#so yeah expecting interesting things from this fight not gonna lie

[torgawl]

can we talk about sukuna and rika and why the king and queen of curses having a dispute is also narratively fitting? if sukuna is an heian era sorcerer with an antipathy and disregard of human emotions and the weak's will to live, blind to love and unable to comprehend the value of relationships with others then rika, as his counterpart, works especially well. rika is just a kid, or was just a kid. an innocent young girl who ended up dying tragically and saw herself transform into a vengeful spirit after being cursed by love. not only does she represent the weak (remember when sukuna's slaughter of women and children was implied?), she represents love itself. with her feelings lingering after death, she clinged onto her existence with the sole wish of protecting yuuta. it counteracts so well with sukuna's selfish will to kill time before his final breathe, which he admitted to be his will and motivation.

before i move on to my next idea, which let me preface by saying that it might be a little out there and dives into theory territory, i'm going to contextualise it with some information on the symbolism of "king and queen" that might help understand why this thought may make - at least some - sense.

in alchemy the king usually appears in conjunction with the queen, representing the sun-and-moon duality. in accordance with the theory of sulfur and mercury, which together, after alchemist purification, form the philosopher’s stone (also called the elixir of life, associated with rejuvenation and immortality), usually represented by the crowned hermetic androgyne (the union of the complementary male and female, achieving perfection or completion in the human state). according to jung, the king and queen also signify the spiritual conjunction that takes place when the process of individuation is complete, with the harmonious union of the unconscious and consciousness. jungian psychology has subjected the alchemistic tradition to extensive analysis and views the king less as an image of paternal authority and more as an archetype of higher insight and wisdom.

with that in mind, i think it's easy to understand where i'm headed but i want to add something else. remember jjk 0? geto's plan at the time was to obtain rika so he could use her power and move forward with his plan to annihilate all no-sorcerers. he believed her to be the key to achieve his goal and was willing to risk his own life for it. furthermore, the story is highly based on buddhist concepts and one of the core aspects of jujutsu kaisen is the cycles of suffering the characters are subjected to. in buddhism the goal is to become free of the samsara (continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth), eliminate suffering and achieve nirvana (enlightment). this ties withe the name of the series as kaisen is comprised of the kanji 'kai', meaning cycle, and 'sen', meaning battle, which combined with jujutsu (which means magic/sorcery but contains the word curse) describe the story as an endless battle of curses. and in a sense, the story also repeats itself, between generations and storyline-wise with the events circling back to how it all began. yuuta managed to land a fatal strike on geto once again, but now rika is pointed to be in a direct confrontation with sukuna as the queen of curses. now that i went through all the context needed to understand this, is it possible rika is once again in danger of being taken away? the idea of achieving a state of perfection with the unity between king and queen is quite intriguing. sukuna finally addressing yuuji as a worthy rival because of his unshakable resolve and unbreakable soul, is almost directly implying yuuji to be the one with whom sukuna has his last battle. an ultimate power-up (or the equivalent to), would be veyy cathartic before a final fight where yuuji would have the opportunity to finally go all out and have his well awaited and deserved protagonism (in my eyes, at least).

[sorry-octopus]

There’s a LOT to talk about regarding the qsmp dinner. The first thing I will say is that it instantly has become one of my favorite lore streams. 

The first thing I want to talk about is Elquackity. I watched his pov and am gonna work on watching others. The big thing Elq did was during his speech, where he said he has turned against the federation and wants to burn them to the ground. Immediately, I think this is a lie. I think Elquackity is simply trying to gain trust. He is more and more trying to seem like the normal Quackity. And then the codes attacked.

The timing of the attack is what gets me. It is immediately after Elquackity’s speech. Maybe they did it then because it was the last speech. Maybe it had something to do with his or others' speeches. But it was crazy. We also know now that there is at least one other code! This attack is scary because we also know now that the reason why the code(s) were taking photos of the eggs was to mimic their behavior. I think the reason for the codes appearing more corrupted had to do with them transforming. This is likely just the first time the codes will mimic the eggs. It can happen at any other time.

The battle was sooo cool like omg. Etoiles and Phil POPPING OFF I LOVE IT SM AGGGJHHHODSHDJHD

But were they targeting Etoiles? Why did they keep teleporting everyone out of the area? They killed Gegg which is really sad so RIP Gegg. Also, seeing the message in chat that Philza was killed by Chayane was terrifying. And then seeing that the real Chayanne and Tallulah witnessed this happening. Oh my god guys. Phil killing the code with the CODE BREAKER axe. It was all so good. 

Then after the fight when Slime confessed he was Gegg, Elq talked to him and whispered to him to help him win the election. I find this very interesting. Also, it kind of proves that Elquackity was lying earlier, because who else would the people he knew be aside from the Federation? I’m really interested to see where this goes.

I also wanna talk about the Elquackity and Maximus fight. I was able to follow along with what they were saying with the translator, and I was so invested like omg. I was really expecting someone to get killed, so I was surprised when Elq teleported away. Can you imagine if Maxo killed him? That would have been actually insane. 

And then Tazercraft got kidnapped so yeah!!! What a day am I right!!!!!! This was so awesome and I can’t wait to see what the admins cook up next 👍

[beybladefanboy]

A brief(ish) review of every Beyblade Metal Fury episode

Well, this was a long time coming. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not put this off or abandon this rewatch because I dislike Fury. Not at all. Fury is actually my favourite of the three seasons. The reason I stopped this rewatch was two main factors: 1: it was around this time that I got really sucked into Yugioh VRAINS and with how chaotic my life had been during that time, I decided I would rather spend my free time watching new content than rewatch a show I’d rewatched many times at that point. And 2: I didn’t want to rewatch Ryuga’s death. Yeah… I mean I’m not gonna lie about it.

So after a certain episode, which I will say, the reviews are mostly from memory/rewatching specified scenes/skimming the YouTube uploads and episode descriptions. (Most of these however were written at the time I finished rewatching each episode.) Trust me that I’ve seen this show enough for me to be able to do that and I just didn’t have the time to rewatch all these episodes. However, it bothered me leaving this incomplete so today, I had some time and was thinking of Beyblade so I figured I could finally do it. Now, without further ado, my at first brief, but later not so brief at all because I have so many thoughts on and defenses of Fury, reviews of every Fury episode.

Episode 1: Star Fragment 8.5/10

The best first episode of a season. I love Kyoya and Gingka’s battles in general and seeing them go all out against each other, using the environment itself as weapons against each other is really damn fun. It also sets up the star fragment thing beautifully, instantly showing off their power and hinting at the greater story very early.

Episode 2: Legendary Bladers 7/10

A lot of this episode is exposition but it’s at least interesting. I can’t get over the fact that Beyblade took a real life end of the world prediction and made it part of their plot. The battle portion of this episode is also fine. I can’t tell if I like or hate Johannes based on this episode.

Episode 3: Lynx, The Monster Cat 8/10

Okay, I like Johannes now. He’s funny. And he miraculously gave Gingka a good fight, establishing him early on as a competent blader. Still a little silly that Gingka followed Johannes to a place where he should’ve known his bey would’ve been weaker though.

Episode 4: L-Drago Destructor 8.5/10

I don’t really have much to say on this episode outside of “I like it.” I like the scenes of them play-battling with the little kid, it’s the most light-hearted the show has been in a while, and I love Ryuga so obviously I love his presence in this episode.

Episode 5: Awaken, Anubius! 9.5/10

Ryuga slays three fools in a row and roasts people non-stop in this episode. Well, Yuki’s not a fool, he’s kind of a boss actually: shedding his anxious demeanour in a fit of rage to stand up for his friends. These characters are both amazing, they really shine in this episode.

Episode 6: Requirements of a Warrior 9/10

Having Gingka, Kyoya, and Yuki acknowledge that they need to actually master their beys and working to do so is really good and needed to be brought up. Also, that fire escape scene is really intense. The idea of being trapped in a fire really freaks me out so this could just be a me thing but it’s legitimately a well crafted scene. And Yuki, Kyoya, and Gingka fighting a volcano is the silly yet epic fun I expect from this show.

Episode 7: Kenta’s Determination 7/10

Oh boy, this episode. I both love and hate this episode. Well, not hate. I hate one scene of it that lasts a minute and really doesn’t affect the episode. The stalking though… I don’t know, it could just be me but it bugs me. Not as much as it used to, I’m willing to give this episode a fair score because it is really cute. Ryuga is a boss like usual and he shows a hint of his softer side for the first time in his scenes with Kenta. It’s pretty subtle, and easy to miss if you don’t know Ryuga all that well, which I like. This episode trusts that the audience knows Ryuga well enough at this point to know that him waiting on Kenta in the desert and later giving him food and letting him stick with him isn’t something he would do for just anyone. They’re small hints, which is all they needed to be, and they make the second half of this episode for me. It’s honestly one of my favourites to talk about and analyse, even if I feel that there are some… unwanted implications.

Episode 8: The Crimson Flash 7.5/10

The first half of the episode is pretty typical but still fun. Then we get to the second half and the moment they said that someone challenged the entire school to a battle, I was already dying of laughter and the rest of this episode straight up killed me. Johannes is so funny, I can’t take it.

Episode 9: The Greatest Tag-Team Tournament 9/10

The first half of this episode had me cry-laughing, between Johannes’s utter ridiculousness and the absurdity of some of these other opponents. Then the second half of this episode is Yuki depicting an accurate representation of one of my anxiety episodes which makes me instinctively want to shield him from all harm. Great episode overall.

Episode 10: A New Roar! 8/10

I love Kyoya, and this is a Kyoya episode. A Kyoya episode where he slays a fool and creates a new special move. His opponent is Johannes, who I've grown to love on this rewatch and find to be really entertaining. So why didn’t I give this episode a higher rating? Easy: the Motti stuff makes me uncomfortable. Johannes snapping at her and knocking both her and Benkei out (in the most cat-like way he could) was a good pay-off but that entire stretch of them kinda sexualizing (or at least romanticising) this underaged girl was really uncomfortable. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered (for some reason I remembered Johannes acting creepy during this and was exceedingly relieved and glad that he actually didn’t), but it does detract from an otherwise great episode.

Episode 11: Cosmic Tornado 8/10

This episode is ten times worse than the Gingka vs Ryuga Fusion battle for people with a fear of heights (me). At least in that one you could see the bottom. This is a bottomless pit full of mist that two teenagers are constantly dangling over. Like jeez, do you wanna give me a heart attack?!

Other than that, it’s fine, I like most of the characters and the ending is chilling but man does this episode give me anxiety.

Episode 12: The God of Saturn, Kronos 8.5/10

The title of this episode is so dumb, but the episode itself is good. The Beylin Fist are an interesting group and this battle is so back and forth I genuinely wasn’t sure who would win. Cool ass episode.

Episode 13: Showdown at the Tower of Babel 10/10

Ryuga, Kenta, and Tsubasa all in one episode battling in and eventually destroying a historical building? This should be my favourite episode ever! :D And I do love it, definitely the most out of the Fury episodes so far. It’s got a hint of Johannes toward the beginning, a nice treat, shows that Kenta has already grown a ton since he started following Ryuga (despite his loss he still gave Tsubasa a hard fight), has Tsubasa as basically the main character we follow throughout the tower, and has Ryuga make a new ultimate move, kick Tsubasa’s ass, and knock over the Tower of Babel (the symbol of humanity’s arrogance and pride from what I understand) like the total badass he is. I love everything about this episode.

Episode 14: New Team Dungeon! 7.5/10

The opening of this episode is a bit spooky. I forgot how much of a cult the followers of Nemesis really are. I actually 100% see how these characters fell for this stuff. “The world is a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth, only through great darkness will a new dawn occur.” Does actually sound legit. Villains are far scarier to me when you can see their reasoning and how people can fall prey to it…

The rest of this episode is mainly set up and exposition but it’s interesting stuff that brings Masamune, Toby, Zeo, and Tsubasa into the main plot, giving Toby and Zeo new beys, and even giving Team Excalibur a bit of screen time. Good stuff.

Episode 15: Destroyer Dome 8/10

This is my favourite stadium in all of Beyblade. That seems like a weird thing to draw attention to, but the Destroyer Dome itself is so damn cool. The way the beys circle around the whole thing like comets, sticking to the ceiling and walls and looping around in every possible direction. It’s a stadium Captain Capri would’ve loved- OH MY GOD THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK JUST TO BATTLE IN THIS COOL ASS STADIUM?! HELL YEAH! I love this episode.

I do have one major gripe with this episode though: the Garcias faking a fight was… well, kind of a waste of both time and potential. It would’ve been so much more interesting both as a story and for them as characters if the fighting was genuine.

