#why is every explanation we get constantly being contradicted left and right

[max-the-silly-guy]

Has anyone stopped to think how the whole possession thing with Newton and the Titans actually worked

Like genuinely, with every cutscene the previous fact gets contradicted (yes I'm talking to you Papal Mache)

It's constantly jumping from "we have to defeat the Titans, they're controlling Newton like a puppet!1!1!" to "we have to defeat Newton before he takes over Bunkum!!1!1!"

Please make up your mind I'm losing track of what's going on

During the cutscene where Newton is finally free from their control he looks up all weak and confused and says, and I quote "What's going on? I feel weird," as though he truly has no idea what just happened like he isn't aware of his surroundings or anything

When he looks up and sees the Purple Titan, he is not only terrified, but genuinely shocked and confused. And you can tell that just by his voice

And don't even get me started on Newton's Bulb Explored, that one single cutscene throws so many questions that will most likely never get answered.

The whole concept of the Titans tormenting Newton inside the mind kinda confuses me. While they were there mocking him and shit and Newton was there too then.. who was controlling his body exactly? Was he on fuckinh autopilot while going through what's basically a more fucked up version of Inside Out like SUMO DIGITAL PLEAS EXPLAIN??2?1?2?2?

When Newton is overexaggerating the fight with the Titans trying to potray himself as a good guy he seems to only talk about what happened after he was free from their control, as if he truly recalls NOTHING about ANYTHING

But then on the other hand, throughout the game where Newton is under their control he still refers to himself as well, himself. There's no 'us' or 'we' while taking about himself (since he's basically multiple beings in a single body, a bit like Darcy from Amphibia) he's still using singular pronouns and just 'Newton'.

Was this downright possession? Simple manipulation or the Titans using his own weaknesses to force him to commit evil?? Was he not aware of what happened or WAS he able to see everything and simply lost his memory PLEAS SOMEONE TELL ME IM NOT GOING INSANE OVERNANALYZINH THSI

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Yup, Sure Was a Finale

I had an epiphany. The reason why I never re-watched the final two parts of Sozin’s Comet even though I’ve popped in episodes at random many times over the years isn’t that I can’t bear the sadness of seeing one of the best, most engaging narratives out there come to an end.

It’s simply that the finale isn’t all that good.

Some honorable mentions of what was enjoyable.

(+) This

Just this.

(+) The Church of Zutara has another convert

“Are you sure they don’t get together?” Hubster, 2020

(+) The tragedy of Azula

And the fact that it’s acknowledged as such. I hope Zuko will do his best to get her help and have a relationship with her…

(+) Sokka being a big bro

And the whole airship sequence in general. It’s wonderfully paced and plotted, with moments of humor, real stakes, Toph being both badass and a scared crying kid, Sokka strategizing and protecting, Suki saving the day, and non-benders being instrumental in thwarting the bad guy firebender’s plans. Would be shame if Bryke never portrayed them this capable ever again…

And now for the main course.

(-) Blink and its over

The wrap-up feels too quick (hashtag Needs More ROtK-style False Endings). A part of this is due to how fast the story goes from the thick of the action to hastily tying up a bunch of loose ends, but the larger issue is how Book 3’s uneven pacing comes home to roost. After spending half a season on filler episodes that at best subtly flesh out established characters while dancing around a huge lionturtle-shaped hole, and at worst contradict the theme of “no one is born bad” with “you’re a hot mess because your great-grandfathers didn’t get along too well”, the frantic “go go go” rush of the second half screeches to a halt with “they won and everyone was happy because now the right people have power and it will be all good from now on yup nothing more to deal with baiiiii”.

Yes, I know, it’s a kids’ show. But goddamn, this particular kids’ show has proven so many times it can do better than the expected tropiness. Showing the characters in their roles as builders of a new world was the least that could have been done.

Oh well!

(-) Ursa

We’ll never know. There will never be a story that delves into this. Yup. Shall forever remain but an intriguing mystery. Is good, though. Mystery is better than a story where Ursa shares her son’s penchant for forgetfulness. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. Speaking of which…

(-) What does Mai see in this jerkbender?

Look, I like to harp a lot on the mess of inconsistent writing that’s Mai but let’s unpack this scene from her perspective, shall we?

Zuko forgot about her! It totally slipped his mind that the one person who prioritized the safety of his dumb ass was rotting in the worst prison in the Fire Nation—because of him! And she was rotting there long enough after the final Agni Kai for the news of Zuko’s upcoming coronation to spread and her uncle to feel sufficiently secure to release her. But then the coronation scene is attended by every single member of Gaang & Friends that was imprisoned?

So what this tells me is that either a) the invasion force had the ability to break themselves out the whole time and for some reason decided not to exercise it until after the war was over, b) Zuko forgot about them as well and no one thought to remind him there were prisons full of POWs until Mai arrived, or, and that’s even better, c) Zuko took care to free every single resistance fighter while making sure Mai would be the one to stay behind bars.

Never thought I’d say this but Mai? Honey? You deserve so much better.

(-) “What does Katara want?”

Asked no one in the writers’ room ever, apparently.

This is not so much anti Cataang as anti romance stories that pay attention to the needs, opinions, and wants of only one partner in general. Over the previous 60 episodes, Katara actively expressed romantic interest in Aang exactly, wait for it,

Once.

And it got retconned out of relevance by the following two interactions where the possibility of a romantic relationship came up, making the Headband dance pretty easy to reclassify as just one of those examples where Aang “teaches” Katara to have fun (as if one of the main obstacles to her having fun wasn’t him constantly fooling around and offloading his duties). And because the writers not only didn’t succeed in portraying Katara’s internal state of mind, but also failed to root her reluctance to pursue a relationship in outside circumstances that could change, her sudden state of unconfused once Aang steps into the spotlight has a single canonical explanation that as much as approaches coherency.

The fact is, though, that trying to interpret canon Cataang from a Watsonian perspective is an exercise in foolishness. Because there is no Watsonian justification for the ship and never has been. Bryke simply conceived of Katara as nothing but a tropey prize for Aang, never saw her as anything beyond that, and were perfectly happy to go on and immortalize her as a passive broodmare for the rest of her life.

And I fully intend to die mad about it.

(-) Iroh dips

OK, it’s been long apparent that the show doesn’t intend to do anything about Iroh’s complicity in AzulOzai’s regime in any meaningful way, and that his sole motivation for doing anything whatsoever is Zuko whom he views as a replacement son which is supposed to be good for some reason. But the finale has him abandon even that, and instead turns him full-on YOLO, idgaf anymore. It really throws Iroh’s supposed love for Zuko into doubt when his last act in the entire show is to take a half-educated 16-year old with no political savvy or an heir to secure a dynastic continuity and plomp him on the throne of a war-mongering imperialist regime where the entirety of the militarist and ruling class is guaranteed to fight him tooth and nail for power.

(I sure hope Mai’s ready to start popping out babies by tea-time otherwise the whole country is fukd in about a week)

Christ, how hard would it be to have Iroh keep the throne warm for a few years while Zuko is getting ready to succeed him? Not only would it make the whole FN reformation bit quite likelier to occur, it would require Iroh’s hedonistic ass to actually sacrifice something for once. And not having Zuko ascend to power, instead spending some time bettering and educating himself first, would be a wonderful message that no matter what you endured and overcame, you never stop growing. A kids’ show, remember?

(-) The conquering of Ba Sing Se

Gee, I feel so blessed to have my attention diverted from battlefields which actually matter to an old dude vanity project I would have been perfectly happy to assume resolved itself off-screen.

The White Lotus in general just bugs me. I was fine with the individual characters and their overall passivity when they were portrayed as lone dissenters living under circumstances where it wasn’t really possible for any single person to mount a meaningful resistance. But as members of a far-reaching shadowy organization that’s left the real fight to a bunch of kids for 59 episodes straight and didn’t turn up until a perfect opportunity presented itself to take control of the largest city in the world and bask in the spotlight?

Yeah, no.

Similarly to the lionturtle-ex-machina, the White Lotus represents a huge missed opportunity for a season-long storytelling. Here’s just a brief list of what they could have been doing throughout Book 3:

orchestrating a Fire Nation uprising;

gathering those directly persecuted by AzulOzai’s regime to help Zuko keep his hold on power once he’s crowned;

establishing themselves as a viable alternative to Ozai;

sabotaging Fire Nation’s war efforts from the inside;

countering Fire Nation propaganda (Asha Greyjoy’s pinecones, anyone?);

running a supply network to alleviate the suffering of Earth Kingdom citizens.

Instead, they sit on their asses until the time comes to claim personal glory.

You know what, good on Bryke for making me conclude that in comparison, the Freedom Fighters were perfectly unproblematic, actually.

(-) Fire Lord Dead-by-Dawn

Yes, a kids’ show, I know! But ffs, this is the same kids’ show that came up with Long Feng and portrayed courtly intrigue, kingly puppets, secret police, spy networks, and information wars. Was it really too much of me to expect something other than “enlightened despot solves everything”? Especially if said enlightened despot has persisting anger issues, no personal support system, no base of followers, and no political experience whatsoever?

If Zuko’s actually serious about regaining the Fire Nation’s honor (i.e. by dismantling the country’s military machine, decolonizing the Earth Kingdom, paying reparations to everyone and their lemur, and funding any and all cultural restoration projects Aang and the SWT come up with), then there is no way, no way in the universe that he doesn’t face a civil war, deposing, and execution within a month.

One reason why his future as a Fire Lord seems rather bleak is that little’s been shown about the actual subjects of AzulOzai’s regime. While we get a vague reassurance that “no Toph, they’re not born bad” (le shockings), they largely remain a voiceless uniform mass of brainwashed clapping seals. What is their view on the Fire Nation’s crimes? Do they associate their condition with their country’s war-mongering? How will they react when Zuko starts dismantling the country piece by piece to rebuild it, bringing it to economic ruin? What will they do when noble Ozai loyalists come out of the woodwork and begin rounding them up under the banner of “Make the Fire Nation Great Again?”

I have no idea, and Zuko doesn’t either because he’s unironically more qualified to rule the Earth Kingdom than his own people.

You know what would have been better? Fire Lord Iroh, White Lotus pulling the strings to maintain the regime, and Crown Prince/People’s Champion Zuko travelling the Fire Nation with Aang and an army of tutors to promote the new boss, only to realize that absolute monarchy is kinda crap for the people he’s one day supposed to rule and gaining their support by ceding some power to them.

I’d laser holes into my TV due to how much I’d enjoy watching that.

(-) All hail Avatar Rock

Literally and metaphorically. Aang doesn’t sacrifice anything, gets everything, and the clever solution of going about getting said everything is handed to him on a silver platter, requiring no active participation on his part whatsoever.

He doesn’t work to unblock his chakras, spiritually or physically.

He only speaks to his past lives to get a pat on the back and a bow-tied solution he could mindlessly follow.

Energy-bending doesn’t require any sacrifice from him, leaves no lasting marks, and only serves for the narrative to praise him as the rare individual that’s unbendable and thus so very very special.

The most infuriating thing is, however, that Aang is clearly shown as being able to beat Ozai without either the Avatar state, or energy-bending.

And he chooses not to. From this moment on, Aang no longer fights to save the world. He fights to preserve his beliefs, going directly against the instructions of his past lives and effectively reneging on his duties as the Avatar.

Again.

It’s not like you can’t portray Aang’s faithfulness to his spiritual beliefs as the key to beating Ozai and saving the world. But that’s not what the show did. There is no link between Aang sparing Ozai and securing a better future, quite to the contrary—Ozai’s survival ends up being a massive problem for the continuation of Zuko’s rule, and consequently a threat to the world at large. His survival benefits Aang and no one else.

Aang’s spiritual purity and his status as a savior of the world are allowed to coexist only due to a deliberate stroke of a writer’s pen.

And I hate it.

Welp, nothing to do about it now except to bury myself up to my tits in fix-it fics I guess.

[cuddlepilefics]

Sick at Work

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Changbin

Caregivers: 2basco

Prompt @sicktember

No one's POV.:

Changbin had caught a small cold a few days ago. It wasn't really that much of a bother to him, mostly just a slightly runny nose along with a faint scratchiness in his throat. He had made sure to take hot showers every day and to stay hydrated. However, as days passed, the rapper couldn't help but feel progressively worse. When he woke up this morning, his head felt heavy with congestion and his hearing was starting to sound muffled. His head was aching from the pressure but he forced himself out of bed to join his group for their schedule. As he was slowly becoming more awake, he noticed the irritated itch in his nose that became harder to ignore by the minute. Feeling a bit chilled, Changbin decided to put on one of his thickest hoodies. Right when he pulled it over his head, the tickle in his nose became unbearable. Unable to see with clothing covering his face, he pitched forwards, sneezing. Bumping his had on the door of his closet in the process, Changbin barely managed to suppress a curse before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Getting ready, Changbin's morning routine was frequently interrupted by his urge to sneeze. He had barely been awake for half an hour, yet he had already sneezed more than he had done in the past few days. Simply running his sleeve under his nose was enough to set him off again and the rapper was starting to dread going to work today. He didn't feel sick enough to stay at the dorm but he was so annoyingly sneezy, which would be really bothering, considering that 3racha wanted to work on some stuff in the studio and recording was certainly not going to go smoothly with him sneezing every few seconds. When Changbin was ready to head out, he met Chan in the kitchen, making coffee. Changbin got himself a cup too, hoping it would clear the fog in his head a bit. "How are you feeling today?", Chan asked, taking in his dongsaeng's tired face. Changbin shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee before replying: "Let's just put it this way, you're gonna get tired of saying 'bless you' reeeaal fast." – "That bad?", the leader frowned, eyebrows knitting together in concern. The younger shook his head with a sniffle, turning aside to sneeze immediately after. "Ndo, jus' really sneezy", the rapper forced out, scrubbing at his reddening nose with the cuff of his sleeve, only triggering another sneeze. Raising his eyebrow at Changbin, Chan questioned: "Are you sure you can work through this? You know, it's always fine to take a breather when you're sick." – "I'm sure. Don't even really feel sick. My nose is just so sensitive, it's annoying", the younger pouted, so his hyung decided to drop the topic.

Not much later, Jisung joined the two and they headed to the studio together. Changbin shivered lightly on the way there as the weather had gotten colder recently and the wind was picking up. His poor nose was already raw from him constantly scrubbing at it but it seemed like the only way to satisfy the annoying tickle. By the time they made it to the studio, he had already gone through an entire travel pack of tissues and had to go to the restroom to stuff his pockets with toilet paper. "You alright? You've taken a while", Chan asked worriedly when Changbin finally joined them. The truth was, Changbin had had a bad sneezing fit while at the restroom. Since he didn't want his friends to witness that, he stayed there to wait it out, blowing his nose a few times in hopes of getting rid of the congested feeling in his sinuses before washing his hands and joining them. Changbin nodded, already bringing his sleeve up to his face again, sniffling: "I-I'm fine, jus – jus' needed to h-hESSH! Huh - hEGSHU! Just needed to sneeze and blow by ndose." The other two blessed him and nodded in understanding before starting to work on some lyrics.

While Chan and Jisung seemed to be having a good time, really getting some lyrics down, Changbin was struggling. He couldn't focus on anything really. To him it seemed like his head was filled with cotton, making it impossible to grasp a solid thought. It also didn't help that he kept turning away to sneeze, which resulted in him being distracted from what he was doing again. The only thing that he remained aware of the entire time was his itchy nose and how painfully raw the skin around it had become. Chan had offered him a few more times to go home and rest but Changbin kept resisting. He wasn't that sick, right? Soon they had enough lyrics to start recording and the leader started to set up the microphone, while Changbin was beyond frustrated with himself. Neither had he been able to come up with any useful lyrics, nor would he be able to really record anything because his voice sounded so pathetically stuffy. Jisung would probably be the one recording the lines, while Chan went straight to editing them. Changbin was left to give the younger advice but other than that, all he could do was beat himself up for not really contributing anything to their work. That didn't mean he'd go home though.

Jisung was just about to start recording the first line, when Changbin held up his hand, signaling for him to wait. The younger looked at him curiously, watching his hyung's eyes flutter shut, mouth hanging slightly agape. "I-I nh-heed to sneeze", Changbin panted, breath hitching uncontrollably. "Yeah, I think the whole world knows that by now", Jisung teased. Eyes watering, the older twisted to the side roughly: "hESH! KGSH! N'gsCH! *sniff* sorry." – "Bless you", Chan sighed, studying his dongsaeng's face to figure out if it was safe for Jisung to start recording now. They went ahead with their recording but it was a slow process, frequently interrupted by Changbin's sneezes. Though it was disturbing their work, Chan and Jisung were mainly just worried for their friend. He couldn't possibly feel alright while sneezing that much. His nose was bright pink by now and his face looked blank and tired, almost as though he was asleep in his chair but his eyes were open, indicating that the rapper was indeed awake. Though his eyes were open, they looked distant, holding a sickly gloss. Changbin didn't look well at all but he had refused to go home earlier.

Changbin himself was mainly frustrated. Sure, he felt miserable but overall, he was frustrated with himself. He wasn't contributing anything to their work as a group, instead holding his friends back with his frequent sniffles. Going home didn't seem like an option though. He wasn't that sick and certainly wouldn't milk a cold just to get out of work. "Bin, seriously, just go home. You can't tell me you feel well because your sneezing is contradicting that", Chan sighed, turning away from his laptop. Jisung agreed: "You look awful and tired. Please get some rest." Changbin bit his lip, feeling guilty for holding his friends back. He was convinced they were annoyed at him at this point and he couldn't blame them but it still hurt him that they were trying to get rid of him. "Yah! Stop bossing me around!", he snapped, his eyes going unfocused immediately after before he turned to the side to sneeze. The other two were taken aback at their friend's sudden outburst. His face showed clear anger, the watery look in his eyes the only thing that kept him from being intimidating. He had been rather harsh when telling them off earlier too. Whenever they'd tell him to take a break, his demeanor would suddenly turn cold.

"Alright, I won't be telling you what to do anymore. You're an adult, decide for yourself. Make yourself miserable, I don't care", Chan stated coldly. He and Jisung then continued working, barely paying attention to Changbin. "Aish, we've been working for a while already. We should really eat something, shouldn't we?", the leader contemplated. He and Jisung then started a longer discussion about food, Changbin however was barely listening to them. He was trying to hold back his tears, his hyung's words having stung more than he wanted to admit. He couldn't even tell why his emotions were so all over the place today. The next thing he knew was Jisung leaving the studio. "Where's he going?", he muttered confused, squinting after the younger with watering eyes. Keeping his face clear of any emotion, Chan turned to him and replied: "If you had listened, you'd know that Sungie's getting us snacks." Mainly, Chan wanted to be alone with his dongsaneg for a moment, hoping the boy would crack and admit what was going on. He also had a plan in case that didn't work. Going on his phone, he texted Jisung instructions for when he returned. He wanted the younger to sneak up to Changbin from behind and feel his forehead. Him running a fever would be the only logical explanation for his temper Chan could give.

Heading out, Jisung went to the closest convenient store and raided the snack aisle. He felt his phone buzz and read Chan's message, nodding to himself as he had already had a similar suspicion. Changbin wasn't usually that easy to anger, so it would only make sense. Remembering his hyung's irritated pink nose, Jisung also decided to pick up some tissues. He hoped they'd be a bit gentler on Changbin's raw skin than the toilet paper he had been using over the past few hours. Jisung was quick to check out but tried to take his time walking back. Maybe Chan was talking Changbin into going home and he didn't want to interrupt and have their friend pull his guards back up. What he didn't know was that Chan was very far from talking Changbin into anything. He had given his dongsaeng the chance to tell him what was wrong multiple times already and now waited for Changbin to take the opportunity and speak up. That didn't happen though, so the Aussie really relied on Jisung and the back-up to his plan to work out. He heard the door open quietly but Changbin was too out of it to really pay attention to anything. To top that off, his hearing had become even more muffled from the congestion in his head, so he didn't hear Jisung slowly walking up behind him. Then there was suddenly a light, cool touch on his forehead and Changbin couldn't help but sigh in relief as it soothed the headache he had had all day. "Your skin's as hot as your temper", Jisung commented before removing his hand and plopping into his seat. Changbin didn't react to that at all, not even able to process what his dongsaeng had said.

