#I'm just very disappointed and disillusioned

[alighterwithlove]

if you talk to the average conservative voter, they'll always talk about their conservative representative with unabashed enthusiasm. "this guy is supporting my rights!!!!!" even when the representative is very much not supporting their voting constituents' rights in some cases (ie. poor white ppl not realizing they're getting poorer because of their representative)

and I bet that's why conservative candidates are so good at winning. any person listening to their voters only gets a great impression of the candidate.

and if you talk to the average liberal/leftist voter, they all hem and haw. "oh yeah, I voted for them but they're Okay, they're Disappointing. they haven't done this. they haven't done that." and I bet if you fucking pressed them to state some Good Beneficial Legislation they've passed, either the voter 1. can't name any, or 2. has to attach caveats. ("yeah biden passed student loan forgiveness BUT not ALL loans were forgiven")

why aren't we ever excited about incremental progress. why aren't we cheering to the sky about every win. maybe more people would vote if there was genuine excitement, the same type of excitement that conservative voters seem to have about anything labeled "conservative".

I'm just so fucking tired of hearing ppl be like "I'm just disillusioned with my leftist representative" EVERY TIME but are DEAD SILENT on the small victories, the progress. conservatives know how to do this, and that's why they build momentum into the next election. why does this seem impossible for the other side.

[pianokantzart]

Do you think Mario's portrayal in the movie was a little too different from the games? I understand that they needed him to have a more well rounded personality, but I just can't help but wonder why they didn't make him more of a soul who is defined by having this sort of contagious positivity with a skip in every step. Think characters like Joy (Inside Out), Pinkie Pie (MLP), Steven Universe, Star Butterfly, Mabel Pines, Rapunzel (Tangled) and so on.

Mario of course still has a can-do determinator attitude about life, and he does still have his moments of excitement, but it's a lot more subdued. He spends a lot of the movie being rather irritable, somewhat impatient, and burnt out. Of course this can still happen to characters that are defined by being consistently upbeat and positive, but that's only when they hit very serious rock bottom moments.

Do you think the sequel should try and make Mario's personality a little more like his portrayal in the games or should they just stick with what they did for the first one?

I think a more happy-go-lucky Mario could work, hypothetically, but not with the backstory he was given in the movie, which leans pretty hard on him being an underdog in every sense.

The difference between Mario and all the characters you listed is Mario was neither sheltered, nor put in any position where he was encouraged to continually exhibit a bubbly, positive attitude.

Mario is a Brooklyn man who has just recently managed to work his way up from hard labor to blue collar, and has spent most of his life having his dreams and ambitions dismissed and put down.

He's by no means disillusioned with the world, but he's built up defenses to make sure everyone knows that neither he nor his brother are easy targets to be bullied or walked all over. He is optimistic, but he's swimming against the current, and it's worn him down. (Heck, judging by the concept art, it looks like there were plans to make him even more exhausted and despondent than he was in the final product.)

But now that Mario's in an environment that values his ambition and optimism, he's got room to develop into something closer to the Super Mario we're all familiar with. As much as I hope for some slight change in character between movies, I can't say I'd be too disappointed if he stays the same on account of how much I really really love Hothead Stressball McDaddyIssues Mario. But I'm banking on him being at least a good deal happier now that he's living in The Mushroom Kingdom.

It's a nice little mini-arc to give him in what was essentially Mario's origin story.

[unnecessarilygrandiose]

this is something important about heartstopper that i think needs to be said, to aspec people specifically:

please be kind to isaac and the aroace representation we'll get come thursday.

aroace rep is something we get very rarely, especially on the screen. i can think of exactly two shows with aroace characters, and one of them is heartstopper. so it's not unfair of us to hope that we each get to see our experience represented in isaac.

but like. that's simply not going to happen.

isaac is one character. he can only represent one kind of experience about what being aroace entails. and every single aspec person has had a different experience with realising their identity and coming to terms with it. everyone has a different relationship with the complexities of their sexuality and labels.

and y'know, it could be disappointing to expect something from a character you thought was representing you and see them be something very different. hell, i can bet anything that at least a few aspec people will be completely disillusioned with whatever we'll get.

but 'i didn't like this' doesn't automatically mean 'it was bad'. maybe it means that 'this didn't represent me, which was sad, but it did represent some people, and it was a cornerstone in aroace representation in mainstream media as a whole, which is good.'

(i mean, i'm not saying there's a zero chance it'll be objectively bad and harmful rep, but the chance of that is extremely low, since alice is aroace themself. also, loveless is an amazing book)

i feel compelled to say this because we know that it's going to be a while before isaac is comfortable with his identity, which can be upsetting to watch because the 'you can't be happy without romance and whole without sex' is pushed pretty hard onto us on a regular basis, and there's this sort of defensiveness where we kind of want any fictional aroace characters to be immediately accepting of themself because no, we're actually very happy and completely whole without those things, thank you very much. this was the main criticism of loveless by many aspec people— that it didn't represent them because georgia struggled so much with her identity.

but. just because you personally didn't have to face that (and good for you!) doesn't mean it's not a very real experience many aroace people go through every day.

just because our first mainstream media rep of being aroace isn't an easy, feel good story, doesn't mean it's not important.

be as disappointed with isaac as you want if he doesn't represent you—but please still be kind to him. if we're too harsh in our criticism, the creators who worked on this story might feel discouraged from creating more aroace characters and stories.

more aspec rep, especially aro and aroace rep, is important! more rep means more variety! it means a greater chance of all of us finding stories we love and resonate to! but if we don't get everything we want the first time, please let's not call it bad and demotivate the very people who can give us more.

