#I mean it’s spoiler implied but just in case 😭

[sowrennie]

Okay so I’m currently in Love and Deepspace hell and now it’s everyone’s problem. I may not entirely ever understand what’s going on, but that’s okay I’m still going to give my two cents on what Caleb may bring to the table. Please correct me if I’m wrong😭

LOVE AND DEEPSPACE MAINSTORY SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. Ties to EVER

Hear me out here. I know this is a common speculation but I want to delve into it and lay out the facts where I can see them. We kind of know what EVER’s goal is, we also— according to the notes we collect— know where their investments lie. They play a dominant role in biotechnological developments, aerospace, Evol energy, and international trade. We also know that Caleb works as a fighter pilot for the Deepspace Aviation Administration. He attended the Aerospace Academy in Skyhaven: an artificial floating island above Linkon. From what I gather, Skyhaven is powered by a protocore— and EVER is known for their involvement and use of protocores in modification/advancement. With what is made known to us it’s safe to conclude that Caleb is an affiliate. It’s hard to say whether or not he knows about the aether core, assuming he does though, he knows that upon the experiments— MC is basically immortal. She would be an asset to their research, and goal of extending lives. I wonder if Caleb feeds them this information, but at the same time— I’m just… not fully sure, seeing his particular niche and all. It does feel like they have their eyes on mc, though… I don’t entirely remember, but in awaited revelry, doesn’t Sylus imply that Josephine and Caleb have malicious intentions…? That being said—

2. Caleb’s return..?

I have a speculation that, like many cases we see (albeit some failed ones), he’ll be resuscitated via protocore; EVER can’t lose a valuable asset, after all. It fits thematically, and can further establish Caleb’s character as a character foil to Zayne (who despite his regrets, feels that death is a necessary part of the human existence.) An apple a day keeps the doctor away and all! This is the first ML we know that actively has interacted with another, and I genuinely can’t wait for what this means for Zayne’s story, even if EVER isn’t behind Caleb’s heavily implied return. He’s still facing what should be a dead man, and ugh. I KNOW his emotions are going to pile up. Staring directly at the Mt. Eternal anecdote. This could be a stretch, but— Carter, Xander Sciences trying to rope Zayne into their projects over and over— MC is the perfect bait, and bringing Caleb back may establish MC’s direct involvement and have Zayne be enticed by proxy. Caleb does play the role of the forbidden (potentially), and this could be how that motif comes into play.

3. Snake Motif…

Okay so I have yet to do my research on this entirely, but like— I just think it’s so interesting that they released Sylus during the year of the Dragon, and then potentially Caleb, during the year of the Snake. That aside, though— the clear biblical connection between the snake and the apple and potentially being that lure— what snakes generally symbolize (mystery, deceit…), and I saw this floating around somewhere, but apparently in CN he calls the MC ‘little tail’? I’m so interested in what this could mean symbolically with all his apparent affiliations, buuut that’s for us to see.

I’m looking forward to that livestream and tbh idk if anything here made sense but I’m so normal about this game (even if I likeee barely understand it.) What are you going to do Caleb. What’s happening. I know this is different from what I usually post here but I NEEDED to yap or else I might go insane idk

What are you hiding.

[tacharie]

Thoughts for The Montkraken Episode

so, I just finished the chapter and… wow I have a lot to say. I took screen shots for every part I wanted to talk about and I think this rant will be SUPERRRR long so bear with me. Tumblr won’t let me add screenshots so when I have better service I’ll edit the post to add them. These paragraphs are theories and side notes that I wrote after reading a certain section so you’re gonna see my thought process throughout the story. As always, spoilers ahead so I recommend skipping this if you haven’t read it already.

Alright so I was once a hater of this ship BUT… the Shobaru shippers may have a point in this guys 😭. LIKE.. I HAVE THE SCREENSHOT OF SUBARU BLUSHING UHHH. That is not a heterosexual stare feller 🤨…

AHHHHHHH THE FROSTHEIM DUO ARE BACKKKKK!!! I missed them so so much they’re so silly and deserve the best. Honestly the only two I trust in this school cause I CANT. I literally suspect anyone but them, but Imma be so disappointed if either of them are hiding something. I’ll be sad, but like I’ll help 🙄. I was actually so sad when the MC mentioned being the reason they could be in danger like GIRLLLLL DONT SAY THAT PLEASEEEEE. ITS LIKE THE ANGST WITH ADEUCE AND YUU LIKE STAWPOPP. Also when the Vagastorm kids were like “aw yeah Mido wouldn’t lie like that” it makes me happy that people can at least trust him enough to be honest and idk I found that kinda sweet :3. We’re also getting a bit of a timeline, like the One-Eyed Sleeping Beauty Murder being BEFORE the clash (sorry if this was already mentioned I don’t really remember stuff from the past chapters) which could’ve been a trigger.

Also, I feel like they’re trying to tell us that Jiro is Zenji’s brother because when he had that little laugh about the MC being scared of bodies, he said too. When you click the “too?” option, he just says that he isn’t the one afraid. It’s not Yuri as well cause he’s literally a doctor that is in the same room when autopsies are in session. Whatever the case, I assume he was referencing to Zenji, though it being a blurry memory. Little theory tho.

OK SO THIS IS JUST SO FUNNY TO ME. In Chapter 9’s title it says, “Girl Learns Shocking Truth About Monster”. I like to think the shocking truth was the fact he didn’t shower for 3 days 😭. CAUSE THATS THE PART SHE SOUNDS MOST SHOCKED. Idk that part was silly to me. THEY’RE OUTFITS FOR THEIR DORM IS SOOOOOO PRETTY. They ate I fear, a bit more than the other dorms. Also side note, they dropped A LOT of info with just how they word things. For example, Yuri saying “Jiro, you are well aware that I will not be associated with those germs AGAIN.” Soooo Yuri was in Frostheim? I don’t doubt it bc there’s another line that says “I’d rather not recall how bitterly cold that place is” which can MEAN TWO THINGS. I’m super sure that they’re implying that yeah, he was, but then something happened blah blah blah.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH HYDE AND DANTE??? Like ok bitches, spill your shot to us too don’t be shy. So, confirmed by them, Dante and Hyde used to go to school in Darkwick (which I assume the rest of the teachers are too). That explains their back and forth. WHAT REALLY CAUGHT MY EYE WERE THESE LINES.

Hyde: “…You really are a softie, Dan-Dan.” (Haha Dan- Dan)

Dante: “It would seem that way to someone as cold as you.” (???) “…There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, Hyde.”

Hyde: “…I’ll keep that in mind.”

WHATTTTT. WHAT ARE THE LINES. GO IN DETAIL ARGHHHHH. This gives us more info on the character individually too. Dante describes Hyde as cold… DANTE. So, it was obvious that this whole happy go lucky attitude was fake, but I expected to be more like Haru’s kind of attitude not like that yk?? now I know how much of a cash grab this game is, but I really hope they aren’t going to stretch the story out too long to the point where you have to P2W cause I haven’t paid a cent and I don’t plan to. I still want to learn more about them and stuff so :(. On the topic of Dante, there was a small flashback where I missed a word in the sentence that Dante said while talking with Alan. “I’m the man you supposedly killed.” Supposedly?? Now, I didn’t my catch this in my first run, but now it’s like wdym supposedly?? Shouldn’t you know? This is giving hella Jiro vibes and honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of these characters having a bad memory.

SPEAKING OF JIRO- he seems to have problems remembering things and they come back to him in the very weird moments (honestly a kin moment). I would like the think that he’s just suffering from the damages he had to go through from the clash. His relationship with Yuri is so… sad to me. Yuri seems to doubt him a little bit and I feel like he sees him as just a specimen, not much of a friend. Meanwhile, Jiro smiles a lot to Yuri and listens to him like a master, like that’s what he’s supposed to do. NOT AGAINST HIS OWN WILL DONT GET ME WRONG. He’s just so neutral about it it makes me a bit like awwww :(. They’re cute tho idrc.

Ok moving on to Haku and Tohma. (Ok at this point I’m getting nervous cause why are we seeing so many characters now. That’s probably just a coincidence). OK THESE TWO HAVE GOT IT GOING. Like there’s tension when you get their chat in the campus but this is like woahhhh… Also I don’t like how Tohma says “our wheelhouse? I see..” it makes me think he’s like implying “so you think you’re a part of them now?” IDK THATS JUST MY LITTLE STRETCH. Also poor Zenji, he’s like “aw yeah I died in vain lol” LIKE OUCH.

Nicholas. I DO NOT LIKE HIM. I REPEAT. I DO NOT LIKE HIM FOR A MINUTE OF A SECOND. The only staff I like are the cats, the grocer guy, and MAYBE Dante. LIKE HES SO… NORMAL?? LIKE THERE’S SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON IK THERE IS. When MC says “I can’t believe Professor Nicolas would do something like that” I DO 😡🙋‍♀️. I am in full support of Yuri finding crimes against this guy.

Also, little other side note, I just realized that Yuri and Jiro have matching earring in opposite ears. It’s so cute.

Ok I might have to go back to the beginning and see what the “goat like anomaly” Jiro is talking about when he mentions the prophecy, cause I said “… the chancellor is a goat??” BUT ANYWAYS. Speaking of the prophecy, I’ll jot it down.

“The whisper of the new moon shall lead the champion to the academy on the solitary island. So long as the champion resides there, the world shall be sheltered from profound tragedy.”

Stating the obvious here, but this is most likely referencing to the last cutscenes we get when we choose our characters. I’ve checked the cutscenes again and there’s no visible moon, meaning it could correlate to the “new moon” portion. (Search up new moon to see what I mean). Assuming Solitary island means death, that would also help with the theory. So, whoever we chose in the beginning might just be the person who won the Laurel Crown.Honestly, this is just a silly little Drabble for a theory and VERY vague. Maybe the champion resides in the events of the past that we still don’t know about but this kinda helps?? Idk I’m just putting what I think at the moment. I’ll probably reread the game so I can get a better timeline. Also, Yuri’s rant about demon particles… doesn’t exactly sit right with me. Were they chosen to be resilient or was it just a birth thing?? Idk but I feel like a lot is missing from his theory. I mean, we’re using human logic to a supernatural cause so I don’t think pacts acting as allergies would work. If they’re not chosen, could it be that the ghouls can make pacts with more than one demon? I wanna see what happens if that was the case. Please comment if I missed something 😭.

Ok Towa appeared. (Why are we seeing so many characters I don’t like this) and we went back to that tree… WHAT IS THAT TREE?? And what the hell do you mean the fruit grew? What is that fruit supposed to be? An anomaly going to birth?? Is it supposed to represent the houses?? Motivation?? It seems so weird to me cause we just got introduced to that tree last episode. Sighs.

OK REN AND RITSU. WHAT IS GOING ON. I GUESS SINCE THIS IS THE LADT CHAPTER FOR INTRODUCING CHARACTERS BUT LIKE … STOP. I feel like something is going to happen with the MC pls 😭. Anyway, those two talking about ramen is so cute please don’t ever change you virgin and lizard looking freak 🫶( with love of course). GROCER GUYYYYYYY. YIPPEE :3!! I love that the cat is the owner and not the human lmao.

Also I will always be a MC defender cause she is so relatable. “Why are hospitals so creepy at night?” GIRL IKKKKKK. Idc what y’all say, the fact that she’s normal is keeping me sane from these freaky deaky events. ILOVE NORMAL CHARACTERS! LIKE MATSUDA FROM DEATH NOTE OR THAT ONE GUY FROM MASHELE. Anyways, I love her little comments and everything she’s so silly. Idrc if she doesn’t have much of a backbone cause honestly, she’s surrounded by danger so the best she should do is listen to the people that are constantly surrounded by it.

ALSO NEW THING. (Well idk if it’s new but yeah).

mention of a Dionysia Breakout. <—— Idk what that is, but it sounds like a little more. I love little details and slip ups thanks characters <3!!

HA! HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! I WIN NICOLAS 😈!!! YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE. AND I WILL FIND IT TRUST YOU WILL BE DELT WITH. I WILL KNOW THE PRIOR PAST >:(!! Also, Moby is being soooo annoying tbh. More character descriptions to add: competitive as a teacher. NO ONE WILL MAKE YOU HATE YOU JIRO ‼️‼️‼️ HES SO SWEET He literally asks if we’re scared and says we can hang back awwww. Though he doesn’t understand much, he can use logic and he can at least understand how we feel. It’s a nice sentiment :)!

I can’t take the transformation seriously I’m sorry. I’m still impressed by Yuri’s deductive skills and the transformation just sounded like he was constipated.

THE WHOLE BATTLE SCENE WAS EPIC!! MC HESITATING BECAUSE OF LEOS WORDS BUT STILL PUSHING FORWARD. YURI GETTING FLUSTERED. JIRO SMILING AND TRUSTING YURI’S ORDERS. THE FUNNY EXCHANGE ABOUT MUSCLE WHEN THEY WERE CARRYING THE POD. Those annoying ass pussy sticks we call Darkwick students 😡. JIRO LOOKING BADASS AFTER THE SHOT. URGHHHH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER.

HARU AND PEEKABOOOOO!! AHHHHH IM SO HAPPY I SEE THEM AGAIN!! I’m so glad he’s going to Hyde too cause I’m not ready. Also… the mermaid thing is so weird. For the Montkraken Mermaid, they seem to refer to it as “it” or “that mermaid”, but when they speak of the second mermaid, they use personal pronouns like “he /him”. Haru’s expression as well when he heard someone was abusing mermaid flesh… it’s a new one with a little crease under his eye. It’s such a sad face like, did he know this mermaid personally or was this fear?? Either way, I wanna meet him cause the other one was so pretty.