When there was no reaction, Chan turned his chair to him and gave the younger a soft look, frowning: "You heard Jisung? You're running a fever." – "Oh", was all Changbin had to say to that. "Come on, mate. I can understand that you're frustrated but we're not bossing you around to be mean. We're genuinely worried 'bout you and your temperature is only more reason for us to take you home", the leader said with a comforting smile. That was what finally cracked Changbin. Soon the first tear rolled, then the next. Sniffling quietly, he pulled his sleeve over his hand to dry them but brushed against his nose in the process. "KGSH! h-hGSHHU! *sniff*" Trying to clean himself up, he pulled out some more crumpled toilet paper but Jisung was quick to hand him a tissue. "You're really not feeling yourself today, huh? Is that why you were so worked up?", Chan asked calmly, resting his hand on Changbin's shoulder. The younger nodded, rasping: "I'b sorry. It was so frustrati'g because I couldn't focus a'd was just so useless. Didn't thigk it was that bad." – "It's alright, but why don't you try talking to us next time?", Jisung smiled, brushing the older's hair back and holding his water bottle up to Changbin's forehead, since he had obviously enjoyed the cool touch earlier. While Changbin closed his eyes and relaxed, Chan was already shutting his laptop off and packing their things up. When everything was ready for them to leave, the leader patted Changbin's arm, humming: "Let's get you home. I bet a hot shower and an early bedtime sound nice right now." – "Really dice", the younger agreed, allowing Chan and Jisung to pull him up and take him home. 

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 2)

And we're back with more exciting and mean Natsume! Here we will further explore Natsume's life and how absolutely dark his existence is, as well as some very important aspects of his personality that will be useful to us when NatsuMikan starts picking up speed.

Again, I am warning people that this whole essay in general talks heavily about topics like bullying, child abuse, suicidal ideation, and depression, so if those are triggering topics, it might be better for you to not read.

Previously, we were introduced to Natsume and he has sent Mikan on a dangerous quest to the Northern Woods. During that trip, she and her friends have captured his one and only best friend, Ruka, which will not bode well.

Chapter Five

Chapter Five is instrumental for completing Natsume’s introduction, long as it’s been. Natsume is a mysterious character, and he will continue to be evasive and strange for many chapters to come, but by the end of this chapter, we will understand some basic foundation for his character.

The chapter starts with Ruka’s point of view, recalling a moment when he saw Natsume cry, presumably after a mission. Ruka wonders why it’s only Natsume that has to go through “this”, and Natsume tells him that he can take it--for now. He says he wants to grow up and be an adult, to be big and strong enough to properly escape this hell. This is a consistent wish of Natsume’s, and in many ways his only wish: to grow up already.

Higuchi really out here trying to convince us this was supposed to be a cheerful story.

Natsume had to be an adult, had to make the selfless and responsible choices for the sake of his family and for Ruka, had to abandon play and smiles and laughter for a life of secret missions and frequent hospital trips. He’s dying and he wants to be an adult already because he’s certain he’ll never be able to grow up. He wants his body to match the level of responsibility he’s had to take on, but he can’t force the outside to match the inside, especially when he’ll probably be dead long before it happens anyway. This wish evolves and changes when he falls for Mikan, but it doesn’t go away.

He associates adulthood with control, because his life at the academy has been observing the adults control and use him. He wants control for once, to be able to make a choice and even just say no.

Ruka notes that Natsume hasn’t cried at all since that night, and that he now keeps all his sorrow locked away. This kid needs therapy, immediately. This is another reason that Ruka is so precious to Natsume. Ruka is compassionate and kind, so concerned about his friend that he would also shut away his own heart so that he can’t be happy for as long as Natsume is in agony.

Natsume has a scene of his own, where he snaps at Permy for saying that Mikan is full of crap and lying about being an alice. He points out that the academy is not an easy place to lie your way into, and Permy immediately backtracks and lies that she’s agreed with him this whole time. Like I’d said earlier about the loneliness involved in being surrounded by fans who don’t really know or understand you, having people all around you bend over backwards for your approval makes it clear that they really have no interest in what you’re saying, just that you’re the one saying it.

In the anime essay, I’d pointed out that because of their admiration for him, it would elude people that Natsume is in fact lonely. He speaks out against things and people rush to agree, not really considering why he might say that. This is a similar moment, though he doesn’t seem too bothered by Permy’s behavior. It’s still concerning, but it’s interesting to compare this “yes, man” attitude to Ruka’s.

There is obviously a difference between someone agreeing with every word of your mouth no matter how much it changes and contradicts, bending over backwards for your approval, and someone wanting to match you out of compassion, but Ruka’s line of thinking does still have some major flaws.

Ruka is a child, just like the rest of them, so even though this behavior is motivated by love and compassion, it’s still immature and raises some questions.

“If you won’t smile, I won’t smile either,�� is a sweet line, but now Natsume is aware that Ruka’s misery is his fault. If he wasn’t so sad, Ruka could be happy. This doesn’t make Natsume happy; it just makes them both sad, and that doesn’t solve any problems. Naturally, Natsume would never say that, and Ruka would claim he’s unbothered and--just like Natsume--that he doesn’t care about hanging out with the others, but they’re both miserable now, and I think this is part of the reason why there’s a gap between them at the start of the manga, and why they’re a bit distant, despite being best friends.

They’re each other’s most important person, but they don’t really communicate that well, and Ruka constantly feels like a burden.

Natsume needs something that Ruka can’t give him, and that something is what he’ll eventually get from Mikan.

That being said, at the moment, Natsume is getting nothing but irritation from Mikan. When he finds out Mikan and her gang kidnapped Ruka, that irritation turns into rage and we see a final fundamental building block for Natsume’s character: his berserk button.

Natsume doesn’t care about the reasoning or justification for the kidnapping. He doesn’t care about explanations or common sense.

His rage only increases when he discovers Ruka was tied up and even beaten (he is told this by a classmate, when Ruka is actually unharmed). The other kids in Class B--his admirers--are terrified to see how scary Natsume is when he’s furious.

Natsume's biggest weakness is Ruka so Mikan is kinda fucked.

He doesn’t care about the game anymore. He only cares about Ruka.

So he goes to the Northern Woods, where nobody is expecting him. He tells Mikan to leave the school, which… she cannot do, obviously. He is overtaken by rage and he ceases to be reasonable.

He uses his alice on everyone but Ruka, and is about to use it on Mikan, but her alice nullifies it. Then Narumi kisses him, prompting him to pass out.

Here, we are introduced to a consistent character trait of Natsume’s, one that may contradict all that talk about forced maturity and selflessness. In fact, Natsume’s habit to go absolutely postal on anyone who threatens a loved one is a contradictory one. Going into a rage requires the sacrifice of common sense and reason for the sake of complete emotional detonation, and as a result he fails to understand that his actions could inadvertently hurt his loved ones or innocent bystanders. No reassuring words are enough to calm him down, and sure enough Natsume will destroy something.

It’s important that we see this trait now, as part of Natsume’s informal introduction, as we will see plenty more instances of it later on. In a way, going berserk for someone can even be a love language of his, where if a person being threatened is enough to set him off, he probably cares about them.

And just as interesting as seeing what he does in these situations is posing the why! Why is it that Natsume goes ballistic in these situations, when it requires the loss of the one thing he wishes he had more of, control? My guess is that Natsume has had a rough childhood and much of that time was spent running away from a dangerous entity. Staying cool and calculated under some conditions would have its benefits, but so would the quick-action and confidence that Natsume would gain by going berserk. When you have to protect someone, and Natsume has been in that situation many times, then it’s sometimes even beneficial to be able to lose yourself for a moment or two. But perhaps it’s not that either. Natsume is, despite all his airs of coldness and mystery, actually a very emotional person, and in that way he is easy to understand. Even if this isn’t a habit he developed by watching his loved ones ripped away from him through either extortion, manipulation, or just plain murder, it’s still something he might be predisposed to: attacking with everything he has despite not having a clear plan or even any real thought.

Chapter Six

We pick up where we left off and Natsume wakes up grumpy after everyone seeing him under the effects of Narumi’s pheromone alice. He causes more destruction, still in somewhat of a rage, and even causes Narumi a head wound though his teacher seems unbothered by this (or maybe even used to it, who can say).

The next thing that happens is that an alarm rings, signaling that Natsume is due for severe punishment, and, as Naru points out, not something he can help with this time. Narumi warns him to get a move on before a mystery enemy (Persona) arrives, and that is enough to scare Natsume into getting out of there. But not before he issues a word of warning of his own to Mikan, that she will regret coming to Alice Academy of her own free will.

Isn't it interesting how her optimism, something he hated so much about her from the start, ends up being something he loves about her?

I have very many thoughts about this warning. It might even seem like a threat, as if Natsume will go out of his way to make sure she regrets her decision, but he does no such thing. He is convinced that Mikan doesn’t need help reaching that conclusion--she will realize it on her own because the school is simply that terrible.

It makes a little bit of sense to view Natsume’s hatred of Mikan this way: Mikan skipped right into his own personal hell with a smile on her face and a bubbly attitude. Meanwhile, he fought and kicked and screamed right until the very end when he was forced into attending the academy. And Mikan is not some normal girl who might be able to live a quiet and pleasant life in the academy. She’s already been marked, what with all the games about her enrollment, and that might anger Natsume even more: she’s really naive enough to walk into a place that’s not just hell to him, but inevitably to her too. Because of this, Natsume hates her and is predisposed to hate her more the more cheerful and optimistic she is.

And, unlike in the anime, this hatred takes much longer to go away.

Anyway, we see Natsume again later in class, when he shows up late after having just been terribly abused as punishment for his actions in the Northern Woods.

In the anime, Natsume catches Mikan insulting him while wearing the punishment mask, and although he’s covered in scratches and the kids are whispering about his bad mood, there’s not much else to it. He doesn’t seem any more unpleasant than he’s been this whole time.

There's nothing funny about this but I will put here as a warning that anybody who jokes that kids should be hit will be hit by me!

In the manga, Natsume is so weak that he can hardly stand. It’s not just scratches, but blood and gashes on his wrists and legs. The mask is not only used to mark him, it’s also used to punish, by physically abusing him when Persona has better things to do.

He makes his way to his seat, but Narumi is on the way, just enough to make a quippy comment.

(I wonder sometimes about Narumi establishing himself as untrustworthy to the children, particularly Natsume, and how exactly that’s supposed to be a help to the student body at large. I mean there’s the possibility that Mikan is special, and her being Yuka’s daughter helped Narumi remember what he became a teacher for. In that case, it might make sense that Narumi, being so jaded and bitter, might be content acting as a villain to the abused children of the academy, and especially to Natsume, but I can’t help but feel that’s not the case. I don’t want to think that Narumi was willingly complicit and even amused by Natsume’s abuse. It’s difficult to tell for sure, though, because Narumi is way more mysterious than Natsume tries to be.)

Sumire tries to kiss up, whining to Natsume about how everyone is suddenly acting so nice to the new girl, until Natsume forcefully kicks her desk to shut her up. He only holds back with Ruka, who he would never lash out at.

Narumi then announces that Mikan shall have a partner, and that her partner will be Natsume. It’s funny because although Hotaru made it clear she didn’t want the job, Iinchou was willing to volunteer, but Narumi ignores that because he always wanted Natsume to be her partner. At this news, everyone is shocked, wondering if Mikan is supposed to be special, seeing as she’s paired up with Natsume of all people.

Narumi smiles to himself despite the chaos and then lets himself leave the classroom, saying, “let’s see what happens.”

Why does he partner them up?

Mikan thinks Narumi is crazy for this, and from an outside perspective it certainly might seem that way.

Natsume’s theory, as becomes clear later during the exams, is that this was organized by the ESP and Persona, perhaps as a punishment, but definitely with ulterior motives. He is closer to nailing it, but a little off. There is no way in hell the ESP would want to partner the child of rabble-rousers with the school’s pet child soldier. That’s a recipe for disaster. Knowing that the ESP was excited to welcome Mikan because of her alice, and that her presence at the school might encourage Yuka to try and save her, he wouldn’t have wanted to disturb his own plans.

So what is the reason?

It’s all Narumi, of course. Perhaps the O.G. shipper, Narumi could tell right away that Mikan’s nullification would be useful, particularly in regards to Natsume. Pairing them up is just another means to an end, as Narumi actually wants the kids to raise some trouble.

Chapter Seven

Being partners with Natsume is quite unhelpful.

Mikan ends up a No-Star and her Special-Star partner is for the most part absent throughout her ordeals, having to cope with it all on her own.

Chapter Seven is mainly lacking Natsume. He functions to not function for most of it, that is to establish himself as being a terrible partner.

There is a moment that stands out, when Mikan is writing a letter to her grandpa, where Natsume appears. Yes, he appears in her head to taunt her about her regret coming to the school, and she spites him by committing to optimism and determination in the future. But he also has a short appearance paralleling a panel of Mikan: they are both in their beds, awake.

WHAT WAS THE REASON?????!??!?!?

This parallel is interesting, their panels right next to each other. She is thinking about her grandpa, and we have no way of knowing what Natsume is thinking about, but there has to be a reason for him to appear despite having been mostly absent so far in the chapter.

To me, it’s another narrative tool to pair them together. They have been so far, in more ways than one, and will continue to be as they fall in love, and this is just another example of how they’d been fated from the start. Even when they hate each other, and even when they aren’t thinking of each other, they’re still tied. Looking at those panels, and seeing Natsume despite his relative irrelevance to the plot, seems to be a message that there’s more to come between them. I don’t know if any of what I’m saying makes sense, or if it seems silly, but there’s very little analysis I can do without just talking about potential.

Later, with Mikan in a new mood, ready to make the most of her situation, the kids are talking about her resilience with both her no-star status and having Natsume as a partner.

Ruka does the talking for Natsume, warning Mikan that she’s being watched and remarking that nobody should have been assigned a no-star for simply disturbing class.

Once again, Mikan and Natsume are paired: they are both treated unfairly, with Mikan given a no-star status she doesn’t deserve, and Natsume given a special-star status despite the fact that he doesn’t even go to class most of the time. They’re the exceptions to the rule, and the reader is made to wonder what exactly it is that they have in common that would result in this treatment.

Ruka tells Mikan not to trust any teachers at the academy, not even Naru, and this is almost like hearing from Natsume himself. Unlike Mikan, who will happily make strong bonds with teachers like Narumi and Nodacchi, Natsume has absolutely no positive adult figures in his life. His father is far away, his mother is dead, and every teacher is someone he holds either directly or indirectly responsible for his suffering. The adults at the school have failed him and he has nobody to trust. Something Natsume needs is a positive role model, somebody he can look up to and have faith in, because as it stands he’s a traumatized boy who absorbs negativity and takes it out in bad ways. A trustworthy adult would very much help Natsume grow and learn better coping skills, and in the meantime it makes perfect sense that he would act out and even be a bully at times.

Chapter Eight

Natsume has a habit of ignoring any and all episodes where Mikan has confrontations with her teachers. He is either dozing off or listening to music with Ruka, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in even watching.

That being said, we see a new side to Natsume in this chapter, a new emotion in a way we haven’t before: fear.

Natsume ditches class with regularity. He does not care about being present. For most classes, he would simply walk out and go screw around somewhere else, but with the dangerous ability class, he doesn’t have that choice.

The other teachers may be complicit, but they won’t do the abuse themselves. Persona is not above that, as we have already noticed despite never even seeing him so far.

If Natsume does not want to attend the dangerous ability class, then he has to run for it, and in this chapter he does, like his life depends on it, because his safety sure does. He’s only ten years old and forced to do horrible missions for the school. This is one of the scenes that reminds me that he is just a child. He knows he could get punished for running, but he does it anyway. Maybe, if he runs fast enough, they won’t catch him. Maybe, if he doesn’t get caught, he doesn’t have to go on a mission. Maybe, just this once, they won’t mind if he doesn’t show. It’s such a childish and desperate thing to do, to avoid pain at the cost of more pain to come.

Natsume is scary when he's scared...

It’s funny that as he is running from pain, he runs into Mikan, who will later alleviate his pain. For now, he just shuts her up so that Persona can pass the area while looking for him. We see Persona for the first time, what Natsume is scared of more than anything, and although his fear seems obvious, Mikan is preoccupied by annoyance for being shut up like that.

They bicker--or she bickers at him, mostly--until the middle schoolers encounter them and start bullying them.

Natsume is ready to ignore them and walk away, until Sumire’s brother calls him a murderer, reminding us of the rumor Hotaru and Iinchou discussed. Natsume stops, and Sumire’s brother whines that he’s just a special star because he’s “Persona’s favorite”.

Sumire and her brother have, like, nothing in common other than curly hair, huh.

Being Persona’s favorite is no privilege, as we know now from the run-in we just had with him and Natsume’s fear. This sets Natsume off and he starts some fires. When they threaten to call Persona, who Natsume was just running from, he responds that they can call him all they want, but he’ll burn them before he can get there to capture him. We see once again, through Natsume standing up for himself, that his berserk button lacks reason (as he is willing to sacrifice punishment by Persona again).

In a last-ditch attempt to threaten him, the middle schoolers threaten Mikan, who they perceive to be Natsume’s new girlfriend. (Calling her his girlfriend is interesting because it is even more proof that they are being narratively paired together! It shouldn’t be a surprise at all that they eventually get together, when almost everybody around them pairs them up like this, even when they can’t stand each other.) They do not expect that Natsume actually hates her, and genuinely doesn’t care if she gets bullied or not. He smiles in twisted amusement at this turn of events and walks away for good this time, leaving Mikan to be bullied.

Aw, he's smiling! How sweet.... oh wait that's a skull.

Now, Natsume is a good person deep inside, somebody who is selfless and kind in secret ways. There is no secret kindness about this scene. He is not a nice person, for sure, and this scene is proof of it.

Natsume is used to sacrificing himself for the comfort and well-being of his loved ones, so there might be relief in not caring about the comfort or well-being of somebody, and being able to choose his own well-being before that of somebody else for once. It makes sense that he would be so amused, because this time nobody has anything to hold over his head.

Conclusion

We have seen some more of the abuse Natsume faces on a daily basis. He and Mikan have been partnered up and they are presented narratively as foils and as pairs even outside of that dynamic.

For the next part, we'll see even more examples of them being paired together, as well as how Natsume is isolated from his classmates.

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[mardereads19]

Elain Did Not “Ditch” Nesta

Dedicated to the girl of the week <3

Because I have read this argument several times I feel the need to write this post so that I can stop engaging and simply have somewhere to send people to. 

First of all, I want to say that this will not bash any of the Archerons. I will only demonstrate how Nesta pushed everyone away (including Elain) and how she then twisted that into “Elain abandoning her.” But Nesta is and has been my favorite character since book one, so my intent is not to throw shade at her. Both sisters dealt with their trauma the way they knew how, be it a positive or negative way (it’s not what I’ll be analyzing). My purpose here is to highlight how much Elain did care about Nesta and sought her out.

Let’s get started!

1. Siblings make mistakes

It’s important to acknowledge that Elain and Nesta are sisters. There is miscommunication, fights, and selfishness between siblings sometimes and that is okay. Additionally, characters are imperfect, too. Therefore, yes, both sisters made mistakes regarding their interpretation of the other or were too frustrated to understand what the other might have been feeling/thinking in doing something. 

For example, Elain failed to comprehend that Nesta had deeper emotions keeping her away from everyone else. However, that doesn’t mean she loved her or sought her out any less, as I will prove soon.

Elain got angry and frustrated that Nesta kept to herself instead of joining them. Elain could have been more empathic and tried to place herself in Nesta’s shoes. 

But she still reached out her hand for Nesta, as you will see. 

Nesta, for her part, failed to understand that Elain was still readjusting to her new life and coping with her trauma in a different way than Nesta’s.

Whereas Nesta needed music and drink to drown out the hurt, Elain had needed quiet and the comfort of her family (just like she had at the beginning of Acowar). Nesta expected Elain to join her in her isolated loud life, but it was not fair to expect that from Elain. Especially since when Nesta had been helping Elain, the latter had not moved from the comforts Feysand offered them: their family, the tranquility. 

Nesta’s way of coping was too different from what Elain stands for: 

These are the mistakes I find pertinent for this post, but know that there are more when you look for them.

2. Elain caring about and knowing Nesta

Everything highlighted in pink represents Elain regarding Nesta. You’ll see she’s constantly worrying about her and seeking her. Also, that she knows Nesta.

She spent the first solstice speaking to Nesta until she left.

She was the only one (aside from Cassian) to get Nesta a gift during the first solstice. Not any gift either, but something Nesta would like. 

I think it is pertinent to mention that Nesta first began reading romance while Elain was still in shock, so the fact that Elain noticed even then says a lot about how observant she is and how much she loves Nesta. 

Elain was also the first to approach Nesta in their second Solstice. And she laughed when Nesta told her off for assuming she’d be an ass on Feyre’s birthday. She did not get angry or sad like Nesta had expected. 

Elain never stopped caring or reaching out for Nesta. 

But...

3. Nesta pushing everyone away (including Elain)

Nesta ignored Elain’s attempts to help her because she wanted distance from everyone. 

Here are a few scenes where Elain reached out for Nesta, but Nesta did not want anything to do with it:

She didn’t want to join them for anything. And like I said, she moved away to a slummy apartment to be alone.

