muddiedempress · 10 months ago
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local teen discovers emotions other than being jealous of the achievements of someone she knew 5? years ago
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poe-tat · 3 months ago
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precious incubus
[I don't know where this came from so don't ask- this is NOT an explicit fiction can write an explicit version of it if enough people request it but other than that this version is strictly fluff]
[There's no such thing as supernatural abilities but there are supernatural beings and entities also the organizations involving abilities do not exist]
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Dazai was a vampire he was walking around the city of Yokohama, he just finished his job and had nothing to do. That is until he spotted a familiar incubus, the long horns and tail their usual harmless way, he's docile...for now, the short red head with central heterochromia eyes, inner iris brown outer blue, wore fancy formal clothes.
He'd never admit to himself that the demon was rather attractive to himself nor the demon simply because that was, Chuuya Nakahara, but he was the most attractive thing that the night was going to give Dazai so he walked to the incubus to get his attention.
"Hey, Chuuya, you lonely?"
Somehow the question brought a glare in Dazai's direction, who is Dazai kidding of course it did, he knew the incubus lives alone and no one hangs out with him because
a. They're too busy
or
b. They can't hanging out with someone else and that person doesn't like incubi
"No, I'm not can't you see I'm hanging out with Diablo?"
Chuuya gestures to an empty seat near him, to which Dazai laughs
"Yea you're hanging out with Diablo, Chibi, I think you need to get your chibi brain checked there's no one there"
Dazai said through laughter as Chuuya rolls his eyes
"That was sarcasm dumbass, but I'm not lonely I'm just peachy"
Chuuya says with a sigh and Dazai regains his composer
"That sounds like something a lonely person would say...are you sure you aren't lonely"
The skepticism in Dazai's voice was prominent as he spoke meanwhile Chuuya growls and Dazai rises his hands in mock defense
"Okay okay, I'm sorry don't kill me"
False fear was evident in his voice as Chuuya rolls his eyes
"I'm going to get some noodles if you want to come with"
Chuuya sighs as he got up and walked away, Dazai stared at Chuuya's ass as he walked away he got distracted by it for a second before catching up with Chuuya
"Wow, Chuuya leaving your favorite bloodsucker alone, you're so cruel"
He says with false hurt Chuuya sighs and kept walking, his pace was steady
"You're the one that got left behind because you didn't keep up"
Dazai knew how Chuuya worked, keep up or get left behind and yet he still didn't keep up
They soon make it to the noodle restaurant that Chuuya goes to all the time, practically a regular there. The waitress was able to guess Chuuya's order perfectly and Dazai had to order. Once they got their noodles they ate enjoying each other's silence for the most part.
"You know Chibi you're rather really elegant when you eat, it must be embarrassing to eat with me in public"
Dazai said with awkward laughter meanwhile Chuuya rolls his eyes
"If you're trying to get me to pay for your food, you're paying for it"
Chuuya says with a scoff
"Then I'll pay for yours too"
Chuuya blinks
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No you're not"
"Yes I am"
Chuuya hisses in response, he doesn't even know why he's angry about it
"Let me be a gentleman Chibi"
Chuuya thought about it and sighs
"Fine"
Chuuya then rolls his eyes
And they continued to finish their noodles in silence, enjoying the other's company. Dazai walked Chuuya home, and to the front door just for an excuse to hang out with him longer and when Chuuya was inside Dazai walked home.
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It's something....
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zuffer-weird-girl · 4 years ago
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Soulmate AU
Before you meet your soulmate you have to deal with a chibi version of them before actually meeting them. So can he handle it?
Kai's point of view since you guys wanted
Reader's view
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Soulmates... a mere distraction and useless thing that appeared on the humanity. Seing thise with disgusting little versions of other persons on their shoulder or just howering over their head just gave him the nerves.
Ever since he turned 18, he tried to not think about it much... his chibi didn't appeared, and probably never would... Pops and Kurono always gave him as younger the bullshit of "be patient" or "Those things take time."
He didn't believed that neither want it. He didn't needed a stupid sick person to distract him from his mission... that's what he told himself.
One day, working he heard a crash and immediately sighed in annoyance. It wasn't a good day for him and he wasn't on the mood to atture anyone. Almost throwing his pen down, he got up with a grunt and went in search of where the noise went only to find the living room in complete chaos as Mimic, Nemoto and Setsuno holded weapons while looking at the ground.
"What the hell..?" He muttered before Setsuno shouted an "THERE! KILL IT!" before the three man started to stab, shot the ground as little squeak's echoed in the room.
He was about to scold everyone on that room before he almost shouted when he felt the reason of their misbehaviour bump into his leg. Looking down, glove already discarded, he saw a what was supposed to be a tiny creature, eyes shinning a vibrant (E/c) color while looking up at him while adjusting their (H/c) hair.
"What the-?" He cringed and hissed when the creature hugged his ankle and went to kill it before a elder hand grabbed on his wrist. The owner demanding that everyone excluding Chisaki left the room.
"Pops with all due respect-"
"My boy, after years you're really going to kill your soulmate?" The elder spoke with a frown as Chisaki tried to not widen his eyes. Pops crouched down and gently cupped the chibi in his hands and brought up for him and Kai to see more closely.
"My, isn't that one of prettiest chibis I saw?" The elder chuckled as the chibi blushed and squeaked happily at the man's commentary as Kai narrowed his eyes at the little thing. "Don't you agree my boy?" The elder asked as Kai glared one more time at the chibi before scoffing and storming out of the room.
The chibi tilted their head as Pops chuckled, letting the pretty thing down on the ground to follow Kai.
He sighed before widening his amber eyes at hearing the squeaking following him. He turned around and send a dark glare at the chibi who only smiled lovingly at him.
"Shoo. Be gone." He tried to shove them with his foot by all in vain since the chibi attached to his ankle and squeaked happily as he cringed. "GET OFF!"
Kurono appeared on the halls before snorting at the scene before commenting.
"Found your soulmate?"
"Shut up and help me get rid of this!" Kai glared at his friend who made a thoughtful expression before smirking and denying, hlgetting out and leaving Kai with the lovely chibi on his ankle.
.
.
.
He groaned as he tried to work and the chibi continued walking, playing or even squeaking to get his attention. The chibi wouldn't just leave him alone and always followed or tried to cuddle one part of his body and was getting already on his nerves.
His pacience broke when the chibi accidentally let a bit of his pen fall and he slammed his hands on his desk. Making the chibi squeak, but this time in fear.
"Get. Out. Of my office." He growled the words between his teeth, glaring at the chibi as hives slowly started to appear on his skin "I don't want to even hear your stupid squeaking or see your disgusting face again. Out."
The chibi stayed silent as Kai continued glaring at it before he let out a confused and quite shock noise when tears started to roll down their round cheeks as the chibi jumped from his desk and ran out of his office.
"Well... at least some peace." He sighed before taking his seat again. Getting back to work despite a feeling of guilt starting to grow on the back of his head.
It had been more than six hours since he last saw his chibi soulmate ever since he... blow off. Walking around the halls he couldn't help but sometimes look behind him sometimes to check if the chibi was following him... but it wasn't.
Frowning a bit he shook his head before an idea popped into his mind. Getting his phone out and start his research about the chibis.
Reading more and more about them he saw that his soulmate was actually a quite patient one... normally chibis when ignored by only half an hour they ran away from the person and never heard of again.... but it has been days since he had tried to ignore their existence, and his soulmate was still there, happily following him like a puppy.
Reading ore and more his heart dropped subconsciously when he saw that chibis were extremely fragile creatures. One hit and they might end up the actual person on a very bad and dangerous way. His worry and guilt were too overbearing as he got up and decided to look for the chibi around the house... just to prevent a death.
Yeah... it was only because of that. Je didn't wanted the yakusa to have a bad reputation if one person died becaus of a chibi.... because he was an asshole to them.
Although it reached around the night hours. And still hadn't found the damn chibi. Kurono noticed his distress and he admited the whole story so he could help him.
Kai was almost losing his mind, already admitting that he missed his chibi soulmate, not hearing their annoying squeak was torture now.
"Relax dude, we're going to find-"
"Is my fault. I shouldn't have growled at it." He admited begrudgingly, as Kurono tried his best to not just nod in agreement to not make his friend more stressed than he was.
The two walked towards the kitchen to get a drink before Kai almost felt his breath being ripped out of his chest when he saw the damn brat, sitting on the kitchen counter nibbling on a fruit, not aware of the presence of the two males on the room.
"There it is." Hati smirked as Kai let out a relieved sigh, hesitantly walking towards the chibi as Kurono went to bed.
"You brat, where were you?" He hadn't meant for his tone to be harsh, but immediately cringed when the chibi let out a terrified squeak and hidded behind the basquet of fruitsm
He did deserve that.
Sighing, he got a chair to sit down as he watched like a hawks the shaken chibi as he frowned.
"Apologies." He said nonchantly bit noticed it wasn't enough for the chibi to even poke their head out to look at him. "... I never expected to have a soulmate. I was always barely on my own... and as you cam see I am not the best person to be around of." He looked at the door frame a bit, the corner of his eyes spotting the chibi slowly getting out "Whenever I'm around, the fun ends. That's how always has been since the old man took me in. I... guess that I just think that I'm not suitable to have someone... I would just let them down anyway." He flinched and tensed at feeling something on his hand, only to look down at the chibi hugging his hand and looking up at him before squeaking a smile.
"... even despite of what I did to you, you forgive me that easy?" He arched one eyebrow at the another squeak. His smirk was hidded thanks by his mask as he awkwardly rubbed their chubby cheek with his thumb.
"Brat." He whispered as the chibi squeaked again as he allowed himself to finally be relieved on that day.
.
.
.
Ever since them, he put the brat, as he decided to call, on his shoulder since they seemed like to enjoy snuggle up on the purple feathers of his jacket. Everyone who dared to aproach or even try to touch it, Chisaki immediatly would overhaul them on the spot.
The brat, when the both were alone would always squeak loudly whenever he was wearing his mask. Grumpily he would take it off just to stop hearing the squeaking only for the chibi to kiss his cheek or even lips and ran away from him.
"Why you little-"
Rappa almost stepped on the chibi once, and no one believed that Kai actually shouted and cursed the man... no one even knew that Chisaki knew much cursed words as Kendo himself.
One day, opening the door of Eri's room he called the girl who shakily stood up before both of them widened their eyes when hearing a squeak and the chibi just popping out of Chisaki's jacket and waving at Eri.
"....u-uh...."
"Don't comment and just go Eri."
He really didn't know whether he should ignore it or just want the floor to swallow him after that.
.
.
.
Loosening his tie around is neck he found the chibi on the middle of his bed crying. Anger and concern immediately ran up to his veins as he looked around for any signs fro someone else that could have hitted you or other thing.
Then he remember something, chibis usually reflected what their actual versions were feeling at the moment and for the first time he felt empathy... slowly taking a seat he saw the tiny drops of water espace their eyes.
His gloved hand grabbed them, making them squeak as he apologised. Lowering his mask he glared at the chibi a bit before hesitantly and awkwardly peeking them.
Immediatly the humor of the chibi changed as they let out inumerous squeaks amd hugged his bare face and peppered it with tiny smooches as he grunted.
"I regret my decision already..." he growled as the chibi squeaked even more.
.
.
.
"They sound like they hadn't sleep in ages." Kurono commented with a laugh at seing Kai's soulmate almost drooling on his shoulder as Kai stared blankly at them.
"They're just a lazy brat." He murmured nonchantly before returning his gaze at his front as the chibi let out a cute yawn. "You know the deal, give them the product and leave, or else shoot."
"Got it." They went to turn on a alleyway before Kai let out a grunt when his chibi yanked on his pierced ear and started to squeak loudly and jump on his shoulder.
"What the hell?" Kurono commented as Kai grabbed the chibi on his gloved hand and glared at them.
"What's wrong with-" the chibi bited on his gloved hand and jumped on the floor and stomped out as Kai stared in horror as Kurono was froze in shock "they never did this before."
"Go after them. I will slow down the business." Kai nodded ass he ran after his chibi, ready to give them an hour of lecture for daring to pinch their small teeth on his hand.
"Get THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME-!" he shoved past the people as he ran after his soulmate that despite being little it was fast."GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT!"
The chibi stopped amd looked at him with a smile, poiting at the entrance of a market, squeaking and jumping before entering the place.
"You want to get killed you little-?!" He groaned and stormed in the market looking at the ground desperatly... he was already panicking again before he spotted the little shit turning on a aisle.
"For God's sake brat dont you-?!" He stopped on his tracks when he saw his chibi on the arms of another one. A small version of himself as it hugged lovingly his brat while he could even feel hearts emitting out of them.
"I see..." he muttered in shock to himself before gasping quietly when he heard another's voice, something like "goldie" before they stopped behind his chibi self.
He locked gaze with the familiar (E/c) beautiful eyes. His actual soulmate... was standing there, right in front of him...
They started to slowly take steps towards him and he subsconciously did the same...
He could feel his brat smilling up at him... as his own and only future love of his life giggled when he arched an eyebrow at then before laughing.
Exactly like he suspected...
He couldn't help but smile at the angel in front of him, knowing that for the first time on his life. Soulmates were actually a blessing since he finally found his brat.
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imomomi · 4 years ago
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         The doodles first started when he was 16. Little stars on his wrists when he woke up, a flower curling on his palm before class, an inky sketch of some mountains on his thigh. Rationally, he knew what they were, why they were there, but it didn’t stop the initial stab of disgust at seeing the ink on his body. He washed it off frequently and often right away. By the end of the week, the drawings became less frequent. The loss of them did not hurt, but a stab of anxiety followed when he woke inkless and alone like always. Kiyoomi had never written back. The idea of writing—what if the ink was toxic and made him sick, what if they were allergic to something and it somehow leake---he took a breath, shaking the thoughts from his head.
          He didn’t hate the idea of having a soulmate. It made life easier knowing that he didn’t need to waste his time looking for a partner. He preferred it when things were clear cut, easy to understand, and with a visible end in sight.
          Not where people can see, he wrote on his thigh, just high enough that it wouldn’t show when he was playing. His handwriting was chicken scrawl and despite his attempts to make it neater, he never managed it.
          He waited minuets, checking with such frequency that not even cleaning his room had taken his mind off it. Words didn’t always make it through. No one knew why or how the process worked. Scientists debated that the reason words didn’t appear were because communication as a human method, poets wrote about the mysteries of soulmate marks and fate, but Kiyoomi thought it was simpler than all of that. Soulmate marks lead you to your soulmate when you were ready. Relationships were messy and complicated and despite how alone he was at times, he didn’t want one right now.
