#I think it was a reporter ?? who saw a preview or something ?? idk

[slythereen]

apparently dts just pretended max doesn’t exist in 2023??? which is evil and of itself but does that mean we won’t get to see our few scraps of joy (lestappen fighting on track)

[makeste]

BnHA Smash!! 01 and 02: Smash!!Might is a Fucking Menace

okay, so. I have about a million other things I should be doing instead, including (1) responding to asks and/or finishing in-progress metas, (2) reading Vigilantes, and last but not least, (3) actually making a dent in the ever-increasing backlog of Actual Work That I Really Should Be Doing Instead.

so naturally I’m procrastinating by taking my first stab at reading BnHA’s cute 4-panel omake spinoff series, BnHA Smash!! IT JUST MAKES SENSE. look, I have exactly one thing I felt like actually doing and not procrastinating today, so I might as well do the thing. basically it’s my attention span’s world and I’m just living in it.

anyway! so apparently this series was scanlated by good ol’ Fallen Angels. that’s right; prepare yourselves for some very creative cursing, fellas. other background info for anyone who, like me, is unfamiliar with this spin-off: this series debuted on November 9, 2015, a little over a year after the original series. said original series was currently at chapter 66, meaning the Final Exam arc was just wrapping up.

so now that we’re all properly oriented, let me go over a few disclaimers real quick and then we’ll get started!

all comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.

I’m aware that not everyone may be familiar with Smash!! even if they’ve read/watched the original series, so I’ve tried to make this recap comprehensible even if you haven’t read the spin-off. that being said, it’s probably more enjoyable if you have, so you can either purchase the first volume from Viz here, or read the chapter online (I don’t want to link directly, but the spin-off is available on most of the usual sites. literally just google “read mha” and you’ll find some good options).

this readthrough contains a handful of sorta-kinda spoilers for the BnHA manga, although there are no direct spoilers. just an indirect reference to a joke in chapter 242, as well as a reference to a theory which as of now is in no way canon. but just to be on the safe side I’m posting a heads-up.

and I think that’s it! so here we go.

so we’re opening with a brief summary of the series. people have superpowers and shit’s nuts. you know the drill

there’s also a brief description of the way that the superhero economy works, complete with Mt. Lady’s employees unionizing and demanding better pay

...what

guys I keep staring at this and thinking that surely, SURELY it doesn’t say what I think it says. sidekick... what... manager??

you know what? Viz unfortunately doesn’t include this series as part of their subscription package (WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR, VIZ), but it does at least include a free preview of Smash, and I bet you that this, the first fucking page of the series, is a part of that preview. so... let’s see...

okay, see, this actually makes sense! so did the FA scanlating team collectively all have a fucking stroke?! just, what??

this is one of the reasons why I had difficulty reading Vigilantes too, tbh. those early chapter scans were, uh. but at least Vigilantes has a Viz scanlation too. I don’t want to spend 10 bucks just to read one volume of this, but we’ll see. anyways

so now there’s a strip about baby!Izuku watching his favorite clip of All Might saving one hundred people from a bus accident or whatever

lol Inko you should not have left your shrewdly calculating four-year-old son unattended omg

TWELVE MONTHS’ WORTH OF TEXTBOOKS HOW CAN THIS EAGER YOUNG MIND RESIST

and this is why you don’t leave your credit card info saved on the computer when you have kids. life lessons learned today

this is the first indicator we have ever had that baby!Izuku wasn’t perfect and was, in fact, capable of being a little shit and giving his mom plenty of gray hairs in his own special way. ngl, I fucking love it

also 12,800 yen is about $118 USD, which is honestly a really good deal for a year’s worth of textbooks. he got three boxes of books! I just googled the average cost of college textbooks, and the google article said the average student spends about $1200 a year. so this is a fucking steal tbh

OH MY GOD INKO HOW MANY TIMES MUST HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF BEFORE YOU LEARN

at least install a fucking adblocker ffs. you’re lucky quirk supplement ads are the worst of the ads he’s getting! PARENTAL CONTROLS

now we are cutting to a comic about baby!Izuku defending another boy from my problematic fave, as seen in page one of the original series!

lmaooo

I’m not clear on how much of this spin-off can actually be considered canon. my understanding is that it is Horikoshi-reviewed and approved, even though he doesn’t actually write it. but it’s obviously a humor series, so a lot of it is just going to be jokes. that being said, I think my approach is going to be “if it’s not completely ridiculous and doesn’t contradict the actual manga, go ahead and consider it canon”

(ETA: I might change this up after reading the first two chapters. most of these strips would have terrifying implications if they were actually canon sob.)

anyhoo, this actually does contradict the manga in that we saw this encounter play out very differently. but I kind of wish it was canon regardless because looool. these cocky preschoolers and their fucking Battle Tears

the next comic is Mt. Lady accidentally stepping on a guy’s face and the guy being way too fucking happy about it (read: having a fucking nosebleed and taking an upskirt shot). we’re just going to skip this entirely. this is another problem I was having with Vigilantes too. you know, for all my complaints about Mineta and such, BnHA as a whole is so much tamer than it could be, and I need to give Horikoshi credit for that. he mostly knows where to draw the line, and to his credit he’s also much, much better about this kind of thing than he was when he first started. maybe Mineta’s standings in the character poll results are helping to clue him in

anyway, I’ll mostly just skip past the iffy stuff because I don’t have patience for it and there’s still plenty of other stuff to cover. so on to the next strip

which features a bunch of reporters fawning over Mt. Lady’s flashy quirk while Kamui Woods laments in the shadows

and yet we know this kid will have a prominent rise within the next six months. it’s so strange to revisit the start of the series and see how much things have changed in such a short time

oh my god

no one who dresses up as a giant mushroom could possibly have good intentions. I. just

and look at the fucking disappointment in Deku’s eyes. KAMUI WOODS HE BELIEVED IN YOU!

now some strange man is coming up to Deku and is all HEY YOU, YOU’RE A HERO OTAKU, TELL ME WHAT TO BUY MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. better not ask him unless you’re prepared to shell out $120 bucks for some fucking textbooks

hey, what!!

WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO SEE WHAT HE BOUGHT HIM? unless it’s the action figure the kid appears to be holding? but I’m just going to go ahead and assume Izuku recommended the number one best gift that any seven-year-old child would love, i.e. a giant sword

now it’s a sludge monster omake!

so Izuku is trudging home all depressed after CERTAIN INCIDENTS, and Sludgey is glooping his way out of a sewer towards him

oh no All Might

my biggest takeaway from this is the fact that the entire second half of chapter one takes place after All Might has emerged from a fucking sewer. I forgot all about that somehow. or maybe it never fully processed until just now. but omg. this entire chapter must have smelled so fucking bad. these poor kids

wow All Might

sure called that one wrong. ah well nobody’s perfect

looooool

lmao, Smash!!All Might appears to be quite a bit more vain than the original. wow dude

btw, friendly reminder (and I think this is something that was actually pointed out to me after one of the recaps; that’s one of my favorite things about doing these) that All Might, after saving Deku, actually read his notebook before signing it. super-fast, I guess, because he’s the best. but yeah, so he knew exactly how smart and observant Deku was, and how much he wanted to be a hero. his decision to pick him as his successor didn’t just come out of the blue; even before the “my body moved on its own” thing, there was a lot Deku had going in his favor. this is one of those little details of which BnHA has so many, and which I love

lmao what the fuck

ngl this version of the series would have been amazing in its own way. but yeah. so this is why we clearly can’t assume everything in Smash!! is canon lol. but I can already tell I am going to enjoy the shit out of this series

now we’re cutting to Deku running at Sludgey in order to save Kacchan, oh shit. the most dramatic part of chapter one. clearly no moment is sacred

sob what

I don’t understand this strip at all. is this supposed to be a serious moment inserted unexpectedly among this multitude of joke strips? or did I miss the punchline? heeeeelp

(ETA: okay so. my best guess is that All Might wrote all over Deku’s life-saving advice, and so the joke is that Deku no longer knows what to do when assaulting sludge men because HIS NOTES ARE RUINED. idk. what does 25 P mean??)

