#136. ❛ I know exactly what I want and who I want to be. ❜ — ( in character. )

[sugar-grigri]

Fujimoto has never talked so much about love as in this chapter 

This chapter is incredible, not only for the multitude of answers it offers but also for the beauty of its writing on first reading alone. 

It opens with a man who appeared in chapter 101 of CSM, as passers-by passively walked past him, this stranger was actually right: humans, one of whose major causes of death are demons, are leading to a cold war (ironic to talk about a Cold War for a manga set in the 90s)

But it's as if the whole of society refuses to notice, that everyone hides behind Chainsaw Man and consumes all these derivative products like lucky charms. Chainsaw Man embodies a demonic anomaly, a demon at the service of the people who make them forget this war. 

And that's exactly why Yoru has a grudge against him. Chainsaw Man is an instrument of peace, wielded in times of peace and sacrificed in times of war. Chainsaw Man is there to make us forget the conflicts or become the scapegoat, in either case, he is there to make us forget the war in which humanity is trapped.

A machine into which all hopes are projected, cries of suffering directed, whose childlike quality is seen only by the predators who exploit him constantly. 

What we need to see in this dialogue between Nayuta and Fumiko is a struggle for domination. As we have seen, Fumiko is someone who, despite her aggressions, drowns them in a constantly contradictory protection: she wants to protect a child, but moleste Denji, plays a game in which she places him as older in order to hide her predation, and has saviour syndrome.

Fumiko thinks she's easily understood the nature of weapons, she's sensitive to Quanxi's bodily sacrifices and only repeats to the one she's abusing like an unrestrained fan of a child. Fumiko is the symbol that even when she belongs to the same camp as those she intends to protect, she still can't understand them.

She thinks it's either Nayuta who finds humans weak, or the fact that Barem supports Denji's demonic quality, that they are threats to his well-being when they are the ones who know him best. This is normal, because the strategy of public hunters is to bank on Denji's human side, but this strategy is not enough.

In chapters 136 and 137, Denji is mistreated when he's playing as a human being, getting into fights at school, being treated badly by his teachers, molested when he was thinking about a date at the cinema, and the closer he gets to normality, the more he suffers.

She symbolises not only Denji's sexual trauma, but also the paradox of the hunter system: a system that intends to offer Denji a family framework, but which is not only failing but also traumatising.

Nayuta says she wouldn't kill humans because they're weak compared to demons anyway. It would be as boring as killing ants! It's a continuation of Makima's point that the demon of control isn't interested in things that can be mobilised or easily controlled, it's powerful demons like Pochita that she wouldn't be able to control. Because the only way to establish a link for this demon is to find a demon as powerful as her, of her rank. Nayuta's superiority complex is always balanced against Denji's inferiority complex.

While the demon of control is only interested in demons, the demon who was martyred by humans cannot conceive of himself without them, but we'll come back to that later. 

I just want to point something out: isn't it paradoxical to reproach Denji for the education he gives Nayuta when Fumiko is supposed to regard him, as she claims, as a child? Once again, Fumiko is in constant contradiction, protecting by controlling and attacking, conceiving of a child as an adult, she is the hold over a child she can't help but see as a weapon while vouching for his condition. 

What's more, Fumiko's thinking is purely human, not universal like Denji and Nayuta. For them, feeding the dogs and their cat is a mission of the utmost necessity, it's like acting to protect one's family, whereas Fumiko refutes this.

Denji has been considered a dog for part of his life, and has bonded and merged with a demon in the shape of a dog, which is the first form of love he received: it was not humans who first gave Denji love, but animals. In the same way, the demon of control likes to form a relationship with dogs who take pleasure in their domestication, either as a form of denunciation or as a clearly established hierarchy. 

Fumiko proves that human sensitivity only stops at their peers, while the rarer demonic sensitivity is more universal and intense, whether it's treating animals as precious beings or forgiving unforgivable acts like Denji's continued love for Makima.

The fact that Denji and Nayuta appear to have no moral barriers is what allows them not to be prisoners of their own, and to conceive of love more extensively, whether it be harmful or inter-species. 

All this just goes to prove Barem's point that, as a weapon, he has a very good understanding of the different species and what they have in common: death is what binds us together.

When humans no longer find interest in a figure, it is destruction that attracts them. In other words, it's intrinsic to them. Even when they have been spared the demon of fire, they intend to spread it. Isn't it ironic, then, that Fumiko intends to protect two demons at the expense of their animals? Humans only see the world in terms of hierarchy, whereas demons and animals recognise that there is more to it than just a food chain. 

Nayuta's emphasis on the exhilaration that comes from abusing and killing demons is spot on. In chapter 137, Denji had fun beating up all those men, even concluding that "this" normal life wasn't so bad. Why was that? Because it's the daily life of a demon.

Denji, who belongs to both camps, has human needs just as much as he has demonic needs, so Nayuta has a point. But just as living solely as a human doesn't satisfy Denji, acting solely as a demon doesn't work any better. 

Denji works through the concrete, through sensations, and what he materialises through his senses, the fact being that he's had at least one kiss without any major damage with a human his own age.

Just a harmless touch is what allows Denji to connect with humanity as a whole, to be sensitive to their plight, even though he has no morals and takes pleasure in human suffering.

It wasn't until Denji struck up a relationship with Aki and Power for the first time that he was able to feel human and stop feeling like an animal. We are empathetic to the fate of those who resemble us, Denji is a universal being, animal, human and demon, he is the one who brings these different worlds together. Barem is right: death is what binds species together. But Pochita and Denji are the symbol that love can also be a common denominator. 

The fact that he thinks of Asa is symbolic because, without knowing it, she is the one who understood the plurality of species in Denji. She began by dehumanising him, Denji's animal phase, placing him below the cat (proof that she too places animals before men), then she had budding feelings for Denji before being disturbed by Chainsaw Man. 

That's why Chapter 101 is so important to understanding this chapter: because in it, Asa makes friends with both humans and demons, getting to know Yuko just as she does Yoru. She is not outraged by the idea of killing, as Yoru asks her to do, having put aside her human nature and accepted the world as it is, which is ruled by death.

But she is no fatalist, and in the face of a demon, she protects Yuko, continuing to love despite her mistakes "as long as her heart is in the right place". What matters is not so much our actions as the cursor through which we place ourselves to apprehend the world. 

Relationships are full of mistakes, imperfections, misunderstandings and a game of dominance. Denji doesn't realise it, but the one who kissed him wasn't Asa but Yoru, and it was for a bad purpose: to turn him into a weapon. Paradoxically, in wanting to make Denji a weapon, Yoru conceived him as he was, a hybrid being, a weapon. It was the first kiss in which he was seen for what he was.

But not only that, just as Asa loves the different natures of the multi-species being that is Denji, so Denji loves Asa's dual nature, what holds him together is as much the memory of the human in the aquarium as the physical contact with the demon inside her.

While Asa, in her desire to protect Denji, was distancing herself from him, hurting him and making him doubt himself, it was paradoxically the demon, with evil intentions, who gave him some peace of mind.

The chapter is called Devil's choice, an expression which means that we only have two choices, that we can't have everything. In this case, that would mean choosing a species, a side. But what Asa and Denji still represent in this Shakespearean symbolism is not belonging to any side, but loving in a universal way.

The rejection of men has opened up other perspectives for both of them, be it the animal or the demonic connection. 

Once again, the answer lies in plurality, in what begins with two: Asa and Denji decide, on the contrary, to have it all, there is no Devil's choice. 

By deciding to bond with animals rather than humans when they lost their parents, Asa and Denji forged a destiny guided by love without barriers.

Their bad experiences - sexual harassment for Denji and bullying at school for Asa - at the hands of adults have naturally created a distrust of humanity that is rekindled by contact between the two of them. It's when Denji and Asa come together that they regain hope, because they are the definition of loving each other fully.

Those who stand in the way of this universal love are the public hunters who avoid this natural crossing.

The public hunters are there precisely to fuel the fight against humans and demons, the link they carry is not love but the other common denominator, death, destruction. Even if it means crossing the moral barrier to exploit children with Yoshida by forcing them to harm other children like Asa, Fumiko being once again the symbol of this danger.

Denji has both human and demonic needs, so he's destined to love Asa because she's both human and harbours a demon with a thirst for violence. Chainsaw Man was used to make us forget the war, but by loving the demon of war, they both unravel.

Only Chainsaw Man and the demon of war can conquer death, because love is the second common denominator that links the species. Why? Because everyone has a heart. Even demons. Who not only have one, but become one.

[blueishspace]

Looped sun 4

Loop #127

Scar and Scott were admiring the view of 20 hermits running around like headless chickens while wearing dragon heads.

Scott: What did Grian do this time?

Scar: Oh you know...

Scott: I don't.

Scar: Started a game of demise...and then put curse of binding dragon heads on them while they were sleeping.

Scott: Oh. Hmmm... do you think he can do that in 3rd Life or something-

Grian: Why didn't I think of that!?!! Also, hi Scott.

Loop #130

Scar: Grian come with me!

Grian: Wha-

Scar: No time!

Scar tears Grian way just as a zombie tries to get a swing on him.

Grian: Scar what's going on!?

Scar: It's a crafting dead loop!

Grian: Well then.

Loop #134

Scott: Scar you look happy today.

Grian: It's his last loop, he had a rollercoaster tycoon loop.

Scott: Guessing because of Scarland?

Grian: I mean probably.

Scar: Do you want to see the theme park?

Scott: ... I mean sure but how?

Scar: I put it in my susbpace.

Scott: Subspace?

Grian: You did what!?!

Scar: Yeah! I do that with every theme park I make so I can combine them into one mega theme park!

Loop #136

It took Grian 2 days to realize something was wrong, it took him a week to realize what exactly it was and an additional day to think about how much he hated the world tree sometimes.

Grian: Of course this had to happen.

Scar: Uh?

Grian: Scar? Is the sun big?

Loop #141

The server was corrupted, covered in mycelium and mushrooms. X had tried his best but he too couldn't defeat the mushroom menace...and there...the cause of it smiled wickedly...

X: Who are-

Only to be interrupted by Scar.

Scar: How did you do this!?!

Grian: Had a MHA loop, looped as Kinoko. It's an op quirk really.

Scar: Oohhh, carry on then.

X: W-what are the two you talking about?

Loop #143

Scott: You know , eventually this loop will end.

Grian: Yeah? The tree isn't going to be broken forever.

Scott: In maybe billions or trillions or maybe more years... what will we be like?

Scar: I- uh. I never really tought about it.

Grian: Very different probably, I'd hate to stagnate.

Scott: I mean, Scar you are a demigod now and Grian is already a full on god!

Grian: Titan-

Scott: Details. And we have been looping just more then 100 times! What will happen in the next whoknowsillions of loops?

Scar: I-...

Scott: I'm just...scared.

Loop #145

Grian: No Scar, I'm not going full sun titan at the boat boys just because they burnt your pandas.

Scar: Please?

Grian: No

Scar: Pleeeeaaaase?

Grian: No.

Scar: Please please please please please?

Grian: ... I'll do it... but not full full I'm not vaporizing anyone this time.

Scar: ... I'll take it!

Loop #148

It was Double Life this time... Wait what? Double Life again? Pearl couldn't understand how or why. Why would she of all people be sent back to Double Life? She wasn't going to waste this or anything but it was still confusing.

Scott didn't get it, Double Life started like normal and then Pearl joined in... That never really happened before but it could have been explained by a variant. Then she wasn't surprised when they discovered that they were soulbound or when Jimmy and Tango died.

Scott was acting really weird, he would just look at Pearl without reason. And he acted so... Bored? Pearl couldn't put her finger on it but something was off.

Scott really needed to know what was going trough Pearl's head, she just annhilated all their enemies... This was so so so weird...

Pearl was frozen, it was just her and Scott again, was he going to blow himself up again? She knew it was a game but it wasn't very plesant the first time around.

Pearl: Scott! No! Not again?

Scott: Wait again? Is time... reapeating for you?

Pearl: You too!?!

Scott: Wait, the whole game?

Pearl: We didn't notice?

Scott: Well, fuck me I guess. Grian and Scar will never let me live this down.

Loop #152

Pearl: I always wanted to be in season 7, mate!

Grian: Well here you are! What do you think?

Pearl: It's so...weird? In a good way.

Scar: Want to see what I'm working on?

Pearl: Are you kidding me mate? Of course I want to!

Grian was drinking tea when Pearl became mayor, honestly he didn't mind anymore at least this one made sense.

Loop #155

Spiderman: Poultry man is something wrong man?

Grian: I...it's a...loop thing.

Spiderman: I'm listening.

Grian: I did a ping at the beginning and I'm sure Pearl is here too but I can't find her anywhere? I'm worried she might be in danger.

Spiderman: Oh that's a problem, well sometimes Yggdrasil likes to have fun, is there something from baseline that could tell you where she might be?

Grian: I guess there's the scarlet Pea- oh ...

Pietro: Sister, when will we go not that we are free?

Pearl: Oh, I just know a place.

Loop #157

Grian: If you could choose the next new looper who would you choose? I would choose...Mumbo.

Scar: Oh Mumbo too...or Cub! Cub would be fun.

Grian: The multiverse isn't ready for a looper Cub.

Scott: Jimmy, it would be nice I think. Lizzie and Joel too.

Pearl: I'm going to say Gem or Cleo, there are way too many guys now. No offence.

Scar: Wha- That's not true! We-

Scar was quickly shut up by the wave of an hand and a bit of chaos magic.

Loop #160

Scott: A roleswap variant? I think I'm in Grian's place?

Grian: Uh... alone in Double Life. I think I'm in Pearl's.

Pearl: I got Scar's so I'm guessing Scar got Scott's place.

Grian: Does that mean Scar is alone in Empires right now?

...

...

Scott: I'll get you into the server before the paperwork kills him again.

Grian: Thank you.

Loop #162

Grian woke up with an headache in a middle of a room... after looking around for a bit he realized he never saw this place before. Cautiously he sent out a ping and-

Scott: Welcome!

Grian: Scott!? Where are you? What is this place?

Scott: I present to you my first looper proof escape room!

Grian: No, it can't be...

Scott: But it is!

Pearl: Mate?

Scott: Yeah?

Pearl: I hate you.

Scott: Fair enough.

Pearl: I will get revenge.

Scott: ... Worth it.

Scar: I did it! So fast too!

Scott: ...

Scar: Scott?

Scott: *sigh* Scar...

Scar: What's wrong?

Scott: That was only the first room.

Scar: Nooooo!

Loop #165

Grian woke up in a room, only one window into the outside. It took him 3 seconds to connect the dot.

Grian: Ok, I'm starting to get tired of the sun stuff now. It's a bit predictable.

Of course he had to loop as Rapunzel... at least the healing incantation might come in handy in future loops.

Loop #168

Scott: I know what you are Scar.

Scar: Eh?!? Where did you-

Scott: I finally understand.

Scar: Uhhh understand what?

Scott: Why you ask Grian to go titan-god mode so often.

Scar: I just...find it cool.

Scott: Quite the opposite, you find it hot don't you?

Scar: What? No-

Scott: I'm onto you.

Loop #169

Grian walked to his base to see all of his chests and shulks floating in midair and moving to organise themselves in rows.

Grian: How are you doing that?

Pearl: Oh, I got a Star Wars Loop. Became a sith. You know the drill.

Scar: WHY DOES EVERYONE GET A STAR WARS LOOP BUT ME!?! WHY!??

Grian: ... You learnt to use the force and you are...organising my storage system??? ...why are you like this?

Loop #172

Scott: Another bad loop?

Grian: Unfortunately.

Scott: Want to talked about it.

Grian: Got looped as Ghostbur and was stuck in Limbo for 20 years.

Scott: ...Yikes.

Loop #175

Pearl had been at this way too long, the urge to just use chaos magic was tempting but it was a question of principle.

Katara: You are pushing way too hard, It's not going to work if you try to order it around... It's a push and pull.

Pearl: Push and pull.

Katara: Look at the ocean and moon, the movement of the tides. Feel the natural push and pool around you and coax the water like the moon does.

Pearl: Like the moon you say? Push....and pull...push and pull.

Katara: See, you are learning quickly, isn't it much better now?

Pearl: It is. Thank you.

Prev Next First

[arenabreadandbiscuits]

🍋 Asmodeus x AMAB Reader || More Than Just A Taste~ 🍋

Word Count - 4, 136 words

Genre - Smut/Rated R/18+

Scenario - Asmo wakes up looking for a bit of fun from one of his favorite humans (you). Who would you be to not give him exactly what he wants?~

Thank you for commissioning! I really appreciate the support and love working together! If you wish to work again at any point then I am happy to accommodate you! 💪🏾🫶🏾

Please enjoy the story! I hope you love it!

❤️

-

Light pours into the room, running over two figures that are laid in a snuggly pile of pillows and blankets and such.

Turns out, the house had needed a bit of a break. Recently everyone had been working so hard and Mammon and Asmodeus had come to a conclusion that a sleepover would be great.

There were a bit of complaints but everyone had interestingly enough come to an understanding and so pizza had been ordered, snacks had been made, movies had become analyzed… This actually wasn't such a bad idea.

It was a thought that everyone had eventually came down to, especially you who had been eager from the very start.

You had seemed to have the most fun, from eating the popcorn with Beelzebub to hysterical laughter with Leviathan.

You had fallen asleep before you even realized it, cuddled up with a certain strawberry blond who seemed to already be awake, humming softly while gently rubbing up and down your side. It's light, unconscious even, the little giggle you let out as his fingers drum along your side and when he hears it he grows a smug, sinister look on his lips.

You had slept enough by now right? After all, you were the first to eventually doze off against him. Surely, waking you up now wouldn't be a problem right? And even if it did, you could just forgive him later, yes?

He hums, admiring the sunlight as a crack of it shines along your skin from a crack in the curtains. One of his hands slowly move under you, wrapping around you to caress you stomach, ruffling your shirt before slowly lifting. His other hand continues it's antics, drumming fingers turn to nails lightly running over the now exposed skin of your stomach and you fall right into his trap, waking up with delirious little laughs.

“W…What are you up to?~” you snort, squirming a little, arching into his hold as if to somehow run from the attack but Asmodeus seems to have a nice, firm hold.

He leans in, his breath warm against your throat as he presses against your back and it makes you shiver all over. You could never understand, fathom if these moments between you and him..with his powers you were sure he could make you bend to his whim at any time but you had also come to an understanding that you definitely felt attraction towards the King of Lust whether he used his powers or not. He didn't have to make you submit because you were always ready for him nonetheless. Even with the question you know exactly what he's doing and you nibble at your bottom lip, breath hitching as the uncontrollable need to laugh and the arousal running through you seems to boggle your mind.

“Must I explain? What else am I supposed to do when you're so happily snuggled up to me?” He questions with a playful edge, his voice soft but firm in your ear and you shudder.

