#(i just keep accidentally absorbing spoilers lol)

[goldensunset]

oh wait but hold on actually. going to do this in advance and not literally like half an hour before i start

[notsostarvingartist]

My DRDT mastermind theories and thoughts

A few months ago I got hyper fixated on DRDT and absorbed all the content on the internet I could find for it because I’m a huge geek LOL. This includes all the hidden quotes, character page for Mai, etc… there’s a master post for all those on here somewhere. I’ve also been keeping up to date on all the episodes, bonus episodes, free time events, etc… up until Chapter 2 ep 11. I’m including this for some background on the information that’s available at the time of me writing this theory hehe.

And for OBVIOUS reasons, spoiler warning if you aren’t up to date on DRDT!

Okay, time for my actual theories!

Firstly, I definitely think that the killing game was created with the purpose to “kill” Teruko, or at the least contain her from society since her bad luck causes so many catastrophes. At the very least, I don’t think it’s actually a TV show. In the chapter 2 trial, David said that he had Xanders secret but it’s so obvious that he’s lying (especially now that we know his true personality omg). Xanders hidden quote and bonus ep both HEAVILY hint that his secret was the one about survivor guilt because of his dead family. And so, I think the mastermind secret that David has is Teruko’s. She’s constantly causing bad things to happen because of her luck, and I believe that the mastermind started the killing game to stop Teruko from effecting society anymore.

One of the other main reasons I think that the mastermind wants Teruko “dead” (since she allegedly can’t be killed, no matter what) is because Xander was ordered to kill her. Who else other than the mastermind would have a motivation to have Teruko assassinated. Since she “can’t be killed” the masterminds best bet of killing her in the killing game would be to have someone strong, capable and determined *cough* Xander *cough* attack her. Perhaps they told him that if he kills Teruko, then they’ll let everyone else free (assuming the goal of the killing game was to eliminate Teruko) and Xander would surely cooperate because his whole motivation is “protecting the innocent.” This plan wouldn’t have any drawbacks for the mastermind either; if he succeeded, Teruko would be gone, and if he failed, the killing game would start, creating a scenario where other people’s mistakes could cause her to die indirectly via the treachery of the killing game. I can’t think of another reason why Xander would try to kill Teruko, although I do have an idea of why the mastermind is pissed at her…

So Mai is very clearly tied to the origins of the killing game and mastermind, because why else would her character and quotes be so cryptic? I think that Teruko accidentally killed Mai with her bad luck (possibly maybe even car accident since she was standing on a curb in Teruko’s flash black) but she doesn’t remember her because of how chaotic her life is. The mastermind was probably someone close to Mai who wanted to punish Teruko for indirectly causing Mai’s death. That would explain why MonoTV’s quote is just “Her name was Mai Akasaki.” Which I could totally see as a Chapter 6 reveal moment where MonoTV tells Teruko (or everyone else) the name of the girl who inspired the killing game.

And lastly, my theory on the mastermind who orchestrated the killing game… and let me tell you, when I came to this conclusion I was heartbroken because it’s my favorite character. I personally believe that the mastermind is Rose.

I know, that sounds farfetched because of how absentminded and kind she is. But in chapter 2 Teruko already explained why the mastermind is probably one of the kinder people, and as for the absentmindedness… when she says she can’t help it, I believe her. I think her absentmindedness is the only way she can cope with the fact that she caused the killing game and is causing all this suffering for everyone. As for the actual evidence, most of it comes from the hidden character page quotes and monologues I mentioned earlier. Firstly, it’s an established theme that Rose is bored with her life and isn’t happy with what it’s become, she talks about this with Teruko and it’s her hidden quote. One of the monologues hidden was someone talking about how bored they were with their life and no matter how long they were trapped “down there” or witnessed death, nothing broke their boredom. There is a lot more to this paragraph and it’s honestly quite unsettling. Yet, the whole time Rose sat in the back of my mind because of her constantly bringing up how bored she was with her life. But that’s just a coincidence right?

Thennnn I got to the hidden Mai character quotes. I personally think that all these quotes could be how the characters view Mai, but moreso how Mai viewed them as people, because several of them seem to fit each individual character more than each detail adding up to a single person (I hope that makes sense) on that note, Rose’s hidden Mai quote is “She remembers everything that’s important to others.” When I first read this, my mind IMMEDIATELY jumped to Whit and Hu discussing how well the mastermind seemed to know them, down to every. Little. Detail. Just like Rose, who has a photographic memory and can’t forget what she sees, no matter how hard she tries. Because she’s so kind and they’ve made an effort of emphasizing her memory, I think she’s most likely the mastermind.

Orrrrr I could be totally off the mark, and it really could be about Mai and she’s the mastermind who knows them all very well🤷🏼‍♂️who knows, this was only my theory that I’m writing for fun in my bed at 9 pm. If you read this far, thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed my theory!

[ninjadudettekira]

Happy American Thanksgiving, here’s art I did.  A few days ago was my birthday, got a new iPad been drawing and ended up with this.

Y'all know that post I did a few weeks ago about the Charmcaster, Darkstar, and Albedo team up? I'm writing a fic on that, it's not out yet because I'm trying to finish the damn thing before I post it so it's not stuck in editing hell like my other fic is.

Anyway at some point Sunny joins the group, and somehow I ended up with a new ship. (There isn't gonna be any Charmcaster x Michael in the fic btw.)

Full disclosure: The hands I had to trace from the reference I was using cause I couldn't get it right, and the background was from the show that I blurred and edited to make it fit the box. Maybe I’ll art dump on here or my DevaintArt (Kira-Sema) one of these days since I have drawn a lot from my phone, my sketch book, and my old iPad. I just haven’t posted any of them anywhere public cause it’s either traced from references/screenshots I used, traced of old drawings, or it just didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. (Or it’s for my Ben 10 AU that I haven’t made public and the drawings are spoilers for the story.) 

Under the cut I explain some of the story I’m writing and how this ship came about from it. (If y’all want to wait till I get to posting the story ignore the ‘keep reading’ cause it spoils the story.)

Aight so by the time I get to this point in the story, Charmcaster, Michael, and Albedo are more anti-hero than full on villain. They're more friendly with the Alien Force Trio, but not going out of their way to do anything "good". (Canon still kinda happens except that Enemy of My Frenemy happens before Girl Trouble.)  Michael has a better grasp with his powers and doesn’t have to feed on people to get mana, Charmcaster ended up helping with that by giving him tiny bits of her mana at a time till he turned back to normal. He still can accidentally absorb mana if he touches someone who has a lot of power so he refrains from having physical contact with Charmcaster and Gwen. (And if he does it’s for a short time or it’s channeled through someone else to channel back to the original person. Is that possible? Idk but I’m doing it lol.)  Albedo is able to use mana too, but it’s weaker. (The same level as Kid Gwen’s when she was just starting out, so his mana is blue over being pink/purple. He has to rely on using spell books over being able to channel mana by itself.) He’s been trying to use mana to try and get back to being a Galvan, but he can only be a Galvan for a short period of time. Instead of Sunny being taken back to Anodyne by Verdona, Gwen makes the suggestion that they take her to Hex’s mansion and have her be with Charmcaster, Michael, and Albedo to try and get Sunny to change her attitude a bit. Michael is smitten as soon as they meet, and for actual reasons not because of her being a more powerful Anodite.  In order for Michael to be able to touch Sunny without draining her, they use Albedo as a conductor since his mana is still weaker than theirs. During this time Albedo is working on refining Michael’s gloves so they can be an insulator so it limits him being able to absorb someone’s energy. At first it’s only so Michael can be able to safely have physical contact with Sunny, but after some time Albedo gets feelings for Sunny too. (She also constantly flirts with him as well.)  The way I’m writing this is that Michael and Albedo are both with Sunny, but the boys aren’t together. Could that change? Dunno, but I don’t think so cause before this point in the story I already established that they, along with Charmcaster, see each other as siblings. (Which is why Michael isn’t with Charmcaster, their relationship is platonic in here.) 

[lilyrachelcassidy]

Birthday Cake

A/N: Suprise folks!!! *me laughing maniacally* The whole scenery for this fic somehow appeared in my head and I just COULDN’T let it slip away, so... My biggest inspo for that was @drawlfoy!! Remember her posting the fic where Draco and Reader work at McDonald’s and are total suckers in their job (arguing with the customers; preparing wrong orders; etc.)? Dee unfortunately, deleted this precious, but it’s stuck to my head ever since (lol lol, it’s the moment where Dee wants to get rid of something, but I kindly remind everyone it existed). Therefore I present to you the next Draco x Reader fic related to our fav fast-food rest. This time, however, they’re not working at the same workplace but... I'm going to stop here cuz I don't want to spoiler :P

**The second thing that triggered me to write this fic is the YouTube video I recently saw with a lady who orders the 'specials' appearing to be out of the menu list of McDonald’s, through the Drive-Through. She asked for a birthday cake, was laughed at a few times, but eventually got what she wanted. Applause for the attitude!!

About the fic (context, my bitches): ofc it’s the modern AU, non-magical world. Draco’s the worst boyfriend ever but always manages to turn things into their righteous place. 

Summary: The birthday is upcoming, and Draco is in a rush to think up an idea for a perfect gift. His ingenuity fails, however, and leaves Y/N very unsatisfied with a disaster that has been forged. 

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: my brain playing a total psycho, language, alcohol, sexual undertones/allusions to sex, Pansy being too much of her self... deal...

Tags: @drawlfoy @eltanin-malfoy

Such an unrestrained desire to strangle somebody you hadn't felt in a long time.

Really.

Today was your birthday, which you had been widely announcing for almost a whole month to people you might have accidentally forgotten about it. Having your boyfriend, Draco, on your mind in particular.

You doubted he would have the guts to omit your big day, though as repeatedly as he had done for a few years back. But something between foresight and the second sense of prevention told you to keep reminding him every day of the upcoming event, with a heap of birthday-themed emojis and uppercases in the messages.

Everything was planned out in your head: him picking you up from your house with the sharp-red cabriolet that he used only for special occasions; him driving the two of you to the fanciest restaurant he could find in town; him bestowing you with a nice-looking, golden necklace or a different piece of jewelry you had been suggestively pointing out in the store's exhibition; him booking up a hotel room for you two to celebrate.

Either way, that was much beyond your expectations, as it turned out. And now you were sitting in the front yard of your house, waiting for him to show up.

'If he was going to at all.' This thought invaded your mind for the last hour, try as might to subdue it. An hour you had been sitting tight, hoping it was only a delay caused by a traffic jam or other irrational explanation he could come up with. But you were deceiving yourself, you eventually presumed -- you had been checking up your phone every one minute, only to see if any message notification popped up on the screen, other than birthday wishes from friends who actually cared for you.

2.02pm: Nothing.

2.03pm: Susan 'Happy birthday bitch!'

2.04pm: Instagram notif. (Someone liked your photo, which you had posted before leaving your room, posing in front of the mirror in the best cocktail dress you could find in the wardrobe.)

2.05pm: Nothing yet again.

2.06pm: Still... Peace and quiet.

"Fuck it...Enough," you muttered under your breath, an annoying disillusionment falling like a heavy mile stone on your chest. Tears suddenly started sprinkling in your eyes at the regret, and you were very reluctant to admit that your friends were right -- Draco Malfoy was an egoistic, negligent, self-absorbed pri--

"Hi." You heard the raspy, panting voice says. "Sorry for the delay."

You blinked slowly, stupidly. You raised your head to assure yourself it was him. That his expression actually corresponded to his words and showed some kind of remorse for standing you up. But no... There he was: standing in front of you, plainly confident and unashamed, with his cocky smirk provoking you to slap him.

Oh, how much you craved to slap him right now. "Where to the fuck have you been?"

"I've tried to pick this up," he explained, simultaneously lifting up the paper bag he'd been carrying in his hand. The big, exclaiming letters 'McDonald's' with the brand's logo were printed on its exterior, and it was fully stuffed with something inside.

Not quite comprehending, you furrowed. You attempted to hide the venom in your voice, but somehow it found its way to leak out. "Couldn't you do that in advance?"

"Nope..." It was his turn to furrow, looking almost shocked with the question. And thanks to all those years of your relationship, you knew it was his piss-poor estimation of time taking over. "It was a last-minute surprise."

"Sounds like it," you commented irritably. "What's that?"

"Your birthday present, sunshine," he drawled happily, ignoring your remark. He sounded positively delighted and satisfied with himself at surprising you with that because he saw a slight crease of shock painting on your forehead. "Here you go."

You took his deposit out of his grasp, still quite unsure. What if his gift would only make a situation worse? Can it get any worse with Draco's total lack of tact? Yes. But it was only one way to find out.

Without even stealing a second glance at him, you ripped off all of the packaging that had been folded around, protecting the contents. You tried to do it carefully and without any impact of emotions revealing the way you felt inside, but your hands were shaking with rage, and you couldn't quite contain yourself. You had been highly aware you shouldn't have expected much from him, but still...

You wondered if the universe was playing against you.

There was a moment of tense silence as you struggled to deal with all the wrappings. Rather unfortunately, you wished you hadn't put so much effort in opening your so-called 'gift' because as you finally did, it only angered you more, seeing as the disappointment laughs at your face. And yes, as a matter of fact, the universe was against you today...

"Are you kidding me?" you asked in disbelief, fury reappearing in your eyes. "A birthday cake?! From McDonald's?" Ugly, little cake with the creepiest smiley face of a clown. It wasn't even fresh, you realized, when you smelled it and felt a musty reek of a freezer, it probably had been kept in. A confusing sense of sadness in your chest couldn't reach any higher at this point.

"Don't you like it?" he asked, detecting the wrath in your eyes. At that, you felt the dumbest urge to laugh and never stop. "I thought it'd be something original."

"Oh, I love it," you said sarcastically, a faint voice of hope telling you it was only a very bad joke was still lingering in your head. But it wasn't a joke.

"It's not just--" He struggled to form a coherent sentence. "I've been asking Blaise and Theo about any ideas. I told them, what you had said to me -- 'you didn't want anything fancy.' So we decided it's... something."

"Of course I didn't tell you I want anything, you dolt!" Your voice raised up almost two octaves, and the pulse sped up so fast it entailed a headache along. A neighbor from the opposite garden who was watering the flowers looked at you, startled, and eyes widened your exasperated tone. You didn’t care. "It's how it works: you don't tell other people you expect them to buy something!"

"But I'm your boyfriend. You shouldn't -- er-- feel uncomfortable to tell..."

"Exactly! As my boyfriend, you should have known!"

"Well... I didn't. If that's what's bothering you, we can...we can..."

"Stop." Listening to him and his pathetic excuses was the last thing you were going to do now. "What – why would you even – " You sputtered out, unable to process or express exactly what you were feeling. There was definitely anger and indignation. Curiosity, for another, as to why Draco would even fall for such foolish and ill-considered idea, and -- to the top of it -- hope it would make a good fit. And possibly, the last and most satisfying part, was the wicked impulse to throw the cake directly into his arrogant face, letting him taste his own medicine he had been serving you for years on each failed birthday.

"You know, for once, you could pay more effort and try doing something nice for me," you told him firmly, deflating to calm down your buzzing nerves.

"I've been tr--"

"Do you realize how much it costs me to pretend to be happy when you forget about me? Last year, I organized a big-ass party for your birthday, inviting over all of your friends and buying the best booze I could find to celebrate it properly," you said harshly and pretentiously, as you intended. "The best part is, you didn't even thank me." You stared at him, wringing your hands and expecting to perceive any trope of shame in his eyes. For the first time, you actually did.  

"Listen, about that--" he calmly attempted to cut off your monologue.

"No, you listen..." Did you really want what was upcoming next? Maybe it was about time. "Today, I decided I'm standing up for myself. So, for the last time, get out from my porch."

He bristled, the thunderstruck air hanging around him. "Because of the stupid cake?"

"What?! No! It's just... I feel like you don't give a damn about me anymore." Gulp formed in your throat, and the tears finally left your eyes at the consciousness of what was happening. "I think we both deserve some time."

Your eyes moved to his, and you almost wished you hadn't looked. He was watching you, with pursed lips and a pure mixture of every emotion: anger, sadness, resentment, pretension, dejection. The faintest of his flustered blushes appeared on his cheeks, and you suddenly wished you could hug him. "So you are putting us..." His finger pointed at him and you as if expecting clarification. "...on a break? Is that what it is?"

