#Would you marry me Keiko?

[kuromochimi]

Of weddings and what ifs

sakusa kiyoomi x wedding organizer f!reader

♡ You loved your job and the joy of being able to bring to life the weddings that couples could only dream of, before they had met you. The only downside to it was that your job sometimes reminded you of a certain ex fiancé. Fortunately, he hasn’t made an appearance in your life since you broke the engagement off. But with the red string of fate connecting you and your ex fiancé not being totally severed yet, it was only a matter of time before it brought you back into each other’s lives. Only this time, he’s tied to another.

Content Warnings: ONE SHOT, angst, little fluff and comfort, no closure break ups, not proof read, a small hint for an open ending, lmk if I missed any!

With the final arrangements settled, you finally felt free enough to take a breath and appreciate the (once again) perfect event you’d managed to organize. It was exhausting to say the least, but the happy couples who would often tear up out of joy while thanking you? Yes, it was definitely worth it. And it was a job that paid fairly well too. Moments after you’ve had the time to look around the venue, a notification from your phone caught your attention. It was a notice from your secretary about new clients. She reminded you that you had to meet them the following day. You then made sure to set up alarms and reminders as you were sure you would oversleep otherwise, after all, the current event would definitely last til the late hours. And that it did.

The following day, you tried your best to make yourself look freshened up and awake. You arrived at the meeting place quite early. You double checked all the files and documents which you might need. Thankfully, not long after you finished fixing your papers, the client arrived. She approached gently before speaking “Hi! I’m keiko. You’re yn, right? I saw your picture on the pamphlet” she smiled shyly. You noticed just how soft spoken and beautiful this lady was. She definitely has that “soon to be married” glow. “Hello, yes! It’s me. I’m glad to finally meet you, keiko!” You stood up to shake her hand. You both settled down after the introductions. “Will it be just you for today?” You asked her before you started discussing anything. “Oh my fiancé will be here soon. He just suddenly had to run an errand for his mom. He’s..” she grabbed her phone to check on something, probably a message. “Oh he’s just parking his car now” you gave a nod of acknowledgment at that. With your seat facing the entrance, you could clearly see the people who walked in and out of the cafe. Which meant that when sakusa kiyoomi walked in, your eyes immediately gravitated towards him. He started looking around, eyes landing on you. Or at least you thought they did, before keiko looked back from her seat, immediately getting up to hug sakusa once she was made aware of his presence. She guided the man back to your table. You tried your best to mask whatever feeling was forcing its way out of you. “Yn, this is my fiancé. You can just call him k-“ . “sakusa, you can call me sakusa” he cut her off. Keiko was a bit taken aback by her fiancé’s interruption but she was quick to ward off the confusion. While the discussion went on, you couldn’t help but feel anxious and even more tired. You weren’t sure if it was because of last night’s event execution or if it was because in front of you was your ex-fiancé, asking you to organize his wedding. The fiancé who was too busy for wedding planning. The fiancé who thought he couldn’t give you what you deserved. The fiancé who left.

The world felt like it was nothing but air. You couldn’t feel much at all and you were probably only functioning out of pure muscle memory acquired from all the times you’ve done this pre-planning orientation for engaged couples. Your consciousness was jolted awake when keiko stood up. “Yn I’m really sorry but I’m being called in for work. One of my patients had an emergency. Please just settle the rest with kiyoomi, I’ll see you again soon!” She hurriedly left. Her absence immediately making way for the awkward silence filled with all of the unspoken thoughts you and sakusa tried to keep in for the last hour or so.

“I’m sorry”. The words felt unreal. They felt empty, and fake though you were sure kiyoomi would never say something he didn’t mean. “What are you sorry for, sakusa?” He visibly flinched at the name he suggested you called him by, not even an hour ago. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be.. all this for you” the moment made your ring finger feel heavy despite the absence of the ring that used to wrap itself around it.

His words brought you back to the day he left after he’d had enough of your complaints about having to plan the wedding all by yourself. He was starting off as a doctor back then, a new resident who wanted to do all that he could to establish his career. You were both fairly young back then, which was probably why you both thought getting married at that point of your lives was surreal. For some, maybe it was so. But for you two? Apparently not. Because not long after he proposed, he soon found that the demands of being a surgical resident wasn’t something to take lightly. While you were also working, you never failed to make time for wedding planning. Of course, you knew that his schedule was much more taxing than yours but it still pained you to make invitations on your own, taste test cakes by yourself. “I want whatever you want” was what he’d said as compensation for his absence. But when you were trying on dresses and you looked at yourself in the mirror gown and all, the weight of keeping everything in came crashing down because “he should be here” was all you could think. Sakusa wasn’t superstitious so he certainly wouldn’t give a fuck about seeing you in your wedding dress before the wedding day. Heck, he even said he’d love to pick one out with you. But he wasn’t with you. So when he came home from work, tired and not thinking straight, he was met with your equally tired looking figure, sitting on the couch, crying. He didn’t even get a word out before you spoke your mind and while he did understand, he didn’t have the energy to argue further. Because in his head, you should’ve understood why he couldn’t be there. And even when you both reconciled that night, nothing had changed. The same cycle continued until neither of you found enough reason to keep the promise of getting married. Though you wished he would’ve at least said goodbye instead of leaving a shitty sorry note on top of your counter, along with the apartment keys.

“It’s fine. Let’s just forget about it” you tried your best to sound sincere but you couldn’t exactly lie your way out of a confrontation with someone with whom you literally intended to spend the rest of your life with at some point in time. “Do you.. do you want me to find another planner? I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was gonna be you, yn. I promise I never intended to-“ he stops as you held your hand up to signal your request for silence. “Sakusa, it’s fine. Like I said, let’s just forget about it. I promise not to let what happened get in the way of your wedding planning.” The day went by very slowly, both you and kiyoomi moving and speaking like virtual characters merely accomplishing tasks assigned to them. “Well, that’s about it. Please let your fiancé know about the details she missed and… congratulations for the engagement” you chimed before briskly walking out of the cafe where sakusa was left dumbfounded and extremely confused as to how he was going to address this wild turn of events.

