#there was also this spy that backstabbed me and i was in the middle of getting angry when i read their dagger name. i belive it was 'ass | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

httphonsool · 4 years

Text

unpleasantly peasant

synopsis; in which king agust d is a backstabbing brother, and he just wants a wife he can control, but min yoongi doesn’t think he likes either of those ideas very much.

word count; 8.4k

time taken; too bloody long

warnings; cutting, blood, people die, heartbreak, angst, sexual activity is mentioned a few times, reader curses out a servant, yeah i think that’s all but please let me know if there’s anything else

notes; this was supposed to be out much earlier, a few months earlier actually, I’ve spent too long on this and I still feel that I could have done better, however I will be writing more often now, my serenity series is on hold for now, I’m writing a spy!jungkook au which I think you guys may be interested in ! Anyway I hope you guys like this, let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see me write.

Seven years ago…

“You’re a bloody bastard, I swear on God,” Min Yoongi spits.

“And you are not the king.”

“But I should be…you were illegitimate, your mother left you at the feet of the throne, she was not married to our father yet you were still born, you have no fucking right!” Yoongi cries, pain evident, sliding his sword out of its sheath and slicing a cut down his brother’s eye.

And all he gets in return is a laugh, right in his face; just before two guards come take hold of Min Yoongi’s arms

“I told you. You are not the king. I make the decisions.”

“The fuck is wrong with you!? I took you in, took care of you, and loved you when no one else did! Even our father rejected you and I still loved you! You were my brother!” Min Yoongi bawls while he struggles to get out of the guards’ grips.

“And that’s why he’s dead. And you’ll be dead soon too. So I’d run if I were you, you’re being given the chance.”

“I hope the woman you wish to marry is the one that stabs you in the back the hardest. Though, I’d be surprised if you are still alive by the time that happens,” and that’s the last thing Min Yoongi is able to spit at his brother before he’s thrown out of his own home.

He doesn’t know when, or how, but he will seek out his revenge.

But right now his name was forgotten in a series of memories a woman would seek to delve in and retain many years later.

Seven years later…

Agust sits on his throne, lazing around, immersing himself in the golden, intoxicating paradise he unrightfully owns, one ear listening to the names of women whom he could marry, the other ear listening to his greed, smiling at the treasure around him.

“Kim Eunha, she…your majesty?” his advisor asks.

“No, tell me something else. I do not want hear about women, why marry one when I can be unmarried and have them all?” Agust chuckles, chuckles turning into full blown laughter. Oh, how obscene King Agust is.

Silence is marred by the filthy sound of footsteps and heavy panting

Loud footsteps carry across the throne room, a breathless man’s voice echoing and bouncing off of the walls.

“My lord, dear, there is a kingdom, in the far off land, they need our troops. They are willing to…” A small, pudgy man curled on the floor forces out, “they are willing to send you their daughter, her hand in marriage,”

“How far is this kingdom?” Agust asks.

“Twenty-one days, sir, we can make it in nineteen if we lessen breaks in between,” the man pants out.

“How old is this daughter of theirs?”

“Just turned twenty.” Ah, the poor girl is four years younger, so innocent, so pure, what a shame her purity will now be tainted.

It’s a shame she is having to give her freedom away this quick, but then again, not everyone is as lucky as to be as free as King Agust.

Not everyone is that obscene either.

And exactly nineteen days later Agust is circling around a fair maiden, examining closely her beauty, every inch of her skin.

And God this kingdom did not disappoint with their women, especially this princess.

Not a speck marking her skin, no flaws, she was perfect in every sense, in every glance, and that is what made the decision. Agust would provide the kingdom support, and power, in return, he would be gifted the kingdom’s first, and only, princess.

Agust doesn’t care about how the woman (barely a woman) feels- for him her beauty is enough to capture his attention more than any other woman has or ever will.

It’s like someone has hit him with a rock: he’s in shock with the pure, unmarred sight of her, his inside coiling in pleasure at the thought of marrying her.

Who cares if Agust didn’t want to marry? He does now.

Maybe it’s the way she looks, maybe it’s her posture, the pure innocence she radiates, but he, the King, truly, really, wants her, more than he has ever wanted anything ever before.

How sweet, how pure, is love at first sight?

In most cases, it does not get sweeter than the bliss you feel in a peaceful spring afternoon, for others it does not become bitterer than your relative’s final words.

But he does not care for the bitterness nor the sweetness; he cares for his future queen.

It’s a shame his love was bittersweet and toxic to the core.

19th July, twelve weeks before your wedding...

A man once told you that when you face times of trouble, you must stand your ground and work the situation through single-handedly, but you have never been strong enough to do so, or to exercise this practice. The only way you knew to defend yourself was through your words and your sword, in some cases the words became your sword.

But what do you do when you cannot use either?

You’ve never thought you’d end up walking around a palace that isn’t yours late at night trying to find an escape route, yet here you are, running around, the soles of your feet pressing against the floor with the cold marble being the only thing your sensitive feet can feel, it was not usually this cold at night back in your kingdom.

When you were first told the only way to save your country from being thundered by your enemy was to be gifted to a King, you accepted, you already knew your people came before you, but dear God did you make a mistake.

Yet now you’re to be wed to him. You’ve also been made into a mere dancer, someone that would be given no respect in your Kingdom, the anklet full of bells constantly ringing was the consistent reminder of your status. It’s almost like you’re a concubine. You have no power, and whereas you used to have enough energy to defend yourself, you know that if you try anything now you would end up in a position much worse than how you are right now, all because you gave yourself away.

And it was on your own accords.

You’ve never looked so pathetic, scurrying around, messing up your skirt and almost stabbing yourself with a sword strapped loosely with string (taken from the loose threads of your clothing) to the waist of your embroidered clothing, just to find an escape route.

The main doors aren’t a possibility since they’re guarded. You cannot leave through a window, there are guards surrounding the whole place, you’ll be caught and given a fate which is worse than death…so maybe-

A shuffling sound. It’s almost like leaves rustling.

You whip out your sword, cut yourself on the arm in the process, and slash it around only to be met with the hard, shattering clang sound of metal. You can’t think properly, you’ve never had to actually fight, especially not against a foreigner for God’s sake

Your body goes numb, your mind goes blank and all you can think is intruder, intruder, intruder, intruder. For all you know this could be your last breath.

And all of a sudden you’re pressed up against the wall with a blade against your throat, your own sword now on the floor and prayers flowing out of your mouth whilst you stare into the eyes of your attacker, a face so familiar but a feeling so different.

He looked almost exactly like your fiancé. He just has shorter hair, black, and from what you could tell in the faint glow of the moonlight, he has the same scar, but it looks prettier than his lookalike’s, there was a certain beauty about him, but you can tell he could not care any less than he does about being caught by you.

“Who are you? You’re not from around here.” Neither is he, he looks like he belongs with the peasants from the way he’s dressed.

“Neither are you.” You spit.

“Where are you from? Are you that bastard’s whore?” The boy leans in closer, pressing the blade of sword even harder against you until you have no more space left to move.

“I could kill you,” He tells you when you refuse to answer him; your vision goes blurry with tears threatening to spill. It’s not normal for you to shed tears; you’re used to holding it in because you have to set an example for the younger girls back home.

“You wouldn’t kill a princess,” You whimper, it’s like something clicks in his eyes immediately, grip loosening against his sword and swinging it back into place to rest at his hip.

“So you’re a princess? You’re useful,” a small smirk plants itself on the man’s face.

You shouldn’t trust him, but you cannot help it, he is the most normal person you’ve met in this place so far, in fact he is the only other person you’ve met and have talked to, so maybe you are just desperate, or maybe you are trusting your instincts too much, but you are already in a difficult position, it cannot get worse than this, than being stuck in a foreign land and having to marry a king who couldn’t give a shit less about you and your feelings, just his desire.

But something about him is comfortable; it tastes sweet, sweet like a summer’s day spent in the forest near your home feasting on the most extravagant delicacies your homeland could offer.

“What’s wrong with you? Why the hell are you so pathetically quiet? I thought you were a princess not a slave.” He spits. Oh, if only he knew. “And what were you doing? What were you doing in the middle of the night? Trying to leave? If there was a way out, you would have left by now.”

How does he know?

“Who are you? I’ll call the king, I’ll call his guards! Don’t even think about touching me.” Ah, you’ve finally regained some sort of brain. Though you are lying, you would not call the king, not when this man is your only hope so far.

“Shut your dumb mouth. I don’t want to touch you. Not when you are quite clearly his property,” he pauses, looking you up and down, a smirk etched onto his face, one you didn’t even mind, “though, you are a pretty sight.”

“No, I’m not his property, I am a princess, and I’d appreciate it if you could treat me with the same respect which you would treat your king with. Especially assuming that I am about to become his wife,” you step forward towards him, faking absolute confidence.

“Mm, but I don’t respect this king you talk about. I don’t respect manipulative fucks who use me to get what they want,” what is he on about?

“What?” You ask, confusion taking over your sense.

“You want to go back home?”

“Well obviously, isn’t this what we’re discussing?”

“Well…”

“Well what?”

“I’ll spoil it for you now: no. No, you can’t go back, you do not belong to your country anymore. I mean they basically sold you didn’t they? You no longer have any worth even there, let alone here.” He laughs, “so pathetic, really, but, if you really wanted to get out of here…” so this was what it was, this was what he wanted out of you.

And you are so pathetic, so stupid you’re actually giving him what he wants.

“Please. Tell me.”

“Hmm, help me rip his life apart. You’re a warrior princess. I know where you come from, what they teach you. Help me kill him.” Him? Who is him?

“Him?”

“Your beloved fiancé, my dearest, bastard brother,” He chuckled, “who else? You really think I look like him for no reason?”

Oh, in God’s name what will you do?

You are not one for battles and murder; you have trouble even lifting your sword before someone else does.

What are you going to do? Kill him in his sleep? Rip his throat from his body? Please, that’s absolutely ridiculous; you barely have the power let alone the strength.

Who even is this man, besides having the role of being the King’s brother? How come you have not seen him before?

“Who are you?”

“Are you that stupid? Are you that dumb?”

“I asked a question,” you step forward once more, regaining your confidence.

“So did I,” He spits, “I’m his brother, he threw me out of here, now I’m back, look, do you want to leave? Or do you want be stuck in a marriage that promises you nothing but pain?”

“Why are you telling me? I could tell my fiancé.” He steps into you, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he pushes you back into the wall with a hand wrapped around your neck.

“You don’t really want to marry him, do you? Look me in the eyes and tell me,” he whispers. You falter, he’s right, you were just looking for an escape route, he caught you, and of course you will not speak to his brother.

“I want out,” a tear makes its way down your cheek, “I’ll do whatever,”

“Don’t worry for it, it’ll be handled, princess…” his hand makes its way to your face, gently tracing the outline.

And this, this is how you know you are with the right man in the moment, the sense of comfort felt was unspeakable, it almost felt like…

You were supposed to marry a man who treated you like a whore, but now you are not sure whether you will be marrying someone at all.

And maybe this was the perfect way out.

You meet him a few times more, discussing the plan and strategy; these meetings being in the safety of your dimly lit chambers, a little bit more up close and personal, and honestly you enjoy this closeness.

And it’s unfortunate really, but you seem to have taken a liking for the bastard king’s brother, it’s almost pathetic that you’re discussing your escape plan.

“Have you eaten? Has he hurt you today at all?”

“No, he ignored me today,” truth be told, you’re not sure why King Agust is ignoring you as such, it makes you wonder is he maybe that you met his brother? Or maybe he was sick of you and sick of your voice, your dancing, everything, maybe he would finally let you go? Unlikely, but you still wished for it.

“He must have smelt me.” Truth be told, you’re not sure why you’re so surprised to hear this either.

“What?”

“He must have smelt another man’s scent on you, we need to be careful, don’t come close to me.” But you like being close to him, you haven’t felt so comfortable being close to someone in such a long time.

“But I like this, I like you.” You thought maybe this would fluster him, but his face remained void of any emotion at all.

“I don’t have time to be friendly, I’m here to keep you company simply so that you trust me. And we’re going to the market place tomorrow, I’ll sneak you out, don’t worry, he won’t even notice you’re gone.” His hand comes up and cups your soft cheek, stroking your cheekbone, “stay safe, princess.”

And then he’s up and gone.

What does he even do here? You wonder as you stroll around the market place linked hand in hand with the man who had promise to save you from an unwanted marriage, and as much of a dick he can be, he’s still so pretty to look at.

And you know deep down he is so much nicer than he’ll ever show to you in a public place.

You’ll never tell him but he’s ten times better looking than his brother, because at least he does not force you to do things solely for his pleasure, and at least he’s gentle, and at least he cares; at least he isn’t an idiot.

Or maybe he is forcing you into things...but you’re gaining from this too.

And besides, for some fucked up reason you feel way too much affection for him.

“You know...you never really tell me how you are, it’s a little scary,” you don’t tell him how you are either, but you know it’s only because he doesn’t care.

“I’m fine. And you?” You don’t understand why, but hearing him talk so straightforward, so politely, well...politer than he’s ever been before to you anyway, but it makes you laugh, a pure chuckle. “What? What is it now?”

“No, nothing, you were just...being polite, it seemed too sweet,” you giggle uncontrollably to the point the people around you start staring too.

“Sweet? I don’t do sweet, it sounds disgusting, I think what you mean is that I’m playing nice, and in that case, if it’s such an issue, I can go back to being a dick, if you would like, so you can dislike me all you want, I don’t care,” that’s a lot of talk for someone who doesn’t care, it only just makes you giggle more, until it finally settles in your head what he’s just said, you stop him from leading you further down the market, linking your other hand in his as well.

“I hope you realise that I never disliked you, Min Yoongi, not even in the beginning,” and that’s when the giggles erupt again, just at the sound of his name. You like that. You like his name, even if it’d been corrupted by a man who should not even have the right to say it.

Yoongi jerks his hand out of yours.

“God, the only reason I even held your hand was so that I wouldn’t lose you, not so that you can get all sickly sweet and sentimental, please keep that between us in private.”

And that only makes you giggle even more.

Dear God, this is going to be a long day, Yoongi thinks, he almost wants to drown himself right now with the way you just can’t stop giggling.

But at the same time it’s kind of endearing.

And maybe he loves it…just a little bit.

“You know, I have never visited a marketplace. Not once.” You tell Yoongi, he doesn’t actually care, he probably isn’t even listening.

“And you’re telling me....why?” Yoongi asks.

“Because I want to tell you, so listen, or God forbid I’ll have my people stake you,” you jokingly threaten him.

“Okay, princess, tell me, or ask me, whatever you want,” well you didn’t expect that one, but you’ll accept it either way.

“You said he threw you out...tell me what happened,” it’s not even a question, more of a demand, and you know he’ll tell you. Min Yoongi pauses, his muscles tensing underneath your fingers from where you gripped onto his arm.

“he killed my father, that greedy bastard killed my mother too, then he told me to leave or he’d have me killed so I can join my parents, and well I guess he didn’t have the heart to kill me, we were always close growing up, I always took care of him like he was my younger brother...because well he was, but then he killed my father, and my mother, just because he wanted the throne, because he was tired of being ‘second best’, I miss it, I miss him, but after what he’s done to the people, and me, someone has to dispose of him.”

“The people?”

“Well, look around you, does anyone seem happy?” You stop in the middle of the market, taking a full three-sixty-degree turn and looking at people’s faces, full of sorrowful expressions, sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks.

“They look so downcast, so unhealthy.”

“They are, he can’t take care of a kingdom, he was never trained for it, and he was just greedy for power and...Women and money, he takes so much money from us that we’re left not being able to buy food to feed our families, or whoever we live with.”

“If this is where you live, why were you in the palace that night?”

“Let’s say I’m lucky I lived there my whole life. I know a woman that I grew up with, she lets me in when I want to see her. I don’t think I could live without her.”

Oh. There’s a woman.

And he can’t live without her.

Then why does he act so affectionate in private?

“Anyway, you told me you wanted to introduce me to someone in the market place?”

“Yeah, we’re almost there, there’s several places I needed to take you,” Yoongi drags you all the way to a butcher’s stand.

“___, this is my friend, he’s a butcher….he also um, executes in his spare time,”

“Oh.” You state, a sense of confusion settling in your brain.

“I think you know why you’re here, ___,” Yoongi whispers your ear.

“You need a favour from me, son? A favour just like last time?” The butcher asks, despite his overall gruff look, his voice is much smoother and silkier than you would have imagined.

You don’t know what favour Yoongi asked, and you don’t want to know either.

“When’s the next execution?” Yoongi’s voice lowers, almost as if he’s asking a secret.

“Day before the King’s wedding, why? You need me to sneak you in?” The butcher asks, an untamed brow being raised.

“Me and my…” Yoongi stares at you, eyes softening, “…accomplice, will be hopefully running away.”

“Ain’t that a crime?”

“Exactly. We’ll be caught; I’ll make sure of it.”

“Son, why are you telling me all of this?”

“When we’re presented in front of you to be executed-” Yoongi, eyes him.

“He won’t execute ‘er, he’ll fuck ‘er, chain ‘er up, but he won’t kill her…heard he’s been too whipped for this soon to be bitch of his to be able to do something of the sort,” you gasp at the vulgar language the butcher uses, raising your hand almost as if to slap him.

“How dare you? How dare you use such vulgar-” Yoongi places a hand on your shoulder, your anger suddenly disappearing and transforming into nerves, Jesus Christ, why does he do that?

“I apologise, she’s not used to such areas-”

“My God, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you’ve both been meeting each other behind the King’s back with the way you’ve been looking at each other,” The butcher chuckled loudly, a hard blush covering both yours and Yoongi’s cheeks.

Was it truly that obvious how you were towards each other?

“Imagine if he knew my whole plan,” Yoongi mutters to himself, “he isn’t a quiet lad, he’ll go around telling everyone.” He places his head in his hands, sighing.

“Hmm, the way you look at me…” you tease, rolling over in your bed and squishing his cheeks.

“Oh, God.”

“How do you look at me…I know you weren’t too fond of me that first night…” you dreamily place your hands around his neck, he calmly grabs your hands from around his neck, and places them back by your sides.

The sting of rejection injected in you had never stung worse.

“I mean at least I don’t hate you. It could be worse. I could be like him; at least I’m not going to beat you because I get mad at you at times, at least I treat you as I should.”

Oh.

“Oh.” You state, tears welling up, it’s pathetic really, and why are you crying?

“I’m sorry.” Is he? Is he really?

“You act so strange sometimes, it’s like one minute you’ll caress me, and make sure I’m okay and the next you’re ashamed of me. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“I’m sorry, princess.”

You don’t reply after.

You don’t meet with him that night either, and he doesn’t bother showing up.

It’s midnight, and you’ve never been in worse pain…not after how you’ve been treated. On this day especially, the cut you accidentally made on yourself the night when you met the emotionally unavailable brother of your soon-to-be husband had finally made itself aware. The beating you got for accidentally marking up your skin was nothing compared to the deep cut he sliced on your shoulder blade in order to shame you for the stench of another man being found on you.

His proclamations of love meant nothing when he did this to you. He wasn’t a king he was a coward.