You were truly torn, to be honest. Becoming single on your birthday was the last wish you had for this day, but you felt a strong sense of adequacy and pride for building up the boundaries of tolerance. Besides, seeing as it was heading nowhere, it was only a matter of time that your relationship came to an end.  

Although, it hurt. A lot. "Yes."

You darted your eyes from him, not wanting to study his reaction in case it caused you to meltdown and jump to his embrace, apologizing endlessly for your words. You loved him. But you didn't regret what you had just said.

Something like a dry chuckle of disbelief escaped out of his mouth. "Is that what you really want?"

'No,' your thoughts prompted you instantly before you could even contemplate. 'I want you to say so many things you're never willing to say. But you don't know.'

So instead, you lied: "Yes."

All expressed, you spun around without peeking back and rushed into your room, already knowing there was no more sense in strives to make this day any better; all of it would bring only bad associations. It would be depressing, even more than it already was.

God, was it how the break-up pained? Because if so, you wanted to be deceased. The world spun suddenly, and you sank to your knees, shaking madly and doing your best to find your way back to your bed, located a few mere meters from you. Part of you felt numb, but your head was wide awake and alarming you that something in terms of a disaster had just happened. Because it did. The clutching in your chest was unbearable, and tears were dashing out of your eyes like a living waterfall, which made you bury your face in your hands. Never have you ever wanted to be so drunk before.

And so many questions rung up in your head at once.

Did you make a good decision? What if you are going to miss him, yet knowing you could never call? What about college -- are things about to get awkward?

No answers.

But you knew someone who would be able to reply to them.

With the blurred by tears vision, you struggled but managed to find your phone in the purse, and then clumsily scrolled through and tapped in your list of contacts before holding the phone to your ear.

Please answer, you begged. Please, please…

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Pansy's voice roared from the other side of a line, as always, enthusiastic.

"Pansy." You tried to sound less brokenly than you were, feeling marginally worse at the reminder of your birthday. "Is Daphne around?"

"Ouch, you're a really nasty bitch sometimes, you know. I'm not goin' to point out today, but since you didn't let me end my wishes, I'll note that for the future reference." You were sure she was grinning at the teasing, seeing as much as she liked that. Normally, you wouldn't mind, but... "How--"

"Pansy, please..." you sobbed out, almost desperate to have someone to consult and share emotions with. Daphne -- contrary to Pansy, who could be very judgy sometimes -- was someone you had especially on mind now. "I need to talk to her."

You heard her sigh; the kind of sigh she used to either prove her resignation or concern. But, as much as it surprised you, she suppressed her curiosity and, without a second word, obediently handed the phone over to Daphne. At least, that's what you assumed because you heard a pause and subdued mutters in the background.

"Y/N?" the milder tone spoke up, and you felt suddenly very strange as if submerged in water of relief; relief to hear the familiar voice. That released you from keeping a distant attitude, and yet again, a sadness washed over you, triggering a loud wail to come out of your mouth. "Y/N, is everything alright?"

"No..." you sniveled, unable to collect yourself together. "I-I... We br-brok-e up."

"You and Draco?" Daphne asked, astonishment evident.

You nodded but then remembered she couldn't see you nor read your expression. So instead, you forced your vocal cords to work again. "Mhm..."

"What happened?"

Restoring the story in your brain again, you told her everything, still tearfully but much more coherently this time. You avoided the details, briefly skipping from one utterance to another, as your conversations had gone, and you were very much thankful she didn't press for more information about the prospect of the situation. If it hadn't been her sporadic gasps or loud inhales of breath, you would have almost presumed she wasn't listening. However, she was, and as soon turned out, Pansy was as well.

"That's bananas!" Pansy shouted somewhere from the back as you had ended, and despite your gloom, you giggled quietly at her comment.

"Shush," Daphne tried to silence her, covering up the fact she had put you on the speaker. You didn't mind because you knew Pansy, who would definitely expect Daphne to cite the whole conversation if needed. But knowing Daphne as well, you could bet she flushed more than she would want to at that point. "So it all started because of the cake?"

"And the delay," you added. "But it's not just about that, obviously. It feels like... he completely stopped caring. And I don't want to be stuck in a relationship where everything is about sex and having fun only. Draco wasn't looking for a commitment, which..."

"Sucks,"ended this time Pansy unhesitatingly, who wasn't now screaming from the other part of a room but openly participating in the discussion.

"Yeah," you agreed.

"As for me, I think he might love you more than you know, Y/N." It was Daphne talking again, and she sounded positively convinced about her view as for someone who had hardly exchanged any word with Draco for the past few years. As if reading your thoughts, she continued. "I've observed you a lot. I know he might seem unemotional, but it's you who discovered him. That must require a lot of trust, you know."

You contemplated, and some of the memories and images from your first encounter run across your brain, try as might to suppress it: spotting each other at the party; binging some whisky shots together; flirty teasing; the very masculine scent of cologne; and then... more spicy recollections -- eager lips pressing against each other; against each others' necks; against other parts of the body; stripping off the clothes in the passionate haste...

Receiving a long moment of silence, Daphne took a second chance and asked. "And what's with you? Do you want to end it?"

It felt like standing before the oracle of truth. Therefore, you couldn't deny it in front of yourself. "No."

"So what're you still doing there?" commented Pansy impatiently, and you could imagine her rolling the eyes. "Get out and find him!"

She was right. You will.

XOXOXOXO

"I thought I'd find you here..."

No. Actually, you didn't. 

You had tracked Draco's phone with your own one with some help of an app that, as the two of you had established still in the relationship, would be a good idea in case of an emergency. That in itself proved to be more than helpful, believing that your argument may be pinned as something in terms of an emergency, right?

So having access to his location, you had found out he was in the park where he had taken you on the first date, shortly after dinner, to watch the sunset that, as he had described, 'was a typical cliche from every romantic movie.'

But you had fallen for that. So much.

You hadn't been aware the place had actually some meaning for him until now, and that... God, that he had even remembered it. Time showed, however, that it indeed did, to which your heart reacted with a happy jolting. But also with a nasty sting of nostalgia following shortly after.

Yet, that only had encouraged you to make up your mind and go looking for him, which hadn't been such a difficult task per se. He was sitting on the bench, in the shade of a tree, and hiding his a little too delicate skin from the sun rays. As soon as he had heard your voice, his gray eyes flew up to see you standing a few meters away.

"What are you doing here?" was the immediate question that tumbled out of his mouth. He arched his eyebrow, and to your surprise, he didn't even look angry or sad with you. Nothing near the edge; actually, almost something like the amusement was painting on his face.

"Aren't you mad with me?" you asked intrigued, completely forgetting about his question.

He frowned. "Why would I be?" His tone was so mild that you weren't sure if he was referring to the double meaning; but then he smirked playfully and said, "Besides, I knew you were coming."

"Wha-- How?" you asked, eyes dilating a fraction, in shock.

He smirked, pointing at his phone in an explanatory manner. After a moment, you finally figured out what he meant: the app must have registered he had been tracked and that your phone was trying to find his. At this notice, you reacted with a wave of flush, suddenly regretting your previous lie. His smile only widened at your expression. "Wanna sit? It's plenty of room here."

"Mhm..." You nodded, pleased to accept his offer, and walked over to the bench, doing your best to hide the evident embarrassment on your face. You felt strange he had taken you with such ease, seeing as merely two or three hours ago, you had burst at him like a cram-full volcano of unspoken emotions.

Draco shifted a package from his side, making more space for you to sit, and it took you a moment to realize it was a McDonald's cake from earlier. Everything started from that -- a stupid, little piece of cake which stood up between...

You shook the thought away, taking a seat next to him, close enough to smell his sandalwood cologne. "You didn't answer my question," Draco reminded you. "What's so important to make you track my phone?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" You rounded your face to him, flustrated, leaning at the backrest of a bench. "That's why I came. I wanted to apologize."

"Oh... Couldn't you call?"

You sighed. "I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me after...you know... our quarrel," you said half-despondent, half-desperate, watching your feet as if it were the most interesting thing to peer at now. "I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"I know," he said. Out of nowhere, he was gently grasping your palms which forced you to look up directly into his intense gaze. His eyes were swirling like molten silver at you. "But I should be apologizing, love. I made a mistake, okay?" His hands traveled all across to your tense shoulders, squeezing them lightly. "I know I should be more... affectionate with you. And this was...dumb. A dumb mistake. With that cake. But I'll try to be better if you give it another shot."

He looked so serious that you instantly believed him. You wanted to actually, with all force of longing, which grew up too rapidly in you when he wasn't around. Draco was a fool, you could easily say. But he was your fool, which was a thing you couldn't be more proud of.

Peeking slowly in the other direction, you asked, out of the topic, "You remembered the place?"

"Of course," he puffed jokingly, smiling. "Our first date. Officially our place from then on."

"Right..." You smiled back.

Honestly, the mere fact that he had called this spot 'yours' warmed up your heart, and you felt yourself grinning at his never-before-discovered emotionality. To assure yourself you weren't the only one caring, it was all you needed to hear.

The whole moment was intense, and now, you realized, is when you should have hugged him. Kissed him. Said something back at his sincere endearment.

But instead, spotting plastic cutlery next to your 'gift', you asked, "So what's the taste of the birthday cake?"  

And you knew he had caught the subtext of your playful inquiry. And you knew that soon you would work things out again. But, as for now...

"I thought you would never ask."

XOXOXOXO

A/N: Looooooool. Such a drama-comedy, right? And I could easily say It feels like 50% Draco-x-Reader / 50% Draco-x-BirthdayCake... But whatever (2am is working like a drunken bud, folks). Happy beginning of August :)

[merianmoriarty]

Server Movie Synopsis: Bullet Train

*AN: Keep in mind that these synopses will contain spoilers and may not be complete, as I rarely see the entire movie while serving for it.   These synopses are just going to be fast impressions of an Alamo Drafthouse server.  In this particular case, it is worth noting that I am conversational in Japanese and read it at about a junior high level.*

Okay, so he’s a mercenary, got it, cool.  Been working on himself, good.  He’s...on an ‘easy job’ and he’s not gonna take the gun?  Done killing, sure, but, I mean...kneecaps are a thing, my guy.  Also, in Japanese culture, ladybugs are only good luck because they supposedly absorb all the bad luck around them, soooooo...maybe her codename for him is more accurate than he thinks. Thomas the Tank Engine as a metaphor for sociology...  These Japanese translations for the codenames and stuff are amazing, lol.  Sanada-saaaaaaan *heart eyes*  A...boomslang...was stolen from the zoo.  Well, that’s going to come back to bite someone. *rimshot*  Wait, how many characters are there?  Wait, who is this guy?  Wait, what?  WHAT?  WHAT.  So the Citrus Twins are here to deliver this guy plus ransom money to his Russian mobster yakuza oyabun dad, but Ladybug’s here to take the ransom money, but now Wolf’s here to kill the person who gave his wife a Red Wedding--okay, and Yuuichi’s here to find the person who pushed his son off a roof and it’s this schoolgirl, but wtf is her deal, and what’s with the train mascot getting pushed around so much?  Ohhh, the snake belongs to that chick over there and she’s the one who killed that guy’s wife and she’s here to get the case, too...  But the schoolgirl is after the Russian mobster, and now there’s explosives everywhere?  And her parents hated her enough to name her ‘Little Prince.’  She’s definitely the Diesel.  (FORGET THE DIESEL, WHO’S THE PERCY, THAT’S WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW oh, the ransomed kid was the Percy, okay, my bad, I must have missed that the first time...)  Wait, so now he’s dead and she’s dead and that guy’s been shot and the Russian dude is pissed and WAIT IS THAT CHANNING TATUM?  Why does this feel so much like a Lost City AU fanmovie?  Oh snap, now Yuuichi’s been shot--is he dying?  Ope, there went the sleeping powder.  OH SHIT, IS LEMONS DEAD HOW DARE YOU.  Okay, we’ve got the Diesel cornered, and GODDAMMIT THEY FUCKED THAT RIGHT UP.  Ladybug, my dude, you have now accidentally killed three people.  OH SHIT, LEMONS IS ALIVE YAAAAS.  Oooh, Sanada-san has arrived to give us the exposition we were all too confused to ask for!  Aaaaand it tells us almost nothing.  All right, showdown!  Whoops, there goes the case.  Badassery ensues.  THE PRINCE IS HIS DAUGHTER?  Shit, I’d fuck the guy up, too.  Ooh, is he going to fall for that?  Nope, damn.  NO NOT LEMONS AGAIN YOU BASTARDS.  Wait, are we crashing?!?  Whoopsie-daisy, the shinkansen has now brutalized a dozen yakuza, another train, and half a town.  OHSHIT HE FINALLY FELL FOR IT, LOLOL. Gatdam, Prince is like a cockroach.  WTF IS THAT A TRUCK FULL OF MIKAN OMGLOLOL, VENGEANCE FOR TANGERINE, AND LEMONS IS ALIIIIIIVE.  Yay, happy ending for approximately half the characters!

It’s like Guy RItchie and Luc Besson decided to make an anachronistic yakuza movie that is also a love letter to Japanese trains (I mean that in the best possible way).  Featuring a mascot who squeaks when punched, mediocre subtitles that do the job (I guess...), A Day in the Life of a Fiji Water Bottle, multiple ejections from a moving train, Five Seconds of Ryan Reynolds (to make up for Five Seconds of Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2), Zazie Beetz having a really terrible day, and a Mid Credit Scene (but no End Credit Scene after all the funny animated credits).

[skytouches]

Unhinged theories for Harrow the Ninth below! As pulled from my texts to my best friend so they are looong and in fact a mess — Also warning, spoilers for Gideon the Ninth.

I’m absolutely just spitballing but new wrinkle now that I know that harrow is behind her own forgetting tho lol cause like I said I was originally thinking she’d blocked out her memories from grief or that the emperor was manipulating her memory but She in fact wiped her own memory which has the same end result of her protecting Gideon but like makes that seem even More plausible cause by erasing her memory of Gideon I’m thinking she’s keeping their souls from fusing so that Gideon remains a distinct self that can be separated and saved later and same w deleting the memories of working w the sixth cause that could potentially have a cascading effect of remembering Gideon but what’s curious is I can’t tell yet whether she also tampered w the emperor and ianthe's memories about Gideon too or if they’re in on it? Their confusion could mean either altho I think harrows distrust of ianthe (and keeping “the work” secretive) would indicate she tampered w them as well it would make more sense and be safer if they also didn’t remember Gideon

also I’m thinking The Work is separating out Gideon which I think is possibly occurring already like harrow started the process and then wiped her memory so it couldn’t be disrupted by her accidentally thinking of Gideon or using her sword skills…much to consider

also Gideon as the girl is back on the table [AN: i'd previously said maybe see: eyes, "beloved" etc] cause if harrow doesn’t remember Gideon she wouldn’t recognize her as the girl which like still doesn’t entirely make sense re the pool scene buuuut idk it does make sense that Gideon in weird soul liminal space could like “haunt” harrow like the girl is doing

also also I unfortunately think palamedes is for real dead :/ like I was kinda hoping he could be saved still cause so many people went MIA and we didn’t see his body ever but the parallel between the second captain losing her cav and Camilla losing her necro would make sense (should I be doing this like an equation maybe not but it makes an interesting juxtaposition !) but we’ll see id like him to be alive lol [AN: see later bullet point cause I now think he's alive again]

Also speaking of MIA people coronabeth is interesting cause when we saw ianthe handing harrow the first envelope she had three eye colors I was thinking one was Coronabeth cause one is for sure naberius but then they have a letter for her hmmm cytherea also had the right color eyes but idk how ianthe could possibly have had enough strength to absorb her when she was like already collapse on the ground idk idk

[rodem]

I started Smt5 on friday. it honestly feels kinda surreal considering how long it took to come out, wasn’t it first announced as like a switch launch title or something????? Well all the delays were obviously a good thing because the game seems really polished and the global release is amazing (and no one day patch, lol). I haven’t seen any spoilers beside the official pre-release stuff either so going into it mostly blind is really exciting. It’s the first smt where I didn’t do extensive research on “what build should I give the mc?” beforehand. (I’m doing magic because that’s always the safest bet for early game, which is usually the most difficult due to lack of good skills/demons. Though based on the Aogami essences I’ve collected so far it seems like the build the game wants the player to choose is more phys/support orientated...)