Episode 16: The New Striker is Complete! 8.5/10

JACK MY BELOVED MAKES A CAMEO! AND KING THE FUNNY ADORABLE LITTLE SHIT IS INTRODUCED. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!

Oh yeah and the Russian team and Masamune and some other people are there I guess. It’s a fun battle royale. I really like the part where Lera reveals she has a special move and it makes Jigsaw visible again. Good stuff, even if it ends too quickly.

Episode 17: I Am the Champion! 9.5/10

DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, OH MY GOD IT’S SO PRETTY. THE BEYS LOOK LIKE FIREWORKS AS THEY CLASH OH MY GOD-

Also, the destroyer dome becomes a giant hamster ball and King and Masamune run with it like they’re on a treadmill. I dunno how the others got out when it was made clear by Blader DJ last episode that there’s no way to get out of the stadium once you get in but it’s cool so I’ll let it pass. But yeah anyways, King’s backstory gives him an honestly really uplifting reason that he’s so arrogant and reckless, which does lower the annoyingness of his previous and future actions a lot. He’s excited to be battling and not thinking of anything else in that excitement. He acknowledges that Masamune is someone he can use his full strength against and he respects him as an opponent. It’s nice and very sweet and all that mushy stuff. I love it.

Episode 18: The Maze of Mist Mountain 7/10

Half of this episode is just the main characters, and returning side characters Nile and Demure (nice to see them again) wandering around some mist. … okay then. The other half is a decent battle between Gingka and Ryuto. It’s a decent introduction to this story arc. I like the new character, Ryuto, even if he doesn’t really add much.

Episode 19: The Lion’s Pride 9/10

The travelling segments of this one are a lot more interesting than last time, being more than the characters just wandering around in some mist. And the battle portion is just really damn good. Team Wild Fang is back! Heck yeah! And Kyoya vs Aguma is a constant explosion match (both literally and figuratively) and Nile, Demure, and Benkei taking on Johannes, Bao, and the Beylin Fist bladers is also a fun side battle.

Also, while I was disappointed with how this character arc was resolved and the way it starts is a little weird (I’ll get to that later), it was still a really interesting idea to have Kyoya basing his self-worth on his independence, and seeing it as a weakness to rely on others. It’s a very toxic mindset that fits his character and would’ve been great had it been properly addressed. But I’ll get to that when I get to that.

Episode 20: Guardian of the Temple, Dynamis 8/10

Dynamis has probably the best introduction out of all the legendary bladers. All the others just kinda walk in like “hey I’m so and so and this is my goal.” Dynamis though? He speaks to the group when they’re lost in the mist as if he’s speaking from the sky like a god or something, then when they finally get into his temple he challenges them to a battle, smirking like a sassy little shit as he wins. Also, he literally can hear the stars talk, I forgot this detail. My point is Dynamis is hecking cool.

Episode 21: The Legend of Nemesis’ Revival 8/10

Gingka vs Dynamis is a good battle but then it gets cut off without an outcome and then the rest of this episode is exposition. Out of all the exposition dump episodes in this show, I do think this one is the best as it’s the most interesting and action-packed but there is too much information in this spiel. If there’s any part of Fury that I can agree is rushed, it’s this. I wish the exposition in this episode had been shortened and maybe some of it spread out to other episodes so it’s not all dumped on the audience at once. The main things we really needed going forward from this episode was the origin of Nemesis, the way they were defeated long ago, and the fact one of the remaining legendary bladers is the Venus blader with a Quetzalcoatl.

So while this episode wasn’t the best way to convey most of its information, it’s still interesting and important information for the story, which I do think is a good story. So I’m giving this episode a somewhat higher score than what it probably deserves. I just enjoy Fury’s lore and Dynamis and the commentary on humanity and its history that much. I can see how this episode could bore and there were times the over-explaining bogged me down while watching but overall it was still a delight.

Episode 22: The Four Season Bladers 8.5/10

Okay, this exposition is a lot simpler and easier to follow. It takes up far less of the episode and cuts to the chase much quicker. Then the rest of this episode is the craziest battle royale of the entire show so far, ending when Kyoya reaches his breaking point which has been building over the past few episodes. He allowed what may have been just a small feeling at first to fester on the inside since he refused to tell anyone what he was going through until he eventually just snapped, which is pretty relatable to me personally. Kyoya’s arc in these episodes is well done. I understand the criticism that it’s strange he took Aguma’s words to heart so much when Kyoya doesn’t really know him and normally wouldn’t care about taunts like that. I want to argue it wasn’t specifically Aguma, or even what he said, it was Kyoya’s own internal realisation that he wasn’t living up to his own standards of strength. He internalised the idea that relying on others was showing weakness, an idea he carried yet simultaneously seemed to have been contradicting even before the start of the show. That kind of life shattering realisation is going to cause a huge reaction, no matter what prompted it. If Kyoya’s character arc this season had been resolved better (which again I’ll get to), it would be one of my favourite arcs of the show. I cannot stress enough how good of a setup this really was and how much potential this had.

Episode 23: The Battle of Beyster Island 8.5/10

“tHaT gUy lOoKs iNtErEsTiNg.”

I love King, oh my god. He is so freaking excited and happy to be battling that even when Aguma reveals a move that could defeat him, King just goes “that is so awesome!” I love his energy so much, he’s basically an excited fanboy and I love it. This episode was fun overall but King is the one who shines the brightest in my opinion.

Episode 24: Two Big, Fierce Battles! 9.5/10

I can totally understand how the back and forth switching between two unrelated battles might be off-putting… but I don’t have that issue. I love all these characters. I love seeing Kenta’s growth and Gingka acknowledging him. I love getting more of those subtle hints that Ryuga has grown to care about Kenta, and of course, the banter between Ryuga and King. There’s a reason I created a ship between these two. Even though they only met once in this battle, King not knowing who he is and just being excited to battle a strong opponent and Ryuga being confused/annoyed with him is really fun. Kenta and Gingka’s battle is definitely the more plot relevant one (and oh my gosh I love that scene on the beach) while Ryuga vs King could definitely be called fan service, but it’s great fan service that fits right in perfectly dammit! It’s something kid-me wanted to see ever since King’s reverse rotation was introduced and it’s great!

Episode 25: The Unseen Opponent 7.5/10

Chris’s introduction episode. It still annoys me how insistent the characters are that Masamune has to be the Legendary Blader and ignore Chris entirely and Chris’s bey’s physics are impossible but the battle in this episode is still good. And my god do I love Chris. He’s already a huge mood with the way he talks about his job. “I’ve dealt with much worse than this!” “If I lose, I will not be able to survive in this world!”

Episode 26: Orion’s Whereabouts 8.5/10

This episode is so chaotic, I love it. Everyone is just in a mosh pit of madness, with King defending his friend, Gingka trying to get him to chill, Chris instantly sucking up to his new boss, Ryuga showing up to wreak havoc, it’s all so damn fun. Stand out moments from this episode definitely include Kenta hugging the evil out of Ryuga, King cheering Masamune up, and that chilling ending. It’s great fun, and could be the last really fun episode of Fury as soon we get into the emotionally intense stuff…

Episode 27: The Lion in the Wilderness 7/10

Yu is such a brat but in a charming way. I can’t stay mad at the little guy, especially when he’s the one to call out Kyoya for not knowing shit about lions. Haha if only that weren’t the closest thing to resolving this character arc. Overall, fine episode. I like Tithi just fine and Kyoya and Yu are at least funny. Next episode though…

Episode 28: The God of Venus: Quetzalcoatl! 5/10

Yu and Tithi’s battle is pretty fun, it’s a good official introduction to Tithi. The first half of this episode is fine, fairly enjoyable if a bit standard. The second half though… ugh. I wrote a whole fanfiction rewriting this which… should explain how I feel about it. What Kyoya does here feels so out of character at this point and even if it’s not, it’s just irritating and the destiny moral is really fumbled here. Every other episode says the choices of the legendary bladers will decide the fate of the world and the narrative of this very episode even supports that: Kyoya chose to leave the heroes and then chose to return. Destiny didn’t actually force him to do anything. Kyoya just claims it’s his destiny out of nowhere. It fumbles the “destiny is a choice” idea and feels like an excuse to get him to return quickly without acknowledging the reason he left in the first place. Yu saying lions hunt in groups isn’t good enough because Kyoya doesn’t even acknowledge that or think about it… at all. So yeah it’s lazy writing and really disappointing considering how much potential Kyoya’s arc had. The final scene is pretty cool though, good setup for the next episode.

Episode 29: The God of Destruction’s Revival! 10/10

(This is the point where I start reviewing the episodes based on memory/episode descriptions.)

I’ll be honest, most of the episodes that were originally two 11 minute episodes flow pretty seamlessly as one put together episode. This is the only one where I can tell this was originally two episodes, as the two halves follow two completely different sets of characters. The first half is the revival of Nemesis, a chilling, tense spectacle, while the first half almost exclusively, and a little out of nowhere, is a battle between Kenta and Ryuga. That being said, while I definitely prefer the second half, both halves are fantastic. A little odd when put together, but tonally they mesh well enough and I love how much Kenta has grown in this episode and his plan to beat Ryuga is so good that even though I knew it wouldn’t work, I see how it could have worked. Plus, y’all know I love their friendship, it’s just so damn wholesome, I can’t-

Episode 30: The Child of Nemesis 7/10

Hello, obviously Doji in a top hat and trench coat. Why are you here exactly? Yeah I know his first appearance was in the last episode but I have less to say about this episode than I did that one so I’m gonna talk about the Doji thing here. Bringing Doji back was almost completely unnecessary and weird but honestly, after seeing how much more poor and ill-fitting his presence in Shogun Steel was, his appearance in Fury feels pretty inoffensive and just… whatever. He’s pointless but not unbearable.

Otherwise, cool ass raid episode, I like evil Dynamis and Kyoya showing up at the end. Nothing else really sticks out about this episode but it’s not bad. It’s just… not one that I can instantly point to and go “ah yes, the episode where this happened!” The main battle is Gingka vs Evil Dynamis. We’ve already seen Gingka vs Dynamis and they don’t even get to finish their battle. The episode is still fun but… feels like it could’ve been trimmed back to tighten the pacing.

Episode 31: Four Hearts 8/10

Okay, this episode is much more memorable. Kyoya vs Dynamis and Aguma vs Tithi are both fun battles (even if I don’t get why the Planet bladers were descendants rather than reincarnations when the latter makes way more sense with what’s presented in this episode, is that just a dub thing?) and the bulk of Gingka vs Chris actually happens in this episode. I could’ve sworn that happened in its own episode but… yeah this episode and the previous and following one kind of blend together in my mind because all of them take place in this temple and flow directly into each other. That’s not a knock against the episodes, it’s just how my memory works. This one moves the plot along more than the last one and I love Chris so most of the episode being focused on his battle with Gingka is good in my books.

Episode 32: Come Together, Legendary Bladers! 9/10

Also known as the episode where Ryuga fucks everything up. And every battle from the last episode also ends. A lot of Ls were taken in this episode. By the characters, the episode itself is damn fun. This episode also has two halves that feel a bit pasted together, with the first half focusing on the fallout of the three battles and the second half being the part everyone remembers where all the Legendary Bladers attempt to join together only for the aforementioned Ryuga hecking up everything but these halves mesh much better as it focuses on all the same characters as the first half so there’s no random sudden shift in focus, it’s just the next logical event in the plot.

This episode also features the scene where King and Masamune pose like magical girls. I’m just bringing that up because it’s cute not because it’s relevant.

Episode 33: Diablo Nemesis 8.5/10

The temple getting wrecked took up more time than I remembered but oh well, the first half of this episode is a good display of Rago’s power and while the second half is tonally different, it’s the most logical direction for the plot to go. Plus it’s a nice chance to see the Legendary Bladers interact, in some cases meet, in a way that’s more low-key. As much as I love Fury, I do wish it had more scenes like that, more chances for the characters to just breathe or establish bonds.

Episode 34: To The Final Battle Ground 7.5/10

So for some reason, the official source for Beyblade on YouTube incorrectly titled this and the next episode and also put them out of order. Episode 136 is titled “To The Final Battle Ground” and has that episode’s description but the episode is actually “Episode 137 The Lost Kingdom” and vice versa for the next episode. While I’m not fully rewatching these last eleven episodes due to time constraints, I did check my DVD for Metal Fury (which is an official release) and it didn’t make that mistake, the episodes are titled correctly and in the correct order so this was a mistake the YouTube channel made and I don’t know why it happened or why they haven’t fixed it even 7 years later. For anyone watching Fury, be sure to get the correct order! The show didn’t skip over Aguma’s redemption, the channel just put the episodes in the wrong order!

