#I'm sort of expecting to overall like it but not be terribly obsessed with it

[snowstories]

I can't wait to see your opinions on Twilight Princess tbh /genuine

I can't wait to see MY opinions on Twilight Princess tbh

[aihoshiino]

chapter 161 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 18

Aqua Hoshigan Status: For the future

Never has an OnK chapter gone from It's Hoshinover to We Are Oshi no Back quite as hard and fast as this one. I have issues with this chapter in terms of what it implies about the story's overall structure and the fact that it sort of ruins 153-4 by association but this chapter's back half is so fucking good and the chapter itself works so well in isolation that much like 153-4, I kind of uhhh don't care about the structural issues because the story's heart is, for the most part, not just intact but beating harder and more passionately than it has in a long time.

To get what I don't like out of the way, the story seems to have settled on Super Evil Serial Killer Mastermind Kamiki as his final form characterization with some helpful Tsukuyomi exposition to just straightforwardly Tell Us things the manga probably should have spent some of the last 70something chapters Showing Us about Hikaru. The basic idea of Hikaru being some sort of serial killer so dedicated to upholding Ai's legacy that he kills women with the potential to surpass her was more or less always where I expected his character to land and this settling of his character does at least preserve what I think is the most important thing: that he genuinely loved Ai and his bent towards villainy only came after her death.

What I don't love as much is that this chapter seems to continue leaning into Uber God Manipulator Mastermind Kamiki like last chapter. I already talked at length about my issues with this framing in my previous chapter review so all I'll reiterate here is that the story's attempt to frame Hikaru as being equally or even more culpable for the actions of Nino and Ryosuke fall entirely flat to me, especially when the manga itself does such a pisspoor job of actually explaining how or why Kamiki was able to control and/or predict their actions to the extent that he supposedly did. And ESPECIALLY especially given that Nino and Ryosuke seem to have already been dangerously obsessed with Ai by the time they approached him.

In general, Hikaru's character is honestly just so inconsistent at this point that making any sense of his actions feels fruitless. If I really dig into what's going on, I can infer that maybe he fell into the same trap as Aqua by overcompensating for his trauma-induced helplessness by becoming overly controlling and guess that his fucked up trauma response to Ai's death combined with those terrible words Kindaichi gave him at Airi's funeral lead him down he road he's traveling now. I can even extrapolate that Aqua showing him the DVD message in 153-4 pushed Hikaru to this extreme and now that he has nothing to lose, he's lashing out at his children too - though, it should be noted, that the manga still hasn't actually established what Hikaru's culpability is in Nino's attempt on Ruby's life, outside of Aqua saying "well you didn't use your psychic powers to perfectly predict nino's actions so it's on you".

But like - this is all stuff I'm having to infer and extrapolate and guess, reverse engineering logic from our end point in an attempt to create a stable foundation for this characterization. The manga has done such a poor job of properly establishing Hikaru both as an antagonistic force and as a consistent character that I feel like I'm trying to assemble a coherent image from two different puzzle sets with all the fucking corner pieces missing and that's with Crow Girl looking into the camera and Explaining Him to me.

And listen, I am a bitch who LOVES to infer things. One of my absolute favourite pieces of fiction of all time ever is Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, a mystery story that literally does not contain any straightforwardly explicit, textual confirmation of the culprit's identity or motives because it believes so strongly that you, the reader, are smart enough and empathetic enough to put in the time and effort necessary to understand it regardless and it deeply, deeply values being able to give you that experience. But OnK feels less like it's intentionally encouraging me to think hard and enjoy the process of putting my head and my heart to work - it feels like it's leaving its homework unfinished and letting the reader do the actual hard work of sewing up the internal logic.

I probably won't talk much more about Kamiki this chapter cos I'd just be saying all this shit over and over but I really just am struggling to understand from a perspective of authorial intent what the vibe is even supposed to be. Like I mentioned in a previous ask, if this is where Kamiki's arc is reaching its conclusion then it means that the Movie Arc was essentially a whole-ass waste of time in and out of universe. Blech. Hate that.

Also, before I move on, I don't want to leave this just implied - making Kamiki explicitly a CSA victim and then ending his arc on Aqua (and implicitly the narrative) dismissing him as being too broken/corrupted to be saved is a really major misstep that I think represents a huge black mark on OnK's handling of CSA as a topic. The idea of an eternal defilement or an unfixable core wrongness in the self is already something real life CSA victims struggle with in the process of unpacking their trauma and having our likable and supposedly morally superior protagonist espouse this unchallenged in a work as prominent and relevant as Oshi no Ko is irresponsible bordering on dangerous. It's incredibly disappointing that after all the care Aka and Mengo seemingly took in handling this topic that it was whiffed so badly at the last second.

ANYWAY!!! Now all the beef's been dealt with, we can cleanse our palettes and move onto everything else I liked which was… basically everything else in this chapter!

Admittedly, Aqua's overall arc is still suffering from us being kicked out of his head from like 123 onwards for no real apparent reason and while 150 was a welcome refresher on where he's at in this part of the story, it still feels a bit like the story is prioritizing preserving the surprise factor of its twists over making these surprises feel earned. Compare it to volume 1 - you are basically told exactly what is going to happen to Ai, especially in the manga when Saitou and Gotanda outright say as much - but her death is still incredibly impactful and upsetting. I think this chapter is very effective, but could've been a lot moreso if we'd spent more time in Aqua's head leading up to it.

THAT SAID… If the intention of keeping us out of his head was to recontextualize Aqua's behaviour across the past ten or so chapters in this new light, I don't hate it as much as I might have. I initially took issue with what felt like the story off-screening and not addressing the resolution to Aqua's suicidal ideation so whipping back around to prove that it was still very much present puts some particular Aqua moments over this past volume into a very different light. As some people pointed out, Aqua missing Kana's pitch - literally dropping the ball in responding to her feelings - and his wide-eyed look of alarm in 151 seemed very ominous omens for the success of her confession and that beat of him covering his face when Kana approves of his dream… very incheresting knowing Aqua was still struggling with 'love or revenge' at this point.

Most interesting of all to reconsider is Aqua breaking down in tears in Miyako's arms in 155 when she addresses him as her son for the first time. At the time it read like catharsis but now I can't help but wonder if this was Aqua grieving for something he desperately wants but thinks is out of his reach.

i do have to say though. i get the general vibe of this plan and think it works fine as the apex of aqua's self-sacrificial protectiveness for the people he loves but how is being the daughter of a serial killer somehow any less scandalous for her career than being the sister of someone who killed one dude. does aqua think they just won't notice that kamiki happens to be their biodad or something. wasn't that the whole point of the movie. goofy ass plan.

What really saves this whole scenario is the emotions at play, though. This really does feel like Aqua at his most Aqua in a really long while and this chapter has so much love and respect for his life as Aqua and the bonds he has formed as a result. The dreams Aqua lays out are so agonizingly simple, too - he wants to pursue the career he finds rewarding. He wants to date the girl he likes. He wants to accept Miyako as his mom and Himekawa as his brother and to make things right with Akane after hurting and using her. He wants to see Ruby achieve her dream and be there to support her when she does.

But Aqua's always considered his dreams impossible, hasn't he?

I fully admit; I got spoiled with the full page spread of Aqua stabbing himself way in advance of the chapter and initially hated it as a twist. But with the full chapter as context and the sheer weight of Aqua's longing to just fucking live and find joy, it's not just effective but absolutely gutwrenching. It is the synthesis of Aqua's series-long battle to choose love or revenge and it resonates perfectly because it has never been one or the other for him - Aqua's revenge has always been rooted in the fact that he loves others so wholly and completely and hates himself so utterly that he thinks sacrificing himself to preserve their futures is the only path for him to take. It's the culmination and final release of the suicidal ideation Aqua has been dealing with since he was four years old and like Ai's tragedy before him, there's a horrible sense that maybe there really was no other way this could've gone.

