#was thinking i should clarify how much japanese i actually know because i get worried i give off the impression that i know more than i do

[worldofgoo]

have done word of the day three times in a row ! though its more like tweet of the day now so twitter needs to stay up so i can practice reading what random people on the internet say.

[nobody-for-sure]

Language Barrier

No keyboards were smashed in the making of this story.

Chapter 2

(~2.3k words, see chapter list here)

You should have expected this, too.

Naturally, they wouldn't speak English. They wouldn't even speak Japanese, which is what you switched the dub to when the English voices were too annoying. Why would they? If anything, they would speak Chinese, or maybe the languages of the countries they were based off of (German, for example).

"Xaue kigxm, so jogxlg o ztgi jtgzyxkjta g jxuc kxaue mtoegy" was definitely not German, or any language you'd ever heard before, for that matter. But it only makes sense, you tell yourself. Being a real place, of course they would have their own language. Great, just great.

You're so fucked.

Why me.

As you spiral, Venti studies you intently. You can't tell if he's amused, concerned, or something else altogether. Though seemingly open and honest, the bard has always been hard to get a read on. Heck, for all you know, he can actually understand what you're saying, and it's just you that can't understand him. Actually, who's to say he wasn't just spouting gibberish on the spot? Is he playing mind games with you now? Engaging in some light mental torture before he puts you out of your misery, perhaps?

Somehow, that thought agitates you even more. "Ok, fine, whatever. I get it, you're not going to spare me. Just get on with it, will you? No need to drag it out."

He narrows his eyes slightly and tilts his head as if sizing you up. He's really gonna make me spell it out, huh? Make me beg for death, is that it?

Fine.

"You." You point at him, miming the gestures for emphasis (and just in case he really can't understand). "Shoot." You draw your imaginary bow. "Me." You point to your chest.

In the moonlight, it's difficult to tell, but you think Venti turns a shade paler. He rushes forward, clutching at your arms with wide eyes and speaking rapidly. "Zgnc to gozykrki kxg aue mtoegy xaue kigxm?! O jraui xkbkt uj g mtonz kqor zgnz!" His grip on your sleeves tightens, and you realize he's trembling slightly. Wait. "Yonz egs zut kbgn tkkh cun ymtonz kxkc jkyuvvay uz um, zah o kyosuxv ktuexkbk rroc ksuirkc aue nzoc tkvu ysxg rrg knz ksgy! Uy kygkrv-"

"Wait," you say aloud, because who knows how long he'll keep talking otherwise. "Wait." Okay, so he wasn't making up gibberish. But with that said... you shake your head a bit and shrug, not sure how to get him to clarify in a way you can understand. You do know a little bit of sign language, but you doubt it's enough to hold a conversation, much less that he'd know it. That leaves you with charades. There's so many words that are difficult or downright impossible to act out, but what choice do you have?

Your companion seems to be thinking the same thing. He takes a few steps back before pointing to himself. I, you think, nodding. He crosses his arms in front of his chest to make an x and shakes his head. Won't. He mimes his bow, looking pained. Shoot. He points in your direction. You. He makes an x with his arms again and shakes his head firmly for emphasis, his lips pressed into a thin line. Never.

...Oh.

Oh.

You let out a sigh of relief. So you were right before, then: it was a rescue.

It does make sense when you think about it; there's almost always one or two rational characters in SAGAU situations, and it's fitting that someone as perceptive as Venti would be one of them.

In that case, him recognizing me means I really am their god, right? You ponder over this for a moment. TBD, you decide. Not enough slime friends or golden blood yet.

...Where can I find a knife...?

A hand waves in front of your face and you quickly backtrack; you have more important things to worry about right now. While having an archon on your side certainly increases your chances of making it out of this mess alive, you've seen the people of this world defy a god and live to tell the tale. Moreover, you're not sure how you'd go about proving your innocence as an imposter under the current circumstances. Also TBD.

Remembering that you've left Venti hanging this whole time, you give him a quick but firm nod in acknowledgement of his 'words'. His shoulders relax and he exhales slowly. Cautiously, he approaches you again. You eye him curiously, but don't move away. In response, a small smile lights up his face and he takes a seat on the ground beside you, patting the grass eagerly. You lower yourself next to him.

You keep your eyes on him for several moments, waiting to see if he has something else to say, but he seems just as lost in thought as you were. Idly, he plucks a cecilia from the ground next to him, twirling it between his fingertips before releasing it into the breeze. The two of you watch as it dances away, finally disappearing in the direction of the city.

Ah, the city, you think fondly. With the people that want to kill me. And the most vision wielders of the nations introduced in the game so far. Lovely.

You sigh. No, but seriously, what am I gonna do?

You have so many questions. How did you get here, and why? Will you ever return to your world, or are you stuck here forever? Normally the thought would be more appealing, but under the circumstances, well... it spoke for itself.

The statue you saw in the city is a definitive indication of the presence of a Divine Creator (or whatever they want to call it) in this universe, so you're confident in your assessment that this is a SAGAU. (Or... just SAG.) Is that really me? Venti seems to think so. And more importantly, is there already someone posing as me, who will order their loyal acolytes to hunt me down to the ends of Teyvat, yada yada? Or are they doing that on their own, since someone as plain and boring as me couldn't possibly be their god?

So many questions, and no way to find out the answers to any of them. Even supposing you enlist Venti's help, charades will only get you so far, and there's no guarantee some of the answers you're seeking even exist in the first place. How long can I survive like this?

The sound of a plucked string resounds, distracting you from your inner turmoil. You look over to see a knowing expression on the bard's face, one that dissolves into an airy chuckle when you furrow your brows. Composing himself, he plucks the same string again, before moving his fingers gracefully across the strings of his lyre to a melody you've heard a thousand times, one you'd recognize anywhere.

For a moment, you're surprised. But the music is familiar and soothing, and you can't help but start to relax hearing it. It can't hurt, right? If the fics have taught you anything, it's that a good night's sleep is hard to come by, so you might as well rest while you can. What's the worst that could happen?

...said every protagonist ever, shortly before getting their ass kicked. Does reverse psychology work on fate? Boy, I sure hope the answer to all my problems doesn't fall from the sky tomorrow morning.

Sadly, the solution to all your problems does not fall from the sky. A handful of apples, though, do. Venti beams at you encouragingly as you pick the closest one up, eye it, and take a hesitant bite.

It's... delicious, actually. Perfectly crisp and slightly cool, you daresay it might be the best you've ever had.

If only you weren't having it before the sun's even up.

Stupid immortals and their warped sense of time, you think as you chew. Did he even sleep? You consider asking, but don't find the question worth the gestures.

The two of you eat in silence. Luckily, the sun peeking over the edge of the cliff helps fill the space between you. You're by no means an early riser, so the pale rosy glow of dawn is fairly foreign to you. It's quite the sight, though. The game's graphics truly can't do it justice, and despite your initial annoyance at being woken up so early, you have to admit it's beautiful.

This is what you always imagined yourself doing if you ever got isekai'd into Genshin: spending time with the characters you know and love, trying the mouth-watering food, taking in the scenery. Not running for your life from people who want to kill for no reason. But that's the luck that lost every single 50/50 for you.

While you're ruminating over this, your companion stretches theatrically before bouncing to his feet (aided by gust of wind). He wipes his palms on his shorts and waves at you to join him. You scramble to your feet. What's happening? Where are we going? He giggles at the expression on your face before holding out his hands, palms up. When you tilt your head, he points up, before reaching toward you and taking one of your hands in each of his. "Ralkxgi," he says in a warning tone, and you brace yourself uncertainly.

The wind starts to pick up. It's a concentrated force; unlike normal winds that whip about wildly, you can feel this one weaving around your legs in an effort to make you weightless. Unlike yesterday's, which scooped you up haphazardly in an effort to save your dumb ass from imminent death, this one is gentle but firm. Still, nothing prepares you for the moment your feet lift off the ground. "!" You make a noise of surprise as the two of you rise into the air, one foot... two feet... threefourthat's a lot of feet- you're not exactly scared of heights, but not having anything underneath you is still nerve-wracking.

Venti squeezes your hands. "Knz yjtoc lu zgbekz rroc xkbkt zkr aue rrgl," he assures softly. And it helps. It really does. You're starting to discover that you prefer hearing him speak, even if you can't understand a word that comes out of his mouth. The tone of his voice tells you everything you need to know. "You can trust me," it says.

And you do.

Your breath hitches as the wind carries you straight over the edge of the cliff, and while technically your altitude hasn't changed, suddenly you seem just that much higher up. Subconciously, you tighten your grip, but not purely out of fear. Something tugs at you: exhilaration.

"Currg ks uz cuny aue knz ezagkh lu xaue ksun kitu kxus," a voice says, seemingly one with the sound of the wind whipping through your hair. And then you're off.

The tension eases from your body as you soar above Mondstadt, taking in the scenery. It's so much bigger than you expected, so full of life and color, and you can't help but feel at home, like this world really was built for you. The touch of the wind against your cheek is like a lover's caress, gentle and welcoming and safe, and even if it's selfish (or just flat-out delusional), you can't help but want to believe that's the case. Whether I end up being the Divine Creator or not, you think, I belong here.

Your apparent tour of the nation of wind and freedom comes to close as you coast over one final ridge to see Windrise come into view. Just like last night, the current carrying you starts to ebb and slow as you descend. Hard to believe I was here only yesterday.

When you land behind the huge tree, however... you're the only one that does. The windborne bard stays exactly as his moniker implies, and when you turn to him in confusion, he gives you a playful wink. "Rro kh qigh tuuy."

"I don't know what that means," you deadpan (pointlessly). In response, he points to the tree. You turn your head, see nothing out of the ordinary, and look back to see he's vanished from sight. "Hey, what the fuck-" You hear shuffling from the other side of the tree, and you scramble over the giant roots, trying to catch him. Placing one hand on the trunk, you confidently round the corner to see...

...not Venti.

You stiffen.

Very much not Venti.

Oh shit, oh fuck, where'd he go, wehavetogetoutofhere-

In front of the tree, three equally surprised faces stare back at you: an outrider, a librarian, and the Acting Grand Master herself.

Of the four of you, Amber recovers first. "Xaue kigxm!" she exclaims with, with, is that... relief? Her eyes light up as she rushes over to you, and you're in too much shock to move as she tentatively grasps your arms and gives you an obvious once-over. Behind her, you can see Lisa gently rest a hand on Jean's shoulder, which seems to snap the knight out of her daze. She moves to approach you as well, but stops a few feet away. She clears her throat softly but pointedly, and Amber shoots you a hasty smile before backing away.

Grey-blue eyes meet yours, and their owner plants her sword into the ground reverently as she sinks easily to one knee. "Zo yo es kxaygkrv jtg es ezaj uz ksuirkc xaue krhgxutun kigxm uz zjgzyjtus." With a bright smile, Amber follows suit, while Lisa places a hand over her chest and offers you something similar to a curtsy.

It occurs to you then that maybe...

...maybe I should stop reading so many fanfics.

[lookingforcactus]

Yu Yu Hakusho liveblog: ep 3

the RAPACIOUS ORB????

It’s not called that in the anime is it??? That’s terrible, no, that’s so terrible

D- in Artifact Naming, thanks

Okay you know what I was never clear on this in the anime either: Kurama and Yusuke both “gave up half their lives” but there never seem to be any consequences to this? Even though it sounds like it should have consequences? Like usually when someone phrases it like that, they mean in terms of “How old you get to be.”

I always just mentally handwaved it as “Well they clearly meant life energy, I guess”

Still I’ve always been unsatisfied with the fact that they didn’t clarify that

The Conjuring Blade. Hmm that’s not great either. Like I know they’re limited by the need to roughly match lip movements in the dub, but still

“The blade grants the user their desired ability” was actually a very clever rewrite, though

Koenma is also significantly less pigeonholed as comedic relief here, while still getting to give him some of that lightness and Way Less Worried Than the Heroes Would Like Him to Be thing, and it’s working pretty well for me actually

Impressed with this take on adapting him tbh

He’s so not serious in the anime, but like in the show you WANT him to come off as a lot more mature since he is. you know. not being played by a literal baby

Wait a minute Koenma’s lines must ALL done by ADR in the original. Right?? Because otherwise how clearly would the actor even be able to talk with that thing in his mouth the whole time?

Esp since it and his lips move very little

Okay Hiei’s silhouette does look pretty good from the side, though

Esp if you unfocus your eyes lol

There’s just too much white on his outfit for me, it’s too much

Like for the others, the show really directly adopted their Main Look

Whereas Hiei looks halfway between his main look (cloak and scarf) and one of this Dark Tournament looks (when he takes off the cloak; mostly tank tops iirc)

The bandaging on his head is both too wide and nowhere clearly enough bandaging. At first I thought he was just wearing a bafflingly uneven headband.

Or, at least, they should have committed more clearly to EITHER bandaging OR a headband, not tried to merge them

Wait it IS just a bafflingly thick and uneven headband. Why. It looks like he hand-tore something out of white leather, almost???

Like presumably it’s just cloth but it’s SO stiff

Okay they are doing a really good job of adopting the superspeed fighting. Much better than the “only speedsters can melee fight other speedsters successfully” or like “The Flash (TV)-style” fighting that I’m used to seeing

Because obviously it can be hard to film “superspeed opponent vs. non-superspeed opponent” effectively, but they did a pretty good job I think

They’re really doing a good job of stylizing it

See this is why American live action adaptations of anime always fail horribly even for super popular series imho

Until One Piece, actually, I think

Because US studios have no idea how to effectively visually stylize a huge number of anime tropes and mainstays and archetypes

Saw a quote where one of the directors(?) on the project was saying that he’s really glad it was a Japanese adaptation because they know how to translate it into live action and stylize it effectively, and THEY’RE RIGHT

Seriously some of the shots in these fights, esp Yusuke vs. Goki, look like they could literally be straight out of the anime. Like I can see in my head EXACTLY how it would be drawn and shot and animated. Love it. Love the love for anime as a style/art form here

WAIT DARK TOURNAMENT ISLAND REALLY DOES HAVE THAT SHAPE I’m really impressed with them for Committing to that and pulling that off at all, actually

Yukina sparkly eyeshadow. But she can’t possibly have regular access to makeup in her situation. Yukina is by default a bit sparkly, it’s an ice maiden thing? Canon accepted

Omg for a second when he turned I thought his scar was a TEAR and I was SO BAFFLED

Immediately hit the 10 sec rewind and discovered the truth

Thank god okay that makes more fucking sense

It’s just a Very shiny scar. Hypertrophic

Oh shit they did the Toguro size enlargement actually like canon. Okay I’m no longer wildly unimpressed with their Toguro adaptation

I could not have imagined they’d do the muscle bulging that literally. It really speaks to how far visual effects for body alteration have come in the past decade or so

They’re mostly being pretty successful with using angles to make this work surprisingly well

God everything about the rich bad guys at the dark tournament was always so confusing to me. I could never tell them apart except for Sakyo. Everything about this version of the plotline is so much clearer. Thank you highly distinct visual styles!

Anyway using Tarukane’s introduction to Sakyo’s Whole Thing/the Dark Tournament to explain it to the viewers was a good move done p effectively. Also Tarukane’s suit is so extra and I love it

Hmm the shrinking effect on Elder Toguro is. Less effective. I think they overcommitted. Should’ve leaned more into the skinniness than the shortness, imho

All the effects on Elder Toguro in front of the helicopter are just. Oof. Absolute garbage. They Did Not stick the landing on this one, folks.

Seriously they should’ve let him be taller and just made the actor do some kind of unsettling posture that makes his head come up less far all the time or whatever

Listen I have friends who are under 5 feet. None of them look even a little bit like that. That’s just not what humans look like at that size.

Also why is his hair straight. He and Sakyo need to switch hair textures

Okay up-close effets on him get better as soon as he’s twisting to actually kill someone. Why don’t they just have him look like that the whole time?

Karasu and Bui look great though

GENKAI GENKAI GENKAI GENKAI

Genkai looks okay but she doesn’t sound like a lifelong chainsmoker and that makes me sad, on a personal level

Also kinda sad that she looks like she’s like 50, not 70. And she’s not mean enough!! Tragic

Okay the walnuts thing is better. More properly mean. Good.

Okay her jumping on Yusuke’s chest while he’s down is also good. Excellent. I snorted, perfectly in character. She should sstill sound like she spent her youth gargling rocks tho

Yusuke, on the other hand, looks FANTASTIC as they’re arguing. They nailed it with his posture, his hair, his sullen complaining, amazing

HE’S GETTING THE SPIRIT WAVE ORB IN EPISODE THREE???? Come on, this is COMPLETELY unearned, I get that they’re trying to somehow do seasons 1 AND 2 in just five episodes but they literally should not have included this

Genkai still isn’t mean enough. Just watched a clip of the anime to clear my palette and she literally tells him, “Shut up, you condescending jackass.” This Genkai seems like she would never and I have a huge problem with that!!

Spirit wave orb is just handled so badly. I’m mentally rewriting it as an entirely different type of power boost. This is easy to do, because passing it over in the drama is super easy and immediate and with no consequences, meanwhile in the anime it’s like a 3 episode arc to transfer it where both Yusuke and iirc Genkai are in danger of like. Fucking dying!!! Anime Yusuke: Literal days of pain and writhing in a cave. Live Action Yusuke: Standing there. It takes 2 seconds.

I do really like the shots of Genkai inside right after Yusuke leaves. Gorgeous shots and lighting, and I like that we at least get to see a photo of Young Genkai!

At least Toguro showing up to go after her literally the same night makes getting the orb out of there (out of her) feel more justified, ig

Okay actually I’m liking the Genkai & Toguro scene a lot. I buy that actor as Genkai a Lot more in this scene too

“Well, you haven’t changed, have you? You still care about fighting…and nothing else at all.” Great line and great delivery. Tbh does a more convincing job of laying out while Younger Toguro is doing All This than the did

They better fucking not kill Genkai though. I mean, I can’t imagine why they would, since Toguro also goes after her in the anime/manga and she makes it. But it bears repeating that they’re absolutely not allowed to!

I really like that we keep seeing Keiko actually working at her family’s shop. Gives her a lot more dimensionality and sense of having her own life/stuff going on than she sometimes has in the anime

ELDER TOGURO IS FRAMING HIEI actually that’s a really smart way to do it, I was WONDERING how they were about to justify the kidnapping since Hiei isn’t trying to take over the world anymore

Also, super cool job with the effects on the reveal tbh

Hiei and Kuwabara animosity on first sight: done perfectly, I laughed out loud (literally)

“Hiei’s with us.” “No I’m not.” “’Course you’re not, jackass!” asdl;kjfas love it

They’re really lucky Kurama was there tbh. I also love that Hiei totally could’ve stopped the fight to clarify what the hell was going on after “Who the hell is Keiko?” but he had zero interest in doing so. “This guy doesn’t believe me? Why argue when I could fight.”

“Who the hell is Keiko?” Keiko!Winter Soldier AU now

[mitch-the-simp]

The Only Teenage Bitch Worth My Time (Jotaro x Sister!Reader)

(I literally wrote this for my English final exam- But obviously modified and without cursing.)

(Y/n) had always been the star child; not one instance in her life had her intellectual potential been questioned by anyone in her family. Alas, this was one of those moments in which she felt like she didn't deserve to be the gifted child of the Joestar family.

Her brother, Jotaro, was as clever and quick-thinking as her, yet he was treated as intellectually challenged because of his demeanor. He was a rude teenager in his junior year that simply walked around acting like he didn't care about anything. He could walk into a restaurant and if he didn't like the food, he would refuse to pay no matter what. If you were to ask him for his opinion on how you looked, if he didn't like it, he would tell you his opinion straight up. No sugar coating, no nice little words; a simple "You look stupid." would suffice. Not to mention he didn't seem to respect his mother.

(Y/n) tried her best to appease her adoptive mother, Holly. But Jotaro? Oh, he didn't care about respect. He would talk back to her, go out and leave her to worry until he returned hours after his curfew. Yet, for some reason, their mother never scolded him. It was like she didn't even care about all that. She would let anything slide so easily. It baffled her to an impossible extent.

Yet, she knew there was more to him than that. (Y/n) seemed to be the only person he actually cared to talk to. She found it odd at first but eventually stopped asking herself why.

Jotaro would tell her about how annoying it is to walk to school and instantly be swarmed by his annoying fangirls. And with all honesty, (Y/n) felt the same way when she saw all those girls literally push her away from walking with her brother to school.

It wasn't soon until (Y/n) picked up a few delinquent habits from Jotaro, though. They were walking down the pavement as (Y/n) spoke to Jotaro, "Hey, you think I'm gonna do good in that science fair? The top prize is 148000¥!". In her hands, he held her science fair project. A small homemade printer she had been working on for months.

"You're pretty smart, I think you'll give those other nerds something to be scared about," Jotaro mumbled.

"You think you can help me set it up in the gym?" She asked smiling at him softly.

And just before he could respond, the stampede of girls ran towards them. They pushed around to be able to bother Jotaro. And when they did, one of them pushed (Y/n) out of the way, causing her to drop her project.

And that's when it happened. She balled up her fists in anger and punched the girl in the face.

Jotaro looked at her, taken aback by his sister's actions. Then he chuckled, pulled the brim of his black hat down to his face, and mumbled a proud, "Good grief." With that, he continued walking. Leaving (Y/n) alone to be caught and sent to detention, which eventually led to her being suspended for a week.

So that was exactly why she was sitting in the middle of her living room right now.

"Why'd it have to be today of all days..." she thought to herself. The reason being that her father, Sadao, came back from his Jazz tour that same day to go support her in the Science fair.

She looked around, wondering if there was anything she could do while she waited. Eventually, she decided to change out of her school uniform. Making her way to her room and changing her Japanese uniform with something that accommodated more to her Italian fashion desires.

She fixed her (H/c) hair and adjusted her (F/c) dress. Though, just as she was sliding on her boots, she heard a car in the driveway.

"Oh shoot-" she exclaimed, running out into the living room. She knew darn well that her mom had already informed her dad of her suspension. So playing it off was no option.

Her father stepped out of the car and hugged her mom. As soon as he saw him walk towards the house, she knew she was fucked.

"(Y/n), I would like to have a word with you young lady," he announced, not wasting a single second after entering through the front door.

"Yes sir." She gulped. She slowly walked towards him, already regretting what she had done earlier that day.

Her father sat down on the couch and patted the space next to him, signaling her to sit down. Once she did as instructed, her father sighed.

"(Y/n), your mother informed me of what happened in school today. Why did you do that?" he asked calmly.

(Y/n) grew nervous. She was too scared to lie to him, but would he be mad at the truth? She just knew he would, but she honestly had no choice, did she?