now All Might has Done The Thing and saved my boys, and now Mt. Lady is helping with the cleanup. scooping up all the bits of sludge and putting it in trash bags

oh my god

nope nevermind. nope. nope

-- shit. okay, you know what? this first chapter has been a real in-your-face reminder of the fact that the sludge monster was not made of cute sparkly 2018-trending-fad slime, but was in fact composed of RAW FUCKING SEWAGE. (ETA: to be clear, I’m pretty sure the joke in this strip is that she accidentally picked up dog-doo during her clean-up. but still, the fact that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the gunk speaks for itself.) I think I forced myself to gloss over this fact originally due to the nope factor. but just. Izuku and Katsuki were both choking to death on this shit?? and just, how the fuck did they make it out of this not traumatized

and also, like. All Might was straight up going to leave Izuku alone afterwards, just, “well enjoy your autograph, fine citizen” and blasting off out of there. and everyone fucking saw Katsuki almost suffocate to death later on, and after giving him a pat on the back they fucking let him go off on his own too? and you can’t even make the argument that this was Just Another Day In Quirk Society either, because more than a year later, Katsuki is still a bona fide fucking celebrity from the media coverage of his attack. it clearly was not something that happens every day. in conclusion, these kids are resilient as fuck, and thank god for that because people apparently just do not give a shit, holy christ

anyway. at least Mt. Lady had gloves

OH MY GOD

I FUCKING KNEW IT OH MY GOD. THE ROIDS. MUSCLES LIKE THAT DON’T JUST GROW ON TREES, I DON’T CARE HOW MANY LBS OF GARBAGE THIS KID HAULED OFF THE BEACH. THIS BOY BEEN HITTIN THE JUICE

Smash!!Might is so fucking shady omfg. probably sells cheap counterfeit electronics on Amazon

oh shit and that’s the end of the fucking chapter lol. that’s it?? that was only eight pages. fuck it, let’s read another. but first here’s Horikoshi’s note on the spin-off

so he really feels that Neda gets the spirit of the series and understands him. that’s very encouraging. the best spoofs and parodies are done out of love. I really think I’m going to enjoy this series

so! onward to chapter two

so here’s All Might dressed as Mr. 2 Bon Clay from One Piece, I guess??

“you know what’s funny? dressing a man in girl’s clothes LOL.” guys can we grow the fuck up. and also acknowledge that All Might can look good in anything, so this questionable gag wouldn’t have even landed anyway. you work that tutu All Might

lmao check out the past users of OFA here

All for One for All theory fucking confirmed lol. just look. that’s him in the back of the conga line. clearly

so Deku is all “hell yes why would I possibly say no??” but then

HIS LIMBS. lmao. sign here

in all seriousness, given the shit this kid has been through since the part of the series, All Might probably should have gotten him to sign a liability waiver of some sort. not that it would have stood, since Deku is underage! anyways Deku you totally have grounds to sue the shit out of the Symbol of Peace should you ever choose to do so. and the trend of Smash!!Might being shady af continues yes please give me more I love it

so now All Might is giving Deku his fitness plan which has a really elaborate name

given that this is Smash!!Might, I can’t help but wonder if this plan is in actuality some sort of MLM scheme. All Might are you trying to get Deku to do Herbalife

lol what in the fuck

the original series skipped right over a hell of a lot, it would seem. like the time Deku traveled to Arizona and fought coyotes in a poncho

I’m starting to suspect that Neda-sensei might be on some sort of substance. “let’s see what jokes can I make about chapter 2 of BnHA. I know, I’ll send the protagonist to a fictionalized version of the American Southwest in a sombrero, and then turn him into a 65-year-old oil tycoon.” naturally

lmao that’s really it, that’s the strip. moving right along. okay??

now Izuku is staring at the intimidating piles of Beach Trash and is all “I HAVE TO PICK ALL THIS SHIT UP?”

omg Deku no

somebody call Marie Kondo. Deku none of this is salvageable. not even to reuse in a color page photoshoot spread four years from now

OH SHIT

PROVED ME WRONG OH SNAP. SHOWED ME RIGHT WHERE I COULD PUT THOSE SASSY TAKES. MY BAD DEKU I’M SORRY

anyways I don’t know what Smash!!Might is so upset about. he probably wove some kind of clause into the contract Deku signed that allows him a percentage of the profits. unless Deku already spent it all on textbooks

what the fuck is this fucking series lmao

time for a round of “what is All Might casually crushing in this panel?” is it (a) a cardboard box, or (b) like, a mini-fridge or some fucking shit. IT COULD BE EITHER. IT MAKES EQUALLY AS MUCH SENSE EITHER WAY. “HEROES THESE DAYS ARE [FLEEEEEEX] OBSESSED WITH BEING FLASHY” 

holy shit no wonder he ran away to the Sierra Nevada. it’s only a matter of time before this freak fucking kills someone

NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO KAMUI WOODS DRESSED LIKE A DAFFODIL, IN THE SAME FUCKING COMIC STRIP, BECAUSE REASONS

my jokes about the mangaka being high as a fucking kite when he wrote this are gradually becoming less jokes and more serious inquiries??

lol so he coincidentally just stumbled across All Might and Deku at this exact moment

AND IT WAS A FUCKING REFRIGERATOR OH MY FUCKING GOD

do you guys remember during the final exam when All Might beat the everloving shit out of Deku and Kacchan, and everyone was all “JESUS CHRIST WOULD YOU LEARN TO FUCKING HOLD BACK A LITTLE THEY ARE CHILDREN YOU MANIAC.” but now we can see plain as day that he was, in fact, holding back. anyways Smash!!Might is terrifying as shit and if this had been the main series I would have already pegged him as the final villain by this point

here he is now wearing an old-timey bathing suit but looking more like an escaped convict than anything else

this panel is actually canon. I’ve decided. this 100% definitely happened at some point. especially the swimsuit

now two bikini babes are walking up and they’re all “IS THAT ALL MIGHT??” with excited sparkly eyes because they don’t know that he’s actually a deranged con artist who crushes refrigerators like empty soda cans. this spin-off has truly opened my eyes

LOOK AT THIS SKEEVY FUCK. JUST LOOK

AND NOW HE’S RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING DEKU TO DROWN IN EXHAUSTION, SON OF A

“SUDDEN BUSINESS” KSJLDKF SMASH!!MIGHT IS A FUCKING MENACE TO SOCIETY AND ALSO DOES NOT GIVE ONE SINGLE FUCK. NOT ONE!! HE’S OUT THERE FUCKLESS, AND NO ONE IS SAFE

now Deku is approaching his mom all serious and says he wants to change up his diet

and she’s looking at the menu he prepared all impressed and thinking that she might join him. as long as it’s for your health, Inko. if this manga starts making jokes about your weight, I will beat it over the head with Deku’s textbooks

OMFG

THIS WENT IN THE EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS EXPECTING, AND THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER READ WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. the whole fucking family is on the juice. and the fucking mangaka is on some special juice of his own oh my stars

now we’re cutting to Mt. Lady stomping on a car

thank fuck no one was actually in there. also does she not wear shoes

and also, it only just occurred to me that she must be another person with a special quirk costume, because her suit shrinks and expands along with her. Hagakure and Momo are really getting shafted by the costume design team here. they need to fire some people

anyway so Mt. Lady slipped on this carelessly placed vehicle and fell down and crushed an entire building whoops

bruh, you think you’re “ow.” let’s hope that building was empty too

and now she’s toppling another building just fucking because, I guess. and saying she can’t do urban areas

lmao and now the sidekick [CENSORED] manager from chapter one is back to guilt-trip her omg

I need this man to show up in every freaking chapter. please. respect my wishes

and now Izuku is standing on top of his collected pile of garbage screaming in victory

I only just realized that there’s still a big old Pile O’ Trash on this beach, though. someone needs to haul all of this junk away. or else get All Might and Mt. Lady to crush it all with a combined effort

oh shit here it comes y’all, the famous “eat my hair” scene. potential comedy gold right here omg

lol what the fuck

this man is a fucking billionaire and he’s out here clipping coupons and deleting pictures of his son in order to make room for them smdh

okay now we’re doing the hair scene

oh. oh no. I know where this is going sob please keep this comic rated PG for the children Neda

motherfucker they really --

Smash!!Might is a straight-up felon. this man has no fucking scruples. that’s okay Midoriya-shounen, if you don’t want to eat my hair we could just try some REDACTED, jesus christ I am going to need some bleach for my eyes after this

OR LET’S JUST STRAIGHT UP GO THERE WHY NOT

lmao sob. well, two chapters in and we’ve established that no territory is off-limits here. it’s a brave new world. wow

 so that’s it! our introduction to BnHA Smash!! I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading more! I’m not sure what kind of schedule I’ll keep, but this is a really good procrastination manga thus far, so knowing me I might actually work my way through this relatively quickly. especially since the Manga At Large is on break this week. anyways my deepest apologies to the many people who have been requesting for me to start Vigilantes instead. I just need something lighter right now, and this is a good fit. one of these days I’ll get my shit together with the other two spinoffs as well.

