closest he came to death accidentally turned him into Zedeath, which is why his first (and only) s6 appearance was as Zedeath instead of Wormman.

Wormman currently resides under the server with Evil Xisuma/Abyss. Wormman had talked to him at some point in S6 while he was still Zedeath, and even then Abyss probably realized who he was. Since then, Wormman built a platform under Zed's base, and there he and Abyss live. It's not much, just the two of them. Although BadTimes vomits occasionally.

Zedeath no longer really comes around. Maybe it's because whatever caused him to exist moved on to Ren during Demise, maybe he came back and Wormman just doesn’t know.

Zedeath isn’t even that scary, he’s just a mischievous soul(or lack there of)

[thegirlwhohasnochill]

The Disease of Addiction

Euphoria Special Episode Part 1: Rue (Recap & Review)

Before I begin my official review of this episode, I would like to preface my thoughts with a bit of a primer about spoilers and trigger warnings. The show covers a range of topics from addiction to mental health. Still, I specifically want to warn anyone reading that I explicitly talk about and mention the topic of suicide in my review. If this is triggering for you in any way, please, don’t read ahead and take care of yourself! Okay, that’s it; I hope you enjoy my thoughts, and please let me know if you have any feedback or comments for my review and things I can change or fix in the future.

Where to begin with such a loaded episode...we knew the format and style of the episode would be simplistic based on the current realities of filming amidst a pandemic and what we saw to be a scene from Season 2 that the creator Sam Levinson expanded upon. Zendaya herself let us know that the episode's storytelling method would be vastly different from what we’ve already seen on the show. The format and simplicity of the episode, in contrast to the loaded dialogue and content of the scenes, are perfect. The camera takes you right into the middle of these conversations with Rue and Ali. But before we can even dive into what they talk about, we have to address the elephant in the room that is Rules. The episode begins with what is probably one of the most gut-wrenching sequences I have seen on the show. Because we know the reality and truth of their current predicament, Rue’s peppered kisses across Jules’ body and her tight squeezes and hugs from behind Jules evoke a strong sense of loss and pain for the viewer. The sheer intensity of the physicality of Rue’s affection for Jules is so overpowering and overwhelmingly present, we can almost feel the imbalance in their relationship through the screen. There is something to be said for the harsh reality of Rue’s dependence on Jules being reflected even in such a non-objective dream-like sequence. And yet, even in Rue’s wildest dreams and happiest stupor, she does not imagine the sobriety of her future. To me, that is indeed the crux of her character and the essence of this episode. Ali himself says, “The point is your sobriety.” And while it may feel like a focal point of discussion, the conversation flows in a way that seems to bounce back and forth between the two like a simple tennis match. It is easy to follow between Ali’s most potent clearest convictions about how the world works and Rue’s drug-addled hazy perception. The inherent contrast between their mental states and the different points of life in which they are both standing hit the viewer at alternate moments.

But we know Rue is not sober even as she lies to Ali and stumbles out of the bathroom, the shaky camerawork conveying her recent use. She is wearing the same shirt from the dream but has her signature hoodie on, her messy curly locks running down her back and glassy eyes staring straight ahead. The scene moves from her imagination of life with Jules to her lies about use. Her eventual admittance to being a high-functioning user happens as quickly as the conversation moves from sobriety to faith.

So I might be biased and hence don’t think I am incorrect in admitting that Zendaya has never given us a bad performance in her life. Even as she lies to Ali’s face and he is quick to call out her apparent contradictions, the faint slurring of her voice and her glazed eyes tell all. As striking as the conversation is, it feels even stranger for me to admit I felt comforted by Rue’s confession to thoughts of ending her life. And even as she admits to the darkest moments in her mind, Ali’s face and reaction are an even better neutralizer for what would generally be such an alarming thing to say to someone you barely know. As they continue to discuss her eventual relapse and all the reasons behind it (including racing thoughts encompassing “all the things I remember and all the things I wish I didn’t”), the viewer can envision the sequence of events that was shown to us in the finale - her fights with her mother and sister, her first time using when her father was fast asleep, her father’s death, her sister finding her after her overdose.

As much as I would like to quote the entire episode, I have to say Ali’s monologue about the idea that none of us are born evil and that society views mental illness and addiction as a personal moral failure rather than an overarching system many of us are incapable of overcoming, to be one of, if not the most decisive moments of the entire show. The line about coming out of the womb with “a few wires crossed” but still a beautiful baby girl eventually messing her way up through life struck a chord in me. I didn’t ask to be born this way. I don’t feel in control of my mind or the way it ever seems to work. And I’m always going to be a bad person. The disease of addiction and mental illness lets you - no, it makes you - view everything you have ever done in your life as not a consequence of the way your mind works, but as an active choice, you have consistently made, as you screwed up everything you’ve ever loved, and let down everyone you have ever cared about. The disease is not you as a person or even the way you think, and yet it is powerful enough to feel that way. Almost like the rapid cycling between mania and depression, the disease flips between, making you feel like the most powerful, invincible person alive and the absolute scum of the earth. There is nothing in between.

Ali’s backstory and his monologues about his change in faith from Christianity (when he was previously known as Martin) to Islam and the world's revolutions were fascinating. Side note: I did think the line about women converting to Islam was unnecessary, but I digress.

Rue’s understanding of the Narcotics Anonymous program's steps was the perfect way to bring in the conversation of faith. As she mentions her difficulty in coming to terms with the idea that there is greater power in charge of her behaviour and the way she surrenders herself to drugs, Ali chimes in with, “You don’t believe there is a power on Earth greater than Rue.” She disagrees and continues quoting and citing different sources she believes to be omniscient and great. And I absolutely agree with her. To me, there is no greater power than the source of art, the music that keeps me going, that feels like it’s the only thing keeping me from stopping the blood pumping through my veins. I understand Rue. But I also understand Ali. And yet, when Rue goes on to talk about the inexplicable workings of the world, my heart stops. There is no reason. There is no reason for the absolute pain and loss and suffering I’ve experienced, for the trauma I’ve witnessed and endured. For the absolutely horrifying things, the people closest to me have lived through. It is merely chaos. There is no reason I wake up every single day, regretting the fact that I did indeed wake up and that I am alive and breathing. So I Understand Rue. But Ali’s monologue about the moral arc of the universe and the unfathomable ways in which life and history line themselves up, to open our very eyes to the realizations we come to daily, is overwhelming. And yet, while he is waxing poetic about the intricacies of the world, we can see Rue’s exhausted eyes glaze over further, still unimpressed. “Maybe I’ll start a revolution like Malcolm X or something”, she quips back. But Ali is quick to counter; revolutions are no longer revolutionary.

Life as we know it is hypocrisy and foolish symbolism, only emphasizing his point about the universe's ridiculousness. Does any of it have meaning? Or is the meaningless void just another puzzle piece in a picture we will never get to see? There is also something to be said about Rue’s facial expressions as Ali continues his train of thought about her “generation”. As we often do when we hear our elders dismissively brush off our many concerns, she almost rolls her eyes. But he is listening, and he knows. “You think you’re out here fighting a revolution, and Bank of America is on your side? Give me a fucking break.” He’s not wrong. His speech reminds me of the masses of teens on TikTok creating video content specifically catered to an audience with an aesthetic that glamorizes the image of a revolutionary teen hero. But instead of a blazing bow and arrow, it is the common cell phone and a punchy soundtrack filtered through digitized audio. What would typically come across as preachy in any show catered to teens is, in fact, poignant. It also reminds me of how self-aware Euphoria is, knowing it’s guilty of falling into the same trap it accuses the viewer of doing.  

