#Also being evil wasn’t exactly his choice

[mittenslikescats]

You know what

I honestly kind of hate how a chunk of the ninjago fandom treats Misako vs Garmadon (specifically emperor Garmadon, I’m NOT bring Lord or Sensei Garmadon into this btw)

Like I see comments (mainly on twitter and instagram) going on about how terrible Misako is and how she’s an abusive parent cus she abandoned Lloyd. And yes while I do think her abandoning him was pretty messed up, she very clearly made up for it over the years. Also there could’ve been a chance that Darkleys was the only school actually willing to take in Lloyd (considering who is father is).

I also think it’s kinda unfair to blame Misako for Darkleys kicking Lloyd out causing him to end up on the streets. That was the schools decision and I’m gonna predict that Misako wasn’t even aware her son had been kicked out and was fending for himself.

Yes she’s clearly made a BIG mistake but over the show whenever she’s a major player in the story she’s there supporting her son.

And now when it comes to E! Garmadon, especially in Crystalized I see comments of ppl saying how much of a better parent Garmadon is compared to Misako (when pointing out how he’s changed since the oni trilogy). And yes while he is clearly changing for the better and aiming to be a better person, I feel like a lot of ppl just casually ignore how much pain (mental and physical) that he brought on Lloyd during the Oni trilogy.

Like E! Garmadon beated his son to what is likely to be an inch of his life, disowned him in front of all of Ninjago, “killed” his adoptive family, destroyed him home (bounty and Ninjago city) within a few hours and then later during that week was sending the SOG to hunt down his few remaining friends and family. And ppl are STILL trying to say that Misako is the worser parent between the 2 of them.

Now I get that E! Garmadons character arc in Crystalized is learning to be a better person, I still don’t like how the season likes to brush everything he did to Lloyd during TOT slightly under the rug. Like Loyd is presented as being an angry and mean jerk towards his father, even tho he has all the right too. Unlike Vinny Lloyd didn’t see the gradual change his Father had in between MOTO and Crystalized. To Lloyd this is still the same Garmadon from back during the Oni invasion (also while he shows small signs of possibly changing on MOTO it’s more of an interaction between Vinny and Garmadon NOT Lloyd).

I can easily see why Lloyd is so cold hearted towards E! Garmadon, this is the same man that almost killed him with his bare hands and then took basically everything from him. But a chunk of the community just sees Loyd as being rude and not willing to accept that Garmadon is trying to become a better person. And don’t they realize how difficult this is for Lloyd? But also I see some of those same ppl turn around and say that Misako is this god awful parent.

Like excuse me? Yes Misako did a pretty messed up thing but E! Garmadon did FAR WORSE and while he’s trying to make up for it Crystalized I don’t really think him trying to be nicer to other ppl and Lloyd actually making up for EVERYTHING he’s done. Yes he is 100% going in the right direction on becoming a better person, he’s still MILES away from being a better parent.

Misako spent YEARS rebuilding her connection to Lloyd, she there for him, she cares about him (and in turn he cares about her) but ppl turn away and go ‘well she abandoned him when he was a kid’ but then those same ppl will point out how E! Garmadon is trying to become a better parent.

But it’s honestly frustrating how some ppl treated Misako then how they treat E! Garmadon.

so yeah thanks for coming to my what was supposed to be a mini rant

[amuseoffyre]

I’m emotionally ruined by the fact that Aziraphale hasn’t broken out of his heavenly conditioning. He still loves doing good. He gets happy when people tell him he’s an angel and says “it’s nice to tell people about the good things you’ve done now that I’m not reporting to Heaven”. He will literally put himself in harm’s way to make sure he does the Good and Right thing.

It can’t be understated how much Heaven’s influence still impacts on him. Aziraphale has been created, ordained and conditioned to believe it and he can’t just switch it off or walk away. Crowley didn’t get the choice. He was Fallen. He was kicked out and - as per the rules of toxic and terrifying cults - Aziraphale was always told for centuries and millennia, Falling was the worst thing that could happen. If you’re bad, you’ll be forced out. If you’re bad, you’re not one of Us. You’re one of Them.

When he did something he perceived as Right (ie. saving innocent children from death), but knew it wasn’t what Heaven intended, he broke down. Crowley found him a crying, shaking wreck afterwards because he was so convinced he was Evil. He was so convinced he was going to be dragged to Hell and that he was now a demon because he did one thing that saved some children but because it wasn’t a specific directive, it was Bad.

It shapes so much about him and it’s why the whole series looks like he’s having so much fun doing silly human things, but there’s this brittleness to it. He’s happy and excited and he’s doing his human-life things and having a lovely time, but he’s also constantly stressed because of the Need To Do Good. From the moment Gabriel turns up, he’s a nervous wreck and is trying to hide it by Doing Good, by Solving the Problem, by Fixing Things, by being so active and reactive rather than letting himself think about it. It’s a sign of exactly how frantic he is that he starts giving away his books and letting humans touch them.

Watch his face when the Archangels show up unexpectedly: that isn’t joy. That’s blind terror. He’s so afraid of doing the wrong thing in Heaven’s eyes, even though he made the active choice to do so because it was the Right thing to do. He’s a Guardian and he will protect, but he is so very afraid of the repercussions, even now. 

At the end of S1, Crowley said “they’re gearing up for the big one” so Aziraphale’s not oblivious. He knows a big one is coming. He knows something worse than the Antichrist will be on its way. And he’s trying so hard to pretend that everything is normal and fine and if he ignores all the looming bad stuff, it won’t happen. If we don’t say anything about it, nothing has to change.

But then the changes come knocking at his door holding a box and the choice is gone. He can keep trying to blinker himself to it, but then there are angels and demons in the bookshop and he’s had to use his halo and everything is falling apart.

So when he realises that he can get himself into a position where he can guarantee those repercussions won’t happen to Crowley? He will absolutely take it. He says himself “I don’t want to go back to Heaven”, but the instant the Metatron offers him a free pass for Crowley, to take Crowley out of both Heaven and Hell’s sightlines, to keep him safe (Another bee inside the hive, if you will), no wonder he grabs it with both hands.

The tragedy is that Crowley thinks that when they saved the world together, that was the end of Heaven’s influence in Aziraphale. When he was cast out the split between him and Heaven was sharp and clean. He doesn’t - he can’t - understand how deeply it has tangled around Aziraphale. It’s built into Aziraphale’s entire being and unravelling it isn’t that simple. Aziraphale’s trauma is a horrible, terrible Gordian knot and Crowley can’t understand that he couldn’t simply cut through it, because that’s just not how Aziraphale works.

[elodieunderglass]

Hello! I was reading back through the joyful Killie-posting and I realised I had forgotten that Ciara is going through a slow divorce. Was her marriage a dynastic move, like her parents? Were they hoping to keep the bloodline strong, or did she briefly fall in love and escape the clutches of the family for a time? She seems so awful. I'm intrigued by her.

(Killie the jockey OC’s awful sister Ciara, who turns up in a few places, being horrid.)

Do I need a better way to keep track of Killie posts /responses/comics? or is this fine? Suggestions on the back of a pigeon, please.

Oh, I like Ciara. She has one of those mean little hater faces I have ill-advised crushes on, and I expect she’s quite sharply witty, even if she mostly uses her powers for evil. It was wrong of her to push Charlie out of the nest (although she realised that quickly), it is wrong of her to sharpen her claws on Colm (which she might realise but still does it) and it is wrong of everyone else to overlook her incisive intelligence and redeemable qualities. What a big mess. Would being different flavours of bi disaster fix all of the siblings? The answer is no.

Regardless of Ciara being exactly the sort of person to read tabloids or run a drama blog, nobody deserves to have to go through a Republic of Ireland divorce, a horrible trial that nobody in the world actually wants. (You have to live apart from the other person for two out of three years. It used to be even worse!)

I think it was both. she married for love, to another jockey/trainer, son of people they knew, with her parents’ approval; but having viewed school as a mind-game full of enemies, and not having much in the way of other social connections, she only really knew people in the industry anyway. And she liked him. so she married in haste and repented at leisure. She should’ve been at the club.

Being a hater in the online comments started as an attempt to find Charlie, moved into getting sidetracked by the existence of online communities (whoa! There’s other kinds of people in the world! It isn’t just Horse Racing, Family, and Direct Competitors! People have different jobs and careers? She makes online friends? She finds out some are gay???) and gave her some ability to build identity. They’re probably the voices that helped her realise that she was replicating her birth family in her marriage, that she was just ripping strips off her husband out of frustration, and that her personality was boxing itself in with his, both of them getting worse and making each other worse, smaller people. That helped her get out of her marriage, which was a difficult thing to do anyway, since it wasn’t something as simple as either Ciara or her husband being Bad People. She married for love, goddammit!

She thought she was escaping the clutches but she was creating them again!

She probably had a moment of horrible clarity about that.

I don’t know. The other siblings all represent something. Maybe if Charlie is somehow about… Joy, and Control of the Narrative. (“There are parts of Charlie you can’t have.”) singer, liar, storyteller - those are choices you can make.

and Killie has always been Courage and also Freedom. (“Throw your heart over the fence and your horse will follow.”) Killie’s a fuckin’ warrior (and also a wild horse) and that’s all from choices.

and Colm is Peace, and oddly enough, Integrity. (“Colm has a core of solid diamond.”) of all the things we might wish for as mature adults, perhaps he has the best.

So what is Ciara? What’s she about, what was I processing here? There will be something true and brave and important there. But it doesn’t have to come from me. Maybe she means something to you, and I hope she does, even if I don’t know myself yet.

[maxdibert]

So I’ll be honest. I didn’t really think much of Snape bad/good but now I feel myself converting to liking him maybe even love. How can this be? (I am shooketh) Do you have any Prince family origin hcs?

