#no clue where I got the Chase screenshot

[rescuebotsoutofcontext]

[dwarfbehavior]

A lot has happened since starting this fort, so this will need to be more of an effort post.

This time I parked next to a waterfall to motivate me to learn about hydro power down the line.

Food and drink are steady, many gems being polished.

E32, bedrooms looking good. Need to bag up the sand maybe.

E31, slowly making this into offices, barracks, and hospital. Speaking of,

Helluva name this game picked. Still haven't quite worked out how to train them, but they've already proven themselves (more on that later).

E30, refuse/corpse room.

11 partially mined floors later, E19. Experienced players can probably guess where this is going.

E-8. By the time I checked the notice about discovering this cavern, the troglodytes were already chasing my miners (freaking me tf out in the process, had no clue about any of this). Thankfully the miners ran back up the stairs instead of further into the caverns. This was my warriors' time to shine, and they quickly dispatched the intruders. Unfortunately, I forgot to take screenshots of any of this, but the corpse room is evidence enough. Shortly after, cave fungus began spreading among the sandy floors, which panicked me at first, but I guess it's safe? I fortified the E19 hallway, and shortly after doing that, this happened:

Not gonna lie, this got me hyped. The zombie invasion was straightforward, the secret cavern/troglodyte affair was startling, but this kind of stuff is why I love hearing about DF. I didn't even keep track of what she made, have no clue what a likot is and neither does google, but hell yeah Rovod, bring the lore.

Next post, things I'm working on/have questions about.

[noahtally-famous]

favorite new gen ships?

I'm assuming you're cool with canon and fanon ships (bc if it's just canon ships then uh...it's just gonna be rajbow lmao).

I'll have you know this was painstaking for a multishipper like me, but here we are!!

disclaimer: I've personally only watched four of the episodes (I'm tryna find time to watch the rest 😭); the rest that I know of abt the characters and/or dynamics are bc of tumblr lmaoo

(also if you have a problem with any of these, don't bother commenting, I don't need the hate)

rajbow (raj x bowie): o b v!! can't have one of these asks without these two, tbvh, I adore them and from what I've heard abt them, I love how Fresh handled them--the fact that the only canon gay ship is also on the list of the healthiest ships is wild and I freaking love it!! they're so adorable together too--and let me say I noticed the connection between Bowie getting crowns and Raj's name meaning 'king' immediately and it made me love them more! I can't wait to see more of them next season, and I hope Fresh doesn't fuck around with them like they've done with other ships 🤞

emwayne (emma x wayne): while I understand where the zemma shippers are coming from, I'm gonna have to say that I can see them as a pairing, but mostly I see zee and emma as friends than lovers. moving onto wayne and emma, I've seen a couple of rlly cute fanart abt them that roped me into rooting for them; also, I saw this tumblr post that talked abt wayne helping emma see that her and chase aren't right for each other bc of the break between bowie and emma's friendship; I thought it'd be cute that emma realizes what an actual relationship is supposed to be like based on the way wayne treats her and the two grow closer as he helps her come into herself more. overall, really cute pairing!!

nichaxel (nichelle x axel): MY LESBIAN BABES!!! ever since I saw that one scene where they interacted, I was HOOKED, I'm SO SO on board with these two getting together, ugh, I can just imagine how badass and amazing they'd be!! axel teaching nichelle to fight so she can make her comeback next season??? nichelle helping axel tune more into her emotions and her heart??? sign me tf up!! they'd be unstoppable, legit, I want this so bad! seriously, I hope Fresh does smth with them next season and if they don't get them together, I hope they at least let them be friends, goddammit!

damien x priya (idk their shipname 😭): from the screenshots I've seen of the two, I think they're cute together!! wonder if next season will involve them more 🤔 it's funny too bc it's the guy who doesn't have a clue abt total drama with the girl who knows everything abt it; like imagine priya getting damien to watch the prev seasons and damien returning next season like a fricking icon with his newfound knowledge. honestly I'm on the fence abt these two; I like them as a pairing, but also I think they're great as good friends too! (also I've seen a lot of ppl talking abt millie x priya; I personally don't have an opinion abt that, I haven't gotten that far to have one. So, to me, they're just good friends!) (on that note, for the scary girl x damien shippers, I personally see them as friends, I just can't see scary girl with anyone sorry 😅)

chazee (chase x zee): okay, hear me out on this one. before the season came out, when all I knew abt everyone were those random pics of episodes, I remember wishing chase to be gay (or bi or smth that isn't straight or he realizes he's not straight while in the show) bc it'd break that stereotype which I thought would be cool--and I shipped him with zee like offhandedly, nothing extreme, just lowkey. like I thought their shipname was cute (chazee?? hello?? literally adorable?? and I've found out that ppl are calling them cheese now too and fdhdjf that just makes it cuter). then I started watching the season and got to know chase's whole personality, I was like 'ehhhh' and this pairing just...got shunted to the far corners of my mind. THEN I came across this freaking adorable fic of these two (it's this one!) that somehow converted me back to shipping these two??? then I started thinking up random scenarios involving the two and yeah imma say I adore these two. idk I feel like zee would be good for chase, like their way of viewing the world would be pretty helpful for someone like chase?? (plus the whole sexuality crisis can still exist on chase's end bc imo zee is the kinda person to already be aware of a lot of things abt him (their gender, their sexuality, etc) but not put much emphasis on it, y'feel?), and maybe chase's way of expressing himself would balance out zee's??? who knows?? idk I feel like this ship has a lot of potential and it's worth exploring-

mkulia (mk x julia): they'd be the queens of meet-uglies lmaoo but no rlly, they'd be rlly great together, I feel! they give off alenoah vibes too, which I think is pretty neat! idk much abt them rn bc I'm only a fourth in the season, but I will def let you know my thoughts once I do!

I think that's it! these aren't all the ships I ship obv, but if I had to pick favs, it would be these ones!

oh, btw, as a treat, let me talk abt my least fav character in the season after I talked abt my fav ships fhjdfhI okay so I genuinely dislike ripper so much lmfao, like in the beginning he was 'meh' to me and he just plummeted the more I watched the season. I would not subject anyone to the pain of being shipped with him at all (the only ship I can tolerate is chipper but even then it's shipped ironically and I've hardly any interest in it; sorry chipper fans lmao)😭 literally hope he gets eliminated early next season--it's what he deserves after the whole deal with axel's elimination this season.

[cross-u-out]

Ok it’s been about 2 weeks since the new cast names have gotten revealed and like 3 since we’ve first seen them, I’ve had time to fully process the new designs I think I can give in depth thoughts now.

First these guys!

Priya - um I don’t have much to say about her, she gives off super preppy but very nice, giving Courtney I think. I like her she seems nice

Millie - Yeah she’s just giving nice and polite and mom friend, but she’s absolutely one of my favorites I think idk she’s just nice.

Ripper - Okay he had to grow on me a lot but I love him now! I think the Nowen headcanons/art converted me on him and I don’t even ship lmao. But yeah he’s a bitch I’m calling it now. Maybe not main antagonist worthy but like he’s evil. But also lovely and a joy to have around. Also he’d probably be a challenge beast I think. Idk he’s just vibes I guess.

Damien - Honestly if anyone’s trans it’s him. Definitely. He just exudes transmasc. This entire row is very gender but like out of this whole cast it’s probably him. Also, he’s SO COOL I am in love with his design he also just exudes good vibes I love him. I think he should win I want him to win or at least make top 3.

Axel - YES. She is going to be a favorite I hope another one of the coolest people here. Love characters who could beat my ass. Personality wise I’m think she’s like Brick Courtney and Eva with slight Jo and Duncan idk she just gives all of them. She will slay I can sense it.

Chase - Normal (derogatory) idk he’s just there. But he seems nice ig.

Zee - they’re so non-binary. Anyways they’re very funky and sweet and so shapes and they give major sweetheart goofball I love them. they just enjoy.

Scary Girl - I don’t know why she doesn’t have an actual name especially when all the fan names are so amazing, I personally prefer Charley or Hayley (I don’t remember who came up with those but you’re the best). Um design wise she’s kind of the actual best I think like it’s just so vibes. Personality wise I literally don’t know actually and I think I like that. That just means she could be anything I love a good wildcard. Yeah she’s another fave.

okay them now.

Caleb - He’s giving Ryan I think but like take out everything that made me like him. I don’t know he’s just so.. boring. I think I’d boot him first he’s just frustrating and I don’t trust him at all.

Nichelle - Ok I’m gonna be honest when the names got revealed I did not care for her AT ALL I thought she was just so basic. But like I’m here now hi sorry I’m late. She’s so girl, girla, girlie, girlie pop, bestie. Her designs also grown on me as well, i love the beads and the yoga pants. She just seems so chill and normal (affectionate). But ALSO I’m kinda getting scared she might be first boot here’s why. Ok so we all know she and Caleb weren’t in that like team huddle thing but like. Has anyone else noticed she hasn’t been in any of the promo screenshots in the flyer. That’s so weird to me. I hope I’m going insane especially since she’s the only one facing right (although that could be another clue). But um anyways yeah she’s great. She’s just so slay. I love her.

Julia - This girl is gay. Anyways she also had to grow on me cuz she was so basic but like I’m also here for her now. You are all right she’s absolutely a stoner. Also like I kinda get an athlete vibe from her? Like she’s a twig but like if it got revealed she does or did track or something I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s great I think.

Bowie - I’m sorry I love a good twink. Idk what’s going on with the color scheme/design but like it’s very funky it suits him. The necklace and bracelets are cool, he’s cool, I like him a lot hoping he goes far.

Wayne - I’m not gonna lie, I think he’s one of my favorites now. Another case where the art converted me but like he’s just adorable. But also idk if this is my mha obsessed brain talking but YALL. HES LITERALLY OJIRO, HEAR ME OUT HERE They are both: Blonde, both do sports, probably both polite himbos, he gives off nervous vibes just like Ojiro, both (somewhat) big guys, AND THEY HAVE VERY SIMILAR, IF NOT THE SAME FUCKING COLOR SCHEME. I CANNOT BE THE ONLY ONE SEEING THIS. AM I DELUSIONAL PROBABLY BUT I DO NOT THINK SO. I get he’s probably supposed to be a Wayne Gretzky parody but like come on. I see the vision. Anyways tangent over I love him he just seems so sweet. Also he’s so gay you guys. He’s great. I love him.

Raj - um I don’t have much to say but he also seems very sweet and adorable. I also think out of him and Wayne he’d be the more chill and reasonable one. I’m rooting for him.

Emma - ok she used to be my first boot but I don’t hate her anymore. Wow holy shit y’all’s art converted me on 5 people props to the total drama fandom y’all did great. Um I don’t really know what to say about her but like I hope everyone who’s predicting she’s a sweetie pie is right. Um well see about her I’m interested now.

MK - ICON! I love them so much and I also think they are enby. They are also a super sweet silly goofball I think. Literally I want them to win so bad they are my absolute favorite. But seriously why are they yellow. If they’re supposed to be Asian then surely Fresh should know it’s a problem. Especially considering they didn’t do it with Heather when TDI first came out. So bad. But anyways yes they are amazing literally my favorite they need to win.

so uh yeah. I definitely like them all a lot more than I did when the designs first got revealed. I think my absolute favorites are MK, Damien, Axel, Wayne, Nichelle, Julia, Ripper, Zee, Wayne, and Millie. Although I don’t get why these were their names when I’ve seen so many better ones (I’ve seen Tristan and Hayden for Ripper and Wayne respectively and like yeah I like those a hell of a lot better.) But um yeah I’m excited for the season I don’t think it’ll be a dumpster fire, especially considering Ridonculous was good. I’m excited.