Aqua being the character who actually takes the knife also firmly cements him as Ai's narrative echo in the text which has me barkin and howlin because it's what I've been saying all this time. Not just that, but so many of Aqua's expressions in this chapter pointedly and deliberately echo Ai's after she was stabbed. Not just that, but Aqua's achingly simple dreams echo Ai's own heartrendingly simple regrets - all the two of them ever wanted was to be happy with the people they love.

This also reframes the story's prior establishment of Ruby as paralleling Ai and seems to place the twins in the position of echoing not Ai in her entirety but Ruby as 'Ai of B-Komachi' and Aqua as 'Ai Hoshino'. This was actually something I outlined in one of my very first meta posts on the series, but I think making it more specific to 'Ruby as Ai the idol' and 'Aqua as Ai the human', this actually gives Ruby's arc in relation to Ai a bit of breathing room. Don't get me wrong, everything I've said about her post-BH writing being underbaked and inconsistent is still the case, especially when it comes to how confused the story is on whether Ruby is her own idol or New And Improved Ai 2.0 but giving it less ground to cover helps in terms of her writing no longer being spread quite as thin.

Speaking of Ruby, that beat of her seeming to react or sense something is up the moment Aqua takes the stab. 'Something happened to my loved one far away and I just Feel It' is a trope I'm always a sucker for and I really dig it here.

"The public don't care about the truth, so let's tell them a lie" is such a crazy hard sentiment to go out on too. Holy fuck.

There go our boys…!!! Quite a few people predicted they might go over the edge when Aqua showed up in his Mephisto fit (Mefitsto) and I'm interested to see if we get any parallels to the ED's imagery in the next few chapters. Overall, though, I'm really excited for where things are going - I don't think Aqua will die, but I do have some theories about what might happen. I can't think of a more traditional misogi purification experience than the middle of the ocean in late December, after all…

No break next week! Woohoo! While the delay of episode 12 means we won't be getting them on the same day, that is the same week S2 of the anime will be concluding and Aka does like lining up his bombshells with the anime. So who knows what we'll see.

seriously tho aqua. everyone already knows kamiki is you and ruby's biodad. HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER THAN HER BEING THE DAUGHTER OF A SERIAL KILLER AS IT ALREADY STANDS

[1d1195]

Hi Sam!! I feel like it’s been FOREVER since I’ve talked to you even though I think it’s been just a couple of days 😭 I’ll explain in another ask bc it’s gonna be another long ramble lol btw I don’t feel any pressure responding back so don’t worry! I WANT to chat always!

ANYWAYS so I have just finished reading part two and three of honey and bestie IM OBSESSED!!! FOAMING AT THE MOUTH FOR CEORRY!! I need him badly like idc when will it be me?!? Anyways LOVED seeing jealous Harry it’s so hilarious when it’s with Niall like I love their banter! But ngl I love seeing Harry spiral over another guy 🤭 but also fuck the guy the MC went on a date with bc that’s so not cool!!! Also the MC is just so perfect like she so good with Cece my heart hurts from how cute it is! Now that little dream that Harry had was WILD and I didn’t expect that lol AHH loved part two!

Now part three omg! The drama of it all omg! LOVED IT! The fact that they ended in the hospital and the way Harry talked to her… she’s braver than me bc I would absolutely start crying! And then I would just be so angry bc I’m stubborn and will simply not let a man talk to me like that 😁 BUT this is ceorry so he gets a pass bc i need him badly🙄 plus I would be terrified if my child was in that position! But omg don’t get me started on her catching him basically looking so lovesick and gone for her 😭 Anyways ugh omg she’s just so perfect omg and I kinda loved that Harry was missing her a bit when she was away! And bestie you know loved that Harry had to suffer a bit hearing Niall’s convo her her🤭

Ahhh LOVED PART THREE! Also so loving this slow burn effect on this story, I’m obsessed! You’re so amazing!

Btw can’t believe I missed two polls for honey😭 bestie my vote would have been for a cliffhanger bc I love the suspense!!

The way academic rivals MC will be grumpy… IM GONNA EAT IT UP!! And I’m so excited to see exactly what you’ve been hinting at for future stories!

Grocery shopping is a personal hell sometimes lol I guess the best way to describe it is that it can get a bit overwhelming/overstimulating depending on how crowded and the overall vibe of the store I’m in. Some days I can handle it better than others lol I’m sure everyone was so over being stuck inside during Covid so I don’t blame lol I actually prefer doing dishes but I do agree baking is definitely preferred than cooking!

I never was classified as “gifted” through exams bc I literally have terrible test anxiety that I don’t do well lol BUT I was definitely always considered a higher performing student even though test like that didn’t technically show it. And bestie you’re so smart like you don’t even know!!!(Also I have beef with standardized test like that but tbh that’s a whole other topic lol) but knowing how much of a hard worker you are it makes sense that you’re sadly going through some sort of burn out. I’ve realized it happens more often and sometimes it’s really hard to get out of. Lowkey I’ve been so burned out since I was like 18 ish and have been just trying to barely function lol. So I can totally get how frustrating all of this may feel!

I can assure you that people do care about what you write! And I’m being honest when I say if you ever choose to publish whether it be through self publishing or traditional, you absolutely have the potential to succeed in that! Bestie I swear the stories that you put out already exceed works that are already published! And you’ve mentioned how you want to indulge in longer stories(I support it!) so I feel like if you find a story line you like or even revamping a current one you’ll be amazing! I know engagement is so weird rn bc the culture has kinda changed. As well as how some people view writers and stuff which sucks. But you are so loved and so are your stories! But always do what’s best honestly!

Alsoooo hope your first week back teaching went amazing! You know that I’m sending you love!!!-💜

OH MA'AM I'm ALWAYS going to answer all your asks no matter the length! I was thinking our communication was a little delayed! No worries at all (I'll address why and such in the other ask too!)

FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. Same. I think Niall's harmless towards Harry (in all my stories) it's why I enjoy it so much. I know you weren't a huge 1D fan but there's this clip of an interview or something when they're in a car and basically Niall's like "Ireland is the best city in the world" and Harry goes "No." and then looks out the window wistfully. 😭 So I've just been riding that banter for my whole life it seems. I love an overprotective man 😍 one of my favorite tropes. "Touch her and die" = me swooning. YES. Idk I thought the dream was cute hehehe

I WOULD HAVE SOBBED. My alternate timeline for this story would be that one scene and she just has a full blown sob-fest and begs Harry to keep her job and then he feels like an ASS and probably asks her to marry him right there (and then Honey is done half way through part 3) HAHAHAHA He's so lovesick, so gone. He's fucked. I love making Harry suffer 😈 I'm glad you like the slow burn 💕 and that's good to know about your votes regardless. I didn't mean to do the second one, but I thought it was worth asking! I know you don't mind the suspense!

YES I do LOVE a grumpy male lead, but as a stubborn female STEM student, I think she has WAY more cause to be grumpy than him. I haven't hinted at many of the future ones, but def one of them. Probs been like six months though. Hopefully it'll make sense when it comes around hehehe

NO grocery shopping is absolutely overwhelming. I'm just INSANE. In New England we have Market Basket and if you haven't been there good for you. Best grocery prices in the world but there are SO many people there all the time and someone is ALWAYS in my way. Doesn't matter what time of day. If I didn't want to save $ i wouldn't go.

Test anxiety is the worst! I watch so many of my students struggle with it. I got nervous over some tests but I was fortunate that I didn't get too overwhelmed (shocking, tbh, something had to give I guess). I'm always trying to think of strategies to help my students with it. I also did a whole research proposal on math/test anxiety in grad school. The "experts" recommend journaling before an exam (but you gotta be kind to yourself and manifest that you'll do well) which was NOT for me because I was like "I'm confident" i'm not going to do well. My AP Bio tests?! Holy cow. DAMN. Those were a bitch.

Not to sound like 100 years old, but when I was in college I remember by the time I was in grad school I was like "holy shit this is endless" I was exhausted. No reading, no writing. Nothing. It was just endless school assignments and work. BUT now I have TIME to do things I like so I actually think my burn out is entirely 'better' than the one I had in college. Not sure if that's hopeful for you or not.