“Plus, do you really expect me to resist when you were whimpering and whining my name in your sleep?” He says though his sentence ends in a growl now, his teeth nipping your ear and making you jolt. It's not until you're breathless and shivering, twisting at the feeling of his other hand cupping your crotch that you notice just how hard you are already and with the way he pulls back and giggles Asmodeus seems just as surprised by the appearance.

“Your body is just so honest whenever it's in my care~” he coos, warm breath running over your skin as he moves and nuzzles his face into your nape. He fondled you, cupping your bulge and listening as your voice comes out as a strangled moan. Finding your voice again becomes a hassle, especially when you find yourself rocking against him, rolling your hips between the friction of his hand and his own hips.

He's hard, you can feel it distinctively against your ass, hot and heavy.

“I love that~” he practically sings softly and sweetly in your ear, all cute and innocent even though his intentions are very much clear.

“What…what about the other's?” You breathe, nearly whimpering as his other hand moves to tug down you night pants. You gasp, being exposed and you cock twitching, standing proudly and red at the tip.

“What about em?” He purrs in response and clearly you've managed to fall right into the jaws of a predator. Prey squirming and shivering as his hand moves to run down your stomach, nails gently running along your skin and making your eyes flutter shut tightly. When his hand finally wraps around the base of your cock your breath hitches and you moan brokenly, rutting your hips into his hand and the feeling of pleasure that claws up your spine as he lets you use his hand is enough to make you forget for just a moment that the two of you were in fact not alone.

Someone stirs, groaning slowly in the background and in shock you move a hand to cover your mouth, eyes snapping open while the other hand shoots to grab shakily onto the demon's own wrist.

Asmodeus moves his free hand, the one that's not currently wrapped around your length and quickly covers your mouth for a second.

He seems to pause but not completely, still rolling his wrist around your cock and do so slowly and firmly and it makes your body quake and your eyes roll. You couldn't believe he was putting you through this right now but knowing him of course he was. The idea of being caught probably didn't even bother him and as much as you wanted to say the opposite you had to admit that maybe… you got a bit of a rush from the very idea as well.

What has he made you into?

It's not to say you didn't know a thing or thing about a thing or two but being with Asmodeus was always an experience.

He had done many, many, sinful things now and if he hadn't done them yet he definitely planned to and maybe… this was one of those times.

The Demon of lust seems to pull his hands back for a moment, nails raking back and over your hips and it gets a giggle out of you and a wiggle and as he looks at your back with hungry, lidded eyes, Asmo uses just a bit of magic to slip out of his own pants. Not completely no but enough for his own eager cock to jump out, slapping against your cheeks. It's hot against you honeyed skin and immediately you know what it is, cheeks turning a dark shade of red before you give that ass of yours a wiggle.

It seems to excite the demon, his nails digging in just a bit more as he holds you and his breath coming out in a few pants.

“Careful… don't think I can't hush that mouth of yours even in a scenario like this~” Asmo cooes and just as one would imagine it stirs the already boiling heat in your gut even more. You needed this, needed him and your heart was racing but oh were you eager, eager to have him touch you, rub you, play you like the toy you are.

He bites his bottom lip behind you, admiring your back and smooth lovely skin and then down to your lush, thick ass and his cock that rested beautifully against the cleft of it, his skin standing out against your skin and he loved it almost too much. He just wants to put you on your tummy and fuck your ass open until you begged for mercy or take you and record you for all to see but for now he's content with this… content with his hard cock rested against those juicy cheeks.

He gives a rut, pulling you and rubbing his cock against your skin and it sends the most delicious vibrations running through you just knowing he's just as excited as you are. A pattern is quickly formed, him rocking against you and you rocking back against him and of course at some point Asmodeus leans in whisper the filthiest of things to you. The things he dreams of doing, the things he desperately wants to do and he's kissing at your skin. His lips going from your jawline to your throat and when his cock slips and slides between your thighs thanks to the slick he's built up the both of you seem to moan.

His cock slides against your twitching anus having threatened to penetrate it before slipping on sweet juices the two of your bodies had formed and with guided slick the meaty head of his cock grinded firmly between your thighs before laying hotly under your own cock. It makes your back arch, makes your mouth fall open and your hands grip at the blankets against you and your toes curl and he definitely notices. Asmodeus leans in, groaning lowly, opening his mouth and showing his fangs before lightly biting down into your shoulder and even though the pressure isn't too heavy you feel you asshole twitch with yearning and your cock jumps as precum drips heavily from the tip.

You need him, need him so bad to just stick it in and honestly yours losing your mind, the way that the feeling of his cock heavily pressing against you seems to make you…giggle.

It's like an itch and one your body can't seem to fully handle and so when the noise leaves you Asmo lifts a playful brow, grinning against your skin before sinking his teeth in just a bite harder, forming an indent and you feel yourself completely break.

It's so hard to explain the way Asmodeus feels when he's against you. Of course you knew what he was, who he was but there was nothing like actually being in his arms, held tightly against him while lips ran over you. You get hot and bothered by many things but there was just something specific that seemed to come with him, not just him but everyone…

It's because he's Asmodeus and you enjoy him so much, enjoy when he touches you, tastes you, fucks you and both of you knew that.

“A-Asmo..” you manage to choke out, blushing even heavier as you feel his cock twitch at the way you say his name.

He doesn't immediately respond, purring instead, pulling back from you to take hold of your ass cheeks and spread them. The cool breeze of air that runs over your entrance makes you heart jump into your throat, a mewl falling from your lips as you realize Asmodeus is taking in the scene, the way his cock looks stuffed happily between your thighs while one of the lewdest parts of you glistens on display just for him.

There's a moment where his eyes seem to darken and you shudder, practically feeling the energy vibrating off of him as he lingers close. It's a weighted scent, one that sends emotions through you in a way that makes you just want to give in already. It's good being even just this close to him and Asmodeus has hardly even done anything to you yet. You revel, cheeks red with the blush that colors you beautifully bronze skin and your cock jumping, twitching in excitement.

It's only now that a surge of magic seems to ripple through the air before you find yourself getting wrapped up in the man's arms and hauled up easily. You move to squeak out loud but Asmo quickly covers your mouth with a firm hand, pressing close to your back as he holds you and then begins to move, gathering your sweet body in his arms before quickly moving away and putting distance between the two of you and the group.

He takes you away, quickly moving and rushing to his room, entering and kicking the door closed behind him just to fall with you onto his fluffy bed and sheeting in a fit of limbs.

He huffs out a laugh as you chuckle, his hair slightly messy and his eyes shining as he now towers over your form, looking down at you and your face… your beautiful skin and hard cock which stood proudly even though your shorts loosely hung around your ankles. As he moved to lift your thighs, smooth and warm hands slowly sliding over and under your melanated thighs in order to push them up and it makes you blush deeply especially as Asmodeus doesn't see any problem with looking at you as if you were a meal beautifully wrapped up just for him to dig into. He takes his time even though he's so excited himself, moving in close after a moment, his eyes lidded and focused and yours and you feel your heart banging around in your chest like it's trying to escape your desire for lust even though you definitely weren't going anywhere now.

Not after he so easily swept you up in his arms and ran off like a knight in shining armor.

You wait until he's close, closer than he's probably ever been and gently brush your lips over his own and Asmodeus hums softly at the reaction before pressing his lips into yours.

He's careful at first, so patient and caring and then he gets rougher, nipping and biting your lip after you've kissed for so long that you began to lose your breath. His lips are smooth, his mouth so adamant and your head was spinning, your body growing more and more desperate as the two of you taste each other. It's addicting, the way his lips feels against yours, so much so that when he pulls away… even for just a moment, you manage to whimper.

“Don't worry, I'll take care of you~” Asmodeus coos and it sends you into a frenzy, much more so when he leans in, kissing your lips once more before moving and kissing your jawline and then your throat. As he nips at your collar bone just moments later you groan out, hands moving to grab hold of him but Asmo seems to see it coming, lifting his gaze to look up at you with those eyes of his and while you can see he wants you you can also see that he clearly… wants you to wait. To behave. You suck in a breath before shakily moving your hands to instead grip at the sheets under you.

He doesn't rush; though he's careful as if he's counting the pores on your tanned skin, humming softly here and there when you seem to stir as he presses his lips against spots that are sensitive. He finds it alluring, cute, attractive and Asmodeus can't seem to really control himself the more kisses he lays against that skin. The heated smooches lead lower and lower until you lose track of controlling your own desire. Just from kisses alone he has you rolling your head back, biting your bottom lip, shivering… and you can't imagine what it'll feel when you actually give yourself to him.

“A-Asmo-” you whine only to jerk, gasping loudly when something hot and slippery runs leisurely over your puckered anus. He purrs between your legs, liking that sound…loving the reaction and so Asmodeus does it once more. Trailing that heated tongue of his slowly and firmly over you asshole and as you mewl, twitching and squeezing around nothing already Asmo takes the time to now wrap a hand slowly around your cock as his tongue swipes and swirls sinfully at that sensitive hole of yours. There's nothing you can do but accept that passion, panting now and heavily as your eyes flutter shut and squeeze tight. You move your hands down, freeing the sheets from the death grip you had on them and now moving them under your hips.

Asmo keeps his eyes on you, lidded and curious and when you take hold of you fat and plush ass cheeks before spreading them for him.. holding them open some more as well as your thighs which shook now, Asmo felt something in himself fall apart.

“A-Asmo… Asmodeus please..” you gasped, breathing heavily as your toes curl now. How could you not? Who would you be to refuse him?

You simply couldn't and he loved knowing that.

He pulls back from you puckered and now slobbery wet anus, taking a moment to watch you pant and watch it twitch, clearly craving to be filled. Asmodeus was hard, extremely and so much so that he also moves to now slowly wrap his hand around the based of your heated cock.

It makes you cry out, the feeling of him touching you where you seemed to need it the most while also taking the time to continue eating your ass.

You can't seem to handle your voice now, nipples hard and cheeks red as your legs settled on his shoulders. As long as you've been here now there just always was something that absolutely drove him crazy about this demon and the others.

Asmo eventually pulls away, slowly; his head carefully pulls back and a strand of saliva can be seen connecting him to you before the strand breaks and begins to cool on your twitch anus. His cheeks are red too, granted probably not as bad as your own but when Asmo looks you in the eyes again he chuckles softly before snuggly wrapping his hand around your cock again but this time he gathers your testicles in his hold as well… kinda like a cock ring. Holding you in the most sensitive of places right now.

You whine loudly not caring at all now if there was a possibility of getting caught because you were getting off one way or another.

“I love hearing you beg~...” He breathes, panting heavily before he lets you go but only for a moment in order to pull his trousers down and release his cock from his confines. It jumps out, hard and pink at the tip due to sensitivity and you blush deeply when you return to look at it taking in account of its impressive length and the sweet, smooth skin of it that just made you want to touch it all over and in every way possible.

“Do it more.~” Asmo purrs as he moves to put his hands back on you and like a good boy you lay back again but not without reaching your hand out to touch him so more. It's hard not to with him being so close, Asmodeus really was a fine man and it was clear just why he was known for what he was known for. Your stomach is bubbling with need and you beg him, panting out for him to come closer… to give you what both of you wanted and Asmo could spend hours, days, teasing that beautiful body of yours until you quite literally a broken mess. The look in your eyes says it all and for a moment as he sees it Asmodeus smiles, then chuckles softly before placing his hands on each side of your body to stabilize himself.

He can't wait.

He needs to fuck you silly, and so he moves his hips against yours, biting his lip and groaning when his cock slides against your own before getting caught and the slippery rim that throbbed and twitching, being him to enter. Who would Asmo be not to help? And so, he shifts, the head of his cock getting caught on your skin again before slowly pushing forward, the round and hot tip pushing past your tight muscle and you jolt, arching under him as a long moan falls from your lips as Asmodeus pushes in inch by inch until his cock is snuggly wrapped around your fluttering pink walls.

He's only just started and yet your breath is ragged, ruined.

The feeling of him pressed balls deep in your wet and slutty asshole leaves you breathless, the itch of it all just starting to kill you. You hadn't even noticed until now, until you felt the head of his cock nudging your pink walls but you're definitely closer than you'd like. You wanted to last longer, to just hold and fuck him all night but maybe Asmodeus was just too good at his job. Too good at charming his way into bed with people in order to have his way with them and oh you wanted to be used…

Needed to be used.

“P-Please Asmo! Pleasepleaseplease, just fuck me already just ram it into me-AHN!~” You cried out, gasping and jerking when Asmo slowly pulls his hips back just to slam right back in and when he slams into that sweet bundle of nerves in you it's clear that you've lost your mind; shaking, trembling, moaning and whining as he doesn't waste time building a pattern, quickly taking notice of what you seemed to like. He's so good, so adamant, so talented at just what he does and you're so helpless under her.

He touches you, hands moving and caressing you all over until he grins wickedly and takes hold of your cock and balls again, wrapping a hand around them before squeezing, groping, and tugging on them and it's simply too much.

Your head felt like goop, as if you had easily and willingly given yourself to a starving creature who was more than happy to consume you whole. More than happy to take you in every fashion of the word until all you should do is squeak and gasp and beg for both mercy and so, so much more.

He slides in and out, over and over and over again, the sound of skin slapping against skin and groans and moans filling the air as he fucks you, holding and tugging on you and matching up with each thrust in the process before he manages to get even greedier. As you grow louder, needier, dirtier, Asmodeus hisses under his breath. He curses softly as he looks at you, the way your face is all sweaty and red and your lush lips are open in desperate cries. From time to time you will open your eyes as an attempt to watch everything he's doing to you but when he hits one of those perfect spots you jolt and buck and beg him for more even though it feels almost too much, so much.

He moves to lean in even closer, watching you with his lidded eyes as he leans in, hooking his hands under your knees in order to keep you nice and open with he fucked your asshole open and coated his cock with your natural juices. It doesn't help that the slight change in position allows him to sink deeper. His cock firmly rutting and slamming into your prostate and what else can you do but take it like a good fucking boy?

“You're so cute…” he growls.

“Crying out my name, taking my cock like you're supposed to… that's right take it.” He says and his tone is a bit lower, feral, primal, and it's clear that he's just as gone as you are not.

It's so good that there's tears in your eyes ready to fall and run down those red cheeks of yours and Asmo loves it, loves knowing that currently out of everyone else… he was the one who was having you like this… having you like a slut on the corner, fucking you like he wanted to cum inside and breed you.

“Takeittakeittakeit.” he hisses, groaning as he continues to slam in and out of you, abusing your hole at this point until you cried out again, shouting out his name as you cum so fucking hard that I feels like the world is crashing around you as you toss your head back and rut until cum shoots up from your cock in a thick and heavy load. It makes him giggle, watching as you gasp and shake and then move your hands to shakily push on his chest like you can't decide whether or not you actually want to stop and he can't resist it either.

He cums hard, thick fluid shooting out of his cock and coating your twitching walls until you were so full of his cum that it carefully dripped out and slowly down the crack of your ass cheeks.

The two of you pant heavily; messy and covered in sweat and cum and fuck you loved when he did this to you and oh boy did Asmodeus love doing it.

You doubted you'd ever get sick of being under him.

[lostsoulaltair]

OnS Chapter 136 Analysis - Love vs The Past

Well, a new chapter dropped. I must say that I liked it. We really are heading towards the end of the story and two sides now are on stage.

One fighting for love; the other one fighting to bring back something that is long lost.

Love can often be misunderstood in the manga story; to the point it distorts a lot, but in reality, it takes so many shapes, so many forms along giving birth to ideals.

Each character within the story is moved to do something for "love". But in this role too; the "love" for the "past" exists.

The past is a momentum that will always live in our memories; it is something that will forever be frozen; something that will not change. It's something that is part of us without defining us.

As we've seen today; the chapter starts with Yuu trying to reach the First; but given that the Progenitors want to avoid the destruction of the world much further; they were preventing Yuu from making contact with the First.

Of course, we see how Mika couldn't withstand the raw power of Urd Geales; we saw Shinya and Kureto alive and kicking once again; and finally, the main spot; the reunion between Shikama and Yuu.

Shikama is aware that Yuu has all his memories back ever since he detected an anomaly along the interaction with the corpse of Mikaela. Of course, whenever Shikama knows the soul of his son is alive and kicking, it's up to interpretation. Though, it is clear he knows it exists.

Eventually we see how Shikama is going to bestow Yuu his knowledge and power

But before he could give away his power to Yuu; Shinoa interferred with the possibility.

Leading to our possible future battle between Shinoa and Yuu.

Two ideals being carried away within the story. And yet, at the same time they connect through the main theme. "Love."

And no, it's not "romantic love ". The "love" or 愛 which is not the same as other interpretations of love itself. Just "ai". A love that takes so many shapes.

Let's begin with the real analysis here.

Yuu isn't exactly fighting for humanity nor his friends, nor his family. Given that the "regression" process he made to recall his whole life; he saw how his life originated alongside being the son of the First.

Given that, he is actually aiming for the task of "saving" but given that "love" is playing its role as well. It is the love he has deep down for his father that he is doing everything to bring back what his father cherished in the past. Which is something reflected as well when he was the angel Mikaela. Taking his life so divine punishment wouldn't fall upon his father.

Shikama did love his angels, his followers and he did blame himself for the punishment that fell upon them. But given God's nature; it was normal that the punishment fell upon those angels given that they no longer praised for God.

Though; one thing Shikama and Yuu have in common, is the attachment to the past. It is the very fact that the past for them is something that should have prevailed instead of changing. What do I mean?

To Shikama, the Progenitors he chose, despite being reincarnations of those angels that followed him once; are not his angels.

And this is highly visible once Ashera asks Shikama what he should do back in chapter 117.

To his eyes, Shikama's sired progenitors were just tools given that to him; they are shadows of who they were once, but to those progenitors; even if they have acknowledged that they are reincarnations; they made a choice.

They chose to follow up their own path. And as they've stated back in chapter 114; their last and final task is to protect the world they live in. Meaning avoiding the resurrection of the angel Mikaela.

But now, why do I say Shikama and Yuu have one thing in common?

Yuu is a character that despite living endlessly; along having a constant memory reset until now that he gathered all his memories; he's done one thing to no end. And that is living in the past.

True, there are scars that take its time to heal from the past; some are very difficult nonetheless; he chose to live in such past. When he had a chance to make a choice; that choice was no longer centered in the present; it began to lead further astray to the past.

But then, what's the point of those promises?

Given how everything has turned. Those promises are something that can't be fulfilled. What do I mean?

In order to revive the angels from long ago; sacrifices must be made. But here's another thing that it is being dismissed. What could it be?

The absolute lack of appreciation to life.

Yuu might state he aims to save everyone; even to Ashera who at the end understood that there are limits to life. He loved and embraced he managed to get his sister back; but the cost for that was making her suffer for eternity; nevertheless, the lives both had, those kind of experiences they managed to live had their moments of bliss; bringing back entities that perished long ago, is discarting the moments experienced, the moments lived along the emotions that were carried through a lifetime.

But now, there is an opposite force here. And that force is no other than. "Love."

