#(this is for ONE LINE btw. one line of a different character speculating a bit. why am i like this now.)

[nostalgia-tblr]

in need of a Dull Activity for one line of a fic yet unwilling to slander the art of embroidery despite the tradition established in historical novels written by people who underestimate the joy of fabric-based crafts.

[redxx95]

Exploring Kurosawa's internalized homophobia and compulsive heteronormativity

oh yea baby we bustin out the Big Words for this one 😎

This was supposed to be posted at the end of pride month but Life happened and it got delayed a lot 😩 So yea happy pride month (and happy birthday Kurosawa I guess 😂)

(btw I think I've never mentioned this on any of my other posts but english is not my first language, so if anything I write ever sounds awkward, that's probably why 😅) (also I had to merge a bunch of images to get around the image limit, this post is really long, the word count is at 1930 words 💀)

Hope you guys enjoy the read! 💞

Spoilers for anything up to vol 11

Let me start this by saying that there's no actual textual evidence of Kurosawa being gay (rather than bi/pan), so this interpretation is definitely veering towards headcanon territory. I'm also not trying to establish this as the only Correct opinion and anyone is of course allowed to have their own sexuality headcanons, this is very healthy and valid 👍

Kurosawa's internalized homophobia

The first scene I want to put under a magnifying glass is this one.

Let's examine what's going on here: Kurosawa has just tried to kiss Adachi, whose hesitation he perceived as disgust. Then he pretends it was disgusting for him too, because he thinks that is the average reaction anyone would have, extending this to Adachi as well. The way he says "who'd be into that?" is already lowkey homophobic, but the japanese line makes it even more evident: "普通嫌だよな" (= "Normally, you'd dislike that right?"). Keyword here being "普通" = "normal, ordinary", implying that anyone who would like that is abnormal. So what does that say about him then, who was so happy to get the chance to kiss another man? This is pretty much textbook internalized homophobia, where he has accepted what he perceives to be the general opinion on gay people and has made those values his own, hating himself for it (albeit only briefly here), which is why he internally apologizes to Adachi.

This is not the only instance of him feeling like that, although this next part is slightly more speculative than the more obvious example above.

So we all know that Kurosawa is a jealous, jealous man. It's one of his defining character traits and it's often the source of conflict and comedy alike. But he does not express his jealousy equally across genders. With men he has this strong rivalry where he needs to prove himself better and more worthy of Adachi's attention.

But with women he has a different approach: gently coaxing them away from him, lest they realize what a catch Adachi really is.

So, why this difference? The answer I have is that he doesn't actually believe he can compete with a woman. If Adachi wants to be close with a man, Kurosawa thinks it might as well be him, he's the best option after all. But if Adachi wants a woman, he cannot offer anything and is therefore the inferior option. He believes this even after he found out Adachi's not completely repulsed at the idea of being with a man. Even if Adachi's okay with men, he'll always prefer a woman.

And whenever he imagines anyone else with Adachi, it's always a woman, specifically Fujisaki, which he believes is "his type".

And he at least thinks he's very far away from that ideal. (He's not but that's a topic for a different essay.) If anyone's wondering why he even bothers at all then if he's so sure that a woman will out-compete him, I think the lyrics from the anime opening actually put it best, specifically the last verse:

I have these impatient feelings I doubt this love will come to fruition But still I can't give up this happiness There's a feeling here I can't resist A love like a castle in the sky

So basically, his plan is that he might as well ride the high of his first ever crush as far as it will go, intercepting where he can to prolong it just that little bit further, until it all inevitably comes to an end. (a castle in the sky = an unreachable dream) This plan kind of fluctuates throughout volumes 1-3 as Adachi gives him a bunch of mixed signals, but it holds true most of the time.

Adachi's side

Now I'd like to highlight the way Adachi actually thinks about their relationship, because it serves as a great contrast to Kurosawa's assumptions about him.

Throughout the first three volumes we see him grapple with his newfound feelings for Kurosawa, but he (almost) never puts his gender at the forefront of his musings. The manga makes it very clear that it's his lack of romantic experience and low self esteem that make it hard for him to accept Kurosawa's affections, and not the fact that he's a man.

This second page here being his own little gay awakening, where he realizes that he is not, in fact, disgusted by intimacy with a man.

It's also worth mentioning that when he later introduces Kurosawa to his parents (ch 41), they are immediately welcoming of him, suggesting he grew up in a very tolerant environment.

And it's not like he's completely unaware of heteronormativity/homophobia either, especially after he does his research in vol 8, but he is slightly more defiant in responding to it.

(I love how he just buys that bag he probably doesn't need that's supposed to come with all the wedding magazines, just as this very tiny act of rebellion.)

So now that we can see how different Kurosawa's thought patterns are compared to Adachi's, the next question we should ask ourselves is: Why is he like that?

Heteronormativity in Kurosawa's life

(yes we're finally getting to the comphet part of the essay 😂)

First let's look at the environment he grew up in. There are not many scenes with his family, but from those that we do have, we can at least make some assumptions about how he must've been raised.

His mother is clearly the authority figure in his life, judging by how she's described as "strong" and how terrified he is at her merely setting down a teacup (while Adachi has a more mild reaction). Her reaction to the news of them dating and Kurosawa expecting his parents to go as far as disowning him for it would suggest that she might just be generally homophobic.

But when they actually go meet her we see this slightly more nuanced perspective.

She's not entirely against it, but she does believe they are making a mistake by choosing to be together, hence why she thinks they might "regret it". There's many hardships that gay couples in Japan face, some of which we even see discussed in the manga, so it's not hard to see why she would be concerned for her son. The way she talks about Kurosawa never causing any problems, but "changing" ever since he fell for Adachi further supports that conformity is what she believes will ultimately lead to a successful, happy life. And that's also why she accepts Adachi later, when he's made it abundantly clear in his speech that they are happier in this non-conforming relationship than they were without it.

To contrast, her other child Mari is shown to have a very progressive stance (see: her pep talk in ch 47) and it would not surprise me if that is the reason she's rarely in japan and is never seen together with her family, save for the one time they're all at the wedding. She might find the conforming environment too restrictive and preferring to keep her distance. (shoutout to naina for this bit 🙏)

So that's Kurosawa's family situation. Now let's check how his social circle holds up.

From what we see of his friends, they never even seem to consider him possibly being with a man.

And his work environment seems rather toxic to say the least.

It clearly dictates traditional gender roles as the ideal. Nobody except Fujisaki even clocks any of Kurosawa's advances on Adachi as romantic in nature, even though he seems to be quite obvious about it (see: ch 34.5). And it's not like dating in general is discouraged at Toyokawa either, as we can see from all the women constantly vying for Kurosawa's attention.

From all this we can conclude that Kurosawa's upbringing and social/work environment is painfully heteronormative and until he falls for Adachi it seems he never questioned the status quo either.

The famous onsen scene, while funny, also reveals the sad truth that Kurosawa, in his 30 years of life, probably never even had the chance to explore his sexual orientation, rather focusing on being "perfect" in his straight relationships.

Speaking of those relationships...

He apparently had a bunch of girlfriends, who all seem to have dumped him pretty early on. His mother's surprise at him expressing a willingness to commit also makes me think he's never brought anyone home either. He also only seems to have a surface level understanding of what a proper relationship is supposed to entail, if his idea of an ideal date is just "what the average person" thinks is romantic. So why were all of his relationships so short-lived? Before I answer that...

Intermission: Kurosawa's smiles

It has come to my attention that this is not common knowledge, so let me explain: There's a way to tell apart Kurosawa's fake smiles from his real ones, without any context clues, just purely visually.

Real smiles: (ch 23, 24, 37)

Fake smiles: (ch 5, 13, 32)

The difference being very simple: Blush = real, no blush = fake 👍 And before anyone mentions it: No he doesn't just blush when he's around Adachi, that last fake smile is actually directed at him. (ch 32)

Edit from the future: This holds true like 90% of the time, but as Toyota's art style becomes more detailed, this doesn't apply as much in the newer volumes. I think there's also new details added that I haven't quite figured out yet so take this bit with a grain of salt. (The images below are still from her early art style though.)

So now that we have this additional knowledge, let's take a look at every instance Kurosawa is paired with a woman.

He's smiling in all of these. Not a single one has a real smile in it though.

I think he's never actually had his heart in any of his relationships, and the girls probably noticed it and that's why they dumped him.

And, of course, the first time he actually falls in love...

... just so happens to be with a man.

Even his friends comment on this, who have known him since high school.

It's almost funny how perfectly this aligns with real life gay people. Having numerous, short-lived relationships with people of the "wrong" gender is one of the more common traits of compulsive heteronormativity. (source: me oof) (but also shoutout to the "Am I a lesbian?" masterdoc, google it if you don't know, it's truly eye-opening)

After dating Adachi

So we have already established that he's far happier when he does finally get to date Adachi, but do any of his other thought patterns change?

Honestly it seems like he throws every single reservation about being seen as gay out the window.

He starts bragging like crazy about his new relationship to anyone willing (and unwilling) to listen, he has no qualms about PDA, he marks Adachi up and down so everyone knows he's taken and the only thing stopping him from proclaiming his love for Adachi to the whole world is the still very much existing societal homophobia. But he is a lot more easy-going about it now than he ever was before.

And I think the best way to describe this mental shift is, hear me out, the date song from volume 4...

... specifically the last 2 verses as a whole, and this section in particular:

"I won't let anyone divide our fraction! You couldn't pry this thrill from my hands when they're cold and dead!"

Horrible lyrics aside, this perfectly encapsulates how Kurosawa simply couldn't care less anymore now that he finally has what he's wanted for more than a year, maybe even his whole life. All the societal pressure pales in comparison to the sheer euphoria he feels at finally having someone that he loves and who loves him back just as strongly, feeling cared for and seen like no one else ever did.

And, you know, just happens to be a man. 🏳️‍🌈

[eliotquillon]

Cameron seems like one of those victorian girls that shoplifted just to feel a rush.

In all honesty, I don't think she was that much of a goody-two-shoes when she was younger. It always seemed to me that what happened to her husband changed everything about her. Her morals, thoughts, ideas etc. She was probably a compelety normal teenage girl.

yeah to be clear if characters make speculative assumptions about each other in my fic that’s not necessarily indicative of what i personally headcanon for them—especially for chameron tbh. the things chase or cameron assume about each other in my fic are almost always slightly off from what i personally think about them as separate characters because they forever have some kind of communication gap going on.

that said . i do hesitate to say that her husband’s death is solely responsible for why cameron is the way she is. one of the first things house says when cameron tells him about her husband in 1x7 is ‘you knew he was dying when you married him’; he accepts his death as an explanation for why she’s so bad at giving patients bad news and why she puts marriage on such a pedestal, but the implication here is that actually the reason why cameron is Like That isn’t as simple as the one-off traumatic event that house has been fishing for. see the episode with the 600lb guy where everyone is popping at her all episode desperate to find out what part of her past makes her want to help this guy so badly because they can’t understand and it turns out there isn’t some dramatic reason at all. ‘you can’t be that good a person and well-adjusted’ house adds—he’s not talking about cameron crying over the centrifuge during this scene, he’s still talking about cameron’s decision to marry her dying husband. she was already holding a lot of the same beliefs as in canon when she met her husband.

i think cameron was probably a bit more normal as a teenager, but not drastically different—if anything, she might have been even more puritan in certain regards than she is in canon (like, fuck tritter, but he has a point when he contrasts her decision to sabotage her own college calculus grade with her honesty vs giving him the run round in s3). as chase and cameron say in 2x7 (hunting) while talking about things the hospital might dig up to prove she caught hiv through her own ‘negligence’ if she tests positive—it isn’t like there’d be anything for them to find. so i think high school cameron probably was a bit of a goody two shoes, but not to the extent chase or foreman imagine her to be; she got top grades, and was probably kind of annoying when they had any class debates about morality, but she was still reasonably social and well-liked, even if it was only because she grew up to be conventionally attractive. imo this is probably where cameron’s whole ‘people don’t take me seriously because i’m beautiful and a woman and a bit of a bitch’ complex starts. this is probably a really boring thing for me to say but my attitude towards emptier backstories like cameron’s—i.e where we don’t know anything about her family, her high school, and all the info is focused on her dead husband—is that if that information were central to who she grows up to be, or if it’d be wildly different to what we as an audience would reasonably infer, we’d have been explicitly told it at some point in canon the way we’re told about *waves hand* everything about chase and foreman’s pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps complex. this isn’t to say that cameron’s childhood/college years aren’t interesting to me—they ARE—but moreso that i think they’re kind of deliberately left empty for a reason, and that whatever i can come up with to ‘fill them’ is usually just what’s intuitive to me.

same goes for her arrest btw like logically you can kind of narrow it down (certain things would disqualify her from becoming a doctor/would lead to serious issues down the line) but honestly for me that one is more fun to just leave up in the air. could totally see shoplifting as the reason! part of me is desperate for it to have been a fight/for cameron to have been busted for underage drinking in her first and last high school party or whatever, but it’s more fun to keep us guessing imo.

[shining-kommo-o]

Hey there, same person as before , have a couple of more questions and opinions I wanna share

-After looking at the gen 3 sprites , was it possible that the Poochy Pokémon would evolve into the 2 other dogs found in the sheet based on its in game gender ? Ally (the primarinna lookalike) is very clearly a dog based on her collar and paws and Eidog is just a dog. This may be a bit far fetched since they’re quite far in the Pokédex but the Seedot and Breeloom evolution are quite far as well

- Was it confirmed that the scrapped Scraggy was the fossilmon of the gen that evolved into Archon?

-I’ve been wondering about something, was the scrapped 3 staged sea Snail line supposed to be the water starter for the region? I does match a bit with oshawott’s shell motif and the final stage also fights with a shell similar to samurott ?

- Could the scrapped electric mythical from Kalos be Zeraora? Thinking about it both it and zygarde had more of an importance on Gen 7 , and we know that Pokémon Z would’ve had zygarde complete in it. And Zera maybe is supposed to be Rattatoskr

And I’ll end it with an opinion, man , I wish whoever drew those gritty designs got to direct a game of their own, they look so much like concept art for a late ps1 obscure JRPG , and they also must be working at game freak still because the concept art for N also resembles them, maybe during the Gear Project years we could’ve gotten it, but oh well

Welcome back dear anon! I’ll do my best to answer all your questions!

I’ll put it all under a read more to save everyone’s feeds!

1. By Poochy, Ally and Eidog, I believe you mean these three?

There could be a chance of all of them being related? But their dex position seems to point to the contrary. Ally (also known as Arei) was earlier in the Pokédex, and Eidog was way later. Maybe at some point they were from the same line, but i couldn’t really see it. They are so different from one another!

I had a spreadsheet, but seems like it was taken down. So instread, here’s this picture. It’s all i have and it’s really not up to date… ^^’ things have really moved since then

(Also, for a sec, when I read Poochy, I thought this was about the character from the fighting game Power Instinct ^^’… I’ve been way too much into fighting games lately!)