[nurseconscience]

THE MUN WATCHES. The Resident 02x04 - About Time

Chastain is flooded with concert goers after a stampede at a music festival leaves many in need of doctors. As Conrad and Nic race to help Josh Robinson, a professional adventure guide with a long list of prior injuries, Devon works with a musician who swears he is sober, even though his toxicology report suggests otherwise. Meanwhile, Bell stirs the pot when the hospital's revered orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kit Voss, demands a better resident, Julian works to get her boss on Bell's good side.

Live-blogging under the cut.

Okay, folks. Here we go. HERE WE GO.

Ready for more power moves and flashbacks....hopefully.  Oooooooh. So this whole lawyer interrogation thinger is related to the Music Fest. Cool. AW. NIC LOOKS SO CUTE. 

THAT SOUNDS LIKE A POWER VOLTAGE PROBLEM. Annnnnnd people are being trampled. As you do at a music concert. Oh is a shooting???? IDK. Something is going on. TANC ARE YOU SUING CONRAD? WTF MAN. WHAT HAPPENED TO LIVE AND DEATH BRIGADE PALS. [ The mun does realize that she is confusing shows right now but WHATEVER. MY POINT STILL STANDS, MAN. ] 

Aw. Bless Dr. Nolan for sticking up Conrad even though it was a lie. Good man. I really hope that doesn’t end up biting him later. AYE LOOK. Devon’s working on the guy that’s going to play that song that Nic and Conrad dance to later. I AM EXCITE. 

Jessica forking sucking up to Bell. Ugh.  YAY. WE ARE MEETING DR. VOSS TONIGHT. I LOVE HER ALREADY. She just gets down to business. ....Okay. A little mean to her new kid. But I do like that she didn’t super shame him....until she said dermatology. I love her saying ‘who’s this douche?’ Hilarious.

TAAAANNNNCCCCCCCC. Ugh. I am so upset that he is going to be suing or some such later because I want to love him and I really like this scene with Nic and Conrad.

I am very curious about this guy with a blood alcohol level that says he hasn’t had a drink. I remember seeing something on a show I think about someone similar that didn’t drink but it caused a blood alcohol level because of something else. I DO NOT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS AND NOW IT IS GOING TO ANNOY ME.

Vulture scene. Just. Yes.

I LOVE TANC LOOKING AT CONRAD WHEN HE SAYS THAT NIC WAS THE BEST NP FOR HIM. TANC JUST NOT MEETING HIS GAZE.

I really REALLY love Mitchell. I know Conrad doesn’t like his dad and thinks the worst but I really think that Mitchell cares and loves him. // Mina and Raptor’s scene in the OR. I do agree with him. She does need to watch and learn. You are his student. You don’t know everything yet.

OH god. I know this device guy. WHAT WAS HE IN. WHO IS THAT. The boss. WHAT DID I JUST SEE HIM IN. UGH. *imdb* Not sure his name so this isn’t working....I will check back. He looked a bit like Jason Priestly. God I miss Haven. ( Still need to watch Private Eyes. )

LMFAO. I love Raptor deciding to side with Bell and send Okafor to play with the others. I am laughing so hard. Like. Mina I love you. But you are not the best yet. You still have things to learn. I love the music Voss listens to in the OR. I also love her talking to Mina. This is fab. I like it.

OH LOOK. EMTs GETTING PERKS JUST TO GET PEOPLE BROUGHT IN. I remember a similar thing on Chicago Med. 

Awwwww. I really do like Julian. I am so upset that it is going to be a problem for Devon and his fiancee but I just...I REALLY like her. ( Kinda spoiler: I saw a casting call today for people in an Indian wedding for an episode.”Brandi is booking a big East Indian Wedding scene next Wednesday Oct. 17th in Stone Mountain. I am looking for East Indian looking Males and Females,…" SIGH. So either Devon realizes he’s being stupid and actually doing something wrong or else this is going to continue up to the wedding and either end that day horribly or continue after it which is also not okay. 

LOL. I don’t know why I find it funny whenever Peachtree St. is named. ( If you’ve never been to Atlanta, there are SO MANY streets/drives/places/etc. named Peachtree. SO MANY. LIKE. GOOD GOD. )

Is Tanc having a seizure? Oh nooooooooo.  Okay. So Tanc (Josh...but I’m calling him Tanc just because) is now wheelchair bound. RATHER THAN DEAD. I hate vulture lawyers like this woman. I feel bad for adventure boy but he would have been dead if they’d waited. At least he is alive. I get that his entire life is no changed. Like what he does for income is no longer an option (or at least not fully). I am sad but also glad he isn’t dead........ He was just going on about Conrad being a good doctor right before that happened. SO COMPLICATED.

HA. Backfired on you Raptor. Mina wants to stay with Voss for now. “I’m the first of my own line. An ancestor. Not a descendant.” LOVE IT. YOU GO, MINA.

Annnnd here is how we get the concert. Nice. Let him sing! 

“Did you ever think the best decision is HER decision?” BAM.

Very little Irving and Nolan in this episode. But still a great episode. 

I love this song/ singer. His voice is so comforting. I love this style. I want more. Time to look him up! 

Oh no.......what is happening with that look of Nolan to Bell. I don’t like this. This looks bad.

“You’re a swayer.” I LOVE IT. They are...just so damn sweet.

CONRAD’S FACE WHEN HIS DAD SAID HE WOULD BE WITH HIM EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. CONRAD SAYING THANK YOU. THE FEELS OF THIS. JESUS.

....oh shit. Daddy’s in the elevator with Tanc. 

DAMN.

“So next time someone saves your life....say thank you.”

Sum-up of my first watch ( which is written as 9-1-1 comes on which I’ve never actually watched ) :

Good episode. I think I might have missed the Gilmore Girls ref. Possibly. I’ll watch it again tomorrow at least once. A little sad we didn’t get much more of the music fest but I get that it wasn’t the focus. It just felt like it WOULD be from the promos. Love the cases. Do want to know a bit more about Tanc/Josh’s final outcome. Is he going to walk again? Mitchell said he was in physical therapy. Time to research things to try and figure out what might have happened because of the Burr Hole crainiostomy. Not sure how I feel about Mitchell taking over and getting rid of the court case. Like.....yay? But also I know Conrad would not like it if he ever found out. But yay for him not getting ruined by this? FEELS.

I also really like Mina working with another doctor for a bit. Voss looks really fun. I also like that there is a leading female surgeon in a department that Mina can learn from. I know we had the other female doctor in Season 1. I want more, please.

Preview/looking at the next episode on IMDB: ....WAIT. IS THAT. OKAY. In the imdb list they have Bradley ( aka skylight falling, med school leaving, Bradley. HE IS COMING BACK!? ) listed as being in the next episode. Steven Reddington is apparently back for at least one episode.  In the following week is the Halloween episode and supposedly we’ll see Nic’s baby sis again.