"I... I just hate it when all those girls crowd around Jotaro. He doesn't even want all that attention! But you know what just infuriated me?! They are constantly pushing through me to get to him! They made me drop my project! And- and you know what's worse?! I CAN'T EVEN ENJOY A SMALL WALK WITH MY OWN BROTHER! And I just thought, 'Ok, what would Jotaro do if he was as mad as I am?' And well... I don't want to excuse my actions... but it just... happened." She ranted, her voice trailing off at the end.

"I see, you were angry about a situation you constantly find yourself feeling helpless in, so you decided to strike at it as you've seen Jotaro do when he's in a problem." He spoke, attempting to understand what she meant.

"Well... he only reacts like that when someone makes him mad, so yes." She mumbled back.

"See, sweetheart, the past few years, I've seen that Jotaro looked at you as too perfect to even try to be like you. And now I see that in your own way, you see Jotaro as stronger than you. Perhaps more courageous? You have found a hidden nobility inside of him. A resilience that he doesn't even show us. And I know you admire it so much, that you wish you had the capability to be as carefree and careless as he is." Sadao commented.

"I... I guess you're right." (Y/n) admitted.

"Whether you see it or not, you two make a great duo because you're what the other wished they were. I'm not saying it wasn't wrong that you punched that girl in the face, but I'm saying that you should try to channel that newfound courage into... less violent things." He suggested.

"Just go where destiny guides you my cherry blossom," Holly added as she walked by them on her way to the kitchen.

"I'll take this as permission to be mean to people, verbally."

"Take it as you will, just don't get yourself into any more trouble, ok kid?" He clarified.

"Yes sir!" She cheered.

Sadao got up from the couch, he was about to leave the living room, when he stopped in his tracks and turned to see his daughter once again, "Oh and (Y/n)."

"Yes, Papa?"

"You're grounded."

"Awww! What about the science fair?" She asked.

"Well, you have a project to fix." He reassured her, letting her know he was still going to take her.

"Can I at least pick Jotaro up from school?"  You asked.

"Yes, but remember the conversation we had, (Y/n)." He responded as he walked into the kitchen. 

(Y/n) nodded at him, as she walked outside and laid on the grass. As she looked at the clouds. She really wished Jotaro had come to get her out of detention. Or had at least snuck her out of school for one of his smoking sessions before she got caught. Obviously, (Y/n) herself didn't smoke, so she really was just gonna sit there and maybe even snack on something while they both had a sensible conversation. 

That's where she got an idea: Jotaro was probably skipping class to smoke right now, and she had nothing to do, so she thought sneaking out of the house to hang out with him wasn't a bad idea. So she went back into the house and walked into the kitchen where her parents were talking to each other.

"Hey mom, dad, I think I'm gonna go take a nap until Jotaro is out of school." She announced.

"Alright honey, just let me know If you want anything, ok?" Holly smiled as she kissed her cheek.

(Y/n) went into her room and got a small backpack full of snacks. Slowly, she opened the door back up and ran out into the yard and out of the house's territory. Then she ran towards the school.

Once she got there, she looked around for Jotaro. As always, she found him sitting on the bleachers, cigarette in hand and black hat covering his eyes. (Y/n) made her way towards him, climbing up the bleachers and sitting next to him on the top seats.

He slowly turned to her, and chuckled, "Weren't you in detention?" 

"I was suspended you jackass." She responded.

"Oh, well that sounds bad for your permanent record," he spoke softly, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Yeah... it was worth it though, those bitches have been getting on my nerves for some time now." She shrugged, taking a bag of chips out of her backpack.

"Really? Is it because they always push you around," he asked casually.

"Well, that's part of the issue... but mostly it's because I hate how they just won't leave you alone. It's like every hint you throw at them completely misses them! I mean, you literally call them bitches in their stupid faces!" (Y/n) complained.

"Yeah, it's pretty damn annoying..." he mumbled softly. 

He didn't want to actually thank her for getting him out of that situation; it would ruin the careless delinquent image he'd worked so hard to build. But he saw his sister's sweet gesture as the only reason why she was the only teenage bitch worth his time.

And even though he didn't say it, (Y/n) knew damn well that he was thanking her from the bottom of his heart with that response. 

"So, you want to help me fix my printer before the fair? I promise I'll let you use it." (Y/n) asked.

"Sure, it starts at 10, doesn't it?" 

"Yeah, I'm sure that if you help me we can get it done by 9:30." She spoke.

"But you have to tell me what to do, or else I'll probably fuck it up," he responded.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you, little Joot!" (Y/n) said as she pulled down his hat.

"Don't call me that you bitch." He turned away, hiding the embarrassed blush on his face.

"Come on little bro..." She pouted playfully.

Jotaro sighed, "I'm not your little bro. I was here first, you bitch." he grunted.

"Yeah, but I'm still older than you by one year." 

"Yeah, I'm pretty fucking sure that doesn't count." He rolled his eyes.

"Uh- I'm pretty sure that it does. Age is what determines who's the oldest sibling, dumbass." She said, matter-of-factly. 

"I still refuse to accept it." He grunted in annoyance

"Fine... suit yourself... little Joot.~" (Y/n) chuckled.

She wouldn't change what they had for anything in the world, and she knew Jotaro thought the same thing. Even if he didn't really tell her.

[alpacaparkaseok]

Lost in Japan

Requested by anon - a picture of your request will be at the bottom of the post. Thanks for sending it in! 

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x reader

Premise: Taehyung gets lost while shooting Bon Voyage in Japan with the members. Thankfully, he runs into you.

You were fairly certain that your eyes were deceiving you. Standing awkwardly outside of a convenient store, staring down at a map that one of the employees was holding up, stood Kim Taehyung. 

His Japanese was only getting him so far. From what you could hear, it sounded like the real problem was the fact that he wasn’t quite sure where he was supposed to be in the first place. 

You weren’t the only one that was starting to notice who was loitering about downtown Aomori. 

Taehyung kept glancing up, assessing the growing crowds that were beginning to form, all of them waiting anxiously for the light to change to cross the street. The employee seemed to notice his worry, beginning to lose his patience. 

“Take the map,” the employee sputters out. “Just buy it really quickly. It looks like you need to get going soon.”

Taehyung blanches. “Er...I don’t have my wallet on me...” he pats his jeans as though his wallet might magically appear. “Could I come back later...?”

The employee looks a bit uncomfortable, mirroring Taehyung’s expression. “I don’t know...if you’re lost already, who’s to say you’d be able to find your way back?”

You hardly realize how close you’ve gotten, but as you watch Taehyung’s eyes drop to his shoes and red color his cheeks, you take the last few strides up to him. Both men look up at you, apprehension in their eyes.

“How much is the map?” You ask without thinking, already fishing your wallet out of your bag. 

Taehyung stares at you with unabashed embarrassment. “Oh, really don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out.”

You shrug, already handing over some cash to the shocked employee. “It’s fine. You’re not from around here, are you?”

Blinking at you like you might have suddenly grown another head, Taehyung slowly shakes his head. “...no. I’m not. Do you know...who I am?”

Biting the inside of your cheek, you barely manage to contain your grin. “Do you mean have we met?” You shake your head, taking the map the employee extends out to you and folding it meticulously. “No, I don’t think we have. Are you lost?”

Again, Taehyung looks a bit dazed but nods his head nonetheless. “I am, actually.”

Now you allow yourself to smile at him fully, fidgeting a little at how intensely he’s looking at you. “Well, I can call you a cab if you want. Just explain to me where you’re trying to get to.”

“Can I trust you?”

You blink, heart aching a little at the question. “I would say yes, but I’m a little biased. But either way, it looks like you’ve got about...ten seconds to make a decision.”

The traffic lights change, and suddenly a horde of people are making their way across the street and heading straight toward the convenience store. The employee has already retreated indoors, appearing to be boarding up for a storm. Taehyung looks back and forth between you and the other group almost comically before stepping toward you.

“Alright, let’s go.”

~~~~

After some careful maneuvering through the convenience store and out into the back alley, Taehyung chuckles. You give him a quizzical look, marveling as he runs a hand through his curly hair. 

“What’s so funny?”

Taehyung shrugs, giving you a genuine smile. “I feel like James Bond or something!”

“I’m pretty sure James Bond doesn’t get lost so easily,” you tease, heading down the alleyway with the idol in tow. “So where exactly are you trying to get to? Describe it to me.”

Taehyung does just that, and you recognize the location almost immediately. “Really? I know exactly where that is.” Heading toward the street, you wave down a cab. “I’ll just give them the address and they’ll take you straight there-”

“Um, about that...” Taehyung watches with a wary eye as the cab pulls over. “I don’t have any money, remember?”

“Ah...I’ll just pay him right now. Don’t worry about it.”

You lean down to speak to the cab driver but stop as Taehyung’s hand lands on your elbow. Ignoring the blush undoubtedly creeping up your neck, you look back at him.

“I’ll Venmo you,” he says.

“...ok.”

“But...”

“But?” You straighten, frowning. “What?”

Taehyung looks at the cab, chewing on his bottom lip. “Well, don’t you want to get your money’s worth?”

~~~~

And that’s how you ended up here, sitting in the backseat of a cab giving Kim Taehyung a tour of Aomori. 

You whiz past several monuments, wracking your brain for some sort of historical fact you can give the idol. Whatever you do say isn’t all that impressive, but Taehyung goes along with it. 

“You’re an amazing tour guide,” he croons, a teasing smile on his lips. You roll your eyes, pointing out the window to the setting sun.

“And here we have the sunset. This phenomenon happens every evening, and is often subject to many poor-quality photos.”

Taehyung laughs, going along with your joke. “So why do people take pictures if they don’t turn out right?”

You shrug. “I’m not sure. Maybe because they want to remember it? But it never turns out as good as the real thing.” This time you laugh along with Taehyung before something catches your eye.

“Oh!” You all but shout, pointing frantically at an upcoming building. “This is the hidden gem of Aomori. Best restaurant ever.”

Taehyung follows your line of sight, eyes landing on a dingy restaurant. it’s small, one of those that you’ll miss if you blink. He smiles softly, glancing back over at you with a curious expression. Leaning forward in his seat, he taps the cabbie on the shoulder. 

“Pull over please. We’ll be stopping here.”

You try to protest, frowning at him. “But we’re not there yet, and it’s too far to walk-”

“We’ll take another cab,” Taehyung reassures you. “C’mon. Dinner’s waiting.”

~~~~

And that’s how you ended up here, seated across from Kim Taehyung in a restaurant that you’d never realized was so run-down until you were bringing a global star through its doors. 

He doesn’t seem to mind, though. No, Taehyung is grinning as he orders his food, looking over at you every so often. You do your best to not notice, with no success. 

“I’ll have the yakitori as well, please,” you manage to choke out. Hopefully the warmth inside the restaurant is a good enough excuse to cover up the redness in your cheeks. 

Taehyung sips on his drink, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Here, let me Venmo you.”

“Oh,” you start, shrinking back in your seat. “It’s fine, really. This was kind of my idea-”

“No, it wasn’t,” Taehyung clarifies. “And now I’m treating you to dinner. So, Venmo. Now, please.”

Looking at the way his hair falls into his eyes and those eyes appear so solemn yet boyish at the same time, you wonder if anyone has ever been able to say no to him. 

You certainly can’t.

Taehyung begins asking you simple questions, and you fire them right back at him while you wait for your food. 

“Why are you in Japan?” You ask, taking a long sip of your drink. Taehyung sits back in his seat, looking around the restaurant. 

“I’m visiting with friends. On a vacation of sorts.”

“Of sorts?” You arch an eyebrow. Taehyung smiles softly, eyes alight with some sort of inner glow. 

“How do you know your way around so well?” He asks, completely ignoring your latest question. You decide not to push it. 

“I’ve lived here for a while,” you shrug, watching as a waiter appears with your chicken skewers. Your mouth waters at the mere sight of them, and Taehyung chuckles while watching how your expression changes. “Cheers,” you croon, immediately diving in. 

Taehyung follows suit, groaning as the chicken makes his tastebuds dance. “This is amazing.”

You grin, waving the skewer in the air before chomping down. “Told you so.”

You’ve made it through nearly two skewers before you realize that the two of you have been eating in complete silence. Glancing up, you see that Taehyung must be thinking the same thing as he looks over at you with a sheepish smile. 

Covering your mouth, you cackle and relish in the way Taehyung laughs right along with you. He’s read your mind, setting down his skewer and quickly answering a text before returning his attention to you. 

“Are those your friends wondering where you are?” You ask, heart dropping a bit. Taehyung nods. 

“Yeah. I told them that I’ll be back a little later.” He grabs another skewer. “Should we head out?”

You finish off your chicken, trying your best not to look a little crestfallen as you agree. Taehyung smiles warmly, thanking the waiter profusely as the two of you head out. 

This time Taehyung waves down the taxi, repeating the address you told him earlier. “That’s the right place, right?” 

“Yeah, you’ve got it.” You take a step back. “Thanks for the food.”

He looks back at you, the cab drawing nearer. “Thanks...for everything today.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I actually had a lot of fun.”

You grin. “Me too.”

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he chews on his bottom lip for a moment before extending it out to you. “Could I maybe have your number?”

Now you’re unable to stop grinning, and you quickly type your number in, triple checking that it’s correct before handing his phone back to him. “There you go. Now, you should probably get going. Cab’s waiting.” You begin to walk away, not wanting to look like some lost puppy as he leaves. 

Taehyung nods, that dazed look back in his eyes as he hesitates. “Actually...” You whirl around a bit too quickly to be casual, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Could we maybe take a photo together?”

You smile, recalling a bit of your conversation from earlier. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people that takes low-quality photos of the sunset.”

Taehyung’s face lights up, a laugh rumbling through his chest. He meanders over to you, smiling down at you. “What? I want to remember this.” His eyes convey the message that his lips fail to speak. I want to remember you.

So you smile for the picture, and ask him to send it to you. As you wave goodbye as the car takes off down the street, you jump a little when your phone pings twice in a row. 

The first is a message, the photo Taehyung just took. 

The second is a Venmo notification sporting a ridiculous amount of money with the caption, Cab $ - let me know when you make it home.

~~~~

It’s only three days later that you find yourself sitting near the back of a large room, fans everywhere chatting or singing along to whatever song is currently playing. You smile down at your phone, Taehyung’s contact coming up as he sends off a text. 

Tae: I’ll call you in a couple of hours, heading into a meeting. 😊

You snort. He has no idea that you’re here, does he?

The past few days have been a dream, living in nearly constant contact with Taehyung while he enjoys his time here in Japan. However, you never quite found the right time to tell him that you actually know who he is. Let alone the fact that you were going to be in attendance at the fan meeting today.

A couple of moments later the boys appear at the front of the room, and the event begins. 

Your heart pounds as you line up to meet the boys, clutching the item in your hands that you brought for Tae. Most of the boys don’t recognize you, which you expected. Only Jimin gives you a double take, but he shrugs it off a moment later. 

He must have seen the photo Taehyung took with you.

Tae hardly looks up from where he’s focused on each fan, making you smile. The sound of your heart pounding fills your ears as you step forward until you’re in front of him. He’s looking at the fan that just left, who’s still speaking to him. 

You slide your photobook across the table to him, and he immediately begins to sign it. 

“Have you been having fun so far?” He asks, still not quite looking up at you. You grin.

“I have,” you say. Then, sliding the same map you bought from the convenience store toward him, you say, “I got you this. You know, just in case you decide to get lost again.”

Taehyung frowns but looks at the map. His mouth falls open before looking up at you, that beautiful smile taking over his features. He has to physically restrain himself from leaping up, but settles for grabbing your hand in his. 

“Hey,” he breathes out.

You smile, and wonder for a moment if you’ve stopped smiling in the past three days since you met Taehyung. “Hey. So, do you like your gift?”

His eyes never leave your face as he grips your hand a bit tighter. “It’s great, but I don’t think I’ll need it.”

“Oh?”

“Not when I have you as my personal guide.”

masterlist

[onebizarrekai]

v3′s art is comically terrible for a professionally distributed game in a series: a compilation

in this not-essay I will list all of the mistakes and problems I have spotted in v3′s art. don’t worry, it’s entirely for fun and I’m doing this on a whim, so please feel free to not take this seriously but also it’s hilarious and embarrassing how ridiculous this is like what happened did they speedrun the whole production or what

see, there are some things you can take as meta like “they made it bad on purpose to allude to the downfall of tv shows that have been on air for much too long” but I have a very strong feeling this is not the case due to the nature of some of these errors

disclaimer, the more I study this art, the more I fear that the artists were underpaid and underslept, so if this is in fact the case, I am so sorry to all of them but also I’m going to make fun of the art anyway

anyway let’s get started!

if you study this image for longer than 5 seconds, you will see that kaede is the only one fully shaded and keebo is literally just his normal sprite pasted into the image. every other character is just an ordinary ref, hence most of them facing the exact same direction with neutral expressions on their faces. it looks like a bad edit, and is probably one of the worst pieces of art in the game. it kind of gets better from here on, but my roasting will not.

with that out of the way, here’s the problem that officially bothers me the most and clarifies my viewpoint of “this is not meta and an actual lack of company communication”

this freaking cg, which seems normal at a glance, but some wiseass was like “oh, kaede is a girl, so obviously she’s going to be shorter than the Male Protagonist™” ah, that’s funny. because if you look at the character bios, kaede is, in fact, one inch taller than shuichi and not like 6 inches shorter as she is shown here.

also shuichi’s shoulder is disproportionate and horrendous and he looks vaguely like a jojo character, but I wasn’t even thinking about that until right now.

thanks guys, 50% of the fandom who has never bothered to check these bios thinks that kaede is like 5′3 (did the developers really put so little thought into her to the point where drawing her correctly in the game didn’t even matter??)

also I would like to point out that, even though this isn’t related to the art itself, yes, a character kaede’s size being only 117 lbs is unfeasible, but this applies to literally every character in danganronpa ever and it’s not new news that it’s unrealistic

update: someone in the tags informed me that in versions of the game that use centimeters, like the japanese version, kaede is actually shorter than shuichi, which just adds another thing to the list of weird decisions the localization team made for no reason. that said, after confirming this, kaede is 167 cm in the original, while shuichi is 171 cm, which are approximately 5′6 and 5′7 respectively, but one inch is still nowhere near as drastic as it is depicted above. (in spite of this, I would rather depict kaede as slightly taller, so I’m probably going to keep doing that.)

the journey continues!

bro if you want kaede to have shoulder length hair then stick to it to begin with

you can pretend this is at an angle all you want but they definitely committed the shorter kaede sin a second time

wait a goddamn second.

DO YOU SEE THIS

no………… it wasn’t kaede who shrank. it was shuichi who got taller

speaking of which, can we talk about how shady the perspective is in this elevator pic? look at shuichi and kokichi in comparison to kaede. kokichi, who is canonically 7 inches (edit: or 5, if you’re loyal to the original) shorter than kaede, looks taller than kaede. he’s growing too. what steroids are these gays taking

running into the room, electric boogaloo: I don’t think tsumugi is supposed to be the same height as kokichi

gonta… gonta you’re lookin a bit like a jojo character there

I love how kaito’s head looks kind of like it was pasted onto his body. why is he the same size as shuichi? shouldn’t he be high school bully size or something? his torso is teensy

ah yes, white angie.

I love this cg but why is shuichi’s right hand so much bigger than his left hand

I also love how this cg looks like they literally took pictures of trees and pasted them into the background, especially on the left. the shadows are so weird, especially closer to the ceiling, it’s difficult for me to believe they didn’t do exactly that.

return of Enlarged shuichi

puberty update: kokichi is now taller than shuichi in spite of shuichi never missing leg day. what crimes will he commit

I have to mention it, guys. this has to be one of the worst danganronpa cgs. kokichi’s facial proportions look atrocious. look at the way his face sticks out like his jaw is in the wrong place. his scarf is a pasted texture. that’s it. this moment was so iconic but the cg just looks so… so… off. like something is terribly wrong, but you can’t put your finger on it.

you know what? let’s get into that ‘pasted texture’ thing.

let’s imagine you’re an artist working on a professional game. you’re assigned to draw cgs of kokichi ouma, who has a checkered scarf from hell. sure, it will be terrible to draw, but you only have to draw it once at a time! plus, perspective is pretty important, right? can you be bothered? nah, actually. let’s just copy paste a checkered pattern into the cg, because I’m sure nobody will notice. it’ll blend right in with the other cgs that someone actually put effort into drawing his scarf in, right?

no. the answer is no and I very much noticed. this genuinely looks terrible and I would understand taking a shortcut like that in fanart or even an indie game but this is a full price pc and console distributed game

(an addition: look at kokichi’s TINY HANDS in that last one)

meanwhile, they straight up forgot to color in kokichi’s scarf in this cg.

dude. I forgot about whatever the hell this cg was. anyway look at keebo please just look at him

lovin kaito’s baby arms

real talk, maybe you could argue that he’s missing muscle because he’s deathly sick, but most of his cgs don’t line up with this, and his arms just look disproportionate to his torso size (granted this is a consistent problem across all danganronpa games and a lot of characters have this weird problem, like hajime, but also kaito is bigger than hajime so I kind of have higher expectations of him) maybe it’s his stupid goatee and the way he reminds me of yasuhiro?? it creates this illusion that he’s older than he is and so I keep expecting him to look more like an adult

oh, also rantaro is missing some of his accessories in that video he made–you know the one–but I don’t wanna go back and screenshot it

also you may have noticed that I’m skipping all of the monokub cgs because I literally do not care about them and I’m not even bothering to check and see if they have artistic mistakes in them

JIMMY NEUTRON???

hey um uh kaito you seem to be missing your neck

hey guys do you like my pregame fanart

so, that done, the sprites are also pretty terrible at times. they’re not as interesting to go through, however, and downloading the full sprite sets for every character and studying every single one of them will drive me insane, so I’ll just sum some of the ones I noticed up. I made things for kaede and shuichi before deciding I wasn’t going to get into it, so here are these.

that said, other mistakes include kokichi missing his purple highlights in all of the sprites encompassing a specific pose, stray pixels all over the place on everyone, and everyone also has heavily inconsistent shading, but literally all I think about is how pregame shuichi is unshaded and two of kaede’s pregame sprites have glaring outfit change mistakes in them

anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my ridiculous ramble. in all seriousness, there’s this looming presence of some lack of communication in the development team, like with all the art and design inconsistencies, pieces and sprites that look rushed, stray pixels, and missing basic proportional stuff. these are the kinds of things that you supposedly have to pretty much have in the bag in order to get jobs in professional businesses, so it’s really weird to me that this game suffers from so many of these problems. it’s like they tried to make the art so much more crisp than the other games, but it fell on its face as they realized it was going to take longer to draw everything and they started to rush. it’s weird, because the coloring itself looks normal–it’s just sloppily drawn, and the proportions are a mess once put into the context of perspective. many of the cgs look like they were drawn by different people, and I’m still not over the fact that half of kokichi’s cgs have his scarf pasted in as a texture.

the moral of the story is that if you’re selling a game at full price that also happens to be in a series that has had 3 very good games in it already the stakes should probably be higher than this. v3 has been out for more than 3 years and it’s still $40 (did it cost more than that before? I sure hope not), and the overarching quality of the game is just not as high as the other games. I’m not saying that the other games don’t have any problems with their art at all, they’re just not as glaringly obvious and every artistic choice in those games feels intentional.

regardless, I had a blast roasting the art at 2am, so maybe you got a kick out of all this chaos.