[decennia]

People should make their points respectfully, always. I don't think anyone should be judging Alicia though. I don't she had any agenda beyond supporting a fellow writer. I think to clarify on anon's point about lokitrashocs, is that yes, she writes age gap romances, and yes a lot are toxic/dead dove. But the main issue is she writes adult/minor (underage) content which is... concerning, especially when it comes to writing that sort of smut 😮

the fact of the matter is, alicia literally hasn't said anything about elijah and selina? they weren't even a topic in our conversations, and with express permission, i can even show screenshots to prove it. when did writing become only about ships and not about the plot? because when i said i needed help, i meant with the clues. and that's literally all we discussed; ask anyone else i discussed the tourists with, and they will tell you too: i was just needing an outside perspective on whether or not the clue trail was easy enough to follow without having a 4000 iq.

elijah was mentioned in passing, how selina found his old business card in one of mason's books, and she sought out his help. i never spoke about their relationship. i don't know how, what, why, or where this anon got it into their head that i'm being pushed into some sick and twisted agenda.

i am of the opinion to let people write what they want to write. there are people out there who enjoy that kind of media, and the writers almost always tag their content with trigger warnings, so people who don't wish to consume or are more sensitive to certain topics can avoid it.

but nowhere did i mention smut. this is an adventure story, folks. they're chasing gold, they have the damned corpsemen on their trail. they do not have time to be hankying and pankying under the desert sky.

and even if they did, selina is expressly an adult, 25, and elijah is mid to late 30s. yes, i made him younger than joel, but it's plot related and connected to the character's history. it doesn't change the fact that selina is very much an adult, though, and if she wanna fuck a eighty year old, who are you to stop her?

i am not breaching any laws, here. it's a slowest of slow-burn acquaintances-to-teammates-to-friends-to-lovers. it's not sexual love, it's not lust and desire and fire and passion, it's two people who deeply care about one another and who have a mutual respect and understanding, who simply have a gap in age.

and you're right, people should always make their point respectfully. thank you very much for doing so now 💕 other anons? take notes.

[lsobelevans]

Horror tropes? In my Roswell, New mexico? It’s more likely than you think!

In this essay I will...

...be mentioning a few horror/thriller movies and while nothing explicitly gory or scary will be shown in this post, those movies definitely contain scenes and themes that can be disturbing/scary/triggering, do your researches if you’ve got doubts!

...be focusing on the Maria and Alex road-trip, from the moment the car breaks down to the last scene with Travis’ twin. I’m probably going to be led to briefly mention the other scenes that are intertwined with this arc (the echo date and the Planet 7 Kyle and Isobel scene, as well as the marlex car drive when I feel like it is relevant). 

...be approaching specific themes that are used in the scenes that compose this little arc and also more general ones like sound, editing, cinematography and color. 

... be reaching a lot. I do not think everything I will be mentioning is 100% thought-out and voluntary (although you never know). But I’m a firm believer that in filmmaking, yes even inside a CW show, the symbolism comes through subconsciously. So like, maybe they didn’t mean to use corn field as a mark for transition, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this symbolism works with the story they’re telling and for the journey the characters are in that moment. Additionally, lighting, decor and costumes are always a choice, just like the camera doesn’t position itself randomly, someone’s behind and thinking of the composition of shots that, even if it’s in a basic way, has meaning.

... be starting chronologically but I’ll also make jumps backward and forward, grasping on themes when they come up. Ok, then, let’s dive in! 

This episode references and uses a lot of the iconic mechanisms of the horror movie genre. Alex and Maria’s comfortable road trip atmosphere, open hearted conversation in the car, breaks at the same time as the car itself breaks. The camera, steady so far, the shots following a well known pattern of shot/counter-shot, becomes more unpredictable and shakier and suddenly we’re out of the car, and bam, large shot. 

From the moment they’re out of the car, you won’t be able to see the horizon. Maria and Alex are stuck in a corn field, and they’re stuck in the frame. 

Then poof, Travis appears out of nowhere, accompanied with a pang of music, frightening us and them. Well, more exactly, it cuts on a shot that we’ve seen before without Travis, now with Travis, which gives us the appearing out of nowhere effect. 

Alex says it best.

Well now they’re stuck with a strange guy with an axe, and in a corn field 😬

Hey, have you seen he’s got an axe??? or do you need a close-up???

Okay, this scene ends there. So, let’s take a break and talk about cornfields. There’s many examples of horror movies making use of a field of corn as a location, famously Children of the Corn (1984), Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1995) Signs (2002), that last one also involving, you guessed it, aliens. 

Screenshots from the Signs trailer.

Corn fields are strongly associated with rurality, especially rural America. More largely, they can represent renewal, fertility or abundance. In the contrary, they can be seen as a very ominous location due to their immensity, a labyrinth in which you can’t see very far away and from which you’ll have trouble coming out. 

Although I’m pretty sure Maria’s chase in the cornfield is more of a reference to The Shining (1980) it reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies Tom à la ferme (2013), in which Tom is basically held hostage in rural Canada. The corn field chase is a turning point, the last of Tom's attempts to escape. 

Cornfields apparently also often imply scarecrows, which are inherently scary in my opinion but we’ll talk about it more later. 

The next scene takes place inside of Travis' cabin. 

The lighting here is pretty low, the light coming from a few small sources, creating a lot of shadows. The main color is a greenish/yellow which can be associated with nature and earth, rurality, dirty, suffocating. If we look at it, the color scheme of the entire road trip is very much following this pattern of browns/yellows/greens because of the cornfield and the color of the characters costumes (the exception being Maria’s truck which is a bright red). In opposition, the scenes that are intertwined are either blue and orange for Max and Liz or a lot of pink/blues/purples for Isobel and Kyle in planet 7 (bi bi bi).

The cabin is messy, supposedly reflecting the state of the owner’s mind. We get a nice close-up on meat + a knife and all of the creepy skins on the walls. Also, it’s noticeable that from this moment on, the camera is shakier, we experience different angles too. 

We are given many visual clues that something is wrong. 

I’m gonna pass on the sound of the sound of the cow parodying a werewolf + the vampire diaries inside joke. 

Btw, if the fact that Travis names his cows -- that he skins for a living -- like human women isn’t enough for you to think mmmm. we are in danger. Well, don’t worry. The cw spells it out for you!!

We know Alex! We got contextual clues!

Right after this, Alex and Maria make another direct reference to being in a horror movie situation. 

ALEX: This is why I don’t like horror films. The gay guy always dies first.

MARIA: ???? 

ALEX: Or... second. Okay, that’s fair. That look, that’s fair. 

I think this bit is interesting, because not only does it denounce an horror movie cliché (the black person of the cast dies first, the queer person is second) but also in this situation I believe it can be see as kind of a callout on the fandom’s behavior that i’m not gonna spell out for you but yeah. Fellow queer people, don’t forget you’re not the only one who is sometimes badly/unfairly represented. 

Moving on. In the next scene, Alex is searching the cabin for clues, and we are also given some about Travis. 

Either he has a twin brother or he’s got a framed picture of himself on his wall. Oh, and he’s military.

Then Travis startles Alex and plays a little bit of banjo, which is a good excuse to stop and talk about music. The show uses a lot of diegetic music aka music that is present in the universe of the story, that the characters can also hear. It justify the use of said music and it ties the audio with the picture.

The banjo already is heard at the very beginning of the arc during a cut from the planet 7 scene to the road trip scene. We get a few notes that indicate a change of scenery and that helps smooth up the transition, and I’m pretty sure it was also supposed to be diegetic music coming from Maria’s radio. The banjo, like the corn field, is super linked with rurality and rural America (again!)

Another reference of the banjo in horror/thriller would be Deliverance (1972).

I can’t not think of this movie when I hear banjo unfortunately. 

The way Travis plays, aggressively bad, and while singing I Think We’re Alone Now, is supposed to make you think about that scene in The Umbrella Academy be quite unsettling, another point for isolation horror. 

So sweet of Travis to attack Alex with a guitar, and then a smol knife, and not with the axe <3. 

Then we’ve got a traveling zoom-in (or equivalent I’m not sure it isn’t a steady-cam here but the effect is the same) on Maria. This kind of effect can feel a little bit over-the-top and dramatic, in a old genre movie kind of way. It is usually used to bring the audience in, make it feel like you’re evolving in the same universe as the characters (here you’re walking toward Maria). In a scene where you should feel scared, it can be a mean to make you feel more engaged, as well as underlining Maria’s expression, her fear. In my opinion, this is also a way to tell you that from now on, Maria is the main character of this arc, the one that you will be following after the commercial break (that occurs right after) and making it more suspenseful. 

The scene after the break is the start of the corn-field chase. Travis steps out of the cabin, the cuts are faster, many close-shots, some even out of focus, that accelerate the rhythm, and a long fade-in of a new song: a modern, electronic song (Kim Petra’s Close You Eyes) completely in opposition with the acoustic banjo and with the atmosphere of the scene, which makes it strange and makes you think oh, what a weird choice! (at least it did for me lol). The lyrics, however, go very well with the scene. 

I feel it coming on You've got nowhere to run There's no way you'll make it out alive

Yep. 

We find out right after that the music is in fact diegetic but for Isobel and Kyle, it’s another use of music to ease a transition between 2 scenes that are different in every possible way. 

Now, the corn-field chase. As I mentioned before, I believe it’s a direct reference to The Shining’s ending chase scene where Jack Torrance chases his son Danny through a vegetal labyrinth with an axe. 

From the shots to the lighting (from behind or on the side, making the characters look like silhouettes) both scenes are very similar. Also, Travis is styled like Jack Nicholson ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh look, Michael’s here to save the day!

Oh well, guess not. 

Yeah, in this scene, and like we’ve been shown before, Maria is going to be the one that saves everyone. The racist cliché of the black character dying first in a horror movie is reversed, Maria is the last one standing. The scarecrow (that looked conveniently a lot like Maria) is supposed to play in favor of the bad guy, it’s a scary element, creating confusion and unease, but here the character decides to basically take it into her own hands and bend the rules. This character says i’m not that archetype, and she’s going to be using the horror movie tools against itself. 

Lastly, the final horror movie recurring theme that I’m going to talk about is the twin/the double. 

Yes, twins is a spooky tool used in horror movie because their similarities make them unsettling, uncanny. 

There’s also the idea that if one were to replace the other, you wouldn’t be able to tell. The impostor is a very scary concept that Roswell has also dealt with before. 

I can’t be the only one that has been traumatized by that halloween special of the Simpsons where Bart has an evil twin... 

It’s the last twist of the arc, there is a bad!Travis and a good!Travis. The bad one kept the other locked-up somewhere and had taken his place. 

It’s particularly interesting for Roswell that has a history with twins/doppelgänger, and that since the original show. It is a clear instance of in-world foreshadowing here! (howdy)

My conclusion about all this is that the people who worked on 2x06 had a great time building the episode and it shows, while also making it enjoyable to watch and yeah, we love to see it! 

[mirrorfalls]

Hi Mirror,

I thoroughly enjoyed your post about what makes Ran so wonderful, especially in regards to the flexibility of her character and the roles she can fulfill (even if canon isn't always good at doing her justice). I'm going to try my best to add to the quality Ran content in the fandom for your gift - hopefully you like the end result!

What encouraged you to get into Detective Conan in the first place? Are you a mystery/ detective fiction fan?

~Santa

Ah, therein lies a long but not particularly interesting story...

As a grade-schooler I read the usual pack of paperback mysteries - Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jensen, Jigsaw Jones - and I loved Arthur's occasional mystery-centric episodes (in fact, I think it might've been where I first heard of Sherlock Holmes), but by the time I got into Conan I'd pretty much outgrown all of that.