[shoushatohaisha]

review: hajimari no kyojin (osaka 6/1)

so. hello. i usually write up my butai thoughts as, um, 100+ tweet threads in the immediate wake of whatever i just saw, but this time around i thought i'd work them out into a proper report, of a sort. if you, too, have seen this show already and want to talk about it... please. any time. always.

about reviewing: this is my very favorite 2.5D franchise, ever. but this is also a review, not a cheerleading exercise, so not every single thing i have to say is unrelentingly positive. having said that, i respect kinoshita, wada, suga-zachou, and the staff at large more than just about any creative team in this corner of japanese theater fandom so like. i'm not here to drag, lol.

about spoilers: i talk about the plot elements covered but try to avoid spoiling any of the fun production surprises. :) happy to do a more spoilery play-by-play later if folks are curious.

about length: i just checked and it's 2400 words im so sorry.

without further ado...

first of all, i admit that based on the preview clips i doubted, and i was swiftly taken to task for doubting. IM SORRY WORRY-SAN i trust u implicitly and i should have known better. after the major changes in shinka no natsu, i was concerned that bringing back the revolving stage and the original opening theme would feel stale/regressive. it did not. while they did bring back the revolving element they also extended the stage backward and added a second level behind a full stage height projection screen – the second level was used to do some neat staging for flashbacks/parallels and the screen was used to, how shall we say this, up their projection game in a major way, which i frankly did not think was possible. i will not spoil the details but it was pretty great, on a purely technical level.

i also realized that a lot of the repetition – opening with the bike scene, bringing back the original opening credits music, the staging, etc – is the "look back" over the last couple years that i'd expected to come this fall. they are very obviously already preparing for the end – you could think of this as part one of their last show, with the fall as part two. the show opens with a restaging of sixth grader hinata seeing the little giant on tv for the first time – then the current karasuno team take the place of the tv and hinata joins them for a team jog. "karasuno, fight!" "oh!" "fight!" "oh!" only then each character calls out their signature line from the show so far. "uchi no renchuu wa chanto tsuyoi" / "mou tobenai karasu nante yobasenai" / "murabito b mo tatakaemasu!"

and haha. let me tell you. BOY, DID I FEEL THINGS. a lot of things. i think yachi got me the worst but they were all real bad. (i have so many feelings about yachi's story and what a beautiful job saitou ami did with her character on stage. god. ;_;)

the theme of this play was the role of captain – what makes a good captain, what a captain does for the team, and how to step into those shoes when the captain is gone. the johzenji match is fun, but here, in a sense, it exists more or less to set up the wakutani match – (re)establishing daichi's importance so that his absence feels like the gut punch it is. and fully settling the weight of that responsibility on ennoshita's shoulders, as both daichi's substitute on the court and the captain-in-waiting.

with that in mind, the rival schools: imo it wasn't strictly necessary to cast full teams for each school – each match got its own dedicated act, and unlike, for example, nekoma/datekou in karasuno fukkatsu (which had a similar story structure), there aren't really any individual characters on these rival schools who have a role as such other than terushima and takeru. (you know, the captains. see above. XD) so in theory one could get this done with, like, one actor for each captain and then an ensemble cast playing the rest of the team across both matches. HOWEVER, having all those bodies allows them to do super cool stuff visually, and why force yourself to create the illusion of a full team if you don't have to? i.e., /i/ sure am not complaining, isn't it nice to have $$$ to achieve the max vision of your choreographer. XD

i also have no doubt that the kids playing these other characters are doing whatever they can to create a character within the ensemble, and i suspect there's plenty for repeat viewers to pick up on, esp during say the johzenji match (see below). however for the first time viewer following the main flow of the story it's more or less a very large ensemble cast.

the johzenji chaos was well expressed, haha, there was so damn much going on all the time that i hardly knew where to look. (i've also seen opinions on j-twitter that that diluted the impact and i can see that too – it worked for me as a "funny" match that didn't cross the line into comic relief, but ymmv.) i thought the final scene with misaki would pack more of a punch, but i fully expect them to cry at daisenshuuraku so that might fill in the last 10% that's missing rn.

wakutani are another Good Dance Team. one did get a sense, stylistically, of fukurodani- and nekoma-lite with johzenji and wakunan, respectively – i assume that was intentional. mirroring the cats vs owls match, as it were. yanagihara rin's takeru was like… scary?? i had to rewatch those episodes this weekend to see if i'd just forgotten something, but no, stage takeru is not so much reliable middle brother as scowly quiet tough guy. he looked like a kyoutani tbh, and looking at the kid actually cast for kyoutani, one wonders if someone in casting mixed up some paperwork or something. having said that, yanagihara was great at being the character he was, i enjoyed what he did on stage. i'm just not sure that character was takeru. XD (edit: ok having just rewatched, i have to revise this somewhat, i think a big part of my impression was due to being too far back to properly see his expressions the first time around -- up close he was much smilier, and bc i was thinking about it i noticed some nice details like him going over for a family hug afterward.) otoh big post-match scene – all of wakutani, actually – was really good. v effective, i heard sniffles around me.

during this match, johzenji reappeared dressed as takeru's family: FUCKING HILARIOUS omg, everyone involved has clearly learned how to do this right wrt blocking, the very fine line between comic relief and intrusion, etc, after the, er, shaky shousha to haisha experiment of kuroken doubling as oikawa's fangirls. seichou shita na, errone.

also, some great wire work for hinata and takeru – you could tell kenta is really comfortable up there these days. the first time the wires came into play one of the women behind me went "UWO!" which, when a japanese theatergoer makes a noise out loud, that's a true sign something's impressive. XD

nekoma vs fukurodani: Yeah, That Happened. it is a testament to how well done karasuno vs wakunan was that i didn't just spend the entire time screeching BRING BACK CATS VS OWLS because fjkdajfkdlsfjd KYAA. another good staging moment – they used mirrors to create the effect of two full teams playing at a crowded gymnasium, it was brill. i won't spoil some of the fun details but vvjakdlfjdf. and tbh i think the best performance of the four was probably shouri's?? not that this is news but istg idk how someone so soft offstage does THAT on stage. is it this "acting" thing you speak of.

new bokuaka: i mean it was clear some of this material was meant for yoshimoto kouki and i did kinda miss him – i appreciate higashi-san's pinch hitting and he did a solid job. but. ah well. HAVING SAID THAT. fucking "michi wo tsukurimasu yo" i mean we should all be grateful it wasn't kouki and yuuki or it would have just been a fucking fanfic on stage. it was still bad and i don't even go here. XD

and last but not least, arita ushiwaka kenji: not exactly the world's most natural line delivery but that's fine because, i mean, he's ushiwaka. and his physical presence was perfect. which was about all he was called on to do in this particular show, ahaha.

now, for karasuno. and specifically, for my son, kawahara kazuma. remember what i said approximately a thousand words ago, about captains and captains in waiting and stepping up to the plate? (or onto the court, as it were.) ennoshita's story was the heart of the wakutani match and kazuma carried the second act. he was. so. good. he had good material to work with, of course, but he made it even better. i was saying to a friend that in retrospect i think this is one of the very very few parts of the series that actually played better and more emotionally affecting on stage than in the source material (as opposed to differently good/differently affecting). in the manga/anime, you can only see what the paneling or the frame shows you, and those initial paneling/framing choices are focused on the drama of CAPTAIN DOWN. but on the stage, daichi goes down… and off to the side you see ennoshita freeze. and from that moment on, for kazuma, it's go time. he doesn't let up until the end of post-match scene in (here) the locker room – which, jesus, that scene. it packs ten times the punch it does in the anime. because of kazuma.

sorry if i sound like a crazy person here ahaha. but like. like, imagine you have been acting since childhood, you've studied dance with famous choreographers and innovators, you had a main role in The Franchise That Changed 2.5D as a teenager, you've done a solo album, you have a serious history in performing arts... and you get cast in what was initially the smallest role of the entire karasuno team. and you take it! and pull your weight! kazuma was a team player for three years and he deserved this chance to let his actual skills shine so much. ;_; because i don't necessarily think he would have been better in any of the other roles than his actual teammates – but i do think he is a much better actor than several of his actual teammates. and he finally got the opportunity to show that.

anyway, when it came time for curtain calls, the applause swelled noticeably for kazuma – a louder ovation than anyone except kagechan and kenta. and one of those people clapping her hands off, say in row 20, just a random row choice, was definitely tearing up at the same time.