Many might consider that Shinoa's love is "obssession, madness like Mahiru's love" but no. This is actually wrong.

Back when she stated she would kill Mikaela; there was a massive misconception of this which chapter 133 explained a lot.

Shinoa thought Yuu was being possessed by Mikaela at that time hence her retoric; but given that she saw first hand that Yuu had fooled them; she understood that Yuu was doing everything on his own will. And let's not forget that Yuu might be dumb, but not clueless or ignorant.

Shinoa's form of "love" is not something that came out of nothing; it's something that began taking shape by her own; it began from curiosity, turning into uncertainty, then transforming into caring, along developing feelings for a special someone. Such feelings for her were seen as something hideous or bad; but at the end, she understood they weren't bad, nevertheless, she never admitted them until or rather never accepted them truthfully until chapter 133.

Chapter 133 was a very reflexive chapter given that it gave Shinoa resolution; a resolution as to why it is the reason she was standing still in the very end of the world.

Shinoa's love is not centered to one person, but rather; it is centered to the very core family she gained through her journey which lead to this.

Her battle and her resolution is directed to the very family that has stood with her and has followed her through the long journey she has taken so far. Hence why; she is standing along her squad just like how the vampires did; how they are going to live. Not by a decree of an entity, not by a decree of her sister and Guren nor the vampires; but rather, taking their own path until the very end.

Hence why Shikama states that her love is self centered, which is no different from him. He centered his love to his angels; Shinoa is centering her love to those who exist in the present. Along letting them return to their normality before the world ended; given that the end of the world, the events that took place before they were born, were all spiderwebs made by the First.

This is the first time they are fighting for their own.

What do you think it'll happen next?

Let me know!

[inkblackorchid]

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 4)

*Deep breath* Okay, everybody. Let's do this one more time.

First off, hello, or welcome back. Let's get the introductions and disclaimers out of the way, shall we?

This is the fourth and final instalment in my very, very long-winded attempt to analyse the character writing of Crow over the course of the entirety of yugioh 5Ds. For everyone who hasn't read the previous parts of the analysis, you can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.

This post, and my analysis as a whole, is neither meant as a Crow hate post, nor as a manifesto to convince people who don't like him that they're wrong. It's as genuine an attempt to simply look at and dissect what the show gives us about him as I can make, though I admit to personal bias because I do like Crow. That said, I'm trying to stay as neutral as possible, because the aim of this entire post tetralogy is to look at the writing decisions made for this character and how they impact him—and how they possibly influenced the audience's perception of him.

My previous three posts all reference this as well, but since I still see these things parroted all across the internet to this day: Please don't read this post under the assumption that any of the 5Ds production rumours are true, especially not the ones surrounding Crow. Because, to make this as short as possible, every popular theory as to why certain characters were mishandled during the later parts of the show fails to line up with the production timeline of said show. Chiefly among those theories, the idea that Crow was meant to be a dark signer and that his popularity correlated to his cards, and the idea that Aki, specifically, had to give up her screentime for him because her VA got pregnant, which both lack any basis in reality, as you can read in the posts I linked. (One final shoutout to @mbg159 here, who compiled these incredibly comprehensive posts and can also be found here on tumblr. Huge thanks.) So if you can do me one favour, please just let the 5Ds rumours die already and read this analysis without the hope of seeing any of them confirmed. I'm so sick of these crackpot theories at this point that I can hardly find the words for it. And while we're on the topic, I also don't want to see this post used as a means to pit Aki and Crow against each other in any way—both have good reasons to be well-liked and both deserve their spot in the narrative, all right? All right.

And now, at last, let's get down to business. The last time I got on a virtual soapbox and yelled about Crow, I covered the entire WRGP, murder-duel-robot induced break included. That means that for this, final stretch, we'll be looking at everything from episode 137 onwards—the Ark Cradle arc. (A side not for dub aficionados here: Episode 136 was the last episode that got an English dub. In other words, everything I talk about here never even made it into the English version. Because 4Kids, I guess.) As we've done before, we'll take a look at what exactly Crow gets up to during the final stretch of the show (and, notably, the epilogue), then see whether any of it needed improving, and if so, how it could have been improved.

You'll find all further yelling below the readmore, and I'll leave you with the other, usual warning here, as well: This will be long. Even if the Ark Cradle arc, relative to the rest of the show, isn't, this post most certainly will be. So get some snacks and perhaps don't start reading this late at night unless you're good at knowing when to stop and reading stuff in bursts. (I'm not.)

As I concluded at the end of my last post, the WRGP ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for Crow. He's there, he duels, but at the same time, despite being positioned as an equal third of a protagonist trio, he's notably less important and arguably also weaker than Yusei and Jack. Moreover, where the plot is concerned, he sure didn't get too much to do—not to speak of the fact that the writers didn't grace him with any meaningful interactions with a certain character who'll become very relevant here.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, the preamble.

With the end of the Team New World duel, the final arc of the show drops the by this point unexpected arrival of the Ark Cradle right on our heads. So, what does Crow do here, at the start, other than be shocked? Well, not much. A lot of the first episode that introduces the Ark Cradle focusses more on the imminent threat said structure poses to New Domino City, and we flash back to our protagonists mostly to ascertain that things are, in fact, going to shit. Even once that focus on the city evacuating shifts again, the episode concerns itself more with Yusei than with Crow. However, meagre as it is, we do get the first interaction between Crow and Sherry during the Ark Cradle arc in this episode.

(Uh.... at least they're technically talking to each other?)

And frankly... It's not much. Unfortunately, up until the duel where he faces her, the Ark Cradle arc continues a trend regarding interactions between Crow and Sherry that we already saw in the WRGP: They barely get to interact, and even when they do, they never have anything so much as resembling a meaningful conversation, mostly because Sherry basically never addresses Crow directly, nor seems very interested in him, while Crow is usually there only to react to what she's saying, rather than actually talk to her. While digging through my mountain of screenshots, I found that latter part to be especially interesting, because as it turns out, this is a trend not just in Crow's interactions with Sherry, specifically. Many moments that probably contribute to the nefarious "screentime" (I've explained my gripes with this term in part two) some people like to accuse Crow of hogging have him only be part of a scene so he can react to what happens in it, to the point of him sometimes feeling like a stand-in for the audience reaction the writers might be hoping for. The above is a perfect example, because as far as character writing is concerned, Crow's "interaction" with Sherry here is utterly devoid of meaning. He's just there to communicate his disbelief over the ominous prediction that Yusei is guaranteed to die if he goes to the Ark Cradle, which feels like exactly the kind of reaction the writers probably wanted from the audience. After all, it's a bold, shocking statement to make. The protagonist, dying? In a card game anime geared towards twelve year-olds? It's downright preposterous. And Crow seems to agree with that, if his dialogue is anything to go by.

This one and other scenes (mostly the kind that contain plot elements that Crow doesn't actually interact with) got me thinking, though, and after having gone through so much of the show with a fine-tooth comb now, I think I've come to a conclusion, so permit me a tangent here: I believe the choice to let Crow, specifically, be a character who often only reacts to events or interactions after the DS arc, rather than contributing much himself, is deliberate. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's the only character who is frequently put in this position—Aki, the twins, and even Bruno, especially when they're on the sidelines in the WRGP, also often only seem to be there to react or comment on things, perhaps partially to remind us viewers that they still exist, despite not being in a position where they contribute anything to the plot. With how much the twins and Aki got pushed to the side after the pre-WRGP and the Unicorn duel, respectively, and with how toned-down Bruno's entire character is until the very end, as not to spoil his tragic antagonist status too much, Crow in particular ending up as an often reactive, rather than active character stands out a bit more, though. And I think this has everything to do with his personality, because it contrasts that of Jack and Yusei. Think of it. Sure, Crow is shown several times to be just as cool and competent as the other two, but what he has that the other two crucially lack is the ability to freak out like a normal person. I'm being hyperbolic here, of course, but I do genuinely believe this, because when I think back to the show, Jack and Yusei, due to their character writing, only ever seem to be allowed to lose their cool during pretty specific circumstances, and only in very specific ways. Jack, for example, only ever gets to freak out either when a scene paints him as the butt of the joke (like during his infamous, dramatic outburst over cup ramen), or when the freakout is caused by—and expressed as—righteous (or not so righteous) fury (like when he storms off angrily after catching everyone watching his old duel with Dragan). Meanwhile, Yusei is played so straight that we barely ever see him lose his composure at all, outside of intensely dramatic, high-stakes situations (think his dark signer duels with Kiryu, his confrontation with Roman, his initial failure to accel synchro). Hell, the closest we get to ever seeing him be mildly upset about something like a normal person, as far as I can recall, is when he gets embarrased by Martha calling him out on his perceived crush on Aki. That's it.

Crow, though. Crow's allowed to do something the other two aren't: He's allowed to react to the world around him like your average guy. Jack blows through their household money for expensive coffee. Crow gets upset. Understandable. Crow gets injured right before his big debut in a turbo duelling tournament and is upset to the point of snapping at his friends over it. Understandable. Seeing Yaeger's kid cheering his dad on and knowing that this kid will cry if his dad loses makes Crow relent and throw the match. Understandable. Sherry predicts Yusei's imminent death due to hocus pocus and Crow calls bullshit. Understandable.

Do you see what I'm driving at? With how the show treats the other two Satellite boys, I'd argue none of the moments above would have worked anywhere near as well if the writers had tried to make Jack or Yusei take Crow's place in any of them. Because while Yusei and Jack, I feel, were certainly written to be the coolest characters (at least to the target audience), Crow seems like he was written to be the most relatable. He's the guy who takes on a delivery job when they need money. He's the guy who complains about his cranky landlady. And he's the guy who reacts to insane nonsense happening around him a little more realistically than his defeated-an-ancient-devil-to-absorb-its-power brother, his shouldering-the-guilt-of-a-cataclysmic-event-decades-ago other brother, their mutual previously-violent-psychic-who-was-part-of-a-cult friend, and the one-of-us-can-see-spirits-and-we-share-a-weird-kind-of-magical-bond twins. As such, it doesn't feel too out there to me to claim that in many situations, they made Crow the stand-in for the audience, because he has a less iron composure than Jack and Yusei, is readily available in many scenes by virtue of living with the other two, and happens to be the guy who has the arguably most normal backstory out of the signers. (Save, perhaps, for Rua, but I've already addressed before why the writers barely ever pulled Rua centre stage for anything. And they certainly wouldn't have pulled him centre stage for this, either.)

Now, as far as character writing is concerned, assuming I'm at least halfway correct with my hunch above, I feel that whether or not this decision is good or a shot in the foot on the writers' part depends largely on every audience member's individual perception of Crow after the DS arc. If you liked seeing this scrappy guy introduced during the DS arc, of course you would have been happy to see more of him! Even if he's only present in scenes to comment on what's going on and doesn't actually get to do anything meaningful. If you didn't like Crow that much, though, I can see how him popping up so often only to yap a bit and contribute essentially nothing could have grated on you. And as I said, I think this is where the "screentime" discussion comes in again, because yeah, Crow is very much on screen in all these little-bit-of-nothing scenes. He doesn't get to do much and his character isn't fleshed out or reinforced in any way, but he sure is there. For better or for worse.

And this—this is where I can finally get back to him and Sherry. Because in his interactions specifically with her, it is for worse, due to the fact that all the scenes that contain both of them before the Ark Cradle duel are pretty much exclusively these kinds of little-bit-of-nothing, reactive scenes. Crow doesn't get to interact with Sherry meaningfully, and he never—and I need to empathise this—, not once gets to interact with her one on one, not until the end-of-series duel both of them take part in happens. What makes Crow's lack of meaningful interactions with Sherry even worse is that his later duelling partner against her is Aki, of all people, who by contrast gets to interact with Sherry a whole bunch, most notably during her duel against Yusei. Not only that, but Sherry is also shown to actually be interested in Aki, which cannot be said for Crow. Yet, still in the same episode I was describing above, while the Ark Cradle begins its descent, it's not Aki, but Crow who is entrusted with this card by Mizoguchi/Elsworth:

(I'd like to point out that the dialogue following this moment doesn't make it clear whether Crow even knows what Sherry's connection to this card is. For all we know, this could be the first time Crow sees it, without being aware of any of the context surrounding it.)

You know, the card that's essentially a symbol of Sherry's attachment to her parents and her commitment to revenge. The card that basically her entire character revolves around. For a single piece of cardboard, this thing comes with a lot of narrative baggage attached, yet canon doesn't even take the time to assure us that Crow knows what Z-ONE means, other than it being a memento of Sherry's parents, as Mizoguchi explains. And frankly, this all feels like a rather ham-fisted attempt to get some last-minute setup for the later confrontation between Crow and Sherry in. It's like the writers desperately wanted to feel the emotional moment in the duel later to feel earned; they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. There's only one problem: They didn't even bake the damned thing, the ingredients are just sitting around, untouched, as if staring at them long enough will magically make a cake manifest.

But, well, since I'm already talking about this, I may as well get into the actual meat of the matter, because frankly, it's not like Crow gets much else to do at the start of the arc. Yusei takes off because he at first wants to go to the Ark Cradle alone (like an idiot), leading to the signers coming after him (and telling him he's an idiot). Joining this effort and assuring Yusei that they won't let him die alongside the others is as much as Crow gets to do before the inevitable three-way duel starts.

(That said, while it doesn't accomplish anything, I've always appreciated this little moment while Yusei still tries to pull his stupid kamikaze plan—Crow would know more shortcuts in the BAD area than he does. After all, he lived there for a good while!)

After that, everyone gets up to the Ark Cradle and, as we all know, the signer group is forcibly split up by Z-ONE before deciding to go to a Yusei gear each in order to shut down Ark Cradle's negative Moment. (Top ten sentences that wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who isn't up to their neck in 5Ds lore.) And the very first duel on the menu in this final stretch of episodes is also Crow's final duel in the entire show.

(Drumroll please.)

Here's the thing. I love this duel, actually. I get extremely hyped every time I rewatch it. BUT. But. I do not love it so blindly that I couldn't see that it has not one, but several issues. Not only that, but those issues don't just rest on Crow's shoulders, they sadly rest on the shoulders of all three participants in this duel, because frankly? Alongside the four-way Jack/Rua/Ruka/Aporia duel, this duel is one of the Ark Cradle arc's desperate attempts to tie up loose ends. Because as much as I enjoy this arc, that's exactly what it is: A race to the finish line, an attempt to tie as many loose ends as possible up in as little time as the show could get away with. To make clear why I think this, let me just list off all the things this arc resolves or at the very least tries to tie up with a neat bow:

It reintroduces Aki's psychic powers, which we were previously led to believe she'd lost. Notably, we didn't get a reason for why they disappeared and don't get a reason for why they reappear, either. It also turns them into healing powers in an attempt to establish a reason for why she later studies medicine.

It explains what happened to Sherry and what actually drives her revenge. Furthermore, it releases her from her narrative fridge-prison in order to actually let her duel Aki (yes, Aki, specifically), which is a confrontation that was subtextually implied several times previously.

It resolves the question of Bruno's identity by revealing him as an antagonist.

It finally reveals Life Stream Dragon, who was at this point teased over seventy episodes ago.

It also finally rewards Rua, who was teased to possibly become a signer during the DS arc, with an actual signer mark. (As short-lived as it may be.)

It actually explains Iliaster's real plan, which is Z-ONE's hope that the 5Ds gang can actually save the future.

Speaking of which, it actually explains who Z-ONE is and why he's a big deal. (Remember, this guy was first teased a good while ago at this point in time.)

Alongside Sherry, it dusts off several protagonists who didn't get an opportunity to duel on-screen and lets them duel one, final time. (Notably, Aki, Rua, and Ruka, who at this point haven't been seen duelling since the early WRGP or even pre-WRGP.)

You may notice that none of these bullet points contain Crow. They do, however, contain Aki and Sherry, both of whom went into this finale with several unanswered questions as to their characters. Crow, not so much. But let's just put a pin in that for now while we actually jump into the duel.

*Cracks knuckles* Aki & Crow VS Sherry. Here we go at last. Fair warning, the character writing of all three participants of this duel overlaps a fair bit here, so expect to hear a bit of a mishmash about our revenge trio.

So, how does this duel start? Firstly, with Sherry waxing poetic about why she's even opposing Team 5Ds now.

(A dramatic switch of sides that sadly doesn't hold a candle to Bruno turning out to be Antinomy. Which, funnily enough, might be why this duel is front-loaded and Bruno's comes later.)

I won't dig into this too much, but I just want to point out the one thing this moment gives us: It establishes character motivation. Sherry claims she can no longer get revenge and has thus lost her purpose. (The reason why she can no longer get revenge, if you're interested, is because Moment Express, her final lead, vanished in its entirety, as far as canon is concerned.) Thus, she took the bait when Z-ONE offered her a new purpose, and, more importantly, a reward. Now, Aki and Crow at this point in the episode don't get to hear what that reward is, but for our analysis, it's important to keep in mind: Z-ONE promised Sherry he'd alter the timeline so she would get her parents back if she helps him. And I think this is immensely important because this is not only Sherry's goal in the present, I think it's actually the core of her character from the very first moment we meet her. In classic, tragic-avenging-type character fashion, she claims to want revenge when what she's really doing is trying to numb the pain of the awareness that she'll never get her parents back. (Though I'll admit this may also be my generous read of her as a person who likes revenge-obsessed characters.) And then, Z-ONE dangles the actual thing she wanted all along before her. Of course she took the bait.

This brings us to the start of the duel itself. As we know, Sherry employs some tactics that feel quite different from what she previously did in this duel. First and foremost, she messes with the mechanics of the duel itself by using the field spell Ecole de Zone, creating an illusion that confuses Aki and Crow into duelling not her, but each other at first. Sherry, meanwhile, takes a very passive role, clearly intent on letting the two destroy each other while she sporadically activates card effects to accelerate this. What makes all this stand out as even more unusual for her is that she sets this up by lying. At the beginning of the duel, she tells Aki and Crow that there's two of her, and that each duellist will fight one copy of her on a seperate field each, but this is a misdirection to make the two signers duel each other instead of her. And, look. I don't need to tell you this is out of character for Sherry. Canon literally does that for me.

(Case in point.)

It's only after Crow and Aki catch onto the fact that something's wrong and after Aki destroys the field spell that Sherry uses her "real strategy", switching to Soul Binding Gate, which inflicts real damage every time a monster with less attack points than her life points is summoned, in order to whittle away at both other duellists' life points. This is also the point where she reveals to her opponents that she's doing all this to get her parents back. While she does that, we get a bit more back and forth in terms of cardplay, until Aki sets the field up just right so Crow can land a very high-damage hit with Black-Winged Dragon to end the duel. And that is pretty much the gist of it on the duelling side of things.