…You guys know the “I see who you are… you are my enemy” sound that’s on TikTok or reels or wtv? YEAH THATS SONG WAS PLAYING IN MY HEAD WHEN HYDE SAID WE HAD TO DO A SPEECH. HYDE IM IN YOUR WALLS. URGHHHH I HATE HIMMMMM. Call to action my ass IK either Taiga or Leo are gonna get their asses out of the door after the speech. OR BOTH. I’m starting to tweak.

NOOOOO THE SPEECH IS THE NEXT CHAPTER?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I feel so bad for Zenji… like I’m so deadass. Dude he sounds so sad about how he’s dead it’s so.. URGHHHH. ALSO I CALLED IT. THEY ARE BROTHERS. AHAHHAHA!! Well it was kinda obvious cause everyone thought it too but WOMP WOMP. Also I love his real name, Taro Kirisaki. It’s pretty :)!! But these lines killed me

“and though I have taken my final blow, my brotherly heart can’t help but worry for my kin. … Not that he has any idea I’m still around.” YEOUCH?? I DIDNT COME TO CRY BRO…

I’m tweaking out because of this speech bro. I’m gonna choose the corniest stuff and hope for the best. “I feel bad please stop for me 🥺” headass.

Taiga is officially my enemy as well. I called that shit about him leaving URGH. WHAT A FLIBBERTYJIBBET!! His outfit eats tho so it balances out. LIKE DAMNNNN. HE LOOKS SO GOOD.

DOUBLE?? TRIPLE??? QUINTUPLE???? HELL I MIGHT BECOME A GHOUL TO GET THAT MONEY GOLLY 😍😍😍!! CAUSE IN THIS ECONOMY??Also thanks Jin you a real one twin. Bouta split this cash with my wife and I’ll send you a wedding invite.

EDWARD. ED PLEASE. STOP PUTTING ME IN THE SPOTLIGHT… well it’s out now so woopy!! I really wonder what the others have to say about that cause they just gave really vague surprised reactions. Well, Ritsu documented it. I love that little guy please don’t ever change you silly.

NUMBER ONE CORNELIUS HATER IDC. Unless I know your intentions I DONT CAREEEEE. YOU ARE AN OPP IT IS ON SIGHT WITH YOU. SAME WITH YOU NICOLAS!! “I didn’t know whether to tell you or not I’m sowwy 🥺” CHUPA MI PITO HOE 😡.

… you’re telling me I didn’t have to do that awful speech because DANTE AGREED?? IM DONE. IM WHOOPING EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AND AURING THE PLACE OUT. FIRST ONES OUT ARE HYDE FOR NOT TELLING ME, NICOLAS, AND CORNELIUS. ARGHHHHHHH. Also, dude, who is that Janitor guy like seriously.

ROMEO??? AND HYDE???? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT BUTTERCUP?? Wdym worked for him?? What is going on… SPECIAL MISSION??? SHO??? OH NAW. I CANT TRUST NOBODY ANYMORE 😭

Towa crying :(. What does the fruit shrinking have to do with it now?? I’m so confused.

ALRIGHT IF YOU MADE IT TO THE END WOW YOU HAVE DEDICATION. Yeah this is my personal yap session to this chapter and it’s so URGH. I’m so excited to see the next chapter and I hope we get to see more and more. Now with the Gala in place, we can finally start WORKING. Based on the timeline, we have about … 8 months left?? So hopefully, for MC’s sake, she gets cured. BYE BYE UNTIL NEXT EPISODE!!

[onlymurdersintheafterparty]

OMITB S4:E3 ‘Two for the Road’

This episode was interesting and raised even more questions. While we start off and end the episode with the trio, in most of the episode we watch them branch off with their respective actors and have their own mini adventures. I thought it was a great idea to give us a better idea of who Zach, Eugene, and Eva are in this universe and to delve more into the main characters’ personalities apart from each other. There were several bombshells dropped so as always spoilers are behind the cut.

At the beginning of the episode, we find out from Detective Williams that the FBI has taken over meaning she won’t be on the case. That doesn’t stop her from giving them what information she does have as well as breaking the fourth wall in reference to the three previous seasons which was hilarious. We also learn that she’s a fan of Zach Galifianakis when she discovers the actors are also in the apartment and threatens Oliver not to let him get hurt and implies he’s her hall pass 🤭 Honestly same bc the man is not only hilarious but handsome as well. Shortly after she leaves is when everyone branches off so I’m going to break up each segment based off the duo.

Oliver and Zach don’t do any intentional sleuthing this episode. Oliver is fed up with Zach’s indifference and lack of desire to connect so he lies saying they need to monitor the ham radio and whisks him off to his apartment. I know Oliver is a mess but I really don’t like the way that Zach treats him like a loser. At some point they appear to bond as Oliver teaches Zach how to snort, grunt, and dress like him which seems to have gone well until Zach is overheard saying otherwise. Howard tries his best to stand up for Oliver in that passive aggressive way and we know he means well but it ultimately does nothing to change Zach’s impression. I agree on one thing though: Oliver’s resilience and choosing to wake up happy every day despite the chaos is admirable. That’s what life is about because every day is a chance to change your fate.

Charles and Eugene’s dynamic was different. Are they buddies? No but they both have the same goal in mind which is to get Vince to take off his eyepatch to see if he’s hiding damage from the gun recoiling. These two clearly share one brain cell because every attempt failed. First they come up with a story about Charles having a cousin who is an eye doctor with magic eye drops that they swear will work wonders. Instead of taking off his eyepatch then and there, Vince instead goes into the privacy of his bathroom. Take two goes even worse because Eugene’s idea of doing a spit take to get the eyepatch off leads to him getting punched in the face by Vince after he spits water on him. It does lead to a clue though. When they all hug it out, Eugene notices a photograph and signals for Charles to view it. It’s all the Westies and a figure with their face scribbled out. What in the world is going on here? Is Dudenoff Moriarty? Is Dudenoff not even involved and someone else just utilized his apartment as originally suspected? I’m so confused.

Mabel and Eva were giving frenemies. No actual hate, just two people forced together with nothing in common. Though her methods were unconventional and unhinged, Eva did manage to get a lot of info for Mabel.

The gun on the mantle is a movie prop that shoots nerf gun like ammo

Christmas Guy HATES Christmas; now this had me shook ngl; this man is a fitness influencer who has been typecast into a Christmas role and is basically held hostage by his decor 😭

The tinsel is not tinsel!

A few days ago I made a post about a theory regarding the killer(s) and whether or not they were in attendance at the party in the S3 finale and @bbeeebbo brought up a really good point about the tinsel being a red herring for Christmas Guy and that it very well could have been from the party. While we have yet to confirm if it was from the party, we now have confirmation that it’s actually not tinsel at all!

The sleuthing with the two ends shortly after this reveal and we see Mabel get the idea to look up squatter’s rights and temporarily move into the Dudenoff apartment. When they all reunite at the end for Mabel’s housewarming party, they put their clues together and realize that 445 is a radio frequency. Earlier when Mabel and Eva were sleuthing they discovered a ham radio in the Christmas apartment as well so clearly the Westies have some secret communication going on. When Mabel turns on the radio to the right frequency, a woman responds and tells them to stop snooping because the last person that did so is dead (Sazz). She also was in a hurry to disconnect giving the impression she’s on the run. Is she the mysterious Dudenoff or a tenant we have yet to meet? I’m so confused!

Final Thoughts

I feel like the writers have caught on to how smart the redditors are because a lot of theories were confirmed or debunked this episode. Someone theorized Mabel might end up squatting in the Dudenoff apartment which she does at the end of the episode and another theorized that Vince’s eyepatch was to cover a bruise from the gun’s recoil which is false (he actually does have pink eye and it’s gnarly 🤢). I’m bracing myself for the moment in the season finale where everything was obvious af and I was just overthinking everything 😂 What do you guys think so far now that we’re 3 episodes into the season?

[nyan-tame]

WAKE UP ITS 4 AM IT'S TIME 4 II ACT 3 THEORIES

AND HEADCANONS (with angst)

Im 100% willing 2 bet that these will NOT b real take these theories, predictions, and headcanons with a grain of salt 😭😭😭

ANYWAY

TRIGGER WARNING 4 MENTION OF EATING DISORDERS AND GENDER DYSPHORIA

(ITS ALL IN THE PARAGRAPHS ABT MEPHONE BTW SO U CAN SKIP THAT BUT THERES STILL ANGST)

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆

mephone will join the shimmers/mephone was masking their shimmer half for years

The shimmers will continue 2 search 4 their lost young and realize that mephone is the 2nd lost shimmer (as revealed last episode) upon realizing this they will get emotional and also apologize 4 what he's been through (even if it's not actually their fault they just really feel bad 4 their child) and take them in to give them the childhood they deserved. This theory ties in with some headcanons i also have.... So cobs says in a flashback (episode 13, i think) that he has no need 2 eat cause he's a machine, right? Well, not exactly, just something along those lines. That's not the case. They're half organic because they are half shimmer. They actually do need 2 eat, but cobs has literally been starving them constantly, thinking that being mostly machine means they'll never be hungry. This is part of the reason mephone thinks they're a "fat slob" and even jokes abt it 2 himself around others but thats just not the case, they quite literally are just fucking hungry. Yes, i think mephone might have an eating disorder. Speaking of shimmers, you know how the other baby shimmer, the green one, was nonbinary implying that the shimmers are a naturally genderless species? I think mephone may also be nonbinary. My evidence? Paintbrush. I think Paintbrush was made as genderless the way they were in season one because cobs thought mephone being nonbinary was like stupid and wrong or something. Mephone projects their grief into humor as their main coping mechanism. Thus, Paintbrush's gender was seen as nothing but a joke 4 a really long time similarly 2 how tissues suffering all the time is seen as a joke and gets no help by his peers which may represent how mephone never got help woth anything even when they really needed it. Paintbrush eventually coming out made mephone feel much safer, something they dont usually feel.. but not safe enough.

The contestants who died by mephone x will get recovered but they won't be completely intact

I highly doubt that everyone is going 2 die permanently. That is not in the nature of inanimate insanity. However, the show LOVESSS 2 make its fandom miserable, so these fellas will not get removed from melife without consequences. The Xed contestants may experience memory problems or will go into a full reset. To make things sadder, I feel like their brains would subconsciously remember the people they had good relationships with even though they themselves don't actually know they've met before. In other words, if anyone sees anyone they had good relations with in a past life, they will subconsciously feel comforted by their presence. Though if these fella do have all their memories intact someone like lightbulb or cheesy will trick a buddy of their into thinking they forgot everything 2 make their friends panic a little just 2 go finger guns at them like "haha got ya" making the audience freak out 4 a moment 2. Who knows, maybe our cast brought someone back wrong, and they did forget everything...

Cobs will DEFINITELY DIE

A while ago on youtube, i think either Brian or Justin made a community tab poll on how many characters would die, 2 being the most popular vote. Literally Mephone wont have a happy ending if that mother fucker doesn't die. I also think the shimmers might kill him last second. But wait! There's another character who is supposed 2 die! I think that's bow, "but Nyan bow is already dead!!" Is what u might b thinking.. and ur PROBABLY RIGHT!!! i accidentally got spoilers 4 only ONE of the permanent deaths (DONT WORRY, NO SPOILERS, YOU JUST GET A LITTLE NUDGE, THE DEATH SPOILER WAS A CONTESTANT) If im still dead set on the fact that cobs will die, it can't be 2 contestants.. at least in my head. Bow, being a ghost and already dead, knows what it's like being dead and won't mind sacrificing herself 4 her friends. Now she can go on 2 the next stage of her afterlife!

ANYWAYSSS THATS ALL BYEBYEBYEBYEBYEBYE!!!

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆

[kuijoon]

LEAK WARNING/SPOILER FOR HANABI STORY QUEST

Ok so after getting to read the english tranlation of the story on reddit, here are my assumptions/thoughts of sampos role (note: i didnt read everything through properly since its a pain on phone maybe I’ll come back later):

Ok so basically Sampo helped blackswan with the whole murder case bc he made a deal with Hanabi. if he plays the assistant for blackswan, he gets his mask back. we do not know why he wants it back- maybe it gives him some sort of powers?? is it just a metaphorical kinda thing for him stepping on stage??? idk.

“But, Sampo... why did you suddenly remember to get the mask back after such a long time? This doesn't look like the you I know...”

“Let me guess - the Jarilo-VI catastrophe is coming, right?”

“Occasionally, I, old Sampo, also want to go on stage and make a fool of myself.”

This is sooo weird. First of all Jarilo catastrophe??!!! sigh let them rest for once. Second of all, we always see sampo putting up a show and shit, so for him to go get his special mask in order to prepare for the ‘catastrophe’… it really makes me feel like we’re going back to Belobog later and Sampo will play a major part in the story. It also gives me the vibes of him adopting a sort of more prominent role because he mentions going on stage. Like this is all you do. You’re always on stage. For him to consider this its own special thing HAS to mean something right.

Oh and it makes me feel like he’s kind of returning to his ‘old ways’ (whatever they may be). Not only because the getting his mask back after so long, but also because of the colorful past thing, maybe implying that he took on a background role over time and used to play larger roles in his ‘plays’.