2. Signs point to yes! If you refer to the picture above, you can see they are right next to eachothers, as number 396 and 397! They are also pretty much the only ones with a bold color palette like this, so i’d day yes, the old scraggy-like pokémon evolves into the blue proto-grovyle! I can’t say for sure if it was a fossilmon, but i could very well see it as that!

3. That was one of the lines of Pokémon that slipped by when I started posting… I was sure I saved / Posted these guys, but I guess I forgot!

As for their status, I would have to reconfirm. A lot of information came out all at once and it was hard to track. I know there was a few waves of gen 5 beta content. From what I’m aware, there was sprites for the oshawott line in the leaks, but they were already pretty much fully formed. I’m not sure if he coexisted with the sea snail pokémon. I’m sure once this blows over, people will have everything in order and i’ll have an answer to give you. They do look like starters tho so i’ll give you that!

I’ll give you this as an apology for my lack of answer, some tepig line beta sprites that i, ALSO, didn’t post! ^^’

4. It’s all speculations, but I tend to ascribe to this theory, that Zeraora was the scrapped electric mythical. It would fit in the lore built around the legendaries of Kalos. Also, an interesting bit someone pointed out to me is that Zeraora starts with a Z, and ends with an A. Brings it back together i guess. And maybe it’ll show up in Legends Z-A because of that.

I also think that its inclusion in Alola was random. Ik it’s the case for all mythicals, but come on. They just distributed this thing and went home. Zarude had more of a story going. (Love Zarude btw). And considering Alola ALSO was the region stuck with the whole “100 zygarde cells” thing, i could see Zeraora being pasted on there as to not waste it i guess.

Kalos as a region is. Full of disappointments. Things were set up, and abandonned. Never elaborated upon. That of they were rushed.

Injecting my own opinion here, those who know me know that I make no secret of my dislike for Kalos. When I play those games, I feel nothing. I felt nothing back when I played them at 14. Actually no, i was pissed off that the cover of X lied to me by telling me Xerneas was gonna be this cool rainbow deer, but it was actually just Dogwater Blue, and I had to use Geomancy for it to be cool. But besides that, i felt nothing. I’ve played Pokémon games for all my life. I was barely out of the womb that my older sister would put her Pokémon toys on me so I’d learn their name. I felt something with every game I played except XY.

I hope Z-A can be some sort of course correction for this generation. At least make everything make sense.

I also dislike Kalos because I’m a native french speaker. And the way they use french pisses me off. Why is there a trainer named “Chaise” (literally chair). Why is there a road named Brun Way (brown way. Ew??). Im so glad theres a street called Avance Trail. Derrière way. Vallée étroite way. Dear god this pisses me off. And iirc they don’t do this shit with ANY other games so WHY HERE. GSJFBDJDBFKFN.

Sorry about that… I tend to get heated when talking about those games ^^’. Anyways back on track!

As for your thoughts on the gen 3 concept art, people have speculated that it was done by Okutani Jun. He mostly did work on Pokémon games, but he did also do concept art for Xenoblade Chronicles, Mystic Arc, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - Rings of fate and Magatama according to Moby Games. Though i’ve seen your feelings shared across other users in the tags of that post: the public demands a PSX JRPG!

[grimmywrites]

what ya think of the new re4 remake? c:

  I love it! (Everything below is the opinion of a nerd who is way too into the RE world, btw.)

OG RE4 is my favorite video game ever, and like many I was worrying over every bit of information we were fed. I didn't expect it would be, but the worry that it would be like the RE3 remake was there. Thankfully, I think Capcom knew they had to do this one right.

For me, the game is 10/10. They really upped the horror, the story, and made the difficulty feel welcome. Great enemies, great use of the cult this time around, and the game is absolutely beautiful. Not to mention the sound design is so goddamn perfect. I also love how the soundtrack is similar to the original with the old leitmotifs in some of the music. I love the addition of requests and the expansion of the maps and the exploration in certain chapters.

As a remake 9/10 - I'm aware this is just because of nostalgia filters. It's only because I have a few problems with some of the characters. While I think the tweaks to the story made it stronger and a lot of the characters are so good (I've always loved Ashley even in the OG but I'm glad everyone is taking to her in the remake), some got a raw deal.

It's a touchy subject right now, and I'm going to state: I don't condone harassment or bullying. I do think you can criticize something without being cruel. I'm not a fan of Ada's voice acting, but I can recognize what the actress was going for. I'll leave it to others to speculate. That being said, I feel like they gave her character a lot less to do. I'm hopeful the Separate Ways DLC fixes that. Krauser is... okay. Just okay. (Which disappoints me as someone who likes the metaltango ship; none of that tension was there this time.)

That being said, I think Nick (Leon's VA) did much better this time around for me. Really appreciated the fine line he played between Leon's depression and his cocky jokes. Luis is great with a correct accent and he's very playful (and all the new backstory for him and his involvement in Umbrella is S tier shit). VA for Ashley is very good. Merchant is CHEF'S KISS, god I loved him, I'd go to the shooting range just to hear him praise me in that accent.

I guess my biggest complaint is the big bads? They just feel so removed from the game. I know it's realism they're going for, but I really liked the hacking of Leon's comms in the OG so we could have conversations with them. It showed personality.

Mendez was... there. Tbf he was there in the OG, too. At least he chased us a bit this time. I hated that I didn't SEE his transformation in his boss fight. He didn't feel like a big threat. (And yes, I missed Leon charge kicking him and getting thrown on his ass, god that was so good.)

Salazar talked at me a few times, but he was so much more of a puppet and tool and thus FUNNY in the OG. I liked how frustrated he got. His remake version, again, is fine. I like that Leon just gets fed up and shoots him all the time. He's at least more present than the other two. The change in his boss fight is good, it has more mobility and I like all the tricks to it.

Saddler is probably my biggest disappointment. I love Saddler in the OG. He has so much personality. He's SO charismatic. He's confident and is a presence from when you first meet him in the Church (and before) until you defeat him in the end. He's in the castle and handles shit himself. He *jokes* with Leon and laughs at him. His fight with Ada in Separate Ways is the hardest thing in the game. I dunno, I'm bummed for him, haha. I think making him this devout cult guy as his defining feature kinda diminished him.

One last thing: I wanted the U3 fight. I'm in the minority, I know. I also know rumors and some of the game's files indicate it might be a DLC thing, but that was the only boss fight in the OG that scared me. It was so different than anything I'd ever done, so I wanted to see how they'd tackle it. All well.

Even with these critiques, I genuinely really enjoy the game. I had a huge smile on my face the entire time. I'm not mad about anything; the changes all worked for a remake and a new generation of people playing it. It's great, no matter these few nitpicks. That's all they are, nitpicks, because the game is spectacular. It's beautiful and it's fun and I really recommend people to play it because this is what a remake SHOULD be.

[writing-for-life]

Interesting points.

I honestly have to admit that I am meanwhile not certain anymore what we are going to get or not, so just a couple of thoughts (I’ll cut here because there might be spoilers):

1. They filmed more during S1: I’d add parts of Nada’s arc to that, because I’m fairly certain I saw photos of Deborah Oyelade and Ernest Kingley Jr. that weren’t in S1. And of course, I can’t find them right now. I am personally fairly certain we’ll get Tales in the Sand, it’s just the question how much. Could be anything from a half episode (I think they won’t do a full one somehow) to flashbacks.

Potentially Ferdie’s scene, because it really isn’t that much (and I think that’ll make a lot of people very sad).

Maybe also a bit of Lyta (the visit)? Because they could have easily done that as well while the child actor/s who plays baby Daniel is still the same age. If not, they need a new baby actor now because they grow so quickly at that age, so if they include that scene, my money would be on they already shot it.

2. The Song of Orpheus: To me that’s the most interesting one that a lot of other things hinge on, and I *do* think we’ll get the whole thing in S2 (I’ll just call it S2 from here onwards for ease of use, despite knowing it’s not really going be a season like S1). I would love to see a whole episode because I think it’s too rich to squeeze it into less, and potentially too confusing if it gets broken up too much, but who knows. It has a lot of potential to get dragged out a bit. I also think we will get Thermidor in S2.

3. Skipping issues. I don’t think they’ll skip too much (apart from a few one shots), but I have an inkling they will change a lot of stuff, and that we’ll get a very different AGOY from the comics. I already said this last year (and some people got really angry at me because of it): AGOY does *not* translate well to the screen, and it also has the potential to put a renewal in jeopardy if it isn’t done really skilfully. Not that I don’t trust them to absolutely have that skill, but I just want to remind everyone that The Doll’s House lost a lot of viewers because people found the transition jarring, and it also featured dramatically “less Morpheus” compared to Preludes & Nocturnes (people want their blorbos on screen 24/7). This problem would be compounded a million times with AGOY. And none of this even goes into potentially tricky subplots like Thessaly.

So considering we already know that they rolled Ruby and Wanda into one character, I really don’t think AGOY will look anything like in the comics (and the photos of the graveyard scene already make me think that it won’t centre around Barbie—I find the use of The Wizard of Oz interesting in more than one way, because it would totally work to roll Alianora’s skerry into that one as well).

I personally think AGOY will have very little semblance to the comics bar important plot points. And maybe there aren’t as many as people might think, especially if we replace Thessaly with someone else. I don’t know if they’ll go that far though, this is the thing that has me most intrigued, and we can of course speculate until the cows come home whether they’ll replace Thessaly with e.g. Johanna. It would be extremely easy to do, and it would also strip out some of the stuff that people hate most (I can see Thessaly as a character without blurring the lines between reality and fiction, but a lot of people in the fandom can’t, and I think Neil is aware of that—we already got a slightly different characterisation of her in the Audible, and I think they would go even further than that if they brought her to the screen). But these are really the biggest speculation points, and they are nothing but exactly that.

4. We also know they cast Titania and Auberon for S2 btw. Which could mean a variety of things, but maybe you will get some Shakespeare after all? They cast Amber Rose Revah, and people speculate wildly if she’ll be Titania or Eurydice. I personally think she’s too old for Eurydice, so my money would be on Titania. She also looks like Titania in the comics tbh, and she is basically Tom’s age, so yeah…

How funny would it be if she were actually Thessaly though, bwahaha:

In any case, honestly don’t think they’ll cut the Shakespeare issues. They are both too integral to really understanding the depth of the whole arc, and I simply can’t see Neil doing that. The question is just *where* we get them, if they’ll be rolled into one (which would honestly piss me off, because it would be past the point), or if we’ll get a little flashback for Midsummer Night’s Dream somewhere (I would love to see a whole episode tbh, but I have my doubts. Who knows though). That’s one thing I honestly can’t fathom at the moment.

So it’s all super interesting. At the moment, I personally think the main focus of S2 will be SoM and Song of Orpheus. And then a bit of AGOY mixed in, in whatever shape or form. If they’ll already do a bit of Brief Lives—who knows. It’s possible because of rolling Wanda and Ruby into one.

I also think it makes sense, because The Kindly Ones is super long, so I could absolutely see S3 (which we’ll probably never get because Netflix sucks) being a bit of both Brief Lives and TKO with a few one shots, and then S4 the rest of TKO, The Wake etc.

And then we’ll watch it, and none of this will happen the way we think 😂

Season 2 and Beyond Speculation

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the things we know for Season 2 and how it might indicate what they include or not include in the series as a whole.

I’ll cut this here to keep folk’s feeds as spoiler free as possible. If you’re interested in reading on, I’ll be covering what we know for certain, an approach I think they could be taking for Season 2 and beyond, what that means for the short stories in the comics, and how that could affect the ending. Also how Shakespeare factors into all of the above.

What we know

Some of the facts we have with my commentary in italics.

That they filmed more during filming for S1, than we saw on screen. This could mean that they filmed all of Lucifer’s scenes for Season of Mists and even beyond when she was on set. Could also mean that they got what they needed from Ferdie for SoM. (Note: I know I read/watched this somewhere at some point, but have lost my interview reference for it...if anyone finds it, let me know and I'll link to it)

That Tom and another actor were seen filming Orpheus scenes on a beach. They could again be trying to get all future season scenes down while actors and sets are available.

Production companies tend to film things out of order. Knowing what was currently filming before the strike doesn’t necessarily mean they are skipping comic issues.

Season 1 covered all of Preludes and Nocturnes, Sound of Her Wings, Doll's House (including pairing Men of Good Fortune with the Death issue in episode 6), plus 2 short stories from Dream Country. The only thing really skipped is Tales in the Sand from the first 18 issues of the comic.

The teaser for season 2 getting ordered referenced the family dinner, plus Neil has teased visuals from SoM comic panels while at cons before the strike. This pretty much guarantees Season of Mists.

We know they've had casting calls for Destruction, Delirium and some evidence that Wanda appears to be combined with Ruby DeLong. To me this confirms Season of Mists and also Song of Orpheus, but possibly some planning ahead to capture scenes while actors are on-set.

What it could mean

A pattern of long arcs with short stories

So here's the thing: we've so far seen a pattern of 1 major multi-episode arc followed by 1 episode that combined 2 short stories. It's a pattern that was repeated twice: Preludes and Nocturnes followed by Sound of Her Wings/Men of Good Fortune; then Doll's House followed by Dream of 1000 Cats/Calliope.

If we follow that trend, then we could expect the next major arc to be Season of Mists with Tales in the Sand acting as the prologue to the Prologue. But where could they go from here?

My guess is that we've seen all we'll ever see of the rest of Dream Country. And this pains me to admit because Midsummer Night's Dream is probably my favorite stand-alone issue. But while Shakespeare's issues play a really important role in the overall interpretation of the Sandman comics, they're not that integral to the actual overall plot. (more on this in a moment) Not to mention that they've been scrubbing all the DC characters from the tv show...and I just can't see how they would adapt Element Girl's Facade without referencing superheroes.

So if we don't see the rest of Dream Country adapted, that frees the team up to progress to the next self-contained stories. And next in the publication order would be Distant Mirrors—including Thermidor—and Song of Orpheus. Both of which are hugely integral to the plot. I doubt you could combine them into 1 episode to follow the pattern from season 1...but there's probably a lot that could be condensed in each of them.

So what happens next? A Game of You or Brief Lives?

Personally, I think they'll go for A Game of You as the next big arc. Some of the scenes with Wanda's actor we've got leaks on would indicate this...but possibly with some major changes from how the comics ended. From there, you've got the Convergences issues...of which The Parliament of Rooks is pretty important, but the others could be cut. Maybe they pair it with another small issue from Distant Mirrors like 3 Septembers and a January...maybe not.

But here is where it could get interesting…they could give us half of Brief Lives and end it on a cliffhanger with Morpheus walking away from Del.