[anxiousstark]

S4 01 | The Dark Moon

BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE | KO-FI

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count: 3956

Warnings: Mentions of  injuries, blood, poison, death, seizures, dead bodies, swearing (always), etc.

A/N: Wow. This is the 4th Season already?! I noticed while writing this entire chapter this morning that we were starting season 4. This is crazy. Enjoy and I didn’t have time to proofread!

↪ PLEASE RESPECT MY WORK. DON’T COPY, TRANSLATE OR CLAIM THEM AS YOURS. NOT ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANOTHER. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

I glanced around, sighing, not knowing what to expect and seeing a different scenario from the one that I was used to seeing every day. There was a lot of people in the street, wandering through street markets, trying to get the best deal.

"This doesn't seem so bad." My boyfriend rubbed his hands together.

"It's not the town, it's the plan."  Lydia rolled her eyes as I chuckled. "Stiles. This could be the stupidest plan we've ever come up with. You're aware of that, right?"

"I'm aware it's not our best." His voice lowered.

"We are going to die." The three of us started walking.

"Are you saying that as a Banshee or you're just being pessimistic?"

"I'm saying it as a person who doesn't wanna die."

"Okay." Stiles's tiny gesture made my chest pound like crazy. He had grabbed my hand, scared I would get lost as there were many people. "Would you just mind restricting any talk of death to actual Banshee predictions?"

"This plan is stupid and we're going to die," Lydia said in a cheerful tone, attempting to make the hazel-eyed boy happy.

"Oh, thank you." He smirked.

It was night when we arrived at a building. The door was being watched by two men. They both smiled at us, especially eyeing Lydia and me, which made us feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"Estamos aquí para la fiesta." I murmured to them, letting them know that we were there for the party taking place inside the building.

One of them smirked, shaking their head as if to let us know that we weren't invited to go inside. I shifted my gaze to Stiles, who was searching for something inside one of the pockets of his trousers. As soon as he found what he wanted, he lifted it. A black card. And even though it seemed like just an item without much meaning, one of the men standing in front of us stopped smiling.

Stiles noticed that there was a camera just above them, lifting the card so whoever was behind it could see the object. Automatically, the door opened and the men had nothing more to do than let us go inside.

When the door closed behind us, we sighed, worried about what we could find. There was a small corridor, walls were of an intense red that was making my headache. And it seemed like the door in front of us and the walls embracing us shook.

As Stiles opened the door, we were hit with loud music, colourful lights and the smell of alcohol and sweat. Bodies ground against each other, following the compass of the music.

Stiles clutched my hand harder as his other hand rested on Lydia's arm. He didn't want us to get lost in the crowd. We ended up in front of the bar, where three drinks were placed in front of us even though we haven't ordered anything. I furrowed my eyebrows as Stiles sought money inside his pocket.

I felt a hand gripping my shoulder, and jerking around I was met with a man. "No. On the house." He offered us an insincere smile. "Most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."

"We didn't come to drink." Lydia clarified, dropping what seemed like a bullet with a skull on it inside the drink.

Of course, we were taken out of the party, to the insides of the building where everything was dark and where now, a woman stood before us. "Severo hates this music. Me? I've always loved the music of youth." We were sitting in front of her, while there were men all around the room, keeping an eye on us. "This kind, especially. It has a savage energy."

"We're here for Derek Hale." I was the first one to speak aloud.

"Is that so?"

"We know you have him. We've heard you can be bought." Lydia was the one continuing while Stiles placed money on top of the table with a loud thump.

"It's 50,000 for Derek."

"Now, where does a teenage boy get money like this? Japanese mafia?" A woman behind us loaded her gun, making Lydia and I jump in our seats as a man did the same next to Stiles. "Not smart to come alone."

"What makes you think we came alone?" The boy next to me smirked, and I couldn't help but take the grin out of my face. Malia, Kira and Scott had come with us.

"You brought a wolf into my home?" She got up from her chair.

It was my turn to smirk. "No, of course not. How could we do that?" She seemed to relax, but only for a couple of seconds due to my following words. "We brought an Alpha."

"My friends..." She sighed as she turned around. "I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you know what the dark moon is?"

"The part of the lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky," Lydia said in a robotic tone.

"But do you know its meaning?"

"Some people say it's a time of reflection. Or grief." I intervened.

She glanced at me. "Grief and loss, mija. I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."

"'Cause, we don't like to lose."

One of the men next to Araya stopped us from continuing talking as he started speaking to someone on the other line of the walkie talkie. I couldn't help but have a tiny smile on my face when I heard the voice of my brother through it. "Stiles. Take 10 off the table."

As the button-nose boy did what my brother had asked for, I decided to speak up. "Maybe you should just take the deal." Lydia nodded her head, smiling at the woman in a sickeningly way.

"While I'm keen to follow the warning of a Banshee," She glanced at me. "And of course, the one of a Siren. I'm going to have to decline."  

"Aaaa... Come on. Just give us Derek. You don't want him anyway. Haven't you noticed what a downer he is? No sense of humour, poor conversationalist." I tried to maintain a serious expression as Stiles's continued speaking. "Just come on, take the money."

Araya grabbed the walkie talkie once again. "Severo? Show them how the Calaveras negotiate." When Araya left the room, the three of us were manhandled by the men. And I wasn't a Banshee, but even I could feel that Scott, Kira and Malia were in great danger right now.

Thinking back, we ended up here because Scott had gone to Derek's lot, just to find that he wasn't there. He had found bullets, and sending a picture to Deaton, he had learnt that it was the mark of a family of hunters based out of Mexico. The Calaveras.

Lydia said that he wasn't sure he was dead, but she also wasn't sure if he was alive, which was perturbing.

"He is awake!" Kira informed us as Stiles and I got closer to my brother, who was lying down on the floor of a dirty and abandoned bathroom, where we have been taken. "Guys, he's awake."

"Scott, you okay?"

"Yeah." He tried to get up. "They don't have him. They don't have Derek."

"We know." I sighed, offering him a smile that he sent back, trying to let me know that he was alright. "But right now, they've got Lydia."

"Lydia? What do they want with Lydia?" He asked rapidly.

"We always have the same question and it is always answered the same way," I spoke as everyone glanced at me. "The power of a Banshee."

My brother rapidly got up from the floor, trying to open the door with his bare hands, which wasn't working.

"We already looked for a way out. I think a lot of people have." I furrowed my eyebrows as Kira talked, not sure of what she meant until I saw the marks on the walls. Marks of people who desperately tried to escape, scratching the walls with all of their strength.

Malia was leaning against a column. "I say when that door opens again, we take out whoever's standing in the way and run for it."

"What about Lydia?" Kira asked, and I sighed, knowing Malia's next words.

"What about her?"

"We're not leaving without her."

"Why not?"

Stiles shook his head, getting closer to her. "Because we don't leave without people. Remember, we talked about this? Rules of the wild kingdom don't apply to friends."

"Is that what you would do as a coyote, leave her for dead?"

"If she was weak and injured, yeah. If hunting had been bad that season, I would eat her. Then I'd leave."

"Mmm. Believe it or not, that's progress." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Stiles and I've been trying to explain everything to her."

"All right, guys, we're not dead yet." My brother interrupted. "And that means Araya wants something."

Kira glanced at the dark-haired boy standing by her side. "But if the Calaveras don't know where Derek is, that means they didn't take him from the loft. Right?"

"Maybe he left on his own." Stiles completed.

Scott glanced at the floor. "Maybe someone else got to him."

We couldn't continue with our theories as the door abruptly opened, showing three men that quickly walked to us. However, we were soon met with darkness.

When I opened my eyes, my head was aching and everything around me seemed to move in circles. My throat was dry as if I haven't drink anything in days. I gradually noticed that I was tied to a chair and that my brother was tied to another one, right next to me.

The door of the room where we were now opened, showing Araya with another man and Lydia. "Oh, God," Lydia murmured as she saw us.

"Let her go. Look... you've got me. Just let the others go." My brother begged as Araya smirked. Her gaze moved to me. My brother followed her gaze, and it seemed like he had noticed from the first time that they had taken me too. "Why did you bring her?"

Lydia was chained to another chair as Kira came inside the room, also chained while a man grabbed her. What was going on? "So, let me explain what's about to happen." The man grabbing Kira spoke. "This one, the fox, has an immunity to electricity. So she's going to turn the dial on the Alpha. If she doesn't, I turn the dial on the Banshee and the Siren."

"No. I'm not doing this." Kira tried to resist.

"I see. Are you sure? One of your friends has the power to heal. The other? Not so much." Severo smirked. "And the other one might end up dying." Who?

"What are you doing?" Scott glanced at the old woman. "Is this a game to you?"

"This is a test, lobito. Let's see if you pass. We're going to ask some questions. You answer them, nobody gets hurt." She walked around us, but I had to close my eyes and lean my head down as everything continued moving around me. "You don't answer, we turn on the dial."

When I looked up again, my brother was looking at the fox girl. "Do what they say. Okay. Whatever they want. I can take it."

"So... We don't know where Derek is. We want to find him as well. You know who took him."

"What?" My brother asked her. "How would I know that?"

"That doesn't sound like an answer to me."

"We don't know." Lydia intervened. "Why do you think we came here?"

"Kira, turn the dial." The woman ordered, but Kira shook her head. "Should we turn the dial on Lydia instead?"

My brother quickly spoke up. "No, no! Do it, Kira. Do it."

"Let's start at one." As soon as she said that, my brother grunted, his hands gripping the chair he was sitting on, trying not to scream in pain. "Tell me! Who actually has Derek? Who had a reason, a vendetta particular to the Hales?"

My brother continued panting. "I said I don't know."

"Oh, you don't know because you haven't figured it out yet. So think! Who could've taken him?" They turned the pain even stronger. "Who had the power? The power of a shapeshifter?"

"I-I don't know."

"Oh! Someone who could have turned without you knowing. Turned, but not by a bite!"

"I don't know!" He screamed.

"Y-you.." My voice was a mere whisper, but swallowing I was able to scream. "You are going to kill him!" There were tears in my eyes. "You are going to kill him! Stop!"

Araya laughed, shaking her head. "No, mi amor." She smirked. "You will die first." I furrowed my eyebrows, feeling the temperature in the room dropping. I was cold. "Something told me lobito right here was going to be hard to peel." Her gaze shifted to my brother. "Your beautiful sister has poison running through her blood." My brother quickly glanced at me. "The longer it stays in her system, the more difficult to take it out. She can end up having seizures." I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds, feeling dizzier than before. "Say the name, Scott."

"Kate." What? Kate Argent?

"Okay," I heard Araya's voice. "Stop the machine." Severo did as he was told as another two men walked to Scott and Lydia, freeing them. My brother quickly walked to me, extending his hands to touch me. However, my body started shaking and I couldn't make it stop. "Severo bring the shot."

The door of the room opened again, this time two men were grabbing Stiles and Malia. Stiles's eyes widened as he saw me shaking while being tied to a chair. Before he could step forward, the man grabbing him stopped his movements.

"Don't dare any of you to touch her now." Araya's strong voice resonated through the room. Severo walked to me, stabbing the side of my neck with the syringe. I could feel the liquid running down my blood. Severo unleashed me, lying me down on the freezing ground as my body continued shaking.

"W-What did you do to her?? You old troll." I wanted to smirk at Stiles's use of vocabulary, but I was too busy being scared of the constant shaking of my body.

"She will be alright," Araya replied. "She has more water in her body than a human. The liquid we injected plus the water will do a quick job in removing the poison."

"N-nice." I tried to sound sarcastic.

"Fever might be a side effect of the poison, but you will be alright."

I watched as my brother talked to Araya while I was leaning against Roscoe with the others. Stiles was constantly asking me if I was alright. I felt a little weak, but my temperature was back to normal.

Scott finally walked to us. "So what now?" My boyfriend asked.

He shrugged. "She thinks she knows where we can find Derek."

"She gonna tell us where?" Malia asked while she leaned her head against my shoulder. My hand went up to play with her hair.

"Uh, actually, she's giving us a guide."

Stiles's face transformed into confusion, but it went away as soon as a big motorbike stopped in front of us. "You know her?" Stiles asked my brother.

As soon as the person took their helmet off, we saw a beautiful black woman whose neck seemed to be scarred. "Braeden."

"Who's Braeden?"

"She's a mercenary," Lydia added.

"Right now, I'm the only one who's gonna take you to la iglesia."

"The Church?" I questioned. "What's The Church?"

"It's not a place you'll find God," I smirked, liking her way of talking.

Getting inside the jeep, we followed her as she took us to la iglesia.

There was a comfortable silence inside Roscoe. The three girls were sitting behind as I sat on the front between my boyfriend and my brother. "Okay, I'll ask." Malia was the one interrupting the silence. "Who's Kate Argent?"

Kira put her hand up. "Uh, I'd like to know, too."

"Well, we were at her funeral. So, I'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground." I chuckled, nodding my head that was resting on Stiles's shoulder as he drove.

"She was never in it." I glanced at my brother.

"She was Allison's aunt," Lydia spoke, and I could feel the pain in her voice. The pain of someone who recently lost her best friend. WAnd a total sociopath."

"You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to." Kira whispered while glancing at the back of my brother's head.

"Um, yes, he does." I was going to scold Malia as if she was a curious child that didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.

"Yeah, she's right. You guys should know. You need to know."

"All right." Stiles sighed. "Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family."

"Some of them survived, like Cora, and Peter." Scott added.

"A very angry Peter," Lydia appended.

"Yeah, he's the one who bit and turned me." My brother sighed.

"And the one who scratched me." I added.

"And the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her." Lydia explained.

"And we saw her buried." Stiles and I replied at the same time. He took his eyes off the road for two seconds to place a kiss on my forehead and ask once again, if I was feeling alright.

"No." Scott shook his head. "We saw a casket, remember? She wasn't in it. The Calaveras heard that Kate had been killed by an Alpha's claws. They wanted to make sure she was really dead. Her body was healing. More and more, as she got closer to a full moon. She was coming back. So they switched out the bodies. If a hunter is bit, they have to take their own life before they change. The Calaveras, they treat the code like law. They make it their responsibility to enforce it."

"Good for her." The were coyote intervened. "I wouldn't do it either."

"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out? Because that's what she did."

Kira sighed, placing her hand on my brother's shoulder. "So Kate's a werewolf now?"

"I don't know. You know, there's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are." I nodded along with my brother's words, remembering Jackson Whittemore. What was of him now?

"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" As soon as the Martin girl spoke, the car was hit by something, making Stiles stop driving as we all got startled. We all got out of the car as Braeden got off her bike to ask what had happened.

"I don't know. It felt like we hit something." Stiles and Scott were examining Roscoe.

"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise."

My brother sighed. "Go." Stiles made a gesture with his hands, trying to let him know that it was okay for him to leave with Braeden.

"Not without you."

"Dude, someone needs to find Derek. We'll figure something out. We always do. Just go."

I walked to my brother, kissing his cheek and embracing him. "Be careful, okay?" He nodded his head, wishing the same for me and sharing a look with Stiles. A look pleading him to take care of me.

Before he walked to the bike, he was stopped by the fox girl. "Scott... I can't think of anything else to say except for be careful. And...and I know 'Be careful' sounds kind of lame and I'm totally sure the second you're gone I'm gonna think of something much better, but I..."

"Uh, 'Be careful' works for me." I smiled as they embraced each other.

I sighed. "They are so cute," I whispered while wandering close to Stiles as his hands rubbed Roscoe's side, making sure that there wasn't any scratch.

"We are cuter." He replied while biting his lower lip and inspecting his jeep. I laughed and nodded my head and watching my brother disappear with Braeden.

"Guys," Malia grunted. Therefore, I turned around to look at her. "I don't think we hit something. I think something hit us." She was holding up what seemed like giant teeth or claw. I couldn't differentiate them, to be honest.

I sighed, leaning against the jeep as I examined my boyfriend inspecting the hood of his car. A screwdriver in his mouth. "Stiles, baby. Don't hate me. I know you love Roscoe but maybe we should just walk." He glanced at me with wide eyes. "It's getting colder and darker." I made a gesture to the girls as they rubbed their arms.

"Hey, I will never abandon this jeep. You understand me? Ever. Ever. Ever."

Malia glanced around. "Work faster, Stiles." She paused as her eyes continued examining the whereabouts. "There's something out here with us." I gulped.

However, night had fallen upon us and Roscoe wasn't working. Malia continued in front of us, glancing around, prepared to attack whatever was observing us. Kira had grabbed her sword while Lydia and I tried to help my stressed boyfriend. "Lydia, could you please hold the light still for a second? It's really hard to see anything if you keep shaking it like that."

Lydia scoffed. "I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And I'm terrified."

"Well, just be slightly less terrified." He answered back. "You hold this." He handed me a big metal piece.

"What's this?" I inspected it.

"I don't know. I'm hoping it's not important."

"Oh god." I sighed. Things got worse as the next thing that happened was Malia running towards somewhere or something. "Malia!" I yelled. Kira ran after her while Lydia told Stiles to continue fixing the jeep.

"You... you please don't do that ever again!" Stiles scolded Malia as he drove. The jeep was finally fixed or so we were hoping.

"Do what?" She innocently asked.

"I... I thought you just took off. I thought you were running."

"I was running."

"No, I mean, like, I thought you were leaving."

Malia pouted, looking between Stiles and me. "I wouldn't leave without you guys." We glanced at her. "I would never leave without you two. Them I would leave."

"Yeah. Uh, it's progress." Stiles sighed. "I feel like the dad of a teenager girl." I nodded my head. Stiles and I had taken the paper of teaching Malia what she shouldn't do. The actions she must separate between a human and a were coyote.

"Don't do it again, okay?" I begged. "You scared us." She apologized. "And that doesn't look good."

"It's okay."

"Are you sure?" Kira looked worried as the rest of us. "It looks deep."

"I can feel it healing." I sighed in relief.

"You didn't see anything?" The Martin girl asked.

"Barely. It had a strong scent, though."

"Like what?" I asked while offering her water from my bottle.

She smiled at me as if she was a little puppy, grabbing the plastic bottle. "Like death."

When we finally arrived at the place where Scott and Braeden where we noticed that they were grabbing a young boy. Malia asked if that was Derek, to which Stiles replied 'Sort of'. That young boy was Derek Hale.

Derek Hale was a teenager once again.

.

.

TAGLIST: @og-baby-ob14 - @savemypostcards - @cas-loves-pizza - @used-avocado - @mvrylee - @bilesxbilinskixlahey - @honeydoll-stark - @arieltheworldisamess - @softpeteparker - @kit-kat-katie99 - @thatsuperherosidekick - @bexbetterxthanxwords - @big-galaxy-chaos - @littlemiss-forgotten - @enchantedcruelsummer - @coldfreakeggsexpert - @merla123 - @sammypotato67 - @weirdowithnobeardo - @maggiesblogsblog - @itskindyl - @bobo-bush - @moongoddesskiana - @multifandxm353 - @irwxnhugsx - @xoprincessmel - @iclosetgeek - @andreagf956 - @niawoods - @anerroroccurrrrred - @perrytheplatypus11 - @trustfundparker - @nmriia - @steve-harringtonnn - @trustfundparker - @brithedemonspawn - @weirdowithnobeardo - @my-soul-is-the-moon - @azayamari - @poguestyle17 - @bibliophilewednesday - @10minutesofscreentime - @momentitodebruh - @drikawinchester - @perrytheplatypus11 - @my-soul-is-the-moon - @linkpk88 - @royalreadery - @sweetest-serpent01 - @teenwaywardasgardian - @sadcupofcoffee - @maliyamay - @seninjakitey - @tairisceana - @thegirlwhoimagined - @mackingjj  - @daphnen21 - @malfoystilinskii05 - @caitsymichelle13​ -

People in bold means it doesn’t let me tag them.

[placebogirl7]

Analysis of a character with wasted potential: why Jodie Starling isn't stupid as people say and Gosho's modus operandi

Yesterday night we had a live watch event on the Redstarling Discord server (if you want to join it, click on the following link https://discord.com/invite/7DAB329KGR ) and we watched episode 734 "Jodie's Memories and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Trap". While rewatching it I tought for the umpteenth time about the fact that a lot of people continue to say that after Gosho revealed that Jodie wasn't Vermouth, she has become usless and stupid. I can't deny that Gosho has half-ruined her, taking away all that cool and mysterious aura she had, but he did that with a lot of other characters. That's his modus operandi: he introduce a character has mysterious, he make him/her one of the suspects to be a new BO member or a bad person in general, and then he reveal that the person is actually one of the good guys. Once he did it, he transform the character into a lamb while before it was a wolf. This has been the sad destiny of many characters, included Jodie. Let's just think about Haibara: at the beginning her sixth sense towards MIB was infallible, she could sense a MIB at 1 kilometer of distance. But as the story goes on it seems her sixth sense isn't infallible as before and she doesn't always sense the MIB when they are next to her. In the cherry blossom case I mentioned above, there were both Amuro and Vermouth present and Haibara didn't sense none of them. They got close to her and the Detective Boys but she didn't sense anything. All this to say that not only Jodie has changed her personality and lost something cool she used to have.

Clarified this and returning to the topic "Jodie is usless and stupid", I guess the people who claim it don't remember (or don't want to remember because it's more convenient for them) that starting from the cherry blossom case until the Scarlet Arc she has been the only one who found out the tricks that Conan and Akai used in their plan. To be honest, she started already in the end of Clash of Red and Black. Let's see the moments in the details.

1) Clash of Red and Black

After one of th other FBI agents said that they announced on TV that a car exploded on Rahia Pass and a body was found burnt inside it, Jodie immediately said that it couldn't be sure and that he surely had used the body of another person to fool the Organization. She was right from the beginning and didn't even know that. She managed to think in the same was has Shuichi and Conan thought when they made the plan. This isn't being a stupid.

2) The Crisis Beckoned by the Red Omen / The Red Shaking Target

Jodie has the feeling that Conan is looking for the man resembling Shuichi with the scar and the black hat. You can tell from Conan's expression that he's very worried because she's getting more and more near the truth. This isn't being stupid.