She adds to all this in Acosf, too:

Here is this scene where Nesta explains how she avoided speaking to Elain when they saw each other in the market. Elain was ready to approach her but Nesta ran off.

And Elain held off the embrace, most likely because she didn’t know whether it would be alright with Nesta, especially after their last encounter when Nesta left without so much as a hello. Or maybe because Elain was still pained about it.

Nesta, obviously, got mad thinking Elain could no longer fathom the thought of hugging her, but that thought comes as a result of the mentality she created:

4. Nesta claiming Elain “chose” Feyre

Here’s where it gets murky. 

Nesta sees Elain staying with Feyre and being happy with her circle and the wraiths as Elain “choosing” Feyre over her. 

The thoughts are coming from a place of loneliness and pain, but that loneliness was self-imposed. Nesta pushed everyone away. She did not want to see that instead of closing the door on them, Nesta needed to hold on tighter to her family and friends. 

The “Elain chose Feyre” mentality is immature and there to cover up the fact that she drifted apart from her sister and not the other way around.

The key to understanding this, lies in Amren (she infuriated me in this book, but there were still some good things coming from her).

5. Nesta repeating the cycle with Amren

Like she had been with Elain, we see Nesta being closer to Amren than to anyone:

Elain no longer convinced Nesta. Now it was only Amren.

Amren caring about Nesta:

Then Nesta pushing Amren away and claiming she chose Feyre:

See how it is very similar to Elain? Amren cared about Nesta, but since she didn’t do things the way Nesta wanted them, Nesta broke their relationship and then claimed it was Amren who chose her sister over her. 

Nevertheless, Amren tells Nesta something that the readers should apply to every relationship Nesta broke off because it is the explanation to everything. What Amren says also applies to Nesta’s relationship to Elain.

Amren disproving the “you chose Feyre” argument:

Amren straight up told her “I was trying to help you, but you didn’t like how or with who so you blame me?” And that is exactly what Nesta did. And she did the same thing with Elain.

Nesta acknowledging that:

Conclusion:

Even Nesta kept saying throughout the book phrases like “Nesta had seen to that -the destruction” or “she had never found the words to explain -why she’d put such distance between them all” and still somehow flip it to it being their faults. 

She contradicts herself.

It is not something I bash her for because it is easily something anyone can do, but I do point it out because it means that looking at it objectively, Elain never “ditched” Nesta or even “chose” Feyre. It means Nesta did it all by herself and put the blame on the world knowing it wasn’t true. 

I don't understand how anyone can read the book and think Elain was cruel to Nesta or that she didn’t care when the quotes are right there. It is not selective reading either, because like I said, sisters fight, sisters say things they don’t mean out of anger. Sisters miscommunicate. But that doesn’t mean they stopped loving or caring about each other. 

If you read the book and got angry because Elain did not move to the slummy apartment with Nesta, did not accompany her to those taverns Elain didn’t feel comfortable in, or did not support Nesta in getting drunk and wasting away, then you are putting toxic expectations on Elain. The fact that Nesta was there with Elain when she was in shock does not mean Elain must put aside her own happiness (family and friends) to follow Nesta into an unhealthy atmosphere. Especially when Elain never made Nesta do those things to help her (they were both under the comforts provided by Feysand) and when Elain herself was still coping and readjusting. 

And when it was just proved how Elain was constantly seeking and inviting Nesta, but Nesta ignored it or pushed her away.

The fact that Nesta recognized her mentality was wrong and that Amren did not “choose” Feyre over her lets me know she recognized the same thing regarding Elain. The point of seeing her apologize to Amren was to show us how she acknowledged her attitude was childish and how she came to comprehend Amren did care for her and did not choose anyone over her. That she had been trying to help. 

In the end, both sisters are happy and reunited. Both sisters came to an understanding. Nesta stopped believing Elain didn’t care and that she chose Feyre. 

So you should, too.

[thewhitefluffyhat]

Thoughts on Karin’s Magical Girl Story

Another collection of thoughts and reactions, plus analyzing some small changes the NA translation made (similar to the translation comparison I did for Alina’s MGS a while back).

Starting off with not a change, but an interesting note: Karin and Alina’s club situation is rather strange.  Alina is the “outsider” from the Art Club, while Karin is part of the Manga Club.  The classroom they share, though, doesn’t appear to be the main space for either club.  I’d initially assumed that it was the room originally used for the Manga Club, but once Arc 2 updates these backgrounds...

It turns out this actually is an art classroom!  I guess the school just has two?

First major change: Just like in Alina’s MGS, they removed direct references to Karin and Alina’s ages.  The reference to Karin’s age at the start of the Magical Halloween Theater event was also changed.

(In JP here, Alina was said to have won a lot of different awards “for a 16 year old,” while Karin stated her age as 14 in the MHT event.)

Again, unsure of why the change, but it could be in order to fix the continuity issues. Because good lord, that continuity is snarled...

I think the order that makes the most sense is Karin MGS > Alina MGS > Magius forms > one year passes > MHT > Main Story Ch5 > Holy Alina’s MGS.  In theory, then Karin should be 13 and Alina should be 15 in their Magical Girl Stories and then 14 and 16 in the present, but as mentioned that’s contradicted by the start of Karin’s MGS in the original Japanese.

There’s also the weirdness around when/how Karin learned Alina was a magical girl, since Karin seems aware of it in MHT, yet it’s unclear if she knows in Holy Alina’s MGS.

… Anyway, stuff like this is why I gave up on constructing a coherent timeline for Magia Record.  There’s just too many continuity tangles.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

References to Karin being in her second year in middle school and the third years leaving – also changed.  Probably because it’s both an uncommon way to refer to grades in English, and also, once again, another continuity issue.  (If the third years left, why is Alina still there in one years’ time if she’s at least one grade ahead of Karin?)

Another change: some specifics in why Karin and Alina are in the same classroom together.  In JP, it’s not specified who made the deal to let Alina use the room.  If anything it seems like Karin is the one making a deal directly with Alina.

Which actually makes far more sense all around – why does “the school” care that Alina is giving informal lessons to some random kid?

And it makes more sense from Alina’s perspective too, in that it explains why she tolerates Karin constantly bothering her – putting up with Karin is explicitly the price she’s paying to Karin for using the space.

Oh boy, this.  Karin having this mindset is why it took me so long to really ship AliKari.  Because the dark undertone to “if only I improve, then surely Alina will treat me better” is that Karin is blaming herself when Alina is cruel to her.  And that can very easily slide into an abusive relationship - if you don’t consider it one already.

Alina treating Karin decently should not be dependent on Karin’s art skill.  Or anything else, for that matter.  Full stop.

(Tangent time, including some Arc 2 spoilers)

What ultimately made me come around to AliKari is some of the early Arc 2 stuff, where Karin starts thinking the reason Alina disappeared is because Alina is mad at Karin for not improving.  Karin’s explanation is spectacularly wrong, so I’m now more trusting that the game is implying that Karin’s mindset is going to change. That she’ll stop believing she’s at fault for Alina’s actions - and hopefully stand up to Alina too while she’s at it.

The other half of the equation is Alina, who as far as I can tell, is genuinely not interested in bullying Karin.  She certainly has every opportunity to do so – especially given how her teacher punishes Karin for Alina’s behavior – but Alina never takes advantage of it.  So while she is overly harsh and blunt about expressing her opinions to Karin, I don’t get the sense there is any manipulation underlying it.  Indeed, very unusually for Alina, we also never see her enjoying or fantasizing about Karin’s pain or distress.  She really, truly, just wants Karin to get better at art already!

Obviously, for any kind of relationship between the two to work, they would both need to undergo significant character development.  But that’s the draw of AliKari – while other characters have stagnated (sigh, RikaRen), Alina and Karin are still some of the most dynamic characters in the game. And in general, the direction has been that despite starting out in a bad place (like Karin’s mindset above), they’re growing to become very positive influences on each other.

(End tangent)

Enjoying the extra cliches thrown in here and there, and in general how they translated Karin’s dramatics by adding additional cheesy and on-theme descriptions.  Stuff like “dark and dreary night” or “cauldron of trouble” aren’t in the original Japanese, but they’re wonderfully in-character – honestly probably an improvement over the original!

Not a change, but more reminding myself that I really need to read Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne.  I’m like 97% sure that’s what’s being referenced here – the plot description and even the comments Karin makes about “Phantom Thief Kirin” In her later Magic unlock quotes are all a very close match.

Interestingly enough, I’ve heard KKJ mentioned as an earlier dark magical girl series that Madoka Magica rips off.  So it’s quite interesting to see it referenced again back in a PMMM property – I wonder which part of the creative team was responsible for this detail?

Hm, so, the subject and detail of Karin and Alina’s conversation in the middle differs between translations.  In JP, the subject is vague, so the fan translation has Alina going off on an extended metaphor comparing the history of art to the protagonist of Karin’s manga.  Meanwhile, in NA she just makes vague comments comparing her own growth as an artist.  

I think I prefer the former - Alina usually doesn’t like talking about herself, but she sure loves to ramble about art history.

The translation I can find for the metaphor Karin’s grandmother uses here in JP renders it “barely able to keep a business going” - so did Karin’s grandmother possibly own a business herself?  That’s a bit more interesting than just “struggled to make ends meet.”

Speaking of Karin’s grandmother, I really like her as a character.  Her relationship with Karin is really sweet - I mean, how often do you see a teenage girl and an older woman being fans of something together?  It happens in real life plenty of times, but it’s so rare to see this kind of interaction represented in fiction.

And it’s nice to see an example of mental illness being treated as just that – an illness.  I especially like that there’s consent to the cure – Grandma outright says she wishes to be cured, rather than Karin deciding as such on her own.  (As Karin is often wont to do…)

This is a fun illustration of how Alina has a very strong internal logic to her, but she’s really terrible at communicating it to other people.

Karin, naturally, takes Alina’s comment here as an exceptionally mean thing to say – it sounds like Alina is callously implying the thing Karin worked so hard on was so bad it wasn’t even worth Alina’s time to destroy, so she’s making Karin suffer even more in having to destroy it herself.

And the way Alina elaborates makes it quite clear that yes, she did mean to call Karin’s work garbage.  This isn’t Alina having difficulty with Japanese or English.

But while Alina’s sense of taste can be quite sadistic, I don’t think that’s what she was aiming for here.  Remember that Alina believes that “only the artist themselves has the right to destroy their work.”  So this is actually Alina acknowledging Karin’s work as art, and therefore only Karin has the right to rip it up.

And why rip it up?  Because whenever Alina finds her own work unsatisfactory, she destroys it.  Hence Alina’s question at the end of this little back-and-forth:

If Karin doesn’t want to rip up her manga, then according to Alina’s logic, that means she must be happy and satisfied with it.  But even Alina can tell that Karin is still unsatisfied and lying to herself, hence Alina’s frustration and confusion at Karin not destroying her work.

Another timeline note: Alina doesn’t lie, and even if she did, she doesn’t have a ring here.  So I think it’s pretty settled that Karin’s MGS takes place before Alina learned about magical girls.

Oh huh. In NA, Alina thinks she’ll be the one in trouble if Karin isn’t ready.  In the fan translation I’m used to, it seems like Alina is saying she’d just be mad herself… but I think NA has it right here.  (In the original JP, Alina is using the passive form of “get angry” without a subject.)

Both work, but the impression NA gives with both this change and the earlier one is that someone at the school is basically putting Alina in charge of supervising Karin.  Which… what the hell, Sakae Academy?

Going back a bit, Alina’s advice and its effect on Karin is interesting.  One of Karin’s flaws really is that she makes excuses for herself and only half-commits, so Alina pushing her to think about what she truly wants and work hard to get it was genuinely what Karin needed to hear at the time.

However, Alina is also an obsessive perfectionist that tends to push herself to very clearly unhealthy levels…

So it’s rather fitting that on following Alina’s advice, Karin ends up pushing herself into doing something very dangerous: insisting on fighting a witch alone even though Kaede tries to get her to retreat.  Karin is so determined she’s risking her life to fulfill her goal – something Alina would no doubt approve of.  But also a great illustration of why Alina and her advice is flawed too.

Which, come to think of it, is part of why Karin and Alina’s MGS actually form a nice pair of complementary short stories.  If you read them in chronological(?) / original JP release order, you first get to see how Alina helps Karin to grow as a person, and if you think hard about it, you can kind of see foreshadowing for Alina’s own issues.  Then in Alina’s MGS, you get confirmation of that foreshadowing about Alina, and furthermore, the payoff to Karin’s development with her now being the one to give Alina some hard-hitting advice.

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

‘Ashamed to be Korean' extract — the Moon scam is paid for in blood, poverty, misery, sickness and death by a slave class of Japanese

September 30, 2012 This has been incredibly hard to do, but I have decided to sacrifice my national pride, personal interest and loyalties to start telling the truth about the complicated religious scams of the Moons and the so-called “Unification Movement”.

Why? Because I guess I discovered that I still had some conscience left alive somewhere inside of me, so I decided to come out and tell the truth, and before it shrivels up totally. Another reason for me to come out is the tragic and shameful truth that the Moon scam is paid for in blood, poverty, misery, sickness and death by a slave class of Japanese who have been, and continue to be, what must be the most hapless class of religious scam victims in history. This is worsened by the fact that the victims have been deliberately and cynically scammed by a group from another country.

I have no love or respect for the Japanese, and like most Koreans, I have rarely missed an opportunity to gloat at any Japanese misfortune with other Koreans but I guess I have to draw the line somewhere.

It is my intention to tell the truth about the Moons and the Korean feudal ‘aristocracy’ from the position of an insider in the hope that those members who still have enough of a vestigial conscience left functioning in themselves can know the unvarnished truth and fully understand the crimes that have been, and are still being, committed and either help stop the crimes from being committed, or at least walk away and not contribute even silently to these crimes. … It has been said that one of the problems with the Moon Church is that every country projects their own image of what they want the “Messiah” to be; The Japanese see an emperor to grovel to and worship, westerners saw Moon as the the second coming of Jesus, while for the Koreans a conquering King that will elevate Koreans above all other nations (you might as well know we think we are superior to the rest of the world physically, spiritually, intellectually, and culturally). Therein the problem starts, Moon’s genius was to able to manipulate facts and myths and lies to divide and conquer and get exactly what he wanted for him and his family and for Korea which has created the core culture and operating practice of the movement: Deception.

Some people may think that the Divine Principle is the religious doctrine of the ‘church’, but it is nothing more than a recruiting tool. The real ‘religion’ is like an onion, with separate layers of rules, requirements and benefits. The easiest way to understand the game is to realize that Moon wanted to set him and his family as a royal family governing as a theocracy from day one. His goal was to control all power, money, laws and rules, at least as much as he could get hold of.

The theocracy works by strict hierarchy with the Moons as the top royals, the Korean blood relatives as the minor royals, the rest of the Koreans as the aristocracy and top officials. The rest of the nations are all in the position of servants. The only absolute in the Moon church is the position of the Moons and the loyalty demanded from the members.

Have you wondered why all top posts involving power and money are controlled by Koreans?

Do not be fooled by the fact that we trust the Japanese more than our own and use then nominally to hold assets and the like – that is only because they are totally obedient.

What Moon and his family fear the most is meritocracy, God forbid if there was a level playing field, the whole game would be blown sky high. It is fantastic for us though, to have rules applied not only in a selective way but completely differently to always ensure the Moons and ourselves are on top.

My greatest personal amazement is how supposedly educated people in advanced countries have bought the enslaving myths of Moon that have in fact been precisely tailored for them without them realizing the utter insanity and nonsense of coexistence of completely contradicting realities and myths and rules, without even acknowledging the irony of it all! Maybe we are much cleverer than you.

The Japanese have bought the fantasy of ‘Eve Nation’, when in reality there never was and still is absolutely no intention to use them for any purpose other than for donations and slave labor. If and when they are no longer needed they will be dropped like a dirty habit in favor of another country (if one was available), this threat has been constantly drummed in to their heads to keep them desperate and obedient.

What they do not realize is that in private Sun Myung Moon, when he was alive, Hak Ja Han and all the Moon children and we 2nd gens in the inner circle not only have no respect for Japan and instead gloat at the way in which Korea has been taking over Japanese business, laugh at the Japanese members and refer to them in really raw, rude ways. We see it as a rightful revenge for what we think they did to us. On the other hand, we never fail to remind them of the indemnity they need to pay to us.

I have heard Japanese old members emotionally talk about how they will accept anything because they had felt loved by “Aboji” at some time. When they say this, they remind me of rabbits caught in the headlights, totally bamboozled by the Korean charismatic gift for delivering shameless emotional appeals at 1000 horsepower. The reason they were taken in is because they had only ever experienced emotion in Japan at 100 horsepower before meeting Moon, so they are convinced that 1000 horsepower emoting must be the real thing.

Given the Japanese unfortunate penchant for masochism, perhaps it is not surprising that they have been fooled, but I am truly amazed that more Westerners have not been able to see through this scam.

My jaw drops as members still refer to the Moons as “True”, as an unending string of evidence of their unbridled wickedness and hypocrisy appears on this and other sites, it makes me giggle involuntarily, as I watch Westerners falling over themselves to justify or deny their crimes contorting themselves to deny the truth.

My only explanation for it is commitment bias, nobody wants to admit they have been fooled. Please read the facts honestly and use your conscience to decide what to do. Remember the laws of physics and math, the laws of countries and most importantly of all the laws of morals and values either apply equally and universally or not at all.

Members have been trained like Pavlov’s dogs to do our (more accurately the Moons’) dirty work for us. Foreign members justify our crimes with that precise get-out-of-jail-free card that the whole Moon scam relies on.

Read more here: https://tragedyofthesixmarys.com/ashamed-to-be-korean/

___________________________________________

In 1965 Japan gave $800 million as reparations for their occupation of Korea

The Japanese government supported Korea with $800 million in 1965, $400m in 1983 and over $10 billion in 1997.

Sun Myung Moon Church used the Japanese members for profit, not religious purposes – the world’s greediest church

Suicide of Japanese ‘Moon money mule’ in Uruguay. Mother of three children

A huge Moon Church scam in Japan is revealed

Shocking video of UC of Japan demanding money – English transcript

Moon extracted $500 million from Japanese female members

Japanese woman recruited by the Unification Church and sold to an older Korean farmer

How Sun Myung Moon bought protection in Japan

The ‘True Father’ who could not forgive. Sun Myung Moon: “I haven’t been able to release my grudge towards Japanese people yet.” November 2011

[darkpoisonouslove]

@supersonichero1 asked:

Regarding season 6 and the trix power up do you believe it was out of no where? I have two theories one is that as the ancestral witches direct ancestors they are finally starting to tap into the further capabilities and strength that being related blood wise to the three most powerful witches. My second theory revolves around bloom and the dragon flame. Since the trix took it in the first season I believe that remnants of it still burn within the trix because the series constantly screams at us that the dragon flame can't be extinguished so while they don't have nearly as much as bloom does their portions are still equally or slightly less powerful than blooms and would only cease to exist within them if bloom herself reabsorbed it or extinguished it like she did with valtor.

I do believe that the power-up looked out of nowhere because that was how the show framed it. Or rather, the lack of any framing and lead up to it implies that it was something that the writers just pulled out of nowhere because they needed the Trix to become stronger in order to oppose the Winx who will now get yet another transformation that’s going to be more powerful. There was absolutely no transition between the Trix attacking Domino with the Beast of the Depths while still in their Sirenix in 6x01 and them showing up at Cloud Tower back in their normal outfits and taking over the school. I feel like there was supposed to be another episode between 6x01 and 6x02 that would set up better both Daphne’s decision to go teach at Alfea (which is somehow contradicted on level motivation and goals later when she is crowned as Crown Princess of Domino because I don’t think she can be both a teacher and rule a kingdom) and the Trix’ new powers and new plan. However, I suspect that some of the other ideas ran away from them and they had to cut those parts both for the purpose on maintaining the episodes as 26 and because that would push the introduction of the Legendarium back with one more episode and that is the main plot point of season 6. So in the end we got a choppy, practically non-existent transition between the true end of season 5 (aka the consequences of it) and the new plot for season 6 as well as the new plan that the Trix devised.

As for your theories, I like them on account of them explaining what the show didn’t bother to but I can’t fit them on the time line. If the Trix are using their ancestry and the fact that they have the blood of the Coven flowing in them, why only now? Of course, there is the matter of them sticking with Darkar because he freed them and then with Valtor because they escaped Omega together. And the same logic also applied to Tritannus. But I still feel like there is something missing here. They didn’t have the time to get so powerful all of a sudden. Of course, no one tells you how much time has passed between 6x01 and 6x02 but the Trix looked like they’d abandoned their own development and relied on the power-ups they got from the villains. Of course, they had their dark Sirenix still and that could have helped them elevate their powers to a higher level but it’s weird to me that they suddenly come with a whole new power that they allegedly got on their own (we have no idea what happened during the time that was skipped between 6x01 and 6x02) after they got used to receiving all their boosts from whoever they’re teaming up with. Literally the last time they did anything on their own was back in season 1. I think that they would need more time to get in touch with their previous determination for development and the process itself would take more. Also, there is the matter of what they lived through in Magical Adventure. They got possessed by the Ancestral Witches and I can see things going either way from there - them either being reluctant to tap into the fact that they are descendants of the Witches or that only motivating them more to do it so that they could get stronger.