Well, back in the day I wasn’t exactly a huge Snape fan either—I just thought he was an interesting character, nothing more. My “conversion” came later, as an adult, when I realized just how relatable he is, because honestly, he’s just a whole mood all the time. There’s something about him that I really like beyond his role in the story or the fact that he’s a complex character, and it’s the fact that this guy is stuck in a job he doesn’t like, totally overworked, surrounded by people he can’t stand and who can’t stand him either—and yet he keeps going because he has no other choice. And like… damn, that’s the life of the average adult. Imagine being overloaded with work and having to put up with a bunch of kids and absolute idiots who look down on you—dear god.

Anyway, outside of that, we don’t really know much about the Princes, and they don’t give us a whole lot of info either. I’ve always thought they were a pureblood family, probably part of the elite at some point. I’m not sure if they were still in that position by the time Eileen was born, but I do remember that her marriage and the birth of her child were announced in the newspaper. I don’t think the marriage and motherhood of just any witch would be considered newsworthy, so for it to be printed like a society event, she must’ve either been someone important or from a notable family. So in my opinion, Eileen was probably the last in the Prince line, and they likely believed in blood purity. I don’t think they were as fanatical as the Blacks or the Malfoys, but they definitely had that aristocratic mindset of wanting to marry within their status and looking down on Muggles in general.

I really like this idea because I love the concept of Severus being a full-on half-blood—not just the son of Muggles, but the product of a pureblood mother and a completely Muggle father. And at the same time, I love the idea that he’s not just a blood half-blood, but also someone coming from two very different social classes: a mother from a high-status background and a father from a very low one. That creates a kind of internal class conflict too, and this duality—living between two worlds—is a constant in Snape’s life: between the magical world and the Muggle one, between purebloods and half-bloods, between good and evil, between the Order and the Death Eaters. Those parallels are really fascinating to me when it comes to his character.

I’m not sure if this is exactly the headcanon you were asking for—sorry if I rambled a bit lol.

[captain-mj]

Love Potion <3

Hey, think of the consent issues you can think of when a person is under a love spell. Take that into consideration moving forward. Keep an eye on Roach.

Soap had been wanting to be part of the guard since he was old enough to hold a sword. He finally had been accepted, though it took a while to be able to. Not just because his age, but also his history of trying to sneak into the guard made them not believe him when he was actually of age. 

Mostly, he was looking for purpose in life. Some thing outside of himself that he could believe in. And what better than protecting his people from the evil things that tried to destroy his kingdom? 

Elves were constantly going to war with them. They seemed to despise them constantly and Soap did find their looks to be… alarming. The long pointed ears, the odd makeup most wore as well as the unnatural paleness they had. Being as they were the main sources of most magic as well, Soap found himself hating them. 

At the current moment, the current evil creature terrorizing them was a weird thing that stalked the woods at night. Soap was not sure if it even existed but he knew that most of the citizens of their city thought that and in the end, that was really what was important. Even if his presence was more symbolic, he eased their minds. 

Soap got up and started to pull on his armor. It was not a full suit, as he likely would not be going into battle today. Maybe some basic sparring but he wasn’t up for a lot at the moment. He planned to mostly just patrol and see if he could maybe get a glimpse at his Lieutenant. 

Simon “Ghost” Riley. 

Everyone was interested in him, but he only paid his Lord and Lady attention. He was quiet and sharp when he did talk and he struck both fear and… something a little closer to infatuation in almost everyone he met. Something about his presence… 

Soap was not immune to this effect. Not one bit. Sometimes, it felt like he got it more than anyone. When Ghost was in the room, it felt like the only way he could breathe is to look at him. 

He was sure that everyone felt this way a little bit. 

Soap finished his musing and left their barracks. He went straight to his favorite baker. In all honesty, the only retreat he was interested in was Roach’s company. He was lovely company, though he was cursed to be unable to speak. Soap had never seen a nice, cooler person. Even if he had a strange choice in headwear, constantly having a mask on to cover his mouth and a helmet on. 

Roach noticed him and he perked up, quickly scuttling off to get him a cup of coffee and some form of…

Soap wasn’t sure exactly. Just that it was a form of bread and had meat on it. He was skeptical until he took a bite. 

“Roach, if i was allowed, I’d marry you in a heartbeat.”

Roach blushed a bright cherry red and smiled even brighter somehow visible through his mask. He took his money, counting it quickly before dropping it in the cup he used for collection. 

Soap didn’t understand why so many found him off putting. Despite his curse, he was pleasant. He made idle chat, careful not to interrupt his business, just there to enjoy his company. 

“MacTavish.” Ghost whistled and Soap quickly turned around to look up at him. 

“Lieutenant! Need something?” Soap smiled politely, hands behind his back in a perfect parade pose. 

Ghost glared at him. Presumably. He never took off his headgear, meaning no one ever saw his face. 

Soap thought about it. Had drawn different versions of him more times than he could count to see if he could possibly get close. Like always, Ghost drew all of Soap’s attention. 

“No…” Ghost brushed him off and got some food from Roach. “Hey, Sanderson. Nice to see you.”

Roach fluttered his eyelashes at him and quickly made him a cup of tea and a… scone? Soap was man enough to admit that he didn’t actually know the words for most of what Roach sold. 

Ghost… lifted his mask. 

For a moment, a bright beautiful moment, Soap thought he’d take it off completely. That he would see the scarred gruff man beneath. 

What could he expect? Salt and pepper hair? Stubble? Dozens of scars? He was probably much older than Soap. 

Ghost lifted his mask to just barely reveal his mouth as he started eating. He dipped his biscuit into his tea before taking a bite. When he paid, he gave Roach a thankful grunt and ruffled Roach’s hair. 

Roach looked enamored, face bright red. He noticed Soap watching and quickly started to clean, looking very embarrassed. 

Soap tried to ignore the jealousy he felt at this entire situation and made himself scarce. Ghost was too obsessed with his job to ever entertain any of them. Least of all Soap. But seeing the rare moments where he gave out affection and it wasn’t directed at him…he felt so ignored. 

During the day, Soap mostly stood in one place and looked intimidating. At night, he hesitated between going back to his barracks and guarding the house of the town’s lady and lord. Logically, he should go to the barracks as he hadn’t been told explicitly he was on the night shift but it had been roughly four days. 

Just to be safe, he went ahead and went to their home.

Home was… well. It was basically a small scale castle. He thought it was honestly a little grandiose for his taste. 

There was no one around. Just a very soft silence. 

Soap gritted his teeth. Yeah. He was definitely supposed to watch them. Why the previous watch had not waited for someone to relieve them was beyond Soap entirely. 

He went inside to check if they were okay, but was unable to find his lady or lord. 

It didn’t occur to Soap that continuing to look may make him stumble on something he shouldn’t. He was too focused on making sure that his charges were okay and safe. 

A cracked door. 

Never good. 

Soap stared at it, hearing… something. 

Breathing. 

Anxiety rolled in his gut but he had to make absolutely sure his charges were safe. That was his whole job. The place reeked of roses, chicory root and jasmine. Nothing directly sinister but definitely seemed like the components of magic. 

So he silently looked through the door, just to make sure. 

Soap covered his mouth. 

His lady was in a knight’s lap. He knew the moment he saw the armor who it was. 

Ghost. 

That would explain his one track mind when it came to this. 

She had taken off his helmet, having tossed it to the floor at some point. Her hands ran feverishly over him as her husband spoke. He seemed to be ordering them both around.

Soap felt a tiny bit better than she wasn’t sleeping with Ghost outside of her husband’s knowledge, but the entire situation was disturbing. While he’d never fault someone for their kinks, he would’ve never guessed his Lieutenant would have such… proclivities. 

She shoved him down on the bed, due to his size, his head lolled off of it and hung down, giving Soap a sudden and very aggressive view of his face. 

Three things were noticed in very quick succession. 

One, Ghost was more beautiful than Soap could’ve guessed. Soft lips. Beautiful curly hair. A chest and taught stomach that made Soap wish more than anything that he was the one currently making his way down his body instead of the lady of the town. 

Two, he was an elf. Long pointed ears. Unnaturally pale features. 

Three, perhaps most horrific, his pupils were wrong. 

Heart shaped. 

Meaning he had a love potion on. 

Ghost didn’t smile. He didn’t enjoy this. Even under the influence of magic, they couldn’t force him to pretend. 

Soap fled like a coward. 

[splosh-crime]

Riordanverse:

Monster Worldbuilding

The Riordanverse has a practically limitless amount of potential and it’s a crying shame that there are so few fics for worldbuilding and viewing the universe at a different angle then we see in the books. I love seeing writers that break from the mold and inspire readers to see things from a different perspective.

The concepts of Monster Sally Jackson, Monster Percy Jackson, Half Monster Percy Jackson, and New Immortal Percy Jackson all fascinate me. If you want to worldbuild but don’t know where to start, put your favorite characters in situations that confront the base concept of you’re working off of and go from there. Tons of opportunity for worldbuilding here.

As an example of lore that can be expanded on for worldbuilding purposes, the monsters in Percy Jackson seem fully sapient and capable of choosing kindness over gluttony/power (Tyson and the Atlantean Cyclopes, Ella and the CHB Harpies, Bob the Titan, Damasen the Giant, Mrs. O’Leary the Hellhound) but we rarely see anyone exploring their perspective or even trying to negotiate with them, let alone finding the boundary that designates “monstrous” empousai vs “mythical” satyrs/fauns beyond their choices and death effect.

Another worldbuilding strategy that has more to do with brainstorming requires asking questions. Would Percy go to Tartarus if he died or is he unable to die? Is he a God, if so; what are his domains? What makes a monster a monster?

Hellhounds are one of the most common monsters but Mrs. O’Leary is a sweetheart (I really don’t understand why there’s no info on how she was tamed tho). Cyclops can either work in Poseidon’s forges or eat children, Iapetus the Titan was evil until he got amnesia and chose for himself while being influenced by Nico, Harpies will kill kids but will also work security at CHB, and Telekhines are explicitly shown manipulating their kids to hate demigods with propaganda.