3) Jodie's Memories and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Trap

And here's the part I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Jodie has a flashback in which she remembers all the people who have touched Conan's phone during the Clash of Red and Black case and she was so close to found out the trick of the glue on fingers that Akai used, but Conan stopped her because he understood she was near discovering the truth.

4) Scarlet Arc

Finally in the Scarlet Arc Jodie manages to reconstruct the plan Conan and Akai made (not to mention that she figures out the plan has been thought not by Akai but by Conan). And she does it ALL BY HERSELF. She also manages to understand people's face expression , like she did with Conan.

All this to say that calling her usless and stupid is a bit exaggerated, because she's the only one who managed to find out a plan made by the two biggest brains of the manga (if we exclude Yusaku). If that is being stupid, then I don't know how to define people like Yamamura (no offence if there are fans of Yamamura reading this post but...XD). And to all the people who after the last file with Akemi's flashback have said "Akemi as a kid was better than Jodie as an adult to make secret codes, no wonder why Akai chosed her"...Well, I want to remember you guys that the stratospheric code made by Akemi has been solved easily and quickly even by a simple firefighter without the help of Conan. It wasn't that complex if even an ordinary person managed to undestand it... Also, it is totally normal that a Japanese native person knows his/her native language better than a foreigner who learned it. I will always speak Italian better than a foreigner who studied Italian for years, it's totally normal, it's totally ok. That doesn't mean this foreigner is stupid if he/she makes mistakes while speaking Italian, it's something that can happen. The same applies for Jodie and hers wasn't even a "mistake", it was just that she wrote a thing like they teach you at elementary school because she has been taught Japanese by a elementary school teacher. What is strange is that Akai who is half Japanese and is supposed to be an invincible and perfect God didn't notice it, but no one cares about this, of course everyone has to blame Jodie because it's easier. Then I ask to all the Akemi supporters/Jodie haters if they have ever stopped for one moment to think about how much their beloved Akemi has been stupid to trust Gin. I mean Gin, the most evil character we know until now...how can you trust him even for one second when he tells you that he will let you go??? THIS is being stupid, trusting a man that you perfectly know you can't trust. Not crying for the loss of a person you love like Jodie did. Not making a "mistake" when you write in another language that isn't your native one like Jodie did. Not finding out a plan made by two amazing brains like Jodie did. So when you claim that Jodie is stupid or that Camel is stupid and should die because he's responsible for Akemi's death, please remember that Akemi herself is the one and only responsible for her death. She chose it and in a stupid way. No offence, it's a fact.

Jodie isn't stupid at all, actually she has lot of potential: it's Gosho who doesn't use it properly (and he does the same thing with many other characters unfortunately).

Thanks to everyone who has read all this long post, I really needed to do it.

[caandlelit]

Tokoyami takes full advantage of the darker parts of his quirk when he threatens you. You feel trapped in an eternal darkness, like the air was being stolen out of your lungs. He speaks simply, but full of venom. He's shrouded by this aura of calm vexation. He feels toxic to even be around and his apparent apathy makes it more scary. He feels no guilt when he's reached that point. He's one of the slowest to get angry, and when he does, there's no stopping him. You'd never been scared of the dark until that day.

Momo says how she can buy everything you own. How she could take everything that gives you happiness until you're a shell of what you once were. How she has connections, and could ruin your life with a simple phone call. She radiates pure, controlled rage and you want to get away as fast as possible. You feel as if you're going to die at any moment and from that day forward you'll always look over your shoulder, too scared to sleep.

Uraraka is right next to Shoto in scary, and beside Izuku in surprising. She threatens in smiles. Her usual cheery attitude and excitement don't fade as she happily tells you how she'll make your life a living hell. She laughs as she says how she'll make you watch everyone you care about die before you, knowing you could have avoided it. She doesn't raise her hand, but she leaves you trembling and wetting your pants. You'll have nightmares. Sounds like Toga? It's because they're girlfriends.

Shoto is incredibly blunt with his threats. He somehow corners you alone, and calmly tells you how he could kill you, make it look like an accident, get rid of the body, and get away with it. In excruciating detail. He'll leave you sacred for your life, and regretting the day you got on his bad side.

Tsu will stare into the depths or your soul, daring you to piss her off. Being incredibly blunt, she will, just to make sure you get the message, just walk up to you and threaten to slit your throat or something.

Izuku has, after the first year, gotten into the habit of outright threatening pro heroes. It's blackmail more times than not, he has the info to ruin them. It started with Endeavor, then slowly All Might, after he got sick of beings pushed too hard, and extended until all pro heroes that weren't Aizawa, Present Mic, or Fatgum were doing his bidding.

Tenya regularly subtly threatens to call Japanese CPS on Endeavor to knock him down some rankings on the hero list. Nothing he can be charged with, and nothing that anyone out of 1A can trace back to him, but threats to keep him in-line. Have to make him know his place every now and then.

Izuku and Shoto would be the heroes parents want their kids to look up to. Momo and Mina would be the heroes parents want their female kids to look up to, specifically.

You know how 1A all want to be like All Might (mostly)? When they find out what being a 'Symbol Of Peace' really entails, I don't think they'd want to be on anymore. So they'd become beacons of hope, with Izuku shining the brightest out of all of them.

I know they don't technically have to live together if they're all part of one big hero agency. But like. It would be so fun if they did. And with the local rich kids (Momo, Tenya and Shoto), God knows it's gonna be some big-ass mansion. And it'd be sort of a throwback of sorts to the dorms. And I feel as if they'd the be glad for that familiarity, with how much change is occurring. And also, Bakugo and Monoma under the same roof would be fucking hilarious.

I want to see Shoto deck a fellow UA student for saying the wrong thing. Like maybe they'd say "Bakugo acts like a such a villain, no wonder everyone is scared of him." And Shoto would just look around to see Ochaco holding Izuku back with identical looks of rage on their faces. He'd see Bakugo looking down at his feet, trying his best to look unbothered, but his frown is more sad than his usual one. He'd see the Bakusquad trying to convince him it's not true. He'd see Tsu with her fist clenched, and Tenya glaring daggers at the person, and just deck the guy. Incases his fist in ice, to make the blow harder. Kick him a few times too. And would look up at their shocked faces and shrug, "No one fucks with my family. And Bakugo? He's family. All of you are." Deku just starts bawling there and then.

There's no UA traitor, and they just forgot to remove Touya from the family group chat.

After Monoma realizes that no one stops Bakugo from coming after him when he says dumb shit, learns to control his mouth by their first year of working/living together. Interviewers would ask him, "How do you manage with number 2 (tied with Shoto) pro hero DynaMite trying to 'kill you the time?" And Monoma would just answer, with deep tiredness in his voice "Speed, self control, and not sleeping."

HC that Uraraka's quirk isn't zero gravity. It's gravity manipulation, so zero gravity is just a subsection of that. Her quirk exceeds the rules of zero gravity, and it's plausible that because she didn't have much money growing up, she wasn't able to get it properly tested, which should have been free, but we've established hero society is fucked up. This means, essentially, that she should be able to create a black hole. It'd take a lot of training, and a crap ton of effort, and she'd never do it, but she could.

The heroes should be glad 1A (Shinsou and Izuku especially) are good people. Because they could ruin them. They could take down hero society by themselves, and they all have been given reason too! They're just good people, and the heroes should appreciate that. Because the moment they stop being good people? It's all over.

HC that Aoyama is one of those kids that has known he was gay since birth, and never had to come out because people just knew.

Just realized something, feeling sad so you must too. Shigaraki could have been Touya's Izuku in another world. In a less fucked up universe, they could've been friends. Shigaraki- Tenko could have saved him.

Monoma is trying to start an enemies to lovers with all of 1A, Shinsou included. He obviously knows nothing about social interactions, maybe the poor boy is just trying to flirt the only way he knows how: being a prick.

In the Combined Hero Agency, fans and other heroes wonder how Mei keeps up. She's the only support hero, makes (though her interns help) and designs hero costumes AND support items for everyone in the agency, while also making them for her interns when asked, AND has time to participate in family game night every other week.

She really has no secret, just a love for what she does, hard work, dedication plus a lot of time and patience. That doesn't mean she doesn't endorse the rumors she has some secondary quirk or something, she actually enjoys fuelling the fire and watching it unfold. Fucking with the media is her favorite pastime.

At some point, Class 1A convinced Shinsou to make Endeavor to say "I'm a giant piece of shit" live on TV. And that was only after they swore up and down that he wouldn't be kicked out of the hero course, and promised to take the fall if anything goes wrong. The worst thing that happened was All Might trying to say what he did was wrong but he was told to fuck off.

The boys in class 1A like lending their jackets/sweaters/hoodies/jumpers to the girls. And the girls don't return them a lot, and only Mei, who feels bad if she keeps them, returns them, surprising the boys. You leave yours in the common room, don't expect it to be there in 30 minutes. And it didn't stop there. The boys also take each others' cover-ups (Shoto started this by asking to borrow Tokoyami's), and take the girls'. They find them comfortable and soft, and they nice-smelling. Basically everyone's wardrobes (private stuff is kept separately) is up for grabs by second year.

1A and (most of) 1B (+ Mei) are just like so, physical affectionate with each other. So much that even when they're pro heroes, the media isn't sure which relationships are which. Even when they clarify, they don't do anything to stop the rumors and even revel in it, fuelling them from time to time. Like, Ochaco would show up to an interview wearing Izuku's gloves, and the next she'll be in Tokoyami's sweater. Not to mention that her and Tsu are dating a (former) VILLAIN.

What if Momo like, buys a house. But not just a house. Like when they're still UA students, she buy a house for all her friends that don't want to go home over the holidays/weekends. It's (surprisingly) a lot of them.

Katsuki because he doesn't want to get yelled at after almost dying a crap ton. Denki because his parents will be mad about his grades, and he's trying, but it's so hard, and he can't focus. Ashido because she gets made fun of back home for her looks. Shoto because Enji. Tenya because he wants some time away from the pressure of his family to "live up to the Ingenium name", and don't get him wrong, he wants to be the new Ingenium, but he also when he just wants to be Tenya for a bit. Ochaco because she's tired, and wants a break. She loves her parents, but it's so much stress. Tsu because she'd rather be with her friends. Shinsou because he doesn't have a home. And much, much, more.

I think Dabi would've turned out more like Shoto if he had an Izuku. They were incredibly similar, in mentality and around the same backgrounds. The main difference is that Shoto has people to support him now, Dabi didn't. If Dabi had someone like Izuku to help him, help break down his walls, to make him feel validated, and seen (which, as I stan Shiggy and Izuku being siblings because AFO, could have been Tenko in a different world) he wouldn't be a villain.

Kids that are worried that they'd lose their friends when they become heroes would be So happy too. Like "I want to become a hero, but what if my friends and I lose touch? I don't wanna leave them behind, even if we're pros!" While they'd just be there like "we've been with each other since high school bro. they don't have to go nowhere lol"

HC that their fans would start to believe God is a woman, because Momo.

And like, they would be regular visitors at schools and orphanages. None of them ever got to be kids, and very few of them had good experiences with school, so they would want to inspire more kids. That they can become heroes, too. They'd definitely keep all the gifts they got, plus Momo and Izuku seem like the type to pin up every drawing they get from their kid fans in their offices, no matter how good/bad. It'd be good morale, and the kids of the next generation of heroes would have perfect role models to look up to.

It'd be cute if 1A didn't go on to start their own hero agencies. I mean, they'd have to figure something out with Tenya and Shoto, but I feel as if they would go on to make one, big hero agency instead. They have the perfect selection of quirks and personalities, from rescue heroes to support ones! With a bit of help from their friends, of course. (Yes, Mei is included. I love her too much not too)

Sero and Denki seem like the type to get (platonically) married, though Sero is aroace (personal HC) and Denki is dating Shinsou. No one even blinks an eye anymore, too used to their BS.

I HC that Shoto was previously very closed off with his siblings, even after he was allowed to spend time with them. I want to see, after spending time with 1A, him open up. Slight things at first, like offering to go for a run with Natsuo, or giving Fuyumi a kiss on the cheek, to going to amusement parks with Natsuo, and talking about his day and friends with Fuyumi. They not sure what caused this change at first. But then they meet Izuku, and the rest of the IzuCrew, and 1A, and suddenly it all makes sense, and God do they love these kids.

I want to see 1A actively antagonize Endeavor, but only when there's no one that would tell around. Like, anything they can get away with legally, and somethings they can't, but they make sure to not get caught. Natsuo loves it.

I have this HC that around the middle of the year, 1A just gave up on sleeping separately, or the "everyone sleep in your room" rule. After the horrific bullshit they'd been through together, they figured out that sleeping in the same room as each other helped the (inevitable) night terrors that came. And setting a time that everyone should be in their rooms was disastrous. So now it's common to see Shoto or Izuku in Tenya's room, or Mina and Kirishima in Bakugo's, or some nights they all just sleep in whoever has the most space at the time.

I want to see 1A when they're in 2A move into the dorms again. Like, Enji would go "Shoto I don't want you in the dorms this year." And Shoto, who's been waiting to go back since the dorms closed and has already packed all his shit goes ". . . You've gotta be shitting me, old man. I'm gonna go see my friends, who I value more than you. Fuck you." Then freeze him, grab his bags and run to the spot where the rest of the class agreed to meet, to get food then got to the dorms.

Shoto is constantly being used as the class portable heater, and has learnt to accept it, not without making the occasional "I went through years of abuse and trauma for this" comment though

Hatsume and Izuku should be friends. I feel like they'd understand each other. The others try, but they're the only ones who can keep up with how fast each other's brains go.

I want to see 1A visit Rei in the hospital. It started as Shoto introducing his friends to his mom, but they grew fond of her, and now visit her regularly to talk, and update her on what's going on with like Shoto, or school

Imagine if there was no UA traitor, and they just forgot to remove Touya from the family group chat.

Rei should be introduced to Izuku as "my best friend", Tenya as "the friend who stops me from doing bad things", and Kastuki as "my other best friend, though he denies it". Shoto with his lack of social skills would just go "Oh Bakugo? We're friends. He's like that with everyone."

Rei doesn't need to know about the murder, what she doesn't know can't hurt her. And whenever Shoto tries to mention it to her, Tenya just slaps his hand on his mouth to shut him up, or nudges him aggressively until he (after a long time) gets the message .

After a while, when Izuku is asked what hero he wants to be like, he responds All Might. Why wouldn't he? All Might is bold, courageous, strong, and always saves people with a smile. The perfect hero.

But in his mind, he only has one true answer. Eraserhead. Mr. Aizawa is the perfect hero, maybe not to the public, but to his problem children. He's always there for them, and hasn't failed them like a lot of heroes and the society at large has.

Aizawa-sensei is the epitome of everything they strive to be, and though they'll always give different answers: All Might, Hawks, Powerloader, Cementoss, Lunch Rush, there'll always be one true answer. Something only they know. Mr. Aizawa is the ideal hero.

Dark Shadow uses they/them or it/its pronouns. Just makes sense, considering Dark Shadow isn't human, and likely doesn't conform to the same rules of gender we do

Considering Shoto (canonically) trauma dumps to make best friends (Izuku and Katsuki), it's only a matter of time until he does the same for Tenya. Especially after the Stain arc. And I feel like it'd just SHATTER his world view of heroes and hero society. He sees it through even more rose-tinted glasses than Izuku, so the realization that someone wildly viewed as a hero could so such things and get away with it would be totally new to him. Especially because the only experience he had was with Tensei, who is the ideal hero.

Back on my 1A and 1B hero agency bullshit, all their interns love them. They're always so kind to their interns and treat them really well, despite how they normally are or treat their fellow heroes. They remember what it felt like during their own internships, being scared and on their toes. They don't want their interns to feel like that around them.

In their shared agency, Kota and Eri intern there of course, but so do a bunch of other hero students. Some from Gen Ed too, anyone they feel like have potential, application or not.

The Combined Hero Agency (I don't have a name yet) most definitely teach their interns quirkless self defense, for all the times their quirks have failed them or made things more difficult. Hand to hand and using a variety of weapons.

1A is used to Mei and Izuku (Sometimes Tenya tags along. Very rarely, Denki) meeting up to talk costumes and mad genius shit, with Izuku's quirk analysis and Mei's skill in building, 1A would have the best costumes.

these are all so extensive and thought out .......... i love this anon uve put work into these they're so excellent .......... i love 1a family dynamics :( godddd i love them theyre lovely i love this AHHHHH MAN

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

*bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz* Oh wow, look at the time! My alarm’s gone off, which means another Ranma Rewatch is ready to begin! This week we’re nearing the end of the first season of the show, with the fifteenth episode. Judging by the title, this one introduces Shampoo, a fairly major character throughout the series. I’ve mostly been neutral on her, but I am interested to see if this viewing makes me like her more or less. We’ll see next paragraph, after I’ve seen the episode.

So, uh, holy moly. I did not expect this episode to be this meaty for stuff to talk about. I’m not doing a Character Spotlight again this week (waiting for more Shampoo content before I give her one), but this should still be quite the post. So, let’s get started.

The episode starts with Akane and Ranma (in his cursed form) eating parfaits in a restaurant together. There’s a TV special in the place showing some reporters making contact with a village of amazon women, who live deep in China. Ranma’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve been there!’ but soon one of the walls to the building is destroyed by someone. That someone is one of the amazon’s from that very village, Shampoo, and Ranma knows who she is: she’s there to kill Ranma.

Doing what he does best, Ranma hides, and Akane wants to know what the deal was with her. He explains that a few months previous (the timeline feels weird to me there), Ranma and his dad were in China, still with the Jusenkyo guide. So, probably not far from the springs. Oh, and they were still cursed at the time. They came upon that village of amazons, right as they were having a tournament. Ranma and Genma ended up eating the grand prize, and when the winner, Shampoo, took issue with that, Ranma just fought her to make him the winner. That turns out to be a problem, because in doing so he triggered one of their most customs: whenever they’re beaten by an outsider, the guide explains, they give them a Kiss of Death, which is a promise to follow them wherever they go and kill them.

Which is exactly what Shampoo did. The entire time they were in China, Shampoo chased them, and now she’s finally found them in Japan. Back at the Tendo estate, Ranma has changed back to his original form, so when Shampoo shows up she’s quite confused. She never met Ranma while he looked like that before, and doesn’t know it’s him. But she does remember seeing Akane eating with her target, and when Akane refuses to tell her where Ranma is, Shampoo decides to add another person to her murder list. Ranma defends Akane, knocking out Shampoo in the process.

At that point, everyone is expecting her to give Ranma the Kiss of Death, again, but she doesn’t. I mean, she does kiss him, a lot, but it’s not a murder promise. No, she is clearly snuggling up with him hardcore, pissing off Akane something fierce. For a moment, it looks like she and Shampoo will fight, but Akane backs off, leaving Ranma to her. Everyone is now sure that Ranma must have been lying before, and she was some girlfriend he had in China, but he keeps disavowing it. Akane only shows back up to the situation to clarify that she doesn’t think of herself as ever having been Ranma’s fiance, then storming off.

With Akane’s dad pissed as hell and wanting to know what’s going on, Shampoo, who barely knows any Japanese, hands over a copy of her country’s rules. Soun tries to read it, but he doesn’t know any Chinese. Nabiki starts reading from it though, revealing that the Kiss of Death is only for outsiders who are also women. If an outsider man beats an Amazon in combat, she has to marry him. Ranma pushes back against this, hard, but Nabiki makes clear she doesn't know Chinese either, the rules have a Japanese translation that Soun completely missed.

Later, Akane is beating up a training dummy she dressed to look like Ranma. Clearly, she is not upset about this situation whatsoever. She tries to tell herself that, well, it wasn’t like they chose to be together, their dads made the engagement. But she flashes back to an episode that hasn’t aired yet, remembering how protective Ranma can sometimes be of her. Then, she hears Ranma trying to tell Shampoo that her village’s customs are outdated, that they can’t get married for that dumb of a reason. Akane’s sisters appear to further explain to Akane that Ranma wasn’t trying to cheat on her or anything, it was out of his hands. Sadly, she’s set off once more as Nabiki translates some of Shampoo’s Chinese phrases as ‘My beloved husband’ and ‘I love you’. It’s obvious she either doesn’t understand Ranma’s attempts to divert her, or she doesn’t care. Either way, the more she snuggles up to Ranma, the more he has a hard time talking her out of this, making Akane mad again.

That evening, Ranma’s on the roof considering the situation. Now that she isn’t trying to murder him, he realizes that Shampoo is actually pretty cute, and ‘nicer’ than Akane. Ryoga appears, throwing cold water on Ranma and explaining how much he hates to see Akane getting jealous because of all this. Ranma starts to say that it isn’t his problem is Akane feels that way, but she appears and denies it, saying he could do whatever he wants. But then Shampoo shows up, sees the red-headed Ranma, and tries to kill him.

From there, the last five minutes or so of the episode is a loop of events: Ranma, in his cursed form, tries to escape the violent Shampoo; Nabiki, realizing an opportunity, gives Ranma hot water but charges him ridiculous rates to use it; Shampoo switches to trying to cuddle Ranma, he runs away, and Ryoga uses cold water to turn him back. The episode ends back where that cycle started, for the third time, as Shampoo chases Ranma away, and Mr. Tendo looks at his damaged home, realizing how much this whole situation is going to cost him.

So, that’s the episode! Let’s get into more detail, though. Starting at the beginning, I find Ranma’s scene there really interesting. I don’t think it’s the first time the show has shown Ranma as eating something he usually wouldn’t while in his cursed form, but it is the first time that’s discussed with someone else, I believe. Ranma clarifies that as a guy, it would be embarrassing to eat a parfait, but it isn’t embarrassing to do when he’s a girl.

This is maybe the first time Ranma has actually called himself a girl while in his cursed form, and it leads me to a few different ways to look at the situation. It could be that Ranma’s normal embarrassment comes from how other people see him, in which case he’s just using how he looks different while cursed as a way to avoid that. It could also be that Ranma’s embarrassment is entirely internal, and he’s started to think of himself in his cursed form as actually being a girl, giving him a way to do feminine things without hurting his pride. This is kind of a complex topic, weaving together gender and gender expression, so all I think I can say for now is that I don’t think this is evidence towards Ranma not being a guy, but instead that Ranma is an opportunist who will find loopholes, even in rules he imposes on himself.

Also, this scene raised another question for me: were they on a date? Throughout this whole episode, Ranma and Akane had a really different vibe to me. Especially in the sub, the way they talked about them made it sound as though they were actually in a relationship now, on some level. That kind of threw me for a loop, because it kind of shatters how I saw the series.