So what did lead me there? TV listings. Specifically, listings for that magic land known as [adult swim], forever beyond the reaches of my bedtime. Even on the rare nights my parents forgot about that, there was no goddamn way my tiny metabolism could stay up 'til two in the morning. So all I had to go on was the bare-bones summary from [as]' homepage, which confused the hell out of me (did I mention there wasn't even one screenshot, so I hadn't clue number one what this "Case Closed" even looked like?). A teenage detective is poisoned into... a kid? In what universe was this the stuff of Serious Adult Drama?

Fast-forward to... seventh grade or thereabouts, when I discovered the magic of YouTube and also scanlations. Poured myself around ten episodes of the Funimation dub, then hopped over to sub, and from there it was only a short jump to the manga (if you're of my generation, you may remember those Bad Ol' Days when most of the scans after Ch. 70 or so were cobbled from Vietnamese efforts that made your average Hong Kong bootleg look respectable). My brain was still soft and malleable enough to take damn near any new series at face-value, and those early cases had more than enough whiz-bang action to keep me hooked (the debut of the super-sneakers in Vol. 2 remains a quiet favorite). I don't think I ever tried to play along with the case-cracking - never had much of a head for that, and still don't. I was there to see all the personalities bounce off each other; all the piano-wire magic just bored me.

Even more... I-don't-want-to-say-ironically-but-I-don't-know-what-else-to-call-it... Conan was my gateway into Classic Mystery Fiction. I read the entire Holmes canon in Undergrad so I could understand how to write from Shinichi's POV better, chased it down with the likes of Hammett and Chandler, and up through today I've got a small side-hobby of collecting obscure Japanese mysteries purely on the manga's recommendations. One day - one day I might even become a Legit Connoisseur.

'til then - that fic ain't gonna write itself.

[recurring-polynya]

Bleach Sword Beasts Arc Recap: Episode 263

I have been putting this off, but It Is Time: I am going to review the episode where Zabimaru and Senbonzakura get stuck in Squad 12.

The episode starts out with Saru and Hebi very competently taking out a sword beast, and a bunch of Squad 6er’s get really hype about it. I love this. Please more of this.

No one ever cares what I think, though, because they don’t finish the job, and Senbonzakura has to do it. Not only does he steal their thunder, he does it in such a way that when the sword beast turns back into a sword, it breaks into two pieces, and one piece falls on each of their heads. It’s honestly a great piece of physical comedy, behold my lightning fast screenshotting reflexes:

Squad 6 are a bunch of bootlickers, so they immediately start fawning over Senbonzakura instead. You cannot care about the opinion of Squad 6, Zabimaru! The only way to win is not to play!! Then, to add insult to injury, Renji makes them write apology letters. I cannot overemphasize how deeply tired Renji is throughout this episode, and I am here for it. This is a man who has filled out so much zanpakutou-related paperwork. Also, there is a very cute little scene where Saru is protesting the letters and slapping the coffee table that is so, so reminiscent of The Desk Slap. I am utterly charmed with the idea that zanpakutou and their shinigami share mannerisms. Oh, also, I guess Squad 6 has some fancy-ass guest chairs? Well, they do now.

Renji implies that he has also been getting shit about how Captain Kuchiki’s zanpakutou is better than his. Zabimaru take this poorly, and decide they are going to return the broken sword to Squad 12, leaving this little love letter for Renji:

This poor, beleaguered man. For the record, nothing good happens to him this episode.

Anyway, Zabimaru head off to Squad 12, but no one is answering the door. I am sure they are just all playing Counterstrike with their headphones on, but that doesn’t help get the door opened. They break in through a window, there are some unnecessary jokes about Saru’s perfectly fine caboose, and it turns out Senbonzakura has beaten them here. He lectures them on breaking into someone else’s barracks, despite the fact that he, himself got in by knocking a giant hole in the wall.

Look, one of my favorite things about Byakuya is his utter, blatant, completely un-self-aware hypocrisy, like when he lectures people on how their arrogance will be their downfall, and the fact that Senbonzakura is just Like That 100% of the time is delightful to me.

Since they’re here, they decide to go stick the broken sword in a containment chamber. Saru explains that she knows how the controls work because she’s seen Renji do this before. Senbonzakura decides he also knows how the controls work because he is a self-important idiot, and manages to set off an alarm and get them trapped behind an emergency barrier (naturally, he blames Saru for “startling him.”)

Senbonzakura tries to use his sword to break them out, nearly killing Saru and Hebi in the process (also classic Byakuya behavior). Saru suggests that maybe they could just… wait for someone to come let them out? Senbonzakura is for it, until it turns out that the waiting may be longer than 10 seconds, and he absolutely goes feral. God, I love this episode. Unfortunately, he causes so much of a commotion that Ashisogi Jizou shows up. Obvs nothing good will come of this.

Ashisogi Jizou can’t hear them through the glass, but he tries to be helpful (?) so he gets a banana (??) which sends Senbonzakura into a rage (?????) We know from that one omake that Byakuya has sort of a thing for bananas, so I feel like there is some epic backstory for this, and the fact that no explanation is given makes it even more magical.

Anyway, Ashisogi Jizou breaks the remote and then runs away because Senbonzakura scared them. Saru and Hebi once again discuss that they will just have to wait for someone who knows what they are doing to show up, but Senbonzakura has no time for this and goes directly to bankai.

This works in the sense that it frees them, but it’s bad in the sense that it destroys the lab and sets of a bunch of defenses. Senbonzakura sets off running and Hebi and Saru chase him, only to realize that he has no clue where he’s going, he’s just running because he likes to be in front. There’s all kinds of blast doors closing on them, and rest assured, they do an Epic Maneuver, but it was too hard to capture, so just picture this only with more sliding:

I tell you, I would give you all the money I have in my pocket to see Byakuya and Renji do an Epic Maneuver, but this is pretty good, I'll take it.

Immediately after this is the classic scene where Senbonzakura’s mask crumbles and he immediately pulls out another one, we’ve all seen it. I do want to specify that Saru and Hebi definitely did see his (presumably) impossibly beautiful face for the split second it was visible.

Anyway, they are now in the Squad 12 control room, where you can spy on anyplace in the Seireitei. I am obsessed with cataloging which modern technology they have in Soul Society and what they don’t, and this scene is amazing in what it reveals. Urinals? Yes. Washing machines? Yes. Treadmills? Yes. What the f’ing f are Hisagi and Kazeshini doing? Are they making milk for Kazeshini’s baby? Didn't he re-home it? Also, why are Kira, Iba, and that annoying guy from Squad 4 all using the same bathroom at the same time? This scenes answers some questions, but it asks a lot more.

Senbonzakura is a tireless advocate for privacy rights, so he is enraged and starts button-mashing again. It turns out you can control everything in the Seireitei from this control room, and water and flames start shooting out of every conceivable place water and flames could shoot from. I cannot emphasize enough how good the physical comedy in this episode is, and I can’t even add much to it, you should just go watch it yourself.

The episode goes completely off the rails at this point. Stuff starts blowing up, and Senbonzakura claims Saru and Hebi are at fault by virtue of being in the same vicinity as him. Ashisogi Jizou goes to bankai. Senbonzakura goes to bankai. Zabimaru finally snaps and goes to bankai. Squad 12 is destroyed. There is a scene featuring the worst-drawn Renji in the history of Bleach, which I categorically refuse to show here.

In the crater of what used to be Squad 12, every Soul Reaper in the the Seireitei, except, notably, Byakuya, show up to yell at them. Senbonzakura, pristine and uninjured, claims total innocence in these shenanigans.

Even Renji has no sympathy for his poor zanpakutou, and he, Ukitake and Kyouraku give them stacks of paperwork to do in punishment. At this point, you’re like, “yeah, great episode, hijinks are done, let’s wrap–” and Renji says “Senbonzakura is nothing like his master!” and Kyouraku is like, “Wee-elll….”

::chef’s kiss::

[kuriboo]

Hugsaku 2021

Day 5 - Awkward Hugs | Dueling But The Final Blow Is A Hug 

I’ve been writing a continuous story with prompts for Yusaku. This part is getting close to the end of the story. If you’d like to read the whole thing, you can read my previous posts or read the whole thing on ao3; I’ll link the ao3 in the notes. The general story is this: Yusaku finds himself in Heartland with no memory of how he got there, and Yuma decides to help Yusaku figure out how to get home.

As you can guess by the prompts I used, there’s a duel in this one. Probably most of this is actually the duel, and the duel made this pretty long compared to the other days I wrote. I probably actually spent two or three weeks working on just this part because of the duel. I’ve held onto 40 different screenshots to plan out this duel, I had to watch a specific episode of Zexal twice and track down part of an episode of Vrains that I rewatched a bunch of times. I also had to rewrite this duel probably around twice because I used the wrong cards and misread card effects. All the work paid off, though. The duel should all be correct now, and this was one of my favorite parts to write.

⁂

The four of them were doing research together in a park when another one appeared.

It was Tori who had taken the books out from the library. Given she was the biggest reader out of herself, Bronk, and Yuma, she was the only one with a library card. She brought the books to the park and the three of them, alongside Yusaku, read through them.

All the books looked like they discussed the idea that other worlds existed out there somewhere. Their hope was that they discussed how to get to those worlds so they could find a clue.

To help Astral remember his past. To help Yusaku get home.

A lot of books on the subject weren’t really intended for a younger audience. Yusaku seemed to be having an easier time reading through his book than everyone else was. Everyone else other than maybe Yuma, who was cheating and having Astral read his book for him. It wasn’t that Yusaku was overly interested in the subject, Astral was definitely more interested than he was. But Yusaku had read through lengthier, more complicated material to learn the knowledge he needed to see his revenge through. He was used to this.

The book was deep in an explanation of the possibility of other dimensions and what they could be like when they all heard the commotion.

That’s when they chased after its source, and that’s when they found another Number.

Yuma took the Number on, of course. His opponent didn’t take long to summon the Number. Rank 2, 100 Attack. This Number didn’t seem that threatening on the surface, but Yusaku knew better. XYZ Monsters were always more than just their stats. That’s what they had Overlay Units for, and this Number still had all of its own.

Yuma summoned Utopia on his next turn. Immediately after, he entered the battle phase. His victory seemed assured in his eyes, but Yusaku wasn’t so sure about that.

Neither were Yuma’s friends. Bronk, Tori, and Astral each yelled out their own warnings, but Yuma ignored them all. He declared an attack with Utopia against the other Number and…

The monster was destroyed, the other duelist’s life points dropped to 0, and the duel was over.

Yusaku blinked. Surely that Number had an effect. An effect that probably could’ve saved it, he guessed. Why didn’t the other duelist activate it? Why did they let themself lose?

Bronk confronted Yuma about his reckless play, but Yuma didn’t want to hear it. Apparently, as long as he won, he didn’t care about the possibility that his plan went horribly wrong. Yusaku sucked in a deep breath. He was definitely on Bronk’s side on this one, but he also still had to live with Yuma. Joining the argument would just make life more annoying. 

Eventually, Yuma and Bronk’s yelling reached a boiling point. The two of them turned around and left in opposite directions, leaving Tori and Yusaku by themselves.

“I don’t know how he doesn’t understand how dangerous that move was,” Yusaku muttered.

“Yuma never thinks things through like that. I mean, he focuses more on the victory he sees in front of him than the possible obstacles in the way. It helps boost his confidence; if he worried about the roadblocks too much, he’d give up every time. Plus, if that Number used an effect, Yuma could’ve saved himself with Utopia’s ability to negate the attack. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. The duel’s over. We can’t let their friendship end like this,” Tori fretted. “Bronk and Yuma have been best friends for a long time. I don’t know if we can get them to see eye to eye on this, but we have to do something…”

‘We’. Right. Yusaku wasn’t one to care about friendship and friends, but after everything Tori, Yuma, and Bronk had been doing to try to help him, he owed them. Besides, Yuma wasn’t like Yusaku. Yuma deserved to have good friends. But what could Yusaku do about it? It wasn’t like he had much experience with this kind of thing. 