          A single word followed, written so neatly it could have been its own font.
          Ok.  
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          The eighty-eighth floor of MSBY’s headquarters was not a place that Kiyoomi ever dared enter. He was content in receiving his paycheck on the day he was meant to and waiting for contract negations to raise any issues. Atsumu had managed to sneak his way into the Management and Finance department the first week he’d joined the team. Apparently, the gossip among their teammates wasn’t enough to quell his nosy behavior. How he’d managed to convince him to join in on his lunch-time venture, Kiyoomi wasn’t too sure. All he knew was that he regretted his decision already.
          Couches were scattered in the main room surrounding large flat-screen T.Vs that played the news in a constant cycle. A large-open kitchen faced the back wall where a couple of people hung around, holding steaming mugs. Two people sat at one of the couches, intensely focused on a video-game they were playing. All around the floor, leading up the offices down the hall, were flowers. Some hung from the ceiling, spilling over the pots with vines drifting downwards. Large bouquets in crystal vases littered the tables. Kiyoomi could feel his nose twitching.
          “Come on,” Atsumu said, leading him down the hall where several offices were tucked against the floor to ceiling windows. They came to a stop in front of a corner office where a small shoe rack lined with slippers, some still in the plastic casing, rested outside the door. A pair of pale pink slippers were on the top shelf, bunny ears plastered obnoxiously at the front.
          “Take off your shoes. Y/N-chan hates dust. I’m pretty sure she ripped out the carpet with her bare hands when she got here.”
          “I’m surprised you’re actually doing it,” said Kiyoomi. Too often had he watched in disgust as the man went home wearing the same sweaty clothes he’d practiced in.
          “Y/N almost had a heart attack the first time I came in here, kinda made me feel bad not to listen after that,” Atsumu admitted. Kiyoomi struggled to rearrange his features to hide his doubt at the words and failed.  
          “Yet, when I tell you to stop stealing my face masks and towels, you never listen,” he said, dryly.
          “That’s different. She’s a girl. You’re Omi-Omi.”
          “So, if I miraculously gain a vagin-” Kiyoomi started.
          “Do ya ever shut up? I’m not arguin’ with ya in the middle of the hall,” Atsumu hissed, his accent coming out stronger in his annoyance. Kiyoomi rolled his eyes. If anything, it was Atsumu who started every one of their arguments, but his own boredom didn’t help.
          “No need to be so sensitive,” said Kiyoomi.
          “Put the damn slippers on,” Atsumu said, shoving the unopened packet into his gut. Sakusa smirked beneath his mask, gingerly opening up the slippers.
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          They were in the office for a full ten minutes before anyone arrived. Atsumu took the time to make himself comfortable in the leather chair behind the desk, making the various figurines of the team fight. Prototypes for the upcoming season, thought Kiyoomi, glancing at the little chibi version of himself in curiosity. The door snaps open and a woman walked in harried and tapping on her phone. She wasn’t dressed in office clothes, rather in an oversized hoodie with the name of a foreign university splashed across the front and leggings. The pink slippers that sat outside were on her feet.
          “I thought I banned you from here last week,” she said with a groan, tossing a bag down onto the couch. She nodded to him in greeting, but otherwise ignored his existence.
          “I bought a friend as a peace offering,” Atsumu said, throwing a hand in his direction. Y/N’s gaze fell to him briefly, brow furrowing.
          “I don’t accept,” she said, turning to glare at Atsumu. “Human trafficking is bad. You would have learned that if you actually made it to college.”
          “Sorry for joining the team,” said Atsumu. He stood from her desk, letting her settle in. Kiyoomi watched the two interact, wondering how long they had known one another.
          “Please, I can replace you any day,” she muttered.
          “We all know you love me too much to do that.”
          “When I finally jump from the roof, I want everyone to know it’s your fault.”
          “Take me with you,” Kiyoomi muttered, shooting Atsumu a look of disgust. Her lips twitched and she offered him a smile. Kiyoomi averted his gaze immediately, not liking that her attention finally focused on him. There was something unnerving in her gaze.  
          “What do you want?” she asked.
          “Business as usual. Sakusa needs you this time, not me,” Atsumu said.
          “I’m sure you had nothing to do with that,” she drawled.
          “I was brought against my will,” Sakusa acknowledged. She picked up a pen and notepad from her desk, clicking it rapidly as she started to scribble.
          “We can file a report,” she joked, “I’m sure the papers would love to hear how Miya Atsumu was involved in a scandal with his teammate.”
          “Suddenly, I’m regretting all my life choices leading up to this moment,” Atsumu said.
          “You didn’t before?” Sakusa asked. Y/N laughed and Kiyoomi hated how the sound filled the air, bouncing with a levity that he’d never experienced on his own. People like Atsumu---and it seemed like Y/N---had a way of taking up space and never letting it go. They were loud because they thrived on the attention and Kiyoomi who had been surrounded by people but, alone all his life flinched away from it.
          He pushed the thoughts away, explaining quickly and concisely that Atsumu had brought him here to specify how he wanted the locker room set up before games. Kiyoomi anticipated resistance to his requests but was shown a brutal efficiency that he can’t help but admire. Y/N listened attentively, taking notes, and asking questions, before promising that they would implement a new cleaning schedule before their next practice. They leave as quickly as they arrived, but part of him expected more and is left empty with the thought that there was something incomplete about their meeting.
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           That night’s drawing was a little cat curled up in a box. It looked like any other stray that he might see in Tokyo, but there was something endearing about the way its eyes were closed in two tiny smiles. Kiyoomi traced it idly. It must have taken a long time, he thought. The urge to draw something back filled him, but he has neither the talent nor willpower to sit and draw on himself for any length of time. Unlike when he was younger, the drawings came less frequently and always at night.
          He watched; brow furrowed in confusion as words appeared beneath the drawing. The rare sight had his heart hammering loudly in his chest.
          Azabu, Tokyo.
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Masterlist || Next
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Taglist: @haikyuuopalite​ @cuddlesslut​ @sckusa​ @imuziawi​
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jokerfan99 · 3 years ago
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Beaconstrips: Heebie Chibis (Part 5) by JumpinJammies
It's been 5 years... Hey there, if you don't remember what the heck is going on, why not start from the beginning! Part 1 Ok it's May 13th which means it's officially the 5 year anniversary of when I posted the first page of this story. And also only a couple months away from the previous page's 5 year anniversary. oops.. Kinda weird to come back to this. rambling incoming. about nonsense. Idk if this seems like a timeskip to anybody, what with Blake suddenly being all small (and the super long irl hiatus).  I hope you don't feel like you missed a page, cuz you didn't! This is always how part 5 was meant to go, just cutting straight to when Blake has been turned. When I came back to making this, I decided to change as little as possible from the original script. Maybe cuz it kept things feeling honest, and also maybe definitely cuz it would be less work. For page 5 the only thing that is different from my old script is the cutaway to where Nora is. Originally it was gonna show her IN the fight herself, against Yang, and while maybe some could find it funny, I think this new way makes more sense. plus I could include Pyrrha this way! Thank you to everyone who was patient about this (And also, I totally understand if you forgot this existed, cuz I often did too!) Truth is I never truly planned on giving up on this little story. No, not until we reach the ending which probably will not be that exciting, considering how long it's taking to get there. But anyways yes, I'm planning to see this through. See you in 5 years for Heebie Chibis Part 6!
Clearer Version:  https://www.deviantart.com/jumpinjammies/art/Beaconstrips-Heebie-Chibis-Part-5-879360513
Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/jumpinjammies
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itsclydebitches · 3 years ago
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New pet peeve: "You can't criticize the story of an episode, because a later unreleased episode might justify it. But you can still praise the story of an episode even though, by the same metric, a later unreleased episode could retroactively make it worse."
Oh yeah, that one has been a pet peeve of mine for RWBY going on three years now lol. And it's not an entirely baseless stance. Audiences aren't wrong for picking up on cues (deliberate or otherwise), recognizing that this is an ongoing series, and concluding that this will be developed further — potentially for the better. Don't slam the show for not doing X when X needs the rest of the season (or even multiple seasons) to come about/develop. The problem is that a) the fans pushing this perspective likewise tend to ignore RWBY's history of dropping plot threads rather than just slowly unfurling them — making that perspective appear less and less reasonable the longer time goes on — and b) they're applying it to situations that have already messed things up.
Let's take two examples. Example #1 is Penny getting her human body. Putting aside for the moment the thematic issues with that, fans weren't wrong to say, "Wait and see." At the time of "Creation" none of us had any idea what might come of this change. Whether this would lead to a new and exciting arc for her, whether all our questions would be answered... or whether this potential would get dropped along with so much else. Though there's still plenty else to criticize in the episode, specifically criticizing RWBY for not doing more with Penny's change is silly because then and there the story only had 20 minutes we had no idea what might happen in the following episodes. The fact that they didn't do anything with Penny, just killing her off again, is beside the point. The potential did exist and fans aren't wrong to praise potential for being potential. A well-written story doesn't smooth every edge, answer every question, and wrap up every arc in the span of a single episode. It wouldn't be a long-form story if it did.
However, Example #2 is Emerald joining the group, wherein fans say "Wait and see" regarding her redemption. Problem is... that arc is done. We saw it. The group had a brief argument about trusting Emerald, Oscar stopped Ruby from attacking her, there was another few lines of annoyance in the dining room, the group accepted her via laughter, and then Emerald got to smile about how "weird" it felt to be doing good. Badly done as it was, that functioned as an arc! We saw a conflict, a resolution, and growth. It was terrible, but it existed. Which means that all these claims about how the group is going to struggle more in the future, or Emerald will prove herself more in the future, or whatever is currently getting said under the assumption that it will be Good Writing doesn't hold up. Even if RWBY backtracked and gave us that, it's too late. It would read as ridiculous to have the group go from laughing happily at her 'lol remember how I used to try and kill you guys a few hours ago?' speech to suddenly treating her with the reservations her actions always deserved. This isn't potential, this is the RWBY writers backing themselves into a corner. Either we're left with a "redemption" that was never a redemption to begin with, or the story tries to do that work in Volume 9, making the Volume 8 material look like even more of a mess in the process. There is no way to fix this now.
Too much of RWBY is read through the lens of what fans assume is going to happen, to the point where some in the fandom actively ignore what is happening on screen in order to maintain that presumed potential in their minds. Those who put faith in Penny getting a fantastic arc as a human may have been a bit too optimistic given RWBY's history (and I do include myself in that), but they're not wrong to point out that such potential existed for a time. Those who put their faith in Emerald getting a better redemption are actively ignoring the canon in order to preserve the better written version of RWBY they've got in their heads. And then yeah, we have the hundreds of cases in which "Wait and see" is used simultaneously as a way to dismiss criticism while also praising the current canon. Up until we know, say, what happens with grimm!Summer, "Wait and see" allows fans to say that the Volume 8 Hound material was incredibly well written AND that critics are fools for doubting what will come next because they've already jumped ahead and written RWBY to their own standards. They've already imagined a version of RWBY one, two, three years from now where grimm!Summer is handled in a spectacular fashion (whatever that means for each individual fan), thereby validating both the writing we currently have and throwing a metaphorical middle finger up at the critics. Never mind that this version doesn't exist and that a bad version is equally possible, it's treated as fact. Thus, we're left with a community where potential is, so often, assumed to be leading to good things... despite how often RWBY has proven otherwise. Because whenever we do get to that future writing — when it's clear we're done with Oscar's outing, or forgiving Ozpin, when Penny is dead and Raven never showed up in Volume 8 and a ton else — when it's clear that "Wait and see" didn't actually lead to anything good like so many claimed... the fans who made those claims suddenly no longer want to engage with that. They ignore it rather than going, "Huh, yeah. That didn't turn out like we'd hope. I can see now why you'd be hesitant to put your emotional investment in this new question the show has raised. If they dropped the ball before, they can definitely do so again..." Instead, it's this round robin of "Wait and see" applying to the newest plot point, ignoring the dropped plot points behind us, a catch-all response to praise the current canon and shrug off anyone who would doubt the brilliance of the writers... not matter how much evidence they can point to in order to say, "Hey, this doesn't appear brilliant to me." I mean, it certainly makes for happier viewing, but if you're at all interested in discussing the canon as it stands and what, based on history, is possible, if not likely to happen... that's not a good perspective to take. And that catch all "Wait and see" response will continue all the way up until RWBY ends. Potentially even longer if the other publications — Chibi, novels, etc. — continue beyond it. I can easily imagine a community where one half is frustrated with how the RWBY series finale ended and the other half is going, "Well, we haven't see the next novel yet that's definitely going to make all this better, so your criticisms mean nothing."
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redxblueihateloveyou · 4 years ago
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Ok so I've been stalking your blog for the past couple of hrs after seeing your TadaAi posts (I'm drowning in the period drama that is this ship) and I find you ship Tododeku and rinharu (god i can't stand bakudeku and makoharu) and seems like we share a lot of our views on fandom and ships probably because we're older (I'm 22). Followed and looking forward to your input in the future!
Also you might've given me the motivation to finish watching Free! XD
Hehe yay, please, we need more ppl in our “house of oldies”, make yourself at home lol. And we share a lot of ships?! Even better <3
I knooow, I can’t believe we’ve got a gay “master who fell in love with his servant” ship in the anime, just what I needed for my idiotic collection lmao
But also these two have too much going on between them, so much wasted potential in my opinion, it’d be so interesting to explore (but sadly no xD), they were still the only interesting thing for me lolz. I love complicated morons, who became the victims of a huge unrequited requited love misunderstanding, bc they’re insecure morons lmao and they just have 2 of my fav ships vibes, so it’s probably mostly this haha. 