The way I remembered it, Ranma and Akane were ‘officially’ engaged, but never considered themselves more than friends, at least to a level they were willing to admit to. It’s obvious they care a lot about each other, but I didn’t think it went further than that, at least thus far in the series. But their hangout at the cafe seriously felt like a date, and while Akane is angsting later on she’s talking about them being ‘together’.

What’s so weird about this is that, well, it kind of works for me. They’re still rocky with each other, thanks in no small part to Ryoga’s interference, but they’re definitely a lot closer than they were even back during Ryoga’s introductory arc. I will admit I could just be reading these scenes wrong, but it is so weird to think that, at least before this episode, they had made a step towards being closer.

Let’s move onto the new character: Shampoo. The first thing I found myself thinking about, during this episode, was how similar her introduction here is to Ryoga’s. They both show up out of nowhere, trying to kill Ranma, having just come from China. The big difference, however, is that Ranma’s reaction to Ryoga was mostly, ‘Who? Oh, yeah, that guy from school. Good to see you again!’, and even as Ryoga has become a bigger fixture in his life, Ranma is rarely more than annoyed with him, except when enraged with Ryoga using his curse to get closer to Akane.

In contrast, Shampoo showing up scares Ranma, a lot. Unlike Ryoga, who Ranma never knew was even chasing him, Shampoo has been constantly trying to kill him for months. What is odd about that is that Ranma is clearly far stronger than her, which makes me wonder why he keeps running, instead of trying to fight her again. Does he think it would make the situation worse? Is he worried about the collateral damage? Has he tried it, only for her to just keep coming for him?

I mentioned it before, but I am not a super huge Shampoo fan. I’m actually seeing more to her, at least a little, but that’s mostly because I’m liking her Japanese voice actress more than her English one. She sounds more fierce and less airheaded in the original language, I’m finding. In general, my issues with Shampoo can be summed up as: I don’t really like that her character doesn’t seem to have a lot of agency; I find the fact she’s written to be dumb kind of racist; and the fact she is far weaker than Ranma is a missed opportunity, and more than a little sexist. I’ll cover those gripes more, along with how they evolve through this rewatch, another day.

While we’re still in the Shampoo Realm, there was something interesting I noticed this time around: at first, after she shows up, Akane calls her cute several times. In general, she doesn’t seem to have any issues with her at all, even joking with Ranma about how her attractiveness must make her chasing him at least a little better. She doesn’t seem threatened by her at all.

Again, there are a few ways to read it. You could use it as evidence towards Bisexual Akane, which I don’t mind doing because us Bi’s need more representation, yo. In addition to that, tying back to what I said about it seeming like Ranma and Akane are actually dating here, it might actually be a sign that Akane was feeling so secure in her relationship with Ranma that she didn’t have an issue with Shampoo, aside from the trying to kill Ranma part. It was only once he beat her again, and the kissing started, that Akane got jealous.

Speaking of, let’s talk a little about jealousy. So, fun fact if you didn’t know, but I’ve actually been in a poly relationship before. Polyamory is actually pretty neato, and if you don’t know a lot about it I’d recommend doing research. One important thing about it is looking hard at jealousy and where it comes from. A lot of stories show jealousy as a necessary byproduct of caring about someone, which I’ve grown to really dislike. We kind of get that here, as Akane’s jealousy is treated as a joke about how much she actually likes Ranma, and less as a character flaw to work past.

Jealousy is a very toxic emotion. It’s root isn’t in love, but self-esteem. It’s the fear that, if your partner likes someone who isn’t you, that makes you a less valuable person, that you could lose your partner and with them an important part of who you are. But it’s important to not base your self-worth on how other people see you, and to not be possessive. Just because you’re in a relationship with someone, that doesn’t mean you can control them, you don’t own them. I feel like the series does touch on this a bit as well, as several characters, including Ranma, imply that Shampoo is more attractive than Akane. Ranma has taunted her from day one about her being a plain-looking girl, so it’s obvious why this amazon getting so touchy with Ranma sets off her alarm bells.

Smaller note, but I do think it’s neat how we get a lot of this idea that, when Akane is really upset, she needs to do martial arts. This obviously isn’t the first time we’ve seen this, but I do feel like this episode hammered home the idea that Akane likes to work through her issues by, well, working out. Honestly, that’s not a bad idea, and it fits her character. She sees her martial arts as a big part of who she really is, and by practicing it, she’s emphasizing her individuality and her identity, in a way.

Last of these smaller notes, but I really loved Nabiki’s attitude throughout this episode. In one conversation, she goes from trying to show Akane that Ranma was kind of forced into this situation, to then making sure she knows what Shampoo is saying to Ranma. It genuinely feels like Nabiki enjoys screwing with Akane sometimes, and that was entertaining.

If it isn’t clear, ‘entertaining’ actually describes a lot of this episode. I really enjoyed it! Shampoo’s introduction was good, sure, but that last five minutes was just pure hijinks, and it was genuinely fun to watch. The episode was also just full of great humor. One of my favorite jokes being Mr. Tendo trying to read the Amazon Law book, that whole part got me really laughing.

Before I move onto the ranking, I did also want to talk a little about watching order. Like I mentioned in the recap, there’s a point where Akane flashes back to something that happened in an arc we haven’t gotten to yet. What’s up with that? Well, I mentioned in a previous post how Hulu has a different order from what I’ve seen online as the original one. That’s because the order on Hulu is the chronological order, as well as the one in which the episodes were originally produced. What I’ve been following, and will continue to follow, is the broadcast order. Apparently, they purposefully aired episodes out of order sometimes. In this case, they moved another arc back into the middle of season two so they could get to Shampoo faster, because apparently she was a really popular character in the manga. So that’s neat. But like I said, I’ll be sticking with the broadcast order.

Like I made clear just a few paragraphs ago, I really enjoyed this episode. But exactly how much? I’m actually having a hard time placing it. It’s introduced a major character, as well as just being a very fun episode. I think I’ll give it third place for now, right behind the middle episode of Kodachi’s introduction, and the episode all about Akane’s bad haircut.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Will next episode be just as good? Find out with my next week, as I go into the next episode of this arc, “Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul” I genuinely don’t remember what that is, at all! See you then!

[meimi-haneoka]

Comments on Chapter 43 of Clear Card

What’s the most appropriate GIF for this chapter?

Let’s see...

Yes. Yes I think this is the most appropriate one!

Ohkawa last month must have drank something good, really good. Stay with me and you’ll find out why! Spoilers under the cut!

Momo’s backstory

The chapter starts with Momo’s backstory, told by Kaito while he’s taking her measures. We kinda anticipated who-knows-what kind of majestic true form for Momo, but actually, it seems pretty simple? She had longer and beautiful ears in the past, and....that’s about it ^__^” it’s so underwhelming that it makes me almost doubting this is her final form at all! XD

We find out that Momo was born together with the white book, and that book is capable of granting a special kind of time magic to those who make a contract with it...unfortunately, as we CLAMP fans well know, messing with time is NEVER a good idea (glaring furiously at TRC) and this book is no exception: whoever tried to use it before didn’t end up happily...and Momo, out of guilt and tiredness for seeing so many people ruin themselves, almost decided to shut everything down and not allowing the use of the book anymore. Until....a single asshole came into the picture and showed interest in using the book regardless of all the risks...We all know who I’m talking about, right? XD

It’s at that point that we go back to present time, and Momo bashes Kaito for telling her past story in such a sloppy way XDDD We switch to the girls at school, and apparently Akiho decided to challenge herself with a new hobby: starting with plushie clothes, she plans on making an handmade outfit for Kaito. ^___^ you really don’t deserve her, jackass... Tomoyo takes the chance to offer herself as a teacher for both Akiho and Sakura, who needs to do something for SYAORAN’S BIRTHDAY!! Yes it’s coming up and it’s the first time it’s mentioned in canon!!! I’m seriously excited for that....the least we can expect is some tragedy happening. LMAO.

Creepiness intensifies

However, Tomoyo wants to try something out. She takes Akiho’s measures, and she states that not only their height, but also all the other measures of Sakura and Akiho are exactly the same. Okay. Okay this is definitely getting TOO CREEPY to be considered cute anymore. And the girls realize this too, their realization face isn’t really excited in a positive way. Who's got the feeling that Tomoyo might have a theory or two about what is going on? Because it’s definitely not normal for two human beings to be this similar. But thanfully Naoko comes in to interrupt the disconcerting mood, as she’s got something to announce... We find out what that is from Syaoran and Sakura, walking back home: their school is going to participate to an exchanging event with all the other schools of the city (or at least that’s how I understood it), and Tomoeda Middle School will do a school play for the occasion.

No more Sleeping Beauty

Syaoran loses ABSOLUTELY NO TIME in clarifying that he will ONLY be a stagehand XDDDD Sakura lowkey tries to convince him, but he’s even more on fire XD more than 2 years later and he still didn’t overcome the embarrassment of playing as a princess in the Sleeping Beauty play, of which Sakura gently provides us with a memory...

But then...the unexpected happens...the scene that made me say, at the beginning of this long ass post, that Ohkawa got drunk...

Sakura and Syaoran pass by the Penguin Park, and when she sees the swings of the park, she suddenly remembers one of the most painful, heart-wrenching and yet romantic scenes of the whole Cardcaptor Sakura story: when Sakura confessed to Syaoran that she was turned down by Yukito. Sakura reminisces both what Yukito and Syaoran told her, on that day....and Syaoran doesn’t let himself be caught unprepared: he remembers every single word he told her. And, while he recites the same words, which back then were powerful like a magic charm, he’s so serious. I loved how Mokona decided to make him go suddenly serious and solemn in this part. Because his love for Sakura, and the mission he took on himself when he went back to Hong Kong, are like a sworn oath to him. He’s absolutely, without fail, serious about this.

Thank god I found you

Sakura happily states that yes, she finally found The One she loves the most, and who loves her the most in return. Syaoran was right, and the thing she was hoping for was in front of her the whole time. Sakura also sounds so “mature” in this scene, with that “I didn’t understand very well what Yukito-san meant, back then”. My kids have grown up so much, and they still will, from now on T___T

This scene of course caused a ruckus in the fandom, because it recalls all too much another infamous scene in Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicle...actually, more than one. Even the concept of not being able to touch eachother (this time not for a ritual but because Sakura risks to electrocute Syaoran on the spot) is the same, and I am particularly worried for what this will entail once the final showdown will be happening. Cause of course, at this point, it’s pretty apparent this won’t be resolved until the end of the manga... Still, the two lovebirds managed to turn the scene into one of the most beautiful ones, even without touching eachother. That’s the power of their relationship for you. That’s how evocative are CLAMP’s manga panels.

Scene changes to Yukito’s home, of course Nakuru is there, but Sakura came over and she brought Kero and Suppi too. There’s a HILARIOUS scene of Kero yelling all of his frustration for having to witness that sappy scene inside of Sakura’s bag...Nakuru is having the time of her life, but when Sakura comes in and sits down at the table to eat the snacks, she suddenly asks Yukito:

“Have you done something?”

aaaaand this is the moment when the whole fandom went...

I have to give credit, CLAMP are particularly GOOD at this. At throwing stuff from left field at the less expected moment. And it’s completely useless to even start theorizing, because the wording is so VAGUE and the timing is SO OUT OF THE BLUE, that one can’t really help but feeling confused. At first I thought (blaming the English translation for this) she was asking him to confess if he was the one casting the spell that is making SyaoSaku unable to touch. But no, the Japanese line is actually very vague and it could be relating to the thing that happens right after: Sakura feels “something”, runs outside, and finds out that it’s already night. Even though it should be, like, 3 pm? (saying that Touya would be back for 4 pm was done purposedly to tell the readers what time was at the moment).

And all we are left with is an intense cliffhanger in our faces, which are more or less like this:

I’ll have to say this, though: SAKURA IS A F*CKING QUEEN.

She’s the sweetest girl, she might seem naive and oblivious to stuff, BUT NO, DAMN SHE’S NOT, SHE’LL SHOW YOU RECEIPTS WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. She did it with Syaoran before, and now with Yukito. And judging by his face, she definitely caught him red-handed. I will never, never get tired to praise her for this.

What else to say, I really enjoyed the lighter tone of this chapter, especially considering what is going on in the world right now, but I also expect next chapter to go back to creepy atmospheres and anxiety. I feel the finale might be near...we’ll see.

Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts on this chapter!!!

[smarmaladey]

The Bad Touch - (1/3)

Chapter 1 - “you and me”

Rating: 🇪

Fandom: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Relationship(s):  🐞♡🚺

Words: 4032

Ao3 Link

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The recessive vampire genes in Giorno's blood haven't been sitting too well with him lately. AKA, your boss is in heat. Oh god. Oh fuck. 

content warnings: rape/non-con elements, ooc (probably), AU (probably)

Enjoy!

♡🐞♡

Sunday.

4:00 PM.

The first incident.

♡🐞♡

Christ.

Seriously? In your three years working in espionage, this was the most tedious assignment you’d ever gone with? Retrieving a couple godforsaken papers from some insignificant rival group?

Whatever. It was done.

The fruits of your labor were safely tucked in the inside of your coat, ready to be delivered to the big man himself.

You could never fully understand why your boss always made you deliver crap straight to him. Maybe it was a trust thing?

During the span of your near two-year “career” under Passione, you’d managed to be slung up the ranks by the combination of your competence, ability, and tendency to work alone. This meant getting strangely close with the head of the whole shebang, normally taking your assignments straight from the man.

You never really made a big deal out of this. Giovanna was far from a super-secretive man, nor was he cold like one might expect from a goddamn mob boss. Hell , If the lowest, newest, meekest member of a scummy group did one thing that pleased him, he’d probably invite them to dinner at the most prestigious establishment in Rome. Or at least that’s what he came across as to you.

It was kind of sketchy.

But you didn’t really care, nor did you have any right to criticize the guy.

Dwelling on those thoughts wasn’t your style. All you had to do today was: Deliver the file, leave the office, get home, and finally, watch your shows. Simple.

After somehow making your way through his large estate to his office all by yourself, something was a little off.

The door was closed all the way.

You cracked it open a little bit, the too-loud creaking making you uneasy.

“Sir…?”

“Ah,” his voice was much too quiet, and almost...frantic. “Who’s this?”

How the hell am I supposed to respond to that? “Uhm, me?” You took the liberty of letting yourself in, slightly put off by how dim the room was. Facing you was the back of a leather chair.

Giovanna was looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of his office, curtains pulled half-open, casting soft afternoon light into the room. “...I’m guessing you have the documents?”

“Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t…” Muttering under your breath, you took the black folder from your coat.

He turned around when he heard your footsteps (because of course he could), being illuminated by the yellow-er light from the ceiling lamp.

The files were gently set down on his desk, and you caught him looking up at your face.

Something you’d been noticing for the past few months, (actually, you were pretty sure it began around his eighteenth birthday) he’d been... adorning himself more than usual…? As if he wasn’t already grandiose enough, he’d been wearing makeup quite a lot more than you were used to.

Giovanna smiled up at you, and successfully got you to avert your gaze. His lips were glossed with a very lovely fuchsia, but what really caught your eye were his cloud-white, glittering teeth. And you had no clue why. Something was off about his teeth, besides the fact that, like the rest of him, they were grossly perfect.

He was clad in a classic; magenta suit with numerous full-golden brooches. (Those ones were new, given to him by a “friend of the organization” apparently, and you had no idea why you knew this) Glancing at his hands on the folder, his nails, manicured into rounded points and painted white, contrasted with the signature black leather of your favorite binder.

Strange. His door was completely shut, as if nobody had seen him for the entire day. Why was he still dressed up…?

Swallowing nothing, you took a step back.

“Let’s see…” Your boss’s voice was still quiet, as he carefully tugged the manila files out and placed them on his desk. “Ah, bravo! These are exactly what we’ve been looking for!”

Before you knew it, he had snatched your hand and was shaking it with both of his. The nails digging into your wrist made you cringe.

”Thank you, Sir...thank you…” You tried with all your being not to sound confused or ungrateful, especially with those...intense turquoise eyes glaring up into your soul.

“I expected nothing less of this, perfect job!” His hands lingered for too long before he dropped to start reading the documents again.

You mumbled something, turned around, and began to leave. Yet, just as your hand was on the tacky flower-themed doorknob, he stopped you.

“Wait,” the jump from his chair was audible. “I, ahem, I never dismissed you.” There was a small giggle in his voice, and you weren’t buying it.

Ugh.

“Awh, but Don Giovanna~~! ♡ I’ve had such a long, looong day, and my poor body’s so, sooo tired! Please let me go home, haven’t I done such a good job already~? ♡ There’s a new X-Files episode premiering tonight, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world~!”

That’s what you could’ve said in an ideal world.  

“Right.” In that world, he’d let you leave right away, “am I needed for anything else, Giovanna?” And then you’d go to your quiet, expensive beach house and get an amazing night’s sleep.

He shuffled in his seat a bit. “Yes, why don’t you hang up your coat?” He spoke without looking at you, scanning the files in front of him. “You must be hot in this room, I know I’ve been all day…”

You nodded once. “I think the air conditioning here might be broken…” your boss’s words mostly flew over your head. “I’ve just been feeling so overheated lately. I even keep the door shut now just so the cool air doesn’t leave this room…” You nodded again. “Do you think I should get a fan?” Again.

When you fully took off your heavy coat, you flinched.

Holy shit, it’s freezing.

With your bare arms exposed, you finally processed how cold it was in the room. No sooner did the temperature register with the rest of your body.

The coat rack, like a lot in the room, was floral themed. The decoration of the entire office was pretty on point, but when you walked back across the room again, something new grabbed your attention.

On the ceiling, the round lamp that hung down had a new look. The paper lampshade had a sort of “Classical Asian Art” look to it, like Japanese “Ukiyo-e” or whatever it was called. Neat.

“Nice lamp.” You said, breaking the silence. Giovanna glanced at you, and you pointed up at the ceiling. “It looks nice.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Sitting across from him, you felt somewhat trapped. Just a little, though. It was just...quiet, with him reading papers and you...not.

This guy…

Your heart jumped when he shut the folder in front of your face. “Could you do me a favor, please?” Giovanna pointed somewhere behind you, at one of the many bookshelves lining the walls. “There should be a…” He cleared his throat, something he had been doing a lot during this meeting. “...a sort of history book on the Holy Roman Empire over there...”

Not bothering to say anything else, you got up. He gave you clarification and you were happy to get a little farther from him.

The books were all similar-looking with hard-to-read spines. It honestly felt like they were all sorted by color rather than title, and perfectly lined up with one another. How can one man manage to be so perfectly organized?

“Sir, which shelf is it?” You weren’t answered, as Giovanna had to clear his throat again. “...are you alright? Have you been ill these past few days?”

He waved at you not to worry. “I should be fine, I’ve just been so thirsty lately…”

“Ah.”

“It’s so strange, my throat is constantly dry…”

“That so? Would you like me to get some water?” You offered, still facing the bookshelf.

Once more, he cleared his throat. “No, that’s not necessary. Don’t worry about me too much…”

Everything seemed to stop awkwardly.

“It’s probably on the fourth shelf down, the title should be obvious…”

And like that, you found it.

“Grazie, grazie!” Giovanna almost cooed to you when you handed him the leatherback book. When he took it from you, his nails hit your fingertips, but you were distracted by seeing his teeth again. Still, you couldn’t tell what was up.

“Yeah, right…” You sat back down across from him, as he almost immediately started looking through the pages. “So why do you need the history book again…?”

He slid a document to you and pointed at some random word. “Well, it seems like in these records, they refer to--” Out. Everything else he said went through one ear, out the other.

“...right.”

“--and in this, this is a--”

“...yeah.”

“--which leads me to this one, which I have…”

When he trailed off, it went quiet again.

“This. I’ve seen this quote before!” He was pointing at the bottom of one of the first documents you snatched.

You were about to respond with another “oh really?” before he pointed out at another bookshelf, this time much closer to the desk.

“It’s smaller, but it’s right over there, I’m pretty sure.” Again, the books were all sorted by size and color, so you couldn’t tell anything from each other. He must’ve taken off the sleeves, too, because some didn’t even have a title on the spine.

You really wanted to snarl something at him. “Where am I looking again?”

Giovanna tried to clarify the location again, but it wasn’t working with you. Just get up yourself, asshole.

And he did! For the first time you’d seen that day, he rose from his chair and stared at the same row of books you were. Maybe the same exact book you were looking at. He must’ve, why else would he be standing so close?

“I could’ve sworn I put it around here…” You could hear his breathing. Stepping away, you watched him stand stiff and stare at all the books.

Your eyes were beginning to hurt. It’d been so long since you’d slept, all you needed was to go. “Enough, what’s the title of the book?” You were careful not to groan or scoff before or after you spoke.

Giovanna touched his chin with his index, looking, frankly, gorgeous from a profile shot. “It was called...ah, Invitation to a Beheading? Something like that?”

Something clicked in your head so fast you could’ve sworn you heard a ring.

“Ohhh! I’m pretty sure I remember my mom reading that book!” A quick memory of the book’s appearance flashed in your head, that matched something you had seen on another shelf earlier perfectly. “It’d be over here-”

Now, what happened next needs to be analyzed, because you were 99.9% sure this single moment was the straw on the camel’s back. The action that began the downfall. The great whore to your Babylon.

All you did was turn around, turn around right next to him, so you could head to another bookshelf.

The thing was, you weren’t paying attention to how you were moving your arms, only focused on the stupid goddamn book. Innocently, your arm swung and, as a result, your hand just brushed against his --Giovanna’s, your boss’s-- upper thigh...area. The back of it. You know, that area, the one between the tailbone and the leg, that one.

To put it bluntly, you touched his ass.

Both you two froze in that moment, you could tell. Maybe time stopped.

"...civetta."

You looked back around, to make sure you had heard that right.

"I'm sorry…?"

"Ah...you're such a little tease, aren't you…?"

Huh?

Blood in your veins went cold when you saw the pure, unadulterated salacity in his eyes.

Your fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, and you tried to look to the side, or even turn around, but it was much too late. Giovanna had promptly moved to you, caged your face with his hands and turned you up to look at him.

The eye contact was brief, his gaze drilling into yours, before he forced you into a kiss.  

A shock went down your spine and made you stiffen. Almost instantly, you tasted the strange (and revoltingly pleasant) flavor of his lip gloss, and grew hyper-aware of not only the shape of his mouth, but the contrast of his body heat against yours.

Eyes widened, you uttered out a shocked, muffled noise that only seemed to make his ever-growing body temperature even warmer.

You tried to push against him, but he just grunted and tugged your body against his. Squishing your eyes shut, you tried pushing and palming at his chest, which only made him hold on tighter.