You have to commit to bettering yourself, Ali essentially tells Rue. And to me, that is the most inherently human struggle we will ever face in our lifetimes. As long as we exist, we have to face the idea that each day is, in fact, not going to be easier than the last. And when he tells her that he believes in her and that the hope of her success (that may one day come) should be greater than the failure of her current demise holding her back, I want to cry. I keep thinking about that edit of Rue to this is me trying by Taylor Swift.

The music of the song that Jules has texted to Rue swells, and it is easy to get caught up in the angst of the moment. It accompanies the words, “I miss you.” And if it wasn’t for Ali’s conversation with his daughter as background noise, one would simply soak in the gut-wrenching pain of their separation. The juxtaposition of Ali trying his absolute best to cling to his family as Rue continues to isolate herself from her loved ones and push herself further into the abyss makes my heart physically hurt.

Ms. Marsha’s spell-binding words of wisdom about sobriety and relationships compared to Rue’s tired exhaustion imminently displayed on her face make the viewer a little wary of what comes next. Her misunderstanding of a juvenile relationship with Jules is made clear when Ali confronts her about the fact that the two of them never had a real conversation about their feelings for one another. Rue’s distrust in the idea that things will eventually work themselves out stems from the fact that she feels disappointed by how her loved ones have left her so far. She eventually spirals into this negatively destructive way of thinking. She cognitively recognizes and justifies getting left behind because she thinks and believes she deserves terrible things in life. She lists examples of past deeds to further cement her argument. But Ali counters back with the simple statement that “Drugs change who you are as a person.” Regardless of her actions, he believes she is still a genuinely good individual while she argues that she is absolutely not. My favourite part of this whole conversation and the entire episode is the manner in which Ali questions Rue’s negative cognitive patterns. Her brain and mind essentially excuse bad behaviour by convincing her that she will never be a good person. Hence she can never forgive herself, and thus, she will continue to remain in this cyclical pattern. Our actions may be inexcusable, but they do not line up with our intentions. The inevitable human struggle is not whether we are fundamentally good or bad, evil, flawed or perfect, but if we are (and again, not to quote my other favourite show, The Good Place) trying to be a better person than we previously were. If we recognize that our actions are wrong and we are capable of experiencing remorse and regret for said actions, who's to say we are entirely incapable of change. This reductive polarizing, and dismissive way of thinking is characteristic of the brains of most people living with a mental illness. Our outside influences, such as drugs, can all be contributing external factors to how we conduct ourselves through life. Ali’s short bit about redemption and human beings deeming actions unforgivable forever can easily be paralleled to direct conversations we have online about “cancel culture”. The phenomenon of dismissing and reducing someone to their mistakes instead of allowing them to grow from them is a nice sentiment. Still, if we do not truly take accountability into action and witness no real changes or remorse, we can quickly get stuck in that cycle. Even if our beliefs do not line up with our actions, drugs can eventually change that. The belief system we hold so dearly, the convictions we strongly feel, can all be washed away by the simple use of drugs, Ali explains as he tells Rue about his family background. His experiences with abuse and his eventual hypocrisy as he plays the role he always feared in his family leave the viewer speechless. As we watch him tell his tale of regret, there is no woe or sorrow in admitting he is or isn’t a fundamentally good or bad person, just the thought of his attempt to change his ways that impacts the viewer.

As the viewer waits with bated breath to see what comes out of Rue’s mouth next, it is not a surprise (to me personally). Rue has no intention of staying sober because she has no intention of staying alive much longer. Ali asks her why she feels that way. She responds with her sentiments about the cruelty of the world. Ali understands. We truly are living in dark times, witnessing truly horrific events, and the fact that we even have the capacity to care any longer is indicative of our will to stay alive. It doesn’t make much sense when you think about it, but when you are so sad, so grief-stricken by the news, by the world’s turn of events, by the mere thought of witnessing more tragedy that you cannot bear to be alive any longer, it means that you are deeply invested. Invested in the way things will turn out even if you do not personally believe you want to participate or even be privy to being complicit in a system that does nothing but churn out pain, anger, and hatred. When I was at the lowest point in my life and attempted to end my own life, I was overwhelmed by the goings-on of the world. As emotionally drained as Rue is, a part of her still cares. She wants her sister and mother to know that she really tried. Just as I wanted and still want my parents and friends to be okay without me when I do eventually leave this earth. Of course, I care about what happens to them. The idea that suicide or suicidal ideation is inherently selfish is so contradictory to the reality of how suicidal individuals genuinely feel. It is the opposite. We care more than most, and we care to the point that it hurts to extend another moment of kindness to ourselves amid all the chaos and madness of the world. But still, we try. We do our best. Ali believes in Rue. He has faith in her.

The entire episode ends on a melancholy note as Rue and Ali depart the diner with Rue wistfully staring out the window as he drives her home. Ali loves his conversations with Rue and vice-versa. The fact that two people can be sitting at a diner alone on Christmas Eve talking about the beauty and cruelty of the world and everything ranging from politics to addiction to suicide to love to family and anything in between goes to show us that humans will always find a way. The fact that two people struggling and suffering from addiction can find their own way about and amidst the chaos of the world and still have these meaningful conversations about life and existence tells us that ultimately, Trouble Don’t Last Always.

[natsubeatsrock]

Should Lisanna have come back? (Part 1)

This might be a sign that I don't have much to talk about regarding Fairy Tail. I'm not sure that I would talk about this years ago. 

But that's a good thing, right? After all, I'm a lot more suited to write this now than before Fairy Tail ended. My writing has greatly improved over the years. The kinds of posts I made back in the day are not as well written as the stuff I’m writing now.

Not to mention, I have the perfect template to structure my answer to this question. I don't think it's as simple as answering that one question. So, similar to my post about Stain from last year, I've decided to answer this by answering three questions: "Does it make sense that Lisanna didn't die?", "Has Lisanna impacted the series much since coming back?" and "Is there any benefit to Lisanna coming back?" Despite what fans will say, these are three different questions. And each question deserves its own distinct answer. As such, I've decided to break up each part into its own post. (read: I've learned from my dealing with the Stain question.)

Question #1: Does it make sense that Lisanna didn't die?

Answer: Yes!

Oh? You thought I'd have a different answer? 

As it stands, this is not the first time I've answered this question. And every time I come to answer this question, I become more convinced that this is the right answer. It makes sense that Lisanna was still alive after the series.

Naturally, this is a controversial statement. Lisanna's return to the series has been treated as a bad thing. This is seen as one of, if not the worst things that Mashima has done for Fairy Tail. He took a character that had an obvious death and brought her back seemingly for no reason. 

Of course, the latter half of that charge is the point of the next question. But, for now, it's worth talking about the first half.

If you read Fairy Tail, the idea that Lisanna was missing was hinted at long before we learned what happened. There are hints towards it even as early as the second chapter. Mirajane talks to Lucy about the scars Fairy Tail members have and hinted at her own scars. Later on, in the Lullaby arc, Natsu is asked by Kageyama why Mirajane has stopped working, somewhat rhetorically. (Consider that this exchange happened on a train.) We even learn that before the series started, Mira was an S-Class Mage. Something serious had to be responsible for that to have stopped. 

Of course, the anime handled things differently. The episode before the Phantom Lord arc properly starts is "Natsu and the Dragon Egg". Lucy learns the story of how Natsu and Lisanna hatched Happy out of an egg. That episode ends with Lucy wondering why she hasn't seen Lisanna around the guild. There's a bit of an extra kick to this. If you've been watching the endings up to this point, you'll know the second ending ends with a frame of Natsu, Happy, and Lisanna. If you're watching this for the first time, you finally know who this is. And hopefully have an idea of what's up.

Fast forward to the Phantom Lord arc, and the truth is revealed. Mirajane and Elfman lost their sister after a mission went wrong. He attacked his sister after losing control of a take-over form. None of them have been the same since. Their sister was dead.