Beyond Season 2

If they opt to show any of Brief Lives as a part of this next batch being filmed and released (I'm loosely calling this Season 2 knowing they might not release it as such), then here's how I'm seeing the rest of it play out. Season 3 could cut back to a pairing of smaller stories in the beginning before coming back in with the resolution of Brief Lives. Next, they could cut away to a pairing of 2 small stories from World's End before hitting hard with The Kindly Ones.

World's End's 2 most important stories would be Hob's Leviathan (for the continuity of a beloved character) and also Cerements (for the context that the Endless can die). The others, while interesting, don't necessarily add much to the larger plot.

Meanwhile, the Kindly Ones is so long: it's the longest arc at 13 issues. I feel like it's going to have to get condensed at the very least and possibly broken up like Brief Lives might be. If that's the case, I could see them bringing in some of the Death issues or perhaps more of World's End in the middle. I feel like the very end of the series would be a pairing of the actual Wake itself and Hob's story at the Renn Faire to close it out.

So what about Shakespeare??

Cutting Shakespeare may be the right call considering how many Morpheus-centric issues they'll need to get through in the next few seasons in an uncertain streaming territory. But cutting those issues changes the ways you could interpret the ending. I think @writing-for-life said it best in her excellent post on the last 3 issues:

We are the ones who forgive him - he will only be free if we do. We see that he has changed, no matter if he believed he did or he didn't. We, the audience (who were even at his wake; we are the last dreamer to wake up), are the ones who decide if it was “worth it”.

And then there's @onehundredandeleventropicalfish's excellent post on the same topic:

he can't be free of the story until we answer that all-important question - was it worth it? to which the answer can only be of course it was.

So why bring this up if I think they're going to completely cut Shakespeare's 2 comic issues from the show? Because for the ending of Sandman to stick (especially where I think they're going to end it at this point), they'll need to get both of those points across in showing how Morpheus changes, and then in making his suicide/succession plan to cede the Dreaming to Daniel relatable.

I've already said that I think the show is going to have to lean more into an obvert perspective on whether there's a Morpheus hanging around after Death: is this a tragedy or a happy ending? But removing The Tempest would really make them have to choose.

Or...I could be wrong, and they'll end the series with a double-feature Shakespeare extravaganza that somehow manages to pull all of that subtlety back in.

[whateverthedragonswant]

5x15 - FOMO - The Setup for Eddie's Coming Out

I just have to start out with this: this is purely speculation and I could be completely wrong but the way this episode played out immediately had my Eddie bells going off. I know that the episode was FOMO-themed and it applied to all of the characters but where it applies to Eddie...there is so much gold. Also, I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, that's never my intention.

So first, we have the conversation between Eddie and May in the beginning of the episode, about the influencer Selene aka Rebecca. Where Eddie mentions “A high price to pay for living a fake life.” I found this particular line interesting because technically, in a way, he's been doing just that. Not that he's fake but he's been suppressing the trauma and his emotions/dealing with it for so long that in a way, yes he is faking a smile and moving forward, always for Christopher's sake and because he doesn't know anything different thanks to Ramon's teachings (though he is definitely learning, the fact that he mentions he's in therapy to May this episode is phenomenal progression he has made; can you imagine s3 Eddie admitting this to someone who isn't Bobby or Buck?). The conversation continues about how Rebecca's regular life wasn't enough and then boom, Eddie says the kicker once May mentions FOMO and explains it: "You make it sound like some kind of sickness."

Immediately my head snapped up from my notes and I did a double take, then jumped for the remote to rewind it to make sure I heard him right.

When I heard this line one more time, my instincts kicked into high gear and I was like, 'oh!'

They're literally playing on the word "FOMO" for something else, in his case, holy shit! So I rewatched the scene again with this in mind, and sure enough it made total sense.

So I continued watching the episode (which was really good btw!) and several other things popped out at me:

1) Reality Show Emergency: When this happens, the guy passes out at the altar and sure enough, the 118 show up. (I would also like to point out that this is the SECOND time we've seen Buck happily soaking up the attention and Bobby shooting him down to remain professional, while this is on point for Buck's character and funny as hell, Oliver is hysterical, there is a reason for this, especially since Lucy was filling into Eddie's role more this episode, this emergency relates to Eddie, and so did the quinceanera emergency a few episodes back, the one of the guy not landing on his feet properly & getting hurt) So then Hen takes front and center (more on that in a bit) and she finds out that the heartbeat is muffled (interesting) and that pressure is keeping his heart from beating fully, and the organs in his body are on the wrong side. The writers couldn't have laid this out any more perfectly if they tried. We already know one of this season's themes is heart, especially when it comes to Eddie. But here we have yet another heart not possibly working right or being prevented from operating as the norm (i.e. Eddie thinking he's having a heart attack when really it's a panic attack, the felon's heart needing to be pumped even though he shot himself so it can be kept alive for the transplant).

So we have a performative marriage for a reality show, where the bride was worried that she wouldn't get married before reaching a certain age and she doesn’t want to be alone, and the groom passes out because of a heart issue where it's not working at 100%. Hmmm 🤔

Then Buck confirms to Lucy that the show is a sociological experiment, based on compatibility. Oh-kay... Then the groom gets disqualified from the show due to his “undisclosed medical condition” even though his "heart was in the right place, well maybe not yours specifically" and the bride gets married to someone else. Who else do we know who always has his heart in the right place when making decisions for Christopher for example? Exactly. -> This emergency was meant to show us that something is off and meant to start subtly suggesting (though again I'm not sure they're really being all that subtle at this point) that this is in relation to Eddie (and when I say off, I don't mean who Eddie is as a person or his sexuality, I meant they are trying to hint at that Eddie is being performative when it comes to women/the idea of marriage, that's all I meant)

2) Social Influencer Emergency Ending: At the end of the episode, we have 100%Rebecca saying she was afraid of who she really was, that it’s always better to be yourself, that family is important. “I guess it took a near death experience for her to actually appreciate her life” (4x13 shooting anyone? while Eddie may not be as traumatized by that particular event, I don't think it's any coincidence that what made him explode a couple of episodes ago was the knowledge that everyone in his unit that he saved is now dead). Then Eddie and May have this closing conversation: she's wondering if she’s living her life for herself (Eddie; that age old question of when he will follow his own heart), her choosing to look out for Athena after Athena almost died (Eddie; wanting to resume marriage with Shannon for Christopher's sake, always making decisions for Christopher but not for himself like Ana, etc).

Then:

Eddie: “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect your family” -> 'There's nothing wrong with me making decisions that I think are best for Christopher and for me to try to keep giving him the life I think is best for him and want for him'

May: “But before all that I wanted to be someone, a very specific someone, and I think I’m losing that person”

Eddie: “Trauma often causes us to turn inward”

May's reaction here:

Because that wasn't what she was saying at all. While Eddie is right and this is a profound way of looking at it, this isn't exactly what May was saying. Yes, she was traumatized by Athena's attack and took the job in order to make sure it didn't happen again, possibly a trauma response (I'm not a mental health professional or trauma expert so I don't want to say that too definitively) but what May did wouldn't really be considered 'turning inward'. (not the context Eddie is putting it in) She is speaking along the lines of the theme of the episode: FOMO. She made a decision based on her family and wanting to protect them, a decision that set her on one path, away from what she originally planned for herself. But because this episode relates to Eddie so strongly as well, this particular piece of the conversation makes it more than evident to me that this word FOMO (and the feeling that comes with it) actually represents something different for him.

And sure enough:

Eddie: “Guess therapy’s rubbing off on me." (he laughs it off after seeing May's reaction and because he does, so does she) Then: "You hid in a place you knew, where you could feel safe and keep your family safe, I understand the motivation.” May: “Does that make me a coward?” -> interesting phrasing here, again this is definitely about Eddie, on the surface it's about May and her story line, deeper than that it's about Eddie and his internal conflicts this season, exactly why they had this Eddie and May interaction happening not only here but also in the beginning of the episode

Eddie: “I don’t think cowards usually ask that question.” -> while this is a great line (and he's right) it also pertains to Eddie; if he's doing what he needs to do to keep Christopher safe, to make him happy, can he really be considered being a coward for doing that? And for someone to question the status quo, that's incredibly brave and he knows it, but he's not ready yet himself

May: “So how do I get back to that person I wanted to be?” Eddie: “I’ll let you know when I figure that one out” (he smiles and gets up) -> this is Eddie's whole arc this season, trying to figure himself out and who that person is

And the writing of this is so brilliant that it's also done in a way that it also relates to one of Eddie's surface issues: choosing what he thought was best for Christopher by leaving the 118 but he desperately misses his 118 family, his job as a firefighter, and wants to get back to it but isn't able to yet. I was so glad they didn't have Josh there this episode (after that whole exchange with Eddie, I also liked how the contrast was set up here with May, showing that she was accepting of Eddie assistance in an emergency) but I think they did that because it would have been too on the nose had Eddie and Josh had this conversation instead, and the show is trying to build up to this big reveal about Eddie.

3) Hen and Karen: Going back to Hen and Karen, I don't think it's any coincidence that Karen took front and center this episode along with Hen. Especially considering we haven't seen too much of Karen (or their relationship; btw where is Denny???) this season before this. Or that Karen was the one who was experiencing FOMO and "feeling old". And I especially don't think it's a coinkydink that Hen was the one who took center stage with the reality wedding emergency (while Chim was almost subdued and to the side) or that Hen and Karen were watching that show at one point in the episode.

And what kills me even more is that during that viewing scene you have Karen stating the couple will never last and Hen mentioning their compatibility is off the charts (a la Buck at the emergency scene). And after this, we see on the tv that the bride hits the groom and storms off with the groom looking after her, seeming surprised and worried slightly. Then when Karen suggests they watch the finale to find out who is right, Hen shuts the tv off and turns over saying she wants to sleep.

Because when you peel back the layers, in actuality, this is about the idea of not only Eddie but also slightly Buck and Eddie. I know that people have noticed the parallels between Buck and Karen before but if I had to take a guess with this episode, I would say Karen represents Eddie here (the FOMO feeling) and Hen is Buck (not only in similar dialogue and of course Buck looking to fix things for Eddie, Hen wanting to fix this for Karen). Not to mention that Karen refers to her job and her co-workers being younger than her (when Eddie is missing the 118 and is bonding with May at his new job who is younger than him & who is feeling FOMO herself that he's talking to her about). "You know what I was like at that age. It was work hard, work harder." (Eddie to a T)

And while we don't see resolution for Eddie here (because it's a major plot point this season that requires this big build-up/reveal), we do see resolution for Karen. While Hen didn't "fix it" for her, Karen finds a happy middle ground and the last time we see them, Karen and Hen are happily dancing at a club after catching the credit card thief.

4) Chim's quote (as well as Maddie's FOMO about Jee-Yun's firsts moment): "There’s no such thing as making up for missed time" -> This is true and such a contrast to what he told Maddie about her catching up on Jee-Yun's moments with his photos and videos. But he's saying it after Hen has spoken to the 118 about Karen's FOMO & it's an unfortunate truth that all of the characters experiencing it have to realize. Yet we also see Maddie's FOMO resolved by her being there for another first for Jee-Yun and telling Chim not to record it, to just enjoy the moment. (something that Eddie will also have to come to realization with for himself, because once he has his moment of self-realization his FOMO is going to be incredibly strong)

5) Alleged upcoming interaction with Ramon and Eddie going back to Texas (his original home) to do it: It makes absolute sense that the show is sending Eddie back to where it all began for him: Texas. And it makes even more sense that Eddie is going to try to "resolve" things with Ramon, the man who taught him to keep moving forward no matter how hard it was, basically to suppress his emotions/traumas, etc. The guy who was more focused on the medal Eddie got for his service and showing it off than on how it affected Eddie himself or how he got that very medal. Personally, I am very anti Diaz parents (because they're greedy manipulative fucks for parents) but I do sincerely hope that Eddie is able to resolve whatever he is going there to resolve, and if that makes things better with his parents then I am all for it.

That being said, I have a sneaking suspicion (and I could be wrong but this is just my opinion) that either Eddie is going to have his self-realization in this episode while he's dealing with Ramon in Texas or he's going to have self-acceptance (meaning he's already aware of who he is and how he feels but has been fighting it). "Inward" -> internalized. I just hope for his sake that his parents somehow become better people and love and accept him for who he is. (but I know this is more of a naive hope sadly, based on their characterizations set up already in the story)

Going back to Buck in those emergencies:

Here's what I think: this isn't Buck being performative or attention-seeking. The attention is on him and he's enjoying it but not because he craves it or expects it. To me, while these are both hilarious, are indicative of Buck's character in a couple of different ways. One, this is Buck, genuine Buck. Two, he is not shying away or being grumpy or ignoring the limelight. If we go with the theme of this meta, then I would venture to say that since both emergencies feature Eddie in some way (without him actually being there), this shows two things: 1) Buck is not going to think differently of Eddie once Eddie has his self-realization or treat him any differently (which I personally think Eddie somewhat fears, he doesn't want to lose Buck or his close friendship/family with him), he will be full on accepting and won't even bat an eyelash & 2) Buck is very confident in who he is...on some level. Meaning that while Buck has his own issues and background, as we've seen in Buck Begins and with his relationships, there is something Buck is very confident in and doesn't shy away from or have any doubts about. And it doesn't bother him if any attention comes to that something about him.

I also think it's interesting that both times Bobby had to be the one to get Buck to knock it off and leave, get back to work basically. Not that Bobby would have an issue at all if Eddie and/or Buck were gay, bisexual, or any other sexual identity, but it does make me wonder at the work aspect of it:

And I also think it's very interesting that this is the first time that we've seen Buck be a bit more open and comfortable around Lucy, the very first episode that we see her definitely stepping into Eddie's role in their work partnership, being a (temporary) replacement for him. While things may be okay with Taylor right now, I doubt that is why we see this friendly demeanor all of a sudden spark up. Especially in that moment above where both Bobby and Lucy tell Buck no (as Eddie would have done had he been there) before Buck says it himself and leaves. Especially with them showing us in framing just how comfortable Buck has gotten with Lucy (with the seating in the firetruck) and even Lucy's response to Buck's when discussing the Karen situation with Hen and the rest of the 118.

I also think once Eddie has this self-realization moment (or self-acceptance) this is what will help him eventually come back to the 118. (I don't think it's going to magically happen the very next episode, but the show is certainly building up to this and keeping him separated from the 118, minus Buck and Bobby, for a reason)

So basically tl;dr: Eddie Diaz is coming out this season y'all. And this will be yet another benchmark on the path to long range Buddie. Buck realizing things about Eddie (and possibly himself) will be next, mark my words.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 316: We've Had One, Yes, But What About Second Explosion

Previously on BnHA: Deku was all “[powers up like whoa because it’s time to end the fight]”, and he saved Overhaul from getting not-shot, and then smashed up Nagant’s arm with the power of his new rechargeable super knees. Nagant was all “yoooo this kid is crazy strong whaaaat, it’s like he’s some kind of protagonist or something.” Deku was all “I AM A PROTAGONIST, ACTUALLY, DO YOU WANT TO JOIN FORCES AND FIGHT BAD GUYS WITH ME?” Nagant was all “ah shit why the hell no -- ” and then AFO was all “SURPRISE” and everyone was all “?!?!?!” and AFO was all “TIME TO EXPLODE NOW” and made Nagant explode because he’s an absolute fucking dick. And then Hawks showed up, because Horikoshi just wanted to stuff as many plot points as humanly possible into a single chapter I guess.