“Why are you not asleep?” You know who it is. He’s your only hope in this country, and with less than a week until you are to be wedded to his brother, you can’t afford to disobey him, not when you owe your life to him for saving you earlier.

His brother. His brother…a man that had absolutely no right to be on the throne, a man that treats you like exactly how a dancer would have been treated in your kingdom. He knows it too, what being a dancer for the king means in your culture; just the sound of bells wrapped tightly around your ankles was enough to strip you of your dignity, making you dance was just another way to ridicule you. All in all, nothing could prepare you for the slice his sword left just next to your left shoulder blade; nothing prepared you to be treated like a bitch on heat left to bleed to death later.

“It makes me uncomfortable,” you state, don’t let him know your weakness; don’t let him know your weakness, you’re stronger than that, are you not?

“Oh, really?” he doesn’t seem sympathetic at all, you can hear his footsteps nearing you, can see his face in the dim light of the burning lanterns scattered across your chambers as he sits in front of you, closer than ever before, and that is right when he draws his dagger out, using it to uncover the white netted shawl from back home that’s draped across your body, your mother gave it to you before she died.

What is he doing?

He moves his dagger into the burning candle wick, heating the blade. You are not quite sure what this man is doing, he could be about to kill you, he could be about to slit your throat, let you bleed out. Like what they did to the meat back home.

“I saw you dancing.” He states, sighing, the flame of the candle reflected in his pitch black eyes, “You dance well.” Now this man whom you trusted is just mocking you, does he not know how degrading it feels to be a dancer? To be stripped of your status, your name, and your home, your family only to be made a dancer for pleasure? For no other than the man who gave your father support in exchange for your hand in marriage?

“I’m a princess, not a dancer, I certainly shouldn’t be-” he presses his scorching hot dagger to the wound on your shoulder blade, pressing your head into his chest, allowing you to cry.

As much as the pain made you suffer, you couldn’t help but sigh with relief at the heat, tears escaping the seams of your eyes, and at the very least your wound will not be infected now. A small tickle, right inside of your ear, “You are not a princess, you are not royalty. You are a mere slave; if you had any noble status over here…you wouldn’t be dancing for that sick bastard of a brother. And if you knew what was best for you, you would run when I let you go.”

“Besides, I think your dancing is beautiful. Not for pleasurable purposes, I swear, princess, it takes skill to be as talented as you, you shouldn’t be mocked for it. I don’t see why it’s such tradition to be mocked for something as intricate as dance.”

It hurts the most because he is right; your status of being a princess means nothing to those in this kingdom, you’ll only be important once you are married to the poor excuse of a king yet you know that in this king’s eyes, you’ll only ever be his whore. But not if Min Yoongi steals the throne, then you could be free, even if it only leads to you wanting to go straight back to him, because over the past week, you’ve learnt how much you need him.

Yoongi presses the dagger harder against your shoulder blade, more tears escaping from your eyes, full sobs running out of your mouth, and all of a sudden the heat is gone, and so is the comfortable warmth of Yoongi’s embrace. You are unable to tell which one is more hated- you want him back either way.

Two dark orbs meet yours, and even in the dim light you admire his scar, only adding fire to his delicate, beautiful features, one that both brothers marked each other with-

For vengeance.

And it looks like Min Yoongi finally will claim his vengeance.

“Give me your hand, princess,” you are far too weak to give him your hand, so he takes your left hand himself, knowing that it is only adding to the pain in your left shoulder blade.

“I thought I wasn’t a princess? I am a slave…no?”

Yoongi plainly ignores your comment, placing his dagger in your hand.

A wave of shock passes through you. A man giving a woman his dagger back in your Kingdom meant much more than just a gift. It meant he was infatuated with you.

But Min Yoongi couldn’t.

“You may not be a princess to him, my brother may not respect your status but I will, and I always will, even after I’ve overthrown that son of a bitch, and even if you decide to leave me,” his fingers trace the outlines of your eyes, your nose, your jaw and finally, your lips. Contrary to his appearance, his touch is much softer than that of the linen used in the clothing your father used to have custom-made for you, his touch was softer than the soft hue of blue that painted the sky, and more comfortable than gossamer touching your skin. In return, you lift your left arm up, fingers extended, bearing the pain because infatuation is not delivered without at least some, and gently trace your finger over the beautiful scar left vertical across his eye. You are lost in the map of his undeniable beauty, so much so that you almost forget that you owe him for stopping an infection from forming in your wound.

“Take,” you pause, a searing pain bursting through your shoulder, Yoongi’s hand immediately comes to rub circles on your back, as you raise a fist clenched with your shawl, the same one your mother gave you, “this is a sign of my gratitude, for helping me, sell it I’m sure you’ll get money for resources or something, you can leave now if you must,” he blinks, facial features void of any expressions or feelings. And then it happens, rapidly, sharper than a blade, he swipes the dagger out of your hand and carves the lightest scratch beneath your collar bone which causes two more tears to trickle down your throat, the scratch is light, but still more than visible and you know you will be receiving a heck of a round of shame tomorrow when you see the king, he does not appreciate you being marked even further.

“How can I leave an untended wound? Isn’t that immoral?” He asks, “You realise, you still owe me one thing,” he trails off, and you can practically see the cynical smirk on his face.

“Me. I’ll gift you myself. I don’t want to marry him, so you take me instead.” You tell him, not a single second of hesitation, Min Yoongi stares at you dead in the eyes, all evidence of mischief and emotion drained from his face, taking your shawl and wrapping you in it, “Sleep, princess, it’ll be easier this time round,” clearly, Yoongi had no care for the way you felt.

“Don’t leave, please, I’d never leave you even if you let me go.”

But you didn’t expect the sting of rejection in your heart when he left. He didn’t want you. You misunderstood.

You are not wanted by Yoongi. And here you thought maybe someone really wanted all of you, but no, he just needs you for his damned plan.

Hand-holding seems like such a sweet, affectionate thing to do, but when you’re holding the hand of a man who clearly doesn’t care for you, it feels like more of a trap, especially when you have to announce a marriage to the people of his kingdom.

And it hurts worse when the man you’re seemingly in love with is standing behind a curtain, slightly visible only to you, staring at you with both admiration and pain evident in his eyes.

“…And to celebrate…grand execution…to rid our homeland of those who take it for granted…” you’re too focussed on your Yoongi, who’s staring ever-so cutely at you, emotions, for the first time in the period you’ve known him, showing.

It’s strange afterwards to say the least, there’s a slight look of betrayal on Yoongi’s face, and a sad sort of happiness in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“What for?” You ask him

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

“Why?” you ask again.

“I’m sorry,” anger fills his face, tears drip down from his eyes, he pulls you into your chambers, gripping your face and squeezing it lightly.

“You better not change your mind about wanting to leave because if you do, God help me I will never let you leave,” he tells you, grabbing your forearm and squeezing your wrist.

“And what will you do? If I leave, what will you do?” You ask, tears rushing down your face, because maybe you were right. Maybe he did want all of you.

“I’ll find you, I’ll chase you-” he pauses, slipping the dagger hidden in your skirt out, dragging the tip of the dagger over the outlines of your face, and finally down to the surface of your throat, “-I’ll kill myself, and I’ll kill you too, and then maybe we would finally be at peace with each other, far off and away from Earth, with no one but each other.” a sad smile covers his face. If anyone were to be watching the scene they would have thought you both were psychotic, but you understood, he would never really kill you, but he’d never let you be someone else’s either.

You’re not sure where the sudden affection has appeared from as two nights before he completely ignored your statement about your love for him.

“…I’d let you kill me.” You let out a soft chuckle as he places a soft kiss against your forehead, taking his hands back and placing them on your waist.

“Even if I end up marrying him anyway, I’ll still spend the consummation with you.”

Yet, still, he doesn’t kiss you.

That night when Yoongi is ten minutes later than usual for the meeting in your chambers, something is off, something is different, smells different, there’s something wrong.

And all comes crashing down when he brings in a woman with him, neck bruised with her love bites, body stinking with the stench of his woman’s perfume. And you resented it.

Why would he do this?

“Princess, meet Jihyo, you may recognise her.”

“I do not.”

“Princess, I serve you breakfast each morning how could you not remember me?”

“I don’t care for you, I don’t care for him either, I don’t even care for myself.” You’re miserable, and you want him to see it, to see if he really cares.

But things were fine this morning? Had he not made it clear how he felt towards you? Why did he have to break you now?

“Jihyo will be helping you go the morning you run away, I’ve changed plans so that you won’t have to get hurt by him, I wouldn’t want to muck up on the day of the execution and have you executed, so I’ll be sneaking you out the morning of the execution, he’ll be busy so he won’t come seeking for you.”

“What the absolute fuck, Min Yoongi?”

“Princess-”

“Do you have no shame? I’ve confessed my never-ending love for you several times now, I’ve made it clear I won’t be leaving even if you want me to, so how dare you come in here with this whore of yours covered in marks she made and covered in her stench. You disgust me. You’re no different from your brother.”

Even Jihyo had nothing more to say.

“I knew you’d hate me in the end. But I’ll tell you anyways, my love, you’d be better off with someone in your own kingdom, and so you need to move on, and I, too, need to get you off of my mind before I make a decision I regret.” Yoongi says, refusing to make eye contact with you.

“No.”

“Doesn’t it hurt you? To see me marked by a servant, doesn’t it disgust you that my standards are lower? Doesn’t it make you want to leave?”

“It does, it truly does,” you weep, tears spilling, your heart heavy with pain.

You hate him, you hate him, you hate him.

“I’m sorry, princess,” Jihyo rushes out of your chambers.

“I won’t be coming to see you again, my love.”

And you won’t be trying to find him either.

Jihyo throws your minimal belongings into a weakly knit rucksack while you watch, staring intently, unwilling to move.

“Princess, he won’t change his mind, he wants you gone and far away…and safe.”

“I won’t leave.”

“But he wants you to, don’t you want him to be happy.” It’s sickening to think that this entire time he just wanted you for the crown, he didn’t feel anything towards you, and he just wanted his crown back.

“Princess, he doesn’t love you. Don’t you see what I did to him?”

“I hate both of you.” You get up and grab the rucksack from Jihyo, storming out, finding your way through the halls to the courtyard, where you know the execution is taking place, you may as well bid your King farewell.

You really don’t understand what you’re trying to do, you shouldn’t be doing this because it’ll ruin Yoongi’s plan completely…but there’s a fire inside of you that’s encouraging you to keep going, and you won’t stop yourself.

But maybe you should have because it hurts even more than rejection when you see Yoongi on his knees blindfolded, with his hands bound by rope behind his back and a blade swinging towards his neck. You’re frozen; this wasn’t a part of his plan, was it? He was supposed to have escaped the ropes by now, why is he still there? And he’s not even bothering to move?

And neither can you, your body’s unwilling to move; knowing that if you do you’ll regret it, it’ll pain you terribly.

But you end up doing it anyway.

“No, stop!” All heads turn to you as you swing yourself at your king, sobbing uncontrollably, lungs gasping for air, “Yoongi,” you breathe, slipping his blindfold off.

“Why are you here, you should have left when you had the chance-” the bruises on his neck were long gone now, and he no longer smelt like Jihyo’s wretched perfume, just how you preferred it.

“I should have known,” the king scoffed, “you bloody slut,” Agust drags you away from Yoongi using your hands, cuts and scrapes make their way onto your knees, drawing crimson liquid, “I should have known when I first smelt someone else’s scent on you. You’ve been having an affair behind my back haven’t you?” Gasps pass around the courtyard; you forgot you had an audience for a moment.

“N-no.” He slaps you, grabbing your neck and choking you.

“Don’t lie to me, whore.” The king presses his nails so hard they cut into your skin, “How long since you’ve been seeing him,”

“A couple of months, when I first came,” You cry, struggling in his grip.

“My brother of all people, seriously, you could have-” the both of you can hear the movement behind you; it’s a rustling noise, heavy breathing and it takes you back to the night you first met Yoongi. The king and you both turn your heads slowly to see Yoongi trying to free himself out of the rope. The king scoffs and bellows with laughter, ripping his hand off of your neck and pulling Yoongi towards him, dragging him by his shirt.

“Yoongi?” You call, knowing it could get you in trouble.

He never listens anyway.

You can hear the grunts and shoves, and the yelps of pain coming from both of their mouths, but you don’t watch.

You don’t watch as the love of your life gets beaten by his brother.

You don’t watch as you hear them struggle to kill, hear the punches and grunts and the violent matter being dealt with, because you’ve never been able to handle the mere sight of blood.

There’s a long silence before you hear the sheer sound of metal slicing someone’s neck open and you look up to see your king holding a bloody sword.

You knew what that meant.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to look at your ex fiancé’s body lying dead and cold on the floor.

The weeks go on by with a new king in place, the rightful king in his place. You haven’t talked to Yoongi since that day, scared to open your mouth in case he’d offer to send you back home, and you don’t want to go, you want to stay here, stay with Yoongi, so you’ll sit here quietly and play in this intense game of fear. He still invites you to eat with him though, tries to make small talk and smiles at you, but nonetheless, you remain ignoring him, barely eating and avoiding eye contact at all times.

There are times where you’ll be tempted to say something though, and tonight happens to be one of those nights.

“Is your room comfortable, I can have them give you a more comfortable room?” the bed makes my back ache.

“If you don’t like the food I can have them prepare something else for you?” the food’s fine, why won’t you just let me be.

“My king,” you hear a new voice, “we have some…enquiries shall we call it?”

“Yes?” Yoongi responds, placing down his cutlery.

“The previous king never married, the country’s been missing a queen for a long time now, it would be in your best interest to marry, don’t you think?”

“Mm, very well, who do you have in mind?” Yoongi responds. Is he fucking joking right now?

“There are many suitors who are interested…how about Miss Areum, she is your acquaintance since childhood, no?” Unwillingly you growl, extremely un-ladylike but you couldn’t help yourself.

The king can’t help but chuckle, a handsome chuckle at that, too.

“I think Princess ___ would make quite a perfect queen don’t you think? If only she would talk to me, then we could discuss it further.”

“Really?”

“Ah, so she does have a voice? I thought my queen-to-be lost her voice for a while.” Yoongi laughs and it’s a pure, joyous laugh, not cynical or evil like your late fiancé’s.

“I’m sorry, I was scared you’d be reminded of how you wanted to send me back if I spoke.”

“I only wanted that for your safety, princess, but the threat is gone now.”

And for the first time since the death of your fiancé, you laugh and you eat a full meal.

The days go on by yet again, winter approaches with heavy thunder and not a word has been spoken about your lover’s subtle marriage proposal, you wonder if he meant it at all.

So far you’ve spent your days scurrying around helping servants, making yourself useful, running around the market place and sewing. Yoongi doesn’t approve of you mixing with people in the market place, scared you’d get hurt or make a scene due to your uneasiness in the country; you ignored him per usual.

But yesterday whilst helping the servants with their tasks you saw Jihyo, and you couldn’t help but feel for her; you cursed out her name when she was really just doing her job, it’s not like she wanted to take part in hurting you, but she did anyways. So you talked to her, though you wished you hadn’t; you wished you hadn’t seen the hollow look in her eyes and the sallow skin on her cheeks: she was suffering, starving probably, and you wonder why Yoongi doesn’t do anything about it since he claimed he was so much better than his brother.

“Jihyo?”

“Oh, Princess!” She smiled, bowing her head slowly, weakly, and her smile didn’t meet her eyes.

“Jihyo, I wanted to apologise for cursing you.”

“Don’t worry about it!” why she was being so positive when quite clearly your words had cut through her, you had no idea, but you knew she was hurting as much as the other servants were, but she looked worse than all of them.

“Jihyo, you need to eat.”

“I have, I ate bread for lunch, Princess,” she sighed.

“Ah, my queen, I wondered when you’d come see me, I’ve been missing you, you know? Today I realised I still haven’t even kissed you.” Yoongi claims, wrapping one arm around your waist and the other he swung around your thighs getting ready to lift you, but you stop him.

“Yoongi you’re king now.”

“Yes.” He says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“You need to raise the servants’ wage.” You state. He stays silent, thinking for a moment.

“You know, I was so wrapped up in our stupid little plan to kill my own brother, I didn’t even think about what I would do if I were king.”

“Then figure it out, and then you can kiss me, and marry me too, if you wish.”

You wish Yoongi had figured this all out before so you could be happy together now, but unfortunately for him you won’t be marrying someone who hasn’t even thought of the people of his kingdom, you won’t let him be selfish like his brother.

As time goes on and as summer solstice passes you notice the changes, the cheerful workers and servants that pass you, and you can tell Yoongi’s stuck to his word, and this time when you see Jihyo, you’re not worried for the sake of her health, she looks healthy, and she has a ring around her fourth finger.

“Jihyo, is that really you?”

“Princess! You seem much more mature since the last time I’ve seen you.” Jihyo giggles.

“I’m sure I do…is that a ring? Who from? Are you married now?” A sick feeling rises in your stomach, though you knew Yoongi loved you, or had some sort of feelings for you since he still hadn’t properly confessed his love for you, you still couldn’t shake off the fact that Jihyo had marked him at one point, and while it may have been to convince you to leave, the image of it still bothers you.

“Not quite yet, but I’ll be married off by the end of this month to some rich family in the south, I’ll be gone,” a sigh of relief passes through your lips, “though, I will miss you, princess.” Blood rushes to your cheeks, painting them a flowery pink colour.

“I’ll miss you too, I hope your husband treats you well, Jihyo.” You smile at her, knowing that this was Yoongi’s doing, if he hadn’t raised their wages maybe Jihyo would still be looking as sickly and as weak as she was before.

“It is the king’s doing, you know? So maybe you should go see your lover, princess, maybe you’ll be married off by the end of this month, too.”

And maybe you will go see this lover of yours.

“My king? I’ve missed you.” You drag out your words to tease Yoongi, watching as a blush creeps up his cheeks.

“Can I finally kiss you now? Are you happy with what I’ve done?” He slowly reaches his hands forward and rests them around your waist.

“I saw Jihyo today, she’s getting married off did you know that?” You ask him.

“I didn’t, I haven’t talked to her since…the time in your chambers…” his voices drifts off, your heart feeling heavy in your chest. Yoongi places his fingers under your chin, kissing your forehead, “I’ve never doubted your love for me, I suggest you don’t doubt mine for you either.”

“That’s easy for you, I’ve laid my heart bare for you to see, yet you took advantage of that and played with mine this whole time.”

“I’m sorry for that, my dear, but you know I’m not amazing with women.”

“You were pretty amazing with Jihyo.” You shouldn’t have said that.

“Don’t do that, don’t bring her into this, you know why I did what I did.”

“I don’t want to be played with; your brother did that well to me.”

“If I was my brother I wouldn’t have listened to you. But I did listen and look how happy everyone is.” He’s right, you know he is.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He questions, brushing stray hair strands out of your hair.

“Okay,” you laugh, pushing yourself onto your tippy toes.

Yoongi gently grabs your face, pulling you towards him, and the moment your lips touch; you fall weak at the knees, all that wait was finally worth it as you both fell to the floor stripping off your clothes as you do so, and when Yoongi picks you up to carry you bridal style to his bed, he pauses, muscles tense.