Also this isn’t important but he tells Hanabi to stay away from Belobog and say hi to Giovanni??? I love him 😭

TLDR;

Sampo went to Jarilo-VI in order to prepare the people there for an incoming catastrophe and is now getting himself ready for it. This likely means we’re going back to Belobog and help sampo with stopping the disaster. also his mask probably has some special power

Edit: since this is a memory bubble it could’ve happened before we arrived on Belobog, meaning sampo isn’t retuning to Belobog. makes sense tbh but I low-key fear this means we’ll get his whole reveal in penacony. that would be messed up tbh

Edit 2: however it also says it’s a fresh memory AND mentions an ‘incoming’ catastrophe when the eternal freeze happened like 800 years ago. It could’ve hinted to our arrival, but I doubt that would be referred to as a catastrophe. Also why do sampo and Hanabi know about some catastrophe that hasn’t even happened yet? Is that just like common knowledge???

[a-rumbly-in-my-tumbly]

Yakumo vampire card spoilers! (And tangentially idol card spoilers)

I have SO MANY FEELINGS about the fact that THIS is what Yakumo makes Eiden repeat into the mirror

I would put a cut here but I DON'T KNOW HOW ON MOBILE ANYWAY

Like okay Yakumo has SO many hangups about himself when it comes to his sexual behavior, right

He wants to be a service top so badly (even though it could be argued that he is!) BUT he essentially sees his sex drive as uncontrollable and that he's essentially using Eiden although he does love him--and that, by default, means that he's selfish and greedy and that he's forcing Eiden into things regardless of if Eiden tells him it's fine. Since, you know, Eiden has never seen what Yakumo thinks he's capable of becoming, or what he will become, informed consent between them doesn't really exist in Yakumo's eyes.

Out of all the things to make someone say in a mirror that you know reflects your true self?

Reassuring Eiden that he's not filthy, which, if we remember from the idol card, was the way *Yakumo* felt about himself when he was *begging* Eiden not to swallow? This PRECIOUS HEART. Dear precious boy. 😭 He wants to protect Eiden from everything he has felt about himself SO badly!

Also the Japanese voice lines put something more explicitly in this that I wish the text would have--the verb form for the word translated as "fucked" here specifically uses a conjunction that implies allowing oneself to be. Considering how transformative it is for Yakumo to be accepted, and how much it means to him?

"Eiden, you always look cutest when you let yourself get fucked until you come"

HELLO???

With everything they've been through and Eiden usually being the one to not only take pains to make sure Yakumo is comfortable and taken care of while convincing him that this is what he wants, it really means a lot to Yakumo to make sure he acknowledges that Eiden's sacrifice is appreciated (even if Eiden himself doesn't see it as one) and that's such a profound part of his character that the temporary confidence the enchantment on the mirror gives him doesn't make him lose it--like he is always terrified will happen.

There's a reason Yakumo is best boy for me and he gives me all the feelings 😭 I know a lot of people don't care for him because oh he cries too much or it sounds noncon (that might be the translation's cross to bear in translating, for example, some of his intimacy lines too literally/not adding needed subtext, to be fair; knowing Yakumo now. I would do so even if just to put a finer point on the difference between him and Garu--there is one from the way the Japanese lines are phrased, in any case, but it kind of gets short shrift, in my opinion, which may be for several reasons in tandem. But ANYWAY moving right along) but as someone who is also Riddled With Anxiety and hates themselves an unhealthy part of the time I love him so much he's such a good boy and I want people to KNOW!!!

[cookie-de-baunilha]

So I made this post about Percy, Hal and Dottie a few days ago.

Now Maril Davis confirmed that Jane and Frances will be in the second half of s7, and I don’t remember seeing any casting announcements for them? Why are they keeping it a secret? 😭

Soooo what does it mean for the others?

[Spoilers from the Outlander books below]

I know that they didn’t include Percy because they thought this would be Outlander’s last season and they had to choose which storylines to prioritize. And they are covering a lot of ground this season, trying to adapt as much as possible: the first 3 episodes were still dealing with book 6 stuff, then they jumped into book 7 stuff and now they will cover both book 7 and book 8 stuff in the second half of the season.

With this amount of things to cover, they had to choose, so they just gave up on the storyline involving Percy and the matter of Fergus’ parentage because there wouldn’t be enough time to cover it. Fergus and Marsali won’t be in s7 either.

But I do remember the producers saying that they were halfway through s7 when they found out there was going to be a s8.

I mean, if they found out about s8 halfway through s7, they had to change the ending of the season, right? They were preparing to have a series finale, but they can’t do this anymore.

So maybe they decided to have Percy, and in that case, Fergus’ parentage plot, in s8? If that’s the case, I don’t know if there was enough time to introduce Percy, let’s say, in the last episode of s7 to prepare the ground for s8, leaving him to be introduced only in s8 (and this is still a big if). Of course, Fergus and Marsali would need to be back too for s8.

And I think there’s a big chance of that happening, actually. F and M are fan favorites and the only reason they didn’t include them this season is because there wouldn’t be enough time. But the show is already anticipating a lot of book 8 stuff this season, which leaves room for s8 I guess.

Percy is also important for the Richardson plotline (so, another reason to have him in s8), and so is Hal. If they do reintroduce Hal tho, I doubt that it will be in this season, they probably left it for s8 too.

Honestly, if I had to bet on a new character being introduced this season besides Jane and Frances, it would be Dottie. Since she’s Denzell’s romantic interest, I’m pretty sure she will be in season 8, so why not introduce her in the end of s7?

And Maril did say there would be younger characters**, and she implied that Jane and Frances wouldn’t be the only ones (or so I interpreted it), so Dottie is plausible.

** I'm not an English native speaker, so if someone can enlighten me on this: "younger characters" in this case means actual young people or is it used as a synonym for new characters?

[bonecuisine]

Alright if no one’s going to rant about this I will.

SPOILERS FOR s1 & s5⚠️‼️ALSO TW

Yes I’m gonna talk about my man Julian again.

When it comes to the cc fandom (not talking about all of the fandom btw!) I feel like people don’t really talk about Julian’s sentence/trauma a lot.

I’ve heard some people in the fandom say “one year isn’t bad for a kid, or “his sentence wasn’t that bad” etc, but I don’t think you some of realize how he went to a place like that is basically in a 12-13 year olds eyes, pure days of suffering. 

Juvenile detention is a place no kids should have to go to, it’s a fucking prison for children/teens. And honestly Julian’s trauma for it is overlooked, it explains why Julian seems to hold anger towards the GPD. For example when he said

“ hey I..Recognize you detective () ! Your the detective that put me in prison all those years ago,Are you here to ruin my life some more?”

This obviously shows/implied that Julian definitely had a traumatic time there, any child would if they where sent to prison at a young age.

“Well Julian would never had gone if he never robbed any house and did stupid stuff!” True, but hear me out on this. (Credits to @carlitagt on this one btw)

It’s heavily implied that Julian doesn’t have a mom, which makes Edward an single father. His mom probably Divorced his dad and didn’t want custody/died/or maybe abandonment etc.

Kids who don’t have another parent in there life usually end up troubled, this isn’t always true in many cases but in Julian’s it probably is. Anyways, without another parental figure in his life, he probably looked up to Freddy as another parent and started doing the stupid stuff Freddy did because he saw him as a father/parental figure.

Sense Julian probably found Freddy as a parent figure, his mind probably told him to do the stuff because Freddy was like a parent to him, and kids tend to do the same stuff parents do.

See the cycle? Julian also might of felt peer pressure when it came to Freddy and Ramona but I hope I’ve made my point with this.

Anyways, Julian probably never wanted to rob houses, he probably just did it because of Freddy.

Along with that,After robbing/stealing from houses multiple times, he probably got a habit or addition to it. This implies why he stole Vicky’s wallet, habits from the past like that are hard to break.

Also pretty simple go fuck yourself did you have a fucking grudge against this man, I mean after all that you make him smoke w33d,kill off his dad,give him severe depression and mental health issues, and make a shitty ass professor say terrible things to him. What type of beef you have with him jeez 😭

Also you killed off all my favorite characters, made them killers, or gave them severe trauma, go fuck yourself.

Anyways thanks for listening to my rant.

[pianostarinwonderland]

Things About the Latest Event I Really Like

Spoilers for Part 2 of the Event!!!

Part 1

I notice that Rollo isn’t showing disgust just to the fae. There were a few moments where he put up his handkerchief when the previous speakers were not anyone from Diasomnia. The one scene I recall was when the others were talking about the festival in the school’s plaza, specifically the outfits. Ruggie mentions how the festival was the one time those in poverty could wear such fancy clothes, and Rollo puts up the handkerchief over that statement. See that he doesn’t just have racism against fae but that he also has his prejudices against the poor, a prejudice Frollo has also shown.

It’s pretty cute how Trein gets along with Rollo, considering the characters they’re inspired from are both around similar ages. It’s like Trein sensed a kindred spirit in him.

Malleus mistaking the gargoyle for a grotesque until Azul, Silver, and Sebek pointed out the nest in its mouth was so adorable 🥺 I also love how it’s a nod to one of the opening scenes in the movie, where the gargoyle spat out an entire nest in its mouth.

Azul noticing the gargoyle moving!! You know, that gargoyle got a sprite, that bitch better move 😩 My delusional mind also had a thought that Azul being the one to hear the gargoyle move when the others didn’t made me think, ��Damn, does this show he has more sensitive hearing thanks to his past experience with music 😳??”

Speaking of the gargoyles, the indication that they’re gonna move implies that they may be the very same gargoyles from the movie itself. So in that case, does it mean that they know what truly happened with Quasimodo and Judge Frollo? How do they feel about knowing that Frollo is the one praised as the Righteous Judge?

Floyd and Jade being very upset that Azul was picked to go with him being very smug about it was so funny and wholesome 😂 I love their friendship so much.

On Jade and Floyd not being able to go, I’m honestly really really happy to get this opportunity to see Azul being his own person that’s outside of being with the twins 🥺 Like, up till now, Azul has always been with the twins. You see this in events: All of Octavinelle got Beans Day cards, Camp Azul and Camp Jade were together, Halloween Azul and Halloween Jade were in one event. Fan content especially loves depicting Azul with the twins, occasionally to the point that it feels like people think Azul is nothing without them. 😭 Which,, is not the case. He’s such a complex character with his own rich lore It’s one of the reasons why I also really love chapter 6—you get to see Azul as how he is without having the twins by his side. But even then, it was in a stressful situation. Here, we just see Azul in a more lax scene. Like, oh my God, I'll ramble about it in the part 2 section of this post. But I'm just so happy to see Azul without the twins and everything.

Misc.

Putting this between part 1 and 2 because this is the entire reason why I even made this post.

One of Azul's idle lines stated that he finds Rollo to be naive. It's a pretty interesting detail because I think this is one of the few times that we really get to see Azul reading people. Take note: Most of people's first impressions of Rollo was that he was very polite and hospitable, which was observations on the way he welcomes them. However, Azul's first impression is how Rollo is naive.

Here's what makes me so attached to this bit. The way Azul judges people, he tends to use generalizations and their patterns to read their character. Most of the time, he turns out to be correct or partially so. And with Rollo, it's very likely that Azul's judgment of him is not wrong. While we still don't know Rollo well yet, we can deduce how his personality might go based on the characters of Frollo and Quasimodo. Frollo isn't naive at all—he's killed and burnt Paris down with full intent. He's more of blinded to his own pride, that he thinks that he's the one who's above everyone. Quasimodo, on the other hand, is naive—his only teacher has been Frollo, who would teach him that the world outside is cruel. And the gargoyles? Well, they have their own wisdom, but it doesn't enrich Quasimodo's experience very much.

I'm not saying that Azul's judgment of him may be entirely correct. Again, he does generalize people, so he may not obtain the full picture. But calling Rollo naive isn't wrong either. It's likely that Rollo thinks of himself as correct, but he doesn't have an enriched perspective since he doesn't keep an open mind. If that makes sense?

Part 2 (under the cut)

Hope you're ready, this part is very delicious for me.

First off, my heart is so warm over the scene in Malleus' part where Jamil teased Trein. They visited this underwater waterway (aka the Court of Miracles in the movie), and Jamil teases him that he's probably taken his wife out on a date to the area. Obviously, this gets Trein flustered, but the other students also get really curious. Like . ok, with all the magical adventures that we end up in and all the trauma that is spilled, sometimes I forget that the cast is in high school. But that moment just . reminded me that our boys are high school boys 😭 everyone's such a teenager. It's honestly so so cute, like we really don't get to see them being this casual or such teases, but like look at them 😭 Jamil,, Jamil of all people teasing his own prof about his love life, it is so cute.

The way Jamil and Riddle even tease Sebek when he accidentally drank black coffee 😭 it is so cute how they jumped in on bringing up embarrassing moments about him in front of Malleus. He's like, "DON"T DO THIS IN FRONT OF WAKASAMA" but Malleus himself is so amused and wanted to hear more. It's honestly so cute.

Riddle and Jamil as a duo is so good. Like, you see hints of their friendship in some stories, but you really get to see them look so chill and relaxed and huge ass teases??? Which is so interesting because they are two of the most serious guys in the cast, but look at them throwing teasing remarks at Trein and Sebek 😭 your honor, they are maturing and loosening up

I just watched the movie yesterday, so I caught nearly all the references right away. Rollo recommended the croissant to Azul's group (team A)—one of the gargoyles held up a croissant in the song A Guy Like You, and one lyric goes: "And since you've shaped like a croissant is". In the same part, Esmeralda's necklace was one of the souvenirs that Azul bought for Jade and Floyd. Even the alphabet blocks that Epel and Deuce found is a reference! When Epel and Deuce said A is for "apple" and B is for "baby", it's a reference to Quasimodo reviewing his alphabet with Frollo, except it went "A is for abomination, B is for blasphemy". In Idia's part, they see the wooden figurines of Quasimodo and Esmeralda and the little mobile made of colorful glass that hangs in Quasimodo's room. Malleus' part has them walking around the waterway where the gypsies lived aka the Court of Miracles. There was a store that Jamil and Grim walk in, and you'd find the wood shavings that one of the gargoyles used in A Guy Like You. There was even a parlor that is a reference to A Guy Like You.