Clearly monsters have just as much potential for good as humans, so why are they considered monsters but Centaurs, Satyrs, Nymphs, Nereids, Argus, and many misery-based gods aren’t? If it’s about helpfulness then why are Cerberus and Ladon seen as monsters? Is it about looks?

I’ve always thought it was weird that despite Sally’s “death” in The Lightning Thief greatly resembling that of a monster’s (flash of golden light/sand/disintegration), not once did anyone even theorize that she was a monster. Like, I get that it’s not exactly common for gods to have kids with monsters but it does happen, especially with water-based gods. Chrysaor (pirate captain) and Pegasus are famous examples of this, their parents being Medusa and Poseidon. Poseidon had Charybdis (whirlpool), Scylla (6-headed sea monster), and every Cyclops as monster kids, every Siren is a monster kid of Achelous (river god), and Typhon and Echidna were born from gods/primordials too. Sally could’ve been a monster passing as human in the Mist™️ but she wasn’t even suspected because she looks and acts human.

Anyway, if any of you have thoughts, additions, or reactions to anything said here, please don’t hesitate to share in the notes/comments. Almost no one I talk to regularly shares my fandoms or wants to hear my info-dumps so Tumblr’s my enrichment team. All my posts double as invitations to discuss.

[sammywolfgirl]

Okay let’s do this

The tarot card readings in the spire of deceit

According to my interpretation-

Uh disclaimer that tarot is subjective and I’ll be getting my info from a tarot app that sources from Wikipedia and my own general knowledge, I read tarot as a hobby and am still learning so this is my subjective reading bassed off the cards, my knowledge, and my vibes from the characters themselves.

That being saiiiiid let’s start with Pure Vanilla’s reading

An all reversed draw, I will say reversed cards don’t always mean it’s bad but it is a different way of reading it. Though idk how helpful that’d be in this case.

All drawings are done in the three card set which is the classic, past, present, future. So I’ll be operating under that structure for all the readings.

In the first slot we have the magician reversed- the magician represents power, channeling fights from the universe or higher power into a tangible world. But reversed it means destruction. The use of personal power for destructive purposes.

In the second slot is the fool reversed- the fool means beginnings, a new start. But reversed it means foolishness. A new beginning but not the best choice of action, uncertainty and recklessness.

The third slot is the hanged man reverse- the hanged man means sacrifice, self sacrifice and growing with the flow, it can also mean a different point of view. Reversed meaning is martyrdom, self sacrifice to an unhealthy extent. A different point of view but one that should be re-examined.

My reading-

Considering how pure vanilla is when he draws these cards (and the grain of salt of shadow milk trying to corrupt the guy) I’d read this as follows- pure vanilla has squandered his power, causing more harm than good, misusing it and harming others in the process, because of this, he is currently lost, a foolish lost sheep trying to find his way in the world, nievly holding onto grains of truth in hopes it’ll guide him, but to no avail. Now he must adapt, but all other perspectives seem foolish or lost, if he continues to cling to this truth he will be led astray, will he sacrifice his morals and abandon them or reject the new perspective?

Basically shadow milk wasn’t wrong when he said this is probably one of the worst hands he could draw. The cards are saying “oh you’re screwed buddy” though I think there can be some hope if you see this as a warning. I mean he’s not exactly in thr best place right now, and who knows how much shadow milk is ‘rigging fate’ as it were

Edit- so I’ve been informed that the hanged man isn’t reversed. My b this is why you don’t make posts while tired.

This does change the reading a little but generally the ‘you gotta change your perspective’ thing is less foolish and aggressive and more like, adaptation or die I guess. Still very much a targeted reading thanks shadow milk cookie

Now onto shadow milks tarot cards

Now unfortunately these aren’t numbered (damnit shadow milk!) so I’ll have to make assumptions based off the card faces. The good news is I think these are pulling from the classic tarot card faces so it shouldn’t be too hard. Now for the reading,

Card one is the Devil upright- The devil represents obsession, indulgence in the superficial, instant gratification, obsession, addiction and materlialism. It also means being led astray, evil or negative influence, and incarceration. Being trapped by vises basically.

Card two is death upright- death represents inevitable change. Metamorphosis, difficult times, trial of the soul. And pandemic. It basically means the inevitable end of a cycle.

Card three I wasn’t sure for a bit but I have reason to believe it’s judgement upright- judgment represents awakening. An epiphany or spiritual awakening. A change in personal consciousness or important life lesion. Essentially the end of the journey and a lesion learned.

Now this is his first pull, no trickery explicitly done yet, and going off that this is my reading: this could essentially be telling how shadow milk fell and became the beast of deceit.

The font of knowledge was tempted by spreading little lies and half truths and sewing seeds of doubt and chaos across cookies, and as that obsession grew he became more and more addicted to it, cookies would believe him no matter what, so why tell the full truth? They don’t want to hear it anyways! This indulgence grew until a turning point came and he succumbed to corruption, a rebirth into the beast of deceit. Now as the beast he’s had an epiphany, truth doesn’t matter, lies and trickery are where it’s at! He understands now the power of lies and will wring chaos across all of crispia and cookie kind!

In short, lies are addictive and he has become the king of them. And he’s having a blast,

At least that’s my reading, not sure if shadow milk would enjoy that or not but hey I’m playing to the audience here. Now for his second reading where his minions modified it

Like his first pull no numbers so I have to use the card faces as clues. But I think I got it.

The first card is wheel of fortune upright- fortune means destiny, kismet, fate, synchronicity, the universe continues to turn despite the ups and downs. Control what you can and accept what you cannot, things happen for a reason. Essentially it’s the cycles of the world.

The second card is the emperor upright- the emperor represents authority, stability, laws, government and society, leadership, might, influence, and control. It can also represent a single person that hold power, wether that’s emotional or physical.

The third card is the high priestess upright- high priestess represents intuition. Opening up one’s own intuition to receive messages from the universe. Meditate, tap into your subconscious, wisdom and introspection to find answers. It can also means secrets, mystery, the future as yet unraveled.

All that said here’s his second reading, which In short I think is essentially a reading saying how he is in charge, in control, and that your better just giving in and following him then fighting.

It was destiny that made him the beast of deceit, this was always going to happen, he has the power and authority here, so open your mind and embrace the chaos of lies and disharmony! It will set you free.

Honestly I’d believe this reading is more telling pure vanilla to just listen to him already than anything reflecting shadow milk himself. His minions did rig the cards.

But hey that’s just my interpretation, if anyone has any alternative readings or got something different out of this I genuinely would love to know. Tarot is subjective and in my own experience one part reading the vibes to two parts reading the cards. This is just what reading I’d give these guys if I was dealing them.

Anyways thanks for coming to my Ted talk I think tarot is super neat

[rosy-crow]

While I’m rewatching this chapter, I actually have to say I felt really bad about Masamune, dude. It’s hard not to see the parallels he has with Sephiroth even though his story is his own.

Alissa frames him as the real monster, saying he was seduced by the sword too…and maybe he was? But initially, after he forged it, it wasn’t his choice to go and start the Robio village conflict.

The villagers lost their minds because the sword is cursed One Ring style, I guess (likely something related to Jenova, considering Masamune was suddenly possessed to forge it).

But still, the conflict started with an act of betrayal. The people Masamune served turned on him and tried to steal his masterwork. They even broke into his home. It sounds like they went animalistic over it, fighting each other and all.

But here, I think Masamune has agency! Bro might even have regret.

It’s like he loses faith in his people and that’s when he starts killing them. Again, paralleling Sephiroth’s story a lil bit…

I like how it sounds like there was a choice here and maybe Masamune took the darker path out of hatred or anger over being swarmed and attacked by his neighbors after serving them and creating the weapons they would need to survive in the creepy environment they were in.

Yeah okay, the sword was maybe stirring up the worst in these people, but their drive to get claim it was greed, right? They wanted more than what Masamune had already given them. They wanted HIS own precious belonging and creation.

It’s like a material parallel to Sephiroth and Shinra, which is pretty damn cool sdjfjdj.

Masamune became a murderer and destroyed his own home after he watched his fellow man sink into animalistic greed and violence, targeting his life’s work and service. He killed them and they killed each other. There was evil on both sides in the Robio tragedy.

Sephiroth’s story is darker because he chooses to go well beyond the destruction of his own home, but knowing the context and build-up, knowing how he came to view humanity as a whole as his enemy, we know why he chose what he did.

It’s twisted and evil, but what I like is how both his story and Masamune’s story have these little hints about why exactly both turned on their fellow man. I won’t be surprised if Jenova is behind the scenes stirring shit up like a demon whispering in people’s ears, but there’s enough room for agency too!!

Masamune also wanted to find someone to inherit the sword last chapter too. Maybe bro just wants peace now or something idk.

[theoraclej]

THAT SEASON FINALE!

light, where to begin, a disjointed ramble of things I observed:

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain! - Mat said the words, he said the words!

And he made his own ashandarei! I hope he gets the raven-inlaid one though because I’m sure no one wants him running around with that dagger

And I know he’s going to get a massive S3 glow-up because he sees himself as MORE, now. Yay Mat!

RAND exploding the shit out of the Seanchan including Turak; nice way around his general lack of swordtraining which I’m sure will be remedied

Once the Heron, to set his path!

The interplay between Rand (and Lews Therin before him), Lanfear, Ishamael - they were besties in the Age of Legends, lmao!

I had expected the intro to be a high society polyam party they were attending, not the Sealing of Ishamael, 🤭

The Warder bond was beautiful, flowing, intimate, just what I imagined when reading these books some 25 years ago

I knew Moiraine was gonna say Lan was her better!