[winepresswrath]

relatively minor adaptation change I'm sad about is Lestat's relationship with religion- he's actively angry with god and the church in this version, whereas iirc in the books he identifies that kind of disillusioned rage as a specifically upper middle class malaise he's immune to because as an aristocrat he never took the whole thing that seriously. I like this because it is so, so much funnier than being mad at god. character of all time. Still very catholic but he's also like "god can't disappoint me my parents already explained our ancestors exaggerated his impact to keep the peasants in line."

And it ties into his relationships with Louis and Armand because part of his original deal is that he doesn't want to be a god or someone else's reason for being. that's one of the reasons he rejects Armand in the first place. whereas the show has him placing himself on that pedestal, at least a little, especially in his relationship with Louis. How much of this is Mr. My Own Personal Jesus With the Good Hair's POV is I guess debatable. anyway a big part of their reconciliation is him asking if Louis can forgive him for just being some guy instead of having all the answers and I really like that beat and hope they can replicate it in a way that fits with their show-dynamic.

[cloudmancy]

not to rekindle old discourse if you've moved on, but i was listening to you & @kindlespark's interview on the complicated women podcast / have enjoyed reading your fhjy posts and wanted to ask your thoughts on why the beginning of the season felt so promising to you? i enjoyed the premiere and the premise of the stresses of 11th grade/the rat grinders as foils, but as the season continued i started to feel disillusioned - it seemed less and less like an interactive/collaborative story (cassandra's death, fig's quest to rehabilitate ruben, the ratgrinders being really hard to find/interact with in general) and more of a tour through some unsatisfying callback easter eggs (i simply don't care about porter and it kind of felt like not even emily did). imo the ratgrinders were set up to fail as a narrative concept ever since the bad kids got mad at them for grinding and brennan just sheepishly grinned and shrugged at the camera, and while i share your disappointment that there was no coming together/addressing the root academic injustices that plagued both the bad kids and the ratgrinders, i don't think it was as surprising to me, as the season had already felt too filled with bits/joking around to be that dramatically tight - ironically, i think they got too bogged down in roleplaying scholastic tedium. i tend to come to d20 with a mindset of like, this is primarily a comedy and if they end up producing a satisfying narrative arc, great (and they certainly have achieved this in the past), but i don't think it's a coincidence that most d20 seasons are regarded as having unsatisfying endings - i think it's an incredibly hard thing to do in a ttrpg setting, even for professionals, especially so if their instincts are more towards comedy. they are great artists and improvisers, but evidently that doesn't mean they can't fail to cohere, and i think this season suffered from a lack of investment in narrative all around - brennan not being as flexible with the plot as he's been in the past, the players i think (some anyway) feeling a little tired of these characters and playing them as more chaotic/violent than usual (kristen's random nudism, fig's truancy, gorgug's hatred/bullying of maryann, fabian threatening to skin ivy). idk, i'm just rambling at this point - my overall message is that i'm in agreement that the finale was a letdown, but i'm curious as to how you thought the promising themes interacted with the story/performances in the earlier parts of the season, cause when i look back at it i don't see a unified vision, just some individually interesting pieces that never seemed to fit together, and i don't think i just feel that way in hindsight, but am open to other perspectives (disclaimer that obv this is all opinion and subject to debate)

here are sam's thoughts on it!

ok my thing is that 1) i love porter as a villain and i don't think the twist takes away from his character; i think brennan tied him to ankarna REALLY well and with genuine thought. the lore drop scene in the temple was genuinely chilling and very very cool to me and brennan clearly set up a lot of lore around it that was interesting and not just funny bc fig thought he was bad the whole time. i think porter is a great character and had the bad kids engaged with his philosophy of rage and not had ice feast completely nullify his threat he could've been a really compelling villain. 2) i genuinely had hope for the rat grinders because of brennan's insistence to make npcs like eugenia talk about them as foils, the fact that they used to be the high-five heroes, and the fact that he made them closer to unwilling participants than actual villains. seemed like genuine threads of complexity that the bad kids just didn't pick up on, but i also clearly was fooled bc that brennan didn't react to fig's attempts to convert ruben shows that he wasn't really prepared to have the final battle as anything but tbk vs trg 😭 i think the downtime system was actually really fun and effective at portraying both scholastic tedium while also embellishing the themes (rage tokens!!) 3) this probably wasn't made clear in the ep but i didn't expect d20 to write a perfect thematic story about addressing systemic injustices; i just wanted them to give me any kind of thematic acknowledgment in the battle at all and not just with ankarna. i am very aware that im always reading into the subtext of d20 seasons--that lament is more for the subtext that Could've Been. i agree with you about everything you've said wrt ttrpg settings and lack of narrative investment, but i had higher hopes because fhsy and tuc are so much better with their themes and the themes brennan appeared to be setting up seemed so… obvious to me…. it had me ignoring all the red flags 😭

[piglet26]

Reylo Scenes: TLJ

Rian Johnson gets loud vocal dislike for trying to make part 2 to JJ Adams film and his treatment of Luke Skywalker. Now I'm going to be honest..... Star Wars fans complain. That's part of the passion of it all. I guess. One area that he did succeed in was Reylo. He dealt with it with complete mastery. His invention of the forceskype or forcetime which allowed the protagonist and antagonist to actually talk was genius.