Oh, I’m inputting *wink wink*, can’t wait to finish the vid, I’m having too much fun with it. I’ve just literally spent several minutes trying to get whether I’ve put Tadashi’s sexy mole in the right distance from his eye in the “him moaning on the table” manip lolz. What can I say... I picked the best hobby, with all the support I’m getting with my vids, I’m living a dream xD
You know, I think I’ve said it before, but when it comes to bakudeku, I at least understand what ppl hope to see there and why, but like.. it’s just not happenning. Also imagining Bakugou lovingly hugging Midoriya is just so OOC I start laughing all the time. And whatever ppl say, in any ship whether they’re enemies or rivals or anything, if you can’t imagine them being tender with each other, smth is not right in my opinion. Also once again, who needs idiotic bleating Midoriya, idk. I’m just tired of the endless “die, deku/out of my way” yelling, I like watching Bakugou going to parties and amusement parks and doing silly stuff, too. Like I’ve said before, pride won’t ever let him change the way he behaves with Midoriya, even when they’re doing “great”. If he was the one, it wouldn’t have mattered, no matter how tough you are, and it wouldn’t take that long. I also don’t think they’re that kind of relationship, like they move each other for sure, sometimes, yeah (not always in a good way tho), but be together in a relationships? Can’t imagine that. Like not all rivals have the rivals to lovers dynamic, no matter what ppl say. But I get the shipping, bc 1stly these two are playing too huge of a role in each other’s lives, 2ndly Midoriya is obsessed with him and Bakugou obsessed with him too (just in a bad way lmao) and 3rd ppl want that “enemies to lovers” dynamic, since many love it (me included, when it done right and progresses right), so they’re trying to write that “to lovers” bridge, that just doesn’t fit here in my opinion, simply bc Bakugou won’t be soft with Midoriya, like ever in a way, you’d want, and I don’t think it’s possible for them to go there.
Tododeku on the other hand, 1stly they also play too huge of a role in each other’s lives, 2ndly Midoriya is obsessed with him too and Todoroki is lovingly obsessed with him in return, 3rdly they are also rivals to lovers, and I have no problem imagining the second part, it won’t be OOC, 4thly Midoriya when he’s with Todoroki is my fav Midoriya, he’s happy, he is cocooned and he’s badass af (and like when he told Endeavor to fuck off or yelled at Todoroki “the fuck are u doing?” xD are still the best), 5thly Midoriya forgets about Bakugou, when he’s with Todoroki a lot and it’s just funny to me, 6thly they healed each other so nicely, I can’t not be into that, 7thly when they’re together I have like 0 worries, idk I’m like “he will catch him” anyways haha, Bakudeku just don’t give me this vibe. It’s like yeah, they won’t let each other die, but it’s always this chaos of “out of my way”, “I don’t want your help” and “let me punch you before I punch the villain” that I’m just “oh for god’s sake, pls bring in Kirishima and Todoroki so we could just go home, it could’ve been solved in 2 minutes” lmao. Etc, etc.
Tododeku just have too many winning points over bakudeku for me, same with kiribaku over bakudeku, even tho I 100% get bakudeku as a ship ofc. Also idk whether things would be different if Todoroki wouldn’t exist in the equation, but the moment I saw that s2 scene where Bakugou started yelling and Todoroki just ignored him and was like “was Midoriya always this good?”, there was no going back to me XD. Like they both obviously see that Midoriya is wonderful, but only one reacted to that in a way that I wanted. And I’m a sucker for the ships who don’t give a fuck and like “yeah, I find him amazing and everyone should know that”. Todoroki is also one of those guys, who if you give them the much needed love, they’ll return it tenfold with a forever devotion. And all of my fav ships are like that: Yullen, Rinharu, Mikayuu, Wangxian, Akakuro, etc. They’re like “well, I ain’t an idiot to let someone this precious go”, you know lol
On the other hand, when it comes to Kirishima, Bakugou can do all kind of ridiculous thing I wouldn’t imagine he would do to keep him or make him happy, you know. Kirishima is also the only one, who can put his arm around Bakugou without it being cut off, so I don’t make the rules here lol.
So it’s not like I can’t stand bakudeku, more of like can’t imagine this work, to me it’s easier to imagine todobaku in a relationships, but not bakudeku lolz.
But when it comes to makoharu, I just have a huge problem with it and I will never get it. Bc they don’t bring anything good in each other like AT ALL, I don’t even understand what kind of relationships this is from their shipper point of view; they give each other nothing, and one of them is totally in love with someone else and wants a future with him. And that someone also head over heals with him and also wants a future with him. And I hate how 99,9 % of mh fans don’t give a fuck about Haru or Rin whatsoever and just ignore their character’s everything. Bc Makoto. I’m also like if you love him so much, the fuck would you want him to be with Haru anyways, dude doesn’t reciprocate, like at all. I’m at confusion, like name good points of this ship and what good can they do for each other characteristically. There is none, it’s like a damn swamp. Like usually I can give my notp some points, but this is like... they’re both no good for each other... like... why would anyone even want this idk. Don’t tell me “for the childhood friends” one-sided dynamic, like why won’t you also ship Shion with Safu then, like even he seemed more invested in that, than Haru in makoharu lol.
Even if you think of them from the point of view of “the two who are always walking together” ships, that are everywhere nowdays (even tho since Haru moved to Tokyo, he was always with Asahi instead), but even if... those kind of ships are usually at least make each happy and are enough for each other. Haru on the other hand, when he doesn’t have Rin, he is walking with Makoto like a ghost, not even caring if he’s talking next to him AND he’s getting ennoyed by him. Like explain, how someone’s shipping them romantically. It’s been showed like 20 times, that with Rin, but without Makoto, he can be perfectly happy, without Rin tho, he never is.
Also someone explain, what exactly is the point of splitting up two characters, who are happy together, make each other the best versions of themselves and want to be together whole-heartedly? Like I know many start shipping smth, bc the relationships are better in the other pairing, for example, but this is like... definitely not the case here. Like what exactly is missing in rinharu, that makoharu has? Lack of progression and mutual inspiration?
So yes, if you’re into rinharu, totally finish Free! They’re like doing sooo incredible and holy shit they’re inspiring, I mean, look, they’re now the tokyo olympics ambassadors, like how many of yall gay ships reached that? you can’t miss out on them, and also they’re so hilariously romantic, they literally made a wish to swim with each other since they were 13 and did everything to get each other there, I’m.. you’re lying, if you didn’t cry watching them as chibies making wishes on a star and watching them now. One of the most wonderful development in my opinion. Like who would’ve thought back in s1, that we’ll get Haru yelling on top of Rin about how he made him want a future with him, def not me lmao and now all the olympics boyfriends fanfiction are true, I mean, idk what to say anymore. I miss them so much, I can’t wait for the movie :D
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kessielrg · 3 years ago
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[DA+KH] It Will Get Better
Summary: An experimental fic for @chibi-mushroom‘s Dragon Age AU for the Kingdom Hearts series. Exploring a HumorousHawke!Xion, sedatephobia, mild trauma, bunny children infiltration, and hope. Mild spoilers for after Act 2 of Dragon Age 2. I want to apologize now for how easily startled Xion is, it’s not intentional. ^^;
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2,978 words
If you liked this story, please reblog!
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The estate was just too quiet. Of course, anything would seem quiet after the Qunari uprising. A few months after, and life at Kirkwall was back to its usual chaos. And yet, Xion found herself staying at home away from the business of the city. Even more so, it gave her time to think about a lot of things.
The Qun. Her mother. Her siblings. The Fifth Blight. Events and experiences that have passed but still insisted on festering in the darkest part of her mind. Was it all her fault? Did she make any good choices in the past five years?
Silence made it worse. Silence made Xion want to hide in a corner, cover her ears, and scream ‘you can’t find me’ like when she was a child. She couldn’t keep doing this. Today she’d go for a walk. Not a long one, but long enough to redirect her thoughts. At first, just getting out of the house had been the harder part. After that, she just followed her feet. Her mind was numb to her surroundings as she walked. It wasn’t until she reached the edge of Kirkwall  -to where the walls surrounding met the outside leading into the Free Marches- that she stopped.
Run.
Run as fast as you can and never turn back.
Xion shook her head. No, there were still things in Kirkwall that needed to be sorted out. She was the city’s champion, after all. She had to stay. If not for the city, then for what family she did have left. Her uncle was debatable, but Cloud? Cloud was… safe. Safer where he was than in being here with her.
But she didn’t want to stay. She wanted to get away from this draining city before it ate her up alive. No, she'd rather die than stay to help the people here. They didn’t need her. Knight-Commander Sephiroth was doing a decent job at keeping peace. Kirkwall didn’t need a champion. It did not need her. If anything, things would probably be a lot more peaceful if she just-!
The sound of a small squeak caught her attention. Blinking (and quickly wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye), Xion looked around for the source of the squeak. She looked down to give a jolt of bewilderment. There, almost at her feet, was a small blue rabbit. The blue creature looked back up at her with wide, almost completely black eyes. Despite its odd appearance (and Xion’s own questioning if it was mortal or not), it didn’t seem to be much of a foe. It just looked at her with its big eyes and wide smile. Nothing else of real note beyond that, really. When it finally decided to bound away from her, Xion jumped back in surprise.
“Wait!” she found herself saying, “Where are you going?”
The blue rabbit paused for a moment before turning back to her. It titled its head from side to side in thought. A grin came across its features again as it waved for her to follow it.
“You’re not serious.”
She was given another grin before the creature started back on its original path again. Xion could feel the hairs on her arm stand up. Something about this wasn’t right -she’d seen too much in Kirkwall for it to be anything but- and yet…
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” she mumbled to herself before finally taking the steps outside Kirkwall’s walls.
That little bunny had been very sure that Xion would follow it. It would go a certain distance before pausing, looking back at her (sometimes even jumping to make sure she knew where it was), then starting back on its trail again. Something about this little game felt surreal; like a part of her was just sleepwalking and she was actually back at home, and still in bed.
She didn’t stop following that bunny, though.
The two of them travelled further and further away from Kirkwall. The imposing walls around it fading from view as they went on. They did keep to the established roads, though, so that was worth some amount of hope to work off of. Eventually, they started to see a caravan along the roadside. Seeing it made the little bunny hop faster- Xion was still too numb in her senses to match its speed. Outside of the caravan were more of the blue bunny children; three were playing some card game where one bunny was being absolutely smug about winning, another two were trying to feed the caravan’s horse a carrot, and one other was with a human young man. It was in noticing the young man that Xion paused.
He didn’t look much older than Cloud- maybe a year younger, but not by much. His clothes made her think he was a lesser noble that ran away from home, with his cleaned black jacket, vest, and pants. Not a wrinkle to be seen. Something about him seemed faintly familiar, as if Xion had seen him around Kirkwall, but not for long periods of time. Was it the hat? It certainly was a style all its own, featuring a long white and red feather for accent. The brim was long enough in the front to hide his upper face when needed, and at the moment it was hard to tell just what kind of face he was making as the bunny child vied for his attention.
The bunny child that had been guiding Xion let out a very loud shout of “I’m ba-ack!” that nearly scared Xion out of her wits. The noise also brought about the attention of the young man. He adjusted his hat a bit before giving a wide grin.
“About time.” he replied. “Did you find Sabi or not?”
The blue bunny just let out a happy squeal before continuing to the young man’s side. Xion had started to come forward again, her feet guiding her to be within arm’s distance of the young man. The two looked each other over- the feeling that Xion had seen this young man before was even more prominent than before.
“Well, you’re not my baby sister.” the young man noted, tilting his hat up a bit to get a better look at Xion. To the bunny child, he got down to about its height before saying, “And did you forget what Sabi looked like? Our sis has brown eyes, not blue ones.”
The bunny child looked back up at him, crossing its arms and giving him a stink eye.
“You are a bit too short to notice that, huh?” the young man then mused before ruffling the top of the bunny’s head. “Don’t worry, I still got a treat for you. It’s in the back of the caravan.”
The small creature gave a sound similar to an ecstatic squeal before heading toward the aforementioned caravan. This just left the two humans to themselves -for the most part- and the silence was starting to weigh on Xion again. If it wasn’t for the sounds of the bunny kids in the card game apparently picking a fight, Xion would have backed away from this odd caravan and straight back to Kirkwall. But did she really want to make that walk back up alone?
“Are you looking for someone?” Xion finally asked, if only to distract her own thoughts. “I could help if you really needed it.”
“Nah.” the young man said with a wave of his hand. “If Junior can’t find Sabi, then Sabi doesn’t want to be found right now. She’ll show up in her own time. Always does.”
“And Sabi is…?”
“My baby sis, of course. Don’t worry- she’s human too.”
A moment of confusion hit Xion, but then it rolled over into good humor.
“Oh good,” she mused, “For a moment I thought she was a Behemoth.”
“With that tenacity of hers, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was part darkspawn.” the young man cheerily replied, tipping his hat toward her in goodwill. “But that’s younger siblings for you; get in all the trouble and think us older kids are gonna bail them out. Not that my sister needs the help, truly. But it’s nice to always be there. You know?”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Xion told him with a smirk. “I was the youngest in my family.”
“Pardon if I’ve offended you, then.” the young man replied. “But you know it’s true. I’m sure your older siblings are down right jealous of how often you get away with things.”
Despite herself, Xion let out a small chuckle. “That’s what my brother would say.” she agreed. “Our father was a mage, and my brother was the only one of us siblings that wasn’t, so he didn’t get to spend much time with him.”
After saying this, Xion froze. Maker, being Kirkwall’s Champion or not, she had forgotten that there was a prejudice against mages. The young man didn’t seem to notice her bluff, or even indicated he thought of it as one, instead giving her a light laugh.
“Now I’m jealous.” he said. “Our old man left sometime after my fifth birthday. He probably never even knew my sister existed.”
Still recoiling from her mistake, and realizing that she had not been listening to him, the news gave Xion a small jolt. She fumbled over her words as she mumbled, “Must have been hard for her. Your sister, that is. There are still days when I wish I could have my father by my side.”
And the rest of my family. It’s too quiet. Too lonely. Too… too…
“Mom was sweet on her.” the young man said, taking Xion out of her thoughts for a moment. “Definitely had a solid reason why she gave her a name meaning ‘princess,’ that’s for sure.” But then a frown appeared on his face. “I think she gave her too much affection, actually. Sabrina doesn’t realize that the version of our mom she saw wasn’t the whole thing. She wouldn’t listen even if I did tell her.”
“Why can’t she see it in your mother herself?” Xion wondered, thinking back to her own father and the times he did something slightly worrying her mother didn’t approve of when she found out about it.
The young man’s expression only darkened. “Mom died when Sabrina was 11, and I was 16. How old were you when you started to question the image you had of your parents?”
Admittedly, it took her a moment to consider it.
“It was probably when my sister’s magic started to manifest,” she carefully decided. “We moved to Lothering to protect (or, I guess more accurately, hide) her. I must have been…?” That was when a realization hit her, and she looked back up at the young man in mild surprise. “I wouldn’t have been much older than Sabrina. Maybe even younger.”
“Exactly.” he affirmed. He let out a long, conflicted sigh before giving a small shake of his head. “But where have my manners gone? We’re talking about family, and we don’t even know each other’s names yet.”
The young man adjusted his hat once more, pushed up his sleeves a bit, then held his hand out to her. “The name is Brain, madam.”
For a moment, Xion just blinked. Her thoughts went on pause from this young man’s change of topic.