Eventually he detached for air, a thin string of saliva connecting the two of you appearing only briefly. Giovanna's green eyes were absolutely hazed over, a vibrant pink dyeing his usually white face.

A million words were dashing through your head --why? what? who? how? me? you?-- but your brain was incapable of stringing together anything coherent.

It wouldn't have mattered if it had been, though, because almost as soon as the golden boy had pulled away, he pulled in once more.

This time, he took advantage of your pried open mouth to invade you near completely. In the midst, your tongue ended up brushing against one of his teeth--one of his canines.

Sharp. Too sharp.

With that, it was cut short by you successfully jerking away. While he didn't let you go, Giovanna withdrew again, wiping off his smeared lip gloss with the back of his hand.

"Sir! I--" Idiotically, you had assumed it was over, but surely enough, your wrists had gotten snatched.

Next thing you knew, the side of your face had been pushed up against the nearest vertical surface, with Giovanna mewing your body with his own.

"Gh…no..." Your voice had gotten higher, weaker too, "Sir...ah, Don Giovanna, please...I don't understand...why, what is this…?"

"You 'don't understand'? Really now?"  

You trembled at how close his voice had become, now so close to your ear that you could hear his tongue detaching from the roof of his mouth. “Sir, I--”

“Ah,” he breathed out a small laugh, “don’t try and play coy with me, cara, you knew exactly what you were doing…”

Giovanna had noticed how you reacted to his voice, so he decided to drag his tongue along the shell of your ear, before kissing it directly. Again, you let out a weak noise as warmth shocked your body.

Trying to get away from his voice, you turned forward and pressed your forehead against the shelf, perhaps in an attempt to squeeze yourself between the books and escape.

"Oh, when you tried to leave me earlier," he was beginning to sound almost whiney with how breathy his voice was becoming, clutching your shoulder and hand with an iron grip. "I swear, if you left, I would've…"

He never finished that statement, too distracted by trailing his hand from your shoulder, down your torso, all the way to the bottom of your high-waisted shorts.

"These...ah, did you really expect to come in here, wearing these, and be able to get away~?"

Even with your panic-blinded brain, you knew you had worn these (admittedly, skimpy) pants around him plenty of times before. He never had any problems until now…

"Giovanna, this is- ah!"

Your words were choked back when he had slipped his hand beneath the waistband of your pants. Underwear too, as he wasted little time trying to force his hand between your closed thighs.

His hand had no trouble finding that little rift in your flesh, middle finger delving between and pressing against the sensitive little nub inside.

In a near instant, your legs went from straight to bent, beginning to tremble. You cursed yourself for near literally becoming putty in his hands, but your brain was still fried and unable to think straight.

With a charming, pleased hum, he swirled his finger around, generating more embarrassing sounds from you. He kept his chest firm on your back, making sure you couldn't wriggle away from his grasp.

Giovanna slid his finger lower and curled it, his digit entering your body with a very slight pinch. You yelped again, hyper-aware of the quiet, very muffled squelching sound made.

"Oh, it's so wet here…" he tittered, sending even more polarizing feelings coursing through your veins.

"N-no...not there, you can't…" The softness of his hand, the smoothness of his nail, invading your warm insides made you feel extremely weak, like your body could cave in at any second. Your feet began to slide back on the hardwood floor, so Giovanna took extra care securing his lower body against yours as well.

Tragically, you tried rocking against his hand, begging for relief. That stopped when you realized you could feel his hard-on through the material of his satin clothing.

He decided he'd had enough of whatever this was, extracting his hand from your clothing and backing up a tad. After lapping his finger clean, he took a second to "compose" himself.

"I apologize, I know this isn't the most comfortable place for us, at the moment…" you were gently hugged from behind, him nuzzling into the top of your head a bit.

You wanted to take the opportunity to break away from him, but before you could even realize he had hastily lifted you up. The bright light made you reflexively shut your eyes, but it didn't stop you from trying to wiggle out of his hold.

Giovanna brought you to his large, cushioned chair, sitting himself down and maneuvering your limbs just so you were straddling him. He tried to hug you again, but you pushed yourself away, hands at his chest.

"Sir…please, we have to stop." A tiny, nagging part of your brain knew this wouldn't reason with him, so you added on, "...not now. Not here, at least…"

His engaged expression turned into a soft, content smile.

Holy fuck, did I actually get him to listen? Will I actually get away with my dignity after all?

You nearly smiled at the seemingly good sign.

But instead of letting you go, he spun the chair around, grabbing your wrists.

Actually, it wasn't him grabbing you. Not exactly.

Ghostly white-gold hands faded in, pulling your arms away from each other, as he pushed your torso away, tugged your shins so they dropped from the chair and onto the floor, and secured your pelvis against his.

In the end, the position you had been forced into was both uncomfortable and humiliating, with G • E restraining your arms, the edge of the desk pressing into the small or your back, and to top it all off, your boss firmly holding your groins together.

It made you want to cry, so you did. Just a little bit, though.

"Ah, please don't worry! I don't plan on having briefings with anybody else, so let's not worry about…"

He completely trailed off, losing his train of thought as he looked over your body in silence. It stayed like this for a couple seconds, with him not exactly sure what to do next, and you refusing to look at anything.

Eventually, he leaned forward a bit, reached to the bottom of your top. You glared at his hand as it grabbed onto the hem, and in a single motion, yanked it over your chest. The cold air enveloped your now exposed breasts made your muscles jerk inward, giving the desk a little shake.

In the tense moment, he kind of just stared for a few seconds, eyes round and doe-ish, face very flushed.

He doesn't know what he's doing. And he doesn't even care.

Wetness dotting his yellow lashes, he suddenly wrapped his arms around your torso, nudging up into the crook of your neck and drawing in your scent. You would've wondered why he looked like he was crying, but your mind was occupied with the embarrassment that came with knowing how sweaty you were. Not like he cared.

Giovanna pressed a couple pecks to the bottom of your jaw, before lowering and quickly licking up the side of your neck. He pulled back about a centimeter, and you watched in suspense as  his eyes trailed down to your chest.

He traced a very faint vein with the tip of his nail, one embedded in your breast, until he reached your nipple, erected by the cold air. He took it between the tips of his fingers, rolling it gently.

The muscles in your chest tensed as he cupped your tit with one hand, and slid the other down your body again.

While groping you, he had his lips ghosting the area around your collarbone, wanting to feel every small detail of your skin. His breath felt like it was getting hotter every second, and you were sure that the stuttering little snivels coming out of your mouth were only making things worse.

With a little roll of his chair, Giovanna pushed his groin up against yours, the slight friction made on your vital spot just enough to make you squirm.

His hands really had no right to feel as wonderful as they did, smooth and supple, incredibly warm, and glazed with a sheer bit of sweat. It felt like they were made for your body, as it accepted his touch completely, whether he was groping you or continuing to explore your insides with his digits.

You continued to try and fight back, be it very weakly, by wiggling your lower body best you could. What made you completely give up the quarrel was Giovanna leaning down and taking one of your stiff teats in his mouth. The sudden feeling made you reflexively cave in your chest, as your elbows finally touched the cool wood of his desk. In the back of your hazed mind, you took note of how G • E loosened his hold.

He put more pressure on your body, eyebrows knit, like he was savoring the taste of your skin. As he grew rougher, you felt his sharp canines poke at your supple flesh, and you jerked again.

Giovanna responded by slipping another digit inside, pushing you back a tad more while staying latched on your chest.

Too much. It's all too much.

With seemingly nothing else to do, you let your head drop back. Then, you saw an opportunity.

The lamp.

See, while you had been tangled up in getting restrained by your Boss's Stand, you somehow forgot one critical fact; that you had one too.

The key to escaping this Freudian Nightmare was, quite literally, glaring you in the face.

And all you needed was just another little push…

As if on cue, your arms slid back about a half-centimeter more, and you grabbed the opportunity with an iron grip.

Now.

In an actual blink, Giovanna's ceiling lamp imploded, causing the room to go dark. The minor vacuum caused was enough to make the desk shake, and you slide across and onto the floor ahead.

Despite landing awkwardly on your shoulders, you hastily got on your ass, tugged down your shirt, and rose to your feet.

The relief you felt when you finally reached the door was indescribable, yet you still found yourself glancing back.

Pulverized glass was still falling through the air, what once remained of the most interesting part of the room now glittering with sunset light. Giovanna, on the other hand, had rolled his chair back a bit, adorably rubbing his eyes.

Hit one!

The beat of your heart was racing, yet…

"Giorno, I'm sorry!"

Hit two!

You had no time to dwell on your apology, though, as you rushed out the door.

Hit three! Triple fuckup combo!

You leapt off the mezzanine to the ground floor, and made a dash to the exit.

The cool air of the night came to rightfully claim you. That night, while running across the Italian countryside, you felt rather different.

Needless to say, you missed that night's episode of X-Files.

♡🐞♡

n: thanks to aaron for making the title cards for me, he’s a great skunk man!  I said i was gonna do it, and here i am.  Hopefully this means i’ll be able to start using tumblr a bit more frequently... Or maybe it won’t, who knows? I’ll post the second chapter here tomorrow, and as for the last one...it’s coming, don’t fret :D

[dimensiontripperhibiki]

The End is Where we Begin (4/?)

Just a couple of things I want to clarify at the start of this chapter - no, there won't be a love triangle. Don't worry about that. I think with the introduction of the 'crimson haired woman' it might be a concern for you guys but don't worry, it's not gonna happen, though I do want Lena to have her own storyline too. Also the pronunciation of Hisa = Hee-sa. :) Enjoy!

Lena let out a soft sigh as she subtly tugged up the sleeve of her blazer to check her watch. She’d only been waiting for her coffee for a couple of minutes but she wanted to get out of the coffee shop as soon as possible. She could feel everyone staring at her, their eyes burning holes into the back of her neck. She wasn’t surprised. Most people in National City knew her by reputation if nothing else. Most of them knew her for her work and a few of them, she was sure, still simply knew her as the sister of Lex Luthor. At the sound of her name being called, she looked up to see the impatient blonde woman behind the counter holding out her coffee to her. She took it, forcing a smile to her face and muttered her thanks before she turned around on her heel. She bumped into something solid and her already loose coffee lid popped off, the coffee from inside the cup splashing out between herself and the person she’d bumped into. She gasped as hot coffee spilled out onto her hand and her grip instinctively loosened. Thankfully the person she’d bumped into reached out and took hold of the cup to make sure it didn’t fall to the floor. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going! Are you okay?”

Lena grimaced at the panicked tone of the woman she’d bumped into. “I’m fine. It seems most of it ended up on you.” She stared at the coffee dripping from the woman's leather jacket for a moment before she glanced up to check who she’d actually bumped into. Her brow furrowed slightly as she took in worried green eyes and striking red hair. 

“I’m sorry.” The woman said again. She straightened up, taking Lena’s coffee from her to set it down on the counter. “Were you burnt?” “I’m okay,” Lena answered with a slight shake of her head. She had to admit that she was a little bit irked but she wasn’t about to snap at the woman. “Have we met somewhere before?” “I don’t think so. Oh, I’m Hisa. Hisa Evergreen.” The woman said with a bright smile. She offered her hand out to Lena. “And I don’t need to ask you who you are, of course.” Lena automatically shook the woman’s hand, her brow furrowing. “My reputation precedes me then?” Hisa gave a gentle chuckle. “You shouldn’t be surprised. Almost everyone in the city has heard of you. I happen to be a big fan of you. Your work too, of course.” She noticed Lena’s gaze flick to her now mostly empty coffee cup on the table. “Shit! Let me buy you another coffee!” “That’s not necessa-” “It’s the least I can do.” Hisa interrupted, waving off Lena’s protests. “What are you drinking?” “Black coffee,” Lena answered with a small smile, figuring she wasn’t going to win the argument. The two of them rejoined the short queue together, trying to ignore the distasteful look from the barista who’d been sent to clean up their mess. Silence settled between the two of them and Lena felt herself slowly growing uncomfortable. “So you clearly know about my work. What do you do?” Hisa looked to Lena with a slight smile. “I’m a Lieutenant in the Canadian air force. Trauma surgeon. I’m not from here exactly. Just visiting.” “Oh, I see.” Lena nodded thoughtfully. She’d thought she had detected an accent. “So your name is from…?” “My father’s side. His grandfather is half Japanese which makes me a quarter Japanese. I’m named after my great grandfather’s mother.” Hisa explained as she stepped forward. She turned her attention away from Lena for a moment to order her coffee. Lena took the moment of distraction to look the red-headed woman over. Something about her was strikingly familiar but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. When Hisa finished ordering coffee, they stepped to the end of the bar. “You seem to be far from home. If you don’t mind me saying.” Lena said, not wanting to let silence settle between them.  Truthfully she was somewhat intrigued too. Hisa chuckled softly. “Oh, I’m not sure where I’d even call home right now. I’m just...” “HISA!”  Hisa grimaced at the sound of her name being called. “Crap…” Lena frowned as a brunette appeared behind Hisa, grabbing her forearm to turn her around. “What the hell are you doing?” The brunette hissed angrily, her gaze briefly flicking toward Lena before she looked back toward the redhead. “We have things to do and you’re wasting your time in a goddamn coffee shop?! Why are you...dripping? Can you do anything right?” “I can do what I want in my free time, Siobhan. I’m just…” “What did I tell you about saying my name in public? Just hurry up! We wouldn’t want your sister to wonder where you are, would we?” With that said, the brunette pushed Hisa’s arm away, clearly making every attempt to inflict as much pain as possible without being too obvious about it, before she turned and stormed out of the cafe. “I’m really sorry about that.” Hisa said, staring after the brunette. “She can be a little...bossy.” “Your...friend? Girlfriend?” Lena asked, frowning in concern. She could see that Hisa’s eyes had misted over slightly. “I should go. Again, I’m sorry she caused a scene. It was nice meeting you, Lena.” “Wait!” Lena reached out and grabbed Hisa’s hand as she started to walk away. When the redhead looked back at her in confusion, Lena felt a wave of regret. She’d said she wouldn’t do this anymore. Not after Kara. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. She used her free hand to fish around in her back until she emerged with a business card which she quickly checked before pressing into Hisa’s hand. “My personal number is on the back. You should call me if you’re in any trouble.” “I appreciate that. But I’m fine. Have a nice day.” Hisa drew her hand away from Lena before she rushed out of the shop. Lena watched with a furrowed brow. She was sure she’d seen the brunette from earlier before. She just couldn’t remember where. “Miss! MISS, your coffee!” Lena sighed and turned around, taking her coffee from the visibly annoyed barista. She bit back the urge to snap at her and nodded her thanks instead before she left the shop, her mind still fixed on her strange encounter. ----

“Is she okay?” Kara turned her gaze to the door at the sound of Alex’s voice and found her walking into the room, an irritated look on her face. She grimaced and started to push herself off the bed. “She’s better.” Nia answered, nodding in response. “She seems stronger and she isn’t showing any signs of being affected by the kryptonite now. I watched her for any, like you said.” “Good.” Alex gripped Kara’s shoulder and lightly pushed her back down onto the bed. “Because we need to talk and I don’t want you flying away.” Kara sighed, throwing her arm over her eyes. “Alex, I don’t have time for this. I have to get back to work and…” “Oh really? Because I heard you haven’t been to work in a week.” Alex retorted sharply. “What the hell happened out there, Kara?” “I did my job.” Kara answered without moving her arm. She didn’t want to look at Alex and see the anger and disappointment on her face. “Nobody died and nobody was hurt.” “Besides you, you mean. Because you did get hurt. You nearly died, Kara! I gave you a direct order and you disobeyed me!” “Disobeyed?” Kara pushed herself up, staring hard at Alex. “Are you talking as my boss or my sister right now?” Nia swallowed thickly as she glanced between them. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen them in such a bad fight before and the last thing she wanted was to see it continue. “Kara, if you…” “Don’t!” Kara snapped, her eyes flitting toward Nia. “Please. Not yet.” “What’s wrong with you?” Alex asked, genuine worry mixed in with her anger now. “You’re acting reckless, you’re ignoring my orders, you’re not going to work, you’re snapping at everyone. Not to mention what you almost did to Nia’s arm a few days ago.” Nia guiltily bit her lip as Kara glanced toward her. “I didn’t say anything about it, I think J’Onn…” “J’Onn did the right thing by telling me.” Alex interrupted with a frown. “I need to know if you’re not safe.” Kara gritted her teeth at the insinuation. “You think she’s not safe around me? It was an accident!” Nia decided to step in, worried by the hurt look on Kara’s face beneath the anger. “I don’t think that’s what she meant.” Alex held up her hand to stop Nia. “It’s exactly what I meant. I think when you’re like this you’re a danger. Especially to yourself.” Kara’s shoulders slumped and she bowed her head slightly. “I would never hurt any of you.” “Not intentionally.” Alex softened ever so slightly and reached out to rest her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “I’m worried about you, Kara. Just talk to me. If there’s something wrong we can figure it out together. Like we always have.” “There’s nothing to talk about.” Kara shrugged Alex’s hand off and got off the bed. “I have to go.” “Kara.” Alex called as Kara walked away from her. She watched as Kara paused. “Take some time off.” “Is that an order?” Alex sighed. She didn’t want it to be like this. “Yes.” Kara scoffed and walked out of the room, heading down the hallway. Nia sighed heavily and perched on the edge of the bed. She wished that Kara would just come to her senses and tell Alex what was going on. If anyone could help, it would be Alex.  

----

“If I didn’t know you could fly I might be worried.” Kara jerked in surprise, turning her head to see Lena walking across the roof toward her. “Lena!” She pressed her hand to her chest, taking a deep breath. “You scared me! How did you get up here?” “I have my ways. I used to own this building, remember?” “I didn’t hear you come up.” Kara murmured, frowning at the idea. Her super-hearing should have kicked in as soon as Lena got to the roof. Before that even. “What are you doing here?” “I could ask you the same thing.” Lena stopped next to the ledge and offered her hand to Kara, raising an eyebrow. “Are you going to help me up?” Still puzzled, Kara gently took Lena’s hand and helped her up onto the edge, bracing herself for any sign that Lena was going to fall. She relaxed slightly only when she was sure that Lena was steady. “Did you do something to your hair? It looks a little...shorter.” Lena subconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave a slight shake of her head. “No. I didn’t do anything.” She lowered herself down until she could sit with her legs dangling over the edge of the building. “It’s a long way down.” “Yeah.” Kara murmured softly, glancing down at the city streets below them. She let out a soft breath before she sat down next to Lena. “Why are you here?” “I was looking for you,” Lena answered honestly. “Why else would I be standing on the roof of CatCo?” “No, I mean...why were you looking for me?” Kara asked in confusion. “I thought you still hated me.” She noticed Lena flinch out of the corner of her eye and turned to frown at her. “I don’t understand.” “Nothing is ever as simple as love and hate. I thought you of all people would realize that.” Lena was silent for a long moment while Kara stared at her. She leaned forward, watching cars go by beneath her feet. “I saw what happened. On the news.” “Oh.” Kara swallowed thickly, recalling her argument with Alex. “I…” “You think that now you’re destined to die, you're invincible.” Lena’s voice came out sharply but she still didn’t look up at Kara. “You think that as long as this crisis you’ve seen isn’t here yet, you’ll survive anything. That’s not how this works, Kara. You’ve been given knowledge of your future. You know what’s to come but you could die tomorrow and create a new timeline. Maybe one you haven’t seen yet. This isn’t the time to be reckless. If anything you need to value your life now more than ever.” “What if I value my life too much?” Kara’s voice was strained as she spoke and it drew Lena’s gaze toward her. “What if I don’t want to die? I know it’s selfish but I have a life. I’m not just Supergirl, Lena. I have friends, family...and I’m supposed to leave them behind? It’s not fair! How am I supposed to tell Alex and my mom I’m...” Lena’s expression softened with sympathy as tears brimmed in Kara’s eyes. Her grip on the edge of the wall tightened and she briefly glanced over her shoulder before letting out a soft sigh. “This doesn’t mean I’m not angry with you. Or that we’re friends again. When I see you tomorrow, we don’t talk about this, okay? This never happened. Kara, I need you to promise me.” Kara nodded, her head bowed though she wasn’t even sure what she was agreeing to. She didn’t care. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and suddenly arms were wrapped around her, drawing her into a warm body. She turned instinctively, burying her face into the crook of Lena’s neck as a sharp sob escaped her. Lena sighed, gently stroking Kara’s hair as tears brimmed in her own eyes. She stubbornly blinked them away and focused her attention on the building across the street instead. “I don’t know how to tell her, Lena.” Kara whimpered, grasping the back of Lena’s shirt. “I don’t want to hurt her and  i-if Alex knows, it’s…” “Real.” Lena finished softly for Kara as the kryptonian trailed off. “It makes it real.” Kara nodded and slowly drew back to look at Lena. “How do I do it?” Lena let her hand come to rest lightly on Kara’s shoulders, her gaze fixated to the tracks of tears on Kara’s cheeks. “I don’t know, Kara.” She said quietly, her expression pained. “This isn’t something I have much expertise in, as you know. I’m sorry.” Kara closed her eyes for a brief moment before she seemed to steel herself and nodded. “I shouldn’t be asking you. You’re already helping me more than I deserve. Do you want me to take you home?” Lena answered with a sad smile. “I can walk. I’ll be okay.” Kara looked like she was going to argue for a moment before she nodded in response. “Alright.” Lena slowly shuffled her way off the ledge, aware of the way Kara tensed in case she fell. When she was back on her feet, she turned toward Kara, idly fidgeting with the ring hanging from the necklace around her neck. “You remember what you promised me? We don’t talk about this tomorrow. Tonight never happened. I didn’t sit with you on this roof, we didn’t talk. None of it happened.” Kara frowned slightly in confusion. “I remember. But...why?” “Kara.” “Okay, I-I promise.” Kara answered hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was to make Lena angry. She stared at Lena’s back as the brunette turned to walk away. “Are you sure you didn’t do something to your hair?” “I’m sure, Kara.” Lena called back. She lifted her hand up in a slight wave without turning around. “I’ll see you in my office tomorrow. Don’t be late.” TBC

[notebookfilledwithscrabbles]

19/9/2019 Joint interview with Yuzuru Hanyu after ACI published by Sponichi (Part. 1)

Translation post 26

Original language: Japanese

*Part 1 of an article based on a joint interview done by Japanese press after Autumn Classic International 2019. This is not a word-for-word translation. I paraphrased some of the things said to clarify the main point.

*Part 2 

ETA on 22/10/2019: At the end of September, Figure Skate Magazine 2019-2020 Vol.1 also released a transcription of this joint interview. Yuzuru's answers were mostly the same in both media, but in some sections, Magazine's transcription is more detailed. To clarify the context, I added the excerpts of the article by Magazine in the appendix. According to Magazine, part 1 of the joint interview was conducted by TV stations and part 2 was for print media.