What would Kolter do if Yusaku was stubborn like this? The two of them had a different kind of relationship than Bronk and Yuma, but… 

“You try to talk to Bronk. I’ll try to talk to Yuma. If their friendship should be stronger than this one argument, we’ll try to remind them of that. You know Yuma better than I do, so maybe you can get Bronk to see where Yuma’s coming from.” Yusaku had a feeling that would go better than him trying to convince Yuma to see Bronk’s point of view. “Maybe we can get them to talk after they’ve cooled down a bit.”

If it didn’t work out, though, then it didn’t work out. If they were determined to be mad at each other, Yusaku didn’t know if he could stop them.

“Yeah…” Tori nodded. “I know they can work it out if we can get them to talk. Thanks, Yusaku.”

Yusaku shrugged. He didn’t feel like he was really doing much.

Tori ran after Bronk, while Yusaku headed back to Yuma’s house. Yuma had gone off in that direction, and Yusaku didn’t know where else he might go. If Yuma wasn't home, though, he’d have to go home eventually. Yusaku would be able to talk to him either way.

Luckily for him, though, Yuma was already at his home. As soon as Yusaku walked through the door, Yuma pulled Yusaku into his room to rant to him.

“Who cares if my attack in that duel didn’t work? It did, and that’s all that matters!” Yuma was still really worked up about this. “I know Bronk’s better at dueling me, but that doesn’t mean he has to put down my successes as much as my failures! I’m trying to get better, and he knows it because he’s been trying to help me. Doing a pretty lousy job of it right now, though.”

“Maybe you both have different dueling strategies,” Yusaku suggested. He was having trouble figuring out what to say, but he thought back to Tori’s words. “Sometimes it’s better to declare a reckless attack than to never do anything because you’re afraid of what could happen.” Yusaku knew from experience that that line of thinking would definitely lose you the duel. 

“Exactly! I have to attack if I want my opponent to lose life points! If you were in my situation, what would you have done?”

“I would’ve been thinking about what that Number’s special ability could be. I would’ve felt safer with Utopia than most other monsters in that situation, since Utopia can negate the attack if it looks like it’s going to go back. But it’s always possible the opponent had an effect that would’ve prevented Utopia from using its effect, so I would’ve been cautious. I definitely would’ve wanted a Spell or Trap card backing me up. There’s a possibility I could’ve declared an attack, but I’m not sure.”

“It’s not as black and white as Bronk made it seem, anyway. He doesn’t need to be so high and mighty about it!”

“I don’t think it’s that,” Yusaku said. Not fully, anyway, he didn’t know Bronk that well. But Bronk knew Yuma better than Yusaku did, which meant Bronk probably had stronger feelings about this than Yusaku. At the very least, Yusaku had Kolter’s reactions to help him out on this, whenever Yusaku’s grades slipped or he skipped a class or he skipped meals for Playmaker business. He’d already had this discussion with Kolter multiple times. Yusaku’s relationship with Kolter was still different from Yuma’s relationship with Bronk, though. “I won’t say I know how he’s thinking without any doubts, but…he’s pointing it out because he cares about you. He was worried about you. Not because he thinks you’ll give up if you lose, but these duels involving Numbers are different from duels against your friends. You want to get all the Numbers to help Astral, and Bronk wants you to succeed because he cares about you so… He wanted you to win, and he was afraid you might not. He’s afraid that this could happen again and not work out for you. Or, uh, something like that, I think.”

“He’s not just trying to be mean?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think friends are like that.”

Yuma sighed. “I was feeling the flow in that duel. Felt like I could do anything and it couldn’t go wrong. All I could think about was how I was gonna win. When I feel like that, sometimes it feels bad when everyone around me’s not supporting me.”

“You don’t always think ahead as much as other people tend to do. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can be good to be in the moment and to enjoy the moment while you’re in it.” At the very least, Yusaku did miss that.

“I don’t wanna lose Bronk, but I don’t know what to do…”

“Talk to him. Communication is important in any kind of relationship working out. Figure out where you’re going from here. He probably doesn’t want to lose you, either.”

Yuma agreed to it, and later Bronk agreed to it, and they met up again after school. Tori went with them, while Yusaku met the group there. 

However, it didn’t go well. The meeting turned into more fighting and arguing, and Bronk pushed Yusaku away from him. When he did so, he accidentally disconnected the key hanging around Yuma’s neck from its rope. The key went flying, landing near Yusaku. Yusaku bent down and picked the key up, not sure what else to do in this situation.

Astral was present for this meeting, floating silently next to Yuma. Since the most recent duel against the Number, he’d kept to himself and stayed fairly quiet. But now he was staring at the ground next to him, no longer absorbed in his thoughts. “Yuma, what is that?”

Yuma looked down as well and yelped when he saw it. Black slime was creating a puddle around Yuma, oozing around his shoes. Yusaku looked around the slime for its source; it appeared to be dripping out of Yuma’s deck. That was strange, considering Yuma did not coat his cards in black slime. Everyone else noticed this at the same time as Yuma before focusing their attention back to the slime on the ground. Now it was flowing towards Astral. Astral screamed in pain as it began to envelope him.

“Astral!!” Yuma reached a hand towards Astral, but didn’t make contact.

“Number 96… It is trying to take control of me!” Astral’s body started to turn dark as more of the slime reached him. He opened his eyes and looked towards Yuma. “Yuma… give Yusaku… card…”

Yuma blinked. “What card? Why?”

“Just do it!”

Yuma reached into his deck and pulled out a couple of cards. Briefly, he looked at them as if deciding which one to pick. Then he tossed them to Yusaku, who caught them easily.

Yusaku glanced over the cards Yuma had just given him. One of them he recognized as Utopia. Another he recognized as.... the card he’d found when he first arrived in Heartland…

Were these the cards Astral wanted Yuma to give him? Why did Astral want Yusaku to have these?

Then Yusaku heard laughter, and he looked up from his cards. Astral had been completely overtaken by whatever that darkness was; even his eye that was normally all white was now all black. His lower body turned into long tentacles that curled around Yuma’s arms and torso. Yuma was lifted in the air. 

Yums screamed. “Who are you? Let me go! Let Astral go!!!”

“I am the strongest Number of them all. When you dropped your key, you allowed me to escape.” Not-Astral was smiling coldly. The strongest Number? Astral had mentioned a Number when this started happening. Was this Number 96? “Now onto step two: acquiring Number 39, Utopia!” He glared at Yusaku. Yusaku took a step back. 96 already knew Yusaku had Utopia, then? “You will give him back to me.”

96 stretched his arm forward towards Yusaku, intending to grab the card out of his hand. Yusaku held the cards close to him to make them harder to grasp. 96’s hand came closer but something stopped it before his hand could get close enough. As if an invisible wall was protecting Yusaku. Yuma’s key, still in Yusaku’s other hand, glinted in the light. Did the key protect him?

This all started when the key was separated from Yuma… Was that how 96 had been able to gain control of Astral?

“No matter.” 96 pulled his arm back until it was at its normal length. “If I can’t get it back by force, then I’ll get it back with a duel. All this is is delayed satisfaction.”

Yusaku snorted. Bold of this Number to assume Yusaku would lose. “I’ll take you on to free Astral and Yuma.” Yusaku only dueled when he had to, so luckily for 96, his hand had already been forced. He glanced over at Bronk and Tori. “Stay out of this. I’ll get them back.” 

Thankfully Yusaku was able to keep cool under the pressure. Link Vrains had given him experience dealing with people who seemed menacing and talked a big game. Tori and Bronk weren’t so lucky. They were both clearly worried and panicked. The two of them nodded and moved to be more on the sidelines. Their eyes barely left Yuma, still trapped in the air.

“Excellent.” Number 96 lowered Yuma to the ground. Yuma then proceeded to put on his duel gazer and draw his starting hand. “Oh, and by the way… Yuma will be dueling for me. Not his mind, but his body, so be careful..”

Yuma stared at Yusaku. Yuma was definitely scared, Yusaku could tell, but he knew Yuma wouldn’t lose his determination, either. “Can you duel?” Yuma asked. “You don’t even have a duel gazer…”

“I can duel without it.” Yusaku drew his starting hand as well, after sliding his cards from Yuma into his extra deck. It wasn’t like he could use his Link Monsters, anyway. “I have my deck, and that’s all I need.”

It’s all he ever needed. All the other students at his school had fancier duel disks and everything, but this duel disk that Yusaku had had for years still worked fine. The rest of his apartment had older tech anyway, from his phone to his kitchen appliances. It fit the aesthetic, as if that mattered.

“I’ll go first,” Yusaku announced before looking down at his hand. When he did, he could feel his stomach drop.

Maybe he should’ve asked to borrow Bronk’s deck, or something like that. For just a moment, he’d managed to forget the way his deck was built. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use Link Monsters. A lot of his cards worked well with Link Monsters, many of them even having effects that required him to have one on his field. He wouldn’t be able to use some of his cards at all. He could win like this, right?

“What’s wrong? Ready to give up already?” Number 96 taunted.

Yusaku shook himself out of it. He could still win. Of course he could win. He couldn’t lose. Especially not now. “Because I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon Linkslayer from my hand.” He normally could start to pull combos in his first turn, but these conditions made it more difficult. “I place two cards face-down and end my turn.”

“A weak start.” Number 96 chuckled. “My turn now.” Yuma drew a card, grimacing. “First, I will place two cards face-down. Next, I am summoning Acorno. I can summon this card by sending one card in my hand to the graveyard. And, you see, since the card I sent to the grave is Pinecono, it sprouts back up right on the field. Next I summon forth Darklon. And now, since Darklon was summoned, all my monsters increase their level by 1. But, I am not done yet. Next, I am overlaying these 3 level 2s to XYZ summon a copy of myself. Number 96: Dark Mist!”

A Number card already? 96 didn’t like to waste time. 

“Wait, how is that thing Dark Mist?” Tori asked. “It’s completely different from before.”

Yusaku didn’t notice any difference, but that was because he couldn’t see Dark Mist at all without the Augmented Reality system. That seemed to be working in his favor right now: Bronk, Tori, and Yuma seemed far more intimidated than him by the newly summoned monster.

“That is because this is Dark Mist’s true appearance. And now, Dark Mist, attack Linkslayer!”

Yusaku frowned. Dark Mist only had 100 Attack, but 96 was still declaring battle. 96 must have something up his sleeve; Yusaku knew there was more to Dark Mist than first appeared.

“I activate Dark Mist’s special ability. By using 1 overlay unit, Dark Mist can steal half of your monster’s Attack points in order to power itself up.”

“So as long as Dark Mist has overlay units, it’ll always be stronger than any of my monsters.” Yusaku grit his teeth. This wasn’t good.

“You catch on quickly!” 96 grinned back at Yusaku. “Now, let him have it.”

Dark Mist started to unleash its attack on Linkslayer, but luckily Yusaku was prepared for an attack, even if he wasn’t sure how. “I activate my trap: Three Strikes Barrier. Linkslayer isn’t destroyed.”

“But you still take the damage! Now, I end my turn,” 96 finished. 

Yusaku drew his next card. “Since Linkslayer’s Attack is different from its original Attack, I play Cyberse Cache and draw 2 cards.” Perfect. “Now I activate Linkslayer’s special ability. By sending two cards to the graveyard, I destroy your two face-downs.” Destroying the cards themselves wasn’t too important to Yusaku’s plan, but it was a bonus. “I summon ROM Cloudia. ROM Cloudia allows me to add Latency to my hand from my graveyard. And since Latency was added to my hand from my graveyard, I can summon it right away.” Latency went to the field on defense. 

