#I loved getting all the unhinged reactions throughout

[ali-mart]

Sabine Wren [Commission] - request was Sabine in “that poncho” in “that pose” and maaaaan did I love making this. Truly a delightful comm.

[rinachains]

sukuna x gn!reader; fluff; established relationship; no-curses!au

“Why are you so pretty?”  

Sukuna turns his head to your figure that is sprawled lazily on your couch, your own head hanging upside down on the headrest, blinking at him owlishly. His gaze, which had just been focused on the cutting board in front of him - where he was preparing the late-night snack you requested - is now focused on you, interrupted by your unexpected words.

“Are you mad?”

“Yes.” A dopey smile stretches across your face, high on whatever feelings are rushing through your body at that moment. “Madly in love with you.”

Sukuna glances at you, a deadpan look, though your eyes catch the flush that colors his cheeks, barely noticeable, soft and oh so pretty. Betraying his nonchalant exterior.

“Go to sleep.”

“Aww, c’mon, I can see you blushing!”

“Tch, don’t be weird,” he grumbles, face turned to the side, before abandoning his task and making his way to the couch, putting you in a headlock, ignoring your shoves and squeals.

Sukuna finally releases you after you try to bite his arm, your teeth almost leaving a mark (not that he'd actually mind). As you sit up, disheveled and catching your breath, his large hand wanders to the back of your head, a careful grip, and he stares down at you with half-lidded eyes.

To an outsider, your boyfriend would probably appear unaffected, perhaps even threatening. But as his partner, someone who knows him too well, you can quickly recognize the softened edges around his eyes, the glint in the maroon of his irises. It never fails to spread warmth throughout your entire body, and you have to stop yourself from burying your face in his broad chest.

“You’ve been trying to tease me a lot lately, you brat,” he drawls, scratching his nails along your nape.

You hum, tipping your head back into his pleasant touch and giving him a short, firm nod. "I am. It's because of your reactions, they're really cute."

Sukuna immediately grimaces at your words and stops scratching, his eyebrows drawn together as his lips fall into something awfully resembling a pout. Like an angry cat, you think to yourself.

“Don’t use that word with me.” 

You roll your eyes and bring a finger up to his face to smooth the wrinkled space between his furrowed brows.

“Oh, get over it. What do you want me to say? Hardcore?”

He pretends to bite your finger, sharp canines lightly scraping the skin while another unhinged giggle escapes your lips at the playful gesture.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t say anything at all.”

A snort leaves you as you wave a hand dismissively at him.

“Yeah, yeah, if that were the case then you wouldn’t be with me in the first place.”  

Suddenly, his other hand reaches up and squeezes your cheeks, causing your lips to form an 'o'. He shakes your head from side to side, gently, eyes never leaving your face.

"You run your mouth way too much."

"M'only matching your energy," you manage to mumble and he lets go of your face.

A click of his tongue, “You wanna die?”

“Uhh, I’m so scared,” you taunt him, the corners of your mouth lifting up, knowing that his threats are just empty words. His own way of showing love, one could say.

His hand, the same one that just squeezed your cheeks, then travels down to wrap around your waist and your lips part immediately at the sensation. But instead of giving it a light squeeze like he usually does, he pinches your side, making you yelp and slap his hand away.  

“Stop!”

"You asked for it," he shrugs, and you can see him trying to fight off a smile that threatens to spread across his face. You're tempted to tease and coo at him again, but you're afraid of what he might do to you, unsure if you'd survive.  

You let out a loud sigh, "All this just because I called you pretty. How sensitive of you."

His brows rise and this time he doesn't hold back a smile, threatening and promising nothing good.

“Oh, I’ll show you sensitive."

a/n: wrote this bc i'm lowkey procrastinating my toji fic whoopsie hehe

[gay-dorito-dust]

hiii can u plssss make headcanon for mr scarletella w a reader whos very stern or careless? Like, you can NAWT make jokes or make a conversation with this person because even if u text them its either: 1) they reply a year later or 2) they just send a ❤️ Reaction to your text. Like reader can not turn their frown upside down at all…

I hope this is what you wanted.

He finds your stern nature intriguing and appealing to him. Very appealing to him to say the least.

Does this sternness and Inability to smile and or laugh at a simple joke hinder his attraction? Does it fuck, he’s still very much interested in you to an obsessive and dangerously delusional level.

If anything Mr Scarletella enjoys filling the air with his one voice, telling you of his obsession with you and you’re not saying anything in response, only giving him a sideways glance, so that must mean you reciprocated them right? Right?!

He’d most likely talk your ear off and you can do nothing but listen to him, praying that you can at some point tune him out or something, knowing that Mr Scarletella would just follow you closely like a puppy dog. There was no true escape from this man and he’s too delusional and inside his own head to give you any breathable space.

Mr Scarletella would often keep asking you ‘you like me?’ And all he’d get was either a shrug or a grunt. Not having been much of a conversationalist as most people found your nature off putting and so they just avoid you all together.

Not Mr Scarlettella though, he was convinced that the grunts and shrugs were full sentences, thriving off of the idea that you’d only grunt and shrug towards him while giving everyone else a stoney stare or nothing at all. He genuinely believed that and it was terrifying to think of the implications of what he’d do if he believed someone else thought similar to him.

Death essentially but we all knew that. The man is not exactly stable in any sense of the word.

You don’t even bat so much of an eyelid when he gets up close and personal to your face, giggling like a lovesick school boy as his eyes darted across your face, taking in all the details and features you possessed that were uniquely yours and yours alone. Giving himself all the more delusional fantasies of you acting extremely out of character and clinging onto him, demanding for affection and so forth.

He’s most likely the type to fall for an idea of an person and if they act outside of what he believes them to be, he’ll either deny it as he tries to rewrite the image he has of you to better suit his fantasies, not wanting to think about how his false reality of the truth could easily make him even more unhinged.

Seriously the idea of someone not living up to his expectations that he’s made up is a thought you didn’t want to think about too deeply, especially with not how eager he is to kill for you, and instead remain truthful to yourself and keep an eye on him in case something happens.

Since your stern persona and people’s inability to make conversations or jokes with you, Mr Scarletella would find this more easier as he didn’t have to worry about someone taking you away from him. You were his and his alone and he had your nearly unapproachable expressions to thank for.

No competition for your heart? No worries for him as it meant he could cling onto you, continuing to ask whether you liked/ loved him throughout the day while kissing your face and pulling back in hopes of seeing if any change in your expression.

There wasn’t and Mr Scarletella hasn’t fallen for you harder then he already did.

[whatt-the]

Okay but imagine Stanford rubbing one out to the thought of you

Like. He'd be so embarrassed. Don't even try to question me on that. His face would be all flushed red and burning hot when he finally lets his urges take him over. I can just see that guy sitting at his paper crammed desk all alone ignoring (or at least attempting to ignore) how lightheaded he's getting from all of the blood not going to his brain, and yet still trying to be productive; I can see how ford would be pressing his thighs toguether subconsciously just to get himself any sort of relief from the pressure-- though, it won't go away.

But you know what else doesn't go away?

His thoughts about you. God they are wretched. The occasional daydreaming about being near you turned to daydreaming about touching, holding, kissing you- which turned to what he has to deal with now. Obsessive, maladaptive and consistant thoughts about maybe: maybe getting to have you the way he craves oh so desperately

So he reasons: 'He deserves a break, he's worked to the point of exhaustion, he should get to have some pleasure'. It's what he wants to hear, more specifically what he wants to hear from you; and fuck if his brain didn't do a damn good job at imitating your voice when those words crossed his mind. Unsurprisingly, the thoughts just get increasingly more targeted at the cureent situation. How would you react to seeing him like this? Would it be disgust? Anger? He'd understand those reactions, he did feel incredibly sinful while doing these acts, so it is only fair that his rational and logic loving brain would find those to be the answers you'd give..

That's what he pretends to believe in at first, of course. He can't help but be delusional about you- delusional about receiving your praises. Oh how his eyes snap shut when the idea that you'd be amused by his current position; that you'd encourage him to keep going. He can feel himself shiver at the view in his mind-- had his limbs always felt this weak?

And this is the scenario he finds himself facing on... most nights. It is pathetic how much he wants you, it's written all over him: in his lovestruck eyes, in his shaky hands, in the sketches of you scrawled all throughout his notes, in the sleepless nights where his body denies him peace- and equally reflected in the nights where his only dreams are of you and him.

Haha anyway have a sketch of this idea featuring college ford, will do a current ford version if encouraged

This man is unhinged and I'm tired of pretending he's not

You, blissfuly unaware that you're the cause of his lack of sleep: "ford? Are you okay? You look really tired today"

Ford, unable to look you in the eye because of sheer embarrassment: "yes, yes. You know how intensive my research gets... haha.."

[enjolraspermettendo]

I finally saw Les Miserables live in Milan yesterday so obligatory yap:

Okay first of all: KILLIAN DONNELLY?!?!?!? I was already excited that I was going to see him as Valjean but god that man's voice is just so beautiful. He played a spectacular Valjean, he dominated the stage and the crowd went wild every time he sang. I have no words. Just. What an experience. The whole cast was amazing but jesus, this man could do a one man show of Les mis and id give my first born to see it. Also, he carried around Marius's actor like he weighed nothing, that's so Valjean of him. Also, his soliloquy broke me, how he tried to give back the candlesticks after the bishop gave them to him, how he let the bag fall on the floor and picked it up only later. The emotion he put into his singing constantly brought tears to my eyes. What a voice. Indescribable

JAVERT!!!! Bradley Jaden was amazing. I love how much rage he gave to his character, it felt very true to the novel, on how he's compared to a wolf. In stars he's so devoted but the part that literally shook me was after he let Valjean and Marius go: he literally lost his mind and shouted "WHO IS THIS MAN" with such a wild air I literally gasped. He was unhinged during that song, so outraged and bitter and I loved it. It almost felt like he was killing himself to take Valjean's act of mercy away from him instead of his internal turmoil and honestly? I loved it. He had such a presence on stage it literally felt like he was the law. Also let's be honest, he rocked the coat

I LOVED Channa Hewitt as Fantine, She had such a warm and soft voice it felt like a mother's embrace. I cried 4 times during the show and 2 of those were Fantine's death and Fantine's part during the finale. She was perfect

Nathania Ong as Eponine????? I don't think I've ever heard someone sing her parts as perfectly as her. What a voice. Honestly I think the applauses for her were some of the longest and they were completely deserved. She made me cry. Amazing. Spectacular. I fell a little bit a lot in love. Unfortunately she missed the "He was never mine to lose" line but I think it was because her microphone wasn't connected?? Never mind she was perfect.