I guess here are some of my jumbled thoughts/impressions so far (I just finished the school and got to second section of the Netherworld)

When I first started I was like "omg the menu sounds from DDS are back." Gotta love those menu sounds.

The atmosphere of the Netherworld is soo good. The environment, the buildings, the music (having special sounds to notify the player of new/full moon was such a smart touch. and the full moon sound still gives me chills), the demon sound clips that play, demon npc placement, etc. all top notch. I feel like that desolate and isolated post-apocalyptic atmosphere that smt is known for (and prev best done in nocturne imo) has been perfected here. And the ability to like run and climb through mountains/dilapidated buildings really adds so much to the atmosphere. Like I really feel like I'm stranded on some demon infested post apocalyptic wasteland with only myself and demon allies to rely on! Such an amazing atmosphere!! It's strong enough to overpower the mc's very silly design that I have a hard time taking seriously lol.

And there's so much to explore and so many hidden things to find! I love climbing high places and then jumping straight down to an area only accessible through jumping down. There's actually so much to explore it gets overwhelming. And I'm def still needing to get used to it. Which makes me glad the world map icons are so helpful. I feel like I'm spending way longer in certain areas than I should because I keep getting lost or stuck or accidentally backtrack to somewhere I already went, lol.

So many good qol things were added to the battle and fusion systems. It's really helpful being able to see enemy weaknesses and health bars when you hover over them. And learnable skills being fully visible with even the level they are learned is one of the greatest new additions. (no more having to look up online what skills a demon learns and when!)

SMT games usually aren't that hard by endgame (for me, and on normal difficulty, at least) because you can just abuse buffs/debuffs. But those have been so nerfed this game. Even though I like doing tons of damage and not taking barely any due to buffs/debuffs, the re-vamp was for the best. Also do they only stack twice now? Because I've only seen two up arrows next to the icons. Though it seems the re-work of (de)buffs is balanced by the addition of the magatsuhi meter and new skills. The magatsuhi meter took a bit to get used to because at first I either kept forgetting it existed, or assumed it would take up a press turn. But it's really useful to have and it seems like fun strategies can be played with the magatsuhi skills. And there's always the sense of danger when the enemy is absorbing magatsuhi....

Essence fusion and miracles are also fun to play with. I was surprised fundamental stuff like demons begging for mercy had to be unlocked, but hiding stuff like that behind miracles makes alot of sense. Def the most useful miracle (besides like skill/demon slot increase), is the one that gives your demons bonus exp/levels depending on the exp/levels gained of the fused demons. Very useful for unlocking skills on new demons quicker and also doesn't make me feel bad for not fusing my demons as soon as they learn all their learnable skills. (Which is what I usually do).

The best moment I had so far was getting my revenge on that big bird for ambushing and killing me earlier, by changing my affinities to block force. (Which luckily was perfect for the Nuwa fight as well). The boss battles so far have been really tense. I feel like usually in these games my character is overleveled because I do a lot of backtracking to go back to save points. But since enemies are usually easily avoidable here, my character has been around the same level as the bosses. As my mc is like the only damage dealer I have so have, I keep having to use chakra drops during boss battles and my collection is being depleted. Which is honestly fun because I'm an item holder so I usually never use mp restoration items. Another function I've been using alot so far that I never used a whole lot before unless it was necessary, was swapping demons during battle. I usually do so if a demon I'm using runs out of mp.

In terms of story/characters, well I had like 0 expectations for the storyline going in so my view is already biased. The premise is very funny and probably requires the most suspension of disbelief out of megaten premises so far, imo at least. I do wonder if the whole "we, members of a secret gov organization led by goddamn angels and the prime minister, are relying on hs students to risk their lives and we don't feel bad or weird about it at all" premise will like actually lead to some sort of social commentary/critique. But based on experiences/knowledge of anime/otaku media in general it's more likely just meant to be played completely straight.

One thing I noticed is that the whole "my other half" thing has been brought up by three separate (demon) characters so far. So I'm guessing that concept will play a big role in the story. (and now that I think about it, I guess the mc is Aogami's other half or something....) Well I hope whenever Amanozako finds her other half she gets a new form that's less hideous. Like Amanozako from actual mythology looks so cool, and then the smt one is just "pixie 2.0."

In terms of the human characters. I expected the streamer dude to be really obnoxious and self centered, and he turns out to be the most down to earth one. His whole thing of wanting to fight demons and be a hero and not realizing the gravity of the situation until he's actually fighting and then he chickens out, felt very realistic and relatable haha. His "huge loser" background reminds me of the smt1 chaos hero, which makes me theorize he will be the alignment hero for whatever the chaos faction equivalent this game is (i have 0 idea if they are doing the traditional law/chaos/neutral stuff this game too, but so far that seems to be the case). Though I think his design already looks "chaotic" to me, so I'd prefer if he went against my expectations and become the law representative to me. Worst human character so far is def megane's sister. I disliked her since the pre-release info and she so far seems to be exactly how I expected, a very generic shy, frail girl who is entirely dependent on her "onii-chan." Though hopefully as the game goes on that perception will change and they will give this girl some kind of agency.

Also, I loved the cutscene where mc and Aogami first split and none of the other kids like make notice of or even react at all to Aogami just silently standing there at all. amazing stuff.

[zirkkun]

What are your views on UT!Chara? Are they good, neutral, evil (in your opinion) (No need to answer this ask if you do not want to)

hoo boy let me just. you’ve activated a Secret Essay(tm) of mine anon fbdshabl sorry i’ll try to keep it short LMAO

(under a read more just for a) length b) ut spoilers.. even tho im p sure most of you have beaten the game but who knows lol c) uhh Chara’s story is pretty dark so this has mentions of abuse and whatnot so please be aware of that ^^;;)

Morality alignment wise is like. Idk. I’m bad with assigning that half the time because it’s all subjective in a way right oh no my true neutralness surfaces like for example I wouldn’t do something I think is bad right? But someone else might think it’s bad. (Like my 16 yr old self might consider me today a terrible person just bc I like Undertale lol 16 yr old me is rude don’t listen to them) If I were to put them on a kind of DnD like alignment scale though, I think I would probably put them in a lawful neutral kind of alignment, maybe leaning a bit towards lawful evil.

But here’s the thing. Without Chara having any sort of backstory as to why they hate humans? It’s very hard for me to gauge where their motivation lies for the things that they did. Based off of what Asriel tells you when you talk to him in the Ruins, the genocide route, and the bits of narration we have, we can pretty much assume:

- Chara was pretty abusive, this is undeniably a fact even from just watching the videos in the True Lab; and while Asriel recognizes this, he didn’t want to lose them because they were the only one he felt close to. Which is likely part of the abuse they dealt by making him feel alone without them. - Chara hated humanity for reasons they would not disclose to Asriel, but it’s pretty implied that they attempted to commit suicide by jumping into Mt. Ebott. This could mean that they were abused in their past, which could in turn provide reason for their abusive nature (because, with Chara being a child, it’s very likely that they took in the personalities of those around them to make their own person up. Even though they were hurting, they didn’t exactly know why, and even still, many people with an abusive history that end up abusive themselves might not even recognize that they’re being abusive, which might be the case for Chara as well.) - Chara probably cared for Asriel. There’s a lot of things to indicate that they may have faked it or maybe it seems like they didn’t by their abusive nature towards Asriel, but it’s unlikely that Chara would fake caring about someone. If they jumped off the side of a mountain because they hated the people they were around so much, there’s very little reason for them to pretend they liked someone at the potential expense of their own happiness. More likely than not, Chara desperately wanted to keep Asriel close, but ended up being really controlling in an attempt to keep him close. Additionally, when you hug Asriel at the end of the True Pacifist route, the line “Hah... I don’t want to let go...” is said by the narrator, indicating it may have been Chara who said it. But considering how Sans also has lines that are spoken silently and in the default font, this may not be entirely accurate.  - Imma go off for a second about genocide because i have a pet peeve about when people suddenly decide that Chara is the one that caused it. This doesn’t make any sense -- but at the same time, with little to no games considering the Player and Player-Insert character to be two seperate characters, it’s no surprise to me that people i guess “projected” onto Chara. However, if you seperate the player from Frisk (in the same manner that Kris and the Player are seperate in Deltarune), it becomes easier to understand. Chara had nothing against the monsters. They liked monsterkind. It’s extremely unlikely that they would have the motivation to kill all of the monsters on their own. This wasn’t created until far into the genocide route, where the player has done most of the work for them. Chara is now living on pure Determination, which as we know is void of care and purely puts a person on a path of achieving their last desire, and once they wake up like this, with most of monsterkind already dead... well, what else is there to live for? They already attempted to kill humanity, failed, and now the only people they treasured have fallen like flies. Nothing matters in this world. Might as well delete the whole thing to finish the job. (also Frisk doesn’t have any motivations of their own either... unlike Kris they are shown to have no specific motivations (that i’m aware of?) one way or another and don’t reject the player ever so the idea that a canon frisk would reject the genocide route doesn’t make sense to me either. obvs au’s are exempt because they’re free real estate lmao anyway this is unrelated) - Chara’s a very calculated and observent person as well -- just look at how they died? They weren’t even afraid of death. They poisoned themselves with full faith that Asriel would take their Soul and bring them back to life (which also goes back to my point about how much Chara cared for Asriel, since, if they didn’t trust him, they would not have left him with that huge responsibility) by absorbing their Soul into his own body so they could exist as one. Chara saw their death as a stepping stone in their plan. All this from just seeing Asgore accidentally eat buttercups once and getting sick. A whole plan to get revenge on the people who hurt them from that. They even made a statement about wanting to be placed back on the Surface just to cover Asriel’s ass when he eventually took Chara on his own to the Surface. - okay this is probably just more of a me thing, but I’ve never gotten the whole “Chara hates Sans” concept. But considering I also don’t really think of Chara as the one who attempted the genocide route, I guess it makes sense. Chara probably doesn’t care about Sans one way or another, really, and Sans probably has very little idea who Chara is. I’ve always seen Sans’s statements during his battle said directly towards the Player, more or less using Frisk as the messenger -- like, for example (yes I have this on hand don’t judge me):

“sounds strange, but before this i was secretly hoping we could be friends. i always thought the anomaly was doing this because they were unhappy. and when they got what they wanted, they would stop all this. and maybe all they needed was. i dunno. some good foods, some bad laughs, some nice friends. but that’s ridiculous, right? yeah. you’re the type of person who won’t EVER be happy.”

- (cont) At this point it sort of taps into something I was gonna write for that Sans essay but here we go. I bolded “the anomaly” because this is the point where he directly refers to the player as their own individual in the game. What’s the only thing that’s different between Undertale and any moments of his life previous? The player. Hence, anomaly. Even Chara would have existed before the player showed up, right? Chara fell sometime within the 2010′s according to the opening of the game, and in between that time and when Frisk showed up, 6 other humans fell into the Underground. Clearly none of them had the same powers Frisk did, because otherwise, they would have not died and left their Soul behind for Asgore to use. That leaves one thing different -- player interference. Chara even directly states that the player is the one who woke them up with Determination, meaning they were asleep (or dead) for every year previous to their arrival. Sans probably only knows them as “the first human” like every other monster in the Underground (aside from the Dreemurs, of course).

i could probably go on for a while. but i will save you the time you probably didn’t want to spend reading this already by shutting up fdbshafb

[chixibrown]

Upon finishing the Stardew Valley comic

Since the Stardew Valley comic has been released by Fangamer, I am now able to write about what I had been doing in secret for one long year.

■ Gratitude

First of all, to the original creator Eric-san who entrusted the task in my hands, to Kari-san who helped me from early development all the way to printing, to Ryan-san, to Steven-san who did the translations, to Kari-san's mother who assisted in the creation of the envelope, to Erica-san for product photography -- And last but not least, everyone at Fangamer and FangamerJP.

It's thanks to the support of many people that I was able to finish the comic, and I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude towards everyone involved.

■ Chronology

"Chihiro! Big News! Let's create a new merch together!" was a request that I received around autumn of 2018. At first I was wondering if I was going to be asked to design a T-shirt, but turned out to be an invitation to draw a comic book!

At that time, I was posting comics on Twitter at random. Not even in my wildest dreams have I thought that my little comics would be appreciated so, and thus I immediately burst into tears.

I'm very honored and thankful for the opportunity to pen Fangamer's very first comic.

■ Contents

I'll try not to spoil anything about the story in this section.

The content requested by the original creator Eric-san for the comic was: "The story before the farmer comes to the farm" "With focus on the community center and Joja" "And the protagonist should have no set characteristics"

These were really the ONLY information that we received from Eric-san throughout the whole process (whyyy).

I was definitely worried. In reality, for around six months when I did my preliminary research, I played Stardew Valley every day, took countless pictures, and absorbed myself in collecting materials.

I I ended up taking a little over 20 thousand screenshots total (lol).

I wholeheartedly agree with Eric-san's guideline not to give the protagonist any set characteristics. I think one of the keypoints of this game is that "Anyone can be the protagonist".

The story is set from a few years before the prologue of game, so I was rather careful not to show my own personal interpretation. In principle, the actions of the characters were mostly taken from their in-game dialogue where they mention having done something in the past (For example, the reason Sam got in trouble lmao).

It took a lot of effort outlining the story, which involved things such as "Which characters would be in contact with each other?" and "Which characters may not be present at the valley at the time?". This is the reason why the preliminary research took around six months.

By the way, I was the one who proposed to include a "letter" with the comic, both as a bonus and major spoiler, in a way. But uh, many fellow Japanese may not be able to read it, so... I'll secretly tell you the what's actually written on the letter:

It's the handwritten version of THE letter you receive in the English version of the game's prologue. It's in your hands now. So in conclusion, it's probably exactly what you think it was.

I was quite adamant about how the letter needs to be handwritten. And as who wrote it... I shall keep it a secret here.

The reason why the comic had little to no dialogue is because it was the style I had back from the time I was drawing Stardew Valley fan art. Since Stardew Valley is a media not originally from Japan, that style serves to fulfill my two wishes: "I want people all over the world to be able to read my work" and "I want to cherish the feelings of each individual player" -- That sort of idea, really.

To summarize,

"I want people all over the world to be able to read my work"

"I want to preserve the unique interpretations each individual player might have"

"Anyone can become a Stardew Valley protagonist"

I drew the comic with these concepts in mind.

■ About me

I would like to talk about my experiences throughout the development of the comic.

My name is Chihiro Sakaida (a.k.a. Brown Junimo), I was already working for a game company, so I took advantage of that experience to work on game design and illustration.

Of course, while I was working on the Stardew Valley comic, I was a freelancer and had other jobs to worry about as well, so I ended up spending a lot of time working on the comic at night after work. I also studied digital art for a month for the sake of the comic, and I think it helped improved my work efficiency.

Those were truly, very fun days for me. The only thing that did bother me was the fact that even though I was working on my favorite Stardew Valley content day after day, I couldn't really share it with anyone.

I didn't want to take the risk of accidentally running my mouth on Twitter, and I no longer had the time to draw and post online like I used to -- So I had to resort to posting only low-risk tweets, so to speak, and to be honest, it was quite disheartening.

As such, I felt truly supported by the trusted individuals who knew about the comic. Tori-san, Aki-san, Kari-san, and Ryan-san, thank you so, so much.

■ Those who supported me

Tori-san is my partner, and also a person I respect as a novelist and screenwriter. She kindly and carefully reviewed and summarized my messy story.

Aki-san knew about the comic existed, but also knew next to nothing about it. Because of that, I think it was more than a handful to support me. It must've been really hard on Aki-san, who didn't know the contents of the book and thus had no way to accidentally spoiling the surprise, but whom also probably held even more feelings of shame than I did in regards to social media... I'm sorry that you've had to put up with so much. I was very proud to have you be the first reader of the finished book.

Kari-san is the illustrator of the Official Stardew Valley Guide Book, and I respect her a whole lot.

Both her work are her personality are very kind and easy-going. Together with her partner Ryan-san, she's managed to assist and encourage me many, many times.

No matter what I drew, I was sure to be greeted with her "Chihiro, you're so great!" or "Chihiro, you really did your best!" (Even my own mother have never praise me this much!) Overall, she feels just like an older sister I've always longed for, and it makes me very happy.

