#movie. or the movie's plot with the manga's ending because they just don't match.

[cacaitos]

i need those two posts to brawl it out with metal chairs, because despite them both "preferring" the manga it does reveal why people prefer the movie over the manga and viceversa. the manga is usually liked for characters arcs, while the movie for thematic clearness (at the end).

[stellar-constellations]

An Alliance (Part 8)

        

        Fem! Spy! (Y/N) x Yuri Briar

        Parts: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, current part, nine, ten (to be continued when Spy x Family has more Yuri content!)

        (Y/N) is given her own backstory that is important for the story!

        The setting for this story is based off West and East Germany's (because Spy x Family is heavily based off Germany in the 1940-1950) laws (or at least replicated to the best of my abilities since it's unknown what time period Spy x Family is exactly in, we'll go with 1950 for the sake of this story). 

        Historically-accurate women misogyny and mistreatment! Only small comments and historically-accurate laws (replicated to the best of my ability). 

        The story, plot, and settings might not match up to the Spy x Family manga as it's not completed and the manga is still being crafted.

        This series contains spoilers for the manga and anime!

        Even more weeks passed as Yuri and I began to know each other more and more. Eventually, we started to figure out each other's likes and interests.

        I used to hate Yuri for many things, like how he's extremely strict with work, a morning-person, extremely family-oriented (and I swear he has some weird thing with sisters. Would he date a girl if she was an older sister? 'Cause I am). I also hated him cause he's so bossy and stuck-up, not allowing me to even walk outside for a breath of air without him walking beside me.

        Meanwhile, he hated me for a lot of reasons too. Like how I was seen as playful and tired a lot, seeming to have no clear goal of what I want in life. He also didn't like me because I'm carefree and love to tease him. 

        It's not that good of a match when we're both stubborn and opinionated, stuck in the same apartment for hours on end, not even having a break from work, but we eventually decided to put aside our differences. 

        Yuri allowed me to sleep in on our days off, and in return I'd lay back on my teasing. Yuri and I agreed on the groceries and dinners we made, deciding to work together to make dinner. I learned that Yuri likes his eggs sunny side up, and he learned I like mine (egg choice). I showed him how to make my family recipes, and Yuri showed me how to make recipes he's stumbled across and adapted (he admitted he doesn't like cooking Yor's dishes, but he eats what she makes anyways because he admires her).

        Yuri doesn't care for horror movies as he never gets scared, but he's scared of porcelain dolls (just as I am) so we get scared when watching "The Invisible Man" (even though Yuri swears up and down he isn't scared, he agrees to hold me since I forced him to otherwise I'd have nightmares and talk about it in my sleep, effectively scaring him from my sleep-talk of demons and dolls). 

        We learned how to co-exist and work together, helping with interrogations and asking for each other's second-opinions. I tried to listen to bugged audios and such, but I end up falling asleep each time as I have to try and wait for something incriminating, so Yuri takes over that part.

        Our co-workers are extremely convinced that we're a couple, and it really doesn't seem that off. It feels like as more and more time passes, we get used to having to call each other "wife" and "husband". 

        We took the bus since the traffic was way too crowded on the road today, that, and me and Yuri felt exhausted after working long hours for so long. We eventually fell asleep on the bus, leaning onto a each as the train peacefully cradled us.

        "Yuri? (Y/N)?"

        Yuri shot awake, causing me to way up from his harsh movement. 

        "Whu? Yor?" Yuri questioned.

        "You two don't usually ride this train." Yor spoke.        

        "Oh, uh, just on our way back from a little work trip." Yuri spoke.

        I nodded, agreeing before eventually dosing off on Yuri's shoulder, their conversation being alienated in my ears. 

        Yuri soon woke me up. I mumbled out a "bye" once I realized Yor was still onboard. Yuri grabbed my hand as he led me out.         

        "What did you and Yor talk about while I was asleep?" I muttered, keeping my eyes low on the ground.

        It was too bright outside for me now, and I'm really too tired to keep walking yet I went.

        "Nothing really, just small talk." Yuri hummed, he turned to look at me. "Are you okay? You're dragging your feet." Yuri pointed out.

        "Yeah, yeah. I'm just tired. I don't like having to do the interrogations so much. I'm still mad that guy tried punching me when I caught him lying." I sighed.

        "Yeah. That was a quick punch..." Yuri spoke, recalling the memories.

        I'm really glad Yuri was there to catch that punch and hold him down, since I was sitting down, there really wasn't enough time for me to move away from it.

        "Yuri. Can you carry me?" I questioned.

        "No." He immediately responded. 

        "Why?" I sighed, slightly whining. 

        "You're acting like a child." Yuri sighed.

        "But I'm tired." I groaned, then paused, thinking. "You should carry me. It'll make us seem more like a couple to others."

        "You're really trying to use that against me?" Yuri deadpanned.        

        "...Please?" I questioned, causing him to sigh.

        "Whatever, hurry up and get on." Yuri groaned, rolling his eyes as he crouched down.

        "Thank you, love~" I singed, not much energy into it.

        "Whatever." He huffed, grabbed my thighs and placing his arms under them to get a firm grip.

        "You're the best~" I praised, resting my head on his shoulder and sighing happily.

        "I know I am." He snarked, hiding his face to hide his painfully obvious smile. 

        I decided not to fight back on it, resting my eyes again.        

        .

        .

        Mission after mission, I swear I'm going to go insane. I thought. 

        We were chasing after a suspect who ran, my legs were tired as I mentally cussed out the man we're chasing. I never ran as much in WISE as I do here! Usually I'd get escorted to my missions or at least have a motorcycle (well, at least in WISE I would)!

        "The suspect fled to the back alley! Go around and cut him off, you two!" the Lieutenant ordered.

        "Yes, sir!" Yuri responded. 

        I followed Yuri, not bothering to responded back to the Lieutenant in case I accidentally project my unprofessional thoughts to my higher-up. We chased in an empty alley, desperate to cut him off, but Yuri suddenly fell. He didn't trip, no, he just fell, plopped down face first into the ground.

        "Yuri? Are you okay?!" I questioned, immediately stopping and checking Yuri's pulse to make sure it wasn't heart failure or a stroke. 

        "Yuri, what happened? Did he get the drop on you?!" the Lieutenant questioned, running to us.

        "He just suddenly collapsed!" I spoke.

        "Nngh... Captain... I think I..." Yuri paused, "caught a cold..." 

        "So suddenly?!" the Lieutenant exclaimed. 

        "No wonder you were sneezing and coughing today when you woke up. Sheesh, Yuri, if you felt bad, you could've called in sick." I sighed, putting his arm around my shoulder and picking him up with the help of the Lieutenant.

        "Evil never waits..." Yuri responded.

        I signed me and Yuri out early, the Lieutenant going to the Director to tell what happened and to excuse our absences. I took Yuri's car keys and drove us back to our apartment, resting him on the couch.

        "You know, you really worried me, stupid. I thought you inhaled some poisonous gas or went into cardiac arrest. Tell me when you're feeling unwell, jerk..." I muttered, ignoring the tears swelling up in my eyes.

        I thought I was gonna lose you, just like everyone else...

        "Sorry..." Yuri mumbled. 

        "Don't worry, love. Just don't scare me like that again..." I sighed. 

        "Whenever I remember that... my sister's away... my immune system... breaks down." Yuri explained. 

        Woah. Sounds serious... seriously stupid. I thought. 

        "Right, business trip on a cruise." I commented. "I'll go get you some medicine at the pharmacy." I spoke.

        "W-wait, you can't go alone!" Yuri spoke.

        "I'll be fine, don't worry." I reassured.

        "No... It's in the... contract... for me to not... leave you alone... in case you... leave..." Yuri huffed.

        "Jerk!" I scoffed. "I wanted to make sure you heal up and you believe I'll abandon you while you're vulnerable! Besides, I've already left your sight before and I returned, did I not?!"

        "Sorry..." Yuri sighed. "If you go... could you get some herbal tea? The kind with the bear on it..." He huffed.

        "...Whatever..." I huffed, rolling my eyes. 

        I’ll get him it anyways since he’s sick. I thought.

        I hurried to the pharmacy, buying the box and noticing the box’s bear it's the same herbal tea that taste like absolute shit.

        Well, maybe he loses his tastes when he’s sick? So he doesn’t realize it’s bad? Maybe he likes the dirt-like texture. I thought, walking out of the pharmacy with the box and medication in hand.

        I walked back into the apartment, unlocking the door with the key I borrowed (stole) from Yuri’s pocket. I walked back to the bedroom and noticed Yuri sleeping, moving around a lot in his sleep.

        I decided I’d make the tea for him, getting a kettle of hot water brewing. I waited for the tea to boil, then placed a packet in a mug, pouring the water into it.

        I’m not a fan of Japanese tea, I prefer American tea better, but maybe my sense of taste changed? I thought, taking a drink of the tea from the mug.

        “BLEGH!” I immediately spit it in the sink, coughing profusely as the taste lingered in my mouth. “Hell no!” I exclaimed.

        How could he willing choose something like that?!

        I grumbled, muttering complaints and insults of the cartoon bear on the box as I carried Yuri’s mug of disgusting tea and a box of medicine for his cold.

        I walked in, setting the stuff down on the drawer and looked at Yuri. He was awake, shooting up from his sleep rather quickly.

        “Nightmare?” I questioned.

        “No. Just some past memories.” He sighed, his voice hoarse from his cold.

        “Ah.” I hummed. “I got you the tea you wanted, though it tastes like shit.” 

        “Thanks. It’s the one that works the best. And also the one that tastes most like what Yor used to make.” Yuri spoke, sipping his tea.

        He immediately threw up, but seemed re-energized. 

        “Gross! Yuri!” I wailed.

        “Blarf! Now let’s go catch us some criminals! I’m back to 100 percent! We gotta purify the world before my sister returns!” Yuri shouted.

        “Go back to bed, stupid!” I screamed.         .         .

        More weeks passed as me and Yuri learned to fall into the husband and wife role perfectly. We can go anywhere and be seen as a couple—almost, which will be explained soon enough. But I realized a new problem arose…

        It’s all fake.

        All the hugs, all the handholding, all the “see you soon”s, all the kisses, we had to fake it all. We had to fake every compliment, every gift, everything we did outside, was fake. But all the insults, all the teasing, all the “I hate you’s", all the nagging, all of that was real. 

        And the problem was, I’ve begun to enjoy Yuri’s company too much. 

        I’ve begun to enjoy waking up next to him and complaining about not wanting to get up. I’ve begun to enjoy walking to the nearest cafe for breakfast or just skipping and deciding to eat a big lunch later. I’ve begun to enjoy our handholding sessions and hugs and kisses to prove that we’re a "couple". I’ve begun to enjoy being able to see Yuri everyday; but he doesn’t.

        He doesn’t look forward to see me in the morning. He doesn’t look forward to our breakfasts, lunches, dinners, or desserts. He especially doesn’t enjoy the fake affection we had to broadcast to others. 

        I never expected to start wanting to fall in love, to start entertaining the idea of what life would be like with kids, to start a new chapter. I never wanted to leave someone with the fact that I was a bad-doer and that I’ll be at fault for making them cry—if they could even still think of me as their lover after knowing all I’ve done. All I've killed and sacrificed to be what I am today.

        I don’t like to hold regrets, but I am just as human as the next, even if Yuri doesn’t believe it since I was once a Westalis citizen. 

        I regret that I killed people with no thought. That I’ve broken families in just a second, shattered them so they could never be mended back together. I regret stealing information, turning my back on people, and never once listening to my heart and feelings.

        That’s for the best. I thought to myself. If I allow myself to get attached, then I’ll surely never be able to leave. I told myself.

        But do I really want to leave him? I thought. I'm going to have to. I've read the Handler's message: 

        Hello, Agent Vixen. To ensure your alliance with WISE, we need you to gather information on what they know about WISE, who the members are, what our missions are; I want information such as this and more reported to us as soon as you can—without letting any of them know you're still working with us. We also need you to figure out what are their affiliations with the National Unity Party. What do they discuss about? What is said about Westalis? Anything and everything involving the war, our agents, Westalis, and Ostania, we need you to report without being found out. Don't worry about covering for WISE agents, if they were caught; they're no longer a WISE agent in our books. And if you're discovered, we will do our best to recruit you back to us as long as you're proven to be reliable and trustworthy for a second chance. 

         The Handler.

        I'm a failure of a person. I can't even choose a side to back up; I'm a terrible wife too. I sighed, watching as a girl in the coffee line chatted with Yuri. And I’m not jealous. I thought, staring at them socialize. 