“Xion.” she carefully agreed. “Xion Hawke.”
“So that’s why you’re familiar.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve seen you in Kirkwall.” he explained, as simple as day. “I used to operate a pop up store in Lowtown, then moved out to the Gallows by request. Well, it wasn’t so much a request than it was to help out a little wallflower. Either way, I come around every now and again. Circuit around Orlais, Ferelden, and the Free Marches to get the word out.”
“I do recognize you, then!” Xion marveled, speaking more of a thought out loud than actually talking to him proper.
“Nice to know I’m recognizable.” Brain mused, tilting his hat toward her. For a split second, he looked like he was going to say something more, but decided against it. Instead, he gave her a soft smile. “Things have gotten a lot better for us since then. Since Mom died, anyway.”
Returning the conversation back to the original topic made Xion’s heart stop for a moment. “They have?” she carefully asked despite this.
Brain gave her a confident nod.
“Sabi won’t admit it, but they have. Months after our mother died, we were adopted by an Orlesian merchant. He and his wife had been trying to have kids for years, but never could. (And it’s particularly hard to tell for how long they’ve been trying, since they’re one of those who are not quite human, but not quite animal. For some reason the Maker decided those folks could outlive us normals for at least a solid age or two.) So now I pay my dues helping him operate the most successful business this side of Thedas. Sabi also has her own little mission to repay the old rabbit. Although I must warn you- if you ever see a pretty girl with a rabbit mask on; run.”
“Noted.” Xion agreed with a little chuckle.
Brain gave a smile of his own before joining in the laughter. The sound echoed through Xion’s heart and filling her with a relief she didn’t know she needed until now.
After awhile, Brain collected himself to gently slide a finger across the brim of his hat.
“Things will get better for you too.” he then carefully told her, jolting Xion out of her joy. Not for the first time, the sudden shock feeling more like a slap to the face. It was rather concerning that this young man had that kind of power. “It might be something small- like buying yourself something nice, or meeting someone new. Maybe it’ll happen ten years from now. Who really knows? It’s hard, but it is possible to focus on the good coming, rather than the bad that’s already happened. It won’t be easy, but you seem the type to never back down.”
“Like your sister?” Xion asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“A lot like my sister, actually.” he laughed in return. His sincere humor toward the topic was enough to send Xion in a light laughter as well. 
Not wanting the small joy to end, Xion let her laugh naturally die down before looking him over again. Brain only stopped laughing because a bunny child was biding for his attention. As he talked to them, Xion further studied the young man. You couldn’t tell it at first glance, but Brain did have a genuine worry for his little sister. He hid it well behind clever remarks and an unbridled confidence. She wondered for a moment if Cloud felt the same way about her. It didn’t cross Xion’s mind that she had been staring for too long until Brain brought his attention to her. He didn’t say anything, but he tipped his hat in goodwill.
“It’s getting late.” Brain noted, taking half a glance up at the sky before looking back at Xion. “Would you like an escort back to Kirkwall?”
Xion smirked. “It would be the smarter choice, wouldn’t it?”
Brain offered back a rather bemused chuckle. He then let out a shrill whistle. Not long after, a blue bunny child came out of the caravan and happily bounded over to them. The bunny kid nuzzled against Brain for a moment as he likewise gave them a pat on the head.
“Junior, do me a favor and take Xion back home.” he said with a smile. “It’s getting late.”
The bunny child looked up at him with a wide grin, nodded in agreement, then happily went to Xion. It happily bounded into her arms, looking up at her with an innocent gleam in its eye. A thought came over Xion- one that she spoke out loud in mild bewilderment.
“That’s… not the same one from before.”
Brain raised an eyebrow in time with tilting his hat forward a bit. “Wow, I’m impressed. How’d you guess?”
“A hunch.” Xion carefully admitted. A comment from before came back to Xion in that moment. Brain had mentioned that his adoptive caretaker was a rabbit, right? And these blue bunnies were likely from him, right? She felt a bit dumb in just now asking the question. “Didn’t you say that your adoptive parents were not able to have children of their own?”
A rather mischievous glint flickered in Brain’s eye for a moment. “That’s still correct.”
“So how’d this little fella come along?”
Brain smirked. “Their luck changed, just like yours will.”
For a moment, Xion didn’t know what to think about that. She idly looked back down at the bunny child. It looked up at her with a wide eyed curiousness that only children knew how to pull off. The raw innocence of the creature almost made her recoil. At the same time, something in her clicked.
There was still hope.
Xion hugged the bunny kid for a second before waving Brain goodbye. The walk back to Kirkwall wasn’t filled with heavy thoughts. If anything, she was almost skipping. Once she and the bunny child got back to Kirkwall’s gates, they waved good bye and Xion made the walk back to Hightown. She saw a lot of blue bunnies on the way there. Each time she saw one, she remembered what Brain told her. When Xion got home, quietly shut the door behind her, and started to make a cup of tea. She slept incredibly well that night. It felt nice.
After that day, Xion started to notice just how many blue bunnies hung around Kirkwall. Each time she would see them, she’d smile and remember Brain’s advice with clarity.
It will get better.
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steve0discusses · 4 years ago
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S4 Ep37: Return of O R B S
Heyyyyy boy, look who’s back, it’s orbs!
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So we’ve seen a lot of orbs on this show and I fully admit that I kinda started...I started feeling a kinship for the orbs. Something about these mysterious death balls of Yugioh that we see over and over just became really relatable during a pandemic. Being trapped in a bubble and unable to get close to anyone you know is such a 2020 vibe, youknow?
These orbs that are apparently so normalized in this universe that everyone is just max chilling in an orb and just doing their best at not thinking about whether or not they’ll still have to poop in this completely transparent orb in front of all of their friends.
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Also, welcome back, Yugi. Apparently he was just taking a nap this entire time. That’s canon and you know what? Good for him.
And then everyone else just kinda showed up, tired, in an orb, feeling kind of frustrated because there’s literally nothing else they can do to get out of this situation. It’s basically a zoom call in 2020.
(read more under the cut)
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TBH if Pegasus was in a zoom call, you know he’d just be talking about wine. You know he’d just be in a zoom call with a bunch of straight-laced teenagers just going off about the weird wine he got from a subscription box that he bought when he was day drunk a week ago. You know he’d just be like “I mean is it good? Should I keep it? Should I drink it anyway?” While popping the cork on stream and just pouring it directly into a cereal bowl.
I can feel the orb life going on here. I can especially feel Seto Kaiba, who fell asleep during the zoom call without turning off the camera.
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On the other side of the room is people dying as they get sucked directly into their impending doom.
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Long ago, about...last year I think...I recapped an episode from the beginning of the season where Pegasus introduced this blank card--that I assumed was blank.
But that card from that episode--it wasn’t actually blank. It was a symbolic blank card and the show runners were like “our child audience will surely get that we just don’t want to spoil the ending” as I, a full grown adult, completely thought this card was blank.
But like...this is Pegasus. You can’t just be tossing out blank cards like that!
...anyway...it’s fine, because we get a little bit more about the time that Pegasus donned that quantum hat that is sometimes square and sometimes round and then just harassed a bunch of people in Egypt until one guy tore out his eyeball and replaced it with a Christmas ornament.
I freakin have the hardest time believing this guy was married once.
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PS, now I know that when you uh put people’s hair into strips like this, it’s a lot of effort to animate and it doesn’t look anything like hair. Glad Yugioh taught me that none of us ever need to do that. Ever again. Erase that idea from your to-do list, it doesn’t work.
Anyway, Pegasus lets us know that while he was trying to revive his dead wife and putting a cold compress on his new golden eye-socket, he was also like...obsessed with finding these three dragons.
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And he was like “but they didn’t exist anywhere else!” He looked in outer space?? In atoms??? all over the place (this was in the show, PS, he looked on a molecular level for these duel monster dragons) until he was like “ah! That’s because they DID never exist!”
PS...are there...molecular duel monsters?
Just asking for a friend.
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...so they did exist, they just had exactly the same names they do now, but were humans so I guess Pegasus just...didn’t realize that they were the same. Kinda like how when I used to read manga as a kid or watch anime and they’d go into chibi forms I thought those were different people. It’s just like that.
Anyway if dragons are turning into humans please don’t tell that to Kaiba. Blue eyes white dragon wife is much funnier as a dragon.
But like...I get that mechanically, in the game, you have to change them to human to make the cards work but...why do we care if they’re human or dragons anyway? Dartz comes from a world where most people turned into monsters. And like if no one’s trying to date them, not even Kaiba...who cares? Dartz’ wife is a freakin monster and I don’t remember seeing him divorce her at any point.
Anyway, it was an odd thing for the show to throw in there about cards we have no relationship with. It’s a complicated season, and we spent way more time on our minibosses than we ever spent with the three tragic dragon characters that are going to actually save our asses.
Now back in the soul hut, Dartz has decided to do the strategy where he convinces Pharaoh to give up. Which youknow...
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The show acts like Pharaoh has any idea of who he used to be and it’s like do you even know how long Marik spent trying to teach Pharaoh anything about his past? Like Marik stood there with his back exposed and was like “I wrote it down! See? That’s about you!! Read my back scriptures!!!” and Yami kind of squinted at it and was like “Nah...” and then the island exploded.
So anyway, the only way that Dartz can convince Pharaoh to kill himself is to show Pharaoh the invite code to the orb zoom call. And so Dartz like “your friends are having so much fun in death zoom right now, don’t you want to hang one last time? Don’t you want to see what they’re up to? Don’t you want to hear them complain about working from home and how small their orb is and how their back is cramped all the time because the park is closed so they never go on walks anymore? Don’t you want to hear and secretly enjoy how much weight Joey gained from eating Doritos for 8 straight months? Don’t you want that in your life, Pharaoh?”
And then he just...decided to possess his bean because obviously that wouldn't work.
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Freakin Usagi Tsukino over here.
Speaking of:
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I’m also imagining that this scene in the big ol bathtub was probably...longer...in the original version? Just saying that because...what’s the point of putting a shirt on the boy? Unless it was implied that at some point you saw the whole boy? Maybe I blinked and missed a shot of the whole boy?
Anyway this scene felt heavily edited, that’s my hypothesis, if it wasn’t and someone was like “yo put a shirt on the boy” then I...don’t know what to say about that. It’s a pair of shoulders. I’m pretty sure half of their cards are racier than that.
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Do you like the evidence that we have here that Tea and Tristan totally biffed it last episode? I do.
Anyway, as the Orichalcos shrinks and threatens to take Pharaoh’s soul, the puzzle taps into his dark powers, and the power of friendship and also all the minibosses who died kinda formed a ring around him and bumped the orichalcos back into place.
Nice that Mai got added to the friend pile, but only in death. Also, I’m pretty sure Alister is here and Pharaoh never met him? But there’s more of a reason as to why the mini bosses are here, since they have their own agenda outside of Pharaoh and being his best buddy so I won’t question that too much.
This is friendship from Yami’s perspective, and like...Yami kinda wants to be friends with most people. Hell, if Bakura were introduced this season, he’d be here, too. That’s just how Pharaoh rolls.
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Yami decided that, although he’s a huge mess of a human being and screw it at every possible opportunity, his core isn’t made up of a dark magic curse with a crusty soul left over from some kingdom that botched it 5000 years ago. He’s decided that he’s moving on from that sort of anxiety--becoming his own sort of person--separate from Yugi, separate from his past, and separate from the powers that he’s often defined by. And it’s about time. It’s about time he recognizes that he needs to stop clinging to the ancient past (although I’m pretty sure his ancient past will be the entirety of next season)
He should give himself a real name while he’s at it, but youknow, he's not going to. Yami hasn’t quite figured out names yet.
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Nightmare foreshortening, that’s what this is. Like you have to just roll a dice when you do foreshortening, and sometimes you get snake eyes, the rest of the time, you get this.
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So not only are these guys voiced by Seto, Yugi, and Joey, they have faces that are like a blend of Valon, Raphael, Mai and Alister (yes that was four people for three dragon people, just go with it)--but the show doesn’t really focus on that, or at least not in this episode.
But, it does give the three mini bosses a reason to be chosen by the Orichalcos, if it’s inferred that they were some reincarnated version of the original dragons. Especially since Valon had the ability to just punch out the Orichalcos when he was still alive, and apparently that is the same thing this card does.
I can’t believe that him punching stuff was foreshadowing. I should have known. The answer in this show is always punching.
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And so the episode ends with some...something that happened, but don’t ask me about it.
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One of the reasons I don’t go over card games here. I mean...c’mon.
Come the freakin on.
Anyway we have some more episodes before this is over but at least this guy is at 0 hp so like...how long can you draw out one single play of cards? (I say, knowing they can stretch this game out...infinitely)
anyway, here’s where you can read these from the top. Hope y’all are staying safe!
https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono
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emotionaldepravity · 4 years ago
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Dragon Ball Android Au Hcs
-In this Au, most of the dragon ball characters are androids that exist as companion bots to the general population. Some are used just for emotional support. Some are body guards, personal or otherwise. Others are used as aids for specific jobs. No matter what they might be doing, these bots are quite loved and a huge part of the society. 
-The first Android ever created was Bulma. Dr. and Mrs. Brief loved Tights so much that they would do anything in the world for her. One day, a very young Tights begged her parents for a little sister. Dr. Brief wanted to promise Tights that she could have a sibling, but he found it difficult to explain to a child that her mother wasn’t able to have another child or that even if she could there was no guarantee that the child would be female. To circumvent those issues, Dr. Brief decided that he would build an android so that Tights would have her little sister. Since he wanted Bulma to have similar experiences to her sister, he made different body frames for her, and when she was ready, he transferred her memories into the next frame to let her grow up.
-Bulma was happy with this for a while. She was happy to “get older” after her older sister and enjoyed going to school or helping her father in his lab. Over time, Dr. Brief showed Bulma more and more of her code, and once she was able to understand it, she took over for making her own frames to better suit her own desires.
An explanation of the different type of bots below. 
The Originals 
The first androids created. They are quite special and coveted by many collectors especially by those who know how special they are.
-As she worked late one night, she had come to realize that she was lonely. She had dated humans before, but she never stayed long in a relationship. Seeing her parents happily married and eventually Tights too, she made the decision that she would make herself the perfect partner just as her father had created her. 
-She thought long and hard about the sort of partner that she wanted: what they may look like, their gender, their personality, their hobbies, etc. When she was done, her list of traits was so long she had to make a program to sort through all of them. Unsure of what exactly she might like, as there where many possibilities that she fancied, she decided to randomly generate ideas from this list and just make every combination. Eventually one would be perfect, right?