Anyways, the episode itself. Yeah, it has Aguma’s big redemption moment and… I actually do think it works pretty well. It’s nothing super deep, but he comes to the logical conclusion that saving the world comes before the Beylin Fist’s feud with Beylin and shows his commitment to the group by helping them fight off Johannes and his goons and save their helicopter. The rest of this episode before the battle is just the characters training to prepare for the final confrontation as they don’t know the whereabouts of Nemesis before they get a clue to said whereabouts and decide to go there. Not the most eventful episode but it works well enough. Besides… the next episode is… more eventful to say the least.

Episode 35: The Lost Kingdom 8.5/10

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have pure pain directly injected into your heart? I don’t have to, I watched this episode.

Try as I might, I cannot get through this episode, or the following one, without crying. Some movies or shows that try to depict a character fighting to their very last breath with every ounce of their strength before ultimately fighting to their last breath, cannot convince me that the character gave it their all. This is not one of those moments. This battle is as long as it needs to be and every moment is there to further the struggle, the slow fall of the once invincible-seeming Dragon Emperor, and I feel every bit of it. It’s the reason I… couldn’t bring myself to rewatch these episodes again at the point in my life I was at when this rewatch occurred. I was already getting my heart violently ripped out by a new show (and general life events that I won’t go into) and didn’t want my comfort show also causing me pain. So while this episode is great, phenomenal even, it’s… the second hardest episode for me to revisit. Entrusted Emotions only barely edges it out because that episode literally traumatised me to the point of developing a phobia. This one… is just a really sad episode that I always grab tissues before.

Doji’s also in this episode and while I don’t feel like his presence in this season was necessary (and in retrospect, it may have just been there to set up Shogun Steel, which I overall didn’t care for), I will say having him specifically there to mock and enrage Ryuga makes it more painful, at least to me.

Episode 36: The Missing Star of the Four Seasons 10/10

Most of the episode, after the gang reacts to the death of Ryuga which is… also… really damn painful… is them struggling against Nemesis, unable to form the barrier to seal him away due to the passing of Ryuga and… yeah it captures that struggle well. The weight of the world is on the group’s shoulders and it is a hopeless impossible battle and you can feel that in the way they get knocked around despite their teamwork and despite them fighting at their hardest. Maybe it goes on a little too long but this is essentially the final battle and the feels are all there throughout and… the scene everyone remembers from this episode…

I did rewatch that scene (and a couple other scenes in the next episode), and my god is it still just as impactful all this time later. The build up, the atmosphere, the feels, the ANIMATION, holy fuck the animation. And the sound design, Ryuga’s harsh breathing, those final words. I don’t even know what to say, this moment is just phenomenal, my favourite in the entire series without question. Really, when I put Flash Sagittario in my top five Fury episodes all that time ago, it included this episode. Both are such a tense fantastic emotional spectacle that flow into each other beautifully.

Episode 37: Flash Sagittario 10/10

Everything I said about last episode applies to this episode, only now the tides have turned in the heroes’ favour with Kenta’s evolution into a legendary blader, with his new Flash Sagittario, which the episode shows off very well. That moment where he defeats Pluto with Diving Arrow gives me all the feels. If I have one gripe in this episode, it’s that there are more flashback sequences than they probably needed but it’s a final battle and the flashbacks don’t take away from or affect the pacing in any major way for me.

Episode 38: Hades’ Persistence 7/10

Oh, right, the last two episodes weren't the final battle. Honestly, could’ve fooled me, with a proper epilogue afterwards, that battle would’ve worked perfectly as the final battle, it shows the Legendary Bladers all working together and while it excludes a few older characters, the setup is cool and unique and fits the teamwork themes even better than Masters’ ending did and the battle itself is entertaining enough for me to forgive its shortcomings.

This… is just the fate of the world coming down to Gingka again. And everyone giving him their power. Again. Fusion did this first and did this better. Because that coming down to Gingka made sense, he was the one with the greatest connection to the villain, Fusion was very much his story and while he’s still the protagonist, he isn’t more important than anyone else in Masters’ final battle of the previous battle of Fury. This… ruins that, it feels really generic and phoned in. It’s not bad though, I do love Kyoya’s speech to Gingka before he and the others give Gingka their power. That does bring everything together really well and makes this otherwise pointless battle more forgivable for me. It’s a slip up for sure but it’s still entertaining.

Episode 39: A Ray of Hope 8/10

“Every bey has a Star Fragment in it so we can all contribute”… okay…? Well, that’s not incorrect or anything, it does fit the lore of the series and brings everyone together for the final climax in a way that episodes 36 and 37 didn’t but… eh, this never did much for me.

Now the epilogue post battle though? That’s some nice stuff. The gang have been through hell but now that it’s over, they pick themselves back up and start to heal. Enough so that Gingka and Kyoya are even willing to have a battle, a no stakes fun battle to see who the true victor between them is, just like old times. A great final note to a great show.

[lavenoon]

So! I’m curious! Would there be much difference between the events of Sunset and Nacreous Cloud in the canon version and Reverse AU? I imagine Dawn would still be sent alone maybe, because it seemed like a very fast mission until things went south, but Robin would still be at work so I wonder how that would go, also considering that Dawn has seen Robin get stabbed, so this would mean now Robin also sees their rival being injured with the ray torn off and all!

Ahh, now that's interesting! Because the point of Sunset and Nacreous Cloud wasn't just to break the news to the agency (perhaps it's time to start calling them EVOC on here, too - otherwise it's "the agency" vs Abra Fez, that's gonna get confusing soon) and also kick off the Glamrock Arc. Those are definitely important effects of those chapters!

But a big part of the motivation was to have the two who only knew each other as neighbors see each other in action. Dawn got caught, yes, but he also got himself out, only to run into the one man backup that was Robin. They see each other, for the first time in a decidedly not neighborly context, and still all they feel is the relief that the other is (relatively) okay.

(discussions of and just plain injuries to animatronics, you know the drill)

So we'll go two routes - if Dawn is indeed still the one being sent out and getting caught, then perhaps he and Robin had lunch plans together for which he wanted to be back. So Robin waits, and waits, and waits for his knock, except it never comes. They skip lunch as a result, too keyed up to eat alone and also not inclined to give up on Dawn showing up - except then afternoon slowly turns into evening and he's still not back, and they know something is off.

This Robin however is also much more used to lying. They're the undercover agent, they lie for a job - so when River finds them in Dusk and Dawn's office they might just talk their way out of a reveal. They had plans with their partner, and he's not there, so something is wrong and they plan to fix it.

Maybe River still pushes for a reveal, goading Robin until they admit to it, but Robin will be more steadfast because they're much more used to social interaction and staying calm in conversations that don't bode well for them.

The surprise then would be to see Robin going back to their stealthier roots only to be surprised by evidence of their partner being hurt. They got stabbed to prevent that. And this time they have their weapon already at the ready and do not hesitate to fight their way through to him.

Mostly, Dawn would feel guilty for making them come get him - he also very vividly remembers what happened last time they protected him, and is very concerned about any potential repeats. So his relief will be tinged with fear still until he makes sure none of the blood on Robin is theirs, and Robin might just end up a tad annoyed because hey, they're saving him so if he could please stop fretting -

But, yeah, honestly? I don't see this happening in Reverse AU. Because it's missing that core aspect of seeing their neighbor be ruthless and still caring, in both directions.

So getting their hands on the info they want remains easier at night, and it's Moon who promises to be back for breakfast as he hands over a little tupperware from Sun with dinner for them. It's perhaps a bit startling to hear their somewhat shy neighbor just casually talk about breaking into a place with (even at relatively low) high security, but they've done enough of that themself to somewhat brush it off.

They wake up a little early, but their breakfast buddy never shows up. They manage a cereal bar, and then rush into work, too frazzled and too early for River to not be suspicious, and whoop, there Robin goes.

It's been a while since they went into a mission already expecting trouble, but that doesn't mean they aren't prepared. They're the one chasing runners, they're the one still squeezing in parkour whenever they can, on and off the clock, and they're the one thinking they just got to know both Sun and Moon so much more, so much closer, and they're not giving that up now.

Dusk knows his neighbor is a good agent, too - Sun's recounts leave absolutely no doubt about that. But he's an agent too, and as we've established in that other ask, Dusk is the one with the potential to be the most dangerous out of the three.

Perhaps that's why he doesn't just lose a sunray - not that any are out to be ripped off, anyway. But remember that Reverse AU skips First Aid and the explosion in there to, because they weren't idiots and told Y/N right away?

Would be a shame if Dusk gets blown up before he ends up trapped (:

Sure, wrangling him into a position that keeps his one remaining arm restrained is a bit more difficult, but with the cracked lens of his optic it's at least rather easy to pretend he's in rest mode with a dead battery.

Really, no one looks at the one armed and broken animatronic expecting a threat - so they leave him be, until it's time to get him out.

One arm is enough to make sure that doesn't happen though. Dusk is still lethal, and has access to one of his tasers (well, five), and he still has (half of his) thermal vision that he makes generous use of as he sneaks around finding his way towards backup.

And then it's Robin. Not in the outfit that Dawn usually sees them in, but a muted, sporty look, if not for the tears and blood.

Robin, at this point, has already been presented with Dusk's detached arm - they don't carry it, because let's face it, it would simply get in the way without a convenient way to carry it - but they know Moon is hurt and even knowing he can handle himself, it's a lot to go from "haha yeah that's my cute funky neighbor" to "someone just threw his arm in front of me and I don't know where the rest of him is"

They watch him rise from his half crouch, watch the electricity drain from his fingers as his eyes bleed back from red to blue (because he has to see, as much as he can, not just their heat signature), and then they're already sobbing and coming his way.

Bit more awkward to hug while still used to having one more arm to do it with, but Dusk does his best to make up for the missing one as he meets them in the middle and just holds onto them, too. They didn't even hesitate, didn't flinch back at him being so different from what they're used to, and they're currently crying in his arm because they found him.

Sun reminds him that Robin has seen him use the taser generously before, and they've established that Robin isn't scared of him anymore (This would place this version of events past Sonne(t)), so really, he shouldn't have been so worried about what they might think - and also perhaps reign in those heart eyes, because he's getting a bit obvious about things.

Ground support communications still interrupt the moment, and the heart eyes get worse when Robin continues taking the lead. It's approaching noon, perhaps, or at least late morning, and everything is very strange because Dusk does not like being out this time of day and he dreads having to do the mission report Robin already warned him River expects, and things get a little more chaotic. (Nearly wrote chaotik again, good going)

Because Robin tries to take the lead in the conversation, but doesn't quite manage to convince River that all of them together knowing each other's identities is less of a risk than it's a benefit, and Sun decides to intervene. It distracts Dusk for a hot second, but Sun is pushy - he's the social one, he knows what to say, and they can use this as a demonstration.

Robin doesn't even flinch when suddenly Dusk turns to Dawn, and is even less surprised than River who knows about the change but has never witnessed it herself (probably, but tbh I'm keeping my options open).

Dawn also very much enjoys that he receives a squeeze to his hand when he starts arguing, and River just ends up very tired when she agrees to give them their chance. She's dealt with these three enough for one day.

They go home, and while Sun wants to be reassuring and push Y/N into getting that breakfast they pretty much skipped as well as the definitely skipped lunch, they just aren't having it. It ends up being even more reassurance for Sun, because Y/N is outright furious - but only out of concern. They're coming down from the adrenaline rush, all the fear and anxiety, and that urgency to get their partner(s) back safe.

They berate him, yes, for getting hurt, trying to make him promise to not let it happen again, and the entire time they refuse to let go of him even for a second.

Sun does not promise. He says they know the risk comes with the job - he's not eager to let it happen again, but could they ever promise not getting stabbed again?

Y/N can't, for the same reasons.

Fortunately for them, they now get the opportunity to look out for each other, all of them, and they decide to make full use of that <3

[larathia]

So I finally got my hands on the Beast movie. (review/analysis)

As a movie: ...wow. That was bad. That was ....Flash Gordon (the 1980s one, soundtrack by Queen, that one) levels of “seriously, you need a BUDGET to do this story, why didn’t you get one?”

As a BSD AU, though, there was some interesting stuff here.

Let me get the ‘movie itself’ bit out of the way first, though.