Today on BnHA: Hawks is all “good job giving motivational shounen redemption speeches Deku but I’ll take it from here” and screams very earnestly right in Nagant’s face until she finally wakes up. Nagant is all “oh hey it’s my successor, you seem surprisingly unfucked-up from your own HPSC tenure, how did you manage that?” Hawks is all “fandom is going to love hearing this one, but basically it’s because I’m very upbeat and also I had the world’s best role model Endeavor to look up to,” and I swear this man stirs the pot on purpose, but damn it I still love him so damn much. Overhaul is all “HELLO AGAIN, JUST A REMINDER THAT, THE BOSS!!” and Deku is all “MAYBE TAKE TWO SECONDS TO REFLECT ON HOW YOU TORTURED A LITTLE GIRL,” which, thank you, lol. Nagant is all “btw AFO’s hiding in a house in the woods”, and so Deku and the gang go to the house in the woods. Video recording!AFO is all “hi I’m AFO welcome to Jackass” and blows up the house. Sometimes I wonder if this manga is just a weird dream.

I am once again reading the Bean version because I think it was actually the best out of all three translations last week. and that is surprisingly including Viz’s. “faux” is not nearly as entertaining as “knockoff”, and also I have literally no idea why Caleb thought Deku was saying the Third’s lines lol

oh hey, Endeavor’s here too! not that you’d ever be able to tell from this first panel lmao

glad you received All Might’s call, mysterious unidentified glowing smudge

oh snap he says he’s weaker in the rain. is that why AFO told Nagant to attack then?? except that as we discussed the other day, I believe that AFO fully intended for Nagant to lose the fight, so him giving her info that would give her an advantage doesn’t really fit in with that. maybe he wanted Deku to be separated from Endeavor and the rest for maximum angst, though

btw Deku’s eyes are unsurprisingly back to the new normal here

alas, the angst continues. I say, pretending like I’m not totally eating it up each and every week and writing essay after essay about it lol

anyway so apparently Hawks can’t actually fly lmao. he was just yeeting himself with style

for some reason this is the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen omfg. wave to Hawks, kids! say “bye, Hawks!”

j/k of course Deku is catching them. -- except???

wow so he was just running on fumes there at the end. well, good to know there is actually a limit to his shenanigans, particularly regarding this new “knockoff” 100% OFA. it will definitely not alleviate any of the discourse, but it’s good for my own peace of mind because it’s solid confirmation that he still needs his pals in order to win this thing

anyway, but on to the rest of this conversation, which is basically Deku deducing what we all deduced last week -- AFO implanted some sort of trap into Nagant when he gave her Air Walk. though I’d still like to get the actual details from AFO and/or Horikoshi, because this was particularly wild even by quirk standards lol

omgggggg

she still has a face after all!! so it’s confirmed, Horikoshi has no idea what “blowing up” actually means. we might have guessed, based on what happened to Toga in the MVA arc, and also based on everything Katsuki does ever, but shhh

so now Hawks is all “NAGANT PLEASE WAKE UP, IF I SHOUT MY NAME AT YOU WILL THAT DO THE TRICK”

this is actually kind of touching though because even though we all know (or most of us acknowledge at any rate) that Hawks is a pretty caring person, it’s rare to see him actually panic over someone’s welfare like this

oh shit Horikoshi is really doubling down on it

I wonder how much Hawks knew about what really happened between Nagant and the HPSC. regardless, he probably sees her as a kindred spirit of sorts, and I’m more than happy for Deku to pass the redemption torch onto him now that he’s on the scene. like no offense Deku but they actually know each other and stuff lol

DAMMIT NAGANT CAN’T YOU SEE HOW LOUD HE IS YELLING

apparently being freed from his HPSC shackles has finally given Hawks the space to embrace his own inner shounen protagonist. is there anything more shounen than trying to motivationally scream someone awake when they’re lying in your arms inches from death?? 100% guaranteed to work

!!! IS THIS NAGANT’S POV OMG

SO SHE IS ALIVE. THANK GOD. Horikoshi doesn’t want to meet with my emotional distress lawyer today after all

love how she’s all “just gonna stir up the weekly Hawks Discourse pot here by implying that he probably committed a lot of Atrocities just like I did, so now people can get all hopped up about that, even though there’s no evidence he’s ever killed anyone aside from that one horrible ‘damned-if-you-do...’ situation with Twice.” no one asked for your provocative speculation young lady!! trust me Nagant, our rabbles don’t need the rousing lol

but nice save there with the “so how are your eyes so untainted” well you see it’s because even when he was following the HPSC’s orders he always went to great lengths never to go against his own moral compass. which just to be clear was incredibly difficult, and led to a ton of pain and suffering on his part, because the life of a spy is basically just one impossible situation after another. but in spite of that he never stopped trying to do his best to help people. I don’t really know where this tangent came from or is leading to, lol, but anyway p.s.a. I love Hawks a lot and he’s a good kid dammit

oh shit??!?

how is the League always able to swing all these fancy forest mansions. where do they find them. how many do they have

so Deku’s dropping them -- very roughly, not sure if he was reacting to finally getting AFO’s location, or if his energy really is giving out -- and now Nagant’s saying that AFO hired other villains as well. well of course he did. gotta keep chipping away at OFA’s ninth successor little by little

now Nagant is asking Hawks how he’s able to keep making “that” face. I assume she’s again talking about the fact that he somehow didn’t let the HPSC wear down his spirit

oh my god???

thanks for stuffing this chapter to the brim with good nutritional Hawks Feels, Horikoshi. what a good. he just keeps on trudging forward undeterred no matter what bullshit comes his way. what a steadfast little guy. I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM DISCOURSE MY SWEET SUNSHINE

lmaoooo

“SPOTTED THIS DUDE JUST CHILLING OUT THERE ON THE ROOF WITH NO ARMS, SEEMED PRETTY SUS” good job Endeavor

anyway so you don’t really need me to tell you that Overhaul is immediately starting in with the “BUT THE BOSS WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE ME TO THE BOSS YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD TAKE ME TO THE BOSS” stuff again. but I will go ahead and tell you anyway. so yeah. he’s doing that

OMG YOU GUYS LOOK AT DEKU’S “of all the fucking assholes to just randomly drop in on my life once again why did it have to be you” FACE THOUGH, OMG

fun fact, if you go back to chapters 124 through 160, there was an entire story arc where Overhaul imprisoned and tortured a little girl. yeah, I know!! suuuuuuuuper evil. anyways just an interesting little anecdote for you all that’s somewhat relevant to the current situation

OMG, YES. FUCK YES, DEKU

THEN WHAT ABOUT SPARING ONE FOR HER!!! YES!!! EXACTLY!!! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SOMEONE GETS IT

HERE’S THE PANEL OF DEKU SAYING THE EXACT SAME THING I’M SAYING LOL

(ETA: so apparently there’s some discourse about this because some people are interpreting this as Deku saying “you should apologize to Eri”, which would obviously be a terrible idea even if Overhaul actually wanted to do that, because Eri shouldn’t ever have to see him again. however I just want to point out that there is a HUGE difference between saying “it would be nice if you could direct that feeling of regret/being sorry towards Eri as well”, vs saying “you should also apologize to her.” all Deku is doing is rightfully pointing out that Overhaul has hurt way more people than just his boss, and if he really is remorseful, then he should extend those feelings of remorse to Eri and the rest as well. it’s not a directive to take any specific action, and I’m 1000% sure no one at U.A. would let Overhaul within 100 miles of Eri ever again.

tl;dr “try feeling remorse sometime” =/= “do you want me to fly you over to U.A. right now to surprise the little girl you traumatized”, lol.)

[slings an arm around Deku’s shoulders] you’re a good kid. I like you. I don’t know if I tell you that enough, but it’s true

meanwhile here is Overhaul’s “spare... a thought... for Eri...???????” face sigh

the struggle is real y’all

(ETA: and that’s... the last we ever saw of Overhaul, I guess? well all right then. I assume Deku will make good on his promise, so we know he’ll get that little bit of closure before going back to jail or whatever, and I confess I’m more than fine with leaving the rest of it open-ended, especially given his character’s history. I think this was pretty generous all things considered.)

lmao holy shit

All Might what did you do to those tiki torch guys?? did you thrash them. did you give ‘em those hands. did you deliver their own asses to them complete with a sticker reminding them Amazon Prime Day is on June 21. we missed out goddammit

so Endeavor, who wasn’t the one he was asking, is telling him that they captured (well let’s be real, Deku captured, give the credit where it’s due) Nagant and Overhaul. and so I guess they’re going to take Nagant to the ER now

fire is no one’s weakness

-- oh my GOD I scrolled down and audibly gasped

[is politely but firmly approached and asked to remove my arm from Deku’s shoulder by the physical manifestation of all this Dekuangst] “we’re sorry, he’s not allowed to have visitors right now” oh shit, my bad. [goes to stand behind a police barricade]

lmao what. did you run out of room on the previous page

what an exaggerated fade to black lmao

-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I actually can’t see what he’s reacting to so maybe I’m just seriously jumping the gun here lol, but THE HELL WITH IT. the next panel appears to be a cut to Haibori Forest, so I’m just gonna go ahead and declare that Deku ran off on his own all wounded to go have more Dekuangst, just like I manifested. now go call Katsuki goddammit

[scrolls three more inches down] oh

yeah so like I said, Deku is walking very slowly a few feet in front of Endeavor, who’s telling him to wait up. yep. we’ve all gotta be so careful to not just jump to conclusions. I know we’re excited but still

anyway, so! welcome back to Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods (ARE YOU GUYS DATING) and Edgeshot! have fun walking into this obvious trap lol

dammit Deku why are you so determined to tempt fate

[monkey puppet meme faces]

OH MY GOD THIS IS PURE GRADE-A CHEESY COMIC BOOK VILLAIN 101 SHIT AND I’M HERE FOR IT

that’s such a weird way of clapping who claps like that

unlike certain other people who shan’t be named, AFO doesn’t feel the need to inexplicably take his shirt off when recording sinister villain monologues. I think we’re all pretty grateful for that

high fives to everyone who called it!! yep yep

anyway so this whole scene has major booby-trap vibes, which I’m enjoying immensely even though I don’t think anything is really going to come of it lol. probably just another long-winded AFO Speech. but wouldn’t it be funny if like the ceiling started lowering down to try and squish Deku afterwards lol

(ETA: well the explosion was still pretty funny too ngl.)

ffff

[“Dekuangst is the trap” intensifies]

anyway so yeah. he’s just hitting up all of his usual villain talking points. we get it, you’re so smart and you see right through the thin veneers of society and people who don’t conform are left to fend for themselves and labeled as villains and history is written by the victors, and blah blah blah dude are you just jumping randomly from one soundbyte to another lol. literally what are you talking about. what does this have to do with you blowing up Nagant

-- holy shit??

[”Dekuangst is the trap” intensifies MORE?????]

LOL WHAT

BRO. WHAT IS WITH YOU. DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO LAY ANY OTHER KIND OF FUCKING TRAP GOOD LORD

“YOU’RE NEXT” THE CALLBACK?? THE PARALLELS?? THOUGH WHEN ALL MIGHT POINTED HE MADE IT LOOK WAY COOLER. AFO’S POINTING JUST LOOKS LIKE SMOKEY THE BEAR

HAS ANYONE CHECKED IN ON KAMUI WOODS I HEAR HE IS WEAK TO FIRE?? THE ONLY ONE WHO IS, APPARENTLY

r.i.p. to this particular forest mansion. don’t worry they have a ton of backups

remember last week when I said maybe AFO thinks explosions are gauche. well never mind. he fucking loves explosions

anyway so that’s the end of BnHA, everyone. hope you enjoyed. it was a good ride while it lasted. see you all, good luck in your travels

[alpona]

Geats episode 9 liveblog:

How long will I continue writing this?! Anyway,

Spoilers!

- No Keiwa right now, so the recap.. aha, Neon's doing it this time!

- yup, I also asked why the game didn't end last round. Neon's really the audience pov now, asking the right questions.

- wow, game master shows up in person! Huhu, do you know his identity, Ace-kun?

- Lol at the bird sound effect.

- items from bird egg. Protect the egg mission. Eh, I'm with Buffa on this one, I'd also be annoyed.

- Can't we make pudding or omlette and have a cooking battle instead....

- now Keiwa is also a glitch in opening lineups...

- ...... Ace-kun, now you're talking to an egg. Your loneliness is sad. (As if I'm not talking to fictional characters)

And what an inspiring cheesy dialogue, give Ace 'father of the year' award....

- power up buckles born from literal eggs. Yes, sure, ok, that's where trinkets probably comes from this season. Sure why not.

- lol, the little moment of Ace losing his cool while almost dropping the egg is so funny!

- "sleep is the key to heathy life" - wow Ace, that's my life motto! 😴

- Not having Keiwa around gives a different vibe...

And we get to see little more from the perspective of the remaining riders.

- oh, Ace-kun trains like that?

- propeller in action is pretty cool!!

- you know, you're sounding very passionate main character-ish, Azuma-kun. Like filling Keiwa's spot for just a bit..?

- behold thy egg shield!

- just saying, monster buckle looks hardly like any monster, and kinda like... Some amusement park ride aesthetic?

Is it supposed to be a sloth btw?

- Ooo punkjack identity reveal! I wonder if he's the same person as episode 5/6, or different DGP staff has been using the suit....

And looks like he'd literally be a punk rocker, very interesting. Why's he joining the next game? Things will be interesting for sure!

- Ace's sleepyhead plastic son, everyone.

- Ace learning from pep talk. And him giving a farewell nice talk to others.

- no matter the confident stuff Ace keeps saying, I feel like he's actually, slowly preparing for the time he's gone? Like behind it all, he's tired, he knows he'll eventually lose oneday.... And sprinkles some hopeful lines to others, so they can play the game and win too when the time comes... sometimes mentors other players...

(About time I write Ace's character analysis properly)

- Ace probably wished for Tsumuri to be his family. Basically dgp staff , from what I heard. Ah again, your loneliness....

- waaa are we really getting a face reveal of game master?? Didn't expect it so soon honestly!

- And it's concierge -san! Saw this speculation too, so cheers for everyone who guessed it right. (Wait, I don't even remember his name... *Checks* Giroli.)

- But this reveal is, hm, quite normal. I had some ideas with much more twists... And thought the mystery would play a bigger role for longer.

- And I wonder if the game master remained the same person for all these hundreds of years (if it's actually been that long) or do they change ?