“What’s wrong? If you don’t want to do this we don’t have to.”

“Oh, I forgot to ask you if you wanted to marry me.”

Needless to say you said yes.

#yoongi x reader #yoongi #bts #bts fanfic #x reader #min yoongi #bts angst #bts imagines #angst #daechwita #royalty #jimin #jungkook #taehyung x reader #taehyung #oneshot #imagine

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yukina-otome · 4 years

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Otome game MC’S

Hello everyone ! Today i am gonna tell you about my opinion on the mc’s of the otome games i played ! Again this is just my opinion so feel free to share yours or complete with your opinion on mc’s of otome games i didnt include !

This is not a ranking btw !

MLQC MC: Youran

Job: Producer | Queen

Age : 22 year old

Good points : 1-Brave and take risks 2-Never give up 3-Smoll bean (seriously she's so cute) 4-Really nice and helpfull (walk around the city for hours every week to help anyone in need) 5-Hardworking 6-Tell whats on her mind and doesnt hide her feelings 7-Can play piano

Bad points: 1-Bad decision making 2-Rely on the boys too much 3-Mary sue 4-Clumsy AF 5-Sneez\ stomach noises when boy is about to kiss her

Mystic messenger mc:

Age and Job: Depends

Depend on the route 1-Yoosung : Super patient and mature 2-Jaehee: Supportive 3-Jumin : God levels of patience but also kinda always have to agree with jumin which i hate 4-Seven : Happy go lucky and clueless about her whole situation (Seven : There is a BOMB | MC:LOL OK) 5-Another story : Guillible but also very patient. (i would take none of that s**t) Common to all routes : Have no eyes

My candy love MC: Lyn Darcy AKA Candy

Age : 17 during 1st season \ 23 during 2nd season \ 25 during 3rd season

Job : High schooler\ college student\ coffee owner

Good points: 1-Friendly 2-Helpful 3-Open minded 4-Pretty 5-Very strong mentally (during the highschool part) 6-Appearance can be customized 7-Energetic 8-Can get angry and speak her mind (depend on your choices)

Bad points: 1-Nosy AF 2-Mary sue 3-Play terapist with literally anyone she meet even if that mean getting herself in trouble and ignoring her own love life 4-Paranoid 5-Childish (even for a highschooler and even more in campus life)

7hotties MC AKA the worst mc (No pic for her cause tumblr says only 10 pic per post)

Job : Freelance designer Age : middle 20′s

Good points :

1-None

2-Nothing

3-Absolutely nothing

Bad points: 1-Weak 2-Useless 3-Doormat 4-Almost jobless (never seen her work aside from keita's route because he is the one who gave her the job) 5-Bland AF 6-Forgive everything a guy do to her (even rape) 7-Never actually get mad (even after a guy sleep with her and dump her literally right after she's like "pls don't abandon me! Tell me if i did anything wrong ! I'll fix it")

SSS MC:

Job: Concierge at the royal shining

Age : Early 20′s

Good points: 1-Sassy 2-Have a goal in her life and a dream she will not abandon no matter what 3-Can solve mental illness with love (because otome game power) 4-Described as extra pretty (All the boys at her workplace like her) 5-Doesnt give up easily 6-Actually got some backstory 7-Thirsty AF 8-Relatable

Bad points: 1-Forgive too easily (Minami's route !!) 2-Always get caught when spying or listening on someone's conversation 3-Clumsy AF 4-Can't brew coffee even after two weeks of trying (toma's route) 5-Actually not so good at her job but she's trying really hard

Le secret d'henri\Henri's secret MC: Lyla (Actually not an otome game, more like a visual novel but i wanted to include it because i absolutely love the mc and also because it's getting a remake and i wanted to promote it a bit)

Job : Highschooler

Age: 17 then 18

Good points: 1-Strong 2-Naive in all the right ways (she know how naïve she is but still choose to be naïve because she'd rather get backstabbed because she trusted than miss the opportunity to know a good person because she didn't trust)

3-Very pretty (Said to be the prettiest girl in all the high school and literally every boy she met aside from her brother and clement her bestie want to date her.)

4-Very popular 5-She is so nice even Henri call her a saint 6-Have the best family 7-Have the best friends 8-Supportive 9-Likes to play detective and solve people's problem 10-You really get attached to her by the end of the story you are almost sad because you wont get to see her again

Bad points: 1-Overreact 2-Drama queen (I understand tho as she is still a highschooler so she get emotional and depressed quite easily specially when it comes to a certain someone)

3-A bit too perfect sometime : Pretty girl, nice , friendly, cool, like nailpolish and fashion but also manga and video games, smart etc etc 4-MARY SUE 5-Nosy but not in an annoying way

Ikevamp MC:

Job: Travel agent and blogger | Housemaid

Age: Early to middle twenties

Good points : 1-She's said to be very beautiful (leo's route) 2-Speak many languages and seem to have a wide board of interests 3-Adapt fast to her new environment (depend on the routes) 4-Mentally strong (specially in napoleon's route) 5-Kinda mature (sometimes and depend on the route) Bad points: 1-Inconsistent personality even in the same route 2-Mary sue 3-Can be very weak and submissive (depend on the route) 4-Have no reason to stay aside for the boy she loves (what I mean is that by the end of the route the only thing she have in 19th century France is her boyfriend, in some routes she doesn't even meet or talk to most of the other resident and she have no job aside from cleaning the mansion with Sebastian)

5-Also get kidnapped every route (don't know yet for Theo) 6-Always wear the same clothes

Ikerev MC : Alice

Job: Help at a bakery ?

Age: Early twenties (saw somewhere that she was the same age as ray, not sure tho)

Good points : 1-Like food 2-Foodie 3-Enjoy food 4-Food = Happiness 5-More seriously she's super positive and optimistic and adapt really fast to her environment 6-Friendly and happy go lucky 7-Have the power to repel magic and protect herself and sometime her suitor to some degrees

Bad points: 1-Clueless 2-Dumb AF 3-Bad decision making 4-Get kidnapped almost every route 5-Zero observation and deduction skills (Oliver's route) 6-Technically squat at the black\red army headquarter\Oliver and Blanc's house or Harr and Loki's house

Ikesen MC : Mai AKA the queen AKA the fireball AKA the little mouse AKA The godess AKA the wild boar

Job: Seamstress

Age: around 25

Good points : 1-Strong AF 2-Take no sh*t (Kenshin's route\ Nobunaga's route...) 3-Adapt quite fast to her new and very dangerous environement (if i was her i would not leave my room for the next 3 months) 4-Fireball 5-Saved her suitor in many routes (Kenshin, Ieyasu, Shingen...) 6-Sass Queen 7-Have a life in sengoku era aside from her suitor (kinda the opposite of ikevamp mc as i said in bad point 4) 8-Have a dream and a goal 9-Very beautiful (even kenshin said so outside of his route and he was not in love with her!) 10-A lot of chemistry with all of the boys even outside of their routes.

Bad points : 1-Mary Sue 2-In some routes she is weaker but it never really disturbed me as it suited the love interest of the route(Sasuke and mitsuhide's route) 3-Kidnapping

Midcin MC:

Job : Princess

Age: Heard somewhere that she is 19 but not sure about it

Good points : 1-Adapt fast to her new situation 2-Try her best to learn everything 3-Try to take responsibility as the new princess 4-Can't think of anything else for her...

Bad points : 1-Weak 2-Bland 3-Doesnt speak up when she actually need to (The dumpster fire that is Alyn's ever after) 4-Kidnapping sometime twice in the same route 5-Submissive depending on the suitor

Okko's games MC'S : Honestly they r all the same so reunited them all in one

Job and age : Depend on the game

Good points: 1-Hard working 2-Have goals and dreams 3-Usually have a backstory 4-Some of them are sassy 5-Pretty but doesn't take care of herself 6-Always have a very fashionable bestie with a lot of experience with dating that help her and listen to her problems

Bad points: 1-Emotional maturity of a middle school girl 2-Doesnt want to admit her feelings and keep denying them even when there is no reason to 3-Self sabotage 4-Blame herself for every bad thing that happens 5-Some of them are very weak and submissive

And that’s pretty much it ! Thank you for reading until the end ! Pls feel free to reblog and add on those with your opinion !

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amadeus-draws · 4 years

Photo

have you ever just looked at Zane’s design and his overall characterization beyond being the goofy drunk irishman? the things he DOESN’T say are almost as interesting as the zany things (ahem) that come out of our favorite operative’s mouth:

his jacket's probably something of his own design, and has what looks to be armor plating lining it (especially around the neck and upper chest; gotta protect your vital areas!) and mesh lining for ventilation around his arms--just a cool detail

the little digistructor (at least I think it is?) mounted on his shoulder for the drone is also armored and heavily padded, because this guy takes good care of his little bud

wouldn't be surprised if that bodysuit he wears under his shirt is something he kept from his black-op days or stole when he was an active operative

said bodysuit also looks reinforced behind the neck and on the shoulders

between the armor in his jacket collar and the armor on the bodysuit, his neck is stupidly well-protected from things like attacks and explosions from behind, because he needs to be prepared for anything at any time

the bodysuit design actually reminds me a lot of the various sneaking suits in the Metal Gear series, where some provide physical augmentation (ie, synthetic muscle tissue), exert pressure to control bleeding from injuries, etc on top of just acting as armor

let's not forget those dope trigger-finger gloves, with the textured tips on the fingers for extra grip, the thinner perforated material over most of the palm for ease of flexing the hand (which also looks well-worn and even has cracking in the texture if you look closely), and the padding on the lower part of the palm because having a very secure grip on a gun is nice

so I'm REALLY reaching a bit here, but you ever wonder about that gun holster on his hip? I mean everyone and their mother has a holster for their shit, but Zane has that nifty high-tech looking one that rivals that of Jack and Lorelei... AND they're all connected to high-tech companies (Hyperion and Atlas respectively). kind of makes you wonder where and how he acquired his gear in general; did he steal these things? keep them from his jobs? get designs for them and/or make them himself otherwise? maybe buy them with the decent amount of money he probably has?

have you SEEN this guy's reflexes, perception, and PHYSICAL STRENGTH? he's obviously not young anymore and past his physical prime--WHEW geEEeeEz and all--but he friggin manhandles a bandit and throws him clean out a window in the opening cinematic, effortlessly tosses a guy into a dumpster in his character trailer, manages to get a guy that’s twice his size and bulk off the edge of the cliff in the same trailer, doesn't even turn around to acknowledge the big mofos coming behind him in the Let's Make Some Mayhem and We Are Mayhem trailers before swapping places with his clone, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...

in the E3 We Are Mayhem trailer, he manages to deploy his drone, quickly swap between two guns, deploy/trade places with his clone, AND kill 5 mechs ALL in the span of FIVE SECONDS (with an extra backstab on the last guy to boot), with extremely precise and controlled movements; i personally think this is probably one of the best demonstrations of the fact that this is a guy who had black-ops/military training on top of having just killed countless people over the last few decades

and sure, maybe that earpiece might enhance his hearing or some crap and you can probably hear those big guys coming from a mile away but STILL!

I’m not gonna touch the Happy Together trailer because that is clearly an acid trip, but if he actually IS shooting guys without even looking at them WHILE DANCING........ I mean jesus christ, no wonder he’s so deadly

"flamboyant spy man" SHOULD be one of his middle names, given his dramatic hands-behind-his-back pose in the opening movie, his chin-on-hand main menu pose, and that James Bond-y pose he has in the character selection menu

now I'm not saying bandits are thirsty for Zane, but I find it hilarious that they're constantly babbling about how THE GEEZER is good-looking (pretty boy!) to the point of even asking what the hell he uses to look so good (the answer is NOTHING of course, he just looks that good), and most of the lower-tier bandits are probably in their 20s and up or something lmao

as far as family resemblances go, Zane and Baron share pretty similar hairlines (AND SIDEBURNS MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL), facial structure (them cheekbones), the squinty-eye deal, and that default stern, perma-grump facial expression (or “sour disposition” as Zane’s in-game description calls it)

AND BONUS SHIT: he has the wildest little ECHO animation of the VHs when you use the Quick Change station, with him swapping to a full length cloak and his wanderer head (the rice hat with a full gas mask) while everyone else gets slightly less dramatic clothing swaps. because even the friggin little pixel animations for him have to be fun!

Bit of a digression, but I always found it funny how his enemies poke fun at him for being old--I personally imagine him to be probably in his 40s at the youngest--when he isn’t super old by most measures (ffs, full head of hair, not a hint of a receding hairline, and still has color in his hair... friggin Wainwright looks comparatively ancient), BUT!

we know he’s 1) a guy who’s probably been in active combat most of his life and we know life tends not to be long for people like him, and 2) actively being hunted down with at least 36 bounties on his head based off his on-down dialogue

the probability of him managing to live long isn’t all that great, and it’s kind of interesting to think about why bandits call him an old guy: he IS an old guy by virtue of life being short in the galaxy, especially for someone still in the fight

I mean most of the older people we see in the BL universe are usually either civilians or people who’ve been out of combat for a while, like Mr. Blake, Dr. Zed, Crazy Earl, etc

Zane’s pretty much a unicorn in the BL universe, and i for one think his longevity is a testament to his skills and ability to survive (with help from Lady Luck of course); even he’s not sure how he’s managed to live as long as he has in another of his cripple quotes

just so you get an idea of how long this guy has stayed alive, he’s outlived older brothers Baron and Captain by 12 (5 years between BL1 /BL2 plus 7 years between BL2/BL3) and and 7 years (from BL2/BL3) respectively

ANYWAYS YEAH, Zane is just a really interesting character both upfront and when you read between the lines, I dunno how you guys feel hahah

in other news, i’m actually going back in for my second playthrough to collect all them tasty Zane deets i missed the first time around and making my way through the DLC... stay tuned for more Zane ramblings!

#zane flynt #zane the operative #borderlands #borderlands 3 #non-art

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rosereview · 4 years

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Top 7 Favourite Fictional Siblings

Out of all the books and series I’ve read, I’ve always loved to read about siblings and their relationships. Being an older sister myself, I always thought it was fun to see the relationships of different characters and how family plays a big role in many books and stories. This post will also probably contain minor (or major) spoilers so be warned. Here is a list of my favourite siblings and their relationships with one another.

7. Vivienne, Jude, Taryn, and Oak Duarte

From the Cruel Prince, or Folk of Air series, by Holly Black, this is the main character and her siblings, both biological and adopted. Jude is the main character while Taryn is her twin sister, Vivienne is her older half sister, and Oak is their younger step brother (which you later find out is actually adopted and you see why in the books). First off, I love Jude and that’s mainly why she and her siblings are on this list. I also love Jude’s relationship with her foster father, definitely more than with her siblings, but that’s for another list. So at the start and end of the series, Jude is really close with all of her siblings, but during the whole middle when I like Jude the most, her siblings anger and annoy me. As an older sister, Vivienne does not do much to protect her younger siblings especially when they need it most, also mostly looking out for herself and failing to even try and understand the situations they go through to stay alive in Faerie. That always made me resent her a little bit because both Jude and Taryn could have used a lot of advice on how to survive in Faerie from their part Fae sister, but all Vivienne focuses on is getting out of Faerie and leaving them behind. Of course she makes up for it at the end and isn’t as bad as Jude’s next sister, Taryn. Now I’ve read every book Holly Black wrote related to the Cruel Prince, even the short story from Taryn’s point of view, but I still dislike her very much. She backstabs her twin sister with Locke and later, when she sees how much of an asshole Locke is, she runs back to Jude asking for her help because she’s scared of him. And Jude actually helps her! Ugh! Taryn is just so stupid and needy and so unfair to her sister who does everything for her. Even when she redeems herself at the end, I still hate Taryn and the way she treats her sister, so that’s the main reason these siblings are so low on my list. The last one is Oak who is the baby of the family, and sometimes it bugs me that he doesn’t help Jude out as well, but I can also understand his side and he’s just too young to grasp what’s going on. I agree with all the characters that Oak needed to be protected at all costs because he’s precious, but he makes Jude’s life hard at points, which upsets me.

6. Nesta, Elain, and Feyre Archeron

From the ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas. I love this series and I love Feyre, so this one might sound very familiar to my feelings on Jude and her siblings too. At first, you hate Feyre’s sisters, and so do most of the other characters too, but they do get a sort of redemption arc which satisfies you at the end. But I gotta say the feelings of dislike were strong at the start of the series. It all starts off with Feyre, her OLDER sisters, and their father being very poor because of some bad deals he made and lost all their money. Because of this, they are struggling to survive, and Feyre (the YOUNGEST SISTER) does all the work to keep them alive. That frickin bugs me how Feyre does everything for her father and sisters when she’s the youngest, the baby, of the family. She has TWO older sisters who just sit on their asses and do absolutely nothing to help their own family (both waiting for their father to take control because he made the mess in the first place but he’s frickin depressed and injured!) Anyways, Feyre’s sister’s do help her out in the end, but I can’t help but still get really mad when thinking back to the very beginning of the story. Nesta was too upset with their father to do anything, and honestly I don’t even know what Elain’s problem was. She was just the good sister, who was too pretty and proper and nice to do any work whatsoever. Again, I now like them as characters, even though Nesta sometimes still makes me mad, but I also can’t wait for her new story to come out next year! (Sarah J Maas did say she was almost done writing it and that it was super personal to her, so for that reason I can’t wait). Also though, I think I am due for a reread of all her books because there are some details that I forget and I would love to be in her world again. Anyways, I can’t wait to read more from the Archeron sisters in future books and negative feelings toward the characters usually disappear when I read the latest books, so that’s good.

5. Helen, Mark, Julian, Tiberius, Livia, Drusilla, and Octavian Blackthorn

From the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, this family was my favourite family to read about, although, like the previous two sibling groups, I have a lot of positive and negative feelings about how all the siblings treated each other and so on. Like Jude and Feyre, Julian is my favourite Blackthorn sibling, and my feelings towards the other ones are based on the way they treat Julian. Now I do understand how the whole novels and series show all the hardships that the Blackthorns go through, which is why some characters act the way they do, but it still makes me frustrated. To start off, I do love each sibling individually and I thought Cassandra Clare did a good job in giving each character their own distinct personalities, but in relation to Julian, they made me upset, specifically Ty, Livvy and Dru. Tavvy is honestly too young for me to get mad at and that’s probably the only reason why he doesn’t annoy me too. Firstly, Ty, Livvy and Dru all look up to Julian, which I understand, but they totally depend on Julian, and when something doesn’t go the way they want it to, they honestly kinda blame him. This was evident when Mark first came back to the family (I also love Mark), and he came from years of living with the Fae and doesn’t even remember how to function in regular society. But the kids still expected him to be the new big brother even when he can’t function and literally get mad when Mark doesn’t fill in Julian’s role. During this time, they just dismiss everything Julian has ever done for them and say that Mark can take care of them from now on! Like… WHAT? How could you expect that from Mark and how could you take that away from Julian? Furthermore, when Helen comes back and tries to repair ties with her family and truly take over for Julian because she feels like she should have done that since the beginning, FRICKING DRU IS A BITCH TO HER! Honestly I do not really like Dru. Cassandra Clare got her preteen attitude spot on which especially makes Dru a bitch because she’s young and learning. I remember those years, but that doesn’t make me like Dru. The whole time she’s whining and complaining that no one treats her like an adult but at the same time gets mad when Helen doesn’t make her pancakes for breakfast. IF YOU WANT PANCAKES, MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN PANCAKES! That’s when I started to love Aline though, Helen’s wife, because she stood up for Helen and then Dru started to like her big sister again. Lastly it annoyed me how much the kids depended on him. Like Tavvy I understand because he’s a baby, but the rest of them… UGH! They all demand his attention 24/7 and Julian has his own life to live! Like Julian watches horror movies with Dru, and picks bugs with Ty, and does spy shit with Livvy… like give the man a break. You watch your own horror movies Dru! You don’t need Julian to watch with you and then get mad at him for not fully paying attention! Honestly most of my problems stem from Dru, but the rest of them are just as annoying, including Emma, but we won’t get into that here. Last thing I want to mention (which is a major spoiler!) is that Livvy was the only decent one and then she died. She literally died just after talking to Julian about how much he does for them and how she wanted to help more so he could live his life. I got mad to say the least.