Yusaku stared at the cards on his field. Dark Mist should have 1100 attack right now. Linkslayer couldn’t beat that, but ROM Cloudia was a different story. “Now, ROM Cloudia attacks Dark Mist.”

“I use another overlay unit to use Dark Mist’s attack again!” 96 smirked at Yusaku.

“So you can use that effect during my turn as well,” Yusaku mused.

96 laughed. “Perhaps now you see. For every move you make, I can make one better.”

At least Yusaku knew for sure now. “From my hand, I activate Security Block. Neither of us take damage, and ROM Cloudia isn’t destroyed.”

Dark Mist should now be up to 2000 Attack. This wasn’t looking good, but Yusaku could work with that. “I place one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Stay tough, you hear me?” Yuma called out to Yusaku. 

Yusaku nodded. He had a plan in mind by now, since he was sure how Dark Mist’s ability worked. He wasn’t coming out of this duel with anything but a win. 

Now it was 96’s turn. He looked over the card he drew, and smiled. “Let’s have a do-over. Black Mist, attack ROM Cloudia. Black Mist’s ability activates once again!”

That brought Black Mist up to 2450, if Yusaku’s math was correct. Yusaku frowned. Why was Number 96 so fixated on ROM Cloudia? He couldn’t save ROM Cloudia this time, but he’d already…

96 laughed. “It’s pointless to keep fighting.” He turned to Yuma. “Do you have any insights into what he’s planning?”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew, but I’ve never seen Yusaku duel.” Yuma shrugged. “I’ve never seen his cards, either. It’s all as new to me as it is to you. I’m on the edge of my seat, I can’t wait to see how Yusaku pulls off a victory!”

“He won’t. Not like this,” 96 muttered.

Yusaku looked over his cards. He could make this work. Everything was coming together. “I summon Draconnet. And using its ability, I can summon Dotscaper from my deck.”

“I hope you’re planning something with all these monsters,” Bronk commented.

“I always have a plan.” Normally, it’d be a Link Summon, but this time Yusaku had something different up his sleeve. “I overlay level 1 Latency and Dotscaper.” Yusaku held both his hands out, palms forward, and crossed them over each other. The number 13 appeared, glowing, on his right palm. “Appear, Rank 1, Number 13: Embodiment of Crime!”

As the Embodiment of Crime took the field, Yusaku felt the same feeling he did when he first picked up this card when he arrived in Heartland. Revenge. An overwhelming desire to lash out, get revenge against the people that hurt Yusaku and the people he cared about. It threatened to consume him, just as before. But this time he could direct it. Number 96 had hurt Yuma, taken him hostage, and like this Yusaku could clearly see how much he cared about Yuma. He could direct it at 96 and still do exactly what he intended to do before he had been given any Numbers.

Yusaku had been fueled by his revenge before, and now once more he would direct it to achieve his goals. He still felt that strong desire, but it stopped trying to overtake him as he committed himself. 

Number 96’s eyes widened. “That’s not Rank 4… That’s not… Utopia… What is this?”

“You thought I was trying to summon Utopia?” Yusaku rolled his eyes. Did he look like Yuma, always trying to win his duels with Utopia? “If it was convenient, maybe. But I’m not done. Embodiment of Chaos uses one overlay unit to change all your monsters to Attack mode.”

“Black Mist is already in Attack mode,” 96 pointed out. “I’m starting to wonder if you should have placed your hopes in someone else, Yuma. Someone whose deck you were familiar with and you knew could win, perhaps?”

“I know Yusaku can win. I don’t need to know his deck to know that.”

“And I’m still not finished. Since Dotscaper was the overlay unit I used, its ability activates, allowing me to Special Summon it,” Yusaku went on. “Next, I play Cynet Defrag. I Special Summon Protron from my graveyard. Once again, I overlay both my level 1 monsters to XYZ Summon Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment!” 

This time, during Yusaku’s XYZ Summon, the number 31 glowed on his left palm. 

“Another Rank 1 monster with only a seemingly worthless ability to help you,” Number 96 mused. “If you want to win, your next move better be good.”

“I end my turn,” Yusaku said.

“You pulled off two XYZ Summons and you aren’t even gonna attack?” Yuma puffed his cheeks.

“Why would he? Check you math, Yuma, Embodiments of Crime and Punishment both have only 500 Attack,” Tori pointed out.

“Why summon monsters with almost no Attack??”

As confused as Yuma was, Yusaku wasn’t going to explain anything. Not until Number 96 entered the Battle Phase, anyway. 96 was cautious about the new Number, but Yuma wasn’t about to let him get away without battling.

“I use one overlay unit to activate Embodiment of Punishment’s effect. Dark Mist is forced to attack Embodiment of Punishment. As long as Embodiment of Crime is on the field, Embodiment of Punishment isn’t destroyed as long as it still has one overlay unit, and you take the damage I would take!”

“I do not like this,” 96 said. Even if Black Mist had an overlay unit left, it would only make the situation worse for him.

“Well, you’re going to positively hate what’s coming next. Do you feel it, Yusaku? I sure do!” Yuma yelled.

Black Mist had 2,450 Attack. Embodiment of Punishment had 500, leaving 96 to take 1,950 points of damage, and all the monsters on Yusaku’s field had enough Attack to take out the rest of 96’s Life Points.

96 scowled. “I suppose I have no choice but to end my turn.”

From there, the duel was practically over. All he needed was Cyberse Wizard’s effect, and his monsters took care of the rest.

And as they attacked, he ran forward. He ran towards Yuma. Once he was within reach, Yusaku threw his arms around Yuma. After a moment, Yuma hugged him back. And while they stood there and hugged, Yusaku tied the key’s rope together around Yuma’s neck, allowing him to wear the key just like he had before. 

The hug had started out awkward. Yusaku couldn’t remember the last time he gave a hug, he only ever remembered receiving them, and the way he’d wrapped his arms around Yuma definitely didn’t seem how it felt whenever Yuma had hugged him. Not to mention the difference in their heights. But Yuma did hug him back. And hugged him back. He didn’t let Yusaku go for what seemed like a long time. From behind him, Yusaku could hear Tori and Bronk running towards them as well. Resigning himself to his fate, Yusaku braced himself for a group hug. 

Once the key was securely around Yuma’s neck once more, Astral reappeared beside them. He reabsorbed Number 96, and obtained Black Mist once more.

“Only friends so close fight so much...” Astral mused to himself.

Only seconds later, Yusaku could feel himself being hugged by three people at once, and he was starting to regret some of his decisions.

Bronk and Yuma immediately started apologizing to each other for everything.

“I’m so glad everyone’s getting along again,” Tori sighed. “Of course, we have Yusaku to thank for that!”

“Yeah, that was awesome! I know you said you could duel, but you did so many cool moves, and you totally had a plan the whole time that you made work no matter what, and you saved me and Astral, and I wish I could watch you duel again!”

“Not interested.”

[flameontheotherside]

Deviant Art Days

Wow...Cringy!

So I read all the way back to 2005 where I started that blog. I was insane. Like reading my writings it made me feel very ashamed:

I chased guys or stalked them.

Constantly a martyr because I wrote so much about being treated unfairly. Sure it was true but I was obviously always throwing a pitty party.

I was so very umm...hyper active and totally not all there. I mean it was obvious I had undiagnosed issues.

I was so needy. I needed constant attention and couldn't handle being alone. Where now, being alone is my jam.

I broke the pattern. Only took me 12 years...

My pattern in relationships was being in relationships with wrong people. It looked like I deliberately chose the wrong friends and boyfriends but I had no idea. These people were no good for me and I constantly complained about everyone. Which also meant that the problem wasn't necessarily them. I was the common denominator only I had no fucking clue. A lot of relationships I had can be looked at now realistically. I was the problem because I refused to see that I chose these people.

My blog is still there after all this time!

Everyone and anyone is welcome to see it. Can't imagine why though because it's just full of embarrassing situations I got myself into and cried about it for attention. I was a miserable clueless crybaby. Like I said, I really was treated like shit and I never deserved any of it but I really played the martyr so much that it even made me mad.

I was funny though! And creative. I wrote some very silly things. Even screenshot a handful of entries to post on this blog either because I felt it had some relevance to this blog and this journey or I found it amusing.

I miss Alex...

He died from colon cancer last year and I've yet to talk to him because I don't like taking to spirits anymore. It makes me sad and I just rather talk to the living. I know Alex still loves me and I wish I could have talked more to him while he was alive. When I did, it was right before I became homeless and by the time I wasn't, he was literally on his death bed. He was there for me for so many years. I blessed his marriage to a friend of mine who I actually introduced. I remember when they started talking. I was sort of jealous of her but I knew they were meant for each other. I said to them that there's no one better than Tori. Back then Tori was my best online friend.

We called our little group The Super Secret Alliance. It sort of made me choke up to see Alex's responses to my posts. He really was such a great friend and person. I really loved him and Tori but we grew apart after they got married. I couldn't bring myself to anymore. I wasn't relevant anymore I guess.

Anyway It's getting late.

I should talk to Erik. He's been trying to talk to me but I've been occupied.

😘💕 Good night!

[ori-flails]

Rewatching Guardian - Episode 01 Part 2/2

Episode List || Part 1 || Episode 02

SPOILERS for upto episode 40, SPOILERS for the novel.

Zhao Yunlan, you liar. xD

One of the few times during the first few episode when Shen Wei maintains eye-contact with Zhao Yunlan.

He looks so much like his younger version here,oml my heart... Q~Q

Look at him. Look at the pride and anticipation in his eyes when Zhao Yunlan complimented him. So precious.

I’ll talk about the first bit later but dammit this is so sad.

(Btw, the first time I watched it, I thought Kunlun was Zhao Yunlan’s ancestor or something. ^^::)

The soundtracks are so good. I think a big reason Guardian left such a big impression on me is the awesome soundtracks.

Good OST can go a long way when it’s with me. I’m a sucker for good OSTs.

I’m--

Listen. Maybe it’s just me. But I think the phrase “worth it” has scarred me after ep 23. 

See, the first time I watched this bit, I was excited for what kinda character Shen Wei would turn out to be, and this was a step in the right direction to being a character I’d like.

But now, this just makes my heart ache. Q~Q

This never really gets explained in the show, why Zhao Yunlan feels this way that is. It doesn’t make sense in the context of the show. I’ll talk more about it later though.

But for now, just look at the way Shen Wei’s face falls at that before he tries to smile again.

Zhu Yilong’s so damn good at acting that it’s hard to remember that this is a performance and not Shen Wei being his tragic self.

And Bai Yu as well, through Zhao Yunlan’s (fake af) friendly smiles his scrutiny towards Shen Wei shows through.

One of the few things this show did right was the casting.

Look at the way the hope in his eyes diminishes. TTATT

The anguish in his eyes ffs.. I don’t even wanna know what could be going on in his head at this point.

This is the moment when all his hope of his Kunlun remembering him sails away into the distance on freaking Titanic.Oof.

You goof, it’s been under your nose this whole time with your prized cabbage and you didn’t have a clue despite your dark energy powers.

You can’t convince me that Zhao Yunlan didn’t troll Shen Wei about this at one point or another.

This is either because of lousy writing or because Shen Wei really is a goof. Either are equally likely tbh.

The chase scene in the hallway where the shadowman chases Shen Wei and Li Qian is one of the extremely rare cases of Guardian doing special effects right imo. First time I watched it, I got goosebumps.

Not gonna bother with screenshots cuz I won’t be able to capture the movements.

Anytime Zhu Yilong does fight choreography, I obsess over it for days. This is no exception.