Only there's one problem with this. We're never shown that Lisanna died.

We're told that Lisanna is dead by her siblings. She's mourned over by her friends and family. She's presumed to be dead by the characters of the series. We even get to see the events that lead to her untimely demise expounded on in the anime. But even then, it never goes as far as showing that Lisanna was actually dead. 

That may sound like a random and pedantic point, but it really isn't.

Consider this. Two arcs after Phantom Lord, we learn about Erza's past. An important person in her life was Rob. He's the one that taught her about magic and inadvertently led her to Fairy Tail. In Erza's backstory, he also shares a tragic demise, which works as the trigger for Erza unlocking her magic.

But there's an important difference between Rob and Lisanna: we actually see him die. We see his body drop dead, and his loss of life. It's not just something we hear characters talk about. It's something we see happen for ourselves.

This is one of the more frustrating things about character death: if there isn't a body, it's not confirmed. There are exceptions to this, but death isn't permanent unless you see the person in question die and confirmed dead. Mashima has gone on record to say that he doesn't feel he would ever bring characters back from the dead. At the same time, he does enjoy writing characters that seemed to have died come back seemingly from the dead. 

One of the most famous examples of this is Captain America from Marvel. If you didn't know, Steve Rogers is a character that predated the Stan Lee era of the company. (They were known as Timely Comics at the time.) He was popular when the US was in World War II. Soon after it ended, he didn't find much sustainability. 

However, as Marvel started to gain a new mythos and identity, he was formally reintroduced with the backstory that fans likely know about him now. He was on a mission and went under the ice for decades. Eventually, he was revived and became the leader of the Avengers.

Though, how is Lisanna's disappearance explained?

She was taken up as part of Anima in Edolas. When we finally see what happened that day, we see that her body was teleported to Edolas. With everything that happened to her, the other Strauss kids weren't unjustified for thinking their sister died, even if she wasn't with them. It's not as if what happened to her could have been more believable to them.

But the most important character in solving this entire situation may be one you'd expect: Mystogan. In the Phantom Lord arc, he's most well known for taking down all of the extra Phantom Lord branches. However, he's also responsible for collecting Makarov's scattered magic after Aria took it away from him. And, naturally, the character he tells these things to happens to be Porylusica.

And later in the Fantasia arc, he is revealed to be an alternate form of Jellal. In fact, he happens to be the Jellal that Wendy knew when she was younger. If there are two Jellals and one is clearly from Earth, where did the other come from?

These things are all clarified in the Edolas arc. He comes from an alternate dimension where people are almost the opposite of how they are. People in Edolas can't use magic freely. Therefore, their king has been using Anima to take magic from Earthland so he can use it for him- 

I mean... so that the people of Edolas will be able to use magic as they want.

As you can imagine, Mystogan has problems with this, especially when it means turning the Earthland version of Fairy Tail, and the rest of Magnolia, into lacrima. Much of Edolas involves his orchestration of the plot to save both worlds. However, this also involves him sending people to Edolas from Earthland. He sends Gajeel and Lucy to Edolas and presumably could have helped Wendy and Carla. He even goes to Edolas himself at the end of the arc.

When Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla go to Fairy Tail's version of Edolas they actually meet Lisanna. They believe that it's just Edolas Lisanna, even as Edolas has versions of Lucy, Wendy, and plenty of other members of Fairy Tail. Though, there are some subtle hints regarding her true origin. As the guild is explaining their plight to the team, Natsu notices that Lisanna is leaving the guildhall. She'd have no real reason to leave if she wasn't somehow connected to them and we learn that's the reason she left. 

Also, there's a fun little detail that I admittedly picked up from TVTropes.com. In the chapter cover for Bye, Bye Fairy Tail, the chapter where the characters start to return from Edolas, the members of Edolas Fairy Tail are symbolically wishing the other members goodbye. You'll never guess who's missing from this cover: Lisanna. Of course, other members are missing, including Mira. However, Lisanna isn't an insignificant omission from this cover.

Now I understand what one complaint might be. I'm able to make all of these explanations for Lisanna returning because we have the complete context for the series. Even if any of this makes sense, there's no way that someone who was reading Fairy Tail as it was coming out could have come to the conclusion that Lisanna not actually dying makes sense.

Consider the following: the director of Fairy Tail originally planned to treat Lisanna as if she hadn't actually died. Of course, that might not mean much to the anime we got considering she would be revealed not to have died in the manga either. However, consider that Shinji Ishihira, without the benefit of the Edolas arc, came to the conclusion that the most reasonable way to handle Lisanna was that she wasn't dead.

To be continued...

[yourdorkiness]

More Fire Force Opinions That Literally Nobody Asked For (pt.2)

Guess who finished the manga~ Guess who finished the manga~ This gal~ I’m surprised that my Fire Force rant/essay meta was so well received by the fandom, thank you guys so much!!! Anyways, today I’ll be discussing some a lot of my ideas, opinions, thoughts, future predictions, and commentary on moments from the Fire Force manga.

Warnings: Spoilers for future Fire Force Season Two arcs, and for the Fire Force manga. Read at your own discretion! Now that the warnings are over, onwards! ヽ(ヅ)ノ

(I’m actually trying to order my opinions via arcs, but I feel that this is really important, so I’m putting it first.) 

1. There are no iPhones in the Fire Force. 

This is so sad? My favourite characters don’t know the joy that is staying up late, scrolling through social media, watching YOUTUBE, having MEMES, KNOWING👏THE👏GREATNESS👏THAT👏IS👏VINES!!!

I’m slightly disappointed that Vulcan, who is literally named after the god of forging himself, who can make frickin’ HOLOGRAMS, didn’t bring back any of the pre-Catalysm technology to recreate, improve, or experiment with. As an expert engineer (I say this 0.2% seriously, with the two years of high school engineering course experience under my belt), I would’ve been interested to see what kind of gadgets Vulcan could whip up. *insert ‘Inspector Gadget theme song*

Please have this very sad Jigglypuff to show how sad this is.

2. Sister Iris and Religion in the Fire Force Storyline

In the beginning of the Fire Force series, I’ve accepted the fact that Iris' role as noncombatant, meant to act as the religious and public face of the Eighth Company. I think it is a fascinating role, because it allows the story to explore the idea of religion and belief in depth, which I was really looking forward to. I was excited how the author would handle Iris’ character, but I’m somewhat disappointed that it took so long for us to see Iris and other side characters like Maki and Tamaki become more fleshed out (I’m not counting Iris’ and Hibana’s backstory in Season 1. I felt that was more backstory to flesh out Hibana’s character rather than Iris’).

Throughout Fire Force’s story, some of the things I looked forward to the most were the religious elements, motifs, themes, and questions that are sprinkled throughout the story, one of my favourites being the portrayal of the dichotomy of religion. In Joker’s backstory, we see the darkness of the Holy Sol faith, and what happens when any religious belief is taken TOO far, without any regard for human life or rights. This idea of viewing humans as a collective, no regard for the individuality and feelings of a single person in the pursuit of faith is embodied by the captain of the Shadow of the Holy Sun, Joker’s former captain and abuser. However, we also get to see the goodness religion and belief can achieve in Iris’ mini arc, which focuses on Iris’ internal struggle as she struggles with her faith after being informed of the Evangelist’s part in the founding of the Holy Sol’s religion. Shinra and Huo Yan Li, the bucket hat 1st Brigade lieutenant (Seriously, which is the correct way to pronounce this guy’s name? Huo Yan Li?? Foien Li???) interaction in the Iris arc really summed up the arc and Iris’ character beautifully. Religion and belief gives people closure, hope, and strength to keep on moving forward. Seeing the anime adaption was an amazing experience. Fire Force’s animation was the reason I decided to watch it in the first place (before staying for the intriguing plot and religious side plot), but this particular episode?? Pure art. The colouring, ambience, storytelling? So good＼\ ٩( ᐛ )و /／

Like, the little detail of the burning nun in Iris’ eyes? (lmao sorry for the extra trauma, sweet child) *chef’s kiss*

The importance of belief is also hinted in the Asakusa arc, where all the district’s inhabitants believe in Benimaru, and expanded upon in later manga chapters, when we learn that Adolla is linked to humanity’s perception and beliefs about the world around them.