Throughout the planning, you’ve come to learn that keiko was an amazing person. She was passionate about her work advocacies, she was kind and soft spoken, extremely understanding, and though you didn’t mean to have such thoughts, whenever she spoke of kiyoomi, you never seem to miss the times she’d tell stories about how busy the man was and that she understood him anyway. Because she loved him. Because she was the same way sometimes. Something you weren’t able to do for him during such a challenging time in his life. It caused conflict in your heart to learn all of those things. Because it warmed your heart to see such a happy bride to be. She radiated happiness and everything in between whenever she was with kiyoomi and kiyoomi looked at ease whenever he was with her and that’s something because kiyoomi rarely looked at ease. They were happy but as much as you wanted to take that happiness as a sign to let your hurt go, it just didn’t work that way. To be quite frank, until now, you still harbored a little (or more) hurt from the fact that someone you had initially agreed to marry, was capable of leaving you without even saying it to your face. Before you came home to an empty apartment with his goodbye note, you were even going to propose the idea that maybe you guys should just postpone the wedding and maybe wait for things to settle in before you resume planning. Instead, you were met with your ex-fiancé’s absence. His clothes missing from the closet, medical books out of the shelves, even his favorite mug was nowhere to be found. It was as if only the note he left behind could serve as proof that you were once in a relationship with him. You tried contacting his family and closest friends but most of them ignored your calls and those of them who answered obviously tried their best to dodge answering your questions. You were at your lowest then. You took a long leave from work, barely ate, barely showered, was often sick, and would constantly wonder how things could have been had you just kept your mouth shut instead of nagging a tired kiyoomi.

It wasn’t helping that you were thinking about all of this a few minutes before the couple’s consultation with you. The wedding was moving closer and closer and you’ve been spending more and more time with them and it still honestly feels like the world is caving in every single time. It’s an unexplainable feeling. You wanted nothing more than to see them get married, sincerely congratulate the couple, let go of all that’s been bugging you in the past, and finally move on with your life, something you haven’t been able to do since you and kiyoomi broke things off. Your thoughts were cut short when someone entered your office. It was keiko and she was alone. “Yn? Hi, I just wanted to talk to you real quick” “quick? but we have so much to do” she smiles gently before taking a seat across your desk. “I don’t know how else to put it but… I know about you and kiyoomi. I didn’t know when I first met you but he told me everything and I just want to tell you that it’s okay if you want to talk to him about it. You both need it, yn. I know it’s none of my business but I hope you think about it. Don’t worry, I understand.” Ah. You see it. This is the woman he fell in love with. This was the woman worth the change and this was the woman able to match him perfectly. There’s no fighting that. “Keiko I don’t know, you don’t have to” she softly reached for your hand to hold it in both of hers. “You deserve an explanation, yn. Kiyoomi might have changed since then but I’m not about to marry someone who’s able to leave someone just like that. If you feel like you don’t need to speak with him, I respect that. But if you want to talk to him, let him know, it’s okay, don’t worry about me.”

You took up the offer. Maybe if keiko didn’t come up to you to say that it was okay to look for closure, you would have spent the rest of your life swallowing your need for an explanation from your ex.

“Thank you for agreeing to talk, yn.” You only gave him a light nod as you looked far into the expanse of trees ahead. View from where you were seated at a nice private little cafe. “Kiyoomi I just want to know. Why did you leave like that?” With fidgety hands, you tried to calm down. “I just felt like I didn’t deserve you anymore. I hurt you after I asked you to marry me. I didn’t deserve that ‘yes’ anymore” after a nod, you responded “So you just? Wrote a note then dipped? Kiyoomi I still wanted to marry you then. I was going to postpone it but I still wanted to marry you.” He knew that. “It’s exactly why I left. Because you still wanted to marry me even after what I did. I didn’t deserve you anymore.” “Kiyoomi, for the longest time, I wanted to tell you that I was willing to wait for you and that I was sorry for nagging you that day. Then I was obsessed with trying to find out which one of us was at fault. I wanted someone to be at fault because how does it happen that two people love each other so much but still end up separating just like that? But it’s been a while now and I think… I think maybe we should forgive each other now. I honestly felt bitter lots of times even til only recently but seeing you with keiko.. she’s a great girl and she deserves all the happiness. We should close this part of our lives now, shouldn’t we?” Kiyoomi stood up and you thought he was about to walk out but he pulled your arm to get you to stand up before he gave you a tight, warm, and sincere hug. One unlike any other he had given before. It wasn’t an I missed you hug but not a goodbye one either. It was one of acceptance and peace. Though it didn’t feel familiar, none of his embraces have felt as warm as this one. After pulling away from the hug, you grabbed your purse, as you got ready to leave. “Omi, I sincerely wish you and keiko the best” this time, you said it with utmost sincerity.

Wedding day

With flowers and good food and genuine smiles, the wedding went by without a hitch. Much to your relief. You decided to stay a little but longer for the reception, snack on a fee things before leaving. With a glass of champagne in one hand and your purse in the other, you walked around the venue, checking on things here and there. Well, not until someone bumped into you knocking the glass of champagne off your hand, spilling champagne on your dress, shattering the glass on the pavement, and causing you to fall on your bum all at once. “Hey, you okay? Come here” the tall man gently guided you to stand up. He immediately removed his coat to wrap it around your frame to hide at least a little bit of the stain. “You hurt anywhere?” It took a while for you to respond. “Oh- oh yeah I’m okay, no worries, sir” “it’s Suna. Suna Rintaro”

[3terna15unshin3]

Would you ever consider writing about Matty & Este finding out their pregnant/having a baby?? Would love to read it if you’d be up for writing it!

hiiii thank u for the request, this will just be a rambly run on idea type of blurb!! fun fact - at the beginning of all this i had my heart set on them not having a baby bc este is me and i have never ever wanted kids and honestly don’t even like them very much (lol) … but it’s clearly something important to matty irl so after getting some requests (and also loving like the domestic and fluffy and sensitive ideas that it would bring on) i have reconsidered to satisfy the people🫡🫡🫡

so many authors on here write dad matty very well tho and much better than i ever could, like @yourtouchismidas’s Ruins universe / @toomuchracket's flatmate!matty dad and d word blurbs / @ughgoaway’s teacher au 💌💌💌 and so many more!!!!! i also have a pregnancy scare blurb here if u want to read that too! i hope u enjoy 🌟

tbsg masterlist // more blurbs

it happens after they get married and i think it wouldn’t necessarily be an accident, like este would pose the idea of her going off her contraceptive pill instead of switching to a different one (after her hormones start to have a bit of a hay day) and matty's up for it too. when they find out they’re over the moon. este expects to be scared or full of anxiety but it feels so right that they cry and smile and hold each other all day. it’s such a sacred moment/feeling so they decide to keep the news to themselves for the first couple of months. 