IN OTHER KARASANEWS. kt-san. LIVE IN PERSON KT-SAN BACK IN THE ROLE HE WAS MEANT FOR cries into my hands i love him daichi-saaaaaaaaaan. very occasionally his delivery reminded me he's a model not an actor, if you know what i mean, but like, for the vast part it didn't matter because he is naturally such a perfect fit. have i mentioned i love him.

new suga: mmmmm. he looked and moved fine but his line delivery did not convince me. tbf it's not like suga has a huge role to play in these matches so 1) it's not a huge deal 2) he didn't get much chance to get into the character. either he'll get better or he won't, and if he doesn't it's not going to sink the next play or anything. he seems like a nice enough kid, i wish him well!

kageyama tatsuya: still can't yell and enunciate at the same time. loved that they brought back the archer analogy from shinka no natsu though!! it was one of my favorite things about his kageyama, and it's nice that it's something he "owns" instead of imitating/inheriting from tatsunari.

tsukishima & yamaguchi: miura kairi continues to get even better, i'm so pleased. <3 also, i love love love that they still use the musical motif from shousha to haisha for yamaguchi's jump float serve. it was the same in shinka no natsu, it's the same here. THE TSUKKIYAMA WAS REAL CUTE, great detail work before and after the serve as well as after tsukki's block(s). as for tsukishima, much as they brought back kageyama's archer imagery, they brought back tsukki's fancy katana kill block. (they didn't waste kondou shouri, either, i'll leave it at that.)

last but not least, MY ACTUAL SON AND FEELINGS TWIN, SUGA KENTA: ok like. to set the scene here. i have mad respect for this kid and also love him to death as a human. i think he puts more thought into this production than anyone else in the cast – he is practically worry-san's AD. and he clearly has a lot of real deep thoughts and feelings about the source material. so deep in fact that it took a while for me to come around to his hinata because while, for example, tatsunari's kageyama could have walked straight off my television screen, kenta went down to the manga and built hinata up from there. he didn't have a choice – he's nothing like murase ayumu's voice. all too often we, and i include myself here, think of the two dimensions in 2.5D as anime, rather than manga... but just as there's a big gap between the two dimensions of animation and the three dimensions of live theater, there's as big a gap again between static black-and-white drawing, and movement and color and sound. and when i looked at kenta's hinata as something created solely from furudate's art style, it all slotted into place for me. (naturally, ymmv.)

it also took kenta longer than some of the others, i think, to portray all of what he wanted to. shoen hinata was pretty yelly, and pretty single-register yelly. hinata is a yelly character, of course, but the balance between that hinata and Serious Match Hinata was out of whack at first. this got better and better with every show. and then—

his encounter with ushiwaka here. was IT. it was what i was looking for all this time. his delivery of hinata's big line there was like – i think maybe i clapped my hands over my mouth, unclear, bc it was like the final missing piece and i was so happy. kentaaaaa. ;____;

part of me wonders if this is what kenta's always had in his head but maybe couldn't get his face/voice to express the way he wanted it? OR, IT'S KENTA, SO MAYBE IT WAS ON PURPOSE and his previous Serious Hinata was meant to be like, just a feral hunger child whereas this is the kid who experienced the heartbreak of losing to seijou. i would love to ask him tbh. XD

anyway, my son, after five plays continues to grow in his portrayal of this character. kenta is the heart of gekidan haikyuu in so many ways, and i will be at their graduation show if it kills me.

(breathes out) i think that's. everything. a best setter award to anyone who read this far, and feel free to ask if there's anything specific you want to know about? i will be seeing it again this weekend for daisenshuuraku and will be sure to report back on who cried, etc. all hail volleyball stage the end. 🏐

[master-sass-blast]

Strong as Stone --Part Twenty-Seven

*crawls out of the week* Oof. I’m tired.

Welcome back to the madhouse! This is your resident goblin speaking, here to update you on some news for Strong as Stone!

First: After taking some time and consideration, I’ve decided that this is the last update where we’ll be seeing Trump. I know that he’s wearing on some of you, and he’s wearing on me too, so this is his last hurrah. After this chapter, there’ll be a mention of his impeachment (necessary for some upcoming plot stuff) and then that’ll be it. (Warning: He goes out with a bang. This is Trump, after all.)

Second: After this update, we’re going to take some time for the some serious F L U F F. After a wonderful little plot powwow with @ginghampearlsnsweettea (idk why Tumblr won’t let me tag you :P), I realized that I was going ham on the political blech and the angst. So, yeah. Fluff break coming up. PREPARE YOURSELVES!!!

Third: I actually need your guys’s help for this bit. I do have kids planned for Okoye and M’Baku in the future, but I don’t know how many to give them. I come from a small family, and I tend to lean on what I know, but I’m curious to know what you guys think is a good number. Tell me what you think in my asks, dms, or my inbox on AO3.

Okay, onto the main stuff:

Last time, we saw hints of HYRDA’s involvement in stealing vibranium from Wakanda. Fortunately for our favorite General, the intrepid Agent Everett Ross is on the case. Unfortunately for him, it looks like his brother --General Thaddeus Ross--is involved somehow.

This time, I experimented with a new style of writing. Instead of having Okoye do all the narrating/having the narrator narrate from her perspective, we’re getting glimpses at what O’Chenga, Ayo, Aneka, and M’Baku have been dealing with during a dinner/hang out with the couples (M’Baku and Okoye and Ayo, Aneka, and O’Chenga).

Rating: M for political blech, Trump being Trump, and strong/misogynistic language.

Pairings: M’Baku x Okoye and Ayo x Aneka x OC.

@the-last-hair-bender, @skysynclair19

As constant as your struggles may seem, make sure you take time to support your friends and hear their frustrations as well.

Many of us often travel the same current in the river and share many of the same struggles. We ought to take care to not forget it.

“This has been a long time overdue.”

“Agreed.” Okoye smiled as she flipped over a few steaks on a large skillet. “I can’t wait to hear everything we’ve missed with the festival work and the missions.”

O’Chenga and M’Baku exchanged a long, exasperated look before M’Baku went back to dicing up several large potatoes and O’Chenga went back to prepping legumes, vegetables, and greens for the main vegetarian dish. “I wish there was something light hearted to report,” O’Chenga started as he chopped up a large eggplant. “Unfortunately...”

<<<

“Nephew. I would speak with you.”

O’Chenga grimaced as he watched Elder F’Tendi sweep into the throne room of the Great Lodge as though he was the Chief and his nephew, M’Baku, were his subordinate. Hanuman, what fuels this man? It can’t be common sense, since he clearly forwent that long ago. “I would advise you to address your Chief with due courtesy, Elder F’Tendi. This is not your throne room you step foot in.”

F’Tendi stopped to eye him coldly, then bowed slowly, mockingly. “My Chief. May I council with you?”

“And what if I say no?” M’Baku asked, cocking his head to the side.

“It would be in your interests to not. I am here to speak with you about Dewani.”

“Escort him out,” M’Baku said without hesitation.

O’Chenga smirked as he watched the guards move in to usher F’Tendi away from his friend. Serves you right.

“I hope you know what kind of company she keeps. There are rumors that she’s been caught associating with the Wild Ones.”

M’Baku lurched forward, snarling through tightly clenched teeth. “I will hear no more of your baseless accusations!”

O’Chenga leaped forward, catching his friend’s shoulder with one hand and motioning to the guards with the other. “Escort him out. Now!”

>>>

Okoye frowned. “Wait. Wild Ones? I don’t think I’ve heard of them before.”

“They are a... dark cult in the Jabari tribe. They worship the demon Ravana, one of Hanuman’s enemies,” M’Baku said with a scowl.

And F’Tendi is trying accuse Dewani of associating them to discredit her before the trial for his abuse starts, Okoye surmised. Wonderful. “Well, at least there can’t be any validity to the claim. Honestly, why would he even try to swing that far?” She froze when M’Baku didn’t immediately affirm her assertions. Bast, no. “Is there validity to his claims?”

M’Baku sucked a breath through his teeth. “It’s... complicated.”

<<<

M’Baku pinched the bridge of his nose. Hanuman, give me patience. “Dewani, you realize how this looks, right?”

His baby sister rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m not an idiot, M’Baku! I know this looks bad.”

As soon as his uncle had left the lodge, he’d immediately taken O’Chenga and tracked down his sister. There might not be laws against homosexuality, but there were laws against associating with the cult of Ravana. M’Baku’s uncle had incredible sway with the traditionalists of the tribe, who were already wary of Dewani because of her liberal views and relationship with Princess Shuri. The last thing his sister needed was a legitimate chink in her armor.

But this? This was arguably worse.

“So, you admit to having ventured into the cult’s territory, and you refuse to tell us why?” O’Chenga repeated, confusion evident in his tone and expression.

“I was visiting a friend,” Dewani said, waving her hand dismissively.

M’Baku groaned and rubbed his temples. Hanuman, give me the strength to not whack my sister upside the back of her thick head. “Dewani, I need you to take this seriously. F’Tendi could legitimately have you banished from the tribe on these grounds alone, and there would be nothing I could do to stop him!”

“Trust me, I am taking this seriously!”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am!”