For anyone going “But I wanna see! I wanna see!” - I feel you. I do. I’d been scrabbling for months trying to get my hands on this movie, to see what it showed. And so I feel I really should tell you....WOW THIS MOVIE NEEDED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES THE BUDGET IT APPARENTLY GOT, okay. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen better SFX on movies from the 1980s. In fact, I know I have; that’s why the comparison to Flash Gordon came to mind, because it’s the only 80s movie I can think of offhand where the SFX are comparable-to-slightly-worse than this.

Akutagawa is definitely the central figure of the movie. They did not have anywhere near the budget to do Rashomon justice. The utter failure to do Rashomon any kind of justice actually makes the acting worse. Have you ever seen the 1960s Batman? Adam West? (If you haven’t, go look it up, I’ll wait.)

Bluntly, the fight scenes - and you know, there’s a lot of those - look like 1960s Batman fight scenes. Just without the ‘pow’ and ‘biff’ animations. It’s just about impossible to take it seriously. Even Oda’s fight scenes, which should have looked utterly Matrix-esque, came off this way. And if you’re thinking ‘yeah but the Matrix needed a budget’ - agreed. I will therefore add that even Kenji’s fights were 60s-Batman levels of cartoonish.

They didn’t even manage to make Dazai’s swan dive off the tower look realistic. I half-thought, the way they did that shot, that Dazai was going to swoop off into the clouds like a goth mummy Superman.

As for the costuming....I’ve seen better at conventions among the cosplayers, not gonna lie. I’ve seen better wigs on cosplayers, I’ve seen better costumes on cosplayers.

I’m sure the actors did their best with what they had, and sometimes - sometimes, despite all this, they managed to pull off a scene well. There are moments here and there where I forgot for a few seconds that I was watching a fansubbed movie that looked like a fan production. But I couldn’t fall into the movie on its own merits. I just couldn’t. I wanted to so much, and it just wasn’t going to happen.

Okay. Now that I’ve lowered your expectations to a more realistic level regarding “wanna see!”, let’s move on to the content.

I would like to begin by saying this movie expects that anyone who is sitting down to watch it has

1) Read the manga, 2) Read the light novels, 3) Also read the Beast manga, and 4) Watched the anime.

It harks back to all of these at different times, and also alludes to things in the manga(s) that it does not go into depth on because it assumes you already know all that shit. And then it goes in its own direction, all the while kind of winking at the audience like “hey, I bet you were expecting a straight adaptation, but GUESS WHAT” Sometimes, this leads to honestly bizarre choices. Like using the quite gentle-sounding ending-credits music from the anime during a big fight scene between Akutagawa and Atsushi.  Other times it’s more puzzling...like nearly every appearance of Fyodor.

I will say that watching the movie cast certain parts of the manga in a new light for me; namely, some of Dazai’s motivations. It honestly felt to me, watching this, like B!Dazai used what he changed to try and actually ...wake Akutagawa up? Make Aku realize just what he’s been doing wrong all this time? Because in this version, he really was going to kill Gin...and you’d think that would be a terrible thing, but it actually comes off as kind of a mercy to her. A way to spare her from feeling responsible for her brother’s choices, since he’d happily kill the whole world to ‘get her back’. And it made me think of why B!Dazai kept Gin as a secretary, instead of recruiting her - we know she’s actually quite a capable member of the Black Lizards, main timeline. I think Dazai kept her a secretary because he needed her to be...well, pure. Pure enough at heart that she could see her brother being an out of control rabid dog and recognize it for what it was, and call him out on it. Because nobody else could get through to Aku. Everyone tried, but no one got through. It was Gin basically telling him he’s a soulless monster born to do evil that shook Aku up enough to start really questioning himself. And Gin did that because of how Dazai had treated her up to that point, meaning Dazai basically turned Gin into the key to cluebat Aku into growing the fuck up.

I was ...also less inclined to blame Dazai for how Atsushi turned out. Atsushi is just...broken, regardless of what universe he’s in, and in the Mafia you don’t get healed from that, you just learn to deal with it.Dazai’s order not to return to the orphanage likely had a lot to do with Mori being in there somewhere, and a desire to keep Atsushi from getting even more broken by the old headmaster. He seems to be as gentle with Atsushi as the situation allows.

Ah, but y’wanted to know what’s different.

Well, first, Fyodor is in this motherfucker. When Oda goes into a top secret facility to get the recording of Dazai so Aku can hear the Man In Black’s voice, Oda runs right into a cello-playing Fyodor. Who gives him the recording. And incidentally poisons Oda with a contact poison on the disc’s case. Why? Who the fuck knows. Fyodor and nobody else, that’s who. (Oda seems to just get better from the poison.)

Second, there’s a coda after the credits. In it, Atsushi is summoned to a supermax prison cell, where a straight up deranged Chuuya is being held by the government. Despite, y’know, being in a government supermax prison, Chuuya declares himself Boss of the Mafia. In this capacity he’s called Atsushi to attend him, and when Atsushi says he’s out, Chuuya says Kyouka’s already returned to the fold, oh and btw go kill the ADA.

Chuuya is deranged, it turns out, because he’s spent seven years plotting to kill Dazai, and then the fucker up and offs himself one day for shits and giggles (as Chuuya sees it). He can’t kill Dazai now, so he’ll go after the ADA, which attacked the Mafia and the attack resulted in the death of a Boss, therefore the mafia is honor-bound to avenge said Boss. (This is actually reasonable, since while Dazai does kill himself, the only witnesses are the ADA and Atsushi, who can be argued to be a traitor to the mafia. And the ADA really did storm the mafia base and kill a lot of people and it’s ...actually pretty reasonable for Chuuya to demand the mafia retaliate. That IS how such orgs work.)

For this movie, I have to say, a double-black shipper would need glasses so heavily rose-tinted you can’t tell the difference between blood and water to see any kind of shipness here. Chuuya haaaaaaaaates Dazai. And Dazai seems to regard tormenting Chuuya as a kind of stress ball.

Fyodor, meanwhile, is sending assassins after Aku and Atsushi with a timeline of ‘two weeks’, after which apparently the world will destabilize. (Because three people know about the Book; those two and him.) He says he’s fine being the ‘only one who knows the truth’. He then eyeballs the camera with basically a ‘come see part 2 when it comes out’.

Gods, I really hope if they DO a part 2 they get a godsdamned SFX budget.

The main takeaway that I feel is relevant here, is that the movie pretty much underlines that the Book’s reality-rewriting power is decidedly limited. Which I do hope will be relevant very soon in the manga.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Duty After School Review (Spoilers)

So after the final episodes of Duty After School got added on Viki, I of course watched it and I have mixed feelings on it.

If you aren't aware of this show, Duty After School is a kdrama based on a webtoon where essentially there's an alien invasion and high school seniors in Korea are drafted into the military to help fight the threat. With a twist though, the Korean government entices the teenagers to want to go through this military training by 1) not telling the kids about the threat, and 2) if they complete the military training and help fight the threat, they will receive bonus points on their college SATs. Spoilers ahead.

First couple of episodes were really difficult to get through, not gonna lie, I was rooting for the kids to die at some point, as horrible as that sounds. And I know, they're teenagers, they're immature, so I shouldn't have gone in expecting too much from them at this stage. BUT with that said, speaking as someone who did join the military at 18, roughly the same age as these kids are now, I can attest that this is not how we 18 year olds behaved when I received my military training. BUT also I volunteered to join the military while these kids are being drafted, lied to, and manipulated by their government so yeah, I also do understand where these kids are coming from and I can empathize with them. Doesn't mean they weren't annoying AF though.

But it gets better in further episodes when they're being confronted with this alien threat. And from there, it actually becomes a really interesting story of war trauma and how that trauma and PTSD manifests and affects different people and how they cope and continue to push on despite the trauma and fear they're all suffering from.

Things I really enjoyed from this show is watching these kids become a cohesive unit, working together to fight these aliens and in one episode using the aliens they're fighting as a means to fight dangerous criminals who were holding one of their own as a hostage. Although, I would be remiss if I didn't attach at trigger warning for that episode. Episode 8 definitely needs to come with a trigger warning for mentions of SA and attempted SA. Those parts of the episode are kind of difficult to watch and they're supposed to be I feel but definitely if any of you are thinking of watching this show, I just want to warn you there's that and for you to prepare yourself. I was not prepared for it and it made me VERY uncomfortable (but again, its supposed to). But after this episode and it gets more into the drama of 9 and 10, the story really kind of loses its footing and kind of devolves more from a story of fighting aliens and turning more into commentary for school shootings (and also trigger warning for this as well). Which was a weird turn for it to take, but not completely unexpected. I did see it coming and I understand what the story was going for. After the government continuously is lying and manipulating these kids, some of these kids who are now left with nothing, viewing themselves as disposable and possibly not going to survive, it makes sense that they would maybe lose them selves in this narrative of feeling abandoned and hopeless. It roots itself into the folly of being in a society where college entry exams and the competitiveness of getting into your first choice university can be damaging to a teenager's psyche and sense of self-worth. So its like I don't mind that the story went there, I just found the alien invasion aspect of the story kind of took a backseat to this, and honestly, I wanted to know more about the aliens, what their end game is, what exactly they're doing. I mean, they're attacking humans and eating them, sure okay, we're a food source to them, cool. But also, for creatures that apparently want to eat us, they're pretty bad in their technique of eating us to be pretty frank. Just bodies strewn all of the place, completely bleeding out, its like, yo aliens, you missed several spots on that corpse. But yeah, once the show starts going more into this Full Metal Jacket/school shooting narrative, the alien invasion kind of takes a backseat to that. They make a comment at the very end that two months after, the government miraculously came up with a weapon that killed 99% of the aliens and then just like that the war was over. So while I don't mind how the show ended and what narrative they were pushing, I kind of would've liked to see the kids continue working together to fight this alien threat and even help be the solution in ending the invasion. But instead it just kind of ends with these kids we'd gotten to know so well just being some of the many casualties of this war and that's kind of depressing.

All in all, I would give this show a B-. It has some great character stuff and I enjoy the middle of the show immensely. Plus if you're into it, great special effects and lots of blood and gore and various ways gory ways the aliens kill the humans. i appreciate the story it was telling about wartime trauma and the ridiculous amount of pressure society pushes on teenagers to go to competitive universities. But also, I kind of wanted more of an alien invasion story too and the show kind of loses that about 3/4 of the way in.

[jeysuso]

I've watched that Hey/Sami promo and these two bring out something really special in each other. Like the look on Samis face, eyes red rimmed 😭. Then you got Jey in the beginning his voice is sooo soft, so gentle, almost careful with his emotions and expression on his face is so soft and innocent maybe child like. Then the anger and emotion just builds. Then when Sami starts talking Jeys pacing back and forth like a spiral while he's emotionally spiraling and then when saying Jey wanted to attack Roman first his face falls, that same softness again for just a moment. I need them to bring up Elimination Chamber!!

hey bestie!! yeah i'm not gonna lie i've rewatched the promo like, more times than i care to admit. 💀 and every time i swear to god i'm noticing more and more. like, the way that sami goes in guns blazing, fam. he goes in READY for a fight. like he's fully expecting jey to just beat the shit out of him, you can tell from the way he walks out, the way he cuts into his own theme with that confrontation. he has no idea what's gonna happen but he thinks "pull up" means "i'm gonna beat your ass" and he's prepared. but then when he gets in the ring and jey says "i have a job to do tonight (sidenote if jey makes it clear one more fucking time that he has no choice but to fight sami gdjhdhlhj) but you're gonna hear this" and then he just, pours his fucking heart out to him. it's amazing how jey says he put his guard down to sami (cause he thought he loved him i'll never get over it) as if it's a past-tense thing when he's yet to put it up again around sami. nothing in what he said to him on smackdown told me he'd put his guard back up. he wants to, definitely, but he hasn't, and it's so fucking apparent. especially given how sami just dismantled layer after layer and got to the core of jey's issue in less than five minutes. and the fact sami was still (STILL!!!!) trying to tell jey he still has a choice. 😭😭😭

i need them talk about a whole bunch of stuff yk. like it's all well and good having jey say to him every week it feels like that he knew he was a fake-ass uce (baby. you're not fooling anyone) but what about sami acknowledging jey? what about sami accidentally spearing him at elimination chamber and jey not being able to hit sami with the chair when roman instructed him to? what about the way roman treated him? why is nobody bringing this up hkdlhjkj. i think it's 'cause they're clearly just letting this whole thing tick over until after wrestlemania, 'cause i find it super-interesting that we haven't actually seen anything between roman and jey yet, which - unless they clown me now and have jey show up on raw on monday when roman does - tells me they want that to continue from wrestlemania onwards (after the usos inevitably lose their titles and/or roman loses his).

but bro. they're so good together. jey is incredible and has been incredible for, like. years now. ever since roman turned heel and lost his damn mind, jey has been per. form. ing. but he's just killing it week after week, and i'm so happy that he's getting so much recognition for it. but him and sami have that special in-ring chemistry, man. the kind that can just be on and off for years and it never gets boring. and if they bury it now because kevin is back in the picture, i'm gonna be mad as hell. give me comedy segments where jey and kevin are jealous of each other and sami's just like oh my god i'm a hot commodity guys there's enough of me to go around. like please, hunter hearst. i literally ask for nothing. don't throw this away.