4. Lada and Radu Dragwlya

From And I Darken series by Kiersten White. These two are definitely different from the other siblings I’ve talked about, and that’s mostly because I don’t dislike them as much. It’s kind of weird, but Lada and Radu had a worse relationship from the beginning but I loved them as siblings more than other siblings. I was actually rooting for them from the beginning, wanting them to finally get close and show their love and understanding, and by the end they were practically there. They honestly always had lives separate from each other, especially in the later books, but the whole time Lada always wanted to care for her brother and have him by her side, even if he didn’t want the exact same thing. Although I do believe that Radu loved his sister, but he had to take his own journey through self-discovery and learn to love who he was and realize he deserved more than Mehmed. Honestly both Lada and Radu deserved better than Mehmed. Anyways, I think that the two of them had a strong bond that couldn’t be broken no matter everything that happened in the books and the way they both started, disliking each other.

3. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny Weasley

You can’t have a list of favourite siblings and not include the Weasley siblings. You just can’t. If you don’t know, this family is from the Harry Potter series and they are the best. All of the siblings are super close and love each other and they are a beautiful family to read about. Even Percy, who can be an asshole, is still part of the family and in the end, shows his love for his siblings. Fred and George are my favourite by far, and they are such good older brothers to Ron and Ginny, and when we finally meet Bill and Charlie too, they are such sweethearts. There’s not many specific things I have to say about the Weasley’s, except that I love them.

2. Alec, Isabelle, Jace, and Max Lightwood

From The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, these guys are like the OG Cassandra Clare siblings. They’ve been with us from the start and have gone through so much as a family and characters, that I feel like I really know them and feel for them. Technically Jace is not a Lightwood by birth, but I still consider him a part of the family. I loved watching them all grow together and one of the saddest parts in the whole series was when (SPOILER) Max Lightwood died in the third book. He was just such an innocent boy that tied the family together, and honestly when he died, the family kind of fell apart (mostly the parents). For the name Max to live on with Alec and Magnus’s son is just wonderful and he’s definitely my favourite character. Watching Alec, Jace and Isabelle together as siblings, with their banter and sass, makes me happy and brings me in a good mood. You can just tell how close they are from the way they fight together and laugh together and are in sync with each other. I will forever love the Lightwood family and the ones who I met first.

1. Jonathan and Clarissa Morgenstern

Also from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Most people will be surprised that this is my top but I never said that this list was made up of the healthy types of siblings. I honestly love Jonathan and Clary as siblings because they are the whole reason for the series and I think that both characters have so much depth to them because they are siblings. (SPOILER) But one of my favourite scenes from the whole series, and actually of all the Shadowhunter books, is when Clary is in the demon realm and is shown a vision of what she most desires in her life. And it shows Jonathan being a normal older brother that loves her and wants to protect her (which he sort of wants to do anyways) and how life could have been if Valentine hadn’t been a psychopath and infused Jonathan with demon blood. Even at the end when he dies and is laying there with his normal green eyes, Clary and her mom mourns him. They mourn the boy he could have been and I thought that was really powerful. Even with Jonathan as a demon crazy person, he still only wants love in the world and someone who would understand him. He thinks that biologically, Clary has to feel that towards him so he fixates on her, which is bad, but you can see what he wanted. You can kind of see his side, which I always thought made a good bad guy. Although Jonathan was still bad in every way because he was literally a demon inside, but I always loved reading about his character.

Thanks for reading my rants and until next time!

~Rose Reviews

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pernatius · 4 years

Text

Lost in Space Part 9: Ch 4

Summary: Syco and the unnamed Space Explorer question their choices.

Lost in Space on Tumblr

Lost in Space on ao3

“Human,” he exclaimed. A book, which is angled against the wall he tried hiding behind, began to wobble. It shook as if an earthquake had suddenly slammed against the library. Then, it flew into his hand. Its spine is the first to make contact. Its cover and back come next with the gripping of his hand. Fearful one moment and as irritated as the Lord in the next, he pulls his hand back. He threw the book, but it was halted from its destination, my face, with the Lord’s dexterity. Their contact sounded like Cala rose from the grave and made his return by crashing through the library’s one window, breaking the metal bars encasing it, and into the library itself. Cracks all around, a massive crater, and the rise and eventual fall of the millions of books and us. Because of how close I am to the handrail, I would fall into the hole and instantly be deleted from there if the library did not just collapse in on itself before then.

“My intentions are to understand and bring understanding. I usually see no point in violence. It almost always turns out to be a waste of my time. That being said, if I have to discipline, then I will do so. Do not forget you are before a Lord.”

He bows and continues with, “I-I...forgot my place. Forgive me, Lord.”

“Most importantly, you are before me. Compared to the other Lords, I am the least patient. Do not test that. So, speak unless spoken to and do no more. How many of you are out there fighting against the rebellion?”

“Currently, a little more than four hundred, Lord.”

“Interesting. I will be blunt with the following because I want this done as soon as possible. It is rare for me to find a day like this one. The Lords have long comprehended what is happening. They know of your efforts, and if they knew you were here, they would thank you. That is why I am going to hand you this book.” One golden mist engulfing their hand later, and a book, far thicker than the many others I have glimpsed, lays flat on the hand. The Lord hands it to, at first, the hesitant anti-rebellion member who nearly drops it because of its weight. “This should be all you need to know. Now off with you.”

He reads the title and shakes with excitement. His hands turn page after page before the Lord repeats themselves. He scampers away but glares in my direction before leaving.

“The Lords have grown lazy. True, they have slacked before, but now it has become completely unacceptable. After thousands of years, they still believe mortals are primitive. This is why they have not done anything to quell the anarchists but instead use the same things they claim are beneath them to do their work. Their hands would not get dirty, sure, but it would send the wrong message. It will give people a reason to question.”

“Then.” I gulp. I gulp twice. I think of words. I make a sentence or two in my head. I think of things to say, but nothing comes out. Was the Lord's whole body glowing? They looked ironically heavenly. “Why did you let them go with that book?”

“Why did I help further the agenda of something I so clearly detest? Well, one reason is that I want to give them what they want. I want them to feel a moment of success, but I also want them to realize the consequences of their actions. They will beg for my forgiveness. Hopefully, finally, respect me after. The next I will not say, but I can say the last is, funny enough, one of their reasons. This will be interesting.

“Now, I no longer need your presence. Be off as well.”

Up above, three moons lit up the night sky. I bathe in their light. They shine on the dusty books around me as well. They sparkle. They look fantastical, magical. I would look heavenly if this body was not made from binary code. If I was, I would not feel heavenly. Heaven. Hell. Two different places, both used to explain what happens after death. The good go to Heaven, and the bad go to Hell. They help explain the universe to many, but it just leaves more questions to be asked. Like why should we be judged for things He could have prevented? Why must we suffer for caring about the wrong things?

Four hundred. There are four hundred just like Sakhra’s ex-brother. There is also the rebellion and what Sakhra has in store. The war continues from beyond that window. Casualties, thousands of them. Trillions are in the middle of it as they have yet to choose their side. I am not sure what to make of the Lord perched up and walking along the slender handrail that is barely the width of one of his feet. Essentially a war on all sides, one that I instigated. I started this, but I am not sure how to end it.

The Lord, now the biggest person I know, danced along the handrail. They spun, raised one of their legs, and jumped. Lots of leg movements. They pranced. They were delicate, even more, delicate from the long-gone cloaked man. A beautiful show, but it is a warning. They are balanced, and I am not.

I did not know I dozed off. I woke up to Saamuki softly calling out to me and blinking my eyes open to her waving her blurry hand across my face. I said something, but I think it came out as a mumble, stutter, and a ramble all at once because she takes a moment to respond with, “I finally found what I was looking for. I found this secret room first, and then bam, I found this. Would you want to take a look?”

“Sure,” I slurred out.

It is still night, but only one moon lit up the night sky. I must have been asleep for a while, but I am still sleepy. I nearly dropped the heavy book she handed to me. We both fumble with it until I get a grip on it. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Whoopsie. I think we should head back in case I get butterfingers again, and the book actually drops this time.”

“Agreed.”

That woke me up. Back on the ship with the book remaining in my hand, I tighten my grip on it. Should I tell the others that I met one of the Lords? Should I tell Syco? I thought about it until Saamuki brought my attention to the absent Shiitakee. He is nowhere in the room.

Both of us think it is unusual, but it is Saamuki that voices our concern. “Weird,” she turns to me, “Do you know where he could have possibly gone?”

I am about to reply, but I am cut off by the shout of two distinct voices that seem to be coming from the end of the hallway. We do not hesitate to follow the sounds.

“You bastard,” Syco shouted. Who he is shouting at is unclear, as his and a handful of crewmates’ backs are facing towards us. The two of us, Saamuki and I, squeeze past them. Most do not mind. The second-in-command looks at us with a frown. We ignore and try to look over Syco’s massive figure.

Shiitakee, who is the one being shouted at and has acquired a black eye in the time we separated, replies with, “Syco, I have known you since the beginning. We know each other better than anyone else, so you have to know what I am doing is for you. You are not well. You keep making rash decisions.”

“You dare to use our friendship right here, right now, after what you have done? How long have you been plotting against me?“ His black-eyed friend looks away. Ex-friend now? Spy, obviously. “I said how long, Shiitakee. How long?”

“Six months ago when your predecessor was killed. Supposedly, he was,” the black-eyed spy blurted out.

“And what do you mean by that last statement?”

“I know what you are doing to him. It is sick, Syco. Sick! You need help. You know I am right. You had a feeling I would do this because you let her join your little meeting. I have known you far longer than her, but you have never let me come with you. I should not be surprised, considering you never listen to me. You fear for my advisement.” Syco's ex-friend grew heartbroken. “Listen, I wished this did not have to come to this. At first, for some time, I did not want to do this.”

Interjecting, I asked, “What are you two talking about? What happened?”

Syco, still eyeing Shiitakee, ignores my question. Instead, it is his second-in-command that elaborates, “Commander Syco found out Shiitakee has been backstabbing him. Shiitakee has been sending information to our enemies about the commander's plans for years. Recently, which is how Commander Syco found out, he sent the schematics of our ship.”

“Tell me why I should not send you out an airlock?”

“Because I would survive.”

“I do not care whether you do or not. I just want you gone, far away from me, and I want you to suffer. Grab him and send him out the closest airlock.”

Those around us, Tauvoxes besides Syco and his second-in-command, head towards Shiitakee. Shiitakee, determined, with a fighting spirit, refuses to be captured so easily. He dodges their reaching arms, and with both of his hands, he punches. Two stumble back, but two come forward to confront him. They swing, which Shiitakee dodges by lowering, but the two kick in unison. Their knees smash his face. His back hits the wall, and he gets less than a second to relax before the two come at him with their horns. They pierce into him. I squirm at this, and I meet Saamuki’s eyes. He spits out blood before several holes appear on his cap. They open wide.

“Fools, get out of the way,” Syco told his men, but it is much too late before they realize it. The gas, this time red, quickly spreads around them, causing the two Tauvoxes to immediately pluck their horns out as they stumble away and cough. One of them pukes. The two in the back try to crawl away, but it is soon too late for them too. They cough as the rest of us try to get away. We do, but Shiitakee flees.

While Shiitakee can go one way, we are forced to take the other. It was a longer route, though, so we met him almost too late. He has his hands on an escape pod, but he does not know how to use it. If he did, he would have been gone by now.

“Shiitakee, open this door right now! Stop being a coward and face me.” He can not hear Syco even as Syco pounds his fists on the escape room’s door, but I think he sensed a few eyes on him because he turns away from the pod and jumps. The spy frantically presses buttons. When that fails to work, tries to move the pod by pushing it towards an airlock. Saamuki and I are bystanders, not sure of what to do. The second-in-command does not join this role as he gets out a screen and proceeds to try to unlock the door. It is after the third attempt that Syco slams himself against the door, hoping to break it down. Right when he is about to hit the door for the fifth time, the other Tauvox unlocks the door. Syco tumbles to the floor, which the smaller of the two apologizes for, but Syco ignores and presses towards his ex-friend. He gets a punch on Shiitakee, and when he is going for a second, the vegetation binds his hands together. They rapidly grow, lengthening. It creates a shield, protecting him from the punch, but it does not protect him from Syco striking above him. A headbutt from Syco towards Shiitakee’s cap and the mushroom humanoid falls to the ground.

#222 #lost in space #my writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr

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isobel-thorm · 5 years

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date + "i just need you to do this one thing for me."

Date: Origins

As far as John Donovan was concerned, Katherine Flynn was the least mobster-y mobster of all of the Irish bastards who had come to the U.S in the last couple of decades. He always had bigger fish to fry, so he knew very little about the Flynns. The rough summary was that the Flynns had been a big name mob family on the Emerald Isle until one side of the Grecco family had gotten greedy, come their way and exterminated Liam, the patriarch of the family. His two kids had fled to the States to hide behind the Burke’s because things were about as amicable between mobsters as you could get, and Thomas Burke had owed Liam about twenty favors.

Big brother Ciaran had seemed to be the one who wanted to start trouble. He worked for Burke when Katherine had run damage control more than anything. She made sure everyone played by the rules in their dealings.

Of course, she still played mob princess. The first time he had seen her officially in person was by chance. They had gone to the same bar for a drink. He was tailing one of Marcano’s goons for information about a case when said goon had gone over to Katherine, laid the flirting on thick and then grabbed her ass, and within seconds the guy had a knife embedded straight through his hand.

A little much, but the girl had style, he’d give her that.

Then months later, she found him. She wanted information about the Greccos. He had played dumb and asked why she assumed he would know and then she took the rug out from under him and informed him that she had been onto him the whole time he was onto her because he ‘wasn’t subtle.’ He had come back with ‘neither are you’- to which she had bought him a drink in response. And he was never one to turn down free booze.

What started at a handful of thinly veiled threats from both ends kicked off as steady case of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”- information for information, support for support, spying for spying, an alibi for an alibi. It ended up with the pair of them being fairly amicable If someone would’ve told him he would be friends with a mob princess a decade ago, he probably would’ve laughed.

It was her that had first made him look the Marcanos’ way. There was something laughable at that, too.

Her request had been simple. She had come to him one night and merely said “I just need you to do this one thing for me.” She had heard about one of the Greccos joining the Marcanos via marriage, and she wanted information about both sides that she could exploit so they would destroy each other.

Well, that was a solid plan, and he had seen Katherine in action. She was a master manipulator when she wanted things done- all she had to do was bat her eyelashes and tilt her hip and give one of those evil smiles and the world was her fucking oyster. She could plant that little seed of doubt in someone’s ear and they’d be tearing at each other’s throats before long.

Two mob families warring and exterminating each other? Sounded good to him. So he had told her certain details about gossip and locations he had heard about the families. Why the fuck she had taken an extra step and started fucking that little rat-looking bastard Giorgi Marcano was beyond him.

She didn’t have a problem telling him that she could get more information from an egotistical man if she was in his bed, and okay, that was fair. Men as a whole were idiots, and it wasn’t like she had tried anything with him. Yet.

And then John’s entire world had gone sideways when Lincoln had showed up again and had gotten involved with the Marcanos again- or had seemed like it was headed that way before Sal and fucking Giorgi had backstabbed Lincoln and his family and set Sammy’s bar alight and killed nearly everybody inside. Lincoln had survived by sheer chance. John had been an absolute wreck. His actions were practically not his own when he found himself calling on her for help the day after it had gone down.

She had shown up at Father James’ door, offering the padre a weak smile and a polite nod- not something she would do. Having your father get brutally murdered seconds after leaving his side would mess up anyone’s faith. The father had nodded back and stepped aside to let her in. She had practically flown into John’s arms right after, even if he knew she wasn’t expecting him to return the gesture. She had just sat with him after that, letting their knees brush every so often- her own way of showing silent support; her first show of subtlety, too.

It had gone like that for another day or two until John could finally find his voice again. He had looked at her after James had left. “I uh… feel free to hit me for this one because there’s no delicate way of asking but… I officially need to call in that favor.”

“Get closer to Giorgi and play him like a fiddle even more so we can get as close to him as possible and then end all of their miserable lives?”

“Absolutely.”

“Consider it done.”

Months later, John’s stared down at paperwork that told them very loudly that Kate did her damn job with Giorgi so well that the bastard knocked her up. And the naturally after he found out he decided to turn tail and keep her as far away as possible. Because the guy who looked up to his father and son to a man who would move mountains for his son couldn’t be bothered to do the same for his own kid. Cocksucker. Sure, it had also eliminated a really good source of information, but now the bastard needed to get shot in the dick. At least Lincoln knew mostly everything he needed to know. He just needed to finish taking the rest of the city.

Kate moved a hand over her stomach, reading the doctor’s results over and over again. It’s not a condemning action, it’s not exactly protective either, but John knows better than to ask some universal dumbass question like ‘what’re you gonna do with it?’. He likes her, he knows she likes him but he knows full well she’d kill him for that one.

“… … Can I call in a little favor?” she asked after a moment.

He hummed, then set the paper down. “You want a shitty ring and a sham marriage or a place to stay where people won’t look at you funny for years?” when she gawked at him for that, he shrugged. “What? Hell, I technically got you into this mess, I’ll get you out.”

“Yeah, well, I was only going to stay in contact and have the kid’s middle name be Donovan so you’d always remember that little fact. You don’t have to-”

“Least I could do.”

“Holy shit. John Donovan showing up as the knight in shining armor. Never would’ve thought.”

“Yeah, well, don’t go shouting that from any rooftops, I have a reputation to uphold. And you never answered the question.”

She elbowed him in the ribs. “How about neither, you daft bastard.”

He laughed at that. He didn’t end up getting an answer that night, but he was fine with it.

Little Jason Donovan Flynn was born a few months later, and Lincoln sent Sal and Giorgi Marcano down to Hell and then left days after that. John had stuck around to tie up loose ends with a few other cases and then prepped to leave himself. John had stopped by Kate’s apartment to wish her well and promise he’d be in touch, only to find she was packing up herself.