You are the best and sweetest 💕

Work was good! I'm cautiously optimistic at the moment but trying not to jinx it nor get my expectations too high.

Lots of love for you too 💕

xoxo

[spacexseven]

lucid

okay but silver is seriously sooooo <3333 i think he might be my fav from twst heheh

tw: silver is obsessed, implied stalking, just...a creepy vibe overall

- silver just can't get you out of his head -

initially, silver only had these vivid fantasies when he was fast asleep - which was already very often, considering his uncontrollable tendency to doze off in any situation - but recently, he's begun drifting off into his impressively detailed dreams even when he was sure he was awake.

his eyes were still open and he wasn't sleeping - but his mind was far away. so far away, in fact, he even messed up a remarkably simple potion and caused a huge mess in class, causing lilia to finally talk to him about his strange behavior.

"i'm alright," silver had replied, a little peeved that he had done something so stupid, "nothing's bothering me,"

"if you insist," lilia had persisted for a long time before finally giving up, glancing back with a still-curious look in his eye, "but if there's anything at all that's troubling you, you know you can always talk to me, right?"

"sure, old man, but there's really nothing. i just...got distracted." he huffed before turning away.

there was no way silver could ever tell lilia about his troubles. how could he explain the terrible position he was in? how could he, as a diligent knight-in-training let his mind drift away from his primary duty? especially when it was in favor of someone who was, frankly, unimportant, especially compared to the people he was surrounded with. compared to malleus and lilia, you were just...another regular human. someone he could meet at any time and at any place. there was nothing so exceptional about you as a student, but ordinary as you were, you managed to secure a spot in the center of his mind, and you dominated his thoughts.

not just in real life, and not just in dreams, but now, you even managed to influence him to have daydreams of you? it seemed he could never escape your infatuating presence. everywhere he looked, he could see you, whether in his imagination, where you were holding his hand - or in reality, where you were laughing with your friends, it was like torture to never be able to escape you.

he was convinced it had to be a spell of some sorts, perhaps, this was someone's cruel way of exacting revenge on him, but what for? somehow, he was sure you had no involvement in this bewitchment, but someone had to take responsibility, and if all those potions he tried weren't cutting it, there was only one solution he could think of.

making his dreams a reality.

if he could experience your soft words and gentle touch in real life, there would be no need for it to haunt his mind, right? all he had to do was get closer to you, and from your friendly nature, he was sure it couldn't be too hard.

"if i keep messing up like this," he thought to himself, "it will reflect badly on malleus. this is the only way - i must rid of my condition."

he was prepared to introduce himself to you, inform you that the two of you shared some classes together and that he was from the diasomnia dorm but-

"oh, hey, silver! what's up?" you're smiling at him, like you've always known him, like the two of you were friends.

"you...know me?" he blinks, still processing your reaction.

"huh? of course!" you're still smiling widely as you speak, "we have potions together, don't we? and i know you're in the equestrian club 'cause when i came to check it out once before, you were there."

"oh...i thought...i didn't think you'd notice."

"yeah, well, i noticed you tend to fall asleep pretty much everywhere as well. i don't mean to overstep, however, i'm sure that can't be safe, you know, but i recall once i saw you asleep outside and there were all these little birds were sitting near you. it was really so cute!"

silver felt his face burn. did you just...call him cute? him, a knight in training, was cute?! as much as he wasn't expecting those words from you, he couldn't deny the pleasant fluttering in his heart, and the warm flush in his face when he heard what you said.

"anyways, i wanted to ask you if...you wanted to study together today?" he finally forced the question out, anxiously waiting for your response. for a moment, you looked pleasantly surprised, but before he can blink, it's gone and the usual grin is on your face again.

"you want to study with me? really? i'm busy today but maybe tomorrow? if you're free, of course."

"busy...?" he echoes, clueless. you had seemed excited to talk to him, though? was there...something more important?

"[nickname]!" an excited cheer comes from behind you. a hand is placed on your shoulder and you turn back to greet the person with an equally elevated response. silver recognizes the voice, the person - cater - lilia was in a club with him, if he remembered correctly. but now, the only thing he could think of was how irritating he was, intruding on their conversation so rudely.

"are you ready to go now?" cater asks you, and silver feels even more vexed at how he was blatantly ignoring him, and ruining his opportunity to talk to you.

"hold on, cater," you turn to him, your eyes gleaming as you pass silver your phone, "why don't you put in your number? i'll let you know when i'm free to study."

silver's hands tremble as he keys in the number, watching out of the corner of his eye at how disgustingly close cater was to you, touching you and whispering into your ears with a suspicious sparkle in his eyes. he wasn't sure why, but it infuriated him to no end.

"thanks," you wave at him, "i'll see you tomorrow!" and then, you're gone, walking down the hallway with cater by your side, the both of you laughing.

silver likes the way your fingers brushed against his.

it was better than he ever imagined.

it got worse. his dreams, his mind was brimming with thoughts of you. when you smiled at him as you entered the room, when you waved at him from across the hallway, when you texted him about your day, when you were sitting across him during your breaks. even when he was sleeping, he had dreams of you and him - holding his hand, letting him rest his head on your shoulder, kissing him - it was almost torturous how he couldn't stop thinking of you.

unsurprisingly, lilia noticed, and surprisingly, he found great joy in the fact that silver liked you. he was actively encouraging silver to talk to you more, or sit with you, ask if you'd like to join the equestrian club or something of the sort - anything to spend more time together! - he had said. silver already had you added on a game the two of you played, he followed your social media profiles and even had your schedule memorized (not that you were aware of the last one). it had become a thing for the two of you to hang out at mostro lounge once a week after classes, just talking and studying together.

he really enjoyed your company. you had a nice voice, and when you were excited and rambling, he found it cute - for once, he didn't even doze off as usual. he felt more alert than ever with you, desperate to note down any little thing you said. when you were a little more laidback and relaxed, he found your voice soothing. it was a mellifluous, warm sound.

once, you had told him you thought his name was very nice, and that had sent silver blushing and unable to meet your eyes for a while. once he was back, he informed lilia of your compliment, face flushed and eyes wide, and lilia was over the moon, claiming he was ready to have you two married.

silver viewed you as someone very important to him, but he knew you didn't feel the same, or at least, not to the same degree as his appreciation of you. for you, cater always came in first. it was true that silver cared for others, like lilia and malleus, but lilia himself had told him that he should prioritize you and your meet-ups if he wants to get closer to you, and while silver did just that, you would often reject him in favor of cater.

sorry, silver, but cater and i have plans. maybe some other day?

i won't be able to make it today...cater needs help studying for an impt test tmrw :((

that sounds nice, but every saturday cater and i hang out...does friday work for you?

it was getting on his nerves the number of times you had canceled or postponed something because of cater needed you for. he knew you didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but cater was taking up too much of your time and attention - he couldn't let it continue. he felt something inside him shatter every time he was put second by you.

he had lamented to lilia about your unfair treatment, to which the other had immediately reassured him.

"don't worry about it! i'll take care of it. just wait and see what happens."

"okay but...don't do anything too drastic?" silver was doubtful about lilia's definition of 'taking care' of cater, but ultimately he decided to leave him to do as he wished.

and now, with you seated next to him as the mostro lounge had conveniently rearranged all their two-person seating to be side-by-side for some unknown reason, complaining about how cater never had time to hang out anymore, and couldn't even spare the time to help you study, only replying to you hours later with something brief and unfriendly, silver had a sneaking suspicion that his old man had something to do with cater being too busy. while he listened to you and offered to help you out, reminding you that you were always welcome in his dorm, he had to hold back the large smile threatening to burst out as you frowned, wondering why your friend was suddenly so cold.

silver still dreams of you, of course, but once the two of you progress into a relationship closer to the one he wishes he can have with you, he's sure these dreams will stop. with lilia's support, he knows it's only a matter of time before everything works out.

i underestimated how much work id get from class and i screwed up so many tests and hw already :( im just so tired and unmotivated but i felt like writing for silver so... i like writing for silver maybe ill do some more twst later &lt;3

[tsukiyadori]

Feelings are not something you can analyze into data. - Of course you can. But can you own up to it? (...) You have a heart. You're not heartless. (Pang and Wave in The Gifted Graduation, episode 5)

Well guess what. For all the things that Season 1 did well and right and Season 2 failed to replicate, this part definitely isn't one of them.