No matter what merch was in the process of being created, she would say "Let's make a brown one!!", solely because it's my signature color. It makes me very happy, although probably a tiny bit embarrassed as well to have her value my one schtick this much. She's even came to Japan many times, and listened to me talk all day long. After all, I wouldn't have been able to get this job to begin with if it wasn't for Kari-san, so she's a real lifesaver.

I didn't get to talk directly with Eric-san, the original creator and developer of Stardew Valley. Obviously I received some feedback via Fangamer, but I was refraining from being in contact with him as much as possible. I didn't think I could convey my full sincerity towards him before the comic was completed. I strived to be able to earnestly understand the feelings he wanted to convey via his own words -- Whether it was the game dialogues, his words on the developer blog and interviews, etc.

There was, by the way, no revision whatsoever to the comic. Eric-san did, however, carefully check all of my ideas and always provided words of appreciation; which made me happier than anything else. Those words became my motivation to live, in a sense, which in turn allowed me to freely and happily work on the comic.

■ Going Forward

While I've been talking about how proud I am to have finished the comic, I also would like to talk about what's coming next. While I certainly plan to continue working with Fangamer for the foreseeable future, at the same time, I have also decided to work for another game development company, and I plan to devote my time working on game development for at least the next year.

It has been my dream for the past 15 years to work for this particular company, and I'm elated to see it come true.

However, as a result I think I will have less exposure to social media. I don't think it's going to be easy to recreate that warm and wondrous time where I could interact with people regularly, but my memory of that time is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I'm really sorry that I have absolutely nothing to give back, but I sincerely hope the comic has brought a smile to everyone who's read or even merely noticed it.

■ Finally

I'm such a fortunate person -- I've come this far due to everyone's support, and for that, I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude. Thank you so much, for everything, always.

It would delight me if all of you could stay with me from this point on.

As I try to polish my skills and improve myself as a whole.

PS: Thanks to my best friend Ryou-chan for translating this!

[superfluouskeys]

who is the cat boy

HE’S SHAPED LIKE A FRIEND OKAY LOL I’m trying to be kind of ambiguous about my FFXIV posting because I have friends who are actively playing the game right now and I don’t want the TEMPTATION to be THERE for them to spoil themselves accidentally but also I’m too excited to completely keep my mouth shut.

The cat boy’s name is G’raha Tia!  He makes his first appearance in the Crystal Tower storyline, which is a series of 24-person raids set right after the end of the base game.  It used to be optional, but is now story-locked as it becomes important in the newest expansion, Shadowbringers.  The friend I played with recommended I just not pay too much attention to it and then watch a tl;dr before we got to Shadowbringers, and I did it because she made it sound boring and I was very excited to get to the FIRST expansion content.  I’m honestly kind of glad I did it this way, because this allowed me to come into SHB a little on the dumbass side and be surprised by things that I would have guessed if I’d been paying attention LOL.

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE TURN YOUR EYES AWAY!!!!!

Basically what goes down is G’raha learns that he has the blood of the royalty of the Allagan empire, the ancient and long-dead civilization that created the Crystal Tower.  But even the most technologically advanced society in our current world is nowhere near the Allagans’ level, so any attempt to use the Crystal Tower is probably gonna cause massive problems, and the world has enough of those.  G’raha Tia decides he’s going to seal the tower with himself inside and put the tower into a deep sleep so that it can only be reopened when society has caught up with the technology and can use it properly.  It’s a pretty sad ending--he’s fairly young and obviously craves adventure, but feels this is his duty and his destiny.  Our little team is all assuring him it’ll only be a few years before we come knockin’ but we know that’s not true--he’s basically giving up everyone and everything he’s ever known to carry out the will of the ancients.

So 200 years later when G’raha wakes up the world is super fucked.  There’s been another worldwide catastrophe that has left everything in shambles.  He and the people who woke him come up with this crazy scheme to use the Crystal Tower to send him through space and time to keep this catastrophe from happening.

Basically G’raha’s plan is to conceal his identity and play the villain, to make it out to look like he used you, the player, to defeat the monsters in this part of the game and absorb their power only to steal that power from you and use it to his own ends.  He is TERRIBLE at this because it becomes glaringly obvious how much he loves and admires you and just wants to hang out with you, and so the whole scheme comes out in the end: in truth, his plan is to take the power you’ve absorbed before it overwhelms and kills you, and to teleport himself into the void, ridding the world of that power and sacrificing himself in the process.  He concealed his identity and plan a. because he didn’t want you to try to stop him and b. because he diDN’T WANT YOU TO BE SAD ABT WHAT HE WAS GONNA DO AND WANTED TO PAINT HIMSELF AS JUST ANOTHER VILLAIN WHO GOT WHAT HE DESERVED.

Anyway his literal dying wish was just to go on an adventure with the player character and I am NOT okay about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So I’m also glad I didn’t pay attention to Crystal Towers beforehand because now I get to go back and WEEP and it is actually a really cool series.

[jess-rewatches-prodigalson]

Episode 17: Stranger Beside You

SPOILERS and thoughts ahead.

0:13 - How freaking creepy is this? She just pops up from the floor. Did Malcolm not see her there as he was approaching? Why didn’t he acknowledge her presence as he approached? ALSO - he’s excited about muffins? Does that mean muffins are one of the only foods he eats? I find this surprising. ALSO - last episode we learned that Malcolm can’t cook…why does he have a muffin tin? I know this is a dream but still.

0:45 - Ok. Story time. I watched this episode when it premiered. It was the first week I had moved home from university since the whole COVID-19 stuff. My younger brother (20) and my mom (45) who have never seen this show decided to watch it with me. Ugh. Our family dynamic is generally a lot of sarcasm and teasing. I’m the only one in the family interested in crime shows/whump. When Malcolm said “This is when the scary thing usually happens.” both of my family members started cackling like buffoons. For the next week my brother quoted that line to me. They both now tease me for loving this show so much…so that happened.

1:18 - This is kind of sweet. I don’t like Eve but I like seeing Malcolm this happy.

1:56 - This is such a good sibling conversation. Ainsley is setting Malcolm straight. I know Malcolm is right but honestly - Ainsley has a point. Malcolm has a tendency to accidentally sabotage his own relationships because he can’t trust people and he doesn’t believe that he’s worthy of love.

3:15 - Look at this. Just. Look. JT is happy to see Malcolm. They’re bantering like brothers. This relationship has blossomed and I’m so happy…also I google “sip and see” because I really wanted them to be fake. They sound ridiculous, but they’re real. IDK. I don’t have kids but it seems crazy to organize a big fancy party right after you give birth. Invite friends and family over - sure. Order a pizza and a cake. But hang out in something comfy and keep it casual. Maybe that’s just me. IDK.

3:42 - Malcolm’s projecting again. “Perfect can be an allusion.” Honestly. Is he even aware that he does this?! Also, is he projecting about his childhood or his relationship with Eve. Either way, I’m concerned for him….though I do like how happy he’s looking right now.

3:47 - hahaha OMG. “With the stiff!” Gil is so done.

4:30 - I thought this was interesting. 1) Do dead bodies actually do that? Compress? Huh. Cool. 2) I like the way that Edrisa and Malcolm are so totally absorbed in how cool/weird the cause of death was that neither of them notice Edrisa’s hand on Malcolm’s chest. 3) Gil pointing out Edrisa’s hand makes things a little awkward - but honestly I see it as a gentle warning. He knows that Edrisa is socially awkward. She’s not in trouble and he’s not mad. He’s just reminding her that stuff like that isn’t appropriate.

5:04 - Watching this after realizing that Tally is pregnant brings a whole new weight to all of JT’s comments. Every time he mentions babies, baby swag, moms - he looks either scared, stressed (because money), or excited. It’s freaking precious.

6:15 - “It’s a cloud of love. Nothing to be ashamed of.” Again. More proof that Malcolm is an A+ adult male. Who speaks like that?

7:05 - Do I need to be scared about Dani now too? I do not like the way that Martin says her name. Wait. Is Martin going to go after every person that takes Malcolm’s time away from visiting him? I can totally see it. Martin escaping - killing Gil for replacing him as Malcolm’s Dad. Killing Jessica for trying to keep Malcolm from him. Killing JT, Dani, and Edrisa for being his friends. Can’t decide if he’d kill Ainsley…

7:41 - HOW is this show so dark and yet so funny?!?!

8:20 - I know that Malcolm knows that Tally is pregnant…but after the pizza roll comment there’s no way Gil and Dani don’t suspect. Look at their faces!!! And the way JT looks down way too quickly. He’s clearly hiding something.

8:55 - Look at Gil’s face. He’s concerned and a little scared. I am too. What the hell does Malcolm mean by “Mom’s love me”?!?! Is this some weird sex thing?

9:05 - Dani is a queen. We stan. She is the friend Malcolm deserves. I especially love the fact that later we find out that she told JT about this conversation. As though she thought Malcolm needed “guy advice”.

10:00 - Yo. People like this shouldn’t be allowed to have children. Kids are not a fashion statement - they are human beings who need to be nurtured and loved.

11:10 - So, I don’t usually like it when Ainsley snoops around for a story and gets all determined - but this time I do.

12:00 -  Does Ainsley really not understand that what she did was a total invasion of privacy?!? She doesn’t look sorry. At all. The fact that Ainsley actually talks to Eve about it is kind of awful too? Like it’s one thing to do a background check on someone - it’s another thing to talk to them, unprovoked, about what you found. 

12:12 - Poor Jessica. She looks upset. Between her two “socially bizarre” children ( lol ) she really has a hard time making friends. Although…..I will admit. It’s a little weird that Jessica is making friends with a woman young enough to date her son. 

 12:32 - Soooo this means that Malcolm has an instagram account (at least a fake one for work anyways). I feel like Malcolm is one of the people who don’t have a personal instagram account. Because a) he has like 3 friends and b) he doesn’t strike me as the type of person to take pictures of food, people, events, or himself. 

 12:40 - So Malcolm’s sitting at that desk again…..forget about the gitb… I want to solve the desk mystery (and the mystery of JT’s name). 

12:57 - Damn it JT! We were about to get a super awesome father/son moment. Ugh. When I said I wanted the writers to give JT more screen time I didn’t mean this. 

13:13 - Aww…look at how proud Dani is of herself. Girl made a cool discovery and she’s proud/excited about it. <3 

13:22 - ARE YOU KIDDING ME. We finally get a good look at the desk from the front. No name plate in view?!? UGH. This is killing me. 

13:33 - hahaha look at these faces! JT looks confused/freaked out that Malcolm knows so much about babies feeding habits. Dani looks so annoyed that she’s been put on Malcolm babysitting duty again. I don’t blame her. Gil is always making her babysit Malcolm. JT never has to take a turn. 

 13:55 - The most annoying thing about this episode is that we never find out how Alessa cut her arm. It’s a weird place on your arm to get a cut and I’m curious about it. 

 14:35 - I respect Malcolm a LOT in this scene. He’s asking some tough (but necessary) questions. He’s calm, kind, and respectful. He’s not minimizing Alessa’s stress, her loss, or her devotion to her daughter.

16:30 - Soooo if Christine’s (ex) husband lives in Canada - does that mean he’s Canadian (or dual citizen)? Or does he just have a work permit? I’m curious about what that means for Christine’s citizen status. I find this odd though - even if Christine isn’t Canadian - if she was last seen in Canada and her husband reported her missing - the RCMP would’ve been looking for her. They NYPD would know that. Although - she is using a fake name. Huh. There’s a reason I’m not in law enforcement. People are too crafty. I’ll stick to math. 

 17:55 - Look how mad JT looks that Christine tried to abduct Nina….he’s going to be such an overprotective, good dad. <3 

18:25 - This is a really cool moment. This scene is the first since 1x9 when JT and Malcolm have a heart-to-heart. JT also gives Malcolm some really good relationship advice. Damn. No wonder JT’s been married for 7 years. He gets it. 

 18:55 - I love how manic Malcolm looks and how concerned JT looks when Malcolm goes off on his little rant about being a suspicious person. I wonder if JT is wondering why Malcolm trusts Gil, Dani, Edrisa, and himself? They are, by all means, good things in Malcolm’s life. Is he suspicious of them? 

19:25 - Does Martin know about Malcolm’s sensitive stomach? I’m really curious. 

 19:44 - This scene is awesome. Malcolm is sad, upset, a little anxious, and angry (at Martin) throughout the scene. Martin, even though he is a crazy serial killer, actually gives Malcolm some good relationship advice. I guess it makes sense. Martin could never have tricked Jessica into marrying him unless he acted like a perfect, good dude with good relationship skills. 

20:04 - Martin actually believes he was a perfect father? Nope. I can’t. Any parent who genuinely believes that should have a psych eval. No one is perfect. Parents aren’t excluded from this rule. 

 20:56 - This is such a powerful moment. You can see how pleased Martin is because he got through the Malcolm. You can see how desperately Malcolm wants to love his father and how painfully aware Malcolm is of who his father is and how much he despises it. Malcolm shouldn’t have to remind himself to hate his father. No one should. Watching Malcolm grapple with that (through his facial expressions) is heart-wrenching. He actually looks close to tears for a moment. ALSO screw Martin for still trying to manipulate Malcolm into loving him. 

 22:10 - I’ll just say it. We’re all thinking it anyways. Malcolm’s soft voice when he’s confused is so freaking cute. 

23:08 - Look at JT’s face during this scene. He just about had a freaking heart attack. I feel soooo bad for him. I can only imagine how bad he feels. Gil gave him one (1) job: protect the baby. JT’s probably thinking, “If I can’t even protect this stranger’s baby - how will I ever protect my baby? Will I be a bad father?” Someone give this man a hug for me.

23:25 - Look at the way JT touches the infant to make sure she’s real. That is a man who is on the verge of a panic attack. 

 24:00 - AND now JT is worrying about Tally’s health throughout her impending pregnancy. Good Lord. What a rollercoaster he’s on tonight.

25:25 - Concerned!Gil for the win! Gil hasn’t been around Malcolm much this episode. Yes - Malcolm is obviously upset right now, but it makes me wonder if Jessica and/or Ainsley have called Gil because they’re concerned about Malcolm right now. Did they call Gil and ask him to send Malcolm home? 

 26:25 - Look at that. Malcolm looks crushed. Not surprised just disappointed. He truly believes that he’s not worthy of love. Eve just confirmed it for him. I honestly don’t know how this dude will ever trust any romantic partner ever again. My heart is shattered. 

26:43 - Look at how brave he’s being. He’s trying to mask his pain with a smile and a self-deprecating joke as usual. Problem is - his eyes look tortured and he’s trying to lie to the two women who know him best. They see through his mask and they’re concerned for him. 

27:00 - Ainsley is such a strange character to me. Right now as she tells Malcolm about Eve, she is looking at Malcolm with dread, concern, and determination. In 1x7/1x10 she publicly embarrassed him and revealed his personal, private details with the world - without remorse. I know that Ainsley is really obsessed with the progression of her career. However, it shouldn’t blind her to the emotions of her big brother. Ainsley needs therapy. 

 27:08 - soooo Eve has a key to Malcolm’s place? After two(ish) weeks? For a dude who doesn’t trust easily this seems like a stretch. I’m choosing to believe that Malcolm left the door open when he saw Ainsley and Jessica. 

 27:15 - THIS is so important. Jessica’s “How could you?”. See her face? She’s devastated. The first female friend she’s had in probably 20 years just stabbed her in the back. To make matters worse, this woman also just broke the heart of Jessica’s very emotionally vulnerable son - thereby also breaking Jessica’s heart. Furthermore - Jessica is definitely already paying rent in the self-loathing hotel because she traumatized her children because she married a serial killer. NOW she’s also dealing with the guilt of knowing that she’s the one who brought Eve into Malcolm’s life. That look hurt or devastation on Jessica’s face which later transforms into rage and hatred is haunting. Props to Bellamy Young. 

27:26 - This. Look at Malcolm’s face. Eve looks like she’s close to tears. Malcolm is looking at her with compassion. Yes - you can tell that Malcolm is devastated and hurt by Eve. However, he also clearly empathizes with her. Again. Malcolm. Bright. Is. An. A+. Dude. Fight me.

27:40 - Can we all just pause for a second and praise Tom Payne’s acting in this scene? He captured the raw emotion of a trauma induced panic attack perfectly. Look at how utterly broken Malcolm is. Hands shaking on his head. Tears in his eyes. Ragged breathing. Followed by a brief angry outburst which leads to more shaky, anxious breathing and eyes on the verge of tears. The end result is physical and emotional exhaustion. 