I know you all want to know about our boys Enjolras and Grantaire so. There wasn't much enjoltaire going on tbh but I didn't mind, I still think the actors (James D. Gish and Raymond Walsh) were perfect and I love their performance. Enjolras was completely focused on the revolution and keeping the others on track, while Grantaire mainly stuck with Gavroche all throughout. Enjolras's most positive reaction to grantaire was ironically clapping with the others at R's jokes once during Red and Black, but apart from that he was fairly hostile to him. During Drink With Me he tried to stop R from singing and bringing down morale by getting close to him and roughly saying "That's enough!" into the same microphone; after he stopped singing and everyone started moving away Enjolras tried to stop Grantaire or talk to him, he seemed kind of apologetic, but R Simply raised his bottle to him in a mock toast and then turned his back to him and I loved that, I love a bitter and petty Grantaire. Grantaire at the beginning was very amused by the whole situation and the excitement of the others, during red and black and the building of the barricade he kept hyping Gavroche up and parting his shoulder, nudging him towards the others as if it was all a game. When the first shots sounded he seemed to realize the gravity of the situation and started nudging Gavroche away and motioning for him to go away; later when the shooting for the fall of the barricade started sounding he lifted Gavroche in his arms and held him as the others started to fall until only them and Enjolras stood; then Gavroche went limp and R died with him, Enjolras died last. For the rest of the show and for Empty Chairs at Empty Tables Enjolras, Grantaire and Gavroche were on the small balcony/platform over the centre of the stage and to be honest it had a very "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" vibe in my opinion.

One Day More was absurd, it gave me chills all throughout.

When Valjean died and the bishop came in the hugged each other very hard, Valjean basically fell into the bishop's arms and that hit me hard.

Gavroche was so sassy I loved him.

Honestly everyone was perfect I literally have nothing bad to say. I think Enjolras's actor lost controls of his voice on a sillable but who cares, it was all amazing.

I also got merch! (It was all so expensive????? But I couldn't help myself). I got a tote bag with Cosette's famous illustration, a magnet and a brochure with the history of Lea Miserables and information and interviews of the World Tour cast. I also got 2 of the paper bags (they were cute okay) and my mum grabbed a literal handful of the bookmarks they were giving away lmao.

I'm sure I had something else I wanted to say but after these last 3 days my brain is completely scrambled. If any of you were at the show yesterday or are going in these days feel free to hit me up so we can go crazy together lmao

[rabbitsrants]

SHINICHI KUDO IS TOO MUCH

guys, i'm currently working on the "reasons why shinran is one of the most brilliantly written romances of all time" masterlist and i came across this part of the manga:

chapter 44

AND I AM LAUGHING MY ASS OFF

shinichi is absolutely RUTHLESS in this chapter. correct me if i'm wrong, but this has to be his angriest moment throughout the entire series? i don't remember him acting this way in any other chapter 😂 like... shinichi is the type of guy who saves murderers from suicide, it's a well known fact that he values human life more than anything, HE'S A DEEPLY IDEALISTIC PERSON, YALL, THAT'S THE MAIN TRAIT THAT DEFINES HIM AS A PERSON and he straight up tells this dude (whos about to slit his own throat btw) TO GO AHEAD AND KILL HIMSELF

this is the most unhinged i've ever seen him 😂

now, let me be serious for a second. obviously, shinichi strongly suspected that the culprit wouldnt go through with it - he spent the entire case trying to cover up his murder after all, that's not something a suicidal person does. still though. the fact that shinichi was willing to risk it says so much about his love for ran. cause that's what his rant is about. the culprit tried to kill ran on multiple occasions and almost succeeded a couple of times. if there's one thing that shinichi can not handle, it's ran being in danger. he'll lose his composure every single time and he will lash out, even at innocent people who are just trying to help:

chapter 640

this man is so devoted to ran, it hurts.

that's why im so shocked everytime the fandom implies that ran is an irrelevant character who doesnt contribute anything to the story. if (for whatever reason) ran stopped being in the picture, the story would end right then and there.

people seem to forget that shinichi has prioritized ran over cases on numerous occasions (that aspect of their relationship deserves its own post tbh, i'll hopefully get to it in the future), he completely loses his mind everytime there's even the slightest risk that she might get hurt and this case right here? chapter 44? that's the wildest shit shinichi has ever said 😂 the part about justice was spot on and very in character for him, but the rest? it was brutal... and very unlike him. which is shocking, considering that ran was completely unharmed. do me a favor and let that sink in: the end of chapter 44 was merely his reaction to the thought of losing ran - he completely lost his shit. now, if ran actually stopped being in his life? shinichi wouldn't just lose his temper, he'd lose himself.

for the record, this isnt me implying that he would go rogue or whatever. the reason why shinichi is so angry in chapter 44 is because ran is okay and tangible, so he still has something to lose. but if she was gone? if she stopped being his life? he wouldn't be angry, he'd be inconsolable. if the level of anger displayed in chapter 44 and 640 is what we get when shinichi simply worries about ran's safety, just imagine the level of heartbreak that we would witness if he genuinely lost her.

shinichi loves and needs ran so much, it's unfathomable for most people, including me. everytime i think i cracked the case and finally figured out how much shinichi loves ran, he proves me wrong. and while i think that most cold cases are a tragedy, i think im coming to terms with leaving this one unresolved. after all, love is the most mysterious force in the universe. and always will be.

visit the shinran library for more

[im-this-kind-of-girl]

Aziraphale and Crowley's unhinged character analyzis (pt2. Crowley)

Controversial opinion:

Aziraphale and Crowley at the end of Season2 managed to accomplish the main goal they each had since the beginning of time. Only to realize that what they wanted no longer made them happy.

Disclaimer: I have no idea about what is going to happen in Good Omens. This analysis could clearly be considered a theory since I'm not Neil Gaiman, but as someone who knows about narrative and character structure, I'm going to elaborate. Also, English is not my first language, so sorry in advance.

I've already talked about Aziraphale's possible transformation arc in the Good Omens story. In here I've also written important definitions such as what's a transformation arc. I highly recommend it to read it first.

Now it's time to talk about Crowley.

Crowley, the co-protagonist and love interest.

In our role as audience, Crowley is the character with whom one tends to empathize the quickest. By the end of the second season, most would be tempted to think Crowley was right. However, this is a lie. Not only is Crowley not right, but he rejected Aziraphale just the same, choosing his principles over love.

Now, why in the first instance do we not see it that way? Well, because we have Aziraphale's point of view. We always get the angel's reaction first, we always see the way Crowley shows up again and again and again to rescue him unconditionally.

Very rarely do we have a moment where Crowley is alone in crisis because his beliefs are challenged. No, everything he does is in function of Aziraphale and we see the story from his perspective, that is, from the perspective of someone who is in love with Crowley. Because of this, Crowley is equally liked and attractive to everyone equally: we are inside Aziraphale's in love POV.

By the time Crowley proposes Aziraphale to run away together, we as the audience are seeing a proposal that is incredibly tempting to us: we want Aziraphale to accept it because it's what Aziraphale really wants. That's why the fight hurts so much, because we know internally that the two of them had the chance to be together but didn't because they're not ready yet.

Crowley's Objective

Crowley, unlike Aziraphale, was happy in Season 2 with his current situation. Having cut ties with both Heaven and Hell pleased him, because Crowley always sought only one goal throughout his entire life: freedom.

The one thing Crowley has always desired is to be himself with no excuses and no strings attached.

Since before the beginning of time, Crowley came to the conclusion that he didn't fit in Heaven. He thought he would fit in Hell, but soon realized that it was like a deteriorated version of Heaven, so he didn't fit in there either. On Earth he doesn't quite fit in either. Sure, he likes humans, has a certain admiration and curiosity for them, but he still considers them a species far different from his own. He is not human and never will be, so he can't really identify with them at all. He enjoys the advantages of humanity, but he is not one of them.

The Job episode is an indicator of this, he himself says so "I am a demon who goes along with Hell as far as I can".

In this same episode, however, the major problem he has with this is also expressed. Azira tells him "that sounds lonely". The counterpart of freedom is loneliness. To be truly free, you need to have nothing and nothing to bind you. That's why Crowley is someone who is unsympathetic and even disinterested in dealing with third parties. He does not remember faces or names, he does not get significantly close to anyone because that would compromise his desire for genuine independence.

This characteristic is the only one that is present in absolutely all versions of Crowley: the book, radio drama and even in the cursed script of the movie that never was. That's why whenever he sees danger, his first reaction is to run away.

Being free he has nothing to lose… or does he?

Crowley's dilemma

Well, Crowley never fit in by being different and so he always felt somewhat an outcast. However, it wasn't long before he noticed that Aziraphale was also different.

Clearly the angel was not like the other angels in Heaven: he enjoyed Earth, he fell into temptations, he lied to other angels. Also, it is obvious that he would not fit in Hell, and while he is more empathetic to humans, he is still innocently aloof. Aziraphale has a pure goodness that Crowley admires, the goodness that made him be kind to the demon in the first place.

Moreover, no matter the time, no matter how little they knew each other, Aziraphale could always see through Crowley's evil masquerade. The demon could burn goats and murder people, and yet Aziraphale has always held a blind faith towards him. Crowley, the Serpent of Eden, who had been his entire existence told that he's doomed to be a crawling tempter, finds in the angel an unexpected possible friend who's never been afraid or bothered by him.

Crowley eventually feels they are both the same: two supernatural entities left on Earth who learned to enjoy life on their own terms. Crowley sees in Aziraphale the companionship he never thought he'd find, the friend he thought at the moment he fell he'd never have. And that feeling of companionship and admiration slowly morphed into something more until it became love.

The season finale isn't the first time Crowley has considered leaving Earth. Probably not even his fight in Season 1 was the first time he considered it. Yet he never did. He never could because, without Aziraphale, running away would doom him to a life of solitude. Free, sure, but completely alone since no one except his angelic friend could understand him.