I’m so glad they’re back together though, legendary qpp

Nice to see the S1 intro sequence with the gorgeously woven Aes Sedai tapestry

I was a bit sad Nynaeve didn’t heal Elayne OR Rand but she DID swear to make Seta’s mother curse the first kiss her father ever gave her and THAT was cool

Hopper, my beloved! 😩 I would be chopping Whitecloaks too!

It was so satisfying to see Perrin obey his wolfly instincts already!

Elayne being the one to heal Rand’s wound was an interesting choice, and you can tell he was dazzled by her!

Book lines, book lines, book lines making me have conniptions every time one was uttered

“From birth to death I serve the Blood.”

UNO I KNEW YOU WERE COMING YA SHEEP-GUTTED MILK DRINKER

“For the Light, and Shinowa!” still gave me chills even without an expanded story behind it for Ingtar

Egwene al’Vere. I hope she earns a title of “the Unbroken” someday. Remember, Nynaeve even said that about her when Egwene was captured by Whitecloaks in S1!

Egwene, spitting out the damane gag and refusing to rain down fire on innocents, ah my girl, that’s that Two Rivers steel

Egwene, collaring Renna and choking her to death, being stronger than Renna, being able to withstand the pain of that because that’s exactly what Renna taught her

Egwene later, with that amazing shield against Ishamael to protect her friends!

Lanfear pushing Lan and Moiraine out of the ocean Waygate was very unexpected but totally within Lanfear’s lane, just to keep Moiraine away from Rand

Lanfear working to sell the Seals to Bayle Domon, which was so lmao also, and it really enhanced her utter shock when she entered the room later with the Seals all broken.

M O G H E D I E N 🕷️

She is perfectly creepy, perfect in every way. I can’t wait to see her tear shit up, or to see how she will be used in S3 and beyond

Never expected her to cage Lanfear in her webs, either, dang. Lillen Moiral wasn’t near so strong as Mierin. But we know some things are just Talents, and Moghedien is better in Tel’aran’rhiod than Lanfear

Did you notice Rand’s wound swirling with evil bits throughout the healed part? Really cool effect if you catch it

Aviendha, Bain, and Chiad showing they can fight just as well in close quarters in a city as in the Three-Fold Land; and then later acknowledging Rand as Car’a’carn

Though I’d hoped we’d get some good old He Who Comes With The Dawn in here too

Moiraine’s outstanding torpedo weaves that fucked up the Seanchan boats! And she understands the stakes - if the Dragon is gentled, or harmed, or captured, everyone’s life is in danger and that includes her and Lan

Anyhow fuck the Seanchan

Did it look like Suroth got blown up too? Does that mean she’s dead? I guess we’ll see who gathers in the scattered remnants of the Hailene!

The first “I’m not Lews Therin” from Rand

Mat taking a moment to mention Rand’s “shit hair” to Perrin while they were in the mix, lmao

That shadow ashandarei is really scary, it is a laser knife (lightsaber?) on a stick

I can’t wait for Perrin and Hopper to meet again in the Wolfdream

Speaking of which, I think Perrin’s eyes are permanently golden now

I cried at the coming of the Heroes of the Horn, I’m sure many of you did too 😭

Cool Hero fighting effects, I liked those

BIRGITTE SILVERBOW MY LOVELY

I figured Min’s vision of Mat “killing” Rand would be something like this, an accident, not an intentional thing

His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul…

AL’LAN MANDRAGORAN, the Uncrowned King, Sworn to the Flame, bonded again, fighting as he was meant to, just slicing through armies, snatching arrows out of the air and stabbing people with them, chef’s kiss

I wonder if Nynaeve’s “failures” and inability to channel at these vital moments will give her the drive to break her block

Ishamael’s channeling at the end was really impressive, a testament to how much more he knows than Rand

I hope that’s not the last we see of Fares Fares, he was remarkable as Ishamael and a truly enjoyable villain

And since they didn’t have the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Telamon found with the Horn like in the books, Moiraine saw to it that he was heralded with literal fire

This I can imagine many people seeing from far away, and of course rumor travels further

The Falmen sure seem to appreciate it and of course the Seanchan are gone for now

Lanfear asking the LIGHT to protect Rand at the end is something interesting and NOT LOST ON ME

I REALLY ENJOYED IT and am looking forward to a full rewatch of S1 and S2!

Proclaimed across the sky in fire 🔥🐲

[theonceandfuturequeenoftarts]

Harry wandered back from Dumbledore’s office in a daze. He continued to question what he could possibly learn about how to defeat Voldemort by taking a trip down memory lane, as he had since these meetings had started, but now he felt added stirrings of discomfort. Like his skin was a size too small or he’d walked through an invisible spiderweb.

Voldemort, back when he’d been Tom Riddle, was… very much like Harry. Dumbledore could say that their choices defined them and made them different or whatever, and maybe he was right. But seeing how Riddle was talked about by the matron, how Dumbledore treated him in that first meeting – it made Harry realise how very easily he could have been the evil outcast, if anyone had listened to the Dursleys’ lies, or found out about his parseltongue abilities, or if he hadn’t already been lauded as some hero since he’d been a baby. As much as he didn’t like the fame and the wild mood swings of the magical population’s attitude towards him, Harry knew those expectations had guided his path and moulded who he was becoming.

Dumbledore’s actions were… well, unkind was possibly the nicest way to put it. He had instantly judged an eleven-year old as irredeemable, pretended to light all his worldly possessions on fire, and didn’t seem to find anything wrong with how he’d acted even sixty years later. Yes, Riddle hadn’t exactly helped his case with that talk of hurting things, but Harry had seen that desperation for connection, for belonging, that he’d once felt.

And then there was the added fact that he was being shown private moments from Riddle’s history. Harry knew how he’d feel if someone was shown his memories of life at the Dursleys. He still hadn’t told anyone about the cupboard under the stairs, and the rest his friends only guessed at.

Maybe he was reading too far into things, or projecting his own situation. Maybe Ron and Hermione were right and his saving-people-thing was showing. After all, hadn’t Riddle grown up to be a megalomaniac who led a hate group that murdered and tortured muggles and muggleborns? Maybe there should be limits to Harry’s empathy.

But Harry’s secret power was love, according to Dumbledore. If caring was what differentiated him from Voldemort – and especially since he couldn’t seem to stop it even when it left him gutted, cold and alone – then dammit, Harry was going to care.

So, Harry did what he did best (?) and leapt headfirst without looking.

Ducking into a dusty, moonlit classroom, he leaned against a desk, pulled out a bit of parchment and quill, and started to write.

Voldemort,

So, on a scale of one to ten, how pissed would you be

Hope you haven’t murdered anyone lately oh wait it’s you

Hey. I wanted you to know that Dumbledore showed me the memory of you receiving your Hogwarts letter. At the orphanage. With the whole fire wardrobe thing. 

I feel like I should apologise. It definitely seems like an invasion of privacy and I didn’t want to know, but now I do, and I’m sorry?

Is this weird? This is weird.

Anyway, I also saw the matron talking about you, but I know that sometimes people lie for stupid reasons, so here’s a one-time opportunity of me asking for your side of the story. If you want.

You probably don’t care.

– Harry (Potter)

Before Ron or Hermione found out or he could think better of it, Harry snuck up to the owlery and tied the letter to a nondescript school owl. (Hedwig was incensed that he would use another bird and pecked at his head a few times before flying off to the rafters to give him the cold shoulder, but there was no way he’d send his beloved owl off to Voldemort. Sorry, school bird.)

He returned to the Gryffindor common room as soon as the owl flew off, putting the letter as far from his mind as possible. After all, it wasn’t like he’d receive a response.

(thus, friends absent speak)

[foxymoxynoona]

Could you do a drabble for Amended where Jungkook & Bella are out with all of their kids having family time and suddenly run into his evil ex from school and she tries to make Bella feel insecure because she is salty🧂 but Jungkook puts her in her place since he regretted not defending Bella from her back then and this is the perfect opportunity to show her he is happy with his family 🙏🏼🥹 ❤️

I have not deleted any of these drabble requests! bet you thougth I'd forgotten but I have not! I just wait for the right moment and inspiration. I hope you enjoy this.

Story: Amended Length: 4321 words CW: language, some innuendo, fluff Timeline: June, Kai is almost 10 months old

“You didn’t have to come,” Jungkook said, hand on her lower back as the sliding doors opened to greet them. “Me and the kids could have handled it.”

“I want out of the house,” Isabella gritted out. “You didn’t have to come.” Jungkook gave her a look, not even bothering with that. No way was he going to let Isabella make a baby supply run by herself, not when he felt like it was his fault they’d run so low on everything in the first place. Usually he swung by the grocery store or Target on his way home from work to grab the diapers, wipes, baby food pouches, Desitin, replacement pacifiers or teething rings or more socks because Kai seemed to have been born with an anti-sock forcefield that made them evaporate within minutes of being put on, but Eomma and Isabella were determined he was going to wear grippy socks as he began toddling around the house. 

Lily sighed dramatically and dangled from the handle of the cart, “I’m boring.”

“You’re bored,” Ezra corrected, then amended, “Actually you’re pretty boring too.”

“Ezra,” Isabella warned.

“Ok guys, we can divide and conquer and get this over quickly,” Jungkook suggested. Isabella admired his pep, even if it was also grating right now. They were all staticky. In the past four weeks they’d passed head colds around twice, with Kai teething and not sleeping on top of it. How could he sleep when he had just discovered how to get to his feet and how much more trouble he could cause in that position? Isabella felt like she hadn’t let the house for anything except work in three weeks, and not even that in four days since she’d been the last –and hopefully the very last– round of the cold. 