everyone in their life gets suspicious that este stops ordering cocktails at dinner and is always weirdly out of breath after doing anything barely physical but nobody is concerned enough to confront them about it. she wears baggy clothes (like matty's slouchiest band tees) while out and her bump starts to grow, but at home she doesn't bother covering up. a typical 'around the house' outfit of hers is a bralette top and her favorite jeans just with the zipper down and button wide open, tummy fully on display while typing away at a review on her laptop or snuggling up to keiko on the sofa. matty likes it, since he thinks she looks sexy and a certain energy seems to be radiating off of her that he can't seem to break his attention from. este's always catching him steal glances at the bump when he thinks she isn't looking. he sets his hand on it every night and rubs his thumb back and forth at a steady rhythm while talking about whether the baby will have his curly hair or her tan skin or his musical talent or her passion for literature. all of the above, hopefully.

she’s incredibly run down at the start so she spends lots of time in bed, which she hates. she wants nothing more than to go out to the cafe down the street, that they love, and sip on a matcha while he downs a cappuccino, and they share a warm pastry; but the baby makes her unable bear the taste of green tea and the noise of the espresso machine would probably start to drive her crazy. her attention span is suddenly split in half and she gets migraines ferquently so she's trudging behind on the list of books she needs to read.

it's tough, but matty's there to help. he appreciates that she's in bed so often because she has a habit of working herself too hard anyway. because his recent album cycle is over with, he can care for her and brush her hair and learn the order of her skincare routine so he can apply it for her when she’s too tired to do it herself. sometimes matty can tell the sickness is extra bad and that este's just downplaying her pain for the sake of not bothering him so he scolds her and treats her like a princess until she can't help but smile in pure adoration. people begin to notice that she isn’t spotted much in public at all and maybe even breakup rumors swirl around the internet.

the months they spend with their little secret are so precious, but they begin telling family when the baby grows to big to hide. it’s the best news of the year. everyone close to them finding out makes it feel so real. they receive little baby grows as gifts from cate and georgia, este’s dad helps them fix up a nursery in the spare room, and denise begins buying them diapers way too early. matty and este once discuss how lucky they are that their little one will be surrounded by such a village of love and they deliriously sob together at the thought of it. 

i think they’d announce it to the public by posting a cute candid taken by charli or george. it’s from the rare time este feels well enough to go out on a little doggy play date/walk through the park so the four of them do that. the pic shows matty and este sitting cross-legged on the grass with keiko in matty’s lap, her tongue sticking out (like it always does when she’s excited). este’s bump pokes out of the bottom of her jumper and they’re both mid-laugh and looking at each other with squinty eyes. the caption is something cute and casual like ‘healy x 4’ or ‘spot the newest healy’ and fans go absolutely insane. there are plenty of news outlets that use their pregnancy as headlines too but neither of them read any of the many articles written because they couldn’t care less of what journalists had to say.

in my heart matty is a girldad, so when it’s time to find out the sex, the doctor shares it with them right away. the two of them think gender reveals are stupid so they don’t have one. they begin building a little personality for her, like when este would eat something that she usually loves but now makes her sick, matty jokes and says "of course she isn’t a mushroom type of girl. i could’ve guessed that from a mile away," and este rolls her eyes. he’d call out phrases like "my girls! i’m home!" when coming back through the front door after a trip to the shops and este would pull the "you’re really outnumbered now, you know… 3-1…" card whenever they disagree about something. 

they also accumulate tons of storybooks that they like to take turns reading to the bump before bed every night. because they're so pretentious they go for classics like the velveteen rabbit and corduroy and anything by shel silverstein. matty always chooses the longest ones so that he can spend as much time as possible talking to her. he brings his lips all close to make sure the baby can hear him and sometimes does silly voices. when they make este giggle, her tummy vibrates with laughter and sometimes they’ll feel her kick or shift and it’s something they look forward to every day.

throughout the whole pregnancy, every couple of weeks, matty would snap a picture of the two of them (or three, i guess) standing in the full length mirror in their bedroom. they both stand profile to show off este’s growing belly, her in front, matty’s chest pressed against her back. they hold hands and she rests her empty one on her stomach, while he uses his to take the photo with a fancy point and shoot camera. the roll of film he shoots on is full of pictures and he only takes it to get developed after the final one is taken. the last of the roll shows este, now a couple weeks postpartum, with matty still holding her from behind, but this time she cradles baby dorothy in her arms instead of her pregnant belly. 

it becomes their favourite picture ever taken, so even though they’d agree to keep her identity private and barely share anything the first few months, matty and este excitedly post it on social media to at least share that she was born and what her name is. it’s a carousel with the newest picture as the cover and as you swipe you can see a couple of the previous mirror pics where her bump gets bigger and bigger over time. his caption would either be cute like ‘our baby dodes was born on the 25th of jan x’ or ‘my favourite girls in the world (este.manansala and our little dorothy)’ or something really stupid like ‘became a friend to dorothy on the 25th of january (is this a coming out post or is my daughter is named dorothy ?? guess x)’ … get it??? bc ‘friend of dorothy’ means gay man lmfao i feel like matty would be annoying like that.

dorothy florence manansala healy is her full name. it’s a mouthful but they’d love that about it and it’s also a filipino tradition to make the mother’s maiden name a second middle name for the child, so that’s where that comes from. they went through hoards of them before settling on one combination. dorothy florence comes from a hodge podge of meanings like the D initial for denise, matty's early memories of the wizard of oz, their beloved florencia, and just the fact that they found them both on baby name lists and thought they were the prettiest. they call her dodie and dodes and dodiebaby and dot and dotty and doddle and even flossie sometimes (they hope that once she’s a bit older she can pick the nickname she likes the best, so they can just call her that, instead of having to choose between them all).