Honestly, the fact they referenced A Guy Like You a whole lot, when that song also has a WHOLE PIANO THERE 🧍 Disney don't do this. Don't give me hope.

And about the wooden figurines part, Idia and Ruggie are so funny wwww like, Ruggie's like "ehhhh it's just a piece of wood" but Idia's like you SHUT UP those are WORTH A TON go Idia we love to see you defending figurines !!!!!

Idia in general getting comfortable in the group is so cute though 😭 and even cuter is Silver commenting on how glad he is to see Idia happy like ?????? damn bitch why are you so PURE

Honestly, Azul's part as a whole just 🤡🤡🤡 I said it earlier. I super appreciate this event for letting Azul be his own person that's not being with the twins. And this part really shows why I super appreciate it.

Azul was such a senpai to Deuce and Epel 🥺 like, he was teaching them about the culture of the city, he was taking on the role of being tour guide to them. He was looking after two first years, and that was so so so endearing to see, in spite of any ulterior motives 🥺

It was so funny to see them letting their guard down around Azul too! Like, a lot of the cast knows Azul's sketchiness, so it's easy to think "oh Azul's really obvious". But you see through Deuce and Epel that his kind front is actually really good. When Azul says he's gonna buy souvenirs for the students back in school, they were like "WOW FOR FREE????" Epel ends up going "you know Vil told me to watch out for Azul, but he's actually really nice!" Meanwhile, Azul's muttering to himself how he's gonna deduct the price of the souvenirs from their salaries wheeze

Also!! Azul buying pencils for Epel and Deuce! The way that both of them were so warmed by it, and Azul's just muttering "damn I'm so sorry for Riddle and Vil if I won over these two with just a pencil"

ugh I'm so full from this event, and there's going to be MORE??? We're gonna finally see some shit go down next week, and then we're gonna have so much more lore to come about Rollo. 😩

Also, someone suggested piano Azul groovy and I WILL FUCKJNG CRY IF IT HAPPESN 🧍

[theforgottenmcrmy]

Birds of a Feather (Chapter 7/?) | Bradley Bradshaw

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Sam “Merlin” Wells’ Daughter OC

Warnings: Explicit Language, References to the Death of a Parent, Really Mild Angst

Word Count: 10,300 ish.

Summary: It was almost as though the universe was dealing him his owed karma. Any possible solution that Pete could devise in order to start addressing the transgressions he’d made against Bradley Bradshaw and Clara Wells was made immensely more complicated by the fact that the two seemed to be as thick as thieves.

DISCLAIMER: Spoilers for Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick ahead.

Masterlist /// Chapter 1 /// Chapter 6 /// Chapter 7 /// Chapter 8

A/N: Not me trying to plant not-so-subtle seeds of Bob and Hangman subplotlines in case I decide to write something for them at a later time.

I’m not going to lie y’all, I struggled with this one a bit. I’m sorry about the wait. It’s a bit of a long one though, so I hope that makes up for it a little. I hope you all have a great rest of the week.💙 EDIT: I am so so sorry, I forgot to reiterate how much I appreciate you all for the support!😭💙 Please forgive me.

 Chapter 7: Divide and Conquer

“Breaking the hard deck? Insubordination?” Natasha redundantly questioned her friend. “Are you trying to get kicked out?” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Rooster dismissed, his eyes focused on the concrete beneath him.

His tone was sharp and cold. At any other time, Natasha might have taken the hint and given Rooster some space. But after the stunts he had pulled that day, she felt he had more than earned a good talking-to. At the rate Rooster was going, his ass would be on a plane back to the USS Gerald R. Ford before sunrise the next morning.

But there was something in Rooster’s expression that made Natasha hesitate, something more than just anger. “Look,” she said then, softer, but only by a little bit. “I’m going on this mission. And if you get kicked out, you’re leaving us to fly with Hangman.”

And Parrot, too. It’d been a rough day for everyone, but if those two didn’t find a way to work out their issues, Natasha would have some serious reservations about sharing the skies with the two of them at all, let alone during a mission.

“Talk to me,” she tried again. “What the hell was that?”

“He pulled my papers.”

… What?

“What? Who?” It couldn’t have been Hangman, that much was for sure.

“Maverick,” Rooster clarified, finally looking up to meet her eyes briefly, before averting her gaze. “He pulled my application to the Naval Academy… Set me back four years.”

Natasha wasn’t sure Rooster’s last statement was a fair one; though he may not have gone through the Naval Academy, he’d technically started his Navy career at the same time he would have, had he been accepted to it. He’d just started his career from a different entry point, so to speak. But Natasha also knew better than to point that out just then. It would only fall on deaf ears, if it didn’t incite her friend even further.

Besides, what Rooster was implying- that was far more concerning than the technicality. First of all, it was a serious allegation, and secondly, there was no immediately obvious motive for the infamous aviator to have done such a thing… if he even had.

She wondered out loud, “Why would he do that?”

Rooster merely looked around their surrounding area. He either did not know the answer to her question, or he simply wasn’t willing to share it with her.

Perhaps he’d be willing to answer another question of hers instead.

“That’s not the only thing going on, is it?” Natasha guessed.

Rooster’s eyes snapped back to hers immediately, and she knew then that she had struck gold.. Bingo.

“What’s going on between you and Parrot?”

To her surprise, Rooster laughed. “You mean today, or just in general?”

“Would your answer be any different?”

“... No.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Rooster hesitated, visibly conflicted as he mentally weighed his options.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Natasha offered, providing him with an opportunity to bail out and forget she’d even mentioned it. “But if there’s a chance that getting whatever it is off your chest will help you keep your head on straight, maybe you’ll be able to stick around here for more than just a day.”

Despite his reluctance, an amused look flashed across Rooster’s face at her words. After a few more moments of silence, he gave her a small relenting nod.

“I can’t believe you’re actually gonna do it.”

“Do you think she’ll like it?”

“Oh, she’ll love it,” Clara reassured him, smiling giddily as the clerk assisting them began to ring up the rather expensive purchase.

Bob dug into his back pocket for his wallet, and asked her hopefully, “You really think so?”

“I know so,” Clara confirmed, still smiling. “What made you decide to do this?”

Bob hesitated, and their conversation was put on pause as he handed his card over to the clerk. Once the clerk was focused on the register, Bob looked back at her with a conflicted look. “This mission… I don’t know. This time, it feels… different.”

Clara understood exactly what Bob was getting at. Though no mission came without its risks, the one they’d been briefed about that morning still lingered in her mind.

“Plus,” Bob added, his tone sounding suddenly more upbeat, “When you know it’s time, you just know. There’s no sense in delaying it, right?”

“Yeah,” Clara agreed wistfully, musing over his words and half-heartedly thinking about whether they could possibly apply to any aspect of her life. “I guess you’re right.”

The clerk slid some paperwork across the counter for Bob to review and sign, and Clara’s phone in her pocket buzzed. She withdrew the device with familiar ease, and frowned at what she saw on the screen.

Just as she was about to ignore the request and pocket the device for another hour or so, the first text was joined by a second, then a third, and then a fourth.

It certainly was.

Feeling suddenly merciful, Clara decided to spare him any more groveling, and her thumbs rapidly set to work.

Bob shot her a curious glance as she waited for Bradley’s response, which came almost immediately.

…

Clara tried her best as to not alert Bob that she’d received several messages from the source of her worry and frustration throughout the day. But unfortunately, her friend could read her like an open book.

A little bit later, when they sat down for a bite to eat, Bob looked at her expectantly not a second after their waiter was out of earshot.

“Clara.”

The use of her name alone was enough of an attention-grabber. It was almost always “Parrot” for him. But she had a feeling Bob had more reason to use her name than to just spare the surrounding patrons the awkwardness of using their call signs in the general public.

“You know I’m not one to pry,” Bob disclaimed, “But what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” she feigned, hoping he would drop the subject.

“You’ve been in a good mood ever since we left base,” he pointed out. “But you’ve been really quiet the past half hour or so, and it started with those text messages you got.”

Bob was spot on in his analysis- she had been in a good mood since they’d left. Clara knew the change could have been almost entirely attributed to him and his selfless effort to lift her spirits. There were many reasons Bob was a hell of a WSO, but one of the most poignant was that he was very observant. Sometimes, Bob might have been too observant for his own good, but that was neither here nor there.

Clara confessed, “The texts were from him.”

“I figured.”

Their waiter returned with their drinks, temporarily putting on a pause on their conversation, before promptly leaving once more.

“You wanna talk about it?” Bob asked as he reached for his glass of water.

He didn’t specify what “it” was, but there was no need.

Clara hesitated. She didn’t doubt the sincerity of his offer, but there was simply no way Bob understood what all it entailed. “It’s… a long story. I wouldn’t want to bother you with it.”

Bob laughed in disbelief, a gesture which made her smile. “Clara, you’ve just helped me choose an engagement ring. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we are at the point in our friendship where you won’t be putting me out if you want to talk about something that’s bothering you.”

She hesitated still. Bob could be trusted, Clara had little doubts about that, and had it just been her business, she would’ve given in already. But there was something else very important to consider: coming clean about the backstories that had led to the semi-chaotic events of the day would involve spilling details about pasts other than her own.

Bob immediately noticed her hesitation, and his eyes fell down to his glass of water, a subtle gesture that showed he was willing to ease up. “Listen, you don’t have to say anything… But if you do ever want to talk about it, you know I’m here.”

Clara could tell just how genuine the offer was, and perhaps that was the final swaying point for her, “If I tell you,” she began, “It’d have to stay between us. Nobody else can know.”

“Of course,” Bob replied with an enthusiastic nod, sounding as though he was agreeing with an indisputable fact such as the grass being green, rather than agreeing to keep some pretty heavy secrets that weren’t his own.

Clara let out a small sigh. As she mentally braced herself for what she was about to do, she reached for her glass of Coke, and suddenly wished she had ordered something a little bit stronger.

The angry clouds that lingered over him had finally started to move out, and the fog lifted, leaving Bradley feeling abruptly clear-headed and even more remorseful.

It was about damn time, too. Though the conversation he had with Phoenix before leaving base for the day made some major headway, a trip to the gym afterwards helped seal the deal. Once that was over and done with, he was finally prepared to start making amends.

Thank god Clara had been willing to take some pity on him. Bradley wouldn’t have blamed her at all if she had just opted to ignore his texts. But she didn’t, and that alone was more than he deserved.

He was in no position to nor did he want to make any further requests of Clara for the time being, so Bradley decided he just needed to wait patiently. She told him she needed a few hours, and that was more than alright. He’d wait as long as he needed to if it meant he could have a chance to make things between them even a fraction better off than they had been a few hours before.

At some point though, Bradley’s usual patience wasn’t enough to keep him satisfied as he idly waited in his own temporary assigned housing. After a while, he decided to head over to Clara’s place and wait for her there.

Oddly enough, her car was there. But there were no lights on or other signs of life inside, so he pushed that thought aside.

After pulling into the driveway, Bradley put the Bronco in park and killed the engine. It seemed the events of the day finally caught up with him though, and before he knew it, the cool breeze and soft waves of the ocean in the distance lulled him to sleep. 

An immense weight had been lifted off of Clara’s chest.

The deep conversation at dinner allowed her to get years’ of pent up thoughts and feelings off her chest. She told Bob everything… and honestly, probably more than bargained for. But if that was the case, he didn’t show any indication that he’d minded. It seemed her friendship with Bob had reached yet another level that evening, and it made her realize once again just how thankful she was for having met him.

To put it simply, Bob Floyd was one of the best human beings- in and outside of the Navy. And shame on anyone- Hangman- if they didn’t want to see that.

When Bob pulled into the driveway of her temporary housing, Clara expected the driveway to be empty, with the exception of her own rental car, which she’d driven back before Bob drove them out for the evening.

But there was another car already waiting in the driveway beside her own. And it was a Bronco.

Clara shouldn’t have been surprised; she had ended up telling Bradley around the time she’d be back. But that didn’t mean she had anticipated him to already be waiting for her.

Bob gave her a knowing side-look as he put his car in park.

“Thank you, Bob,” Clara told him as she opened the door and climbed out. “For everything.”

“Of course,” Bob replied wholeheartedly, though he still seemed intrigued- and perhaps a little amused- by the sight of Bradley in the Bronco beside them.

Once Clara had walked around to the front of Bob’s car, she understood why he found the scene so funny.

Bradley Bradshaw was fast asleep.

His head tilted upwards and back against the headrest. His mouth was open ever so slightly, and Clara had the sneaking suspicion that if she got any closer, she would hear soft snores coming from him.

She rolled her eyes and turned to look at her other, more coherent, friend. “Thanks again. I’ll see you in the morning.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Bob bid her, giving her a look of understanding and sympathy.

As Bob’s car backed out of the driveway, Clara walked over to the Bronco’s driver’s side door. “Bradley!” she whisper-yelled, very mindful of the quiet neighborhood they were in.

Bradley remained still, with his aviators still covering his eyes and jaw opening slightly further as he continued to get some Zs.

Clara stuck her arm inside the open window and lightly nudged his arm. “Rooster!”

No response.

“Lieutenant Bradshaw!”

Bradley jolted awake at the sudden loud volume of her voice. “Jesus!” He looked around wildly for a few seconds, trying to gather his bearings. Once his eyes landed on her, they narrowed slightly. “Oh, it’s you.”