Ezra sniffled and Isabella eyed him suspiciously. There better not be another round. It was June! The weather was finally starting to warm up, shouldn’t they be free of colds now? She was not sure that Jungkook was right that the warmer weather made cold viruses thaw out and be active… but she also hadn’t remembered to google it to disprove it yet…

“Kids,” Jungkook warned as Lily’s and Ezra’s bickering bubbled up. Isabella was better at tuning it out. They were all just so restless, and a trip to Baby Depot definitely wasn’t going to fix it, but maybe if they hurried it up here, they could do something fun. Like what? She had no fucking clue, but she’d think of it in the car. Was the ice cream place open yet? Playground? Kai was probably going to be ready for a nap by then though… 

“List?” Jungkook asked Isabella. “Break it out for us, who’s doing what.”

Isabella decided maybe Jungkook’s tactic was right here. Divide and conquer. So she divvied up the list: Ezra on unscented wipes and diapers, Lily on exactly three new baby books, Jungkook on a baby fence they could set up in the yard and maybe a ride on toy because Kai seemed jealous of Ezra and Lily riding their bikes in the driveway during the nicer weather, and Isabella would fill up on baby snacks and formula. Last time Jungkook and Ezra had made the choices and when she had pointed they seemed to have forgotten the beet-banana cereal puffs Kai liked, the two had responded simultaneously “Yuck.” 

Jungkook took Kai, Ezra took the cart, Lily dragged her feet as if she had the worst job in the world even though Isabella knew she’d probably forget herself reading all the baby books and they’d have to go fetch her. The brief silence of standing alone unnerved Isabella. How strange to be alone. 

She grabbed a basket and set out for the baby food aisle. Feeding Kai had been such a different experience from the very beginning, when she’d struggled and then given up on nursing. That had been hard to accept but ultimately it had removed such a major stressor from his babyhood, and made her realize just how much time she had spent stressed about it with Lily and Ezra, worried if they were getting enough, worried why they didn’t like the solid foods she tried to introduce later, worried if she was nursing them at the wrong times and that’s why they didn’t want to sleep through the night, worry if she was eating or drinking the wrong things for them to get secondhand through her milk. Damn it was nice that Jungkook could and did handle so many of the feedings. Nothing sexier than watching Jungkook bounce a baby in one arm and mix a bottle one-handed –except maybe watching him airplane Kai on his shoulder as they passed the end of Isabella’s aisle in search of their items. 

Bottles weren’t the end of Kai’s difference in food. His first solid food had been a dumpling stolen from Jungkook’s plate in a split second at just over five months. He’d quickly learned that grabbing fistfuls of rice was impossible for his parents to wrestle away. Beyond the Asian foods that were a diet staple so young, Isabella also had the time and money and energy to make finger foods for him alongside their meals. She’d about killed herself trying to get the same healthy diet for Ezra and Lily, but also been very reliant on the pouches she could get through food donation programs. Feeding Kai was more joy than stress, and the whole family got in on seeing how he would react to whatever food they had him try. The weirdo had a particular love for lemons –which had Jungkook demanding to know what happened, since he happened to hate lemons, as if Kai would just inherit his exact food tastes!

Smiling at all of this, Isabella perused the “quick” meals available –the little trays of cut up turkey and mashed potatoes and peas or macaroni and cheese they kept stocked for quick meals when they needed to be out the door for kids’ activities. She actually looked forward to that kind of busy again. Being stuck at home with sick kids, managing without a sick husband, or languishing with her own sickness knowing Jungkook was carrying more of the load solo had been frustrating, to say the least. Now it was back to normal, for a whole two weeks until the kids got out of school for the summer. Time moved so quickly.

Healthy healthy, we’re all healthy now, what’s good for immune support? She mused, chucking her selections into the basket until it grew heavy on her forearm. She still needed to get the formula too. What a great feeling. She had grown used to not having to count coins after years of living in what felt like luxury with Jungkook, but she wondered when the day would come that she stopped noticing that she wasn’t thinking about it. Would she ever truly take it for granted?

She heard the shriek of a baby and glanced over her shoulder as a toddler sprinted past –not hers. The little girl ran to her parent in another aisle, out of Isabella’s view and concern, but the glance trailed her vision across another woman in the aisle, heavily pregnant and staring right back at her.

“Isabella,” she greeted evenly.

“Jasmin,” Isabella returned, mirroring her tone. She looked casually back to the food, feeling prickles of displeasure along her scalp but not wanting to let Jasmin know she felt any which way about seeing her. Pregnant, huh? Isabella would admit only to herself she wasn’t thrilled to learn of any positive developments in Jasmin’s life. She didn’t want to be petty. Much. 

To her surprise, Jasmin followed up with, “How’s it going?”

“Good.” Isabella knocked a few more things into her basket before reciprocating, “How about you?”

Was there hesitation in Jasmin’s voice, or was she only waiting for Isabella to look at her before she rushed out, “Great. Things have been busy.” 

“I imagine so.” 

“I’m due in six weeks,” Jasmin volunteered and Isabella didn’t know whether to hide or convey her feelings of I could not care less and never want to see you again. Jasmin continued regardless, “I feel as big as a house! But Daniel says it didn’t go to my face, probably because of all the prenatal pilates I did.”

“I… didn’t know you did pilates,” Isabella said because of everything suddenly happening, that felt like the most surprising thing, even more so than Jasmin suddenly chatting her up with a tone that didn’t sound totally nice but also not totally bitchy. Obviously she was trying to brag, but Isabella was around a lot of pregnant women and that was pretty normal… oh geez, had she done that too?

“I have for years, since I moved to LA. Daniel wanted me to take a rest but I wasn’t about to let this baby ruin my body.”

Isabella couldn’t resist it, she shrugged and said, “I’ve had three and don’t feel ruined at all, but I can’t imagine the pressure you live under when that’s your thing. I’m glad you’ve found something to help–”

“I wouldn’t say it’s my thing– what do you mean by that?” Jasmin asked, head tilting. “Caring about the way I look?”

“Being fit and attractive and all that,” Isabella offered. She meant it as an insult but suspected it didn’t sound that way in her voice, but that Jasmin was likely looking for the insult anyway.

“Oh,” Jasmin laughed, “I guess my style has changed.” It was clearly Isabella’s cue to notice for real just how fully Jasmin’s style really had shifted. She’d come from money but made such an effort to be cool and anti-everything in high school. Isabella couldn’t recall what she’d worn the last time they ran into each other in the jewelry store. “I guess soon I’ll be dressing like you.”

Isabella heard it as an insult and felt her haunches raise as she resisted the urge to look down at her own outfit, as if Jasmin had any power to make her feel unworthy. So what, black leggings and a heather gray top from a six-month Stitch Fix subscription she’d let Mikayla talk her into might not be the height of fashion, but fuck off maybe?

“Because I am so fucking sick of maternity dresses,” Jasmin continued as if there hadn’t been an uncomfortable pause. “Even the tailored ones. It’s not about showing off my body, I just feel… I can’t believe you did this twice but it was probably easier since you were so young, hm?”

“Um… I’ve done it three times,” Isabella said again. “And…” She didn’t know how to respond to this because, try as she might, she couldn’t find anything mean in it. Jasmin just seemed to be…sharing? Maybe it was a little barbed but… definitely nothing compared to her old hostility.

“Three times?” Jasmin clarified. She glanced at the baby foods in Isabella’s basket, mouth open, before realizing, “Oh, you and… you had another one?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. Three is– I can’t imagine. I’m definitely done after this. Daniel said he’d like two but he can be pregnant next time if he wants it so bad,” Jasmin said, and laughed and gave Isabella this look like you know what I mean? 

Isabella stumbled over her answer, “I think Jungkook would have liked more too but… three is good.”

“Three is great,” the very man said from behind her, shuffling noisily into the aisle with Kai supermanning on his shoulder and the awkward babygate in hand while he kicked a box ahead of him. “Hi,” he said breezily to Jasmin, then to Isabella, “I got the pink and purple little scooter thing for him instead of the red one since his bouncer was blue so he doesn’t get weird ideas about colors for boys or girls.”

“Oh. Great.” Isabella nodded. This was actually something they had agreed on before Kai was born, so she did not understand why he was clarifying that now. 

He set the babygate down and flipped Kai into his arms, their precious son squealing with deep belly giggles about it, exacerbated by Jungkook’s fingers tickling his belly.

“Wow. He’s cute,” Jasmin commented, watching every movement Jungkook and Kai made. Isabella would have loved to read her mind just then. Kai was really fucking cute, and so was Jungkook, and the two of them together were painfully cute to witness. Was Jasmin thinking how that could have been her? Wondering if having such a cute baby was the only reason Jungkook had gotten together with Isabella? Wishing her husband could compare in any way to Jungkook (Isabella was sure he could not)? 

Or was she simply seeing her future, when the baby in her own belly would be out in the world and giggling upside down playing with his dad?

“He is,” Isabella belatedly added. “We lucked out, each kid was just so much better than I imagined. Everything worked out so well.”

Jasmin flipped her hair over her shoulder and agreed, “Daniel always says that, how you know it’s not the end until things have worked out.”

“Daniel is her husband,” Isabella explained to Jungkook.

“Well, fiance,” Jasmin said and flapped her hand with a honking big ring on it, as if she both wanted them to see and not see. “I didn’t want to be pregnant at the wedding and have guests thinking that’s why we got married, so we’ll do it in Bali next year.”

“Oh, that’s a big trip with a baby,” Jungkook mused. “We didn’t take the kids to Korea until they were older, now Kai will have to wait for a bit. I think he’d drive us nuts on the plane, he wants to move all the time.”

“Maybe you can fly private,” Isabella suggested, not sure what else to say. She trained her gaze on Kai, wishing she could just scoop her son up and skip away from this awkward conversation. 

Jasmin laughed, “Ok, Daniel is a C.O.O. but we aren’t that rich. Maybe in a few years. He’s been so successful and now he and my dad are thinking about a joint venture together. It’s… you know, work stuff,” she said with a grin. “I won’t explain venture capital.”