M’Baku forced himself to take a deep breath. When you agreed to raise her, that meant raising her through everything, including moments like this. Be patient. Seek to understand, not to be understood. “Okay, then I’m not seeing it. Help me understand how you’re taking this seriously.”

Dewani shrugged as she flounced away, evidently done with the conversation. “When the time comes, you’ll see it.”

M’Baku gave into petty temptation and smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead. Hanuman dammit.

>>>

Okoye grimaced as she put the steaks on a plate to rest and covered them with foil to keep them warm. That’s about as disastrous as it gets. “She wouldn’t even give you an answer?”

“No! She refused to reveal anything.”

“Which is highly unlike Dewani,” O’Chenga added as he stirred a mixture of eggplant, legumes, sweet potatoes, leafy greens, and goat’s cheese in a skillet.

Okoye nodded, well aware of the teenager’s reputation for boldness and zeal. “No kidding. Were you able to get any hint as to what she was doing in the cult territory?”

“No.” M’Baku’s mouth twisted into a troubled frown. “I can’t fathom that she was actually worshiping demons; Dewani is a devoted follower of Hanuman, and I think she’d sooner die than tarnish Olufemi’s legacy as a priestess. Unfortunately, I doubt it will matter in the eyes of the traditionalists.”

“She’ll be guilty by association,” Okoye concluded. She sucked a breath through her teeth and placed a comforting kiss on her lover’s shoulder. “Do you want me to try and talk to her?”

“You’re welcome to try, but I doubt you’ll get anything out of her.”

O’Chenga shook his head as he added some minced garlic and sea salt to the vegetable mixture. “You definitely won’t.” He grinned jovially after a moment and nodded his head in M’Baku’s direction. “She’s his sister, after all. Their skulls are the same thickness.”

M’Baku shook his head as everyone else laughed. “My friend, the comedian.”

O’Chenga bowed halfway as he transferred the vegetable mixture into a bowl. “I’m here all night. How’s the lawsuit going?”

Okoye rolled her eyes as Ayo and Aneka groaned. “Well, I wasn’t in the United States when this happened, but I think the incident speaks for the situation quite nicely.”

<<<

“Ayo! Ayo! Get your ass out here!”

Ayo smirked as her girlfriend called for her from the bedroom. She’s so cute when she’s impatient. “Calm your tits.”

“I will not! It’s the President! He’s commenting on Okoye’s lawsuit!”

Ayo practically sprinted out of the bathroom, still wrapped in the towel she’d used to dry off after her shower. “Wait, what?”

Aneka was sitting on the edge of the bed, remote in hand and dressed in her pajamas and a scowl. She was glaring at the image of the man in charge of running the United States on their flat screen TV. “They gave a preview before the commercial break. You’re not going to believe this.”

“Frankly, I think it’s unfathomably unjust of the Wakandans to promote this kind of hatred towards the leader of another country,” Trump said in a recording from a press conference. “I fail to understand how they could’ve blown such a minor misunderstanding so far out of proportion.”

Ayo’s jaw dropped. Minor misunderstanding? I was there! He hit my best friend on the ass! What’s there to misunderstand?

“This kind of behavior is going to be the end of the world. Before you know it, we won’t be able to brush shoulders with women without them crying ‘rape!’ The Wakandans are complicit in the disenfranchisement of men everywhere, and I won’t stand for it!”

“Is this scripted?” Aneka asked, brow furrowing. “He’s using multi-syllabic words, and I can’t fathom that he actually knows any on his own.”

It doesn’t matter, Ayo thought as she watched the pitiful excuse for a man gesture stupidly with his hands. This is a nightmare.

“This lawsuit is nothing but a scam being pushed by a government held down by women, and I’m not going to let them take America down with them!”

Ayo sank down onto the mattress next to her girlfriend. This can’t be real. Someone’s going to stop him.

“I won’t be paying any ‘damages!’ America won’t be paying any damages!”

Aneka gripped onto Ayo’s hand.

Ayo clenched her girlfriend’s hand back just as tightly.

“Instead, Wakanda is going to be paying damages to us! The damages for with-holding vibranium, and the damages for trying to start an anti-male campaign to further their own agendas against the free world! You have my word as the President, I’m not going to let anyone fuck with America!”

Ayo realized Aneka was shaking and put her arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders. “It’s okay.”

“We’re a great country--”

“He’s an idiot; don’t let him get to you.”

--and we’ll always be a great country!”

Ayo grimaced at the sight of a single tear tracing it’s way down Aneka’s cheek. She brushed it away with a kiss, then took the remote out of Aneka’s limp hands and turned the TV off. “That’s enough of that.”

>>>

Okoye grimaced as she took in M’Baku’s and O’Chenga’s shocked expressions. “Before you ask, yes, he really said all of that. I had a meeting with my attorney the very next day to discuss what we’d be doing next.”

“What can you do next, in the face of that?” O’Chenga said in a shell-shocked voice.

“Not much,” Okoye muttered. “You just sort of have to wait for the idiot to hang himself.”

M’Baku’s hand found hers under the table and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Is there anything good that’s come out of the past few weeks?”

“Well--” Aneka paused as she took a sip of water “--there is, actually. It’s kind of a roundabout story, though.”

<<<

“Why do Americans make their coffee so sweet?”

“Well, actually, it’s likely due to the processing most of their foods go through and the melting pot effect of so many merged cultures. Each immigration group had their own way of preparing food and drinks, and when you stack that all together you’re bound to end up with some bastardized versions of bastardized versions of recipes. Plus, sugar and fatty foods were less expensive in America, so most immigrant families would try to replicate the way the wealthy ate back home.” Aneka felt a rush of warmth run from the top of her head to the tips of her toes at the soft smile Ayo favored her with. “What? It’s true.”

Ayo simply shook her head and continued sipping at her coffee. “You’re cute when you’re nerdy.”

Aneka opened her mouth to reply, but was distracted by a flash of gray-blond hair outside the window. “He’s here.” She watched as Agent Ross walked into the shop and up to the counter, then frowned when he kept ordering for nearly a solid minute. “What all is he getting? This is supposed to be a quick meet up.”

Ayo shushed her gently. “You’ll see.”

Agent Ross walked up to their table and sat down with a grimace. “You’ll have to forgive me for being hasty about this, but my brother’s expecting me to meet him in less than twenty minutes.” He set another thumb drive on the table. “I followed up on the leads that Jhanvi sent me. I was able to find the shipment of vibranium you’ve been looking for. Some HYDRA agents captured it after S.H.I.E.L.D. fell.”

“Good,” Aneka said. “Where is it?”

“That’s the sticky part. The shipment’s in my brother’s name. I can’t touch it without him finding out.”

Oh. Not good. Aneka picked up the thumb drive. “So, this is...”

Everett smiled grimly. “I was able to stick a tracking device on the container. Tell Princess Shuri it contains the link up to the device. She’ll know what to do with it.”

“Thank you, Agent Ross,” Ayo said. “We’ll be sure to follow up on the shipment, keep you clear of this.”

“I appreciate it.” He glanced at his watch, then stood with an apologetic wince. “I’m sorry for rushing out, but I really need to go.”

Aneka watched as he walked out, picking up a heavy paper bag of food as he went. “Was he getting food for him and his brother?”

“Doubtful.”

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

The corner of Ayo’s mouth turned up and she nodded out the window. “Watch.”

Aneka watched as Agent Ross crossed the street, then stopped to hand off the bag to a homeless mother and her children. She smiled.

The news about the shipment was less than ideal. It’d be near impossible to slip the vibranium out of General Ross’s hands without him realizing that it was them.

But, with allies as kind and aware of the world around them as Agent Ross, she felt like they had a good shot.

Ayo tapped on the table with her now empty cup. “Come on. We need to get the drive to the Princess.”

>>>

“He sounds like an honorable man,” O’Chenga said as he sat back in his seat.

Okoye nodded in agreement. “He is. He fought the Border tribe with us, helped take down the ships trying to carry weapons out of the country.”

Ayo drained half her beer. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need a vacation. All the missions and bad news has seriously worn me out.”

“I think we’ll get a break soon,” Aneka said brightly. “I can feel something coming. Something good.”

“Well, if you’re trying to give me ideas for tonight--”

Okoye chuckled as she watched Aneka swat at Ayo, but she couldn’t help but feel her best friend’s weariness in equal measure.