and frankly, they’re completely obsessed with her. she has big brown eyes and a full head of hair and chubby rosy cheeks. matty loves that she has este’s nose and long lashes and este loves that she has his curls and pointy chin. her eyes light up whenever her mum or dad is in her view and she learns to smile whenever they call her name (or any different iteration of it). 'song for our daughter' by laura marling comes on shuffle once in a while and it makes them weep now that they have one.

being new parents takes them on a million rollercoasters of emotions all at once but they make it through the tough times together. of course their families and the guys help out a bunch, especially hann and carly who then get baby fever and maybe consider having another to give baby hann a sibling and dodie another cousin. i think matty and este would be really great though, gentle most of the time but firm when needed and they work really well as a team. matty def would not be one of those dads who slacks off or thinks it’s babysitting to watch his own kid (ofc, bc ew), like he’d be so helpful and loving and thoughtful about caring for este and any struggles she may have postpartum just as much as caring for the baby. 

they try to split things as evenly as possible and all the love flows so freely and carelessly between the three of them, although i do imagine when dot is a toddler that she’s a bit of a daddy’s girl lol. maybe that’s just me being up matty’s ass but i could just imagine her always wrapping her arms around his leg when they stand together or being really excited to go pick out a birthday gift for him with este or being mesmerized by his singing voice and stuff like that. 

baby dorothy quickly becomes their best friend. she’s everything they could’ve ever dreamed of. 

anyway that’s all i could muster up for now, if you’re wanting more baby manansala-healy blurbs, i’d be open to write them, but i don’t really have anything specific in mind so i probably only will if i get some ideas in my ask box :)))) feel free to send some if you have any!!!

ok bye love u

[captainjimothy]

Characters I intentionally left out of this poll because I already have an aromantic (or aro-spec) headcanon for them, which I'll get around to posting eventually:

julian

garak

miles

keiko

kira

odo

ezri

vic fontaine

Characters I intentionally left out of this poll for other reasons:

dukat (i'm not touching that)

brunt (it would be a boring post)

Why I grouped the married couples together:

more space in the poll

don't worry i will treat them as individuals

Will I use this as an excuse to write up aro headcanons for everyone listed in the poll:

probably yeah

it does give me a priority order though

[cocogum]

Hating on Ending D will get you nowhere.

Don’t underestimate it.

One thing that pisses me off about this stupid fandom were the reactions of the killugon fans once they heard about Ending D.

Nah cuz let’s talk about it.

These ppl are seriously acting delulu rn.

They weren’t too much before but now it’s just ridiculous.

I’m starting to see a reaction pattern here through this plausible ending:

1) Some are saying that Togashi said this as a joke therefore, he’s just fucking with us and hasn’t actually revealed anything.

2) Togashi will never use this ending because he scrapped it.

3) Togashi said that his personal favorite ending was Ending C but he said that the majority of the fans will hate it. So it doesn’t mean that he’s super ecstatic by Ending D.

4) This ending is way too shonen and cliché for him to actually use. Since it’s so basic, it doesn’t scream his style. Therefore, even if the ending happened, it wouldn’t feel real.

5) The fans who like this ending are problematic and homophobic.

I’m so sick of hearing these same things come out of their mouths so let me just clearly explain why this is all ridiculous:

1) Why would Togashi ever joke about something like his plausible passing and the work he’s been working so hard for which started in 1998?? The dude has never once joked around with the questions he received about hxh. He’s also been the type to spoil some people through interview questions too so if we follow your logic, that would mean he would’ve also lied about the fact that Kurapika and all the phantom troupe members would die.

2) We shouldn’t act so hasty when it comes to this ending just because it got scrapped. Togashi did say that he took it out from the endings he was planning on using but it doesn’t change the fact that he: a) actually took his time out of the day to think about the idea in the past and b) said that he’ll use it if his time runs out and if he can’t come up with a greater ending better than the three ones he already got.

3) Yes, it’s true. Out of the three ones we got, Togashi’s favorite ending was the third one, Ending C. So what? He said he kept it around simply because it was his favorite.

That also means he’s not so into Ending A and Ending B. An author doesn’t have to specifically use their favourite ending to end their series. They have to think about what the audience and what the majority of the reactions would be like to the ending they came up with. So since he estimated that only 10% of the fandom will like Ending C and 90% of it will hate it, there’s a very high chance he won’t even attempt at using it for the ending. Also, we have no idea what the ending is about.

4) The ending may sound basic and very shonen-like but so was Yu Yu Hakusho’s ending. Or rather the ending of the main character Yusuke. If you don’t happen to know, Yu Yu Hakusho was Togashi’s old work and in it, the main character Yusuke comes back from his adventures to marry a girl named Keiko, his childhood friend.

5) Did you ever stop to think that maybe some people just didn’t like killugon? Shocking, I know. We just plainly don’t like it. It doesn’t make the most of us homophobic or problematic in the least, stop trying to shove that dumb idea onto other killugon fans’ throats. Some of us are just not into yaoi and have tried to get into it but just don’t see the appeal (i’m personally more of a hetero and yuri fan) of it. Also, some of us would be delighted to see more female characters taking more major roles in hxh. It would be refreshing to see since the main cast is all filled with males while the females usually take minor roles like mothers, instructors, teachers, supporters for some male characters, (ex: Mito, Kikyo, Abe, Noko, Palm, Bisky, Coco Loo, Coco from Heavens Arena, Melody, Alluka) or are just in the background most of the time (ex: Canary, Amane, Tsubone, Shizuku, Machi) (wow these almost sounds like SHONEN ROLES FOR WOMEN).

[subdee]

I saw the previous question you were asked about the ending D of hxh. Along those same lines, I wanted to ask you, do you think killugon will continue to be “something” in hxh? By something I mean that I thought that Killugon was something subtextual in hxh but done on purpose, and that the ending was going to be them being "canon" but in a subtextual way like "we will be together forever" or something like that, do you think that killugon will continue to be “something” or Togashi never saw them in that way? thank you for your answer. I really enjoy your hxh takes.