I would’ve liked Iris a lot more if we got to further explore her character and the affects of religion on others more deeply, perhaps see Iris visiting the Infernals’ families and loved ones, trying to help give closure through the nation’s (mostly) shared faith in Sol. They mentioned offhandedly in both anime and manga that Iris visits the deceased’s families, and I felt it would’ve given the deaths more significance and depth if we get screentime of how families are affected by the death of their loved ones. It would have also given the Holy Sol’s religion more depth and meaning if we saw believers of Sol’s actions due to their religion, (also giving more impact when we learn surprise surprise! The Holy Sol temple is founded by the Evangelist!) since belief without actions is just lip-service.

I would have also liked to see how Iris’ prayers affect others in the Eighth company. We do get to see this, 140+ CHAPTERS LATER in the mini Iris arc does Shinra (finally) mentions how Iris’ prayers helps him not lose sight of why he serves as a firefighter and kills Infernal. I’m glad that we got this scene, because better later than never, especially since Iris’ and Shinra’s discussion and overall the entire Iris mini arcs shows the power of prayer, but I would’ve like to have this topic discussed sooner.

2. Obi’s Sole Flaw

I think that Obi was an okay character, but they kind of pushed the boundary of his “normalcy” when we saw him topple pillars and rip railways out of the ground with “brute strength”. There are limits to the human body, it is fragile, and it doesn’t matter how much conditioning or “going beyond your limits” you do. People do experience boost of adrenaline, which is probably what the very anime-like titled “Pressure of Death” is based on, since life or death situations can heighten your performance and strength. However, I do understand that this IS shonen, and it isn’t meant to be realistic.

What made Obi’s sole flaw (and a physical flaw, at that!) was his “normalcy” while surrounded by more powerful individuals then he, and having to make up for something he can’t help by working twice as hard as everybody else. Now, although I was disappointed that Obi didn’t have any character/moral flaws, what made Obi’s character mediocre to me wasn’t the choice of Obi’s sole flaw. In fact, I could see how this could be an interesting character narrative IF WE LEARN MORE ABOUT OBI’S BACKSTORY, THEREFORE EXPLORING HIS CHARACTER MORE!!! (We only know Obi was a regular firefighter, being decorated twice, and then having his titles revoked for prioritizing the lives of citizens before becoming the captain of the Eighth.) No, what I didn’t like about Obi’s character is that we never see him STRUGGLE with his flaw, how others were born “superior” to him thanks to there invulnerability to flames, how he lives knowing one day he could just burst into flames. There’s SO many interesting things about Obi’s character, that could explained further, making him so much more interesting!!!

On the other hand, Obi’s character is a great role model for what a “normal” person can do (while jacked up on adrenaline, and when they manage to overcome flight reaction in fight or flight). He works hard, training to the best of his ability, doing what he CAN do, pushing his limits so that he can go above and beyond, overcoming the “Pressure of Death”, and staying true to his ideals, something very hard to do in a world where you might burst into flames at any given moment. I know that if I were to wake in a world where I could die any second (I mean, I could die tomorrow in Real Life™, but what are the chances of that?), I would definitely find myself struggling with my faith, and staying true to the morals I admire and was taught by my parents, especially if I was putting myself in danger despite of this weakness.

3. Asakusa Showdown Arc and Shinmon Hibachi

The Asakusa Showdown arc. Yes. Just yes. I-

It was amazing, periodt. The art, the overall aesthetic, the storytelling. *Cue violent fangirling* I took SOOOO many screenshots of the fight between Benimaru and Hibachi, I’m pretty sure my camera roll is 95% manga caps now. I love how the author actually gave a (fairly) valid reason for the cool Japanese aesthetic of this arc, in that Adolla is slowly gradually colliding with the Fire Force universe, causing people’s perception of the fight to seep into the universe. Overall? It. Was. Amazing. Albeit not my favourite arc, (that honour goes to the mini-Iris arc) I think that the Asakusa Showdown arc is easily in my Top 5 Fire Force arcs.

The Asakusa Showdown Arc mirroring and showing the ideals taught in the Mini Iris Arc was quite clever, though I’m not sure if this was purposefully done Okubo, or if I’m just scrabbling at crumbs.

In the Mini Iris arc, we see how religion and belief gives closure; a stark contrast to Asakusa with its proto-nationalist/atheist values. In THIS arc, centering around Asakusa and it’s proto-nationalist inhabitants, we see what happens when there isn’t enough effort to emphasize or give closure in what happened to Hibachi, and his subsequent death. 

Shinmon Hibachi, as the leader of the neighbourhood fire watch, understood the significance of killing Infernals; of taking somebody’s life. But because of the unwillingness to let others (i.e. the inhabitants of Asakusa, that one kid who stabs him) understand the weight of killing Infernals and gain closure through understanding the reasons behind his harsh actions, Hibachi shoulders the consequences of both his and the actions of his predecessors’ ALONE, therefore leading to his demise. 

The kid who stabbed Hibachi was still a CHILD, and children don’t always have a comprehensive understanding of death and the consequences of responsibility (no matter how much that kid believes he was ready to be an adult and support his mother).

3.5 Extra Worldbuilding Questions About Asakusa

I also have so many questions about Asakusa in general! How is Asakusa powered without being supported by Amaterasu, which is the country’s (and isn’t that mind boggling, that a whole country is supported by one power source with no backup source or other forms of energy/electricity, because of patriotic pride in a machine that might one day shut down, cough manga readers where u at?) I’m assuming that Asakusa mainly use coal, candles, and lamps for energy and lighting, since we did see one example of lighting in Asakusa (an ancient oil lamp), but I’m not sure if that would be sufficient to support a whole district of people. People were able to do that in the olden days, but back then there was a smaller concentration of people, and power necessary to support them.

Is Asakusa a district that is mostly atheist or polytheist? Do the inhabitants believe in no gods, not just the Sun god brought by the White Clads and Raffles I, including the Shinto or Buddhist gods from before the Catalysm, or do they believe in multiple gods/ancestor worship and they just don’t want to worship the Sun God like the rest of the Tokyo Empire because they’re unwilling to accept the new culture, immigrants and religion caused by Amaterasu, wanting to keep up the old Japanese traditions?

4. Arthur Deserves Better Parents 2k20 (Hint of Arthur’s Secret Ability?)

When Team Vulcan + Arthur found Arthur’s parents in the sewers Nether... Honestly, I don’t want to touch on them much, since I want to be (fairly) logical in my opinions on them, not letting my personal feelings twist my hypotheses for what may happen in the future of the Fire Force storyline.

Putting aside Arthur’s parents obvious neglect and bad parenting, I’m curious if Arthur's dad is actually a prophet or did he just get lucky with his delusions. Is this related to how Arthur can notice the difference between dopplegangers and real people? Perhaps because Arthur’s delusions of knighthood are so different from how he truly is (an abandoned child who deluded himself as a knight), therefore allowing him to notice the difference between dopplegangers and Adolla, as they are created by people’s perception of a subject.