“You are at my house,” she quipped.

“You trying to give me a heart attack or something?”

Clara raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. “Please. I barely have enough patience to look at you right now, let alone attempt to kill you.”

Bradley grimaced. “... I guess I deserve that.”

She said nothing in response to that. “Did you still want to talk?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go inside then.”

Bradley followed Clara inside the house quietly. Every movement he made was carefully calculated; the last thing he wanted to do was to piss her off any more than he had already managed to do.

“You want something to drink?” she asked him as he closed the door behind them and locked it. “I haven’t had the chance to get much yet in terms of groceries, but I’ve got water.”

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.”

Bradley walked further into the house, surveying his surroundings as he went. He followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen, where he spotted Clara getting herself a glass of water. She turned off the faucet and took a sip out of the glass, before turning to look at him expectantly.

He knew he was already on thin ice, and that Clara had granted him a huge mercy by letting him come over, but he couldn’t help himself. He asked, “Where’d you go tonight?”

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be offended by his poor attempt to beat around the bush. She set the glass down on the counter in front of her as she replied dryly, “I was out with Bob.”

“Oh.”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Were you going to say something, or-?”

“I’m sorry.”

It was pitiful. It wasn’t anywhere near enough, but it was a start.

Clara crossed her arms and looked at him with interest, silently waiting for him to continue.

“I had no right to treat you like I did, or say what I said. I was way out of line.”

Bradley was. He knew it too, just mere seconds after he watched her storm off out on the tarmac. And following the insightful conversation he’d had with Phoenix afterwards, that knowledge was only further cemented in his mind. Clara hadn’t deserved to be subject to the wrath of his rage, at all. While he had more than enough on his plate to deal with, what with the mission, Hangman, and most of all, Maverick, Bradley had enough sense of awareness to understand that the circumstances weren’t exactly ideal for Clara either.

Unfortunately, his anger had blinded him to that fact earlier.

“I haven’t seen that side of you in a long time,” Clara noted seriously.

He wished more than anything in that moment that she had never seen it again. It was a part of himself that he knew he was nowhere near ready to quash, but he still felt ashamed that she had witnessed it. “I know.”

“It worries me.”

“It… It worries me too.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly as he searched for his next words. Once he found them, he looked at her hesitantly. The words he found probably weren't what Clara wanted to hear, but at least they would be honest. “All this stuff with Maverick,” the disgust was audibly evident as he said the name of his late father’s aviator, “I thought I moved on…”

It made no sense. He knew he should’ve gotten over it. For god’s sake, it had been years. However, there was no denying it- just the sight of Maverick made his blood boil. The events of the day had more than confirmed that fact. The thought of having to spend any extended time with the man made Bradley’s mind devoid of anything other than resentment-fueled thoughts, and it was further complicated by the fact that no solution to resolving his feelings was immediately apparent. It was akin to the sight of an imposing mountain in the distance, and knowing he had to climb it, and yet there he was- stranded without any gear.

“I thought I’d gotten over it. But I guess I just buried everything instead,” Bradley realized out loud, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than he had already expected to be during their conversation.

Clara’s expression softened visibly. “I’m not asking you to forgive him, and pretend like what happened didn’t,” she clarified. “What he did was wrong. But, Bradley, you know Maverick is not worth jeopardizing your career over.”

“Damn right he ain’t,” Bradley replied easily. Clara’s face shifted to one of slight disapproval, and she waited for his next move, so he took a moment to refocus. “I know Maverick’s not worth it. And there’s something else that Maverick isn’t worth jeopardizing, either.”

“What’s that?”

“Us.”

A silence passed between them. Whatever they were, or weren’t, it was seldom a topic addressed so openly. With the exception of when Clara had broached the topic the previous evening. Acknowledging that there was something between them gave Bradley mixed feelings- part of him felt reassured that the something existed, but the other half of him felt frustrated that it was so poorly defined.

He wanted more. He wanted clarification on where they stood. But he also knew he was likely never going to get it.

“No matter what I do to deal with Maverick,” Bradley said then, desperate to change topic and forget the difficult mental questions he’d posed to himself, “I promise you- I’m never gonna take it out on you again.”

Clara said nothing.

“You’ve always looked out for me,” he continued seriously, “And I know that’s what you were trying to do today. Even if I was too pig-headed to realize it in the moment.”

Clara still said nothing. The look on her face was plain, expressionless. And he watched her with bated breath, waiting to see if she could continue to be merciful, or if she would dull out the punishment he deserved.

After a few moments, a small smile came across her lips, but it was one that reached her eyes. “You were pretty pig-headed today, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was,” Bradley agreed readily, letting out a relieved chuckle. “And I don’t expect you to forgive me right away or anything-”

“I don’t.”

“Good,” he said. He meant it, too. “Don’t forgive me right away. I just wanted to get this all off my chest. Maverick’s not worth throwing away my career, you’re right about that. But he’s also not worth throwing away what I have with you.”

Over ten years of friendship, or whatever the hell they were considered these days, down the drain just because he couldn’t keep his cool around Maverick? Fat chance Bradley would let that happen. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to do in order to get his anger in check around their instructor, but he knew that failing to find a way to do that would simply not be an option.

Clara regarded carefully. Bradley could see the hesitation in her eyes as she internally weighed her options. He continued to watch her hopefully, praying that his words had been enough to at least begin to repair the damage he’d done, even if only a little bit.

After a few long moments of silence, she said, “I’m glad you didn’t make me regret letting you come over here to talk.”

Bradley was even more relieved. “I didn’t?”

“No,” Clara confirmed, eyeing him playfully as she reached for her glass of water once more. “But the night’s still young, I suppose.”

He smirked and shook his head, mostly to himself. “How about I just try to stay on your good side for the rest of this detachment?”

She took a sip of water, and set down the glass. “I like the idea of that, but I’m not sure you’re up to the challenge.”

A challenge with her? Short of jumping off a cliff, Bradley knew he was more than willing to take on anything she threw his way. Thankfully, all Clara had dolled him out so far was mercy.

“I know we agreed to put the mission first,” she said then, suddenly serious. “And I still think we should. So, if that means you need to talk to someone, anyone, besides me- you should do that.”

Bradley’s jaw tightened. Was Clara hinting at what he thought she was? He wasn’t sure. And to be frank, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know for certain.

In a perfect world, he would have the courage to be honest with her about everything. She knew most of the mess that was swimming around in his head, but there were still some things, some nitty gritty details regarding feelings, that he still kept to himself. Bradley wished he could be entirely honest with Clara, about everything, but the truth of the matter was, the more honest he was with her, the more he found he was being less honest with himself. Over the years, he had mastered repressing his feelings about her, and had constantly told himself he didn’t care about certain aspects of their unique relationship when they couldn’t have been more important to him. He simply could not risk ruining what they had, even if it made everything more complicated.

“I’m sure Phoenix would offer you an ear,” Clara joked in an effort to lighten the mood, apparently not having paid any mind to his failure to respond immediately. 

Bradley grimaced slightly. “About that…”

“Yeah?”

“... I might have talked to Phoenix earlier today.”

Clara’s expression went blank. “About?”

“Everything.”

Her eyes fell to the counter, and she took another sip of water. “... To be completely transparent, I may have talked to Bob earlier as well.”

“About?”

“Everything.”

Though Bradley couldn’t help but feel a little bit wary about the news that yet another person was privy to the extenuating circumstances involving his and Clara’s business, he knew he had been the one to open the door by offering the same information to Phoenix. But he trusted Phoenix to keep what he’d shared with her closely guarded. And he trusted Clara. So if Clara trusted Bob to do the same, that was more than good enough for him.

A queer moment of silence passed between them then.

“I guess we both needed someone else to talk to, huh?” Clara redundantly half-joked.

Bradley offered a small, tired smile. “I guess so.”

She glanced at her phone, and frowned. “Shit- it’s getting pretty late. I didn’t realize what time it was.”

“I should get going,” Bradley offered politely.

“It’s late,” Clara repeated pointedly. “Why don’t you just crash here?”

He shouldn’t. Surely her offer was nothing more than a cordial one, and Bradley was in no mood to further press his luck. “I’ve got everything back at my place.”

“You could swing by there before heading to base in the morning.”

… But maybe Clara had a point. And since he’d been woken up from an impromptu nap not an hour beforehand, the clutches of sleep were seemingly mighty tempting to Bradley. Clara had never been one to provide empty offers, either.

“... I’ll stay, but only on one condition.”

Clara raised an eyebrow at him, as if shocked that he had the nerve to make a request.

“You and me, the Hard Deck, tomorrow night,” Bradley proposed. “Let me start making some headway on the groveling, please.”

She rolled her eyes defeatedly, and placed the empty glass in the sink beside her. “Fine.”

When Clara began to exit the kitchen, Bradley moved to follow her, but she stuck a hand out to stop him.

“You can wait here,” she explained. “I’ll go see if I can find you some extra blankets.”

“Oh,” Bradley replied with uncertainty. “I thought-”

“That I would let you sleep in my room with me?” Clara answered for him, a teasing look in her eyes.

Maybe, Bradley thought sheepishly. That had been his gut reaction, but once he thought about it, he realized just how foolish the idea was.

“If you hadn’t been such a pighead today, I might have let you,” Clara confessed quietly, which surprised him. “But, you said it yourself- you’re not forgiven. Yet. So for now, the couch it is.”

Bradley followed her outstretched hand she used to gesture across the room, where a rather small couch was placed in front of a TV in the living room. He internally groaned at the thought of trying to squish himself onto the damn thing. 

“Don’t worry,” Clara said, as if reading his mind. But there was something off about her tone- she sounded amused. She was taking too much pleasure in his predicament. “I think it’s a pull out.”

Pete Mitchell had never been one to show up earlier than he was expected, or was otherwise required to. Hell, back in the day, Goose used to make it a personal mission of his to see to it that he made it to wherever they were expected to be, with plenty of time- and then some more- to spare.

But the following morning, Pete surprised a fair amount of people, none more than himself, by arriving on base just as the sun was rising. He’d been given a spare office in a back corner somewhere for use throughout the duration of the detachment, and had decided that was as good a place as any to get some alone time before everyone else made their way in.

Pete looked over the instructional plans for the day with mild interest. Though he had drafted the majority of them the previous afternoon, and had even presented the Vice Admiral with a related written request to lower the hard deck, there had been some small changes he had thought of overnight that needed to be accounted for.

It’d been a rough first day, to say the least. It was rocky at best, and getting his ass chewed out by Cyclone at the end of it was the icing on the cake. Fortunately, his impromptu sailing trip with Penny was definitely the highlight of it all.

But moving forward, Pete knew at least trying to play ball for a little bit wouldn’t hurt in the long run. His briefing with Cyclone and Warlock on the day’s lesson was in less than two hours, and when that time rolled around, the plans had to be air-tight.

Despite the urgency with which he should have been working, Pete’s eyes kept drifting over to the far corner of his temporary desk, where he’d placed the files of the recalled TOPGUN graduates. Warlock had made it a point to give them to him the previous morning, saying something ambiguous about how a third pair of eyes analyzing the files for any of the mission candidates’ potential strengths and weaknesses pertinent to the mission could only help.

… Though he knew he should’ve stayed focused on the task at hand, Pete couldn’t help himself.

He closed and pushed the instructional plans aside, before reaching over and filling the space on the desk they’d just occupied with the personnel files instead. He looked at the top file. Alphabetical order, he realized. Easy enough.

First was Lieutenant Billy "Fritz" Avalone, pilot.

Second was Lieutenant Callie "Halo" Bassett, WSO.

Third was… Sure enough. Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw.

Pete sighed and opened the file. He scanned the contents with mild enthusiasm, despite the fact that he already knew most of the information contained inside. Even after their falling out, Pete did whatever he could to keep tabs on Bradley. Though the young man would most likely be incensed further if he knew about Pete’s due diligence over the years, he didn’t feel that he had had much of a choice. First, he had to know what Bradley was up to- he had to know that he was alright. And second, and perhaps more importantly, Pete knew that there were likely to be two very angry ghosts waiting for him in the beyond if he didn’t keep track of the Bradshaw boy.

But now, he was at an utter loss for answers on how to deal with Bradley and the sudden situation they’d found themselves in. How could Pete even begin to try and set things right with him? Telling Bradley the truth about why he had pulled his papers for the Naval Academy would have been a good place to start, but Pete knew that explaining his reason was not a feasible option.

Pete moved on through the rest of the files, pausing to look at several with a little more depth.

One of them, a Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin, reminded him so very much about the best- and worst- parts of himself from Pete’s younger days. Though he was currently paired with a WSO, Hangman came back to TOPGUN from a single-seater squadron, which piqued Pete’s interest. He looked at the rest of his file thoroughly, noting the newly added note towards the back of it detailing the situation that led to the decision to pair him with a WSO for this particular training detachment. The entire situation seemed a bit odd, but there would be plenty of time to get into the details of it over the next few weeks, if it proved necessary.

Pete continued to flip and skim through the rest of the mission candidates’ files, until he reached the very last one.

Clara “Parrot” Wells.

AKA, the other thorn in his side.

The thorns were entirely the results of Pete’s own choices, and he could admit that, but they were thorns, nonetheless.

She’d been less than pleased to see him the day before, that much had been obvious. In fact, from Pete’s point of view, the only mission candidate who looked even less pleased to see him than Lieutenant Wells had been Bradley.

Pete sighed for the second time that morning and leaned back in his chair. He drew the file closer to him as he took a closer look at it. As much as he tried to avoid it in favor of the tangible statistics and other information about the young WSO, Lieutenant Wells’ photo in the corner of the file kept catching Pete’s attention.