So what's going on on the narrative side of things, then? Well. Let me front-load something I've noticed on the narrative end: This duel heavily interacts with Crow's and Sherry's characterisation, but barely at all with Aki's. I'll make clear what I mean by that below. For now, let's just get an overview by going through the character moments as they occur in the duel. Why go through all of them? Because most either interact with Crow in some way, or set up a later interaction in the same duel that he's a part of, that's why. I'll get into the nitty-gritty of what this duel did well and what it didn't after that. (Mostly. You may have noticed I like tangents and rambling excessively.)

So.

The first moment belongs to Aki and Crow in equal measure, and happens just as Ecole de Zone is destroyed—which Aki accomplishes by using Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, as well as prevent that synchro summon from being negated through the same monster's effect, so she can use her dragon's field wipe to get rid of Sherry's field spell. When Sherry is surprised by this, Aki and Crow explain that they memorised each other's cards as part of a strategic effort as a WRGP team.

(Friendship is, in fact, magic.)

Not only does this explanation make perfect sense, it's also an excellent little tidbit to tie Aki and Crow together as a tag-team here, as it strengthens the connection between them. The only gripe I could possibly see with this is that it feels like this didn't necessarily need to be a surprise, end-of-the-show reveal. Frankly, it could have been pretty cool to see this much earlier, to have members of Team 5Ds realise what their teammates were getting up to during the WRGP duels, for example. (Instead of so often having the other signers react just as shocked as the announcer to their teammates' plays—I'm side-eyeing the infamous "a trap from the graveyard"-moment in particular. Like, Aki, sweetie, if you memorised Crow's deck, why are you surprised that he has a trap he can activate from the graveyard? I digress.) Moreover, this could have built anticipation for this particular duel, as viewers would have been excited to see what Aki and Crow would come up with to defeat Sherry as a team. So this moment is not bad, really. Just a bit underutilised, at least to me. (The word "underutilised" might become a trend in this post.)

Every other character-driven moment from here on out is shoved into the second duel episode, 140. Speaking of which, this episode starts with Aki and Crow getting the reveal of why Sherry is helping Z-ONE, where she admits that she joined the bad guys because she wants her parents back. She even goes as far as stating that because Z-ONE showed her the future, she has no hope that it can be saved and thus at least wants her lovely past back so she can have some solace before everything goes to hell for humanity. But we already went over that above.

Next up, albeit this moment should probably be considered more of a running theme than just one self-contained thing, we have Crow's struggle with Soul Binding Gate. Remember, the effect of this field spell causes all players to take damage every time a monster with less ATK than Sherry's LP is summoned. And at this point in the duel, Aki is barely above 1000 life points, so Crow worries about triggering the field spell's effect and hurting her, which leads to him playing suboptimally because he's more concerned about his friend than about winning the duel. Notably, Aki calls him out on this.

(She has a point.)

Outside of providing an internal conflict for Crow to grapple with, this isn't much to write home about. (Side note: I do find it interesting that they introduce the fear of physically hurting someone in a duel specifically in connection to Aki here, though, given that through her psychic powers, she had to grapple with this exact issue many times in the past. I have no idea if this was intentional, though.)

Between this and the next moment, there's a nice bit of interplay between Crow and Aki again, where he activates a card to refill her life points just in time so she doesn't drop to zero through Soul Binding Gate, while Aki uses a defensive trap to protect Crow in return.

(This is just here because it's a money shot to me. The juxtaposition of their faces and their life points, showing that while Aki may have the lowest life points, she still has the coolest head in this duel, and while Sherry technically has the upper hand, she's beginning to falter because she didn't anticipate the other two to work so well together. It's chef's kiss. Mwah.)

What follows after this, is, of course, the Big Moment. Where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit so she can win and have Z-ONE change the past. And this is the one I really need to dig into.

With Sherry's earlier admission that she's on Iliaster's side because she wants her parents back acting as setup, she begins her attempt to sway Crow by telling him that if he had the opportunity to change the past, he would do it, too. And while Crow initially protests, Sherry challenges this, then proceeds to show him what Z-ONE's power could accomplish, and we get a lengthy sequence where Sherry, through weird cyborg-techno-magic-shenanigans that are never explained, takes Aki and Crow to a dreamlike space where Crow sees the orphans he used to take care of being happily reunited with their parents. Sherry also ominously tells him that this is "what he desires deep in his psyche" before promising him that if he surrenders the duel, Z-ONE can give him a world where Zero Reverse never occurred and all the kids can have happy lives with their real families. (I wanted to post most of this sequence in screenshots, but while I have them, I've realised I'm only a few images short of tumblr's limit already, so forgive me because I will need those remaining image spots.) This moment proceeds to introduce some serious doubt on Crow's end. Aki, meanwhile, remains steadfast, telling him not to fall for Sherry's manipulation, which leads to her giving an almost Yusei-style speech. In a moment where Crow wavers, both because he's genuinely considering whether taking Sherry's offer might be the wiser choice, and because he doesn't want to hurt Aki by triggering Sherry's field spell effect, Aki calls out to him and tells him to snap out of it by reminding him of how Yusei reached out to her during their second duel. This speech is a bit, um. Clunky, I feel. (At least if the translation is correct. If it isn't, then that may be the issue.) See, she tells him that Yusei "saved her from the darkness of her psychic powers", that "he wasn't concerned about his own safety and risked his life to persuade her", that, because her psychic powers are now gone, she's "renewed" and that this somehow brought her to the epiphany that as long as she believes in her own potential, she can change the future. This is lifted almost verbatim from the scene, by the way. Leaving aside the fact that half of this feels like a mild to severe misrepresentation of Aki's character arc during the DS arc (don't talk about it, don't talk about it, I need to make this another post of its own, damn it), I, personally, can't exactly follow how she ended up with that final epiphany from the circumstances she listed. But lucky for us, Crow apparently gets what she's driving at, because he quickly echoes her statement and they both conclude that Crow's kids also believe in the future and fight to live, that they're not sad about their lives the way they are right now, even though they don't have parents. Thus, Crow catches himself, echoing Aki's sentiment and telling Sherry that he, too, believes in the future. And through the power of Friendship and Believing in the Future, he manages to use Aki's cards to land the final hit, nicely mirroring how she used his to destroy Ecole de Zone.

...Phew. Okay, look. First off, that above, large section is basically several character beats stacked on top of one another. On Sherry's end, we have the intriguing fact that she's specifically trying to manipulate Crow, not Aki. In fact, she doesn't so much as try to sway Aki, as though she knows it's no use. Then, on Aki's end, we've got her pulling a real Yusei, staying level-headed almost the entire duel and reaching out to make sure Crow stays on track. This moment also ties back to her own conflict with her powers again. (Which, unfortunately, I will talk about, and yes, I'll be chewing drywall the entire time I do it.) Finally, on Crow's end, we've got a nice, proper moment where he doubts himself and, by his own admission, nearly makes a terrible mistake because he wants nothing more than for the kids he used to take care of to have good lives.

Now, before I go over what worked about this moment and what didn't, let me just chew through the rest of the actual duel itself, too, then circle back too highlight some things. In other words, time for me to chew some drywall.

*Sigh*

At the very end of the duel, there are two more character moments that are noteworthy.

First, right before the final hit, we get Sherry desperately defending herself against Aki and Crow's newly strengthened belief that the future can, in fact, still be saved, which she does by (rather heartbreakingly) asking what's so wrong about wanting her parents back, about wanting their love and warmth back. It's at this point that Crow's allowed to get back at Sherry by challenging her beliefs, telling her that people "work hard to live because they only get one chance at life", and that there's no point in trying to go back to do things differently, that the only way to keep going is to believe in the future, regardless of whatever painful and sad events one has had to live through. I'd say this sentiment certainly fits Crow, character-wise, especially given his rough Satellite background. It does partially fall flat because it feels a bit weird for him, specifically, to now be acting like he knows Sherry inside and out, much like she did with him earlier, but again, this is simply a matter of setup and I'll try not to belabour that point again. The horse is already dead, no sense in beating it. It's after this speech and the final attack that Sherry finally realises her error.

Buuut this leads us right into the next character moment. Because as the duel ends, Sould Binding Gate physically falls apart, pelting all three of our duel participants in debris and threatening to crush them under it. While everyone does briefly fall over (and Sherry gets a moment to realise that her father wanted her to live strong, not accept seemingly inevitable doom and die weak), they soon realise they were not, in fact, buried under rubble, though. Because guess what! Black Rose Dragon to the rescue. Black Rose Dragon, who can suddenly physically affect her surroundings again. You know, that thing we were led to believe Aki could no longer make her monsters do because she lost her powers completely out of nowhere. And there's more! Because not only does Black Rose Dragon take care of the debris for the trio, as she disappears, she also heals all three of them, and in response, Crow gets a line that I unfortunately cannot for the life of me discuss without bias because it kills me every time.

(Crow. Crow, please. You're killing me. I beg you.)

This line out of Crow's mouth feels extremely weird to me, and in the process of typing up this post, I've been trying to find the reason why. Here's the conclusion I've come to: Firstly, it feels a bit out of place from him, somehow. A line hypothesising about what psychic powers can or can't do—this is something I would have expected out of Aki's mouth, but not out of Crow's. I believe what makes it feel so out of place, though, isn't necessarily that it seems a bit odd for him, specifically, to theorise about this, but that when I hear it, I don't feel like the character is saying it. Instead, in this moment, moreso than in some others that suffer from the same issue, I hear not Crow, but the writers speaking. I hear them telling me "look, we know we made it seem like Aki's powers are super gone and like they were super, irredeemably bad, and like she and you should be happy that they're gone, but here, see, this is what they're really like. Don't you think we came up with something clever here, to set her becoming a doctor later up nicely? No, this isn't because we needed to backpedal on our decision to make her lose them and be happy about it at the last second, why do you ask?". And yes, I concede this might just be me. (So feel free to disregard this in terms of analysis, I just have some weird kind of vendetta against this line.) But still, even without my personal issues hampering me, this line of dialogue out of Crow's mouth is just plain odd. After all, how would he know what "real" psychic powers are? Since when is he the expert, especially considering we've never so much as seen him comment on Aki's powers before? (And for the record, this line would have seemed just as weird had any other character other than Aki said it imo. It just has that unmistakable "writers trying to justify something at the last second"-tang to me.)

And do not. Do Not get me started on the fact that the writers, despite going to such great pains to paint Aki's psychic powers as an exclusively negative thing especially during the WRGP arc, decide to reintroduce them here, suddenly as a good thing that can also heal people, which directly contradicts every choice they've made when it came to Aki's relationship to her powers ever since the Team Catastrophe duel. While crucially also lacking the one thing this entire duel is practically begging for: Fucking. Setup. But at this point, the handling of Aki's powers, specifically, really needs its own post, so I'll hold off on any further comments here and come back to that another time. I feel like I'm beginning to talk in circles, anyhow. Setup. Setup, setup, setup. This duel wishes it had it, because then the ideas presented here—which, in a vacuum, are compelling—might have worked smoothly.

But, with that. We have finally made it through the duel itself. Sherry, at the very end, gets her change of heart and at last cements herself as a good guy, and that concludes the first duel in the finale, and also both Aki and Crow's last duel in the entire show.

And good lord, was this duel all over the place. Though I think my meandering scene-by-scene breakdown of it showed as much. Now, onto the proper evaluation of what worked and what didn't here. First, let's get the good these two episodes do out of the way, shall we. (Because there is a lot of Bad I need to yell about, unfortunately.)

By virtue of being one of the final duels, this is Aki and Crow's last chance to shine, and shine, they do. Both in the duelling department and in the character department. Aki makes two major plays that upend Sherry's strategy and Crow's perfectly in sync with her, showing that the two truly are teammates, and paying off all the character moments they had specifically in the Team Unicorn to Team Catastrophe section of the WRGP. Their friendship and cooperation is believable and entertaining to watch. Then on the character side, Aki's growth is (somewhat) paid off—where she used to be a character that doubted herself and was afraid of hurting people, she is now the one who can keep a level head and help others fight their self-doubt. Meanwhile, Crow gets to show off his unfailing dedication to community and family again, both by watching out for Aki and by selflessly desiring not for himself to have a better life, but for the kids he used to take care of. And Sherry, who was previously removed from the narrative in such an unsatisfactory way, finally gets to duel again, gets to explain why she actually does what she does, and gets to join the heroes at the end, permanently joining the ranks of the good guys instead of the villains. Happy endings all around.

Ehem. And this is where I'm gonna be less nice about this duel. Because the problem is, due to the specific constellation of characters involved in this duel and how they previously interacted in the show, there's a lot of stuff here that doesn't work nearly as well on a second watch as a first watch would like to make you believe.

First, a broader issue on the card game end of things: The way this duel feels, it's very much more Aki's duel than Crow's, which is also kind of confirmed in the card plays being made. Though it's Crow who's first shown to catch onto the fact that a third party is activating additional card effects out of nowhere, it's Aki who fully solves the mystery, uses Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, then activates her dragon's effect to get rid of the illusion for good. And while Crow gets to land the final hit, it's Aki's setup and her trap, Synchro Stream, that make it possible for him to win for both of them. And yet. On the dialogue- and character-interaction side of things, this duel is made out to be much more Crow's than Aki's. Because, perhaps surprisingly to some, Aki doesn't waver one bit in this duel. She's got her head in the game the entire time. She's here to do business—that business being defeating Sherry—and by god, does she do it. Moreover, unlike Crow, she has much, much better setup to be duelling Sherry than he does. And this comes right back around to the main thing this duel suffers from, which I've already harped on about: Crow and Sherry, up until this point, have not interacted in a way that would make the connection between them seem in any way significant. Unfortunately for this duel, though, Aki and Sherry have.

From the first episode where we're introduced to Sherry, she's shown to be interested in who Aki is and what she can do. During the duel between her and Yusei, she comments on Aki's powers. Later, when Aki is getting her turbo duelling license, Sherry watches on with interest. At some point while Aki's training, Sherry drops by to speak with her and Yusei again. My point here being, of course, that Aki, unlike Crow, got several scenes where she interacted with Sherry or had Sherry meaningfully take note of her existence before this point. Yet, whatever dynamic the writers may or may not have been aiming for between these two is, at best, underutilised in the final duel, if not completely ignored, at worst. Instead, the writers shift their focus to Crow and try to make us believe that Sherry, a character who has barely acknowledged his existence thus far, would know him well enough to consider him the better target for her attempt at manipulation. (And don't get me started on how the hell Z-ONE's weird robot magic is supposed to expose what Crow "desires deep in his psyche". That is simply a chasm the show expects us to suspend our disbelief over.) And look. The thing is, I don't think the Big Moment where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit is terrible in isolation. Like, they could have made this work, had they given these two setup, had they given us, the audience, reason to believe Crow could be swayed like this (which they, notably, also didn't), and had they given us the impression that Sherry knows Crow well enough to pull something like this. What hurts the scene immensely, however, is that it's preceded by everything before, starting from the WRGP, where there is no setup between these two, no reason to believe Crow could be convinced to forfeit a duel against a major antagonist, and no meaningful interactions to support the belief that Sherry knows who Crow really is at all.

What also stands out to me is that Crow really doesn't feel like the best character to parallel Sherry, here, either. Parallel in the sense that she tries to get to him by expressing a desire she believes they both feel—getting a certain, nicer version of the past they never had back. Because the thing is, Sherry and Crow hardly feel like they have very much in common, and there's certainly no previous hints to make anyone believe they would have this in common. (So for all we know, Sherry could have just been taking a shot in the dark by trying to convince Crow.) You know who could have made for an excellent character to mirror Sherry, though? Yeah. The third person in the room during this scene. Aki.

See, here's the thing about these three as characters, in relation to what this scene tries to accomplish (getting a protagonist to waver by having the antagonist appeal to certain emotional similarities between them): While Crow may perhaps be more relatable to the audience, he isn't all that relatable to Sherry. He comes from dirt poor origins, she from rich ones. He doesn't even remember his parents, she defines herself by the memory of hers. She's a lone wolf, he's incredibly community-focussed. The only parallel you could have drawn between these two, up until this duel, is knowing what it feels like to want revenge. (Sherry with her parents, Crow with his kids back in the DS arc.) But guess what, unfortunately, Aki knows that too, what with her past as the Black Rose Witch and wanting to make people pay for ostracising her. And to make matters worse, she has a lot of other things going for her that parallel Sherry much, much better, too. They both come from well-off families, both have had major, traumatising events in their lives revolve around their parents, both left their initial family structure by way of drastic changes in their life, both are intimately familiar with the desire for vengeance, and, most damningly, Aki knows what it's like to stand on the side of the bad guys—like Sherry is doing in that very scene—because you feel like it's the only place that gives you hope/meaning. Not to speak of the fact that Aki, given her turbulent past with her psychic powers, would probably know exactly what it feels like to want a past you never had back. There would have been so much to work with there, and it makes whatever they were gunning for with Crow look... lacklustre, to put it mildly, by comparison.

The worst part is, I think, that the blame lies neither with the characters nor with the scene concept here. Solely with the execution. Because I truly think they could have made this work. They could have made the entire duel work, big character moments and all. But the keyword is and always has been setup. Setup, which the writers, at least in part, strangely gave to Aki, but not to Crow, which is what hurts particularly his portion of this duel, and, arguably, his character writing in general. Because—and this may be a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but permit me this—while Crow wanting a better future for the kids he used to take care of over a better future for himself feels perfectly on brand, the idea of him forfeiting a duel against a major antagonist, while the threat of the entire city being destroyed is hanging above his head... doesn't. Like, yes, I've talked about the fact that Crow is the only character in 5Ds who ever actually loses duels on purpose. What you may remember, though, is that both occasions we've seen him do this—against Lyndon and Yaeger, respectively—were much lower-stakes duels than this. Not to speak of the fact that it also feels a little odd that Crow, of all people, would buy into the idea that Z-ONE's genuinely powerful enough to just give those kids their parents back, given how liberally he called bullshit on pretty much any and all supernatural mumbo-jumbo claiming that fate is inevitable, or that the gods have this-and-that power, or what have you the entire show. (Also, doesn't he strike you as the guy who'd wonder why Z-ONE's not using his fancy powers for better things, if the extent of them is so great? Or is that just me?) It's a moment of character doubt that tries to sell itself as believable, even though we've never been given any hints that this kind of temptation, specifically, could work on Crow.

Ultimately, Crow & Aki VS Sherry feels like a very hot-and-cold duel. On the cardplay side, the teamwork between Aki and Crow is well done, yet the duel does feel like it skews more towards Aki than towards Crow. Sherry, meanwhile, plays tricky and mean like a proper antagonist, but does so at the expense of sacrificing all her previous tactics and monsters (and, arguably, some of her character, though this is probably on purpose, given her transformation into an antagonist). Then, on the character side, we've got Aki in an interestingly Yusei-ish role, which, while it feels like a good way to show how she's matured and learned, wastes her character dynamic with Sherry. On the other side, Crow and Sherry interact in several personal ways throughout the duel that leave you wondering when exactly these two got to know each other so well, because the show certainly didn't give us a visible progression of their dynamic. The only dynamic that leaves nothing to be desired is that between Aki and Crow (stilted speeches aside), because it excellently showcases their friendship and teamwork. Very weird decisions made in the writing here all around.