What is in Yuzuru Hanyu's mind as he enters the 10th season: "I have a clear goal in mind and am striving toward it."

Published by Sponichi Annex on 19/9/2019 https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2019/09/19/kiji/20190918s00079000485000c.html

Yuzuru Hanyu (aged 24, affiliated with ANA), who won two consecutive Olympic titles in figure skating at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 gave a joint interview after competing at Autumn Classic International held in Oakville, which was his season-opening competition. His new season has finally begun. The man who has entered his 10th season in the senior circuit speaks his mind, sharing his thoughts on Otonal and Origin which he is aiming to show in complete form, quad Axel, the super big gun he has been tuning up in silence, and the future beyond achieving these goals.

--What do you feel looking back at your performance in the FS? "The performance was not bad, but the result was not good, so I think I have a little work to do."

--During the practice sessions, it looked like you were having trouble getting the timing right in doing 4Lo, etc. "I thought that this competition as a whole, including the short program, exposed all of my shortcomings, such as the tendency to overexert myself or to get too relaxed to the extent that I lose my strength, but in the free skating, I think I managed to keep myself concentrated in a good way."

--Aren't you going to include 4T+3A in the FP this season? "No. After all, there isn't much benefit in including it if I want to earn more GOE. Also, I am satisfied with the quality of the jump sequence I did during the last season, so I don't think I need to do it. However, I can still do it (t/n: 3A as a second jump) as a recovery or in an Axel-Axel sequence. For example, if my ultimate jump layout has only one slot to do Axel, I can do an Axel-Axel sequence. I can also do it as the last jump of the program. I have trained myself enough to do that. So, keeping such possibilities in mind, I want to train myself even more and become able to land it with a high level of preciseness and completeness."

--After going through your season-opening competition, what do you think is your future task in competing in this season? "I think I have gone through performing in numerous competitions, but I still feel different every time. And in my case particularly, I always feel that anything other than delivering error-free performances means defeat. In that sense, I think I managed to deal with a new type of pressure. (t/n: in this competition) I will keep facing new challenges in future competitions too. I may get nervous in a different way or have to compete in a different physical condition. I am aiming to deliver good performances while dealing with such circumstances making use of my experiences."

--Every time you compete, you get surrounded by so many people in the press and fans. What do you consciously do to keep yourself concentrated on competing? "Hmm. I think everyone is kindly trying to let me stay focused throughout a competition, including the time I leave my hotel or stay in my room, or leave the venue. My fans are also mindfully trying to let me stay focused on my skating, so I think I have no problem dealing with that situation. Well, in this particular competition, of course, there were some moments where people cheered very loudly. They did so as I took off my jacket since I was wearing new costumes, but I heard loud cheers even when I wasn't doing anything. As I receive so many cheers, I sometimes worry if it is annoying other skaters, but it also invigorates me, making me feel that I have to deliver good performances to live up to their expectations. Of course, the best I can do for fans externally is to achieve good results or to deliver good performances, so I want to do my best.” (t/n: see also no.1 of the appendix)

--Are you planning on including new jumps which weren't in your programs last season? "I am considering to include three quads in the second half. And at the moment, I want to practice 4Lz and see if I should include it during GPS."

--What exactly are the three quads you are planning on including in the second half? "Salchow, toe loop, toe loop, I guess. Oh, the second half, I mean... don't you call it the second half anymore? Do you see what I mean by the second half? Anyway, as the last three jumps... (t/n: in the FP) No. OK, I should put it this way... I should call it "a jump layout with five quads." I am hoping to compete with the five-quads-layout and am training myself for that."

--Are you going to include (quad) Axel this season? "Umm... If I can land it. "I can land it" means various things. You may be feeling that you are capable of landing it in a competition. You may also be feeling that you may accidentally land one in practice. Anyway, I need to reach the level where I am capable of landing it in competitions and make it complete so that I can earn GOE before actually attempting it in a competition. I need to think about the risk of injuries as well. I think I need to find a balance between the training and the conditioning for the competitions."

--You have started practicing the three-jump combination starts from toe loop (t/n: 4T-Ew-3F) from this season, is that correct? "I am practicing it to increase the scores I can get even for a point. I practice many things aiming to be able to do any jump in any situation."

--You are trying many new jumps this season. "In my mind, I have the images of the complete form of Origin and Otonal in a sense, and the jump layouts of them are different from what I am doing now, although I am not telling you exactly what I am aiming for yet. So, I need to practice various types of jumps, and to perform complete Origin and Otonal, I need to practice more difficult ones."

--What is motivating you to try new things? "I guess the biggest motivation is the desire to make these programs complete. I want to win, of course. I think it is pointless if I can't let these programs win, but on top of that, I want to achieve it with the jump layout and the quality of the jumps I am aiming for."

--As to mastering the quad Axel, what stage you are in now? "I complete the rotations and fall. So, all that is left is to land it, I think. Well, but I am still struggling a bit just to complete the rotations. As I said, I need to find a balance between training and competing, so I think I am going to have to focus on competing when I should, and practice Axel when I can afford it."

--Last season, you said that "fire" was your keyword. What is your motivation for this season? "I have been motivated from the beginning. (t/n: of this season) (Laughs) From the beginning, (t/n: of this season,) I have never seen myself as fluffy as I was. (t/n: at the beginning of the last season) I really have a clear goal in mind and want to train myself every day to achieve it. The frustration I feel about the World Championships is a motivation for sure, but the biggest one I think is the desire to perform these programs in a way that I can be proud of in the end in the face of these programs." (t/n: see also no.2 of the appendix)

--Which part of you have the initiative? Your artistic side aiming to bring your programs to perfection, or your athletic side wanting to get back on top of the Worlds' podium? "I see no difference between them. I don't want to take sides with one of them. That is not figure skating, I think. As a skater, I feel the trends in scoring artistry and techniques, but in the end, we need an overwhelming amount of techniques to make our program complete, I think. After all, I want to complete my programs doing difficult things, and feeling, "Yes, this program needs to have this kind of jump. This program needs to have this kind of difficulty and thrill.""

--The other day, you said that you had landed quad flip. Are you aiming to include all types of quads in the complete form? "I haven't thought about it yet. (Laughs) As to the flip, I sometimes feel like doing it, but my flip is not clear. It is not a flip that I can confidently say, "This is the correct flip." So, I am not sure about it. But I will include the jump if I land Axel and still have room to do it, and if I want to make an official record that says I landed all types of quads."

--Does competing make you feel such desire? "I have been hoping to do the Axel from the beginning. But I am still struggling since the barrier between me and the jump was thicker than I thought. Right now, I feel that I skate for the Axel and live for the Axel. I mean, how should I put it? Of course, I have to think about my body and everything since I have been suffering so many injuries, but under this condition, I want to increase the difficulty pursuing the jumps that I can do because I have this body and the jumps that shine in my performance."

--Are you going to retire after landing 4A? "Well, who knows? Maybe I will go for the flip. (Laughs)"

--You are mentioning flip and quint on top of working hard to master 4A. In what sort of mindset are you competing now? What about the plan to retire when you are still in the best shape? "I am not sure what is my best shape. The more I pursue, the more I feel, "I should be able to do this," "I may be able to do that." So um... It is kind of like I am just living in the present, putting my all into it. At present, I am working hard to become a better version of me, even if it can't be called the best. I always keep in mind to keep upgrading myself while I continue competing."

--If you are doing the same in 2022, the year of Beijing 2022, what would you do? "If I am doing the same until then, then I would probably be competing there. Well... How should I put it? To say quite frankly, I think that I should quit if I am going to lose. I never want people to see me in disgrace. After all, if I continue until then, I guess I will be doing so to do 4A or all types of quads. That is pretty much what I am doing now, although I do not intend to include 4F. (Laughs) Anyway, my aim is to become always strong. Although I cannot make any commitments, if I manage to be always strong and reach it (t/n: Beijing 2020) as an extension of being strong, that would make everyone happy, I guess. (Laughs) ...Oh, I am so bad at answering. I am so sorry. After all these years I spent as an interviewee... Thank you very much." (Continued in part 2)

Appendix

1. In Figure Skating Magazine 2019-2020 vol. 1, this Q and A starts like this: --Hanyu senshu is always surrounded by many people in the press and fans. I wonder if it isn't difficult to remain balanced externally. ""Externally." (Laughs) Well, I think everyone is kindly trying to let me stay focused throughout a competition, including the time I leave my hotel or stay in my room, or leave the venue. My fans are also mindfully trying to let me stay focused on my skating, so I think I have no problem dealing with that situation."

2. In Figure Skating Magazine 2019-2020 vol. 1, this Q and A starts like this: --Last season, you said that this competition lit the "fire" in you, but this season, it seems like it hasn't been lit yet... "I have been motivated from the beginning. (t/n: of this season) (Laughs) "

News clip of Yuzuru mentioning 4F and answering the question about Beijing

[girllovescomic]

Winter Begonia episode 3

This episode opens with the audience waiting on our little divo.  Minister Jin asks Boss Niu whether SXR has found a replacement for the violinist.  If not, he will make good on his threat. Weasel Dengbao repeats what Minister Jin said to his dad, like the man was not sitting right next to the corrupt politician.  The father replies if that is not exactly what he wants, to which Asian Crispin Glover bemoans that he is not that cruel. 

Meanwhile, Fan Lian acting like the typical fan wants to know what to know what SXR will be playing.  CFT like the good boyfriend he will become says that whatever his bae plays will be excellent.  Can I have my own Er Ye?  

Our pouty lips divo finally arrives on stage holding a Chinese violin.  Everyone is intrigued, wondering if he can actually play the instrument.  Daddy weasel Jiang explains that it takes hundred days to learn the dizi, a type of Chinese bamboo flute, a thousand days to learn the xiao (Chinese vertical flute) and ten years to be experienced enough to play the huqin/Chinese violin.  I guess all these instruments are used in the opera.  This worries Niu Bao Lan who clearly cares for our lil penguin. 

But no worries, our boy is a musical genius and he showcases it by playing the violin expertly, much to the dismay of the Jiang pair.  Fan Lian is obviously amazed by how talent his idol is, while CFT is all smiles and heart eyes.  Like bro, can you be more obvious in your fawning over your crush? He confirms what SXR had told him about being a hero.

Looking at his bae with open admiration.  Xirui share the wealth, sis!

Dengbao is clearly not happy that SXR will now be even more popular because of his prowess, but daddy tells him not to fly the white flag just yet.  SXR must have a weakness and they will find a way to exploit it. 

 Indeed, they find a way to manipulate SXR’s self-righteousness and stubbornness by loudly giving away the slush fund to Minister Jin’s secretary.  

It is obviously a trap to push the impetuous young man to make a major faux pas. Just as Daddy Jiang predicted, SXR decides to go back to the stage and sing an opera, as a laosheng (an older male role, something he hasn’t done in a while) about a corrupt Ming Dynasty minister who stole money from the empire. 

The crowd is clued in of the opera’s implication, including Fan Lian.  CFT, the opera novice, meanwhile is unaware of it and even claps thinking it is just a good performance.  When Fan Lian explains it to him, he even more impressed at how gutsy his crush is.

Hero gaze activated.  Anyone who touches bae will get the beating of his life.  I swear his attention perks up whenever someone threatens his lil penguin!

Minister Jin tells his secretary to send some guys after SXR.. Our little divo is no slouch in the martial arts department and is able to escape.  His dashing hero is waiting for him in the car and invites him to hop in.  

Minister Jin is surprised that SXR was able to slip through his fingers, but decides to not pursue him all the way to the opera house, not wanting to waste time on someone so insignificant.  Oh boy, if you only knew who is future boyfriend was!  Talking about boyfriend, CFT praises his lil divo’s martial arts skills; of course, SXR boasts that he is skilled in both singing and kung fu, without a hint of humility.  CFT asks if his little act was to his satisfaction and of course, Xirui answers in the affirmative.  CFT lets him know that his act will have consequences since he drew the ire of a powerful man by exposing his bad deeds and this matter will not be let go.  Xirui asks CFT what he should in that case.  CFT tells him he cannot do it alone, he will need help and then explains why Minister Jin tried to embezzled the money.  Apparently it is not really about the money, but about securing his position in Beiping against the juggernaut that is Commander Cao.  Unfortunately this flies over Xirui’s head who is probably looking at Er Ye’s beautiful profile and thinking of a few operas he wants to sing for him. Or how lucky he has found such a sexy daddy. Oh, I wish I was in your place sweetie. CFT promises he will take care of the situation for him and offers food, which he seems to know it’s something his crush understands. Then they gaze into each other’s eyes with Er Ye smiling softly and holy shit, like the gaze actually last more than a second! How this past censorship, I will never know.   

Xan Er Ye gaze at me like that too

We see Minister Jin acting like the pompous ass he is, walking down the street with his loot.  Someone shoots at his hat, creating a diversion to take said loot, which he realizes too late. 

Ohh so that is CFT’s plan, as we see his crew bring back the money.  He tells them to send it to the anti-Japanese coalition. This little act sinks Minister Jin who is accused of corruption and loses his fight against Commander Cao without the latter raising a finger.  

This obviously does not sit well with weasel Dengbao who complains, like the little bish he is, to his father.  Apparently, Xirui found another opera house to perform; it’s a popular house that has hosted many big opera performers (jue’er). His father tells him that they may not have to lift a finger, others will do the heavy lifting for them in dealing with Xirui.  He lets him on a secret about the so-called bad blood between Commander Cao and Xirui back when they were in Pingyang.   

Weasel Cao decides they need to spill the tea about the situation 

The next day, Xirui and his troupe come into the opera house and find Dengbao’s troupe, Longchun Troupe, in their space and the cattiness ensues.  I swear, it feels like watching the backstage of a theater or Hollywood, where rival actors get in each others’ faces for some primetime. 

Dengbao sneers, telling Xirui the opera house is now his territory. Whatever Asian Mr. World. There’s a staredown which is interrupted by the opera house manager.  

SXR demands an explanation for basically reneging on their agreement. The manager tells them he has his reasons for doing so, but if they want to perform they can take the morning spot, which is basically relegating a rising star, like Beyonce, to be the opening act instead of the primetime act, which is a major downgrade.

  Not only that, but it will be doing so until another performer, who is currently sick, returns.  Best girl Xiao Lai tells SXR to find another spot to perform, offended by the obvious downgrade.  

The manager lets them know that other houses will probably turn them down. It turns out that removing Minister Jin in favor of Commander Cao has made his previous encounter with the warlord resurface and no one wants to deal with this hot mess, in fear they will draw the wrath of Beijing’s new boss.  SXR looks at Dengbao and I believe he realizes this was his doing.

He discusses the matter with sexy crush while eating a steak like a country girl at a fancy debutante ball.  He tells CFT that the gossip is blown out of proportion; he doesn’t really have any feud with the commander. It turns out the commander wanted to keep the troupe as its personal entertainment, which goes against SXR wish of performing on stage. After all, the stage is everything for him.  He refused to continue singing, which led the commander to threaten him with a gun.  Our little divo showed his backbone, not flinching a tiny bit while feeling the cold barrel pressed against his head. . Xirui tells CFT that all the other things are unfounded gossips, there is nothing more between them.  A sidenote, in the novel, SXR was actually Commander Cao’s boy toy, which drew Meixin’s jealousy, forcing SXR to hide in his room to avoid her. He left for the same reason. Like a good boyfriend, CFT shows his understanding of the situation, replying that no one else was there so people ran with the gossip.  Xirui sees the people who believes the rumors as brainless, and I have to agree with him on this.  Even in modern time, people will believe whatever they want to believe about celebrities without using logic.

Can we take time to see how beautiful Yin Zheng look here?

Sexy CFT agrees and even brings up the fact that if the rumors were true, SXR would have been six feet under.  He knows his BIL very well.  Unfortunately, this does not change the fact that people will believe the gossip especially if the parties involved do not clarify the situation. CFT offers to remedy the situation by inviting SXR to sing at his son’s first birthday, where the commander will also be in attendance to celebrate his political win. SXR is honored to come sing for the Little Master and would have done so even without the added benefit.

We see two people walking and I smell trouble. The woman seems taken by the environment surrounding her, as if it is the first time she sees such luxury. Her husband is very sweet and soft-spoken and you can tell he is very much caring towards her. They are even holding hands like a pair of teenage lovers. Hmmm...could this provide a parallel between CFT and his wife?

Fan Lian greets them and we find out it’s the rumored couple mentioned in the gossip about SXR when he was still in Pingyang. The woman is Jiang Menping, Xirui’s former senior sister and her husband, Chang Zhixin, is Fan Lian and Er Nainai’s cousin. They have come to Beijing because the cousin works in government. Apparently the mention of Shuiyun is persona non grata around Meiping. She looks a shy and pensive woman, a complete contrast to the childlike and wild SXR.

They come to visit Er Nainai and CZX is taken by Er Nainai’s son, doting on him, which seems to sadden Meiping.  Er Nainai, after chatting incessantly about it until she notices Menping’s sad gaze. We learn she has been trying to get pregnant but her body is unhealthy or unable to produce children.  CZX showcases how much of a doting husband he is, stating that he actually does not like kids at all, which is a sweet lie.  He only wants her, nothing else.  Sigh...will I ever find someone like this.  

I digress...He adds that since he comes from a large family and had to deal with a lot of crying brats, he has grown to dislike kids.  You can tell he is saying this to make her feel good and she knows, but she is grateful and bask in his love. Er Nainai notices the sweet moment and you can tell she wishes that Er Ye was that loving. 

She gives Menping a pair of earrings as a wedding gift, which she could not attend.  Menping feels the jewelry is too luxurious, which makes me think they are a frugal type couple, despite the high level job he has and his aristocratic background. Er Nainai apologizes for her faux pas earlier, which Menping assures her it is okay.  CZX cannot stay a few moments away from his wife, acting all anxious as if she had disappeared.  She reminds him that it has only been 30 minutes, but in his mind, it felt like a day. I may get diabetes from all that sweetness. He quickly notices the earrings.  He tells Er Nainai that he notices everything about Menping, down to the details like new earrings. Oooh, the look of envy is all over Er Nainai’s face.

Is he for real??

We see Er Nainai trying out new earrings, obviously in the hopes that dashing CFT will notice.  Oh sis, your relationship is not the same as your cousin.  CFT comes in and thrown himself on the bed, fully clothed.  He looks like he had a full day. She helps him out of his jacket and tries to draw his attention to the earrings. Oh sis, i am telling you that you are wasting your time.  His heart eyes are not for you. He jokes that she looks chubbier (BRO!) and she pushes him back on the bed.  He wants to know what has gotten in her to make her irritated towards him. She pouts and walks back to her dresser, obviously disappointed that he did not notice the minute change. 

BRO! The last thing a woman wants to hear!

He’s like, okay fine, I am going to wash up, but by the way, next week is our son’s first birthday, so take care of the preparation, especially since my BIL will be coming for his big celebration. As he walks away, she mutters that she’s no better than a servant and takes off the earrings.

It’s the day of the Little Master’s birthday and Meixin is acting like a good hostess, guiding the servants and being the mistress of the house.  Apparently, Er Nainai is still pouting in her room.  One of the servants inform her the opera troupe is here and it is obvious that she has no idea who it is. By the way, let me pause again and talk about the fashion. Meixin’s dress and the mink she wears is gorgeous.  Good lord the details in this show!!!  Ok, so back to the program, she tells the servant to warn the maids not to go near the performers, again highlighting the prejudice carried against the performers, who were lower than even prostitutes.  Sigh, hierarchical societies are bleh. 

Meixin inquires about Er Nainai and right on cue, we see her, gazing into space, clearly still not over the fact that her husband does not pay full attention to her. Gurl, your marriage cannot be compared to that of your cousin! He married for love, while your husband married you for convenience.  Even if you are in love with him, the same cannot be said about him! He still showers you with affection and care, some people cannot even find that! 

Ugh, Meixin barges in and they have a little sister chat about the birds and the bees, the difference between men and women when it comes to love. Meixin wonders if she has a fever or something, and Er Nainai explains that she read an opera script (really sis?!) that claims if a woman has never or be loved, is she living in vain and I am sitting here, looking at myself, feeling forever alone... 

Sis, way to twist the knife in my wound

Meixin dismiss this nonsense, telling that most opera scripts are fake to fool young girls (that sounds familiar) and that as an housewife, she has obligations to fulfill. Er Nainai insists the stories are real and brings up the real reason why she feels out of sorts. 

 Meixin is like, the hell girl, why are you bringing this nonsense up? Did my brother offend you or something? Er Nainai says no, but she feels Fengtai is not like other men, which Meixin tells her it’s a good thing. 

 Every men are not supposed to be the same and Er Nainai acts like she’s a little girl. Meixin explains that some men are verbose with their love, while others carried in their hearts.  There are other men who sleeps around (hmmm is this a reference to novel Fengtai?) while others simply do not understand romance.

She thinks Fengtai is of the latter (maybe because he has not found the person to display his love to). Meixin reminds her of the type of man her brother is, someone who is bright and sensible, and she should be happy to have someone like this as a husband, instead of a gruff like Commander Cao.  No truer words spoken, sis!

Oh SIS! I hope you never see your husband’s face when he looks at his chubby cheeks bae.  You might be too mad to see such obvious display of adoration

Meanwhile Hot daddy CFT struts his stuff into the banquet area of his house, schmoozing to his guests.  Mr Hao Lan, who I believe is the head servant of the household, urges him to go outside and wait to greet the Commander. CFT tells him not to fret, the man of the hour will probably fashionably late. 

His mind quickly shifts to his bae and he inquires about the troupe.  As soon as he finds out there are already in his home, he goes out to check. Oh boy, the man is enamored, completely unaware that his wife is having a heart-to-heart about their relationship. 

He hears some of the singers fighting with their troupe leader, irritating Shang Lao Ban so much, he storms out. As soon as Xirui sees CFT, he is all smiles while CFT gives him his soft gaze that shows all the affection he has for our adorable divo.  Oh, if Er Nainai had seen this, she would have blown a casket.

If I could find a man who looks at me like Er Ye looks at Xirui

He claims to come and get a look at his bae check the preparations, wondering if it was bad time since he overheard the arguing. Sis, you are here to gaze at your crush

 SXR chuckles, dismissing the silly fight.  Er Ye tells him that he has hired photographers and reporters to help with dismissing the rumors. The headline, according to him will read “Shang Xirui’s beautiful voice caused Commander Cao to light up and smile”. Geez can I get a hype man like this? SXR is grateful at all the support CFT provided and wonders how he is going to repay him.

Sigh...