Hi anon, thanks so much for this ask!

I think the Killugon subtext is on purpose, as you said, 1) because Togashi is an intentional writer, and 2) there's just SO much subtext, it would be hard to have written it that way accidentally. There's tons and tons of posts on Tumblr about this, I'll try to find a few when I get home. I know @hunterxhell and @telehxhtrash have written a few posts about it and I have a few at the link:

Whether Togashi will continue to keep them together - even subtextually - I don't know. He does write shippy subtext often, sometimes even becoming quasi-canon like Illumi's murder-engagement to Hisoka. And when they part at the world tree, they say it's "for now" and Alluka says she'll "give Killua back" to Gon after she's monopolized him for a while.

Then again, YYH had the shippy subtext, too, but Yusuke still got married to Keiko in the end...

I don't expect them to **officially** end up together, unless something really changes at Weekly Shounen Jump between now and when HxH ends. There's a reason his pitch for a baseball(?) manga about gay and trans characters was rejected in the 90s.

Personally, I'd want to see "something" in the ending... Or honestly more than something... Like they are "partners" in a business venture but maybe another kind of partner too, you know? Unstated but we'd all know what it means. That kind of thing. As close to officially together as you can get without bringing down the wrath of the editors / close-minded fans. HxH is often ambiguous so something where they're ambiguously together would be right in line with how the manga is. I think it's equally likely they'd end up with other people though - the first love you lost before you realized what it was.

But I'm not a fan of this "Gon is with Noko but he really loves Killua" stuff because like I said in the other ask, it just makes me feel bad for Noko!

So there's your answer, and sorry it took me a few days! Baby life, you know.

[writergeekrhw]

Idk. Judaism is less tied to belief in God than Christianity is, it’s more cultural and a lot of Jews still do bar or bat mitzvah who don’t believe in any deities or aren’t sure. I like to think those cultural traditions would survive (maybe in a modified version) in the same way Keiko gets married in traditional Japanese clothing and Sisko is very connected to his African-American culture. I like to think it’s different from O’Brien still getting a Catholic communion or Bashir going on a pilgrimage to Mecca

Fair point, and you may very well be right. I was just saying, perhaps not as precisely as I should have, that based on what I was told about the "rules," Gene would never have allowed us to talk about or show a bar/bat mitzvah.*

Which means, if you ask me if Worf had one, based on what we would've been able to show, my answer is no.

On the other hand, Gene was no fan of cultural erasure. He loved to show off the diversity of the human experience. Which of course, sometimes clashes with his aversion to organized religion.

So there's nothing inherently wrong with imagining Worf's bar mitzvah, even though I honestly don't think it ever would've made it to screen in the DS9 days.

It's also worth noting that we couldn't show Garak and Bashir kiss either, because of mandates from above, and there's a whole genre dedicated to that.

Your head canon may vary.

*In the TNG era. TOS's portrayal of religion was more inconsistant.

[mapsareforbraindeads]

gonna infodump about the lawmane kids now!!

So, I decided that there are 3 kids living, and one deceased. they all have Misa’s last name, and their names are [in birth order] Saeko Amane, Keiko Amane, and Loe Amane. Mind you, they’re all teenagers.

Saeko and Keiko are twins, born like an hour apart.

Saeko is the eldest Amane child, and he is also the one he resembles his father the most. He has a similar facial structure to his father, as well as his father’s pale complexion and black hair. He has his mother’s blue eyes, and his dress style is more similar to his mother’s rather than his father’s. He was born deaf, but he has hearing aids now. He knows sign language as well. He’s definitely the smartest of the Amane children, and he spends the majority of his time goofing off rather than doing schoolwork. It comes natural to him anyway, so he doesn’t need to study. Another trait he received from his father is that same protective nature, he’s very protective over his family. He also looks up to his father a lot, and he wants to work in forensics when he’s older.

Keiko is the second eldest, again only younger than Saeko by a little less than an hour. She’s trans [MtF] and her family is very accepting. She’s a little less bright, more similar to Misa in terms of intellect, but L and Saeko are very willing to tutor her. She’s very androgynous looking, with chin length blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a more alt-ish dress style, regularly wearing band tees and stuff like that. She’s also freckly and actually really pretty [🤭], but if you tell her she won’t believe you. Her relationship with Loe is much better than her relationship with Saeko. Keiko aims to be a lyricist when she’s older.

Loe is the youngest kid, and the one who resembles Misa the most closely. Pretty, popular, and preppy. She’s alright in terms of smarts and intellect, and she definitely resembles Misa more than L in terms of intellect. She’s a bit mean, and very intimidating, she just can’t communicate very well. She has a better relationship with her mother than her father [and so do her siblings]. She really likes toxicology and is probably secretly raising Foxglove in her room. She has a pretty singing voice, and she’s a nice actress as well, so she would make BANK a model like Misa, but she’s just more interested in studying toxicology. She’s probably one of those high school “mean girls”, well, she’s perceived as one, but she isn’t really one. She has a better relationship with Keiko than Saeko, the reason being that both Keiko and Loe envy Saeko and feel that their parents favor Saeko.

L is also a bit of a crappy father, sorry. He’s just at work all the time and never around to spend time with his wife and kids. But, on the occasion that he does get a break, he makes SURE to make it up to them. His does favor Saeko internally, but he feels horrible about it and he tries not to let it show. He just always wanted a kid that was just like him, and Saeko was like that for him.

Also, for the aforementioned deceased Amane child, there was one kid that ending up dying either when they were a few months old or due to Misa having a miscarriage. I haven’t decided on their name or the circumstances of their death yet, but it’s big angst fuel because “G--d-mnit, L, why couldn’t you have been home when it happened?!”

I just really need to write a fic in the Happily Ever After AU where Misa and L get married and have these kids. It would be quite cute, actually. If you have any ideas for these kids, tell me!!

We gotta ramble abt them together!!