After Namtaan's bad take on that subject in the first season, they actually come back to that and prove that they can do it right after all. And I really like this part about analyzing, too. That dismissive attitude that feelings (and especially love by extension) could ever possibly be quantified by anything but the oh so great feels has always been one that rubbed me the wrong way. (So what, just because one hasn't had the feels one can't have genuine talks about the concepts of it?)

Other than that I'm just amused what they did with Namtaan. She never got called out on that bad take in the first season, but at least Wave gives her some major stink for being so casually shallow in general and explicitly not befriending her over it. And then season 2 literally goes and unceremoniously writes her out of the active plot? That's more "punishment" that I was ever expecting. 😂

And how the Big Bad Villain of the show wound up being was also surprising, especially after that bad take. He's every bit this inhuman, heartless being who couldn't care less about other people. But he's had a one-sided crush and years of pining that's still ongoing and remains unrequited. Not only does the series dodge the ball of making that bit the cheap reason to explain him being such a megalomaniac (there is this old worn out pattern about how jealousy makes a character jaded and inhuman and that tends to be framed as humanizing, because atrocities committed out of love gone wrong is somehow always less terrible compared to when they are just being atrocities), no, they establish him as having been always this heartless and calculating monster since before. What's more, even him falling in love did absolutely nothing to humanize him in any way. And it's also not portrayed as the predatory sex-craving-only sort of wanting to possess his woman where everyone could and would just say it was abusive obsession rather than actually falling in love. He definitely went out of his way, some risks included, to save her life and get her out of danger. Didn't use his powers on her to force her to simply fall in love with him. It actually even looks like he's been treating her fairly well. But in the grand scheme of things, his being in love did completely nothing whatsoever to change his essentially heartless despotic nature.

As much as it would have certainly benefited the overall plot better, if he actually was a morally gray product of the circumstances and compromises his life and time era forced him to have... That sort of to the bitter end villainous unemphatic villain despite the capacity of romantic love actually is quite pretty very rare?

(The way they went about placing that plot twist just via one major flashback info dump out of nowhere is still narratively lame as hell, tho.)

[the-twewy-sequel]

TWEWY: The Animation - Episode 3 Review

Like a bolt from the blue, it’s time for the TWEWY Anime Review!

This is super late, but I've legit been busy, sorry on the off chance anyone was looking forward to this. I will try harder for future reviews T_T.

For me, this episode sort of solidified that the show is indeed its own thing and is not one of those "very-close-to-the-original" type adaptations. We've had evidence of this throughout, but this is basically where I go, this could end up having different events entirely and not just a different detailing of it or chronology, which I think is important for understanding the show and trying to enjoy it: expecting it to be something it won't will just end up in disappointment, after all.

At the same time, while it's fine to be original, I do think it should still be good, and I won't hesitate to point out when I think the dialog or execution feel lacking in general.

With that out of the way, the end-game to Shiki's week continues, and we find out that these two characters we've seen milling about have apparently died in an accident. It's interesting seeing them get what feels like a bit more "blatant" nods compared to the original game, but I sort of understand it in that the original game didn't have a lot of different non-controllable player characters appear, so giving opportunities for ones besides the main 4 to appear will likely prove important to fleshing things out.

A lot of interesting points in this episode, but one of them was the discussion on entry fees (which of course happened quite differently before), and what I think is a much more direct explanation of what Rhyme's entry fee was. Now, it's been a little since I played TWEWY, but I feel like her entry fee was actually more implied than outright stated, especially in this early game, but maybe they didn't feel it was an important detail to hold back on—perhaps it's dependent on how the 3rd week goes.

On a less important note, Kariya's characterization as he sort of teased Beat felt a little bit different here, and I wasn't sure I liked the way Beat acted after losing Rhyme. I think the execution just felt a bit less tight somehow: Hanekoma wasn't very convincing when he basically said he'll "figure something out" for Rhyme, IIRC "7 minutes before you disappear" just became "some vague amount of minutes", Beat's reaction felt slightly off-character in the nuance, etc... oh, and Hanekoma can apparently just call Neku when he wants now. Uhh, okay then, hahaha.

But re: the above pic, Uzuki TOTALLY kicked Beat in this scene, then claims she can't attack players. WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT KICK? Bruhhhh.

This scene had a little bit less impact for me too, for whatever reason. It felt... a tiny bit more forced, somehow? I'd like to hear what people in the comments felt, but this wasn't the only scene that started to feel this way. In regards to the dialog... who is "all of us", exactly? Beat's, uh... not exactly around, Rhyme is erased, and so were all the other players. Am I missing something here?

While I'm not sure what I might be missing, I can tell you what this adaptation is: an actual build-up for the game master of week 1. As I suspected, introducing him in front of Neku and Shiki basically only at the end meant that the dialog and conflict here felt... very half-baked and not compelling. He acts like he knows Shiki and it seems like he tries to get to her but it doesn't work at all because Shiki already went through her growth, and it didn't really have anything to do with Higashizawa. So, is just kind of an awkward cooking-obsessed "boss enemy" that pops up to us and, in my opinion, not someone the viewer feels especially motivated to beat, whereas at least in the game it felt a bit more like Shiki genuinely had something to prove and had sort of "overcome" his earlier provocations.

While it's the nature of this review to point out changes and things I felt could have been done better, it's not like it was a terrible episode overall. Some important things happened, there were some nice fight moments with various new psyches shown, and some good visuals and music in general. However, even to the last scene with Shiki disappearing, a lot of the bits of dialog felt a little bit awkward, and it felt like some things were missing.

For instance, Beat was missing from the final scene with the Conductor—we don't see him become a reaper here anymore, Shiki disappears crying and sad instead of smiling and saying she'll wait for him in front of Hachiko/asking if they'll still be friends (which I thought was a way better way of doing it, having a final touching moment and letting the despair sink in only after Shiki is gone), and... did Neku even get his memories back? I don't remember Kitaniji saying he gave them back, and that feels like a fairly important detail to be overlooking, so... I'm honestly a little confused.

Overall it was a decent episode, but the show is leaving me fairly disoriented with the way it is scrambling everything together, and I actually have been trying to go into this not having seen the original story recently (though I do reference it during these reviews), so I'm definitely not trying to overcompare/analyze it or anything.

At the same time though, it's a given that when you rewrite scenes a lot, you're going to have to write them about as well as the original wrote its characters, or it won't hold up as well. When the standards are high, that becomes difficult, and I worry that the show is losing a little bit of its "edge" if you will, especially as the "shininess" of the cool art style and such wears off.

[actualhumansunshine]

baby blue - luke hemmings

last hope -paramore

ghost- justin bieber

cover me in sunshine - pink and willow

chainsaw - nick jonas

church -aly and aj

have you found what you're looking for -ashton irwin

hold on - chord overstreet

make it rain - ed sheeran

baby blue- as i said in one of the other asks, i just recently came across this song and was instantly obsessed!! it's got such a dreamy, lowkey psychedelic quality combined with a sort of roadtrip americana vibe and i find it to be endlessly listenable yk??? the production is so fucking lush and dynamic and it's just!! a treat!!

last hope- god i just LOVE hayley as a lyricist so much!! this song is so relatively simple in it's message, but it's no less effective for it yk??? and i think a big part of that has to do with the fact that the production and instrumentation does almost as much of the heavy lifting as the lyrics do in taking the listener on through emotional journey

ghost- i don't really have many thoughts about this one other than i'm fucking OBSESSED with the "if i can't be close to you, i'll settle for the ghost of you" hook??? a lot of the lyrics feel a bit cringy to me and the rhyme scheme overall seems quite lazy and obvious, but there's something about that one line combined with the way everything strips back to just the acoustic guitar that just catapults me straight into orbit

cover me in sunshine- the way the chorus took me completely by surprise because i genuinely forgot this was a collab up until that point 😭 this is cute tho!! it's terrible, but generally i tend to have a HUGE pet peeve about kids randomly singing on songs—to the point where it can ruin the entire song for me—but i feel like this actually kind of worked?? their voices blended together nicely and while her voice DOES sound young, it fits really well in the song and what it's supposed to be yk??