        Why would I be jealous? It’s all fake. I shouldn’t care if Yuri decides to leave with a girl. I shouldn’t care if I get kicked out and a new girl moves in. I shouldn’t care if the contract gets breached and I die (it really already has). I shouldn’t care at all, it’s Yuri’s life.

        But what if he starts loving someone? I don’t think I could watch the stages of him slowly falling head over heels in love with someone. If that happens, I’ll be gone. I'll be forced to go back to Westalis; if WISE even deem me worthy enough to be kept alive, that is (but I bet the SSS would kill me before then).

        But it’s not what I want, it’s what Yuri wants. I’ve been nothing but a nuisance ever since I was caught. I really started slacking, and I've been doing even worse now that I'm with Yuri; I'm losing my spark. 

        I stood up from the seat, deciding I was tired of waiting (and not because Yuri was talking with a girl) and walked up to them.

        “Hey! You remember my order, right?” I questioned Yuri, budding into the conversation.

        I don’t care if I’m being rude, it’s about time I start being selfish with my own feelings (haven't I been?)

        “(Favorite coffee/drink), right?” Yuri questioned, looking down.

        “Yep.” I smiled.

        “Is this your girlfriend?” the girl questioned, smiling.

        "Wife, actually." Yuri confirmed, grabbing my hand and holding it.

        A wave of shock hit me. I was expecting Yuri to get mad at me budding in, potentially ruining his chances with a hot girl. I was expecting him to be bummed out, mad, shocked, sad, anything but supportive and proud.

        I felt my heart race as my face heated up. 

        Wow. Wasn't what I was expecting. I thought. 

        "Really?" the girl spoke, shocked. "I didn't see a ring, sorry." 

        Me and Yuri looked down at our hands at the same time, noticing our fingers. 

        Ah, we still don't have rings, actually. I thought. 

        "We're engaged and saving up for rings." Yuri explained quickly. 

        "I see..." the girl went quiet. "Sorry for disturbing." 

        Yeah... I thought. Don't be a home-wrecker. 

        I decided to stay with Yuri in case she decides to change her mind about being a home-wrecker. The girl left and I sighed, feeling relieved, like I overcame a serious obstacle. Yuri is pretty attractive, but I've watched as girls quickly leave once he starts his obsessive rants about his sister.

        Maybe I was a little jealous. I thought to myself. I think I got a little insecure… I’ll keep that in mind so it doesn’t happen again.

        If Yuri noticed it, he decided not to question it. We ordered our drinks, waiting before receiving it. We walked into Yuri’s car, deciding today we’d drive instead of taking the bus. Yuri drives as I thought to myself intensely.

        “Yuri.” I spoke up.

        “Hm?” he acknowledged.

        “Let’s get wedding rings.” I boldly spoke.

        Yuri swerved the car, almost hitting another car before parking to the right side of the road.

        “The hell’s your problem?!” I screamed, scared as I held my chest. 

        Did I just lose my heart? Is it gone? Am I dead?

        “My problem?! What’s your problem?!” Yuri declared. “You don’t just go randomly asking that! Do you even know how much money rings cost?! We’re not married married!” 

        “Of course I know. We can go to a pawnshop and get them!” I hissed. “But it’s been pointed out that we don’t have rings! Usually when people engage, they at least have a engagement ring before a wedding ring! It’ll make our act look more believable.” 

        “People already believe us! Who do we need to coax?” Yuri questioned.

        “Our coworkers! We work with detectives, Yuri, they’re bound to get suspicious about us when there’s no ring and we’re regularly visiting the Director.” I pointed out.

        “Is this because of that girl?” Yuri questioned suddenly.

        “No!” I immediately declared, determined to shut down that idea. “I’m just thinking about our contract!” 

        “Ugh… (Y/N)…” Yuri sighed, hitting his head against the steering wheel.

        "My life is on the line, you know?! It all relies on this relationship!" I exclaimed. 

        The car horn honked as he did, but we both chose to ignore that as he raised his head.

        “I don’t plan on falling in love or whatever you’re thinking of in that pretty little head of yours.” He sighed, flicking my forehead.

        “Hey!” I yelped, offended that he flicked my forehead and called me stupid indirectly.

        “You don’t have to worry. I never planned on having a wife or anything.” Yuri spoke.

        “Why? Are you gay?” I immediately spoke.

        “NO!” Yuri screamed, angry. “I just never saw the point of it. I decided to dedicate my life to helping Yor.” 

        Pathetic. I immediately thought.

        “But what if you do fall in love?” I questioned. “What are you gonna do then?” 

        “I won’t.” Yuri sighed.

        “But what if you do?” I questioned, determined for an answer.

        “I’ll ignore them.” He groaned, hitting his head on the steering wheel once more.

        “But what about the rings and our contract?” I questioned.

        “What about them?” Yuri questioned.

        “My life is literally held together by a paper packet and our relationship.” I spoke.

        “And?” Yuri muttered.

        “You’re not gonna care if I die...?” I questioned, tears welling up in my eyes.

        “N-no! Of course I’d care. I’d—would you stop crying already?!” Yuri spoke, freaking out as tears started streaming down my face. 

        “I can’t help it!” I cried.

        “No! Help it! Help it, damn it!” Yuri groaned.

        “I just said I can’t!” I huffed.

        “I didn’t mean it! I don’t want you to die, geez!” he sighed.

        “Prove it…” I muttered.

        “How am I gonna do that? I’m not going to kiss you.” He spoke bluntly.

        “That wasn’t on the table!” I huffed, ignoring my offended and dejected feelings. “And to prove it…” I muttered, raising my left hand and holding it in the air as I pointed to my ring finger with the help of my other hand.

        “I’ll think about it.” Yuri sighed almost rolling his eyes at me. “Are you happy now?” 

        “Not yet.” I spoke, causing Yuri to groan. “Would you cheat in our marriage?” 

        “Have you no trust in me?!” Yuri cried out.

        “Since you didn’t mind if I died or not, yeah!” I immediately retorted.

        “I said I would mind!” Yuri clarified quick. “And besides. If I actually did did get married, which would never happen, but hypothetically, I wouldn’t. That’s treason to the relationship, and I don’t support treason. Just think back to our interrogation with Jim Hayward.” 

        I don’t think it’d be that serious, but good job on being a decent person, Yuri. I thought.

        “Why am I answering these questions and you’re not giving any information back?! This is trickery!” Yuri shouted, angry as he hit the gas pedal and drove back into the road, speeding a little off the appropriate speed limit to make it to work on time. 

        "You willing answered my questioned; I used no form of deception." I spoke, raising my hand up like I was testifying in court to prove innocence. 

        "Yeah right..." he grumbled. "What are you going to do when you fall in love?" he questioned. "And don't say you won't; I already used that." 

        "Hm." I hummed, thinking. "I'd wait and see if they recuperate. If they don't, I keep the feelings to myself, if they do, I won't do anything either. I have a marriage license with you, and I refuse to be a cheater, even in a fake relationship." 

        "Okay. And what about actual marriage?" Yuri questioned.

        "I want to have a husband and kids one day, but I'm not going to settle for just anyone. They'll be put through a test to make sure they're the one." I stated.

        "Pfft." Yuri scoffed, smiling. "What's this? Are you suddenly Cinderella waiting for Prince Charming?" Yuri joked.

        "Ugh." I scoffed back. "As if! I meant that they need to follow my dad's expectations of my husband, with a few exceptions from me, of course. Plus, Cinderella sought out the Prince first, I'd be offended if the guy I danced with didn't recognize my face!"

        "What's your dad's exceptions? And yours?" Yuri spoke. "Some buff guy who can lift 200 pounds?" 

        "Why? You been rejected for guys like that?" I questioned.

        "I told you, I've never fallen in love and never will..." Yuri grumbled.

        "My expectation of a lover is someone whose stable with a good sense of morals. I could care less about looks or the sex-drive, but I'd want a partner whose honest, loyal, responsible, and no one-sided expectations; like they can go out with friends but I can't, you know?" I spoke.

        "I'm genuinely surprised; that's achievable." Yuri commented. 

        "Oh? Are you going to be a suitor for this bachelorette?" I joked. 

        "Like there's others." Yuri scoffed. 

        "Oi!" I exclaimed. "Of course there's others! I'm not as unlikable as you."

        "Whatever floats your love boat." Yuri sighed.

        "Your boat is Titanic." I retorted.

        Titanic because it's a sunken ship...

        Yuri grumbled under his breath, before speaking up. 

        “I couldn’t ever see you being a real wife.” Yuri claimed.

        “Why?” I questioned, side-eyeing him.

        “Cause you don’t act very sophisticated, I’d be surprised if you even find a guy interested in you.” Yuri stated as if it was a fact.

        “Their loss; they don’t know what they’re missing.” I spoke.

        “What? Like constant nagging about nothing and everything? Constant clumsily and running into still doors and still wall? Constant clinging onto them as you drag your feet about not wanting to get out of bed, or to work, or to the store, or to the doctors? Constant crying? Constant—“ 

        “Say one more thing and I’ll turn that steering wheel so fast off that bridge we’re about to cross.” I spoke, pointing at the bridge we’re stalking towards.

        "...Constant baking at three A.M.?" he shot me a dirty glare.

        "You can't talk bad about my brownies! I love them and I know you love them too!" I shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

        I can deal with a lot of things, but disrespecting my brownies is a no no.

        "As if." He spoke, rolling his eyes.

        "Why do you wake up whenever I cook them, then eat them 0.2 seconds after they get out of the oven?" I spoke, crossing my arms. "I barely get two pieces!"

        "I wake up because I don't feel you in bed, so I think you escaped." Yuri stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

        "Why do you eat the brownies then?" I questioned.

        "...Because they are in my line of sight and we do not waste food in our house." He stated.

        "Or, you just love me and my cooking." I smiled.

        Yuri jumped up, startled as his eyes blew wide and he looked at me with a red face.

         "AS IF!" he shouted.

        "Woah! Such a strong reaction! Maybe you do love me!" I laughed as he glared at me.

        "Did you not catch the 'I’d be surprised if you even find a guy interested in you' earlier?" he questioned, his face showing he was unamused.

        "I think I'm very pretty and interesting." I smirked, looking into the car's rear mirror for a second before focusing my attention back to Yuri. "Besides, people in love always like to give each other a hard time. Just ask Donnie and his wife." I smirked.

        "...You're a brat." He muttered.               

        "Aw! You're the light of my day and stars of the night. You're my honey bunch sugar' plum gum drop pumpkin wumpkin lemon sundae swirl little love bug-" I gushed, smirking before he cut me off.

        "STOP THAT!" he screamed, his face red. 

        "Sorry..." I muttered, acting sad before smiling brightly again. "My little cherry pie dandelion angel dove swan cupid baby cutie sweetie blackberry muffin lemon glaze chocolate-"

        I went on until Yuri blasted the music on the radio until I shut up.

        .

        .

        We made it to work, stepping out of the car and noticing our vans being loaded up with equipment.

        Must be a big raid. I thought to myself as we walked into the building.

        “Ah, Lieutenant, Mrs. Lieutenant.” A lieutenant greeted us as we walked down the hallway. “I heard your niece’s bus is being held hostage right now, are you aware?” 

        “Niece?” I questioned before my eyes widened. “You mean my niece?!” I exclaimed.

        Little pink girl, Anya! I liked her! The first time I met her, I didn’t get to know her well. But the second time I saw her, I kept thinking of what she likes since me and Yuri had to watch her. She answered all my questions without me evening having to ask (she has perfect intuition! I like her!) and she even called me pretty and that’s why she kept staring at me!

        “Chihuahua girl’s bus got hijacked?” Yuri questioned, shocked. “Let’s get to the scene!” Yuri exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me down the hallway.

        We ran down the hallways, finding the Lieutenant followed by a small squad with him.  

        "Captain! We heard Chihuahua Girl's bus got hijacked!" Yuri shouted as we both ran up to the scarred-face lieutenant.

        "Hey, who told them that? And Chihuahua girl...?" he questioned. "You know I can't have you showing your face at the crime scene. Your sister's kid might recognize you both. And don't even think of telling city hall." 

        "Urk... Understood, sir." Yuri spoke, deep in thought.

        "Like hell!" I shouted boisterously. "You have two options, but both of them will end up with me and Yuri ending up at that scene! Either you let us go with, or I'm hijacking one of those damn vans and driving there myself." 

        "You don't even have any information on the assignment. And you're too low of a level to participate." The Lieutenant informed.