OH MY GOD I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS

i’m so glad that you acknowledged that L wouldn’t be a good parent because he 100% would NOT be. he dedicates so much time to his work and barely even gave thought to his successors, so he’d probably prioritize cases and work over everything else. however, he’d still try and make it up to them, you’re right.

i’ve always headcanoned misa as having her whole life planned out since she was a little girl. she had her wedding planned, her kids’ names, her job, her husband, everything. so when it comes to the miscarriage and all of the little imperfections in her family, she kind of struggles with not being able to live a perfect happily ever after like she wanted, but it’s as close as she’s getting.

i immediately took an interest in L and saeko’s dynamic. L having a mini-him running around would give him some sense of pride, although a bit uncanny at first *cough cough* beyond. saeko's super perceptive, so he definitely notices his dad's subtle favoritism and tries to shift his dad's favor to his siblings, which barely works. he'd probably feel some guilt over being, essentially, the only child his dad really gave a second thought in his eyes. you and i both know that would 100% not be L's intention, but it would come off that way to the kids.

i don't have much to say about keiko and loe imma be honest. they seem like they'd be pretty close, like you mentioned. i can imagine misa taking them out shopping and/or going out to places while L watched over saeko.

i’m sorry, i wanted this to be longer lmao. it’s just late (yes, i’m going to bed, gn. don’t come after me)

[headhedgehog]

A soft pink topknot tickled Chigiri's cheek as he walked down the street near his home. He tried to shift his daughter without waking her, but the way she'd nuzzled into the crook of his neck make it impossible. She murmured in her sleep and he kissed the crown of her head to quiet her. His husband's hand was on his back as they walked, softly rubbing the space between Chigiri's shoulders.

"You want me to take her?" Kunigami asked. "You've been carrying her all night."

"Nah, we're almost there."

Had someone told him at 15 that he'd be married with a three-year-old before he turned 30, he'd have called them delusional. As he watched Kunigami unlock their front door and felt their daughter's warm breath on his neck, he was glad his teenage self was wrong.

He carefully toed off his shoes before carrying the little girl up to her room. Kunigami followed, turned down her blankets so Chigiri could settle her into bed.

"We probably should've woken her up and had her brush her teeth," Chigiri said as Kunigami tucked the girl's flowery duvet around her.

"Nah, let her sleep. One night won't hurt."

They snuck out of the room and padded down to the living room. Kunigami sat on the couch, pulled Chigiri into his lap, brushed Chigiri's hair behind his ears.

"I love how much Keiko loves you," Kunigami said, his words punctuated by kisses.

"You say that like she doesn't love you just as much."

"Sure she does. But you're the one she wants when she's tired or upset, you're the one she wants to play with. You're her daddy." Kunigami gave the last word a cutesy tinge.

"Okay, Papa," Chigiri shot back, using the title Keiko had bestowed upon Kunigami. "But if she's scared, or wants to play football, or wants help with something, she goes straight for you."

Kunigami gave Chigiri a lopsided smile and kissed his jaw.

"You know what I think?" Chigiri asked.

"Hm?"

"I think you're jealous she looks so much like me." Chigiri playfully ran his fingers through Kunigami's hair. "I think you see how well Keiko matches me and are madly jealous of our beauty."

"Hush."

"Am I riiight?"

Kunigami laughed and pulled Chigiri to his chest. "You're both gorgeous, but if you think I don't recognize that as a bid for complements, you underestimate me."

Chigiri huffed against Kunigami's chest and allowed himself to be cuddled.

------------------------------------------------

"Keiko! C'mon, we have to go soon!" Kunigami called from the kitchen. He turned to the counter and took a quick inventory; Keiko's school snack, Chigiri's coffee, water bottles for all three of them...

"Coming, Papa!" He heard the little girl's footsteps as she bounded down the stairs. Before he could call out for her to slow down, he heard Chigiri's equally quick footsteps and shook his head. The pink-haired man and girl skidded into the kitchen, giggling.

"You're gonna fall down the stairs one of these days," Kunigami chided as he picked Keiko up and let her hold onto his neck.

"Daddy would catch me." Kunigami saw Chigiri grin; the girl sounded just like Chigiri when she argued.

"Daddy isn't as fast as he used to be, you need a better backup plan."

"Excuse you," Chigiri gasped in mock-offense.

Kunigami kissed the braid Chigiri had woven into Keiko's hair and set her on her feet, pushed her gently toward the door. "Okay, okay, we're gonna be late."

"Why can't I come to the stadium with you?" Keiko whined as Kunigami buckled her into her carseat.

"Because, Lovebug, Daddy and Papa are going to work, and you need to go to school before you can get a job. "

"Did you learn to play football in school?"

"I played football in school."

"Will I play football in school?"

"If you want to, when you're a little bigger."

Chigiri had his eyes closed when Kunigami got into the driver's seat. He turned to Kunigami and mouthed, "questions. all. morning." Kunigami bit his lip to keep from laughing as he put his hand behind Chigiri's headrest and backed out of the garage.

[luneengene2]

SHIFTING STORY (My First Royalty Shifting For My Ult Bias JoJo🥺)

Note : I just want to share my shifting experience yesterday. And don't read it if you're uncomfortable or it's still minor. I will also use a third person point of view because it's make me more comfortable telling about my latest shifting experience👀. Because I will tell you in detail how my shifting flows (I even had a conversation that I remember)🧎‍♀️.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• (My) Family Background

So, my name in my desire reality is 'Shigeta Yua'. Yua is Harua's older sister who is only one year older than him. Yua and Harua were raised in a Japanese noble family, and had a not-too-old-fashioned upbringing. They are allowed to wear modern clothes that today's children like, and are allowed to take part in several youth activities, such as gathering in cafes. They can even pursue careers according to the talents they pursue or like.

Harua and Yua's mother, Mrs Miura Keiko is the chief lady-in-waiting to the Empress Consort, Empress Yuriko. Mrs. Miura and Empress Yuriko have even been friends since they were teenagers, and were both born into Japanese noble families. The only difference is, Mrs. Miura married a rich admiral + noble families too, Shigeta Kenji, while Yuriko married the crown prince of Japan (at that time), Asakura Minato.

Apart from the Miura family which was also close to the Imperial family, the Shigeta family was also close to the Imperial family. Almost all the men in the Shigeta family for hundreds of years played an important role in the royal military, they served the military line of the imperial family very well. Yua and Harua's great-grandfathers were even close friends of the current emperor's grandfather.