chainsaw- let me first say that i genuinely, unironically absolutely love this album (other than good girls, which is a horrible song and should be scorched from the earth). i don't know what it is about this specific vibe and genre, but it works SO well for him where it might feel cheesy with someone else. i think this song in particular probably has a lot of similarities to jealous, especially in the choruses, but they're both great songs so!! it's fine!! ghlaskdjf

church- SO SO SO GOOD!!! there's so many little production and layering choices throughout that take what's already a great song to a completely different level. the synths in the pre-chorus. the vocal layering and adlibs in the first chorus before the beat hits that picks back up later in the song. it def gives me carly rae jepsen meets haim in the best way possible

have you found what you're looking for- i don't think i've heard any ashton songs yet and i don't know what i was expecting but it wasn't this, and i say that in the best way possible!! it definitely feels a little repetitive in the chorus, but the hook is such an earworm that i don't really even mind all that much???

hold on- i'm sorry, what now? this is one of those songs where i don't feel like i can even accurately judge anything about it because i'm so emotionally scarred after the first listen that i don't want to listen again (see also: supermarket flowers by ed sheeran, which i literally have only listened to one time, that one time being my first full listen through of the album. never again.)

make it rain- ugh THIS SONGGGGGG 😩 say what you will about ed sheeran, but this song is so fucking good, i can't even stand it. and i guess it makes sense that it was originally a foy vance song because that man literally never misses (speaking of, his version? WHEW)

anonymously send me a song to listen to

[mundanedevil]

Hi you... if you were going to curate a little season of films for me, which ones would you choose and why? They don't need to be horror, I'm just curious what you would choose 🌸

I don’t know if you’ll like these movies, or if you’ve already watched them, but after i watched these films, i felt like they might need to belong to you now. i hope they make you smile, roll your eyes, and cry just as much as i did.

1. city of god (2002): this is one of the most immersive and gorgeously shot films i’ve ever seen. it’s set in rio de janeiro during the 60s and spans decades exploring the drug culture in the slums and how this can affect kids just as they are trying to figure their own selves out. the way this film is shot, feels like you were at the sea with them as the sand crunched underneath your feet. but the way that the director captures these individuals, makes you so fucking relieved that you don’t live through any of the circumstances that they go through. 

2. the dreamers (2004): set in 1968, this film follows three students in Paris who come of age and explore one another and their limits during the revolution. while these students prop themselves up as individuals obsessed with sex, running underneath themselves is a current of jealousy, obsession, and blurred familial relationships that made me increasingly uncomfortable. you find yourself feeling bad for the children, and ultimately upset at their upbringing because of their parents. 

3. if beale street could talk (2018): this movie is based off of james baldwin’s titular 1974 novel. in it, the director expertly and vigorously explores love: a love that feels so real that it hurts. the cast is what sold this film to me. the way they talk, laugh, cry, and smile at one another is achingly beautiful and terrifyingly sad. i wanted to transport myself back to their time period and watch the main characters fall in love because the film didn’t seem like enough. 

4. the neon demon (2016): this film follows an emerging model who sacrifices herself to the demands of the industry in order to be attractive and beautiful. there are so many stunning colors in this film that it makes you dizzy, like you’re in a trance and that’s what this world is for the main character: a trance. as she oscillates between reality and fantasy, her world and the characters in it, increasingly seek out to alter her personality. 

5. death becomes her (1992): a deliberately ultra-campy parody of trashy, pandering "women's pictures," soap operas and paperbacks from the '80s and '90s. The three leads all do some of their best work - it's hilarious watching Meryl Streep play a terrible actress, Goldie Hawn is particularly hilarious during her character's cat lady phase, and all around just a really fun and eccentric film. 

6. princess cyd (2017): i can’t think of anything to write for this but i just wanna say that this is literally one of the most pleasant movie experiences i’ve ever had. so much light and genuine interaction in warm sun rays radiating positive energy and an openness that is far too uncommon in movies nowadays. people talk, people connect, people grow bonds and are allowed to be sexual or intimate or personal without an air of shame or judgement. just pure kind and curious human association. 

7. spiderman: into the spiderverse (2018): the message of Spider-Verse is not "gentrify yourself! stop expressing your personality and just conform to what society wants you to be!" After all, what makes you different makes you Spider-Man, and Miles' final expression of himself as a superhero still retains much of his personality and individuality...they're just being used in more productive and fulfilling ways. It's the little things that drive the point home, like noticing that the title page for Miles' finished Great Expectations essay has been stylistically doodled and colored like street art. Rather than seeing his artistic gifts as an opposition to his schoolwork, Miles infuses them together to make the best of the hand he's been dealt.

8. my life as a zucchini (2016): initially heartbreaking and sad, but slowly becoming more joyful and heartwarming as the plot moves along. The film really feels like it captures the essence and child like wonder of these kids, all of them going through hardships but managing to find something to help each other out. It’s so refreshing to see the actual orphanage portrayed in a more positive light, not the usual horrid dump that a lot of lesser movies play them out as. The animation is stunning. One of the best uses of stop motion I’ve seen, everything is so colourful and detailed. There’s some moments set in snowy mountains and these look incredible. There’s clearly been so much love and care put into each and every scene here. The music too, sounds spectacular, it really works well with each scene. 

9. lovesong (2016): Mindy and Sarah have that type of relationship where they don't need words because they speak in a language made out of glances and touches. This movie is about the fear of ruining a meaningful friendship and losing an important person, about love that is so complicated that one might not even try because the outcome seems to be so obvious.

10. her (2013): Heartbreak is formative: it changes you heart side out, and leaves your muscles a little stronger, your skin a little thicker, your bones easier to repair. Before this film, I’d never seen anything constructive in having your insides pulled apart by the seams by another person, but this film taught me how. Being in love and then being forced out of it is an experience that changes you fundamentally, but Her taught me its purpose – you don’t need them to leave you so that you can find someone who’s a better fit, because perhaps you never will. You need it to participate in humanity. The common denominator is being hurt, and without it, you’re barely alive.

11. shoplifters (2018): bittersweet and richly transportive, Shoplifters is a film that nonchalantly eases you into its tragic beauty in a way that doesn't punch you hard until the end. It simultaneously made me want to be part of the film's world and also very glad that I'm not. The setting the characters live in is messy and cluttered and full of dysfunction and lies, but it's also got family, and laughter, and fist-bumps, and slurping warm noodles while rain pings on the tin rooftop. So nuanced, so many tiny moments of delicate beauty and unassuming heartbreak, so many people making terrible decisions with good intentions.

12. god’s own country (2017): though it is a love story between two men, this aspect is only addressed briefly in a single scene. Rather, the film is about finding someone who makes you want to be a better person, someone who comes into your life just when you needed it most. Gheorghe helps Johnny open up and realize the beauty of the simple life. From this relationship, Johnny begins to feel comfortable with expressing himself, and his love and gratitude towards others. He also begins to appreciate life in the country, surrounded by stunning landscapes and the beauty of simplicity. Addressing the Yorkshire countryside, Gheorghe says "It is beautiful, but lonely." Johnny is presented with the notion that he doesn't have to be cold and miserable, slaving and drinking his days away. He is presented with the possibility of no longer being alone and finally finding happiness and contentment - and it is more than gratifying to see him accept it.

13. disobedience (2017): a tender star-crossed daydream. the three main character dynamics are special enough on their own, but the romance that blooms at the center is cathartically intimate and even magical: a reunion that feels so inevitable. catching glimpses of a past life, details we aren’t privy to. all the stolen kisses and whispers and promises. a bond so strong that they fall back in sync with each other like second nature, even if they try to fight against it. even if it won’t work. and yet they choose each other, even if for a few minutes.