Next week, No episode! Right? 😭

But did we hear Keiwa's voice in the preview? Hmm his absence did create this... empty vibes a little. What do you think will be the method of his return?

[deadmandairyland]

Guess who’s back with another tier list!

So I found another Black Lagoon tier list, this one including both Fabiola and Ginji, and this time I decided to go a different route with the list. Maybe some time I will use it to make a new, actual tier list, but today I decided to talk about probably one of the most confusing things about Black Lagoon (especially in the anime): the language barrier!

...So basically this list is just what languages the characters are speaking based on what I picked up on over the past decade of being a fan of this series.

This list was inspired by the fact that people watching the anime tend to be very confused on what languages the characters are actually speaking because unfortunately there is no perfect dub of Black Lagoon that actually shows what characters are actually speaking at any given time. Don’t get me wrong, still one of the best English anime dubs of all time, I’m in full agreement of that, but both the Japanese and English dubs of this anime fall apart when the language barrier becomes a key component in the series. And honestly it’s not their fault. I imagine translating this over to anime must have been hell for both dubs.

One important thing to mention: I do not claim that this is 100% accurate. This is what I’ve picked up on as I read the manga and watched the show, but obviously there may be other languages these characters speak that either I missed or was just never really addressed in the series. Also in several places I filled in the blanks myself because, well, obviously English isn’t going to be the first language for, for example, Ibraha.

I also remember reading in a few places that it was confirmed that English is a common language in Roanapur, but I cannot find the official source that said this. This is one of the reasons why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate, because while I do think this is probably what was intended for the story, no proof means no proof at the end of the day. But it’s also worth noting that--spoilers btw--the United States basically runs the city behind the scenes, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Another reason why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate is because human beings are fallible and as shown in some of my corrections below I know I’ve made a few mistakes here and there in the list, and there could be more that I’m missing or that I’ve got wrong. At the end of the day, this list is not to be seen as a definitive answer to the question of “What languages do these characters speak?” but rather something to look at to get a better understanding of some of the more confusing parts of Black Lagoon wherever language is a key component in the story.

One final note: at one point I refer to the main mob bosses of Roanapur as the Big Four. This is just a name I came up with to describe the balance of power among the four mob bosses, so it’s not an official name as far as I’m personally aware. I figured I should point that out to clear up any confusion.

So with that being said, here’s the breakdown. Expect lots of spoilers.

Revy speaks English, and a small handful of words or phrases in Cantonese (as mentioned in The Wired Red Wild Card), and that seems to be it. She is the most likely person to tell some to speak English when they speak another language to her, or to just say that she doesn’t speak whatever language they’re speaking. In the Japan arc especially, if you’re reading the manga or watching the Japanese dub, it’s clear that she doesn’t understand what most of the Japanese characters are saying. Canonically the vendor she has a shouting match with is actually shouting at her to speak Japanese and she thinks he’s insulting her (and her being unable to talk to the vendor is why Rock goes back and forth between them in the first place to talk about the fixed game), she never actually communicates with Ginji or the kids verbally (she talks to them, but they don’t understand each other’s words), when Rock asks her if she and Ginji can work together in the anime’s English dub when they enter the bowling alley he’s actually asking if they can communicate (Revy basically says when the action starts, they’ll be in sync without needing to talk to each other), and the dude who’s like “I GIVE UP, SERIOUSLY, I GIVE UP” is actually desperately trying to say he gives up in English. Also if you’re only familiar with the English dub, this video is a great example of why this arc is so confusing for everybody, and why the English dub was like “Fuck it, we’re not bothering with the language barrier subplot.”

Benny speaks English. He’s also Jewish, so it’s possible he may know Hebrew or another Semitic language.

Eda speaks English. She’s a CIA agent who claims to be from Alabama and is shown to be very patriotic when in CIA mode. Not that I’m saying this automatically means she doesn’t know any other language, but I haven’t seen any proof that she does.

Lotton... is mostly speculation based on everyone else, particularly Sawyer and Shenhua. I don’t even think he has an official nationality, he just... exists.

Sawyer speaks English. She is British and her name is of English origin. It is possible she speaks a Chinese dialect as well since she seems to do jobs for the Triad and befriends Shenhua, but she seems to be more freelance than a member of the Triad so this isn’t very clear.

Rowan is also mostly speculation. His name is of Irish origin, his last name is likely Pigeon, and Revy can understand him.

Chief Watsup is the chief of police in Roanapur and is the only recurring character in the show who is actually Thai. He can communicate with both Revy and Balalaika, so whether or not he speaks English depends heavily on whether or not Revy and Balalaika speak Thai (and given that Revy says in The Wired Red Wild Card that she only speaks English and a tiny bit of Cantonese, it’s more likely that he knows English).

Yukio and Ginji speak Japanese and do not appear to speak English. It is ignored in the English dub of the anime, but everywhere else it is often brought up that Revy can’t understand what they’re saying and they can’t understand what Revy is saying. To add on to what I mentioned above in Revy’s section, also consider that Yukio curiously asks Rock if Revy is Japanese when they first meet, with the thought in mind that the first thing Yukio and Ginji see when they first meet Rock and Revy is Revy shouting in English at a Japanese vendor who is yelling at her to speak Japanese.

Mr. Kageyama obviously speaks Japanese, and I assume he speaks English as well as he seems to be able to speak to both Dutch and Balalaika, the latter of whom is confirmed to not know Japanese.

Chaka canonically speaks both Japanese and English. Not only can he and Revy understand each other, but being able to speak English is one of the things he brags about to Revy when they first meet, saying something along the lines of “Can’t run a place like this without being able to speak English.”

Takenaka obviously speaks Japanese, more than likely speaks English as he’s able to communicate with Revy, and likely speaks Arabic as he has allied himself with Ibraha.

Ibraha obviously would have Arabic as his first language and he presumably speaks English as well (and possibly French as he’s from Lebanon, but this isn’t relevant). The important thing is that he does NOT know Japanese, because it is implied that THIS is the reason why he gets angry out of nowhere during the interrogation. Takenaka and Rock are speaking in Japanese during the interrogation (signified by a change in font in the manga, which would only be important if the language barrier is important to the scene) and Ibraha interrupts by saying something along the lines of “Even I know this is no longer an interrogation!”

All of the canonically English-speaking cast can understand Roberta, Garcia, and Fabiola, whose first language is obviously Spanish. Rock and Fabiola both act as interpreters in different points of the series. It’s also worth noting that Lovelace is obviously of English origin, which suggests to me that the Lovelace family in particular has a very ethnically diverse background.

Rico communicates with Revy and Eda, but judging by his name he probably can also speak Spanish (or possibly Portuguese, but Spanish is more likely as there are many Spanish speakers in town).

Balalaika and Boris obviously speak Russian, but they can communicate with the English-speaking Lagoon Company as well as Roberta.

Hansel and Gretel are Romanian, can communicate with several English-speaking characters including Revy and Eda, and are working for the Italians.

Verrocchio obviously speaks Italian, and presumably English as well as he’s part of the Big Four of Roanapur (this again ties into the idea that English is a common language in Roanapur). Also where IS Ronnie the Jaws? Or Abrego for that matter? This list said “All Characters.” False advertising smh

Bao is Vietnamese, but often speaks to characters that don’t speak Vietnamese (e.g. Revy).

Mr. Chang would likely speak Cantonese as a leading figure of the Hong Kong Triad and would likely know Mandarin as well. He can communicate with Revy, who according to The Wired Red Wild Card only knows bits and pieces of Cantonese and likely not enough to hold a whole conversation. He is also the CIA’s lapdog, so unless Eda speaks Cantonese they are probably talking to each other in English.

Shenhua is from Taiwan and as such would most likely speak Taiwanese Mandarin. She speaks with Revy who makes fun of her for her thick accent and way of speaking when she speaks English. She also might speak Cantonese as well since she works for the Hong Kong Triad.

Ahbe from the WWII flashback obviously speaks German.

Sir Alfred the old Nazi fuck would also speak German, but he’s able to talk to Dutch over the phone and he has American Neo-Nazis doing his bidding so he likely speaks English as well. He is also apparently living in Spain so it’s possible he might also speak Spanish.

Caxton and Yolanda speak English as they are constantly speaking with known English speakers throughout their appearances. Caxton in particular is about as ‘Murican as it gets without being a negative stereotype. It is unknown if they know any other language.

Jane is almost always speaking with English speakers. She is from India, so she likely also speaks Hindi. She is also part of an international team of counterfeiters, so it’s likely she knows other languages as well. After I made this tier list I remembered she also speaks German at one point and I think Theo was also from Germany, so she probably speaks German fluently as well, but I’m not redoing this list.

Leigharch speaks drugs... and presumably English and Irish as well.

Rock pretty much knows every language that ever existed in the history of mankind. He is basically the go to guy to translate anything. That being said, Japanese and English are the languages he’s most fluent in.

Dutch knows English, and--spoilers for L’homme Sombre btw--probably French as well, and also probably one of the many languages spoken in Burkina Faso, especially if he was born there (which I sadly didn’t think about until after I made the list). This arc is still ongoing in the manga, and more than anything I’m just excited to see Dutch's backstory being explored. It was long overdue. (Now we just gotta hope that the same happens for Benny.)

As I mentioned in that caveat, Roanapur is in Thailand, and it’s possible the people living in Roanapur may know Thai, but actual local Thai citizens are a rarity in Black Lagoon (with Chief Watsup being the only recurring Thai character), and American influence is so strong in the city that it’s probably the reason why people drive on the right side of the road with steering wheels on the left side, in a country where people drive on the left, and why US currency is accepted along with Thai currency, so that’s worth pointing out.

[instablamwriter]

Top 10 Mankai Actors

Disclaimer: My onion lol. I think everyone has their own charm but if we’re going with just ‘acting’, I do think some are better than others in-game. I don’t think versatility as an actor is everything btw, but it is impressive to see people do very different roles and to do them well each time.

Warning: Spoilers for at least until act 8 for everyone since I did include the rookies in this list.

We will go 10-->1 Feel free to agree/disagree as long as you’re nice about it xoxo

I didn’t put a read-more just so that it’d be easier to read, but let me know if it’s pretty readable (dashboard or otherwise) with a read-more (and dw I tagged it as a long post)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honorable mentions:

Muku!!!! Muku has gotten so much improvement + has one of the largest range of role types in the whole company. Also helps that he’s in the troupe that does the most adlibs so he’s quick to think of lines to sell to the audience (and they have to be funny!)

Juza is the most improved imo and he has the passion and the work ethic to back him up. He does his role type really well but hmm I’ll explain a bit more later why the others edge him out for me.

Chikage was originally higher but upon reflection, I think he doesn’t make it to my top 10. He’s good in the sense that he was trained to deceive people, but in terms of stage acting, putting his heart into it is a newer sort of thing. Also, between him and Taichi, he was the one who was more obviously up to no good. Then again, was he really hiding it? His default is being cagey and secretive in the first place while Taichi is very much the type of person to wear his heart at his sleeve, so Taichi definitely edges him out.

Side note: I wanted to say Citron bc I adore his Ennis but I’m also aware of /how/ biased I am towards Harugaoka in general. so.

Let’s go on!

10-8) Harugaoka Boys

I’m sorry for cheating but I can’t really rank them properly among the three of them.

Arguably, Masumi would be the weakest because even though he has the natural talent, he doesn’t have the same drive as the other two. HOWEVER, his drive in a way is Izumi and Izumi’s own love of theatre. He’s pretty determined whenever Izumi is involved and he has a pretty good range of roles, making him not only versatile, but just pretty good in general. SPOILERS!!! <I mean, he learned how to play a violin so quickly just for Izumi so he’s pretty efficient at learning in the first place.>

Next, Sakuya is a hard worker and has the passion to keep him going. I say he edges out Juza because while I think the formal training from college (+ all the workshops he goes too, either Yuzo or at school), Sakuya sort of breathes and lives everything theatre. Like not only the acting part, but all the behind the scenes things too. He watches and helps out different companies on the daily so I’d say he’s more exposed to a variety of performances than Juza would be. Let’s not go into Liber underutilizing Sakuya with the range of roles or even the number of lead roles (either main or co), but I’d say he’s just has overall more practice at play (pun unintended).

Banri, as we all know, is naturally good at this lol. He does say his weakness is that he can’t put his whole heart into is character unlike Juza (which is also a reason why I’d say that Sakuya and him are more or less the same level). He’s versatile and has a good repertoire + he does have the drive to keep getting better (he says to beat Juza but I think it’s also because he’s become motivated after seeing /everyone/’s portraits (but yes, Juza’s in particular was the hmm trigger I’d say). And since he’s newer to acting, I think everyone else on the list beats him due to experience.

7-5) Taichi, Hisoka, Misumi

I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t choose AGAIN. I think the next 3 have such different skill sets that put them up there. They originally did have a proper ranking but once I was writing it all out, I just couldn’t decide who was better overall. Not surprising since I’m more of a tierlist person than a straight up list person anyway. Hayz, anyway here we gooooo

Taichi Nanao

I guess I should be upfront with the fact that I’m a Taichi oshi so of course, I’m biased. HOWEVER, Taichi started acting as a child, way back in elementary. He works hard on his roles (as seen in plays where he’s been the lead/co-leads) kind of obsessively and SPOILERS!! <has trouble sleeping and overworks himself for them.>

He was also able to get into GodZa at a young age that even Tsumugi couldn’t get into right out of college (tho I have other theories on why there but anyway). Reni treated him like shit but the fact is, he was still able to pass the strict auditions. Anyway, he has the foundation, the training, and the drive (PLUS IF YOU’VE READ ACT 9, YOU GET IT), so I think he’s earned this spot xD

Hisoka Mikage

As mentioned with Chikage, they were sorta forced to learn how to act or it was do or die. Hisoka can pretty much get into roles quickly once he knows the information he needs about the character. I think it’s fair to speculate that Hisoka got a lot more of the dangerous undercover jobs? He seems more attuned to acting than Chikage plus there was the factor that he had to be good or else.

It’s hard to say if his overall life experience would put him ahead of the other two.

Misumi Ikaruga

Misumi grew up watching all of the plays that his grandfather showed him. You could say he’s one of the less subtle acting geeks in the company but he’s all focus and everything once he watches a performance. He has the talent and the foundation, albeit no formal training. He did have a scriptwriter grandfather though who could have more or less helped him hone his skill. Also another very varied actor.

Still as we see with Tenma in-game, where you act (TV vs movies vs stage vs just the general public) makes a big difference and he still has less experience with stage acting and acting in front of others than the other two).

4. Sakyo Furuichi

Sakyo didn’t really have a lot of formal training but he did have the drive and love for theatre since a young age. He watched Mankai rise and fall. I think he’s the most unique case out of everyone bc he has he experience but he couldn’t grow into his full potential because of all the other circumstances in his life. I think he rightfully belongs in the top 4 though. He’s also another case like Juza who does those certain roles very well.