However, I think Crowley is not aware of what he feels. Or at least, he hasn't been for a long time. I'm sure his moment of introspection about his feelings was when Nina confronted him about it. Up to this point, Crowley considered Aziraphale his best and only friend, obviously. Crowley is loyal to a fault and always thought his relationship with Aziraphale was perfect just the way it was, but suddenly someone put it into words and he realized that yes, that's what he really wants with Aziraphale.

Crowley's decision

Crowley wants his freedom. That's why he never asked Aziraphale for explanations (because at the end of the day they were just friends), that's why he never told him that he was living in his car (because he would end up depending on him), that's why he never talked about his fall (because that would be opening up too much).

The most ironic thing about the whole ending, is that just like Crowley did with Aziraphale… Aziraphale proposed to Crowley the one thing he wants more than anything: to be together, for good, but sacrificing his freedom.

Crowley is capable of doing anything for his angel, even without acknowledging that what they had was love. He's capable of driving on fire, capable of killing Gabriel, capable of walking inside a church. Of everything except one thing.

It's the one step Crowley didn't dare take. He is not a martyr like the angel, no, he is not willing to sacrifice himself to be together. So, the obvious happened: Crowley chose his freedom over Aziraphale just as Aziraphale chose Heaven over Crowley.

The end of his arc and Aziraphale.

As I said before, I don't think Crowley will have a significant change comparable to Aziraphale's. His personality and beliefs will not be changed in a momentous way, as Crowley no longer has ties to Heaven or Hell by pulling the tab on both sides.

His side is already picked: Humanity.

His biggest change is likely to be one of purpose. Crowley is no longer going to be satisfied with his freedom. And the latter is a fact: Crowley is officially free. Without Aziraphale in the equation, he no longer has anything or anyone tying him to do anything or be any other than who he truly is. Crowley can go to Alpha Centauri and never come back; he can sleep for 3,000 years; he can go around the world in the Bentley. He can do whatever he wants. This might seem ideal to the Crowley of 300 years ago, but today's Crowley is completely consumed by loneliness.

Crowley never cared about building a home or having material things because he never wanted to be tied to anything earthly for the sake of doubt. He was always aware of the destruction of the Earth.

Love is not something that can be prevented though, and in the absence of having a home, he found it in Aziraphale.

Aziraphale: trustworthy, sweet, warm, funny, a bit of bastard but always irrevocably good. Everything Crowley lost when he fell he almost automatically found back.

To this day I wonder what Crowley is going to do now that his angel is gone and the possibility of him fleeing to the stars is becoming more and more possible. It's going to depend a lot on how much time passes between seasons, but I don't think it will be much. For not only he was his anchor, no, without Aziraphale, he doesn't have someone to cause him to want to do better, he doesn't have someone to be vulnerable with, he doesn't have a goal anymore, nobody else to impress.

He isn't evil. He isn't good. And now, he is alone.

First Crowley lost the love of God and now the love of Aziraphale. And it is then that Crowley will realize that what he really wants is not to be free, but to be loved. And this desire can only be fulfilled by the love of his life, Aziraphale.

The thing is... Crowley has always wondered why.

Why falling? Why becoming the cursed Serpent? Why could he never be truly free?

At the end of his arc, he must come to the conclusion that the answer was always in front of him:

Love is the only answer he needs.

[charliemwrites]

Ok but anon is onto something! I kinda think the same way where feral is the only pet in the au and it’s more her interactions with the 141 boys. I’m saying that…can I request feral gets kidnapped or taken from simons very secure house and the 141 boys reactions (price in particular cause even tho she’s a hell cat he still loves her)

Hell yeah, bean, that’s totally valid! This au was originally made with only Feral in mind so that’s fair.

They would be furious, barely keeping it together. Simon is murderous, damn near unhinged. It the closest anyone’s seen to him losing it. Working 24/7 to get her back. But fun fact! She’s microchipped. It doesn’t take long at all to find out where she’s being kept. And with it - who and why.

Oh, they go about this as the most important operation they’ve ever handled. It’s planned to the last detail, every little contingency accounted for. There’s no room for the slightest error. They don’t make any.

It’s a bloodbath from start to finish. Ghost goes on a rampage and everyone sweeps in after him to clean up. They find his feral at the very back of the tiniest room, with two men trying to wrangle her while she kicks and screams and fights like a hell cat.

Simon’s never been prouder.

In the aftermath, she has awful dreams. They end up all staying over together, just to be there with her when she wakes, afraid she’s not home anymore. They trade off with her throughout the day, making sure she’s never alone.

She cries in front of each of them at least once, thanks them for coming after her. Simon often finds her curled up with a member of the team, awake or asleep - even price. They’ve never gotten along better, actually.

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1 REACTION

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I believe I spoke too soon!!! Last week, I said the episode "No Place Like Home" was one of the strongest episodes in a very long time. While I do agree with that sentiment, I think this past week's episode is even better! But hey! I'm getting ahead of myself! Let me start over. This reaction is for the season 8, fifth episode "Masks" which originally aired October 24, 2024. The episode was written by Taylor Wong and directed by Christine Khalafian. Spoilers ahead!

It's been a long time since I've been this enchanted by an episode which is funny to say considering how much I gushed over the last episode. This episode was just so ... perfect! It was the perfect mix of comedy and drama. The scenes involving Buck had me laughing until my face hurt while Hen and Karen's storyline left me sobbing on my sofa. Also, Aisha Hinds deserves all the awards. No one on this show can go there emotionally like she can. Her acting in this episode rivals her performance in the episode "Malfunction". Speaking of acting, let's talk about the best plot of the episode.

Best plot?

This is really a hard one. I thought both of our major plots this episode were pretty amazing for different reasons. However, for the sake of keeping things balanced, I'm going to give it to Buck's plot. Now that Gerrard is gone, our resident Golden Retriever is back to being fun again! Halloween is approaching and the 118 have been delegated the task of turning the firehouse into a haunted house. The budget at the LAFD must be really nice if they can afford to go all out the way they did. Buck's contribution to the decorations is a creepy AF dehydrated-looking prop dead body he got from a Hollywood warehouse. The night of the haunted house, he shows it off to a group of kids. When the 'fake' corpse's arm snaps off, Buck sees there are tendons still attached. Turns out, our fake dead body is not so fake. In the words of Evan Buckley, he's real, he's real, he's real, he's real.

After dislocating his shoulder responding to an emergency involving a man's head trapped inside of a rotting pumpkin, Buck does some digging (pun totally intended) on the dead body. He learns the remains belong to an outlaw named William James McCurdy. McCurdy's nickname was Billy Boils due to large pustules that covered his body. Buck thinks he's been cursed by Billy Boils and to make matters worse, the morning after he dislocates his shoulder, he wakes up with giant boils all over his face.

The episode ends with Buck facilitating a proper burial for McCurdy (aka Billy Boils) and acknowledging the betrayal he suffered by those in his posse. If anyone knows what it feels like to have the people you trust turn their back on you and leave you behind, it's Buck and to a certain degree it's also Tommy who is there by his side through the whole ordeal. Overall, I thought this story did a great job of reminding us that Buck has found his own posse, a group of loyal individuals who will have his back no matter what. I loved the moments between Tommy and Eddie. I really like their dynamic and I hope we get to see more of it. I also think this is one of Oliver Stark's most comedic performances. I hope we get more fun Buck moments throughout the rest of the season.

Best Emergency Sequence?

The emergency involving the two students, their principal, and Denny is the best emergency sequence of the episode. It started off so innocently. I'm not a fan of Halloween pranks but the principal completely overreacted. His decision to get in his car and chase after the two girls was completely unhinged and his actions led to the tragic moment of the episode. A part of me was like, they are NOT about to kill little Denny Wilson off and the other part of me was like, what if they do kill him off. That would really up the dramatic stakes for Hen and Karen - as if they haven't already been put through the ringer this season. Denny's acting was pretty great this episode and it makes me wonder why he isn't a part of the main cast. Declan Pratt has been in most of the episodes so far this season and Gavin McHugh, who plays Christopher, has technically only been in one episode although we do get to see him in a photograph in this episode. I'm not trying to get in between Gavin and his money. All I'm saying is that Declan is putting in a lot of work this season and should be considered for the main cast next season.

Anyway, I digress. Hen is absolutely devastated by the events and it doesn't help that she's already feeling pretty guilty for having to miss celebrating Halloween with Denny and Mara. The moment that really got me is when the 118 arrive on the scene and Chimney sees Mara and Jee-Yun. The way he put two and two together and tried to warn Hen before she saw Denny gave me goosebumps. Kudos to Hen for simultaneously losing it and keeping it together while tending to Denny. I especially felt for Karen because she isn't a first responder so all she could do was stand back and watch. This must be every parent's worst nightmare. Things can happen so quickly and whether you're there like Karen or not like Hen, bad stuff can still happen.  Thankfully Denny is alright. I loved how the 118 and Tommy were all at the hospital in support. They really are a family and I have a feeling that's going to be a theme we get all season long. After the whole ordeal with fostering Mara last season and the Olivia Ortiz of it all and now this, I think we need to give the Wilson family a break. They've been through enough. Just give me nothing but sweet family moments between Hen, Karen, Denny, and Mara for the rest of the season. You hear me, writers!?

Episode MVP?

In an episode where Buck and Hen were our main focus, I have to give the Episode MVP award to our hot pilot, our bestest boyfriend - Tommy Kinard. It felt so good to have him back this episode and I totally wasn't expecting to get so much of him. Tommy is at the hospital when Buck dislocates his shoulder, he's caring for Buck at the loft, he's with the rest of the 118 while Denny is in surgery, and he dons his best suit to accompany Buck to the cemetery at the end of the episode. The man is the definition of showing up and a part of me is curious as to how the Buddie shippers are going to spin this. Tommy is a good guy and his heart is pure and yet they still hate him. I know what they think shouldn't bother me but it's really frustrating how far they're willing to go to villainize not only Tommy but the actor that plays him. Shout-out to Lou Ferrigno, Jr.! You are aging like fine wine, you sexy beast!