14. raw (2016): this film is so gross and I like that. There is tons of blood and unique body horror and it all works perfectly for the tone the film is attempting to set. The use of color, specifically neons, creates a constant feeling that you are traveling through some sort of weird ghost world, which I really like. Overall, it's a very well put together film with flashes of brilliance.

15. the night is short, walk on girl (2017): what an absolutely magical adventure of a film. Essentially this is a heavily episodic look at a night in the lives of several people, centered on a woman and a man as she gleefully floats from event to event while he neurotically obsesses over how to "coincidentally" talk to her. The storytelling is incredible; while the overarching narrative is simple there are countless threads woven together to connect everyone in the story to each other. That in itself is a big theme: connections between people, how everything is interrelated, and what a large impact seemingly insignificant things people do can have an impact on everyone around them.

16. coraline (2009): Coraline is the best stop motion movie ever made in my opinion. Before the film released in 2009, I read the book and was completely blown away by its creativity and story. It’s a pretty dark tale featuring many scenes of fright that work well in both a horror setting and an animated kids setting. On surface value, this film is quite horrifying, which is something I’ve always loved about it. While it does make a few minor changes to the book, it improves upon a piece of art that was already jaw-droppingly good. Coraline feels like a real little girl with some real problems. She’s selfish but likable which is something most films cannot translate well. Of course, she has a pretty awesome arc as well which brings this movie to a perfect close for her character. The other-mother is also perfectly done. She is almost exactly how I imagined her in the book and the animation on her is spookily gorgeous. There is not one dull moment in this film. It is literally a perfect piece of cinema.

17. the third wife (2019): haven’t seen a film this visually delicate in a while. Ash Mayfair works with the looming mountain surroundings to make her characters —these women, these girls— as small as possible, as isolated as possible. Uneasiest of all is the protagonist May, so young and so weighed by responsibility, her position blurs between being one of the wives and being one of the daughters. It’s an extremely bleak tale of circumstance. An old tale, certainly, but so beautifully crafted it doesn’t matter. Mayfair holds a fearful tension throughout, and it only ever shatters in the cruelest of ways.The abundance of women and display of sisterhood begin as a comfort, but horror takes over as we realize how conditional and fragile that comfort is. Even the daughters are subconsciously aware, one of them praying to the gods to grow up and become a man, shearing her hair off in naive triumph. It’s a doomed cycle of girls performing roles which are unfortunately their best option, right up until the final scene of May with her daughter, still in their mourning clothes. She, like the older wives, finally realizes they’re the same as the cattle laying on their side for too many days.

[ddaddsprompts]

I just read a fanfic with this recently and i'm lowkey obsessed with the idea, but how about dadsona asking the respective kid(s) for permission to propose to their dad?

Craig; This was it. A clear Saturday morning. Craig was out and about for his early jog with little River strapped to his chest, leaving you with Hazel and Briar, who were scarfing down the extra special breakfast of pancakes and ice cream with a side of chocolate. You figured that the girls deserved a little prepping before you popped the big question, so you set down your fork and took a deep breath. ‘Alright, girls. There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you two.’ You began. ‘You think I’m a good guy, right?’  Both girls smiled. ‘Of course, we do, Y/N.’ Briar answered, biting off the tip of the strawberry on her pancake. ‘You’re charming and smart, your jokes are a bit terrible but tolerable, for the most part at least.’  ‘Dude, you just gave me ice cream and pancakes for breakfast. You’re totally cool in my book.’ Hazel chimed in, mouth full of pancake. You laughed.  ‘Well, that’s good. I didn’t want you both to think I was some sort of bad guy who just waltzed into your family since I am planning to propose to your dad in a few weeks-’

 ‘What?!’ The twins exclaimed, looking equally shocked as Briar dropping her strawberry and Hazel choking on her pancake, reaching for the hot chocolate to wash it down. You covered your mouth in regret. The table was silent for a while, both parties staring at each other in astonishment. It was Hazel who broke the silence with an awkward cough. She still looked surprised. ‘I mean, I’m not against it. Dad does talk about how much he loves you and, well. It’s clear he loves you so uh…’ Hazel nudged her twin, silently begging for her to back her up. Briar sighed and looked into your eyes. You knew she wasn’t going to be kidding around this time. ‘Y/N. Do you love our dad with all your heart?’

 ‘Yes.’ You replied without hesitance. 

 ‘Will you always make sure he’s in a good place and when he’s not, will you be there for him?’

 ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you promise not to hurt him, in which case Briar and I will cast our super secret demonic witch twin powers on you to curse you and your descendants for decades?’  You stared at Hazel, who looked dead serious before laughing at your extra shocked expression. ‘I’m just kidding, dude. Just make sure you take good care of dad, he really deserves it.’  A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you leaned back on your chair. ‘Thank you so much, girls. You won’t regret this, I swear.’Hugo; The front door opened to signal somebody had arrived home. You knew that it wasn’t Hugo considering he had texted you an hour ago that he was coming home late thanks to a bunch of middle schoolers in detention for setting fire to the trash bins. That meant you and Ernest were alone for the rest of the afternoon, and that gave you the chance to have a heart to heart talk with the moody teen. You watched as he made his way into the kitchen, where you sat on the sofa pretending to read a book. This was it. Now or never.  ‘Hey, Ernest? You mind if you come over here? I kinda wanna talk about something.’ No reply. This was gonna be a little tricky. ‘I could convince your dad to get a dog if you talk to me!’

 The footsteps stopped, then made their way towards you. Ernest groaned and threw his bag down, leaning against the wall. ‘Well? What is it? I don’t have all day, loser.’