[haleigh-sloth]

While I understand the criticism towards villain stans who go harder on the kids which I think is almost like taking their frustrations of the lack of development from the pros being reflected at the ua children since they are supposed to be better and I do not condone it in any way obviously I think we should be talking about the framing of the narrative mostly

Like leaving the current events even during the hawks vs twice fight dabi tells tokoyami that his mentor killed somebody which they know is wrong as heroes are there to save as repeatedly told by fatgum to kirishima, tokoyami despite that says "your hands aren't dirty. Everyone believes in you. You did the RIGHT thing" which raises brows because if villains killing people is frowned upon rightfully so then how are heroes who are there to protect taking lives because of potential harm they could do (literally why nagant was introduced) labeled as the "good" thing. A life is a life. Heroes, villains and civilians should be held on the same ground yet the lov are continuously called "madmen and evil" for doing the things the hero commission and even the pros themselves have been doing and yet get praised for it? I think that's the issue

I don't blame tokoyami as he is a kid but I won't lie and say I don't raise my brows at hori because ever since hawks was burnt his arc has suffered immensely and has no proper direction not inner thoughts (I know you don't like talking about hawks so I'm just saying it as a part of my thoughts)

Hope you don't take it the wrong way my 1 braincell is very invested in social commentary and I hate how hori has been glamorized for his biased presentation of both handling this aspect and the heteromorph society one. Tomura was incredibly cute tho so there is that in the recent chapter

I’m not taking anything the wrong way, however I don’t know what to say.

It’s not that I don’t agree. I said it myself—it’s frustrating. I pointed out several incidents where the answers the manga gives us to a problem does not exactly follow up on the social aspects the manga itself is also presenting. It’s just a thing that is happening and I’m at the point where my expectations are low because clearly it’s not a priority.

Yeah, I really don’t want to talk or think about Hawks. His writing is the biggest example and talking about it, along with Tokoyami and his reaction to the situation over and over and over again is like beating a dead horse. We all know it’s a god awful handling of that entire situation and complaining and critiquing it repeatedly, stating the obvious multiple times, is not gonna change it. So I am done doing that.

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying but I’m out of things to say. Yes, it’s a flaw in this manga, it has been for a long time. There are lots of things with the MC that should have been done way way back, but weren’t. It is what it is. No, pointing it out over and over again isn’t gonna fix it. We’re gonna get what we get, satisfying or not.

Statements I don’t agree with are that the kids are not trying with the villains. Ochacko being hesitant is fine. Shouto not understanding wtf it is Touya is actually hurt about is fine. Midoriya not knowing shit about shit with Shigaraki is fine. All of that is fine for the time being because…we haven’t gotten to the next steps yet. I mean jeez, some comments are comments toward things that just HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET.

On the other note, I feel for the people who are invested in the social commentary. I agree they’re not getting the satisfaction they probably want. I am invested to some extent in some things (Hawks and Twice—still don’t really wanna talk about it tho), but I’m more interested in the characters’ personal issues at this point. I’m more satisfied with what I’m getting that way.

[kariachi]

Some fic inspired by that post from last night.

Kevin and the struggle of ‘do I tell people who I am’.

~~

“I think, they don’t know who I am,” Kevin said, running a hand up through Argit’s mane in search of loose quills. His ear twitched.

“What?”

“Between, everything, that’s different. I don’t think they realize who I am.” The apartment was filled only with Kevin’s music for a long beat, before Argit snorted hard enough to double himself over.

“Seriously,” he snickered as Kevin yanked him back into place by the back of his shirt.

“Seriously. It’d explain why they’re being so… chill.” He had been so fucking confused these past couple weeks. With their history he had been expecting more than the, admittedly annoying as fuck, ‘yeah he’s a criminal they’re like that’ treatment he’d been getting. A little more wariness, little more concern, less willingness to be alone in a room with him. But the other day, the topic of the gladiator ring had come up, and Ben had proceeded to explain the whole thing like Kevin had not, in fact, been there.

The realization had hit him like a truck at that point.

“I’m trying to figure out telling them,” he said.

“Kev, buddy, Ravrsa, noo,” Argit pleaded, laughter still bubbling up out of his throat as he grabbed his sleeve and turned to try to puppy eye him, “it’s the funniest shit!”

“I know-” It really, really was, and he’d be perfectly cool with keeping his, mouth shut and seeing how long this lasted, but circumstances were what they were. “-but if nothing else having Gwen gunning for me when she doesn’t have vital info…” The whole situation was awkward enough before. He was interested- though most he’d been hungry, and she was a lot of energy in one space- but she was uncomfortably pushy about it, and his addiction issues hung over the whole idea like a guillotine even before bringing their history into account. Now? Knowing she probably didn’t know they had history? Made it all worse.

“Eh, fuck her. What’s she got that Looma doesn’t? Besides a chance for you to relapse.” Kevin groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Looma is gonna get beat by somebody else and that’ll be the end of it.”

“Hasn’t happened yet.”

“It’s just a matter of time. She���s royalty, and I’m not that good a fighter, no way someone isn’t gonna come along.” He’d only won in the first place because he had more experience fighting Tetramand than she’d had fighting non-Tetramand. The fact nobody’d managed yet was a little worrying, but he wasn’t especially concerned. There was time.

“You keep telling yourself that, Earthboy. I’ll keep practicing my Khoron.”

“You go right ahead.” Shaking his head, he shoved Argit’s back into position and set back to grooming. “I just don’t know how to go about this.” It wasn’t even the history thing that was the big problem. Yes, it was an issue and he damn well expected it would change everything when they learned exactly who they had been dealing with. No doubt everything was going to be worse than he felt it should have been, given the gap between them starting working together and finding out who he was. Still, that was something he could deal with. Wouldn’t be the first time what had seemed like a good thing had shattered and it wouldn’t be the last, at least this time he could stop himself from getting too attached ahead of time. But letting them know would, by it’s very nature, require coming out to them.

He'd never come out to anybody before.

Okay, that was a lie, he’d come out to Argit by grace of being bestfriends and living with the guy for the entire time he’d been going from ‘I’m a tomboy who really wishes she could be a boy’ to ‘I’m a boy and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong and can bite my ass’. He hadn’t come out to anybody else before. In the greater galaxy he’d just let the ambiguity that came with nobody knowing what humans were, nonetheless anything about their biology, work for him. Since coming back he’d reveled in having inherited his grandma’s broad shoulders and easy muscle, how much easier it made passing. And now here he was, trying to figure out how to come out, on Earth, where he knew damn well people were willing to start trouble over this shit.

He had no idea how to tell if the Tennysons would be the type to start trouble over this shit. They’d at least stay professional, right? They had to. The planet was at stake.

“So, don’t bother with it,” Argit said, pulling him out of his head with a shrug. “If the big worry is that it’s not fair to Gwen, shut her down and move on. Don’t like that she’s been pushy with you anyway, you can do better. Throw the body over the edge, and it won’t matter if she knows or not anymore. Then you can just let the whole mess be, we can keep laughing at their stupid, and if they ever figure it out you can feign ignorance at how they could’ve not realized who you are.”

It probably said something that for all he was interested in Gwen, the option was very tempting.

“You talk real sensibly for a complete asshole,” he said, dumping a handful of old quills into the trash.

“Love you too, buddy.” Argit’s tail wrapped affectionately around his arm. “There’s no reason for you to make yourself uncomfortable just so they can have something new to be annoying as shit over.” Snorting, Kevin flicked his ear.

“Thanks, Hedgehog. It’s not the worst option I’ve got…”

[luwe21]

Multiverse of Madness Review

I have collected my thoughts about Multiverse of Madness. Watched it yesterday in cinema.

So the movie was insane. I would give it a solid 8/10.

My highlights:

-Full extent of villain Wanda including insane and impressive fights and show off of her powers.

-America Chavez was a great addition to the movie and universe. She can travel through the multiverse and is the only person that does not dream. Dreams are a way to look into the multiverse and see your other mes.

-The Cameos. Expect to see Captain Carter (What if), Richard Reed/Mister Fantastic (Fantastic Four, sadly no Ioan Gruffudd), Mister X/Professor Charles Xavier (X-Men). Also Christine Palmer and Karl Mordo return. But no Iron Man, just discount robots.

-Doctor Strange gets the chance to show off his powers and knowledge. Also the teamwork with Wong is impressive.

-The Fights. Wanda vs. Kamar-Taj was awesome, Wanda vs. The Illuminate was insane. The end fight was also impressive.

My dislikes:

-Some of the shots/editing were weird and out of place. Some of the pacing or cuts weren't as clean. Some scenes are over a bit too soon and needed more room to breathe, and some of the 'horror' / 'jump scares' were maybe a bit over the top.  It was far more comic horror than I expected andit ain´t that scary like all say.

-Strange was not really allowed to move on and make real character progress. The marriage scenes were downright cringe but so typically MCU. Superheroes are allowed one love interest only and that forever. "I will always love you in every universe". Corny and yeah the mid credit scene says otherwise. His happiness depending on his love life is another classic and overused trope.

-Wanda does not have her redemption arc from Wandavision. The director outright said I only watched one episode of Wandavision and that was it and that was clearly shown in the movie. Wandas motivation and ending was not very clear because of that and in the end it was basically the same thing as in Wandavision. She dies in the end to protect all the universe from the darkhold. I don´t believe she is really dead.

-Mid/Endcreditscenes. Midcredit Scene was weird and confusing and I understood nothing because I don´t know the character. The Endcreditscene was downright insane.

So basically the plotline was not as great as expected. And it was not really about multiverse like expected. It was a solid movie and it was fun to watch. Not gonna lie. Don´t have your expectation to high through and watch it like it is. A insane Doctor Strange Movie.

8/10.

[mrssimply]

21th Justice

I really loved The Sandman Netflix Show. I never read the comic but it made me want to, I've not acquired it yet but I will. When I say this is a Sandman AU, it's more that I liked Neil Gaiman's idea about concepts being personalized and I wanted to try my hand at it. Also loved the last episode of the show, though I know it's not everyone's favorite, I really felt for poor Calliope. This led to the fic you're gonna read now.

Also, we're back on the "let's torture Kerry bandwagon", please forgive me.

Also taking revenge on Kovachek for being an ass in the game >:] 

Thank you all for your fidelity during this event. I won't lie, it's been really intense and I'll be both sad and relieved when it's done (3 more days!). It's been really intense and the editing process was really done in a rush, I'm sorry for all the remaining mistakes! I might read the works over in a month or two to try and tidy it a bit more.

In the meantime, please enjoy!

You can find the prompt list here.

Every fic will be posted on my AO3 Account here.

The divine being appears in the circle of light as expected, and Kovachek’s eyes reflect the triumph he feels. It worked just as expected. 

The god looks around with calm eyes. If his attitude reflects his surprise, he doesn’t appear particularly worried about the situation.

“Ah,” he says. He looks male, even if Kovachek knows he’s liable to change his appearance at will. The Gods have their preferences, but they are fluid in gender and bodies, from what he understood. 

This one is naked, dressed only with threads of gold falling from a large necklace of the same precious metal. The strings loop across his chest and go around his hips, but they’re not hiding much. He’s also one of the most beautiful creatures the struggling artist has ever seen, and he has to fight the urge to fall on his knees when clear blue eyes look his way.

“This is embarrassing,” the divinity observes. 

“I summoned you, Divine Inspiration, and I’ll only free you if you help me.”

The God sighs and walks across the circle, toeing the runes, and feeling their energy. They're strong, they will hold him captive just fine, he concludes with internal dismay.

“We really need to update our policy on summoning, this is outdated,” the creature mumbles, ignoring Kovachek as he finishes his observation of his cage. The artist frowns, this is not how he envisioned the meeting going. He thought there would be more begging to be let out.

“Fine,” Creativity declares, turning back to his captor, “what’s your name?”

“Lilian Kovachek,” the man declares before wincing. Maybe he shouldn’t have given his name to the divinity he’s just captured. He doesn’t intend to keep him here, just long enough to wrench a deal out of him.