Her explanation was simple: she never really had roots there, and with Burke dying there wasn’t much assured safety for her or little Jay, Ciaran would be leaving soon as well,- and she wasn’t even certain Jay was safe from Burke’s arm of the mafia and she wasn’t ‘in the mood for people who’d kill an usurper without considering he wouldn’t want to usurp.’

He had asked where she was going and she had shrugged and said she had planned on driving until her gas tank ran out. John had mentioned going to a ‘little place just outside Houston’, and she had grinned and said she’d follow him there.

It wasn’t like he was much different. He’d follow her and the little gremlin to the ends of the Earth. It was amazing what loyalty and zero backstabbish-behavior would get anybody in that day and age.

All this from a favor, he had mused, sometime later when the whole Senator Blake ordeal had reached its peak and he showed up at her door in order to lay low for a while after losing the cops. She had slapped him so hard his ears rang for a few seconds, and then she had yanked him forward by the tie and kissed him- not their first kiss, but their first that wasn’t some sort of distraction when they were in the field.

“Awww, you were worried about me. That’s adorable,” he had offered when they had finally parted. It had earned him another light punch to the chest.

He had plopped down on the couch after that, and when little Jay had come wobbling over to him, he had held his hands out to steady him once he reached him. “Man, you really did get the short end of the stick with looks. You’re all Giorgi,” he pointed out.

“Da,” Jason agreed.

“Yeah, your deadbeat dad,”

“Da!” Jason repeated, and then practically smacked John’s hand down.

And then it hit John as to just what the kid was actually trying to say. “Oh hell no, Kid. I’m not- “ he stopped short. Well what the fuck was the point, it wasn’t like Giorgi was here to be a worse case. “Well, guess I’m the closest thing you’ve got, huh?” when he got another ‘Da’ in response, he laughed. “You’re gonna have one fucked up upbringing…” Jason only giggled in response, and John sighed before pulling him up onto the couch and giving him the toy phone that one of them had put on the coffee table.

It was really only fair that his life was equally a mess- half of his time was spent on that little vengeance crusade when the last was being nauseatingly domestic with his best friend-potential old lady now.

And it was all because of a couple of small favors.

#Kate Flynn #this ended horribly but oh well #in which Donovan with Jay is Roy with Finn #jackkelsos

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electronicdelusionstarlight · 6 years

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A brief recounting of the events of Elder Scrolls Legends, and of the Forgotten Heroes that saved the Empire when no one else could.

The Argonian, The Myth, The Legend...

SWIMS-AT-NIGHT!

SMUGGLER, WAR HERO... AND THE MOST LOYAL OF FRIENDS.

Self-Proclaimed "Greatest Smuggler in Tamriel," Swims-At-Night was just a simple smuggler during the Great War, stealing his cargoes from the Thalmor controlled Cyrodill, traversing the treacherous seas to later sell it off to either the resistance in Hammerfell or the Thalmor themselves, to them at 5 times the original value and at half the quality, not really out of any patriotic duty as much as for the cold and shiny siren call of gold. A daring, dangerous life, that made him make contacts with all sorts of people, that however ill fitted his true calling.

For you see, for while he was indeed without equal in his smuggling and his ability with poisoned blades was without match... Swims-At-Night was a lore nerd at heart. Especially if he could turn a tidy profit from said lore nerding.

But let's keep things in order.

Everything in Swims-At-Night's life changed one fateful night, during that same Great War he was profiting from... When he met two figures.

One, was Tyr.

This Beefcake of a Nord was one of the few remaining blades, captured by the second in command of the Thalmor Warlord and Daedric Follower Lord Narafiin, and left to Rot and fight for his life in one of his dungeons/daedric lair/underground arenas, only to one day escape with the help of another... mysterious figure.

THE FORGOTTEN HERO! WAR CRIMINAL! BACKSTABBER! MASTER OF DISGUISE! GENERALLY GREEDY ASSHOLE! THE WORST OF FRIENDS! DID I MENTION BACKSTABBER, LIKE, SERIOUSLY, THIS FUCKER BACKSTABS A LOT.

Basically TESL Robbie Rotten. At least he hates Nazi elves tho.

Anyway, back to that one faithful night. Tyr and the Forgotten Hero, from here on TFH, had recently escaped their captivity, and were searching for a lift to reach Skyrim, so to warn the emperor, who had retreated there after the fall of the imperial city, of Narafiin’s Daedric Dealings, and also so they could scoop up a friend of Tyr along the way, so that she could shine a Light upon this mess.

So, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a Port patrolled by Thalmor Justiciars searching for both them and the Argonian’s stolen Cargo, Tyr and TFH decide to steal Swims-At-Night’s boat...

RIGHT. FROM. UNDER. HIS. GILLS.

Needless to say, it was friendship at first sight.

After discovering the 2 vagrants trying to steal his shit and a quick sword fight with the Forgotten Hero, the Trio is found by one of the aforementioned Thalmor Patrols, and therefore, seeing how they too were being hunted down by the Nazi Elves, he goes “what the hell, the enemy of my nazi enemy is my new best friend, let’s go guys, this trip is on me!”, scoops them up on his ship, and departs from the port toward northern shores.

They later shipwreck. Because dude might be the “Greatest Smuggler in Tamriel,” but I challenge you to steer a ship during one perfect storm with one bloodthirsty Breton pirate ship trying their best to board them and sink his ship at the same time. Not even (spoilers) Sails-Trough-Storms herself could do it, I say.

Anyway, they shipwreck, have some zany adventures in High Rock with some mudcrabs and some spriggans, find a wolf cub TFH might or might have not abandoned to his fate rather than take in and nurture as his new pet LIKE THE ASSHOLE HE IS, and finally, in the middle of a ancient ruin, surrounded by angry goblins who had just come in and killed the cultists that were trying to kill her...

She appears, in all her majestic might...

LAANETH! MISTRESS OF MAGIC! SCHOLAR AND RESEARCHER AMONG THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGES AND MAGES GUILDS IN ALL OF TAMRIEL, AND EXPERT IN DAEDRIC ARTIFACTS AND LORE!

Anyway, they save Laaneth from a Goblin assault straight out of Goblin Slayer, and she informs them that her latest research was around a semi obscure prophecy called The Culling (II), a cautionary tale about how people shouldn’t standardize and destroy their Battle Royal Games for greed and get rich schemes, and about how, during a particular cosmological event, the veil between worlds will be weakened, and will be easily breached by anyone committing a sacrifice big enough (Like, for example, the entirety of the Imperial City Population) to reawaken the now forgotten Oblivion Gates, so that the maws of Oblivion will be able to be opened one last time, to unleash hell upon Nirn, so to hasten the deterioration of reality and the breaking of the world, thus destroying creation and possibly but most definitely not allowing the Thalmor to ascend to godhood in the ensuing chaos.

You know, standard Nazi Elves plans.

This is even more concerning of Lord Naarafiin simply having Dremoras and other Daedras in his armies, especially after it is revealed that some major entity, perhaps even a Prince, must be edging their bets on this thing happening, so they decide to quickly reach the Emperor’s Camp all together to give him the grave news, and see what to do next.

(If i may take a moment, I would like to point out how Swims-At-Night, his ship destroyed and his cargo now in the seas, without a single prospect of coin in sight, is still there, ready to fight and die for his newfound companions and freedom, because he might be a scoundrel and a Smuggler, but he is a Honest Smuggler goddammit, mass genocide and daedric outbreaks are a big no no for him.

He also probably already knitted some new best friends sweaters already for him and his bros and is already probably preparing one for his new nerd elven friend, and probably didn’t want them to go to waste, so there’s that).

Anyway, our heroes got to Skyrim. Some more shenanigans ensue, a bar fight, some imperial deserters, a High Elf Merchant that was trapped by giant spider and had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE THALMOR TFH might have just been plain old racist too and left for dead rather than help, the ghost of another merchant asking for revenge against some other, human bandits that killed him and his family for their gold, and all that...

Anyway, they reach the Emperor’s Camp, where we meet the last members of this ragtag bunch of misfits...

GENERAL CASSIA! SECOND IN COMMAND DURING THE GREAT WAR UNDER EMPEROR TITUS MEDE II, AND MOSTLY THE ONE WHO HAD TO DO THE DIRTY WORK FOR HIM IN THE FORM OF DISCIPLINING DESERTERS AND ALL THAT NASTY SHIT.

Anyway, a plan is formed. Our Heroes must return to the Imperial City, disguised as Gladiators, and will use a secret passage near the Arena, the SAME passage the Hero of Kvatch used all those many years before to escape the imperial prison, courtesy of Swims-At-Night, the History Nerd him, to reach into White Gold Tower, and steal the greatest treasure of all.

THE ORB OF VAERMINA!

For you see, Lord Naarafiin indeed had the help of Daedric Princes, ready to spring up at the occasion of the walls of reality getting thinner, and Vaermina was among them. The Warlord was using the Orb to spy on the Imperial Troops movements and plans, easily outwitting them and laying waste along the country, committing one atrocity after the next, reading the field play for the final sacrifice, and our heroes needed to get the sphere away from him, so to better prepare a effective attack plan against the city before it was too late.

So, our heroes reach the Imperial Capital, passing as gladiators, and go into the secret passage, now swarming with perilous undead after many years from the 3rd era...

And with a mysterious altar, appeared out of nowhere, whose burning light, as bright as dawn breaking upon the fields, shone against the undead hordes, aiding our heroes in their time of need as it scorched them to a crisp.

For it seemed, not all Princes were in favor of Naraafiin’s plan of destroying the world.

Or maybe Meridia just wanted to scorch some Mummies, who knows with her.

Anyway, our heroes reach the highest floor of the Tower, where the Orb is left unprotected...

And where they are promptly ambushed by Naarafiin second in comand!

REIVE! THE BLADE MASTER! THE PAIN-SINGER! THE LORD OF THE ARENA!

He was him who had captured Tyr and TFH back at the start, and with a swift move, he has now taken Tyr Hostage, the gleaming point of his blade ready to slash the man’s manly and muscled chest at a wrong move.

BUT THAT’S NO ORDINARY BLADE I SAY!

(Yeah, only found this image for the card art, sorry)

THAT’S GOLDBRAND! THE SWORD OF BOETHIA, DAEDRIC PRINCE OF PLOTS! FATHER OF MYSTERIES! MOTHER OF SHADOWS! AND A BUNCH OF OTHER VARIOUS TITLES WITH OTHER VARIOUS GENDERS! AND THE REAL DAEDRIC PRINCE BEHIND THIS MESS!

For what better plot, than to plot to destroy the world, after all?

TFH has however been also fast, and has already nicked the Orb for himself, the kleptomaniac little shit. He is now presented with a choice. Keep the Orb, and watch his friend and companion die... or Give Reive the Orb, and get his friend back... “unscathed.”

And TFH, the absolute bastard and backstabber... chooses to keep the Orb.

(I mean, yes, technically, you can decide to spare Tyr... Except dude still dies during the ensuring fight as he shows his massive balls of nordic steel and SMASHES A DAEDRIC ARTIFACT TO PIECES RIGHT IN FRONT OF A ANGRY HIGHER DREMORA, and it is canon that TFH used the orb at least 10 times in his life if we go by Achievements, which he couldn't really do if he let Tyr smash it, soooo...)

Anyway, Tyr dies, Reive is Angry (And so are Laaneth and partially Cassia, like, dude was Laaneth’s friend more than he was anyone else, they had HISTORY, she is understandably angry with TFH, and he was working in close quarters with Cassia due to their ranks in the imperial army and shit...), and a battle ensues. TFH manages to overpower Reive and kill him, thus gaining the favor of Goldbrand and perhaps Boethia’s Themselves given their great betrayal and show of strength, since that’s how Boethia Rolls...

Anyway, They daringly escape the Imperial City, everyone a bit more somber after the whole ordeal, even despite the victory, and reach the Emperor’s camp nearby, reading for the next day siege, right in time for the Culling... BUT OH NOES! A Thalmor assassination deep cover team (which is composed entirely by Bosmer for some reasons... what, are Kahjiits not stealthy enough for your deep cover assassinations?) has attacked the Emperor in the night!

The assassins have been repelled, and Titus Mede II is safe, but the Emperor is now no longer fit to ride the next day. This will surely be a deep blow to the morale of the army, even now that has been bolstered by new and fresh recruits from Skyrim, and Cassia isn’t sure anymore they are going to pull it through...

And it’s here, that our “hero” truly unleashes his inner Robbie Rotten, as a dastardly plan is formed, I’m 99% sure after Swims-At-Night’s Counsel.

The emperor will remain in his tent, in the middle of the camp, unseen and unheard as he rests, as TFH wears his armor, and rides into battle on the front lines with his army, disguised as the emperor, keeping the Morale High as he valiantly fights of the Nazi Elven Scum, his Golden Blade in one hand, his mystical sphere of dreams in the other, as he conquers more and more ground, his friends leading 3 other different fronts in a 4 way attack on the imperial city, crashing trough to stop the massacre from happening...

And yet.

It’s too late.

Naaraafiin has already killed the entire population of the Imperial City, and the Gates of Oblivion are opened. He meets what he thinks is the emperor, his personal guard at his side, as all manners of Atronachs and Dremora are unleashed upon the city, and soon the world, as the Oblivion Gates open once more and the walls of reality are weakened.

TFH has to think fast, and so, attacks the Warlord, who easily counters TFH with his magic, now overpowered by the think layers between realms and his own, general overpowered Final Boss Magic, blasting shit left and right at a frankly insanely low magicka cost...

And yet, perhaps, this overpowered magic will be Naaraafiin’s Downfall, for the Orb of Vaermina cannot just enter the dreams of your enemies to spy on their plans, but can steal mirages of powers and creatures from your opponent mind, and use them against them.

And so, witnessing his prowess with the sword, and finally recognizing Goldbrand as Goldbrand, and the “Emperor” as the one who had killed Reive, as he steals one of his massive blast right from under Naarafiin’s mind, and uses it against its own master...

Naaraafiin falls. Pushed by his own arcane magick, perhaps still alive, perhaps not, inside one of the holes in reality his culling had created, the link between him and the fracture of reality severing, as the Dremoras and Daedras vanish into Oblivion, and the gates close.

The battle is won. The Imperial City is taken back, if destroyed and with little to no population left.

And the Thalmor are retreating.

TFH and his friend go back to the emperor, who congratulates with them about the victory, for the man really knows when the delegate, and gifts TFH his armor, as the 4 companions depart, each for their own road, perhaps to never meet again...

And so the story ends, with a empire saved from the brink of destruction, yet irreparably damaged, a friendship betrayed, and terrible memories people will never forget.

But when the story ends...

Another begins.

For to paraphrase Marvel:

SWIMS-AT-NIGHT WILL RETURN...

In Elder Scrolls Legends III: Return to Clockwork City!

(Tho there’s the Fall of the Dark Brotherhood first, probably going to do that first, gotta show you just how much of a Asshole TFH can be).

#tes #tesl #the elder scrolls #the elder scrolls legends #tes lore #long post #wanted to do this in a while #swims-at-night #the forgotten hero #(don't really know how else to tag it really)#elder scrolls legends #elder scrolls

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theultimateegghead-blog · 6 years

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Salt Fortress, the tf2 mercs ranked for how frustrating they can be to fight against.

I have been playing a lot of Team fortress 2 lately. Mostly for the Halloween event but also because I have friends that I can’t see IRL that play TF2. Well, as I have sunk over 200 hours into this game, I have fought against every class. I have won many fights, I have lost many fights. I am the middle ground player, I am often in the middle of the scoreboard of a heated match. Not bad, but not perfect. Well, a general rule of TF2 is that each class is a nightmare if played by a skilled player or a joke if played by an inexperienced or bad player. I have meet both skilled and bad players of every class and I wanted to make this list of how frustrating each class is against. I will be reviewing their abilities, strengths and weaknesses and so on. Keep this in mind, I do not main any class, so I have fought these guys as multiple classes. This is not a specific class vs class list, more so just a general list. Without further ado, lets see my thoughts on overcoming the 9 classes of TF2.

9 – Engineer

The Engineer is a defensive class that mostly prioritizes in area denial. The engineer’s main role is to construct various buildings to aid the team. These buildings include a sentry gun, an ammo and health dispenser and a one-way teleporter to help get his team to the front lines quickly. An engineer can be a nightmare if he gets creative with where he puts his buildings down. There can be times where an engineer somehow manages to construct a nest and a teleporter in your base. This can be a frustrating nightmare, but it mostly happens when you are unfortunately playing alongside an incompetent team. Most engineers are big targets when their buildings are destroyed, but some can fight back with deadly accuracy. Engineers will generally not stray far from their building nest, so they are easy to ambush if you can overcome their buildings. Because of this they are not the most frustrating class. They rarely take the time to hunt you down and make you miserable and can be pushed away with enough force given. Novice players will build in large groups and will become huge targets for enemy players. Now if an engineer has a friend, such as a pyro, also known as a Pybro, things can get a bit tougher.

*********

8 – Medic

The medic, true to his name, prioritizes on healing. The medic is a high priority target. A medic can combo with a heavy, soldier, demoman or pyro and can utterly destroy the enemy team. With various tools at his disposal, such as damage resistance, invincibility or guaranteed critical hits. The medic should be the one to take down first. Medic’s usually hide behind their companion and will flee if their companion is killed. They have a few ways to defend themselves. A nail gun, a crossbow and melee weapons are some of his offensive tools. Even though he is primarily a healer he can do some nasty melee damage. Medic’s who primarily try to be offensively based are often considered a joke. What is annoying is when a medic is healing a spawn camper. If you are a spawn camper, you are on the naughty list. Overall, Medic’s are at their most dangerous if they are healing someone, they can be a decent threat alone but are not hard to defeat in a 1v1 battle.

*********

7 – Pyro

The Pyro is an interesting class. Most Pyro’s pose little threat unless they are within close range. Even them it is not an immediate victory for our friendly arsonist. A skilled Pyro can be very annoying. With the new jetpack, a Pyro can get the jump on you almost as much as a soldier or a demoman. If you are not careful, you’ll become a human bbq. Some Pyro’s are skilled enough to deflect rockets and bombs, making him a counter for soldiers and demoman. The pyro can also be a menace for spies. If you are going against a skilled pyro, you and your team can be in for a bad time, but on the other hand there is always the pyro that just rushes you endlessly. So, the frustrating factor depends on the Pyro’s skill level.

*********

6 – Spy

What keeps the spy so high on the list is the consistency of player skill. A skilled spy can be an absolute nightmare to fight against. However, a large number of spies are inexperienced and make many mistakes that give away their location. While a new player will have a harder time fending off this absolute monstrosity of a class, more experienced players are aware of the tell-tale signs of an enemy spy. Spies can kill any class in one shot, can destroy engineer buildings, can disguise as an enemy player and can go invisible. In return they are not the tankiest class. The spy’s tools can provide more frustration when fighting against him. The spycicle can make his inherit weakness to pyros a little easier to circumnavigate, and the infamous dead ringer which allows him to fake his own death. The spy is the most inconsistent challenge of all the classes. With some people turning invisible at the perfect moment, jumping off a stairwell or some scenery and backstabbing a pursuing heavy. Then there are the spies that disguise in plain sight and run straight for the enemy. At their worst moments they are nothing more than a mild nuisance, at their best they can be a team killing monster.