        "I have my ways. Watch me." I glared, then swiftly grabbed the paper packet out of one of the lieutenant's hand in the squad.

        "Hey!" he exclaimed, reaching for it.

        I took a step back and read the short packet. Not much information, two Eden Academy buses hijacked by the Red Circus, no straight motive on why they did so.

        The Red Circus? I thought, shuddering. They used to be a peaceful student movement protest group, but their good ways turned sour once their movement for peace and equality for the weakest members of society. The state turned violent to them, causing the Red Circus to resort to an extreme methods, seeking revenge and justice after many of the students died. 

        I've done gigs to spy on the Red Circus to distribute peace in the country, as well as having to spoil their plans because they affected Westalis' and almost inflicted some serious protocols Ostania would've taken. Because of my interference, they have a target on me and other spies. If there's one thing I know, they're not friendly people.

        Please be safe, Anya. I thought to myself, mentally panicking every second we're stuck here.

        "Red Circus, two Eden Academy buses hijacked, motivations unknown." I spoke, dropping the papers down onto the desk. "Now that we know about the situation, we can go. We don't have to be right there, but we should be in a good distance for back up. You'd worry about your daughter and wife too, would you not?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

        The Lieutenant sighed, not seeing to have much battle spirit in himself. 

        "Fine. But hurry to the vans otherwise you'll chase dust." He commanded, exiting the office.

        "Yes, sir!" me and Yuri both saluted.

        "Sometimes, your stubbornness is a blessing, but other times, it's a curse." Yuri sighed, smiling. 

        We ran out into the van, hopping in and taking off instantly as we closed the door.

        "We'll go to the bus where your niece isn't present, that way we won't risk any exposure." Lieutenant spoke. 

        I resisted the urge to scream and kick the seats. 

        BUT IS ANYA SAFE?!        

        "Alright." Yuri acknowledged, nodding.

        We made quick haste to the scene, scoping out the surroundings to make sure none of the members were outside. 

        "Here, take these earpieces so we can communicate." Lieutenant spoke. "Mrs. Lieutenant, you go with your husband to infiltrate. Take these." He handed both me and Yuri gas masks along with the ear pieces.        

        Me and Yuri nodded, moving into one of the entrances into the base.

        "Hey." Yuri spoke, grabbing my arm. "You're not infiltrating. I'm not having you go into danger." 

        "What? Why?" I questioned.

        "We can't risk it. Yor would get suspicious if you're hurt." Yuri spoke.

        "She'll get even more suspicious if you're hurt. I can serve as backup to watch your back." I spoke.

        "No. You can be backup from afar, but you're not going into battle." Yuri spoke sternly.

        I glared at him, before huffing. "Fine. Whatever. But if you get hurt, then I told you so." 

        "Thanks." He smiled, placing the earpiece into his ear.

        "Be safe, love." I spoke, leaning up and kissing his cheek before running away, to the side of the building and up one of the ladders.

        I climbed up the ladder, listening to the conversation in my ear as I placed my gas mask on my face, just in case.

        "I see six targets. They're total amateurs. They have to know the other bus is surrounded, but they're not being cautious at all." A man spoke into the earpiece. "Wait till all six are outside the bus. That's our opening. The guy with the beard seems to be their leader. Deal with the others." 

        I made it to the top, putting up the gas mask to wear and grabbed the gun from my belt. 

        If they have the audacity to even try something to those kids, I'll aim for the head instead of their legs... I thought, propping myself on the pillar cliff. 

        I took a quick look around, seeing as I'm probably the only sniper here. It wasn't the captain's orders, but honestly I could care less about what that man tells me. These are Yuri's orders, and as his coworker and "wife", I have to fulfill them.

        "Do not give anyone a chance to radio out anything." The lookout ordered.

        "Berta team, ready." One informed.

        "Cäsar team, ready." Another informed. 

        "All teams ready. Prepare the tear gas." The captain commanded. "Execute!" 

        Two cans rolled into the way, causing the men to freak out.

        "The cops?!" one shouted, confused.

        "Koff! Retreat to the bus! Use the kids as-" I heard a man shout, but I didn't allow the man to finish his sentence as I locked my gun onto him, shooting straight into his head.

        "Resistance confirmed." I spoke.

        "Who the hell just did that?" the captain questioned.

        "Me. I figured you needed backup." I smirked, following the battle with my gunsight. 

        "You didn't follow orders." He grumbled.

        I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead opting watching the scene play out. 

        "A 'thank you' would've been appreciated." I spoke sarcastically. 

        "Aw! Damn it!" the supposed leader shouted. 

        He ran to the bus and gripped on the door handle. I was about to shoot before remembering how it could harm the kids if I miss my shot, and I redirected my gun.

        One of the SSS agents quickly grabbed his arm and punched the leader in the face. 

        "A man your age, hiding behind a bunch of kids..." he spat.

        Gunfire went off that wasn't mine, and the agent got shot in the shoulder by the leader.

        "Ngh, yeah..." the lieutenant huffed. "Real mature!" he shouted, kicking him hard on the stomach. 

        The leader fell down and I watched a different agent fighting. I redirected my attention back to the leader and shot his leg, keeping him down as he tried to get back inside the bus. 

        Stay down, stubborn bitch... I thought. 

        I eyed the agent who got shot in their shoulder, making sure no remaining members of the Red Circus tried to harm them or see him pass out. 

        "Safety of the hostages confirmed. Berta team, do an area sweep as a precaution. We have one wounded." The captain spoke. 

        I climbed down from the ladder just in time to see Team Cäsar walking out, dragging the wounded one out of the building and taking off the mask. The agent shot turned out to be Yuri.

        "Yuri!" I exclaimed, running over to him.

        "He should be fine." One of them said. 

        "Fucking move!" I ordered, roughly slamming my shoulder on his and effectively pushing him out of the way.

        "Ow! She's rude..." he muttered, rubbing his sore shoulder. 

        I observed Yuri's shoulder carefully as he groaned in pain.

        "No major arteries damaged. Only one bullet. It didn't go out the other way, so the bullet is still lodged into his shoulder. Is there a first aid with forceps inside of any of the vans?" I questioned, doing my best to stay calm.

        In actuality, I was freaking out. My hands were shaking along with my bottom lip as I took a deep breath, doing my best to stop myself from showing fear. If the patient (Yuri) notices I'm scared, he might get scared too, it'll speed up the pulse and the blood will pour out quicker.

        Get a grip, it's not the first time you've seen someone shot. I thought to myself, hiding the vision of Rancher, or Hujo, or Net in my mind. 

        I'm not alone. I don't have a huge gun. I'm fine. Help is here. He'll be fine. I thought, my ears starting to ring from my blood quickening. 

        "No. We don't have forceps, but there's bandages." They spoke.

        "We can get the bullet with this pocket knife?" another one questioned.

        I shot them a look. "Are. You. Fucking. Stupid?" I spat. "Digging around in his wound will only cause even more damage. The bullet has done enough damage as it is, it's not harmful anymore. Just get the fucking first aid and bring it here." 

        "S-sorry, ma'am..." he stuttered, looking down. "I-I'll get that first aid, ma'am!" 

        "How you feeling, Yuri? You see any white or black lights? You feel overheated or too cold?" I questioned, looking down at his face.

        "I'm dying!" he shouted.        

        "No, you're not!" I hissed, my tone harsher than I wanted it to.

        Don't say stuff like that. I'm not going to lose another person like this. 

        "Here, ma'am!" the soldier came back.

        I ripped open the first-aid, grabbing the bandages, dressing, and wipes.  I cleaned off most of the blood I could manage with disposable wipes, and gently plugged the wound with foam dressing.

        "YOWCH! IT HUUUUUURTS!" he screamed.

        Where was that pain resistance while fighting earlier? I thought.

        "Calm down, love. I'm trying my best, so stop moving." I spoke softly, hoping he'd copy my volume. 

        "Um, ma'am. I apologize for being clueless, but aren't you supposed to remove the bullet? I'm sure we could find a way without hurting him. Wouldn't keeping the bullet in get infected?" the soldier from earlier spoke.

        "INFECTED?!" Yuri shouted. "Damn my luck! Why must I suffer like this for chihuahua girl, of all people?!" he screamed.

        I rolled my eyes, quickly leaning down and kissing his lips. 

        "Shut it, Yuri!" I scolded. "You'll increase blood flow!"

        He went quiet, dazed as he stared at me plugging the wound.

         "As for your question. It's fine, it wouldn't get infected unless dirt or dust got into the wound, which is why I'm covering it so no debris gets in and infects it, along with stopping blood flow too. The bullet is sterile, meaning it's no threat to being infected since the gun's blast heated the bullet hot enough to where it flies in the air at the target, the heat cures the metal, therefore the metal won't be a threat. Plus, to be extra safe, the bullet is plugging the wound from bleeding out excessively, and it didn't go completely through his body, so that's good (for the most part)." I explained.

        "Wow. You're smart, ma'am." The soldier gushed.

        "I didn't even know that... damn..." the other soldier spoke, looking down depressingly.

        Well, no shit. You aren't a part of the medical squad, and you don't seem to have been apart of the military. I thought.

        I noticed the two medical personnel that are supposed to be taking care of Yuri instead watching from the sidelines away from the two rookie second-lieutenants and us. They must believe I'm doing the job good enough to where they don't need to step in.

        "Hey! That's my wife so watch what you're saying!" Yuri declared, snapping out of his hypnosis.

        I wrapped his wound with triangle bandage, (which is also good for filtering water, I learned when I was in the military!)

        "There, done." I spoke as tears welled up in his eyes.

        "It still hurts!" he complained, quieter then before.

        "Want a kiss to make it better?" I teased, rolling my eyes.

        He immediately directed his attention to the side, going quiet. 

        "Up," I commanded. "Let's get you to a private hospital." I commented. "And you two." I spoke, turning my head to the two men who watched the procedure.

        "Y-yes, ma'am!" they both saluted, a little scared.

        What the hell are they scared for? I thought, confused. 

        "Grab hydrogen peroxide and scrub the blood off the floors in there, really good. It'll lose all of his DNA in the scene, that way there will be no evidence of us here in case the Red Circus or WISE decide to snoop out the place after we leave." I ordered.

        "Yes, ma'am!" they spoke.        

        "And good work today, men." I acknowledged, bowing my head and grabbing Yuri's hand that had his uninjured shoulder. 

        I dragged Yuri into the van, seeing that the captain was already there waiting for us.

        "Hop in." He spoke.

        I opened the door for Yuri (since chivalry is dead, I thought jokingly) and had him sit down. I got in and closely watched Yuri, making sure that he was okay.

        "You disobeyed my commands." The captain spoke.

        "Yes, sir. I did." I spoke. 

        "I told her to." Yuri admitted, panting. "I didn't want her getting hurt." 

        "It's part of the job to take bullets, literally..." the Lieutenant spoke. "However, because you disobeyed me, not only did you save the kids from a second stunt he pulled, but you also immobilized him to where we can arrest him. You also saved another solider from getting shot. And you're experienced in first aid as you've helped Yuri when other experienced agents couldn't get there in time or didn't know how." He sighed. "I really hate admitting this, but throughout the time we've worked together, you've exceeded my expectations; however, I am officially impressed in your abilities. I should've never doubted your position here as a SSS officer and lieutenant just because you are a lady." 

        "Thanks. I don't think you're that ugly." I admitted without second thought.

        "Thanks— wait what?" he questioned.

        "Hm?" I hummed.

        "What did you— ...never mind." He sighed. "I'll write the report for the Director. I'll inform him of your vacations from work since I figure you'll help him heal." I was about to speak, before he answered. "Yes, you'll get paid while on vacation."

        "Sweet..." I muttered. 

        "However, next time, please tell me if you disagree with your position in a plan or if you believe there's a better solution. If we're confused in action, we could die." The lieutenant spoke.

        "Yes, sir." I acknowledged, feeling a slight pit of guilt inside of my stomach.

        "And good job, Yuri. You never fail to impress me, as always." The lieutenant spoke.

        "Thanks... can we just hurry up and get to the hospital?" he questioned.

        "You heard him. Step on it, grandma." I gruffed to the male driver. 

        .

        .

        The hospital told me that the SSS would take care of the paper work and medical costs since it's apart of the job's perks. They gave me instructions on how to care for Yuri in his state. I led Yuri out of the hospital, taking the bus to the SSS building so we can go get our car.

        Yuri was quiet the whole time, not that I don't mind. I understand with rethinking your choices and wondering how you got to getting shot since I've experienced it before.