Huh... You only talked to this man three times and you can already recognize his voice over phone? Wow! xD

So much sass to a man who can smite you... He won’t, but you don’t know that.

Also, here, isn’t everyone except for Hei Pao Shi, SID members and Shadowman meant to be frozen? Is Li Qian frozen too? She doesn’t look it though. Maybe rather than individual this is about space? So only people on the roof aren’t frozen? Idk.

This is what gave him away. No one else has lashes like that. xD

Zhao Yunlan wasn’t exactly as chill as I thought he was the first time after his first interaction with the Hei Pao Shi. Huh. 

Didn’t stop him from sassing said living legend though lmao.

P.S: How I plan to keep making these posts: I wrote down my thoughts and feelings on a notebook as well as the timestamps for the screenshots when I watched the episode. Then I typed it all out and edited in the screenshots.

[viostormcaller]

Discord Chat Room Analysis

Yo Seán I'm gonna do an analysis of yesterday's "Discord mayhap" (or, "Discord discord", if you will) if that's alright?

(The following screenshots are not mine, they're just like the only screenshots I've seen going around, and if anyone knows the owner feel free to tell me please and thanks!!)

Firstly, I just wanna say that this is the very first time we've seen all the Egos in one place, interacting. This is HUGE. You'll notice the lack of introductions, questions of "who are you?", which means they all know each other/know of each other. At the very least, they all have interacted before without our knowledge. Hooray for context clues!

Onto the next thing. Jack. As a new server owner with many many users and a lot of potential for things to go wrong, I can only imagine how confused he would be (especially as a person with a glitch being on his tail). And I'm certain he wouldn't interact directly with any of the Egos unless he knew it was completely safe. As you can see, it was not, in fact, safe. That's most likely why instead of talking to the Egos, he was trying to get the mods to shut down the text channel as soon as possible. They weren't supposed to be there, and that is not supposed to happen.

Next, the Egos. Wherever they were transported to, it was someplace where they could not see one another nor could they see their surroundings (hence Chase's panicked "I can't see!"). Even though Chase was the only one who pointed out that he had no visibility, it doesn't mean that the others did. They probably couldn't see, either.

Now, my current theory is the end of Observation is in connection with this: there was some sort of tear in the fabric of reality. Whoever was recording that video, we saw transported before our eyes. It took a few hours, but eventually they ended up in a digital space, the discord server. We know this was Anti's doing, because the title of the chat room said "watching", encoded in a Caesar cipher (Anti is using codes now, we have to watch for that. There are MANY ciphers, believe me) and zalgo-ified, which was the biggest giveaway. I wouldn't be surprised if last year's Stories Untold first episode ending was foreshadowing for being trapped in a digital space (remember Jack/possibly Chase being stuck in the computer after someone opened the door to his recording room?) The question is: are they stuck there now? Or have they since been brought back upon the deletion of the chat room? We have yet to find out, but as of now, this is just a theory (a gA-- nah lemme stop there).

Next, we have Marvin. His first words are "This doesnt seem right". This leads me to believe that, as a magic-user, he's probably encountered some really weird shit and had some strange experiences, but in this situation something feels off for him. Also, as people have pointed out, Marvin is the only Ego with a recent profile picture, one that is not from his appearance video. I am assuming this is because either A) Marvin's first video wasn't truly Marvin, because it was US that made him an Ego, B) the video in which his profile picture is from was actually Marvin recording, hence why he pulled out his mask, or C) both A and B.

Jackie is the one who figures it out.

He probably saw the zalgoed code in the title, decoded it, and upon finding what it said went "Shit this is REALLY bad, I have to warn the others but I can't let Anti catch on that I figured it out". So when Jackie says "Ah fuck, people are watching this. Everybody shut up!", he's not talking about US, he's talking about Anti. Remember, Anti was brought into existence by saying his name. Saying his name in any form is extremely dangerous, and in a digital space where a glitch would have the upper hand, a direct warning against Anti would be way too risky, so he generalizes it hoping the others would get the message. Sadly, amidst the panic and confusion, they didn't.

Then, there's Chase and Schneep. Evidently, these two are close; Schneep gravitated towards Chase almost immediately for some sort of guidance or reassurance: "I dont know what happened here, Chase?". Their friendship must run deep. This was hinted at before: Henrik saved Chase and is his "good friend". Both of which are close with Jack. Seeing them interact like this pretty much confirms it.

Now this is where I laughed. See, Chase's response was immediately, "What do you want from me?" which is Chase's infamous line from Dark Silence. Marvin's immediate response is "Alright, thats enough" as if he knew that Chase was going to say something of that effect and went "Oh god not this shit again". Of course, this got Schneep started, because towards the end both of them began repeating lines from Dark Silence, Stories Untold, and Kill Jacksepticeye, respectively. Even though they were panicking and clearly trying to get in contact with Jack here, you have to admit they're both dorks. They could have said anything else and yet said that. I found that hilarious.

And little Jameson. Bless him, he silent even in digital form. This leads me to believe, however, that he may be mute in canon. If the Egos are not typing and are rather speaking in a digital space and their words appear as text in the server because of the coding, then it would make sense for Jameson's only "words" to be an ellipse.

This entire situation told me quite a bit about the Egos' interactions with each other. With Marvin and Jackie, as the two oldest Egos, they seem to be the "heads of the household", so to speak. They're like the two older brothers babysitting all the younger ones. They both hold a sense of authority (which was a surprise on Marvin's end for me, admittedly). Whether the others will actually listen is a whole nother story. Chase and Schneep are close and they gravitate towards one another. Jameson, being the newest, understandably looks like he feels out of place (communication barrier, perhaps?).

One thing is certain, though, is that Anti is their common enemy. He brought them all there against their will (kind of as if he gathered up all their strings and pulled). And Jack, according to Chase, is still comatose. So maybe Jack's consciousness is trapped in a digital space, which is why they were able to talk to him (even if Jack didn't respond), and why Marvin and Jameson were able to send him messages through videos (like in Try To Fall Asleep)?

In any case, I feel like the next episodes of Observation will give us more answers as to where the story is heading, just as Stories Untold did. Whatever happens in Observation will most likely hugely relate to this plot, so that's important to keep in mind.

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

The Reason Lucy Rejected Tough Emmet (and why Catchy Song has another meaning)

So, as I’m want to do, I did another run through of TLM2 for enjoyment. The fun thing about this film is that you can go back to it a hundred times and still catch something you’ve been overlooking. This time, it’s about Lucy’s takeaway from Emmet’s toughening, and how that plays into a larger narrative arc.

Uncomfortable Lucy 

So the first scene being referred to is the one where the bricks are being shipped off to the temple. Lucy and Emmet reunite and it’s all happy and nice. Then Lucy, being curious, expresses her surprise that he was able to make it. This is when Rex pops up to interject about himself and how tough Emmet has become. It’s not just a pep talk though. During one part of the conversation he enforces this talk by punching Emmet in the arm, which Emmet is pretty clearly not happy about. 

Nonetheless, with the thought of impressing Lucy and Rex’s guidance at his side, he starts posing like a proper tough guy while Rex gushes on him. The posing is very awkward and clearly forced. Lucy is...pretty taken aback by this.

Now it’s easy to assume that she was taken aback because she realised that she wanted sweet Emmet and not tough Emmet. Personally, I think in this particular scene there’s a little bit more at play, in that Lucy is catching on to the fact that this behaviour is visibly uncomfortable for Emmet to do, and seems especially so when it’s due to following the example of a guy he’s known for less than an hour. She lets it slide though because she still thinks of Systar as the baddies that need to be stopped. As I’ll get to later though, this was a mistake. 

The next scene in this chain is the one in the temple itself. After they survive the cake ordeal, there’s the kerfuffle over Lucy’s hair. Rex is actively trying to wedge Lucy and Emmet apart by planting the seeds of distrust over Lucy’s loyalty given the whole brainwashing thing she and Emmet think is going on. She just barely manages to win over Emmet to continue the mission. Rex decides to press on as well, but in a very...questionable way. 

This time, instead of just staying by his side, he gets in really, really close. Like, unwarranted levels of close. Again, Lucy is clearly taken aback because that is a huge violation of personal space. At this point, although she continued on, I think Lucy caught onto the fact Rex specifically had something amiss about him. 

This culminates in the big cake scene. Lucy has learned the big deal with the Systarians, and wants to tell Emmet when she realises he’s still in the mindset to destroy the wedding. Emmet isn’t buying though, and part of the frustration she’s having with getting through to him is a little voice in Emmet’s ear...

Even here, Lucy realises who must be on the end of that headset, but she’s got no power to do anything about him here. Thus, when she bears her heart out to him, the influence is too strong and Emmet rejects her to fulfil the mission. 

All the time, Lucy could see the damage that was being done by his new “friend”, but because it wasn’t caught and stopped fast enough it ended up costing nearly everything. Speaking of which...

When a Person is a Catchy Song

Not too long ago, I did an analysis comparing the Loud Song from Lego City Adventures to the Catchy Song. The main takeaway was that the Loud Song was bubbly and fun, while Catchy Song is more aggressive and threatening. Which works well for it’s comparison to the more cynical side of pop music and conventional brainwashing tactics, but may not be all there is to it. 

Consider the full version of “Not Evil”. There is a chorus cut for the film that has these exact lyrics; 

“I'm Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi I never trick people into trusting me By hiding my true personalities So I can use them to accomplish my evil deeds 'Cause that'd be evil and that's so not me”

As has been pointed out many times, these lyrics describing what Watevra is not are a perfect mirror to what Rex is. But I’d like to propose that Catchy Song in its entirety is a mirror to Rex, with the section before being a perfect snapshot of why. 

What Rex ultimately represents is the pressure on children (boys specifically really) to grow up, abandon childish things and conform to the expected persona of being aloof and unemphatic. This can be as manufactured and packaged as any pop music, and through the scenes where Rex forces himself closer and closer, and more and more taking over Emmet’s thoughts it shows its own brand of brainwashing, and him getting stuck inside his head. 

Really, this all begins with his very first scene with Emmet. When I was dragged to the film reluctantly, the first bit did amuse me (which caught me by surprise), but as soon as I saw this guy I instantly thought “Okay, so this guy will be like a jerkass mentor who’s reluctant to take the protagonist under his wing and will probably make some moves on the female protagonist later to Emmet’s jealousy, this is the same sort of tropey crud that put me off Lego Movie”. But things soon became weird, because his attitude to Emmet bore nothing of the trope and his connection to him snapped from “Begrudgingly accepting” to “Protecting him come hell or high water”. 

From the perspective of getting inside his head though? It makes perfect sense why he’d behave this way. Before he goes through the motions of “thinking on” Emmet coming along, he spends a good deal of time buttering him up by bigging up his accomplishments (which as I’ve mentioned way back are exaggerated to what actually happened and excluded the efforts of his friends, a form of gaslighting if you will). And once he gets Emmet to trust him, he drops the facade of being reluctant entirely and just wants to get him to the point of being tough. 

This also explains later behaviour; despite his tough facade, Rex is sill prone to moments of sheer panic (a big visual clue about his true identity way before the reveal). What’s most interesting is when this actually occurs, since it’s mostly refined to four moments;

The lattermost moment is probably the least significant because they were in actual peril then. That being said, it is interesting that he focuses his sights on Emmet, as if his main concern is making sure he makes it out of there.

The third screenshot is almost the same, but they weren’t really in peril then. If anything, Emmet hanging around to see them be organised and actually pretty chill could have put his ultimate goal in jeopardy.

The first screenshot is like the third, but with an extra layer due to the context. Emmet easily perceived this as being peril (because, you know, tentacle creatures), but Rex surely didn’t considering his pep talk to Emmet isn’t about them being dangerous, but not wanting him to fall for their cuteness. 