To add, I read the novelization which does expand on the story overall and it's great to read. There are comics as well. All which expand on the story.

Rian Johnson also is due a thank you for this moment.

We'll call this no-more-daddies-Ren. That face should not be covered up.

Romance has always been apart of Star Wars. Yet, in the sequel trilogy there was this hyper paranoia of anything feminine and so anyone who sensed a romance happening I guess was just an unhealthy fool.

From a pure storytelling stand point, the dynamic between the hero and the villain is genuinely interesting. The fact that they are Ying Yang, alike but different, bonded yet on opposing sides and they attracted to one another only adds to the drama. It's the richest dynamic of the sequel trilogy.

So to all the Reylo haters

In the first forcetime scene the rules of the forcetime get established. Rey can't hurt him physically (yet) and Ren can't jedi mind trick her.

The production team continued to show their balance yet opposition. When Rey wakes up the warm sunlight is on her face and her smooth cheek. In Ren's scene the light on his cheek is mechanical and the skin is scarred. Rey is surrounded by nature. Ren is surrounded by technology. They both have a childlike innocence to them. Something is happening to them that had never happened before. Something unique even amongst force users. Ren is curious. Rey is just pissed off.

Ren is a man who feels very let down/betrayed by everyone in his life so by the time we meet him in The Force Awakens he doesn't want or need anybody. Within his comic Ben Solo is described as someone that everyone, including his peers, watched for signs of darkness. He's a bitter, hurt and jaded young man.

Rey is the denial queen. She has a childlike way of thinking that is purely optimistic. She latches onto people very quickly Finn, Han Solo, Chewie, Leia, Luke on and on. She understand the stories of the resistance, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but doesn't understand any of the complexities. She's a very 'this is the truth as I know it so it must be the truth' kind of person.

When we arrive at the second Forcetime.

Rey overlooking the ocean. Ren overlooking the first order. Ren begins hearing the ocean waves. Rey begins to hear the snap of electricity. Ren sensing her turns and Rey, sensing him, adjusts and there they are.

Rey, understand that she can't physically act out her anger against, verbalizes it. She's angry, but she wants the anger to be simple and it's not. He is tied to her in a way in some way.

What's interesting is Ren is very open to her in wondering why the force is connecting them. In the book Rey describes his eyes as hungry. Also, Ren wants to be understood by her. He uses this moment to reach her and get someone to understand a portion of how he became the man he is. The audience sees him approach her, get into her space, challenging her emotionally, physically and her ideas about him.

"ah, you do" if it's possible to verbally create a orgasm....Adam driver accomplished it for women. It doesn't hurt that these two seem to always be eye fucking each other. The intensity in which they lock onto each other and don't pay much around them any mind. The actors writers dream of.

The scenes serves a purpose though. Kylo is once again shift from simple bad guy to complicated bad guy/human being. She doesn't know everything. In the mix of all of this is her experience with Luke. She disillusioned and she's disappointed with Luke. Her experience is shifting her to understand Kylo's position more.

Which leads to their third forceskype aka shirtless Ben

Rey, girl, you're not asexual. It's the first where we see she does have a reaction to him physically. She opens herself to understanding. She wants to know if he had a good reason for killing his father. She also expresses her jealousy of him. He has a family, he had a father who loved him. She would give anything for that. Kylo is also expressing his pain and how relates to her. They both feel abandoned by their parents. Kylo wasn't abandoned in the way Rey was, but he feels abandoned. Kylo looks at Rey like 'hey you don't see the similarities between us?". You also being to understand Kylo Ren's need to embrace the dark side because everyone on the light side failed him.

Part of her journey in The Last Jedi is about embracing her womanhood. After the force bond with the shirtless Kylo Ren. She goes to the dark sided vagina cave. She jumps in and when she emerges her childhood hair buns are gone. Rey enters in this vision and looks for answers as to who/where her parents are. Nothing is revealed to her. She didn't find the answers she was looking for and the hope that she will find them goes out of her. In this moment she's desperately lonely. Here our hero spiritually seeks out through the force bond the one individual she feels will relate to her, our villain.

Why do people call this scene "The Finger Touch Love Scene"

Cause the level of intimacy these characters reach without many words and without being lewd. Rian Johnson, bravo!

The way Kylo Ren is just present, reassuring and nurturing as Rey relays her trip into the dark cave. This is a moment where he could stoke her negative emotions to the dark side. He doesn't though. He's completely emotionally present for her. Kylo Ren sits within his ship in a area that's lit with a soft blue light as he reaches towards her he's in the warm of the firelight. Now he is physically present for her.

Rey is completely raw. She's allowing herself to be seen emotionally naked. This is the first scene where she gives him something with free will. She gives him union.

She reaches out from underneath the blanket. He takes his glove off and they slowly, innocently, reach for each other. The eye contact they maintain as the force theme begins, we as the audience understand something profound is happening. Within them, in this moment, there is a balance in the force.

They both have a vision of one another. Ren sees her past. Rey sees a glimpse of his future. This is the moment for Reylo, they both said to themselves "we're never letting this go". Rian Johnson confirmed it's from this moment that Ren decides to kill Snoke because that's the only way to protect Rey from him. Rey shift her belief system to complete Team Ben. She doesn't have a plan when she goes to meet Ben within the First Order. She just has complete faith in him that when the moment matters he'll stand by her.

We arrive at the elevator scene and just prior when she arrive onboard the supreme in a coffin from the Falcon that has his calligraphy on it. It's their first interaction after that intense force bond.