 27:45 - Ainsley looks shocked and a little scared by Malcolm’s outburst. Has she (HIS SISTER) never seen him have a panic attack? They grew up together. I refuse to believe it. Ainsley shouldn’t look shocked - she should look sad and resigned to it. 

 28:06 - This is heartbreaking. Malcolm genuinely thinks that there is something about him that makes him unlovable. I know he’s already in therapy - but they need to stop focusing on his trauma for a hot second and focus on his self-worth issues. I aM nOt OkAy. 

 28:22 - Can we all just take a minute to appreciate Dani Powell. She has been such a good friend to Malcolm. Probably the first true friend Malcolm’s had since he was 10 years old. Even in the midst of extreme emotional turmoil a work-related text from Dani makes Malcolm smile. Because Malcolm knows that Dani  - a woman who isn’t related to him and has no obvious crush on him - doesn’t hate him. In fact - she likes him enough to be his friend. Right now that’s enough. That’s a big comfort to Malcolm. 

 28:36 - This is sheer panic on Jessica’s part. Check out those eyes. She just saw pure self-loathing and anger in her son’s eyes. She’s terrified for him. Maybe this look is reminding her of a look he got as a teenager when he became suicidal (it’s my headcanon that Malcolm had a period of active suicidal ideation as a teenager)? 

 28:40 - “I can’t solve this.” Is Malcolm referring to himself here? I mean - he clearly thinks that he is the problem; despite the fact that Eve came into his family’s life with the intention of getting information on his serial killing father. Ugh. His sad eyes and messy hair (that tends to indicate Malcolm is in severe emotional distress) is breaking my heart. 

 28:54 - Ok. So - who is this woman? How did Christine find her? Why did Christine go to her? It doesn’t look like a women’s shelter - it looks like a random lady’s residential home. 

 29:00 - Again. Let’s all praise Queen Dani. The bestest friend this dude has ever had.  She just goes out and asks him what’s wrong. She’s concerned about him BECAUSE she knows he’s upset about something.

29:20 - I love that Malcolm is comfortable enough around Dani to be honest with her about the really hard stuff in his life. Look at how sad Malcolm looks here. Look at Dani’s reaction. She isn’t judging him or pitying him. She isn’t pushing him to talk. She’s just supporting him. She’s a little shocked, a lot upset on his behalf, but mostly she’s just concerned. She’s being a good friend and I love her for it. 

 29:36 - Lucas is a scum. Anyone who abuses a spouse, child, or family member has a special spot reserved in hell. 

 29:52 - Look at Dani as Christine tells her story. She’s sympathetic, respectful, and concerned. Either this isn’t the first time Dani’s been around a battered woman on the job or Dani has personal experience with abuse. Maybe a friend/family member was abused? Hell - maybe Dani had an abusive boyfriend or something? 

30:20 - I really respect Malcolm in this scene. He knows that women who are fresh out of an abusive relationship (or still in one) with a male are weary of men. Usually, when Malcolm gets this type of information about a case he starts speaking quickly, loudly, and intensely. He starts gesturing a lot with his hands. IN THIS SCENE - Malcolm reigns himself in. He stays relatively calm and still as he speaks. He knows that his usual hand-gesturing and loud voice would terrify a woman who was just beaten by a man who was supposed to love her. This. Is. A. Good. Dude.

31:10 - Malcolm just shows Dani his cracked phone screen. I’m curious - does she ever ask about it? I’d like to hear that conversation. 

33:05 - I LOVE THIS. Gil is terrified for a) Malcolm but b) Alessa and Nina too. This is a side of Gil I’d like to see more often. ALSO notice that the second that JT realizes that Gil is suffering from a parental panic attack he floors it. JT is going to be a good Dad. <3 He knows how to love and he has a big heart. That’s the most important thing. 

 34:34 - Again. Malcolm is currently displaying empathy and sympathy for a murderer. This dude has the biggest heart in the world. 

35:45 - Alessa is a badass. Nina is a lucky little girl. 

36:04 - I love this scene. Gil looks so relieved that Malcolm is in one (mostly unharmed) piece. He’s so proud of Malcolm for keeping Alessa and Nina safe. I’m certain that Jessica and/or Ainsley called Gil about Malcolm’s panic attack which exacerbated Gil’s worry over Malcolm.

37:07 - THE SCENE. The scene. This scene is easily my favourite of the episode. I love watching JT and Malcolm’s friendship in real time. Look right here this is two guys chatting about how cool someone is. <3 Look at how happy and proud JT is of a woman he just met. I promise you he’s thinking about how awesome and badass of a mother his wife is going to be. 

 37:28 - JT’s scared face coupled with his softly spoken “Dude.” stops my heart. It’s as though talking to someone other than his wife makes the baby seem like more of a scary, real responsibility. You can tell that he’s excited but still terrified about fatherhood. He’s not quite ready to tell people yet. 

37:37 - “The thing’s the size of a peanut.” - I googled it: Tally is about 9 weeks pregnant. ALSO how freaking cute is it that JT is so excited about his unborn child that he knows how big it is. <3 I can just see him panic researching about pregnancy and caring for infants in the middle of the night while Tally sleeps. <3 

 37:44 - He doesn’t want to jinx it? Does that mean he and Tally have had trouble getting pregnant in the past? Miscarriages? Infertility? Or is JT just scared from everything he’s been researching about pregnancy? Either way - if Tally looses this child I will riot. 

37:50 - “You don’t do happy.” - Malcolm’s face twists into a look of hurt and sadness. He genuinely believes JT’s words - even though JT meant them as a joke. JT sees that too because he immediately starts teasing Bright. JT is concerned about Malcolm. 

38:39 - So Eve does have a key. Nope. Not cool. Not in-line with Malcolm’s trust issues. I refuse to believe it. 

 39:11 - I hate watching Malcolm be this sad. Look at his nose. It’s just a little red - he’s been crying. His fragile ability to trust has been shattered again and Eve’s apology is quite honestly not very good. 

39:45 - Can we all just pause on Malcolm’s shirt? It looks like the orange sweater Gil wore in 1x13. Did they go shopping together? Did Malcolm buy the shirt because it reminded him of Gil? Does he only wear it when he feels sad because the fact that it reminds him of Gil comforts him

40:35 - What’s the story of Eve’s Dad? What’s his deal? 

41:40 - I’m really proud of Malcolm for being brave enough to face the truth and have this really difficult conversation with Eve. 

43:09 - Ok. I’ll say it. Malcolm is too nice. This woman shattered his heart last night and now he’s hugging her? Bro - you don’t have to do that. You’re allowed to be upset. You’re letting her walk all over you. 

Thanks for hanging out Prodigies. 

[kaoarika]

I rarely do written posts in Tumblr anymore because I am still figuring out how this new UI works in general (and there might be still be some bugs about writing posts + leaving them on drafts + publishing them accidentally as well), and tbh, between the past two months have been sorta chaotic and very mentally draining (besides some work I have been doing) and me attempting to think around some of my few active fandoms... well, haven’t had an eureka moment where I sit and write what I think about stuff.

So, let’s talk about some “stuff”.

Some days ago, I accidentally noticed by PURE CHANCE that some of the completed webtoons I was going to “eventually read” in LINE were going to get “locked”/converted  for Daily Pass. I mean, tbf, I knew that they were going to stick to this plan since past October, but it seems they really went full force this month (they only “locked” like a couple of series back then). And it’s exactly how I thought they would do so - popular series that have been already completed, old and recent.

I’m not going to complain about “Daily Pass” because I do have some thoughts about that and the fact they could use another model than just readers farming/buying coins, but, what do you do, especially since lots of these series are PRETTY long (140+ chapters long)?

My complaint does come from that, as a web user, I found this by pure chance, despite them saying they would announce what series would be locked in a 30-day advance notice. Because there’s no apparent indicator in the main page about THIS (The only Notice/News detail you see down below the page is about Canvas creators). Heck, I don’t think they even tell you about it in their mail newsletter, which kinda suck :))).

So, anyway.

I checked and, yes, a couple of VERY old series I was interested in reading were/are going to get locked. Problem, like I mentioned? THEY are pretty long! I know I can binge read as much as I want, but I cannot make miracles like reading over 100 chapters (if one series, try thinking about 2 or 3 -  I WAS NOT GOING TO DO THIS) in less than 12 hours! ESPECIALLY if those series were going to get locked THIS WEEK.

FML.

...anyway crisis was averted when I had to let go some interesting series that I may would get my way to read them (if there is a new buying/rental model they would apply) in the future... BUT I did read stuff I was curious or wanted to read... and mainly old stuff that I was willing to eventually finish one day.

Opinions on those series?

Okay, as brief and spoiler free as possible:

Untouchable: A story about modern-day vampires that instead of drinking blood, they have evolved to absorb the energy of their preys. This one is a romantic series about Sia, a vampire model and this human guy who has a very deep microphobia, and she puts her eyes on him when she realizes that his energy is like none she has tasted before. But, again, dude has microphobia (that is more or less controlled as time goes on).

I stopped reading this one for a while because  I was sorta smelling love triangle from a jealous friend of hers that OBVIOUSLY didn’t want to be looked as “just a friend”, lol. Like “how would this get solved”, kind of thing in your typical romance stuff. But then, last week I retook it... and it wasn’t as bad... but it leaks typical shoujo stuff/problems that become a newer obstacle as time goes on and on (misscomunication, lack of trust, overprotective family ANNOYINGLY hurting their own offspring, sudden deux ex machina...?). So, I think it finished fine... But man, I was so pissed off in how some stuff was managed at the end, lmao. Especially the way a “villain” was redeemed? I know that they say “karma is a b*tch”, but, DUDE KILLED PEOPLE BEFORE!? and you redeem him in a “lol, you will find out how love will make you feel” LIKe, DUDE, WHAT THE HELL. DON’T REDEEM HIM LIKE THAT.

Ghost Wife: I started reading this series in an unofficial manner a long while ago, but I supposed that the first chapters are pretty slow and it didn’t catch me on in the first place. It’s about a girl that starts seeing ghosts/spirits, and there’s this one that becomes WAY too attached to her, that offers her two options: either been eaten/killed or agreeing to be his wife. Given the title of thise series, you might wonder she accepted the second one

My lesson? Should have kept reading. The story picks up when other ghostly creatures are introduced and they start interacting with the main female character and her “ghost husband”, especially since this ghost cannot really imitate human interaction and his solution is “hypnotizing” everyone so he can “normally” fit. And the interaction between those two becomes more gracious and natural. You can feel that she likes being with him, despite the dangers of attracting ghosts that might kill her and all that. Heh.

Other lesson I had is that: the artist isn’t EXACTLY well into action scenes and some other details (but their ghostly creatures’ designs are TERRIFYING), so, I thought “well, I know there are other artists like this in the webcomic/webtoon environment, I shouldnt be too worried about my art once I get done with mine, right?

Also, some details started to make sense later on. And I cried like a baby in some moments, as well. Don’t have too many complaints, though. Perhaps more obvious “falling in love” moments... but then I realized that some actions speak lots better than words.

About Death: And speaking of “crying like a baby”, this one. This is a very old work, and it’s a gem, and it’s short, to top! And HECK, the art was AMAZING. Very touchy, and it makes you think. There’s quite a lot of South Korean webtoons that have made me cry because... they really make you think a LOT about stuff... especially about life and death.

Oh! Holy: Story about a shy and lonely loveable dork that is in love of his childhood friend, and that they eventually find each other in high school. Said childhood friend is idolized in school (but she is... hmmm... a dork as, well). Oh, he sees ghosts. OH, and she dies within the first three chapters accidentally :3. Shenanigans happen.

I HAD A LOT OF FUN WITH THIS ONE. SURE, it’s another shoujo but WAY less dramatic than Untouchable, because this was comedy (so, a rom-com!). And this one made me want more and more to read it. The characters all had an amazing personality, chemistry and their interactions were FUN AS HELL. The author seems to have my my sense of (dumb) humor, and the art was too attractive and knew where it should bright.

I don’t think I have too many complaints about this one. I may have felt unsatisfied in some minor stuff, but everything else felt “okay” to me, in general. 

A couple of things, though: localization and some quality stuff relating to translation in this series. I cannot judge the translation, but I do think it could have handled more quality checking on this one or proofreading, I’m not sure. I know that these (licensed and translated) series come in a weekly basis, but they REALLY need to pay more $$$ to their own staff to not let this stuff happen THAT frequent.

Localization is a bit of an issue I do HAVE though, and it is the same as in “Ghost Wife” and some other recent Korean series they have licensed in the recent past: Why using English-localized names, though? SURE, they retain their original last Korean names... but... why don’t keep their FULL NAMES, I wonder? I mean, weren’t we supposed to be over that kind of stuff already (videogames, JPN anime, manga other foregin stuff)? Is it because marketability? And/or because some names are “puns” that couldn’t easily be translateable in other languages? 

If it’s the latter, I think the same is applied in other regional language localization, like, in Spanish, original English language “Axed” is called “Natacha la del Hacha” and you cannot wonder how it crawls over my skin. I know this series is BUILT ON and is full of puns (as I am following it)... but... “Axelia” is a much more cooler name than “Natacha”... :I or so I THINK? Don’t take me too seriously...

In “Ghost Wife” I get it, you have spiritual creatures... their “human” names are puns of what they really are, and these words MAYBE don’t have too much meaning in English or Spanish or whatever... but... its a bit... glaring... when the main cast has English first names... and then you have a side character called... I dunno, “Soyeon” :I. or Haetae (a creature that didn’t have a human character name...) or, heck, characters that never appear again like... there was this “Damien” dude that for some reason, his name is slipped a couple of times as “Suho” (I wonder, his original name). But, then, you have people named “Liz”, “Drake”, “Sarah”, “Nathan” ????

I suppose that in “Oh! Holy” that might be the case, too. The original Korean name of the series is “오!주예수여” that is translated as “Oh! Lord Jesus”, because Holy in Korean is named “Yesu”. And, *sigh* I think that says enough. The pun STILL works... but :’))

But at the same time, I think my thing with the English localized names in “Oh! Holy” is that they are... blatantly boring and I don’t think they fit their faces. At all. But, maybe that’s me? (I mean, the “ultimate” reaper is called Norman. NORMAN.) Like I said, they still keep their original Korean last names... but... ugh.

(this is coming from someone who gave two of her characters very not obvious Spanish names given that they are Mexican, but I do have some valid cultural and VERY obvious explanations about those...)

Also - I don’t get LINE Webtoon’s selectiveness in this localization decision. Some of the South Korean series they bring, they do KEEP their original full names (see “A Good Day to be a Dog”, “Ghost Teller”, heck, the afforementioned “Untouchable”), but then you have stuff like “Oh! Holy”, “Ghost Wife”, “Scorching Romance”, “Mom, I’m Sorry!” or “Lookism”... ?????

And, this is very blatant annoying because a) K-Pop is HUGELY global mainstream nowadays and you can hear/read fans screaming their NAMES?! And 2) K-dramas are also pretty popular these days??? 

?????? 

*LONG SIGH*

There’s a few series that I want to check out, but I still have some more days for that to happen (heck, even a bit of more than a week). But, it SURE DOES suck that most of the interesting series I had my eyes on all were going to get locked this WEEK. :))))

[mysticdragon3md3]

Reactions to My Next Life As A Villainess ep1-5.  

12:06 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 1 – I Recalled the Memories of My Past Life... 12:18 PM 5/12/2020 That's right!  She didn't play all the routes!  Oh, no!  lol  I just realized who the red headed bishounen in the opening theme was.  I mean, I saw a bunch of spoiler clips, but not enough to actually know who he is.  But if Catarina didn't even play all the routes enough to know Nicol's story, then she probably didn't unlock the secret route that almost all visual novels seem to have.  I'm not sure, but I think a lot of secret routes are only unlocked after you play through all the other routes, with a particular ending, like a happy ending.  So the secret route for the secret love interest, is like your reward for platinum'ing the rest of the game.  This red head is probably the secret route!  LOL  Maybe even the first-born prince!  LOL   Y'know, that that I'm finally watching this series from the beginning, I'm noticing more the warnings Catarina gives about Geordo being a "sadistic, black-hearted prince".  But his quote during the otome game intro was him being interested in a love interest because they would keep him from being bored.  Ever since Catarina remembered her past life and started acting less like a "lady", she's done so many "unlady-like" things that continuously make Geordo laugh under his breath.  She's really digging herself into this engagement, without realizing it, if she's going to continue accidentally amusing him this much.  lol I love Catarina's leap-landing poses!  ^o^  So cool!   9 year old with an axe.  She's so ballzy.  I love it!  ^o^  ...And then immeidately emotionally vulnerable and open.  Reminds me why I always loved Rukia Kuchiki.   This show is so heart-felt and cute!  I'm tearing up!  ;u;!!!  This Dr. Stone Nendoroid commercial reminds me that even that show made me cry, when Suika could finally see clearly.  REminded me that almost all anime has this magical ability to span so many tones, yet still include heart-felt tear-inducing.  It's one of the reason why I love anime.  