“You should have been there.”

Pete could easily visualize Ice’s disappointed face over the phone. “I’m sure nobody noticed I wasn’t.”

“But they did.”

Pete pursed his lips as he contemplated his next words.

“Cougar even asked about you,” Ice informed him then.

“What’d you tell him?”

“That you were preoccupied- a special detachment overseas.”

“Is that what you told her, too?”

Ice paused for a moment. “She didn’t ask.”

Pete wasn’t sure what to make of that. But before he could decide whether he felt more guilty or slighted, the reason for his decision to skip the event came back to the forefront of his mind. “Were you right? … Was he there?”

“Does it matter if he was?” Ice challenged him.

Pete ignored his old friend’s attempt to chastise him- getting an answer to his question was of more concern to him at the moment. He repeated, “Was he there?”

“Yeah… he was there.” Ice sighed. “The rumors I heard were true. The Wells kid really is Merlin’s��daughter. The two seem pretty close.”

What were the chances of those two even meeting? He ought to have gotten a lottery ticket with those odds. Did the universe have it out for him?

“But that shouldn’t have mattered, Maverick,” Ice continued. “You owed it to Merlin to be there today, and you weren’t. Did you really think he was going to start a scene with you? The kid was obviously there to support Lieutenant Wells… I highly doubt accosting you would have been at the top of his list.”

“You don’t know him like I do,” Pete pointed out, recalling the young man’s anger, which had always been notoriously quick to ignite, and slow to fade away.

“You don’t get it,” Ice countered. “Running from the past and failing to address your mistakes is a dangerous game, Mav.”

Pete smirked to himself, though it was joyless. “You and I both know I’m not one to shy away from danger, Ice.”

“This time’s different,” Ice dismissed. “This isn’t just about what happened with the kid… is it?”

Pete didn’t have to answer. Ice knew him too well.

“Whatever it is, you can’t run from it forever. You’ll have to face this someday, and when that day comes, I just hope you’re ready for it.”

The day had come.

But Pete wasn’t any more ready for it than he was when Ice had given him the ominous warning a few years prior.

With his free hand, Pete grabbed Bradley’s file once again. With his file in one hand, and Clara Wells’ in the other, he glanced back and forth between the two.

Of all possible candidates, how was it possible that two of the extremely selective twelve had such strong ties to his past? … He hoped that it was merely a coincidence, albeit an unfortunate one. Perhaps the two were actually qualified candidates for the mission in their own right- and perhaps Ice had no ulterior motive with his input and influence during the selection of the mission candidates. But knowing Ice, Pete couldn’t rule out that idea entirely just yet.

It was almost as though the universe was dealing him his owed karma. Any possible solution that Pete could devise in order to start addressing the transgressions he’d made against Bradley Bradshaw and Clara Wells was made immensely more complicated by the fact that the two seemed to be as thick as thieves.

…

Perhaps that was the solution. Pete knew he stood very little chance of being able to start setting things right when the two were a united force against him.

But if he could get them aside separately… his chances of reasoning with them had to improve. Without the other there to constantly reaffirm their less than favorable opinion of him, Pete might just be able to say his piece, and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe they’d see his perspective, and they could all move on. Maybe they wouldn’t, and the problems would remain unsolved. Either way, the next few weeks could only get better if Pete at least tried to acknowledge the elephants in the room.

His plan was clear- it was time to divide and conquer.

The first thing Jake noticed upon arriving on base the following morning was that Rooster seemed in a far better mood than he’d last seen him. As he took time getting out of his own Mustang, he watched Rooster climb out of his Bronco with a particular pep in his step.

The second thing he noticed was Parrot’s presence. She appeared from out of nowhere, apparently having parked right on the other side of Rooster’s car.

Hm… It was a bit odd for the two to arrive on base together. At the same exact time.

Anyone else may have written it off as a mere coincidence, but after everything Jake had witnessed between the two over the past two days alone, he refused to do that any longer. Where there was smoke, there was fire.

The third thing Jake noticed, or recalled rather, was the amazing discovery he’d made with Coyote the previous afternoon, right before leaving base for the day. He could still see glimpses of the 1986 TOPGUN class in the back of his mind. The glimpses were only amplified as Jake continued to watch the pair make their way through the parking lot. He had to admit it- Rooster sure was the spitting image of his late father.

It looked like Rooster and Maverick had a bit more history than any one of them could have possibly known about. Well, except for Parrot.

Jake watched as the two walked side by side, heading towards the front entrance. He caught the small smile Parrot gave Rooster as they went along. Parrot definitely knew something about Rooster and Maverick’s history, he decided then.

The thing about Jake Seresin was that his true intentions were almost always misinterpreted. The majority of people he’d come across were so quick to paint him a malicious asshole, and write him off as a cocky son-of-a-bitch. While he could admit to being his fair share of cocky, and even on some days, an asshole, he would protest against anyone who declared him to be malicious.

He wasn’t spiteful. He liked to stir the pot, sure. Okay, maybe he loved stirring the pot. But above all else, self-preservation was the name of the game for Jake.

And flying with people like Rooster, who had physical ghosts of his past haunting him to the point of it affecting his flight performance, would be a no-go for anyone who had any respect and value for their own life. Could any of them count on Rooster to be reliable at all times in the air, when a simple taunt from Maverick had them both spiraling downwards towards the ground mere hours after being thrown in a room together? Emotions had their place in life, but almost anyone could argue that tens of thousands of feet above the air was no place for them. And Jake would gladly be the first one in line to argue that case.

“Ready to go, partner?”

Jake blinked. He hadn’t even realized Parrot had approached him. He glanced beyond her, noting Rooster had already made his way inside the building.

“I’m always ready, Sweetheart,” he teased. Jake never meant anything by it- the term was common vernacular where he was from. But once he first directed it towards Parrot, he had noted the way her face twinged with slight disgust at the use of the nickname. And unless she mustered enough courage to tell him to stop it, Jake knew he wouldn't bother to break the habit.

Parrot nodded, and turned to head over towards the entrance. Jake was quick to follow.

If everyone else wanted to paint him as a cocky asshole, that was fine with him. But if any of the other mission candidates realized just how much their chances of survival increased with him in the air, instead of flying someone like Rooster, well… they might just change their tune about him.

“Time is your greatest enemy.”

Day 4 of training had arrived, and with it, Maverick had decided it was time to switch focus to another aspect of the mission.

Clara glanced at Hangman beside her. His face was blank, for now, but she was thankful for it.

To her surprise, he’d been far easier to get along with over the past two days than he had been on the first. He’d still tried to pull some stunts here and there- he wouldn’t have been Hangman if he didn’t- but for the most part, he didn’t fly too far off the rails, and he actually had taken a few of her suggestions throughout the training exercises. The sudden shift in their dynamic from oppositional to cooperational hadn’t gone unnoticed, and the Vice Admiral had even verbally acknowledged the change just the day before.

But Hangman had been quiet since the first day of training… too quiet. While Clara didn’t want to necessarily look a gift horse in the mouth, a cynical part of her worried that the sudden change of attitude was a guise, and that perhaps he was up to no good. But if Hangman was up to something, she had no idea what that might be.

Unfortunately, Clara wasn’t able to dig into any ulterior motives Hangman may have had; there was a full day of training ahead for all of them. They’d been gathered into an unused classroom. Maverick stood at the front of the room, presenting to them further specific details about the mission that would be at hand for half of them in about two short weeks.

“Phase one of the mission will be a low-level ingress attacking in two plane teams,” Maverick informed the group, directing their attention to the screen behind him, which depicted the terrain of the mission’s location. “You’ll fly along this narrow cannon to your target. Radar guided surface to air missiles defend the area.” He paused briefly, taking a glance back at the group with a solemn look on his face. “These SAMs… they’re lethal. But they were designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below.”

“That’s because the enemy knows that no one is insane enough to try and fly below them,” Bradley commented airliy.

Clara looked back at him briefly, as did many of the other recruits.

Bradley had kept his word, and had yet to treat her with anything less than kindness and respect since their argument. The last two days hadn’t been much better than the first, in terms of him and Maverick getting along. The mere presence of the older man seemed to agitate Bradley severely, but he had not turned that frustration on her any more. It had only been two days, but Clara was hopeful that Bradley would make good on his promise and refrain from doing so altogether.

They’d gone to the Hard Deck the evening before last, just as Bradley had requested. He bought them drinks, and they had a nice long chat.

Clara wanted to continue to be mad at Bradley, and if only to make him realize just how much his words had affected her. But he’d been more than remorseful, and they both acknowledged several times over that she did not deserve to be the target of his outburst..

She informed him that evening, rather plainly, that he had some ground to cover in order to make up for it, and he’d willingly accepted that. But Clara knew that if Bradley kept his promise, he’d weasel his way back into her good graces soon enough. The good times outweighed their bad times by the hundreds.

Their decision to focus on the mission- instead of them- was still very much in their best interests. But that didn’t mean she didn’t long for more. With her decision about whether to reenlist looming just a few months ahead, she had the sinking feeling that she would not be able to make a fully informed decision unless she knew exactly what they were, and where they stood, once and for all.

Thankfully, the potentially life-threatening mission provided a decent distraction in the meantime.

Maverick stopped, and turned around to face the class heckler- Bradley. “That’s exactly what I’m going to train you to do.”

Bradley looked less than pleased with Maverick’s response. Hangman smirked in his seat beside Clara.

“On the day,” Maverick continued, trying to refocus the group, “your altitude will be one hundred feet, maximum.”

Clara’s eyes widened as she tried to process that information. Hangman was still smirking; Maverick’s statement had been less of a bombshell and more of a welcomed challenge for him.

“If you exceed this altitude, radar will spot you, and you’re dead.”

It was no secret that the mission would place them in mortal danger; most of the ones she’d been on had. But the first few days of training had been filled with little but dogfighting exercises, which had been vexing at worst. At best, they’d actually been a nice change of pace from Clara’s current daily routine in her squadron.

But the reminder from Maverick of the grave stakes of the mission gave her an eerie feeling that was hard to shake. Friends- Phoenix and Bob- could be sent on the mission. Bradley could be sent on the mission. She could be sent on the mission. And it was possible that any one of them would not come back for it.

Maverick’s words faded into the background as Clara glanced at Hangman. He was still smirking, unfazed by Maverick’s daunting words. She shook her head to herself. At least if she was headed for grave danger, she wouldn’t have to worry about Hangman bringing down her already glum mood.

By the time Clara focused back on Maverick, the graphic on the screen had changed, revealing what they’d be up against: fifth generation fighters.

 “... in a head to head with your F/A-18s, you’re dead,” he declared, looking at the graphic of the advanced aircraft somberly, before turning to address the group once more. “That’s why you need to get in, hit your target, and be gone before these planes can even have a chance of catching you.”

Hangman glanced back at Bradley, and even though she couldn’t see his face, Clara just knew his pleasant expression wasn’t concealed when he did so. She wasn’t sure what Hangman was getting at by his action, but she did know that if Bradley was already struggling to keep his composure in check with Maverick being around, Hangman antagonizing him wouldn’t help the matter at all.

Maverick’s jaw tightened. “This makes time your greatest adversary.”

A few hours later, everyone had taken multiple shots at the flight that had been programmed in the nav system. The canyon simulation was extremely narrow, and Maverick repeatedly insisted that speed and time was of the essence. The tight turns and increasing G’s made Bradley’s body feel like an empty soda can being crushed as they made their way through the course.

Maverick had allowed them three hundred feet maximum, and three minutes to complete the flight. It was a bit of a break for them, considering the parameters at which the actual mission would need to be carried out at, but no one had been successful, at least not per the limits that their instructor had imposed upon them.

Once everyone had been through the metaphorical, and physical, ringer, the entire group reconvened in the classroom once again so that Maverick could pick apart everyone’s performance. It seemed that the older man was hard-pressed to find anything positive about anyone’s attempt at the course. Apparently, things should have been completed to Maverick’s satisfaction, or the attempt was better off not having been made at all.

When it came to analyzing the run of Coyote, Phoenix, and Bob, Maverick’s feedback was particularly cutting.

“Why are they dead?” Maverick asked, not looking at any of them in particular.

“We broke the three hundred foot ceiling,” Phoenix answered him, sounding as disappointed in herself as Maverick looked, “and a SAM took us out.”

“No,” Maverick dismissed her, his eyes locking with Coyote’s in a flash. “Why are they dead?”

Coyote looked a bit disheartened too. “I slowed down and I didn’t give her a warning. It’s my fault-”

“-Is there a reason you didn’t communicate with your team?”

“I was focusing on-”

“-One that their family will accept at the funeral?” Maverick quickly clarified.

A moment of silence fell over the room.

“No, sir,” Coyote answered.

Maverick turned his attention to Phoenix next. “Why didn’t you anticipate the turn? You were briefed on the terrain.” When Phoenix opened her mouth to respond, he interjected, “Don’t tell me.” His head tilted in Bob’s direction. “Tell it to his family.”

Their instructor’s questions were fair, but Bradley didn’t care too much for the way Maverick went about his critiques.

Maverick pressed a button on the remote in his hand, and the screen in the front of the room changed. The next group’s simulation- highlighting their point of failure- stretched across the display. The two planes shown were labeled with the names of the individuals who had been inside.

Maverick turned to the group involved as one of the simulated planes crashed into the sides of the canyon. “What happened?”

Even though Bradley didn’t have a good view of Hangman from his seat towards the back of the room, he could just tell the jackass was smiling. Clara was beside him, looking extremely displeased. He’d heard her over the radio during the exercise- her words to Hangman echoing Fanboy and Payback’s: slow down. But Hangman had ignored them all, charging- literally- full spread ahead. Bradley could tell it was taking everything Clara had for her not to say something to her aviator about it right then and there.