She expresses her faith in him and the possibility of a future. This is the first scene where she walks up on him. She wants that closeness and connection now. He's closed off we come to understand later, he's become he's protecting his mind from Snoke understanding his true intentions. They both express what they saw in their vision and conviction that one will join the other. It's canon that in this moment Kylo Ren wanted to kiss Rey.

Snoke - It's not his story. Kylo Ren looked like a badass killing him. That's all we needed you for boo. However, I did enjoy the internal dialogue of Snoke that the novelization affords. Through the force Snoke can feel Kylo Ren's need for approval which is something that frustrates him. He can feel his conflicted nature for Rey and for the light. He can feel his pain and confusion when Snoke says he bridged their minds (he didn't). That was enlightening.

My favorite moment is right after Kylo kills Snoke and Rey and Kylo looks at each like

"You with me?"

"Yeah, I'm with you"

And they turn to face the pretorian guards. They are with each other, but they do have a misunderstanding on what that means.

The fight scene is great and beautiful. Kylo Ren is a supportive partner to her and she to him. Kylo support her body with his and he takes on the majority of the Pretorian guards. He has a moment when he checks in on her, she get's hurt, he's upset and scared but then centers himself. When he's in trouble she supports him. It's described in the novel that they can feel each other's emotions through the force.

(Couldn't find the gif of her getting cut)

[malwaredykes]

I'm so curious to know what your favorite dlc is! And if it's Old World Blues(mine too) then what's your second favorite?

AND which dlc would be Leigh's favorite experience?

i actually picked up honest hearts as the beginning of my Refreshing My Memories Of The DLCs campaign, as its been a hot minute since i last went through them.

But, yeah, old world blues is my favorite! its got its highs and lows, and for sure the quests arent The most fun, but i think its just overall really charming. sure, tonally its a bizarre addition, but thats what makes it work.

i REALLY dont like the dlcs overall though asjkhkjfhsdkj. ive complained before about what the addition of ulysses' plotline does to the games story, which is to say it cheapens it A LOT through unnecessary contrived backstory. ive also complained before about ulysses himself being suuuuch a deeply insufferable instance of Chris Avellone Character which is a shame because he couldve been awesome. i rly dig the whole "many couriers in the mojave are caesar's spies" and as far as ~legion-sympathetic companions~ go i think "ex-legion guy with a long complicated history with caesar, whos disillusioned with pretty much every existing faction, and whos just kinda weird and with experiences far removed from yours" would probably be the best way to do it. i also think jotchua graham cracker is kind of... i dont wanna say a complete disappointment because i Dont mind him being a mormon who went on to be caesar's legate and who then Found Jesus Again, i think thats kind of great and hilarious actually. obviously the way honest hearts frames it is aaaawful but the "mormon -> Outright Genocidal Fascist Leading An Imperial Campaign As In Literally Building An Empire -> born again christian who thinks hes saving everyone around him with his faith in his lord jesus christ may he save you as he saved josh" pipeline kind of rules like. yeah lmao. but aside from that as The Burned Man i just donnnnt like what hes got going on. like first of all thats not really how burn scars work. id get into more detail here wrt post-healing discomfort and scar compression but Anyway. hes just. not what i expected from a guy who got set on fire and then fell down a canyon lmao. he should be Wrecked. the explanation of how he survived is such a cop-out too and honestly the line about surviving because the fire within him etc fully deserves to be on etsy products because it absolutely is some This Is My Fight Song bullshit like its such a meme. idk. the lack of physically disabled characters in fallout has always bothered me a lot, and in this case, like, yeah the scars are disabling, he is disabled, but youd think the Falling Down A Canyon part wouldve permanently affected him too.

ANYWAY enough about that. my second favorite, if one can say that, is dead money. the characters are very likeable... the dlc itself is kind of hellish though. like its just Not Fun. but we get to meet veronica's ex gf AND dean domino and dog/god are awesome.

and as for which one leigh has the most fun in i have to say honest hearts purely because it takes part somewhere really nice. like shes loving the place She Really Needed This. whereas the other dlcs are kind of

[grandkintoki]

Two sides of the same coin

Not everything is what it seems.

Evan Buckley x OC!female

PROLOGUE

Evan, still a little shocked, almost runs in desperation towards Bobby and this girl, coming up behind her, making a confused face at Bobby "who is she?", when their eyes met, who soon changed his expression.

"Cat, there's someone you need to meet, the new recruit, Buck, and Buck this is Cat." Cat(?) turned around and Buck almost had a freak out, he felt that out of nowhere, everything got a little hotter than normal, that his palms started to get wet and his heart started to beat faster.

So she's that Cat? The name that doesn't come out of the mouths of people at 118. Now he wanted to pay more attention to what they said about her.

"Oh, is this Buck?" He heard the disgust in her voice and face, maybe it was her new haircut, Chimney had warned him how ridiculous it looked previously.

"I'll leave you to talk..." Buck almost pleaded with the expression on his face for Bobby not to leave him alone with this beauty, normally he would know how to deal with pretty girls, but there is something in her blue gaze that captures him deeply .

As soon as Bobby leaves his side, he tries to talk, but nothing comes out of his mouth with the frightening expression on Cat's face, as if she were going to kill him or something, the nervousness and confusion almost went to his head, because when he started gesturing with his hands without saying anything, he knew something was wrong.