The past year had been exhausting. It seemed like they kept moving from one disaster to another without a good break from it all.

Okoye let her head rest on M’Baku’s shoulders as she listened to her friends argue back and forth. Bast, please let an end to all the drama come soon.

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Preview 2

Eyyyy lookie that! Two previews in one day! Nice stuff, nice stuff. Gotta say that I am having fun writing the teens, even if juggling all of them is kinda... intimidating at times. Still, things are going a bit smoother now that they’re in the chapter, so hopefully that trend will continue throughout. Idk. But anyway, here you are:

Still, the young Gem was so engrossed in his work that he barely even noticed the group that had arrived at the lake until one of their number finally managed to literally snap him out of it. “Steven..? Steven!”

“Huh?!” Steven blinked, startled away from the piece he had been digging up as he looked in confusion. Much to his surprise, it wasn’t either of the twins who had gotten his attention, but rather Jenny, who was accompanied by most of the other teens: Wendy, Sour Cream, Buck, Nate, Lee, Tambry, and Thompson. “Oh! Uh, hi, you guys!”

“Yo,” Buck greeted with a cool nod, his hands in his jacket pockets.

“What’s up, dude?” Nate asked with a friendly grin.

“Welcome back to Earth, Steven,” Jenny chuckled jokingly, though the young Gem certainly didn’t take it that way.

“What? Who told you?!” Steven gasped in alarm, gripping his shovel in surprise over the fact that anyone save for the Gems, the twins, Connie, and his father, knew about his most recent extraterrestrial escapades.

“Whoa, calm down, man,” Wendy smirked casually. “You just looked like you were totally spacing out there.”

“Oh… uh… heh, yeah…” the young Gem glanced away rather bashfully. “I guess I was kinda zoning out a bit.”

“So, what’s with the shovel?” Sour Cream asked, curious. “Were you digging for buried treasure or a dead body or something?”

“Um… no?” Steven frowned. “It’s for-”

“Wendy!” Mabel suddenly broke through the conversation as she returned to that section of the shore, dropping all of the tiny shards she had collected upon seeing the group. “Dipper! Wendy and Jenny and Sour Cream and Lee and Nate and Buck and Tambry and Thompson are all here! Woo, that was a mouthful!” she chuckled as she bounded over to the teens. “You guys should really come up with a group name just to make things easier!”

“Oh, I know!” Thompson exclaimed ambitiously. “What if we called ourselves ‘the Super Neat Wonderfully Living Just Totally Bodacious Teens’! I’ve been coming up with that one for forever now! I-it even incorporates the first letter of all our names in it a-and-”

“Boo!” Lee cut in, rolling his eyes as Nate soon playfully joined in on the jeer.

“I’m not feelin’ it,” Buck shook his head. “That’s one too many names for a nickname.”

“Status update: Thompson is the worst at everything,” Tambry reported dully as she tapped away at her phone.

“Aw… sorry, guys…” Thompson sighed in disappointment as he hung his head.

“Hey! Look who finally made it,” Wendy remarked with a wry grin as Dipper finally made his way over, albeit nowhere near as excitable as Mabel had, seeing as how he was still somewhat sulky. “Good to see you’re still alive and kicking after that whole invasion thing. That goes for all three of you guys.”

“W-why wouldn’t we be?” Dipper asked somewhat hesitantly, resisting the urge to take a fretful glance back at the lake at this.

“Uh… cause it was totally intense, duh,” Nate said somewhat dramatically.

“Tell me about it,” Jenny huffed. “My dad was flipping out while we were leaving town. I thought he was gonna have a heart attack or somethin’, until Gunga finally managed to get him to settle down.”

“If you think that’s bad, then you should have seen my dad,” Wendy crossed her arms. “I was completely ready to stay here and bash some alien heads in, but then he got all sentimental on me and convinced me to leave…” The cashier grabbed her arm as she glanced away, admittedly flustered as she recalled the experience, though she still managed to mostly play it cool. “But if he hadn’t, then believe me, I totally would have been here, making those intergalactic creeps wish they’d never messed with our turf.”

“Yeah!” the other teens cheered in support of this bold proclamation, while the kids simply exchanged a rather uneasy glance. Fortunately though, Mabel was the first among them to speak up, her tone as blithe as ever, if not just a little bit shaken.

“So, uh… what brings you guys all the way out here?” she asked, giving the teens a wide, rather forced smile.

“We were just about to go chill in a parking lot and freak out some squares,” Buck began.

“But then we saw you guys wandering around out here and we figured we’d come by and say ‘hey’,” Sour Cream added with a shrug.

“But now that we’re here, you guys should totally come with us!” Jenny exclaimed to the kids with an inviting smile.

“Y-yeah!” Thompson agreed, albeit a bit nervously.

“Totally,” Nate and Lee nodded in unison.

“Meh,” Tambry consented, her attention still consumed with her phone.

“Yeah, you guys,” Wendy said with a daring grin. “It’s gonna be a lot of fun. Way better than hanging around here doing whatever all day.”

“Oh, w-well…” Steven frowned, not really wanting to turn such a kind offer down. “I-I personally don’t have anything against squares. I like all basic shapes.”

“So do I! Circles are my favorite!” Mabel chimed in effervescently. “Oh, but octagons are really cool too! And so are parallelograms! Ooo, you know what, I think that one might be my new favorite since its so much fun to say: parallelogram. Parallel-ogram! Para-”

“Ok, Mabel, we get it,” Dipper cut her off, rolling his eyes in slight annoyance.

“Heh, yeah, that’s what we’re talking about,” Buck said with a small chuckle. “You three got that much-needed counterpart to our cynical world view. You have to come.”

“It’s good energy flow,” Sour Cream nodded just as evenly.

“Sounds like it!” Mabel exclaimed, even if she didn’t really know what that meant. “Let’s go! Those old squares will wish they were parallelograms when we’re through with them!”

[pandabearlikes]

Observations and Predictions about Episode 9

First off, I think we didn’t get a full preview because episode 9 will be a pivotal one.  We did get glimpses due to the screenshots they put in after episode 8, so with those and previous instances in the series in mind, I compiled some predictions and observations.  ^-^ Reminder, everything is just my own thoughts.  Also, spoiler alert, please do not read if you don’t like spoilers.

1. MinHyuk and GookDu will arrive at the same time (or one shortly after the other, MinHyuk first)

2. BongSoon has already fought off most of the men ^^ Notice men down and the two arriving at scene

3. GookDu realizes BongSoon’s strength, MinHyuk is shocked by multiple things (1. Again, perhaps, still a little by BS’s strength xD Like, he knows she’s powerful, but it’s still astonishing to him.  his peanut-sized king kong K.O. hundreds of men ^-^ 2. Mix of emotions, seeing her okay after almost having a heart attack from worrying about her and having to track her down. [lol, gurl hung up on him after telling him her mom got kidnapped] but now realizing his love rival knows about her strength too or 3. Prediction: Some sore loser thug will use a knife against BongSoon and try to attack her from behind) << which is likely, considering both their expressions contain a sense of fear more than surprise/shock  <<EDIT: After teaser 9 trailer and how MinHyuk says, “That’s a relief you didn’t hurt yourself”, I think Bongsoon knocked something during her fight and a foundation of the garage building will fall on her an MinHyuk will cover her and get hurt. Looks like it was a mistranslation and MinHyuk just reveals he’s glad BongSoon didn’t get injured.

Prediction 1: Thug will attack from behind/use knife against BongSoon (maybe that one who lost his teeth, you know how he was trying to use that cane on her and the Thug Boss was like he brought out his “ultimate weapon”, I think that cane has a secret knife at the end or something (?))

Prediction 2: MinHyuk will rush forward, instinctively, and take the stab/attack for BongSoon (hence, why he is hospitalized) [I think director will make GookDu run forward too, but MinHyuk will beat him to it, while GookDu pulls BongSoon out of the way, to safety and/or charges at the attacker.  So they both “save” her, but in different ways, which I think kinda fits their characters.  Like, MinHyuk is the type to use himself as a shield to guard his loved ones [ultimate defense mechanism].  GookDu is more trained as a police and in the sense that he knows if he wants to protect someone, he needs to protect himself and not get hurt and become a burden too.  He also seems like the type to pin down the enemy and make sure he/she is incapacitated so that the people he wants to protect can make their escape [defense and offense mechanism].