12:40 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 2 – A Prince Challenged Me to a Fight... I love how fun that opening theme is.  ^_^ 3:20 PM 5/12/2020 Continuing.  Had to help unload groceries.  And in the pandemic, that means a shower afterwards.  And with these mystery skin allergies, that means at least 30min lotioning all my skin.  ~_~;  But I watched some more Crunchyroll Collection clips, so I wouldn't have to pay complete attention.  But there was a new clip from a much later episode with everyone hanging out with boat races, and I can't wait to see it!  Anyway, on with ep2.   Or maybe red haired opening theme bishounen is the route you get if you don't romance anyone!  Instead of a new game + after romancing everyone else.   I like how Catarina plays into the cliche of otome gamers, who are clueless when it comes to real life romance.  It's just too funny when she doesn't realize Keith an Geordo are fighting over her, and she thinks they're just being good friends to each other.  lol Please don't crash, Crunchyroll!  This was just too cute! ;o;  Mary and Catarina are just starting to become friends!  ;o;  ....OK.  It's playing.  ---Nooooo!  It's buffering again! But I thought Catarina said before that she is watering and fertilizing her plants?  WAs it just not enough?  Or something about that location didn't hold it well enough for the plants to absorb?  Also, Why couldn't Catarina ask her family's gardener Tom for advice?  WEll, I do like her friedship with Mary, so it's fine.  ^-^ 3:37 PM 5/12/2020 Ok.  Crunchyroll crashed.  I'm going to try refreshing the page. Left off at 7min44sec into the ep. "What were you thinking, production staff?!"  LOL  Sounds like the Persona 5 fandom.  lol "I"m so happy to be in the same postion as you, Lady Catarina."  lol  Everything in Mary's life is through the lens of "how does this relate to my beloved Catarina?" now.  lol   But I gotta admit, from what I've seen of later episode clips, Mary crushing hard on Catarina is my jam.  ^o^  One of my favorite tropes of the cross-dressing girl genre of manga that I loved so much, was the joke about her being so dashing that she was irresistable to the ladies.  Don't judge a fujoshi's fantasy, ok!  But with the later clips, and Mary's asides in them, I wonder if she's a lesbian, and not just humor fanservice.  I'd be up for that too.  (Though, I guess if she would have been just as dedicated to Alan if he had said the "green thumb" comment first, then she must be bi.)  It's just that back when I read a lot of the cross-dressing girl genre, I never really thought about the trope past the meta humor about "this girl is more popular with the girls than the guys".  It was clearly a running joke for the audience.  But back then, I didn't try to expose myself to as much yuri and frankly there was barely any yuri available in the West that was an actual romance vs just hentai/ecchi fanservice for the male gaze.  It'd be nice to get an actual lesbian romantic rival in the cast of suitors.   I love how gutsy Catarina is!  Though I wonder if she's so quick to know what to say in unexpected situations, it breaks from the cliche of socially inept otaku girls.  But that's ok, since it's just a stereotype and she's cool.   I love how the animation direction used all the servants' reactions to Alan's piano playing to convey how good he is.  Because realistically, there's little chance some random anime could find some transcendent piece of piano playing that everyone watching would agree was magnificent.  Using the servants' silent reactions reminded me of what video essayists described as the technique that a lot of sports anime use. She's been keeping the toy snake in her pocket all this time?!  LOL   I almost forgot she has to be constantly afraid of Geordo exiling her.   I was thinking before, when I saw that scene on Crunchyroll Collection, that Shojo genre sure does use a lot of hanakotoba.  But in this case, vegetable symbolism.  I wondered what it must be like to watch the scene linger on this growing eggplant, and not know why.  Fortunately, I heard from much earlier anime that eggplants are good luck, so this small growing eggplant must be a good omen for how Alan relates to Catarina.  You have to know so much flower symbolsim when you consume Shoujo genre!  x~x;  

4:19 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 3 – Met a Beautiful Brother and Sister... Mary is so different compared to how she was before.  I watched clips from this episode before hand, so I didn't notice anything, but her change after befriending Catarina is extraordinary.  I had no idea before watching her introductory episode, how scared and meek she was before.  Because from all the Crunchyroll Collection clips, she was always so forward and confident.  Even just standing beside Keith and Catarina at this tea party, she's just so bright and open, with her head held high.   The thing I like about Catarina's first impression of Sophia is how she's framed as this purely angelic beauty that's just instantly breathtaking to our protagonist.  So often, it's usually only hetero guy protagonists who get that moment.  But I've always wanted those moments between girls.  And frankly, the first 2-3 decades of watching anime had very slim pickings.  The manga Strawberry Panic had a secondary couple like that:  the cool tomboy who's dumbounded by the angelic ingenue's first meeting, but surprise surprise, it got changed for the anime, so they could instead use the tired trope of "common girl hoping that super cool popular senpai notices her".  But I relate more to the love interest who is blown away by the ingenue being angelic.  But it's so rare to see that perspective!  ;o;!  At least back then.  I hope it's changing now, especially with series like My Next Life As a Villainess.  I just want to adore a pure, gentle-hearted angel girl and protect her happiness!  Is that too much to ask!?  Long story short, I love Sophia.  ;u;   I really like Keith's alibi about a bug biting Catarina's neck, so she has an excuse she can say about Geordo damn hickie.  Keith is smart. I love how Catarina's crassness can even catch Alan off guard, even though he's clearly supposed to be the informal, rough archetype husbando.  lol  Just casually talking about her underwear.  lol  But I like how much attention and credit Catarina gives her servants.  Makes her seem much nicer than the stereotypical nobility brat that her character originaly was.  I feel like it's part of the clash between her modern ordinary person's thinking vs this isekai world's culture.  I think that sort of thing was why I always loved time travelling stories where someone's modern knowledge put them a step ahead of the past people, enough to help them.  Like Back to the Future III or Ascendance of a Bookworm---the later of which is actually another isekai.  ^.^;  

5:08 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 4 – I Enrolled in the Magic Academy... Sirius Dieke.  Student Council president.  Well, I guess that answers the mystery of the opening sequence's red head.  He's totally a route that Catarina didn't play or didn't realize was unlockable.  lol   Geordo knows just how to get to Catarina through sweets.  Good thing Keith is always there. Sometimes I think this series was created by someone who was tired of the passive protagonists in Otome Games and decided to write a super proactive protagonist, full of personality, in retaliation.  lol   I could watch that scene of Catarina interrogating Keith over and over---and have!  lol  He's so flustered!  LOL  Good thing the maid was there to bail him out.  Catarina is sure stuck on him acting like the playboy Keith from the Otome Game.  Even though she acknowledged that he didn't end up growing up into being sleezey.  Which is good, because those overly forward love interests who have no consideration for other people's comfort zones, bug me.  They're my least favorite, next to the sadists.  I don't understand why they're always in dating sims.   I love this idea of Catarina's internal monologues and thoughts being portrayed as this council of chibi versions of her different aspects.  ^o^  It's brilliantly innovative! I like Alan's casual body language.  The animators were good to not skimp on the details. ^-^   The student council president has a cute baby face. I love deredere.   Poor Nicol.  Getting shoved into the center of fights he had nothing to do with.  I'm beginning to think he has some kind of magic aura that makes people crazy around him.  lol Catarina's glare is a magic power too.  ^-^ I love how food-motivated Catarina is.  lol  Now that I think about it, that's a really common trait of Shonen protagonists.  Can it be that the author of this story intended that...? Looking at the female cast in this ending theme, I was reminded of how often in an Otome Game the person I usually want to romance the most is the protagonist.  Well, at least when there's an anime adaptation and we can see from the outside view how adorable the protagonist is.  *sigh*  #^_______________^#  She's always such a cute little pure-hearted angel....*u*!!!  I can't help getting swept off my feet or at least breathless.  ;u;  I'm so glad this series kind of pays fanservice to the yuri relationships.  

6:00 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 5 – I Visited the Heroine's Parents' House... Well, Crunchyroll keeps buffering and I really should do my daily walk.  Maybe I'll postpone watching this ep for a little bit.  --Nope.  The ep started.   Getting tutoring from Maria is a good idea.  Catarina is so badd at magic and Maria is #2 in the class ranking.   Y'know if Maria and the Student Council President got together, that'd be super cute.  Them and their baby faces!  *o*   I love how she's more concerned about her friendship with Maria now.   I like how Keith just smiled after Catarina because she's repeating the same kindness she gave him, to Maria.  And just knowing that kindness is in Catarina's nature is why he's in love with her.  I love how anime has all these moments where you can understand a character without everything blatantly spelled out.   Crunchyroll is really buffering now.  I wonder if I'll be able to finish this ep, or will it crash?   Oh no.  It came back from commercial and the image is frozen while the audio continues.  It's even an image from a scene several scenes ago.  O_o?  It did this when I started this ep too.  I"ll have to refresh the page.  ~_~;  Ok.  Thsi is my last episode today.  If Crunchyroll is going to keep buffering and crashing every 10 secoinds like this, I can't keep watching.  Even though I really want to!  ;o;!!!   6:28 PM 5/12/2020 Finally. The video is working again. I can continue the episode.   GIANT PUMPKIN! So I guess glasses are a disguise in any world.  lol   Wow.  Maria's background is sounding more and more like Keith's---except that Catarina saved him before her mom could accuse him of being an illigitamate child, right?   I like this time lapase of how many times Maria hadd to try making cookies before she could get it right.  It makes the rejection mean so much more to feel how hard she worked to make those cookeis for them.   Oh anime...  Suddenly making me cry, when thsi was "supposed" to be a silly series!  I didn't see Maria's mom giving her their family's oldd cookie cutters in the Crunchyroll Collection clips! ;u; Aw, another dialogue-less scene.   Gulp.  Maybe Catarina could have a school grounds gardener she can say set up the farm at her request?  ^^; Just noticed the toy snake at the end of the ending theme's sequence.  ^^;

6:44 PM 5/12/2020 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Episode 6 – I Had Fun Over Summer Vacation... That must be Tom, their gardener.   Wait.  He's making toy snakes for her?   That poor maid.  lol  Anne, right?   Oh, this is a trial clip.  Well, I should have stopped watching anyway.  It's getting cold outside for my daily walk.  

[thatdisneydame]

The Rise of Skywalker

This is a FULL review so do not read this if you do not want spoilers. To read a basic review please go HERE. 

To give a quick backdrop of the state of mind I am in while writing this review, it is 2 AM the night after watching The Rise of Skywalker. I have been thinking of only TRoS since walking out of the theater, trying to process and absorb all my feelings about it. In general, I give this movie an 8/10 or 4 out of 5 death stars. While I wholeheartedly enjoyed the movie I still had some small issues that just added up. Edit* after watching it again 48 hours later, I have changed my review to 8.8/10 or 4.4 out of 5 death stars.

In my previous review, I mentioned that the pacing was very quick. The movie opens up with Kylo Ren absolutely destroying everyone and everything in his way to get a Sith Wayfinder. We immediately see that Kylo Ren is on his way to a new planet called Exegol where Sheev Palpatine is “alive,” but literally looks like a zombie marionette. IMMEDIATELY Palpatine welcomes Kylo Ren. Palpatine has been expecting him and how he has been controlling Ren from the beginning. He was Vader’s voice that Kylo heard, he was Snoke and now as a returned Emperor he will give Kylo Ren all the resources, a sith fleet, he needs to make the First Order the Final Order and kill Rey. I am going to just digress for a moment here and say that by the end of this series of events maybe fifteen minutes have passed in the movie and that includes the opening crawl. The crawl did nothing to prepare me for Palpatine to be the way he was and let me tell you that he looked terrifying. His body looked like it was decaying, he was missing fingers, his eyes were clouded over and he was literally being hoisted around like a puppet. 

Palpatine then tells Kylo Ren that if he truly wants to rule the galaxy, he needs to kill the girl (Rey), but to beware because she is not who Kylo thinks she is.

Continuing, we then find out that there is a message from a mole in the First Order which is retrieved by Poe and Finn on the Falcon. But where is Rey you might ask? Rey is being trained by Leia and our first shot of Rey is one of my favorites of her. Rey has been spending her time trying to connect with all the Jedi of the past by levitating herself and a bunch of rocks while she meditates. I do not do the shot justice, but in just a couple of seconds, the audience sees how powerful she has gotten. When she doesn’t connect and gets mopey about it, Leia does the coach thing and lets Rey take the Jedi equivalent of a lap which she does, but fails due to flashes of memories and visions of her childhood and a very brief glimpse of Dark Side Rey. Rey is very put off by this and gives Leia Luke’s lightsaber saying she has to earn the saber. Transmission over the radio from the mole signifies the start of rising action, the introduction of the Final Order and the total destruction of the remaining free systems. The resistance freaks out over the return of Palpatine “how is he back?” “Cloning, lol IDK.” We don’t really get an answer so my answer is, the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. Well now the resistance needs to find him and nobody knows where...except Rey because she has been reading Luke’s diary. She says she doesn’t know where to find him, but she knows how because Luke was looking for a sith Wayfinder too and she will find (and kill) Palpatine with or without Leia’s blessing.

Flash forward to the desert where there is a dagger that can lead Chewbacca, C-3PO, Rey, Finn, and Poe to the Wayfinder. Rey heals a new creature, whose name I can not think of right now, which thanks to The Mandalorian ep 7 we know is a light side/Jedi ability which allows them to escape sinking sands and escape on a ship. This is also important for later in the movie. Well, the ship happens to be the same ship that Rey’s parents left on when she was a child. Also, this ship was captained by a sith sympathizer. Just as Rey, Finn, Poe, C-3PO, and Chewbacca start to leave Rey senses Kylo Ren coming in his tie fighter and waits for him. During this time the First Order has captured Chewbacca and the dagger and taken him on a transport ship. Rey uses the force to keep the ship from entering the atmosphere and Kylo simply plays with her and just starts using the force to propel the ship higher. Rey becomes enraged and OH MY GOD SHOOTS LIGHTNING OUT OF HER HANDS AND CAUSES THE SHIP TO EXPLODE! Sidebar: when Rey did that I was so absolutely shaken. I was both amazed by her ability and vexed that she had killed Chewbacca. In my other review, I said that some scenes seemed longer than they needed to be. Watching it, at the moment, I was wondering when something was going to happen because it felt like they could have continued their game of push and pull for the rest of the movie. Looking back I believe that scene was the perfect length. While the whole desert sequence maybe seemed/was too long, the build-up to Rey’s force lightning was perfect BECAUSE it was taking longer. You start thinking this is taking fore-OH, MY GOD!  EDIT* after watching it a second time the scene was shorter than I thought, but the first time I watched it, it felt like triple the time it actually was. The whole desert sequence, in my opinion, lasted too long.

Well with Chewbacca dead and no knife, the group must travel to a different planet to visit a black market droid hacker to retrieve the translation of the sith runes stuck in C-3PO’s memory. Well, why doesn’t C-3PO just tell them the translation? Because it would make the movie 20 minutes shorter and not require two other characters. Just kidding. C-3PO’s programing is forbidden to translate restricted languages i.e sith runes. This will cause a total memory wipe though. They go through with it and have to escape the planet because the Knights of Ren and Kylo Ren are coming. As they start to head out Rey senses Chewbacca on Kylo’s Star destroyer. He’s alive. There is dramatic irony because we, the audience, saw that Chewbacca survived because of the second craft in the desert. The group and a newly rebooted C-3PO go to Ren’s Star Destroyer.