BuckTommy Corner

Speaking of Tommy, this week's BuckTommy Corner totally makes up for the lack of BuckTommy moments we got in the last three episodes. Tim Minear and company knew we were starving and he fed us so well this episode. First thing I want to talk about is our newest, canonical ship. The relationship between Tommy and Eddie is something this show needs more of. The scene where Tommy shows up at the hospital and Buck is explaining how he ended up dislocating his shoulder, I thought it was hilarious when Eddie kept interrupting. Also, I love the very subtle choice of having Eddie read a Sports Illustrated with swimsuit model on the cover. It reminds me of that Kim Kardashian meme where she's like 'I'm dropping hints that I'm single'. In this case, you can swap single for heterosexual. Another thing I found funny considering the ongoing shipwars on Tumblr, X, and Reddit, Eddie has way more chemistry with Tommy than he has with Buck which is another indicator that Buddie will remain fanon and fanon only.  But this isn't Buddie Corner - it's BuckTommy Corner and I loved the little moments of domestic bliss we got. Since we don't get to see Tommy every episode, it's important they find ways to show the evolution of he and Buck's relationship without being hamfisted about it. The way Tommy supports Buck in this episode tells me they have reached the stage in the relationship where both parties are completely comfortable with each other. I love the contrast between how Eddie supports Buck and how Tommy supports Buck. Eddie's way of supporting his best friend is to give him shit and poke fun at him while Tommy lets Buck be Buck but doesn't overindulge him. He gives advice when it's appropriate and shows up when he needs to. What I also like about Tommy's boyfriend abilities is how he listens actively. When Buck was rambling on and on about the curse, Tommy was so focused on hearing every detail even when he thought that Buck was being ridiculous. And lest we forget, the man got dressed up to attend the funeral of a man who's been dead over a 100 years. I don't know about y'all but I would love to have a partner like Tommy. Tommy's the kind of guy who won't be able to post your bail because he'd be right there in the cell with you.

I don't want to celebrate too much but I have a strong feeling that BuckTommy is going to last a long time. The level of care this canonical ship is getting by the writers and Tim Minear is on par with Hen and Karen. And Bobby and Athena. And Chimney and Maddie. I also get the feeling there's plans to make Tommy a part of the fire fam. He's now commented twice on how much he admires the 118 and how supportive they are of each other. I think Buck is going to take steps to make Tommy feel more included. Him sitting in that waiting room with the rest of the 118 felt so right. It felt natural. I think if you asked Athena or Bobby or Hen, they would tell you that Tommy's one of them. He's part of the family. Okay, it's time to end this bad boy. I really enjoyed this episode. I'm really enjoying this season. If season 8 were an album, there would be no skips so far. I hope we keep this momentum as we approach the winter hiatus which usually comes around episode 8 or 9. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention yet again the network change. ABC is the perfect home for a show like this and by shifting networks, I feel like there's more longevity for the series. There's so many stories we can tell and as long as Angela Bassett. Peter Krause, and the other main actors are willing to stick around, I think we can look forward to more seasons down the road. Until next time!

[ponypickle]

elijah's character growth throughout the series interested me so much because in tvd season 2, he is portrayed as this unbeatable original that will always uphold his word, he does exactly that until he hears his family may be alive after which he is betrayed again. this season 2 elijah is by far my favourite, he is loyal, he is treated as a threat too big to expand upon.

in tvd season 3, we see elijah evolve into an exasterbated older brother ready for anything to impede with his luck, always annoyed by what his younger brothers and sisters are doing until he leaves the show, he is less of a mystery, he is showing how much he loves his sibling's while also how much they annoy him. but then when finn dies, his older brother, he doesn't do anything, he doesn't have a reaction, he doesn't come back to town. it shows him as a brother that places certain siblings over other, that is biased and as we see in the always and forever vow, it is reiterated that only rebekah, klaus and elijah are bound together forever.

this is then further emphasised in season 4 of tvd where kol gets murdered to complete a hunters mark and the next time elijah sees the sister of the person who killed him, he apologises TO elena for what his family has done to her, kol is dead elijah, your little brother, the one you held in your arms as a baby, the one you watched learn to walk, the one that learned magic when he was younger, the one you probably taught to use a sword, yes you can argue that it has been years since he was that brother, that he had committed mass murders of innocent people along the way. but so has elijah, they are not held to a human standard in the show and between themselves because they are vampires that have lived a lifetime worth 10 people's lifetimes. I don't believe season 2 elijah would have done nothing, he would have retaliated.

then we go into the originals season 1 where elijah has taken his always and forever concept and has decided to thrust it upon a 20 year old girl who is carrying his brothers baby, he has decided to make the baby and this girl their family and because this girl is the person carrying the baby then she needs to be protected because she is an extention of always and forever. so he finds himself fancying her, falling in love with her because she represents something, something that might indicate his family can become better people because season 1 of the originals elijah is the responsibility taker, he is always trying to overcome his sibling's, trying to take the blame for them, trying to mediate between them and because of the hope that the baby portrays he laches onto it and the mother of the child and doesn't let go

in season 2 of the originals, we see a difference of elijah with the red door being seen as a coping mechanism to block out all the back things he has done, all the ways he is like his family because he can't be that, because he need to fix his family, he can't be the problem as well. this elijah is very firmly in denial he has to see himself as better than the rest of the family so he separates himself from the mother of the child because he could turn her bad as well when she's trying to move on with her life, he turns to someone else

in season 3, we finally see elijah as he truly is unhinged, broken from the belief he had in his brother, separated from his sister and unbelieving and belittling of the adopted child his brother had brought to the family years earlier. because to elijah adopted family is not real family, he showcases this clearly stating marcel was never a mikaelson, elijah's true face behind the mask of his always and forever has come into view, a bitter old man who is so consumed with his beliefs he doesn't accept fact, because how could marcel ever be family when he didn't have their blood, this random girl who I met a year ago who is related to me by blood and is my sister, sure that's family, this brother who does nothing but betray me over and over again for the past 1000 years, that's family, this random woman who my brother knocked up and now has a kid who has my blood, that's family. but a boy who grew up in this family from the age of 10, who you saw learn to read, who you helped play the piano, that not family

in season 4, we see elijah broken, his beliefs gone, he is ruthless, the red door is finally gone, his entire bloodline dies and the evil that is killing his family uses it to resurrect themselves. he nearly let his family die last season, so he needs to show them he is worth it, he can defeat the enemies. But in the end the only way to defeat the enemy is to stay separate from his sibling's for all eternity and he can't do it if he remember them so he decided for the good of the child to forgot those that mean so much to him, those that meant a 1000 years to him, those that he killed for and swore always and forever to, he need to abandon them, forever, so he needs to forget and that he does

in season 5, he is free from all that guilt, all that responsibility, all the memories, so he is free to experience life, what he could've been, what he is now, he gets to fall in love over the 7 years when he doesn't need to consider anyone else, he is so happy in the flashback episode, always smiling, always full of hope, having experiences that he never did before because he was too busy looking after his sibling's. he finally makes decisions that aren't influenced by always and forever but by who elijah truly is. but is that correct? without always and forever, elijah is just an incomplete person, a person that doesn't have all the information but he makes his own choice without a mindset he's been inserted into for a 1000 years, you could suggest that this is the most honest version of himself because he doesn't have guilt holding him back, but he also doesn't have the people he loves in his memories if not in person. so in the end when they all come rushing back he is so guilty over what he had done and how he hadn't thought of them in those 7 years that he decides to die with the person that meant the most to him, the brother he had decided to bind himself to for 1000 year and their sisters are coming soon after, rebekah in a 100 years after taking the cure, freya in shorter time probably 50 years, with only kol surviving forevermore

he is such a deeply complex character. however, some views he holds will never be understandable to me, but that is the complexity of a character. i don't like the character of elijah past tvd but he is still one of the best written characters of tvd as a whole

[cineflections]

You know, if there was one manga that would be adapted to live action and succeed, I never would have guessed it to be this one.

I'm ofc talking about the One Piece Live Action on Netflix

A whole day binge right after release, I was READY, and thankfully, I was not disappointed. There are cuts and streamlining of the story, characters coming in earlier than in the manga/anime, and some of the emotional bits don't hit as hard as in the original. Still, I can feel the love the production team has of One Piece. The characters are goofy and lovable, but they are also serious and straight-faced.

One thing that I noticed throughout was the constant close up to faces and sometimes straight on, as if almost breaking the 4th wall. The very first scene with Luffy is like this, but there he DOES look into the camera directly, but the pov of the camera is revealed to be a newsbird. It's like a statement that they know this is a silly pirate romp, they know that some people will not take this seriously, but they will not do 4th wall breaks silly, but in-universe silly. Does that make sense?

I laughed at several points in the show, big and wide smile on my face and pointing at the screen several times...

But I do wonder how much of my laugh was on the show's on merit or if I was only calling back on the the source material. At times I did feel the straw hat crew not being as iconic as in the manga/anime. The extreme reactions, the over the top noises and actions, at the same time I realize that real people generally don't act like that.

I appreciate the show runners attention to details. Putting stuff in to tease future arcs, adapting some cover stories, some of the complete unhinged behaviors of characters (Garp I'm looking at you!).

This show adapted Romance Dawn, orange town, syrup village, baratie, and arlong park.

There are so many moments that are almost scene by scene taken from the manga. Luffy in the barrel and meeting Koby. Alvida with her giant spike club. We got to see some pre-captured Zoro moments (particularly him killing a baroque works agent!), Nami being a sneak.

Then we meet the one and only clown Buggy! They hammed him up, they made him a showman and a real clown (with a real bulgy nose as well, props!). I loved Buggy. Goddamn what a show stealer. Excellent casting, his devil fruit was show cased so well and it looked good!

Usopp's introduction is the most changed. The kids are gone and the Black Cat pirates never call in the entire crew or Jango. Instead of the fight on the slope by the beach it's instead in Kaya's house from which they cannot escape. The actor for Kuro nailing the mannerism and hand movements, altho his "teleporting" looks a bit wonky.

With Baratie we are finally introduced to Sanji! Who's British now 😆. And Mihawk's introduction tho! Badass and just so over the top and goofy. I love him so much! This is where we got the biggest change where we instead get Arlong and crew coming in smashing the place up (a tiny bit). Arlong may not be as tall as he should be but I love the practical approach instead of CGI, which means he actually feels present! All the fishmen we see are guys in costume and prosthetics!