3. Tenma Sumeragi

Gonna be upfront once again, Tenma is my 4th fave, just after Taichi. Still, you can’t deny he’s been acting since birth and has had the formal training to go with it. He has the drive and work ethic to get even better. What puts him behind the other two is just honestly more life experiences and stage acting experience in general.

2. Tsumugi Tsukioka

We know Tsumugi is very skilled. He’s great at the subtle movements and understanding the characters plus he’s just full-on in love with theatre. Also being less sheltered and older, I think he just has more to draw from life-experience wise. He is edged out by our #1 because of the years he took off acting.

1. Tasuku Takato

Tasuku was #1 in Godza, one of the most popular acting companies in their region. He was consistently #1 until he left and even though he had similar roles then, he greatly diversified when he got to Mankai. I mean, it’s Tasuku, the resident ultra theatre nerd. Of course, he had to be #1.

If you’ve made it this far, then wewz. I hope you at least had fun reading xD

[laora-inn]

Supernatural - Some speculations about the last 7 episodes of 15th season

Well, after 2 trailers, episodes descriptions on IMDB and some unfinished plot-lines of SPN story I’d like to share my own speculations. Some of them are definitely wrong. 

Destiel positive, happy end positive, don’t like - don’t read. 

Season 15 | Episode 14. Last Holiday

A filler - that’s how we anime fans call episodes which have no deal with the main plotline, though can contain some interesting moments and nuances. In “Supernatural” these episodes usually have no Cas in them. Sometimes they are very good... but mostly not. They are “just for fun”, and fans enjoy them, because they can be really funny. No angst.

Like this one - no angst, no Cas, a wood nymph who looks like Mary Poppins to me (or Mrs. Marple whatever). Some British origin of the character. 

That’s the episode which shots with Dean in purple nightgown are from (trailer short version).

I suppose the shot with Dean, Sam and Jack flying in the air could also be here from. But maybe not.

I don’t know where Cas may be. His absence should be explained to us in some way. In episode 10th he was missing because of talking to the angels. What’s now? Some preparations for the next Jack's trial? 

In this episode Dean should come closer to Jack’s forgiving.

Season 15 | Episode 15. Gimme Shelter

I have NO IDEA what this episode is about. Maybe the next trial for Jack? Or not?

I think the shot from the last trailer with Cas protecting Jack on the truck bed is from this episode. Also, some tortured person on the bed with the “lust” written above could be from it. 

And what about Sam and Dean? Where are they? 

I think they may have their own journey here, separate from Cas and Jack. Possibly the epic shots with them entering some building are this episode from. Possibly not. 

Season 15 | Episode 16. Drag Me Away (From You)

I don’t like this episode title. It looks like Destiel mocking to me - maybe, I just don’t have enough faith. I want to trust SPN writers but can’t. Somebody help me to believe, we all need that now! :)

THE ONLY episode in ALL THE SHOW except this one that had brackets in the title was 12x12, Stuck in the Middle (With You). Yahoo. 

Obviously, 12x12 was a parody to the Reservoir Dogs, a movie by Quentin Tarantino. Parody in a good sense of this word, but still. The plotline, the scenes (oh, this lunch scene from different points of view!), the scenes’ order, the roles, though changed - all of them. In case you didn’t watch Reservoir Dogs, just go and watch it, and then re-watch 12x12. You will understand. 

"Stuck in the Middle with You" is Stealers Wheel song which was in the OST of this Tarantino’s movie. This allusion should deal with boys’ and Mary relationship - because it’s her who betrayed them involuntarily, and now they are stuck in the middle with her. 

But somehow this episode title also deals with Destiel relationship. Maybe ‘cause that’s Cas who is dying, not Mary. Maybe ‘cause even on his deathbed he doesn’t confess something important - not about his betrayal, there was no one, but about his feelings. He says "I love you”, but then adds “I love all of you”, and Dean is literally stuck in the middle with Cas here. 

Back to the brackets in the episodes titles. Because of them I suppose that 12x12 and 15x16 could be connected. But how exactly?! That’s the question. I want them badly to be connected in Destiel way, but know too little. 

Back then I supposed that Dean could be dying in this episode and it would be his turn to confess something to Cas. But now I don’t know if there will be Cas in this episode at all, I just don’t have enough information. 

I hope he will. 

Btw, the words “Drag Me Away (From You)” are in Toto’s song “Africa”. And in case you didn’t know, in 2018 this song was used for half-an-hour Destiel video made by fan here. It covers ALL the Destiel moments then far. Link for this video is in Supernatural wiki, in the Destiel article. Half an hour, 10 repeats of the song, author’s comment: 

Along the way it stopped being funny and started getting insulting because this has been a literal decade (as of 2018 the vid features seasons 4-13) and the show has explored ALL of the tropes and yet and yet and yet...

I mean the fangirl shipper part of me also loves it. And then I get mad because I love it. I have a very complicated relationship with Supernatural but that's okay.

Have you heard the good news about Tragic Widow Dean?

TLDR: Have a supercut of all the DeanCas stuff set to Toto's Africa.

We can speculate a bit about this fact, but the truth is we know only about young Sam and Dean, who certainly will be in this episode. 

I think shots with Billie talking to Dean from the last trailer also belong to this episode, as well as shots with young Dean with Samulet, who is a ghost now. But these assumptions could be totally wrong. 

What circumstances will take us to the young Sam and Dean? Time travelling? Flashbacks? The parallel world?

Personally I think it will be the third option. Because how the hell young Dean can be a ghost in “our” universe? Unless it’s not Dean, though I doubt it. But if it’s not Dean, it can be a flashback, you know, with the young boys. Yep? 

We’ll wait and see.

I don’t think that Sam’s appreciative words to Dean refer to this episode. 

Also I don’t think Sam is going to sacrifice himself AGAIN (I’ve heard such an opinion). But maybe it’s my hope that makes me think in a wrong way.

Season 15 | Episode 17. Unity

I think some of Chuck’s shots are from this episode. Maybe the red lights in the bunker too. Maybe not. 

There also should be Amara and some angels. I saw Uriel in the cast! Maybe there also be some light lit on the all situation in Heaven now, when Jack made new angels. 

Some interaction between all of them + Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack should take place. Here the shot with sigil could be taken from. 

What side the angels will take? How it happened that Uriel is alive? Was he resurrected by Chuck or Amara? What plans does Amara have, how is she planning to deal with Chuck?

And what’s for Naomi? Will she come back or not? I think she won’t, not in this episode for sure, and I’m already disappointed ‘cause you know, she should be alive. Dumah said she is. For me Naomi is an important figure considering Destiel, and I think she’d be the best Heaven runner. 

All in all, in this episode should happen something that will make Cas happy. I suppose by the end of 15x17 or in the beginning of 15x18 they all will be sure that they have won the game, and Dean will forgive Jack for Mary.

The episode title may refer to angels’, Winchesters’ and Amara unity. 

Season 15 | Episode 18. Despair

Well, in Supernatural wiki I also saw “The Truth” title for this episode. 

Most of us are convinced that in this episode Cas will tell Dean about his deal with the Empty and will be taken by it. I believe the same. 

I think shot with Billie knocking with her hand rotten belongs to this episode. 

I have some doubts, but also think a shot with Dean leaning on Cas is from here. 

I’m sure that “You fought for this whole world” and Dean’s crying scene belong to this episode. ‘Cause you know. Despair. And the truth - about Cas’s deal and possibly about their fake win. 

Billie’s with her scythe and bunker intrusion symbols could also be from here (or from one the previous episodes ends, especially for Billie - as a cliffhanger). And it should be the case for Sam and Jack, I suppose. Because there is no other way for Dean and Cas to face Cas’s deal with just two of them. 

Destiel confession will be here, in more explicit form that it could be in 15x16, because there will be A TALK, but I don’t think we’ll see something real explicit. 

Maybe, Dean’ll say he loves Cas. Maybe not. I’m sure only about the fact that we’ll cry by the end of this episode. And that will be AN UGLY CRYING, just as Jensen said.

Well, maybe there will be a hint that Cas can be brought back, but I think it won’t. So prepare yourselves, my friends. 

Season 15 | Episode 19. Inherit the Earth

Here I think Sam’s appreciative words to Dean are taken from. They are definitely comforting. ‘Cause you know, Cas is dead, Chuck is alive. Possibly Cas was in his way and Chuck erased him by making him believe in their win.

I also think Dean’s crying words “this whole mission, saving the world” belong to this episode and will be in conversation with Sam. 

They still need to fight Chuck, and Jack is still alive. Here Michael will appear and helps. And there is one moment Sergey mentioned in 15x07, about the key to the Death’s library. He even described what it looks like! Cas heard that as well as Eileen. Well, if Cas is taken, then Eileen should return to the Winchesters, maybe with Sam and Jack, or just tell them about this key. 

I don’t know what they are going to do after. Open this library? How? Find how to kill God? Or not? Will they try to save Cas?

I think they will not talk about Cas’s saving. And he will be dead in this episode for sure.

Also I think they’ll deal with God in this episode, one way or another.

Season 15 | Episode 20. Carry On

This is a land of unlimited speculation!

I hope Dean’ll have Cas back by the end of episode. I think Cas’ll save himself from the Empty, ‘cause, you know, he has a big goal there. The Empty tortures all the dead angels and demons, as far as we know. It should be fixed - Cas’s already made a promise to Ruby. And we know that Cas has no problem with ruining something and messing it up - he is basically THE GREAT TRICKSTER of this show. 

Rebelling against Heaven and ruining angels’ plans? Check. Stopping Apocalypse? Check. Opening Purgatory? Check. Becoming a new God? Check. Bringing the Leviathans? Check. Casting all the angels out of Heaven and burning their wings? Check. Becoming human? Check. Becoming an angel by devouring other angels’ grace? Check. Getting an army of angels? Check. Giving up this army for one human? Check. Kidnapping angels’ prisoner? Check. Letting Lucifer in? Check. Helping “an abomination”, Devil’s son, to be born? Check. Annoying Empty so much that it brought him back to life? Check. Making a deal with the Empty? Check. 

It’s very dangerous to mess with Cas, you just don’t know what he could do for the greater good, and yep, in some way Dean was right when he said that Cas is “something that’s always going wrong”. So I think the Empty is in trouble here, not vice versa.  

Also, there is one more thing that bothers me. When Nick in 14th season was praying to Lucifer, he woke him up in the Empty. Theoretically, Lucifer can be awake by now. It could be a dead end, but still. Lucifer’s “true face” is similar to the Empty’s, sooo... 

I don’t know what to think about it and the fact that Nick could reach Lucifer and return him from the Empty, so let’s move on.  

I hope for the happy end for Sam (maybe with Eileen) and for all the hunters we know. They are family. 

NO MCD here! If someone’ll die - they shouldn’t be Sam, Dean or Cas. I don’t want to see Eileen’s death either. I don’t know what about Jack. I don’t want him to die, but he is 100% supernatural being, and I am not sure what it means for him to die. 

Monsters should stay, hunters should hunt them. We’ll see that the “family business” thrives.    

There should be an order on the all levels - in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. There should be the new Death - of they should return Billie. Rowena running the Hell would be perfect. Wonder if Naomi could run Heaven. Maybe it will be Chuck? If he will be redeemed. Or Michael. 

I don’t know what’s for the Empty and Amara. 

I don’t know what the end for Jack will be. I’d like he will be alive, but I just don’t know. He can’t be a human. That will be right thing for Cas, but not for Jack. 

I hope for Destiel endgame, as well as for Sam/Eileen. Cas should become a human, maybe, with some supernatural skills left.   

I doubt that we have proper scenes of these ships together or Cas’ humanity. Just hints. But they can be very obvious - especially if we’ll see Dean’s reaction to Cas’s returning. 

So, I hope to see them. 

But, as I said, it's a land of unlimited speculation. We’ll wait and see. 

What else should be resolved:

- Kevin can’t stay a ghost! It’s my main point here. He also can’t go to Hell. What will happen with him and in which episode? I don’t know. I just hope they won’t forget about him. 

- There is the shot with Bobby from? 15x20? He should be somewhere. 

- Also, there should be Charlie in this season unless something’s changed. Where is she?

- What are they going to do with alternative!Winchesters from 15x13? They will rest? They will make another HunterCorp? They will be gone?! Come on, something needs to be done with them! Of course, they are not so important here, so the writers can forget about them, but still, I’m interested.

What am I going to do:

I'm going to watch all the last episodes of the season. AND THEN, if there will be no happy end for the Winchester boys and Cas won’t be with them, I'm going to rebel. :) In every possible way - petitions, letters, actions etc. We are grown-up people here. We can fight for our rights, and it's my crucial right - to be happy about my favorite show ending. :) 

__________________

Feel free to ask me anything or to comment. My ask is working!

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

i have a request for you! reader is a royal who doesn’t care for their title and therefore doesn’t enlighten the Company of their status. however, when they run into royal guards of reader’s kingdom who refer to them with their title, the Company is flabbergasted; especially Fíli, who has fallen head over heels for our main character. (I love your writing btw! never stop!)

Being royalty can be a real nuisance sometimes. 

Between fake friends, special treatment, ransom, and the looming knowledge that, someday, you will be forced to marry someone whom you do not love for people who don't care about you, there's no way you can be truly happy. 

Over the years you learned a great deal of different things, like how to bluff, how to break out of bindings, how to fight, and, ultimately, how to lie about who you are. 

It's really easy after all. 

The thing is, though, you've only learned these skills for the off chance that something happens to you. You're not allowed outside the castle without an escort, and all the battle training you've done has been under the watchful eye of your tutor and nanny. 

Of course, you learned how to become an excellent fighter away from their prying eyes, but it's still suffocating. 

And this is why you decided to run away! 

I know what you may be thinking; what kind of spoiled brat gives away such a cushy life for one of danger and uncertainty? 

Well, you of course!! 

You're tired of being kept in a cage; of being called, "Highness" and treated like nothing more than an accessory to the king; of having no purpose other than being a pawn to your father who will ship you off the moment a suitor comes along. You want to be who you are. A chance to grow and experience the world. A chance to fall in love on your own instead of forcing yourself to love someone you could not care less for. 

Also, your father, ultimately, did find you someone to marry, and when you asked who it was you learned that not only do you not know them, but they're also 30 years older than you.

All of these things are reasons you left. 

As soon as you escaped the palace there was panic, guards sent out everywhere to find you and bring you back, hand drawn posters put out on every street lamp and post, it was a whole fiasco. 

For a time there you were almost tempted to go back just so they would stop tormenting people over you, but when a greying old man came to you and stated that he knew who you are and that he wanted to give you the chance to go on an adventure, all thoughts of returning home flew out the window. 

You met a group of 13 dwarves and one small man that they call a hobbit. 

The wizard never told them who you are, so you didn't see much of a reason to enlighten them on your status either. 

It feels nice being treated so normally, something you aren't use to in the slightest, but it feels even nicer to make actual friends. 