Once there they split up. Rey goes to find the knife which she feels she needs while Poe and Finn go to find Chewbacca. The knife is in Ren’s chambers. Just as she finds it, Kylo and Rey connect via the force, Ren is on Kijimi while Rey is on the destroyer. Kylo taunts Rey about her lineage and if she still counts the days since her parents left her. While she fires back asking if he still sees his father. It gets to be too much for Rey and they start a really cool fighting sequence where we see just how powerful their connection is. They accidentally destroy a pedestal with Vader’s helmet and Kylo figures out where she is, he is going to tell her exactly who her parents are. Meanwhile, Poe and Finn managed to break Chewbacca out but were captured. They are about to be executed when Hux takes a blaster from a trooper saying he wants to do it. We hear three shots and the camera turns to Hux and three dead troopers to which he says “I’m the spy!” Finn and Poe are blown away. Hux takes them to where they are keeping the Falcon but tells Finn to shoot him in the arm. Finn shoots him in the leg. Finn asks why he’s helping. “I don’t care if you win, I need Kylo Ren to lose.”

Cut to Rey and Kylo Ren confronting each other on the destroyer. Rey is ready to fight, but Kylo is not fighting, he’s here to give her the news. She should join him, they are a dyad in the force, two parts of the same element. Her parents weren’t nobody but chose to be. Her parents sold her to protect her from her grandfather. Rey’s father was the so of Palpatine. Rey is a Palpatine. Kylo asks for her to join him, but she refuses and Poe and Finn show up with the Falcon allowing the whole group to escape.

We then see Hux on the bridge reporting to Pryde about how and why Finn and Poe escaped. Pryde seems calm and orders the people around him to alert the supreme leader. He then snatches a blaster out of a trooper’s hand turns and kills Hux. “We found the spy.” I thought this was very anticlimactic for Hux’s character.

The group heads toward the Endor system to find the Wayfinder as 3P0 said it would be there. The group crash lands and gets the help of former first order troopers. Rey, being impatient and more resolved than ever to rid the galaxy of Palpatine and the Sith takes a skimmer to the Death Star wreckage to find the Wayfinder. After climbing we see her in Palpatine’s throne room where she discovers a hidden door that leads to the Wayfinder. She is confronted by her dark side self who has filed teeth. She gets knocked out of the room, drops the Wayfinder and is confronted by Kylo Ren who tells her she can never go back for the same reasons he can’t go back. Rey is not going to be goaded and sternly tells him several times to give her the Wayfinder. He destroys it which causes Rey to attack. They have a spectacular fight, possibly one of my favorite fights in the entire saga. They are totally utilizing the force and doing moves we hadn’t seen. Eventually, Kylo gets the upper hand and is about to kill Rey when he sees a vision of his mother calling his name. He drops his saber, but Rey catches it and impales him as Leia dies. Rey sees what she’s done and retracts the saber. She heals Kylo Ren the same way she healed the serpent, telling him she did want to take his hand, Ben’s hand. She leaves in his tie fighter, leaving Kylo on the Death Star to mourn and contemplate.

Poe, Finn, Chewie, C-3PO, BB-8, and D-O make their way back to the Resistance Base where they demand to speak with Leia and are told she’s gone. Chewbacca has a heartbreaking reaction. Poe goes to pay respects to Leia and asks how she did it. Lando enters the room and tells him that they had each other, Luke, Han, Leia, and Lando. Poe realizes that he needs help and promotes Finn to general. The two of them begin preparations to confront the Final Order and the Sith Fleet.

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren is still on the Death Star thinking when he is confronted by the memory of Han. I was not expecting this at all and it was handled so well. The two mirror the conversation they had on the bridge of Star Killer base. Han tells him that while his mother is gone the beliefs she fought for are still there. “I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” “Yes, you do.” Kylo Ren gets emotional, “Dad.” “I know.” He then turns and throws his lightsaber into the ocean, officially coming back to being Ben.

We then see Rey throwing logs onto a burning Tie Fighter, crying. She then takes out the lightsaber and chucks it into the flames, when Luke’s hand stretches out of the fire and catches it. He tells her a Jedi’s weapon deserves more respect. She tells him she is going to stay there forever like he did. Luke tells her he was wrong, that it was fear and that she doesn’t need to be afraid of who she is, Palpatine is just a name. Rey realizes Luke and Leia both knew who she was but trained her anyway because of her spirit, her heart. Luke then brings her to a hut where Rey discovers Leia’s lightsaber. Luke tells her that Leia gave it up when she sensed the death of her son but would be used again by someone else. Rey has no way of getting off the planet or finding Exegol to which Luke responds she has everything she needs. Rey goes back to the ashen Tie Fighter and retrieves the only remaining Wayfinder. Luke is then seen lifting his old X wing out of the water mirroring the attempt on Dagobah years before, instead this time Luke succeeds.

At this point, everything gets kicked into high gear. Rey goes to Exegol, the Resistance follows her signal. Rey goes to confront Palpatine. Who is ready and waiting for her. “Long have I waited for my granddaughter to come home.” He then says one of the coolest and bone-chilling lines in the whole movie. “Welcome Empress Palpatine.” Rey refuses to take the throne and become a sith, she will destroy the sith as a Jedi. Palpatine can sense her anger and hatred and tells her that’s what he wants because if she kills him with her hatred all the sith will pass on to her. Meanwhile, the Resistance is fighting the fleet with the planet-killing canons. Finn rides in on the backs of animals to fight and target the signal that was made to guide the fleet out. Ben shows up on Exegol ready to help. He runs into the Knights of Ren and fights them, getting his butt kicked due to his lack of a weapon. Palpatine shows Rey that her family is losing and the only way to stop it is to kill him. She reluctantly agrees knowing that this is the only way to save her friends. Rey and Ben sense each other and right as Rey is about to strike she sends the Skywalker lightsaber to Ben like a cool magic trick allowing him to defeat the Knights of Ren and Run to help Rey. Meanwhile, Lando has returned with Chewie on the Millenium Falcon and hundreds of ships answering the Resistance’s call for help.

Palpatine realizes he is going to get nowhere when Rey wields Leia’s old saber and Ben wields the Skywalker saber. Palpatine decides he is going to kill them. But while using the Force on them he gets healed and finds out they are a dyad in the Force. Two parts of a whole. There combined souls give Palpatine strength and he reforms and heals himself in a way that reverse mirrors the healing ability. Instead of giving life, he takes it. Rey and Ben collapse, appearing dead. He sits on the throne of the Sith and casts Force Lightning, causing all resistance ships to short circuit. Ben starts to stagger up but Palpatine uses the Force to throw the last Skywalker down a chasm in his own twisted sense of poetic justice. Rey opens her eyes and sees the destruction happening in the sky. She tries to connect with all the Jedi of the Past while we zoom past the fighting into the atmosphere and into space when we suddenly hear the voices of the past Jedi giving me major Avatar: The Last Airbender series finale vibes. They all call out to her telling her that they are with her as all the Jedi were with them, telling her to get up and fight. This is truly a beautiful scene, an emotional one that tugs at your childhood. Rey stands up, weak but ready to fight. Palpatine uses force lightning, just playing with her telling her she can’t defeat him, he is all the Sith. Rey uses Leia’s lightsaber to block the lightning with ferocity. She tells him “And I. I am all the Jedi.” she uses the Force to pull the Skywalker saber toward her and she crosses them and advances forward causing the lightning to redirect and as she gets closer Palpatine disintegrates like Thanos snapped his fingers. The Resistance has defeated the fleet by officially destroying the leading ship and take out the planet-killing cannons causing them to explode. 

Rey has completed the battle and retracts the sabers. She drops them one by one until she collapses. Dead. Finn senses it and suddenly stops and leans against a wall saying, “Rey.” I had been rooting for Rey since the beginning of the trilogy so this scene got me. I started getting tears in my eyes. Not because of the scene, but because she did it. Despite the odds being stacked against her more or less from the beginning. Because of the terrible life she lived before the events of TFA. We then hear Ben climb out of the chasm. How he survived, I do not know. He sees Rey’s body and begins to crawl to her as quickly as he can. He picks her up and cradles her while he tries to not cry. He then remembers the healing ability and heals her. She wakes up, smiles and calls him by his real name. “Ben.” They kiss, and Ben smiles, content with the way things turned out when he slumps over and we realize that Ben has died. In a really sweet moment, Ben and Leia’s bodies disappear simultaneously becoming one with the Force, at peace.

Rey and the Resistance meet back up with a tearful celebratory embrace amongst Finn, Poe, and Rey. Celebrations on various systems including Endor are seen. Chewie finally gets a medal, given to him by Maz.

The final scene of the movie is of Rey on Tattoonie at the Lars moisture farm where Luke grew up. She looks around and then buries Luke and Leia’s lightsabers deep in the sand. My first thought was ok so she did not just connect with all the past Jedi just to end the order by hiding the lightsabers. Then she pulled out another lightsaber. This is her own. She ignites it and it’s yellow/orange like Cal Kestis’ could be from fallen order. I’m uneasy about the color, but I’m just glad it’s still there nonetheless. A woman remarks that nobody has been at that farm for many years and wants her name. She says, Rey. The old woman probes more, “Rey who?” She looks in the distance and walking toward her are the force ghosts of Luke and Leia. “Rey Skywalker.” They smile lovingly at her. The final shot is Rey and BB-8 standing in front of a beautiful binary sunset. With that, the Skywalker saga comes to a beautiful full circle end.

I’ve read and watched some reviews where people were upset at Rey calling herself Skywalker. I loved it though. First of all, that’s what I wanted from the beginning, Rey Skywalker. But more importantly, it signifies that Rey got to choose her family. Rey chose to honor the people who took her in and loved her. Family is more than your blood. Rey Skywalker is so much better than Rey Palpatine. Rey Skywalker honors all the actions and sacrifices made by ALL the Skywalkers, Ben included. While I understand that some people did not like it, I personally did. 

I have questions though that were just not answered.

What was Finn going to tell Rey while they were in the sinking fields? EDIT*: It was revealed that Finn was going to tell Rey he is force sensitive and I like that a lot more than the idea of Finn telling Rey he loved her. I could see why people thought he was going to say that, but I like the idea of the Force Sensitivity more.

Now that there is no more First Order to fight, what will Poe and Finn do?

What will Rey do?

Where does Rey go?

Will Rey train Finn as a Jedi now that we know for sure he is force sensitive?

Will Rey train other Jedi inductees? 

If BB-8 is with Rey on Tatooine does that mean Poe is with her?

I do have a list of the things I did not like

The pacing- this could have easily been an Endgame length swan song and because JJ did so much to course correct from TLJ that we got so much information in such a short time. I needed a 4-hour long movie with slower parts to let my brain catch up. *EDIT* there are pretty credible rumors of a 185-minute cut and this is what I needed. Also, it makes it longer than Endgame at 181.

All the new characters that were introduced had such limited screen time. This goes with the above but a longer movie would have allowed more time for the new characters who I thought were so cool.

I’m going to get some serious hate here but...I did not like the Ben/Rey kiss. It seemed a bit much and a hug could have been so much more intimate in my opinion. Now, I hated Kylo Ren from the beginning, though he was plain evil, how he brought Rey back from the dead and died in her place was *kisses fingers* Que Bella, and an intimate hug would have pushed me over the top.

I wish Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter was revealed later in the film. It could have hit harder and been a bigger shock. That knowledge in the back of my mind kept eating at me for the last two acts of the movie and sometimes it was all I could think about.

A list of things I absolutely loved

The lightning Rey shoots- just so freaking cool how she did that man. It was so unexpected.

The lightsaber fights. They seemed so different from the others.

“Empress Palpatine”-chills for days

The “match cut” shots of Han and Ben on the Death Star and how the scene was slightly different but ended in the total opposite of TFA. And MAJOR PROPS to the cast and crew keeping Harrison Ford’s part on the DL.

Leia and Ben dissolving like true Jedi

Daisy Ridley making me think she was actually dead for like 5 minutes. A+ acting.

Ben’s full smile.

Light Rey vs Darth Reydar

The force healing ability and the life-draining ability

“General.” “General.”

C-3PO. He kind of annoyed me the whole saga, but the comedic timing and the performance that was given was just so good.

ALL the Jedi speaking to Rey, I mean: Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Aayla Secura, Adi Gallia, Ahsoka Tano, and Kanan Jarus all telling Rey to get up. Just beautiful and helped tie all three trilogies, TV shows, and novels together.

The Force abilities we had not seen before in the main movies. Weirdly enough I also have a “problem” with this. I really like the new powers, but I wish we had seen them more evenly distributed over the trilogy or the whole saga. But in general, I loved them. They had a purpose and that made it worthwhile.

Ben becoming one with the Force.

“Rey Skywalker”- so nice. so beautiful.

The full circle. The Skywalker story starts on Tatooine and ends on Tatooine and I love how poetic it is. 

Things I would have done differently. Well, first let me begin by saying that anything I would have done differently is more or less of a minor change.

Rey’s lineage revealed- I’m still a little uneasy about her being a Palpatine, but I’ve accepted it. I just wish the reveal had been later, as I stated before. JJ having to reveal it early in the film is probably a way to undo/clarify what Rian Johnson did in The Last Jedi. 

I wish Rose had a bigger part. I like what they did with her, but I wish it was more. Rose’s character was more sure of herself and I liked that so much more than the character we met in The Last Jedi. I’m not saying she needed her own side mission, but a couple more scenes with her at the center would have been great. Maybe she is leading a meeting or getting a squad ready, I don’t know, but just a couple more scenes. Kelly got absolutely trashed because of how, in my opinion, poor her character was written and some more scenes like the way Rose is now would have had great fan turn around I believe.

There would be no Reylo. I do not and have not shipped Reylo ever in this whole trilogy. I still don’t. I will yield to the fact that there were canon feelings for each other. I, however, would not have had that. Ideally, everything would have been the same, but instead of kissing after Ben saved Rey, there would have been a platonic hug, a friendly but loving embrace between two people who have fought for the same ideals and have had a roller coaster of a relationship. I feel like it would have been more impactful and a MUCH harder punch to the gut when he dies. I didn’t ship Rey with anybody because she was one of those characters to me that didn’t have to have a male counterpart. I’m not a huge Marvel fan, but I thought the same about Black Widow. I just didn’t see a need for romance or a romantic relationship. 

Hux’s secret and death. Like Rey’s lineage being revealed I thought killing Hux so early may have been a mistake. The last scene with Hux before he was killed was extremely humerus and they could have kept something like it, but having General Pryde kill him after felt wasted. There were a lot of potentials. What I would have loved to have seen Hux sabotage something big, try to kill Pryde or whatever. I just thought it was an anticlimactic death, once it was said and done. The actual death came as a shock, but looking back I wish it had been more meaningful and bigger. This character had been built up to be one of the most “hated” characters and I just felt like his death should have been bigger and not just a shock.

The final battle. I wish it had lasted longer. This is supposed to be THE battle to end all battles. This is the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga and the final battle against Rey and Palpatine lasted like 15-20 minutes. I just wish it had been longer. Maybe a whole duel between Rey and Palpatine or Rey, Ben, and Palpatine.

The Jedi talking to her. I would have shown their astral bodies, their Force ghosts. The scene was beautiful in its simplicity, but to be able to see the Jedi would have been the icing on the cake. To see them give Rey their power to connect to the Force would have been very moving for many fans. Star Wars Theory on youtube has a pretty neat video about how that scene could have gone with the Force ghosts, I highly suggest you check it out.

Leia as a Jedi. While hardcore fans knew about this due to Legends, the casual fan would have been shocked. We saw Leia use the force in The Last Jedi, and I appreciate how JJ expanded on that. He did not leave anything unanswered. I do not know if that was ever going to make it into the mainstream movies i.e if this was going to be done all along, or if this was JJ’s answer to Leia using the Force in the Last Jedi, but I think it was done really well, and the CGI in that scene made me think I was looking at a young Mark and Carrie/ Luke and Leia. In general, this is a whole series “I would have done it differently.” We can keep Leia training to be a Jedi, but I would have planted that seed much earlier in the trilogy or even the saga. I think that the scene in TLJ would have gotten a better reputation if more seeds were planted.  

The final scene- I understand why it was Luke and Leia, but I would have loved to see the whole Skywalker clan up there. Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Ben all smiling lovingly at Rey, the adopted Skywalker. 

Before I conclude this review I want to make it clear about a few things. 