Arlong Park felt a bit more rushed than the earlier parts, but I do think they nailed *that* scene tho.

If the bar for live action adaptation was below the ground, I would say now there's a new bar, which is on the ground 😅. I think it's a solid show but it might be my bias talking. I do have some gripes tho.

One thing that was constant in East Blue Saga was how much village people hate or are scared of pirates. I think they got the marines right, and the pirates, but they failed to really have the village people be a character in their own right. In the manga and anime the villagers are mostly a monolith who will think and act alike in situations and be part of the happenings either by watching or fighting. We got just about none of it here, except a mention in Arlong Park. They did some really good and cool world building with lots of people populating the sets in the background - but that's it, they're just extras to fill out the screen. There are ofc a few exceptions but I felt it was not enough.

I wish they had Luffy be more agile when using his gum-gum powers. Whenever he springs a pistol or a whip is stands in place, which I found boring (and they did so well with Zoro's fights!). I do think the explanation is that they decided for Luffy to be coming into his powers as we go. That we will learn with him all the things he can do (him not knowing he can blow himself up like a balloon proves this). I hope that in season 2 (please netflix!) they show the growth in his fighting!

But to end this long post. I just wanna say how much I fucking love the dude playing Mihawk. Goddamn he's so fun. MVP.

For the straw hats, I would say that Usopp feels the closest to manga version, and Luffy feels the most distant from it. But I don't dislike this, and I think the actor for Luffy has so much potential to really make the role his own.

It will never be "just like" the manga and anime, but that's ok! It's a new adaptation (in live action) made by people you can tell loves the source material and really really tried to make it work! I respect that, and I respect this show. Please watch it on Netflix! It's a fun and silly time, just like it should be!

[chameleon66]

Laugh for Me!

Ships: Intrulogical (Logan x Remus)

Word count: 2785

Warnings: Censored swearing, Remus being Remus, mild angst, tickling, pranks, teasing (Let me know if I need to add anyhting)

Remus was unhinged in every way possible, good and bad. Part of the reasoning behind it was just who he was. I mean he is the personification of every morbid, sexual or intrusive thought that danced its way through Thomas’s head so no one could really blame him for being himself. But another part of it was because he enjoyed others' reactions to it, every reaction he got.

When Patton would scream in terror or when Virgil would hiss at him, it all filled him with glee. He loved observing the other sides reactions to his antics and figuring out what freaked them out and what didn’t freak them out.

But one reaction he did love getting from others was laughter, other’s laughing just made his heart figuratively explode in his chest. So after stewing on the fact that he enjoyed making other people laugh for a fraction of a second he created a new experiment and so began “Operation make every side laugh and figure out what makes them laugh so he can exploit it whenever necessary and also think of a shorter name for this operation.”

Surprisingly Virgil was the easiest one to figure out with minimal research, he laughed whenever Patton made a pun and Remus couldn’t tell at first if it was because it annoyed Logan when Patton made puns or if he actually liked them, so he would have to gather more data.

Luckily after some spying, he found that even when Logan wasn’t in the room when Patton made puns, the jokes always made Virgil laugh, quite honestly he was expecting something very different from ‘Charlie Frown’. But he wrote it down in his notes nonetheless as Virgil’s Hysterical Hacker (That's the name he came up with).

Patton was also elementary to figure out, as the happiest side he would laugh at a lot of things. At first Remus thought that Patton’s Hysterical Hacker would also be puns but it occurred to him Patton didn’t really laugh at puns, even if they weren’t made by himself but then Remus made a discovery.

One day as he went to the kitchen to fetch one of his Cock shaped popsicles from the fridge he found Patton sitting in the kitchen on the computer laughing like a hyena of helium, Remus almost had to be concerned if he was breathing or not.

When he asked Patton what was so funny he was shown a twenty minute compilation video of cat videos on youtube. Some cat’s fell into boxes and others played with balls of yarn but regardless it all made Patton squeal so Remus wrote ‘Cat videos’ down as Patton’s Hysterical Hacker.

Roman took a bit of investigating but as it turned out the answer was right in front of Remus' face, it was rooted in his dear twin brother’s love of Disney. One family love night it was Roman’s turn to choose the movie and he went with a Winnie the Pooh movie much to Remus’s, Janus’s and Logan’s displeasure.

Watching the movie was like folding socks level boring but then something caught Remus interest, after the gang tried to catch a ‘Backson’ all of them fell down a hole except for Piglet who then was challenged to find something to get them out of the hole with.

Piglet’s attempts were all stupid and fueled by miscommunication between Piglet and Rabbit. The scene wasn’t what caught Remus’s interest though it was Prince's not so charming reaction that got him listening.

Roman was rolling with laughter throughout the scene which led Remus’s to the ever so boring conclusion that Roman’s hysterical hacker was, family humor. Something that could be found in every Disney movie ever to exist.

Remus still wrote it down though and moved to the next side.

Janus was a challenge, despite having lived with him in the darkisde of the mindscape for most of his life, Janus never really went into hysterics, sure he’d chuckle but that was all Remus usually saw out of him.

But Remus did get an idea, Janus always seemed to be amused at other’s pain or displeasure like when Logan would get a papercut and Patton would insist on kissing it better or when Virgil’s pet spider Kat would escape his room and Patton would jump on the table and scream.

So as an experiment Remus poured a big helping of salt into Roman’s coffee one morning and when Roman began screaming of how it felt like he was ‘drinking the water of cold, unforgiving and salty seas’ Janus went into his deep villainous belly laugh at the scene. While Logan just rolled his eyes and Patton ran up to Roman all concerned like the father figment he was.

(Virgil was still asleep because he’s not a morning person)

That result said it all, Janus’s Hysterical hacker was another's pain/misfortune. Remus beamed as he wrote it down in his notes.

Hysterical Hackers

Emo widow — puns

Daddy — cat videos

Romano Cheese — family friendly humor

Lies and dulls — other’s pain

Logie bear —

But as Remus finished writing he came to a realization, there was one side left to figure out. His boyfriend. Logan.

You’d think that being his lover Remus could figure out his Hysterical Hacker with ease but now that Remus was thinking about it, he hadn’t really seen Logan laugh before. Maybe he had seen him chuckle once or twice but Remus couldn’t even recall a specific time he saw Logan do that.

That realization made Remus feel sad, He couldn’t remember a time his own boyfriend, the freaking light of his light, had laughed.

But that realization also made Remus more determined than ever to complete his research project. He'd make Logan laugh even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

It was time to get serious. Logan as the logical side didn’t spend time doodling on emotions or things like that so Remus had little to go off of. So that meant he’d need to experiment.

Remus cracked joke after joke around Logan day after day but came up empty handed each time.

Remus upped his pranking game on all of the other sides but each time Logan observed a prank happening he would only roll his eyes at the display.

Remus spied on Logan for hours on end but he got nothing even, when Logan was alone he wouldn’t laugh at anything.

Remus kept trying day after day to get Logan to laugh, he kept getting more and more desperate for it. It almost became like a craving to hear Logan laugh; it was starting to drive Remus insane. He just had to hear Logan laugh, he just had to!

After a full week, Remus had run out of patience so that meant he would need to get information straight from the source and not through spying, experiments or research.

“Logan, I need your help.” Remus rose up into Logan’s room with no warning and interrupted the rhythm of clattering keys of Logan’s computer.

Logan turned in his spinnable desk chair to face his boyfriend, Logan’s rise teemed with interest. They had collaborated on many different projects together and it only made sense really, they were a perfect pair for answering questions.

“Yes Remus, how may I be of assistance?” Logan asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Remus didn’t hesitate before he started explaining his predicament to Logan.

“So I started this research project a few weeks ago about what each of the sides hysterical hackers are.”

Logan’s head tilted to the side like a curious puppy’s would.

“Hysterical Hacker?”

“What makes each side laugh, like really laugh.” Remus contextualized

“Ok, please continue.”

“So after I figured out the other’s Hysterical Hackers and I moved on to yours but I couldn’t really find anything that makes you laugh even after I did experiments, observations, you know that sciency stuff you're supposed to do.”

Logan gave a hum of understanding before he got up from his desk chair before speaking again. “I must admit I don’t have much of a sense of humor.”

“Well I could tell that much.” Remus joked sarcastically but inside he was bursting with curiosity. He had come to find out what makes Logan laugh but it appeared that even Logan didn’t know.

“But if you wish, I can help you gather more data.” Logan offered and Remus didn’t hesitate before he responded.

“Yes, so where do we start Logie?”

“Firstly I’d like to hear what results you got with the other’s”

“Well P*ssys is family disney humor, papa bear’s is cat videos, Double dee’s is other pain and tickle me emo ‘s is pun of all things.”

Logan's face tinged with a blush and Remus wondered for a minute if it was something he said. Logan didn’t mind Remus’s colorful vocabulary and his usual reaction to it was an eyeroll, so what prompted the blushing?

Logan centered himself and pushed more words out. “I see, well then since everyone’s Hysterical Hacker is different, we can assume that mine is different too.”

“Lo lo are you ok, your face is all red?”

“I’m quite alright Remus.” Logan’s answer however did not satisfy Remus and he didn’t need the snake like lie detector to know Logan wasn’t telling him the truth. So Remus did the only Logical thing.

Remus ran forward full speed at Logan and tackled Logan down to the floor, sitting on his hips and hands pushing down on his belly to keep him down

“Re–Remus what are you doing?” Logan’s voice was up a few ocatives and the blush on his face got redder and spread across his face.

“You are going to tell me why you are all blushy or I will leave at the top of a broken ferris wheel until you confess!” Remus never made an empty threat and Logan knew this all too well.

“I’m fine–just get your hands off–off me!” Logan's voice also sounded a bit strained and Remus could help but wonder why. That’s when he noticed Logan’s belly trembling under his hands and before Remus could truly think it through he began skimming his fingers over Logan’s tummy.

Logan’s lips flattened and he bit down on his bottom lip which was enough for Remus to understand.

“Aww… is the nerd ticklish?” Remus asked in a baby voice that made Logan so flustered he couldn’t even get words out.

But that still answered Remus' question, Remus found a way to make Logan laugh and he’d say now was a pretty good time to exploit it.