The Dragon Fire thing seems even more unlikely to me. It has never come up after season 1. And even if they have something left it is definitely super, super little in quantity compared to what Bloom has and probably even dormant. If they had anything that was nearly as powerful as hers, she should have been able to sense them like she was doing with Valtor at the time (back in season 1 she couldn’t sense them because she was out of touch with her own Fire before 1x25). Besides, you are right that the Dragon Fire can’t be extinguished but there is the matter of willingness here. Magic is emotion and the Dragon Fire is a special kind of magic and appears to have some sort of sentience. In 1x10 (I think) when they thought they’d gotten it in the Magic Reality Chamber, it turned out that the Flame had somehow escaped them. So I think the Dragon Fire itself left them when they got defeated because they were knocked out. While they were all unconscious, it could have freed itself from their hold on it that was keeping them in them after they stole it from Bloom. I don’t think they have any of it left.

What I could offer as potential explanation for this power-up is that the Trix got sick of depending on someone else for powers (especially after the whole fiasco with Tritannus (and Politea if you count the third movie)). In fact, when you get back to look at their partnerships, they always get betrayed in the end and don’t receive the power they were promised. It happened every single time. So I think they got fed up with that and decided to go it on their own this time but took a page out of the villains’ book. I believe they might have stolen some magic the way Valtor was doing in season 3 and they could have found a way to imbue themselves with their respective element the way Tritannus was doing in season 5 as he absorbed pollution. They could have done that and, combined with any magic they could have stolen, it could explain their new boost. That has only one minor issue in that if they were stealing magic, how did Winx not catch wind of that? Seems kinda unlikely that they wouldn’t learn but then again, the whole show is full of inconsistencies and that could be explained with the fact that there was a lot of stuff left to fix after Tritannus was captured. Daphne was brought back to life so Bloom definitely had a lot going on with that and the rest also had stuff to take care of on their home planets so it could make sense that they weren’t on the battle front the whole time and some suspicious but ambiguous thefts of magic could have slipped through the cracks. I still think that there should have been an episode that showed all of those things, however. We were robbed of seeing the Trix learning to finally do things on their own and coming up with a new plan (which I am still unclear on even after 1/3 of season 6. Take over the magical colleges and then what? But anyway).

[onegirllis]

Since Life is Strange 2 is finally fully released, I let myself to write a probably not-so-short review of the complete season. The momentum for such a summary is already gone I presume but it took me a moment to finally digest and find the proper words to describe what I think and feel about this production. Following the game from the start, I patiently waited to look at the story as a whole, hoping to find an explanation for tons of burning questions and satisfying outcomes to my choices and decisions. Unfortunately, most of those didn’t happen, therefore I present you with a piece that is not very favorable towards the newest Dontnod production, harsh in places but honest. Please, do not read if you really enjoyed the story of the two brothers and find it meaningful and important, not burdened with any fallacy. Life is way too short to read reviews that just leave you frustrated.

Remember the scene in Life is Strange season one (I still hate the fact that I have to separate different instances of the franchise calling them seasons), when Max summoned by an enormous plasma TV in Victoria’s room fantasizes about watching “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” on it? “I like this movie, I don’t care what everybody says,” getting protective about her preferences, the little freckle leaves the room soon after, never gifting us with any explanation as to why she indeed values this animation so much or why it was an important statement. It was never brought back again, it will never matter, becoming simply a meme material or a trigger for snarky comments from Twitch streamers and YouTubers. I watched the said movie a long time ago, recalling only two things about it: the breathtaking animation of hair at the beginning and the fact that the main male character looked like Ben Affleck. The rest of the story fell into obscurity before the end credits hit the screen. I reached for this title only because I was interested in anything video games related, and the name of the popular franchise was more than enough.

The same thing goes for Life is Strange 2.

Just like the mentioned FF: The Spirits Within, the second instance of the beloved series is more of an animation than an interactive experience. Recently, plenty of video games, overwhelmed by finally reachable technology of smooth mocaps, facial expressions, hyper-realistic locations, and scanned people as characters, turned into an alley dedicated to B-class movies. From adventures by David Cage to Death Stranding, video games started to flip their working template, replacing the actual action with long animations, not the other way around. With scattered gameplay, sometimes forced as if the developers reminded themselves at the last minute that this product is supposed to be interactive, they raise an eyebrow at best, and boil your blood with the lack of creativity at its worst. Life Is Strange 2 follows this trend with astonishing enthusiasm and to the core. Even regarding this particular genre that’s supposed to focus on narrative, it barely stands as a walking simulator becoming a hardly watchable TV series — a road trip story where walking is limited.

Well, shit.

The gameplay in Life is Strange 2 is nonexistent. To be frank, riveting action-packed sequences were never a trademark of the series, but a blatant lack of any didn’t make this experience any better. With the first one, the rewind power allowed the player to actually be part of the narrative. The second, where Sean just serves as a witness to his brother’s actions, plays more like a full motion picture. An enormous amount of un-skippable cut-scenes change LIS2 into a tedious, dragging journey straight from the worst selection of buy 1 get 3 free Z-class movies. The music and the mastery in creating an atmosphere that rose Dontnod to international fame due to widespread acclaim can’t save those sequences either. It almost feels like their own creation so enchanted the development team that they ignored all the red flags and clumsy solutions to immerse in the world themselves, treating the actual player as a lesser evil, throwing them a bone just to claim it is a video game format. To no surprise, most of the items the player interacts with don’t matter at all and don’t serve any purpose either to foreshadow an upcoming outcome, present exposition to the world, or be in any way helpful.

The lack of superpower is not an issue here though. Before the Storm met the expectations with way more grace, proving that a story doesn’t need a lot of strange in life to grip and hold its audience for hours. Watching a superhero growing up is an interesting premise, but a hell of a challenge to execute and execute well. Some stories like “Little Man Tate” translate to a brilliant film, but don’t necessarily work as games, after the planning stage or first Game Design Document. The references regarding the first game also remain scattered and uneven, tossed on the pile with a heap of faith that devoted fans would notice, but without a purpose in mind.

Even if I sound harsh, I do believe that Dontnod wanted to deliver the best story possible, but Life is Strange 2 feels even too big to absorb or fill with details. Captain Spirit, not necessarily my cup of tea either, was in my opinion way more coherent, as the creative team felt more comfortable with such a small scope of a product. Everything falls into place after careful exploration, makes more sense with every minute. The mystery about the mother, an alumnus of Blackwell Academy, and an admirer of Jefferson’s work is a solid premise that didn’t raise expectations up the roof nor overpromise. The mystery of yet another mother, this time Life is Strange 2, played for over 3 and a half episodes, falls flat in comparison and ends in the disappointing question “that’s it?”

No, that’s not it. There’s more to it.

Life is Strange 1 was mocked as Tumblr: The Game, while the second instance could easily pass as Twitter: The Animated Series. The writers didn’t challenge themselves or the audience to answer the question of why certain people voted for Donald Trump, or why they would do it yet again. The only reason presented in the story is quite simplistic and obvious – because they are evil, deplorable people, not worth listening to. They are the worst. We are better. Issues of being harangued by foreigners about domestic policies and troubles of your own country are a brewing can of worms I wouldn’t like to touch at the moment. Still, this particular stance, which serves as painful generalization that every single republican voter in the US is foul, can be forged only by someone who either lives in a bubble or doesn’t live here at all. Simply because we all have parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, or co-workers who decided to elect the actual prescient to power. Some of them are racists, disgusting, and horrible personas, and some just belong to the scared of change, confused and manipulated crowd that don’t accept the fast-paced transformation nor the need for a revolution. We coexist together, arguing and fighting, especially during holiday breaks, but even if it costs me a headache, I wouldn’t call them evil. Millions of people voted for Trump, but only a few wouldn’t spit on a swastika if confronted with the Nazi banner.

It’s even more painful when you understand what kind of message was sewed into the stitches of a shattered story. There was no ill will, or at least I don’t think so, but an honest, genuine need to express the concern about modern America. Unfortunately, when executed, this concern changed into another yell or discourse by the family table during an argument with your racist uncle. An open discussion in a game community that unifies both left and right supporters equally by their love for this form of entertainment would be appreciated by many, just like after playing LIS1, a handful of people changed their views on LGBT issues.

Instead of a lesson that had to be experienced, we got a lecture about morality and tolerance, contradicting itself constantly and nonchalantly following the well-known tropes NOT in a sarcastic and admirable way known from Saturday Night Live, but in a lazy and sometimes even clumsy substitute of a dramatic format. The political landscape painted in LIS2 is caricatural, unforgiving, harsh like a deserted wasteland with a few peaceful oases to stop at, but shies over its own existence, not willing to thoroughly discuss the dreadful weather. Guess what? The sand won’t change into greener pastures only because you close your eyes, putting your imagination to work. Donald Trump might not be re-elected for a second term, but his supporters will stay in place, even more conflicted by the other side. It’s a brave decision to deliver such a punitive story but such a cowardice to break its pillars, hoping that the general public wouldn’t notice or get distracted when things get too heated up.

The lack of subtlety forced scene by scene is even more polarizing. There is no peaceful dialogue with the other side as if it couldn’t exist in this world. There is no change of heart or a path to do so. Sometimes it feels like the only message that LIS2 writers wanted to provide was to find your own, peaceful and liberal hermitage, either among hipsters in the Redwood forest, driving a car that your ‘family with money but no soul’ had bought you or move to a trailer park filled with artistic souls in Nowhere, Arizona. Any contact with the outside world can hurt you and your feelings. Drop off the grid or die. The end.

No discussion.

The efforts of trying to understand the motivation behind even the most dreadful character of the first game, got lost in preparation for the second. LIS2 builds a higher wall between two political sides, than any other game released after Trump became the president of the United States and desperately wants to keep it erected, ignoring the crumbling foundations of such. A proverbial river you shall not cross nor build bridges over since the only outcome would end up in death, destruction, or you and your young brother getting hurt.

I’m familiar with the discussion about LIS2, especially with a shouting match that if you do not like this instance, you are therefore a racist pig, a disgusting person without a soul, conscience, or working brain that doesn’t understand the situation and never will. On the contrary. In my humble opinion, we deserve a better discussion, better stories, better representation, not sticking to whatever is presented because it’s brave enough or was never approached before. I disagree with the stance that a Latino, bisexual main character is enough to close your eyes, omitting all problems that this title tries to shun, riding its high horse. No. Those topics are way too crucial to just walk past, setting for less with your head down, thanking for the game industry to take notice. You the player deserve better, even if you don’t struggle with specific issues on a daily basis. And after playing LIS2, you may feel so good about yourself, stating that an effort was made but it it wasn’t made enough.

I expected more. I wanted Dontnod to do more, and frankly, I feel silly putting so much faith in them and supporting their efforts. Armed with resources provided by Square Enix, I’m sure they are aware of the fact that most of their audience is quite young and wouldn’t mind a lesson or message about what to do amidst troubled times. Well, Dontnod doesn’t have any but warns you that voicing your opinion or being different may end up in disaster. Outraged, they just yell at the news, angry about what our reality has changed into, but nothing comes out of it. It’s all right, though. Our parents do the same thing. We started to do the same thing, but instead of complaining to family members, we have Twitter.

While Life is Strange 2 tries really hard to come across as a realistic and raw portrait of the US at the end of the decade, they didn’t have enough courage to show realistic obstacles two runaways would be faced with. The brothers do meet a handful of bigots and racists, but the rest of the fellow travelers help them beyond understanding or hidden agenda. Sean and Daniel never really struggle to find a place to stay or a warm meal, usually complaining on or off the screen just before the game mercifully provides them with a solution. There’s no trap they can fall into, no ambiguous characters that promise one thing and then demand something in return. It’s very honorable for Brody to pay for a place to stay, but if an adult man gave young kids a key to a motel room, I would consider a way more sinister outcome. It’s not even about Brody himself, since good people exist, just like the racist ones, but the boys not even once are put in a realistic, scary situation created by a supposed ally. If somebody is helpful, this person is always decent, offering them a job, a ride, some food or money. The bad people wear red hats and yell racist slurs. America by Dontnod is simple to navigate but raw and painful when not necessary and fairy-tale-like when it could teach an actual lesson. Running away from home is not so hazardous because of Trump supporters but because you can end up dead in a ravine, being robbed and raped. It’s not the first and surely not the last time when the developers feared to touch any topic of sexual abuse with a ten-foot pole, but then the journey plays more like a vacation than a desperate escape. Sean gets beaten-up a few times, loses his eye due to a brawl, but it doesn’t affect him at all in the long run. When Daniel finally gets kidnapped, it’s not an Epstein-like circle, dealing with human trafficking, but a religious cult that worships him. The first option, even if it feels like a stretch, is unfortunately way more realistic than the latter.

Preaching to the choir is not the biggest sin this game commits though. That brings me to the most discussed theme of the production, which is education.

With all due respect to the developers, writers, and designers, Life is Strange 2 in this aspect falls flat as a discovery of a Sunday father, who is responsible for taking his kid to the zoo and struggles to find any common ground with his offspring, either trying to crack jokes about famous pop-culture phenomena or talk about food discussing their next favorite meal. The said father is trying his best though, perfectly aware that it’s his only chance to teach his son a thing or two, but doesn’t know exactly where to start, torn apart between buying more ice cream and throwing a fit about a stain on the carpet. The father doesn’t even like kids that much and can’t translate his lessons into an engaging play that would be memorized forever, rolling his eyes and counting the days to his kid’s graduation so they could share a beer or two and talk about adult things. Now, any effort to explain how the world works seems to be in vain, therefore a waste of his precious time. Leaving the emotional approach aside, the father doesn’t have to cuddle with his kid when he’s scared, bullied, traumatized or asks millions of questions about the future or present, because the full-time mother is waiting at home willing to replace him in this duty. The mother, knowing that her ex-partner sucks big time at talking about feelings, will be the one who will hold the kid, patiently explaining that the boogieman does not exist, playing pirates, or stay late at night to distract his sorrows. The kid will never discuss his fears with his dad though, trying so hard to impress his male parent. He will never know, and it’s fine. The mother is going to do the job while he can deliver a once a week entertainment along with the lines of ultimate wisdom that most likely will be forgotten anyway.

This is not raising a kid, it’s nursing them like a fragile plant in a flowerpot, focusing on water, sun, and fertilizer, but discarding the emotional background, hoping that somebody else would take care of such issues if things go south.

Sean can’t raise his brother well, simply because he is immature and will stay immature for the rest of the game. There is no moment when he truly goes through a transformation changing from a boy to a man, a fully grown-up adult who takes responsibility for his actions and makes sacrifices for the sake of the greater good. No, surrendering in a fight in the church doesn’t serve as one, neither does the first sexual experience. He doesn’t wonder even once if the hastily constructed plan is benefiting Daniel, forcing it to the last minutes of the game, taking the separation as the worst thing that could happen. There’s no spark of a tragedy like in “The Road” when a father gives up his son to strangers for the sake of saving him. Sean doesn’t care, presenting no character development across the board, merely pushing forward. If there are doubts, they disappear in the blink of an eye when the next cut-scene takes place.

I understand that such a young lad as Sean wouldn’t know how to raise a kid, especially if having no model to rely on. However, a part of growing pains is developing the awareness that we know way less than we assumed. That said, Sean Diaz is always assuming he is right, not asking for advice regarding Daniel even once. Apparently, it’s not something that he’s interested in or ever will be. If Life is Strange 2 wants to pass as a coming of age story, it falls on its face before it even starts.

Moreover, locked in the auto-driven plot, Sean cannot grow up and gain a new perspective; otherwise, the story wouldn’t reach its big, explosion-packed finale of crossing the border. His desperate efforts of influencing his brother usually converge to order him around, feed him with half-truths or simply leave him in the dark when convenient. I didn’t see any difference or change in Sean’s approach from episode one when he scolded his brother, annoyed for his party plans being interrupted, and in episode three, when he reacts similarly, for the sake of spending time alone with the chosen love interest. There’s no deep thought, no wonder about his own wrongdoings expressed to his brother, no faults admitted, no fallacies explained, with one life-threating situation after another. From an illegal weed growing farm, to destroying police stations, Sean just follows the road, paved by the writers, oblivious to the harm done to his younger sibling, as if Daniel simply forgets the morally gray choices, growing his moral spine entirely on performing chores. Washing the dishes and peeling potatoes does not make us better people but understanding a perspective so different than our own does. Thanks to Sean, Daniel expands his world, but it’s a very one-sided perspective, focusing on always praised, hippie-style liberties, and disregarding every option that requires any code of conduct, as represented by the grandparents. While the older brother forces the younger one to keep up with the designed tasks, he never discusses the issues that really matter. In episode 3, the youngster gets involved in a heist, a robbery, but after it fails, costing Sean his eye and the possible death of some of their companions, this is never mentioned. Mexico, a plan that is hardly a plan at all, is supposed to be an answer to all the questions and doubts. El Dorado of knowledge.

This is not how you raise a dog, not to mention a child.

There is no emotional bond, no special ties between the brothers, except a few problematic moments that play mostly on simple connection forged by blood, not by circumstances. Sean worries about Daniel because he’s his brother, but the player starts to wonder quite quickly why and what for. Reminiscing about old times gets nailed down to a few lines about the comforts and amenities of a life long gone. The tough topics, such as grieving after personally witnessing their father’s death, are mentioned scarcely and without much emphasis, as if serving only as a reminder to the player, but not a poignant struggle. Same goes with the dog, their friends mutilated at the end of the weed farm chapter, Chris (aka captain spirit) who is mentioned just before the end credits of the second episode, and tons of others. On top of it, the scattered and not so often dialogue lines about putting people in danger refer only to the good folk, siding with the brothers, not to humankind in general. Killing a police officer or knocking down a gas station owner are just natural ways of how things work in America, honorable deeds since it’s apparently perfectly fine for a kid to attempt a homicide if people are mean.

What a brave story.

Chloe Price had been suffering for five years after William, her beloved father, died in a car crash. For Sean and Daniel, there is no grief to experience, but a memory to share with a plan to erect a monument in the future. Esteban Diaz is a plot device, a symbol of inequality, but not a family member. Even a dream sequence with his guest appearance lacks the impact of the subconscious conversations we’ve seen in Before the Storm. It just simply doesn’t matter.

I can’t believe I have to say this but the relatable part about LIS1 wasn’t the tornado, just like in LIS2 crossing the border is its weakest point, but it’s those small moments, gestures, quick smiles in passing, the atmosphere and a breath of fresh air when a line, sometimes silly, got dropped. In the most recent story, there is not a single line worth quoting, memorizing, or discussing. And please, don’t bring up “awesome possum” again. It’s literally taken from The Lego Movie song.

The brothers, just like Thelma and Louise, decide to leave everything behind, throwing away the life as they knew it and forging their own future despite all odds. Although, when the two desperate women drive off the cliff committing suicide, chased by the armed forces, there is nothing to explain as the audience fully understands their reasoning. Their will of life was strong, but the path they followed was too steep to return. Without any help or support, confronted with brutal honesty and the world’s cruelty around them, it is the best possible solution. The story of the two brothers, even if it tries to echo the iconic movie, couldn’t be more different. Despite resources at their disposal, family members that do care about their wellbeing, the whole community rising in protest in their hometown, they risk everything for the sake of getting back to the land they don’t even know. Their Mexican heritage is also mentioned just as an exposition, and, as we learn in the very last episode, just before the ending that Daniel doesn’t speak Spanish. So why do the stubborn Diaz brothers despite all odds travel to Mexico? Because.

Canada was too close, I guess.

Last but not least, let’s talk about sex, because why the hell not. A lot of fans or admirers of the previous instances howled across all social media about how much they miss Max and Chloe. I don’t really think it’s the case, but those two girls symbolize something that LIS2 has a tremendous problem with. There’s no emotional connection between the characters the brothers meet along the way, especially the ones that really should matter. Even the love interests feel more like nagging choices than anything else, an experiment during a camping trip, not something that would last or could be fantasized about. Instead of nerve-wracking decisions such as if you’re supposed to kiss Rachel, hold her hand, or the ecstatic discovery (for PriceFielders, but it was ecstatic, right?) that Chloe changed her phone’s background, we are instead presented with a lineup of sexual experiences, that maybe trail-blaze the road when it comes to topics tackled by a video game, but fall into obscurity as an emotional construction. There is no build-up between Sean and Finn as everything develops to a kiss in one conversation, and Cassidy has fewer lines than Victoria Chase before she invites Sean to her tent. We watch it as we watched it before, trying to get attached, feel something, but the only thing we remember was how much it touched us years ago when we played a different game but with a similar title. The sex scene, relatable or not, is stripped from the emotional intimacy and is as sensitively challenging as a dog being killed.