• (My) Arranged Marriage

The closeness of the Imperial family to her family meant that Yua had a sharp connection with two of the emperor's sons, especially the Emperor's youngest son, Prince Asakura Jo. Yua and Jo have been friends since they were little, and have always been to the same school.

Of course, both of their mothers knew about this closeness, especially Empress Yuriko. Empress Yuriko wants Yua to be the wife of her youngest son. She told Keiko directly that she wanted Keiko's daughter to be her daughter-in-law when their two children were completely grown up.

Empress Yuriko's request had been conveyed directly to Yua, Kenji of course immediately agreed to this match. Yua? Oh, she had loved Jo since she was little, and without further ado she agreed to this match.

However, Jo's reaction was very different from Yua's, a reaction that made Yua hurt. Jo outright rejected this match and even said he never considered Yua more than a friend. Jo said that he wanted his own choice, not an arranged marriage like this, especially with his best friend. Without realizing that he did love Yua too.

• (My) Relationship Conflicts

After that incident, Yua and Jo really immediately became strangers, with Yua having a wound in her heart. Jo even told her to keep her distance and called her respectfully. Like 'Your Highness' or 'Imperial Highness'.

Yua often saw Jo close to several girls at their school, like a couple. Yua was of course jealous, she felt she should be the one in that position, not another girl. However, Yua couldn't do much, there was no way she would dare to fight Jo and get angry, she was no one to Jo anymore. Yua could only cry, burning with jealousy seeing Jo close to several girls.

Some time after Jo and herself became 'strangers' to each other, Yua actually got to know Yuma, a new kid at her school. Yuma is the son and sole heir of the Nakakita family which is famous in the field of art and making beautiful stone designs. Her closeness to Yuma made Yua quite healed and began to forget her hurt towards Jo. Yuma is also a really good friend to Yua, they often spend time together at school.

And now instead, Jo is actually burning with an extraordinary fire of jealousy when he hears that Yua and Yuma are very close and good friends. At first, he tried to look fine and not care about it, but all that indifference was in vain. Jo realizes that he really loves Yua, but realizes it too late. He's just annoyed that his parents set him up without his consent with Yua. Saying that he wants his own choice. But his own choice turned out to be Yua, his childhood friend who he 'abandoned' because of his stupid behavior.

The closer Yua and Yuma got, the more Jo burned. Until finally he lost his patience...

• Cooling (?)

Jo's patience disappeared right on Yua's 19th birthday. Yua's birthday was during their school days, and Yua attended extra classes at that time (Damn, I actually remember, me and Jo shouting at each other violently when the school was almost empty)💀.

When her extra class finished, Yua wanted to go to his row of lockers which of course was very quiet. Because no one went to the locker room before going home besides her.

However, while she was taking her jacket from her locker, Yua was surprised by Jo who was standing behind her. And that's where the 'fight' and arguments occurred, Yua (me) and Jo insulted each other, even though the insults were because of each other's jealousy.

And it all ended with Jo kissing Yua roughly, Yua was carried away by what Jo was doing to her. Yeah, they made love (GOTTA GO BACK TO THAT FUCKING DESIRE REALITY RN!💀I'M SO FUCKING CLENCHING RN😃). What I like the most is when Jo brings Yua (me) to a table, making Yua straddle the table, creating a new position🌚. Yua could see Jo looking at her with lustful eyes while hitting her sweet spot. Yua could also see how handsome Jo was, he was still wearing the Gakuran, because Yua and Jo weren't completely naked.

The peak of heat was when Jo cum inside Yua, making (my) her head want to explode at the sensation🌚. Yeah, being fucked by a Prince named Asakura Jo, who would refuse?😮‍💨.

Bro, after he was satisfied making love with Yua, he said that 'Yua is his', not anyone else's. You know what he said after they got dressed, he approached Yua, his hand dug into Yua flat stomach, touched it then said: "Let this grow inside you, if necessary we will get married tomorrow," 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️ (I WISH IT WAS REAL, NOT BECAUSE I'M SHIFTING! JOJO I'M GONNA BACK BABE!)

[quinloki]

Last one, I promise. I'll keep mousetrap ideas to an actual tumblr post. I thought I'd try the FMK (I legit had to look that up because I am awful with acronyms and shorthand). I'm going to do it wrong but I also don't care.

From my perspective: Fuck Kid, Marry Arlong (I love my shark okay?), Kill Fujitora (don't ask, I just genuinely loathe Issho).

From Arlong's perspective: Fuck Keiko, Marry Keiko, Kill this Kid person. Look, I wanna fuck my woman and marry her. I don't know Kid, never met him but I want to kill him because he made it onto her list. No one, and I do mean NO ONE is touching my woman.

Me: It's just a game Arlong, obviously I'm not going to fuck Kid. I don't know him either.

Arlong: You still could have said me, am I not good enough or something?

Me: For crying out loud. Look you overgrown amphibian, the fuck portion is for someone you want to have a one-night stand with because they're pretty or wild or something but they're not someone you would ever want a relationship with. That's what the Marry option is for, that's where you pick the person you actually want to see yourself with. Kill is self-explanatory. Please don't put me on the kill list.

Arlong: You promised you'd stop calling me an amphibian.

Me: Technically speaking—

Arlong: You promised.

Me: Yeah, yeah, I know.

Arlong: What if you're the only one I want to fuck?

Me: Well, then I guess you answered properly. But opting to kill Kid simply because I put him on my list is ridiculous. Isn't there someone you're mad at or hate enough to kill? Legitimately?

Arlong: Strawhat.

Me: Okay, so redo yours.

Arlong: Redo yours.

Me: I really hate that your gills are not on your sides.

Arlong: Why?

Me: Because if they were on your sides I could sucker punch them and get out of this ridiculous conversation.

Arlong: Redo. Your. List.

Me: Fuck Shanks, Marry Arlong, Kill Fujitora.

Arlong: Fuck you.

Me: You're a third of the way there, who you marrying and who you killing? Arlong? Aw shit, he walked off. Got any suggestions on how to appease a very angry sawshark fishman?

(For the record, Keiko is not my name but it is the closest Japanese equivalent to my name)

There's something wonderful about Arlong not caring about the spirit of the game, or misunderstanding it, either way. Why should he bother learning about silly human things after all? He's already sparing more energy appeasing/loving you and that's all the fucks (heh) he has to give to humans in general as it is.