Given Logan seemed to be able to hold in his laughter while Remus was tickling his tummy that meant it wasn’t his weak spot and that meant Remus would need to experiment some.

“Where are you ticklish Starlight?” Remus asked, pausing the movement of his hands for Logan to catch his breath and answer. Remus, being smart, also pulled both of Logan's hands above his head and put them both in his left hand freeing his right hand for tickling.

“I am not ticklish!” Logan insisted, which was the biggest lie Remus ever heard.

“Oh ok, so if I were to pinch your side then you wouldn’t react?” Remus' hand went to pinch Logan’s side and Logan’s mouth tightened around itself probably in an effort to not laugh.

“You need to laugh!” Remus stated. “I command you to laugh for me!” With that being said Remus started scribbling his nails into Logan’s side and then it was all over.

“Ahhhhhahahahahahah no no no REEhehehmush nohahahahahahaht there.” Logan’s laugh was so sweet and light and Remus became addicted to it almost instantly.

“No way Jose, now I need to find all of your tickle spots, so you make things easy and just tell me where your tickle spot is or I can tickle you everywhere until I find it.” Both of Remus’s options were not what Logan was hoping for but Remus was so adorable and maybe he would go easy on him if just told him.

All taken into consideration Logan got out in between laughs “Knees” and Remus did not need to told twice.

Remus let go of Logan’s hands and turned around and sat on Logan’s thighs. Remus' hands went onto Logan's knees and gave them each a squeeze, Logan let out a squeal and his leg began thrashing around, trying to escape.

“Someone’s got very ticklish knees.” Remus smirked at Logan as he began to trace circles around them which got Logan giggling. “But I don’t think your knees are what I’m looking for.”

“Wehehehehehell whahahahat are you lohohohahahaking for?” Logan’s speech was infested with giggles and it made the ever so stoic logical side look a little sillier.

“Your Hysterical Hacker of course!” Remus exclaimed, punctuating the sentence with a squeeze of Logan’s kneecap. “If you won’t laugh on your own, then I’ll make you.”

Well if Logan wasn’t flustered before, he most certainly was now. Remus stopped tickling his knees and Logan took the chance to catch his breath because he knew that Remus wasn’t done with him yet.

Remus carefully examined Logan trying to decide on where else to try tickling him. His sides and knees were certainly good spots but not the best spot clearly. Then Remus’s eyes fell on Logan’s feet which were still dressed in shoes and socks.

In all of the time Remus had spent spying on Logan he hadn’t really seen Logan take off his shoes much. Except when just before he went to bed.

Oh Remus was good.

Wasting no time Remus moved down and sat on Logan’s legs and began to untie the laces on Logan’s shoes, it didn’t take long for Logan to catch on to Remus' devious plan.

“No, no Remus! No, not there!” Logan tried pulling his legs out from Remus but with no success due to Remus’s weight being on top of him.

“Actually Lo lo you said you’d help me find your Hysterical Hacker and if you really want to help me then you’ll sit nice and still and let me experiment.” Remus’s voice had gone uncharacteristically flat as he talked to Logan and Logan found himself with no other options than just to sit there and wait.

Once Logan’s socks were off his feet Remus started Gently running his fingers down the arch of Logan’s foot and he was not expecting the reaction that he got.

“AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA *Snort* HAHAHAHA REHEHAHAHAH *Snort*”

Remus’s finger’s stopped and he looked back at Logan, who was bright red and now had a hand covering his mouth in embarrassment.

“Jesus f*cking christ Logan, did you just snort?” Remus asked in disbelief, were his ears playing tricks on him?

Logan looked away but nodded, Remus shocked expression turned into an ear splitting grin as he squealed to Logan. “Oh my f*ck that’s so adorkable!”

“No it’s not, it's embarrassing!” Logan argued, Remus's gears were now turning. Was this why Logan never laughed? Because he was embarrassed. Well wouldn’t do at all.

Remus grabbed Logan's foot again and began tickling the skin under his toes and that got Logan screaming.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHA *Snort* NHOHOHOHOHOHO *Snort* REHEHEHEHAHAHAMUHUHS.”

“Logan, you listen to me, and listen well!” Remus ordered to the laughing side beneath him. “Your laugh is amazing and you had better start laughing more often and if you don’t then I’ll tickle you until you pass out everyday, ok?”

“YEHEHEHEHAHAHAHSHSHSH OK JUHUHUHSTSTST STSTAHAHAP!”

Remus let go of Logan’s foot and got up off of him. Remus sat and watched his Boyfriend catch his breath and once he saw Logan lay limp on his bedroom floor he spoke to him.

“Hey, you alive?”

“Well no thanks to you.” Logan grumbled back to him.

“It was for science, my laughy Logie.” Remus insisted to Logan.

“Don’t call me that.” Logan though found himself giggling at the silly pet name.

“But it suits you so well.” Remus came down to Logan and gave him a kiss on the cheek which must have changed Logan’s mind because he didn’t argue back anymore.

“Well then I need to go update notes, I love you my laughy Logie.” Remus sunk down and rose back into his room to finish up his notes.

Hysterical Hackers

Emo widow — puns

Daddy — cat videos

Romano cheese — family friendly humor

Lies and dulls — other’s pain

Logie bear — tickling his sides, knees or feet (further research might be needed for my laughy Logie)

[dollsque]

Hi hi!

I read your fanfics and I’m in love!!

And when I realised that your requests are open?!! I was just jumping because I knew I had to request something

Could you please write Hobie brown x fem!guitarist!reader??

So basicalllyyy

Hobie is chilling in a pub just enjoying his time and bla bla, when a band starts to play on the stage

Usually, he wouldn’t mind, but that night??

He noticed that his band mates would look at the stage quite often, so he decided to look as well. And when he saw reader, just playing like it was breathing for her, he lost it!!!

He was just so shocked that R could make guitar look so easy, yet make it sound so majestic

Hobies band mates would snicker and laugh at his reaction

Then, after the performance, R decided to go and order a drink or smt. So she just casually goes over to the bar. Nothing special, right? WRONG!! Hobie is LOST! He can’t look away, he thinks that everything R does is just captivating.

And yeahhh

They have a conversation and it’s just super cute (maybe while R waits for her drink, the bartender tries to flirt with her and Hobie gets jealous?? You can leave that part out if you want to;) )

Yeahh

(Hobie is just a tongue-tied mess but R thinks it’s adorable and she kinda has Hobies’ normal attitude)

Yup!! Thank you in advance!!

Take care and please hydrate!! (I have a big issue with that lol)

-🎀 (can I claim this ribbon? So you just know that it’s me in the future)

So yeah!! Thank you a lot!!

💜 ➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐓𝐄𝐃 — ₊• ☆ ˚˳

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆!! sorry for taking so long! school is starting soon and i’ve been busy anxiously watching as the first day gets closer and making the most of the last couple weeks i have left!and you may claim the ribbon! i named the bandmates to make things easier if you don’t mind <3 thank you 🎀 anon!

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2k

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: hobie brown x !fem!guitarist!reader (fluff) ☆

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: the fanart is by @/aspen.aspid! i just added the filter, lol. you can find her carrd in her tiktok bio. please check it out <3 will involve drinking and cursing (obviously, but y’know), no description of y/n, i’m not familiar with drinks so i will not be specifying what reader or hobie and his bandmates get LMAO, i gave the bandmates names from the comics.

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 <𝟑

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — HOBIE AND HIS BANDMATES enter the pub and the music is roaring throughout the place, the drums vibrating through their chest as they walk. There is purple and blue lighting, instantly setting the mood, there are large speakers, and the vibe is overall really cool so far.

This is the first time they’ve come to this bar. They were recommended this bar by a friend and they wanted to check it out. Sitting at the bar, they see a large display of a variety of drinks displayed, there is a menu for bar snacks, sandwiches, and desserts.

They like it so far and are chatting it up, talking about their upcoming songs, their instruments, how they’ve been doing, when next practices, and random, unhinged conversations that they don’t even know the cause of. They DO know, however, that it started with Hobie saying some wild shit.

Then, when they got the stuff they ordered, which were drinks and some sandwiches, the current topic came to a halt and they started looking back before continuing the conversation, then back again, and back to the conversation. Hobie hadn’t been paying much attention to the band, but now he was curious about what got them to keep the conversation going on and off. Looking behind him, he finally understands what they’re so captivated with.

How could they all not be captivated?

You are currently shredding the guitar like there’s no tomorrow, keeping up with the drums in perfect sync and accentuating the singer’s powerful vocals and the bassist’s support. To them, you are the highlight of the song that you and your band are currently playing.

The smoke acting like a stage effect covers some parts of you for a few seconds, but when the smoke finally parts fully to reveal your entire self, he finds himself more than captivated. The way your fingers dance at an incredible speed on the strings to switch notes and the way the guitar pick so confidently strummed the guitar, he finds himself questioning how the guitar pick is still in your hand. However, from guitarist to guitarist, he knows that you have an iron grip on that pick. He just can’t stop staring at you.

Your hair, your eyes, your clothes, just…everything.

“Holy shit, mate, she’s got you mesmerized doesn’t she?” One of his bandmates, Karl smirks, nudging him with his elbow as the others snicker next to him.

“Can’t take his eyes off her,” Riri snickers, taking a sip of her drink.

“Oh, come out of it. You guys are looking at her too!” Hobie points out in defense, finally looking away, though reluctantly.

“We stopped looking a while ago, mate. It’s been three minutes since we last looked. You were staring at her for the last minute of the last song and for two minutes of the current song that’s playin’.” Robbie told him. He gave him a playful flick on the side of his head, causing Hobie to scowl at him. “I think you’re the one that needs to come off it the most. You’re fucking LOST in her dude.”

“How long you guys think she’s been playing the guitar?” Mattea questioned, shifting the teasing off Hobie…for now.

“Hell, long enough to do all that. And here I thought there was no one better than me,” Hobie scoffed in awe.

“You thought wrong even BEFORE we saw her,” Robbie quipped, earning a loud laugh from Mattea and causing Riri to snicker as she tried drinking more of her drink, making it bubble.

“Oh, fuck off, you asshole.” Hobie scoffed, but there was a small smirk on his face. And just like that, they’re back to teasing poor (literally) Hobie.