        I got Yuri into the passenger seat of the car and had Yuri toss me the keys, allowing me to start the engine. By now, us being alone in the car started to unease my nerves.

        "Penny for your thoughts?" I suggested.

        "How'd you know what to do?" he questioned. 

        "Dress your wounds?" I questioned.

        "Yeah." He confirmed.

        "I told you I was in the Westalis military when I was seven, did I not?" I spoke.

        "You did, but how did you know exactly that?" he questioned.

        "I studied up on first aid when I was seven, so I'd be prepared when they let me into the military after pestering them over and over to let me join. When I was in the military, they gave us first aid classes. Then, during battle, I lost two of my soldiers and friends in the battle, those two saved me when the bombings in Luwen, Westalis. If it wasn't for them, I would've died, and yet I couldn't save them because I froze up." I admitted.

        "Then, I was assigned to another rescue mission a few weeks later, and my friend who was there to help save me with the other two, was shot. That time, I refused to leave. I was too close to enemy territory so the military refused to come aid us, I was low on ammo, and I wasn't strong enough to carry or drag him away without injuring him or making it in time. By a miracle, one of the soldier's heard my coordinates over the radio and retrieved me, but we had to leave because the enemy found us, and I had to leave my friend." I explained.

        "After that, I left the military after some time, no longer wanting to watch those I love die or unknowingly step into another landmine, then I was sought out to be a spy, and I learned more medical shit there. And voilà, here we are." I smiled.

        "Huh." Yuri commented. 

        "I also got shot twice in that last battle." I smirked. 

        "Twice? At seven? I can barely handle this!" Yuri exclaimed.         

        "I was just hella lucky I didn't die." I chuckled. "Now, what do you want for dinner?" 

        "I still have another question." Yuri spoke.

        "Is it about dinner?" I asked.

        "No." He admitted. 

        "I guess I can entertain you." I spoke, letting out a yawn.

        "Why'd you kiss me? Twice?" Yuri questioned.

        "That's what's so important?" I smiled. "Well, first was a good luck kiss. I was worried you'd be hurt, and look where we are. Besides, that helped our act." I explained. "And second, it was to shut you up so you didn't kill yourself. To calm you down." 

        Yuri hummed. "Do you want to keep our act fake?" 

        "What do you mean?" I questioned, turning my head to him before looking back at the road. 

        "I mean, earlier you were talking about getting rings, and I'll be honest, I've thought about it before." Yuri admitted, turning his head to the window. "I thought about it a lot, to where I planned to go through with it." He spoke, opening the car's storage port and pulling out a black case.

        "...Yuri?" I questioned, surprised and pulling over to avoid crashing in my dazed surprise (I did it way better and more smoothly than Yuri did earlier that day, might I add).

        "I figured... I'd make it official, especially if we're going to be living together for who knows how long. And... I might've caught something for you, and I was a jerk because I was afraid of falling in love with what I thought was the enemy, because I convinced myself that you'd leave; but you've proven more than once that you'd stay." Yuri smiled, opening the box.

        "I know it ain't nothing fancy, no candlelight dinner or something. I would've planned something, but after today, I realized how easy it is to die, and I'd rather die knowing that I tried to be someone good for you rather than be some jerk." He chuckled.

        I felt tears well up in my eyes as I started crying. 

        "Hey! What's wrong? If you don't feel the same, you can just reject!" Yuri spluttered, looking at me concerned.

        "Today's been such a roller coaster. First, I get all mad about you and some random chick because I was jealous of her taking you away. Then, I almost have a heart attack that my niece is in danger. After that, I swear I was going to die because I almost lost you to the reaper. And now, I'm being proposed to." I laughed. 

        "Yeah, I guess I could've waited later." Yuri smiled.

        "No. I'm glad you did now. I was thinking about sneaking out tonight and running to the nearest jewelry store to find a ring." I joked.

        Yuri placed the ring on my ring finger and I smiled observing it. 

        Of course it has Yuri's touch. A ruby jewel and silver banding. I thought, swooning over the ring.

        "Turn it over." Yuri spoke.

        I took it off and turned it over, seeing that underneath, the wording "Mrs. Briar" was welded into it.

        "I love it." I admitted. "I love you too." 

        "I mean, I'm hoping so." Yuri joked, causing me to laugh. "I love you too. Thank you for being with someone stubborn like me."

        "That's my line." I smiled.

        I'm happy, extremely, but I remembered what I have to do. As part of WISE and the SSS, relationships don't come first; work does. If Yuri found out, could he still love me? Would he still look at his (now-official) wife the same way again?

        Something tells me if I told him, the only thing I'd receive from him is a bullet in my head. But I guess that's a story for later, huh?

        Parts: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, current part, nine, ten (to be continued when Spy x Family has more Yuri content!)

        Want more Yuri content? Check out these headcannons and one shots!

        Yuri Briar x Sick! Fem! Reader

        Slightly mean! Yuri Briar x Fem! Reader

Yuri Briar x Fem! Reader headcannons + other fandoms!

        Have any requests? Check my masterlist to see the characters I write for: Masterlist (Please request, I have too much free time and too little fics).

[raifuujin]

“I just don't like Gosho's use of ideas nowadays” do you have some examples? I’ve been feeling the same but I still don’t have like articulate thoughts on it

Well, 'nowadays' has been for. About ten years, ish? The most glaring example that always sticks out in my mind is the Sun Halo MK chapters, with the complete and utter waste of the very common fanfic tropes of 'Aoko gets suspicions' and 'Kid gets injured around someone'. But it kind of matches the general problem I have with his writing that I don't think used to be this bad: He's trying to stuff too much around the strict case-by-case structure (or for MK, introducing the heist-by-heist structure) without actually giving anything focus. (And for MK it's so much worse because he writes it so rarely, that he makes everyone cameo every time but they tend to just get hand waves to whatever drama plot gets instigated by Kid having his next heist.)

For DC, it's the whole. 1) Overarching plot with the BO and suspects and 'here's the available suspects for who's involved with the BO that we introduce one at a time at the end of cases and then maybe leave more clues about them during future cases'. 2) Dangling character or relationship progress and then constantly pulling it away, usually as a joke. 3) When we do occasionally get some of the major plot, it's all at once and then maybe mentioned once in the next case, but otherwise completely dropped. (Amuro and Akai and Kudo tea party tease also lingers as a 'Gosho is just evil at this point'.) Basically rigid structure that doesn't allow for much of the subplots aside from breadcrumbs.

For the current situation, it's also tied into interview comments. Which. have no bearing on the story until he actually uses them. But instead of even that, the movie gets exciting stuff instead and puts it in a giant limbo of is it meant to be canon or not, because no one has been able to settle on that for any movie, even as some details get connected back to the manga more and more.

It's bad writing. Gosho has been a bad writer for a long time, and it's kinda just getting worse. It's my opinion that it's because he tries to have his case after case after case (because mystery manga), and then stuff little bits of everything else in the seams, whether it works well with the case he's writing or if it's a good delivery or (more usually) it's just. Kinda tacked on.

It's partially because of time investment, partially because I have low standards of entertainment, and partially because I want to see how it all ends that I stick with DC. MK is. Similar, but hurts more because I really hate how it morphed into the DC structure when old MK had more you could do with it. Gosho will never drop his rigid case-by-case structure at this point, but it really would be better if he did at this point. Things need development that they're not allowed to have. Or at least smooth out the lines between his hints. And stop with Heiji and Kazuha, just. God. Stop. Is this how people felt about Kid appearances? I feel like at least when people were mad about Kid, they knew nothing was going to happen from the get go, the romance 'tease' is just painful.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.97-99

Cell Max is running wild, but don't worry, because Goten and Trunks are here to pad the story give Piccolo and Gohan a breather.

To be fair, the boys do a little better once they turn Super Saiyan, which kind of begs the question of why they didn't just turn Super Saiyan from the start. This page's sole purpose is to have the Gammas notice their "resemblance" to Saiyaman X-1 and X-2. This would be annoying enough even if they did look alike, but they don't. Look at them! Trunks and Goten have tights and some sort of Stormtrooper midriff thing going on. The Gammas are wearing jodhpurs and bellhop jackets. And Goten and Trunks' color schemes are clearly reversed from one to the other. The Gammas match perfectly except for their red and blue capes.

The only real similarities here are the numbers on their costumes, and the fact that there are two of them. Oh, and Gamma 1 has a red cape, and Goten has a red cape. Eerie! What are the odds of two superheroes having red capes? You almost never see that. I mean, there's Superman, Thor, Great Saiyaman, Dr. Strange, Spawn, Great Saiyaman 2, the Scarlet Witch, Supergirl, Great Saiyaman 3, Power Girl, Steel, but other than those characters, I can't think of anyone else!

Then they all pose together and attack Cell Max in concert. It looks impressive, but their quadruple-team fails to do any damage. The Gammas acknowledge that Cell Max is still getting used to moving around in his body, so he's not fighting as effectively as he will be later in the story. So that's why Goten and Trunks can do this well without actually hurting their opponent. And that's fair.

What doesn't make a lot of sense is the Gammas' role in this part of the battle. Of everyone involved in this battle, they alone understand the danger Cell Max poses to the world, because Dr. Hedo told them about Max's powers. That's why they went in first when Cell Max first emerged. They knew they had to shut him down as quickly as possible. And they're not rusty like Goten and Trunks, or unfamiliar with their bodies like Cell Max. If there's a window of opportunity here for Goten and Trunks to fight Cell Max without looking outclassed, then you'd think the Gammas would use this chance to target Max's head and finish him off.

Of course, they can't actually do that, since that's not what happened in the movie, but that's the problem I have with all of this. Toyotaro keeps shoehorning Goten and Trunks into this story, and their scenes tend to interfere with the plot instead of adding to it. The Gammas have a cool gimmick and aesthetic with the super hero thing. It works. They don't need two more characters aping that look right beside them. At best it's redundant, and at worst it just cramps their style. It'd be like if Frieza had a teen sidekick following him around repeating everything he says. It would kill his whole vibe.

Okay, so once Goten and Trunks fuse into Gotenks, the battle plays out mostly like it did in the movie, but there's one part that got changed up and it caused some controversy in the fandom. Remember how Pan almost got killed, and Krillin called out to her and told her to fly, and then she managed to fly for the first time?

So in the manga, Pan has the same moment, except she doesn't take flight. Instead...

In this version, Krillin just flies over and grabs her. And that makes sense. Why would he just assume she can fly on her own? Why not just zip over and get her? However, this kills the character arc Pan had in the movie. She started the film wishing she could do more advanced training, but Piccolo won't let her because she can't fly yet. Then in this scene, she does fly, and when the movie ends she shows Piccolo and he proudly agrees to start giving her the advanced lessons.

Fans didn't like this version, because Toyotaro appeared to be saying "no" to something the fans enjoyed in the movie. Krillin doesn't need a hero moment in this scene because he gets a couple of hero moments when he helps fight Cell Max. He saves 18 and distracts Cell Max with a solar flare. Krillin's fine. So it sure looks like Toyotaro just scrapped Pan's big moment for no discernible reason. This happened in Chapter 97.

Hey, check out this cool shot of Orange Piccolo fighting Cell Max.

Right, back to what I was saying.

So in Chapter 98, Toyotaro redeems himself by having Pan fly for the first time, just in a later part of the battle. When Big Orange Piccolo gives the last senzu bean to Gohan in the movie, Gohan just eats it and that's it. But in the manga, Cell Max attacks Piccolo and knocks it out of his hand. No one can catch it, until Pan goes after it and follows it over a ledge. Gohan's worried, but then it turns out she can fly now so she was never in danger, and she gets to help him this way.

Is it better than the movie? I can see a case for this version, but one thing that bugs me is that it seems a bit contrived for Pan to notice the senzu bean and be able to follow it through the air the way she did. I believe she could and would catch it for her dad. That's fine. But I'm not sure she would understand the need from where she was sitting in Bulma's aircraft.

For that matter, I don't know that it makes sense for Pan to understand what a senzu bean is, or why Gohan would need one so badly. Someone might have explained it to her at some point, but Pan's only three years old. I wouldn't expect her to know everything about everything.

Anyway, it goes to show how much can change from one chapter to another. People were mad about Chapter 97, but only because they didn't have 98 right there in front of them to show them it wasn't that big a deal. This is one major reason why I don't like to read the manga as it publishes.

From here, well, I think I'm just down to cool shots of the fight with Cell Max.