Right at this moment, the man of the hour arrives with all the pomp.  Lao Han rush CFT to the front door to greet the Commander. CFT reminds SXR that the rest is up to him to either fail or succeed in dispeling the rumors. SXR tells him not to worry and CFT replies with another one of his killer smiles. He runs to the door as Commander Cao steps out of the car. BIL tells him that he saw him running to greet him instead of waiting for him, all in jest.  

They clearly have a good relationship. CFT even jest that he doesn’t have another elder sister to give away for marriage when Commander Cao brings out all the gifts. Not to be outdone in the hilarious department, Cao tells him about the gift he brought to his little nephew and I swear I am endeared by the gruff old man when he describes the noise made by the toy train.  

Fan Lian is acting like the young master of the house, walking aimlessly towards the kitchen where he finds his cousins helping out. He’s like, what the hell are you guys doing? You are guests, not helpers! He tells them to go change and attend the banquet, hoping CXZ could rub shoulders with Old Cao for his career, but CXZ sounds like an honest politician.  

Commander Cao and Fengtai are jesting again, and you really feel their relationship is not based on hierarchy, but one of affection.  I think this is the first time I see a Republican Era drama that shows a warlord’s softer side.  Is this show for real???? They are discussing the tense relationship between his son, Cao Guixi who is also a top member of the army, and him.  Lol, he even calls him a son of a bitch, which makes CFT spit out the hazelnut out of his mouth. Apparently, the son is being ungrateful after his father gave him a golden ticket by sending him abroad, but he is turning out to be rebellious, even hanging out with sketchy people. 

Unfortunately for the Commander, since it’s his only heir, he can’t do much to suppress the young master. 

Oh, is the young master cause problem later?

Fengtai suggests that Commander impregnates his sister so she can give him another heir (no worries, this is said in jest) and he can shoot the current heir.  Fengtai asks why the Commander is so sweet with him (hmm because you are so damn charming, who can resist you?) while so stern with his son. The Commander does not want to talk his son because the latter infuriates him.  He then calls Fengtai using a feminized version of his name (Feng’er), which shows the kind of affection they have between each other.  Awww...Fengtai playfully acts embarrassed, which only prompts the Commander to yell out the girly nickname. LOL, I cannot! 

He then tells the Commander that he has brought Shang Xirui to perform for him, but if this offends him, he will send the troupe back.  He informs him of the situation the opera singer has found himself because of their nebulous past, but it seems, based on the Commander’s reaction, to be water under the bridge.  The Commander finds the gossip silly since he does not consider the lil divo as a worthy enemy.  Relieved, CFT tells him that he will make SXR sing a great piece for him and even apologizes, but the Commander knows the lil divo is a stubborn child who does not bend over for anyone.  The Commander requests a popular Shaanxi Opera called Qinqiang (I may actually make a post about the different operas). CFT orders the manager to inform SXR of the request.

SXR is not too happy about the sudden change, since he doesn’t have the right costume and makeup to perform this opera.  Oof, any creatives reading this will understand his fretting. We like to be perfect when we deliver our art and any last minute inconvenience can throw a major wrench in our delivery. 

Manager Han tells him it was a request from the Commander himself, so basically he has no choice. Despite having a well-know stubborn personality, SXR acquiesces, but he is not happy about it.  He knows he has no choice but to please the Commander since his future depends on it Even his troupe member comments at this overbearing commander’s unfair request.  SXR asks Xiao Lai if he should perform without all of his accoutrement, which best girl agrees. 

He is going to need far more food than the dainty offering from la casa de Cheng.  

She goes out to get something heavier, while Manager Han catches up with Meixin to let her know that her hubby is here.  She spots Xiao Lai and you know trouble is a-brewing.  She asks who that girl is as she looks familiar and learns which opera troupe was invite.  Realizing the impending trouble since Er Nainai’s cousins are also attending the banquet, she ask the manager to quickly fix this messy situation.

Ooph, there are so many good moments in this episode, especially with SXR calling out the minister for embezzlement, showing CFT that despite being a dan, he is no damsel.  We find out that he has martial art skills, which will probably be handy in later episodes.  We also finally get a chance to see the Commander and more family dynamics on CFT sides.  His relationship with this BIL is quite interesting and despite the obvious difference in status, they are quite affectionate with each other.  I feel like I am watching a more Westernized relationship than a typical Asian one.  Additionally, we get to see the much talked about Jiang Menping and her husband.  Their relationship is again a very Westernized lovey-dovey relationship, that of love, not one of arranged marriage, which contrast immensely to Fengtai-Er Nainai’s relationship.  This makes Er Nainai yearns for such devotion from her husband, which we know she will not get since a lil divo has bursted into the scene and crept up inside CFT’s heart.  I feel for her, you can tell she has love for her husband, but she is equally naive when it comes to relationship and how to deal with men in general.  She is after all a very conservative woman, who unlike her well-cultured husband, represents the vestiges of a fallen dynasty and society, that is still trying to hang on desperately.  I sense trouble brewing between Xirui, the cousins and Commander Cao

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS Episode 10 (LOUIS)

So I think one of the main reasons a lot of people were confused by this episode (well other than misleading subtitles......) was because a lot of us had our own long-time theories/assumptions about what Louis is or what a Rinne is, and this episode turned out a bit different from what we were all expecting. (I got a lot of messages that were like “But I always thought that...”) I think you have to let your past assumptions go in order to take this episode in. A few of my long-time assumptions were proved wrong by this episode as well.

Although, given this post does still include statements that are my own interpretations, if you think I’m wrong about something please feel free to speak up. (But also please include evidence from Rainbow Live if applicable, etc.) I’m afraid I may have to go back and edit this post several times, especially after whenever the director starts releasing interviews about all this. 

There is a tl;dr at the end, but I really hope most of you guys read all of this. I know it’s long, but the Crunchyroll subs for this episode are just....... so bad...... by far the worst....

I wasn’t really able to keep track of the the scores when I was watching this in theaters, so I actually didn’t realize what a big deal Joji’s score was until this scene at this moment. It’s why I tried to start a dialogue about it earlier. 

Kinda funny how Kokoro, Mondo, Mitsuba, and Tsurugi’s scores are almost exactly the same. It makes them feel all the more like manufactured prism stars.... (not really their fault, it’s how Schwarz Rose does things....) 

I’m going to skip over talking about the scene with Jin and Sanada because I think it’s best saved to discuss in a future episode. Don’t worry, we’ll deal with Jin later.

HE’S SO HAPPY AND CONFIDENT AND EVERYONE BELIEVES IN HIM........................................................................................ 

The translator doesn’t really understand prism sparkle, causing a lot of confusing dialogue in the subs, but I suppose that’s kind of to be expected for anyone that didn’t watch Rainbow Live. 

I’m pretty sure the intended meaning here was: If they can’t fix Rinne then the prism sparkle will disappear, which would mean the end of the prism world, and the prism gods, etc.

Um no, I think they said F-type here. Rinne keeps falling in love with male stars because she’s “F-type”. 

My understanding of the scene is: the Rinnes keep falling in love, which is keeping them from spreading the prism sparkle and leading to destruction of the prism world. But the gods hesitate to make an M-type prism messenger since there is a “dark history” with that. So they just change the basics (like appearance) of Rinne to be male, while keeping the rest of the coding the same, and..... 

....Also restore the memory to hopefully “avoid problems”.

(The subs say “back up” here which isn’t so off, but a bit misleading. I believe the Japanese is 復原 or 復元 = restore and they do say lit: “memory”, not data. I guess the translator was thinking in computery terms.) 

So this explains why Louis is male and has memories of the past, even though they say Rinnes lose their memory in Rainbow Live.  

He’s a Rinne, just a different version. 

And because he has those memories, he immediately begins looking for....

Turned? What do the subs mean by “turned”? 

The word used here was 復活 = to be revived/resurrected. 

I guess the translator thought Shine went to the dark side or something, but he went to the dark side long ago. (Either that or this was supposed to be “returned” and that was a typo.) 

This scene is taking place in the Pride the Hero-ish era and the prism gods are asking Louis WTF he’s doing awakening Shine (by giving Shin the pendant and whatnot). 

So. I read a while back in a director interview in the “Ready Sparking” fanbook that Louis’ mission was “to kill Shin”.

Which didn’t make any sense to me. Rinne in the flashback in Pride the Hero says she’ll find Shine again, so why would she find him just to kill him again? Why would Louis go to all the trouble of giving Shin the pendant and awakening his powers JUST TO KILL HIM? 

But now in this scene it makes sense. Louis’ mission was not to kill Shin(e) to begin with. He was intended to be just a regular prism messenger trying to spread the prism sparkle UNTIL THIS SCENE when his mission changed, because he decided to divert from his mission and awaken Shine without permission.  

So the spoiler I read was technically true, but not in the way it seemed. He did not specifically come like an angel of death to kill Shin(e). (A huge load off my mind.) But in between the ending of the first movie and Crazy Gonna Crazy, things changed. 

Once again, misunderstanding of prism sparkle. The way they subbed this, it sounds like he was told not to expand the brilliance of Shine because what “its” refers to is not clear............ It should have been more like: “Your mission now is the elimination of Shine. There is no need to worry about spreading the prism radiance anymore.”

None of this is readable in the theater ahah... Every time I saw Part 4, I always thought I’d be able to read a bit more of it and I never did. 

But yeah, I’m not sure if we knew before that Hijiri’s mother was deceased....? (Did we?) 

Edit: Lol nevermind we did.  

I heard some people saying that Shin(e) was a Rinne, so I just want to take a second to clarify this. 

Shine is not a Rinne. Shine is a Shine: A now defunct male prism messenger program. He’s a separate program from Rinne, and they were meant to exist together. (Unlike Rinne and June, who were both Rinnes and thus caused an error by existing at the same time in the same world in Rainbow Live.) 

Woah. I’m not sure, but I think they cleared up his face here to make it more obvious how much he looks like Shin...... I think I remember it being too dark to see his eyes well in the theatrical version...? ??

But anyway, the rule for prism messengers not being allowed to perform before an audience (and also the reason why) is something that was previously established in Rainbow Live.  

So I think the subs were absolutely fine for this part. My understanding of it was that after erasing Shine, Rinne gets stuck in a loop where she keeps self destructing because she’s trying to find Shine. 

This makes the prism gods decide to delete her memory. They also task her with guiding male stars as well, since Shine cannot fill that role anymore. This is why the Rinnes in the Rainbow Live era have their memory deleted, and what also unintentionally laid the groundwork for June to fall in love with Hijiri I believe. 

And because the Rinnes kept falling in love like June is why they re-wrote the program to be Louis to try and prevent this and also gave him the memories of the past Rinnes so he will supposedly know what not to do. (But the unintended effect of this is that the memories of the past Rinnes also gave him the memory of Shine, causing Louis to search for Shine again.) 

Which is why I’m confused as to why the very next scene is Louis staring at the pendant looking confused like he doesn’t recognize it or something? Because I thought from the earlier scene where Louis was created, he immediately set off looking for Shine after the Rinne -> Louis update? Am I just misreading his expression here or did I miss something? I don’t know. 

Edit: OMFG IM AN IDIOT. THE SCARF. This scene isn’t taking place right after Louis was created. It’s taking place right after Crazy Gonna Crazy. He’s looking at the pendant which fell from Shin after their show. It’s meant to transition into the events which happen after Louis re-seals Shine I guess. They could have made this a bit more clear. 

If you thought why the F is Kokoro here well WHY YES. YES THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE OTOHA 

but putting that aside

I believe this scene was supposed to establish that Louis knows the Rainbow Live girls. He has the past memory of Rainbow Live era Rinne, but he can’t really do anything about it........... (It’s not like he can just go talk to them as Louis.....)

But his expression is so unreadable it’s hard to tell. 

He gives Shin back his powers to jump geez Crunchyroll.

(But for anyone wondering how mix-ups like this can even occur in the first place, a lot of sentences in Japanese don’t have subjects in them. Therefore, if you don’t know.... the context.............................) 

Maybe the translator chose this wording in the context of prism messengers being forbidden to be seen on stage. But as much as I appreciate that, it’s wrong. In this scene Louis is saying that he physically cannot perform. (He’s a fallen prism messenger now, so the rules don’t matter.)

Okay, I’ll take a moment to explain this just in case, since it is not explained outright:

When Louis broke his connection with the prism world and lost his rainbow feathers in Pride the Hero, he made the same decision June did when she ripped off her wings in Rainbow Live. He chose Shin(e) over his mission. He disobeyed orders and cut himself off from the prism gods in order to do things in his own way.

But whenever a prism messenger makes this decision, their rainbow feathers are replaced by the night dream feathers. The night dream feathers take life away. 

(Screencap from Rainbow Live episode 43.)

In other words, ever since Louis pulled out his earring in Pride the Hero he has slowly began to die.....

Although this is never stated clearly within the main King of Prism series, there are several ways you could have picked up on it before this episode. 

First of all, like I said before we have already been through this with June in Rainbow Live. 

Second, across the Road to SSS events on Prism Rush we have steadily seen Louis getting weaker and weaker. At first he was just tired and fell asleep after the Schwarz Rose opening ceremony in Road to SSS 1, but then his deteriorating condition was made crystal clear in his Queen of Glass PR story from Road to SSS 4, in which Louis plans a date with Shin only to collapse and unwittingly stand him up. 

And then eventually by the time we get to Road to SSS 9, Louis cannot even gather the energy to perform at all unless it’s with Shin. And we got this whole scene with a weakened Louis begging Shin to perform with him.

But even after their performance is a success and they win the Tokyo Kizuna Beat Climax, by the time we get to Road to SSS 10 Louis is so weak they miss the finals. 

Finally, Louis being a fallen prism messenger is directly confirmed in literally the opening scene of King of Prism SSS. 

So if you saw this scene and your reaction was something more like “Oh look it’s Louis... are his wings different?” and not “LOUIS IS DYING” then well.... That’s exactly why I’m always telling you guys to watch Rainbow Live.......................

Although, there was a bit of confusion over these feathers even for people who watched Rainbow Live so don’t feel too bad if that’s you. Some people thought Shin had the night dream feathers in Pride the Hero, or that Rinne had them in the end of Rainbow Live. 

But no. The regular star-type feathers are dark blue too. (Generic, lower level feathers than the rainbow ones.(?))

There are only two characters to have the night dream feathers. And they are: June in Rainbow Live and Louis in SSS. Both fallen prism messengers. 

And buried in the midst of all this Louis drama and deep lore is my probably favorite Joji line of all time. Seriously the Joji in this scene is best Joji and I cannot not laugh no matter how much I’m suffering. 

Okay so. Here is what I do not understand about this episode and would be thrilled if someone could explain it to me. If Yamada-san knew Wataru Hibiki, then Shine could not have been sealed that long ago. I actually searched my fanbooks/magazine collection until I found one which listed Yamada-san’s age as 24. So he’s probably 25 now. So this scene could not have taken place more than 20 years ago (and even that is generous). 

So what the heck was all that 1,000 years thing about? Is that just the amount of time Rinne and Shine knew each other? Or does time just not flow in a straight line for prism messengers when they are skipping in and out of different worlds? 

WOAH

WOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHIN’S PHONE BACKGROUND IS DIFFERENT 

Okay you’re just going to have to believe me on this, BUT I SWEAR Shin’s phone background in the theatrical version is a photo of his hand holding the pendant. Which seems like a weird choice for a background right? But I had a theory on it that I was gonna discuss here. And that theory is that Shin wanted some kind of a background that reminded him of Louis, and that was all he had. (He couldn’t straight up use a picture of Louis because he didn’t want the other boys to question it.)

But TV version Shin, HE JUST WENT FOR IT. NO SHAME. DAMN BOY. 

I can’t help but wonder why Shin still feels like he has to hide his relationship with Louis here, considering if Road to SSS is canon like it seems to be then they all saw Shin and Louis perform together at the Kizuna Beat Climax a few months ago. 

But I guess in between the Prism King Cup and the start of the Prism One tensions rose with Schwarz Rose again, so maybe he’s worried about that?

Or maybe there is a possibility that maybe he would talk about it if it was anyone but Leo asking. What with how Leo is. 

(I know the real reason is probably just because for plot convenience/the casual viewer hasn’t read Road To SSS but shhhhhhhhhhhh.)

I’m sorry but, man I do not like this outfit. And not because it’s basically girls clothing. If Naru wore it I would hate it too. It’s just kinda ugly IMHO. (It’s not an existing Pretty Rhythm coord is it?)

Original brand glasses Shin is cute as heck though. 

I like how he just keeps his same damn clothes he’s been wearing the entire time in SSS and just glasses + hat = done. Pfft. 

Shin and Louis saw a PriPara movie together. 

(Prism Tours is the name of the first PriPara movie, which included different courses of Pretty Rhythm shows/flashbacks shown on different weeks in theaters back in 2015. The “flavor” Over the Rainbow animation seen in the first King of Prism movie was actually reused from Prism Tours, and increased attendance to the prism boys course of that movie including that scene was one of the main reasons King of Prism was greenlit in the first place. So I wonder if this is actually a reference to that.)

This crazy umbrella street is apparently based on a real place in Nagasaki (nowhere near Tokyo).

I just happened to catch a Tweet about it right after Part 4 came out.

So..... I actually wasn’t as excited for Shin and Louis’ date as you would think I’d be. I spent a while thinking about it and I came up with a couple reasons. First of all, even though this is the first date they have had in the main series, in the side materials.... they date all the time. Like seriously! In my mind they have already been dating for years so this was like just another date. 

Second.... honestly...... I don’t really ship Shin and Louis all that much anymore. Or at least not in the way I used to. My feelings about them peaked somewhere in the Pride the Hero era, and have been quietly declining since. And this scene basically sealed it. Their relationship just isn’t what I thought it was. I know in this episode Louis realizes he loves Shin and not Shine, but he took such a long time to reach that conclusion and I’m just so uncomfortable about their relationship being originally based on Rinne’s relationship with Shine. Which was not a healthy relationship. 

Also! It wasn’t 1,000 years since they have seen each other dammit! It was like 20! AT MOST! Right????? Yeah that’s a long time for mortals, but not for a being like Louis that lives for thousands of years. 

Anyway before you send me hate, just know that I’m definitely not saying Shin and Louis shouldn’t be together and I’m certainly not saying that you should agree with me. Both of them deserve happiness, especially Louis. I’m just saying I personally am not as passionate about them the way I used to be. 

But even so....

That didn’t stop me from going to find the location of this scene when I was in Tokyo last week! 

So did Shin pass the smell test or not? Because Louis.... I guess technically........... (nevermind..... not gonna open up that can of worms right now...........)

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SHOW MAKES ME SO SAD

(Especially thinking about what happens next.) 

 Louis is not at his peak performance condition here. He’s not performing a serious competitive show. Heck, he’s just wearing casual clothing. 

He’s finally realized he loves Shin and not Shine................  All he wants to do is just relive his date with Shin................ THATS ALL.....................

WTF THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS ONE 

THIS IS THE MOST BLATANT MISTRANSLATION YET 

He says 君は僕を殺すことができない = You cannot kill me 

Shine tells Rinne (Louis) that she cannot kill him because that would erase Shin’s memories too. He knows Louis cannot stand to lose Shin.

NO

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HE JUST WANTED TO RECREATE HIS DATE WITH SHIN

HE JUST WANTED TO DO A FUN LITTLE SHOW ABOUT HOW HE LOVES SHIN

THAT’S ALL

WHY

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 

It took me a long time to appreciate it considering WHAT JUST HAPPENED but this YABEEEEEEEE from Sanada is pretty hilarious. 

This is unfortunately (?) another moment ruined by the new ending music. 

In the theatrical version, this moment is dead silent and it makes it all the more apparent the.... change which has just taken place. It is terrifying. 

But regardless. Now you can probably guess why episode 11 is so painful for me and any fans of Shin..................................

*deep breath*

Okay so. Let’s review. 

Here is my tl;dr of the timeline, from my understanding:

The Rinne/Shine program is created with Rinne for female stars and Shine for male ->  Shine breaks the rules and so Rinne has to erase him -> But Rinne doesn’t erase him completely and promises to find him again -> The Rinne program gets stuck in a loop where she keeps freezing/self destructing because she's trying to find Shine ->  The gods decide to start erasing the memory of the Rinnes -> Rinne keeps falling in love with male stars since she's in charge of male stars now too ->   The events of Rainbow Live happen -> The gods decide to alter the Rinne program to make the body male and restore the memory of the past Rinnes to fix this, creating Louis -> Since Louis has the memory of the past Rinnes he goes to find Shine again -> The events of King of Prism : Louis begins the process of resurrecting Shine in Shin ->  The gods find out and order him to delete Shine again -> Louis still cannot finish the job and cuts himself off from the prism gods, becoming like June -> Louis realizes he loves Shin not Shine but.... -> Louis’ weakened state allows Shine to fully resurrect, and.....

So. There is more to this. But if you would like to come to your own conclusions about what just happened in that final scene and go into the next episode blind, this post is over. Thanks for joining me this far!! 

But if you would like me to explain some more things using spoilers not revealed until the next episode, keep scrolling. 

Obviously you don’t have to!

It’s up to you! 

I just kinda feel like I owe it to you guys. 

(Since I was lucky enough to get my major questions answered right away and not have to wait a week like you guys do.)

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Ready?

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Episode 11 spoilers start here

So I first saw Part 4 on like, 3 hours sleep. So as you can imagine I was having a really hard time taking all this in. And when that last scene happened I was basically plunged into the darkest depths of absolute horror. To think all this time I had been worried about Louis hurting Shin. The opposite had never ever crossed my mind. 

In my first viewing what I thought happened was that Shin had just regained his memories and killed Louis. And for 30 seconds or so, I seriously considered walking out of the theater. Not that I didn’t plan to ever finish watching it, but I just felt I was not ready and needed time to cry and take this all in before continuing to the next episode at the next showing. I was so close and literally the only reason I didn’t leave was because I just didn’t want other people to see me walking out. So I stuck with it and forced myself through the next two episodes. 

And I’m glad I did. Because that’s not what happened. 

The next episode makes it very clear that Shin and Shine are two different people. Shin did not get any memories back in the final scene. Shin is Shin, and Shine is Shine. 

From what I can gather, Shin was born with Shine sealed inside him. He’s like the host. (Whether this technically makes him a reincarnation or not, I’m not sure.) Shin has never had any contact with Shine, but Shine has always been watching life through Shin’s eyes.

The Shin we see walking off at the end of episode 10 is Shine controlling Shin’s body. From the moment he says “Rinne.....” Shine is in control, and Shin as we know him is unconscious. Shin has no memory of the things he does while Shine is controlling him. 

Also, the act of Shine destroying Rinne’s feathers did not kill Louis back there. But as you can imagine, he’s in bad, BAD shape right now.....