We'll get into the nitty-gritty of what changes I would have suggested to improve this duel below, but first: What happens after this duel? Well, two more Yusei gear duels, Aporia briefly standing up to Z-ONE, and then, the final, big clash between Yusei and Z-ONE.

Given that Crow isn't even present for two of these duels and then barely gets more to do than stand on the side and react during the final two, I will dare to skip all that, though. Because really, Crow's occasional comments and the play-by-play he sometimes joins the others in giving when spectating a duel don't exactly contribute anything to his character. They're just there so he gets something to do and doesn't fade into the background entirely when a duel that doesn't involve him is going on. This includes the moment where he, much like the other signers, gets to give Yusei Black-Winged Dragon for the final duel, as well as the later moment when Yusei uses it, chanting in tandem with Crow as BWD arrives. And other than that and the tear-jerking moment when he later reacts to Yusei returning despite all odds, he really doesn't get any noteworthy scenes.

In other words, we are skipping straight to the end. So, where do we find Crow there?

(Oh, y i k e s.)

There's a popular post circulating around this site that goes something like "the worst thing you can do to a character is make them a cop during a timeskip". And, look. I don't think I need to tell anyone that becoming a sector security officer is an extremely jarring character choice for Crow. Crow, of all people! The guy with the face full of markers, who used to be part of a duel gang, who was introduced in the show gleefully stealing from security Robin Hood-style, and who has every reason to despise law enforcement! (Leaving aside the obvious logistical issue that Crow in no country in the world could have completed his police training in the few months between the Ark Cradle debacle and this scene. But given that 5Ds generously brushes realistic concerns like this one aside on multiple occasions, this is, funnily enough, the thing I'm also more willing to overlook here. The character dissonance, however, less so.)

I'll try to be generous and guess that the writers were aiming to convey a message somewhere along the lines of "even someone who's done bad things in the past can become an example for others" or something like it. The problem is just that Crow didn't need any such message because he was already the good guy while he was still actively stealing from security. He was the lovable rogue to a T, damn it! But this, in particular, is a surface scratch hinting at a bigger issue, I think—namely, the issue of the show's complete pivot when it came to the depiction of law enforcement after the DS arc. Because when we think back to that part of 5Ds, good security officers were the exception, rather than the rule. And this is exactly what makes Crow of all characters becoming one even weirder. He would know, would remember how security used to treat him, his kids, his friends, his brothers. And if the idea here was that, well, he's trying to improve sector security by joining it and changing it from the inside, so to speak, then guess what was missing again: Our good, old friend setup. I'm starting to feel like a broken record. So yeah, I don't think a ton of people, whether they like or hate Crow, would disagree that this is a supremely weird position to put his character in.

As we find out through 5Ds' epilogue, however, his sector security job isn't quite what Crow actually wants, though. (And thank god, because that would have been such a bizarre position to leave him in.) Instead, we're shown fairly quickly that several duelling leagues are apparently trying to scout Crow out, and that he's tempted to accept one of the offers and go into pro duelling. This is at first shown in a short scene where something like a league scout follows Crow, then later, when the whole group—sans Jack, at first—is getting together and everyone starts discussing their futures. Aside from complaining a bit about his job and upsetting Aki without meaning to, Crow doesn't get much to do here, either. For what it's worth, at least him feeling tempted to ditch the security job feels more in line with the original Crow we got than with whatever strange twist the writers were going for after this shorter timeskip.

What follows is the very last duel of the show, the long-awaited Yusei VS Jack rematch, of course. And while he doesn't get to participate in this one, Crow, much like Aki and the twins, spectates the duel and ends up having an epiphany about what he wants to do. This epiphany ends up being that he does want to turn to pro duelling, and as a reasoning, canon provides us with this:

(As is known, intense card games are the only way to make children smile.)

Personally, I wouldn't say this is a terrible or out of character reason for Crow to decide to go pro. But there's more to that I'd like to discuss. First, though, let's take a quick look at where we find Crow after the second, bigger timeskip, which is inserted right in the middle of Yusei and Jack's final duel.

(Okay, yeah, I'm a sucker for the bullet earrings.)

The quick scene Crow gets here makes it unmistakably clear that he did go into pro duelling, just like he decided during the duel in the past, and not only that, he went into tag-team duelling and apparently managed to reach world champion status with his teammates. The above scene, however, is the exact same moment he decides to leave said team, so he can instead go solo and (presumably) try to beat Jack.

Now, we can discuss this in a bit more detail. Personally, I'm extremely in two minds about Crow being one of three characters, total, who ends up becoming a pro duellist after canon. Jack seems obvious, especially given the pivot back to his more Fortune Cup-esque persona the writers did around the Red Nova episodes. Rua also makes sense, given that Jack was his idol from the start. Crow, though, feels a little more complicated. The thing is, like so many things surrounding Crow in the Ark Cradle arc, the writers gave us no indication pro duelling is something he's really passionate about before this point. Worse, they didn't even really tell us what reason he saw to participate in the WRGP with his brothers beyond "could be fun". So there isn't really a connection here. The same thing goes for the fact that he specifically talks about teaching his teammates above, which is also something he wasn't associated with all that much previously. Though this one is admittedly less egregious, because at least Crow was seen briefly coaching Aki as she prepared to take his spot during the Unicorn duel. Still, while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's an out of character choice for Crow to go pro, it still feels a little odd that he went down the same route as Jack. Personally speaking, it feels like the writers didn't quite know what to do with him. Because as I said, Jack is obvious and Rua also makes sense, and I'd say the same goes for Yusei. Then there's Ruka, who is treated about as in-depth in the epilogue as she was throughout canon, and Aki, whose "setup" for her timeskip self was done extremely hasty and last-minute, but at least it was there. Between all of them, Crow occupies a weird spot where it doesn't so much feel like he ended up on the wrong trajectory for his life, as it simply feels like there were choices the writers could have made that would have fit him much better. What with his theme of legacy and community, trying to make Pearson's dream of a place where disenfranchised children can learn good life skills a reality would have been a good fit, for example. Especially considering his close ties to the Satellite orphans he used to take care of, which, funnily enough, are reinforced one more time as canon flips back to present day and Crow is seen bidding his kids goodbye.

("Come back"? When, precisely? And what part about "literally saved the world twice" doesn't qualify you as a hero to a bunch of kids ten times over already?)

Considering canon seems hellbent on making sure we know the signers went their separate ways and that they aren't anywhere near each other by the very end of the show, though, my guess is that Crow had to end up doing something like pro duelling, in order to get him out of New Domino City and away from the friend group whose shenanigans we were so accustomed to following by that point. Of course, there's also the argument to be made that Crow staying in NDC and getting a more community-focussed ending would have also been significantly less cool than making him a kickass pro duellist with bullet earrings, which circles back to how the writing interacts with its target audience.

The only thing that follows after this, then, is the big goodbye, and with that, ladies, gentlemen, and other lovely 5ds nerds, we have successfully followed bird boy's path throughout the entire show. And what a ride it was. (I did not think this analysis would end up stretching over a whole four posts.) Time for some closing thoughts before I do my thing and suggest some rewrites that could have made all this feel more coherent one more time.

Crow's character arc, if it can even be called that, feels about as hot and cold as his and Aki's final duel with Sherry over the course of the show. His introduction is fast-paced, he's made to be likable quickly, and his integration into the main protagonist group is as quick as everything else about his narrative. Between the way he shows up out of nowhere, briefly disappears without fanfare, and is then reintroduced with even more importance before slipping into the signer group like he's always been there, it truly feels like his entire inclusion in the narrative was a last-minute decision by the writers to include that one, additional character concept Kazuki Takahashi had originally created after all. If there was one way to describe his whole arc, it would be that it's a rush. At the start, the writers are in a hurry to make him likable, then they're in a hurry to make him a signer, then they're in a hurry to give us a whole backstory for him, then they're in a hurry to give him a believable character dynamic with Aki, and at the end, they're in a hurry to pay off a character dynamic with Sherry they didn't properly set up with him. You may notice that leaves significant gaps, and the lack of balance between those gaps and the rushes surrounding them, I believe, are part of why he's such a polarising character.

Crow is integrated so thoroughly into the signer group at the end of the DS arc that, much like Aki and the twins, he gets stuck in the position of being a character that cannot simply be removed from the narrative for a longer amount of time. And this, I think, ends up biting him in the ass, because in the gaps where the writers don't rush to do something big with him, it often feels like they don't quite know what to do with him at all. So, he instead gets relegated to small side tasks, like inane duels that don't affect the plot, or becomes the person who reacts to unfolding situations in whatever manner wouldn't fit Yusei or Jack. He feels like he's the third portion of the protagonist trifecta only in theory—the status of an equal third player seems to be what the writers had in mind, yet, looking at the show, it feels like an honorary title, at best, because the writing choices made for him don't convey anywhere near the same amount of thought and effort as those of Yusei and Jack. Crow's backstory doesn't intersect significantly with that of his brothers, his dragon is introduced way too late and never given an upgrade, he never gets to clash with Iliaster until the Team New World duel, and throughout the entire WRGP and Ark Cradle arc, there isn't a single duelling victory that's solely his. People who prefer other characters over Crow like to harp on about how much screentime he gets; I argue that this is exactly what showcases how poorly the writers took care of him in many instances. For as much as Crow is plastered onto the screen and given the aesthetics of an equal player in a protagonist trio, his many appearances are as much of a curse as they are a gift, because too many of them aren't spent setting up anything meaningful or developing his character in any way. Speaking of character development: There is none. Crow exits the show pretty much exactly the same as he entered it, brief security stint aside. And, look, this need not necesarily be a bad thing. Static characters exist and they have their place in stories. It's just that in Crow's case, his utter lack of development feels like another damning indicator of the writers' cluelessness when it came to utilising him, given his weird, sort-of-elevated-protagonist. Aki, who is so often weighed against him, gets significantly more development than he does. And though Jack also ends up in almost the same place at the end of the show as he was at the start, at least he had a dip in the middle where his character was somewhat malleable and not set in stone. Crow didn't.

What we end up with, then, is a character whose concept is perfectly fine on paper, but whose execution proceeded to turn him into the one and only favourite for some, and the embodiment of piss poor writing for others. Having now looked at pretty much his entire run in the show with a bloody microscope, I end up somewhere in the middle, myself. He's a good character and much of his writing is confusing at best, utter dogshit at worst. As for what decisions in the writing room led to him turning out like this, I'd still pay good money to know them. For what it's worth, I've tried my very best to make an educated guess as to all of them.

And now, for the final time, allow me to do my very best to suggest how the issues of the Ark Cradle arc could have been addressed in order to make Crow's part in it less messy.

In previous posts, I've split up my rewrite suggestions depending on one circumstance: Whether or not Crow stays a signer. However, this time, I will deliberately forgo this, for one, very simple reason—Crow's status as a signer doesn't matter one bit for the Ark Cradle arc. Regardless of whether he has a mark or not, his duel with Sherry remains unaffected, and so does his later timeskip-self. Thus, pick your favourite, both versions work for the Ark Cradle.

Now. Onto the elephant vengeful Frenchwoman in the room. Let me repeat my favourite word in this post one more time. What the dynamic between Crow and Sherry needed, more than anything else, in order to satisfyingly be paid off during their Ark Cradle duel, was setup. There was so much time Crow spent on screen doing fuck all, and some of that time could have so easily been allocated to him interacting with Sherry in a meaningful manner. (I'm side-eyeing especially his pre-WRGP duels. Those did nothing to add to his character and could have easily been replaced with episodes where he actually gets to talk to Sherry one on one.) And if not that, then the writers could at least have done themselves the favour of letting Aki talk to Crow about Sherry, which would have arguably set up their three-way clash even better. Moreover, show us how the hell these two characters parallel each other and how they differ, damn it! The main issue with the big moment Sherry and Crow had in the duel was that Crow's faltering and his sudden, deep understanding of Sherry came completely out of nowhere. So what if they had shown some of that earlier, then? What if they had shown where the lmits of Crow's resolve lie, what could get him to doubt himself? What if they had drawn the parallel of Sherry and Crow both supposedly being characters that sometimes wistfully think about a past they never had earlier? It would have done so much to make that duel hit exactly the way it was probably meant to. As a bonus, if we had gotten Aki and Crow talking about Sherry, too, the scene of talking Sherry out of helping Z-ONE could have been a team effort, just like their card playing was. Both of them would have reasons to know different aspects of Sherry each, and both could have brought up good arguments. And this is really all this duel woild have needed to be better on the story end, I think: A solid, narrative foundation to make it obvious to us why it has to be these three characters duelling, why it could have only been this setup, why it made the most sense to let these three bounce off each other. Crow only needs that extra step to slot in better with the girls here.

As for the epilogue, I don't think anyone will be surprised to read that I would have never made Crow a cop, not even temporarily. The depiction of law enforcement 5Ds gives us during the DS arc is too damning for that. However, given the way the ending is structured, he does need some sort of occupation that feels like it's not quite the right thing so he can later change his mind about it, of course. Here, though, is where I, purely in service of Crow's character, would suggest a change that probably doesn't work with the ending's final aim of separating the 5Ds gang by hundreds of kilometres each. I would let Crow go into pro duelling first, then let him figure out that's not what he actually wanted. Crow, to me, is a character who is so intrinsically tied to community and family that turning him into a solitary pro duellist—even if he claims to do it to make the kids back home smile—feels off to me. Thus, from a character standpoint, I would let him pivot back to wanting to take care of those kids. Either through what I suggested above, letting him carry on Pearson's dream, or, which also feels fitting to me, by letting him help out Martha again and setting him up as the guy who'll take over when she can no longer run the orphanage. It's not the cool, glamorous end the show gave him, but it's what feels more like the family-focussed guy we first met in the show. It doesn't gel with the idea of permanently separating him from the other signers, though, unfortunately. To do something like that while keeping his community theme, one would probably have to send him away to shack up with Brave or something, to help orphans in other countries. But this, I think, nicely showcases the dissonance between what Crow's character writing would suggest he might do at the end, and what the show demanded he needed to do so he'd no longer be close to the others. Because my focus, as always, is only on character here. And Crow, with his personality and his writing, feels like the character who chafes the most against the idea of striking out solo, abandoning his ties to the community he was so invested in previously. To that extent, the above suggestion is the best I can provide with what we were canonically given. If we wanted to keep the canon ending he gets and actually make it make sense why he suddenly wants to be a lone wolf pro, the only thing I could suggest would be more setup for that. (Ah, there it is again. One final time.) Show Crow having some actual competitive drive, show him enjoying the whole tournament thing more than he thought he would during the WRGP. Just give us something that shows why he would want to go down this path, and why some other things that were previously important to him might not be a priority anymore. It all comes back to setup.

*Deep breath*

So, here we are, then, and this is it. This is all I could make of Crow's character writing in the entire show. To everyone who read this post in its entirety, a heartfelt thank you. To everyone who read the whole series of posts in its entirety, I'm so glad you're as insane about this show as I am, it makes me feel incredibly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the ride, more meta posts will come eventually, just about different topics. In the meantime, see ya.

[bidisasterevankinard]

Inspiration Saturday

Hi everyone!!!!! I'm finally back to writing after hard times and I'm back with angst for this secret wip I named you left me (at least for now)

tagged by @daffi-990 @steadfastsaturnsrings thank you <33333

playlist + snippet

Bobby quickly brings them up to date on what happened and where they need help 136 with. Eddie finds himself paired with Buck, who only greeted him quietly, after which he continued to work as if Eddie wasn't here at all, without asking for help with anything. Eddie feels like he's back on his first day at work, only then Buck wanted Eddie not to be part of the team, and now he wants Eddie to just disappear. Painful. Considering they both swore there was no one more important for them, except Chris of course. 

“So, hello and silence it’s all I'm getting?” Eddie tries to say it without the sadness in his voice, and he succeeds. But his voice sounds angry, like he blames Buck, accusing him for the silent treatment he is getting over the last two weeks.

Remembering it was him who asked, or better say stated that they need a break - he should have stayed on sadness.

Before Eddie can even curse himself for his stupid decision  - he can’t say about which one exactly the whole break thing or blaming of Buck - he proved it was a bad idea to talk like that with Buck by angry dark, like the skies during the thunderstorm, eyes. Eddie swallows when he swears he can see the lightning flashes inside them. 

“It's you, who wanted a break, Eddie. What am I doing wrong now? Giving you too much space? Well, you asked about it,” Buck hisses the last part and leaves him alone. He says something to Bosco who worked with Ravi. She then looks at him not impressed and goes to Eddie to take Buck’s place as his partner, while Buck starts to work with Ravi.

“He deserves better than the ex-not-ex-boyfriend to try to make him feel bad, as he is the villain in the story, for keeping the distance he was asked about by this exact ex-not-ex-boyfriend,” she pins him with such a stare Eddie surprised he is still standing and not falling dead on the place, before starts working. “Not saying that you’re a villain, but even though you have your reasons to ask about time, you have no right,” she again sends the same killing look, “no right to talk to him like that.”

“I know, I just” Eddie sights, kicking the part of the car on the road, “I hate all this situation and I hate my brain for destroying the best relationships I had. I hate that therapy about it not taking me anywhere and Frank tells me it’s because I need to talk to Buck about the problem why I asked about the break when Buck was ready for more for us. When he was so Buck to tell me we can do anything in my tempo, but my fucked up head chose the break, thinking it’s for the best, but,” Eddie looks at the way Buck barely smile on definitely a good joke from Ravi, “but it only leads for nights without sleep, our son looks at me like I’m an idiot. Everyone cast sympathetic glances, and Buck … Buck is not even talking to me while we are working. I just want everything to be ok again. I want everything to be easy. Magical,” another kick to the pure tyre. 

“Life is not a fairytale, Diaz. Nothing, especially relationships, are ever easy. So talk to Buckley sooner or, trust me, you will regret you hadn’t. Because right now this man is slipping through your fingers faster than you can imagine,” on than Lena removes the last piece of metal from the road and their work is done.

The blonde woman does not even say goodbye to him, getting back to her team, taking the place near Buck, which should be his. But not now. 

Maybe never again.

tagging @wikiangela @wildlife4life @watchyourbuck @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @rainbow-nerdss @rogerzsteven @the-likesofus @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @transboybuckley @pirrusstuff @anakinfallen @aspecbuddie @andrewblur @shortsighted-owl @spaceprincessem @spotsandsocks @spagheddiediaz @devirnis @fortheloveofbuddie @ghostscowboys @giddyupbuck @heartshapedvows @hoodie-buck @housewifebuck @hippolotamus @jeeyuns @jesuisici33 @lover-of-mine @loserdiaz @callmenewbie @bigfootsmom @bekkachaos @buddierights @mandzuking17 @monsterrae1 @malewifediaz @jamespearce9-1-1

[nikakistos]

Did Mikasa (re)marry?