*********

5 – Heavy

The heavy is the most tanky class in TF2. The heavy is slow and lumbering but can be a major threat to the enemy team. Armed with a minigun, a shotgun or food and his fist, the heavy is deadly to take on in a 1v1 battle. The Heavy is often seen with a medic nearby healing them. While they are easy targets for spies and snipers, they can rip apart anyone in front of them quite easily. Heavies can eat certain food items to restore health at the price of being left open for a while. What makes a heavy dangerous is that even inexperienced players can pose a threat as well. Some heavy variants include the Tomislav sniper heavy, the friendly Hoovy, the fat scout and so on. Heavies can be annoying to fight and will almost always beat down others especially if they are being healed by a medic. However, if you can exploit the Heavy’s slow movement, he can be defeated in close range.

*********

4 – Soldier

The soldier takes little skill to play, but a lot of skill to master. A soldier can ambush you out of nowhere Be a nuisance for engineers and can overall be a deadly adversary for an enemy team. Soldiers don’t need to be precise with their aiming as splash damage can do the job for them. Soldiers are able to rocket jump and can pop up at the least expected times. They sometimes tend to peek and shoot around corners, making them harder to defeat. Any soldier, regardless of skill level can be dangerous, some can even buff their allies and make a push all the more troublesome. While soldiers are by no means invincible, a skilled soldier might take a good amount of effort to defeat. There is a reason soldier is one of the most played classes.

*********

3 – Sniper

The Sniper, true to his profession, is a sniper. He fights at long range and thus most cases you cannot engage in close range combat unless you sneak up on them. The Sniper can pick off classes pretty easily with his headshots. Medics, Heavies and Engineers are usually the prime target for a sniper, with most skilled ones being able to take down almost any class from across the map. Sniper also has some close-range weapons and defenses for when things get dicey. Sniper is the class of choice for most hackers and cheaters as well, luckily, I have yet to encounter any particularly nasty hackers. One of Sniper’s biggest weakness is the fact they get tunneled vision while scoped in, so they are easy to ambush. However, if the sniper is armed with a bow and arrow they are much more alert to their surroundings. Snipers can be annoying and difficult to counter and can quickly ruin a good game.

*********

2 – Scout

Scouts are among one of the most annoying classes in any class-based shooter. The scout is weak but fast. He has a powerful gun and is so mobile that he can appear and ambush players from almost anywhere. They jump and spasm around when fighting you and are the hardest classes to hit. To compensate, he is weak health wise. He does not need a lot of punishment to go down. Every game is guaranteed to have a scout or two, as he is a very all-purpose class. Also, a lot of scout mains I have had the misfortune of meeting were some of the biggest jerks. Though this isn’t to say all Scout players are jerks, my brother is a scout main and he’s a cool dude.

*********

1 – Demoman

This is the last thing you see when your fun dies. This lass can ruin anyone’s fun. Sniping from far away? Oh, look at that demoman just jumped across the map and blew you up. Building a sentry nest? Nope, Demo just showed up and blew everything up. Don’t even get me started with Demoknights. Demoman is a class that always manages to escape with only one hit point. They can be the most annoying class to fight against, as even a novice player can just spam bombs and get kills. Demoman can virtually counter any and all classes with his extremely versatile sets. On top of that, most spawn campers are Demoman. Oh, Tavish, I love your character, but I hate having to fight against you… ********* Regardless of who you main, regardless of how you play, this is not a call out. Have fun. Im just joking around with this list. I love TF2 and its wonderful cast of characters, they are some of the most comedic and well written video game characters ever. However, if you play TF2 odds are you have played a match or two with an enemy player that made you want to rage, maybe. Well, thats enough venting for now, see you next time.

#salt #tf2 #the engineer #the spy #the medic #heavy weapons guy #scout #spy #medic #demoman #soldier #sniper #pyro #team fortress 2 #steam #valve

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animeride-blog · 7 years

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The Importance of Every Supernova https://animeride.com/blogs/6130/the-importance-of-every-supernova/ #11Supernova, #BasilHawkins, #CaponeBege, #EustassKid, #JewelryBonney, #Killer, #Luffy, #ScratchmenApoo, #SuperNova, #TrafalgarLaw, #Urouge, #XDrake, #Zoro

New Post has been published on https://animeride.com/blogs/6130/the-importance-of-every-supernova/

The Importance of Every Supernova

After the 2 year Time-Skip and the subsequent affiliations of Supernovas with Yonkou Crews and the less screen time i thought Oda had given up on these Supernovas or didn’t intend to deliver on the hype he once promised. But that changed with Chapter 837 with the shocking revelation of what Urogue did in WHI and later on Capone which meant Supernovas were coming back in the game and it made me realize their importance to the story. This is me King, The Pirate King, with a discussion and speculations on these Supernovas.

Mad Monk Urouge

If you’re caught up with the Manga, you will know the stock of this man has risen from a nobody to one of the most favorite and one of the most hyped up Worst Generation Members at this point of the story. He seemed to be lost in the in the middle of all the spotlight the other Supernovas were getting but Oda made sure to give him one moment that was enough to divert the fans’ attention towards him, taking down a Sweet Commander of Big Mom Pirates. He managed to gain a feat not even Kidd could pull off and this is clear induction Oda has big plans for him. He was there when Kaido was first introduced and it won’t surprise me, in fact it’s likely that he will join his fellow Supernovas in the war against Kaido, which seems to be the only way Kaido could be taken down. With the power of all the Supernovas.

X Drake

Although neglected, there are some fans who realize he is a special case. First off, he is a former marine now turned pirate, quite similar to his father. That already makes him intresting as it can open up the possibilities of him being a spy of marines, sent to spy on pirates, especially on Kaido. As we now know, it’s not impossible that there can be World Government presence among the Yonkous with chapter 871. He could be giving crucial info to Marines for all we know. Moving away from that, he was the first of his generation to make a move against Yonkous and although he did end up joining Kaido, because what other choice you can have against him, it’s almost a certainty he will turn on Kaido when he sees others of his generation going against the monstrous creature. Though he may not turn on Kaido till the very end if he isn’t a spy since he seems to be fine working under Kaido. He will see a right opportunity and then make his move.

Basil Hawkins.

This one is a strange case, he hasn’t done anything noteworthy nor his power seems to be that impressive. His future seems to be not so bright at this moment but Oda can always give him some spotlight like he has given to others. He was last seen when confrontations by Kaido and it’s unknown what happened to him. Although i’d prefer if he died to make the story more intriguing but we know that won’t happen so i atleast hope he got beaten down badly before he escaped or he could’ve joined Kaido as well like the next person on this list. His prediction skills are very handy and if i have to guess, it might have to do with Observations Haki or that and a combination of his DF powers. In which case, expect him to get an upgrade in the future that may blow our minds.

Scratchmen Apoo

Apoo so far has come off to me like Blackbeard in the sense that he knows when and against who to pick his fight. He will sacrifice others if necessary and do anything to get out of harms way. He more than likely joined Kaido out of fear of his life with the intention of backstabbing him anyways if the right opportunity presents itself. Which should be the war against Kaido where he should do something impressive but i don’t see him going far afterwards. While others may have bright futures ahead of them, i see Apoo and Hawkins aa characters who can either be killed or caught after Wano is over. But having said that, i can see Hawkins being an ally to Luffy and helping him out in the Final War. His Prediction skills will be very helpful and add the needed drama when the story demands it.

Capone Bege

This man went from one of the most despised Supernovas to one of the most liked and maybe one of the respected ones in the space of one arc. He may still be an ass but he has shown he cares for his family and subordinates at the very least which is why i have overlooked his actions again Pekoms earlier in the arc. He was given a good amount of spotlight and featured prominently in the current arc and hope he can be a part of Wano as well because Strawhats need as much firepower as they can have. With his wife with the Strawhats currently, a door of possibility has opened up for it if he his wife leaves WHI with Strawhats and he chases them to Wano, finding himself involved in the fight against Kaido and his army. Expect him to be featured prominently again in Wano if that’s the case.

Monkey D Luffy

We all know who he is, what he has done and what he will do so there isn’t much to explain here but here’s hoping we can see the full extent of his power in Wano as evidence suggests not only we have yet to see the full power of his Gear 4th but he seems to be hiding something even more powerful than Gear 4th if you look at his conversation with Rayleigh. As much as i want it to be Gear 5th, it likely won’t be because Rayleigh has taught him this power so it maybe Haki related or some type of technique he can use against Kaido as the finishing blow. I can already picture each of the Supernovas dealing their finishing blows to Kaido to weaken him, after which Luffy delivers the final blow.

Roronoa Zoro

We can all agree Wano will be Zoro’s arc in terms of character work. He is bound to get a backstory or if not, develop some type of bond with the Samurais and end up gaining the respect of all of them when it’s all said and done. Expect there to be a possible conflict over the Shisui Swords as the Samurais may possibly want it back or let him keep it by the end of the arc when he earns their respect and proves himself worthy of the sword. It’s also possible he will give them the Shisui anyways and be awarded with some other high grade sword or a fire sword since Zoro wants one.

We should finally see him go all out and hopefully be able to 1v1 a commander or the Shougan by showing what he learned over the 2 years of training with Mihawk. Who knows, maybe we will see him open his eye too.

Eustass Kidd

This guy needs to do a lot of work for himself to get back the lost respect of the community if and when he escapes Kaido’s hands. He was shown to be a savage before Timeskip even having a higher bounty than Luffy and presented as his Rival. He was attacking Big Mom’s ship then planning to kill Shanks before being manhandled by Kaido in chapter 795. Even though he got a big loss, expect him to bounce back from it in Wano and be a big factor in the fight against Kaido. Even after that, he will grow more stronger possible pull of feats that will gain him more recognition among Pirates and Marine’s alike. Even though i may not like him much, he could end up being an Admiral level character by end of story.

Killer

Another big mysterious character. Other than Zoro he is one who is vice cptain and part of the supernovas. We have last seen killer when Kaido jumped to their base. Along with Hawkings, Apoo and Kid he was present there. But if you are a Manga reader , you now know the fate of Kid and Apoo. Hawkings and Killer just vanished. I can speculate for Hawkings , that he may be allied with the Beast pirates out of fear, but Killer most probly didn’t. His captain was ass kicked by Kaido and he was very loyal to Kid. Two of the big possibility being Kid ordered him to flee and ask for help or he himself escaped to help Kid in some other ways. But he will play a big role in Wano. That’s for sure !

Trafalgar Law

Law could possibly have one of the biggest roles in Wano if not the biggest if we go by the foreshadowing and whatnot. Without a doubt he will be one of the major contributers in Kaido’s defeat, maybe he can deal a similar devastating blow like he did to Doflamingo, weakening him in the process. There all sorts about him sacrificing his life in the battle to save Luffy as thanks for defeating Doflamingo for him. Seeing as he is a D, keeping in mind all Ds have a tendency to sacrifice themselves, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility so him do it. But if there is a chance he may survive, we can see him grow up to be a true monster in terms of power by the end of story. He can also help take on Admiral Greenbull in the Final War if that honor doesn’t goes to Jimbie or Usopp.

Jewelry Bonney

She has the interest of majority of fans if not all by now and has one of the most talked about and mysterious backgrounds. Once an afterthought, she now has incredible importance to the story leading to some mind boggling speculations like she is keeping the Gorosei Younger, She is Whitebeard’s child or even Ace’s lover. Some have even gone as far as to say she is related to Akainu, possibly his daughter. Whatever it maybe, it’s no secret that she is very important to the WG and they can not afford to lose track of her as Akainu himself stated “it sent a chill down my spine when i heard you escaped”. Be prepared to get your mind blown away with some in classic Oda Style whenever the revelation happens. Could be as soon as Wano as she is the 1 of the 3 Supernovas who have yet to join the Wano War, if majority of them are there, these 3 may as well be to for an epic clash!!

So what are your thoughts regarding this ? Comment your opinions below !

#11 Supernova #Basil Hawkins #Capone Bege #Eustass Kid #Jewelry Bonney #Killer #Luffy #Scratchmen Apoo #Super Nova #Trafalgar Law #Urouge #X Drake #Zoro

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mentallydefectivepotato-blog · 7 years

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Team Fortress 2 Fanfic

We wrote a heavyxmedic+ sniperxspy fanfic for TF2′s birthday. Beware, there is ANGST.

When the snow falls

It was a specially freezing day at coldfront, snow slowly and silently falling from the gray sky above and turning the scenery white. Regardless of that, the mercenaries still had to fight, it was their obligation, their job. Among them, one was less bothered by the weather, as he was used to it: the Heavy. Eating his Sandvich while they were waiting for the next round to start, the RED contemplated the landscape, which reminded him of his dear home, but, to him, something just didn’t seem right.

During such a dreary day, the only thing that could make him happy was seeing his medic, or, as the Russian called him, “his doktor”. The man in question, Ludwig, sat at the desk located inside the RED base’s meeting room, along with his team’s engineer and spy, discussing the strategy they would use, even though they knew that the rest of their team wouldn’t follow it anyway. After the meeting had ended, the German met up with him, and they started to chat.

“How is your day, doktor?” heavy asked, adopting a cheerful tone as soon as he saw his boyfriend. Some would think of their relationship as unprofessional, but they didn’t care at all, for that their love overcame others’ criticism.

“Vell, zhe other team’s spy has been annoying me, I have been backstabbed so many times lately.” the medic protested, gesturing widely to emphasize his displeasure.

“Sorry for not protecting you. Next time I will punch him so much, he will never touch you again” the other affirmed, with a noticeable irritated tone, as if he was mad not only at the BLU spy, but at his own incapacity of protecting his lover.

Surely, the BLU spy was hated by the whole RED team, and even by some of his own teammates. Partially because nobody trusted spies, but also because of his cocky personality. Actually, he wasn’t a complete douchebag inside, but the only one who knew this was his team’s sniper. They weren’t seen as really close friends by the other mercenaries but, in reality, they were more than that: lovers.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the administrator, as the speakers announced “Mission begins in 10 seconds.”. Ludwig prepared his Medi Gun and kissed his boyfriend in the cheek, wishing him good luck. Meanwhile, the other mercenaries prepared themselves to get out of spawn and run into the frigid snow.

“We will win this round, doktor! If you are with me, nothing can stop us!” assured Misha, embracing his significant other deeply and lovingly, just as he used to do before all the battles.

“Yes, I am sure of it.” replied the man in a white coat, giving the other a light peck on his lips. “Let’s kill them all, mein liebe.”

“Eww! Get a room, you two!” the scout interrupted, feeling uncomfortable. The couple ignored him and the bostonian boy decided to give up.

Meanwhile, in BLU team’s base, all of the mercenaries were also getting ready for the action. Sniper, sitting on a chair, was observing the battlefield, analyzing which positions would be the best for him to prepare his sniper nest. He was so focused that he didn’t even notice that spy was looking at him with a lustful smile. Finally, he got up so that he could position himself in a good place, as the beginning of the battle approached. Soon after doing so, the Australian bumped into his French lover.

“Since when have you been there, spook?!” asked the man in shades, almost having a heart attack

“Ha, have you only noticed it now? I’ve been there for quite a time.” a smug grin made its way to the man’s face.

“And doing what, wanker?”

“Admiring my dear bushman, of course.” spy winked and stole a kiss from his lover, catching him off guard and making him blush like mad.

“Piss off! What are you-”

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One.” the Administrator declared the beginning of the battle.

“Uh… Snipes, you ok? Your face looks like a fuckin’ tomato.” scout questioned.

“…Sure, mate. I’m fine.” sniper recomposed himself and looked around, searching for his boyfriend, but the assassin had already vanished like smoke.

Both teams ran out to the battlefield, heading to the control point in the center of the map, while the engineers placed their sentry nests at their respective teams’ control points. It was, despite of the exceptionally cold weather, an ordinary day, with bullets, explosives and fire everywhere. And so the battle continued, blood splattering all over the ground and painting the snow crimson red.

While everybody was in the frontlines, spilling blood and sacrificing themselves so that their team would be able to advance, the BLU spy was armed with His Eternal Reward, infiltrating through the enemy base, sneaking so that no one would could see him. As he wore a Dead Ringer, he couldn’t turn invisible, so, with extra carefulness, he waited for the chance of getting a disguise.

However, on his way to RED’s headquarters, the Frenchman found the enemy medic by himself. From the man’s appearance and location, it seemed that he had gotten separated from the rest of his team after being chased down by a pyro. The doctor soon noticed the Frenchman’s presence and turned his attention to him.

“Spy! I vill kill you zhis time!”

“Oh? I didn’t think we would meet so soon, mon ami. I still haven’t wiped the blood of my knife from the last time I killed you.” the backstabber mocked.

Furious, medic abruptly rushed forward in an enraged, screaming display and pierced through the provoker with his ubersaw, taking him by surprise. Quickly, the BLU activated his Dead Ringer and moved away, while hearing his attacker boast about his skill and laugh at his fake dead body.

Seeing his victim distracted, he took the opportunity and backstabbed him right at the bottom of the stairs in front of the RED control point. The light bulbs shining brightly at the ceiling were the only witnesses of the incident. As soon as he did this, spy heard a voice he knew very well. With an indifferent tone, it declared: “The respawn has stopped working. Try to keep yourselves alive, or else you won’t come back.”

Upon hearing so, the mercenary got paralyzed. He had killed the RED medic and knew he was gone forever. The French looked at his own hands and trembled: he was a murderer. Of course, he had already killed many people before, but this time it was… different. It felt wrong. The spy knew his victim too well to look at the situation impersonally, and, above all, he also knew how much the RED heavy loved the doctor. For the first time, he felt guilty for taking someone’s life, for the suffering his actions would cause.

Then, suddenly, the RED heavy came running nervously through the base’s door, scanning his surroundings and passing by the crates and barrels scattered around the place. Apparently, he was looking for someone. The only thing the spy could suspect was that the Russian had come to save his lover, alerted by his screams. The French pitied the man, as he knew better than anyone how painful it would be to lose the one you love. Then, turning to the fake German, the RED said:

“Doktor, I heard you scream, you are good?” he was panting and had a concerned look on his face.

“Oh, Heavy, zhere jou are, I am glad I found you, I was worried about zhis announcement too, but now zhat I am with jou, we are safe.” Spy replied, hiding the remorse he felt. “I ran into spy, but now that dummkopf is finally dead, look!” He pointed at his own corpse, imitating medic’s psychopathic grin perfectly.

“So you screamed because of this, heavy is happy doktor is ok now.” answered the heavy in a relieved, unsuspecting manner.

In the meantime, everyone from the BLU base was searching for their teammates, frightened by the announcement that the Administrator had made. Finally, the whole group managed to meet at the spawn and gathered at the dimly lit meeting room, but when soldier was finally able to count the members and said that no one was missing, sniper contested:

“I think you forgot someone, mate. Dontcha miss the stink of cigarettes?” the sarcastic smile he always had on his face while badmouthing the spy was one of the reasons people didn’t think the two of them liked each other very much.