Of course, there are some times where you act a bit off or bratty since you did grow up in a castle with people on your beck and call 24/7, but if they notice it nobody says anything about it. 

Thorin, Fili, and Kili, who also just so happen to be royalty themselves, were surprised by how normally you treated them. You spoke to them as if their titles meant nothing to you, joked and complimented them on various things where most would be horrified to do so, and it successfully won their favor. 

They don't know it's because you know what it's like to be in their shoes, to be treated specially and oddly just because you were born into a royal family, and you know to some extent that they have a desire to be treated as normal just like you. 

Of the three, Fili seemed to take to you the most. 

He likes the way you act so normally around him, how you actually care what happens to him and your loyalty to the company. 

At some point he actually begins to care for you a great deal more than he probably should, and once he comes to this realization, it's over for him. 

He began to do things for you that he hadn't before; like sleeping next to you, offering to accompany you when it's your turn to scout or get firewood, bringing you food in the mornings and at night, and even lending you one of his beloved knifes when the handle of yours broke after a conflict. 

When he started treating you differently, you feared at first that he found out who you are, but you soon realized that he just cares about you a lot- like a good friend should. 

Ever oblivious you are. 

You weren't exactly hiding it from them, the fact that you're basically next in line for the throne, but you didn't necessarily want them to find out either. 

It's actually right around the time when you began to think your kingdom gave up their search for you that things took a turn for the 'worse'. 

You were all staying in a town for the night, renting out some rooms at a lodging. You and Bilbo get to have your own room since you're not dwarves for one, but the next morning as you all set out to leave and are all well-rested, something happens. 

You're walking with Fili down the stairs of the place you all stayed, joking and laughing with each other while you follow the rest outside of the building when the dwarves in front of you both suddenly stop walking altogether. 

A soft 'oof' leaves you when you bump into Bifir since he abruptly ceased all movement, and when you look ahead to see what the fuss is about, your heart stops. 

"Halt!" Yells one of the 10 guards standing in a semi-circle around all of you. 

They wear both the colors and the emblem of your kingdom, so clearly they are here for you, but how the hell did they find you. 

Unconsciously you shrink back and half hide behind the door, glad to see that they haven't seen you yet. 

"What's the meaning of this?" Thorin asks angrily, reaching for his sword as he glares up at the armed men standing over them. 

"We have received word that the missing Y/N L/N has been spotted in this area traveling with a group of strange peoples." The guard states with a blank face, looking down at Thorin suspiciously. 

Uh oh, you're screwed. 

Fili looks up at you sharply, and duck behind the pillar quickly and crouch down, making yourself as small as possible. 

He's gonna sell you out and you're gonna be brought back to that horrible palace, chained up in your room for the rest of your life. 

"I have no recollection of coming across anyone of that name. Are they some sort of criminal?" 

Your eyes go wide when Thorin pretends not to know you, and you feel your heart fill with joy and appreciation. 

"Criminal? No. Try missing heir to the L/N dominion." The guard replies, seemingly less suspicious despite Thorin not really giving him any reason to believe him. "The Royal Highness has been missing for months, and the king and their intended are growing weary." 

"Was this Y/N kidnapped?" You hear Thorin inquire further, feeling sick to your stomach that all of your secrets are being aired out like this while you can't so much as get in a peep.

"Nobody knows for certain, though there has been a lot of speculation for both sides."

"It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, kind sir. I hope your search goes well." Thorin states politely. 

The guard nods his head and states nicely, "Thank you."

"May I ask what you plan to do when you find them?" The dwarf presses a bit further, though he keeps his face neutral. 

There's a moment of silence, though your can't see exactly what's going on, when the guard replies with what you already know, "Take them to the palace where they can be wed to the Lord of our neighboring kingdom. 

"Fitting. If we hear anything we will send for you right away." 

"Then we will take our leave." The guard states, nodding at Thorin gratefully before marching off with the others who follow behind him. 

You stay in that same place crouched to the ground and huddled against the side of the pillar for a little while, and it's not until you feel a hand on your shoulder that you look up and see multiple confused faces peering down at you. 

You offer an awkward smile and say, "Well, that was crazy wasn't it?" 

"You're royalty?" Thorin asks, looking down at you with confused and curious eyes. 

"You're betrothed?" Fili breathes, his eyebrows furrowed. 

You nod your head slowly, pushing yourself to your feet before slowly mumbling, "Yes, and technically yes." 

A moment of silence passes by where everyone just stares in awe before Thorin says hesitantly, "If those guards find you, they will take you back by force?" 

This time you only nod, glancing off to the side nervously. 

"We're already behind schedule... we will discuss this later tonight." Thorin tells you decisively, reaching up to pat your arm lightly before turning and leaving the building. 

You stare after him in surprise, and it isn't until Fili mumbles your name that you snap out of it and go to follow. 

---

For the majority of the day you ride by yourself, for everyone seems to be acting more oddly around you.

It's not like anything has changed, they just know a little more about you, but still they act like everything is different now. 

The better part of your ride is spent in silence, and it's not until Fili's pony falls into step with your horse that your isolation ends. 

"You never told us." He begins, looking up at you curiously. 

"No, I didn't." You confirm, sighing quietly. 

"Why?" 

That's a bit harder to answer, but you try anyways, "Because...I didn't know if your uncle would let me come if he knew and I didn't want to be treated differently either. All my life I've had to abide by a certain set of rules and mannerisms, I've had to be taught how to spot fakes and to survive incase someone were to kidnap me for real... for once, just once, I wanted to live my life without somebody treating me specially because of who runs through my veins." 

He of all people should understand this, but your heart aches at the thought that he may just find you to be a selfish brat. 

"Why... did you leave?" He asks instead of acknowledging your answer. 

"I know there are many who have it worse than I, truly I can't even call it bad, but when I learned that I would be married off to somebody I've never met that is 30 my senior... I couldn't take it anymore. The fate tied to me is one that I would seldom wish on anyone, and so I left. I don't give a damn for that place, for they don't give one for me." 

A silence passes by that makes you uncomfortable, but you don't look down to see if he's watching you. You don't want to see the face he's making, no doubt one of disbelief or anger over how petulant and selfish you are. 

"I suppose I would've left to." 

You look down at him sharply at that, your eyes a bit wide since that is not what you were expecting in the slightest. 

"I understand. And when I say that I mean I actually understand. Truly." He looks up at you and offers a small smile, "People have expectations of you, and when you express that you never asked for all this responsibility you're seen as nothing more than a bratty child who doesn't understand what they have. When they find out who you are they will go to any lengths to be in your good favor. You never know who likes you for you or for your title. 

Slowly you nod your head. 

Really, what did you expect? Of course he would get it, he's living through it just as you are! Only he isn't running away from anything at the moment. 

"Yes, it's exactly like that." You hum, offering the dwarf a smile, "I don't know why I thought you wouldn't understand. You're probably one of the only ones who does." 

'Well, my uncle and Kili too, but yes..." He trails off, then adds, "So, you're an heir." 

This makes you scoff, but your face remains pleasant. "Unfortunately." 

"Do you... plan on going back?" He sounds more. nervous now, and you make note of that. 

"Not really, unless my intended is breathtakingly beautiful." You reply with a smirk, glancing down at the blond dwarf again. 

He clears his throat and asks just as anxiously, "Really...?" 

"Of course not! I want to be free to love whoever I want." You tell him, shaking your head while you speak, "I want to be with someone who I am both attracted to and happy with." 

Fili doesn't respond to that right away, but when he does speak his voice still remains hesitant, "What do you consider... attractive? Who would make you happy?" 

"Like qualities?" Before you do what your mind is telling you to, you need a bit of confirmation on his meaning. 

He only nods. 

"Hm... well, if I'm to start with what qualities make me happy, I would say kindness is very important. They would also have to be strong and fierce, loyal beyond belief, a warrior is always nice, a family man, and, certainly, they must be in love with me too." You begin, nodding along with yourself while a smile falls upon your lips. 

"And... my other question?" 

"Oh, right! I've always been rather fond of blonds, you should know. Thick hair, blue eyes, a brilliant smile- oh! They must have dimples. That's nonnegotiable..." You trail off and glance down at him, seeing that he's looking at you with wide, surprised eyes, "I've also a thing for shorter men, I don't know why for the life of me. Strength isn't a physical trait but I find that attractive, too." 

He's looking up at you with an awed expression on his face, and it successfully makes you smile. 

"And... there's one more thing." 

He gulps and asks shakily, "W-What's that?" 

"Mustache braids. They've got to be the most attractive thing a man can have! I'm most certain its a sign of an excellent kisser." Obviously it's cheesy, but you don't much care since you get to see his adorably red face. 

"I-It sounds like you already have someone in mind." He stutters, reaching up to rub the back of his braided head. 

"Yes, tell Bilbo I'll be looking for him once he grows out his hair will you-" You joke, watching as his eyes widen for a second before he smiles brightly and starts to laugh. 

"Oh! I'll be sure to tell him!" He exclaims, chuckling some more with the biggest and happiest smile on his face. 

"Also tell him that I'd care for him whether he holds the crown in his future or not. Those things don't really matter to me." 

"I can do that." 

You look ahead, the biggest smile ever on your face as well, "One more thing." 

"Yes?" 

"Tell him that I hope he doesn't look at me differently now that he knows who I really am." 

Fili doesn't reply right away to that, but when he does his voice is soft, "I know that he won't, because he loves you dearly and wouldn't care for your status whether you're a monarch to be or a struggling person scrambling to get by." 

"Wow, he sure has a way with words." You muse, reaching down to pat the top of his head while your other hand clutches the reins of your horse a bit tighter. 

"There's more where that came from." 

[skybird13]

MORE FG Analysis....(I think I might have a problem)

I keep rewatching and rewatching the Clover and Qrow scenes we have so far and trying to see the bromance thing or the platonic buddies thing and I just... can’t? 

Look, I don’t run around with shipping goggles on if that means anything to anyone. I got through the entirety of The Lord of the Rings and the first two Hobbit movies without shipping a single couple (Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage punched me in the heart in the third Hobbit film, but that’s another tangent for another time). I wasn’t even fully on Bumblby until volume 4. 

There’s just no other way to view these scenes. Things keep escalating between these two. I don’t really have a good scale for measuring romantic/sexual tension, so I’ll just try to pinpoint the moments in which things tick up a notch or two. Starting with...

The Mine Scene

The baseline here is the casual conversation that Qrow initiates. From there, here are the beats:

Conversation turns personal very quickly, thanks to Qrow opening up

Clover catches Qrow

They engage the Grimm

Qrow warns Clover

Qrow shares his semblance (again... Qrow is the one to get personal, which I find extremely telling)

Clover shares his semblance (and puts Qrow at ease)

Clover flirts (look, I’m trying to be as objective atm as possible, but the wink, the smile, the eyebrow wiggle, the full-body lean, and the lingering stare as he turns around... I’m sorry, there’s no other word for that. I challenge anyone of you to replace Qrow with a woman, show it to someone who doesn’t watch RWBY, ask what the tone of this still-shot is, and find me a single person who will tell you it’s not romantically charged. I dare you.)

Qrow stares back (this is absolutely from a myriad of emotions running through him and I will not discount that, but can we all at least admit that he seems to come out of this shock in a pretty okay place?)

They reach the main cavern and... more flirting/showing off from Clover. (The toss, the smirk, the salute, and the fancy-ass backflip which, considering he hooks Kingfisher to the ceiling and goes zipping upwards directly after this (thank you @fairgame-is-endgame​) was completely unnecessary.) 

The joke! How did I miss this?? Qrow doesn’t joke about their semblances for the first time at Schnee manor. He does it here! (Sorry, I couldn’t get the dialogue in there with Qrow’s eyes open.)

Clover counters with: “Hmm. No. I’d chalk that one up to talent.” (Already highlighting the difference between their attitudes regarding their semblances. For Qrow, everything bad that happens is his fault. For Clover, semblance isn’t everything. A very healthy person for Qrow to be around, no?)

The Truck Scene

Now we shift to the truck scene. Again, trying to pinpoint the beats where the romantic tension clicks up or something significant happens:

Clover initiates conversation. (Apparently, him mentioning Ruby is enough to put people on edge, but might I point out a few things? (Jesus lord, this is turning into another essay.) He brings up Ruby as “[Qrow’s] niece”, first of all. And that’s it. You know where he shifts the focus from there? On to Qrow. This is Clover’s next line in this exchange: “It’s a good thing they had someone to look up to and get them through it. Not everyone is so lucky.” Real nefarious there, guys. Way to have Master Spy Clover probe for info. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Clover is absolutely probing here but it’s for another reason entirely.)

Qrow shifts from being closed off and a little taciturn to making sure the conversation doesn’t drop. (He thanks Clover in case anyone wants me to be specific about that). 

Qrow gets personal. Again. He opens up about being an alcoholic.

And the peak of this scene? Clover calls Qrow on his self-deprecating habits and tries to offer him something solid and good to hold on to. Which I and others have written about ad nauseum, to the point where repeating myself is getting annoying, so have some visual aids instead:

James’s Office

Non-verbal communication. Here, surrounded by people that both Clover and Qrow know better than they know each other at this point, and their first instinct in this moment is still to seek each other out. Enough said.

Schnee Manor

The second inside joke between them about their semblances. 

Qrow flirts openly. Similar to Clover’s “You’ve had more of an effect on them than you realize” line delivery here, Qrow’s “I mean, they already invited you, didn’t they?” carries a very specific and multilayered tone. He’s playful, he’s open, he’s relaxed, he’s enjoying himself, and yes, the man is flirting. It’s in the voice, it’s in the smile, it’s in the body language. And it is absolutely in the lingering stare as Clover walks through the door (a mirror of Clover’s lingering stare in the mines, btw).

Final thoughts/speculation

Does anyone want them? You’re gonna get ‘em. 

I think the fact that Qrow is the one who gets personal when he has every damn reason right now to be guarded is ridiculously significant. In the last two volumes before this, his sister tried to have him murdered, a long-trusted colleague (Lionheart) turned out to be a traitor, and Oz was revealed to be a massive liar (I love Oz, I really do, but the man screwed up). Qrow has no reason to drop his walls for just anyone so you know what this tells me? He’s interested in Clover from the beginning. Qrow’s early-stage flirting style isn’t to wink and show-off (at least not anymore), it’s to lower his guard and see how the other person responds. I think he’s gotten to the point of “if you can’t deal with my ugly shit, you won’t be getting the rest of me either”. Qrow Branwen is doing a little probing of his own and, in light of this, you could make the argument that he’s the one to open the door for their relationship to happen. 

Clover’s early-stage flirting style, on the other hand, is very overt. He’s more guarded about himself personally (notice how he keeps the focus on Qrow quite a bit and even does a bit of deflecting of his own in the truck scene) but he is perfectly comfortable with making his interest known in a very straightforward and physical manner. 

There are reasons for this!! Reasons deeply intertwined with character and who these men are.