“Well, I just flew as fast as I could,” Hangman answered, sounding sickly innocent. “Kinda like my ass depended on it.”

“And,” Bradley interjected, unable to stop himself from doing so, “You put your team in danger, and your wingman’s dead.”

Seresin had to be one of the most dense peers he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting, Bradley deduced. What part of the concept was so hard for him to grasp? Should he execute the plan during the mission exactly as he had, Hangman would be a goner for sure. If Payback and Fanboy were dead, there’d be little chance Hangman- not to mention his backseater- would scrape by if they came across enemy fighters. Without a wingman, they’d be outnumbered in seconds.

Speaking of his backseater, Clara was not bothering to conceal a glare she was giving Hangman out of the corner of her eye. She had insisted to Bradley that Hangman had been more receptive to her input over the past few days, but from his perspective, and if that had been true, their cooperation must have been short-lived.

Hangman looked over at her, but he was still sporting a smirk. He didn’t bother to look back at Bradley as he answered his question with a simple, “They couldn’t keep up.”

Either the AC kicked on, or Bradley would have sworn he heard Clara let out a quiet groan from the front of the room.

“Not listening to your WSO or your wingman is a detriment, not a strength, Lieutenant,” Maverick commented coolly.

He pressed the button on the remote once again, and Bradley’s own simulation run appeared on the screen. His chin raised, and he looked at Maverick determinedly, interested to see what exactly their instructor had determined he failed to do.

There was no simulated crash to show, so the planes, labeled Rooster, and Yale and Harvard, remained stagnant on the screen. Again, there was no simulated crash to show, and yet, Maverick looked at him with just as much disappointment as he had everyone else.

“Why are you dead?”

Bradley shifted, settling back into his seat with relative ease.

“You’re team leader up there,” Maverick proposed hypothetically. “Why are you, why is your team, dead?”

“Sir,” Phoenix insisted on his behalf, “He’s the only one who made it to the target.”

“A minute late,” Maverick conceded. “He gave enemy aircraft time to shoot him down. He is dead.”

Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know that.”

“You’re not flying fast enough,” Hangman chimed in tiredly, emphasizing each word. His head rolled over his shoulders to look at him lazily. “You don’t have a second to waste.”

Bradley felt his jaw clench as he contemplated how worth it would be to give Hangman a piece of his mind. Unfortunately for him, he quickly realized that the cost would far outweigh the benefits. Bradley knew he had to ignore the temptation, even if giving his “friendly” rival a verbal lashing was likely to make him pretty satisfied with himself.

Bradley looked back at Maverick. “We made it to the target,” he argued. Though his run had been dubbed as a failure by Maverick, no one else had been able to accomplish that task successfully throughout the entire day. Despite everything between them, Bradley had a last ditch hope that Maverick would at least take it in stride and acknowledge his feat.

But Maverick wasn’t able to do that.

“And superior enemy aircraft intercepted you on your way out,” he retorted, spelling out his point through nearly gritted teeth.

Bradley kept a strong face. “Then it’s a dogfight.”

“Against fifth generation fighters?”

“Yeah, we’d still have a chance.”

“In an F/A-18?”

“It’s not the plane, sir,” Bradley countered. “It’s the pilot.”

“Exactly!”

For the second time that afternoon, a silence fell over the classroom. Bradley leaned forward in his chair, feeling his collected composure began to grumble as he narrowed his eyes even more.

That’s how it’s going to be, huh?

Though Bradley had not technically promised to do so, he had been trying to not let Maverick ruffle his feathers as much as he’d done so on the first day of training. And though she said nothing, he knew Clara had been watching him carefully, as if waiting for his next slip. Bradley was trying, and had been doing so for the past few days. But Maverick wasn’t making the situation any easier by basically implying his inferiority in front of the entire group.

Bradley could already feel his blood churning.

“There’s more than one to fly this mission,” he said icily.

“You really don’t get it.”

Fucking Hangman.

“On this mission, a man flies like Maverick here, or a man does not come back,” Hangman attempted to lecture him. He looked at Phoenix, and offered her a small nod. “No offense intended.” 

“Yet somehow, you always manage,” Bob replied.

If Bradley hadn’t been trying to keep himself together with every passing second, he might have been surprised to hear those words come from the usually soft-spoken Bob Floyd.

Hangman ignored the choice comment, and turned back towards Bradley instead. “Look, I don’t mean to criticize. You’re conservative- that’s all.”

Maverick sighed. “Lieutenant-”

“-We’re going into combat, son,” Hangman pressed on, obviously not knowing when it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut, “on a level that no living pilot has ever seen. Not even him.”

Maverick’s head turned suddenly; Hangman’s words must have struck a chord with him.

“That’s no time to be thinking about the past.”

…

Though he was fuming, Bradley’s blood suddenly went cold at the subtle implication of Hangman’s words. He looked back at Hangman with unwavering resolve, either daring him to continue, or back down. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Rooster-”

“-I can’t be the only one that knows that Maverick flew with his old man,” Hangman announced theatrically.

“Lieutenant,” Maverick interrupted, “That’s enough-”

“-Or that Maverick was flying with his old man when-”

Words no longer hit Bradley’s ears. Or, if they did, he was not in a capable state to comprehend them. Everything that had happened with Maverick, Hangman, and even Clara over the past few days had finally pushed him to a breaking point. Rage flooded over him as he sprung up from his seat, before promptly leaping towards Hangman.

Everyone else in the room rose from their seats as well, but there were merely peripheries in Bradley’s target-locked vision. Only when some of them tried to place themselves between him and Hangman did Bradley pay them any attention at all.

“You son of a bitch!” he hissed, pointing a finger at Hangman, though he very much wished he’d been close enough to throttle him instead. But Phoenix and Clara were in front of him, pushing him backwards and effectively blocking him from advancing any further towards Hangman. Bradley felt even more pairs of hands on his back, gripping his flight suit preemptively in case they needed to tug him backwards at any given moment.

The first words Bradley was able to hear again came from Maverick, who had joined Clara and Phoenix in keeping him at bay and trying to stop him from lunging towards Hangman.

Maverick warned, to no one in particular, “That’s enough!” 

“He’s not cut out for this mission,” Hangman declared boldly.

Maverick whipped his head towards Hangman. “That’s enough!”

“You know it,” Hangman replied, infuriatingly calm as a cucumber. “... You know I’m right.”

Then, he had the nerve to get right in Bradley’s face as he walked past him to leave the room. If there hadn’t been literally six pairs of hands restricting him from doing so, Bradley would’ve loved to slug the smirk right off of Hangman’s face.

Maverick was breathless from his part in breaking up the fight as ordered, “You’re all dismissed.”

In light of the rather eventful day, including the explosive altercation in the classroom post-training exercise, Clara hoped to have an uneventful evening.

But after a shower in the women’s locker room, which did very little to settle her nerves, Clara ran into someone she didn’t expect, and it was an indication that the night may have a few surprises in store for her yet.

Maverick stood in the hallway, which was empty, save for the two of them, just a few yards away.

Clara gave him a small nod. “Captain,” she greeted, hoping he would let her pass without much fuss. After another long day of training, not to mention the fight that had broken out that afternoon, or even the personal grievance she had with the man, Clara had virtually no interest in having any further conversation with him.

“You know, I didn’t believe it at first.”

Clara stopped mid-step, adjusting the strap of the bag perched over her shoulder. “... Sir?”

“I didn’t believe you were his daughter.”

She involuntarily swallowed, but recovered quickly and regarded Maverick with a guarded expression.

What the hell kind of game was he playing at? The man had barely said more than a word to her individually since they’d both been called back to TOPGUN. And yet, at the very first opportunity he had alone with her, Maverick had chosen to bring up her deceased father, whose funeral he had not bothered to attend.

Maverick must have noticed the change in her expression. “You don’t really look like him,” he clarified, as if the observation that would make this conversation progress any smoother. “I guess I should have put it together sooner- he was a great RIO. And you might just be an even better WSO… But earlier today, when you stepped in to try and prevent Lieutenant Bradshaw from getting his hands on Lieutenant Seresin…”

He trailed off, but Clara continued to stare at him, silently challenging him to finish his thought.

“... You get the same ‘oh shit’ look on your face that your dad used to give me all those years ago.”

Her jaw dropped slightly as she processed Maverick’s words.

“When I saw you today- that’s when I knew,” Maverick continued, giving her a small, sad smile, “There’s no doubt in my mind now: you really are his daughter. Merlin’s daughter.”

Clara stood there in silence, dumbfounded for several reasons. That was the absolute last thing she had expected Maverick to say- and it wasn’t as though anyone else in her life had ever made the same observation. She hadn’t expected his tone to be so fond when speaking of her father, either. It both warmed her steely disposition and confounded her deeply.

She only started to get her wits back to her when a buzzing from her pocket interrupted her spiraling thoughts. Though proprietary would have frowned upon it, she checked the notification immediately, figuring that the conversation with Maverick was informal enough, and that he was not likely to mind.

Clara felt a little overwhelmed, between Maverick standing before her with an indiscernible look upon his face, and the message she’d just received from Bradley. She opened her mouth to respond to Maverick, when another text message came in.

“You should head home for the day,” Maverick said, though there was no possible way for him to have known who the messages on her phone had come from.

Clara offered him a sheepish smile, still not sure what to make of their peculiar conversation. She kept her phone in her hand, but resumed her exit down the hallway. As she passed Maverick, she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain.”

Once she was down the hallway, around the corner, and well out of Maverick’s sight, Clara responded.

…

On the drive home, Clara contemplated whether she’d share what Maverick said with Bradley later.

On one hand, she felt angry. Maverick had some freaking nerve making comments about her father like that. Bradley would certainly sympathize with her if she told him.

But on the other hand, she felt a small, yet undeniable, sense of pride. She knew Bradley would probably have difficulty understanding why, but she understood it clearly. The man, the myth, the legend that her father had spoken so highly of over the years had finally acknowledged him with the same level of respect he had always deserved.

If she could be half as good a WSO that her father was a RIO, she knew her career would have been one worth having.

Chapter 8

Masterlist

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! 💙 If you would like to be added to the taglist, please feel free to let me know.😊

TAGLIST: @gretagerwigsmuse @unluckymonaghan @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @roosterschanelslut @letusbewildflowers @roses-and-grasses @alanadetigy @caelipartem @fangirl-316 @owenniasstars @luckyladycreator2 @mell-bell @slayry @tallrock53 @actuallybarb​ @annedub​

[itsvictorianstyle-mcl]

🐰AL EP 1🐰THOUGHTS🐰

Spoilers included ⚠️ you've been warned.

Rosa. I don't have much to add, i'm just happy the old essence of the character is back! This confirms she was mostly been used by beemov in MCLU (and... A little bit in this season too? Like, when she says "it would've been totally fine if you found someone else in this four years", maybe to ease the guilt of those who played and married other routes, lol.) Overall, super sweet when she implied how supportive she was of their relationship, and how she acknowleadge the fact distance was a hard test they had to overcome. And how she admired and respected that.

"We're still sisters-in-law!" I WAITED FOUR YEARS TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT 😭

I was curious since Rosa mentioned some sort of pact? Lys and Candy had. Ngl, I was kind of shocked when they talked over dinner about it, and it turned out to be about "in case of finding someone else, we would tell each other". I mean, don't get me wrong, I think this sort of conversation is the mature thing to do (and is probably one of the reasons why they're still together: having difficult conversations is necessary), but it still itched me a bit hahah :( it all seems to tell us it was because of Lysander, and how jealous and insecure he could get in the past. So I can imagine they reached a decisive point (maybe an angsty one) in their relationship, where they probably had to get to this agreement for both their sakes. I want to write an scenario about this AAAA it's gonna be painful

Rayan? Hyun? Tbh I barely noticed them 😂

Lysander is still forgetful, lol, and now has a phone that pays the consecuences because of how often he loses it.

I've seen people a little salty about the fact he named the rabbit 'Rosa' (because we remember the old crush with Rosalya) but honestly I didn't see it like that 😂 besides he tells the story behind the name like one of his fond memories with Candy: the first time they went out, although not alone :') and Rosa that ate way too much that day.

The little details they kept about his high school personality *-* the blushes, the nervous and some clumsiness, although... bolder to express his desires, like how he wanted to sleep with her again 💞💞💞 my heart was melting™

I 👀 do want to see what's behind that door Candy couldn't open LYSANDER GREY I'M DECEASED

Candy's not minding everyone's business so much now. Great, that should give us more time for what's really important: Lys babe 👍🏻

She's gonna be at the farm an entire WEEK, i'm gonna be so depressed when it's over 😭

[x4-to-da-ice]

Gyakuten Saiban 3: Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth musical reaction post

I'm watching Gyakuten Saiban's 3rd musical and I need to talk about it somewhere so here I am. It's my real time reaction to scenes so it could get messy lol

And of course, this contains spoilers.

I read on the wiki that the plot was Edgeworth time travelling and meeting his father, but I really didn't expect they'd make him go back that far. Gregory's only 21 in this musical. Wild.

How did Edgeworth just waltz into Gregory's office and acted so surprised that it's "Edgeworth Law Offices"? Did Gregory operate in secret and decide not to put a sign at the door that says this is Edgeworth Law Offices or did Miles not read the sign.

So not only his dad but apparently his mom worked there too. What a turn of event ToT

The person on the phone asked for "Edgeworth" and the man answered "Yes I am indeed Edgeworth" even though the other party CLEARLY didn't mean him XDD What a man.