Exactly three years ago, i wrote a post with the title "Mikasa will kill Eren". I haven't written a lot about AoT since then. I still keep AoT in my heart and i read news and posts about it daily. Although i do not participate that much in discussions about it, i still read what other people have to say. This is about to change. Yes, i know that the anime ended 3 months ago and i know that AoT's time in the spotlight is probably gone for good, with very few events ahead of us. In time, people will move on to other works. That is the cycle of life for fans of stories of any medium. And yet, now, more than ever, i want to start writing about AoT and my favorite characters (Mikasa, Eren etc) again. I will begin by offering my view on whether or not Mikasa married or, more accurately in my opinion, remarried after Eren's unfortunate end.

Why remarry?

Why do i use the term remarry? After all, Mikasa and Eren were never officially married. There was no ceremony, no rings, no nothing. If anything, in the physical world, the last time Mikasa and Eren spoke was when Eren told her he hated her. That is indeed true. However, Mikasa and Eren spent quite some time in the paths together (be it months, years, or a few minutes). The realm of the paths is (was) not a dream place. It wasn't something fictional. It was reality, just like Armin described it in chapter 136. It is a different dimension where time goes by very differently compared to the physical world.

Eren brought all of his friends in there to speak to them and reveal his true intentions. With Armin, he also went on a journey, visiting all the places they wanted to see. With Mikasa, after talking to her about his plan, they decided to forget it all and spend their time together. They replayed the "What am i to you" scene from chapter 123 and Mikasa chose to express her true feelings to him, while also telling him to run away together. Eren then grabbed her arm and they escaped to the mountain cabin. From the way they act towards each other, it is easy to tell that they viewed themselves as husband and wife. This is also showcased by what Mikasa wrote in Eren's tombstone. The last word is "あなた", which typically means "you" in japanese, but, when used by a spouse to her husband, it means "sweetheart, dear etc". So, it is obvious that for Mikasa, Eren was her husband and the same holds true for Eren. This means that if Mikasa were to marry, it would be her second marriage, or, at the very least, this is how it would seem to her. For all intents and purposes, Eren and Mikasa were husband and wife in the Paths and after his death, Mikasa is presented as a widow.

The extra pages and the songs

Anyone who was reading the manga during its run knows that the original ending, the one shown in the Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, had Mikasa thanking Eren for wrapping the scarf around her while the bird was flying away. The bonus pages expanded the original ending and showed Mikasa visiting Eren's grave again and again, once with a man and a newborn child, still young, and once accompanied by two couples and their young children, while old. The difference between the two is also reflected in the episodic format of the anime ending, where the bonus pages do not appear and the closing song is different. Instead of "二千年… 若しくは… 二万年後の君へ・・・", which played in the special version, the episodic format uses "いってらっしゃい".

The episodic format provides an emotional closure for the relationship between Eren and Mikasa. The lyrics of the song reveal that Mikasa wants to and believes that she will meet Eren again. The original animation of the ED song implies that Eren and Mikasa do meet again in the afterlife after Mikasa's death. They are now free to be with each other for eternity.

The special format represents the theme of "life goes on". Wars never end permanently. They are just interrupted by long periods of peace. The same applies to Mikasas' life. In the anime, Eren's grave is visited by all of his friends, exactly 3 years after his death. Exactly 11 years after his death (7 winters and 8 springs after his friends visit his grave, slow it down as much as possible and count the season changes), Mikasa visits his grave with a man and a child. This scene has 2 very popular interpretations. One is that Mikasa married someone (Jean) and had a child with him and the other one says that Mikasa remained single and virgin forever and that the kid is adopted and that the man is Armin.

Let's start with the second option. The major arguments are that (in the manga) Mikasa still covers her Hizuru tattoo with the bandages and that she she offers roses to Eren's grave and that the number of the roses signify that she never found someone else. Some people also argue that Mikasa loving someone else romantically goes against her character.

I do not agree with this interpretation. Covering her tattoo does not mean that she didn't pass it down to her children and even if she didn't pass it down, it doesn't mean she didn't have kids. Also, in the anime, the flowers she offers are not roses. I would agree that it would be out of character for Mikasa to find someone else, but only as long as Eren was alive. It would probably take her a very long time, but if the right man appeared, maybe she could fall in love again.

During Eren's crying tantrum about Mikasa to Armin, he mentioned that if she were to find someone else it should take her 10 years at least. The anime went out of its way to show Mikasa appearing with her new family, a man and a newborn kid exactly 11 years after his death. This points towards Mikasa remarrying. The anime also added a ring to her left ring finger during her funeral scene. The lyrics that play during Mikasa's visits to Eren's grave with her new family are these "時が運んだ 穏やかな日々 手向けた花のように秘めた言葉は 誰にも告げず逝く". This means that the time brought gentle days to Mikasa and she kept her feelings for Eren to her heart, with the flowers and the words on the tombstone revealing their true extent. In my opinion this showcases that Mikasa spent peaceful days with her new family, but she kept her feelings to Eren deep in her heart, as shown by her constant offering of flowers to his grave and the words she wrote in the gravestone.

For me the biggest indication that Mikasa did remarry is the fact that these scenes exist in the first place, both in the manga and in the anime. Isayama felt the need to show these images, when the Magazine ending was very open to interpretation. There would be no point to adding these scenes, only to make the ending more ambiguous. The bonus pages are there to clarify what happens to Mikasa's life and the island in the long years after Eren's death, not to muddy the waters. If Isayama wanted the ending to be completely open to interpretation, then there would be no reason for the new pages.

Why Jean?

Shipping wars are part of most fandoms and the AoT fandom is no exception. During its run, the biggest rivalry was the one between the EM and EH supporters. Now it is between EM and JK fans. EH was never a thing in the story, but the relationship between Eren and Mikasa was the most important in the story. The entirety of Attack on Titan is built based on the relationship between its male and female leads. They are the backbone of the story and without them there would be no AoT. Of course, a tragic conclusion for them hurts people. Especially when Mikasa eventually gets married to someone that, during the duration of the plot, she didn't show any interest. But, this is not really relevant. The moment Eren died, the plot pretty much ended. The plot does not follow Mikasa's healing process and family life, because it doesn't affect anything. Also, it is so far into the future that the characters involved are practically different people. Maybe in the future Isayama will show this development in a short story, like he will do with Levi in vol. 35, but, for now, this is just an additional detail that is only 3 panels long.

Even without mentioning the physical aspects of the man shown next to Mikasa, Jean, throughout the story has been presented as the "Eren-lite". He is second best to Eren and he compares himself to his "rival". He is jealous of how much Mikasa cares about Eren, he places directly under him in training, he views him as more courageous, strong and cool than him. On the other hand, Jean is presented as a mentally stable person, while Eren is not. Jean of course can never be as passionate as Eren and he can't match Eren's kindness when Eren is kind, but he could also never be as cruel as Eren. He disguises as Eren throughout the story and he is presents himself as the best successor for Eren's titan. Most importantly, Jean shares a special connection with Eren, he understands him and he loves him.

So, it is no suprise that Isayama would have him end up with Mikasa after Eren's death. There really is no one better for Mikasa. Jean is the best option if she can't be with Eren. He cared for her throughout the series, protected her once and he even tried to paint Eren in a better light after the latter offended Mikasa. He is also the only one who can understand her love for Eren and still be with her without getting jealous over the fact that she would never be able to love him as much as she loved Eren. This is something that even Jean's voice actor expressed in the recent Attack on Titan festival that celebrated the 10 years since the beginning of the anime. He felt that Jean got to be with Mikasa and he was comforting her, but he knew that he could never replace Eren in her heart. Yui Ishikawa, Mikasa's voice actress, also said that for Mikasa, no matter how many years pass and how many things she experiences throughout her long lifespan, Eren will always be the number 1 in her heart.

Does that diminish her love for Jean? Does that mean that she never truly loved Eren? No. It simply means that Mikasa fell in love again, 10 years after Eren's death, with a man who is as close to Eren as possible. Jean most likely won her over. She didn't marry him out of some desparate need to be with a man, but because she found the strength in her heart to love someone again, even if it wasn't to the same extent as before. That doesn't make her dirty or impure, like some fans want to believe. This obsession with virginity is frankly stupid. First of all, Mikasa, by the time the she remarries, is, probably not a virgin. Unless she only spent a few minutes with Eren in the world of the paths, the two of them probably did more things than just talking and fishing. Even if she were, virginity is nothing special. Mikasa marrying someone else and having kids with him does not mean Eren got cucked. It doesn't mean that Jean won against Eren Mikasa still loving Eren does not mean that Jean got cucked by a dead man, nor does it mean that he got damaged goods. These points of view are ridiculous and are only expressed by very immature individuals and/or incels. Jean is probably somewhat sad that Mikasa and Eren didn't get to live the life they wanted together and he is probably thankful to Eren for giving him the chance to live his dream life. Jean is not the type to gloat or ridicule his dead comrade, nor the type of guy to be bitter, because Mikasa loved Eren so much.

Mikasa moved forward with her life (not moved on, widows hate this term, because it is closer to forgetting your previous spouse), without ever forgetting her big love or changing her feelings for him. And in the end, after spending many decades with her new family, she passed away peacefully and reunited with her most beloved person in the world in the afterlife. For some, Mikasa reuniting with Eren in the afterlife means that she didn't remarry, because her husband should be her soulmate and if she is with Eren she didn't have a second husband. I disagree here as well. There is no information about how the afterlife works and making assumptions about it based on real world theology is dumb. People can love more than once. If your last spouse is your soulmate, then what happens to people like Grisha? The only thing we can do is go by what is shown and what is shown is that Mikasa both remarried and met Eren in the afterlife.

The same goes for those who believe that Mikasa should not meet Eren in the afterlife, because Eren is a criminal. Attack on Titan does not pass judgement to the actions of its characters that much. Of course, Eren's actions are horrific, but the entirety of the cast and the narrative tries to shift the blame to many more people than just Eren. Eren is not the only one responsible for how things turned out. All the characters sinned. Not to mention, Mikasa expressed her certainty that she would meet Eren again in the end in the final ED song and this is what is shown. Furthermore, after Mikasa's death, the lyrics that play are these "レクイエムレクイエム檜には君た花を 罪を散すなら 暁よ照らせ". This means that if sins are to be forgiven, then dawn will illuminate the flowers under the cypress. Eren's sins by the time Mikasa died have, probably, been forgiven. In any case, repeating my previous words, we can only go by what is shown and what is shown is that the two of them do reunite in the end.

What is the point of the debate?

The debate is probably meaningless. Whether or not Mikasa married does not affect the story in any way. It simply concludes Mikasa's story. Of course, this means that i wrote close to 3 thousand words for nothing, LOL. Nonetheless, i find it ridiculous that large amounts people still debate about the frankly obvious context of 1 panel. This toxic debate should have stopped long ago. What matters is that Mikasa got to live a long and happy life with a person who loved and respected her, just like Eren ultimately wanted and she then reunited with her most beloved. Sure, it hurts that we couldn't see more of Eren and Mikasa as a couple, after being introduced to them from the very first page of the story, but this is no reason to slander other parts of the fandom or the voice actors who did their best to portray these characters for over a decade. Mikasa was lucky enough to be loved so much by two men. She got to spend her time on Earth with one of them and infnity with the other. Despite all of her shortcomings and the bad luck she faced in her life, Mikasa rose stronger from each challenge and earned her happily ever after. This is what's important. In the future, we might get to see more of her family life with Jean and the time she spent with Eren in the paths and her next meeting with him.

[buddiefix]

Different First Meeting Fic's

The following are some buddie fanfiction that involve a different first meeting.

if it weren’t for second chances by alasse

9-1-1 (TV)  

When Buck doesn’t save Daniel, the Buckleys put him in foster care. Seventeen years later, Bobby meets a tall, lanky kid who can’t stop eating his pancakes at a church breakfast, and he gives him a phone number and an unconditional offer of help.

—or—

A story about how Buck finds a chosen family, and with a few twists and turns, eventually gets to the 118, meets Eddie Diaz, and maybe finds himself a second and a third (or, an Evan Nash story).

Language: English Words: 47,870 Chapters: 2/2

he hits my heart like a homerun by browney3dgirl6

9-1-1 (TV)  

“What’re you gonna do with that?” Eddie asked, tilting his chin toward the baseball. Evan shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe get it signed? You know the most expensive autographed baseball sold for over one hundred and ninety thousand dollars?” Eddie did not. “I don’t think anyone here’s that famous, but I just like to collect stuff wherever I go, you know?” He didn’t; not really. “Guess I haven’t traveled a lot of places I wanted to take souvenirs from. Bullets don’t exactly make good gifts or antiques. He hadn’t meant to let those words slip out, but something about Evan kept him brutally honest. It was like he couldn’t even tell the guy the simplest white lie. “Yea, guess you wouldn’t.”

—or—

the one where Buck and Eddie meet on a random Wednesday at a baseball game

Language: English Words: 6,091 Chapters: 1/1

I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Til I Saw Your Face by HMSLusitania 

9-1-1 (TV)  

After the ladder truck and the blood clot and the tsunami, Bobby makes Buck go to therapy before he does something stupid (like sue the city). Buck's not totally comfortable being alone with a therapist, but fortunately he makes a friend and ally who's willing to help him out - Eddie Diaz from the 136 who's just been caught in an illegal fight club.

—or—

Total strangers Buck and Eddie go to couple's therapy together to get out of the therapy requirements their captains have placed on them.

Language: English Words: 10,491 Chapters: 1/1

i'd spend a lifetime giving you my heart by hammersmiths

9-1-1 (TV)  

“Well,” Buck says. “I’ve had worse first dates.” The man looks unimpressed. “We fell fifty feet, got trapped beneath a building, your legs are pinned, and you’re telling me you’ve had worse?” Buck thinks about this. “Well, Veronica liked the Red Sox.”

—or—

There's an earthquake. Buck and Eddie meet trapped together.

Language: English Words: 10,438 Chapters: 1/1

No Strings Attached by Princessfbi

9-1-1 (TV)  

The app had tattled on him with a little note at the bottom of the screen: EDDIE HAS TAKEN A SNAPSHOT But could you blame him? ‘Sorry’ Eddie had messaged only feeling slightly embarrassed that he’d been caught. ‘You want to move over to texting? You won’t have to screenshot. 😉

Language: English Words: 9,162 Chapters: 1/1

accidentally killing an octopus is just fishing by HMSLusitania

9-1-1 (TV)

Buck gets injured on a call and winds up taking some time at the hospital. Fortunately, his hospital roommate makes it much more bearable.

Language: English Words: 8,573 Chapters: 1/1

see you later (and love you just a little more) by hattalove

9-1-1 (TV)  

“Sorry,” Eddie says suddenly, with a little frown between his eyebrows that makes Buck’s next breath come in a wheeze. “I didn’t even ask if you’re okay. Any anxiety? Shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat?” “Not—uh,” Buck coughs, trying so hard to say something normal, but against his best efforts, what comes out is: “Not because of the elevator.” Eddie’s eyebrows climb up his forehead. “I’m not claustrophobic, is what I mean,” Buck says, but the damage has been done. “Just, you know.”

—or—

The one in which Buck stumbles on the rest of his life in a malfunctioning courthouse elevator.

Language: English Words: 8,047 Chapters: 1/1

Yellow Is Your Colour by Tizniz

9-1-1 (TV)  

The 118 responds to a call about a man stuck in a slide.

Language: English Words: 4,800 Chapters: 1/1

fight the break of dawn by glorious_spoon

9-1-1 (TV)  

“Hi, hi, sorry, excuse me,” the guy says. “Weird question, but would you mind doing me a massive favor?”

Eddie squints at him. It’s not exactly well-lit in here, but he’s still about ninety percent sure that this guy was not with Emilio’s bachelor party when they came in. “Do I know you?”

“Um. No,” the guy says. He���s got wide blue eyes and a nervous smile and a salt-rimmed margarita glass clutched in one large hand. As Eddie watches, he glances over his shoulder, then hunches down like he’s trying to hide. Given the size of him, it’s more ridiculous than effective. “So this is going to sound completely nuts, and I promise I’ll explain, but can I throw this frozen margarita in your face and call you a jerk?”

Language: English Words: 4,736 Chapters: 1/1

(Friendly reminder I do not own any of the works listed in this post, and all can be located on archiveofoureown.org)

[marshmallowgoop]

My part of the DCMK Fanworks Server Halfiversary Exchange 2023! For @blenderfullasarcasm!

I decided to follow the Yu-Gi-Oh! and DCMK crossover prompt, which specifically highlighted "Season 0," the colloquial name for the first anime adaptation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. So, I paired Detective Conan (and the eensy-littlest bit of Magic Kaito) footage with that anime's theme song, "A Yell of Thirst" by Field of View.

For as long as I've known about it, I've had my own soft spot for the Season 0 series. The portrayal of Yami Yugi as this frightening, malicious personality who emerges only in times of danger gripped me—and still does. Revisiting the series for this project, I could still so strongly recall scenes of Yugi and his friends grappling with his mysterious "other self."

And I also realized that maybe Detective Conan and Yu-Gi-Oh! are more similar than I previously thought. After all, couldn't "Sleeping Kogoro" also be described as a frightening, malicious personality who emerges only in times of danger?

(Or, more in line with the actual video I edited, Conan is "another Shinichi" who both terrifies and helps him, a dynamic perhaps not so unlike that of Yugi and Yami Yugi in Season 0.)

I hope you enjoy what I came up with! My goal was to utilize clips featuring every character and relationship noted in the prompts, and though an AMV can't exactly be a casefic or delve into worldbuilding per se, I also tried to capture the spirit of those prompts, too, including more actual detective-ing and backgrounds than I ever have in my Conan AMVs before. Huge shout out goes to @dcmk-scenery, an absolutely fantastic resource who were a tremendous help, as well as the Detective Conan World wiki, which definitely led me to clips from episodes I haven't even seen yet! The English translation of the lyrics are also courtesy of the Yu-Gi-Oh! wiki.

As a final note, though I know the requirement for the exchange was a 15-second AMV, I really wanted to make my gift special; Blender is so kind and does so much for the DCMK community, including setting up this event in the first place! I'm so glad I was able to to be a part of this, and I hope my final result brings joy.

This AMV can also be watched on YouTube in full 1080p and with subtitles that can be toggled on and off. Sources used are:

Episodes: 1, 2, 3, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 23, 33, 49, 52, 54, 58, 68, 76, 84-85, 87, 90, 91, 118, 129, 130, 136, 142, 147, 162, 166, 189, 191-193, 203, 217, 254, 304, 351, 361, 479, 490, 878, 909, 927, 994

Films: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (film and trailer), 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie

Specials: TV Special 6 (Episode One: The Great Detective Turned Small)

OVAs: 2, 9

OPs: 10, 11, 24, 25, 30, 32, 37, 55, 56

EDs: 5, 6, 9, 58

Other: Magic Kaito Episode 2, The Culprit Hanzawa Episode 2

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 138. brb x oc

a/n:KCJANKW idk man, THESE CHAPTERS AMIRIGHT - tumblr continues to hate me but it does not know that I am just as petty(reblogs and comments are supper encouraged <3)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none uwu

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

/100/101/102/103/104/105/106/107/108/109/110/111/112/113/114/115/116/117/118/119/120/121/122/123/124/125/126/127/128/129/130/131/132/133/134/135/136/137

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

@caitsymichelle13 @becks-things @caatheeriinee07 @dhwanishah09 @jesfreedark @katiemcrae @lilmonstrjedi @hobiismyhopeu @teacupsandtopgun @insominac23 @gh0stsgoodgirl @mygyn @chavivaelisheva

-

She always wondered how exactly that amount of snow just plowed down in a matter of seconds, because as soon as they put the car in the garage and walked inside it happened, and she couldn’t see anything when she looked out the window. 