“I’m Kerrylis. You can call me Kerry,” the Divine Inspiration replies with a charming smile that makes Kovachek’s heart beats a little faster. Strange, because he’s never reacted to men before. 

“Well, Kerry,” he starts, clearing his throat, “here is what I want: I need you to make me into a rockstar.”

The God, Kerry, looks at him with mischievous eyes.

“Sure, got any talent?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s hear it.”

His smile is sweet, so Lilian doesn’t suspect a thing. He takes his guitar and gets into position, one leg up on a chair, before breathing in to focus. When he starts playing, he finds it easier than other times, and the realization makes something wicked soar inside him: it’s already working.

He stops after maybe ten minutes, only to find the divinity holding his hands over his ears.

“You done?”

Embarrassed and angry, Kovachek nods.

“Yeah, I get why you had to dig up really ancient and outdated blood rituals. You’ll never make it on your own,” the divinity casual throws. “My muses clearly didn’t took an interest in you. You should drop it, I’m sure you have a lot of other qualities.”

“You will make me a rockstar, or you’ll stay here forever!”

“Forever isn’t that long for me,” the God notes, “but sure, if I’m here, I’m not out there inspiring the really talented people, and that would be a loss. So I’ll cooperate.”

“Good,” Kovachek pronounces with dark satisfaction.

“So, let’s start by practicing guitar six hours a day, that should do it.”

“What?”

“Oh, what? You thought I would just snap my fingers and suddenly you would be famous? For that, you should have called Destiny or the Fates. Me and my muses, we nudge people in the right direction, we relieve art blocks, we inspire, but I can’t do nothing about technique. You need to practice,” the God explains with another disarming smile. He is standing with his arms crossed and hips cocked to the side. It moves the golden strings and gives an even better view of his perfect body. 

Kovachek feels ideas for lyrics grow inside of him, alongside a few other ideas not music related. Cheeks flaming, he turns away and sits on the chair he was propped against.

“That’s bullshit. I can feel you working your magic. You’re filling my head with weird ideas to distract me, but I won’t be fooled.”

He takes the old grimoire lying on the floor.

“I got a few more things to try out in there.”

For the first time, he sees a flash of worry in the creature’s eyes when he takes notice of the book.

“You know my job is only to inspire, I don’t put ideas into your head, I just make them blossom. Whatever you’re thinking about, it’s coming from you.”

“Sure. Now shut up and let me concentrate.”

-

Kerry is seated in the middle of the circle. It’s been a week, and it’s been as dreadful as he imagined it would be. The last time this happened, it lasted for a month, and the guy became very violent by the end. 

Kovachek is still hesitant for now. Kerry knows the grimoire contains the means of wrenching power out of him, so in theory, the talentless man could force Kerry to give up part of his gift to him. But it’s also said to be really painful for both parties, and highly risked for the receiver, so Kovachek is probably keeping that for last, as always. They love to think they’re good people.

“Hey Ker,” a voice says in the dark and the god wipes around. In his weakened state, he didn’t feel the appearance happening.

“Love,” he breathes and crawls to the edge of the circle. He wishes he could touch him.

The other divinity looks at the circle, then at the grimoire left open by the desk, and his eyes sadden. He’s been subjected to that, too, maybe more often than Kerry even, because his power has been even more ardently coveted. 

They are lovers. Well, everyone is Love’s lover, but he has favorites and Kerry is one of them. Together, they made great things: songs, paintings, sculptures, books… Together, they inspired innovations and a better society. Together, they also inspired madness, in their darkest moods. In their names, wars have been fought, too. 

“You shouldn’t be here," Kerry whispers, "the Mother knows what idea it will put into his head, and you know how fast they act on ideas when I’m near."

Love just shrugs.

“I felt your pain.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You’re the one suffering.”

“I don’t want you to be pulled into this mess. Please V, go away,” he begs, using the pet name they have together. It makes Love smile and hold up his hands, as if they could touch. The invisible barrier between them is an abomination, and Kerry feels anger rise inside him, reflected in V’s eyes. How dare a flimsy human separate them!

“He won’t hold you long, Adored, not this time,” Love promises. 

It makes Kerry suspicious.

“What did you do? Who did you call?”

V’s smile is wicked, and folly shines in his eyes for a second. Oh, this mortal doesn’t know what will hit him: he’s made Love mad, and he knows no bounds when he’s like this.

“I don’t like to be apart from you.”

Kerry snorts.

“Oh yeah? Want to talk about that time you fell in love with that mortal? What was her name? The warrior chick?”

“Panam,” V replies serenely with a soft smile.

“Well, I sure didn’t see much of you during that time.”

“You know me, it’s in my nature.”

They are all like this: fickle in their attention, changing, evolving, sometimes recluse, sometimes the life of the party. Kerry’s remark is more for the sake of banter than anything else. Panam was a great leader, her tribe thrived under her leadership, and Kerry even granted her a few bright ideas. He’s not jealous, not anymore.

“And right now,” V goes on, “I’m pissed because someone thought they could torture you, posess your gift by force, and take you away from me.” 

His gaze is covetous as his fiery eyes trails over Kerry’s form.

“Warn him. If he doesn’t release you tomorrow, tell him Justice will come.”

-

Kerry has a complicated relationship with Justice. He’s righteous, uncompromising, and swift in his punishment. You don’t argue with Justice, he can read intents and hearts better than any other, and judges by that, and that only. He doesn’t see the rest, for he’s mostly blind to begging and justifications. He asks for compensation and retribution, sometimes in the form of war, sometimes with blood and violence, often by using karma. 

On one hand, the wars Justice triggered led to many good ideas and artworks being lost because their creators died in the conflict. It infuriates Kerry to no end, which is why he sort of hates Justice for stepping all over his hard work. On the other hand, humans' many fights for justice brought social innovations, and forced humans to act creatively to adapt and survive. It also led to a few great symphonies and hymns, of painted masterpieces, architectural wonders, and other great artistic or scientific productions. Which is why Kerry loves Justice: for the way his influence leads the human heart to be better, and for the ideal he represents.

So Kerry waits until the sun rises and Kovachek gets down. He looks like he’s in a bad mood, which makes the Divine Inspiration grimaces. He knows people are generally less reasonable when they don't get quality sleep, which seems to be the case here.

“Bad dreams?” Kerry guesses. “A guilty conscience would do that to you.”

Kovachek just glares at him and goes through the book again. 

“You’re more stubborn than I imagined. I didn't think what I asked would be so hard for you.”

“It’s not hard, per se, it’s just not how it works.”

“Shut up.”

“Ok.”

A minute of silence where Kovachek peruses the book with angry muttering, before Kerry tries his luck.

“I had a visit last night. A warning.”

The mortal raises his head, obviously surprised.

“The circle prevents you from calling for help.”

“I didn’t call. He came on his own. He tends to do that when you whisk away one of his lovers.”

“Who?”

“Doesn’t matter. He has a good heart, though. He told me to tell you that if you don’t release me today, Justice will come.”

Kovachek pales noticeably, before he starts going through the cursed book again.

“You won’t find anything in there, you can’t stop Divine Justice,” Kerry explains, pacing back and forth in the circle. Now that he knows his captivity is coming to an end, he feels restless. “The Great flood, the plagues of Egypt? That’s him. He can’t be stopped, can’t bargain with him, and he’s got no mercy once he’s passed judgment. Wonder what he will decide once he’s weighed your deeds.”

Kovachek, now visibly nervous, comes closer to the circle.

“There must be something, there is always something with your lot.”

“Not with him. He’s the one that ends the tales, he is the moral at the end of every story. Each time one of you mortal fucks with one of us, it ends the same way: you get punished, and who do you think delivers the punishment?”

As Kerry gives his explanation, Kovachek’s face goes through several expressions: confusion, then realization, and fear, before it suddenly switches to calculation. 

“You’re lying, you’re just trying to threaten me into releasing you, but I won’t fall for it. There is only one way for you to be free, and that’s if I decide it.”

Kerry rolls his eyes, but he can’t say he’s surprised. Mortals are surprisingly prideful and self assured for a race that doesn’t live more than a century in the best case.

“Well, don’t come crying when you suffer the Divine Punishment.”

The man laughs, wild around the edges. 

“There is no mention of that in the book. It would have told me. There is everything to know about you in there.”

“Yeah, wonder why there is no chapter on Justice. Its many authors never got to write that part. They were dead before they could,” Kerry declares ominously, turning his back on his captor.

Kovachek rounds the circle to face him again, and his expression is now deformed by mad glee.

“You know what? If what you’re telling me is true, then I better get the most of you now. I was hesitant to use that spell, but…”

Kerry freezes.

“Please don’t,” the God of Creativity implores, but it only makes his jailer laugh. 

“Ah, now you’re begging, that’s right, that’s exactly how I like you.”

“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” Kerry tries to reason with him, knowing it’s hopeless. It never works: when they get like this, they have to see it through. “This will only worsen your case, and it’s really unpleasant for both of us, I can tell you.”

Kovachek shrugs and goes back to the book, pursuing the content of the opened page.

“I need to prepare. You should do that, too. As you said, it’s gonna be very painful.”

-

Kerry lies curled in the middle of the circle, shivering madly. He feels weak, and he hates it. Feeling mortal is dreadful, he doesn’t know how they bear it. Then again, they don’t know anything else, except when they steal a God’s power, just like Lilian Kovachek did tonight. It’s not just that he feels mortal, it’s that he feels like a mortal who is dying and it’s excruciating. He won’t die, he knows it, he is a concept and concepts can’t die, but still. At the moment, he really hates it.

Footsteps echo in the ether, making Kerry perk up. He can’t raise his head, but he moves it slightly so he can see black leather boots appear out of the void. The new apparition comes closer, and in his wake comes another, and this one doesn’t make a sound. 

The first one crouches in front of Kerry, and blows out the smoke of his cigarette. Back in the 90’, Justice decided to live among humans for a while. He regularly has existential crises, when he sort of disappears to the corners of the universe, or does that kind of thing. That time, not only did he start a revolution that would make the Berlin Wall fall, but he adopted a rocker look and a new name he’s been adamant they call him by. He traded the Sword of Justice for a metal arm and a gun, and his weighing scales for a guitar, arguing justice needed a new face. Kerry thinks it’s his best appearance since the dawn of time, though he has a weak spot for his years as Athena. 

“Hello, Ker,” Justice says.

“Hi Johnny,” The Divine Inspiration whispers back before closing his eyes. The relief he feels overwhelms him for a moment and tears burn behind his eyelids.

“Don’t cry,” Justice says softly, “I’m here now.”

“I know. I just — It hurts.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll make them pay,” says another voice, young and full of rage. Revenge. Justice brought his daughter, the one he had with Violence. With her two brothers, Retribution and Retaliation, they form a hellish trio of pain, violence and suffering, and Kerry really doesn’t like them. But at least, he didn’t bring War. Johnny is known to be overdramatic, so Kerry wouldn’t have put it past him. He would have been surprised if Justice had summoned his other daughter, the one he had with Love, whose name is Forgiveness. They have a complicated father/daughter relationship: the father finds his daughter too lenient, the daughter finds her father too swift in his punishments.

But right now, Kerry is glad it’s Revenge here and not her half sister, because in his weakened state, he can’t find it in himself to be kind. 

Johnny rounds the circle slowly, testing its resistance, looking at the runes that compose it.

“That one was a bit more intelligent than the last. It can only be undone by his voice. Get him, Revenge.”

“Yes father,” she replies, not bothering to hide the glee in her voice.

“Always that damn book,” Johnny comments, looking at the wretched thing. 

They can’t destroy it. As a general rule, they can’t interact with human things, and can only influence mortals. The book has great self-preservation instincts: it knows how to call to the deepest fears in the human heart, and irrevocably, they save it from its fate, just in case.

Justice goes back to Kerry and kneels as close as he can.

“I shouldn’t have waited. Love shouldn’t have allowed him even a chance. We know their kind; when they are desperate, they get violent.”

“It’s in his nature. He believes they can act charitably. He sees the potential in their heart,” Kerry replies weakly, opening tired eyes to look at Johnny, who scoffs.

“I know their heart and their mind. I know them best, Love is a fool.”

“A fool you love.”

“Who doesn’t?” Johnny replies with a smile and a shrug.

Kerry extends a hand until only the invisible barrier separates them.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Always.”

A ruckus starts upstairs and grows closer, making Johnny turn to the entrance of the room. Soon, Revenge appears, her face deformed by manic triumph: every fiber of her being thrums with anticipation.