Indeed, everyone seemed to be there, but spy. Even though he was disliked by almost all of his colleagues, he was still their partner, and they were afraid he could be actually dead, forever. At first they didn’t think this was the case, as the Frenchman used to disappear often, but this assumption was confirmed by the fact that scout, while going back to his base, saw spy’s body inside the RED base.

“Oh, so the bloody frog is finally dead?” demoman asked jokingly.

“Oh, c’mon, man, now that that fricking spy is finally gone, we won’t have to suspect anybody else.” scout replied.

“Haha, so we won’t have to see that wanker again?” the Australian added, smirking.

“That’s right, boy. Phew, this man really got on mah nerves!” engineer chuckled.

“Mmmph mmph...” pyro sounded upset by the fact, as if he mourned the death of his friend.

However, deep inside, sniper was heartbroken. His one and only love in his whole life was gone, forever. And the rest of the team seemed unbothered by that fact, and even happy, this was what hurt him the most. Besides that, he had to act as if he didn’t care: he was a professional.

Both teams, thinking about the earlier announcement and the consequences it would have in their lives, stayed in their respective bases, afraid of going out and not coming back. The world seemed dark and ominous and the atmosphere was quiet and heavy. Immerse in their thoughts, a loud voice woke them up from their momentary calm moment, loudly speaking:

“Time to fight! Idling is not allowed. Get up and move!” the Administrator ordered, and so everyone did, not wanting to disobey her.

Very cautiously, the mercenaries got out of their respective spawns and advanced towards the middle control point. The BLU sniper took some moments longer to pull the will he needed to walk towards a high cliff, his sniper nest, and start working again. Taking a deep breath, he zoomed in his Machina and looked for REDs. In reality, the Australian wasn’t attempting to shoot anyone, as taking someone’s life wasn’t his intention.

Meanwhile, the BLU spy, disguised as an enemy medic, was trying his best to pretend he was the real one. If heavy found out his lover was gone, and because of him, the French would certainly get killed, and that clearly wasn’t what he wanted. He felt sorry for taking his German boyfriend’s life away, and thus, continued acting so that the Russian wouldn’t feel so lonely. As the impostor heard the Administrator saying that they would have to fight again, he knew he was in trouble. He had to escape, but wouldn’t be capable of taking another life to do so, the guilt he felt was already overwhelming.

The RED heavy, followed by spy, was heading to the frontlines, ready for the combat. Looking for a chance to sneak away and run back to his base, the masked BLU waited at the RED spawn. Noticing how the fake medic was standing still strangely instead of following him, the heavy called him out:

“Doktor! Come help me!” his voice held the affection he had for his lover.

To avoid any suspicion, spy acted accordingly. At some point around the exit though, he pretended to be injured and tried to come up with an excuse to run back to his base.

“Heavy, go ahead, I vill just take a health pack over there and then meet you again.” he lied, hoping that heavy would leave him alone so that he could flee.

“No, doktor, it is dangerous here, I will come with you.” the bulky man answered. “I will not lose you.” he then embraced the French gently.

And that’s when spy’s life went downhill. Heavy remembered the scent of roses and cigarettes he had smelt earlier and found out the true identity of his “teammate”. At the moment the BLU’s disguise wore off, he could see a long dagger embroidered with oriental ornaments in his right hand, dirtied with blood. The Russian suddenly realized his lover was dead, and the man in front of him was an impostor and murderer. The French tried, in a moment of despair, to pick up his Dead Ringer, but the other mercenary instantaneously took it off his hand. He grabbed the BLU violently by his collar and roared:

“Dirty spy, you killed my doktor?!”

“It was... not my intention… I’m very sorry for your loss…” spy looked down, as if he was trying to excuse himself of his actions.

“Why did you do that?! You know he will never come back!” heavy already was in the verge of tears. His anguish and suffering could be felt in his words. No physical pain he had ever felt before could compare to the one he felt inside him at that instant: All he could think was “Why?! Why him?!”.

“It was right before the respawn stopped working, I swear I didn’t mean to take his life away, forever.” the endangered mercenary tried to apologize for what he had done, but it didn’t seem to work.

Heavy knocked the BLU to the wall and started hitting him, expressing all the fury, bitterness and sorrow he felt. The French didn’t even react, as he felt miserable and disgusting: he deserved it, he was a murderer. The RED was suffering, so he would have to go through it too. His mind was clouded and his eyes were empty, he just waited for his enemy to kill him, and then it all would be over.

The Russian couldn’t ratiocinate, hatred and desire for revenge took over him. At the same time, beautiful recordations that had been shared with medic emerged from his mind, which only made his misery worsen: their fights side by side, their gentle, warm hugs and kisses, the sweet words they had once shared. These things would never come back, and he knew it. He knew it and it hurt.

Spy’s consciousness was fading, his senses were weakening, but, in the middle of the chaos, a thought crossed his mind. What about sniper, his lover? He was surely waiting for him to come back, so that they could share kind words and gestures after the battle as they always did, so that they could hug each other and share a drink after a long, stressful day. If he never came back, how would he feel?

That thought was what gave him will to live. The one thing that made him struggle to survive, the only thing that still mattered to him. Spy tried to free himself of the bigger man, just so that he wouldn’t get crushed against the wall.

The commotion the fight caused made sniper get up from his nest and head closer to the source of it in an attempt to find out what was happening. When he believed that nothing would be able to surprise him, he had a view that sent a chill through his bones. Seeing his lover pressed against the wall and getting fiercely punched by the RED, he quickly scoped his Machina and aimed it at the enemy’s head, in hopes of saving the Frenchman. For the first time in his life, his hands shook as he held the rifle. Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind. He didn’t understand what was going on and how spy was still alive, he just knew he had to act, and quickly.

Bang.

The shot went right through heavy’s head…

… But also ended up hitting spy’s chest.

Sniper rapidly walked down the stairs and runned towards his beloved, holding him tight in his arms. He felt the blood that had soaked the mercenary’s blue suit and was flowing out of his body. Tears immediately filled the Australian’s eyes as he looked at spy, who tried his best to fake a confident smile.

“What is wrong, bushman? That is not usual of you, ‘cheer up, mate!’”

“You bloody spook, why d’you always have to be so careless?” he shouted.

“Sorry, mon cher, it seems I couldn’t run this time, as the filthy snake I am, right?” the French replied sarcastically.

“Please, stop this, can’t you take this seriously and be sincere for once? I-I’m so scared, please, don’t leave me…”

“Before… before I go, I just want to tell you something.” spy whispered, his words sounded honest and urgent.

“...........................................”

“What? I-I can’t hear you.”

Sniper leaned in to hear exactly what the dying man was trying to say, and, in that moment, spy pulled him to a passionate and tender kiss. Though the French’s strength was fading, as he had lost a lot of blood, he still gripped his beloved firmly. Both stayed like this, enjoying the last moments they would have together. Then, spy loosened his hand from sniper’s and closed his eyes.

“You bloody spook, don’t you dare die, bloody hell!” panicking, the Australian couldn’t do anything to help the other. His teammates were too far to help, the blood loss had been too significant.

“Au revoir, mon amour. We shall meet again.”

Spy was gone.

He was dead and nothing could be done to change this. Sniper analyzed his situation. The one and only he had loved for his entire life was dead, by his own fault. Maybe if he wasn’t so nervous when aiming at heavy, he wouldn’t have hit spy too. If his hands weren’t trembling that much, if the tears weren’t blurring his vision… But none of this mattered anymore. The actions he had made couldn’t be modified.

The Australian breathed deeply and tried to focus. What would he do now? The respawn was broken and he hadn’t only killed one person, but two, one of which was his own teammate. He was a murderer, they would never come back. Heavy was, obviously, an enemy, who was attempting to kill spy, but he was still a human. And spy, oh, his own lover, was killed by his very hands. The French was the reason sniper laughed, cried, got angry and annoyed; he made him feel like he had a place in that world. Without him, he would be incomplete, his life would lose its purpose.

Sniper tried to imagine the rest of his life without his boyfriend. It would be dull, dreadful, and colorless, without the joy spy used to bring. And what’s more, what would the rest of the team, if there was still a team after this bloodbath, think about what he did? They would be terrified by the fact that he had killed two men; he wouldn’t, under any circumstances, be forgiven by his crimes.

He inhaled once more. There was only one way out of this. He reached for spy’s revolver, which was right besides him, lying on the floor, and pointed it at his own head.

“So, in the end, I’ll be able to meet you.” those were his last words. Then he pulled the trigger.

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jgfiles · 7 years

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Re-watching Joker Game: Ep 7 Code Name: Cerberus

So, as I proposed a re-watching, here I go continuing on doing the re-watching. Hopefully someone else will join! ^_-

Also, hopefully there’s someone out there that read all this stuff… as I know it’s pretty long… shame on me for analyzing things too in deep…

Mind you, what follows are my ramblings over Ep 7, comprehensive of my impression on how the frames were structured and so on with some occasional reference to the other Joker Game media.

Also, for personal comfort, I’ll use the characters’ names even if the anime hasn’t stated them yet. In short, as this is a re-watching and not a first watching, you’ll also get a telling that’s mixed with my knowledge of the future. Consider yourself warned.

Last but not least, many apologies for posting this so late but real life kept me rather busy this month…

And now, let’s start.

So yes, like in the previous episode I starts with the preview for this episode that was in Ep 6.

Now, we’re again in whatever place the previews take place.

Anyway in this preview we’ve Amari and Hatano.

Amari is folding a paper as he asks if there wasn’t an artist, a painter to be specific, who compared life to an ocean voyage.

Hatano answers quoting something “You start rowing from a small stream, enjoy the peaceful scenery, endure the wind, survive the storms,” while Amari keeps on folding the paper until he has obtained a boat. Then Amari finishes the quote for Hatano, “And flow into the ocean. What awaits beyond is boundless freedom,” before blowing on the ship causing it to fly away from his hand.

Sorry but I wasn’t able to find the painter who said the quote Hatano and Amari are referencing. If someone has more info I would love to hear them.

The preview is a reference to how the next episode will take place on a boat… but it can be seen also as a reference to how Amari will technically leave D Agency and move to Hawaii to take care of little Emma… because that’s what truly happened in the end even though the whole fandom, Miwa Shiro included, prefers to think he came back to D Agency with Emma. But well, we love Amari and we don’t want to lose him.

This is sadly the only interaction we see in the Joker Game anime between Amari and Hatano (in the manga they interact a little more).

And now let’s dig into the episode.

The episode opens up in a rather dramatic way.

As ‘Tōryaku’ [韜略 River] play in the background the scene opens showing us that there’s fire and people tied in the middle of it. Some of them seem dead already. One though is on his knees, panting hard, blood dripping from his side. There’s someone in front of him and it’s probably that someone who orders to plant explosives in the ship’s hold, twice the standard amount.

The wounded guy raises his head at this, eyes widening in shock.

Next we see is that the one speaking is a German, clearly recognizable due to the iron cross he’s wearing.

The one next to him asks about what to do in regards to the ship’s crew. We see that there are people still alive, closed in the engine room of what is likely a boat, banging on a door and asking to be left out…

…and soldiers outside the door keeping their arms raised against it so as to make sure they won’t manage to come out.

Anyway the German in charge comments that, as their information said, they had the instructions so they won’t let evidence behind, implying they would kill everyone. As the panting guy screams him to stop he raises his gun with a grin and, as the screen becomes black we hear a shoot, a clear hint that the panting guy was killed.

Now… Ep 7 has an awesome colouring, one of the best through JG. The fire is beautifully bright and I love how the room gets an orange tinge due to it.

But hum… back to the rest. This bit lasted exactly 32 seconds but it had a high dramatic value. At first we don’t really see the Germans, we’re just shown their victims. The bound people who’re either dead or unconscious, the bleeding sailor on his knees (to make things simpler I’ll tell you he’s Raymond Grane, even if we’ll discover this much, much later), the horror on his face as the German imply they’ll kill everyone, the crew begging to be left free.

We catch glimpses of German soldiers to show us that they’re actually in control of all those lives. The soldier who asks about the crew when they’re about to blow up the ship, the soldiers who’re guarding the door so the crew can’t escape. They’re the ones in power… but they’re actually not really acting, they’re just there, like objects. While what they’re doing is cruel and horrible… they don’t seem to either get pleasure or displeasure doing it. The question about what to do with the crew is said in a neutral tone, as some sort of clarification on the orders. In short, they’re represented as people who’s just there to obey orders regardless.

The one who’s really in power is the German officer… and that one came clearly out as a jerk.

It’s meaningful how his face isn’t showed until he gets the chance to express what sort of jerk he is.

We know he ordered to use twice the standard amount of explosive so as to make sure the ship will blow up… but we can assume he too is being a puppet obeying to orders. When asked about the crew… he sounds almost concerned… but it’s actually a mocking tone. When we finally see his face we hear him ordering what to do in regard to the crew. His order implies they all have to die and, once he gives it, he grins.

He’s not doing this in the impersonal manner of someone following orders. He’s enjoying it. He also grins again when he shoots at Raymond.

He has a very small role with few sentences, but it’s clear it’s not a good guy.

While JG often paints the Germans as jerks, in this case this is an interesting choice because that German was actually not being the ‘real cause’ due to which everyone died. It’ll turn out it’s McCloud, an Englishman like them, Raymond’s friend, who sold them out to get information.

Those people’s lives to him weren’t that important. So, even if the German is a jerk for enjoying what he’s doing… how much horrible McCloud is at backstabbing those people knowing the Germans would have very likely killed them all? Civilians, one of whom his friend?

It helps to make more understandable why Synthia’s hate, who should have been directed to the Germans who were actually the ones who physically killed her husband, actually turned on McCloud, the family friend who pretended to share her pain when, in truth, he sent her husband to death.

It’s 1940, they’re at war, the Germans are enemies from which they shouldn’t expect mercy… but McCloud was an Englishman and a friend. And caused Raymond’s death just the same. And no, it wasn’t to save English lives. It was so that he would look cooler. But let’s go back to the story.

Oh, not too sure if someone is interested but when the German guy raised his arm we could see his rank insignia and they label him as a Oberleutnant, the highest lieutenant officer rank in the armed forces of Germany. Among the voice actors he’s just labeled asドイツ海軍士官 (Doitsu kaigun shikan) which means “German Navy Officer”. No reference to his ranking is made. Personally I was expecting him to have a higher ranking (he even seems older than Bauer or Sakuma) but maybe it’s just me.

BTW Raymond Grane, according to the ranking on his hat and sleeve is a first mate (or chief officer or chief mate, do your pick, all those names work). Amari too will confirm this, later on.

‘Kikan’ [機関 Agency] starts and we gets Amari telling us the usual shortened version of the explanation of what D Agency is.

Then this ends and we get…

…the opening. Which is the same as usual. Amari is the forth spy that appears in it and we see him smoking and then smiling at the camera. If he does something at the end of it… well, I didn’t realize it (maybe he’s the one who smiles? I’m not sure though…).

Anyway the opening ends and we resume with ‘Joker Game’.

‘Yōkō’ [陽光 Sunshine] begins to play and we start… with a big cruiser boat, the Tokimaru (朱鷺丸).

The ship is currently sailing close enough to see some islands (which will turn out to be the Hawaii) so the passengers are on the bridge watching them. The ship’s captain confirms that they’re the Hawaii and that they should be docking in Honululu in three hours.

The contrast with what happened on another ship in the scene prior to the opening is staggering and it’s even increased by colours. While, due to the fire, the previous scene had a marked yellow, orange and red tinge, here the predominant colour are the blue of the sky and the sea and the white of the boat and of the sailors’ clothes, of the deckchairs and, of the clothes of someone who’s sitting on a deckchair (though, to be honest, they’ve a pale yellow and not a perfect white).

Anyway the first mate goes and ask that person if he’s not going to enjoy the view like the others. We can’t see that person face at first then he moves and… well, hello Amari!

Amari is dressed quite differently from usual and not because he’s not wearing his usual grey suit. In fact, we can see that instead than a tie he has a bow tie and instead than a fedora he has a pork pie hat, braces instead than a belt and no waistcoast. Maybe he’s meant to look dressed with an American flair since the ship is traveling from San Francisco to Japan (with a stop to Hawaii)?

Oh well, it’s not really a problem.

Amari claims he’s a little preoccupied… and then we’re shown what is tormenting him. A crossword puzzle. Before wondering if Amari is that obsessed with crossword puzzles or prone to worry over minor things give him a moment.

He starts asking help to the sailor in order to end the crossword puzzle... and that’s our clue. The D Agency boys were so very knowledgeable that it’s weird that Amari would be stumped on a crossword puzzle… for answers that a normal sailor can give him.

Well, to be honest the sailor can only give him an answer as he gets stumped as well at the next word. Anyway, as the two of them are talking, they hear a woman screaming “No! Stop! Stay!” in English, our clue that she’s English.

As the woman screams we don’t see her face, just her mouth…

…and then we’re shown the shadow of a small dog, a Scottish terrier, running in between the legs of the passengers.

The dog then turns a corner and appears close to where Amari and the First Mate are and runs past them and away from a woman, holding a child in her arms and now leaning against a wall.

Though the woman is far from Amari and the First Mate and much closer to the other passengers, none of them move to check on her, just Amari and the First Mate… which is, in my opinion, a bit weak. Amari is the first to reach for her and ask her what’s wrong. She claims a dog ran out of nowhere and startled her daughter, then put the little girl down. Now… maybe it’s a subbing problem but the one who seemed freaked out was the mother, not the little girl which seems weird.

Sure, later it’ll turn out the woman is actually lying but the lie is pitiful in itself as it would have worked better if she had said the dog startled HER.

Anyway, Amari bend down and asks the little girl to come with him. In present time it would be very weird for a stranger to do this but it seems back then it wasn’t a big deal. The little girl though is shy and moves closer to her mother. At this Amari whistles and causes dolphins to start jumping out of the water.

Now… I wonder if this is possible as dolphins aren’t trained dogs but well, let’s let this slide.

‘Sakura haru’ [桜春 Spring of cherry blossoms] starts playing as the little girl, Emma, is delighted that dolphin have appeared. This time Amari asks her if she feels like going to see the dolphins together and she accepts, allowing him to pick her up. Amari winks at the mother, who smiles at him and, after turning to the first mate likely hinting at how he entrusts the mother to him, carries the little girl to see the dolphins asking her what’s her name, to which she replies ‘Emma’.

Yeah, as many pointed out, in present time the whole thing feels weird as mothers shouldn’t entrust their little daughters to random strangers but whose were other times.

The mother seems to feel sick again (as I’ve said before either the subs messed up or the whole my daughter was startled doesn’t really work well as she’s the one who basically is feeling sick…) so the first mate asks her if she would like to return to her room, to which she replies she’ll be fine if she’ll rest a bit.

Meanwhile Emma is counting the dolphins jumping out of the water…

…and it’s surprised when, after counting five, she can’t see them anymore so she asks Amari where they went… to which he offers back to their home… which… hum… again is a bit weak as he could have whistled again and make them appear again, if it’s that what he did the first time. Emma wants then to know where’s their house, to which he has no answer.