He already finds himself lost in her again, but he’s interrupted much earlier this time. He doesn’t even know what the other members look like. Don’t get him wrong, your bandmates are just as incredible and powerful as you, but they are goddamn.

“Hey, Lover Boy, what are you gonna say when she comes over here for a drink?” Mattea asked.

“What?” Hobie questions a little too quickly. “I highly doubt she’ll come over for a drink. By the time they’re all done playing, the pub will be closed.”

“It just turned 8 PM, Hobs. I don’t think they’ll be playing for the next three hours.”

As if on cue: “THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING US PLAY OUR NEW SONGS!” Your band member proudly and gratefully yelled into the microphone, causing everyone in the pub to cheer. “We play here regularly, and ever since we first started, you guys have always been very supportive, so thank you. Have a great night!”

Regularly? Shit, this might be Hobie’s new regular pub, and no, his bandmates don’t get a say in it.

Wait.

“Hey, Lover Boy, what are you gonna say when she comes over here for a drink?” That question Mattea asked earlier was now invading his brain. He immediately starts thinking of things to say, but he suddenly feels his senses go off, and it’s NOT from danger.

He turns around to face where you’re supposedly standing nervously. “Oh, Hello,” he greeted politely, trying to keep a straight smile on. You were there in all your greatness, your electric guitar slug over your shoulder. Holy shit, Robbie’s right. He’s so fucking lost in you.

“Hi! Is anyone sitting next to you?”

Nothing.

“Hello?” You called out as his bandmates discreetly snickered.

“Oh, no, nobody’s sitting there. Shit, sorry,” he apologized, twirling his glass in a more fiddling matter.

You giggle at him and sit down on the stool next to him, not oblivious to his obvious nervousness and interest in you.

Hobie glanced back at his bandmates, and they only looked back with a slight smirk before conversing within themselves, leaving Hobie out of it.

Now he has to talk to you if he doesn’t want to look like some lonely loser. They’re smart for that; he can’t lie.

“So, you were very good up there. You play the electric guitar like there’s no fucking tomorrow. I like that. How long have you been playing? Many years, I reckon?” He asked, putting his glass down and resting his head in his hand.

You mirror his position. “Oh yeah, a hell ton of fucking years went to that, but thanks.” You smirked proudly. “How ‘bout you? You playin’ tonight?”

“Me? Oh, no. I just like to take it with me everywhere. It really adds to my outfit, y’know?” He answered with a smile, though it looked absolutely lovesick. “My friends over there, we uh, play here and there at a different pub not too far from here.”

“Really? I might have to check it out then. Maybe just for you,” you answered with that captivating smile Hobie loves so much.

He’s so lost. He cleared his throat. “I can’t wait to see you there and I can show you my playing, and stuff. My band’s great too, y’know, but uh—”

“I’m sure they are, but I’m still going there to hear you play if I won’t make you nervous and mess you up.”

Damn, she’s good at this. Hobie laughs and turns to drink a bit from his glass in a pathetic way to hide his face and that lovesick smile he had on his face. So damn lovesick. He doesn’t even know your name yet. Hell, he’s barely seen you for an hour. But damn it if an hour isn’t enough to fall in love with you.

“Hey, pretty girl,” the bartender greeted you with a wink, causing Hobie’s lovesick face to transition into a judgemental look. Pretty girl? “Anything I can get you today?”

“Can I get that drink over there and the ground beef sub?” You asked, pointing to that specific drink you want.

“Of course, anything for you. Hey, seriously, I meant it when I called you pretty,” the bartender smiled as he started making her sub.

“Yeah, she’s bloody gorgeous,” Hobie agreed, mainly out of spite. He still agreed, though. You were bloody gorgeous. “The most gorgeous girl here.”

That gave you butterflies. It’s like he flipped a switch; as if that small nickname the bartender gave you immediately caused him to go into defense mode.

Jealousy mode.

“Why thank you, you guys, but I like it coming from him more.” You smirk at the bartender, nodding your head towards Hobie, who now switches back to his initial consciousness. “I’m with him tonight.”

“Maybe you should make that more…nights? If you want to of course, but, y’know, just tonight? Really? I mean, are you sure you don’t want more? I mean, I would want to make it more than just tonight.”

He’s so adorable. Awkward too, but that just makes him more adorable. The bartender sighs disappointedly but raises his hands in both acceptance of defeat and a little bit of respect.

“We’ll definitely make it so it’s not just for tonight. You should come here tomorrow with your band. I’ll be looking forward to you,” you wink slyly.

“Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. We’ll be here. Right, um, what’s your name? Mine’s Hobie. Hobie Brown,” he greeted, awkwardly holding a hand out for you to shake.

You giggled at the gesture and shook his hand. “Y/N, nice to meet you. And you have a cute name? I like that.”

“Oh! Thank you! You have a very nice name too. I’ll remember it for when I come to see you tomorrow.” He smiled. Oh, if only she knew that his name was actually Hobart.

Thanks, Mom. He almost rolls his eyes at the thought. He can already hear his bandmates snickering even more than before, and he has half a mind to tell them to shut the fuck up.

“So, if we’re gonna be hanging out more than just tonight, we should have each other’s number, yeah? I’ll even tell you the next time our band plays at the other pub. Address and everything, of course. Maybe a backstage pass included for a little private meet and greet where we can really get to know each other,” Hobie smirked. The smoothest thing he’s said all night. There’s his confidence coming back. Slowly, but surely.

Now that you didn’t expect. You let out a chuckle and take a sip of your drink. “What happened to the adorable, tongue-tied boy I was just talking to?”

“We all gotta start somewhere,” he smirked, now drinking the rest of his drink that was left in his glass. “So, tomorrow?”

“Leaving so soon?”

“You want me to stay?”

“I need you to stay. Who else will keep me company?”

“Shit, we still got two hours and fifty minutes,” he smirked.

“Hm. Still need that number though,” you teased, poking his shoulder playfully. You internally squeal when he starts writing down his number on a small piece of paper. Hobie internally celebrates as he writes his number.

He slides the paper towards you, and you gladly pocket it.

“And yes, tomorrow. It’s a date,” you smile. Your heart flutters from the contact your knees make from facing each other on the stools. He doesn’t pull his leg away, and neither do you. You two like it that way.

It’s only the beginning of your night.

➷ ₊• ☆ ˚˳ — “WHAT I WOULD GIVE for someone to look at me the way Hobie looks at that girl.”

Riri sighs, stirring her drink with her straw as she glances at the two of them.

“Right? The fucker’s in love. Hell, he looks ready to propose right there and there.” Karl scoffed lightheartedly.

“Woah, slow down there. They’ve barely been talking for ten minutes,” Robbie snickered.

“Enough with the snickering!” They heard from their electric guitarist. It seemed as if you had gone to use the bathroom because your bandmates were still there. They didn’t seem oblivious to the fact that she was talking to Hobie, either.

“Our bad, our bad,” Matteas apologized. “…backstage pass, huh?”

“Shut up!” He yelled, slapping her with one of the pub’s newspapers while it was still rolled up. His bandmates all just snickered more.

What a pain in the ass. Yet, he couldn't help but smile proudly at himself.

© 2024 dollsque - all rights reserved; do not copy my works, repost my content, edit my works, or translate my works on tumblr or anywhere else. it is strictly forbidden. oh, and no AI shit with my works, please.

[nightcolorz]

For the ask game: ❤️💚💙

YAYY thank u sm for the ask! these questions r so fun. I’m going off of the book fandom btw

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

Louis <3 I think this is an affect of how likable and overtly sympathetic he is in the amc show but I've seen people getting genuinely offended over Louis being described in fandom (and by Anne rice herself) as a manipulative cold hearted ass who uses his perceived vulnerability and gentleness to distract from the fact that he is just as cruel if not crueler then the other vampires. Like Louis does nottt have strong morals or high empathy lmao. Book Louis weaponizes his privilege like a white woman crying to self victimize into making the other vampires look worse them him 😭 . He refuses to kill humans for a while not bcus it hurts him to take life (he actually takes more pleasure in it then most), he refuses bcus he has catholic brain the way a christians who say "how do atheists have morals without god?" do, misunderstanding that most people actually care about other people and dont need an existential threat to encourage them not to hurt others.

His moral compass is self centered and based in up keeping the appearance of self restraint and monk style lack of enjoying himself, not empathy. If a vampire killed u would u feel better if u knew he cried over how much he got off on it then flaunted his suffering over how little he indulged so that everyone knew how piosis he was 😭.

He is way worse when it comes to how he treats his victims then Armand who intentionally seeks out victims who r asking to die or Lestat who tries the vigilante approach. Louis kills innocents and he thinks it makes him better cuz he only does it sometimes and he feels really really bad about himself afterwards. As akasha said (paraphrased) he's the most predatory of them all.

To specify I love book Louis SOOOO much I love how shitty he is that's why it makes me sad when people mischaracterize him as sincere and get gen mad when ppl characterize him how he is in canon (a lying selfish bitch bless his heart). Like ik amc Louis at this point in canon is unambiguously in the right but he isn't like an accurate reflection of how he is in the books 😭 it's not like amc did what anne rice was trying to do more successfully, they just nulled what anne rice was doing in favor of a more likable protagonist. Which is fine, but like, there's no crime in preferring evil to the core horrible asshole Louis of the books.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

I think the common fandom perception of Armand as the crazy unhinged "omg I can't believe he actually did that in the books??" sadistic maniac villain guy is funny but not really accurate. Armand explicitly not only tries to avoid violence but dislikes it and finds it hard to comprehend why someone would seek out violence and conflict.

The reason he is always doing fucked up shit isn't out of a lestat-esc desire to cause chaos, it's bcus his highly strung ptsd brain has him convinced that the world is a battle ground and he must always be defending himself and acting out in violence.

Since acting out in violence is a reaction hes been taught throughout his life to be standard and necessary, as violence is something so normalized to him he considers it more of a tedious chore then a last resort measure, he usually reacts to conflict in ways that are objectively extreme to anyone who isn't thinking from his perspective. In qotd he even asks Daniel why men choose to fight in wars, explaining that he doesn't understand the draw of violence (bcus he's not a man) and he can't comprehend the supposed thrill of it.