“Kneels,” she orders, and doesn’t leave Kovachek any opportunity to disobey, hitting him behind the knees to force him down. The man looks pale and afraid, and loses the last of his colors when he catches sight of the strange rocker in the room.

“Who are you?” He still asks.

“I think you know who I am. You’ve been warned I would come.”

Kovachek glances at Kerry before his gaze goes back to Johnny.

“I thought he was bluffing to free himself!”

“Interesting how when mortals play at being god, they always doom themselves. I think the myths are very clear on that. And yet, and yet…” Johnny chides like he’s feeling benevolent. Kerry knows better, but Kovachek doesn’t.

“I didn’t want to play god, I just wanted… I just needed some inspiration, and he wouldn't give it to me, it's… It’s his fault, I was only — I just needed help.”

“I see, you had a good reason to summon him in a prison, then,” Johnny goes on. Behind the wannabe god, Revenge smiles with all her teeth.

“Yes, I never wanted to harm him, never wanted to take it by force! I wanted to bargain, that’s all, but he was being difficult!”

Johnny walks to the man and paces back and forth in front of him like he’s in deep reflection. The other two divinities know perfectly it’s just for show: his mind is made up. Justice is swift. 

Then, he stops and faces Kovachek.

“When your race evolved enough to develop higher thoughts and we started to appear in your minds, we made a deal with you. There is a code of conduct, rules to follow when a mortal wants to ask the favor of a God. Do you know them?” he asks, using the Voice of Justice.

Kovachek seems to think hard, but despite his newfound power, he appears at a loss to find the correct answer. He shakes his head.

“You pray to us. That is the way. You offer us precious things, and if we find your gift worthy, if we find you worthy, then we bestow upon you a favor. Now tell me, Kovachek: did you pray to him? Did you offer your most prized possession in the thin hope he would look upon you and find you worthy of his exquisite nature?”

During Johnny’s speech, Kerry found the strength to sit up, which allows him to see Kovachek’s face as he hesitates to answer.

“I…”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Justice’s voice booms through the room, making the walls shake and the floor tremble. The mortal cowers and over him, like a cursed bird of prey, Revenge laughs.

“You broke the rules by trying to make yours what is beyond your understanding. I can feel it already, eating up your mind.”

Kerry looks at his captor, his wide eyes and ashen face, and he can tell the man hasn’t slept: too many ideas and thoughts prevented him from sleeping while the magic now running through his veins tried to find an outlet. Soon, it will turn on him if he doesn’t use it, and the god fears what he would do with it. He won’t get the opportunity, this time.

“Release the power you stole, let it go back to its rightful owner,” Johnny orders, looming over Kovachek.

“I… I don’t know how.”

“Close your eyes,” Kerry answers with a tired voice, kneeling in the circle with difficulty, “my power is an energy coursing through your veins. Feel it, and drive it toward your hands. Form a chalice with your palms, and imagine it pouring out of your fingers into the chalice.”

As he speaks, the divinities watch the man obey, and slowly, light drips out of his fingers and coalesce into a soft looking ball of light. It grows until it’s the size of a basketball, before it travels through the room and toward Kerry.

The god breathes it in and feels the energy fill his veins once more. He sags on the floor again, focusing on leashing the wild power into his body.

“Now, break the seal,” Johnny demands and Kovachek hesitates. He’s weak and trembling, but the relief he feels now that the foreign power has left him makes him too confident. Johnny crouches in front of him and grasps his chin between his fingers, the ones made of steel.

“I don’t think you understand your situation here, buddy,” he says, switching back to his normal voice, using a falsely cajoling tone. “You played and you lost.”

“You can’t undo the seal without me,” Kovachek retorts hotly, seeing what he hopes is a way out.

Johnny’s eyes flicker to Revenge, who suddenly grabs the mortal’s hair to drag him forward. She bashes his face to the ground, right next to the first row of ancient runes that make up Kerry’s prison.

“I’ve been known to be fair,” Johnny goes on with an ironic smile. “If you cooperate, I shall make your punishment less… painful.”

“If I break the seals, do you promise not to hurt me?”

“Are you trying to bargain with the Divine Justice?” Revenge asks, incredulous.

“I won’t release the seals without a few guarantees!”

“That one has balls,” Johnny mutters as he lights a new cigarette.

Revenge shrugs and once again, bashes the man’s head to the ground, until blood starts to spill over the runes. Kovachek tries to protect his face, and move around wildly. With a shriek, Revenge releases him and he falls forward. His hands smudge the runes as he put them under him to soften his landing. Dizzy and with blood dripping in his eyes, he feels more than he sees the seal break.

“That’s cheating,” he garbles.

“You cheated first,” Revenge whispers back, bending over him to say it right in his ear, “an eye for an eye…”

As she holds him down, Johnny steps into the circle and crouches to gather Kerry in his arms. 

“I can stand on my own,” Creativity protests, but his companion just ignores him and straightens with a grunt, holding him tight against himself. Kerry loops his arms around Johnny’s neck and hides his face, he’ll deal with his dignity later, right now, this just feels nice.

“Burn everything,” Johnny tells Revenge as the ether opens to him. The book will probably survive, it always does, but that’s a problem they can’t face just by all three of them, especially with Kerry in that state.

“Please,” Kovachek begs as Revenge grins at him. 

Johnny passes the portal, leaving the man to his fate at the hand of his violent daughter.

[banapricot]

800 words of an old abandoned WIP where Klaus has the bonus ability to detect lies.

“I hope I find out what my powers are soon,” Seven says one morning. 

Four usually likes breakfast, because Dad doesn’t eat it with them, so they’re allowed to talk. Today, though, his head is aching, and the pain worsened when his sister opened her mouth.

“Not gonna happen,” Three sings, still mad at Seven for breaking her doll yesterday. “You don’t have any powers.” 

Lie, something hisses.

“You don’t know that! Four doesn’t know what his are yet, either!” 

“Yeah, but Dad said you’re ordinary.”

Lie, his heart screams again, and Four doesn’t hear the ensuing fight over the pounding of his skull.  + 

It keeps happening.

Dad tells them he replaced the nannies because they were spoiling them, and Four doubts he actually had much of an option. The cookies are all eaten and Four gets annoyed when Six swears he didn’t touch them, because he totally did. Three insists that Seven is ordinary, and Four struggles not to pass out.  

It takes longer to be sure about this than the ghosts, because he doesn’t speak to that many people, but Four proves it to himself over and over.

He has another ability.

He doesn’t tell anyone. He was going to, really, but then he noticed Dad hides a lot from them, and learned that people don’t like it when you know about their secrets. His siblings don’t, at least, and Dad definitely didn’t the one time Four mustered the courage to ask about a lie he told, so he’s not going to call him out again.

Even though he really wants to know why they’re pretending Seven doesn’t have powers. 

+

Dad introduces them to Grace.

Within a few months Four trusts her more than anyone, because she always tells the truth. That changes once he's nine.  

Dad had taken Four to the cemetery, and Four screamed and pleaded and asked why, like they always do, and their father said they needed to get over their fear, like he always does. Except he broke routine, elaborating on his answer just the slightest bit, claiming it was for their sake, that it was in Four’s best interest, that they should cooperate so that he can help them. 

It all rang false, the resounding dishonesty lacking any hint of shame or regret.

So when Four was let out of his cage they cried into their mother’s arms, asked her why their father did things that hurt them. She smiled, perfect and plastic, said everything Sir Reginald did was for their own good, that he loved them. 

And they understood, then, that the absence of a lie is not the same thing as the presence of a truth. 

After that revelation, Four never manages to believe a word that comes out of her metal mouth.  

+

“So, ghosts,” The interviewer begins. ”What are they like?”

He desperately wants to tell them about the gore, the noise, the lack of humanity. He needs someone to help him deal with the unbearable knowledge of what comes after, with the unknowns that are almost as awful, with the possibility he’ll eventually suffer the same horrible fate of those who haunt him. He opens his mouth to let it all out, have a little breakdown on national television, but that would not go over well with Daddy dearest. 

“Weirdly normal,” He says instead, coming up with a pretty lie for people to comfort themselves with. “Like, the ones that have been around for decades are odd, because of the difference in time periods. For the most part they stay to watch over their loved ones. Some will hang around for a while to see if their killers are brought to justice, and go to the light afterwards, but they’re a lot less angry about being murdered than you’d expect. I guess dying brings peace that’s hard to find in life.”

+  

Of course, the moment they’ve gotten used to their new lives, one of them goes and destroys the status quo. 

Five storms off after an argument with their father and never comes back. No goodbye, no corpse found in a morgue, no ghost anywhere Klaus can reach. Their brother disappears without even making his mind up about what fucking name he wants. 

Klaus refuses to mourn him, as the days drag on for months and melt into years, because death is their whole thing, and they know Five isn’t dead.

So One, Two, Three, and Six grieve with Pogo, as Seven stubbornly waits. Klaus does neither, because their brother is alive, but he probably won’t return. Instead they try to summon Five whenever they’re sober, relieved by every failure, and wonder what the snarky bastard might be doing.

Their father isn’t grieving, never having loved them, and their mother is incapable of feeling negative emotions. 

[lucaonthropy]

Finished Mencuri Raden Saleh so these are my (non-linear) thoughts. Spoilers ig

- Why is there so many car crash in this movie lmaooo like. From the first plan to the final one there's always at least one.

- The acting is not the best imo but it's good and very enjoyable.

- Now the voice acting though? That fucks. I'm officially in love with Fella and Tuktuk's voice in particular. The way they speak and all. The others are also good. I think Ucup is the weakest tho ngl.

- Gofar and Tuktuk's sibling bond is going to be the death of me. I actually cried when Gofar snapped after Tuktuk got jailed.

- I have ... thoughts ... about the decision to make Sarah the bait because it really doesn't make sense. She (in character) is portrayed as someone who can't really lie or act so I don't get why they immediately agreed on her being the bait.

- But her fighting scenes are chef's kiss ohmygod. The "Kurang ajar! Dasar katrok!(?)" scene got me cheering on my seat like damn wreck that fucker.

- Also a lot of questions about the random guy flirting with her.

- Anyway. Plot-wise it's consumable. I'm not a proper film critics so this is purely subjective but I love it. Are their plans messy af? Were their decisions questionable and have very bad consequences? Well. Yeah. But it makes sense because their backgrounds. None of them had ever done this kinda thing so the mistakes they made, while kinda annoying, make sense.

- Not a fan of Sarah and Piko being together. Not merely because I ship Hackforger but because their scenes together don't really have a ... spark? They don't connect or bond at all. It's just your usual hetero relationship that got pushed by the staff.

- Not as much Hackforger as I expected from seeing Twitter but eh. I'll take what I can get. Their bond is pretty clear and it's classic bromance to romance type of thing.

- I'm gonna reiterate that I'm in love with Fella.

- The flashbacks are getting annoying ngl.

- Ok so I've heard it's gonna be a trilogy or something so I'm not gonna say much about Ucup and Budiman's locked backstory. They are probs saving it for the next movie.

- Kinda disappointed that there's not much scene detailing the painting or the process of forgery because I'm actually interested.

- Oh! Speaking of which: I now headcanon Piko as autistic-coded or at least neurodivergent-coded because there's no way that guy is neurotypical. Just. No way.

- Whoever chose Tuktuk's actor needs a raise honestly. I'm honestly pretty ok with most of the cast because I never grade a film through that lens (I have face blindness. I couldn't care less about the cast) but oh. My. God. He radiated youngest sibling energy throughout the film and as an oldest sib I both want to punch him and kiss his forehead.

- Detective Sita is also very interesting as a character. Def wanna see her more in the future.

- Mbak Dini!!!! Goddamn I love her. Maybe it's the haircut lmao. But also her outfit when visiting the police station is muah. Love it, love her.

- Hoping Permadi and Rama will die tbh.

- Mas Gito the MVP!!! I always have a soft spot for a loyal butler-esque character like Alfred and Gito soooo yeah.

- Also. I thought I'm gonna finish this movie with shipping Fistjack buuut Fellafullo/Gofella got me in a clutch. Love the back and forth they have going.

- Now for some of my favorite moments:

1. When Gofar and Tuktuk's father scolded them for ruining a car and said "Is it not enough that you two have different mothers and you still bring trouble back!" (paraphrased) and Tuktuk replied "Well but you're the dad."

2. Every fight scene with Sarah.

3. The continued saga of Gofar snacking on Fullo after Fella started bringing them to their hq.

4. Gofar breaking down after Tuktuk got caught.

5. Every Hackforger hug.

6. "Fella already bought the company."