5. Let Sho Be a Normal Kid at the End of the Show 2k20

Please let the small child be happy at the end of the manga. I mean, being raised by a cult underground isn’t exactly a Hallmarks childhood. For example, in the beginning of chapter 231, look at how Sho looks longingly at those kids on scooters and was so happy when he got a balloon from the firefighter mascots! (bruh, same balloons bring me so much joy)

I hope that in the end of the manga Okubo lets Sho, Shinra, and Eighth have some quality time. In one of the early arcs (with the first speaking demon, Minamoto?) Shinra saw some kids going to school wearing school uniforms, mentioning that if Sho was still alive, he’d be old enough to go to school. I’d be so sweet if at the end of the manga, Sho would have the chance to go to school, maybe the Fire Force academy (if it’s still running if by the end of the manga they’ve discovered the reason behind Human Combustion), makes friends and beat up anybody who badmouths the Eighth.

6. Cool Combat Medics!

I’d love to see more of the cool combat medics from the Sixth! We only saw the captain, Kayoko Huang, in action with her Asclepius staff pyrokinesis, which, might I add is a fascinating and terrifying ability. Think about it, she’s controlling CELLULAR DIVISION!!! She could start creating tumors in the bodies of her enemies! Could disintegrate people cellularly and no one would know, because fire snake, so no fingerprints!

Anyways, that is all I have right now. Thank you for reading my opinions about “Fire Force”, and for the nice response I got when I published my first opinion piece! Bruh, it took so long for me to edit this... 😔 I’m thinking of doing another meta going more in depth with my theory on Arthur and how he’s able to distinguish the difference between people and their dopplegangers, but that’s for another day. Feel free to discuss about your own ideas or thoughts in the chat, or tell me what you think! I promise I don’t bite. Have a wonderful day!

[laulink]

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO ONLY WATCH THE HAMEFURA ANIME AND HAVEN’T READ THE MANGA OR LIGHT NOVEL

(it’s gonna get a bit long so putting this under a cut but it’s about Katarina and her reactions to the harem members expressing their love for her. Can’t get more specific than that without spoiling, sorry)

Rereading Maria’s confession at the graduation ceremony, I had a thought : had the rest of the harem not intervened and made confessions of their own, would have Katarina understood Maria’s romantic intent ?

Let me explain.

As we all know, Katarina has known all of the harem, except for Maria, for years. They grew up together. Keith is her brother. Whatever way she views them, it’s ingrained in her now and it’s gonna be extremely hard for her to change this view, because for years, nothing (in her mind) hinted at the image she built of them being wrong or incomplete. So she believes she knows them. She believes she knows what they think and how they feel. We know that’s wrong, but that’s what Katarina believes.

And Katarina believes that none of them are in love with her. It is her pre-conceived idea, even before she meets any of them, that NONE of those people will ever fall in love with her.

She believes that the guys are in love with Maria, that Mary is in love with Alan and that Sophia just really adores her big brother. Nothing more, nothing less. She doesn’t fit in any of that. Her friendship with them is an anomally. She doesn’t even expect them to defend her during the Judgement Event. She believes that those relationships listed above are the only ones either of them would consider really valuable. Because, in her mind, the game takes precedence over anything else. In her mind, even if she is on friendly terms with Giordo and Keith and doesn’t attack Maria, the game could still force the world into incredible gymnastics to get her to the point where Giordo or Keith would kill her.

She is convinced that, no matter what, they can’t love her. Because the relationships of the game are the ones that truly matter here and everyone involved with Katarina in said game wanted her demise. That includes all the boys, especially Giordo and Keith, but because of that belief that the game’s relationships and fates are more or less set in stone for those six characters that she knows so much about and could therefore never misunderstand or misjudge, every one of them has already been put in a box they’ll have a hard time getting out of.

Maria though ? Maria is a lot more complicated of a character to get a grasp on for Katarina. As the otome’s main character, her relationships with the others depended entirely on her choices and her backstory has never been as expanded upon as the capture targets’, so Katarina has a really hard time understanding what she wants and how she feels. Katarina didn’t even know that Maria and her mom had been ostracised because the towns’ folk thought Maria was a noble’s bastard child. She didn’t know how much Maria had suffered because of that. She still doesn’t seem to understand btw, but that’s not really important here. The point is, Katarina doesn’t know a lot about the in-game Maria and the now real life Maria’s relationships, except that everyone is susceptible to fall in love with her and that in-game Katarina hates her. But, for that last relationship with Katarina, things have gone competely off-trail compared to the game, so Katarina has no idea what to expect out of it.

To sum it up, Maria is different from the other harem members because her relationships, including her relationship with Katarina, are building up right in front of Katarina’s eyes and they’ve only known each other for a year. On top of that, contrary to what happens in the game, Maria and Katarina become friends. That’s one totally new and unexpected relationship for both of them. So, because of all of those factors, Katarina has no pre-conceived idea of what Maria feels about her. Maria should have been afraid of or angry with Katarina, but now they’re friends, so to judge how Maria actually views her now, she only has Maria’s words and acts to go off of.

And what does Maria do at the graduation ceremony ? She tells Katarina the ONE sentence that’s supposed to be reserved to the capture target in the final event of the game. The timing is right, the words are right, this looks exactly like the final confession scene ; except that Katarina is the one Maria says those words to. And she’s stunned : for this girl who believes that the game takes precedence over everything else, this event is a conflict in and of itself : Maria should confess to a capture target, but Katarina is not an initial capture target. But those words are that of the confession, so it must be one, right ? They are supposed to convey Maria’s romantic feelings, right ? But she’s telling them to Katarina. And Katarina has no idea how to understand any of that. Did she become a capture target or did the words’ meaning change, conveying only friendship ?

Katarina could have, maybe, leaned toward the first explanation, especially if Maria had been given time to explain her words, or if Katarina had asked for clarification. But then Mary came over and said the same words to Katarina. Then all the others as well. And the choice was made for Katarina.

Her friends, who could not, ever, love her in a romantic way, were saying these words to her. Therefore, these words could not have a romantic meaning. So it was just a friendship confession, meaning that they had reached the friendship ending... and that Maria wasn’t in love with her.

TL;DR : Katamaria could have been canon by the end of their first year, but then the rest of the harem had to squeeze in between and make Katarina completely misunderstand what Maria meant.

I might write a fix-it fic where they DON’T and my girl Maria manages to get her feelings across to Katarina. Let that girl feel loved, damn it !

[chibimyumi]

Kuro 159 Summary & Thoughts

その執事、 配送 : 碧落を射抜く、梟の瞳

That Butler, Delivery: Penetrating a thousand miles, the eyes of the owl

In the previous chapter (158) Rin’s friends were disposed of as excess, while Rin herself was taken by the Mafia to work as their tool for evil. Rin was but a young child, and we knew of her future encounter with our protagonists. But how their encounter would take shape was anyone’s guess.

This chapter shines more light on the transformation from Rin to Meyrin.

Rin has now officially become a member of the Chinese mafia, and her gift is being made full advantage of.

“Our next objective is the leader of the Elders Brothers Society, a man named Yang,” the mafia don instructs his sniper. He explains that the Elders Brothers Society has trespassed his own territory, and is selling drugs without their permission. If the Society were to find out that the don attacked however, the situation would develop into a full-fledged war,” the don believes.

They take Rin to the rooftop of a building, and the don asks her whether she can see what is happening on the top floor in the building across, to which Rin replies positively.

Rin reports that she sees a bald man with a young woman. A fellow mafia member criticises the man for having too much fun, while the don jests about how he’ll let the man have some enjoyment for it will be his last night on earth.

The don throws a rifle at Rin and offers her two choices: “I’ve already made you practise right? You have but two options: use that rifle to blast a whole in that old geezer’s head, or refuse and follow your friends.”

Rin remembers the desperate and frightened expressions of her deceased companions very well, the fear in her ringing through her entire body. 'Two choices’,  the don said, but it really was an impossible decision.