Suddenly he felt his head hit a wall and the sweet smell hit his nose, and narrow blue eyes looked at him with anguish and disappointment, Cat's tight grip on his shirt sent shivers down his spine.

"So you're Buck, the kid who steals trucks to do who knows what and manages to have the courage to show up here the next day!" The grip on his shirt got tighter and the distance between their faces started to get smaller.

"And there's that shirt with the symbol that should symbolize what we do best, helping people! It's your kind of people who make people die! One second with you in that truck and people die!"

"I really hope Bobby wakes up and sees what a mistake he made hiring you." With that she walked away, taking her suitcase and left huffing as if nothing had happened.

Buck was extremely embarrassed and nervous about the situation, Cat wasn't the first to lecture him, but none of them had been so... Direct and assertive.

Even he was a little disillusioned with himself, was that how people saw him? He was so busy trying to prove something that he didn't realize he could actually prove something but to the people he saves every day.

"I'd even say she might be... A little rude, but she's right, and I hope you know that." Hen appeared near Buck.

"Everything she said might be true, I still can't believe she's Cat!" He thought she would be just another pretty face, but there's something more...

"What do you mean you don't believe it?"

"Everyone was talking about her before, that maybe everything they say about her is true!" Buck said excitedly, a girl like her is all he needs to change.

"What? She just told you some good truths and now you try to flatter her?" Hen was definitely scared but was betting something different was about to happen um the next months.

-

Hello, again, I don't know if I separate this into chapters but I will soon create a masterlist🫡.

Doubts? Just saying, and I wanted to thank you for all the new followers and likes, it's my first experience posting something and I'm extremely happy, and the legend commented, I'm extremely happy, thank you very much to all!!❤️

And next time we'll start getting into the canonical events.☺️☺️

[luv-kakashi]

One of us is dead

chapter six - brotherhood

chapter five | chapter seven

Hues of red and gold danced over each other, as the evening sky dusked Konoha. A young boy ran through the streets, his hair glowing a golden wheat tone as he sought to find his best friend.

"Shisui! Wait up, Kami. You know me and my asthma can't keep up." Akira yelled, leaning on his knees to catch his breath after catching up with Shisui.

"What do you want?" Shisui snapped, his jaded eyes staring straight at Akira.

"Fight me and don't hold back this time." Akira pleaded as he dragged Shisui to the nearest training ground.

Both boys readied themselves: one eager to knock some sense into his disillusioned friend.

They started off sending and returning simple punches which soon unravelled into a series of kicks.

But by this point, it was obvious that Shisui had no intention of taking Akira seriously by receiving all the incoming blows, his face bruised and bloody. Akira was given no choice but to use the last weapon stored in his arsenal- The talk no jutsu.

"Why are you doing nothing, you coward?" Akira howled, becoming increasingly impatient with the deadened fight, "Cowards don't deserve to be called shinobi."

"You're right, I don't deserve to be called a shinobi." Shisui stated as he backed up onto a tree, falling to the floor. He untied his headband and held it in his hands for a brief second, before throwing it to the floor as if it were defiled, dirty and degraded. For a split second, you could see his eyes falter. They held regret, disappointment and shame. But the more he continued to open up, the harder the walls he so forcefully held up began to crumble.

"I'm a selfish coward who's cursed with this stupid Uchiha name!" Shisui screamed, "You don't understand what happened out there during the war. I killed. I killed the very comrades I swore to protect when I received that headband."

"What do you mean Shisui?"

Shisui raised his head to meet the gaze of his friend when he heard a small gasp escape his mouth.

A deep red shade danced over his pupils. But instead of the normal 3 tomoe pattern Akira was expecting, a new pattern branded his pupils: a pinwheel of 4 spiralling curves.

"Do you know why Itsuki never came back? During the war we were ambushed by kumo nin and cornered us. We were just chunin, and we didn't know how we were going to get out of there," Shisui screamed, pulling at his hair as tears streamed down his face, "Itsuki never made it. And it was all my fault! If I had only offered my hand, he didn't have to die. I could have saved him and I didn't!"

"Shisui, that wasn't your fault. You were left in an impossible position to get out of. Thank Kami someone found you, it isn't your fault."

"But it is! Our best friend is dead because of me! We promised we'd protect Konoha together, get put on the same team and now that will never happen."

"I still can't see how any of this is your fault."

"It is! He was blessed with everything, extraordinary skill far greater than the both of ours combined. He was always miles ahead of us, running in front of danger, never thinking twice to protect us. I couldn't get to him in time... I killed him. I killed our brother!" Shisui vented, "The overwhelming emotion caused my eyes to evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan. It awakened from the regret of not being able to save Itsuki that day. Don't you see? I'm just a coward, a murderer! I don't deserve to be called a shinobi...

And look! Everyone praises me for this stupid eye! Shisui of the Sharingan! The boy who unlocked his mangekyo so soon! This cursed Uchiha name worships me for killing Itsuki!"

The red and gold hues darkened into a midnight blue as the night sky covered the corners of Konoha. The silence that followed Shisui's confession was thick enough to stifle any creature of the night.

Yet despite this suffocating feeling, it was nimbly sliced by the sound of a slap that hammered Shisui's cheek.

"You idiot! Don't you understand? There was nothing you could have done; you did everything that you could have" Akira yelled. "Are you really going to beat yourself up for what happened? We're shinobi Shisui. Do you remember what Itsuki told us when you two graduated?