7. The chase scene in the first plan.

8. Whenever Ucup laid out the most unhinged plan. Especially the one that got inspired by uhhh idk PUBG? FF?

9. Every scene of Fella being a pro gambler. Like, red flag but also you go Queen.

10. Piko vs Budiman. Nuff said.

[sappyscarfy]

I just saw Doctor Strange 2 it was epic! Sorry im gonna have to yell about it

Spoilers below!

[Ok first im a normie mcu movie-only fan but i do frequent comic discussions so i know some things]

DS2 has been my most anticipated phase 4 marvel movie. I went into it 100% for doctor strange cause he's my fav character. Im not that huge about wanda sorry so i wont have much opinion on her,,, I won't lie i was quite worried for this movie with all the delays and reshoots, not to mention early reviews/reactions seems rather "mixed" so my expectations are kept in check Things i wanted to see before going into the movie: -Better magic fight. Frankly the magic in DS1 was rather meh. But they have been powering him up for the past couple movies so i had high hopes -Strange not getting overshadowed by Wanda and cameos -Better magic. Seriously i just want to see some cool magic. See that cool Strange vs Thanos battle in Infinity war? I just want an entire movie of that 💀 And they delivered! The magic was much more creative and varied! No more boring fistfight (except for that one scene where they literally cant use magic lol) A huge huge upgrade over the first movie. The music battle with darkhold strange (idk what to call him) was incredible! And when zombie strange turning the spirits into a cape. Metal af!! (Im gonna have to draw that someday). The magic in this movie is absolutely eye candy! Also holy fuck this movie is brutal i can't believe its PG-13. Black bolt head just fucking pop and Reed Richard is just shredded like spaghetti and its clearly see on screen. Rip all the parents bringing their kids into this movie I know many people are disappointed that the Illuminati were taken out so quick but im not a comic book reader so i wasn't obsessed over these cameos. Tho Professor X in that yellow chair was so funny i cant get the mental image of him rolling around in it during the battle with thanos out of my head So for the characters. Strange did get huge character development and i think he was really well written. I love the whole thing of him being able to accept that he doesnt always have to be the one wielding the knife. Christine role was very good too and im so glad she didnt give Strange a goodbye kiss at the end. Really like that last scene where Strange repaired the watch to show that he was finally able to move on too. Im very very glad that they didnt get back together at the end -The new character America Chavez i love her! I've only known her for 2 hours but if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself. She punch star portals. Coolest thing ever! Needs more development in the future tho -Wanda. Im not wanda stan so i dont mind whatever role she's playing in this movie. I think she was a good villain. Tho im actually glad that it was the darkhold that corrupts her because going from wandavision to murdering a bunch of people is way too steep of a character turn -Wong my beloved! I was so scared they're gonna kill him off to make Strange the sorcerer supreme but im glad they didnt. He was really funny in this movie and i love the banter with strange as usual. There's that scene in Kamar Taj where he yells "FORTIFY YOUR MIIIIIND!!!!!" was so hilarious to me -Mordo (838) he doesnt really do anything. But im glad they didnt kill off og mordo like some leaks said -Who is that green minotaur i want to know moreee

Visual-wise this movie looks way better than most mcu movies. Lots of more interesting shots and better color grading. Tho some of the transition scenes are really goofy like that one going from Wanda's apple field and fading to Wong face lmao. And Raimi really loves eye closeup huh

Hm hm what else? Yeah the post credit. Im sorry I know many comic fans are very excited for Clea but that scene has strong "it's me blorko" energy skskskks. Anyways idk anything about her but she seems very cool and im excited to see her in the future I think the pacing in this movie is a bit too cramped. Def needs some extra minutes in some place like the beginning to kamar taj fight

Side note, this movie has a B+ Cinemascore (which is a rating system used in box office community to represent the casual general audience opinion). The only other B range mcu movies are Thor 1 (B+) and Eternals (B). Im honestly baffled that people like thor 2 (A-) and black widow (A-) more than this 💀 Overall good movie, better than NWH for me!

[legendaryinternetpersona]

Tfw it becomes even more abundantly obvious that you've got to manifest a *LEGITIMATE MIRACLE* in order to correct things in your life back to how you would prefer them, you've gotten *that far* off your path. But you're pretty sure you can do it. But holy shit its like, today, i discovered that the mountian i need to climb, the one that, at the top, is my children spending time with me willingly and legally and for extended periods of time and me not having to pay any money at all to the fucking asshole who put hands on me in anger and then lied about it and stole my kids. I'm *NOTHAPPY* about supporting his lifestyle of grift and excess so that my children might get some of the crumbs. For all i know, he's locking the baby in the closet every time he mentions me! I DO NOT KNOW!!

And I'm expected to build a life like this. I'm expected to build a career. A career that pays enough for me to be able to finance an attorney, and a custodial evaluation, and against seemingly inexhaustable amounts of money from the other side to just pour down the gullet of the demon that is the family court. The whole thing is demonic. It's evil. He's evil. And I'm not. Im a freaking pollyanna goody goody who isn't a warrior at all. I just want everyone to be evolved and honorable and decent. Let's work together for a better, brighter, future. But dammit if i didn't fall for a fallen angel or something. Gawd he's just... it doesn't matter. My mountian is in a valley, and the valley is fraught with danger, and the mountian is higher than i thought, but will crumble to dust eventually no matter what and building a life around a fight just isn't the kind of life i want. I genuinely don't want to fight, with him or with anyone, anymore. I want everyone to work together for the good of all. I want to build a better tomorrow than this shitty terrible today. He's just gonna lie about me and keep lying and he's gonna keep being cruel to me and keeping the kids from me because he's sick and it gives him sick pleasure. And there's literally nothing i can do about it. Until i win the lottery or get hella heckin famous. Neither of which is especially likely. But this is TFW i'm gonna have to do exactly that. I'm gonna need a mountian of money and an army of support. And these things take time to build. And I'm awkward and unlikable, near universally, allegedly. So I've been told by individuals who had interests other than my own at heart. So i question the validity of that. I question the validity of everything. Even myself. This reality. The point of all of it. I'm annoying. I ask too many questions. I make people question and it weirds them out.

I know how Socrates ended up killed.

He got on their nerves.

Just like me.

Ugh.

So yeah, i need to get hella heckin famous and financially solvent, with trusts and shells to save it from people trying to take things before they've come fruit. And i need to build this damn thing im doing to get there. Without pissing off my friends in the process. 😵‍💫

[panicattheattic]

Falling Asleep on Them Headcanons

Lucifer

So you were in trouble right?

Yup, you aren't even sure what you did this time.

But here you were.

In Lucifer's room.

Getting a talking-to that's been going on for like 3 hours now.

At this point you were sitting beside Lucifer on his bed.

Kinda looking towards him, but not really paying attention.

But he just kept going on and on.

Eventually you started to get really sleepy.

Ah that's right, you were in trouble for staying out so late...

You tried to fight the drowsiness fearing you'd just get in trouble again.

That didn't work so well.

Soon you were slumped over, fast asleep.

Lucifer felt your weight on him and he knew immediately you had fallen asleep.

That may or may not have been part of his plan.

To be fair, he originally was just going to give you one of his extensive speeches about following the rules.

But once he saw you were barely staying awake, he decided to take advantage of it.

Can you blame him?

You look so adorable when you sleep.

Just don't be alarmed when you wake up tomorrow in Lucifer's bed all snuggled up in his sheets.

Mammon

He was over at your room.

Again.

You were watching a compilation of the best Lord of Fools moments from the TSL anime.

Mammon was crying, but that's besides the point.

You held on to his arm in order to comfort him.

"I-I'm fine, ya dummy! Ya think the great Mammon needs someone to hold him??"

You managed to convince him it was for you instead of him, so he let it slide.

Not that that was something difficult for him to do.

The warmth that radiated off of him was calming, so calming infact, that you couldn't help snuggling into his side even more and drifting off to sleep.

At first when he noticed, Mammon nearly freaked out.

"W-Wha' do ya think your doin'?!"

But upon confirming that you really were asleep.

And since no one else was around.

He let his true feelings show.

He gently moved your hair from your face as he gazed upon you lovingly.

The position might have not been comfortable for either of you, but he didn't dare move for fear of waking you.

He didn't want the moment to end.

Leviathan

You were watching an anime from the human world.

The original Dragon Ball.

You wanted to show it to Levi because you thought he'd enjoy it's quirky humor.

But you didn't have the same magical energy that "Master Otaku Leviathan" had.

You really couldn't stay up all night as much as you tried.

It was well after midnight when your head fell on his shoulder.

You fell asleep without meaning to.

To say that Levi nearly died would be an understatement.

What was happening?

What were you doing?

This sorta thing only happens in animes!

And not to guys like him!

Right?

Yeah, if you woke up you'd probably be upset at him for allowing this...

B-but maybe not?

Levi was happy, scared, excited and mortified all at the same time.

He tensed up so bad that he was in more muscle pain than you when you woke up.

Satan

So this was a pretty usual occurrence actually.

Whenever you would read together, all cuddled up, it often ended with you falling asleep with your head on his chest.

Depending on the book (like if he knew you actually liked it) he'd stop reading and set the book aside.

He'd hold you and stare at you, mesmerized by the soothing rise and fall of your chest.

He'd stay wherever you were until you woke up, sometimes falling asleep himself.

But if couldn't sleep, he'd stroke your hair and enjoy the simplicity of your breathing.

Asmodeus

You were sharing a bath in Asmo's super cushy bathroom.

You were wearing bathing suits, something Asmo half-heartedly pouted about.

He was going off about style and devilgram drama.

As much as you wanted to listen to him.

Because he was undeniably cute when he was honestly passionate about something.

You were starting to feel incredibly sleepy.

Probably because Asmo had kept you up the entire night before.

Just doing each other's make up and gossiping. (Get out of that gutter, please.)

You were kinda worried you'd drown if you fell asleep in here, but you knew Asmo would keep you safe.

So you eventually gave in to sleep.

Asmo noticed when you sank a bit lower in the water.

"MC? Are you-- Ooh~ How adorable!!"

He tried to keep his squeals of delight as quiet as possible.

He failed.

Thankfully you were well an truly down for the count at this point.

He wanted to let you sleep so he could just watch your cute sleeping face.

But he didn't want your skin to get pruny and dry so he did his best to carry you back to his room without waking you.

You did wake up, but just slightly.

All he could make out from your slurred, half-awake talking was his name.

He could have died from the cuteness then and there.

Though, not gonna lie, he was really curious about whatever you could be dreaming about.

Pushing that thought aside (for now) he set you down on a towel which he had placed on his bed and, after getting dry, laid down beside you.

He couldn't help but stroke your face as he too drifted off to sleep with a smile.

Beelzebub

Okay, so you know how after you eat a lot you get really sleepy?

Well there was a big meal today, since Simeon showed up offering to cook Celestial realm food, and you jumped on the chance to stack your plate with heavenly goodies.

Through the meal, you were very aware of Beel eyeing your plate as he ate across from you.

You knew what he was thinking.

There was no way you could finish all that food.

And usually he would have been right.

You felt just about ready to burst.

But it wasn't every day you got to eat Simeon's cooking and, damnit, you were going to enjoy it!

It also didn't help that the way Beel kept hungrily eyeing your food made you all the more possessive over it.

It was your food!

And you were gonna eat it!

And that was a mistake.

You ate way too much and after your stomach ache went down all that was left was sleepiness.

And so that led to Beel checking up on you while you laid on your bed in receding pain.

He was reasonably worried after watching you eat much more food than you should physically be able to handle.

When he asked you how you felt you only responded with a groan and beckoned him over.

When he sat down on your bed, you placed your head in his lap.

Beel felt warmer than after eating a super spicy double cheeseburger from Hell's Kitchen.

So he happily let you sleep as he rubbed your back, hoping to help you feel better.

Belphegor

You honestly have no clue how you ended up falling asleep quicker than Belphie.

Well, you were pretty tired already from studying so much.

And your tutor did keep insisting on being a bad influence.

And when the person who's supposed to be helping you learn is purposely trying to lull you to sleep, going so far as to put his favorite cow patterned pillow under your head...

It's kinda hard to stay awake.

Belphie was really upfront about having no interest in studying, preferring to just cuddle and nap.

But when you persisted he "agreed" to help you study.

He knew sleep better than anyone, so putting you to sleep would be easy.

By the time you did fall asleep however, he hadn't expected to find your head on his arm rather than on his pillow.

Not that he was complaining.

He was definitely not complaining.

But now that he had you, he wasn't planning on letting go until he was no longer sleepy.

So if you don't like cuddling, you might want to get used to it.

~Aqua