The second screenshot, during the actual Catchy Song sequence, is the most damning to Rex’s real intent. When Emmet sees this normal couple just standing there with drinks, Emmet doesn’t even perceive a threat. Why would you, you just burst into their house and they were surprisingly chill about it. Rex freaks out straight away though; Emmet speaking to these normal non-chasing people for two seconds would bring the brainwashing charade and make it impossible for his brand of brainwashing to get stuck there. Hence, he panics and this prompts Emmet to perceive this as peril, Rex regaining his composure shortly like every other occasion. 

At the end of the day, Rex wants to take over Emmet’s thoughts, the ultimate step in him becoming Rex entirely. He’s a crooked mirror of what the Catchy Song sings about despite it’s harmless intentions. 

He’s honestly a really creepy villain when you dig underneath the superficial layers of just being a brute, and it’s probably why I’ve come to like him so much as a villain. 

[thesummerstorms]

Rev Recaps Hard Contact (Chapter 4)

CW: Main character directly killing someone, some implications of food insecurity, animals destroying a corpse. LONG ASS POST beneath the cut.

TL;DR Recap: Niner regroups with the rest of Omega, and is upset by Atin’s perceived callousness towards Darman’s fate. (Although the callousness is actually heartbreaking if you know the entirety of his backstory.) Etain observes the crash site and realizes Republic forces have landed. Darman has his first negative reaction to killing someone.Also, the blogger begins the Kal Count (tm) in this post. 

Starting Kal Count: 0. Ending Kal Count: 2.

So we start off right after Darman’s crash landing into some trees with Niner’s reaction to Darman literally shoulder charging him off a crashing airplane space ship. Rather than being (rightfully) angry, Niner sees the transport they had been on explode, and his immediate thought is that Darman must be dead. But he’s in sergeant mode, so he hurries to gather up what equipment he can and regroup with the rest of Omega.

The g’dan (which again are supposed to be like a foot tall but I’m still imagining as venemous, furry, sharp-teethed gizka because that’s the imagery my brain decided on) do attempt to eat him in the process which gives me one of my favorite small/throw-away lines:

It is really interesting to me how quickly Omega makes character judgements about each other. Niner decides here that Darman would have found the g’dan fascinating (not knowing of course that the g’dan are trying to eat Dar, too). Later Atin tells Etain that Dar is fussy about the wiring on his explosives, which is likely accurate, but also comes after a very short window of association. You could dismiss Niner’s line as projection, but together I think it just kind of drives home how closely clones are able to read one another and how attuned to very small behavioral clues the have to be, having grown up on Kamino the way they did.

Anyway, Niner is slightly distressed by the fact that he’s just lost another squad member, so in what’s going to become an unfortunate pattern, he flashes back to the Words of Wisdom of Kal Skirata. Hard Contact is the only Republic Commando novel not to have a Dramatis Personae, but if it did, it would have to list Kal Skirata even though he physically is elsewhere and uninvolved in the plot. 

Thus begins my Kal Count. We currently stand at 1 Flasback/Words of Wisdom. The immediately after we get:

I wasn’t sure to count this as a separate entry in the Kal Count. But it is a separate memory and topic, so I went ahead. We currently stand at 2 Flashbacks/Words of Wisdom. Also, incidentally, google says that Niner is carrying “nearly” 165 pounds at the moment. The commandos could pick me up and carry me, I’m just saying.

Anyway, Niner is pissed about the grey armor’s lack of disguisability in a rural setting. He meets up with Fi and Atin, and updates them about Dar.

Notice Niner stressing that he didn’t see Darman jump but he didn’t abandon him either. After his conversation with Fi and given his worries about being abandoned in True Colors and Order 66, I really think this is a major hang up/fear of Niner’s.

But Atin is a good deal less... emotional, I guess? about the situation that either Fi or Niner are comfortable with. It’s all an act, but we’ll find that out later in his arc.

Seriously, Niner has a thing about abandonment.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who’s already read Triple Zero and knows that Atin was raised by Vau and knows what Vau did to Atin immediately before this mission and that Atin lost a squad in training as well... this is kind of heartbreaking.

Because he just lost everything, again, his sergeant cut his face open for not being good enough and “wallowing” about the loss, and he remembers what happened when his squad tried to rescue him. The guilt from both incidents has to be terrible- and this is his attempt to deal with it, because what if Vau was right? But neither Niner nor Fi know that yet, so they’re upset with him and he’s not getting the firm shake on the shoulder he needs to let him know that it’s Vau who’s wrong.

Anyway, after that upsetting realization I just had, we skip to Etain with Birhan investigating the crash site of Omega’s transport. 

Today in worldbuilding things that annoy the shit out of Rev: this is the only time Qiilura having its own language ever comes up, and all the characters speak perfect Basic for the rest of the novel. 

“starved”. I’m just saying, Etain is called “gaunt” and “starved” repeatedly through out this book, so... whatever happened in the three months she was on Qiilura before Omega got there, she probably still needs some therapy for it. But at least it makes some sense here, unlike when she’s back on the planet as a General in True Colors and only weighs 100 lbs while pregnant.

Again with the mention of food. Also I 1000% do not blame her for being paranoid at this point, but I’m just saying, Qiilura is probably the place she goes back to in her nightmares. Also probably not the best place to send her while already anxious/afraid/pregnant, even just looking at it from a mental health stand point rather than a “it’s an active fucking battle field” pov, but what do I know.

She sees the remains of the commando’s R5 droid with its republic markings and knows Birhan was right: it’s the Republic. The scene then cuts to Darman, who is waking up from the first of many unfriendly landings involving trees. :)

He’s survived his hostile arboreal encounter and chased off the g’dan who want to eat him, but is realizing that he tore a muscle or tendon somewhere in the leg above his right knee. I am unduly pleased by this specificity because I headcanoned him having a leg injury later in life and now I can just headcanon it as him re-injuring this same spot. I don’t know why that pleases me.

Minor quibbles here: why is it Kilo and Delta first using the HUD with live ordinance when Darman was Theta squad, and he’s recounting his own experience with learning the system? Also, I’m not sure whether to read this as “they got the HUDs and later were trained with them using live rounds which is when it sunk in” or “they got the HUDs and got shot at with live rounds on the same day”.

Anyway, Darman is trying to hide off the side of the road, but the path made by the g’dans who wanted to eat him gives him away, so injured and disoriented, he’s forced to kill two of Hokan’s Weequay militia. I’m not going to screenshot the actual death, but it is important to know that while he head shots the second one, the first he initially attacks by shoving the vibroblade in the Weequay’s throat. The g’dans start eating the second Weequay’s body, because the g’dans are just a thing at this point. Like the sewer smells KT is so fond of in this book.

But anyway, the chapter ends with this fairly emotional scene:

“And he hadn’t managed a clean kill. It was wrong. They had drilled him to kill, and kill, and kill, but nobody had thought to teach him what he was supposed to feel afterward. He did feel something, and he wasn’t certain what it was. He’d think about it later.”

There’s a lot of really great characterization and thematics in this scene. It’s very quietly heartbreaking, but not in a way that calls attention to itself. It also really mirrors a scene Darman gets in the third novel, True Colors, which kind of drives home that this is an ongoing struggle for him.

What I don’t get is why it also directly contradicts a scene later in the book where Etain is struggling emotionally after sending Guta-Nay to his death. In that scene, Darman asserts that he’s already killed people as part of his training (which... really isn’t consistent with the timber of this scene?) and that he’s never had time to think about it. I guess you can handwave it to yourself as Darman refusing to acknowledge what he felt upon killing the Weequay, even to himself, as a result of fear/the values reinforced on Qiilura.

 But Darman is the viewpoint character in that scene, and even though he’s immediately protective of Etain, he doesn’t empathize with her, and it comes off as the narrative yet again being harsh towards Etain and all her failings.

I don’t know. We’ll see if I have more thoughts when we actually get to that chapter.

[floatingpetals]

One Last Call

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Angst, no seriously lots of angst, blood, character death

Word Count: 1700+

Summary: A mission had gone horribly wrong. She knew things were grim, and she had something she desperately needed to get off her chest. All she needed was one last call 

A/N: This is based off a screenshot that was from Tumblr but I saw on facebook. No the screenshot didn’t have a username, so I have no clue had this idea but it was a writing prompt and it brought on this sad idea. I don’t want to give too much more away because then it would ruin the story. Anyways... yeah it’s dark and depressing. I don’t know why I do this either. I hope you still enjoy! *I used google translate at the end so if it’s wrong, blame it on google*

Gifs not mine, credit to the creator!

Y/N chuckled faintly, wincing at the searing pain that shot through her side. She drew the hand that clutched her side to her face, soaked in her blood. Well shit. She sighed and let her hand fall back to the wound. That’s not what you want.

This wasn’t a hard mission, at least that’s what she was told. It was just a simple solo recon mission. Something went wrong down along the line of information. These drug dealers weren’t the smartest they’ve come across. Someone had to have leaked information, which meant they had a mole in their ranks and Y/N dreaded hearing that investigation. Y/N didn’t think the drug dealers she was casing would have been tipped off, but when they caught sight of her tailing one of their drug mules, they chased her down guns firing away.

Fortunately, she was able to escape. Unfortunately, it wasn’t without injury. A stray bullet hit her side and lodge inside her. She only had time to duck behind a storage shed, biting her lip to keep quiet as her attackers ran past, screaming and shouting as they went. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe until she knew it was clear. However, when she supposed she was in clear; she didn’t have the energy to move. Laying there in her own pool of blood tucked away behind a shed somewhere in the middle of Ukraine, Y/N realized things weren’t going to work out like she thought.

She leaned back against the back of the shed, staring up at the cloudy sky above her. It looks like it might rain, Y/N thought serenely. A chill was starting to seep in her bones, her eyes growing heavy. Y/N let out a sigh and dug through her pockets. Her fingers struggled to grip her phone, trembling as she pressed her thumb against the screen to unlock it. Opening her phone app, Y/N hit the last name she dialed.

‘Calling ‘Steve Rogers’

Cradling, the phone between her ear and shoulder, Y/N bit her lip and clutched her side as she waited. The call hadn’t rung twice before she heard the soft timber she had fallen in love with. Back in the States, Steve was sitting in the common room watching one of the shows Y/N recommended when his phone lit up on the coffee table. He frowned and scooped it up in his hand.

“Y/N?” He answered, confused and anxious. She never called on a mission before unless something was wrong.

“Hey, Stevie.” Y/N said cheerily, swallowing her pain.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be doing recon right now?”

“Yeah, but I got bored.” Y/N sighed. “I just wanted to call and talk for a little bit.”

“Okay,” Steve said slowly. He glanced over to where Tony was in the kitchen, catching his eye. Tony frowned and sat up at the jerking Steve did to the tablet on the table. “What did you want to talk about?”

Y/N was silent for a moment, her thoughts fuzzy as she struggled to keep it together. Blinking rapidly, Y/N bit back a hiss as she sat up.

“Y/N?”

“Sorry, got distracted.” She murmured. “Do you remember when Sam switched the sugar with salt?”

“Yeah,” Steve snorted. Of course, he remembered that. He ended up spewing the drink all over the counter after taking a giant gulp. “He meant for Bucky to use it but I ended up being the one who found it when I added it to my coffee.”

“And how now you only drink your coffee black because of it.” Y/N giggled. Her heart flipped in her chest when she heard Steve’s echoing laughter. It was always one of her favorite sounds, and she didn’t hear enough of it. He was always so reserved, he hardly ever let his guard down enough to laugh. To hear it right in what she assumed could be her last minutes on earth was something she’d never forget.