For better or for worse, the decision was already made for her, as the don lifted the rifle in her arms, whispering false reassurance into her ears.

“Don’t worry, the target is bigger than earrings this time. Just take your time to take aim, and press the trigger, that is all.” And with that a deafening bang pierced through the peaceful night.

10 years have passed, and we are brought to what seems to be a Chinese district in Limehouse - London. The Chinese district appears to be home for both comfort and decay, for business and addiction. The ultimate place where merchants thrived on the misery of victims.

Behind the scenes of a certain opium den, two members of the mafia are enjoying their break. One man complains about his fatigue for his hard work, but the other thinks the complaint is undue. “You are merely responsible for driving right? It was the owl who did all the work. She finished off five targets today!” To which another man praisess in kind: “The ultimate hawkeye is what people often call her. The infallible precision regardless of distance brings me in awe.”

“Right, Owl?” The man turns, and we see Rin sitting against the wall with fatigue and lifelessness in equal measure in her eyes. We don’t need to see the events of what had happened in the past decade to know that nothing but misery occurred in Rin’s life.

Rin’s eyes told the tragedy of an orphan who used her gift to get a living, transformed into a tool for spreading further suffering. It is anyone’s guess what Rin was thinking, but if one day she would decide that this empty carcass of hers is no longer worth preserving in exchange for other people’s lives, it would not have surprised me.

“Hey, you should eat too, it’s an incredible treat,” the man invited rin as he offered Rin a plate.

She was hungry after all, and decided to accept the man’s kindness. Only when she took a bite however, did she realise she had been had.

“Gyahahahaha, this one really was gnawing on my shoe, she really can’t see anything up close, huh!”

Rin was quite upset, but knew better than to be disappointed. What levels of lowness had she not witnessed before, after all?

The don of the mafia was less eager to join the laughter and put a stop to the teasing. Not out of compassion or anything as it seems, but simply because his mood had already been sullen for quite a while, as it appears.

As it turns out, the restrictions on opium and prostitution had tightened, and the profit turned from this business was only half of what it used to be a decade earlier.

“Bastard!” the don curses. “England is obviously profiting from its sales of opium to the entire world, ‘but now the world is changing, the circulation of opium must also be decreased’? How dare he say such ridiculous things with a straight face...? Damn the Queen’s dog!” He exclaims as he clenches his wrist around a letter with the Phantomhive logo printed on it.

When it seemed like the don’s mood could not sink even deeper, a henchman comes to deliver additional bad news. “Don, a message came from our fatherland, saying they are sending in another manager. It is a man who was originally in charge of the Bund in Shanghai, named Lau.”

“That lad who uses any means possible to climb upwards? I alone am enough to handle this business in England.” Being denied by both the English law as well as the decision makers in China, the don cannot help but feel his position threatened.

He blames the tightened regulations, but before he even finished his sentence he came to a new realisation. “No, it is ‘his’ control, and if that is the case...”

The don orders for his owl to set out for her next prey. “And what is that?” Rin asks. “The Queen’s Watchdog’s head of course! Finish off Earl Phantomhive!”

At last we return to our protagonists in the Phantomhive mansion.

“Young Master, a letter has arrived for you,” Sebastian announces. “From whom?” the young boy asks.

“My, from your dearest of course.”

With the roads between the Phantomhive household, Rin and Lau connected, this chapter ends.

I personally feel a level of excitement I have not felt in a long time reading ‘Kuroshitsuji’. The previous chapters build up towards an excitement, but none of them really hit that glorious button for me.

Chapter 159 however, managed to hit the button right on its head!

So far, Rin is probably not really used to being met with much resistance as her victims would never even have suspected her eyes had already been set on them before meeting their sudden demise. The Phantomhive household however, is clearly different.

How will Sebastian prevent the head-shot aimed for his master? Will he snatch the bullet from midair, or will he notice Rin’s presence even before she pulls the trigger?

The development that ultimately hyped me up is the introduction of Lau as the replacement for the obstacle O!Ciel was succeeding in removing. As we see from the flashback, he wore his hair in the traditional Qing Dynasty style: the queue.

Hair is something considered a sacred symbol full of emotional significance in traditional Chinese culture. Cutting the hair is one of the ultimate taboos; a blasphemy almost.

Cutting the hair bore many terrifying meanings as long hair stood for a person’s legitimacy and familial legacy. Cutting off one’s hair was a penalty for minor crimes, for example. Cutting your own hair however was an altogether different taboo, as it signified breaking off all ties with your family, to even cursing your parents to death. (Yes, though so epic, that scene where Mulan cuts her hair was one of Disney’s biggest mess-ups ( ´艸｀))

When China was forced to westernise and adopt the ‘civilised short hairstyle for men’, it was the greatest humiliation for many.

What happened to Lau that he would cut off his queue, and wear his hair in a short crop for the current timeline? Was his hair cut by someone else, or did he take the scissors in his own hands? Did he do so on his own volition, or was he forced to do so to prove a point?

How did Lau feel about his cut hair, and how did that change him?

I am very thrilled to find out both about Rin’s encounter with the Phantomhive household, and Lau’s backstory.

I signed up for Meyrin’s backstory, but am I going to get Lau’s as a bonus?

[halloweenismyfav]

《 Here's Mallory's relationship list! Up next is Thorn's. I included my other OCs here too, along with RSA! (You can clearly see which ones I've thought of more) This is a long one, so buckle up. 》

Mallory Robinett's Relationships

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts: Mallory has a strange fascination with Riddle. She was a Disney gal when on Earth, Alice in Wonderland being her favorite movie they made. She kinda hated the Queen of Hearts since she was all high and mighty, but when she saw Riddle...all she thought was "omg smol tsun tsun". After his overblot, she held him close and allowed him to hide his tears. Riddle finds her obsession fascination with him a bit odd, but he's seen weirder in his own dorm, so he just lets her do her thing and is her friend nonetheless.

Trey Clover: "Big brother Trey". That's pretty much it. One time, Mallory told Trey about chocolate-hazelnut wafers and how she loved them back on Earth, so he made them for her after. She was delighted and it's become tradition for them since. He's basically her big bro. It's pretty wholesome.

Cater Diamond: Mallory finds Cater a bit annoying, she won't lie. She just finds the whole "influencer" thing a bit odd. Other than that, she doesn't entirely mind Cater. They don't talk all too often however, so they don't know each other too well. Mallory hopes to have that change before they graduate or before she goes home.

Ace Trappola: If these two are seen together, you may wanna run. Mallory and Ace are pretty much inseparable after finally getting along during Heartslabyul's episode. Mallory will admit, she finds Ace attractive, and she's said it to him before on a couple occasions. She may feel more than just that, but she doesn't like love and stuff like that, so she tries to ignore her rapidly beating heart whenever she's with Ace...

Deuce Spade: Deuce is one of the few people who sees Mallory's sweet side. She always makes sure he stays in line and if he starts to go all delinquent-mode, she pulls a "pull it together major". Of course, that's only if he starts to go overboard. Mallory knows what it's like to feel like a disappointment to a parent, so she reassures Deuce that it'll get better if he's truly wanting to be better.

Thorn Valley: Oh, these two despise each other. The only thing they can agree on is that they dislike Leona and that's pretty much it. Some people at NRC like to say they're like an old married couple(mainly Cater) and they always have to clarify that they hate each other. They can tolerate each other during events like Fairy Gala and such, but even then, they'll still bicker.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar: Another person Mallory hates! She finds Leona's laziness a menace, while he gets a kick out of annoying her. Their relationship is similar to how Vil and Leona act to put it bluntly. They do have similar humor though, so it's strange whenever someone else sees them laughing together.