I don't think much is different here, but the art is cool, and this is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

I think this is a manga-only bit. Cell Max works over Piccolo with ki blasts, and it looks like Piccolo blows up, which triggers Gohan's Beast form, but then later it turns out Gamma 1 was protecting Piccolo with his force field, which allowed him to withstand the blast.

Also, when Cell Max tries to use his wings to escape the attack Gohan has planned, Toyotaro has Gamma 1, Krillin, and 18 cut off his wings. Not sure we needed this, but sure, it gives those characters one more chance to shine.

And then Piccolo holds Cell Max down and pleads with Gohan to take the shot, and that's the end of chapter 99.

And that gets me all caught up. Now I just have to wait for Chapter 100, which is supposed to drop on December 20. Hopefully, it'll wrap up the Super Hero adaptation, but I wouldn't put it past Toyotaro to drag this thing out another three chapters with some sort of press conference featuring Sergeant Nutz, Saiyaman X-1 and X-2, and Cleangod.

There's been talk of a big surprise twist or something in chapter 100, but I'm not holding my breath. Usually when this franchise has a big announcement, it's about the date for some actual announcement later, and that announcement usually turns out to be something the fans kind of already heard about anyway. "Yes, we will be releasing a Chapter 101" is the sort of thing I would expect them to "announce" in chapter 100.

It would be cool if Chapter 100 ended with Black Frieza showing up and killing Vegeta or something major like that. Or, I don't know, maybe Goten and Trunks turn evil. Those would be shocking developments, but I doubt this manga would go that far. We'll just have to see...

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Woo! As promised, put the show on hold and let it finish first, and then watched the entire second half in one sitting. And that included rewatching episodes 7 and 8. Definitely the right call to make - I think I had way more fun than I would've otherwise.

This second half of Sand Land is quite interesting honestly. I think at first I was definitely feeling... not negative per say, but a little put off - it's quite slow and even a little tiring to watch initially, it doesn't take much time for it to just start going through the motions of repeating stuff that happened in the first half. We'll repeat gags about how evil Beelzebub is, show off Thief's Santa costume, repeat the absorbing the power of the darkness scene. Things that we've seen before in the first part are done again but less impactfully - the only difference is that now Ann is here as a new onlooker. It feels akin to all sorts of modern sequels to retro properties, tickling your nostalgia by hitting similar plot beats, character moments, and just general scenes - think your new Star Wars movies, stuff like that. It's not inherently a bad thing, I just think the context of this production makes it feel a little awkward - Sand Land the manga may be from 2000, but this anime production is new, and for pretty much the entire audience it's going to be their first exposure to the series. So within that one production we have both the original story as it existed nearly a quarter-century ago as well as a nostalgic sequel. And they're both just the one thing. Most of the viewers - myself included - just can't take these as nostalgic callbacks, because we've literally just seen them for the first time. It's definitely just a bit weird, you know?

I think as the show went on, however, that it gradually started turning this into more of a strength. Your fairly surface level fanservicey callbacks are definitely still present - the gang do get the old tank back and do their usual crazy impossible strategies, Beelzebub goes joker mode, we raid a floating airship - stuff like that. But by and large they're seriously in service of the new narrative and oftentimes are significantly expanded upon for the sake of the narrative tension. The power of the darkness is a plot point. Beelzebub's joker mode isn't a win button. The tank is back because we've got the Sand Land military completely on our side now. And more than just letting old iconography and moments take hold of the narrative, this second part wants to flesh out every part of the setting. The picchi were making weird helpful tech in the first part, now they're making nonlethal weaponry in the second. The Swimmers are major supporting characters. Satan - Beelzebub's dad who appeared in literally one scene initially - is marginally more fleshed out as a character and dramatically more present in the narrative proper, even showing off some of his power (which is pretty important to a series like this). Wholly new are the Angels, Forest Land, and Ann - the latter of which is tied directly into Beelzebub and Satan in a way which isn't foreshadowed in the original, but also that never bothered me and she's all around a fun inclusion, so it works - her mechanical prowess rounds out the crew quite well. I don't think I've done a good job in this paragraph selling how well the show reuses the old and mixes it with the new, but it kept me having a lot more fun with this arc than I expected to just off my gut reaction to it at the beginning.

Few more miscellaneous notes:

Bred's arc is a little poor - despite his own protests he's very complicit in Muniel's actions which make him feel surprisingly weak-willed, and his turnaround ends up feeling somewhat sudden accordingly.

Thematically we're matching the original part pretty similarly, although the focus on trust is put on the backburner in favour of exploring themes of technology and technological responsibility, which feels like a natural development from that first part. Although capitalism as a theme was dropped, which tbf I didn't really think about while watching at all but it does make this second part have a little less thematic bite.

Muniel is a little shit and I desperately wanted to see him get beat up, which is a catharsis the show offers plenty of.

I was initially hesitant about Forest Land because it felt like it broke the setting of the first part a little, and although I did warm up to it, I wish they had explored it a little more.

Metalisation was a very random new power to drop lol.

I liked Ann's half-demon heritage and her internal conflict surrounding it.

It felt like Beelzebub pissed a lot more.

I kind of wish they showed us what the badlands or whatever they were called looked like with Garam having crashed into them - rainy aurora borealis was definitely sick but yk, what that lake lookin like with a dope airship in it

There's a fairly open ending leaving the potential for more stories to be told in this world - personally I could go either way, if they make more I'll watch but there's also something to be said about Toriyama's legacy and I do like this as one of the final stories he shared with us.

I should see how the game is reviewing and how the gameplay is looking and decide if I really want to buy it or not. Again probably discounted but yk

Anyway yeah that's Sand Land. I liked the first part, and I was hesitant about the second but I liked it too. A show that I liked watching from start to end. Crazy. If you're inclined towards fairly conventional action/adventure stories with a lot of personality - or just like the works of Akira Toriyama at all - I'd say check it out. It's good shit.

[anticidic]

What are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media ever (can be anime/manga, tv series, books, movies, etc)? Why love them? Thanks ⭐

P.s

I've seen that ask a few times, and compare to other people, I think you have read the most books from the authors of BSD (that is so cool). As someone who grew up reading classic books and then got into anime/manga, I don't find many people in animanga fandom who also love reading books, so glad to find your blog. When you said, you've read from all Guild members, I got excited on my own (sorry).

I really love reading. 😅 I had to do a lot of analyses back in school on books like Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and some of Shakespeare's works and it kinda just opened the floodgates to me enjoying all kinds of classics. Poe and Lovecraft were some of my favorite authors because I was really drawn to gothic horror and the cosmic elements of Lovecraft's works. I was also obsessed with horror for a hot minute and Stephen King still holds a place in my heart.

I legitimately got into bsd because of my love for books. Characters as real life authors with abilities named after their works? Sounds cool, I'm in! And I've been here ever since. It pushed me to read works beyond American/European authors. I just think some of the parallels are super neat, like the Nathaniel vs Akutagawa "Diablo" bit, and Dazai's frequent mentions of Dostoevsky in his works.

1. Bungo Stray Dogs

Self-explanatory, I think, after what I said above. I like the literary parallels and the foundation of the world is really neat to get into and think about.

2. Good Omens (show)

Angel/demon motifs? Hell yeah. I love religious themes in works, and I like the balance Good Omens strikes with that and its comedic aspects.

3. Scrubs

This is mostly from a comfort angle. Some of it is like black comedy? with the bleak jokes that are made in relation to medicine.

4. Haikyuu!!

I didn't think sports anime could get a grip on me, but here we are. I just kinda fell out of my hyperfixation with it a few years ago, but I still come back to it every once in a while. Really good character development, some legitimately tense moments in some of the matches like all the Karasuno vs Aoba Johsai, and I liked the Karasuno vs Inarizaki arcs the most.

5. Tokyo Ghoul

I actually completely forgot about how much I loved this series, which is both weird and concerning, but ANYWAY. It had really neat world-building and set a good precedence for an interesting narrative in Kaneki, but I think the ending is what eventually turned me away. Leading up to the first part of :re was a treat. Just a shame what happened to it.

6. Seraph of the End

Another old hyperfixation but still holds a place in my heart. I haven't read it in a HOT minute, I think I stopped catching up with what was going on a few years ago. But this also had a really interesting premise and the idea that kids were immune to the thing that wiped out most of the population was pretty cool. I liked the relationship between Mikaela and Yuichirou especially when they were on opposite sides of the war and Mikaela having to grapple with being a vampire and not wanting to feed on people.

7. Supernatural

Came for the story, stayed for the memes. Another old favorite of mine that I sometimes go back to now and then just because it's neat. The supernatural elements and, again, religious themes drew me in. A lot of the ideas I've gotten for plots I used in writing came from watching this. 👀 Paranormal themes is something I like exploring a lot and I still haven't gotten tired of it.

I was asked about favorite books before, so I decided not to include any of them. Thanks for the ask, anon!! ✨

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

All right! It's time to talk about Sonamy and it's future:

Ok in past posts i already stated how badly Amy's potential was wasted in general and how it affected her relationships and specifically her relationship with Sonic.

When she showed up for the first time in a game she was 8 and was a fangirl of Sonic so... Basically another Tails but without any more use than be a damsel in distress, sonic didn't share her feelings like he did in the manga when she first appeared and then... Well things still didn't get any better in comics and series.

In Archie comics... oh boy... 🤦🤦 Do you remember? She was still 8 and in her classic looks and was still in love with Sonic and additionally she wanted to be part of the freedom fighters but was too young so she used a magic ring or something to get an old enough body... WTF with this plot? Still she had to work hard to finally be part of it and that's great I guess but seriously the changing the body thing was... 😣😣 She still was portrayed as annoying (in another comic she was portrayed as a capable independent warrior but sonic treated her crush for him with too much disgust so...😒)for a while but kept getting better, yet her crush for sonic remained completely one sided for so long until finally little by little he started to be more comfortable with her and she wasn't pushy about her feelings anymore and we got so many nice moments but the best ones to me are in the IDW reboot because I mean... Just look at this:

Best part of it? Sonic is not only comfortable with her he wants her company! Writers and artists of the comic are not allowed to show too much specific emotion like a obvious blush but still they did it pretty clear! He flirts subtly, he gets embarrassed in the good way with her comments and... Isn't he more touchy? Remember the group hug? Tails is also hugging him and then Tangle squeezes everyone with her tail but sonic hands are only AROUND AMY !!! And not only in the modern comics also the comics with the classical look!

Aren't they cute????

Well now the TV shows, i still don't know what will happen in Sonic prime but let's remember others shows:

Sonic X: I'm not a really big fan of this show besides the Knuxrouge moments and for good reason, they had the modern game designs i like but the animation was terrible 🙈🙈 and I can't stand most of the humans because of the lack of charisma specifically that tag along needy bland kid but issue here is how Amy was treated, yeah sure there was some spontaneous moments when she was charming and sweet and a tiny moments when she was a good fighter but in general for comical relief i suppose... She was obnoxious, loud, pushy, obsessive, bossy, over violent... They also took away her moment with shadow ... And in general most characters showed discomfort with her in too many times and she wasn't seen as a capable fighter in the most serious situations so sonic didn't want her around in the battlefield, just see the difference between Rouge and Amy in the show, i guess because Rouge is a match for Knuckles and half antagonist she could be seen as a capable fighter but Amy was just a loud violent fangirl so she couldn't 🙄🙄😒. But I'm going to be fair and point the little sonamy moments, but to be honest they didn't felt that genuine to me because sonic uncomfortable annoyed attitude in general towards her... So this moments felt kinda forced and because of that im not satisfied with them. The remarkable ones: the shells bracelet the sonamy moment to me was Sonic fixing the bracelet and wearing it without Amy knowing cause let's be honest the moment he rushed into water to save her doesn't count because he would do that to save any of his friends so we can't trust that moment in fact he did that for knuckles in the movie and they were still enemies 🤷 and others i remember that there's a Japanese ending that was sung by the seiyus of Amy and Sonic in a duo a sounded really romantic and it shows in the animation how Sonic is looking for a sad Amy in the mist and the last one i remember is when sonic is back from earth and Amy runs going to meet him and yells at him crying her feelings out and he out of nowhere gives her a flower and says something that we casually can't hear in the original dub... Like up to interpretation right? Like he could have said that he loves her and we don't know...🙄😒 Well for this i can't say that sonamy was cannon in this show...