'The life of a shinobi is only going to get harder from here on out. There may be a time where we are forced to make sacrifices for the greater good of the village so don't let those sacrifices be in vain. Honor the fallen shinobi!'. Don't forget the lessons he taught us Shisui!

He sacrificed himself for you to come back to the leaf, our home, and to protect it with the new visual powers you have been blessed with. You aren't a coward; you are a shinobi of the hidden leaf village." Akira said as he picked up Shisui's headband off the ground and passed it to him. He took a seat next to Shisui and stared up at the night sky adorned with glistening stars.

"It's our responsibility to protect the people and to bring peace to this world." Akira said, "The most honorable act you could do is to make sure Itsuki's name is not lost in vain. Honour him, remember him and continue to protect the Leaf."

"Thank you, Akira" Shisui muttered, tears streaming down his face.

"Well, we're brothers Shisui, never forget that." Akira said, "I don't like serious, bitch-face Shisui. I prefer the goofy version better."

"Heh, you're right. Being a bitch doesn't suit me at all." Shisui chuckled, wiping his tears.

"You managed to scare away the new girl Y/N. I think that's a first, no girl has ever been scared off by THE Shisui Uchiha."

"I was a bit rude to her. I'll apologise tomorrow." Shisui said, reaching his arm out to the night sky, "Thank you Akira. You're really smart when you actually use your head."

"Pfft, I'm always smart you cry-baby."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The Itachi Shinden novel states that Shisui unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan after witnessing a close friend die on a mission and subsequently felt responsible for his death. I wanted to explore Shisui's feelings and how he processed his friends death, which is why he seems very out of character.

But fear not! I have been writing away and goofy, humble, cute, sexy Shisui Uchiha will return soon. (And turns out his flirt game is pretty strong too)

Loving you always,

Suri 🎀

[sonadowfujoshi]

Hey, sorry for asking, but what happened? Are people giving you shit for posting something?

I just wanna say, I really appreciate what you do, your translations are really great. I get that feeling of not doing enough/well enough, but try to not listen to it. Don't compare yourself to other people. Good luck with your art endeavours!

When the Shadow manga chapter came out the entire thing got posted on Twitter by some news account and people were pissed off about that, which was fair enough on its own. But then some idiots thought I contributed to the "leaks" (which aren't even leaks because the magazine with the chapter was already out on digital platforms by then and everyone has to buy it to view it) when all I did was show the front page and one panel. Someone very popular even blocked me over it and a follower of mine had to go clear things up with them. It was so embarrassing I wanted to tear my skin off.

It'd be fine if this is where things ended but then the entire thing spiraled into a bunch of people, including some popular artists I respected and frequently retweeted, dickriding copyright law, saying weird xenophobic shit about "uncultured western fans" and saying anyone who dares to fantranslate the chapter instead of waiting until piss knows when for an official release like a good boy is a leech who is singlehandedly going to put the manga artist out of business and bankrupt the publisher. Even if all those posts weren't targeting me specifically, as someone who has fantranslated hundreds of manga pages already (none of which have ever been released legally in English, mind) and who previously had unpleasant scuffles with third-party copyright cops, it was really upsetting and disappointing to witness. The entire thing put a bitter taste in my mouth and I'm now far more vigilant about idolizing certain people and trying to butter up to them just because their art is pretty. I mean, you shouldn't do that to anyone even if they're not indirectly calling you a leech, but this just drove it home. I don't think these people realize how privileged they are in terms of how accessible this stuff is to them and that not everyone in the global south is able to afford the heavily taxed $5 magazine. I can't even bring myself to look at Twitter anymore I'm disillusioned so bad.

So, like, at this point, I don't know where I stand in this community as someone with a not so secret reputation of being a dirty pirate fucker who fantranslates stuff. Keeping the shit under wraps in hushed tones doesn't sit right with me when the entire point is accessibility. I was always aware to an extent that there is going to be a crowd that will consider people like me leeches no matter what, but hearing that from the mouths of my idols super sucks. I guess I really need to just come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to be everyone's friend no matter how hard I try and accept that my only home and friends are fellow pirates like me.

[beanghostprincess]

I know this is not related to shipping stuff, but (I think) you like people sending asks with fanfic-y stuff and this was just on my mind.

I've always been worried about how Oda will handle Luffy and Dragon meeting, but I recently realised that One Piece loves a several-chapter-long flashback when something is revealed so we'll probably see everything from Luffy's birth to Dragon giving him to Garp (and probably more) and my mind started whirring about one specific question.

Why would Dragon give up Luffy but take in Sabo? And my theory (for now) is that they were both Dragon's ways of saving the kids.

When Dragon had Luffy he knew that he would be in danger. The son of the most wanted man on the planet would be a prime target for the world government and he knew he had to get him somewhere safe so he put Luffy in the care of Garp, Dragon's father-in-law (Dragon's bio father is Xebec and Dragon is a revolutionary to carry on his father's legacy of taking the empty throne, but that's a whole different theory for another day).

But when Dragon's rescuing the people in the gray terminal (he's always kept an eye on the island to make sure his son is safe and sound) he meets a kid who is disillusioned by the wealth of the rich district, who then gets shot by a Celestial Dickhead. Dragon, missing his son couldn't help himself and saves the dying kid to raise him himself.

I believe that Dragon didn't give up Luffy and take in Sabo because he hates Luffy or anything like that. It was just his way of keeping the 2 children safe. Luffy is safer not being Dragon's son, but since Sabo has nowhere else to go (and Dragon definitely misses being able to raise Luffy), Dragon chose to protect him and raise him himself. (and let's be real, Drgaon giving Sabo to Garp to keep safe and Garp giving him back to the mountain bandits would have been very silly).