It must be a jab, and yet Jungkook didn’t seem to feel it, just agreed, “Good, I don’t have the brain cells to spare because apparently I have more kiddie books to memorize– Lily, that is way more than three,” he called as Lily shuffled down the aisle, at least eight books stacked precariously in her arms. 

“Yeah I know but I can’t decide if Kai needs to learn colors or numbers or letters or shapes first and those books are cute but kind of boring, so I think we should get him these ones about bugs and sharks too.”

Jungkook clicked his tongue and flipped Kai again and then gave Isabella a playful look, lips pursed until he asked, “What do you think, Mom, it’s a good point.” 

“We already have so many books,” Isabella reminded him.

“Yeah but maybe if I’d read more, I wouldn’t have done so much dumb shit as a teenager,” he pointed out. 

“I don’t think literacy was your problem,” Isabella countered.

Jungkook laughed and in a surprising twist, asked Jasmin, “What do you think?” 

Jasmin could not have looked more flustered. Isabella couldn’t understand what was going through her head at all right now as she looked between the four of them and stammered out, 

“I think… that… reading is good. Maybe I should have read more too.”

Lily shuffled through the books in her arms, then handed over a board book with the suggestion, “Here you go, you should get this for your baby. It’s a good one. I already read it.”

“Oh. I guess… ok…” Jasmin glanced at the cover of the book but mostly at Lily, probably trying to figure out whether Jungkook was actually her biological dad or not. Lily always thought it was funny when people thought he was and didn’t bother to correct them because why bother? She loved mysteries and unknowns.

“Why did you pick that one up, we already have that one,” Jungkook realized. 

“I was too lazy to put it back.”

Kai mirrored Jungkook’s laughter, and Isabella too rolled her eyes and snickered and didn’t stop Lily as she wedged the books into the basket on her arm. All of them

“Where’s Ezra with the cart?” Isabella wondered. Being on edge near Jasmin was wearing her out and she was ready to be gone from this confusing encounter. Was she paranoid or did the way Jasmin kept looking between them mean something? It wasn’t bad, but that made it even more alarming. Jasmin was not behaving like she should.

“Ezra!” Jungkook called. Kai’s eyes went wide, then he laughed and let out a loud babble, clearly trying to mimic the yell. 

“Appa!” Ezra called back from a few aisles over.

“You must all be very… busy,” Jasmin said. Kai suddenly decided he wanted Isabella to hold him and tried to leap from Jungkook’s arms, but in doing so saw Lily and decided he wanted his sister to hold him instead.

“Don’t set him down,” Isabella warned, “He’ll take off.”

“He started walking early,” Jungkook explained to Jasmin. “You’ll think they’re terrors once they start crawling because they’re so damn fast, but just wait.”

“Thanks, I’ll remember that…” She trailed off as Ezra appeared with the cart at the far end of the aisle, lanky frame riding the footbar as he pushed it along. 

“They didn’t have the wipes we usually get so I got a different kind,” he announced. “They’re still unscented though. Kai-Kai, do you want to ride in the cart?” Ezra asked, hunching down in front of his little brother wedged in Lily’s arms.

In the moment of watching her kids –and checking the label to make sure the wipes were genuinely unscented so as not to aggravate Kai’s skin or cause Jungkook to whine about the overpowering scent– she started as Jungkook’s hand slid up her back on his way to grab the basket of baby food and books she’d set on the floor

“Is that everything? Can we get out of here? Monkeybars are calling my name,” Jungkook announced as he set the basket in the cart.

“Noooo,” Lily whined.

“Look, I’m sorry that you still can’t beat me in a monkeybar race. Get good,” Jungkook teased.

“Daaaad,” Lily scowled and punched his arm playfully.

“What did I tell you, thumbs out,” he corrected, but her thumbs were out and she used them to give him two thumbs down and stick her tongue out. “Yeah I’m leaving you in the monkeybar dust.”

Through all this Jasmin just watched, until Isabella joked, “Something for you and Daniel to look forward to.”

“I don’t know yet if we’re having a boy or a girl,” she said. “I want it to be a surprise.”

“Either one is good, and they’ll surprise you either way.”

Lily set Kai down, exactly as she had been told not to do. Kai took his little uncertain toddling steps away –not even that fast, but Lily and Ezra playfully pretended like he was zooming full speed, slow-running after him and shouting, “Catch that baby!” Kai clearly thought he was really hauling ass and getting away with something.

Jungkook’s hand slid around Isabella’s waist, a firm but subtle hold as he stared after the kids, a bright smile on his face. Isabella appreciated the touch but also felt embarrassed for Jasmin to see it, ike she might think this was a performance for her. It might be, but it also wasn’t. Jungkook was a handsy guy.

If Jasmin noticed the hand, she didn’t show it, just agreed, “Yes. It’s going to be great.” Isabella found herself hoping that was sincere, that Jasmin felt that way about her life, and Daniel, and this baby she had on the way which may or may not have been planned. She certainly wasn’t going to ask. She of all people knew the planning didn’t dictate the love and joy that came afterwards, and that life had a way of surprising you with the absolute worst but also, sometimes, the absolute best. Maybe Jasmin would wind up being a good mom, the way Jungkook and Isabella had wound up being pretty good parents too. 

Jungkook pulled away to wedge the gate and scooter into the cart, before saying to Jasmin,

“Well, good luck and congratulations. We’ve got to get these kids some ice cream and to a playground.”

“Wait, why the ice cream?” Isabella caught, because that had not been part of the plan.

He dropped his voice lower and leaned in and whined, “Because I want some, it’s finally warm enough outside it won’t give me brain freeze.”

“That’s not how brain freeze works,” she laughed.

“Bellaaaa, buy us ice cream.”

“Yeah yeah, go,” she laughed, “Push the cart, Muscles.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Isabella paused, turning back to Jasmin, belatedly considering that she hadn’t been thinking or feeling anything at all about Jasmin for the last few minutes, really. The thing she’d feared, the jab she had waited for, didn’t come. It was like running into anyone else from high school in the store: a little awkward but inoffensive. 

If Jungkook was making a point right now, he’d done it exactly right, by being playful and casual. This was exactly what Isabella would have wanted Jasmin to see, their family close and loving and happy. It didn’t feel like an act because it wasn’t. Jasmin could see that, she must. Maybe she was jealous or maybe she was just as happy with her C.O.O. fiance and Bali wedding and baby on the way, but Isabella found she just… didn’t really care. Jasmin’s life or feelings had no bearing on her at all. She didn’t even feel the need for any kind of revenge, or confirmation that Jasmin’s life was worse or anything like that. It didn’t matter. Jasmin didn’t need to fail for Isabella to know that her life had taken a major winning turn. She had no envy for anyone. She had exactly what she wanted.

“I hope things go well for you. New babies can be hard but just remember it gets better every week. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“I know that,” Jasmin said, maybe a little snippy. Isabella snorted. Ok, still a bitch maybe? “Anyway. Have fun with your ice cream.”

“Oh, we do,” Isabella assured her, then strolled off before realizing it might have sounded a little more coy than she really meant it. Uh well, whatever! If Jasmin thought she and Jungkook got freaky with ice cream, so be it. She took the last few steps in the aisle at a faster pace and jumped into Jungkook’s back just before he’d disappeared from view of the aisle. His response was to reach back and smack her on the ass loudly. 

“Hey!”

“Hey yourself, I thought we had a family rule about jumping on people without warning,” he reminded, which they did, and everyone in the family sucked at it. Kids and over-energetic husbands would be themselves, so why couldn’t she get away with it too?

“No that way, that way Kai!” the kids cheered, herding Kai towards the cash registers at the front. Isabella rested her chin on top of Jungkook’s head and squeezed his shoulders before sliding off. Rather than let her go, he threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side.

“You ok?” he asked.

“I’m very ok.”

“I didn’t know how to handle it,” he admitted. “Never expected to run into her here. I can’t imagine her as a mom.”

“Well… people probably said that about me too,” Isabella pointed out. “Maybe it changes her for the better. She wasn’t as bitchy as she used to be.”

“Was she being… nice?” he asked, incredulous.

“Maybe? I don’t know. And I weirdly… don’t care. I mean, it was fucking high school.”

He kissed her temple and whispered, “Yeah, but I’m still sorry.”

“It’s been one hell of an apology,” she whispered back. 

“Want me to say it again tonight?” he whispered again. “Down… there?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“No. ‘I’m sorry’ is too short. Maybe…all these books you’ve been memorizing?”

“Fuck, I’ll be down there all night!”

“Hm,” she grinned. “Hm,” she said again, and giggled and dove ahead as he swatted at her ass, off to scoop up Kai before he pulled down a rack of toddler sunglasses because Ezra and Lily were distracted by someone’s small dog they’d brought into the store.

[okaystoptellingmetomakeanaccount]

Boo Frank Miller Scrooge jumpscare

Now that i’ve got your attention:

Here look ifnonity dime thoughts im so quick whatsoit spoilers under the cut

It was first just thoughts quickly typed but then it became more of a review so enjoy the first infinity dime review on blumber i guess

So my main gripe with the comic (aside from that its short as balls) is that they skip the most interesting part. The actual traveling through the multiverse. That was what I thought me and everyone was looking forward to. To see Scrooge traveling through the multiverse and meet his other selves and react to that. But Aaron just went nah bitch: “a few weeks later”.

We have a prologue beautifully drawn by Paolo Mottura (who even though he greatly did the atmospheric dark Christmas should have done the action sequence imo) that is available to read in the previews anyways. Then chapter 2 which is half available to read in the previews as well. Little confrontation between Scrooge and evil Scrooge or whatever which is nice and all. Then we skip to the real ‘meat’ of the story and its just a really long action sequence…. Greatly drawn by Alessandro Pastrovicchio, but still just a very long action sequence. Maybe this is very usual for Marvel, i don’t know, i haven’t really read enough Marvel comics to know what is usual, but we have what is basically a 12 page long prologue, fight fight punch punch (insert don rosa reference here) and then epilogue.