- Each model that she made were deemed the “originals.” She programmed them to be like her in her sentience, but with an extra bit of code that made them want to love and be loved. She didn’t want to make the perfect guy and them him reject her because he wasn’t interested in a relationship.
-As she made each new model, she began to get to know each of them to see if she was interested in pursuing a relationship with them. For the most part, they were all interested in her, Zamasu being one of the few that was actively disinterested in her which she was surprised of but not terribly hurt by, but she wasn’t that interested in them. She recognized that they all had their merits, but none of them quite fit what she was looking for. Some, like Zarbon, were very attractive to her, but the more she spoke to them the less interested she was.
- However, it was in two different originals that she felt as if they were close to what her heart desired: Yamcha and Vegeta. 
-Being one of the first, Yamcha got to spend a lot of time with Bulma, actively trying to make himself known to her. He might have thought he was cool, but she never did. He was dorky and she liked that about him. For a while, she was happy. As Bulma made more and more female androids, she noticed his eyes wander. Though he was never disloyal physically while they were together, she couldn’t help, but question if he would be genuine or not if they continued dating.  
-Vegeta tired to deny his feelings for a while, and with her being with someone else, it was easy enough for him to do. When she was no longer with Yamcha, he always found himself drawn to wherever Bulma was. If they were alone, he would lightly brush his tail near her to get her attention. Again, Bulma was happy with Vegeta. His clashing overprotective nature with his tsundere one charmed her. However, he wasn’t as emotionally close to him as she had been with Yamcha. She wanted to tell Vegeta about everything on her heart, but he felt so cold sometimes that she wondered if she falied to code his emotions properly. Of course, it was a shock to him when she broke it off as he didn’t seem to understand that they had grown apart, but he simply went with her wishes. 
- When she finished the last combination, she felt like a failure. Not a single one felt like the perfect partner for her that she had set out to create. Eventually, as Bulma got more and more fed up with her “failed” creations she decided that they had to leave her home and lab. She couldn’t just randomly abandon them somewhere so she started offering them out to help her friends with jobs so that they could eventually have their own lives. 
-If someone needed a caterer then she offer to have Chi Chi help them, if they needed a garden, then she’d have Nappa go, if they needed someone to eat them out of house and home, then she’d send Goku, etc. 
-Her friends were very grateful to Bulma and the “kind stranger” who assisted them. It only took one of her friends to mention that she’d like to for the android who helped her to live with her, to get Bulma to realize that maybe she should let them. 
-As she found out, most of her friends kept wanting to see the originals, fell in love with their new companions, and eventually convinced Bulma to let all of them move from Capsule Corp to their homes.
-For most of the originals, this change was quite welcome. They had an understanding that Bulma wasn’t that interested in them, and during the time they interacted with her friends, they had realized that perhaps they could come to love someone else.
- For others, they were heart broken. In some way they had help out hope that Bulma would still love them, or, in the case of Yamcha and Vegeta, that she would love them once again. 
-Bulma felt a bit sad to see the last one go, but the entire experience gave her hope that if she started dating again, maybe she too could still find someone out there for her. 
The Fakes
The androids that most anyone can buy. If you see an android on the street somewhere, they most likely are a “fake.”
-After word got out that all the androids were given out, people still sent calls to Capsule Corp asking if she had any more “boyfriends” 
- A bit surprised that anyone else would be interested in more of her “failures,” she turned the strangers away until one single mother promised a ridiculous sum of money if she just happened to have another Yamcha model so her kid could have someone to teach him how to play baseball. Moved by the thought of this little boy having the chance at having some sort of father figure, and a paycheck that was just enough for her to get some even better lab equipment for herself,  she quickly started working. As the next call came from a very wealthy family with a similar ask for a Chi Chi as they had eaten the food made by the original one, and had a lot of zeni up for grabs for their own personal chef. Both were very pleased when she presented them with their new companions.
-She rushed out a few of the early ones thinking that her technique was just as flawless as before, but in her next few she decided to check to be sure. The looks and personality of each model she made seemed to be perfectly replicated, but as she inspected further, there was one major difference: the code that gave them ability to love wasn’t working properly. Diagnostic after diagnostic, she couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Though the fakes didn’t seem to act that much differently than intended, she knew that there was always the possibility that something could be messed up based on this faulty code. However since the buyers of the fakes didn’t seem care, she never thought about it again.
-Though she did eventually find some consequences to the faulty code. For instance, the reals retained the ability to actually have children with their human significant others, but the fakes sadly did not. 
- Another difference that was found out was that the ”real” androids have the benefit of better fighting strength. For example, if they are saiyans then only they have the ability to go Super Saiyan and the forms beyond. This is typically something that only the owner of an original would know as most of the time the greater strength is unlocked due to their desire to protect their owner. 
-Sometimes people will trade androids between each other if they need help with what that android is good at or if they think that a different model is more attractive.
-Most people that have an android got them second hand as they are extremely expensive new. They are even more expensive if you try to get them customized, the saiyans having tails that aren’t originals can be a heavy increased price since after a while Bulma got tired of make them. 
-For the originals that get traded, they actually feel a bit upset by being passed around. Doing a job for someone else is not necessarily hard on them, but if that means a permanent change in owner, and possibly lover too, then they can get quite heart broken. 
The Minis
The minis are smaller versions of the originals. They are small enough to fit in your hand and have a chibi style appearance. 
-In her experimenting with making new frames and possible lovers, she had realize that she needed some help. As she was a bit too embarrassed to let her dad help her, she made a smaller scale version of herself to help with everything from welding and board processing to coding and inspection. 
-When people started coming to her for copies of her creations, she gave into to making mini versions. They had the functional capabilities of the original model, but were much cuter and easier to handle, at least in Bulma’s opinion.
-Bulma loves seeing pictures of people taking cute pictures with their minis or having their big bots take candid pictures with their minis.
-Minis can be modeled after humans too if you are rich enough to afford it. Bulma is very meticulous with her work and so having a custom mini might be expensive, but they will look and act exactly like you!
-Minis can get very lonely if they aren’t interacted with regularly so generally they should be bought with other minis or live with a big bot if they aren’t welcome at your work. Bulma herself found this out with her own mini and made minis of her entire family. 
-Mini Bulma likes to make things for her Mini family to keep them entertained, and for Big Bulma as a way of saying thank you.
-If you do have multiple minis, you might notice that they act a bit differently than if they are by themselves. These “combos” can determine if your mini acts like an angel or a gremlin. 
-For example, a combination of any saiyans will mean that the two are competing or fighting all the time. 
-Mini Cooler and mini Frieza one of the most destructive combos, but if you have a mini King Cold, then they will generally be on their best behavior. They will still fight behind their father’s back and yours too though.
-If you own a big bot and a mini, you might find that they do get jealous of each other, especially with they are the same model. They both love you very much and want your attention so badly it hurts. 
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palukoo · 4 years ago
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👀 art! And 👀 writing! -chibi
thank you for the ask! I decided to theme it if only for the sake of my tagging lol and uhhhh maybe its kind of cheating bc you’ve seen part of the art already but shhhhh... 
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(ignore the legs and shitty quality i don’t know why i drew it so small!) it was (will be?) part of a full page or series of drawings bc i’m obsessed with the concept of family in my own fic, so here’s also this tiny sketch i did of amy and her brother who doesn’t technically exist in canon
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 ...and for writing, here’s part of (i believe) my first attempt at Donna/Amy that I don’t fully stand by the characterization of but oh well...
It kind of makes Donna clench her jaw, almost as much as it makes her blush. Because Amy’s just like that. Says everything in her trademark disaffected, unflappable tone that skates along the edges of confident, bored, condescending, and flirty, and Donna almost hates it, except she also can’t get enough of it, thinks that she wants Amy and Josh to be on good terms— or their version of it, anyways— forever, as long as it means she gets to call Amy sometimes and hear her talk while Donna asks if she has ten minutes for Josh today, and if it means Amy will stop by her desk with the hint of a smirk and a question and Donna will get to listen to her, to see her.
So she doesn’t really know how to take it, what to say, when Amy is asking her something, or maybe answering a question, she can’t remember, and addresses Donna as, “Sweetheart.” Has no idea if it’s meant as condescending or teasing or flirting, doesn’t even know if it’s meant, or if Amy’s just let it slip. Amy doesn’t give her any indication, her face mostly unreadable, just a look of maybe vague amusement that on Amy generally just signifies a lack of hostility. Amy has always been hard to read, which just makes Donna want to take her all in and understand her even more, wants to memorize what every minute facial tick means and why her fingers play with the cuffs of her jacket sometimes when there’s a slight silence and how she can go from looking like she couldn’t care less about what someone has to say to piercing them with a gaze so intense that she must be able to tell everything about them in a matter of seconds.
As it is, Donna clenches her jaw half in annoyance and half so she doesn’t say something stupid like, “Buy a girl a drink first, Amy.” It might not fully work, though, because she’s worked for Josh for several years now, and yes, that means she’s built up a tolerance, but it also means she’s got more of an inclination to jab back when people condescend to or tease her, and she’s pretty sure Amy is doing one of those two. So she plasters on a smile that is probably somewhere between the one she uses to tease Josh and the one she uses to flirt. 
“Oh, does that mean I get to call you ‘honey’?” she asks, raising her eyebrows slightly. It seems to have the intended effect, she thinks, even though she’s not fully sure what exactly her intentions are, because Amy’s smirk has widened just enough that she’s showing a bit of teeth, less self satisfied and more amused, and she’s shaking her head to try to cover for the impressed once over she’s giving Donna, trying not to show her hand. Donna cocks her head to the side, slightly, emboldened by the fact that whatever she’s doing is working, and maybe because impressed looks good on Amy, and maybe because she really wants to know how flustered looks on her. “Though, I’d take you for more of a ‘babe,’ really.”
Amy ducks her head and Donna almost wishes she wouldn’t just so she could know if she’s blushing or not, but she counts getting any sort of reaction from Amy that doesn’t seem fully calculated, that doesn’t seem like Amy’s just faking it to play someone, as a win anyways, and Donna’s never been good at calculated reactions, so she doesn’t bother to hide her grin. Amy straightens and pushes some hair out of her face. “Well, I gotta go. I’ll call you and see when Josh and I can spare a minute to sit down and talk about maybe working together, for once.”
Donna’s still sort of riding her high, so she shoots back, “I look forward to it.” It’s enough to make Amy turn around to look at her with a sort of question in her eyes before facing forward again as she walks away from Donna and out of the West Wing, and Donna smiles the rest of the day, trying not to seem too desperate to answer that call whenever it may come in.
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Pirate Au pt6
Omg I’m sorry I took so long, but I added sketches at least >>
What was he supposed to say?
 'Oh I've just been informed you were the pet of my ass of a brother!'
 This was ridiculous, it should not be so difficult to enter his own private chambers, it was his room and yet somehow he felt he was invading Acylius's personal space!
  Was Flug mad at him because he appeared or acted like his sibling, after all he knew him to not exactly be that of a decent nature...neither was he but at least he had standards.
 Pacing in front of his door, looking up only to glare at crew members who dared to even look funny at him, Mew Mew Loaf still in her water bubble was gently biting the end of her tail before letting go and doing it all over again.
  Thinking back to that night when Flug had been desperately pulling his mask back on, how it'd caught on one ear fin made of black spines and beautiful iridescent peacock coloured membrane.
 He'd even been so fortunate as to catch a glimpse on one corner of his lips, scarred, something had been done to them, though Black Hat had at least had the sense to realize that Acylius wanted to keep his face hidden, so instead of ripping the mask off he helped him to carefully pull it back down.
 That tender moment where Flug had leaned into his palm only to immediately move after catching Demencia's scent... It made sense, his merman...whom he hoped he could belong to one day...but would that happen or would he believed he was always being deceived thanks to Thaddeus's (White hat) behaviour.
Now understanding Acylius's situation he realised the full extent of why the merman recoiled from him, what reason did Flug have to believe they were different, apart from how they lived, one on the sea and one below.
 Then there was the given fact, he himself was the most feared being from this universe to the next...
 Acylius had learned remaining quiet and out of the way to certain beings, unless he was being pulled about and paraded like some show animal or trophy.
A small mew broke through his endless trail of thoughts, looking down at Mew Mew loaf, she stared back with big black dare he think it, adorable eyes, her gaze soon shifting to the door and then him again...oh she wanted to see her companion.
 Black Hat knew he should really go in, talk to him, let Acylius know he would not let Thaddeus take him, he was safe here...but what did safe even mean to a merman like him, it would all be honeyed words to someone who had spent who knows how long with White Hat...there were only two people that creature cared for, himself and Slug.
 He and Thaddeus might be brothers in species and of the Earth they crawled out from but gladly they would throw the other into a volcano if it would actually cause them to die.
"Having merman troubles?"
 A crew member drunkenly forgot their place and while it had not been meant maliciously, Hat as I have mentioned will only let so very few people talk to him so informally, eye turning black and red a snarl leaving his fanged maw, making the rest of the crew back away and carry on work harder than before lest they end up carrying the same fate of the man whose blood now painted the deck.
 Tongue snaking out its way out, licking his lips clean of any blood that had splashed over him, he eyed the corpse, considering if he should make a meal out of it until he was reminded that he was still holding Flug's pet...oh no...she'd seen that.
 He'd probably just given Acylius more reason to...wait was she staring at the body with the same hunger, crouching down he lifted the hand and pushed it into Mew Mew loafs  water bubble, rows of little sharp teeth were exposed and within moments there was no hand just a bloody stump.
 Well that was unexpected and interesting.
 "I presume he knows you are like this?"
 Hat inquired, peering into her bubble, she swirled in her water ball again and nodded before pointing with chubby paw fin at the body and then the door, mewing enthusiastically.
 Black Hat was staring, something was trying to click, match up and as she pointed to the door where Acylius was and the corpse once more he blinked, it dawned on him he'd never asked if the merman had wanted to eat and thus did not know what his favourite food was...until now.
 Well that might be a way to win his affections, beloved pet in one hand, and favourite meal in the other.
 While the thought of Acylius draped over him and turning him into putty certainly seemed delightful he would try to keep a clear mind, there were other things that needed to be done, to be talked about and he wanted to give proof somehow, that he saw the merman as more than just some doll to be played with.
Fingers curling around the deceased man's collar he watched his crew, door opening by itself a bloody trail followed as Black Hat easily took the body with him, top lip rippling in a growl
 "This mess had better be gone before I come back out!"
 With that he slammed the door, appearances where everything after all with these shallow humans, it was indeed a rare thing to find someone who had more depth than a piddling rock pool.