That's just my hope for the future of One Piece. I personally believe that the Laughtale arc will be immeditaly followed by the Redline arc, where the Strawhat Grand Fleet and the Revolutionary Army team up and absolutely lay S E I G E to Mary Geoise, killing defeating every last Celestial Dragon in the process. So if the meetup isn't super emotionally impactful, I'm going to be very disappointed. But frankly, I don't think Oda has let us down before when it comes to emotional potential, so why worry?

I take the same mindset to the future meetup between the father who left his wife and child for selfish adveture (which also killed his wife) and clearly regrets it, and his son who idolises him so much that he can't see how his father wronged him BUT THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY.

I agree completely. First of all, yeah, I think it's just two different ways of raising different children. Dragon cares about Luffy and has been protecting him and keeping an eye on him for a long time, and with how much build up Oda has been writing, I am sure we'll see a very emotional reunion. We'll have a flashback, definitely, like always, and it'll be emotional but obviously more on Dragon's side because Luffy didn't even know he had a dad, lmao. We're gonna cry but because of Dragon. I am so sure of that. I don't know how it will happen, although your theory is great and I'd love to see it, but I trust Oda with emotional moments the most so I am not worried at all. Again, with how much he's been talking about dads and Dragon's parenting and love for Luffy lately, I won't be surprised if we have a flashback and a very emotional reunion <3

[galaxysharks]

Do you ever think about Lilith and Mother Superion's relationship ? How Mom Sup had to watch one of her daughter go down a similar path to hers and could do nothing to stop her. How she must blame herself for not managing to get to Lilith before it was too late. How she was hard on her so she wouldn't end up rejected by the Halo. How Lilith must feel so ashamed to have disappointed her most loving mother figure.

I just feel like Mom Sup telling her Warrior Nun story to Lilith like she did to Ava in season 2 could have had a lot of depth and feeling because I feel like they have almost never interacted.

I'm sorry any Mom Sup and her daughters relationships makes me emotional. They have so much dysfunctional found family potential.

Ok! Let's do this!

I think Mother Superion was overly hard on Lilith both because she was trying to prepare her for having the halo, and out of a intense anger because this is a young woman literally bred to be killed for the halo.

Especially because from her perspective, the halo rejected her when she put her mission above her sisters, and Lilith is known for her absolute obedience to the overall goal of the OCS. She doesn't seem to realize her disillusion to herself caused the halo to be rejected.

Additionally, when it ends up not mattering anyway, when Lilith does die to the blade of a tarask to save her sister, Mother Superion doesn't know how to help her upon her return. Much like with Ava in the first season, Lilith is embodying, through no choice of her own, the very thing that Mother Superion has been taught her whole life to be wicked and hellish.

For Lilith, all she knows is that she can never be accepted in the way she was before. There's always going to be this question of how much of Lilith is left, and how much is the demonic force she is now fused with. She knows Mother Superion is trying, but she can see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

Lilith has only ever wanted to be what the others needed her to be, to impress them and to be exactly as they saw.

And Mother sees a monster......

[sgiandubh]

Well hello one more time tonight it is Caitriona Anon again. I love when you get fired up. But 1) I'm not an Anti, I'm a shipper I just happen to be one who's disillusioned with Caitriona who I now find cold. I've been here since Sam was cast, I no longer have a blog because I'm trying to wean myself off of this and it's easier for me this way. I do believe they are together despite whatever irritation I might have with either of them at any given time. 2) I'm not Russian or German, I'm an American and I guess my grammar failed me tonight, apologies. 3) I didn't understand and I wanted to ask questions which I thought was the point of having an ask box and a comment section so that people can get to the heart of what you are saying. Despite you not caring if you are understood, after this post, I do. 4) I was sincere in my questions and appreciate your answers no matter how fiery they are.

Dear (persistent) Caitriona Anon,

You managed to bring a smile, after all, remembering my (shipper) mom's exasperation: 'stop doing your American lawyer schtick, we're eating, for the love of God!", every single time I get fired up, as you say. Yes, same shipper mom who is a C-mainly ('so beautiful! so elegant!') and who told me ' I will not comment on that boy, he is blonde' (it's true, the women of my clan are persistently attracted like flies by dark strangers).

Speaking of C also made me remember a lazy August afternoon, on the Nong Khai-Bangkok sleeper train. I was trying to read something about Virginia Woolf's Bloomsbury gang (a filthy paperback I had poached at the Khao San Road bookstore, between the 7-Eleven and the smiling Burmese tailors who made me a couple of wonderful tussah outfits). At the other end of the open dining car, an old American Hippie guy was explaining to a bunch of bewildered Australian flashpackers how that same Khao San Road changed and became 'such a nonsense' since the glorified days of the Banana Pancake Trail. That included the somewhat lewd recollection of his paramour, a fierce Valkyrie, the story ending with ' ah, she was beautiful. Beautiful and gone.'

So is C. Beautiful and gone. She came, she conquered, she left. But what is good to bewilder Australian flashpackers on a balmy Siamese summer night is crappy nonsense when and if you consider a life and a career after OL. So yes, even if I have trouble believing your story, I could reasonably understand why you are disappointed or angry or (you name it) with S, C, S&C.