I am not getting anything from anyone for doing this, this is purely out of enjoyment and so people can read a review.

I feel like I have been bashing on The Last Jedi a lot in this review, and while I liked the TLJ as a movie, I did not like it as a Star Wars movie. It is one of my least favorite in the entire Star Wars franchise. BUT, if you liked it, awesome. That is the best part about Star Wars, people can have different opinions. Without those opinions, we wouldn’t have some of the discussions that we have brought up.

This film was not perfect. It had flaws, it had things I wanted to happen differently, it had parts I did not even want to happen. This movie was a well done, emotionally exhilarating, visually stunning work of art that showed the heart the whole team that works on the Skywalker Saga put into this film. This film was 42 years in the making and like a thank, you note to the fans. To be honest, it is hard for me to accept that this is the conclusion of a series that I have loved so much. It reminds me of when I finished Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and just couldn’t believe that this was the end. This is not to say that this is the last Star Wars movie. We know of an unnamed 4th Trilogy that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are rumored to be involved with after the success of The Mandalorian. Rian Johnson is rumored to be working on more Star Wars projects as well. This is not the end of Star Wars, but to me, it is still like saying goodbye to a friend. 

Please tell me what you thought of the film. Leave your responses. Do you agree or disagree with my opinions? I’d love to hear from you.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 204: Chintetsu

Previously on BnHA: Shouto left Endeavor on read. Team TodoIidaShoujiRo attacked Team TetsuHonePonySen head-on, hitting them with a wave of ice and freezing them all in place. But it turns out Honenuki’s quicksand quirk is actually a “softening” quirk which can soften anything he touches. He used that to melt the ice to allow his teammates to escape. It also turns out that he had pre-treated some of the surrounding area with his quirk, and Ojiro and Iida came crashing down from their hiding spots shortly after as the softened ground gave way beneath them. Sen attacked Ojiro with his drill quirk while Pony took on Shouji. Meanwhile Tetsu went for Shouto, realizing a direct attack was his best bet. And Honenuki trapped Iida under a layer of the softened ice, but then made the mistake of rehardening it, intending to keep him stuck in place. Instead, Iida blasted free with his Recipro, revealing that he’s built up his endurance to the special move. So now we’ll see if he can take Honenuki down.

Today on BnHA: We get a wholesome Iida flashback to when Tensei explained how to upgrade his Recipro by -- wait, what? Mutilating his own fucking leg?! Holy shit. That’s not wholesome at all. What the fuck. But anyway, it worked I guess because back in the present day Iida is zipping along at speeds faster than Gran fucking Torino, and he’s able to maintain this speed for up to ten whole minutes. The only downside is that he can’t fully control himself because he’s so goddamn fast and so he keeps skidding around. Anyway, so Honenuki is like “nope” and gets the fuck out of there. Meanwhile Sen continues to whoop Ojiro’s ass, but then Iida shows up to save him so yay. Elsewhere the Tetsuroki fight has heated up, quite literally, as Todoroki activates his left side to create a wall of fire, and Tetsutetsu proceeds to walk right through it and attack Shouto as a red hot steel man. Shouto thinks back to his dad’s training and decides that the solution to this is clearly to make shit even hotter, so he starts up with that, and the chapter ends.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 223, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

ohhh my god

IIDA FAM FLASHBACKS!??!

AHHHHH

EXCUSE ME IS THIS THE FUCKING FUTURE OR NOT?? CAN WE GET IIDA TENSEI A FUCKING HOVERCHAIR HERE PEOPLE? IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK. IF ONLY HORIKOSHI WAS AT ALL FAMILIAR WITH MARVEL COMICS -- OH, WAIT

but seriously though. also he’s supposed to be rich too isn’t he? c’mon

also! Iidamom looks exactly like I expected her to. welcome to our canon full of other awesome moms, Iidamom! a few more moms and I’ll be ready to do a top ten moms post. spoiler alert, the winner is not who you’d expect (unless you’re expecting Aizawa, because then you’re absolutely right)

anyways so I got SUPER distracted just now but apparently Tensei is talking about “tuning up” Iida’s engine!

wow can they do that?? fucking quirks, though. wild

oh my fucking god

just yank that fucking muffler right the fuck out. and a new one will grow in!! fucking QUIRKS, though. WILD

dsfalkhsd

just yank that fucking muffler right the fuck out without anesthesia. what are you, a pussy!?

gee thanks Horikoshi for this graphic image of Iida biting down on something while he uses his bare hands to yank what are essentially bones -- or organs, or whatever! the point is they’re part of him! -- right out of his fucking body. might wanna add some vodka to that OJ tonight Iida

OH SHIT, THAT PAYOFF THOUGH

IN TEN MINUTES YOU COULD TAKE OVER THE FUCKING WORLD, IIDA!

okay maybe I got a little overexcited. but damn though!

so he’s DRRNing over to Honenuki and

oh my god

loool at the thought of Iida zooming around wildly for the next ten minutes while he tries to figure out how to stop this thing, and meanwhile Honenuki can’t land a hit on him though

GET HIM IIDA!!

oh fuck

can he breathe under there? you know, depending on how long they still have until time runs out, he could just hide for the next ten minutes and then emerge and drag the paralyzed Iida to Rat Principal Jail

(ETA: actually that was a stupid thought. obviously Iida doesn’t have to keep Recipro activated the whole time if there’s no need to.)

but no, he’s swimming back to Tetsu and the others for now

meanwhile Iida’s still up top and trying to figure out what he’s up to

maybe you should do the same

holy shit we’re cutting back to the kids outside and Deku says Iida’s even faster than Gran Torino

“by a long shot.” that’s fucking fast. and I love it

by the way, with the way Mina was pointing, I thought, “oh, maybe Ojiro’s finally getting the upper hand!”

but no

Horikoshi why do you hate poor Ojiro

it’s probably the pain of this guy kicking you in the chest with his rotating fucking foot

so he’s trying to figure out what to do because he can’t really attack, and he keeps getting hurt whenever he tries to guard

oh hey there

trying to decide if I’m disappointed that Ojiro will never get to do anything cool, or ecstatic that Iida fucking Tenya just pulled off a badass save of this caliber

leaning more toward ecstatic, honestly. sorry Ojiro

oh, Iida

nice use of the word “forthwith”, Iida

(ETA: and nice use of the word “slammer”!!)

and now he’s telling Ojiro to go help Todoroki and that he’ll be right back

well I guess class 1-A will need some sidekicks too

meanwhile we’re sticking with Iida, which means I’m going to keep right on posting all of his panels, because his dialogue honestly deserves a fucking pulitzer prize

never, Sen!

Sen’s trying to reason his way out of this and telling Iida that he shouldn’t let Honenuki get away because he’s more of a threat

and he’s also grumping about Iida interrupting his and Ojiro’s fight. “you shouldn’t interrupt a one-on-one fistfight like that”

um, says who? fuck that. we’re trying to win here, we can make friends after

Iida says if he allows his will to be bent here, it will be bent in the real world as well

basically he’s treating this seriously. well, good

meanwhile! we’re cutting back to two minutes prior!

I guess Tetsu’s best option is to somehow knock him out. but the problem is that Shouto’s reflexes are too good and he can create an ice barrier in an instant

I think Tetsu’s steel would allow him to withstand Shouto’s fire long enough to punch him on his left side, though, so that would be my personal strategy if it were me

heh

A+ attack name. Shouto I’m sorry, I love you, but if I’m being honest I’m rooting for this guy here

heh

so you think he should try the fire instead? I’m not so sure that’s the best play in this case though. at least with the ice he has better control and he can hold him at bay. I just don’t think the fire would be that effective against Tetsu, but I’m sure we’ll find out shortly

because Tetsu’s bragging about how easily he can break through Shouto’s ice defense

ah here we go

for some reason Bakugou actually wanted to go up against this. still don’t quite understand it. my baby boy got a death wish

lol Pony’s running off. honestly a miracle she wasn’t incinerated just now

Shouto’s yelling at Shouji to go after her and Shouji’s all “got it”

yeah I’m thinking my initial assessment was right and this was indeed a mistake

fucking great. now you’ve got a molten steel man after your ass, Shouto

LOL

holy fucking shit. just in case anyone isn’t aware, “chinchin” means “penis” usually. so yeah

and I fucking love that here he’s using it to mean “hot”, but it could also be a throwback to the whole “five peepee man” thing, which he doesn’t actually know about but I do, and so to me this is the funniest thing ever okay

I have no further comment

oh fuck

no but as you can plainly see he is no stranger to burns, so please try not to maim him too badly...!?

lol Vlad has started narrating again. no doubt elated that his team is somehow eking out a win in what initially appeared to be the most one-sided matchup we were going to see today

uh oh but now it looks like Tetsu may have accidentally triggered the quirk development that Endeavor was trying to trigger but couldn’t because Shouto won’t return his damn texts

before I continue to the next and presumably final page of this chapter, I’m just gonna take a moment here to appreciate the irony of Endeavor accidentally conditioning Shouto to never listen to him ever, even on the occasions where it turns out he’s right. he spent years trying to get Shouto to use his flame side, but failed utterly, and then in the span of one fight Deku did what Endeavor had spent Shouto’s whole life trying to get him to do

and now it’s happening again here, where we see that Endeavor was once again trying to teach him something, but Shouto just ignored him until a random kid from the class next door just happened to say something similar. and then it clicked

like, it’s a major burn on Endeavor (no pun intended), but it’s also really unfortunate for Shouto, because his dad has been such a prick until recently that he’s missed out on absorbing the few worthwhile things he actually had to teach him. lot of lost time to make up for here, on both sides

anyways, let’s watch as Shouto slowly processes all this

well I assume (a) because of the “surpassing my limits” thing, and (b) because he’s been texting you nonstop and it was probably on your mind even though you were stubbornly trying to pretend it wasn’t

lol what kind of cliffhanger is this??

he’s not even doing anything! come on Shouto what are you doing to us. this isn’t fair

also, what happened to your hand? why is it all smooth. I assume because of some fire bullshit you’re about to do, but that’s still just weird looking

oh and on the last page there’s a long translator note explaining what I mentioned before about “chinchin” meaning penis. sometimes on select occasions I’m down with Horikoshi perpetually having the mind of a 12-year-old. if he wants to make this a recurring thing I won’t complain, lol

[okietokiee]

The Song of Achilles/Metalocalypse AU

ahh !! I commissioned a friend of mine (who is an incredible artist and specializes in custom/DnD art!! If you’re interested in her work her etsy is MadisonNicoleArt) and she helped me finally create an AU I’ve been obsessed with for a while!

Ok this is going to be pretty long, so bear with me !!

If you’re not familiar with The Song of Achilles it’s basically a retelling of The Iliad by Homer, but from the perspective of Patroclus, the right-hand man of Achilles. It’s a beautiful, magical tale and if you’re familiar with The Iliad the ending is (spoiler)  gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. You spend the whole story knowing what’s coming, and you almost get lost in the enchanting beauty of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ relationship with each other. 

Now when I first got into the Mtl fandom I was surprised there weren’t any Iliad AUs (BUT CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG AND SEND THAT SHIT MY WAY), because Achilles was a beautiful, golden demi-God (sKWIsGAar in a nutshell LOL) and Patroclus his stong, toned, gorgeous (im extrapolating here but...) right-hand-man/partner/lover/soulmate/other half who, though never prophesied by the Gods for greatness, had his own strengths and made his own name for himself following his heart (Achilles ;))

Here are just some ideas I’ve had about this:

Skwisgaar

- Serveta being a promiscuous Queen who has a one night-stand with a lower level God that left immediately. The God’s seed was so strong that after birthing Skwisgaar his mother became incapable of having any more children and she resents him for this. 

- However, Skwisgaar was prophesied by the Gods to become the greatest/quickest warrier of his time with potential to become one of the Gods. His step-father (gentle Tyr) married Serveta and he loves her dearly, though she constantly cheats on him and neglects her only son. 

- Tyr does his best to make it up to Skwisgaar, but obvious damage has been done.

- Skwisgaar’s real father is never revealed and it’s quite popular in town to make theories about which gorgeous God Skwisgaar is the bastard of. (Adonis is a popular choice)

Toki

- Toki being the only son of the cruel King Aslaug, a malevolent leader of a deteriorating village. Toki is a small/weak boy for his age and is constantly beaten, belittled, and humiliated by his father, and therefore has no respect from the village people despite being the rightful heir. 

- He ends up accidentally killing a young bully his age (son of a noble man) in blind rage because he has certain freak episodes (episodes that likely led to his parents fearing/hating him??). (This is almost exactly what happened to Patroclus in TSOA) 

- He’ s exiled from his home, loses his family name, and is sent to be a ward of King Tyr and lives with various other abandoned orphans/exiled princes in Skwisgaar’s father’s rich, plentiful kingdom. 

NOW the fantastic slow-burn begins. Because Toki can’t seem to fit in with the other boys and there are constant rumors about how he beat a kid to death for such petty reasons and the rest of the kids are scared of him and keep their distance. 

aLL BUT SKWISGAAR! (and fuck i keep almost writing Achilles)

Who finds the new foreign boy utterly fascinating and is inexplicably drawn to him. 

Skwisgaar is obviously popular with the fellow boys for he is a tall, strong child destined for greatness, and he basks in this fact. 

Now I see Skwisgaar skipping training/class to wander off and play with a golden lyre in some hidden spot in the nearby woods.

The same spot Toki escapes to to avoid the blatant stares and loneliness. He’s shocked for a moment to see the golden prince lounging serenely on his favorite spot surrounded by flowers. But he’s stopped in his tracks after hearing Skwisgaar’s masterful Lyre playing and is absorbed in the music. He remember how, during his cold lonely years back home, an old wooden lyre was his favorite escape. 

Skwisgaar spots him and is not surprised to see how this young boy is amazed by his playing because everyone is. He’s a Lyre God. But he is surprised when the young boy timidly asks, 

“Cans I tries it?”

No one has ever had the audacity to interrupt him mid-play or the confidence to play anything that could match him. However, he’s amused and has been watching this new kid for a while, so he beckons him over and lets him play a song. 

NOW THIS IS THE MOMENT! The moment Skwisgaar is sHOOK by how Toki’s fingers glide across the instrument and the gorgeous sounds he makes. It’s not exactly like Skwisgaar’s, but it’s something entirely his own. Something gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. And Skwisgaar feels something he has never felt before for any music other than his own. 

And they end up sneaking off often and spending their free time like this, playing Lyre together and barely speaking. Eventually Skwisgaar tells his step-father he has chosen Toki to be his partner/right-hand-man (bc they did that in Greece, forgot what it was called??) and Toki is shocked and happy and can’t believe for once in his life he can be near the first person that’s ever made him so happy in his life. 

Then obviously the growing up together thing !!!

- Toki becomes stronger and truly grows into himself. He’ll never have Skwisgaar’s natural swiftness of foot or affinity for combat, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try. 

- Skwisgaar is originally jealous of/shocked/impressed/aroused by how muscular/toned Toki grows up to become, but he constantly lords his impressive height over Toki

There’s so much more I feel is too much to add!!! 

But the other mtl ppl too:

- NATHAN AS ODYSSEUS!! PLS AND THANK

- Murderface or Pickles would actually be a really cool Chiron (a satyr who has trained many Greek heroes)

- Abigail as Briseis !!! (wont talk too much about her role bc TSOA spoilers)

- I’m not sure yet who Charles would be but he definitely has a place in this AU!!!

- mAgNuS iS hECToR !!!ii!!Ii!!

And the boys have so many obstacles in the way of their relationship, society/expectations/responsibilities/themselves. And it’s hard and painful but so worth it as long as they have each other. 

And stuff happens and the Trojan war breaks out...

I have so many thoughts for what happens to them, but ugh it’s too much to put in words almost. Just, I can’t help but think of these quotes from the book?!?! They scream Skwistok to me

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” ― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

“He smiled, and his face was like the sun.” ― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

and another quote that i can’t put up bc if i do ever get around to writing this i want it to be a heartbreaking shock bc just thinking about it makes me tear up LOL

Even re-imagining versions of these quotes in their broken english makes my heart hurt !!! 

Just asadasfsd

end rant, I hope to add more to this AU in the future

ANd pls if any of you writers are inspired by these ramblings at ALL pls feel free to write something with this AU. Because i crave Ancient Greek Skwistok fics so much