You smiled and put down the book you were “reading”. ‘You know, your dad really cares about you.’ ‘Is this what your talk’s about?’ He scoffed. ‘If I wanted to hear about cheesy bullshit I would have just gone to the guidance counselor’s office. Did Hugo talk you into this?’ ‘Ernest, I know you don’t seem to care about your father much, but you should know that he still loves you. Very much, in fact. Hell, he told me once that you could throw a dozen cherry bombs into the boys’ toilets and he’d still love you.’ You spotted his face beginning to soften, so you went on. ‘Actually, that’s one of the reasons I like your dad. He’s devoted to you and everything else he does. It’s really admiring, don’t you think?’ That was it. Tears began to roll down the young teen’s cheeks, trying to wipe them away with his orange sleeve. You sat up and opened your arms, Ernest running into them and sobbing into your shirt. ‘I-I know Dad loves me…’ He gulped. ‘I just..cant myself to..show him that-’ He collapsed into a fit of sobs. You sat him down on the sofa, wiping his eyes before sitting down beside him. ‘I know you love your dad, Ernest. I understand that it’s kinda hard to show that you love him, but I know you do.’ You put your arm around him, hesitant at first, but when you saw that the young man didn’t mind, you relaxed. ‘That’s why I want to ask for your blessing to propose to him.’ Ernest’s tired eyes widened for a moment at what you said, turning to you in shock. ‘Y-You want to…what?’ ‘Marry him, Ernest. If it’s alright with you, of course.’ He took a deep breath and stood up from the couch, grabbing his backpack and starting to walk away. Before you could start panicking, he turns to you with a smirk on his face. ‘Mastiff first, and Hugo’s all yours.’Robert; You weren’t going to lie; Val seemed quite intimidating. Her city life clothes and her half joking, half serious attitude and her overall demeanor made you almost cower in your dad shoes. But you had to get her permission. After all, it was her dad, she deserves to be okay with it before you try something as big as marriage. You invited her over to Jim and Kim’s while Robert was off in the woods that night. The bar doors opened to reveal Val in all her shining glory, spotting you at a booth in the corner and giving you a friendly wave before walking over to you. ‘Well, Y/N? What kinda fuckery has my old man gotten up to now?’ She joked as she settled down in the leather booth. ‘Set fire to the woods? Lost his foot in a tragic car accident? Found the Dover Ghost but got taken away by it, and now you’re trying to tell me that my beloved father has been kidnapped and may never be seen again?’ Yep. This was Robert’s daughter, alright. ‘No, no, and unfortunately, no. It does have something to do with Robert, though.’ ‘Welp, I didn’t come all this way to hear small talk.’ Val turned away for a second to order two shots from Neil, who nods and delivers it over. ‘Spill the beans, dude.’ You took a minute to assess the moment. There was Val, a smart, playful yet serious woman if you messed with her or her dad. One wrong step and she would definitely send you flying to the moon and back. Or poke a hole into your head with her super sharp nails. The point was, this was your one chance. And you couldn’t blow it.  ‘So, uh, marriage, right?’ You blurted out, trying to segway into the question. Val looked up at you with an eyebrow raised. Great job, Y/N, you thought to yourself as you awkwardly downed the shot glass, hoping the liquid courage would hit sooner. ‘Kinda a weird thing if you think about it. “Hey, I love you so much I’m going to get the government involved so you cant leave.”. What a weird thing, huh?’ Nice, you made the situation even more awkward. Val sipped her shot glass skeptically. ‘You alright, Y/N? You look a little pale.’ Shaking yourself out of your nervous state, you looked up to the confused Val. ‘Okay, Val. I’m not gonna lie; I really love your dad. I mean, I think it’s been fairly obvious already, but I really love him. I know you both have been through some stuff, stuff that I don’t have to get involved into if you don’t want to, but I know both of you love and care for each other. That’s why I was wondering if you were alright with, uh, letting me marry him.’ Neither of you spoke for a moment, Val ordering two more shots which were delivered way quicker than usual. She picked up her glass and stared into the liquor inside.  ‘You know, Dad’s been through a lot. Losing Mom. Losing me. I used to hate him for being such an asshole, even thinking he was incapable of loving anything other than himself. But lately, he’s been..better. He’s so willing to patch things up, get his shit together, and sometimes I wonder how that happened. So on the day I came back, I asked him.’ She looked back to me and smiled. ‘He said he met someone. Someone who shoved some sense through his mind and made him wake up. I couldn’t even explain the words Dad used as he described you. They were all good, don’t worry. My father isn’t exactly the best when it comes to emotions, but when I saw what influence you had on him, I knew I wanted you to stick around.’ With a flourish, she raised her shot glass in a toasting motion. ‘A toast to Y/N, my future step-dad and loving husband of Robert Small.’Joseph; After weeks and weeks of waiting for the right moment, you finally found a short window of time where Joseph wasn’t with the kids. Sleeping in thanks to a late date on his yacht the night before. Thanks to this, you managed to wake up the twins and Chris (you left Crish to sleep soundly in his crib) , who were mumbling about not wanting to before you mentioned chocolate brownies, to which Christie jumped up to the chance while Chris and Christian just stirred at the thought of getting to lick the bowl. You set the kids to do their own tasks before starting the talk. ‘So, there’s one thing I gotta know; are you guys actually planning to kill me in my sleep?’ Chris groaned and shook his head, signaling that he wasn’t interested. Christie and Christian shook their heads too. You breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Phew, that’s a good thing. Well, do you think I’m an alright guy, then?’The three stared at each other for a moment, then nodded. You smiled. This was going better than expected. ‘Great. So, this next question might be a bit…shocking but it’s very important to get your answer. It’s okay to be honest and say no, alright?’All three children froze. Christie’s brush had stopped buttering the tray. Christian’s mallet hovered over the crushed nuts. Chris’s hand had stopped moving the spoon to mix. They turned towards you at the same time, making you feel quite anxious. ‘I, uh, kindawannamarryyourdad.’ You mumbled, suddenly taken aback by the children’s creepiness. Christie and Christian walked up to you, and just when you think they’re going to pull out two knives and stab you for wanting to marry their father, they wrap their tiny arms around you and mutter ‘new father’. Chris walks towards you, eyes boring into yours. ‘We love Dad a lot. Just don’t try anything, got it?’You nodded vigorously, and Chris shuffled back to continue mixing the bowl. The two refused to leave your waist, and though it was a cute gesture, you pried them off and insisted you had to continue the brownies, planning to make them a present for your future fiance. And, of course, you let the kids lick the bowl just this once.Damien; It didn’t take a detective to know that Lucien was a tough nut to crack. His rebellious ways made it a bit difficult to pin him down while Damien wasn’t around, but you finally got some alone time with him when Damien was off dealing with a dog emergency at the animal shelter. You heard loud rock music through the door leading into his bedroom. Knocking on Lucien’s door, the music shut off and a familiar voice shouted through the door. ‘What the fuck is it?’ ‘Lucien? It’s just me.’ You replied. ‘I was hoping we could talk for a bit, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask-’ Before you could finish, the teen had already pulled his door open. ‘Well? What is it?’ You mentioned that it would be better if you talked in the living room, and he begrudgingly trudged to the living room and plopped on the couch. ‘So what the hell is this about? If it’s my music, then yeah, I’ll tone it-’ ‘It, uh, isn’t just that, kid.’ You sat yourself down beside him. ‘I mean, yeah, it’d be really nice if you could, but there’s been something else I’ve wanted to talk to you about. It’s about Damien.’ You could see Lucien’s face go from angsty, passive-aggressive, oh-my-god-leave-me-alone to point blank serious. Lucien was a rebellious teen, however, that didn’t mean he didn’t care about his father. It was surprising, actually. They both had a loving relationship, which is mostly the reason why you wanted to ask Lucien for permission in the first place. Sure, he was glad that you made his dad feel good about himself, but to marry the man who’s been raising him alone for years? That was pretty big, and you had to make sure Lucien was okay with it. ‘Y/N? You look a little pale, is it something bad?’ Lucien’s voice was unnaturally soft. You cleared your throat and spoke up. ‘Lucien, I know you love your dad a lot. I also know that you matter a lot to him, and he sees you as his entire world. So it’s kind of well and good to ask; are you alright with letting me marry your father?’ It was Lucien’s turn to become pale as a ghost. He stared at you with unblinking eyes and an unreadable face before slouching into the sofa.  ‘You know, I kinda expected this. You and Dad have been so close lately, and don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it.’ He rubbed his eyes. ‘I’m really happy that he’s found someone to kind of, be weird with and shit, you know? He seems really content with you, so go ahead.’ You smiled, thanking Lucien for his blessing. Maybe he wasn’t that tough of a nut to crack after all.  ‘Oh, and by the way, find a better place to hide your engagement ring, dude.’ The teen laughed before heading upstairs into his room.Mat; Carmensita was a sweetheart. She gave you the utmost respect, and you treated her like a mini Amanda, joking around with her and (attempting at) making matching flower crowns for you, her, and Mat. Despite this, she seemed a bit weak with emotions. This was evident throughout the many times she cried during an emotional scene during movie night, wherein Mat had to give her a big dad hug, asking you to skip the scene so Carmensita would stop crying. This made you a bit hesitant to ask for her blessing at first, but you decided to pull through with it anyway. It was in the evening, where Mat was off at the Coffee Spoon for open mic night. You passed for tonight, pretending to have a headache and insisting you would be fine with Carmensita. Waving goodbye to your boyfriend as he walked off into the night, you had a nice light dinner with the young girl, listening to her go on about school. ‘Miss Davers is a bit weird, but you get used to her eventually.’ She gobbled down on her food. ‘Maybe you can teach me algebra, Y/N?’ ‘Hmn,’ You bluntly replied, picking at your dinner. You were so nervous that you couldn’t even eat anything in fear of choking it up and scaring the daylights out of her, which was not going to be the best moment to ask for her blessing. She noticed your silence and put down her utensils. She looked at you with concern. ‘Y/N, you’re really quiet tonight. Is it the headache? Should I call Dad?’ ‘N-No, sweetie. I’m fine, just a little..’ You bit your lip. ‘Do you like me, Carmensita?’ ‘Of course!’ Carmensita’s mouth curved into a smile, showing off her braces. ‘Did you really need to ask?’ ‘Actually, yes.’ You sighed. ‘Sweetheart, I need to ask you something. It’s pretty important, and I just want to let you know that I completely understand if you say no, alright?’ Looking a bit scared, she nodded anyway. Here goes nothing; ‘Will you let me marry your dad?’ Shock. Screaming. Crying. You prepared yourself for anything that Carmensita would react with, and sure enough, the young girl started bawling up. Just as you were about to call your attempt a massive fail, she began giggling and wiping her eyes. ‘Ah, jeez. You really scared me for a second, Y/N. I thought you were going to ask something way worse, like you were some sort of alien and you were gonna ask me to run away and join your alien family or something.’ She walked over to you and buried her head in your chest. ‘Of course, I’ll let you marry him, Y/N. There’s no other person I’d choose. You make him feel so happy and giddy and you both seem so cute together. How could I say no?’ ‘You sure it’s alright? I could be a huge hug alien ready to crush my next victim into a warm embrace!’ You joked, patting her frizzy brown hair. She laughed and smiled up at you. ‘Hug alien, shmug alien. Dad is all yours.’Brian; Daisy was Brian’s pride and joy. He practically put her on a pedestal and worshipped her every day of his life, so you decided it would only be proper to ask for her permission to marry her father. She was a smart, sensible girl, surely she would understand, right? You knocked on her door on a late afternoon when Brian had gone shopping. She called to let you come in and you did just that.Her walls were filled with trophies and medals, along with laminated certificates and a bunch of pictures with her dad. Their closeness intimidated you, but you were determined to see this through, sitting on the edge of her bed beside as she put down her book. ‘Hi, Y/N. Have you and Dad finished your “who’s the best daughter cuddler’ competition yet?’ She gleamed. You chuckled, remembering that day where you and Brian had a huge cuddlefest on the couch with Daisy in the smack middle, content of course but slightly unable to breathe in between the two huggers.  You put a hand on Daisy’s back to reassure her. ‘Daisy, I’m happy to announce that your father and I have decided that we are both sufficient cuddlers and will not be subduing you to our cuddling competitions. Thank you very much for your participation and we hope to see you again next year!’ The girl giggled, covering her mouth and muttering something along the lines of ‘It was a good experience’. You cleared your throat. ‘Jokes aside, there is something I want to talk to you about, Daisy.’