I am not, because I set my bar very low on design. I have no moral right to ask anything of These Two. I have no intention to pressure two overly stressed individuals who still must figure out what the hell happened to them (yes, after all these years), just to satisfy my ego or be avenged. I am taking it as it is, one tango step and one day at a time. I know what I know and that is enough, because what I know I found out or figured up by myself: the rest is confirmation, solidarity and a beautiful story of collective friendship.

Wean yourself off? Wow, the ambition. This is worse than tobacco! And you still have a sock account just to lurk? Make no mistake, you didn't go anywhere, if you told me the truth. And neither did Moo, or CRT and their respective beggar's courts: they are still here, like dragonflies in amber, and despite all their loud, vile, venomous protestations. It's next to impossible to leave, when the sideshow is more enticing than Season 4.

You are always welcome to ask questions and I will always answer. But I think that you might want to consider this POV, too: how about finding yourself propelled in a world where people literally scream every single time you walk into a room? how about trying to have a life when you sometimes feel that hundreds of prying eyes are lurking near your bed? how about finding balance when every single word you ever uttered is analyzed to oblivion on blogs or is turned into a gif which spins lackadaisically in cyberspace? how about living with a sword above your head, called Non Disclosure Agreement? how about finding yourself insulted by nobodies with a keyboard? what would YOU do?

So what if they don't want to be seen, heard, mentioned, in a giant FUCK YOU ALL, shippers and antis and fencers and God knows who else?

Do I think this is the best way they could have managed it? Absolutely not. But my position is comfortable: the love of my life is not regularly considered an illiterate snake oil seller for a geriatric bunch of groupies. I am not that guy Richard Madden ostensibly humiliated in public, when he was bartending in London, and who, suddenly, is aware he became a global fantasy.

Would he lie for her sake, for their sake? I believe he would, and more. Would she accept the unthinkable? The woman who answered the 'what was the most foolish thing you ever did' by 'I got married' totally would.

Enough said. Let's say good bye, for the moment, with a nice pic from a calmer world, where the gong of the nearby wat wakes you up at 6 AM. And then you go and have the best coffee in town at The Scandinavian Bakery, round the corner:

[thorchickmotorchick]

My brain is full of AU in which Thor has been DISAPPOINTED with people since the first film.

I even saw art where Thor is the villain and Loki is the hero. God, it looked great..

I'm very sorry, but I don't know the author of this masterpiece. If you know, please write and I will indicate the author.

I'm thinking about writing a fanfic where Thor became even more disillusioned with people during his time there. Loki will not fall from the bridge and will be a hero, and Thor will be a villain who will just fall.

Ahh, I'm a genius! Wait until I start writing this😝

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

I think it's really nice that your not afraid to answer the asks about body parts and such.

I myself like men but I've not been with one yet and your insights were appreciated.

I don't understand why people talk about size when his thing was soft its not a porn movie.

I mean I'm not an expert on male size..

There are just a lot of people out there whose only experience of the human body is through pornography, and that's very damaging.

Likewise, with consumers of fan fiction, it's awesome to suspend your disbelief for a little while and disappear into a world where characters come every time, have cocks that "thwack" against their bellybutton when they take off their pants, and magically don't need to immediately get up and pee after sex. However, there are inexperienced readers out there who take that as fact, and that can be so, so damaging, disillusioning and disappointing for people when they experience the real deal and it's not like what they've read about in stories.

It is not our responsibility as authors to make our stories educational in that regard, the responsibility falls upon the reader to ensure that they are broadening their horizons beyond our stories, and learning about their bodies and sex through the appropriate mediums.

I am happy to talk about it openly, as I don't believe it should be a taboo topic, and I don't mind sating people's curiosity if it helps them to learn something.

[a-x-ce]

Since I'm not even trying to re-watch OP in order I went back to Fishman Island after Dressrosa ('cause I'm a little bitch and can't do Marineford...) there's the scene where Franky reveals General Franky and he talks about how he accomplished ''Vegapunk's dream'' and I was like, 'oh...'

Franky doesn't even get to utilize General Franky during Egghead, and Vegapunk is pretty much dead (as far as we're told anyway as of current chapters) so like, VP never got to see all the work Franky put into both his creations and himself INSPIRED by him and I'm so sad about it now (maybe we could still get something between him and Lilith).

Franky was sent to one of VP's labs in the 2-year time skip, spent time with people who knew him, learned and created stuff based on leftover ideas from him, and Franky didn't get to show him any of it despite being such a huge fan of his work (not all of it, but the cool stuff at least).

I think that's been a kinda disappointing aspect of arcs lately IMO, the idea that certain members could have more moments of focus in places where they should (Zoro in Wano, Franky in Egghead) and then they just don't. Which is why I do see where a lot of fear comes from with regard to Elbaf and Usopp, I think the only reason myself and a lot of other Usopp fans haven't become disillusioned that little to nothing will happen is just how fucking much and for how fucking long Oda has set-up Usopp having some kind of significant character arc there. If he doesn't do it, it'd be a betrayal of all those years of build-up, which wasn't/hasn't been as apparent with some other characters.

I feel the same way with Nami and at some point getting more information about Oykot because it's been put on hold for so long but there's something clearly very interesting about who Nami is and why she's able to do the things she does (plus that scene in Fishman Island where Shirahoshi tells Nami she feels as though she's known her before and like hmmmmmmmm).

I love re-watching/re-reading One Piece and appreciating all the stuff Oda left in older arcs that now have had payoff in recent ones, I'm just always impressed by his worldbuilding.