Sonic Boom: well here we are, with this show 😂😂😂 well funny enough unlike with Sonic X or for now in any Sonic stuff ever(except the original manga when she first showed up), i can and I will say absolutely convinced that SONAMY was totally CANNON here, for starters like in the recent comics Amy is again part of the group, capable smart and strong fighter, maybe whiny and bossy but still more charismatic and funny and sarcastic and also those treats are in sintonía with the other characters: sonic sassines, knuckles dumbness, sticks craziness and Tail geekness so everyone Is balanced in annoyingness moments i don't know if I'm explaining myself 😂😂. This time Amy hides her feelings but Is still obvious and Sonic hangs out with her a lot, even without the rest of the group and more importantly HE GETS NOTICEABLE JEALOUS! He was annoyed Amy prefers Vector help than his and was upset when she hugged him, when she was fawning over a skater rat boy, when he thought she had a date with someone, same He has no problem flirting with that girl Perci but with Amy he is shy even though in his fantasy he was enjoying the jealous Amy stating: "don't mind her, she kind of has a thing for me" when in this show she hides her feelings and never told him, Eggman points out that there's something between them, he dreams with her and they had dates alone!! Just like with the Knouge moments in Sonic X, the sonamy moments were the only reason I watched Sonic boom 😂😂😂😂

Oh and what could happen in Sonic prime? It remains to be seen... I hope we get good stuff🫴🫴🫴

And for the games we still have nothing in particular, we just have a new Amy still in love but not obsessed and she is wanted along with the group as a strong asset for the team like she should be

Seriously this scenes meant a lot for me, she was fighting on her own the robots fine and Sonic and Tails looked for her to invite her to the adventure that is all I wanted! I hope the game feed us as well with the Sonamy we deserve.

And last the future possible Sonamy in the movie, you just have to read this👇👇👇

Movie Sonic is not only a lonely child who doesn't want to be on his own and wants attention and company unlike the free spirit he is the games, he is also an awkward teenager who wants to show off and look cool and has never seen a female from his species so.... 👀👀👀 What could happen? Well in case you haven't read it if you scroll down my account you'll find my version of what i imagine of Amy appearance in the movie 🤭🤭🤭 honestly if sonic isn't a shy mess not knowing what to say to look cool in front of her and he isn't teased the blue out of him by his adopted family because of it I'll be disappointed 😮‍💨😤

[llycaons]

I've been revisiting youtubers recently. some I like under the cut

Folding Ideas: a marvelously well-spoken social and media critic, with commentary on symbolism in film. his breakdowns of the editing failures of films such as Suicide Squad and The Snowman are entertaining and informative, and he has mini-episodes on narrative concepts like Thermian arguments (the Watsonian of Watsonian vs. Doylist explanations) and ludonarrative dissonance. politically on top of it (mostly), extremely astute, and a pleasure to listen to. See Earthsea and Adaptation Sickness, End of Evangelion and the Audience Author Membrane, The Thermian Argument, The Art of Editing and Suicide Squad, Cinematic Trainwreck – The Snowman: A Vlog, Cooking Food On The Internet For Fun And Profit, Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor

Ariel Bissett: a delightful young Canadian book reviewer takes us on her journey of renovating her old house. mostly cosmetic changes rather than structural as she's essentially self-taught, but she's a charismatic and charming host with a unique eye for style and color. her design sense matches closely with my own (we're both Monet fans), so I find her videos very soothing and satisfying to watch. I haven't seen any of her book reviews, but she seems thoughtful and passionate. I like all her house videos, but particularly the three yearly house tours so far (intro video, one year in, two years in,), Building The Perfect Guest Room, Complete Office Renovation!, Living Room Renovation To Look Like Emma's House!, Building The Perfect Reading Nook, Transforming the Smallest Room In My House With Wallpaper, and honestly all the others. it's a real pleasure to see the changes she makes over the months. I can't wait for the kitchen redo!

Accented Cinema: probably my favorite youtuber right now. he's a Chinese Canadian filmmaker with a focus on films and film-making processes, both his own and those from China (most often) and other non-American countries (occasionally). his videos have brought me to tears more than once. honestly I love too many to list all of them so I'll just list my top favorites but I highly recommend this channel. I loved Why China Cared About Kung Fu Panda, Shadow: Adapting Chinese Art, Who Killed Captain Alex: What Makes a Movie Good?, Chinese Animation: In Search of a Style (brief shot of mdzs donghua at the very end), Why Ghibli's First 3D Looks Soulless, East vs. West: Differences in Story Philosophy, Mahjong & Crazy Rich Asians, Why Are Kung Fu Movies So Patriotic, How I Made a Fake Video Essay

Local Script Man: a professional screenwriter whose advice and commentary on creating stories is really interesting and different than what you tend to see on tumblr. he tends to be kind of harsh but not in mean-spirited way, just in a way that makes it obvious that he knows what he's talking about. I like Oops No Plot, The Key to Writing Freakishly Good Dialogue, and both parts of 5 Essential Storytelling Rules I Just Made Up (part 1, part 2)

Schaffrillas Productions: a guy breaks down and ranks various animated films, often by studio. these videos are just a lot of fun. I liked his videos on the Shrek franchise (one, two, three, four, and the musical), and Raya vs. Encanto - How One Message Failed and Another Succeeded

Super Eyepatch Wolf: this man is, as we speak, convincing me to read Berserk. he has a slow, dramatic presentation of his arguments that draw you in and a great sense of humor. All of his "Why You Should Watch" videos are interesting even if you don't have any plans to watch the show he's describing, because they give an overview of the themes and strengths without spoiling it. he also presents a wealth of information on manga/anime history, and miscellaneous commentary on other media. I liked in particular The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened, "Non Battle" Battle Anime, What Makes A Fight Scene Interesting?, The Impact of Dragon Ball Z: The Series that Changed Everything, Why You Should Watch Yu Yu Hakusho, What Makes A Good Character Design?,

Cinema Therapy: these two guys are charming and sometimes funny. they can get annoying and their analyses tend to be very superficial, but I really like their videos tearing into bad romantic cliches. I like 10 TROPES We Hate About Rom Coms, 7 Tips from THE ADDAMS FAMILY to Keep Your Marriage Alive, TITANIC: Love Triangles and Compatibility, Therapist Reacts to THE KISSING BOOTH (Part 1, Part 2), Relationship Therapist Ranks Christmas Romances with guest Shona Kay

Sideways: a channel about music! knowing nothing about music at all, I find these videos really interesting and accessible. see Why the Music in Cats (2019) is Worse than you Thought, Why Pipe Organs Sound Scary, Decoding the Music of The Matrix, Why Avatar has the Most Ironic Soundtrack of All Time, Why the Soundtrack to Shrek is Actually Genius, Ear Training and Sight Singing: The Superpower you get from Music School, Why "Spoken Word" Makes me Nervous

Pop Culture Detective: I like this channel for the analyses of troubling tropes in media, especially the ones on misogyny. See Marvel Defenders of The Status Quo, The Ethics of Looking And The “Harmless” Peeping Tom, Born Sexy Yesterday, The Complicity of Geek Masculinity on the Big Bang Theory, Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs (Part one, Part two), Stranger Things, Belligerent Romance, and the Danger of Nostalgia

favorite misc videos here

[squish--squash]

Thanks for answering my ask......If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

lol hello again, ty for asking me this! I promise I'll give you more than 7 answers this time lol

Tian Guan Ci Fu/tgcf (book series, donghua) - I stumbled upon this randomly back in 2021 through its brand new donghua and I've loved it ever since. I adore the characters and the plot is both extremely complex and absolutely wild. it's roughly 750,000 words but I was able to read it in a week despite having school because I was so invested in it!

Moriarty the Patriot/mtp (manga, anime)- I think this is funny bc I tried watching bbc sherlock once and did NOT like it, so I just thought I wasn't into the sherlock holmes stuff. WRONG! I just had to discover this. I call this the "best sherlock holmes adaptation" for a reason (check my current pinned post, you'll find many reasons why I love mtp; I don't want to sound like a broken record so I don't plan to repeat them). I can't wait for when (or if) the manga comes out of its break/hiatus

Good Omens (book, show) - both the book and the miniseries/show are so near and dear to my heart. I always have a soft spot for watching supernatural entities fall in love (with each other and) the world around them. also, it's funny as hell

Promare (movie) - goooood I love Promare it's so neat; love the colors and the shapes and the plot is fun despite its simplicity. I could rewatch this movie every day for a month straight and not get tired of it

Arc of a Scythe trilogy (book series) - this is not something I've talked about a love, but this is one of my favorite book series! found it back around the same time I did tgcf; it's fucking insane I loooove the worldbuilding and the main cast, and by the second book every other page was like a plot twist gutting me in the best way possible; it's made me ponder about life and death on more than one occasion too

Matched trilogy (book series) - I started reading this in either 5th/6th grade but didn't really get it so I kinda forgot about it until around 2021-2022 (what? I actually had time to READ that year!) and managed to reread it and it was like a third eye opened. I really enjoyed the mystery unfolding in the trilogy! it's pretty cool imo, even tho I think (?) it was meant for teenagers to read

Not So Shoujo Love Story (webcomic) - this webcomic is so fucking funny AND it's wlw! I've been a fan for years it's so good

Bee and Puppycat/Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space (show) - a comfort show of mine (one of many); I'm in love with the atmosphere of the show and how awkwardly real the dialogue tends to be (plus I've been slowly rewatching it with my gf with is always a plus <3); I love both the og and its "reboot" equally, and would recommend people watch both

Snow White with the Red Hair (anime) - I haven't read the manga for this one, but I've seen the anime and it's another comfort show of mine. It's so sweet and cozy and the entire cast is lovable; even the "bad guy" in the first season is someone you grow to root for by the end of the second season. it's great!

Supernatural (show) - even tho I haven't finished the show and idk when/if I ever will, I still consider it a favorite media of mine. not bc I think it's great (it's good in most places, lacking in other), but bc I pretty much grew up with it. I have a core memory of watching the first handful of episodes when I was younger with my dad on the couch with the first time and being hooked on this strange show about supernatural creatures (I was that kid that enjoyed the supernatural! I read ghost story books, I binged every Goosebumps book I could get my hands on in fourth grade, I had a creepypasta phase, etc); even now in 2024 I've been sitting down with my dad to rewatch it with him before I go back to my college dorm and start back up classes. it's less so one of my favorite medias because I think it's good but because I associate it with my family <3

[mixelation]

Like (moving to asks for easier back and forth) - the Potato Chip Scene in Death Note, right? Just for one example of an overlooked failure mode, Light doesn't even consider that the detectives bugging his entire house including the bathroom could also end up searching his trash before the TV gets destroyed - and L and the others don't think to actually do that, either! On the end of it being a narrative mode, not just avoiding plot holes: a ratfic would probably also take the time to go over how Light knew nobody else would try eating those chips, and set up foreshadowing for the purchase of the tiny TV, even though those things are reasonable knowledge/actions for Light even if they aren't explicitly brought up

See, I think this sort of delineation of rational/not rational as a literary based on success of execution rather than the attempt made is a pretty interesting phenomenon. Could I revoke HPMOR's status if I found enough places were the reasoning or planning didn't match my personal standards? Is there a rubric somewhere? Can I change your mind if I whipped out the interpretation of the Potato Chip Scene as a deliberate depiction of Light going off the rails with his head up his own ass, and that's why it's so fucking dramatic, because you're supposed to interpret this scene as ridiculous*?

This seems a bit like people who try to disqualify certain movies from the horror genre because they, personally, didn't find them scary. But then again, genre and mode both don't have strict definitions, so I imagine you could argue for anything to qualify/be disqualified.

Although I do like the notes on how ratfic might set up the whole scene.... Idk, I'm not trying to be combative, it's just that the "oh, but it's not REALLY rational because [nitpicking]--" arguments amongst the ratfic crowd just seem..... really strange? Like, is it a mode/genre, or an accomplishment with mysterious standards?

*It's not, at least in the manga. I just reread the chapter because I'm Committed. The writer DOES take the time to establish that Light is the only person who eats that flavor of potato chip in their family, and Light has control over the trash can right up until the very end (it's in his room, and in the morning when his mom calls for him to bring it out, he physically carries the can most of the way and then stays around long enough to watch it go into garbage truck). The narrative also points out flaws in Light's plan via observations that L makes. Like I'm not arguing it's a FLAWLESS plan, just that the writer took time to think it through and I think picking at it beyond the anime's over the top rendition is sort of setting up standards literally no work of fiction can live up to.**

**Disclaimer that I've only read the beginning of the Death Note manga and it was a long time ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's some other places where the "battle of wits between two hyper-logical people" goes completely batshit. I just think this also happens in other fic that's accepted as "rational" too.

[funwalker]

spoilers for jjk....