Character development doesn’t move an inch even if Sean, a surrogate father to his brother, lost his virginity to an older girl. There’s no single thought in his head that he might conceive his own offspring during this short but probably memorable experience. There’s not a single line except for the satisfaction of some female parts finally discovered. Oh, dashing explorer, will you ever learn?

It’s sad. I did want to like this game and gave it plenty of chances like no other titles ever. I’ve made excuses for the poor execution, technical problems, with the whiny voice acting that was driving me up the wall, plot twists written (I think) on a lunch break, and so on, but I couldn’t stand it. It’s a hard pass when it comes to a video game in general, not to mention the story, script, and everything else. Life is Strange season one; a low-budget production, was the first step to create a masterpiece that LIS2 might’ve been able to become. The second season didn’t learn much from LIS1’s mistakes, additionally exchanging the well-known beauty for a garbage fire, ignoring all the warning signs along the way. Delivering a story that tackles such important topics, it slides between the checkmarks on the board of issues, mentioning conversion therapy, religion, gayness, illegal immigration, and a spiral of crimes but never elaborating on any of them. There is no meat and potatoes presented on the plate of events, but just a sticky, sweet gravy with nothing underneath that leaves you not only hungry but frustrated, willing to call the chef and yell at the waiter. The trick is that unless you were living under a rock, there are tons of other productions in different media that give those themes justice, carefully unfolding all the aspects, giving voice to both sides. The fact that it’s the first video game having an affair with serious issues doesn’t matter. I don’t believe that anybody who consumes any kind of other media like decent books, movies, or TV shows can remain blind to the problems of Life is Strange 2, claiming it to be a good story. It’s not.

So here we are, girls, boys, and beyond. Life is Strange 2 with its broken mechanics, story, characters, and spirit slowly but surely will be forgotten. It’s Dontnod’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within that you might love to watch or play on your brand-new TV, despite what everybody else would say, omitting any valid or invalid criticism, but unfortunately, it won’t change the general optics about this particular piece of media. A lost chance or recklessness created a convoluted mess and with a heart beating in the wrong place. You might praise Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, get excited about it since it’s a free world, free country (and even if it’s not, no one will take this ersatz of such liberty) and don’t let anybody tell you what to love. The problem is, that most likely the only thing that people will remember about this production is that the main male character looked like Ben Affleck and the hair animation was dope. Everything else won’t matter.

The same thing goes, unfortunately, for Life is Strange 2, subtitle: The Spirits Without.

[sadprose-auroras]

Are you still taking prompts? My current obsession is Ben topping Gwil (but I'm happy for any pairing) and I'm thinking 17 (my birthday) I don't have time for this, and 33 Is that a promise (because it sounds flirtly). They could be wonderful together

17 – “I don’t have time for this.” 33 – “Is that a promise?” – Ben Hardy x Gwilym Lee (18 + CONTENT BELOW THE CUT)

Tag ‘list’: @fake-blue-flowers – if anyone else wants to be tagged let me know xx

This was interesting to write, as I certainly see Gwil as a more dominant personality, and if I wrote this by myself I would’ve switched the roles! But thank you for being so patient, I know this has taken a million years! I also couldn’t possibly respond to this iconic request with something short, so I went OFF. I am sorry for the lack of smutty goodness, I got carried away with the first part lol. Enjoy! xx

Gwilym felt like the universe was testing him. Or maybe Ben knowingly was. He certainly wouldn’t be surprised. Every time Ben simply reached up to retrieve something and his shirt lifted up, Gwilym swore his soul left his body and his cheeks felt like a furnace. Every time Ben sat next to him, not even that close, he just wanted to grab him and kiss his gorgeously plump lips.

And now, it was getting even worse, he wasn’t even sure how he was going to refrain from letting Ben know how attracted he was to him. Because the two of them were on a trip with a group of friends, and, as they were so close, were assigned to sharing a hotel room.

Now, as they were making their way up to the room hauling their luggage up the stairs, Ben’s ass was literally in front of Gwil’s face, and he was trying his very best to look down and avoid staring too much.

He couldn’t believe the effect Ben was having on him. He usually prided himself in being quite constantly composed and put together, but around him, he found himself constantly flustered; blushing and stumbling over his words.

When they opened the door, they were both surprised to find one king-size bed as opposed to two singles. Gwilym’s heart immediately began racing, and he turned to Ben with furrowed brows.

“This isn’t ideal,” Ben sighed, dumping his bags down. “I’ll go talk to them-“

“Ben,” Gwilym cut him off. “Reception closed…” he checked his watch, “5 minutes ago.”

“Fuck,” Ben groaned, collapsing back on the bed. It was currently 3:05am, and they had been travelling for hours. “I don’t have time for this.”

Whether or not he was talking about being unable to fix the room situation or the situation itself, Gwilym was unsure. Either way, he was too tired to ask.

“Whatever, it doesn’t really matter, I guess. Let’s just share the bloody bed,” Ben said with a chuckle, and Gwilym nodded and forced a small smile, gathering his things to take a shower.

When he emerged in a t-shirt and plaid pyjama pants, Ben was already curled up in the bed, eyes closed as he breathed softly. Gwilym gulped, climbing in on the other side and settled down, desperately trying to ignore how aware he was of the heat of Ben’s body radiating from beside him. How aware of his presence he was. That’s how it always was. Gwilym found it impossible not to be constantly wondering how he was coming across to Ben; if he stared too long, if he hugged too tightly, if he spoke too highly of him.

“Hey, Gwil?” He was startled at first, rolling over to face Ben who was staring back at him, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Yeah?”

Ben opened his mouth as if he totally intended to speak, then closed it again. Like he couldn’t possible find the right words to convey what he was thinking.

“Never mind.” With that, he rolled over, grumbled and shifted around, pulling the covers further over onto his side. “Jesus, this bed is uncomfortable. And these blankets, let me have some at least. Fuck you,” he groaned, his tone teasing, as he finally stopped moving around.

Gwilym had no idea what came over him in the next few seconds. It was like he was back to who he was before he realised how much he wanted Ben. When he was just a cast-mate. How he was around everyone else in his life. Before he could process his words, he uttered with a smirk, “is that a promise?”

Gwilym had no time to regret his words, to utter an explanation, to laugh off his joke, before Ben rolled over and pulled Gwilym to him by the hips, crashing their lips together in a desperate, messy kiss.

It all happened so quickly. Before he knew it, Gwilym was desperately bucking his hips up against Ben’s, whines coming from the back of his throat, as he pawed at his shirt in a poor attempt to pull it off him. In one fluid motion, Ben pulled his own shirt off and tossed it on the floor, smirking as he reattached their lips, their tongues massaging each other’s. It should’ve been gross the way they were making out like horny teenagers, but the way Ben was making him feel, Gwilym swore he’d never been so turned on. He was so lightheaded, practically dizzy with arousal.

“B-Be-en,” Gwilym mewled, involuntarily making the one-syllable word three, his breath catching in his throat as Ben ground his hips down on Gwilym’s, kissing his neck rather slowly, but just as passionately. It was definitely a contradiction to how fast and desperate they were kissing only seconds before.

“Hm?” Ben just managed to murmur, continuing his actions as he ran his hands absentmindedly up and down Gwilym’s sides and making him squirm underneath him.

“What- christ, that feels good- what are we d-doing?”

“Whatever you want, baby.”

The nickname sounded so good coming from his lips, especially with his raspy voice as a result of the previous events.

“I want you to fulfill your promise, p-please…” Gwil attempted to keep a joking tone to his voice, but Ben’s ministrations that were moving down his chest were making it increasingly difficult. Ben ceased his actions, his gaze meeting Gwil’s and a smirk forming on his lips.

“Yeah? Do you want me to fuck you?”

Gwilym was absolutely done for.

-

Some time later, all thoughts of hotel mishaps, insecurities and exhaustion were completely gone. Gwilym was splayed out on the bed, gasping and trying his best not to writhe around as Ben thrust into him slowly and deeply, grunting with each movement. Neither man knew how long it lasted, nor cared. All they knew was that the sun was beginning to rise as they drifted in and out of peaceful sleep and held each other, sweaty limbs and sheets tangled together.

Gwilym dreamt of the man laying with him, his voice echoing in his ears;

“You look incredible taking me like this.”

“Doing so well for me, baby.”

“You’re so fucking sexy.”

“Why haven’t we been doing this the entire time?”

[sadisim]

Coming full circle: 2 years later

I want to start off this post by saying that this is no tea, shade, drama, subpost or whatever other name you want to find for this. This is my most sincere and last message that I will post on my blog. This is why I want to apologize in advance for the ridiculous length of this and I want every reader to be considerate, understanding, open and as objective as they possibly can in this matter.

I will not tolerate any hate sent towards me or the person I am about to mention nor any curious anons asking to “spill the tea” or anything of that nature. If you have any questions my inbox is always open and you are free to directly message me to discuss further. ^_^ /)

Now that we got that out of the way... I will tell you all a little story about my relationship with Frankie (gruesim or simplyimaginarypeople, however you want to call her)

If any of y’all simblr veterans know me for a long time, you surely know I’ve been here for about 6 years or so. I joined this website when I was around 13 years of age, and naturally as any 13 year old I immediately looked up to people who were more talented than me. One of those very people was Frankie herself. I respected her highly, admired her for all her hard work, discipline, talent for meshing from the very beginning and I am extremely thankful to her for all the help she has offered me throughout the years. 

I wanted to be like her. I wanted to mesh and have something to give to Simblr. I wanted to become popular and cool and constantly compared myself to her. Like any teenager would when they admire someone older than them.

You can imagine I grew up with time and I became less and less of a child, maturing and forming my own opinions etc. But I was still pretty gullible and easy to fool back then. So I blindly trusted Frankie and supported her in everything she did, no matter what other people around me were telling me about her. Above all I considered her a friend. A very close one that is. But I am never sure what she considered me to be. I don’t blame her though, I was pretty stupid and annoying when she knew me back then so I don’t mind it at all. However I wish that she had explicitly told me instead. I was always supportive and I remember all of our chats ran dry most of the time with me constantly asking her how she’s doing, admiring and supporting her and her being very distant and cold. I remember at some point she mentioned she cares for me as a friend but I felt like at the time that she didn’t truly mean it.  I never knew if she were like this just with me or if she was like that with everyone. But she was absolutely impossible to approach on my end. At least that’s what a teenager me thought at that time. I can be completely wrong about this. And that’s fine.

Growing up more and more I came to terms with the fact that maybe she just disliked me for some reason I didn’t know. Maybe I was too young for her to be friends with, maybe we had a communication barrier of sorts. So I slowly drifted away…running from my problems instead of confronting her.

That was my biggest mistake and fault.

I wish I had the power then that I have now, to confront people directly and tell them how I feel with no filters or sugarcoating.

But back then sugarcoating was the safest form of escape for me. There is nothing sweeter than pretending everything is okay when it isn’t, just to get away from an uncomfortable situation. All of y’all socially anxious people definitely know what I mean by this.

Sugarcoating was my second and most fatal mistake of all within our relationship.

I fully assume my wrongdoings and past mistakes and I want to let you know that I have realized what I did not do right back then. If I could turn back time I would do something entirely different, but that’s not possible. We learn from our past, don’t we? That’s what  I’ve been slowly doing in the past few years. ^_^

My falling out with Frankie happened around two years ago. I had started a Patreon for my writing combined with some sims ( pose making, skin making etc )She was clearly not happy about it. She was one of the first people who disagreed with me on it. I appreciated her input and never told her that it bothered me so that she didn’t think that I was “one of those people” who ask for money for content so I just sugarcoated everything as I always did. I remember her saying that she “is not a fan of Patreon as long as it’s not against EA” which I 100% agree with, I never intended to lock cc behind a paywall. I would just release stuff later on, probably in 2-3 weeks’ time. However I remember very clearly that she stated how “it would be still exclusive and that it’s no longer a donation instead it’s buying”

I really didn’t like that she was saying those things to me, I remember feeling disappointed. So because I didn’t want to anger her because I really looked up to her and I feared we might fight, I took down my Patreon and got a Ko-fi instead. I’m extremely thankful to everyone who donated, it’s helped me lots! She seemed to be happy about Ko-fi and i was happy i could please her and solve the problem. I never knew why she hated Patreon so much, to me Ko fi was exactly identical to Patreon. Just another name for donations.

This was the first time that Frankie’s shot a bullet in the way I viewed her. At that time she was starting to gain a lot of influence in the community because of her hard work and dedication and she was leading a very public campaign against Patreon. She’s said some things back then which heavily contrast her current views on Patreon, donations or cc locked behind a temporary wall.

She’s said multiple times, publicly and privately how she “hates everything exclusive” but as years passed by I sometimes saw her on my dashboard, despite not following her on tumblr. I couldn’t help but notice how she seemed to me that she helps those very close to her only and seems to not bat an eye about patreon/timed exclusive content  to some people I’ve seen interacting with her– Listen, I know that this might come across as harsh or salty but I mentioned before that I don’t think she’s seen me as a friend. I was not part of her inner circle, nor did we have very deep talks about many things in particular. It just really hurt me to see this happening, while behind closed doors, two years ago she’d bashed me for wanting to make a patreon instead of just asking for donations (it was the same exact thing to me…)

While this subject is still up I’d like to mention the drama that took place a bit earlier this month. The whole hair thing. I have very hardly abstained from saying anything or intervening within the drama because i have biased opinions about her based on my past experience with her. So I didn’t want to come across as harsh, rude or disrespectful to her because of my feelings towards her and didn’t want to portray her in a biased light. The people who know, know what my opinion on the whole drama was. It’s unnecessary to tell you what I think about it since it’s no longer around. But I’d just want to say that for me it felt like all of her constant contradictions were falling apart and truth was starting to get to the surface. I felt like this situation was going to teach her a lesson, and I surely hope she’s learned. She’s not a horrible person. She’s never had malicious intent. I just think that she never really knew quite well how to handle social situations. This isn’t the first time Frankie’s taken a break from simblr. 

Perhaps her views have changed over the past few years. I know mine did a lot, so I don’t blame her if she no longer believes in the things she’s said before. People change all the time for the better or worse and it’s not something unusual. My problem here is that she’s never quite explained why she’s changed her opinions, nor did she justify her behaviour towards me at the time and other people involved who had the same experience with her. I just sort of wish that we had gotten some sort of apology, or an explanation from her after a while…anything would have made us happy. But she never did, so we moved on and kept on ignoring her, praying that we don’t ever have to interact again while watching her from afar doing things that were sort of questionable and didn’t rub us in the right way at all. But I kept silent because people support and love her, and I didn’t want to stir drama. It would have meant setting a hornet’s nest on fire and jumping right into it. Which is why I’ve never gone public about this in the first place. I just wanted to make sure that the heat of the drama was gone before i posted this. I felt like it would have been unfair to her to ‘attack’ her with this during the whole thing. 

The next time that I started getting off vibes from her was the whole Simscord thing. She joined us, I remember that clearly, she’d post in the sims 3 channel now and then but she would most of the time be in the help channel. She’d never ignore anyone and seemed to become some helper that everyone’s seen her as. So everyone went to her for help, which is what she’s always done for the community: help. It’s not easy work to help others solve their problems, which is why I respect her for it. However I don’t understand why she’s left Simscord and then proceeded to tell me she was ‘constantly ignored’ and ‘only seen as a helper’ by others. And then she proceeded to turn her blog into a help blog for every single question that every single anon needed but NEVER complained about how ignored she is or how she’s only seen as a helper then. She’s sort of criticised Simscord on multiple times before, very passively aggressively with comments like “Why does Simscord have exclusive tutorials? Isn’t that sucky for the people who don’t like joining public chats ?”  I eventually posted all the ‘exclusive tutorials’ a bit later that i wrote for Simscord onto my blog. they are still up and you can find them. This did not really make me happy when the whole SSFF thing started taking off and she did not admit that she was blocking access to cc from people who were too socially anxious to do any of the challenges. But we’ll get to that later. That’s just one of the things I can remember … again I’m saying this once more: she might have changed her view since then so I don’t blame her if she thinks differently. I just blame her past self for the way she’s acted in the whole thing. That’s all. It seemed to me that she’s never quite liked Simscord in the first place and kept trying to find ways to dismiss its usefulness. It’s always brought me down because us, the admins, were doing our best to keep Simscord alive, equal and fun to everyone whether they liked talking with us there or not. It felt like a blow to my self-esteem for the time and effort I’d put into Simscord as an admin. I know very well it’s not perfect and it can’t be. Admins are humans just like everyone. We can’t force people to act a certain way just because we want to.

 The next time we had a conflict it was “fatal” for your relationship. It was when we parted ways completely and haven’t spoken directly since. Here is where my biggest fault comes in: not confronting her and being straightforward about how she made me feel. She was angry with me because “I’d changed”. I was apparently “a different person” because I was starting to be myself more on my blog, stopping to sugarcoat things so much…I was trying my best to get out of my childish shell of agreeing with everyone just to avoid conflict and duck confrontation with people when we couldn’t agree. I remember receiving an anonymous message around that time from someone who told me that “I changed” . I was very saddened by the message, I remember I actually cried when I received it. I did not understand why that anonymous person saw me as ‘changed’. I was just being myself and trying to grow and shape and break free from the cute, innocent angel persona that I had created for myself. Sorta like Miley when she had that crazy post Disney phase lol. Im joking now but it’s for real. Then I connected that anon message to her and I am still suspecting today that it might have been her, or someone from her inner circle but then again i could be wrong about this. She had also told me clearly how she “talked to other people who confirmed my change.” I never knew who these people were. Why were they talking behind my back? Why were they not directly telling me into my face that “I changed” if they knew me so well? I highly doubt they knew me at all. Or perhaps there were no “other people”. Perhaps she had made that up just to add to her argument. I’ll never know.

 I supported her in the whole drama with The Together Store because I was still admiring her for her work and passion and I still refused to see the doubtful things that people were accusing her of doing. I remember very clearly how I messaged her when she announced her hiatus, supporting her and telling her I’m there for her, not even willing to listen to The Together Store’s side of the story (If any of you guys are reading this please reach out to me, I can’t remember your urls. I’d like to apologize personally!)   and she just told me that she doesn’t need my support, she’s not bullied and she doesn’t need help. That put a knife in my chest. I know she was just being angry in that moment. She eventually apologized for her harsh words but I never told her how they made me feel then. Another mistake on my end. I kept adding and adding to the idea of supporting her and she simply said that “she needs people to change the way they act”. I kept adding fuel to the conversation but it went nowhere. In one of the last messages from her I remember she explicitly told me that “It’s attitudes like mine that made her leave” and after that I could take no more blows. I knew then deep down my heart that I did not like her attitude but I decided to simply be nice, continue to wrongly sugarcoat the words I wanted to tell her, block her and move on. She was constantly adding in how she saw me as some sort of… Simblr Leader? I never understood what she meant by that. Never. “I don't respect the way you are handling your position as a community leader. Its been super sad to watch such a kind and sweet person get influenced by all this and I wish it were different”  - This is a direct quote from her. I have yet to understand what this all means today. I don’t know what “Influenced by all” means. I have no idea where she got the idea that I am or was a community leader by any means. Surely, I used to have much more influence two years ago. I had thousands of followers, talked to hundreds of people. But I was not a leader. I surely didn’t consider myself that way nor ever said i am one.

I know I handled the situation terribly. Yet again I take complete responsibility for my mistakes and I wish I could gather the courage to reach out to her instead. But we parted ways, by agreeing to disagree and moved on with our lives. I’ve been avoiding her from my dash actively by blocking her username and just stayed away as much as possible. I thought about it many times, to message her…to reach out and talk and be open about my mistakes. But I’ve always gotten a bit anxious the way she might understand this and respond. I know she’s had a distant tone when talking to me before and i did not want to get anxious. So i just hoped i’d get the chance to talk about this someday.