 He laughed quietly to himself as he
heard them scrabbling to clean up the red stain, heh heh that wasn't coming out but their fear and desperate attempts to scrub it out would be fun for a while.
 Looking over at the tank, his smile grew; face more fangs that flesh, oh my, so now Flug was paying him attention or more like the meal in his hand and pet in the other.
 "So you are finally acknowledging my existence?"
 He leered, chest puffed out and preening, if he'd been covered in feathers they'd have been fluffed up, though he was giving off an air of being smug Black Hat came to a stop as he heard Acylius giggling.
 "What has you so tickled?"
 His mood fell slightly and then looked to where Flug was pointing, it was at Mew Mew Loaf.
 "She likes you, clearly you did something right."
 The Pirate King stalled, repeating the words slowly
 "Done something... right?"
 Mew Mew was resting on what part of Black Hat's palm she could, purring away as her fish tail swayed in the water bubble, it was dawning on him...slowly mind you that Flug actually seemed to have relaxed a little...
 He realised now just how important this moment was, if he'd come in showing any aggression to this little creature, Acylius would have thrown up a defensive wall so thick he may never have gotten through to him.
 "Black Hat, you will not let any harm befall her will you?"
The demon was quiet as he turned his attention to Mew Mew Loaf who was nuzzling his palm and even gave it a small lick, she was clearly happy as you could even hear her purring through the water.
 Now imagine a chibi version of Hat, the way animes do when they make a serious character look adorable.
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 He was staring at her...well shit and blast it all, he'd already intended no harm in the first place but now she was a tiny ball that if anything happened to her he would kill everyone in the world and then himself am I referencing that quote you're damn right I am, who said I had to be serious.
  "No, though after recent revelations, I understand if you do not trust me now or if ever."
 Black Hat answered softly, coming up as close to him as he could with glass parting them, levitating the bubble it then sank down into Flug's tank, watching as Mew Mew Loaf instantly swam up to Acylius and nuzzled him.
 The sheer joy in her little cries had him smiling a little; honestly he'd not even been aware he was doing so until he noticed Acylius now watched him in return.
 Mew Mew Loaf mrrped and went off swimming around the tank that was her new home.
Swallowing he, he found himself unable to move as the merman moved closer to the glass, to him…seeing finely scaled hands press against the surface the old Pirate King wondered what Flug was going to do, there was only the sound of water and the creaking ship as moments passed.
Hat finally breathed (despite not actually needing to) after Acylius broke the silence
“So…you know who once owned me?”
“Yes.”
 Their voices were quiet and when Hat had answered he could barely keep eye contact.
How could he when he’d given Thaddeus the world under water while he ruled the land…it was his fault this being had suffered at the hands of White Hat, there was no knowing what other fate might have befallen Acylius if he had not, would he even still be alive, would they have met there were so many what ifs the demon was more lost than anything…he knew it was selfish to be glad fate brought Acylius to him and yet a sting of guilt…because it was he who’d practically put the merman in Thaddeus’s hands.
Clearing his throat he then stripped the body of clothing with is powers as well as making sure it was stripped of filth or whatnot he was not about to feed the creature a dirty meal before also placing the body in the water.
Black Hat could sense the merman’s want to reach out to him, but he did not feel deserving of Acylius’s touch let alone attention, it took an iron will to move away and sit at his desk, despite it being pristine he kept adjusting objects on it, still avoiding eye contact, he knew it was shame he was feeling and he hated it, he’d never felt shame…he’d witnessed it and knew now why people looked like that when they experienced this emotion.
Mew Mew Loaf watched them both for a few moments before going to nibble on the other hand; she loved fingers, good for scratching, good for nibbling.
 Acylius let out a soft whine; it was pained as he curled in on himself and sank to the bottom of the tank…so now that the Pirate King knew he was the spoils of Thaddeus…he didn’t want him?
Heart aching and colours growing dull as if someone had drained his scales of life, gills flaring with each breath, a small mew was heard as his little pet came and nuzzled at him and another Mew, this one louder than the last making Amadeus (Black Hat) look up eye wide as he found Flugs tank was now was black, the water was darker than night itself, pieces of skeleton started pelting out, ricocheting around the room, embedding into the wood and one piece even hit the demon square between the eyes as the water bubbled and started spilling over the sides.
As soon as he made a move towards the tank something started rising up, the form was so large in height it had to bend over and all he could do was look up in awe as he realised it was Acylius towering over him a hand on the glass edge as his other wrapped around his currently in comparison tooth pick of a body.
A thick inky substance streaked the merman’s face, falling in thick strings, ear fins flaring as his eyes were such a pale blue they were near white, making his pupils appear no more than pin pricks, rows and rows of needle teeth exposed as Flugs scream was anything far from what Earthly beast could make, it was raging and full of pain.
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Amadeus was not frightened of course, but there are many reasons to be scared…fear of never being forgiven, now that was something that frightened him, even if he felt it was undeserved.
Acylius’s grip was far from gentle, but it barely registered as pain, as he spoke though the Captain made sure not to turn away from him this time and listened as smoke left the merman’s maw
“So now that I am no more than waste to you, you who have pined and whined over me, who continued to show signs of envy when I showed my affections for Demencia now reject me…are you so out of touch with reality to recall merfolk customs or have you only ever cared for what you want!”
 Hat wanted to face palm into a black hole….of course their kind was commonly known to be in trios, Acylius hadn’t been favouring her over him, he was learning about them both, now though after this if Flug still liked him that would be one hell of a miracle and he dare not ask at this moment, looking down as glass cracked he saw as the front of the tank collapsed, water flooding the room, something that was easily fixable but that mattered little to Amadeus at this moment.
Heart racing and twisting inside he realised his mistake, by not allowing Flug to reach out after he himself had been clearly wanting to  all this time…rejecting the contact after finding out his history…had made the merman feel like he was disgusting, spoiled by Thaddeus…this wasn’t just anger it was masking the despair, the pain in him.
Freeing a hand with ease he reached out into the heart of the ink and muck and placed it on him, showing with this simple action he was not repelled by him, looking up at those white eyes the blue deepened, their colour never seemed to settle on one hue, always swaying in tone like the Ocean, water and glass drawing back to their place
“It is not because of something you have done Acylius…I turned from you because it is I who allowed Thaddeus to rule the waters simply because I did not want to, while  I consider myself deserving of most things, I see now  I am not deserving of you.”
Demencia was standing at the door, it was of course closed behind her cause she wasn’t about to let any prying eyes see this and if anyone had tried to look she’d have stabbed them out, the water had been up her shins and now as she watched it drawing back to where it came from, found everything to be dry as if it had never been.
Wow Black Hat never apologised for anything like…ever.
She stayed quiet as Acylius’s form shrank, melting away and letting go of Black Hat who landed on his ass on his desk just narrowly missing  sharp pointed object on its surface, even he noticed everything was dry and back in order.
“This is clearly not my magic…what are you?”
 Waters clearing and mask no longer in place, glaring at him with arms folded.
Black Hat was momentarily speechless...he’d perhaps expected a pretty face under that mask but this was breath taking, short ebony hair just long enough to sway in the water, face of white when caught in sunlight shimmered, lips scarred …no doubt the work of his brother and the way he was looking at him…any other circumstance and he’d be like take me I’m yours…well he was going to have to hold up his end of the bet later and confess he’d forgotten to feed him because he was too busy trying to impress him.
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“What am I, I think the question you should be asking is who was I? I was next in line to be king, once deep sea merfolk were not despised, we as a race worked in unity, there was peace until Thaddeus , through years of manipulation  whittled down the numbers of my kind to the hundreds…we are not even that anymore…”
Mew Mew loaf could hear the cracking in her friends voice and softly mewed coming up to him and nuzzling against him, he cuddled her kissing her tiny forehead gently as he sat on the tanks bottom once more, continuing
“Now that we are rare, we are considered prizes and things to be used as status symbols, some are now stuck in their racial beliefs and some would seek to claim us for gain.”
 Black Hat wanted to curl in on himself and never look at him again, usually he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have cared…he never thought something he’d done would ever come back to bite him and so deeply
“I have never cared for the consequences for my actions…because they usually would not be any but-“
“Do not pretend to care now then, your false apologies would only insult me further, did you think just because I have dealt with your brother I would snivel before you?”
 Oh god…even as he was tearing him down to the bone with words he found himself loving him all the more, he deserved this  and knew it but to see him so forthright unafraid to tell him , call him out on his bullshit…he would bow to no one in his life but this king before him.
Mew Mew Loaf was loafing on Flugs ‘lap’ as best she could you know considering Flug didn’t exactly have a lap and she had a fish tail herself and rested listening to them quietly.
“No, I did not think you would snivel before me…you are far too stubborn for that…but you are afraid.”
It really was all coming together now, the more this went on, noticing how Acylius flinched, the slight recoiling at first before posturing, afraid yes, cowardly no, Black Hat realised Acylius had done the only thing he could have done and before Black Hat could say it, Demencia spoke up as she gently asked him
“Acylius, how long have you been running?”
End of pt six
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burnouts3s3 · 5 years ago
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Maria-sama Ga Miteru, a blu-ray review
(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):  99 USD How much I paid: 69.99 USD, the Pre Order price Animation Studio: DEEN Original Localizer: Nozomi Entertainment Licensed and Localized Currently by: Sentai Filmworks Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles Number of Episodes: 39 Episodes and 5 OVAs equaling a run time of 1237 Minutes. Length per Episode: 25 Minutes on average. 21 Without Intro and Ending song. Length per OVA: 50 Minutes on Average Number of Discs: 8 Blu Ray Discs Episodes per Disc: Seasons 1, 2 and 4: Episodes 1 through 9 on the 1st Blu-ray Disc. Episodes 10 through 13 on the 2nd Blu-ray disc as well as “Don’t Let Mother Maria Know”, funny ‘outtakes’ of the characters in Chibi From. Season 3: OVAs 1 – 3 on 1st Blu-ray Disc. OVAs 4-5 on 2nd Blu-Ray Disc. Aspect Ratio: 4:3 for Seasons 1 and 2. 16:9 for Seasons 3 and 4. Are there plans for a DVD release?: A DVD release of the series exists from Nozomi Entertainment. Does this come a digital voucher to redeem?: No. This only has the Blu-ray discs. Also on: HiDive, Sentai Filmwork’s Streaming Service. Bonus Features: Clean Opening Animation, Clean Closing Animation and “Don’t tell Mother Maria”, ‘outtakes’ of the characters in chibi form. Notable Localization Changes: Onee-sama, a popular phrase Yumi addresses Sachiko with, has been translated into “Dear Sister” (which is more or less the same thing). Honorfics such as –san or –sama have been omitted in the subs or changed. (For example, when a character refers to Sachiko as Sachiko-sama, the subs translate it into “Lady Sachiko”). Make of that as you will. My Personal Biases: I actually reviewed Marimite a long time ago on this site. I still hold fond memories of the show to this day.
My Verdict: A long running staple of the Shoujo genre and said to have kickstarted the Yuri trend that gave us Kannazuki no Miko, Strawberry Panic, Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto, Maria-sama Ga Miteru still holds up to this very day. And thanks to Sentai Filmwork’s ability to print it on Blu-ray, now even newcomers can enjoy the quiet campus of Lilian Academy. Buy it! Maria Sama Ga Miteru, a blu ray review
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“The Maidens who assemble in Mother Maria’s Garden have such angelic smiles that today, too, they pass through the tall gate. Their pure bodies and minds are wrapped in dark colored school uniforms. The pleats on their skirts shouldn’t be noticeable. Their while sailor collars should always be tidy. Walking slowly is preferred here. St. Lilian’s Academy is a Garden for Maidens.”
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Our Protagonist, Yumi Fukuzawa, is a freshman in St. Lillian Girls’ academy, an all-girls Catholic School. One day, while praying in front of the Virgin Mary, Mother Maria, someone comes up to her. It is none other than the school’s idol, Sachiko Ogasawara. While Sachiko fixes Yumi’s collar, Yumi’s friend, Tsutako, takes a photograph and blackmails Yumi to get the scoop. While Yumi goes to the Yamayuri council, which acts as the governing body for the school, Sachiko storms out of the room and trips on top of her. Sachiko attempts to make Yumi her petite Souer. Through the Souer system, upperclass girls can make a lowerclass girl their ‘sister’ by handing them a Rosary. If the underclass girl accepts, they become partners and look after each other until graduation. While seemingly innocent at first, the system can lead to all sorts of conflicts and misunderstandings but also joy and laughter. This is the story of how Yumi first accepts Sachiko’s Rosary and ends when she eventually bestows that rosary to another.   I really love Yumi as a character. While she does act as the ‘ordinary outsider’ meant to be the audience Point of view character, there’s a charm to Yumi. She’s actually very quick on her feet, eager to help and very kind and friendly. She does make mistakes but there’s a very human quality and the small moments where she shines (initially rejecting Sachiko’s rosary, practicing her routine to impress the graduating Seniors, helping out during the school festivals, standing up to some rich snobs) that really makes her shine. (Though I will give some credit to Yumi as she manages to possess proper hand eye coordination and inner ear balance that her successors Himeko Kurusugawa and Nagisa Aoi seem to lack.) In some ways, Sachiko was the inspiration that lead to the creations of such characters such as Shizuru Fujino from My-Hime, Chikane Himemiya from Kannazuki no Miko and Shizuma Hanazono from Strawberry Panic. On the surface, Sachiko is a cold, stern and almost unbendable force of nature, bent on getting her way. However, slowly but surely, Yumi melts the icy exterior to find the human underneath. (It also helps that Sachiko occasionally is the butt of the joke at times, such as, being her first time at a fast food restaurant, she remembers to order correctly and pay the server, but forgets to pick up the food). Among my favorite characters is the adorably lovable Satou Sei, a senior of the school and the canon lesbian of the show. Sei is often flirtatious but also very humorous to boot.  There’s a sort of fandom clash as many people ship Sei and Yumi together and Shimako and Sachiko together.  (There’s the implication that if Sei had not picked Shimako to be her petite seour, she would have picked Yumi and Sachiko is jealous of that fact since she wanted to give Shimako her rosary first, but Shimako refused her). Rounding out the cast are Rei and Yoshino, a Kendo Senior and her sickly cousin who might switch the idea of a tomboy on its head and Touko, Sachiko’s cousin who’s prickly exterior might hide someone much more vulnerable and Noriko, a girl who might share a love of Buddhist statues the Shimako does. A lot of people cite Maria Watches Over Us (or Marimite for short) as the revitalization of the Class S genre, which focuses on romantic friendships between school girls. A lot of people have pointed out that the genre has had its fair share of negative stereotypes and doesn’t exactly portray a healthy or realistic relationships for young queer women. But, I’ve always stated I would rather have a problematic show that affects me emotionally over a well-meaning show that has a good social message but leaves me cold. Of course, the show is self-aware of its genre roots and occasionally pokes fun at it. (At one point, Yoshino does the ‘rich girl laugh’ with another person and all it does is draw unwanted attention from passerbys). If there’s definitely a weak spot to the series, it’s definitely the animation. Panning shots and freeze frames are all present here, but the direction is solid enough where you’re enjoying it even when you notice the stitches and seems. (It’s an early 2000’s show centering about the school lives of ordinary girls. What were you expecting, Darling in the Franxx?) Granted, Season 3 is when the animation quality (as well as the aspect ratio) picks up but even the older seasons are passable and enjoyable to watch. What sells the show isn’t necessarily the animation, but character interactions with one another. Those looking for Women Love Women relationships probably aren’t going to find it here, but it did lead to the inspiration for other works to tackle. Each movement, each subtle touch or facial reaction or slip of the tongue feels weighty. You can tell there’s so much more being said than what’s on the screen and the characters missing or picking up on those subtleties really is the highlight. Season 3 is where the show changes format from a half hour episodic series to an hour long OVA (Original Video Animation) format and they play out more like self-contained movies than a series of over-arching episodes. And yes, the blu-rays also include “Don’t let Mother Maria Know.”. These are a series of humorous shorts included with the original DVD releases that contain cartoonized versions of the characters engaging in very silly behavior and outtakes. 