Qrow sees himself as the eternal monkey wrench that no one wants. He’s finally starting to recover from this viewpoint, I think, but he’s also very aware that no matter how healthy he might get, he is always going to come with a little... extra. He has his semblance, he has his depression, and he has his alcoholism. He’s tired of secrets and he’s tired of games, and if he’s going to get involved with someone, they sure as hell better be ready to deal with all of that, because it’s not going anywhere. The solution? Put it all out there and see how the person responds. He gets the wrong response, he’s going to shut that down and move on. The right response?? He’s going to keep moving forward to see where it goes. Clover is giving him all the right responses.

As for Clover, he’s not only military but he’s also the leader of the elite Ace Ops and the man with the good-luck semblance. I know we don’t have a lot on him, but I suspect that the pressures of all that get to him quite a lot, to the point where he has major trouble being personally vulnerable for anyone. He’s probably used to having to keep it together at all times, to presenting that tightly controlled professionalism he displays with Robyn and even with Jacques Schnee to a degree. He’s used to everyone else relying on him, including James. This means that even in the presence of mutual interest, he’s going to flirt in ways that are emotionally safe, at least at first. 

The balance inherent in this is so unbelievably beautiful. And, I’m starting to realize, a complete subversion of early expectations. 

Qrow isn’t the one who has to learn to open up. He’s already doing that. What he will have to do is learn to accept someone (outside of his nieces) loving him without strings attached. He’ll have to learn to trust that Clover (and by extension their relationship) isn’t going anywhere, even if/when things get bad. Clover can be the one who stays. 

Clover, on the other hand, is the one who is going to have to learn to open up. He’s going to have to learn how to return that emotional vulnerability that Qrow has already given him, and he’s going to have to learn that Qrow can be the safe place where all that confidence and self-control can finally drop. Clover might have to be the unshakeable support structure for everyone else in his life, but Qrow can be the one place where he can lean and just breathe.

[asterekmess]

I've started reading Sterek fic again after years away from fandom (purely because of your posts btw) and there is an alarming number of Stiles being pushed/kicked out of the pack and treated horribly but he still goes out of his way to help and forgives all with random Sterek thrown in at the end. I did not miss that nonsense at all. Why is that so popular?

That’s very sweet of you, and I’m happy that you’ve found a love of fic again!

So, this trope. I...I love this trope. A lot of fans do, obviously.

I’mma put this under a read more, just because I tend to ramble.

First off, I’m sure you’ve noticed that there’s a lot of...side-splitting within the sterek fandom? At least, for those of us who aren’t fans of Scott. You see a lot of “Hale Pack” versus “McCall Pack” stuff. A lot of that comes about because people don’t like that Derek lost his Alpha status (I definitely don’t like it) but also because Derek never actually joins Scott’s pack. He is always on the fringes, whether because he gets put there or because he puts himself there. It’s not hard to separate him from Scott’s group, because he was never a part of it to begin with.

For Sterek shippers, we usually want Stiles to be in Derek’s pack (some people who don’t mind Scott, or even like him, also like to make Stiles a sort of bridge between the two packs? Belonging to both and neither at the same time?) but that is kind of difficult to make when it’s so much more specific in canon about Stiles being in Scott’s pack.

I’ve seen lots of people argue that Scott never had an actual ‘pack’, just a group of friends, or that Lydia and Stiles were never part of his pack, and I don’t know enough meta to say whether that’s right or not.

I do know that throughout the show, Stiles (whether we like it or not) considers Scott his best friend. Many fans of Derek can’t reconcile Derek and Scott ever being close friends because of their history together, and that creates a sort of break. How can Stiles be friends with someone his partner hates, and how can he date someone his best friend hates?

So, writers do their best to separate Stiles from Scott’s pack within their fic. Sometimes it involves the rest of the pack also dispersing and Scott getting left alone, and sometimes the rest of the pack sticks with Scott and Stiles and Derek go off to be their own pack.

When it comes to Stiles getting ‘kicked out’ of the pack, I think it’s important to note that part of that is just the hurt/comfort of it all. How many of us have been cut out of friend groups, or family groups, and had to make our own way and wished there was someone on the outside who would take us in? So, we write that happening, giving Stiles that dream we wish for by having Derek help get Stiles back on his feet, or support him so thoroughly that he never hits the ground in the first place.

Another part has to do with how much more difficult and convoluted it can be to write him peacefully leaving Scott’s pack (since we’ve already established that in these situations, Stiles staying in Scott’s pack is a no-go). There’s so much more to explain when he’s still buddies with everyone and just...leaves anyway? Of course, it can be (and has been) done, but a lot of writers don’t want to put in the extra effort (I am one of them, tbqh).

Another part has surely come about from that scene in the rain. For a lot of Stiles fans, this was the absolute breaking point. Stiles had been kicked out of the pack (I haven’t seen the actual episode myself, so I try v hard not to bring it up in meta, bc I don’t know what the fuck I’m on about) and it became a catalyst for a lot of fics that show Stiles getting shoved away, put on the edges so much like Derek had been, and the two of them finding each other instead.

Now, on to the point of your message. The cases where the trope ends with Stiles forgiving Scott and whoever else was involved in him getting removed from the pack. Obviously, this would be a case by case basis. Every writer has their own reasons and we can only speculate most of the time about why they wrote something a specific way.

Some people like Scott, and want to see him grow. So they use the fic to work out their frustrations with his and Stiles’ uneven friendship, and end it with some forgiveness and leave the characters with the chance to grow back into better friends. Some people like those around Scott and don’t want to have to leave them out of the rest of the story just because they’re part of Scott’s pack and Stiles has left. So, even if they don’t particularly want Scott to be Stiles’ Alpha, they still want Stiles to be able to be close to and interact with Scott’s pack, which requires a bit of forgiveness. Another option, is related to how people perceive Stiles himself. We all project on Stiles’ character a lot, I think. Whether it’s projecting our own personality or just the personality we wish we had, we all do it, so we’ve all got very different perceptions of Stiles’ personality and behaviors.

Some see Stiles as ruthless, take-no-shit badass who will destroy you if you piss him off. The kind of genius who would hack into the local police department and screw with your permanent record. Most of the time, those ‘kinds’ of Stiles’ don’t do any forgiving, and usually they get some kind of revenge. Some see him as a really sensitive, broken, love-starved guy who just wants some fucking friends, damn it. Who would give anything for them and is always willing to help others, even strangers, because being helpful is just so integral to his character. Those ‘kinds’ of Stiles’ usually go running back into the fight to save people who’ve screwed him over, they forgive and they forget because they don’t know how to do anything else. Some people (myself included) see Stiles as a very broken and insecure guy. Not insecure about his body (though, yeah, I’ve written some stuff where he is) or about his own intelligence, but insecure about his relationships with other people. Also, as someone very loyal, to the point of immorality. They see Stiles as a guy with a select group of people that he actually gives a fuck about, and for those people? He is ride-or-die, with you to the end of the line, step into gasoline for you loyal. In those cases, Stiles often forgives people because he can’t bear the thought of not having this person in his life anymore, he isn’t capable of letting go, even if it’s for good reason. He helps them because they’ve been burned into his heart and he cannot watch them hurt or suffer. They are family, and he will burn the world down for them, even if he also kind of hates them?

So, there’s lots of reasons that he would do that, but I understand how frustrating it can be to see it over and over again, especially when you’re really displeased with certain characters (ethan or aiden or scott or peter, etc). The best I can suggest is to block certain tags. Using Scott as an example, rather than searching only for “Scott is a bad friend”  or “Scott is a bad Alpha” fics, which would massively cut down on the available fics for you, while also missing ones that may have that content without it being tagged, instead try blocking the opposite tag, so that at least you won’t be getting the fics that have “Scott is a good friend” or “Scott is a good alpha” as a main point of the fic. Again, this will definitely miss some, and you’ll still end up with untagged instances of it, but it will definitely cut down on it. Took me ages to actually think to do it, but I’ve been much happier reading fics since then.

[isitandwonder]

Hi. Did you, at some point, believe in Charmie and A&T relationship? Because you have written so superb fics bout them (dont mentioning looot of sex between them in those fics 😊 ). And now it looks like you are quite disgusted by charmie fandom and also by Armie too.. So when did you change your mind (if there of course was any changing of mind)?

Hi nonnie!

I think I talked about this before but anyway...

Yes, at some point at the end of 2017/beginning of 2018 when the promo was in full swing, I did believe there was/had been something happening between these two.

What started to change my mind though was in February 2018 when they returned to Crema and Liz was there and said they made Ford there (I remember we discussed her being at almost every awards red carpet and promo event before, as some kind of no homo device)... I was so confused. This couldn’t be right! T & A had been hanging out all by themselves during the filming, they’d been the only two English speaking people in town (lol, sorry, but Crema is not a small Sicilian village in the 1950s, I’ve been there), they’d bonded deeply... they told us all about  that!

I’m still grateful to the person pointing out that Liz and Harper had been there most of the filming... then gradually more and more ‘came to light’: that Will had been there before filming, that Tim had hung out with some locals (even a kind of gf was mentioned), stuff like that. That started to burst my bubble.

I confess, I had a shit day accepting that it had all been a fantasy because at that point they seemed so cute and right together. They sold that pretty well and I’m not mad at them - it was me who got in too deep, they just promoted their film. And wasn’t it easy to see all these bluring lines and believe in them?

Anyway, once you see the ‘cracks’ you start to question and see more. Things like Armie cancelling the Asia promo tour; saying he ‘sucked dick on film’, reducing cmbyn to THAT.

So I accepted it had been just a fantasy, but still shipped them as in ‘I like to imagine them together though I know it’s not real’. That’s were most of my fics come from, because these stories are pure fiction; I made it all up.

I think then came TIFF and those IG stories - they were clearly taking the piss at shippers, but in a kind way, saying ‘we know what’s going on and don’t mind’. What secret couple posts such stories, I ask you? So I felt validated in my shipping because they were okay with it.

When did I fall out of love with Armie though? I think it started right after the Oscars with above mentioned incidents. He was never my type anyway, I’m all here for the twinks :). He really only does things for me in the contrast he provides to Tim. 

But then I learned more and more about him. His weird family. The way he was okay with how Liz pimped out their kids on her IG (because, come on, if a father doesn’t want that he can make it stop. Now it looks like he used Liz to sell the image of the perfect American family). His fights and ramblings on social media.

I still truly think there was a window for him that he could have used to stear his life and career in a different direction. I still believe cmbyn was a huge formative experience for him. For a while, something changed. Maybe it was all PR bla bla, but maybe not. He dared to accept a stage role after it. He made STBY, which I haven’t seen but people say he was very good in. But then he fell back into old patterns.

I became indifferent to Armie. But then he went to Saudi Arabia. And that was it. I can’t support someone who does what he did. Oliver would at least be whipped there, if not executed; Armie is a gay icon after portraying that beloved character. That’s a responsibility. All he had to do was not go to SA. I don’t expect big political statements - but why did he go there for a government event? Sorry, that was the final nail to the coffin.

But, you know, I still could ignore him. I followed Tim who is goofy and kind and weirdly smart and a great actor. I confess, I speculated about his sexuality (always traveling with male friends, no gf, taking his mum or sister to awards) - but then the Lily thing started - and I was happy for him. Someone his age, who knows about life in the limelight, with whom he could share his life.

And that’s when shit hit the fan. You know, I don’t know either Armie or Tim and what they do has no real influence on my life. But I knew a lot of people on here. I’d been with cmabn since 2017; I’ve written some well liked stories. But suddenly many people I used to have fun with, I thought were my friends, for which I wrote stories - they totally freaked out and behaved abysmal. They sent hate to Tim, to fellow fans. They bullied people really badly on here. Many deleted stories or blogs. And the worst was - these mutuals of mine thought that funny. They were proud of their shitty behavior. They started to scream at anyone doubting Tim was gay and in love with Armie. I got death threats for pointing out that maybe T&A played their friendship up a bit during cmbyn promo.

And almsot no one stopped these people destroying what had been a fun small fandom. Almost no one said to these people ‘Calm down, stop it’. Instead, these people, who used to be my mutuals, congratulated themselves on how efficiently they harrassed Tim on IG and fellow fans on here. I remember a person who told me to my face they loved me first ridiculing Tim and in the end sending vile hate to me.

That’s why I can’t support Charmie any longer. Because of these scumbags of fans. Hating on Tim is one thing, he has people working for him, sadly, these things happen to anyone in the industry. But hating on fellow fans just because some don’t follow a certain narrative BNFs made up? That, to me, is unforgivable.

Therefore, I now delight in how their King Armie is exposed as just another straight white man, cheating on his wife (and maybe doing worse). He debased himself going to SA, and I really don’t know how people who profess to love cmbyn and it’s message can still support him after that. Then he showed his privileged white ass during quarantine. And now those Biden tweets.

Seriously?

I know many on here just ignore these things. I can’t do that. I can’t forget what he did. I can’t support someone like that, who has no principles, either privately or politically (and maybe even sexually assaulted a woman).

And what really did it for me is that Armie can do all these despicable things and people still love and defend him him (a grown man and father of 33) - while Tim just has some gfs, or buys bagels, or carries his guitar - and people ridicule and hate and cancel him for it.

He did nothing wrong despite not living up to the narrative some very rude people who don’t know him wrote for him! But suddenly he’s the whipping boy for them. Because he’s into girls (like Armie, btw).

I just can’t with that. I can’t with the hate spread on here. I can’t with the motives showing behind this narrative, the sexism, the homophobia, the misogyny, the racism... I have to laugh when I read the eulogies some write here about the deep, true, pure, everlasting love between A&T that will win in the end (sorry, I’m not 13 anymore, and neither are the people who write this); I also can’t with the ideas of fucking someone so hard for real they can’t walk anymore (fic is different from reality, you know). It is either pathetic, embarrassing, or truly disturbing.

And I really, really hate these people breaking the fourth wall. You NEVER tweet to the actors about your conspiracy theories! You never harrass them on SM! You never insult their friends, business partners, SOs. And you don’t, never, ever bully some small local businesses during an economic crisis because they dared to burst your bubble.

If you support Charmie - you support this behavior. I don’t. And as being quiet has only led to the assholes taking over - I now try a different strategy. If people don’t like it they can unfollow.

Sorry, these last few days have shown just how unhinged some Charmies are. I know some had planned actions against Tim at The King red carpet in London (and thankfully didn’t realize them). I really don’t put it past some of them to now truly become violent against Tim at some event, in the name of the greater good of Charmie. They are completely bonkers.

I’ve seen threats against me and others in different forums as well. People want to make us pay for what we did (like, what did we do?). People call for their followers to take action against us. I have no idea what they will or can do, as I’ve lost so much within this fandom already (fics, followers, friends) but as they are truly mental I expect the worst. It’s not that I’m afraid but it’s still a weird feeling to see people talk about you like this... because you don’t like an actor. Or don’t think he’s gay...

Yeah, so, that was surely more than you bargained for.