So in the years that came after that I watched her expand, grow and shape her simblr, her projects. She started becoming the very thing that she swore to destroy (very poetic but im making a reference to that one meme. Yall edgelords know what im talkin about). There was  SimblrSimplyForFun that pissed me off with the idea of exclusivity that she was so aggressive towards me about but she ended up doing herself- i remember people talking about how they don’t like the idea of challenges and interacting with others just to get ‘a treat’. She was even sent anonymous questions about this very matter: what are socially anxious people going to do? We can’t just interact with others like normal people. I don’t remember her exact response but I think it was something that brushed off the anon. Then came the drama with the hairs. It was the last drop for me. I wanted to let it all go. It’s been awful to hold this in for so long. She took it upon herself to change an entire community by implementing all these projects, which in idea are super fun and cool and really help connect people, but she was doing all the work by herself and kept on burdening herself with every challenge and piece of cc released. She had hundreds and hundreds of projects, videos, tutorials and cc released in the span of two years that were monstrously over encumbering her with so much responsibility to “change simblr” that she got swallowed in this dark pit of becoming a vessel for change and it ended up overwhelming her to the point where she left. That’s just how I see things from the outside. It doesn’t mean I’m right and you can contradict me on this, I’d gladly listen. She’s done so much for us all, a help that nobody else was willing to give and I am thankful for all her dedication and time spent doing these things. But reading her goodbye message made me realize how she’s seen Simblr more as a job than anything else. She was becoming the “leader” she was trying to enforce on me but it was no easy job. To me Simblr is fun, it’s a hobby. It’s somewhere I come to see creativity and catch up with old mutuals. Nothing more than that. If i can help people i definitely will, if it’s within my knowledge and free time. I don’t want my kindness/selflessness be seen as some sort of sacrifice i make as a “leader of the community”. That’s just my opinion. I feel like she really deserved a break and some time away to clear up her mind, relax and think. I hope she finds the peace she seeks!

I have stayed put form talking about this. As soon as the whole drama with the hairs got out I knew it was gonna be a big blow on her blog. I just didn’t want to add fuel to the fire and that’s why I am posting this only now.. I just wanted to tell my story that I kept in for two long years and that I’ve struggled to come to terms with until now. 

If you’re reading this Frankie, I’m sorry about the mistakes I made and that I didn’t tell you how I truly felt. It’s probably late, but it’s never too late to apologize for my behavior.

I understand people might not agree with me or my side of the story, that’s totally fine. I just wanted to clear things up because I have many people here I talk to that have asked me before why I don’t interact with Frankie or avoid her. I hope that this explanation is everything you need to clear things up ^_^ Anyone who I’ve personally hurt, attacked or wronged is free to unfollow me or block me away, that is totally fine and acceptable, or perhaps if you want to talk about things I’m always here to listen and discuss.

Ever since this thing happened it’s left me pretty bitter about making new friends here. Which is why I’ve just set a limit to myself to just remain ‘mutuals’ with many people and nothing more or less. It’s why I’ve been colder and colder with every year and refused to do many collabs or ships or whatever. I just have matured and grew up and I do not have much time anymore for any of these things. My IRL is full of problems that I am not willing to discuss here because they don’t concern anyone. I’ve come here just to tell my story and that’s the last personal post I’ll probably ever make on my blog.

Thankyou all for reading this extremely long post and bearing with me!

[redqueenmiku]

Why do you dislike Rosalina? Is it because of how she appears more often? If so, she has been a spin-off regular for quite some time now. I do think it was a bit odd for her to get into Smash and in a platformer before Daisy, but I like the character regardless. She is a unique and gorgeous addition to the cast. Before you ask, I adore all three of the Mario ladies equally!

Well, thankfully, I already had something typed up specifically for this occasion. It was going to be its own post, but I think an ask is a perfect segue into releasing this thing I’ve had lying around wondering whether I should post.

Now, DISCLAIMER: I’m not trying to tell anyone they shouldn’t like Rosalina. This is just the reason why I personally dislike the character. This is an opinion piece. Nothing more.

Also spoiler: I do dwell on her game appearances for a while, but that’s not the only thing I touch on.

If any of you read all that’s ahead, thank you so much for taking the time to hear me out and please excuse any pettiness I may display. Thank you.

Now, welcome to a rant I like to call…

DEATH BY OVER-HYPE: THE RISE AND FALL OF ROSALINA

Now, as we all know, Rosalina first appeared in 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy. In said game, she served as Mario’s guide, being the caretaker of the game’s spaceship hub world, the Comet Observatory, and its residents, the Lumas. She was regal, mysterious, and motherly with a stoic yet kind air to her. You really got the sense that she was unlike any character in the series beforehand. She was powerful and she was in a league of her own.

This same game also gave us Rosalina’s backstory in the form of her storybook. She was just a normal girl until she found a Luma and a broken spaceship. She helped the Luma repair the spaceship and set off into space with it to find its lost mother. Along the way, she took in more Lumas, who became her family as she traveled through space. There’s something about a dead mother in there that I thought was way better explained than it actually was and then the first Luma Rosalina met transformed into the Comet that became the Comet Observatory. It’s a touching story.

After that, Rosalina began appearing rather frequently. Of course, she regularly showed up in Mario Kart starting just a year after her debut, but she also stepped foot into Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Sports Superstars, the Mario and Sonic series, and even bit cameos like the Mario Mash-Up pack for Minecraft or as a sprite in the moon-themed areas of Super Mario Odyssey. I have no complaint about any of these appearances. They’re all either inevitable and open to all sorts of characters already or, in the case of Super Mario Odyssey, it fits her role.

Now allow me to complain about a select few appearances that really get on my nerves.

Now, games like Mario Kart and Mario Party and all that make sense. Those are games where all sorts of characters show up and it makes sense for the most distinct characters to make constant appearances. Rosalina was always going to be a regular for those.

What I can’t excuse is three very specific games.

The first is Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. Now, this might seem like a really weird game to be bringing up, but, when you really think about it, it’s really messed-up that Rosalina appears in this game. The only other non-enemy characters playable in this game are Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, and Peach. Rosalina has absolutely no reason to be in this game, yet here she is.

You know what other game Rosalina has absolutely no reason to be in? Super Mario 3D World.

Super Mario 3D World was Rosalina’s fifth appearance in the franchise and her very first playable appearance…in a game that takes place in another world, the Sprixie Kingdom, and whose only playable characters are franchise staples Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad in a throwback to the US version of Super Mario Bros 2. Rosalina has zero reason to be in this game, much less be a prominent playable character.

Then, there’s the biggest blow of them all, which came just one year after 3D World: Super Smash Bros.

If Rosalina hadn’t appeared in Super Mario 3D World, there would be absolutely zero merit to putting her in Smash Bros considering that, outside that single instance, she was made no more important than any other character in the Mario series and she had never done anything to merit a Smash appearance. Because Super Mario 3D World exists, though, she has to appear in Smash, right?

And then there’s a point that I’ve had yet to bring up: the existence of Baby Rosalina. Like, gee. Rosalina sure warrants a baby form that goes against her entire backstory, doesn’t she? Let’s just do that.

By now, my biggest problem with Rosalina should be readily apparent. Rosalina shot to favorite child status way too quickly and her most egregious appearances are nothing more than blatant fanservice.

There’s an old document I have where I try to talk about my distaste for Rosalina. The explanation was really poorly thought out and filled with a lot of salt that didn’t need to be there, but one particular section I can still get behind is one where I essentially compare Rosalina to Shadow the Hedgehog. I think the comparison is still rather relevant.

Once you really start thinking about it, Rosalina really has this kind of Shadow the Hedgehog syndrome, not in the personality itself, but in how her creators treat her. Both characters were created for a specific purpose in a specific game in already well-established franchises with a lot of characters already, but gained an explosion of popularity due to popular aspects in their characters along with their compelling backstories that shot them past the other characters into a place where they’re now used in just about every game including ones they have no place in and are touted by their fandoms as some of the best characters to ever exist.

One major difference between Shadow and Rosalina, though, is that Shadow is actually a really well-developed character that has developed even beyond where he first came from. This is the effect of being part of a largely story-driven franchise that has allowed Shadow to evolve and come into his own. He’s earned his place among the cast through meaningful interaction.

Rosalina is cursed with coming from a franchise that doesn’t even have well-established characters much less any kind of evolving story. Rosalina just…exists, meaning she can’t do anything to really make herself fit in being who she is. Her personality constantly fluctuates to the point where the most I can tell you about her personality is that “she’s nice”. The rest of the main characters in the franchise all come from the same world and regularly interact with each other. This has the negative effect of making Rosalina feel like an outsider. She doesn’t need to be there in any instance and any time she is it just feels like going out of her way to be there, which would be fine if Nintendo wasn’t trying to sell her as this mature, introverted character that’s supposed to contrast the rest of the cast. She’s constantly contradicting herself left and right and it doesn’t feel like Nintendo ever really knows what to do with her but shove her in everywhere they can because “she’s popular, right?”.

That would be the reason I don’t like Rosalina. She doesn’t fit in, but Nintendo keeps trying to shove her where she doesn’t belong. She doesn’t have a consistent identity outside of the one from Galaxy that she keeps contradicting all the time and she’s been in games she has absolutely no business being in for absolutely no justifiable reason.

Now, maybe I’m just being over-critical, but this is something I personally feel very strongly about. Rosalina is one of the most overrated characters in existence in my opinion and it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to see her anymore, even in places that she does belong. She’s been absolutely ruined for me by Nintendo’s practices concerning the Mario franchise and I can’t even stand her anymore.

Yes, it’s petty, but that’s just me.

At the end of the day, I know that this is just my opinion. I hope no one came to this rant expecting otherwise. I just wanted to make clear my emotions about this character. If you’ve made it to this point, thank you for hearing me out. Have a nice day.

(oh this is going to be sooooooo controversiallllll….)

[bugheadjones-the-third]

Title: The Return of the Serpent Prince . Summary: Jughead Jones is back in Riverdale High, and seeing all those guys around Betty leaves him extremely uncomfortable. He knew it was none of his business anymore, but—Why the hell were they flirting with her? [ Note: In this story, neither of them kissed other people. I don’t feel like adding to this drama with this one-shot, so… Don’t worry about that.] . A/N: Initially, this was something that I felt like I had to get out of my head, but I guess it turned out longer than just a small idea… Nonetheless, I’m quite happy with the result, and I think you guys will have a good time while reading this one! Have fun, and please, tell me what you think! . . . That guy was certainly an asshole.

Jughead didn’t even know him, but he was already listed as an asshole amongst some other dudes that had dared to do the same asshole-ish thing about 30 minutes before. That guy— a tall, blond jock, whose name didn’t matter for the history of Riverdale, therefore would be called The-Third-Period-Asshole— was leaning against the locker just across the hall, with a silly smile plastered on his face. He had his right arm lifted in order to show off his muscles, and apart from all the things that made him worthy of hanging with the likes of Reggie Mantle, that asshole was openly flirting with Betty.

All those flirty smiles, fake giggles and the whole showing off was all an attempt on getting the girl’s attention, and if he didn’t know her better, Jughead would say she was even falling for that.

Betty was smiling back. She was giving that guy one of her polite, Alice-Cooper smiles, and even if Jughead couldn’t actually hear their conversation, he could tell she wasn’t really interested in that guy or in any of the others who had approached her that day. They had all tried many kinds of approaches, and apart from the lack of creativity, he was really impressed by the number of guys that had come to her even before the 4th period.

Was there some kind of bet among those idiots? Or perhaps had she started some kind of study group again? He certainly didn’t know, but to say he was happy would be a serious misjudgment.

Jughead knew they weren’t together anymore, and logically, he also knew he didn’t have the right to be bothered by any of those guys, but that whole thing was a lot easier said than done.

He didn’t break up with her because he wanted to, after all. He broke up with her so she would be safe from him and from that emblem on the back of his leather jacket. He forced himself to walk away from her on that dirty parking lot, and from that day on, his heart feels heavier than ever. And now, as he watched The-Third-Period-Asshole hitting on her, a mix of anger, impatience and hunger started to take over his body.

Jughead had to do something. He had to calm himself down, and he had to find out why the hell those guys were gathering around her like flies around a piece of rotten meat.

Betty Cooper is certainly not rotten meat. She’s the finest piece of filet mignon of the market, and if not for the sight of Kevin Keller walking in front of him, the Jones boy would’ve definitely walked over to the girl to compliment her in meaty ways.

“ Kevin!” He called, lifting his hand up as to make himself seen. His sweet friend turned his eyes towards Jughead, and he looked quite surprised to actually be called by the raven haired boy. “ Can you come here? I kinda need to ask you something…”

The Sheriff’s son still had a confused expression across his face, but walked over to where Jughead was standing, nonetheless. The Jones boy was leaning against the gray lockers, his arms crossed over his chest and a pout plastered on his lips. The Keller kid couldn’t help but notice a certain uneasiness in his broody friend, as blue eyes constantly drifted to glare at something— or rather, someone, as he eventually discovered— while they both stood together on the hallway, and at that moment, the brown haired boy knew even his father could tell where that talk would take them.

Jughead was jealous. And— oh, that was reverting.

“ Well, it’s not like such a commoner like me can say no to the young serpents’ leader, right?” Kevin said, shifting his position as to lean his weight over his right leg. He was holding his books against his hips, and his lips were pressed into a thin like before he resumed talking. “ How can I help you, Jughead?”

“ You see… You’re Betty’s best friend, so you should probably know…” Jughead started, bitting his lip as to try to hold back the annoyance in his voice. “ Why are all those guys around Betty? Is she somehow helping them study or something?”

Kevin’s expression remained blank for a while, as he simply studied the Jones’ face. His brows frowned, and soon, he was offering Jughead one of his famous, judging— yet sweet— stares. “ Helping them study? Are you serious?”

“ Well, I don’t know…” He shrugged, a pout still on his lips. “ That could be the only explanation why they’re all after her, right?”

“ Oh my god… Straight guys are so obnoxious.”

“ Knock it off, Keller! Did she join any group or something like that to explain all those douches?”

“ Oh, she definitely joined the Single Students group."

“ Excuse me?”

“ Oh, come on, Jughead. You can’t seriously believe there are guys around Betty only when they need help with their studies.”

“ If not that, then why are they—“

“ Because she’s hot, Jughead!” The Serpent’s lips parted in awe at the way Kevin voiced those words, and suddenly, was as if something hit him really hard in the stomach. " You better than anyone should know that. She’s hot, and mostly, she’s available!”

His blue eyes widened, and Jughead could feel his heart beating faster in a feeling he couldn’t quite explain. For the first time in years, Jughead was left speechless, as nothing came up in his mind for him to contradict his friend. He was shocked, and mostly, he didn’t like hearing his own thoughts being said by someone else in such a straight way.

Apparently, Kevin really is his father’s son.

“ I-I still… I don’t…”

“ Oh, lord, I didn’t pick you for a guy of looks instead of brains, Jones.” Kevin sighed, massaging his temples. After taking a deep breath, he calmed down and decided to go easier on Jughead. It was not like his life was allowing him to ratiocinate lately. “ Look, I’m sorry for saying it like that. I know you guys have been going through a lot lately, so let me try to rephrase it all.” He scratched the back of his head, as he watched Jughead’s face getting sadder at the sound of the blonde’s laughter. “ You see… Even if she’s not aware of it, Betty is the most beautiful girl of this school. She’s smart, she’s sweet and she’s gorgeous with those green, baby-doll eyes of hers. Every boy in school would’ve died to have a chance with her, but she never paid any attention to them. Not when she still believed in that whole Archie thing and— well… Not when she had you.”

Jughead nodded at Kevin, finally following his words. He didn’t like to hear that last part as a past sentence, for, regardless of anything, Betty still has him. She always will. The writer placed his hands inside his pockets, and waited for his friend to continue. “ You guys got together, then, and people respected that. I mean, you guys were Bughead, aka the cutest couple of Riverdale. Always sleuthing together, solving Jason’s murder and being there for each other. It was really sweet, and everyone respected that enough to leave her alone, even if you have always been a loser— no offense.” He said, apologetic, to which Jughead simply shrugged. It was the truth, after all.

“ None taken…”

“ Good, uh… Well, and then everything happened and you moved to the South Side. The douches of this school even thought about bugging her, at first, but then you became a Serpent and they were all kinda afraid of you and your new, dangerous friends.”

“ And why aren’t they afraid anymore? I’m still a Serpent and I’m closer than ever now that the schools have merged. Following your logic, shouldn’t they leave her alone?”

“ Well, they should if you guys were still… You know, together. After the rumors that you broke up with her because of that pink haired chick, they all figured it would be safe to go after our beloved, girl next door.”

“ What!? Toni was not the reason why we broke up! That’s ridiculous!”

“ Well, I know that. You know it, too, and so does Betty, but they don’t. They should, because, you know, you’re not Archie, and you wouldn’t be that much of an idiot to choose that disrespectful girl with weird hair and—“

“ Kevin. Focus.”

“ Oh, sorry… It’s just that she insulted THE ponytail. Still, my point is: You guys are not a couple anymore. And even if I totally shipped Bughead and got pretty sad when Betty told me what happened, I’m glad she’s receiving all this attention now.”

“ What the hell, Keller?!” Jughead placed his hands on his hips, clearly feeling all that anger boiling up inside him. He suddenly started to get mad at Kevin for his words, and he knew there was no logic behind his reaction. Still, it was not like he could hold it back. “ You know all these guys are douches! She’s so much better than all of them!”

“Oh, I know… Betty is a lot better than all of us, but… I like the idea of my best friend feeling appreciated and wanted. She looked like shit when you guys broke up, and as a friend with protective instincts, I can’t not be happy to see her better. So, as her friend, unless you’re willing to solve things and make her happy again, Jones, I won’t let you hurt her anymore. Nothing personal.”

The confidence and firmness on Kevin’s voice shook something inside Jughead, and suddenly, the amicable atmosphere around them became serious and the tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. The Sheriff’s son was definitely showing how intimidating he could be in front of the serpent’s prince, and the way he didn’t even flinch when standing up to Betty was certainly admirable.

Kevin has always been a god friend to Betty. They’ve always been together, and if there was one opinion that mattered to Jughead at that moment, it was certainly that boy’s. He only wanted the best for Betty— they both did— but unlike Jughead, Kevin certainly had a clearer vision of things.

Even if it kinda sucked to have heard his words, better than anyone, the raven haired writer knew he had no right to ruin her happiness after what he did to her. He wanted her to be happy— Damn it, he wanted to be the one to make her happy, but perhaps, that was not up to him anymore.

Perhaps, it was now up to The-Third-Period-Asshole.

“ Okay! I’ll see you later, Betsy!”

Tch, as if.

How could that asshole not know that she hates being called Betsy? It reminds her of a cow’s name, and there was no way a guy like that would be able to make her smile. No, that guy could not be the one. Even the one from the 1st period was better with his weird, cuticles fetish.

Honestly, what was wrong with that school?

The bell finally rang and after muttering a ‘thank you’, Jughead let Kevin go to his class. A sigh escaped his lips, indicating he was certainly not excited about biology at that moment, and he finally turned to open his locker and grab his books. He span the combination, giving the locker a little bump in order to open, and took the green book that was lined next to his edition of Huckleberry Finn, which, for a moment, made him consider skipping classes so he could read a couple of chapters.

It would certainly help him calm down a little and help him think about what to do next.

A smirk crossed his face at the memory of Betty scolding him for hiding at his emergency closet under the stairs so he could avoid going to gym. She looked incredibly cute with that angry pout, and it was as if he could still hear the words she told him that day. She said something lik—

“ Jughead Jones, what on earth do you think you’re doing?”

His eyes snapped in shock. He certainly had that memory fresh in his head, but he didn’t know her voice would sound so clear in his head, as if she was standing right next to him. He tried to ignore it, at first, but the sudden poke he felt on his shoulder told him that, apart from being inside his head, there was a very mad blonde standing right behind him.

Oh, well…

It certainly took him some seconds to turn, but when he did, his eyes didn’t miss the angry features of her face. Her green eyes were glaring at him, her hands were on her hips and even if he tried not to think of how beautiful she was, Jughead didn’t miss the scold she was holding in her throat. He certainly didn’t know what he did in order to bring such reaction on her, but he couldn’t help but think it wasn’t all that bad. “ Betts… Hey, what’s wrong?”

“ What’s wrong? Oh, don’t play dumb on me! You know exactly what you did.”

“ Okay… If you’re talking about that time I glued Archie to his seat in first grade, then, I guess you can be mad. Though I gotta say he was trying to steal one of my stickers!”

“ So it really was you!!”

“ I was just a kid!” He threw his hands up in defeat, as the small girl glared at him furiously.

“ And so was Archie! God, Jughead! Though I-I’m not talking about this!”

“ You aren’t? Then why are you mad at me this time?”

“ Why do you keep glaring at them?”

“ What?” His expression went blank, as he really had no idea of what she was talking about. He knows he tends to glare at a lot of people, but at that moment, she would have to be a bit more specific.

“ You’ve heard me! Look, you broke up with me, remember? That takes away your right to be jealous, therefore you can’t keep glaring at every single guy that comes talk to me!”

“ Jealous? I’m not jealous! And I’m not glaring at all of the guys that talk to you! I-I didn’t even know there were guys talking to you!”

“ Jug, you’ve glared at the janitor yesterday.”