And like this could mostly be due to the short page count, but had it been longer, i wonder if we would’ve just gotten a more drawn out action sequence instead of more actual story development. Because there was a very deliberate choice made to skip ahead to the fighting and have that be the main attraction. Such a fight scene should be a nice reward at the end after a buildup that makes us feel like this action-packed climax is deserved. After we see Scrooge struggle through time and universes to get to work together with himself, we see the result of that hard work in the fight scene. We can’t just skip over the build up and plop us in a “and then they punched each other for the rest of the chapter”. The action sequence would have probably been quite nice at the end of a longer story, but right now it feels like it’s taking the place of an actual storyline.

Because the entire thing is literally: there is a bad Scrooge (very well set up though). He steals from everyone including the Scrooge we know. They find a way to get to bad Scrooge. They get to bad Scrooge. They fight bad Scrooge. They defeat bad Scrooge. It’s just, they go there, they fight him, over. Everybody clap.

Bad Scrooge himself is great. Really well set up. Is it a dumb fucking Rosa thing? Yes it is, I’m my country’s biggest Rosa stan (aside from Diederik Jekel probably) whatcha gonna do about it?

“What if? Donald and the boys never arrived on Bear mountain…” is an immaculate premise. Which, though it has been done better before, is still really cleverly utilized here. It’s also a very good showing of what we mean when we say that comic Scrooge is always one step away from being a villain. He is no different than Glomgold. One is not good and the other is not evil. One just got lucky with family. The other did not.

Then the ending needed to be wholesome and redeem bad Scrooge and uhuhejshsh but sure

rosareference.cbr loaded

You have the literal multiverse at your fingertips. Then you decide to reference Don Rosa and Don Rosa only. Which I mean wasn’t a surprise I literally predicted it in that long speculation post of mine, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. When the army of Donald’s gets send in, there isn’t even one wearing an all black and white suit. Would it have been really so difficult to get a small DT17 reference in there?

What annoys me, and I find surprising considering the enormous talent of the artists, is that all the multiverse characters look the same. Like on the last page, all the Donalds look exactly the same. There is no sense of individuality for even one of them. They give more the sense that they all came out of a cloning machine.

Even Scrooge. He traveled the entire multiverse and only got one guy who isn’t himself from a different point in time? Or maybe it’s future him, could be! Why not make it a time travel story where a Scrooge from the future has gone mad with power? Because the Scrooges we see are almost all the same. It’s a fun reference of course, but this ain’t showing multiverse. And it’s not like there aren’t already established AU versions of Scrooge. Even then, a little creativity would have still been nice. For an example of such a multiverse story I would like to point to Crisis On Infinite Darkwings, which does a phenomenal job at showing multiverse diversity. Infinity Dime wouldn’t need to do all the pop culture references Crisis does, but again, a little more creativity in the designs would not have hurt at all.

And now that i’ve been yapping for long enough anyways, let’s talk about the length too. It’s not even 30 pages. It’s 29. The artists do a good job at making it feel big and grand. No matter though how epic and great they made and could have made it. If your comic is shorter than the average Donald Duck gag comic, it’s gonna be difficult to make it feel like “his greatest adventure yet”. Then comes with that the irregular layout. There are a few double page spreads and almost all pages are just a few ‘panels’. Instead of an usual 8 or 6 panels per page (and so 8 or 6 panels to develop your story) it is usually 3 or even 1. The amount of panels make the comic even shorter than it already is. Christmas on Bear mountain will likely take you longer to read through.

Not that irregular layout is bad. I love irregular layouts! I love seeing them. Usually they really help elevating my enjoyment of a duck comic! But when you know you have a big story you want to tell, and a limited amount of pages, it is a risk to spread your story even thinner by having many big splash pages where the pretty drawing takes front and center instead of the story.

Then it makes it EVEN SHORTER because there is not a lot of dialogue. Mostly because half of it is action without that much talking. There is a pretty fun way of using the narrator boxes. They are quite melodramatic but I like em.

Jason Aaron’s introductory page was very sweet.

Regardless of the quality of this story, I really, really hope that these kinds of releases continue. It was very fun and special to read something like this.

If these do continue, I would absolutely love an actual comic series. A longer continuing story please! Pretty please? This page count is just not enough to tell stories like these and more pages to properly flesh out things would be absolutely wonderful. I’m personally not that looking forward to the upcoming Marvel parodies, but if original stories continued, it would be the first American comic series I followed.

I cannot overstate enough how much I want more Marvel Disney comics actually. I need them. I get what people mean now on here when they say “going absolutely feral”. I feel it.

Oh and apparently I have 100 followers now on this blog so that’s nice. Consider this the celebratory post! My review of my most anticipated comic. To end it look at the only Mangiatordi pages in here because looking at Mangiatordi art makes all well

Damn actually this one isnt even that good what happened Vitale- sorry no great comic more please marvel disney

[samobservessonic]

StC Post-Mortems: Extra Life

I received another request for a Post-Mortem, this time from @hikingsuper, about a character who appeared way back in issue 13, just less than 100 issues ago from where I’m at now! But I really liked Extra Life and also the site I get the StC scans from is down rn, meaning I can’t work on the next issue, so let’s take a brief detour to look back

How it started

Extra Life had a single appearance in StC and given that he was created by early writer Mark Millar, who bowed out of writing regularly for the series after issue 16 and only wrote a few single stories after that, he wasn’t ever revisited within the series. I can’t find any real world extra info about Extra Life - Millar is an established comic book writer with a vast bibliography on many different series to his name, so it’s likely there was never anything more to Extra Life than what we saw

In terms of the story he appeared in, Extra Life was an evil being created by Dr. Kintobor prior to Kintobor becoming Robotnik, who Kintobor sealed away in a 1-Up Box. Sometime later, Extra Life would trick Tails into thinking that he was Sonic, so Tails would release him. There isn’t any explanation as to why Extra Life is evil or how Kintobor made him, but it’s really not that deep, so this doesn’t bother me 

How it went

…I didn’t plan these sections to work for characters who only have one appearance, did I?

Regardless, Extra Life caused chaos posing as Sonic for a while, before the real Sonic stepped in to fight him. Sally was also in the story a lot, which keeps me happy, and hilariously, she briefly banished Sonic from Green Hill years before Archie would write a story about Sally banishing Sonic lol

How it ended

Punted him into space! They trapped Extra Life back in the box and then Sonic kicked him so hard that he disappeared from the comic for good

Were there any unused future plans from the StC writers?

As I said before, there really wasn’t anything about Extra Life that I could find outside of the book itself. Beyond some speculation about the differences in his writing choices to Kitching’s, Millar’s short-lived run on StC doesn’t have a lot of information out there about it, sadly

What would I personally have liked to see next for him if StC continued?

This is quite a bit ahead of where I’m at in my read-through now, but StC issue 161 features a character called Turbo - an alien who bears some resemblance to the Mobian hedgehog design. Turbo is a nice lad as far as I remember, so since they’re both already in space, the two of them could be good foil for each other, potentially with Extra Life tricking Turbo into helping him and the consequences of Turbo believing him. If we can have “Sonic’s World” stories about characters like Shortfuse and Captain Plunder, then I’d gladly extend that to Turbo and Extra Life as well. I think that in another life (hur hur) this duo could’ve been popular supporting characters in StC

I’m also far from the first person to consider teaming them up, but that just solidifies my belief that the potential is there

What if he was in other Sonic media?

Classic Sonic Games:

I really like StC’s habit of looking at things that aid Sonic and going “What if that was turned on its head?” A category that Extra Life falls into. Yes, we know in the classic games that if you break a 1-Up Box with Robotnik’s face on that you die, but what if it was more of a gamble than that and if you break one with Sonic’s face on you could either get an extra life or have to deal with Extra Life? It could also be fun to make an “easier” version if you play as Tails, where the boxes still appear with Sonic’s face on, so you know that’s the Extra Life that’ll cause you a problem and not an extra life for Tails

How exactly he causes problems could be handled in a range of different ways, mostly focused on attacking the player until he’s dealt with. In my head, I mostly picture this in a classic Sonic setting. I’m sure it could work in modern Sonic as well, but other than Metal Sonic, there are less Sonic doppelgangers or rivals for him to compete with in classic. Not that this has ever stopped the franchise either way

Modern Sonic Games:

Beyond that, I’d honestly rather stick to using the character in settings where 1-Ups are a mechanic, since I think that’s where he’d be the most effective. Maybe have the box he’s stuck in float past as space debris during the Finalhazard fight in SA2 as a callback - that’d be funny!

[toastandjamie]

Okay so, I wanna preface this by saying that I have not read Sanderson’s other books so this is not a discussion about his actual abilities as a writer, and I’m not saying that he’s in anyway a bad writer. I do not envy the situation he was in At All, it must’ve been incredibly difficult to be given the responsibility of finishing such a long and beloved story as Wheel of Time. Trying to honor RJ’s story and characters when you are jumping in at the climax and expected to finish it in a way that the fans find satisfying when there is no way to make Every fan happy with the ending. Okay with that out of the way let’s talk.