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After Nozomi Entertainment sold the rights off, Sentai Filmworks bought them and did a pretty good job localizing the show. The show contains no English Dub, but translates the Japanese text to pretty close to its original source material. One thing to note is the lack of honorfics. Honorfics are titles one refers to when addressing another person, like –san meaning Mr. or Ms. in English. “Onee-sama” is translated to “Dear Sister” while “Sachiko-sama” is translated to “Lady Sachiko”. (Though for some reason, Kashiwagi’s nickname for Sachiko, Sacchan, is kept in). CAVEAT: There’s the implication that Maria Watches Over Us feels dated in its depictions of girls’ relationships and class differences and promotes not quite so healthy relationships. But, had it not been for Studio DEEN and the characters of Yumi and Sachiko, we might have never gotten Himeko and Chikane or Shizuru and Natsuki or Fumi and Akira or Kazama and Sumika or Kase and Yamada or Touko and Yuu. Hell, even Flip Flappers did a parody of Marimite for an episode. With Nozomi Entertainment selling off the rights (as well as Seasons 2 and 3 DVDs being sold for outrageous prices), Sentai Filmworks has done the anime community a service by preserving this work and making it available to Western audiences. So, it all but depresses me to know that this great work will go unnoticed while the inevitable fans order the next Umaru merchandise instead. If you have enough of an attention span to watch a show that doesn’t have constant explosions, fanservice or attack names being shouted out, it’s definitely worth a look see. Of course, speaking as someone who binge watches Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure during his off hours, I enjoyed every bit I had with Maria-sama ga Miteru.
Verdict: Buy it!
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chibimyumi · 6 years ago
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Hi chibi, may I ask you a question about Ch151? I saw many theories conclude that Francis and Undertaker knew each other since Claudia's time. I wonder in japanese version if these two already say something canonically about it? I mean Undertaker may has been around Francis earlier, but Francis did she meet Undertaker at Vincent's time or when Claudia was still alive? Since many fans said that Francis knew Undertaker as her father, this made me so confused. Thank you!
Dear anon,
There is no explicit information whatsoever in the original manga, but there is some indication judging from the language Frances uses to the Undertaker.
Frances’ use of language in Japanese
In chapter 151 when Frances addresses the Undertaker, she says the following:
“葬儀屋、お前はお兄様がご存命の頃から変わらないな”
“Undertaker, omae wa oniisama ga gozonmei no koro kara kawaranai na”
“Undertaker, you haven’t changed since the time when my (honourable) brother was alive.”
The most noteworthy elements in her language are indicated in bold, and I shall expand on why these are important underneath. (It will be lengthy, but please bear with me.)
‘Oniisama’ and ‘Gozonmei’
Frances is a noble lady, and in the manga she uses formal language to people she considers her peer or above. Despite her clear dislike for her brother, she never fails to address him properly as ‘oniisama’, or ‘honourable brother’, even when she is yelling at him, or after his death.
“大体お兄様は昔からそうやって…”
“Daitai oniisama wa mukashi kara souyatte…”
“(Honourable) brother, you have always been like this from the past…”
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The ‘o’ and the ‘sama’ in ‘oniisama’ are honorifics in Japanese death trap, uh I mean polite language, ‘keigo’. Siblings normally don’t go beyond the expected politeness level of ‘oniichan/oneechan or niisan/neesan’.  Frances however, uses both of the highest honorifics ‘o’ and ‘sama’.
I do not think Frances uses this formality for Vincent because she really looks up to him. Rather, I think Frances uses this formal language because she is a respectable lady, and not using formal language when referring to her older brother would be considered ‘unrefined’ and be held against her. In the same way, the ‘go’ in ‘gozonmei’ (ご存命・alive) is also a hyper formality, and a marker of her grace as a lady.
In Japanese, language is an exceptionally telling method with which speakers express their identity. Among other things, a speaker’s formality or informality is considered a strong language marker with which they can present themselves. The infinitely varied language quirks and markers don’t all have a perfect equivalent in English, and therefore translation is very tricky. As such, a one-on-one translation from ‘oniisama’ to ‘honourable brother’ every time is just very unnatural, hence it is omitted in English.
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“葬儀屋、お前はお兄様がご存命の頃から変わらないな”
“Undertaker, omae wa oniisama ga gozonmei no koro kara kawaranai na”
“Undertaker, you haven’t changed since the time when my (honourable) brother was alive.”
In contrast to Frances’ hyper formality when speaking about her ‘honourable brother’, she uses informal language when talking about and to the Undertaker.
‘Omae’ (you (rude)), ‘Kawaranai na’ (haven’t changed) is informal speech. (Formal speech would have been ‘貴方’(anata) and ‘変わりませんね’ (Kawarimasen ne・have not changed).)
To me, this is an indication that Frances sees the Undertaker as below her rank. Frances using formal language for Vincent, while informal for Undertaker in the same sentence, is her implicitly differentiating the social hierarchy between Vincent and Undertaker. Consequently, I would say that Frances probably does NOT think that Undertaker is related to Claudia Phantomhive, because if she did believe so, Frances would most probably not have used this type of informal language.
Undertaker’s Language
Undertaker replies to Frances as follows:
“そうかい?小生にとってみれば君も生まれた頃がさっきのようだよ”
“Sou kai? Shousei ni totte mireba kimi mo umareta koro ga sakki no you da yo”
“Is that so? To me as well, it is as though you were born not very long ago.”
This line in Japanese is fairly standard and straighforward, and does not contain a lot linguistic hints. Undertaker merely seems to state that Frances did not change much either in his very, very old eyes. Rather than him dropping hints that he had met Frances at birth, I think it is more likely that he is playing it safe and not give Alexis Midford more reason to suspect the supernatural is involved. For more about R!Ciel hiding the involvement of the supernatural, click here.
There is no explicit information, but it is not impossible that Undertaker already met Frances during Claudia’s time when Frances was VERY young. But there is no information on whether Frances is actively aware of Undertaker’s presence during Claudia’s time. Frances’ and Undertaker’s interaction so far only indicates that there is no deep bond between them.
No indication of ulterior meaning
Japanese manga has a universal way to indicate when a spoken line contains an ulterior meaning.
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In Sebas’ text he says: “… Yes, I shall serve the young master well as his butler,” after Tanaka refers to O!Ciel by this title for the first time. The dots next to the word “bocchan/young master” mean to indicate that the word pronounced by Sebas contains an ulterior meaning. Now in retrospect we know “Ciel” is in fact not O!Ciel’s name, and that therefore Sebas is using the title to refer to his master to dodge his real name because he cannot lie.
In Undertaker’s text, he says: “Both ‘body’ and ‘memory’ hosted by the brain remain in this world.” These dots again tells the reader the speaker refers to not just any world, but specifically the human world (as opposed to the Reaper’s world.)
These dots however, do NOT appear in Undertaker’s speech bubble in chapter 151.
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Theory within the Japanese fandom
As I mentioned in another post, language shapes thought. As such, different theories may have emerged in the Japanese fandom. In the Japanese fandom, most people do not believe Undertaker is Frances’ and Vincent’s father, or Cedric K Ros.
Some arguments against Undertaker being the father as discussed in the Japanese fandom:
During the Boarding School Arc, Undertaker remained as fixated on O!Ciel as always, whereas he didn’t even bother batting an eye at Edward. Most of the Japanese fandom believe that Undertaker is only interested in the direct line of the Phantomhive family. Undertaker deliberately addressed Frances as ‘Lady Frances Phantomhive’, and this is considered a hint that his interest probably ends with her as a side-branch, and that this interest does not extend to her children. If Undertaker were Frances’ father, then this striking favouritism towards Vincent’s line would require some other explanation which is not in the manga canon (yet). As Yana has confirmed that Vincent and Frances are born of the same parents, this favouritism cannot be explained with “only Vincent is Undertaker’s child.”
Undertaker is a person who does not hide his emotions towards the Phantomhive tragedy very well. If just thinking about Vincent is enough to make him cry, then meeting Frances after such a long time would probably have stirred some emotions. This reunion would not necessarily be enough to make him cry, but the interaction with Frances would probably not have been as cheerful and aloof as in chapter 151.
During the Luxury Liner Arc too, Undertaker did not seem to care about the Midford family at all, despite clearly having had a lot of chance to reach out to them. Judging by Undertaker’s dodging skills as attested in the Boarding School Arc, he could easily have avoided O!Ciel and Sebastian during the first demonstration of the Aurora Society if he wanted to, but instead he chose to engage O!Ciel - ‘a main Phantomhive’. Yet again, we see a clear contrast between Undertaker’s interest in O!Ciel and the lack hereof for the Midfords.
Side-argument. Undertaker CAN’T be Cedric K. Ros: Undertaker is confirmed to have been a reaper for at least 70 years. 1889 - 70 = 1819. Claudia Phantomhive was born in 1830, which means that by the time she was born, Undertaker was already a reaper. In the family tree, Cedric K Ros was officially registered as her legal spouse. Had Claudia been a commoner, than marrying some random person that does not exist in the civilian personnel archive might have been possible. But considering how she was the Countess of Phantomhive, it would have been very troublesome to marry a man who does not officially exist.
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Arguments supporting Undertaker being the father in the Japanese fandom come in far lesser quantities, but a few popular ones are as follows:
Frances’ platinum blond-grey-ish hair resembling Undertaker’s silver hair.
Elisabeth and Edward both having green eyes. But as all reapers get green eyes the moment they become one, this theory does not hold water.
The lack of information about Undertaker and Cedric K Ros allowing for intersection between them. So far - whatever little canon information there is about Undertaker and Cedric respectively do not exclude each other.
Undertaker’s obsession with Claudia clearly being the strongest, and leaves enough room for people to ship them romantically, and therefore having produced children. Most fans who do believe Undertaker and Claudia were romantically involved however, tend to believe Undertaker was the lover of Claudia, and not her spouse.
In short, so far in the Japanese fandom, there are more arguments against Undertaker being Vincent and Frances’ father than for.
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scandalsavagefanfic · 6 years ago
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Stop Apologizing.
I want to make something perfectly clear to everyone.
You do not have to feel ashamed or apologize for how you came to enjoy the pop culture you enjoy. You do not have to justify or qualify how or why or which bits of your fandom you like. 
If you’re a Spider-Man fan and you’ve only ever seen the movies, you are a Spider-Man fan.
If you’re a Star Wars fan and you’ve only seen the movies, you are a Star Wars fan. 
If you’re a Batman fan and you’ve never touched a comic, you are a Batman fan.
Period.
I’m sure there are a million posts like this but I have now received several comments, not many but enough, from people saying something like “I’ve never read the comics, sorry, I know I should,” or even more self-conscious.
And I just want each and every one of you to know that you do not have to apologize. You do not have to feel guilty or feel like less of a fan or feel like you can’t participate in conversations about the things you love. 
Especially with comics.
In Star Wars, your highest canon is whatever is in the movies. Other media is considered canon where it doesn’t directly oppose anything in the films.
If you’re a fan of a film adaptation of a book you haven’t read, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! You just like something different than the source material. It doesn’t make you less of a fan. It just makes you a fan of a different branch. And that is OK.
But with comics in particular, there’s as many different versions of characters as there are writers. And not a single thing makes those printed interpretations more valid than the ones in the movies or shows.
Superhero comics is a unique medium. It is, in a very real way, authorized and compensated fanworks. I’m sure there are canon creators who would take umbrage with that but they’d be lying to themselves (and I’m sure there are others who’d agree). There’s very little difference between the driving motivations for Earth-3, with criminal versions of your favorite characters, and your “Villains Win” verse. Or Earth-11, with your favorite characters’ gender swapped, and your... well, your gender swap AU. The only difference is that Geoff Johns and David Finch get paid to play in those worlds and you do it for fun (or practice).
You want to imagine Batman as a vampire/Green Lantern/Lovecraftian explorer/Sherlock Holmes? Hey, so did DC.
You want Batman in the Victorian era/Arthurian legend/World War II (hell, there’s a good and evil version of this)/Soviet Russia? So did DC.
You want to see a future with Dick/Jason/Tim/Damian as Batman? SO DID DC.
You want to see what happened if Bruce Wayne died and his parents lived? So did DC.
You want a fuckin’ chibi Batman? Because DC sure did. 
So, I don’t care if you’ve read every single Batman comic in his 80 years of existence or if every single thing you know about him his from fucking fanworks. I don’t care if you’ve been buying comics since you were old enough to read or if you jumped on board yesterday. It doesn’t matter if the only DC thing you’ve seen are the cartoons, if you grew up on Adam West reruns, or if Ben Affleck is your Batman. 
YOU ARE NOT LESS OF A FAN JUST BECAUSE YOU ENJOY SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY FROM SOMEONE ELSE!
And if someone tries to tell you otherwise, they are an asshole.
Don’t let anyone else dictate how or what you enjoy. Participate to the level that makes you happy. Don’t feel like you have to read the source material to be a ‘real’ fan. I mean, I love the source material and will always recommend it. But no one should ever think less of you or look down on you for not displaying what they consider the appropriate dedication. People like that aren’t worth the time you spend talking to them. They’ll seek validation by trying to make you feel inferior. 