“ That guy looked like a predator. This school has a historic with these people.”

“ He was asking me about the recycling, trash cans!”

“ Well… At least he’s a green guy.” He smirked, certainly not missing the chance of making one if his trademark comments.

“ Jughead!”

“ Okay! Okay… I can’t help it, okay? Logic tells me I shouldn’t be acting like that, but I just can’t stop it! It’s stronger than me, Betty… Stronger than us.”

“ Tch, you’re impossible, Jughead!” She let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Her eyes were adverting his, and after trapping her lower lip in between her teeth, the Cooper girl finally allowed her anger to die from her face. She looked calmer, now. She looked like she was feeling nostalgic and even a little mad at herself for not being mad at all, and even if he wanted to hug her at that moment and say something that would make her laugh; Jughead held back. He couldn’t make things worse, after all. “ Look… You’re gonna set the school on fire if you keep glaring at them. They fear you and the Serpents, and it won’t tale long before Reggie and the others decide to start a fight. People will get hurt and you—“

Betty stopped herself. She bit the insides of her mouth to keep any embarrassing word to leave her throat. She wanted to continue that phrase. God— she wanted to finish so many other phrases around him, and tell him she worried about his safety in the same way he worried about hers, but she knew she couldn’t. Not that time, and certainly not until he made the first move to fix things between them.

There was no denying he still held her heart, and she never made that a secret between them. He knew she still loved him and she knew her feelings were reciprocated, yet, they needed more than just love to take the next step on their relationship. They needed to get back their mutual trust and perfect connection, and that wouldn't happen until he brought back that courage he seemed to have lost.

This time, it was going to be up to him.

And he would better be fast, for she was already getting tired to pretend to like all the attention from those guys on her feet. She didn’t know for how long she would be able to keep up with that act, especially not when she could clearly see him there, with those beautiful, blue eyes and that provocative jealousy she somehow became to find hot.

God, that weirdo was going to be the end of the perfect, girl next door.

“ Betty… I—“

“ Ms. Cooper, we’re waiting for you.” The firm, judging words that came from her math teacher were enough to bring both of them back to reality. The middle-aged teacher was looking at her from the entrance of his class, and by the look on his face, he was certainly not happy to see his best student talking to a Serpent. He was tapping his foot on the floor, and at that moment, Betty realized she could not escape her destiny.

She finally shook her head, taking a deep breath before turning to face her teacher. “ I’m sorry, sir. I’m on my way.” Her eyes turned to meet his one more time, and at that moment, something different lit inside both of the teens. It was as if their eyes could talk, and they were definitely provoking and forcing each other to step out of that stupid comfort zone they had both entered after the beginning of that civil war. She nodded at him and he nodded back, and soon, she was walking away towards the classroom. He watched her all the way, and was impressed when she suddenly turned to face him one more time before entering the class. Her glare was back, but that time, it felt warm and kind just like it used to when they were together.

“ And don’t you dare skipping class, Jughead! Your book can wait!”

And so, as the teacher closed the door behind her, he allowed his lips to turn up in a smirk. He was impressed by how she had managed to use the same words from before, and even if that brought him a warm nostalgia, Jughead knew he couldn’t simply ignore all that had happened during that break. From his own feelings while he watched her with another guy, to Kevin’s words and, especially, the way their eyes met in that silent talk; Jughead knew there was something new and important there that neither of them had dared to say.

Damn it— there were so many things they had yet to say to each other. So many things being repressed and ignored, and by two hearts that were so pure and young like theirs. It was too much for them to bare, and— fuck, they were both too tired of that.

Tired of acting like the adults their parents never were, and tired of sacrificing everything in order to keep the peace between two sides of a small town. They were tired of believing they would actually be safer if they were sadder.

Betty and Jughead were tired of keeping each other apart.

And at that moment, as he rescued his Huckleberry friend from his locker, Jughead Jones knew exactly what he was going to do.

Josh Summers was back. He had approached her the day before during the third period, and god— how she wanted him to shut up.

For the past 10 minutes he had been talking about all the different kinds of exercises to work his biceps, and all the times he called her ‘Betsy' made her feel like vomiting. She had already given up on paying attention to his words for a while now, choosing, instead, to smile and nod like a polite girl her mother once trained her to be. Her fingers were thumping against the cover of her history book, her ears were trying to find a different story on the hallway, and her eyes were desperately searching for him.

It had been over 24h since their intense conversation, and Betty was dying to spot that beanie in the middle of the sea of students that was now Riverdale High. She found herself looking for him the entire day, going to places she normally wouldn’t go, until she decided to simply wait for him to cross her path in the hallways of their lockers. When she got there, things were calm and silent around her, but it didn’t take long until Josh came around to ruin her peace.

Jocks, she thought.

How could she ever keep up a long conversation with a guy like that? The things he loves are the ones she despises, and she had lost count on how many grammar mistakes or slangs he had said so far.

There was no passion. There was no charm. God, there was no sarcasm in his words, and at that moment, she was begging for a literature reference to fill her ears like music.

One of the things she missed the most after their break up was definitely that intelligent way he handled the words. They would always be talking about important issues, their book discussions were thrilling and whenever he left her a note, she would spend hours admiring his lexical choices.

Jughead had certainly raised the bar too high in her life before he left, and she couldn’t help but hate him a little for that.

Fortunately, he was ready to come back and take the responsibilities over his actions.

“ So, Betsy, are you free this Friday night?”

“ Oh, Josh, I’m sorry, I—“

“ She’s kinda busy, man.” Jughead suddenly showed up from behind the girl, lazily resting his arm on her shoulder. There was a sly smirk on his face, and she couldn’t help but feel flustered when he winked at her.

Oh, that boy…

“ Excuse me?” Josh started, trying stand up for his ground. “ Who are you to answer for her, Jones?”

“ Well, I’m the guy who will be taking her out this Friday Night. Just for your information.”

“ Yeah, right…” Josh smirked, not believing the raven haired boy’s words. “ Betty is a good girl. She would never go out with a thug like you.”

“ Hey, Josh!” She started, her cheeks puffing in anger. “ He’s not a—“

“ It’s okay, Betts. He’s right. I’m a thug. I’m the future leader of the Serpents, and that certainly makes me a bad guy.”

“ Of course it does. You’re no good for her.”

“ You’re probably right about that.”

“Jug…” She whispered in concern as her eyes were looking for his.

“ I know I’m no good for her, but hey… It’s not like you’re not making any progress here, Ol’Mcdonald.”

A giggle escaped Betty’s lips, and Jughead couldn’t help but smile at that. They were both exchanging those secretive looks of theirs, and seeing how lost Josh was just made things a lot funnier at that moment.

When it comes to Betty Cooper, no one can beat Jughead Jones.

Especially not The-Third-Period-Asshole.

“What's so funny, Jones?”

“ Oh, don’t worry… It’s probably too much for your brain.”

“ You…  You don’t know who you’re messing with, you freak. I can—“

“ You can what?” Jughead started, leaning forward to glare at the jock. His eyes suddenly turned colder and intimidating, and it was as if the entire hallway went mute. During those past few weeks, he had certainly learned a thing or two from the Serpents, and if anything, he was never going to let people intimidate him again. He was not afraid of that guy.

That guy was afraid of him.

“ I-I… I will—“

“ I can’t hear you, man… Try using simple words like 'I’m sorry’ or just ‘okay’. And keep your voice down. Serpents don’t like loud noises.”

A drop of sweat ran down the back of his neck, and Jughead didn’t know exactly what changed his mind, but after muttering a really low ‘okay’, Josh walked away without even saying goodbye to Betty. He figured others wearing leather jackets had showed up behind him, and that image only made him hold up that smirk he had plastered on his face as they simply watched Josh walking away in such a hurried pace. All the other students that had witnessed the show were left confused, but ended up minding their own lives in fear of being tracked by one of the gang members.

Apparently, Kevin was right. The students really were afraid of him, and even if he wasn’t a fan of that situation, it would have to do for the time being.

If they were afraid, then, at least, they would keep him alone. And after that little show, they would also keep her alone.

Oh, but she wouldn’t keep him alone, for sure.

“ Jughead Jones, what did I tell you about scaring people!?” She was mad at him, her brows knitting down as she sent him the famous Cooper glare.

“ Oh, Betts…” His expression softened, and after taking his arm from her shoulder, he used his hand to scratch the back of his neck. “ What else was I supposed to do?”

“ I don’t know. Maybe being polite? God, that guy is terrified right now.”

“ Well, at least he won’t keep calling you Betsy anymore.” He smirked at her, and he could see how hard she tried to hold back her own smile after that.

“ That’s true, but scaring him felt a little too much.”

“ Trust me, Betts. He’s a big boy who knows how to clean himself. I’m sure he will be fine.”

“ Gosh, Jug…” She sighed, her lips finally lifting up a bit as she leaned her back against the locker. Her eyes searched for his, and at that moment, it was as if the whole threatening words had simply lost their importance for her. There was a soft expression on her face, and as she looked at him, he could feel himself slowly being pulled towards by her sweet magnetism. “ Why did you even do that for? I mean, I know you were bothered by him yesterday, but why suddenly changing into attacking mode?”

Jughead suddenly felt something changing inside of him. He hadn’t noticed before, but she was looking extremely gorgeous that morning. Her golden ponytail was as tight as ever, her eyes were shining with a kind spark, and her heart shaped lips looked especially soft as she stood less than an arm-length away from him. He could feel his eyes drafting from her eyes to her lips, and before he knew it, he was standing a lot closer than before, for her perfume was invading his nostrils now.

She smelled like summer, in a pure scent of vanilla and strawberry, and suddenly, he found himself lost in that game they’ve been playing for a while now. The words wouldn’t form in his head, and again, Jughead didn’t know how to actually answer that question.

Well, at least not with proper words.

The boy took one, deep breath before finally leaning in to press his lips against hers. It was soft— as he had expected— and he could feel a bunch of emotions rushing back in into his heart at the long lost touch. Even if he had been the one to make the move, the blonde answered that kiss almost immediately, and he could feel her smiling against his lips.

Betty was kissing him back. Damn it, he was actually kissing Betty after so long.

It was a chaste kiss for he was very aware of the eyes that were set on them, but it was still a kiss he wouldn’t forget that soon. Their lips moved in synch, and he didn’t really know when his hands found their way to her waist. He was pulling her closer with a certain pressure on his fingertips, and he knew if they didn’t stop that soon enough, he would certainly need to use the janitor’s room.

Sigh Hormones…

They soon parted that kiss, but their faces still remained pretty close to one another. Soft smiles were gracing their lips, and if not for the bell ringing on the background, neither of them would’ve moved from that incredibly comfortable position.

“ Finally…” Betty whispered. His lips turned into a smirk, for he knew she was not talking about the history class she would have up next.

“ I guess I needed a little push.”

“ You certainly did… Who would’ve thought all you needed was some competition, right, Juggie?” She teased, still not able to drop that silly smile that had taken over her lips.

“ Competition? Pff.. As if. None of those guys have a beanie as awesome as mine.”

She chuckled, taking her fingers to his face so she could play with his loosened lock of hair. She looked at his crown shaped beanie, too, but suddenly returned her gaze to his eyes. “ I guess you have a point… You know I’ve always had a thing for hats.”

“ That’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

Her cheeks turned redder, and at that moment, Betty could certainly say she was happy. Having him there, with her and making all those comments felt just too good and natural, as if he had never really stopped. She had missed his lips so much, and oh— she couldn’t wait for school to be over so they could make up for the lost time.

They were both happy at that moment, for they knew they were exactly where they should be. They were together and in love, and at that moment, nothing else mattered.

No Black Hood. No Serpents and certainly, no Third-Period-Asshole.

[vengeance-sevenfold]

Yea of course this would happen, of course you would do this. Jesus Christ what a spot to be in. I love you, adore you, just want to spend time together, tried everything to avoid this trap I’m in just to set myself up for it. I hoped to get enough respect to protect my interests here and instead got my good thing dropped on me by the contradictive harbinger of futile hope and doom, strung along for months teased by the good thing that’ll never fuckin happen to this inevitable outcome. Good things happen just not not to me, this feels like a gross parody of love and a perversion of my original ideas.

How is it that a person that drinks coffe and smokes cigarettes gets barraged by an endless onslaught of drug use implications? Whenever I’m called on day or night at random or planned I’m sober and attentive. I’m the only one that does a damn thing around this new house. My bills are paid and rent is being caught up. The harm and damage and worry it’s caused is an insignificant thought to anyone else. The financial cost is meaningless. My home, friends, education, future and even you stolen or lost to me is nobody’s concern but mine but caused by others, intentionally without explanation.

This is worst feeling I’ve ever felt. The worst pain and the worst position to be in with the person I care the most about. You put yourself there, and me where I am. The only person that needs the answers and information and has a right to it but the only one kept out of the know with absolutely no respect or care about me, my interests or investments. A children’s game, I’m an “irresponsible adult” while surrounded by toddlers, I worse yet they’re all deaf and mute I can’t get the answers from anyone until I start removing fingers or take someone hostage it seems. There’s no romance here, this is a living nightmare and I incredibly painful, degrading, dehumanizing, insulting and absolutely deplorable behaviour toward another person. I feel subhuman, trying to do good while every atrocity is flaunted at me and committed to me, dazed and confused, under assault from friends and piers, harm being done, major repercussions on my life and a complete zero fucks given attitude. Societal views say I’ve done a drug at some point in my life so I’m somehow to blame and the one doing harm, while my efforts have only been in the interest of protection. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Who’s hurting who here? Who’s harming who? How could you do this to me and why? What the hell is expected of me here? How do I prove something g I’m not doing? Why should I even have to? Why is it the primary area of focus? How is this good, fun, productive or healthy for anyone? It seems like something was fabricated and invented in an attempt to destroy a person. I have no sense of humor here. I’m more angry than I’ve ever been, I’ve never resented anything so much, and even more so because these were my ideas, it’s something I should be happy about, and I’m not allowed to enjoy it.

“Stand up for yourself.” To who? Anyone got a set of balls round here? And when I have it’s only made shit worse for me. Doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do, say or don’t say, I’m just constantly under fire and increasingly worried about the damage caused and opinions changed about me and the effect that’ll have.

“Be a man.” How much more do I gotta fuckin lose for the goddamn opportunity!!!??? What the hell do you think I’m trying for here? I’m just getting angrier by the day.

I don’t know know where to find you and I’m not going looking. Odds are you wouldn’t want me to find you if I did. I’m not putting myself in my own or someone else’s harms way intentionally and this is a bit more than a hamlet. Variable needle in a haystack. And what the fuck is this trap house I’m in anyway? You put yourself in the position you’ve claimed to be in and I’m helpless against it. Who does that? How could you even imply such a thing? You relocate or travel just to destroy a person? Rip me to pieces, would rather destroy my life entirely and hurt me every way you can in the worst ways you could for something I’m not doing, than spend a moment of your time with me or speak via electronic comms for something that I might be. You claim you don’t use addictive substances where’s your witch hunt and tribunal? I hope you got a big sack of money with the apologies you owe me. You say “ha” like there’s some kind of humor or justice in the damage caused to me without spending a minute with me.

These things only end one way. Knowing that, and knowing that you know that, this all seems so typically you I actually have some glimmer of hope left but not much of one. 7 goddamn months and I can’t go downtown at night without seeing 8 of the 20 people I know in this city. It’s shit like that makes me nervous because this subhuman shit makes me think that there’s a very narrow minded view on me. On the other hand it makes me hopeful that there’s that kind of attention and good things may yet be coming. I’ve been saying this like a broken record but if you’re here and able to be here with me and still fuckin around playing games and spying on me, wasting time while the problems, pain and costs continue to rise, well you’re doing a lot more harm than good. I don’t believe you’d just drop me in ashes like this, but I’m worried that you might. I don’t believe that good things happen to me. These things happen to me. I just accept it at this point because what the fuck else would happen?

Let me show you how much I love you in the ways I’ve always wanted and have been trying for, without delay. Why wait any longer than we have to? It’s not yours and everyone else’s efforts that I resent, it’s how everyone’s gone about it and the constant assaults on me. There’s nothing wrong with my ideas but they did come with a certain expectation that you’d actually follow through with something more than the deplorable acts of human indecency that’s apparently funny to some people. I’m really worried about your view of me, that it’s becoming deluded to the point that you might actually just leave me to burn without ever speaking to me and making this the worst thing that could ever happen. What a tragedy that would be. I really hope you wouldn’t do that, I don’t believe you would but you certainly could, I worry more about it every day. I just wanted to be happy, I don’t like being being this angry, or having said the things I have, I’m terrified of us hating each other. This is everything I’ve feared and tried to avoid, while it seems you’ve steered directly toward it. That’s the only thing that gives me hope at this point. It feels like the greatest atrocity committed against me. It needs to be a good thing and I’m powerless to make it so. Come through babe, anytime. God please don’t make me lose you like this. Anything but like this. I asked for this to be easy, respectful and to just work, with communication to avoid problems. I just got off the phone with a recruiter who ironically informed me I need a degree before starting officers academy. How many more problems could you cause? Be here if you’re able, please. Respect what’s left of my interests and life here please. You know I’d never hurt you. Intentionally anyway, this has been painful for both of us and it shouldn’t have ever needed to be. Make it happy, and make it soon, just be here, with me. Why else would you do all this? I promise I probably won’t kill you. As always I just want to see you.

This is definitely not what I had in mind to say the least. I wanted to make it as beautiful and special for you as you are, I haven’t been able to and I’m very sorry for that, I wish I could have.

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (9)

Chapter 9: A Day of Worry

Sasuke paced the ground outside of Sakura's apartment. It was almost midnight and she still hadn’t come home.

After Kakashi had left him with the crowd of newly admitted Konoha citizens, Sasuke had escorted them to their lodgings, left them in Lee's care, and vanished within minutes. He hadn't had any desire to hang around.

After he left, Sasuke had stopped by Kakashi's office only to find it void of both his former sensei and the shadow master ninja. Sasuke didn’t know why he had gone straight there knowing that Kakashi and Shikamaru would most likely be gone. If Sakura was involved, Sasuke assumed the two of them had made a bee-line for the hospital.  To be honest, Sasuke had seriously considered heading in that direction, too, but had mentally chastised himself. Surely Kakashi could handle the situation being the Hokage, he supposed. The Hokage had chosen to keep him in the dark about it, after all.

To occupy himself, Sasuke had spent the rest of his day looking for distracting things to do. He had trained for most of the evening, practicing taijutsu to avoid over using his chakra. When his heart was no longer in the practice, Sasuke had turned to the methodical task of cleaning his weapons. Despite all this, Sasuke had kept worrying. It was dumb, to constantly find himself instinctively feeling like Sakura needed saving.  He had seen her skills on the battlefield during the 4th great shinobi world war; he had experienced her medical prowess first hand; he had witnessed her victory against Kido. So why was he worrying? The Sasuke he had been just a couple of years ago certainly wouldn’t have been. He wouldn’t have even thought twice about it. Perhaps he really was changing.

And so, to the Uchiha's embarrassment, he currently found himself lurking in front of Sakura's apartment under the cloak of darkness. He told himself he was just here to return the key. He would give her the key, tell her he refused her offer, then leave. But as the minutes ticked away, Sasuke's uneasiness grew.

Where the hell was she? It was nearly 1 a.m. Surely she would have come back by now. Did something seriously bad happen to her? No, he told himself. He was choosing to have faith in her abilities. He supposed if it were serious enough, somebody would have made the effort to tell him. Or maybe not, Sasuke suddenly thought. He had been mostly absent for the past 6 years. It made sense that the leaf village would operate on emergencies without considering him.

Maybe Sakura was just busy. Sasuke knew she was extremely preoccupied with her position as the hospital's head medic, especially now considering she had told him that a unit had departed for Kumogakure. Taking into account Naruto's persisting absence, Sasuke concluded that the medical crew must not have returned yet, either.  Maybe, Sasuke suddenly thought, Sakura had already been here and decided to return to the hospital for the night shift.

Completely annoyed with himself, Sasuke pulled the key from his pocket and swiftly unlocked the apartment's front door. He told himself he wasn’t snooping as he slyly investigated the living room, bathroom, and kitchen, glancing around for any signs of her coming and going. There wasn’t any point in sticking around if she had gone and left already.

Suddenly, he heard the front door's handle unlatch and the Uchiha looked sharply towards the door. He crossed his arms, exhaling a sigh of relief and pretending not to feel annoyed as he leaned against the kitchen table. The Uchiha forced an expression of passivity on his face, quickly concealing his apprehension. He'd be damned if he gave her the satisfaction of seeing him even slightly worried.

However, as the door swung open and Sasuke caught the faint outline of a stranger, he lunged forward. Shoving the intruder back outside and to the ground, Sasuke unsheathed his katana and leveled it at the man's throat.