“I always taste the sugar before I use any,” Steve sighed. Motioning for Tony to pull up a tablet, he leaned back against the seat. Tony had already caught on and was pulling up her location on the tablet. “I know you’re not calling me because you're bored. What happened Y/N?”

“Nothin’. I just wanted to hear your voice.” Y/N said softly, her voice growing weaker. Steve frowned.

“Y/N?”

“Have I ever told you I liked your voice?” She went on. “It’s always been soothing for me, even when you’re in all ‘Angry-Captain-Mode’.”

“Angry-Captain-Mode?” Steve chuckled, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. “When have I done that?”

“Oh please.” Y/N giggled. Tony even raised a brow at Steve, rolling his eyes before turning back to the tablet. “You do it whenever someone does something stupid. Like last week it was with the new kid that didn’t make sure the range was clear before he began shooting.”

“Well, that’s because he was an idiot. He could have killed someone.” Steve grumbled, his voice growing angrier at the recollection. “He deserved to get yelled at and to be demoted.”

“You’re not wrong. But I still liked your voice. No matter what your mood is” Y/N sucked in a shuddering breath. She clutched her side, the blood still seeping from her wounds. She eyed the growing pool below her, surprised at how much lost and the mere fact she was still conscious. But the edges of around her eyesight begun to fade, she knew her time was limited. Slowly, she came back to him shouting her name.

“Y/N? Y/N? Y/N!” Steve repeated, and icy fear slipping into his veins. He could hear a gurgle over the line, her breathing growing shallow as she started to fad. He knew that sound. No, he thought, there’s no way. His heart began to beat in his chest, panic watching over him. “Hey, I need you to stay with me.”

Y/N coughed through her laugh, smiling at how sweet he was, despite figuring out she was lying. Of course, he’d figure it out. He’s not stupid.

“You’re right about that. I’m not.” Steve replied shortly. Y/N blinked.

“Did I say that out loud?”

“Yes, doll you did. What happened? I need you to stay awake.” Steve pleaded. Tony shot up from the table, Y/N’s cell location pinging on his tablet. He set out an alert to the rest of the team, already in motion to get on a jet and find her. Steve took off after, not even caring he didn’t have on any shoes. “Tell me what happened.”

“You know when they tell you, you see your life flash before your eyes? Well, they never tell you how hard it is to watch everything over again.” Y/N whispered. “I’ve done a lot of stupid things.”

“No, you haven’t, but if you don’t tell me what’s happened you might just get one added to the list.” Steve reprimanded, climbing into the jet. He tried to ignore the mounting panic and buckled in, barely sparing the others a second glance. All that matter was keeping Y/N awake.

Y/N hummed, her body growing heavy. She struggled to keep her eyes open, a tiny sliver of determination keeping her alert.  

“Nah. That’s not what’s I’m talkin’ ‘bout.” She slurred. “I never told you the truth.”

“Truth? What truth?” Steve pressed, desperate to keep her talking. A lump formed in his throat, tears building in his eyes. He wasn’t going to lose her. He realized now how much time he spent wasting hiding his feelings. He couldn’t lose another woman he loved. 

Tony had already set up the coordinates and took off in the air before he turned in his seat to Steve.

“I’ve contacted the Ukraine police. They have her location. We won’t get to her in time, but hopefully, they can.”

Steve nodded, though it did little soothe his fears and clenched his free hand into a fist on his lap.

“Why’s it so cold, Stevie?” Y/N whimpered. Her wound finally stopped bleeding, but she knew she lost too much blood. It was getting hard to keep her head up. There wasn’t much time left. “I wish I was back on in media room, curled up next you. You’re always so warm. I miss that.”

“Y/N” Steve croaked. The way his voice broke caused all the heads to snap up in the jet, everyone sensing things were already gone too far downhill. “Baby, please. Don’t do this. You’re going to be okay. Is there any way you can get to a hospital?”

“I-I can’t.” Y/N whispered.  “Steve, before I go, I want you to know somethin’.”

“No- Y/N, don’t say that-.”

“I love you. Always have.”

Steve inhaled sharply, tightly clenching his eyes shut. Through the agony Steve bit the inside of his cheek, fighting back the tears and nodded.

“I love you too. Please, you’re not goin’ anywhere.”

“Keep kicking ass, Stevie.” Y/N uttered. “I’m sorry I suck at timing.”

“No, no you don’t,” Steve shook his head. In the distance of the call, he could hear the faint sounds of sirens. He just needed to keep her talking, just for a bit longer. “I should have said it sooner. I was scared I’d lose you if I did, but this is worse. We’re gonna talk more about this. You’re going to be okay, just stay with me. Just until the medics can help you. They’re on their way.”

“Don’t worry Cap. I’ll love you always.”

The air was knocked from his lungs when he heard the phone slip from her hand, clattering to the ground. He shoved his fingers through his hair, the tears streaming down his face now. He didn’t, couldn’t, hold back the sobs that wracked through his chest, hearing her gurgle one last time before she grew silent. The sirens grew in crescendo, blaring in his ears at the local police came around and found where Y/N lay. He couldn’t understand a word they spoke, but he knew the sound in their tones. It’s a defeated tone he knew all too well.

There was static, the phone being picked up and a man’s voice came on the other end of the line.

“Здрастуйте? Хто це?”

“Do you speak English?” Steve croaked.

“так. Yes, I do.” The man with the thick accent on the other end replied gruffly. “Do you know who she is?”

“Yes, she’s an agent with the Avengers. We’re the ones who sent in her location. Is she alive? How bad is she?”

There was a heavy silence on the other end, the sound of medics shouting over the sirens. He could hear them giving orders, could tell it was frantic and commanding. He had no clue if she was alive or not. He desperately prayed she was still breathing. The rest of the team waited with bated breath, still hours away from Y/N’s last location. There had to be a chance.

“Мені шкода… I’m so sorry.”

The phone slipped from his fingers, the screen shattering against the floor of the jet much like Steve’s life before his eyes.  

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[crowdedimagines]

Dangerous Eyes - David Dobrik

word count: 1317

I sit down on the couch between David and all of his friends. I just grabbed a water, there are several people here right now. David’s house seems to have become the post-drunk hangout. We’ve all had a little to drink, hence me grabbing a water. David even drank too, which is surprising. Not much, he never over does it because of his low tolerance. He already got content from tonight and doesn’t have to post until tomorrow. He has his camera out incase anything happens, but for once it’s not a focus.

Now that I’ve joined the group once again, David places a hand on my thigh. It goes unnoticed by me, his touch is familiar at this point. I’m in the middle of a conversation with Erin and Corinna when he starts to move his hand around. This however does grab my attention.

I turn and look at him and he has a smirk on his face, I just roll my eyes at him. He turns and starts talking to Jeff and Zane. I decide to ignore it now too, even though his movements don’t stop. Just a small back and forth, to others it would seem innocent, but I know David better than that.

“-so I had to tell him no. Can you believe that?”

Before I can answer Corinna, I let out a yelp. David suddenly pinched my thigh. It completely surprised me. Erin and Corinna notice his hand now and laugh at what just happened.

“David.” I turn and say his name to get his attention.

“Hmm?” I feigns innocence, acting as if he has no clue what I’m about to yell at him for.

“Stop. We’re hanging out with friends right now.”

I push his hand off of my leg. I turn my body completely to face the girls. David doesn’t like this change. Instead he pulls my back against his shoulder. I shake my head at his actions. He can be so ridiculous sometimes with how clingy he is.

I keep on talking with the girls for a long time. Zane is obnoxious as usual. He’s dancing on the coffee table making all of us laugh.

I’m still a little annoyed with David for being so public. Other people are still vlogging in the house and I know that I am just going to be tweeted hundreds of screenshots of his hand on my thigh.

“Hey, babe.” He whispers in my ear.

“What?” I turn to look at him.

“I really want to fuck you right now.” He states.

I turn to look at him, he’s completely serious.

“What’s gotten into you?” I ask, changing the subject,

He shrugs. I think it’s the alcohol. He’s always affectionate, but never this willingly public about it. He has a look in his eyes and it makes it so tempting to take him into his bedroom and make him scream loud enough for everyone out here to listen to. That isn’t an option though. We would never hear the end of it.

“Later.”

I get up and move to sit next to Kristen to avoid temptation. It really turns me on when David gets like this. Once he becomes needy and desperate for my touch, I finally get all the control. We start talking about collabing on a video together. I get distracted with with conversations with the whole group and even forget about what’s on David’s mind, even though I catch him staring.

“Goodnight, you guys.” Natalie announces, she was the last one left after a few hours. Everyone went home and now Natalie has gone to her room. It’s just David and I at this point.

I stand and walk over and stop in front of where he’s sitting on the couch. I hold out a hand and he takes it, he follows me into his bedroom. I sway my hips, knowing where his eyes must be trained right now.

David shuts the door behind him and I push him against it. My lips attack his and then move down to his neck. He lets out a moan and it encourages me to suck harder. I pull away and admire the mark on his neck that’s seemingly growing darker.

“F-fuck.” He stutters, already getting eager.

I kiss him again, his arms wrap around my waist. His grip is tight as he pulls at the bottom of my shirt. He’s desperate to get in contact with any skin. We only pull away for a second for both of our shirts to go over our heads.

“Bed. Now.” I instruct.

He backs up towards the bed and I push him flat against it. I crawl on his lap and grind my lips against his. This elicits another moan from him.

“Someone’s excited.” I tease, referring to the obvious bulge coming from David’s crotch.

“Obviously.” He rolls his eyes. He’s getting annoyed with me in control. If it were up to him we’d already be halfway done.

“Why so harsh?” I smirk. I lean down and bite David’s lip lightly between my teeth.

“I’ve been waiting all night for you. I don’t want to wait anymore.” His hips jump up towards me, I don’t even think he can help it anymore.

“Then let’s stop waiting.” I whisper.

David can’t hold back anymore. He flips us over so he is on top of me, he yanks off his pants to reveal that he is painfully hard.

“You’re such a tease.” His kisses are sloppy as he works his way down my collar bone.

I lift up my hips and he takes the hint to take off my pants as well. David hardly gives me a warning, not that I needed one, as he slams into me. We’re both loud beyond belief, I pray that Natalie has headphones or something.

I don’t want to let David take over completely, I switch our roles once again and flip positions. David doesn’t even care at this point, he just feels good and doesn’t want it to stop. Eventually it does though, neither of us can go on any longer.

“Jesus.” David says, still completely out of breath.

“I know.” I move off of him and lay next to him on the bed.

“That was-”

“I know.”

We both just lay there in bliss. Neither of us feel like moving, just enjoying each other’s company.

“I love you.” David comments.

I let out a laugh before answering saying that I love him too.

“Why is that funny?” I turns to look at me. His brows are furrowed, but he has a grin on his face.

“It’s just funny that you always say it after sex.” I push back his hair off of his slightly sweaty forehead.

“Yeah, it’s because I love you. I can’t not say it after sex.” He shrugs.

“I know, bub.”

I get up and walk toward the bathroom. I turn on the water and start to fill up the tub. I throw my hair up in a messy bun. I walk back towards the bedroom and lean against the doorframe. David has his phone in his hand, he still lays in the exact spot that I left him.

“Hey casanova.” I grab his attention, a can’t wipe the smile from my lips. He peeks around his phone to look at me. “Wanna get clean with me?”

“That doesn’t sound like fun.” He jokes.

“Yeah, you’re right.” I take a few steps closer.

“Me, naked, wet, in the bath. No fun at all.” I get just close enough he can touch me, but when he reaches out I pull back. I can hear David chase after me so I run. He grabs me by the waist before I make it to the tub.

“Hey!” I yell, giggling.

“Such a tease.” He growls.

“Yeah, but you love me.”

“Yes I do.”