 ’Anything, Y/N.’

 You took a moment to look at her. She had Brian’s hair and freckles, hell, even a bit of his eyes. It was almost as if you were looking at Brian himself, which made you extra nervous. ‘D-Daisy, d-do you think I could marry your d-dad?’ You stuttered, unable to get the words out. Daisy went from slightly curious to absolutely shocked. She let her jaw drop and hang as her widened eyes stared at you. You assumed she was trying to find a way to say no and started to let yourself out before a hand grabbed you. ‘Wait, Y/N! It’s not that I’m going to say no, it’s just… so astonishing. Don’t leave, please.’

 You propped yourself back onto her duvet as she grasped your arm, thinking that you were going to walk away at any second.

 ‘Sorry, I got a bit scared there for a minute.’ She apologized. ‘You know, Dad really likes you. Whenever you aren’t around, he would talk to me about how much he loves you and cares about you, asking me for help to think about competitions just to get closer to you, stuff like that. And I’m not going to lie; I enjoy it. But what makes you different is that you make Dad feel good about himself. He takes a lot of pride in me that he sometimes forgets to see the actual good of the real him. You make him feel like he should be proud the way he is, and I’d love for you to be a part of our lives.’ Daisy nuzzled into you. ��Still with me, Y/N?’ ‘Sure am, Daisy. And thank you.’

((ahhh im sorry this took forever, i was writing this during my breaks of reviewing for exams and i just couldnt concentrate without wanting to finish this prompt! super sorry it looks rushed, i’ll be back to answering prompts regularly by tomorrow after my last exam!!)) 

-Mod Coffee Cake

[agl03]

What is the IDEAL way you see the LMD arc coming to a close? Do you see Radcliffe surviving past it into the 3rd arc of the season? I'm a little worried (not the right word but most fitting) about his mortality expectation since the 'badcliffe' reveal.

Hi Anon!

I don’t really see a “Happy Ending” to this LMD arc.  Some serious damage is going to be done before Robo May is revealed and as Radcliffe goes for the Darkhold.  With most of the emotional brunt of it taken by Philinda and Fitz.  The EP’s have also said, and we’ve seen, that the arcs while having their own distinct themes will feed into each other.  The Darkhold being the biggest of those connecting threads.  

And there are different forms of “Ideal” (what I want to see on a personal level vs what I feel makes sense happening story level).  For me ideally it actually continues into the next arc, only everything gets stepped up a little bit.  They have been waiting for years to do this story line and I don’t see it being done in the 7/8 episodes of the B Arc.  A good way of stepping this up…AIDA wasn’t built as a weapon.  Not by Fitz and even though Radcliffe clearly had ulterior motives here, he doesn’t like violence (”Violence for violence sake, and ugly misuse of Science…”) and he didn’t build her as a weapon either.  So for me the ideal ending story wise is that’s exactly what happens.  AIDA or Robo May falls into the hands of the Big BIG bad of the season and starts to get turned into a weapon…the super solider started back in Season one with Cybertek.  

Bonus this ties into what happened in the Machine Teen Comics that Radcliffe came from.  

I never expected Radcliffe to survive the Season.  John is too big of an actor.  Before the Badcliffe reveal I didn’t see him surviving as he couldn’t just disappear after getting so ingrained into Shield/Fitz’s lives.  Now with what Badcliffe options for him are Death or being locked away in a deep dark hole for violating his probation, kidnapping, murder (Nathanson is on him)…the list goes on and he’s just getting started.  

But I do think he does have a chance of making it out of this arc.  It all depends on how it goes down and when the overall big Bad joins the party with AIDA and Darkhold (heck depending on how things go down with Radcliffe and the Darkhold he could be our overall Big Bad too).   I need to see how things are going to go down in the next few episodes and get a better idea of his plan as well as other factors like the Mace, Watchdogs, and Nadeer stories playing out. 

Speaking of the Darkhold…so far everyone we have seen that have used it…have died (though Eli might be back as some sort of Hell Demon since we had all sorts of crazy factors in place when the portal ate them and Robbie will be back, no question).  And interestingly enough the overall theme we are seeing from those who go after the Darkhold is they essentially want to play God, and create life.  Just every one of them is going about it in different ways..  

LIFE.  Watch for that to be one of the big over arching themes here this season (in additon to a few pulls on the theme of Family and Trust).

Creating it

Taking it

Extending it

Protecting it

And what is a Life (IE if Robo May and AIDA have Singularities and become sentient).  

My original thought/hope was we would lose Radcliffe as he gained some redemption and went down saving his surrogate son, Fitz.  Now…that is very much in question because while we know Radcliffe is fond of Fitz on some level, he was also manipulating him to get his help on AIDA and once under the spell of the Darkhold willing threw Fitz emotionally under the bus…and had AIDA physically attack him.   I compared their relationship to that of Silver and Jim from Treasure Island.   Where in Silver the baddie with a lifelong obsession started out befriending Jim/taking him under his wing in order to manipulate him…but then when everything really hit the fan and it came down to the life long obsession vs Jim’s life…he chose Jim and saved him.  I would be pleased as punch to see it play out like that with Fitz and Radcliffe…but am not getting my hopes up there.  

If anything we have seen the Darkhold make those under its spell do terrible things to the people they were closest too.

Lucy killed her husband.  

Eli essentially tortured Robbie and would have killed him had the Rider not been keeping Robbie alive in the giant Box of Doom.  

In both instances Joseph and Robbie were getting in the way of Lucy and Eli’s plans.  What happens if Fitz gets in Radcliffe’s way?   Because I have no question that Fitz (and Jemma) is one of the greatest threats to him, will get in his way, and Radcliffe knows this too.    There is only so long Radcliffe will wait and its only a matter of time before someone sees AIDA 2.0, Radcliffe slips up, or Robo May is revealed.  And like with Hive there is only so long he’ll let Shield meddle before he takes drastic action.

Sorry, I know that was a lot of rambling and I hope I answered your question!  But I can’t do much more until I see how the arc starts to play out.  Especially in what Radcliffe is hoping to accomplish with the Darkhold.