"Woah! Back off!" cried out a familiar voice, and as Sasuke's vision adjusted to the darkness, he was able to recognize the ninja laying on the ground before him.

Deactivating his Sharingan, Sasuke sighed, "You? What the hell are you doing here?"

Pushing the blade away from his face and rising to his feet, Shikamaru dusted off his shoulders. "Boy this is a drag. I could ask you the same question, you know. Should we add "stalking women" to your list of crimes?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the ninja before him as he secured his blade back into its sheath. Sasuke didn’t even know how to react. Part of him wanted to demand why Shikamaru felt like he had the liberty to just walk into Sakura's apartment. Who the hell did he think he was? The other part of Sasuke was somewhat disconcerted at the fact that someone other than Sakura had caught him here; he decided to ignore this part. Sasuke had every right to be here if he wanted. Unlike Shikamaru, he had a damn key, after all.

"Not that I owe you any explanations," began the lazy ninja, "but, I've been looking for you. In fact, looking here was the last on my list, considering I figured it would be the last place you'd be." Shikamaru paused to give that statement time to sink in before adding, "Guess I should have looked here first."

"Spit it out," Sasuke sneered at him, "What do you want?"

"Actually," he stated seriously, "it's about Sakura."

Sasuke's annoyed expression disappeared as he heard this.

"What happened?"

 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

 Sasuke couldn’t help but feel a stab of concern as Shikamaru relayed to him the events that had happened the previous night. He told Sasuke that Sakura felt entirely to blame for the little girl's death due to her absence the previous two days. Shikamaru then told him that Sakura had chosen to throw herself into her work, but as the day continued, she began to break down.

"Break down?" he had asked.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough," Shikamaru said as the two of them had quickly made their way towards the hospital.

What was that supposed to mean? Every time Sasuke had witnessed Sakura have a breakdown, it usually involved him. First, in the land of Water when she thought he had died, he had regained consciousness only to have her kneeling over the top of him crying. The time that stuck out most in his mind was the night when he left the leaf village. She had been waiting on the road that led outside of the village when he had arrived, bag packed and not wearing his forehead protector. That night, all Sasuke had thought about was revenge. Even though she had cried out to him, confessed her feelings, and begged to go with him, he had still chosen to sever that bond.

It was a bit ironic now, just how much he was willing to do to keep it, Sasuke thought as he walked through the hospital doors. Sasuke couldn’t help but notice how different the hospital was, now that it had been rebuilt after Pein's attack on the village.  

Ino and Sai were the first two people the Uchiha noticed as he made his entrance. They were standing by one of the check-in desks. Sai had his back to him but turned when he saw Ino's expression change into one of shock.

"Sasuke?" she exclaimed in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke didn’t respond as he turned to Shikamaru who followed close behind him.

"Well? Where is she?"

"This way," Shikamaru said before heading towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.

Walking quickly, Sai and Ino caught up to them as they ascended the stairs. Sasuke didn’t know if he was annoyed or somewhat eased to find Shikamaru not in any particular rush to reach the top floor. Sakura wasn’t in any immediate danger, then. Good, he thought to himself.

But then Ino's voice interrupted his thinking. "Do you really think it would be good for Sasuke to see her like this, Shikamaru?"

What the hell did that mean?

"Despite whatever objections we might have," Shikamaru replied, "it’s Kakashi's orders." 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at that slightly accusative statement. He supposed they had every right to think what they wanted about him. Sasuke knew he couldn’t really win his old classmates over after everything he had done. To be honest, Sasuke didn’t necessarily care if they didn’t like him. It didn’t matter, he told himself.

"Well, as a member of Team 7," Sai suddenly spoke up behind him, "I feel like my personal decisions should be considered."

Sasuke couldn’t help but turn and glare back in the ninja's direction, "And what decision is that?"

Ino grabbed Sai's arm but the ninja pulled away, crossing his arms as he said, "That you get back to your mission outside the village."

Sasuke ignored that comment and kept walking. He wasn’t going to let that stupid ink-obsessed, poor-choice-of-a-replacement get to him. He would keep walking.

"Sai," Ino nudged, "you know that Sasuke has important stuff that only he--"

"That's just part of his excuse," Sai continued, interrupting her. "If you want to know what I think, I think it would be best for both Naruto and Sakura if you left and didn’t come back."

"No one asked what you thought," Sasuke said calmly, hiding the anger that was rising steadily in his throat, "Now get lost."

"Unlike you," Sai began again, "I intend to protect my bonds with those two. That includes Sakura. I'm still not that great at understanding one's feelings, but even I can see that Sakura suffers greatly because of you. How is she supposed to find happiness if you keep reappearing and then ditching her again?"

Sasuke fisted his palms as they turned a corner. Reacting will only give him what he wants, he thought. If only they all knew how often Sasuke had told himself these things. He knew what he was doing right now was contradicting everything he had done up until now. But hearing Sai say this, Sasuke had the sudden urge to prove this idiot wrong.

Finally, they took another hurried left, revealing the Hokage dressed in the Hokage's white and red, leaning casually against one of the walls. He had his arms crossed, one foot against the wall as he looked up at the ceiling. As opposed to the rest of the hospital, this corridor's lights had been dimmed dramatically.

At the sight of his sensei, Sasuke finally pushed past Shikamaru, leaving the others behind as he hurriedly approached the man who had requested him.

"Kakashi, do you care to explain all this to me?"

"It's about time," he said, straightening up. After realizing he wasn’t going to receive a response to this, the Hokage asked, "What do you know, already?"

"Not much," Sasuke answered flatly, still annoyed at the three ninja who were now eavesdropping a few feet away.

Sasuke frowned at his sensei as the ninja placed his hands casually in his pockets, sighing.

"Well," he began, "It seems our Sakura has finally found her way into Tsunade's stash of alcohol." Kakashi then emphasized his statement by pointing at the door directly across from the wall he had just been leaning against. Just to the right of the door, a small silver plaque that said "Haruno Sakura" labeled the door.

Sasuke couldn’t help but let out an annoyed sigh as he pinched his nose. Despite what Sakura had just gone through, he could help but think: this was what was wrong? She was drunk? He supposed he was somewhat relieved that there was nothing more wrong with her, but the more dominant feeling that the Uchiha was feeling was frustration. He had been unnecessarily worried about her all day, dealt with Shikamaru, Sai, and Ino all in one night, and now, Kakashi was telling him that she had gotten herself drunk. God, this woman would be the death of him.

"That's all?" he spat out. "You’re the Hokage. Go in and get her. Why do you need me here?"

"I've already tried," Kakashi said bluntly, looking shamefully away.

"We all have," Ino interjected from a few feet away. "She doesn’t want to see us."

Sasuke just looked around at them like they were all a bunch of idiots.

"You call yourselves shinobi?" he insulted them, walking towards Sakura's office door.

As he grabbed the handle, twisted the knob, and pushed the door inward, Sasuke had to immediately slam it back shut to avoid being hit directly in the face with a thrown bottle. As the door clicked back shut, the glass shattered against the wood on the other side.

"I SAID STAY THE FUCK OUT KAKASHI!"

Eyes now widened, Sasuke turned back to look at Kakashi. The Uchiha certainly wasn’t expecting that.

Kakashi just rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly, letting out a small laugh as he said, "You're forgetting that she's a shinobi, too. And a terrible drunk. The two don't mix well."

"Hn," Sasuke remarked, thinking silently to himself, hand still resting on the door knob. He supposed Sakura would be the rather violent drunk. She had always been the angry type with the people closest to her, especially to Naruto. Sasuke had always watched coolly as she exploded on him over the smallest things. There was more than just her temperament in effect here, though. After all, she was also dealing with a death. That was also more than likely intensifying her behavior. To be honest, he didn’t know how he would handle this, other than to…

Twisting the knob again, Sasuke ducked as he entered the dark room. As a number of bottles flew over the top of him, he was finally able to locate their source. Sakura was positioned in the corner of the room, sitting down behind a pile of empty bottles, many of which she was firing off at him like rounds. She wasn’t even looking as she threw and cussed wildly.

Dodging them, he was finally able to reach her. Grabbing hold of her left arm with his right hand, he tried to prevent her from throwing the next bottle. Sasuke found that keeping his grip on her was very difficult considering her inhuman strength, something he shouldn’t have been surprised about. In order to keep from losing control, Sasuke ended up having to spin behind her, pinning her left arm and the bottle between them.

When she turned to counter him, Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan. Their eyes briefly met and  even in the dim light, Sasuke saw the surprise in hers right before he placed the kunoichi under his genjutsu. Sakura immediately slumped and Sasuke released his hold on her arm, guiding her shoulder to the wall. Once she was in an unconscious sitting position, he stood and began to look around.

The furniture was knocked over and Sakura's desk was split down the middle. Liquor bottles and broken glass lay everywhere, but Sasuke was relieved to see that most of these were still full. She had definitely gotten herself drunk, but  it could have been much worse.

He heard crunching glass behind him as Kakashi entered the room, stopping a few feet away from him. He also heard Shikamaru and Sai grumbling to one another about him, throwing in occasional insults. Sasuke ignored this.

"You don’t think you went a little far with the genjutsu?" Kakashi asked, bending down to check on Sakura, "You never did have much restraint."

Sasuke scoffed at this. If Kakashi had wanted it handled a certain way, then he should have done it himself. He watched as his former sensei reached out to place a palm on Sakura's forehead.

"Her body temperature seems normal," Kakashi remarked, then held his ear close to her mouth. "And her breathing is level for now. We should continue to watch for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, but I think her primary need is rest at the moment."

Sasuke felt his shoulders relax. He hadn't realized how rigid he was holding himself until that moment. Just as Kakashi made to reach out to her, Sasuke found himself butting in.

"I'll take her," he said, not knowing why he had felt the sudden need to. Even as he looped her arm around his shoulder, carefully lifting her up from the ground, Sasuke tried to talk himself out of it, but couldn’t. Kakashi stared blankly at him, as if he were truly shocked the Uchiha was offering to help her.

A voice resounded from the doorway and Sasuke's glare fell on Shikamaru as the ninja said, "Like we'd really trust her with you."

Sasuke really got their attention when he bent down and tipped Sakura over his right shoulder, holding her up by the back of the legs. There wasn’t really a delicate way to hold someone with one arm. Still, Sasuke found that he would rather do it than anyone else.

He walked towards the door but found that Sai wasn’t giving way. Instead, the ninja held his ground and stuck out his jaw, speaking low, "If you think I'm just going to let you do what you--"

"Move," the Uchiha demanded, activating the scarlet in his eyes. The Uchiha had just about endured all he could from this one.

Suddenly, Kakashi was there, placing himself between the two. "Alright, let's keep level heads, here," he spoke with that authoritative voice that reminded them all that he was the Hokage.

Placing a firm hand on Sai's shoulder, Kakashi added, "Sai, that's enough. You are all forgetting that Sasuke is one of us. He is also a member of Team 7. We can trust him to take Sakura home."

With that, there was no more arguing. Sasuke pushed through the group, leaving them all behind as he descended down the hall and down the stairs. Once he was out the door, taking a firmer hold on Sakura and making sure she was stable, he disappeared into the night.

. . . . . . . . . .

 Author's Note: This chapter was Sasuke-heavy. We’ll get more Sakura next chapter, I promise. Poor Shikamaru, he's become quite the errand boy. Also, can we get a round of applause for Sai? I mean, someone needs to stick up for Sakura. Also, what did you guys think about drunk Sakura?

Thank you all again for your reviews. I cannot tell you how many times I check my inbox after posting a chapter, hoping there will be one in there. I absolutely love the feedback. And for those of you who are angry about Sakura’s current positions with the hospital, don’t worry. Things will look up soon!

Also, this chapter was like a month ahead of schedule. I’m hoping that by knowing this, you will all be more patient with the next chapter.

As always, help a brotha out by favoriting and sharing! :)

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3) (Chapter 4) (Chapter 5) (Chapter 6) (Chapter 7) (Chapter 8)

[cacophony-of-notions]

I agree about the implications of 15.10 and was also upset with how the episode was framed when I watched it, but I don’t agree that 15.11 “The Gamblers” failed to contradict anything about 15.10. I think there is still more explanation needed for what Chuck actually did, so I’m still withholding judgement... for now... and considering a bit more hopeful of an idea.

Contradictions:

1) Sam and Dean are still good at pool, and (15.10) Dean can still fix Baby

This is important, in my opinion. In the previous episode, it was suggested to us that Sam and Dean have no skills and everything they’ve ever been able to do as hunters is the result of divinely-given luck. However, in 15.11, it’s made clear that Sam and Dean are good at pool. We assume that Sam and Dean, after decades of fighting and training, should obviously be good fighters, and even if they couldn’t physically match an opponent that size, they’d at least look like they knew what they were doing (one of the things that upset me about 15.10 when it aired). But for some reason, in 15.10, they don’t even have the muscle memory or the timing without Chuck’s luck? It left us, as viewers, to question whether the writers premise is exactly as OP suggests: Sam and Dean have no real skills. Everything they can do is just because Chuck gave them luck. However, “The Gamblers” contradicts this, by keeping the Winchesters pool skills in place. And in 15.10, Dean can still fix the car (though he doesn’t get to look at the engine for 10 minutes without going for parts and suddenly it’s fixed). So how come Sam and Dean can’t fight, but they can still kick ass at pool, and Dean still understands an engine? We would think pool and mechanics would be the same as fighting and lock picking. If Sam and Dean, after decades of fighting, can’t throw a solid punch now, and after years of practice, can’t pick a lock (at least not as quickly as they want to be able to), why can they still decimate people in pool? Why can Dean still understand an engine? What makes those skills different?

2) Sam and Dean can still inspire people

Something else that had bothered me in 15.10 was Dean’s inability to produce an inspiring speech. Neither of them believed what he was saying--they had no hope in their ability to win. And if that was an ongoing issue presumably caused by Chuck’s meddling... what would that have said about every mytharc plot, where the Winchesters were underdogs who maintained hope despite seemingly impossible odds? 

Thankfully, in 15.11, Sam and Dean staked their lives on being able to win against Fortuna, and actually ended up convincing her to let all the people go who she had trapped. This shows Sam and Dean’s ability to endure and hope through seemingly impossible odds is still alive and well, even though 15.10 made it seem like even that was affected. It appears Sam and Dean’s inability to believe in their own success in 15.10 was really just discouragement and worry over what Garth had theorized.  

3) Dean refers to what happened to them as a “Curse”

He doesn’t appear to accept the premise that he’s just a worthless loser who only had skills because of Chuck, which means maybe we as viewers shouldn’t either. He and Sam also didn’t want to believe that in 15.10 either, and also suggested then that they were cursed. It’s a theory Dean continued to hold onto in 15.11 to some extent. But if Dean’s right, and the Winchesters were cursed, why is their luck “normal” in 15.11? If they were cursed, their luck should be bad, right?

A Winchester’s luck

Before explaining my hypothesis, I’d like to briefly explain what I think the Winchesters luck looked like prior to 15.10:

The scale is constantly erratic, moving up and down. Chuck tips both sides, depending on what he feels like doing.

He adds misfortune: die all the fucking time, loved ones die/get hurt, tortured in hell, beaten, kidnapped, car accident, trauma, apocalypse, etc.

He adds luck: Come back to life, loved ones come back to life/are healed, saved in the nick of time, pick locks in five seconds instead of five minutes, sometimes, the car doesn’t break down when it normally would have.

Note that, ironically, since a scale has no sense of variance, one could actually take the average--(luck+misfortune)/2 and (at least as drawn) the Winchesters luck would appear “normal” even though their luck is not normal at all. For example... when looking at the face of a coin that’s supposed to represent his luck (which accounts for no sense of variance), Dean would indeed probably appear to have sort of average luck in any given episode in the series (though I think there have definitely been points when his luck would be lower or higher than normal).

But now, presumably, we should observe the Winchesters as having a balanced scale. 

I agree this is the scale the Winchesters are dealing with in 15.10 and 15.11. However, does this actually mean that there’s no more palatable theory that might explain what actually happened in 15.10, without contradicting Dean’s “normal” rather than “bad” luck level? Bear with me for a moment.

My hypothesis:

The Winchesters skills did not come from Chuck. Chuck just took the skills away that he decided make a person a hero, making Sam and Dean “normal”. 

Thus, in essence, Sam and Dean were “cursed” to be Supernormal. 

They can’t fight monsters, because Chuck thinks only heroes should be able to fight monsters. 

HOWEVER, Sam and Dean can still play pool, because that isn’t a heroes’ skill. In fact, being good at hustling pool, and Sam and Dean’s engagement in that activity, isn’t really something that people think of heroes engaging in at all. It’s actually one of the more morally ambiguous things about Sam and Dean. Chuck is now leaving them to have to make their living in a bit less palatable ways again, because he took away the “golden ticket” Charlie had made for them, (that was basically free money) that allowed them to continue being heroes without having to worry about funds or perpetually steal peoples identities. Chuck took it away, because only heroes in a story get to have magic cards like that. Normal people have to get jobs, or they have to do less than savory things to support themselves. Chuck takes away the card to further strip away the Winchesters “hero” identity and reduce them back to scamming people. 

Dean can also still fix the car, because that’s not a traditional part of a hero’s skill set. It’s a normal, good ol’ American blue collar skill--a skill that heroes don’t normally have to worry about knowing or not knowing at all. When Baby broke down in 15.10, Dean knew what was wrong with her pretty much immediately and was able to fix the problem as soon as he had the parts (which, like a normal person, he did need but didn’t randomly have on hand). 

Last and most importantly of all, the Winchesters luck level appears normal in 15.11, and not lower than normal, because they weren’t cursed in the traditional sense. They were just made “normal”, and normal people have normal luck. Not being able to fight monsters doesn’t make Sam and Dean “unlucky” from a normal person’s perspective. Neither does not being able to get out of a trap, or being lactose intolerant, or having a cold. It just makes them normal. So the scale of luck vs. misfortune is indeed balanced in 15.11, but Chuck actually did take away skills from Sam and Dean... he just only took away things that he thinks heroes can do, which doesn’t make the Winchesters unlucky in terms of Chuck’s scales... just normal.

This also makes sense, imo, in the context of the coin the boys received from Fortuna. What she did, in essence, was present them with luck that comes from purely human power and belief, and therefore, Chuck doesn’t get to dictate it. It’s like a whole separate scale, that Chuck doesn’t get to make volatile or stabilize at his whim, because it’s governed by human will, and he created humans with free will. Like The Empty, luck created from human faith is something Chuck can’t control.

I’m not saying this hypothesis is 100% right. There’s still some potentially upsetting elements in 15.10, and I might be wrong, and the writers might just be fucking morons. But I don’t think it’s a totally off the wall hypothesis, and it’s at least a bit more palatable than what I was thinking before. 

I tried to visualize my issues with SPN's 15.10 The Heroes Journey

(Obviously this is SPN critical. Don't like, don't read.)

Both episode 10 and 11 where all about luck or a lack thereof.

So let's assume, that this is how an average persons luck and misfortune looks.

Sometimes the scale dips to one side, sometimes to the other.

Now let's get to supernatural. This is, what would have made for a great story:

Chuck is angry. He messes with the Winchesters luck/misfortune scale. By taking away luck and adding extra misfortune. Sort of like the rabbits foot in Bad Day At Black Rock worked. It first gave Sam a huge amount of luck, then a huge amount of misfortune. No matter what he did, bad things happened. All his skills were of no use.

But what the writers tried to tell us with "The Heroes Journey", was this instead:

That's how the Winchesters had operated their whole lives. Chuck basically gave them a rabbits foot at birth. They never had any real skills to begin with, they only had a far overage amount of luck and no misfortune.

And now that Chuck upped his game a bit, all he did was this:

He simply stopped giving Sam and Dean luck and protecting them from misfortune. As a result the boys are hardly able to operate on their own anymore. It's not only that they are hit by misfortune, like let's say the car breaks down. It's also that they can't aim a swing, think it is a good idea to shout through a building that could possibly be full of monsters, find an ugly toilet to vomit instead of doing it right where they are together and Dean would be protected while spitting his guts out, and act overall dumb, because they never needed to develop skills and clever thoughts of their own. That was all "God given", not achieved due to hard work and experience.

Sadly, episode 15.11 The Gamblers does not contradict that, as I had hoped. On the contrary, it reiterates that point:

When the coin glows, Fortuna's son says, that Dean has average luck. Dean's scale is even.

In the end Fortuna gives them a huge amount of luck. So the scale is dipped in their favor again. Good thing, because they obviously don't have any skills. Iron will, yes. The heart of a hero, yes. But not the skills of trained hunters.

I'm sorry, but this irks me to no end. Because it sort of erases everything Sam and Dean Winchester have achieved in the last 14 and a half years. (Or their whole lives, basically) Because it means, whatever they did, they only succeeded in it because of Chuck.