For someone who had only seen snow very few times, Beatrice never stopped being amazed by this weather. How could she loathe and love it at the same time? The San Diego native in her begged for the sun, the beach, the smell of the ocean and the minimal layering of clothes when leaving the house…but the other part,maybe the part that only showed up because of Rooster, just loved seeing that amount of snow piling up.

Was she still cold? Yes.

Was she still having issues about the amount of layers needed to just get out of the house? Yes.

But she could handle it, her body still had issues getting used to the cold but it was much better than last time. “Hey,” she turns her body when she hears his deep voice calling, a folded towel on his hands, “How are your knees?”

“Huh?” she completely forgot she kneeled on the snow back at the cemetery. But now that she remembered, a jolt of discomfort darted from her knees up to her spine, making her wince, “OH um…hurting a little.” she mutters, looking down at her pants and the wet spots that got smaller because of the heat inside the cabin, “What’s that?”

“A warm towel.” he smiles, “You can lie down on the couch, take your pants off and I can put this on you.”

Beatrice stared at him for a few seconds, then narrowed her eyes, “Wouldn’t a blanket help too?”

Rooster pursed his lips, holding the towel tighter in his hands, “Sure,” he begins, “But that’s not going ot heat up that specific spot only.” and his eyes drop down the length of her body, smirking at her when she just blushed hard and gave him an amused eye roll,laughing at him and nodding. “You can stay on the couch.”

“Not on the bed?”

“Nah, here is fine.”

She narrowed her eyes even more, but hooked her thumbs on the elastic of her pants, gently tugging it down once she’s away from the window - even if no one could see them from the outside, it was still…strange to do that in front of a glass. “What are you planning?”

“I just want you to be warm.”

“On the couch.”

“Yeah.” and he ended with that, smirking even more at her and following the sway of her hips with his eyes, “It’s going to be alright.”

“Mhm.” Beatrice didn’t believe him, but that couch was really nice and maybe it’d be better than going all the way to the second floor and the master bedroom. She does sit on the couch with only her underwear on, watching as he gently drapes the warm towel over her knees. She winces a bit, the sudden thermal shock making her tendons clench with discomfort, “Ow.”

“Everything okay?’

“Hurts a bit.” and then he pulls the blanket, out of nowhere, and puts it over her as well, slipping his hands on both sides of her, tucking the thick fabric around her body as if she was a burrito herself, “...oh.” he arches his brow at her, “Oh I thought…” he kisses her forehead as she snuggles onto the blanket.

“Thought what?”

“Something…that you’d do…when it involves me and I’m only using underwear.”

He laughs, throwing his head back before kissing her nose, pressing their tips together and grinning at her red face, “Later.” he coos, “I want to warm you up first,I can draw a bath for you too.” 

“You don’t have to,I can take a shower later.”

“Hm…you sure?” she nods while bringing the blanket to her jawline, burying herself into the soft couch. Rooster smiles, plopping down next to her on the opposite end of the couch - Beatrice wastes no time in putting her feet on top of his lap, swooping the end of the blanket to trap it under her legs. Rooster just grins, placing his hand on top of her calf bone to rub it soothingly through the thick covers.

Beatrice, face partially hidden by the blanket, just blinked at him, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” he says softly, ‘...I’m…glad we went there.” he begins, still rubbing her calf, “I thought I’d be so nervous but…well,I was, but it was easier to handle, you know?”

“I’m glad to hear that,Roos.”

“Yeah.” he inhales shakily, dropping his head to the back of the couch, eyes following the lines of the cabin’s ceiling, “Nikki is asleep, just a little cabbage all wrapped up in the crib…and the dogs are enjoying how warm that place is too…and Jojo is on your bed.”

“Ahh, so that’s why you wanted to stay down here.”

“She looks so cute,I’d hate to wake her up.” he says softly, “Let her have a little fun, that bed is amazing.” he grins, sighing again, “I also wanted to talk to you…you know, just the two of us.”

“Just talk?”

“I mean…for now.”

They shared a laugh, the crackling of the fire only making the comfort of their surroundings wrap them into another warm invisible blanket making them scoot even closer to each other with his touch on her leg climbing up to her thigh but never moving further from there. Beatrice had to admit she was happy to see him…calm and relaxed and…just at peace. He looked at peace, coming here - to Virginia - and seeing his parents’ graves meant a lot to him.

And now that he had Nikki, undoubtedly he’d make it a habit, any time he could. “...you look better.” she whispered, “From early morning, you know? You look relaxed and…just happy…you look fulfilled.”

Rooster chuckles softly, then inhales, “...I have you to thank.” he smiles, “I don’t know if you know that, but your support has helped me a lot,baby.”

“I try my best.”

“I know.” he smiles at her, rubbing her thigh, “And I appreciate it so much, gorgeous. You know how much I do. You are just…an angel. You truly are…and I-” he leans down to kiss her forehead, then the bridge of her nose, “Love you for it.”

Beatrice’s cheeks were still red when he pulled back and her giggling was only muffled by her hands when she covered her face, “I’m all red!” she squeaks, blushing even harder - he could see it on the parts of her face where her hands couldn’t cover. Bradley just grins more, falling back against the couch and keeping his hand on her leg for a while.

What a day it was, and it was still morning. 

He wondered what other things they could do this week before the New Years, in fact he knew there were things they could do, he promised he’d take her to a few of his favorite places…maybe his old high school? Is that place still up? It was already old back when he got in, maybe they destroyed it to create something new in place…either way, he could look it up.

Of course that with the snow they didn’t have much to do, it was obvious, but he could figure something out. Beatrice would like anything, as much as she hated the cold they could manage something. “...baby.” he calls and she looks back at him with a little smile, “Oh,I thought you were asleep.”

“Not yet. What’s up?”

“I was just thinking what we could do when,well,” he gestures to the window and the snow falling outside, “This stops. Before the New Year,I mean.”

Beatrice blinks, “Well,I mean, skating is out of the list.” she drops her eyes to her stomach, “For obvious reasons.”

Bradley smiles at her stomach, then lowers himself just enough so his ear rests on it, Bea parts her legs so he’s more comfortable in there. Her hands came up to touch his hair, gently brushing through the sandy brown strands as he remains there, just trying to listen something…there was nothing that he could hear yet, but it was more than welcome to see him being so loving.

“Anything?”

He narrows his eyes, then purses his lips, ‘No, nothing, but maybe I heard a hi on the lower left.” Beatrice laughs again, still combing his hair as he sighs, keeping his cheek on her stomach, “Are you okay,though? No nausea?’

“Nothing yet.” she says, which was true, she feared the trip was going to make her feel sick but it didn’t. She just felt jet lagged,nothing more thankfully, “Nor cravings, I’m okay. I feared I’d get sick too but, I’m glad I didn’t.”

“I know,gorgeous.” he smiles, kissing her stomach, “But you will tell me if you do,right?’

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good.” he smiles, leaning up to kiss her lips sweetly, once, twice, three times, and then keeping his forehead against hers, “You are so pretty, ain’tcha?” and that accent made her melt immediately. Bradley’s accent rarely came out but she adored whenever it did. It was so charming, like those…old movies where the cowboy fell in love with the fancy lady, the ones her father loved to watch.

“Roos.”

“Prettiest girl ever.” he smirks, “I might take you out on a date, what do you think?”

“A date?”

“Yep…as in I’ll prepare us dinner and we’ll enjoy it with the dogs and Nikki.”

Beatrice chuckles softly, touching his cheek with her smaller hand, “I’d never say no to a date with you.” she whispers breathily, feeling like this was just their very first date again. Almost four years together and they were still…like they were. She used to think those things never worked in real life, in fact she just assumed Hollywood created this fake idea of love…and then she met Rooster who could literally be the personification of romance in a very handsome,sexy body. 

“Never?”

“Never. You are too romantic for me to say no…plus, I love you.”

His own cheeks flushed just the tiniest bit, his tongue wetting his lips before he kisses her again, “Love you too.” he pushes himself to his feet however, then points at her once he reaches the threshold “I’m gonna set something up for us for lunch, anything in mind?”

“Hmmm, no. Surprise me.” 

“That I can do.”

Once he’s out of her view, Beatrice snuggles deeper into the couch and the pillows as she gets comfortable. Her hand only leaves the confines of the blanket to check her phone and see if she got any messages. Of course their friends and family weren’t going to annoy them there, but Beatrice knew they’d message them in some way,shape or form.

And she was right because she got a message from Evelyn, who didn’t want to bother the two at all but she let Beatrice know they were going to find the baby’s gender this week. She also said that Jake’s mom really wanted to know so there was no point in stalling, “...wow she’s three months along already?” she questions herself, then looks down at her own stomach, counting the time on her fingers with her brows going up, “I think this is the highest number of Military babies in less than a year.”

“What?”

“Oh,um,nothing! Just talking to Ev! She’s going to check the baby’s gender this week!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” she pauses, dropping the phone to her lap, “Do you…want to know the twins’ gender, just like we did Nicole’s?”

Her husband takes a while to reply and instead of shouting he appears on the hallway with his long sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a bowl nestled on the crook of his left arm. He purses his lips, then shrugs, “I don’t know…do you want to?”

“I mean…if you do?”

“...gorgeous,we’ll stay at this for hours.” he laughs, “I mean,I don’t care? We’ll just…raise them the same regardless of what they are,so, of course there’s the need to check on their health…we don’t have to worry about that.”

“I guess so.” she frowns a bit, interlacing her fingers on top of her stomach, her feet moving lazily under the covers, “Do you have any…thoughts? Of what we’ll see?”

“Babies.”

“Rooster.”

“I mean,If I’m honest,” he laughs, holding up a hand, “I’m gonna wait until the bets start, you do know the guys love trying to figure out our life.” he pauses, looking to the side, “Even before we even got together too.”

Beatrice smiles a little bit wider, her cheeks red as she moves her feet under the blanket back and forth, “You wanna wait then?”

“If that’s okay with you, I mean,we still have to tell people and since we want the pregnancy to go smoothly, I don’t see why not.” 

She sighs with a little grin, closing her eyes and setting her head on the pillow, “You are right, I don’t really wanna worry about that right now, but I was just thinking…I mean, that means that Ev is three months along.” she begins, “And that she’ll know soon so the baby will be born in…um…maybe June?”

“I think so? It’d make sense with all things considered.”

“And the twins, if everything goes well, will be born in…” she mutters the numbers under her breath, “April or may?” she blinks, “i need to check and be sure so we can set the new nursery too- oh my god we are going to need a new nursery Roos.”

Bradley’s smirk only widens, “I mean, yeah.” 

“Hrrmm!”

“Baby, please, it’s okay…now,” he disappears on the corner of the threshold, throwing her a final wink, “I’m gonna finish our lunch,okay? Call if you need me.”

“Okay…” she smiles weakly, the realization that they are having twins getting stronger every day…not that the ultrasound wasn’t enough but…she was just having these moments of ‘is this really real?’ ever since they found out.

She also needed to contact the clinic about her birth control shots and figure out why it just…didn’t work this last time. After all it worked before, why not now?

…or maybe she should take a little nap while Rooster was busy cooking. She could do that.

She was starting to give herself a headache.

[charliespringverse]

iwbft — tuesday: a brief summary of my annotations

all highlighted quotes: 136

· ouch/ow/owie: 12

· real/felt/relatable/so true: 5

· aroace: 2

· ☹/☹☹/☹☹☹: 9

Rowan is on his front, one arm slung over Jimmy's chest. Jimmy's head is tilted ever so slightly towards Rowan. — i've woken up like this with at least half my friends

The shipping itself isn't a major inconvenience to any of us. If anything, it keeps the fans interested. They think Judgement Day will eventually come and there'll be a big reveal that Rowan and I are secretly in love. There won't. We're not. — @larry shippers in the year of our lord 2023

It's always sort of been Rowan and Jimmy, plus Lister. We still love him of course. But that's just the way it is. — PAIN (note: this is all caps, huge, and triple underlined)

'I talk about The Ark all the time. I don't know why this was a surprise.' 'Fereshteh, it was a little bit of a surprise to me too.' 'Why?' 'I suppose... I suppose I never thought you actually cared about this band that much.' — parents vs actually listening to and validating their interests (failed, always)

Juliet chuckles weakly and looks away. I know she's had some bust-ups with her parents in the past. — understatement of the millennium

I'm an optimist. I like to believe that love exists. — it Does it just isn't always romantic/sexual. but it exists So Much

'I feel bad... feeling so happy when they're probably upset,' — ur so close to getting it queen

'Can't we just go home?' Lister mumbles. 'No,' she says. — foreshadowing innit

Rowan and I follow him immediately, like there's a string attaching us — ... invisible string addition to the folklore trilogy?

Lister tells us to go away, but Rowan just walks up to him and starts rubbing his back as he throws up. — ♡ listerowan bestieism

There's a big window on one side of the bathroom. Big enough to climb out, probably. We're on the ground floor. We could just climb out and run. Get up and go. — FORESHADOWING INNIT

Being trans has been a pretty you can big part of my life so far, thanks, but that shouldn't be particularly relevant here, in an interview about our music. — u can Never escape other ppl's obsession w ur transness

Dave laughs and says again, 'Now that's honesty.' — FUCK YOU DAVE (note: this is all caps, huge, and quadruple underlined)

I ask God to give me a bit of extra patience. Because every time Mac speaks, I sort of want to put an entire bag of cotton wool in his mouth. — what God is for x

Being a male fan of obscure old bands is, for some reason, more acceptable than being a female fan of a twenty-first-century boy band. — (also the obscure old bands are rarely that obscure. they're one direction for old white men)

They know exactly who they are. They put it in their blog about' page, they put it in their Twitter bio. I never know what to put in my Twitter bio so I usually just put an Ark lyric in there. — and when u enter ur confident aro-ace era? what then?

I like to think God does have a plan for everyone. But I also think there's too much shit in the world for all these plans to be perfect ones. Or maybe God doesn't have time to write a plan for everyone. And some of us are just trying our best and getting it a bit wrong. — i think this is why faith doesnt work for me

Everything's still there, though. My journals, my guitar, my main laptop, my childhood teddy bear, and the knife that Grandad gave me when I was sixteen. — now i want to know what he would admit to in one of them essentials interviews

It'd be useless as an actual weapon, since it's completely blunt - you can run your finger along the edge and not even get a scratch. — hhhh foreshadowing innit ☹

Not that he particularly goes seeking it. Everyone just wants to be friends with Lister Bird. — and yet he cares most abt getting closer to the two he shouldn't have to try for ☹

David [Tennant] thought she wanted a selfie, when in fact she was just trying to find the nearest toilet. — iconic

'Now, there'd better be some fucking Capri-Suns somewhere around here.' — me @ every function

When they were together they both seemed to stop worrying about everything else in their lives - Rowan was no longer an overworked band boy and Bliss was no longer a struggling student. They were just together. — ☹ justice for laimondi

Then he leans in and presses his lips against mine. Oh. Okay. Fine. This is fine. Can't say I realised this conversa- tion was going in this direction, but fine. — BAD (note: this is all caps, huge, and double underlined)

'But we're gods, Jimmy. What's better than that?' — pain. suffering. agony. heartache. torture, torment, anguish.

Holding it makes me feel real. It reminds me that I was born. That my life is something other than this birdcage I'm trapped in. Isn't it? Isn't it? — has his therapist ever discussed depersonalisation with him?

[take2intotheshower]

Endless List of Why I Ship Jane & Kurt - Part 3 (by @kate-dammit-run)

(re-posting to preserve this list, which was originally created and posted by @kate-dammit-run, whose account was deactivated in 2023)

101. Because he would never question her loyalties 102. Because he doesn’t care who is around them, he will hug her in the middle of the office 103. Because he will risk his career to keep her brother safe 104. Because she’s grateful he almost killed a man in cold blood for her 105. Because he was not objective and he got the best out of her 106. Because they both believe that having her memory erased was the best thing that happened to her (because it brought them together) 107. Because SUV heart eyes 108. Because he will always worry about her 109. Because she knows when something is bothering him 110. Because he trusts her enough to open up to her and show her his pain 111. Because she was worried he was also moving to Colorado and leaving her 112. Because there’s no point of them feeling alone when they can spend time together 113. Because Pennsylvania beer 114. Because her brother shot him (and they can joke about it) 115. Because she got excited about his year book 116. Because it took her 2 seconds to recognize him as a 15 year old 117. Because he wanted to impress her with his high school basketball glory days 118. Because she knows how to make him smile 119. Because feelings have to be earned 120. Because she would never be expendable to him 121. Because she is super proud of her assistant director of the FBI husband 122. Because he should just grab her before anyone else does (and use her to make billions of dollars?) 123. Because he wishes she was there to see him shoot Rich (and she wishes she was there too) 124. Because if she’s happy, he’s happy (even if it means she has a date with someone else) 125. Because she knows how important Emma and Taylor were to him and is only trying to protect him 126. Because he’s taking time to help her brother regain some memories 127. Because he ignores everyone’s concerns and takes her brother out to the field to help him regain some memories 128. Because he’s worried about the guy she’s dating (worried not jealous, nope, not at all) 129. Because everyone can see that he’s crazy jealous 130. Because her ability to see the good in people is just one of his many many favorite things about her 131. Because he kinda likes her brother 132. Because he saved her brother 133. Because when she comes over, she doesn’t need to knock, she can just let herself in. 134. Because her word is law in the Weller household. If Jane says they don’t need to toast with every shot, then they don’t toast with every shot. 135. Because she can go snooping around the apartment if she feels like it (and he will only give her heart eyes in return) 136. Because she thinks he did a great job with the nursery. 137. Because of all the people in his life, she is the only one who can ask personal questions and she is the only one he talks to about Allie and the baby. 138. Because she is the only one who can help him calm down when he’s pissed off about Shepherd. 139. Because he refuses to work with someone who tried to kill her and just wants to throw them in jail. 140. Because it was different between them - there never was any baggage. 141. Because he couldn’t stand the idea of her being so unsettled. 142. Because he watched Jane struggle with her past to become the amazing woman she is now 143. Because in her absence he looked out for her brother 144. Because he doesn’t care what the psychiatrist says, he will release her brother from his glass cage and let him move in with her. 145. Because he knows exactly what it means to her 146. Because he will do anything to make her smile 147. Because when someone is really right for you, you make room 148. Because they’re like proud parents whenever Roman does well 149. Because there’s no team without him 150. Because their relationship isn’t just professional

[bi-demon-ium]

AO3 Tag Game!