Then he says this in pl to Gregory

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think they are?

i was going to say Marius but I figure that's too obvious since everyone at this point knows I don't like Marius 😭 so here's an even hotter take,,,,, Lestat ‼️

Only to a degree, I think Lestat is hot and deserves the hype, but i also think he's hot in a different way then a chunk of the fandom does. Based on his book description he's kind of wonky looking, mouth too big for his face, vaguely unnerving shallow pale skin, starved 1700s peasant build but also kind of buff in the unhealthy "i dont eat regularly but I'm strong enough to carry a wolf for miles on my back" sense, weirdly small fucking feet. He def has creepy ass florescent blue doll eyes too. my point is I think when drooling over Lestat the fandom tends to forget this wonkiness in favor of blonde bombshell, Sam Reid chizzled jawline and abs, or conventionally beautiful anime twink, when they should be appreciating lestat in all his weird as shit glory.

[angelofthepage]

Memory Joey - What is your source?

Hi I did not get my full eight hours of sleep, and I am chomping at the bit with a new thought, so prepare for a slightly unhinged Kat theory about Joey.

Last night I was chatting with my partner in crime Beth about a number of Bendy things, but one of my many takeaways from that conversation was a new angle of looking at Memory Joey. So, recently I shared that I was frustrated with the narrative shift of Henry and Allison being ink copies, because it feels like it cheapens the original BATIM and doesn't do anything to serve the Joey Drew Redemption Arc (tm) narrative. We as the player know the man has a body count. Even if you take these two characters out of the mix, he's still responsible for the deaths of multiple other characters, mostly in the books, but like, come on, the whole "I own thousands of them" comment about souls in BATIM? The coffins with secret names on them? Joey you ain't slick. We spent too long establishing that Joey used his employees for their souls across MULTIPLE MEDIUMS to suddenly throw all of that out the window, and I don't entirely buy the idea that these two aren't the real deal. Granted, it still leaves us with questions about how the ink demon works given, there was also time dedicated to establishing that he was imperfect because he's soulless, but that's for another day.

But then, last night we talked about how none of these characters know Audrey is the daughter of Drew. And if they did know that, would their reactions be different? Would they still try to help her? I'm not sure. But it got me thinking about how there's a lot of things we the player know/believe that the characters don't. And that's when it hit me.

Memory Joey's story wasn't for us. It was for Audrey.

Now, that sounds obvious, like no duh, he's talking to Audrey for the whole scene, of course it's for her. Memory Joey doesn't know we as the players exist, he's got nothing to prove to us. But hear me out: that sequence wasn't meant to give us as players new information or prove he's a changed man, we weren't the ones who were supposed to believe in it. Audrey was. He has EVERYTHING to prove to Audrey. That's the daughter of the man he came from, his precious little girl, the first time he made something with the ink machine out of love, and she doesn't even remember that he's her father. Joey Drew, throughout his lifetime, cared a lot about how people saw him. Having shoes and a suit that didn't make him look poor, appearing financially stable to investors, the nasty things he had to say when he thought he wasn't being recorded, acting like he had control when everything he knew was falling apart, Joey was always trying to keep up appearances. And while I'll believe that he can mostly let go of that with time and growth, I don't think he could deal with Audrey, his daughter, seeing him as the bad guy. Especially when she doesn't remember Joey? Trying to make a good impression, sharing that yes, he did bad things, but he wasn't all bad? That he changed? That's covering Joey's ass something fierce.

Audrey isn't aware of Joey's body count. She doesn't know what happened to his employees. How Sammy became a cultist, how Susie was mistreated and manipulated to be desperate to be Alice. The entire story of Buddy Lewek and Norman Polk. She knows NONE of it! She doesn't know what he did. She doesn't know there were so many teenagers, just a little younger than her, that DIED because of his machine. And until you get the note about the kids that came before her, she has no idea she's not the first.

I often give Memory Joey a pass, he doesn't strike me as someone who would want to lie, especially to Audrey since he clearly cares about her. He delivers his slideshow presentation so earnestly, it feels like he truly believes this is what's true. But then I'm left questioning, what is his source? Why does he believe that they're clones? But maybe...maybe he is lying on purpose. I think it could be an equal opportunity for both. Joey was a liar in life, he lied about so many things (which is frustrating when he's the one giving us most of the information we look to to figure out how the heck ink works, Gent can you please give us some notes to cross reference?). Why wouldn't he lie to appear better to his own daughter? Memory Joey making that distinction for himself, that he himself cares for how Audrey sees him and Joey, would be a really valuable detail for his character, but him not knowing and believing all the information that someone like Joey left behind for him (since I'm assuming that's where his understanding of the cycle comes from) would also be interesting for his characterization.

But here's the kicker: by introducing the idea that Henry and Allison are not truly their human counterparts, if that turns out to be untrue, you've made a grave mistake Memory Joey. Audrey doesn't know any of these people were human before they became ink. I mean maybe she can deduce that other humans are in here given Allison's whole "I remember my first day" speech, but then Memory Joey throwing this at her, Allison is a creation rather than someone who was once alive? Who's to say she'd think twice about it? Wilson treats everyone like they're just ink and not worth caring for after all. But if she finds out about the sacrifices? That many of these ink creatures were once human? Oh Broseph my dude, you are gonna have a lot to answer for, more ways in which her trust in you will be utterly broken. That is a very messy, delicate balance. I kind of want to see that. I want to see him have his world view turned on its head, learning that he was wrong about Henry, and have him genuinely not know that he was fed bad information. Let him process that, let him struggle, and let Audrey grapple with the truth too.

Yeah, I don't necessarily think Henry and Allison are clones. Inhuman, yes, but clones? I think we need more than Memory Joey's word to know that for sure. So I ask again, sir, what is your source?

[artemisrisen]

chapter 51 musings/impressions

This chapter caused every synapse in my brain to fire off like cannonballs during a battle at high sea. This isn’t anything coherent, just word vomit as I process everything that’s happened. I may go back and edit as I think of more things or decide how to phrase other things better. cut for massive spoilers below. 

By the way, this is fantastic for non-Japanese reading fans because there is barely any dialogue. Just mad, bad, and rad touching, baby

-          The color pages are so ominous. Let’s get this pissed-off parade going

-          I don’t like Doumeki shoving Yashiro like that. With that being said, Yashiro SHOT DOUMEKI IN BOTH OF HIS LEGS and LEFT HIM IN AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE. Not to mention Yashiro gets him back tenfold (twenty-fold?) in this very same chapter. So I can probably get over it.

-          Doumeki, who hasn’t moved a facial muscle in days, yells at a resisting Yashiro to stop acting like that when they’ve already done it; his expression is nothing like the cold, remote Yakuza he’s role-played as, but pure-cut Doumeki from pre-Sakura days, pre-hospital days: it’s not just anger at all, but desperation.

-          And Yashiro sees it: he realizes Doumeki is truly angry –the angriest he’s ever seen him, he thinks— and the switch is flipped. Doumeki’s indifference has eaten at him throughout the time-skip chapters; no matter how he prods or ingratiates himself, Doumeki seemed to be as unmoved as a mountain. I know there were even readers who questioned if Doumeki still loved Yashiro (which is, you know, absurd.) But now—now Doumeki is furious and it shows all over his face and his actions - and it’s because of Yashiro. Doumeki, who was unreachable, is suddenly right here. You can see Yashiro visibly relax into the ministrations; he pets Doumeki’s hair and even begins to pull the other man’s jacket off, which is shockingly active for him as a participant in sex.

-          Of course, this causes Doumeki to freeze in his angry lovemaking. Because he seems to know that Yashiro will be Pretty Unhappy with the back tattoo – the bridge that cannot be uncrossed, the hope of any reintegration to normal society extinguished. But how upset was he anticipating? Maybe he expected some disgust, or being called stupid, or for Yashiro to roll away and close himself off.  

-          I think it’s safe to say he didn’t expect Yashiro to have a genuine meltdown and proceed to beat the shit out of him with his bare hands. Yashiro’s eyes resemble the same wide, unhinged look when he tried to kill Hirata with a rock –but Doumeki was unconscious then. He’s never seen Yashiro out of control, especially with his emotions. In their first conversation, Doumeki relays that Yashiro “smiles even when he’s mad”, so he knew off the bat that Yashiro hides himself. He’s seen Yashiro kick Nanahara to injury, but there was a distance in that act, like a parent calmly disciplining a child. This rage feels like the child himself is screaming and pounding on the ground to exhaustion.

-          And Doumeki can see it. He lets Yashiro just pummel him right in the face. I think, in this world they’re in plagued with violence, this is as damning as a love confession. If Doumeki’s reaction is anything to go by, which is that after Yashiro exhausts himself, Doumeki cups his cheek and then kisses him full on the mouth.

-          Their pose near parallel to their first kiss, with Doumeki kissing from above with Yashiro’s eyes still wide open in shock.

-          But this time, instead of pushing away, Yashiro meets Doumeki fully: their kissing becomes heated, and it builds until Yashiro is all but sitting in Doumeki’s lap. There’s a frame of a single line of spit connecting their lips and it’s beautiful and filthy and a precursor to the feral sex that’s about to happen.

-          Naturally it ends here, because sensei wants us frothing at the mouth and ripping the upholstery apart for the next chapter as always.

- so what’s next? I think the sex is an absolute given; Doumeki’s hand is already dipping into the back of Yashiro’s pants (and Yashiro jolts / shivers in response) on the last page, so unless Kamiya comes barging in - well, actually, even if he does come barging in, Doumeki is going to use his entire Yakuza Superior Authority and make him leave, so. I think 52 is going to be raunchy as hell, and also sad, and also intense, because that’s saezuru.

- I mean, they’re gonna break the bed, right? that flimsy-ass frame that only holds Doumeki and not a single pound more? they might have better luck on the floor, but somehow I feel like both want to deliberately fuck that poor mattress into the below neighbor’s living room.

- And what happens from here? There’s still an investigation happening; the bad guys are still out there, targeting Doumeki. Yashiro now has to contend with the idea that Doumeki is fully “in”. Will he rejoin the Yakuza despite finally getting one foot out the door? It’s really hard to say. Personally I think they should just move abroad to Hawaii or somewhere and live peacefully and anonymously on Yashiro’s hoards of cash he’s accumulated in the last 4 years.