Overall it’s a very pretty scene.

Emma’s mother, Synthia, joins them, thanks Amari, claims she feels better and gets Emma back. Emma is happy to go in her mother’s arms…

…and, other her mother’s prompting, thanks Amari, who replied it was a pleasure.

Now… in the book Emma was around 2. In the anime she looks older, around 4, and she can walk, but she will be mostly carried around in people’s arms which is a bit weird.

Still, Emma comes out as a loveable and cute child.

It’s also worth to note that Ep 7 is possibly the most visually pretty episode of Joker Game, both in terms of colours, composition of the images and effects.

I’ve mentioned how beautiful it was the fire in the intro scene but the sea is also awesome, both when we see the dolphins underwater, in which they use a wonderful effect to express the water refraction…

…or when it’s just in the background with the waves moving on its surface.

The characters are usually not static, which further proves the care used to animate this. Overall it’s definitely one of the most visually nice to watch if not the nicest.

We’re shown the ship continuing on its cruise, but it’s just a quick glance to help us smoothly accept the transition from a scene to the other. The Tokimaru won’t definitely be shown as often and with the same care as the Asia Express. On a sidenote the Tokumaru very likely is a fictional ship based on the Japanese ocean liners owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. Although the anime changed things a little, in the novel, this story was partially based on something that happened to the Asamamaru, so, very likely, the Asamamaru is the model for the Tokimaru.

However, since the whole thing was a diplomatic incident and a complex one, the anime preferred to change things a little and have a fictional boat (also the incident took place on January so, if they wanted this episode to take place in summer, they had to change things).

Anyway, due to all this, JG likely didn’t feel like the Tokimaru deserved the same attention that Asia Express got.

Back to the story and to Amari who tries to get back to his crossword puzzle to find a man peering at it curiously.

The man explains he was passing by and couldn’t help but be attracted by it. It’s very nice how they handled his body language.

Anyway he introduces himself as Jeffrey Morgan, someone who runs a small trading company in San Francisco. Amari presents himself as Osamu Utsumi, a Japanese engineer. As he’s giving out a fake name it’s clear that Amari is on mission.

Morgan admits he can’t walk away from a crossword puzzle…

…and Amari claims it’s perfect as ‘he’d like to borrow his knowledge for a bit’. It’s not so hard to guess Amari isn’t just as obsessed with crossword puzzles but he has ulterior motives for his invitation.

Anyway the two sits down.

The next we see as two glasses filled with what looks like sparkling white wine.

They’re relevant but the problem is ‘how had they gotten there?’. The two had apparently just sat down and yet there’s already wine served for them… which wasn’t there moments before, when they met (just look at the previous pictures and you’ll see no glasses on the table) and the one in the glasses is not just ordinary wine… not mentioning they won’t touch it for a while so they clearly hadn’t ordered it because they were thirsthy.

This is fundamentally the weakest point of all the episode… but we’ll discuss about it later on. Amari in the meantime is reading clues while Morgan is giving him the answers.

Amari then reads a definition “Variations, six letters,” and if we pay attention to his expression it’s not casual anymore and his eyes are kept in the shadows even if they’re looking at Morgan.

Even if it’s not overly obvious it’s a visual clue Amari is up on something. The other reacts with surprise at the definition then gives the answer. ‘Enigma’. Due to Amari’s confusion, Morgan explains that Enigma is also the name of one of composer Elgar’s masterpieces. Turns out that in the piece there are various still unsolved riddles and this helps Amari to switch the discussion on another unsolvable mystery, the encryptions made with the Enigma machine Germans are using.

Amari starts to sing praises of the Enigma machine and Morgan also adds some info about how the German Army improved it. Amari then claims that the movements of the German U-boats that had Enigma-encrypted orders would be completely unpredictable and this pushes Morgan to challenge that statement claiming that any form of encryption can be broken as long as one has a little hint.

Morgan is thinking that, if they were to have a message whose text they know, encrypted with an Enigma machine, comparing the two would give them clues… which is basically how the Rosetta Stone helped people to decrypt hieroglyphic scripts.

At this point Amari reveals his true face. He praises Morgan for being a really smart man in an amused tone then explains that since the Japanese Navy is also developing encryption machines based on the Enigma technology…

…they can’t let him slip inside Japan by pretending to be an American.

Please, note this as well. Amari says that Jeffrey Mordan is claiming to be American. It’ll get relevant later on.

Morgan is surprised, Amari rolls the newspaper and claims Morgan’s true name is Louis McCloud, whose codename in his country intelligence agency is “The Prof”.

Morgan, or better McCloud, bends on himself, as if defeated and claims that Amari is “Cerberus” before pulling out a blade that he kept hidden under the leg of his pants and using it to attack Amari.

While the movement is really plastic… well, it also seems pretty unnatural. The Settei book shows the first draft for that scene and that one looked a lot more natural even if maybe less spectacular.

Anyway Amari blocks the knife with ease using the newspaper…

…and presses his fingers against McCloud’s neck claiming he could use fingernails to cut his carotid artery…

…and here I’ll admit I’m not really knowledgeable enough to tell if this is possible or not as I’ve never tried killing people with fingers (on a sidenote how sharp Amari’s fingernails are?).

More likely though, he’s planning to kill him not by cutting his artery but by pressuring it so as to cause a vagal inhibition which can kill you really quickly. Either that or he’s bluffing… though, of course, claiming he’ll cut the artery with his fingers is way cooler than claiming he’ll cause a vagal inhibition so maybe they changed things on purpose.

McCloud gives up (probably understanding that Amari isn’t out to kill him and therefore he isn’t Cerberus) and Amari catches his chance to toss the knife in the sea.

McCloud starts questioning Amari on how he could recognize him since he undertook a huge amount of plastic surgery.

Amari explains he had only few bits of random intel on him like how he’s unable to ignore crossword puzzles and how the clues in the crossword puzzle were also tailored for McCloud. Still Amari claims that, despite the plastic surgery he could recognize McCloud even without the crossword puzzle because several of his facial features matched the picture he had as, like fingerprints, there are some things unique to each individual (we’ll discover later he’s talking about McCloud’s ear shape).

Now… okay, I don’t really get the plan here. Amari can force McCloud to disembark on Honululu and not get in Japan… but what after this? McCloud can always try using the next boat to reach Japan since Amari isn’t going to kill him. Wouldn’t be better to let him reach Japan and then arrest him there?

Unless part of the plan got cut due to time reasons this bit feels confusing.

However at this point the discussion between the two is interrupted. A ship is appearing.

‘Keiryaku’ [計略 Strategy] starts playing as people think the ship might be a Japanese one, then it turns out it’s not. What’s worse the ship shoots a cannonball close to the Tokimaru, causing the people on board to panic.

Allow me a second to praise how each passenger has a different face.

After firing the shoot we can see they have the English flag and that are raising another flag that means “Stop your vessel at once”.

McCloud confirms for us that the ship is from the Royal Navy in case we didn’t recognize the flag.

Behind him we can see people panicking and escaping. It’s worth to point out that, back then Japan and England weren’t at war yet. But we’ll discuss about this in a while.

McCloud feels confident, claiming he had fun playing with Utsumi’s (Amari’s) crossword puzzle and then, claiming this is a goodbye, picks up one of the previously mentioned glasses and drinks from it.

A music starts playing but I can’t recognize it. Sorry about it. Anyway as soon as McCloud drinks he starts to feel sick, drops the glass, begins to claim that Utsumi is Cerb… then dies.

‘ Seion’ [静穏 Quiet] starts playing.

The scene switches and we go back to the Greater East Asia Cultural Society. It’s clearly a flashback in which Yūki is handing Amari the current case. Yūki taks to him about Louis McCloud, showing him photos of the man…

… and telling Amari the man was hired by the SIS during WW1, working on decrypting German communications. He hads the man has changed his face and plans to travel from America to Japan. As Amari reads the documents at an amazing speed, Yūki tells him not to let McCloud set foot in Japan… and so this confirm my confusion. Even if Amari were to cause the man to disembark at Honululu what would stop him from coming in Japan with the next boat? And why McCloud felt relief when he saw the English boat? Amari had told him his purpose was to stop him from coming to Japan and, apparently, McCloud had figured out Amari wasn’t after his blood so even if he were to leave with the Royal Navy McCloud would still not manage to go to Japan and Amari would have won just the same.

Definitely there’s something missing in the plan but I’ve no idea what it is.

Meanwhile, as Amari stares at McCloud’s photo he says ‘Garderning plan’ and this is confusing because that’s the first time we hear about it, and we might think it’s Yūki’s plan for McCloud, not McCloud’s plan.

Sure, it was probably meant to hint at how Amari got info on what McCloud did that caused Synthia’s husband’s death but, right now it feels a bit random. But well, if that was the plan it wasn’t bad as an idea… only I fear it’s too distant and obscure to help people connect the dots at a first watch.

We’re back to the ships. Small boats are moving from the English ship to the Tokimaru.

Meanwhile the captain of the Tokimaru is questioning Utsumi (Amari) about Morgan (McCloud). Amari insists he just met him on the ship and so he didn’t know him and asks the cause of his death. The First Mate tells him it was due to cyanide poisoning. Hum… I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to give out info to Amari as he should be suspected but now I can finally rant about how the glasses were a problem.

In the Anime the glasses appeared on the table after Amari and McCloud started doing the crossword puzzle. They contain what is apparently the same drink. Now, as they contained apparently the same drink and McCloud picked up one at random, this means BOTH were poisoned. However we see no one coming close to them and poisoning them.

This should mean that poison was already inside them when they were delivered… but when they were delivered?

This is unknown. They weren’t on the table before Amari met Synthia and they aren’t on it when he goes back to his crossword puzzle and sees McCloud staring at it. They’ll just appear after Amari and McCloud sat down and started doing the crossword puzzle.

In order to deliver the cyanide the assassin should have seen them sitting down together, and then either poison both the drinks they ordered, or send them poisoned drinks with an excuse.

I’m saying ‘send them’ because the assassin apparently didn’t deliver them personally or Amari would have recognized that person (SPOILER AHEAD: the assassin is Synthia so if she had delivered them personally Amari would have suspected her way sooner). The problem however here is ‘how did she poison the drinks without being noticed by the one carrying them?’ and why no one checked from where the poisoned drink came from?

In the original version this story was pretty long, and even cut in two parts so it’s possible that this is all due to the anime having to cut too many things. Sure is the mystery part gets incredibly weak, which is a pity.

Anyway, back to the story, Amari thinks at McCloud’s dying words and figures that McCloud was targeted by someone whose codename was “Cerberus”.

The scene switch and we’re on the bridge of the ship. The English sailors have come aboard and the Tokimaru’s captain is protesting for what they’re doing, claiming they’re violating international law.

The English captain says he’s there to retrieve Jeffrey Morgan, an ENGLISHMAN who’s being held prisoner on a stateless vessel. Now, remember how McCloud was pretending Jeffrey Morgan was an AMERICAN? Yes, it’s a mess, especially because it’s totally random. Why should they want to retrieve him and even blow HALF of his cover (that he’s not American but not which his true name is) when the plan was for him to infiltrate in Japan? Or is McCloud trying to act on his own again? Or is he deserting England? Who knows?

In truth the whole thing is due to an anime change. In the novel the situation was based on what is called the Asamamaru Incident.

In fact in the novel the British wanted to get not Jeffrey Morgan but the Germans who were aboard the ship so they couldn’t return to Germany and then join the German Army. Yes, the whole thing was in direct violation of Japan’s neutrality and international law.

This is what basically happened to the Asamamaru and it’s something that worsened the anti-British sentiment in Japan.

The Anime makers admitted they found this too complicate of a side plot thread and preferred to change it. Personally I don’t think the idea is so bright as it gets even more confusing and random, though maybe it’s a tamer approach to the whole incident.

Anyway the English side claims they’ve permission of the American for conducting unannounced investigation on suspicious ships… which might be why they were presented very close to Hawaii. Maybe the idea is that they’re in American waters so the English abuse isn’t as bad as it originally was.

The English captain still comes out as a jerk but the Japanese captain is in trouble due to Morgan being dead.

Meanwhile the First Mate sees that Synthia, Emma’s mother and the woman who felt sick at the beginning, is on the bridge and goes to check how she’s feeling.

As he does so, he reveals that the woman’s surname is ‘Grane’. Amari has a revelation at this…

…and picks the passenger roaster. On it S. Grane and her daughter E. Grane are listed as traveling with a pet dog, Frate.

This causes Amari to figure out that the woman lied when she said the dog scared her as the dog was HER dog.

Amari whistles and calls Frate (in English because he’s an English dog…. ^_-). Frate arrives in a run and jumps in Utsumi’s arms. Evidently he’s not a shy or wary dog. Now… maybe there’s a reason for the whole thing (maybe due to some boat rule pet animals has to be left free to wander on the bridge?), but leaving Frate free to wander on the boat was pretty silly. Though it seems the meeting between Synthia and Amari in the novel didn’t happen as shown in the anime, so maybe in the novel the dog was left free for a purpose.

Anyway Amari claims he can explain Morgan’s death but needs a little time first. The two captains agree.

Let me point out for a moment how beautiful the sea is now that sunset is slowly coming…

…before telling you that Amari turns to Synthia…

…who lowers her head as ‘Aitō’ [哀悼 Apologies] starts playing.

The scene switches, Amari and Synthia are talking. Emma is asleep in her mother’s arms, which is convenient but weird as she was fully awake moments before.

Amari asks Synthia if she’s Cerberus. She doesn’t reply.

Amari claims that Frate isn’t like Cerberus but pulls out a photo from his collar and asks Synthia to explain it. In the photo there are McCloud before the plastic surgery and a sailor. The sailor is the one who died at the beginning of the episode, Raymond Grane.

Synthia turns her head away but Amari insists and asks her how did she know it was him. She admits she figured out as soon as she saw him due to the shape of his ears.

Remember? Amari talked about facial features that are unique. Those are the ears.

Synthia now explains how Emma felt ill after they left the port so, when she finally felt better Synthia started searching for McCloud’s ears. She saw him but also saw Frate, first at his feet, then running toward her, so she panicked because that photo was hidden in his collar.

Again, on the overall it’s weak. The real danger wasn’t the photo that was hardly visible, it was McCloud recognizing Frate or her or Emma. And yelling should have attracted his attention. Actually it was weird it didn’t as well as it’s weird she let Frate wander around when he had such a compromising document that caused her to panic.

Amari asked her why, since she completed her task, she didn’t get rid of the photo. Synthia replies that this is the most handsome photo she has of Raymond, her husband and Emma’s father… and even this the explanation is weak. All she had to do was to cut the McCloud part and keep Raymond.

Of course we can speculate that Synthia isn’t in the best mental state. She just betrayed her country to Germany (which physically killed her husband) to personally kill the man who caused the Germans to kill her husband, dragging along her small daughter and her dog. She also had admitted she spent all the days staring to that photo so as to memorize the shape of McCloud’s ears. There’s enough to suspect her mental sanity at the moment so it might make sense she’s not seeing such a simple solution. Synthia is full with hate for McCloud, evidently she’s not thinking straight.

‘Hifū [悲風 Sorrowful wind] starts playing.

Anyway Synthia says that now that she had killed McCloud she has no regrets. She doesn’t look exactly overjoyed or in peace though.

Amari tells us about how a German merchant raider sunk the English cargo on which Raymond Grane was the first mate. Remember how he said Gardening Plan when he was with Yūki? Those words were likely meant to explain this scene.

Anyway a flashback starts in which Synthia remembers the mourning ceremony for her husband, how McCloud joined her pretending to comfort her…

…how, searching for Emma, she ended up on overhearing what McCloud did, which was his Gardening plan, which seems to break her.

Personally I find the whole thing a bit dumb as the one talking with McCloud is basically yelling about a SIS plan that caused an English Cargo to be sunk.

True, there’s no one outside but someone could overhear… as it actually happens.

(On a sidenote can I praise again JG for its care in the details and for how pretty everything is? Look at the colour on the wooden door, they didn’t just paint it all of the same colour, they painted it so that it seems there’s paint over it and that part of it is coming away.)

With this Synthia’s tale ends.

Amari then explains what happened afterward, how the German Navy used Enigma to encrypt the stolen orders and telegraph it to friendly troops, how the English intercepted that transmission and tried comparing the two messages. How this also caused McCloud to end up disavowed by the SIS.

Synthia is surprised he could know so many things, figuring there are mysteries in his life too.

She then admits she became a German spy to get her revenge so she’s ready to consequences but, when she watches Emma, she doesn’t know anymore what she lived for or what she should have lived for.

Emma makes a timely wake up and asks her what’s wrong.

Amari asks Emma if she wants to see the dolphins again. Emma agrees but the subtle message is for Synthia. Amari fundamentally volunteered to take care of Emma from now on.

‘Kansō’ [歓送 Farewell] starts playing.

Synthia agrees…

… and Amari walks away with Emma and Frate.

Next we see a scene of a man raising Emma, Frate jumping around them.

It might be hard to figure it out but that man isn’t Amari but Raymond, whom, in the novel was described as resembling Utsumi Osamu. Hence when Synthia entrusted Emma to Amari she sort of had the feeling to entrust her to her husband.

Synthia whispers a goodbye to Emma before standing up and consigning herself to the officers.

Amari and Emma are watching the sea but no dolphin is in sight so Emma asks if they’re taking a nap.

Amari claims they’ll see them tomorrow and Emma agrees, saying they’ll do it with her mother. Amari tells Frate he can come (see them as well) then, staring at the horizon wonders to his situation of now having to take care of Emma and Frate then decides it’ll work out somehow.

On the table we see the crossword puzzle. In it the word ‘life’ is bolded.

Hum… maybe it was better if it was ‘live’ but well, we get the message just the same.

And with this the episode ends.

Ending theme.

Overall this episode is visually beautiful and the drama behind the story is one of the best but… the mystery part is a mess. Even if some things can be excused there are still plot holes. Sure, it can be they’re due to the story being cut left and right but… well, it’s a pity.

The best one can do is to watch it for the story, which is lovely, and not for the mystery, which, for once, is the weakest point of the plot.

Oh, as you might have noticed this time I didn’t pause much to describe scenes visually as there were almost no special visual shoots. It doesn’t mean they were bad, everything was really, really pretty, but we didn’t have neither smart nor subtly meaningful shots. So, beyond saying that something is very aesthetically pleasing there wasn’t much to say about the visual.

Maybe the only thing that’s noteworthy is that there are a good amount of close up and "Italian shot" or Extreme Close Up in which only the character’s eyes are visible to better express the feelings of said character but that’s not that out of ordinary in anime.

And this was Joker Game Ep 7. Thank you to everyone who was brave and patient enough to sit through my long, long ramblings for the whole episode. I hope other people will feel like sharing what they had observed while watching it!

#Joker Game #Amari #Utsumi Osamu #Emma Grane #Synthia Grane #Joker Game ReWatching #Raymond Grane #Louis McCloud #Jeffrey Morgan #Hara #Yuasa #Yuuki #JG Code Name Cerberus #Joker Game Anime

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