Tagged by @mvshortcut :) I did it here as well but now I'm doing it for this fandom/account bc I CAN (a lot of this will be directly copy/pasted if applicable im sowwy)

How many works do you have on AO3?

116. (Including snippet collections.) For this fandom/account. Far more if you count others,

What’s your total AO3 word count?

Okay this one it won't let me separate by pseud or fandom so you're just gonna have to live with being lumped in with all my MBS and a few other misc fics at "653,461". Didn't get the other accounts though. Man, I'm a mess

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Okay, well, this one by nature is also not solely for this fandom,

(number in parentheses is number of ao3 works posted)

The Mysterious Benedict Society (116) (including snippet collections)

Ted Lasso (44) (also including snippet collections)

Instinct (2) (one is a small snippet collection--)

House MD (1)

Death by Dying (1)

Gravity Falls, technically, but it was one crossover (1)

ditto with The Legend of Zelda (1)

King Falls AM (1)

The House in the Cerulean Sea (6)

Shadowhunters (??? at least 36) (some now hidden/lost)

Professor Layton (1)

The Librarians (2)

The Sandman (1)

The Mentalist (2)

Star Trek (AOS) (1)

Sanders Sides (at least 1)

Miraculous Ladybug (1)

Rosewell: New Mexico (2)

The Dresden Files (1)

That's stuff posted to ao3/finished. There's also, technically,

for stuff I published when I was twelve and I now refuse to acknowledge (not all bc of the fandom but bc the fic was Bad):

Doctor Who

Supernatural

Sherlock

Psych

Castle

Welcome to Night Vale

Avengers

A Series of Unfortunate Events

And then stuff I've written for but never finished:

Warehouse 13

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016)

Dirk Gently (2010)

SurrealEstate

Zoo (podcast)

Once Upon a Time

Scooby Doo

Person of Interest

The Goes Wrong Show

Spy Kids (???)

Ace Attorney

The Adventure Zone

Criminal Minds

Star Trek (TOS, TNG, and DS9)

Haven

MacGyver

Trollhunters

exactly one (1) joke The Magnus Archives fic

Percy Jackson and the Olympians + The Kane Chronicles + Tales of Apollo

Leverage

Pushing Daisies

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Megamind

Bones

Avatar: the Last Airbender

Lucifer

Some of these are deeply questionable and/or only have like two (2) wips or even posted works at most, but I'm thorough. Also, I will write about almost anything bc my brain loves to process things like this. I may have even missed something

Top five fics by kudos:

I was gonna have the snippets collections not count but I've got so many exact ties it doesn't matter.

gemini schmemini (136)

kate and her bucket sitting in a tree, S-P-Y-I-N-G (98)

caught (81)

[insert poetic title here] (81)

affectionate gestures<3 (81)

of rube goldbergs and weather machines (74)

tumblr snippets: mbs edition (74)

keeping out the cold (70)

birdsong (70)

Number Two Regrets Her Life Choices™ (68)

timeline? i don't know her (68)

That's actually 6 bc I made a mistake but I've already color coded them so whatever

Do you respond to comments?

I really try to, but then I get all in my head about it and/or am really really tired and put it off so long it then feels like it would be weird to respond because it's been forever. However, if there's a direct question or something I want to address/respond to, as in, I have something particularly unique to say or a question to answer, then I'll usually respond really fast.

And this fandom's smaller so if I'm slightly more likely to respond 😭

Also when I know who's commenting personally which is al ot more likely

What’s the fic with the angstiest ending you’ve ever written?

Honestly, I'm not a huge unhappy ending person, but. uhhh

solo

bring me home (in a blinding dream)

hollowed

seasalt

checkmate

dark side of the moon

wretched clarity

cruel kindness

green-eyed monster

the naming of cats

curled & crushed

oops

I didn't even look at the snippet collections lkgfhjh

Do you write crossovers?

Not often, but I rotate them in my brain. Honestly, though, I'm more inclined to write a fusion than a crossover proper. And even so, I tend to just be thinking about it rather than actually writing it. I've only written one crossover in recent memory (recently, that is) and it was mostly a joke about a shared actress made into actual angst. :)

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

Yeah lmao

Do you write smut?

😏 ......not for this fandom. That I'd post anyway

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

👁️👁️ not. Directly in this fandom

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!! also not in this fandom

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

In this fandom? Nicholas/Milligan. Overall, ever? Recency bias/hyperfixationitis says whatever I'm into the most at the moment. But generally for MBS I prefer gen (although I've written a lot of Nicholas/Milligan, that's partially because it's blissfully easier to find gen already)

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

:(

SO many

Particularly minotaur, the dearly departed, and the "paralyzed" series. Oh and the hanahaki AU

What are your writing strengths?

I think I can write a really funny string of dialogue, and I'm also fond of fun metaphors, both in the elegant poetic way and in the more Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett way (which is to say, still potentially elegant but also comedic as hell)

What are your writing weaknesses?

Motivating myself to write anything; being overly self-indulgent

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I'm extremely bad at linguistics in general, so if I must include someone talking in another language in my fic, I think I'd tend to cheat and do italics or some other indication that this is 'in another language' (ie "Where are you going?" she asked in Russian), but that's admittedly a lazy approach. But I also think it's probably better than butchering it with an auto-translator? Also, when people just include the translation in the end notes, even with a link (although that makes it marginally better) it breaks the flow of the story and makes it hard to read. Making an effort to at least match grammar is good (which I would do if it was for longer than a single scene, probably) but I think the best solution is when people know what they're doing and like, have an actual translation with a little html code so you can click on it and it reveals what it means? Or if you're clever, revealing what it means using context around it, but that has its own limitations. So that both like, uses the actual language and doesn't break up the flow. It balances accessibility, flow, and respect for the other language in question well. But you've got to both know what you're doing with the language (either asking someone/hiring someone/knowing the language yourself) and the html (although there are guides for that you'd have to spend time figuring it out + know it exists in the first place to look). And this is fanfiction, something we ultimately do for free in our spare time, so the lazy approach, I think, can be understandable. Maybe not in every context, but it's not worth stressing a lot over in a few random lines or anything, you know? It is really cool when people do know a language well enough to include it properly in a fic, though, it can say a lot about a character or dynamic; and their background(s) and like. it's neat :)

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Ever? Doctor Who. In a shitty little notebook in middle school. Then there was some Star Trek (both TNG and TOS) and Avatar: the Last Airbender and Marvel and such, and then Supernatural (my first smut? extremely terrible Destiel smut. rip) and I think the first thing I ever posted was Welcome to Night Vale? Not sure.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far?

Oh, man. I have no idea. Here's a few favorites from this fandom:

cain's lament

minotaur

shades of green

a hope in hell

Number Two Regrets Her Life Choices™

tagging:

PLEASE, if you want to do this, I'm begging you, tag me in it and do it. i'm too tired to come up with names im so sorry

[cosmicjoke]

Normally in the manga, Levi's face is sad, stoic, his gaze is full of meaning, why does mappa always make him look frowning and angry, destroying his meaningful expressions? I think in the trailer, probably in scene 136, they made him frowning again when he's normally sullen and his eyes are full of tears. I wonder if they're going to delete the tear scene in the finale? I don't know why they did that, I don't know if they see Levi being emotional as a weakness.

I don't think MAPPA does that. And for certain, they aren't going to exclude his tear at the end. People get way too hung up on minor details like that, I think, interpreting Levi's expressions in the anime as angry when I don't think that's the animators intention at all. People build up in their minds what they want to see on screen, and when it doesn't play out exactly as they imagined it, they feel betrayed or let down. But people forget that Levi's stoicism and generally flat expression is just a defense mechanism. People who can't grasp nuance have been accusing Levi of being "emotionless" for years. Levi tends to have a furrowed brow, most of the time, which other characters in universe even misinterpret as him being angry when that's just his general expression, it not indicating one way or another how he's feeling. Not every shot of Levi in the anime has the nuance of Isayama's art, okay, but I don't think it's fair to accuse the animators of trying to make Levi seem emotionless. There's just as many scenes of Levi's expression very obviously being one of hurt or sadness, even raw in its emotion.

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

So I was rereading bits of Echo again, specifically this part:

 “Beauchamp is one Percival Wainwright,” [Grey] said bluntly... “He’s a British subject - was an army officer, arrested for the crime of sodomy but never tried. It was thought that he’d died in Newgate awaiting trial, but...evidently not.”

...Grey wondered for an instant of he could leave it there - but no. Arthur was persistent as a dashshund digging into a badger sett, and if he discovered it on his own, he would at once suspect Grey of withholding much more.

“He’s also my stepbrother,” Grey said, as casually as possible...”

~ An Echo in the Bone, Ch 15

And frankly, WHY exactly is it okay for John to have outright exposed Percy like this for sake of protecting himself from further scrutiny, but it’s somehow contemptible for Percy to have similarly protected himself from an actual violent man who’d frigging abducted him and inflicted who knows what manner of threats against his person in the process? 

I mean, is this the portrait of a man who betrayed John (and himself!!!) at the first application of pressure? 

“Percy looked dreadful, Grey thought. He was disheveled, his neckcloth missing, and his curly, graying hair matted in spots, sticking up in others. He was pale as skimmed milk, with dark circles under his eyes. The eyes themselves were bloodshot...” (Bees, Ch 136)

And where exactly did John’s ever-suspicious nature go when Arthur Norrington claimed the “snowdrifts of paper involving Beauchamp” were gone? John said himself that though “he’d known Norrington for years...they were not particular friends” - so why did he automatically get the benefit of the doubt that John gives to next to no one? Just because the man had been “the most discreet of his old Black Chamber contacts” in years past hardly puts him above suspicion when the files concerning Percy had made such a timely disappearance when John had specifically informed him ahead of his arrival that he wanted to see those particular files. *side eyes that whole business* 

John just point-blank handed the man information that could’ve lead to a warrant for Percy’s arrest, where he would’ve been automatically hung for having escaped Newgate, not to mention being a traitor to his country. John knowingly endangered Percy’s life just to avoid bringing scrutiny to himself that, given his privileged status and powerful connections, could just as easily have proved little more than an annoyance to him. And did so based on a middling trust in a man he didn’t even consider a particular friend? Okay then. 💀

Whereas Percy gave his confession under extreme duress to a man whose aim he knew to be blackmailing Hal into not addressing the House of Lords in favour of withdrawing from the war. All Hal had to do was just not fucking give his speech and both he and John would’ve been safe!! The stakes on the table weren’t even comparable, and John was already caught in Richardson’s crosshairs with Neil Stapleston’s confession. Percy didn’t learn that Richardson intended to kill John, or that the man was seemingly mad for believing himself to be from the future until after the fact. 

Should Percy have let Richardson straight up torture him for a man who had already been outed (and as a result of John’s own past actions that had fuck all to do with Percy)??? Seriously, where is John’s common sense or sense of compassion in any of this - because I’ve barely seen an inkling of it? Or even the remotest sign of guilt from a man who considers his honour to be the central driving force of his life that Percy got dragged into the Grey family’s mess at all when it has nothing to do with him? Nope, still nothing.💀

The situation with Norrington just strikes me as yet another instance in which John’s inherent biases worked against him. He pretty much blindly trusted the man simply because he fell within John’s preconceived high societal notions of “honour” and therefore, trustworthiness, while blindly doing the exact opposite when it comes to Percy (i.e. automatically distrusting him by default without even using his supposedly well-developed sense of logic to make an objective assessment).    

It’s literally just what John does. He jumps to conclusions on the scantest of evidence and in the absence of concrete proof and then lets the narrative he’s created in his head harden into resentful prejudices against people. He blamed Hal for lying to him about his father’s murder for SEVENTEEN YEARS, only to be all “oh, I wronged my brother all these years” when he finally found how Hal hadn’t even bloody known their father had been murdered! Whereas if John had only opened his mouth and actually communicated honestly ONCE in during those years, he’d never have needed to spend all those years convinced of something that wasn’t even true.

I mean, just...*shakes him hard* GO TO FUCKING THERAPY ALREADY!!!

( @tangentsandbubbles​ your new fic (yes, I read it anyway; apparently I’m a glutton for punishment, especially if it’s John’s at this point 😈) just reminded me I’d written this post I don’t even know how many months ago and then just forgot about it in my drafts! LOL Also, anyone ever wondered where my reply to a post went to??? Into the rambling blackhole that is my drafts, of course! 

Seriously, I’m the worst. smh I’m so mentally exhausted all the time that I’ll suddenly feel the urge to have a little rant about something at 2 AM when I can’t sleep but then I’ll end up running out of steam 3/4 of the way through and be like, ugh I’ll just stick in my drafts and finish it later after I sleep. Except a lot of the time I just...don’t. 😓 Also, unsurprisingly, it’s 3:45 am right now. *sigh*)

~*~

And since I’m on the subject, another bothersome passage: 

“Thank you, my lord,” [Franklin] said. “I take it you were not previously acquainted with Amandine?”

“No, I knew his...brother-in-law, Monsieur Beauchamp, some years ago. In England,” he added, for no particular reason.

Something flickered in Franklin’s eyes at the name “Beauchamp” causing Grey to ask, “You know him?”

“I know the name,” Franklin replied equably. “Is Beauchamp an Englishman them?”

A number of astonishing possibilities had flashed through Grey’s mind at that simple remark “I know the name,” but an equally rapid evaluation of them decided him upon the truth as safest, and he merely said, “Yes,” in a tone indicating that this was simple fact, no more.

Over the next few days, he and Franklin had had a number of interesting conversations, in which the name Percy Beauchamp was conspicuous by its absence. When Franklin returned to Paris, though, Grey was left both with a genuine liking for the elderly gentleman...and a conviction that Dr. Franklin knew precisely what Percy Beauchamp was and had been.” 

~ An Echo in the Bone, Ch 33

At first reading I wasn’t quite sure what it was that bugged me about this part (other than my obvious “Wtf, John, STOP telling random people Percy isn’t who he says he is!!” o.O), but I think I’ve put my finger on it now. I’ve always mostly considered John to be a reliable narrator, but this passage had me raising my brow on that score and seriously questioning for the first time whether I still find him to be entirely reliable. 

I honestly find myself wondering whether John isn’t projecting onto Franklin, thus resulting in his “conviction that Dr. Franklin knew precisely what Percy Beauchamp was and had been”. What’s the basis of this conviction? 

It’s John himself who brings up having known Percy in England “for no particular reason”, then resulting in the man asking if Percy is an Englishman. Franklin’s “I know the name” could mean several things - the most obvious being that it’s, of course, common knowledge among French high society that Percy isn’t of noble birth and that he only assumed the Beauchamp name after marriage so Franklin himself would be aware of it as well given his acquaintance with aristocrats like the Baron Amandine. 

Whatever happened to Occam's razor, John?? Stop letting your assumptions conflate matters beyond their apparent reality! The majority of the time the most straightforward answer tends to be the correct one. 

Doing shit like this not only endangers Percy but himself. Now someone who wanted to discover Percy’s true identity has an excellent lead, they need only look into John’s past in England until their paths intersect. Which is very likely exactly what happened. 

How exactly did Richardson find out who Percy really was? Richardson was a British spy and therefore must’ve had contacts in the Black Chamber...like say Arthur Fucking Norrington, the guy John unconcernedly revealed Percy’s true identity to. 

I mean, seriously John being a self-centered twat about how Percy “betrayed” him just makes me want to throw him into the ocean myself. JOHN brought that situation down on both of their heads with his typical arrogantly reckless behaviour but somehow it’s always PERCY who’s at fault, Percy who’s the bad one, Percy who’s the weak and stupid one, Percy who had to DIE to “redeem�� himself. 

At least Percy had self-awareness and actually bloody well acknowledged his unintentionally hurtful actions and expressed remorse for them, whereas John can’t even take his head out of ass long enough to frigging LOOK at himself and what he’s done with his life much less locate his goddamn conscience when it comes to his treatment of Percy (and other things in his life for that matter). 

Honestly, just...*flings him in the ocean to sink or swim as he may*

But never fear, we all know John will be rescued in the end because HE’s the unfailingly kind and selfless and honourable one in this story, right? 🙄

[captainkirkk]

I posted 4,221 times in 2022

806 posts created (19%)

3,415 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@nonbinary-nicolo

@mooitstimdrake

@a2leep

@starcloud-nova

I tagged 4,174 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#queue - 3,197 posts

#ask - 672 posts

#anon - 544 posts

#dc - 455 posts

#sw - 343 posts

#avatar - 171 posts

#atla - 171 posts

#my posts - 136 posts

#stranger things - 114 posts

#fic recs - 98 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also like. megamind as a redeemed hero but still dressing in black spiked leather and laughing maniacally and giving long dramatic speeches

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Ships are fun, but I also love, "Our friendship has always been platonic and you're like a very annoying sibling to me now, but oh man, I had the WEIRDEST, most intense crush on you for like, three weeks" as a dynamic

745 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

#4

So about Blue Spirit and Firelord Zuko, what if future conspiracy theorists found some correlation that the two are often found together but not exactly at the same time and then one account saw the Blue Spirit entering Firelord Zuko's room. Historians either believe secret bodyguard or spirit guardian. Conspiracy theorists believe they're lovers. None believe they're the same person until the new avatar made a fact check with Aang

Aang wouldn't set the record straight, he'd just laugh for 5 minutes straight and then fuck off before giving them an answer

1,511 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

#3

I've seen the Inception fandom floating around for over 10 years now so I thought I knew what the movie was about. I decided to watch it yesterday and,, what the fuck

You're telling me Arthur and Eames aren't even the MAIN CHARACTERS? I had no idea Leonardo DiCaprio was in this movie, let alone the goddamn protagonist. I thought it was a full two hours of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy staring soulfully into each other's eyes as they tried to figure out what was and was not real, but these motherfuckers barely have five minutes of screen-time together in the whole film?? AO3 EXPLAIN?

1,845 notes - Posted September 20, 2022

#2

Everytime Batman and Red Hood see each other they end up shouting across the streets of Gotham emotional shit like JUST COME HOME SON and YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF ME ANYMORE OLD MAN and it's just Not Subtle in the slightest

No one knows that Jason is an ex Robin so everyone comes to the very logical conclusion that the Red Hood is Batman's rebellious blood son that ran away from home to pursue a life of crime and they're not even fucking wrong

2,337 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I want to see characters being taken care of in an explicit and worshipful way. Home-cooked meals. Hair brushed and braided by gentle hands. Little gifts just because.

I want to read about characters who are not used to kindness being bombarded by acts of service. This trope works romantically and platonically. Give me found family and acts of service - all the ways a character is wrapped up in wordless, explicit care after years of cruelty and having no idea how to handle. I need it.

9,953 notes - Posted December 4, 2022

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