Ruggie Bucchi: One time Ruggie stole her sandwich and she makes sure he'll never live it down. Knowing he had a rough time back in the Afterglow Savana however, she tones it down by a lot. She knows he's a gremlin, but she also knows that he's a human like anyone else and tries to treat him with some kind of kindness and respect. They don't talk all too often, but they've talked enough to be considered a bit more than acquaintances.

Jack Howl: He gives her piggyback rides more often than you would think, but it's always cause she asks if he can. He can't say no to her face, he doesn't know why, so he goes along with it. He finds her more as his sister than anything, Mallory finding the feeling mutual. She loves to hang out with him and Epel, but the one time that Jack offered her to come with him and Vil to jog, she backed up ten feet and said no.

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto: Mallory was infuriated when Azul took Ramshackle away from her and Grim for those couple days. She was doing that thing where she was telling Adeuce and Jack to "hold her (nonexistent) earrings" or to "hold her back". After finding out his backstory however, she softened, even if only by a bit. Her relationship with him got better after Scarabia's incident.

Jade Leech: Mallory doesn't like Jade, but she doesn't hate him either. He's probably the most tolerable person in Octavinelle to her. She was also close to slapping Jade once. She doesn't interact with him too often, so she can only go off of how he was during Octavinelle and Scarabia's episode.

Floyd Leech: Floyd is the vain of Mallory's existence. During the Octavinelle episode, she almost slapped him into oblivion. She honestly can't tell who she hates more, Thorn, Leona, or Floyd. He's constantly trying to "squeeze" her like he does with everyone else and she can't stand it. She doesn't like to talk to him and tries to avoid him when she can.

Marius Seymour: Mallory doesn't entirely mind Marius. She kinda finds his sadistic-ish personality a bit annoying, but she's learned that it's a reoccuring thing in Octavinelle. Marius' sadism isn't as bad as the other three. She lowkey ships him with Ashe and isn't shy about it. She finds him kinda fun to be around and likes to eat with him at lunch from time to time.

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim: The first time she talked to him, she knew that he was so precious and was wondering if he belonged at RSA. He's also one of the few people to see Mallory's sweet side. She can't bring herself to be sarcastic with him, so she acts almost entirely different with him. It basically goes as such...

----

Mallory: *being all sweet it Kalim*

Everyone else: Wow...

Mallory: What?

Everyone else: You're just so nice to him...

Mallory: Oh, I'm sorry, do you want me to yell?!

Everyone else: No-!

----

Jamil Viper: Mallory's...indifferent to Jamil. She almost slapped him after his overblot, yes, but she doesn't entirely hate him. She knows he was in Kalim's shadow for so long, so she doesn't have too much against him. She still isn't happy with how he treated and hypnotized Kalim, but she tries to let it go as much as her heart and brain will let her. She doesn't talk to him much after his overblot, but if she needs to talk to him, she won't throw a tantrum.

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit: At first, Mallory thought that she'd hate Pomefiore, especially Vil. But...she saw and heard how much effort it took for Vil to get to where he is now, so she has a lot of respect for him. For Ghost Marriage, he chose an outfit for her so that she fit the theme of the event and she actually liked his outfit choices. It was a dress, which she tends to hate, but she genuinely enjoyed wearing it. She may not talk to him a whole lot, but she respects him greatly. After his overblot, that respect and empathy went up even more.

Rook Hunt: Mallory, like many others at NRC, finds Rook weird and creepy. She already found the fact that he has photos on his walls creepy, but then he lists off her, ADeuce and Grim's height, class, and seat number. She tries to avoid him at all costs, similar to Floyd. She hates how he randomly pops up behind her and the others too.

Epel Felmier: Mallory loves Epel! She likes to hang out with him, Jack, and Deuce. She's trying to learn how to carve apples, though she's gained many cuts on her fingers because of it, the cuts always bandaged up by Epel. Since she's taller than him, she likes to use him as an arm-rest from time to time, much to Epel's demise. All in all, she adores him and wishes the best for him.

Ashe Aspen: Mallory finds Ashe fun, but they don't talk as often as she'd like. He's really tall, so she likes when he gives her piggyback rides too. She's witnessed his truly scary side, and she's sworn to never make him mad since. Similar to Ruggie, they may not talk much, but they've talked enough to be considered a bit more than acquaintances.

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud: Best of friends. Specifically BGFFs, "Best Gamer Friends Forever". Idia introduced Mallory to a bunch of games in Twisted Wonderland and she couldn't put them down. They talk whenever they can and everyone is shocked when Mallory says she's Idia's friend. She likes his hair a lot too.

Ortho Shroud: Mallory finds Ortho like the younger sibling she never had but always wanted. She always makes sure he's ok, telling him that he can come to her if he ever needs to talk. She also thought that he did amazing during the VCD Auditions.

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia: She knows for a fact that if she was still her same seven year old self, she'd want him to give her a piggyback ride so she could hold his horns. Mallory finds his innocent outlook on some things adorable, but more in a sense of "wow he's pure" rather than romantically. For the most part though, their relationship is the same as it's portrayed in the game.

Lilia Vanrouge: They have a relationship like Mallory does with Riddle, just flip it around. Lilia seems to be fascinated by her, seeing as she's a human from another world while he's a fae who's lived for hundreds of years. She may be taller than him, but he always floats above the ground so he's at least her height. She finds him fun to hang with, so she's fine with his strange fascination.

Sebek Zigvolt: She finds him too loud, but she appreciates his devotion to Malleus. Sometimes it concerns her, but other than that, she respects it. They don't talk often, but she kinda wants that to change soon. Other than that, he's the member she's the least close to.

Silver: They're cuddling buddies and don't even know it. Mallory spends a lot of time in Diasomnia, so naturally she is close with the dorm's members. She likes to crash in Silver's room at times, so that's how they became secret cuddle buddies.

Other

Dire Crowley: Mallory finds it kinda fun to toy with Crowley, but found it incredibly annoying when he left to go on vacation during Scarabia's episode. Although it's something she'd never admit, Mallory sees Crowley as that fun and strange father she never got to have.

Divius Crewel: She hates him with a lot of her being. She hates how he treats them all like dogs. However, when there are those few times he's nice to her and makes sure she doesn't make an explosion in Alchemy, she's thankful.

Mozus Trein: She finds his class pretty boring, but she loves playing with his cat. She does appreciate when Trein gives her extra help if she doesn't understand something revolving around Twisted Wonderland's history.

Ashton Vargas: Mallory is a bit indifferent to Vargas. While he can be nice to her, she finds him a bit odd. She does however appreciate how Vargas makes sure she takes care of her physical and mental health.

Libi Koko: Libi and Mallory are pretty much the best of friends. Since Libi is one of the few females in NRC with Mallory, it feels nice that she can talk to someone who understands some issues they may have that the guys don't. They have a lot of inside jokes and, again, Libi is one of the few poeple who have seen Mallory's sweet side.

Che'nya: Prank duo, right here. If they're together, it's like an Ace and Mallory situation, but worse. Since they go to different schools, they can't talk often, but they managed to exchange numbers who knows when just a bit after the Heartslabyul incident. Sometimes, Che'nya likes to give Mallory hugs, but he's always invisible and know one except Mallory can tell he's there. He likes to tease Mallory a bit, much to her slight demise, so she's started to do the same. It's an endless cycle now.

Neige LeBlanche: Mallory already adored Neige the first time she met him. Her first thought was "he's baby. I must protect". They may not talk often, due to being in different schools, but they exchanged numbers to ensure that they still had the ability to talk. Neige is in a situation similar to Kalim in terms of how sweet Mallory is.