Miles: "I was at the scene with an acquaintance-" Gregory: "Oh! Your friend?" Miles: "MY ACQUAINTANCE! Please don't misunderstand."

Aww Edgey Larry's gonna be sad. And you probably don't know how much Gregory wants you to have friends.

lol at Gregory who just happened to encounter a man who shares a same surname with him but he doesn't give a shit.

"Edgeworth is such a rare surname but you still share one with him... Could he be your dad?" Edgeworth: *chokes on his tea*

This scene is funny but how could she even come up with that idea? You don't usually ask a grown man if a 21-year-old man is his dad. Unless you know this man time leaped. She could have said "your brother" and it'd make much more sense.

Now Larry, the one who totally should have questioned Edgeworth about his dad instead of that woman, never did so. He doesn't even seem to have the slightest idea that Gregory is Miles' father. He just went "Gregory Edgeworth... oh, that defense attorney?" while he canonically previously knows Edgeworth's dad is an attorney, and there's just no way he wouldn't question his friend. "Gregory Edgeworth... Wait Edgey!! That's a defense attorney with your surname! Don't tell me he's your dad?!" ...should totally have happened in this scene, but it didn't.

Who decided to dress young Edgeworth like this 😭 I would understand if this was Miles under Manfred but he's still with his dad in this scene and he already dressed like a von Karma.

I've arrived at the battle of the decade

I wonder what they were trying to imply by making Edgeworth wear the suit that symbolizes his admiration for Manfred von Karma.

Gregory: "Will we... meet again?"

Next time they meet, he will be cradling a baby in his arms, seeing the kid grow up as he showed immense interest in law and looked up to his father, teaching that kid everything about the most valuable traits of a defense attorney and showing him the right way that he learned from a man named Miles Edgeworth years ago.

Kinda sweet, kinda awkward but all nice.

"When the day come, I'll stand with you in court as a defense attorney who seeks the same truth as you."

It's too bad that he won't live long enough to see Miles in court as an attorney.

"Wait! Your child... when he reaches 5 years old, he'll break the glass in your living room. Please don't get mad at him."

This part is PURE GOLD 100 points for whoever wrote it.

Of course his parents look so confused what is this man talking about 😂

Edgeworth's last scene with his parents is satisfying. A neat ending for both sides.

I hope this is a friendly hug because I don't need more romance after the whole thing with Wright and Leona-

but I guess it's not platonic after all. Still it was not exploited much further so that is that, I have no complaint.

.

Alright I've reached the end of the musical. I had problems with some particular parts of the musical but overall I enjoyed it. All the actors are amazing. My biggest regret is that I have no idea how the case went because my Japanese ability is too shabby to understand a court trial. I hope someone will sub it soon T_T

[blindedguilt]

About Leonard’s 1.3/Modern Verse

 Right I added them to my About like two, three days ago but like,,, it was nearing 3 AM and I forgot about them 😭😭😭 

Modern AU is neat stuff but I REALLY wanna talk about 1.3 because 

OOH HOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!!!!!!!! >:} 

NOTE: 

From here on out, if you want to interact with a certain verse, just put in parentheses or something before the ask.

(Modern) “(ask bullshit goes here)”

(1.3) “(ask bullshit goes here)”

So like,,, more under the cut.

Modern Verse:

A heavily depressed car mechanic estranged from his family. Wants more out of life. Has a mug collection and a fondness for the smaller things in life.

this guy,,,, is just chilling. Expect smaller, more bitterly humoured interactions with him. His roommates are interesting sorts of characters and this guy is the one person who even seems to remotely give a shit about any of it; as such he is perpetually tired and only seems to be paying attention half the time. please wish him good luck 

SO ABOUT 1.3./What it is, for those who don’t know

A lot of my mutuals DO know about it but just in case I mean,,, from the looks of it, 1.3 is one of those things that depending on what side of the fandom you’re on, everyone or no one know about it. a lot of newer fans (particularly those who arrived from Nier) are pretty clueless about 1.3, despite it literally being it’s own canon universe like any other DOD/Nier game…

The biggest difference is is that it’s a novel instead of a game??? Or like a series of novellas basically which is like “hey what if DOD3 was canon to DOD1, or more specifically it’s Ending A was” And it’s just,,, this whole look at what comes from that focusing on the cast of DOD1 characters (AND SOME NEW ONES TOO!!! omg there are new, forbidden dod protags ❤️) in this world where things like pact systems and the goddess seals don’t,,,, really exist. Sure, you can make partners which funky little fantasy beings, namely dragons (Spoiler: there are a lot in 1.3), but uhhhhh it’s kinda like human partnerships (used in a general, non-romantic sense here but… *cough*) where like,,, whether it’s out of necessity, shared interests or just bc the dragon thinks they’re cool they’ll just,,, tag along being like ��okay i’ll help you”. sometimes they just chill out together.  But their souls certainly ain’t bound together, they don’t feel each other’s pain and you’re gonna get some FREAKY ass instances like Verdelet with hair, Leonard seeing (and having green eyes, for whatever reason…?) and, god forbid, Caim speaking. He’s actually quite the eloquent little lad 😍😳😍   Unfortunately, 1.3 DOES follow the events of the slightly better-known Shi Ni Ataru Aka manga in a fuckin,,,,,  DOD3 Ending A -> 🤢we dont talk about this one :( -> ❤️‍🔥💕✨DOD 1.3❤️💘💗  hope that makes sense. Anyways it’s a groovy little thing that’s pretty neat.  It was released in like 2014 but is just now getting a translation from yours truly, at the time I post this I have like three stories left to do but till then: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EQgIx0uv6MMsXClKgdZdgwLze8urV12P?  enjoy.

So, little ones... ABOUT LEONARD’S 1.3 VERSE.

yeah, we’re getting into some ~shit~So uh, where to start. Here’s the description from the Wiki:

Fights to protect a small village - He teams up with a green dragon to protect a small frontier village.  In order to help heal the hearts of the villagers, he gathers and directs an all-boys choir.  There appeared to be some record of him being involved with the Union. 

And here’s what you’ll find on my blog:

The priest and leader to a small refuge village for those who had lost their lives and/or families to the Union. Directs an all-boys choir to give hope to it’s citizens, and is partnered with an elderly green dragon.

It also comes with a very very very clear warning that I want to share here as well:

Leonard in 1.3, like his DOD1 counterpart, is also a paedophile. Unfortunately he is strongly implied to be acting on this in the 1.3 universe. I plan not to bring it up unnecessarily and shall be especially fragile with his characterisation in this verse. Please keep this in mind when roleplaying with him.

What happens within Leonard (And Arioch’s) story - Context about the verse if you want to skip the reading 

Arioch and Leonard’s story is A_4010: The Truly Diseased. I can understand why one might want to skip this one though, while my personal favourite their story ESPECIALLY isn’t for the faint of heart. Read:

While I would HIGHLY recommend it, it’s not for everyone, and I can’t even pressure them to read it if they’re not at least decently confident they can handle the topics presented in this story. So here’s a summary: The Truly Diseased (TTD) follows a nameless half-elf girl (I have given her a fan-name of Agares, however, which if she’s ever mentioned, I’ll probably use lmao) who’s father and village was destroyed by Union dragon hunters for not informing them of a woman who had stayed overnight with a silver dragon. She, her pregnant mother, and two young little brothers manage to escape in search of the fabled “Village of the Green Dragon”, having heard stories from merchants of a small village where they would be able to take refuge from the war. Which, in Midgard, is a big fuckin deal. Eventually they do end up finding this village and it’s leader/priest, Leonard, who welcomes them in and helps in taking care of her mother alongside her — The half-elf girl/Agares begins to fall in love(…? Lust over?) with Leonard for his gentle and caring personality (and his beefy bilf bod), yet even she acknowledges that it’s a pretty one-sided affair with little chance of ever happening. Not that it stops her tho 😭 So things go pretty groovy for the most part until it doesn’t One fine day (evening?) protag’s youngest brother comes up like “hey I got in the choir and my piece of shit older brother did NOT”  And she’s like “….. wow.” “Its bc i can get my balls cut off easier” “that’s mildly concerning but okay” so anyways they all go to the performance thing and the protagonist has some ~unresolved jealousy~ about the attention Leonard’s giving her younger brothers like girl chill. Not like he’s more interested in them than he is you…. right? :’) So like,,, he’s like “this is a new part of the choir blah blah blah” and then the kid gets fucking shot in the stomach lol as it may happen, a little guy ratted out the village to the Union, now they’re killing everyone since,,,, it’s like, a village literally made to stand against the Union did I mention that lmao. This is mildly inconvenient for our heroine, who proceeds to leave her pREGNANT MOTHER AND TELLS HER OTHER STILL-VERY-YOUNG BROTHER TO TAKE CARE OF HER SO SHE, THE FUCKING HOMEWRECKER, CAN GO HELP LEONARD WHO’S GOING BERSERKER MODE ON FUCKIN EVERYONE BECAUSE THEY KILLED A KID. yeah he also got shot by the same arrow too but as it turns out people in 1.3 need to be strapped down and beaten to death with a radioactive brick to feel anything (look at Furiae) The green dragon, very elderly and hardly capable of even moving, extends it wings to cover the villagers and keep them safe from the Union. Did I mention our protagonist ends up not helping like she wanted? Like…… what was the point of that :/  Arioch pokes in lmao While it’s never explained in the story itself, it seems that Arioch and Leonard were pretty acquainted with each other. My guess is that she also came to the village and probably started to try some cannibalism shit before Leonard was like “:( not cool man” and drove her out. It’s funny because the way the novella puts it is like they got a divorce or had a fucking break up or some shit like “What happened between them?” The fuck if I know check their Instagram story or smth idk  Anyways. She,,,, she offers to help fight off the Union with a very injured Leonard who’s fine why ask,,, BUT. She wants payment. Can you guess what?

Leonard hates the idea but agrees and they fight together, wrecks everyone’s shit and then BOOM, YELLOW DRAGON OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE . heroine realizes that those dragon hunters that destroyed her old village were looking for a crazed yellow dragon and the woman following it. … welp. 😳 oh yeah and her younger brother #2 is dead now (what did she fucking expect?) and her mother’s in labour. Great timing! This’ll be a story to tell the little tike when they grow up. None of that matters anyways since said yellow dragon ripped the fucking WINGS off the green dragon, is eating it alive, and arioch has both her and her dead younger brother #1 held at gunpoint. leonard is there too

“so what’s it gonna be kid, huh? huh?”

Diversity win! 💝❤️💗✨💓😍😍😍😍 that was the biggest fuck you rejection I’ve ever seen in media tbh. the virgin caim headshake vs the chad leonard cannibal-abandonment treatment  imagine falling in love with a guy and he chooses your like,,,, 7 year old brother’s corpse over your own life. Feelsbadman 😔😔😔  i could stop since that’s the end of it for Lenny but I’m not going to Anyways Arioch kills Leonard, and is cut off from her ramblings about what a stupid piece of shit he is by noticing the protagonists mother giving birth ohoh boy Arioch forcibly births the child herself and is stopped from eating the newborn baby by the protagonist, who had just,,, kinda been sitting in shock seeing all this go down. Can I blame her? Having finally snapped, she takes Arioch’s own sword and FUCKING HACKS HER TO BITS WITH IT LIKE OMGGGGGGG and like,,,, you won’t believe what happens next.  Caim and Angelus show up, Angelus starts killing the yellow dragon that was eating the green dragon, and our girl is just kinda “:l” right now. she gouges her eyes out. The end!  There’s also Legna. so….. thats their story in a nutshell, I presume. 1.3 verse, babey! I can’t wait. developing Leonard’s history with the Union, the green dragon and the village, whatever the fuck went on with him and Arioch…. They’re questions that I’d love to expand on in this verse! Having him seeing (with GREEN eyes!) and like,,, not being depressed anymore is going to be something so new and also like- Uncomfortable :/ but that’s the funnest stuff to write for that reason lmao I can’t wait to start!! ❤️

[jojolovenotes]

hiiii berry <3333

im really glad to see everyone so hyped abt stone ocean!! i actually get to be around for it this time! when i started jojo, part 5 was airing and actually i remember i caught up with it right at the end, so i had to wait for a few episodes to come out. but i wasnt there for the excitement when it was announced so this has been fun to see <3

its. bittersweet for me tho. i mean i assume you know what happens to jotaro since you do f/o funny valentine so i won't get into it but... i'm really not ready to relive that again,,,,, i love everyone's excitement im just terrified of watching that happen :( it was one thing to read it, but god the moment he says "i've always cherished you" i am going to leave. i will be like. Okay! Not finishing this! and then proceed to cry for a month again lKJF;ALKSJDF;LAKJDS

i even have my discord status set to like "4 months until reliving my ptsd" as mostly a joke but i really never. got over what happens. im not ready for the memes that will most likely happen regarding jotaro bc i dont cope in that way and it will probably just make me cry a lot,,,, (PROBABLY good idea to tag this as part 6 spoilers bc i dont wanna freak out ppl that havent read the manga and are going in blind,,,, theres a lot of ppl like that actually)

PART 6 SPOILER MENTION!!

Hi Cami! <3

Yes!! I’m so hype too 😭 when I started Jojo I caught up to the anime while part 4 was still airing and then I went on to reading the manga so it’s surreal seeing these manga parts get their anime adaptations! All this waiting and anticipation 😭

[ SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER]

I can understand why it’d be bittersweet for you 😭 this part is gonna be emotional af like I’m excited but also like not ready to cry again fjsjsjs get the tissues ready 😭

MAN I’m with you getting those tissues ready :’) also btw we should uh be friends on discord maybe if you’d like 👉👈