Prediction 3: MinHyuk is rushed to hospital, BongSoon is crying in worry.  GookDu is busy observing BongSoon, mixed emotions of fondness for her strength, but utter confusion and thinking, "What in the actual world? We’ve been friends for 15 years and I never knew about your strength?  Like, all those thug reports about you beating them up is real, while I kept denying them and defending you.  Wow, I can’t believe you are that strong and I kept calling you ‘weak’  I am a fool."  BongSoon continues to mope.  Doctors will probably tell BS and GD that MinHyuk is in stable condition.  GookDu, unable to make sense of his emotions or anything, will drag a sobbing BongSoon off to a corner to talk with her.  

In this screenshot, you see a hospital like background and GookDu dragging Bongsoon away.  We know it’s GookDu because of the stripe pattern of his shirt. [feels like director will make his emotions run high and he will scold her like how he normally does >< please don’t though OTL.  Directors, you are seriously wasting talent here, argh. ISTG if they make GD force kiss BS, imma flip the table]  GookDu will confess his feelings during convo.  

Prediction 4: After BongSoon/GookDu chat, whatever the conclusion will be, BongSoon goes to check on MinHyuk, who is already awake and deep in thought.  During his time alone, he too, has been replaying the series of events in his head over and over again.  

He comes to full realization that, BongSoon is indeed the girl in the pink hoodie who saved him from the bus accident, 8 years ago.  She is his muse and the reason he has been staying strong all these years through countless struggles.  She is the reason he started to believe in miracles again.  She is the reason why he stopped living a reckless life, including stopped serial dating.  Everything has come a full circle but now, everything seems like a dream.  BongSoon enters the room and displays tender care for him.  In fact, she has known, since that time they rode on the bus, that MinHyuk’s savior was herself. 

Prediction 5: MinHyuk will confess his feelings.  BongSoon is a confused potato because now she has two guys who one after another, confessed their feelings…worse part, she has/had feelings for both. She won’t reply to either/asks for time to sort out her feelings.  One, for GookDu, she’s waited 15 years to hear his words.  Two, she’s confused and rattled by her own indecisiveness because she thought after waiting for so long and getting the result she could only ever dream of, would make her hop around in rainbows and sparkles, but instead, she’s burdened and almost opposed to this idea because she had just started to let go of her affections for GookDu.  Also, now, we have MinHyuk’s confession, which she may be just as burdened because of timing, because of all the realizations and seemingly fairytale full circle of fate that just seems too surreal to be true.  She knows she’s developing feelings for him, but she can’t get herself to admit it out of fear that she’s inadequate or that if they are together, she’ll continue to hurt him or get him hurt [think about it, she kept saying she will protect him, but instead, he keeps protecting her and getting himself injured].

Prediction 6: Two possible reactions from BongSoon’s mom: 1. Either she will scold BS and tell her how dumb and useless she is to fall for voice phishing and reprimand her for not protecting MinHyuk.  BS may burst out at her mom again and reveal to her that she’s hurt too.  Her heart hurts so much seeing people hurt on her behalf/ due to her inability to use her power at significant times or 2. BongSoon’s mom is ready to scold, out of habit, but sees BS’s breakdown/hurting and self-blame and instead, takes off her own bullying mask/strong-front, to console her daughter.  There is a level of understanding only women of the Do family can provide one another, after all.  [Hoping for #2]  

Prediction 7: MinHyuk will start to back away from BongSoon, because he also wants to sort out feelings.  Yes, he loves the girl who saved him eight years ago, who he believes is the angel his mom sent to protect him, but he also wants BongSoon (and himself) to know, that, that’s not the sole reason for his love.  He was smitten by BS even before he realized she was his savior.  On the other hand, GookDu, who has been oblivious about everything for the whole series (and like 15 dayum years prior to that), finally, starts to make his move and tries to take that step closer to BongSoon.  [Timing, though, hun, everything in life is about timing.  You snooze, you lose.]

Prediction 8: This may not happen in next episode, but I do see the director possibly trying to make a connection between the kidnapper and the main leads.  IDK, what it is, but I get a hunch that MinHyuk [and BongSoon] is connected to the kidnapper more than they think.  Like, it’s too many hints and coincidences in a drama to just brush it off.  I mentioned it in a previous post when I first started watching the series, I thought the directors were trying to hint that MinHyuk was the kidnapper haha.  [Ex. His dislike of police officers, his attachment to hiding in secluded areas {hiding in closet and building a secret safe haven dungeon within his closet vs kidnapper’s attachment to imprisoning the girls}, their one-meal philosophy, MinHyuk’s fascination with the kidnapper’s wit, MinHyuk even stating, “When I was younger, I wanted to be the culprit”.  Also, remember how BongSoon and his brother almost got kidnapped when they were younger.  Something tells me, these events are somehow connected (?)  Like, I mean it could just be a theme the director keeps throwing out too.  But, maybe there will be some backstory where when MinHyuk was younger he got kidnapped or saw someone (maybe BS and brother) get kidnapped and he tried to call the cops for help but they brushed him off…that’s why he hates cops so much.  [Well, that and how his gangster father got chummy with the cops and law enforcements so he thinks all are dumb and corrupt].  If the former prediction is true, the guy who keeps kidnapping the girls may also have been kidnapped when he was young, and MinHyuk and him were imprisoned together and crossed paths, and that’s how they share a similar trauma.

Observation 1: By the way, there was a mention of kidnapper being really bad with knives, that’s why he accidentally killed the first girl he wanted to kidnap.  I think there’s a connection to how BongSoon’s mom had fortune read by the monk about how one with strength, can’t beat one with knife.  Is this a foreshadow of BongSoon trying to catch kidnapper…and possibly coming into some type of danger?

Observation 2: Love the whole symbolism with the pink hoodie. It’s the thing that helps MinHyuk recognize his savior but more importantly, it’s the thing that pushes BongSoon to find pride in her strength, because it is, in fact, a STRENGTH, not a flaw or weakness or something to be hidden.  The pink hoodie is something her grandmother gave her to remind her to be proud of her power.  For generations, women of the Do Family, have treated their powers as something special but should be suppressed.  Especially, after BongSoon’s mom messes up and used her power selfishly, she loses it completely.  Her actions were viewed as a disgrace and her own self-shame leads her to constantly and unfairly reprimand and “control” BongSoon.  In fact, the mom just doesn’t want BongSoon to be pegged as a disgrace, like her, but because of this, she has drilled into BongSoon’s mind that her strength is a curse and she must suppress and hide it.  When BongSoon wears the hoodie to stop the bus, it’s the first time she realizes her strength can help people - though, at that time, she brushes it off like it’s not big deal.  But it is a big deal!  She saved so many lives, including MinHyuk’s.  MinHyuk’s gratefulness, admiration, and constant encouragement throughout the series was able to make BongSoon finally accept that her power is god-given and a BLESSING not a curse!!!!!!  That is why she brought her hoodie out again (T^T)

Random Observation 1: BongSoon’s mother keeps telling BongSoon to not bully people with her strength.  She especially gets angry when she hears rumors of her bullying students into giving her lunch money.  Again, this is a self-shame thing.  Her mom is afraid BongSoon will make the same mistake she has in the past.  She links that bullying students for lunch money thing as the reason why she, herself, was punished and lost her power.  During the scene with the granny, mom, and BongSoon, they even contemplate whether BongSoon’s mom will ever get her powers back.  To be honest, BongSoon Omma, you ain’t gonna get your powers back if you abuse your family and beat up your husband.  It has nothing to do with the lunch money incident (or maybe that was the ONE incident that got her punished for misusing her power) but she hasn’t gotten it back because she still has the tendency to bully others, whether verbally or physically, due to her own insecurity.  I think, though, in the end of the series, due to BongSoon’s example of using her strength as a positive attribute to help others, not to hurt others, her mom will learn to cherish her family too, and that’s when God will grant her, her powers back ^-^

Random Observation 2: MinHyuk’s worry for BongSoon’s safety should not be misinterpreted as him thinking she is weak.  He’s protectiveness is a source of reflexive, unconditional love, and understanding.  He knows she is strong but not invincible, especially against weaponry.  Also, he knows she is impulsive but compassionate and gullible.  

Anyways, can’t wait for next episode!! ^-^ Message me and spaz with me!  I love this drama so much.

Share with me what you think??