[blushing-titan]

Eren as a father and Ymir as a mother motives theory never made sense. They were represented as emotionally stunned children in paths doing the Rumbling, not as adults. Ymir never cared about her children, she doomed them to suffer after her VERY SHITTY AND SELFISH CHOICE TO DIE because her abuser didn't return her "love". That was clear before Eren revealed it. She saved him and abandoned her children. She never gave a single fuck about them. She was always looking at HIM. (1)

For his part, Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective. Dina and bird twist were foreshadowed via memory shards earlier. Krueger went on a rant about protecting Armin and Mikasa (and the "others") to Grisha. We've always known who Eren prioritized above all. Last chapter offered no twists, only confirmations. The story was always about EMA, Historia never had a place in the climax.

Hi! Thank you very much for writing 😀 I put my reply under the cut, so people who scroll down while searching tags don’t have problems with my long post (...because I feel like, unfortunetely, it’s gonna be another stream of conciousness from me, sorry about that 😅)

I really like your take on the "emotionally stunned children in paths" imaginery - I fully agree that it's a nicely-done symbolism!

To me, the whole Ymir sacrificed herself because of her unrequited love was not at all as clear and obvious as you say - especially before Eren revealed it. I still have a lot of problems with this plot twist, and how Ymir's feelings towards Fritz were portrayed in the end.

With the amount of abuse and mistreatment the king put her through, many fans tried to come up with different theories as to why Ymir kept on serving him. The way I interpreted it, after seeing her tortured expression over and over in many panels, was that she stayed by his side because of fear and emotional damages. With the way she was living, I was not surprised that she sacrificed herself, too - I thought that she honestly had enough, which added to the tradgedy of how she still couldn't find peace after that, and kept on being enslaved in paths.

I saw many takes and theories on her motives, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone betting on she was actually in love before ch. 139. I probably didn't search good enough, but again - with what I saw in the manga, I would have never bet on that either. My point is - before ch. 139 (...and after it too, in my opinion) Ymir was a walking mystery with unclear motives, so there were a lot of theories. Therefore, I disagree that the "parents" theory could never work - it obviously doesn’t work now, after ch. 139, but before that, her motivation could be anything really. I still wish it was something else, because what we got was too vague and problematic, in my opinion. 

I simply dislike Ymir's conclusion. I feel like there was so much potential in her backstory and motives + a few different ways to tie it back with different plotpoints and characters in the end to make it more meaningful, but what we got was a brief: She was in love with the person who abused her, I know it sounds unbelievable but I couldn't look deeper into her heart, so we have to take it as it is.

In general - I can't brush it off, but to me it feels like Ymir's end goal was rushed, not explored properly, and almost pulled out of nowhere. Unfortunately, I feel the same about Mikasa's involvement in lifting the titan's curse. Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all against her becoming the hero. Quite the opposite, I was rooting for her since the beginning, and hoped to see her develop and have a big moment, but this...this honestly also felt pulled out of nowhere and, in my eyes, didn't do Mikasa justice at all. I wish there was more proper build-up and foreshadowing done so I (...and, from what I've seen, a huge portion of fans) wouldn't feel that way, but here we are.

As for the Eren/Armin conversation, I like how they got to "see" the world together, even though just as a visualisation in the paths. My problem is the [...] Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective part. Again, this should have been forshadowed (...and developed in general!) much sooner - not in the final chapter, right before we learn about this controversial motivation of his.

Instead, for many chapters, we were lead to believe that Eren was acting with his original goals and personal motivations in mind; that he had some character developement which caused him to start thinking his actions through, stop acting so impulsively - and finally, that he had a plan in mind, or at least was acting out of his own free will.

If you've never seen him in this light and his motivation/behaviour seemed in character in the last chapter to you - that's fine, all power to you! But if such a big portion of the fanbase felt otherwise (me included), then it means that there were some writing issues that led to this.

The Dina situation should have been explored more, as well. It's a huuuge plot twist, which puts our MC's motovations in an entirely new light, and creates quite a few additional plot-related questions. The way we're shown the situation: Berthold couldn't die just yet, so Eren directed Dina somewhere else, which ended up being his house.

...why not anywhere else? He could literally send her back outside the wall. On top of that - did he seriously sacrifice his mother in favour of his friends? I'd really like more information on this, but the topic is cut basically as soon as it appears. I find it especially unnatural, considering the way further dialogue goes:

Eren tells Armin about how he caused his mother's demise. Armin makes a terrified face, but drops the topic, smiles and casually proceeds with: "Let's go, Eren" - like his friend didn't just reveal one of the most controversial plot twist in the series. No, who'd want to hear an elaboration on that - better talk about Mikasa, so instead we get the entire (in my eyes - really forced) Eremika-themed talk. The priorities...

About the bird thing...if I remember correctly, there were three shards revolving around this theme. Two of them just show birds flying, one of them shows Falco from bird’s perpective. Sure, now that we know that some random bird in the end pecked on Mikasa's scarf, we can kiiiiiind of connect it to the Falco's shard...but honestly, why was Eren's soul transferred into some random bird after his death? On top of that, a bird that was already existing in the world while he was still alive, as a human...did that bird’s conciousness just go poof! one day, for Eren to take the vacant spot? Should we also look for other deceased titan shifters in barns or birdhouses? 😅 I can’t believe I’m overthinking it this hard...😆

That's some three-eyed-parasitic-jeager stuff, for sure.

Jokes aside, I guess what I'm trying to say is that foreshadowing is fun and great, but it should go hand in hand with proper developement - and, in my opinion, the examples above kinda lack it (...ok, I'd let the "bird Eren" thing slide because whatever, I don't feel the need to be that serious about it, it could stay ambigous in my opinion - but I'd definitely want some more closure as for the Dina situation or Ymir’s motivations and inner thoughts)

I've always said that Armin and Mikasa were two of Eren's closest friends - or, even more, the only people he considered family. I've also never believed that he would ever willingly sacrifice them, as some people theorized (...though guess what, now that I know what happened to his mother, I have to rethink my reasoning). I understand that EMA are the main characters, and was expecting that the story's conclusion will be tied to them somehow, but definitely not at the expense of logical character and story developement (...and sorry - to me the ending just felt that way).

As for Historia: if she was never supposed to be important in the end, then, in my eyes, it's a very poorly guided plotline that only led to unecessary drama in the fanbase. Why make her situation look sus with things such us:

Incorrect conception date,

The emphasis on how she didn't marry the father of her baby (...only to reveal in ch. 139 that she, in fact, did that),

The mysterious, cloaked figure observing her talking to the farmer,

The whole talk with Eren in ch. 130, and Eren thinking back to it while talking with Zeke.

All the Historia/Ymir parallels.

Seriously, what was the point? It would be so easy to simply make the situation clear. Why not just make Historia admit to Eren in ch. 131: "yes, I'm already pregnant with the farmer's baby - I did it to save myself."? Why not cut the bs with the "she didn't marry him" - because, in all honesty, what did that information bring into the story, aside from confusion and "misunderstanding" - and just make them married, instead? Even better - why not have at least one panel showing Historia and farmer being at least somehow affectionate with each other? Why not let go of all this retconned stuff and use these panels for shelling out other plotpoints?

The theories didn't come out of nowhere - they were based on what was shown in the manga. People wouldn't be disappointed with Historia's conclusion if it was never implied that she was still somehow important. We may argue about it back and forth, but the truth is - when so many people collectively "misunderstand" a certain plotline to this extent, then it means there had to be some storytelling issues that led them to this - simple as that.

To sum it up, I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter and found it logical and satisfying. I absolutely don't want to take that away from you, or make you change your mind, but I also can't help the fact that I don't see it in the same light as you. You say that the final chapter offered no twists, only confirmations - to me, it was pretty much the opposite. Still, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts, and sorry it took me so long to reply! Hope you're having a nice day 😄