I think the problem I've been having with the current arc of jjk (the manga) is that they're doing it like a reverse heist movie and I think it really works against the story.

All of the characters have been doing all of this preparation off screen and when they use the fruits of all of their planning it just kind of feels like it's been pulled out of thin air as a plot convenience?

The explanations feel like they've had a decent amount of thought put into them but i feel like it really diffuses the tension having them after whatever they're explaining has occurred.

just saying "oh yuji can use reverse cursed techniques now so he can fight tougher enemies without dying," like... that's cool and all but i feel like it would be more satisfying if we were shown that first and then watched things unfold in unexpected ways in the battle. The way it is now is Yuji shows up, we learn he has a new power, they fight for a while. Theeeeen we go back and learn how he got this power, but it's still in the talking heads format where everyone is sitting around explaining their plan as if this is a heist movie... but we're already watching the heist. We're like, 3 hours into the heist. Like, it's not a trump card that really turns the tides (or at least hasn't yet). I feel like if you're trying to reveal "this character has grown while you weren't looking" it's really more effectively used for emphasis rather than exposition?

A more satisfying flow to me would be something like:

showing all of the characters preparing for this big battle. there are lots of little moving parts to this plan, hence why I likened it to a heist movie. (this would be all of those little flashbacks peppered throughout the recent chapters, but frontloaded either before they send gojo to fight sukuna or after gojo dies. probably after gojo dies for the most dramatic tension)

they go into battle. everyone is at their marks. it's not enough. (this is essentially what's already happening)

if things don't happen as they should, *then* they can explain the contingencies, but because you already know the basic plan, you can begin to put together how this changes things, or it could set you up to be more surprised by an unexpected turn of events.

I think that's why I had more fun with the comedy "battle" between Takaba and Kenjaku. Like, the realization that he's sort of met his match and is enjoying the fight is unexpected and later it's revealed that they had planned it (which in itself is kind of novel because it's also an unexpected pairing from a reader's standpoint). It's probably my favorite sequence in the recent chapters.

Anyways, I'm just complaining because it feels like this arc has gone on for so long and we keep stopping to explain power levels and healing your brain so you can keep using your domain and blah blah blah we picked these three guys to nullify this one thing that sukuna does and taught yuji rct off screen in a week or however long its been and we've made so many contingency plans PLEASE JUST GET ON WITH IT... Honestly though, I've been so checked out of jjk since the shibuya arc ended. I've mostly been reading it on the side because there's usually a new chapter up when I got to check for the new Chainsaw Man lol...

edit: I wrote all of that mainly to say I really don't get why people are enamored with telling a story out of order. it's cool for a surprise every now and then or if it is thematically relevant, but a lot of times it feels like they're just doing it for the sake of doing it. Or like in this case, it feels like it's supposed to be *another* reveal. What is this, like the 4th or 5th time? It's no longer interesting at this point. (it wasn't even well used to begin with.) There's nothing wrong with things being in chronological order!! En media res is probably the most misused rhetorical device IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!!! STOP IT. STOP. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[spiteless-xo]

💔 Is there a fic of yours(or any other) that broke your heart?

✅ , and i really thought a lot about this one,

Would you prefer a happy ending, a sad ending or a bitter sweet/ambiguous type ending. (Not just in fics, movies, books or anything)

Me personally am never a big fan of happy ending, i love if it goes with the plot and characters otherwise i always find them cooked up..idk why.💀

and i really am a big fan of bitter sweet/ambiguous ending (a reason for my recent obsession with Korean movies..ugg it's so good i can't lie)..i feel like it's more powerful when used properly .

💔 Is there a fic that broke your heart?

i actually have an eren/armin jean/armin fic that i think is really heartbreaking but i don't know how to finish it i mentioned this a few days ago but there are two future chapters of tbaw that absolutely shattered my heart 😭 i can't wait for you guys to see them for someone else's fic, this one devastated me recently! it's a blue lock sae itoshi/reader fic. this fic also devasted me, it's porco/reader and this jeankasa fic ruined me 😫 but warning this has major manga ending spoilers

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

i've previously answered this here but i thought of another one! i will often write repetitive sentence fragments. like i did it in my most recent lil jean angst drabble where i'm like "You said he was always angry with you — always picking fights. You said that kissing him didn’t feel the same. You said that it was obvious he stopped trying." I don't do this intentionally, it just kinda happens 🤷‍♀️ sometimes i cut it out if i feel like it doesn't flow the way i want it to, but a lot of times i leave it

⚖️ happy, sad, or bittersweet/ambiguous ending?

(i made up an emoji for this question so the questions would match aesthetically 💀) but!! i love sad/emotionally gutting endings the best. like i'm talking The Mist movie ending, Black Mirror episode Shut up and Dance, Flowers for Algernon-type endings!! if a piece of media can leave me feeling emotionally devastated and thinking about it for weeks -- that's the ideal ending 😭 for my writing, personally, i prefer bittersweet/ambiguous endings because i feel like it's the most realistic 👀 also hook me up w some good korean movies!!

asks game questions

[ryuichirou]

Lord God Savior of All Ryu, I ask for but one noble request. lol i just wanna see all your AUs. Like, I always here about them in replies and stuff but I've almost never seen what they actually look like. So if you could just tag pics of them or doodle (they can be super bad 30 sec doodles too, it don't matter to me) them, I would be the happiest, most joyful little shit ever.

Anon!! Thank you for being so interested in our AUs and wanting to learn more about them. It was a very good excuse for us to go through the list of the AUs, doodle them, revisit some of the older ones, etc. So yeah, your wish is granted lol

Here’s the majority of them, we decided not to include those that we’ve barely talked about and thought out... I’ve put tags for those AUs where we have at least something posted. Most of them are something we haven’t even talked about at all and they don’t have a single sketch, but I liked drawing chibis for them way too much. Sorry, I used your ask lol

We have a general tag for our aus and specific ones for some of them, but sometimes an au from here is not tagged separately, so you might have to use this general tag...I tried to fix it, I don’t think I missed anything, so it should be ok now! ;w;

1. Space AU. It’s a story about a space expedition.. which turned out to be not exactly what everyone planned thanks to Erwin. What a commander! 

2. Tribal AU. It’s a story about Eren becoming a part of the tribe where Erwin and Levi live. 

3. Babysitter AU. Levi is a babysitter to Eren and Zeke, unfortunately for Zeke, who’s 17 and not exactly thrilled about being babied. Sometimes there’s kid Erwin too. We’ve never posted anything related to this AU, I think, and I don’t think we will. There’s another AU related to this one, but 19yo Eren from the paths (he has the memory of the manga events) keeps kid Eren company as an invisible ghost, while others think that kid Eren is cursed or something.

4. SnK AU. A classical one, where Eren has dreams about the plot of SnK, but when the story stops progressing, he decides to kidnap Levi to make the plot go on. Erwin finds out later... and keeps Levi in the basement because he wants to know the ending too lmao plus it’s hot.

5. Mines AU. Erwin gathered a team for his wonderful plan to find a treasure, but it’s not like the rest of the team needs to know where they’re really going. Zeke’s particularly terrified to find that out. Despite its name, they spend the majority of time in the forest. Also, there’s a timeskip of 11 years. 

6. AU with Neetwin who’s a history teacher. We don’t tag this one though, it’s not like it’s our AU. So now it’s a Neetwin tag, although one of the drawings is with adult Levi... eh, who cares. 

7. CC AU (cleaning company). Levi works in a cleaning company and cleans up Neetwin and hobo Eren’s apts. They need a lot of work. Yes, they make their apts even dirtier to make Levi spend more time there. 

8. Prison AU. Damn this one is good... we came up with it before reading the timeskip in the manga, so Eren’s appearance doesn’t really match his age, he’s 17 lol Levi is a mafia member who goes to prison because he need to kill one of the inmates (who later became Zeke) on Erwin’s (Levi’s boss) request. Eren’s his personal guard, although Eren works as a regular guard too.

9. King Kong AU. It’s an AU where the Beast Titan is King Kong lmao Zeke is having fun killing dinosaurs... Levi, not so much. Thank Erwin for his wonderful plan of going to this island.

10. Rus AU, basically just characters living in Russia. Because ofc we will have this type of a setting... Damn, I thought we drew this one more often, huh. 

11. Sea AU. Mainly our modern AU, we use it as a base for other modern stuff for the most part. Levi’s getting two boifrond rings, he lives with Erwin, Eren visits them often, Zeke bitches a lot, fun times with and without Zeke, stuff like that. There’s also a subplot (11.5) where Eren gets “kidnapped” by a witch, so Zevi have to find him and bring him back. Titans exist in this AU, Eren and Zeke are titans, and all of them have military training, but Erwin and Levi retired some time ago. We don’t have a tag for just a modern setting, though. 

12. Cult AU. Eren lives on a farm and has a whole village of his followers. He also has cursed animals... and I think we’ve told about some of the plot points in replies. Erwin’s really into all this cult stuff because it affects reality for real, so he asks Levi to follow rituals, although Levi came to ask Eren to go back to normal life and finish the fucking school. 

13. Serial killer AU. Eren’s a serial killer, duh. Never posted anything with this one, unfortunately, but Eren got disappointed in the police when he was a child, so he decided to fix the situation himself, while Erwin and Levi, as a part of a special department, investigate his “fixing”. It also has a time skip. I really need to redraw at least one sketch...

14. Hospital AU. Levi gets into Marley trying to make Eren go back, but it’s not that simple because Eren doesn’t want to lol Basically canonverse with this small change.

15. Hobo AU. Eren and Levi are hobos, Zeke wants his brother to stop living under a fucking bridge. Later Erwin takes both of them under his roof because he really likes Levi, but he can’t leave Eren alone.

16. Doggies AU. AU where Eren’s a wolf and Erwin’s a doggo. Levi got Erwin because he was a retiring trained dog and sniffed enough drugs in his life, and Eren... his “owner” found him on the streets and lied to Levi about Eren being a dog. Later Eren turned into a magnificent beast and now he doesn’t want to leave. There’s also Zeke, but he belongs to Xavier. 

17. AU where Eren wants to become a mangaka. The first post is self-explanatory, although I’d probably make some changes now if I cared enough. There’s also a time skip where Eren ditched his manga and became hobo!Eren. His editor was pissed lol 

18. Scolopendra Eren AU. You know the drill, and I’ve talked about the plot in some of the replies. 

This post doesn’t show up on the tag for some reason.

19. Ghost Eren AU. I should’ve named it combini AU... Anyway, I’ve talked about this one a lot, although poor Erwin gets neglected a little bit lol it’s hard to compete with a ghost when you’re just a mere stalker... but a very invested one. Eren likes Erwin here, they’re vibing on the same malicious-towards-Levi wave. 

20. Shark Eren AU. It’s just for us for funs, Eren’s a shark, and Levi’s there to help him fight depression. Eren later escapes into the sea.

21. Midsommar AU. Levi and Erwin get an invite to go to the village from Yelena, Eren’s a part of a cult who is kinda attracted to one of the newcomers... Such a good movie, we need to draw them properly. Both Yeagerists and Eldians are a part of the cult, they don’t have any specific rules by which I categorised them... Although not all characters are present, and some of them (Jean, I think) are newcomers who will join the cult later. Sorry, I don’t remember much. 

22. Silent Hill AU. It started with Erwin peeking into Levi’s apartment, but now there’s Eren too... We haven’t thought out this one, I’m bad with Silent Hill AUs for some reason. 

23. House Eren AU. Eren’s a house, and we’ve explained how it works too, so just check out the tag. Levi actually lives there with Erwin, but I don’t remember if we’ve mentioned it or decided to skip this info. 

24. Eren pack AU. It’s an AU where Erens of all ages (6 of them, I believe) are a little bit feral, and they have wolf ears and tails, and they live in a specific place and Levi visits them every day and takes care of them. They love Levi. Here’s the only post that survived, and here’s a link for a twitter post which I never got back on tumblr after it got deleted. 

25. Trailer AU. The story is about Levi who has to live with Zeke for a month as his slave because Erwin lost him in a game of cards lol To be fair, Erwin lost a lot of money and their whole flat, and Zeke gave them a choice between that and Levi (he’s horny ok), and Levi agreed. Zeke even put Levi on a chain, although Levi doesn’t even try to escape...

26. Flower shop AU. Eren’s a plant, and he brings death to the whole planet. He keeps Levi alive though, as a treat for himself. We’ve explained some of the stuff in the replies. 