So i have a lot of feelings about the final three books of Wheel of Time. There were many parts I enjoyed and there were also parts I was disappointed by. Personally, I felt like many aspects of the last three books felt rushed and incomplete and the pacing a bit odd in places and a lot of that comes down to the fact that it was originally meant to be one giant book, but like- that would’ve been ridiculous and I agree with the choice to break it up into multiple books. However I honestly think they should’ve just broke it up into more than three books to properly to pace them. There were a lot of things that Needed to happen that I think ended up causing certain things to get cut, for instance I do believe a big portion of both Mat and Min’s storylines in those last books were cut for time, specifically I think there was probably originally a lot more time dedicated to dealing with the Seanchen. What I believe to have happened is that Sanderson was given the notes about where the Black Tower needed to be and decided to dedicate the time to it and in exchange he cut the Seanchen plot line for pacing since the Seanchen were Technically already solved. Technically. Now controversial opinion but I did actually like Androl, however, I think he and the rest of the Black Tower suffered from having their storyline rushed. The plot line in the black tower should’ve started after the Ashaman with Rand betrayed them as we got to see the corruption already seeping into the Black Tower. Sadly that’s not what we got, but it honestly deserved an entire book to properly introduce it and it would’ve benefited from having pre-established characters that we cared about be more involved. Other parts of the story I think deserved more time dedicated to, the actual process of stealing the horn of Valere back from the White Tower, I wanted a heist mission with Faile and the Band but that is just personal preference lol. More time learning about Slayer and the red veiled Aiel, they were introduced and then promptly stopped actually mattering outside of being enemy fodder. Literally everything about Faine and the Evil of Shadar Logoth, Faine dying so quickly will forever disappoint me, he was a main antagonist since book one and his death felt very quick and unceremonious, like just tying up loose ends.

Next is issues with characterization. Once again I do not envy Sanderson’s job here at all. This type of thing isn’t easy but I can also see exactly where the issues were. Sanderson by his own admission didn’t understand Mat, and he Did get better at writing him but the damage was already done unfortunately and there wasn’t enough time to properly fix the issues with Mat’s characterization. Mat was not the only character whose characterization was flattened however, Aviendha and Tuon for instance also lacked a lot of their original nuance. I think it’s very clear where Sanderson struggled and that is with unreliable narrators. Characters that Sanderson seems to both enjoy the most and successfully write in a compelling way are characters who very straight forward and honest, their internal monologue matches their actions, and they reliably narrate their stories. Characters like Perrin and Galad thrived under Sanderson’s writing style. Androl is a very obvious example of this archetype being one that he’s comfortable writing. The issue he faced with both Mat and Tuon is that their unreliable narrators who act inconsistently to an outsider perspective and I think for Mat especially Sanderson struggled to get past his first impression of Mat. The biggest issue with Sanderson’s version of Mat is that his character arc was reset, Sanderson’s Mat was still running away from his destiny and trying to avoid Rand, something Mat had already worked past in books four and five with Melindra and the Rhavin incident teaching him to accept his destiny and embrace his role as Rand’s General. This meant that Mat and Tuon’s relationship lost a large part of its nuance and Mat’s actions felt out of character and immature for the point in the story we reached. There’s also the difference in how RJ wrote Mat’s “flirtatious play boy” status versus how Sanderson portrays it and it can feel a bit jarring at times, and just in general, I feel like Sanderson often wrote Mat as “stupid” where he very much isn’t. He’s reckless and mischievous but never stupid and I think Sanderson equated his recklessness with stupidity in some places.

Writers play favorites, and it does show, RJ’s favorite was Mat and Sanderson’s favorite was Perrin and both are very obvious preferences. Poor Rand was neither writers favorite but it’s okay because as the protagonist he at least got consistent page time dedicated to him. RJ definitely paid more attention to Mat than Perrin and Sanderson did vice versa. So I’m not complaining just because I wanted Mat to get more page time. My issues with it are that Mat ended up feeling a bit underwhelming during the last battle. Where all other characters got to have their spotlight moment during a Memory of Light, Mat didn’t; and perhaps that’s because Towers of Midnight was originally part of a Memory of Light so Mat had got his big moment in the final book during the original draft. The Seanchen overall felt like it was resolved in an underwhelming manner, as did the Shadar Logoth plot line and it just so happens that both of those plot lines were Mat’s and I do think Sanderson’s bias informed his decision at least subconsciously when choosing which storylines to trim down.

In summary I would’ve rather Sanderson made it five more whole books if it meant that all the plot lines could be given enough time to be resolved in a fully satisfactory way.

[autisticjoshrusso]

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Hi! Not sure if you actually meant 10 sentences of if you are truly evil and genuinely wanted 30 (/lh), but uh well I started writing and turns out you're getting 30 anyway so congrats <3 This is also very much FRESH off the presses no edit no beta so yknow... it'll get edited and expanded in the final fic etc.

This is the first scene, in which Interim Captain Hen (because I am ignoring the whole end of the s7 finale <3) clocks the Grindr notif sound going off in her firehouse KJDSFHJK

Ka-dlunk! Hen’s head snapped up from her book at the familiar sound, eyes widening in shock as she zeroed in on the source. Surely that wasn’t what she thought it was. But sure enough, Buck was picking up his phone, smirk growing on his face as he swiped to respond to the notification. He didn’t even bother to put down the book he was holding in his other hand, typing out a quick response before locking and setting his phone back down. He finally noticed Hen’s look as he did so, and responded with a look of confusion. “What?” “Really, Buck? At work?” Her shock had faded by then, replaced with a knowing raise of her brows and wry smile. A little huff of embarrassed laughter slipped out as he realized she’d recognized the notification sound, and he rolled his eyes in exasperation. “We’re just chatting, that’s all.” “Uh-huh… just don’t make me have to write you up for stealing a firetruck.” “Hey,” he protested, setting down his book to give her his full attention. “C’mon, you know I’m not that guy anymore. I’d never risk my job like that again.” Hen sighed softly and gave him a more sincere smile, easing up on the critical look. “I know, Buck. Just giving you a hard time, and making sure this isn’t gonna become a problem. Kinda my job, at least until Cap gets back.” His slightly defensive posture relaxed at that, and he matched her smile. “Yeah, I get it. And… thank you, for worrying. But I’m not going back to being Buck 1.0, alright, this is the beginning of Buck 4.0,” he insisted, which made her laugh. “Oh, Buck 3.0 realized he liked guys and had to upgrade to a whole new version?” “Exactly,” he agreed, and they shared another laugh before returning to their respective books. But she couldn’t help but watch him awhile longer over the top of the spine, a knot of worry forming in her stomach. He was a grown man responsible for his own choices; it was totally fine and normal to want to explore his sexuality and play the field for a while, anyway, and yet… He’d been uncharacteristically tight lipped about why he and Tommy broke up, and when she combined this new development with his history, something wasn’t adding up. Or rather, it was adding up, into a picture she didn’t like the looks of. Her Mother Hen instincts were insisting something really wrong was going on, but she’d done enough clucking for one day; all she could do now was watch, wait, and hope her instincts would be proven wrong.

Thanks for asking!! I probably won't get to your second ask right away bc whew writing.... but trust I am Looking and will do it... eventually TM

[littleholmes]

I just think it’s interesting that Satoru’s fresh out of the prison realm and thinking about Suguru and has him near the top of his list of priorities. Megumi catches his attention too because he’s attached to Sukuna and he’s also on Satoru’s list of “things to do before I fight him”, but it seems the situation with Suguru comes even before that on his to-do list and, idk I just can’t stop thinking about it and all that it means.

It makes sense though. It’s really not for no reason that Suguru’s at the top of his mind. After all, Satoru went into the prison realm thinking about Suguru and being shocked that he was even Suguru walking around, let alone seeing his body being controlled by someone else. Satoru felt and saw Suguru’s residuals still inside Suguru’s body, and then Kenjaku’s control slipped and Suguru responded to Satoru, wanting to get Kenjaku out of his body after Satoru asked how he’d let himself get used by Kenjaku.

So he was in the prison realm thinking about that horrible shit for however long it’s been for him in there since time passes differently. Satoru was likely thinking through what could’ve happened, how and if Suguru’s still hanging on in there, who could be the puppeteer of his body, the list goes on. It makes sense that getting Suguru’s body away from Kenjaku is at the top of his list.

But I also think it’s interesting that Satoru said he wants to mourn Suguru’s body because that implies that while he was in the realm with his thoughts churning on how to reclaim Suguru’s body from Kenjaku, he wasn’t mourning the fact that Suguru’s body is being held captive or the role he himself played in Suguru’s body being available for Kenjaku because he didn’t make sure Suguru’s body was properly handled after the Christmas Eve situation (or dealing with the self-blame that comes with realizing that).

Suguru meant a great deal to Satoru and the fact that Kenjaku is out here using Suguru…it’s messed up. And it’s even more messed up considering it’s kinda his fault that Suguru’s body is under Kenjaku’s control. Satoru hasn’t even processed the grief that comes with not only losing Suguru but thinking his body is handled only to see it walking around a platform and being even more awful and downright evil than Suguru ever was even in his darkest chapter of life. Like…that’s next level. Then to hear that Satoru hasn’t even processed that, or grieved the puppeteering of Suguru’s body and his role in that? Yikes. (When that shoe drops that’s gonna be bad.)

And I think it’s even more interesting that 12/24 is such an important date to Satoru since Suguru was so important to him that he subconsciously picks Suguru’s death date for this next fight.

Kenjaku brings it up that it’s an interesting choice and Satoru does acknowledge that Kenjaku’s right that it would be messed up—but only because that’d mean Suguru would have died on 12/24 twice.

It could be said that it’s almost like he didn’t realize it was Suguru’s death date at first because when Kenjaku reminded him, he admitted the confusion of two death dates and his cocky confidence about winning the fight covered it up. But, generally speaking, 12/24 isn’t exactly the first considered option when presented with any number of dates through the end of the year to do something (unless you read a lot of manga because Christmas Eve and Christmas and Halloween seem to be the holidays when shit goes down), but Satoru picked 12/24, and I just find it fascinating because it points to how Suguru and Suguru’s death (and now Suguru’s body) are such an unconscious undercurrent of Satoru’s thoughts that 12/24 immediately comes to mind for the fight when given the current November date.

Idk I’m rambling but I found the end of this chapter so interesting because it highlighted how Satoru hasn’t grieved Suguru again (or maybe even really at all—but that’s another post), how Suguru is at the top of his thoughts and his agenda on what to handle post-prison realm, and how despite his facades, Satoru deeply cares about those he allows himself to truly get close to (with Suguru likely being one of the last).