About fiction. 
Fandom should be fun. The sources of our fandoms literally exist to entertain.
If you’re not having fun, what’s the point? Don’t let someone make you feel shitty for not liking something the exact way they think you should.
This is your life and it’s too short to care about strange jerks on the internet who delight in raining on your parade. Block that guy and move on.
Sorry. Rant over. 
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makeste · 5 years ago
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BnHA Chapter 230: League of Thots
Previously on BnHA: We learned all about Twice’s past, which was a lot like Oliver Twist, if you’re like me and you never actually read Oliver Twist and only have extremely vague memories of watching one of the movie versions as a kid and seeing some poor wretched child asking for more oatmeal and falling in with some lovable scalawags. Although I’m pretty sure Oliver Twist never hit a dude with a motorcycle and made a bunch of clones of himself because he was lonely and then the clones all tried to kill each other. But like, other than that, I still kinda got that vibe, idk. Anyway so Twice is great and we all love him and feel sorry for him, and the Metahuman Liberation Army ripped his mask off because they’re dicks, and then they broke his arms because see re: the part where they’re dicks. But once his arms were broken, Twice, who’d been having an ongoing identity crisis due to not being sure whether he was one of his own clones, realized he couldn’t be a clone since he was still alive and hadn’t melted into a big blob after taking all that damage. So then he got all empowered, and he made like a dozen fresh new clones of himself, and now they’re gonna fuck up the MLA’s shit hopefully, and good riddance.
Today on BnHA: The League of Twices surges forth to do battle with the forces of evil and it’s my favorite thing ever. What started out as a dozen quickly multiplies exponentially -- we’re talking literal exponential growth here -- until Re-Destro’s Army of 116,000 people actually find themselves outnumbered. Up in his tower, Re-Destro is all “gee Skeptic you sure did fuck up spectacularly :)” and Skeptic quickly makes himself scarce, leaving Giran all on his own to antagonize RD about how royally screwed he is. Back in the thick of things, Dabi continues to attack The Night King, but it turns out he’s able to create new ice from just about any water source, so that complicates things a bit. Meanwhile Dabi is apparently starting to roast himself with his own quirk, which is very interesting and a huge clue as to how he came to be where he is, all scarred up and presumably Presumed Dead, and it’s all very intriguing. But before we can ponder that much, we cut to Ujiko, who’s getting tired of watching the League kick ass so effortlessly and decides to throw a Gigantomachia-shaped wrench into the mix just for the hell of it, waking the big guy early so he can join in on the fun. Well you won’t see me complaining omg.
(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added a couple of ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)
oh my god
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first of all, y’all know I love it when Horikoshi really gets into the nitty-gritty of how someone’s quirk works and hammers out all the little stipulations and provisions about what they can and can’t do, etc. but then to do it with this adorable little chibi Twice sketch is almost too much. we’re only on the first panel here; if this is an indicator of what the rest of the chapter is gonna be like, fair warning that I will probably have a number of little fangirling breakdowns
anyhoo, so this definitely clears some things up. the translation could be a little clearer, but I’m gonna take this to mean that he has a two-clone limit, period, and can’t make more than two of any person or object until the existing clones disappear. meaning that this can’t actually be used to create entire armies, which is a smart move on Horikoshi’s part in terms of keeping him from getting too op. this is especially important because we know his clones can use the same quirks as the original. so yeah, that could potentially get out of hand real fast without a few limiters in place
but! there is one exception to the “only two” rule, which we’re now seeing in action! a quirk hack, if you will. which is that if he clones himself, each of those clones is then capable of using the same Doubling quirk under the same rules. so each clone can make an additional two clones. which is dope. like, past a certain point, you actually have to start using math to keep up with him. and that part is in fact pretty motherflippin’ powerful, even if each duplicate is weaker than the last. it’s definitely not something you want to fuck with. I would sure hate to be a person, or army of people, who have done just that and are now going to have to feel his wrath. oh man
so because this is a Flashback Arc we are now cutting to another flashback, but this time a more recent one involving the Shigaraki Squad all hanging out in the ol’ Villain Shack
-- holy shit
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okay but this is so fucking smart, though. these guys keep thinking of things that would never, ever occur to me because try as I might, I just can’t get on the same level of thinking outside the box that they’re at. obviously they’re a good deal more primed to think of creative applications of their own quirks, having lived with said quirks for most of their lives. but still
anyways, look at me, I’m practically beside myself being impressed even though Twice wasn’t actually able to do anything lol. but just, even the fact that they tried is impressive to me. leave no avenue unexplored. god this manga is so good
anyway so now we’re cutting back to the present, and Twice is thinking that he wants to repay his friends for accepting him. “that’s all I ever think about!”
weekly reminder that Twice is in fact the nicest guy in the series. and it’s all the more impressive since he lacked any kind of good influence when he was growing up. dude is a fucking saint if you think of it like that
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lol. well no one ever said saints couldn’t be violent sometimes
so now the MLA goons who were formerly watching on the sidelines are all “oh shit” and they’re rushing in to try to help contain the situation
only to be confronted with this
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you see?? math. Twice to the nth power. holy shit
also the title/attack name Sad Man’s Parade is so good and evocative that I assumed it must be a reference to something, but when I googled it just now all I got was links to articles and reviews of this very chapter. but I still think it must be a reference though. we’ve had a lot of them recently, including last week’s title, which as @herongale pointed out to me was a reference to The Killing Joke. so if any smart person can figure this one out, please let me know. it sounds like a song or something maybe
anyway I just clicked to the next page and it’s the most badass thing I’ve ever seen so let me just share that with y’all
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things I like:
Twice’s face
that last panel. just. that
Twice holding Toga all protectively fffsdfasd
and did I mention that face though. holy hecking fuck my lovable lil LoV mascot is suddenly all grown up and making me feel things. going after all of my weak spots at once! protecting his friends: check. all scuffed up and covered in blood all sexy-like: double check. and last but not least, that look of utter, fearless determination: checkcheckmotherfuckincheck
jesus christ. first Giran and now you. more like League of Thirst, fml. what was that he was saying in the previous chapter about his scary looks?? you know what Twice, you can fuck right off with that noise. I can’t believe you were holding out on us this entire time
anyway so now here’s Re-Destro to chill me out before I completely lose my shit
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ah, nothing like that arrogant pointy mug to bring me back down to reality right quick. really can’t wait until someone knocks this guy down off his high horse
and now he’s turning and casually remarking to Skeptic that it’s rare to see him fail. and holy shit though, there’s something about this scene that just sent a chill down my spine
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and why did I get flashbacks to that poor lil dead mouse guy just now, though. the thing about Re-Destro is he’s the kind of guy who can and will be all smiles right up to and including the point where he happily snaps your neck for having displeased him. and that is scary as fuck. just look how quickly Skeptic noped the fuck out of there
look at him omg
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he sure got the message right away, didn’t he? better go fix things right the fuck now if you enjoy being alive, dude
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holy shit. he is genuinely scary. that one panel there may actually be scarier than anything AFO ever did. I suddenly had a rush of appreciation for Overhaul of all people, yes you heard me right, because at least he was just unabashedly Straight Up Evil. none of this pretending to be all nice with this cold dead look in your eyes bullshit
just, I really don’t like how it just seems like he could snap at any time and you’re never quite sure what the final trigger might actually be. it’s terrifying. but I guess that’s the kind of vibe you’ve got to have if you’re looking to be a villain so bad that the actual villains are fighting against you lol
now Giran is straight up not giving a fuck again, and acting like he’s not tied to a chair with one remaining hand and trapped in a room with this profoundly unsettling man, and as usual I love it
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you just keep on being insolent and sarcastic you sexy piece of shit. you’re doing great
lol now Re-Destro says they’ll overcome quantity with quality, and wow. that may just be the most delusional thing this asshole has said thus far. have we even been reading the same arc?? are you really trying to say that your Metahuman Army of Jackasses is in any way even in the same league as Tomura’s merry band of ragtag prodigies? just go ahead and admit that they’re wiping the floor with you
and as if to prove my point
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tbh I’m genuinely starting to feel like any one member of the League could singlehandedly take out Re-Destro’s entire force. and they haven’t even introduced you to Gigantomachia yet!! my god. RD’s horribly discomforting general vibe aside, this arc is like watching a horror movie play out where none of the victims realizes how screwed they are until it’s too late. and also you’re rooting for the killers because they’re likable and sexy
I do have to hand it to Parka here though because he’s somehow not dead yet in spite of all that, which is legitimately impressive
Dabi even says that his ice is almost gone. you’re living on borrowed time Baskin Robbins
ooh now we’re getting a quick panel of Compress doing his thing while Dabi carries on
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Compress are we getting your flashbacks next. I can only begin to imagine what kind of tragic and relatable things you’ve been through and how hot you probably are too underneath that mask. how long until you’re my new favorite character. I’m onto this arc and its games by this point, Horikoshi. you and your motherfucking League of Thots ffff
Dabi is all “why do I have to help you?” lol. classic Dabi
eh what’s this
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before I click to the next page, I’m just going to assume he’s talking about the twelve million Twices headed their way
yep
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new favorite panel alert
oh my god. this is amazing. more of him to love
LMAO
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FUCK YOU AND YOUR CAREFREE SELF-AWARE MANGA HORIKOSHI KOUHEI. I CAN’T LEGALLY MARRY A SHOUNEN MANGA SERIES SO WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME LIKE THIS
and Compress is all “wow that sounds like something from a hero story,” and then we’re cutting to another Twice panel so that we can’t see him turning and winking at the audience
Twice says that the League are his only friends in the world and that they’re all precious to him. actually, he didn’t say it so much as he straight up yelled it. nicest guy in the fucking world I’m telling you. what a good egg. what a chaotic good little boy scout
lmao now he’s drunk on power and ambition
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lmao go for it. THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER
(ETA: also I just realized what I said before about him not being able to make an army is clearly blatantly untrue, since even though he has the two-clone limit, that hardly matters if there are like 17,000 of him and each of them can clone two other people. he truly is a beast.)
oh my god
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are you telling me that you guys are kicking so much ass that it’s actually backfiring on you. “that was such a good plan that we had, but unfortunately we didn’t take into account that we’re straight up gangstas who kick ass and take names”
hell, if the Army’s all gone by the time G-Man gets here, you can just sic all the clones on him and see if it finally gets you somewhere! I’m past the point of putting anything past you guys now. I’m pretty sure you can do anything. I’m glad you’re on our side. oh shit wait
anyway so Compress is checking his dandy pocket watch and says Giganto should be there in one hour and five minutes
are they taking travel time into account?? or wait, I guess Ujiko can just warp him over to their location once he finally wakes up. right
Twice is telling them all that Toga’s in trouble and needs help! yessss help her. I got so caught up in your tremendous badassery that I almost forgot
HEY WHAT THE
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RUDE. WHO DID THIS
oh go figure
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you know it really is incredible how quickly Horikoshi can get me back on that “so are we going to get any Dabi flashbacks” train though lol. I really should know better by this point. quash those hopes. this manga is not a charity; we don’t give out flashbacks for free just like that
and yet. my brain says no but my heart says “pleasepleaseplease”
so now Ben & Jerry’s is saying that he can also control the temperature of the ice. um, what? it’s already ice; how much colder can it possibly get? unless you’re talking about making it warmer, in which case I hate to break it to you but then it’s water and not ice, and you obviously can’t control water so
oh wait he just means that he can use his ice to freeze other stuff and make More Ice. oh
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RIGHT, DABI??
and now Klondike here is launching into some kind of speech, oh joy
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hoohhhhh boy
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[sidles up to Dabi] hey there boy. that last part sound like anything you’ve heard before? jog any memories for you there bud? provoke any thoughts? spark any reveries??
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Dabi you’re really one hell of a closed book, you know that? fuck my life
(ETA: but also! so the real colors of the MLA finally come out, huh. for all their talk of freeing people from oppression, they’re no different from the people they want to overthrow; it’s just that they want to oppress the people who don’t have quirks, or whose quirks are “weak.” no doubt the original Destro had a similar philosophy. can’t imagine quirkless people making out too well in this brave new world of theirs. in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if there was eventually a mass genocide of anyone quirkless. it would get real dark real fast.)
oh shit
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everybody sHUT UP, WE’RE GETTING DETAILS ABOUT DABI’S QUIRK AND ABOUT HIS SCARS AHSLDFJASLK
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okay first of all, !!!@KLK!L!!!LK!”!!!GGKK
and second, Horikoshi continues the trend of putting the brakes on the League’s powers getting out of control, even as he shows how much they can still kick ass when unleashed to their fullest potential. that’s a hell of a balance to strike
and third, !LJ!L!!!!”!”“!DSFLSDIW for reals though because this is the first we’ve ever gotten as far as actual details regarding those scars and their possible origins, and holy shit but I can’t. finally some more info on the mysterious house elf
and meanwhile Compress is sitting in a mess of melted and frozen Twices, and thinking that it would be great if they could have Haagen-Dazs face off against Gigantomachia. but like, the way he says that kind of implies that he doesn’t think he’s gonna last that long lol. which I’m in agreement with. Dabi you can go ahead and take this popsicle fucker out now
-- !!?!!
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okay Horikoshi you can’t just CUT TO UJIKO LIKE THAT WITHOUT WARNING you ass. give me a sec to brace myself first would ya
and poor little John standing there in the corner. John-kun ;_; god that’s so fucked up to just draw him chilling there all but forgotten until he’s actually needed
and what do you mean “if you were to die here.” underestimating them much? but if you want to toss them a bone though sure go ahead
so does this mean he’s going to unleash another High End?? because I’m all out of puns for those, so I’ll have to come up with a new shtick and I can’t just do that off the cuff you know
oh, nope. even better!
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yooooooo things about to get lit up in the club omgggggggg
YESSSSSSS
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okay first of all is he literally uprooting fucking trees just by waking up from his nap slkjdlfffff how many more ways can Horikoshi come up with to show us how much of a fucking beast this guy is. holy fuck
and second, YESSSSSSSSS. THAT’S RIGHT YOU ARMY MOTHERFUCKERS! PREPARE TO TASTE SOME PAIN. JUST LOOK AT THAT. HE’S GONNA STIR UP SOME CALAMITIES AND SHIT. ALL YOU FUCKERS GONNA DIE, AND I’LL BE RIGHT HERE, WATCHING CONTENTEDLY AND CAPSLOCKING ABOUT IT
hahaha this arc is making me want to be a villain. I can’t help it. they make it look like so much fun. shit
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