27. Blair Witch AU. It’s pretty much explained in this post, and if you saw the movie, there’s nothing for me to tell you. Everything that’s different from it is in the post lol 

28. Corpse AU. Eren’s a corpse, Levi’s a pathologist who works on difficult and mysterious cases alongside the police. Eren later comes to life along with a couple of other bodies...

29. Antichrist AU. Zevi adopt baby Eren, but Eren’s a fucking satan. He loves Levi, but Zeke... not so much. Zeke loves Eren to death, though. Eren would love to organise that, but first he needs to grow up a little bit. It doesn’t mean that he won’t torture his parents during his journey. And everyone else who interact with them.

30. This one doesn’t have a title, but it’s an AU where kid Eren went missing, and Levi goes into the forest to find him. Levi owns Erwin who’s a good doggo and helps him find Eren. It turns out Eren killed two adult dudes, and he has paths!Eren telling him what to do and how to do it... Paths!Eren has the memory of the canonverse.

31. Zombie apocalypse AU. There’s only one drawing with it though, but basically Levi builds himself a wonderful place to survive the apocalypse, and he keeps Zombie Erwin in the basement in hopes of Hange finding a cure. Then Eren joins just because he can and because Levi’s very awesome. Eren has a boner for the apocalypse and enjoys every second of it. 

32. No title, but Eren was casted away from the canon universe for the rumbling, and now he’s a mythological giant wolf who lives in a deep very old forest. He was very surprised to find out Levi exists in this universe... So he kidnapped him ❤️

33. Halloween AU. You’ve seen this one, it’s a story where Jean, Connie, Sasha and Eren get into the wrong house and find a ritual instead of a Halloween party... So after saving the child who, as it turns out, is not really a victim, they decide to ditch him at Eruri’s place.

34. Okusan AU. Levi’s a housewife, Erwin is a cuckold who’s really into adultery. He invites both Zeke and Eren from time to time to act as Levi’s husbands, and they (Levi and Erwin) almost get caught because the “husband” suddenly came home... Sorry, we’ve read too many doujinshis lol

35. Island AU. Erwin loves sending Levi to dangerous places to get souvenirs for himself, and now it’s time for Levi to get a crystal from a very isolated island full of strict rules in terms of interacting with outsiders. We have a cool idea for a two part drawing (like with our flower shop au), but it’ll take us ages to complete anything at this rate... I have like two sketches on Patreon for now, but damn this AU has so many cool visuals we wanna draw... It’s another cult AU with people living on Paradis (more like one village in the middle of the island), isolated from the rest of the world. They don’t welcome strangers, and Levi has three months to find and steal that crystal, although it’s not that simple.

36. Erewan. Not exactly a full AU, but Erewan’s a cursed animal plushie who kills people and loves Levi a lot. 

37. Cat AU. Everyone’s a cat (duh). Not really our AU, but it has its own tag, and it’s only asks. 

38. Tiny founder Eren AU?? Again, not really our AU, but now it has its own tag. 

I’ve also found the reply where I talk about how characters’ relationships work in some of the AUs, you can check it out too. I thought it was fitting for a master post. 

[madara-fate]

I've seen you reblogged A Silent Voice, what do you think about Nishimiya and Ishida's relationship? do you think they can be a good couple? I notice that Nishimiya fell in love with Ishida. But I can't see from Ishida's side. I love this movie so much but I don't think I understand the plot completely, I still don't get it why Ishida couldn't see people in the face.

Ahh, I’ll never get tired of talking about this movie; It’s my joint favourite anime movie ever. With regards to your questions, I’ll begin with Shouya and the difficulties that he has with social interaction. The main reason that he had such an issue with looking at people’s faces was because of the social anxiety he developed after becoming the scapegoat for the bullying of Nishimiya, and the isolation he suffered throughout his middle school years as a result of this, which ultimately led him to become a very introverted individual.

After Shouya was outed as the main culprit for Shouko’s bullying, even his closest friends shunned him, despite them doing nothing to stop Shouya from continuing his actions, and instead just laughing along with whatever he did:

That undoubtedly caused Shouya to feel a large sense of abandonment, and a loss of trust towards others because of the actions of his friends. Therefore, whenever you saw the scenes of him slowly putting his hands to his ears and closing his eyes, it obviously wasn’t really happening, but it was symbolism used to signify what he was doing; He was closing himself off:

As a result of this, he often got paranoid because he always thought that people were talking about him behind his back, as they always used to do after he was turned on by his peers. So even when in reality, they were discussing something as harmless as whether or not they should go to the courtyard:

In Shouya’s mind (as seen by the quotation marks), they were talking about him, and mocking him for always being alone:

This was the case for every one of his peers. It didn’t matter what they were discussing because Shouya had figuratively deafened himself to what they were actually saying due to his introversion. He always assumed they were just mocking him, to the extent of even questioning the point of his very existence:

That’s how badly Shouya’s isolation affected him, and this was also undoubtedly the cause of his borderline suicidal tendencies:

However, after meeting Shouko again a few years later and being given the chance to make amends with her, he began to realise that maybe his past sins didn’t necessarily mean that he deserved to die. He began wanting to live and restore the happiness he had taken away from her all those years ago.

Yet, in an unforeseen circumstance, Shouko also exhibited the same suicidal tendencies that he had done. Just like him, she also felt that she was nothing but a nuisance, especially for Shouya. In Shouko’s mind, she had taken away his happiness by being the pivotal component in the events which ultimately led to Shouya losing all of his friends and becoming miserable. Thus, she would eventually attempt to take her own life, and in a desperate plea to the gods themselves, Shouya asked for that little bit of extra strength he needed to be able to save her life, and in return, he promised to do things right - He promised that he would no longer run away from his problems anymore, and that he would finally look at people’s faces and actually listen to their voices: 

So then when the festival came along, Shouya decided that it was time to make good on that promise. The scene then interchanges between the symbolism of him removing his hands from his ears, and what was actually going on at the festival, and as his hands were removed, you could hear things from Shouya’s perspective - You could hear how he was slowly beginning to actually listen to the sound of peoples voices and could hear what they were really saying:

He realised that they weren’t constantly talking about him and his apparent worthlessness; They were instead just going on about their own lives:

He was listening to people’s voices, and he had finally opened his eyes:

And he noticed the many great friends and family that he had with him and supporting him. He was no longer the shunned, isolated middle schooler who had seemingly lost all of his friends and was made to feel like scum - He was now surrounded by people who genuinely loved him:

And at this realisation, he just couldn’t stop the tears from flowing:

That really was such a great scene, just the culmination of everything he had been through was really well done.

As for Shouya and Shouko’s relationship, they can definitely be a good couple. As you said, Shouko’s feelings for him were made very explicit because of her confession, and whether or not Shouya reciprocated was rather ambiguous. However, the future for the two of them was made a little clearer in the manga. One example of this was when Yuzuru was spying on them as they were discussing their futures, and after they had resolved to do their best together, Yuzuru wished the two of them (as in their relationship) good luck:

Another example happened as they were about to enter the coming of age ceremony in the final chapter. During the final scene of the manga, they were both feeling rather nervous about the whole thing:

However, in an act which caused Shouko to blush, Shouya took her hand and led them both through the doors, which was not only a call back to their promise of doing their best together, but it was also likely a metaphor that they will continue to be together as a couple from now on:

And I couldn’t help but draw parallels between that final manga panel of Shouya and Shouko walking side by side through the doors, and the final movie shot where you see two silhouettes walking side by side towards the light, and you can only assume that those figures are Shouya and Shouko; Their sizes match:

In which case, despite the anime adaptation being a little rushed due to the time constraints, both versions of the story essentially ended on the same positive note relaying the same inspiring message - That the future is looking very bright for the two of them, because whatever the future should bring and regardless of the hurdles that’d come, Shouya and Shouko would face them together, always.

[makeste]

Please don't even entertain the time travel theory. If Kurogiri's warp needs to be artificially made, where on earth is time travel going to come from (and Eri quirk doesn't work like that- if you get rewound before you were born, you don't exist anymore.) Bakugou getting OFA was a "end of the series" idea so there is no reason for him to go back in time if he was considered the 10th sucessor in Horikoshi's planning. Bakugou was never thought to go back in time with the vestige conception -

and there was already 8 shadows and there is still only 8 shadows. Having spikey hair and arm canons is not that unique to Bakugou (the hair can also match Dabi’s hair style and is one of the most generic hair styles there is, while Bakugou’s guantlets are shorter on his arm and rounder while the vestiges is long and cylinder, and he might only have one and it might be a gun because of weak quirks.) While 2 + 3 are important they’re more likley original characters.

hey there anon! please forgive me, but I have to ask, is there some reason you’re so against considering this? just wondering, since “please don’t even entertain the theory” to me has kind of a “don’t stoop to that level” kind of feel to it? and I mean, it’s just a theory. maybe it’s right or maybe it isn’t, but either way I don’t think it’s that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things?

and I mean. this is a superhero manga. and superheroes and comic books have a long and shamelessly involved history with time travel. Horikoshi has touched on nearly every other time-honored element of the superhero genre by this point, so why not time travel? yes, it’s weird and headachey and notoriously hit-or-miss, but that’s part of the fun of it, I’ve always thought. and some of my all time favorite superhero plotlines (Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, and of course, the much-maligned Avengers: Endgame) involve time travel shenanigans. so why not BnHA? why not this manga, which features plenty of other supernatural and metaphysical elements already, and a ton of other stuff which to be quite frank is already a whole lot stranger than anything this theory could present (this is a series with a character who has a literal speech bubble for a head). and not to mention, already canonically features another character with powers connected to time travel as you mentioned, even if Eri’s don’t quite fit the bill for this kind of storyline. so I don’t really think it’s all that out there in that respect, even if it would certainly be uncharted territory as of now.

as for Horikoshi’s planning, the thing is, he’s already diverged from that, though. the plot twist from Heroes Rising was an end-of-the-series idea – key word being “was.” and this thing with one of the vestiges’ silhouettes looking exactly like Bakugou is a relatively recent thing; they were all too vague to make out back when they first appeared in chapter 30-something during the Shinsou fight. so assuming that he did indeed decide to introduce some sort of weird time travel plotline, that doesn’t mean it was something he always had in mind; it very well could be something he only came up with recently. chapter 193 was released in August 2018, about seven months before Heroes Rising was announced, so that means that Horikoshi would have to have settled on the change about half a year before we know for sure that he actually did, because him being asked to come up with an ending for the new movie was what prompted him to give up his original manga ending. but it’s still possible this was something he was already thinking of doing anyway, especially since Two Heroes also came out in the summer of 2018, so it’s possible that there was already pressure being put on him to think of a plot for a second movie at that point.

regarding the point that spiky hair and gauntlets aren’t necessarily unique to Bakugou, while I concede that this is true, I nonetheless can’t see this resemblance as being a coincidence at all. apologies for copy/pasting from an older post of mine on this subject, but it’s easier than trying to make the exact same point in slightly different words lol, so here goes:

this last one is what sold me. with the other two images, I could be convinced that the similarities are just coincidence. we do, after all, have plenty of other characters with similarly spiky hair.

but for me, that last comparison goes past what can be considered a coincidental resemblance. here, take a look at it again, this time with the left image superimposed over the right:

this isn’t just “oh it looks kind of like his hairstyle/gauntlets/neck guard.” this doesn’t just resemble him; this is his exact profile. for Horikoshi to have drawn this and not been aware of the resemblance is frankly impossible. which means it must have been done intentionally.

besides which, there’s also the question of why he would keep the character’s identity hidden otherwise. if their appearance isn’t actually some sort of spoiler, then why hide it? I can’t think of any reason, which leads me to believe that it’s not just the hair, but the face as well. for whatever reason, this character design deliberately resembles Bakugou’s.

and my opinion on that basically hasn’t changed. what’s more, Horikoshi still has not revealed this mysterious character’s face or name for whatever reason, and it came up again as recently as chapter 257. so yeah. there is something more going on here for sure.

now all that being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is time travel! there are definitely other possibilities, which I discussed in that previous post as well (although the latter half of that post is definitely out of date now) and  so I won’t bother to get into that all again. but given all of the evidence being presented here, I have to disagree on the whole “don’t even entertain the idea” thing. because to me it does seem like a reasonable theory to come up with, even if it doesn’t actually turn out to be the case. we don’t know what the hell is going on here, is the bottom line. but something is really weird. so yeah. maybe it’s time travel, maybe it isn’t, but I personally have yet to come across another explanation for it that really satisfies me (even if the time travel theory has its own holes for sure). so I guess for the time being you could say I’m agnostic as far as this whole thing goes lol. but I definitely wouldn’t discount it just yet.