Also >.> Missed opportunity to really give him something to seethe about. You could've said fuck jinbei

Ship it Good ask game

[youngpettyqueen]

DS9!!

two people sent me this but Sarah you got it first!

The first character I first fell in love with: Juliannnnn <3 he had an unfair advantage, showing up in TNG and having very good interactions with Data, I knew IMMEDIATELY upon seeing him that if I ever started DS9 he would be exactly my type. I am nothing if not incredibly predictable

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: I'd have to say Odo! I knew I'd like him from the moment I met him, but he honestly compels me so much more than I thought he would. when they established in the first few episodes that he's the 'only one of his kind' type of character, I expected him to be similar to Spock and Data, so his intensity caught me off guard. and honestly, I love it. and, again, he's just so goddamn compelling. searching for his species, a sense of belonging, his history with Kira and with the Cardassians... I eat it up

also its just. very funny that a guy who looks so deliberately bland speaks like he's constantly on the verge of snapping and killing everyone around him

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: I honestly cant think of a character I dont really enjoy! I also dont know if ive met the entire cast, im just starting the third season literally as I type this, so for all I know new characters could come in that I won't care about. the only addition to the cast in the future that I know of is Worf and I know I love him <3

The character I love that everyone else hates: I dont really interact with any fan content of DS9, and ive never been into the tags, so ive seen very little of what people think about the main cast. I dont know if there's anybody who's generally hated, so hard to answer

in terms of characters who ive never seen any fan content for but who I love, that would be Jake! no idea what fandom opinion of him is, but fandoms tend to not enjoy child characters/pass over them, so I'll say him. I love him a lot, he compels me, him and Sisko are so sweet I love their bond. Jake's determination to be friends with Nog is also very sweet

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: so far I still love everyone!

The character I would totally smooch: Kira Nerys I am free Saturday night if you are also free I would love to take you to a romantic dinner on Saturday night when I am free

The character I’d want to be like: so far I'd say Julian. his commitment to his patients is admirable, I really loved The Wire for showing the lengths he's willing to go to to help somebody. I would also love to be that charming and slutty tbh

The character I’d slap: I say this with so much affection: Quark

A pairing that I love: Kira/myself Miles/Keiko they're so cute and in love and I love that the show takes time to show that!! theyre married and they have a daughter and they take vacations together and make out and flirt and have a sex life they feel so REAL. I love them sm

A pairing that I despise: I dont think I have one I despise tbh. like, of course any ship involving any adult with any of the kids, but besides that the potential pairings I can see are mostly fine!

[moistvonlipwig]

top 3 utena episodes?

i'm just gonna answer all the questions for the top 3 game if it's ok with you!!!

top 3 favorite characters: Nanami Kiryuu best chicken cow egg steak alien girl, Utena Tenjou my babygirl my favorite guy, Anthy Himemiya the actual funniest character in the show <333 love you queen!!!

top 3 least favorite characters: Mikage because I really struggle to parse his character beyond his purpose as a foil to Utena (which I'm aware is a Me Problem and it does make him interesting but it also makes me much less emotionally invested in him) plus I don't find his backstory very sympathetic, Akio because he sucks so bad and is so fun to hate, and Keiko because I don't understand why anyone would like Touga who isn't being manipulated into it sorry girlie 😭 I can't stand Touga either but he does like cats and that is one (1) point in his favor.

top 3 otps: Utena/Anthy, Nanami/getting the fuck out of Ohtori, Utena&Anthy/never getting married or having kids

top 3 notps: Uhhh Akio/anyone, Touga/any woman, Saionji/any woman

top 3 brotps: I think Utena & Miki have a cute friendship!!! I also enjoy whenever Nanami & Utena interact, especially as the series goes on and they develop a kind of understanding. And I like to imagine maybe one day Nanami & Anthy will be friends...one day...

top 3 favorite episodes/chapters/scenes/games in series: Oughhhh that's so hard. I think I have to go for Episode 37 "The One to Revolutionize the World" as my favorite just because it has so many iconic amazing scenes??? Like it has the badminton scene (!!!), the cantarella scene, "all girls are like the rose bride," AND "didn't you know? I am a fool" all in one episode...that's hard to beat! Then maybe Episode 34 "The Rose Crest" because the Tale of the Rose stuff is so good. And I have to include Episode 16 "The Cowbell of Happiness" for being not just iconic and funny but also incredibly harrowing and sad.

top 3 other things u think ppl who like this thing should watch/read/play: Paradise Lost by John Milton, Amphibia (2019-2022), Beloved by Toni Morrison

my rating of this media out of 3, with 0 being lowest and 3 being highest: 4 :]

[siconetribal]

A Royally Unexpected Turnabout 1

Summary: With Tamaki back in school, Kyoya hopes for some semblance of normal insanity. However, the presence of a new queen with her own shadow throws that away. With a personality that rivals the energy of their excitable king and a guard that catches the eye of Honey and Mori, the duo sends the Host Club running once more.

A/N: I've decided to copy my Ouran High School Host Club fic over here. I hope you all enjoy it. It's one of the first big ones I've written, and it's an ongoing gift to one of my friends. I'm still pretty proud of it! Please like/comment/reblog and if you'd like to be tagged, let me know!

The lovely banners used in this fic are from @cafekitsune.

The use of a helicopter was not uncommon at the academy. Many students coming from somewhere further than usual would favor it as a mode of transportation over sitting in a car for a lengthy amount of time. What made this such a spectacle today was the family crest on the door representing the Chibana family. As students and faculty alike rushed over to espy the people disembarking from the unrecognizable rotorcraft that landed on the lawn, Kyoya calmly made his way over to the front of the crowd to best assess the situation. None of their family attends our academy, so why would they be landing here? There doesn't look to be any issue with their helicopter. Perhaps they have a meeting with the principal?

"What's going on? Who are they?" Haruhi’s curious voice brought Kyoya from his thoughts and back to the situation at hand, the rest of the hosts coming to stand around them both. It was only then did he realize the excitement and curiosity of the crowd was palpable, his irritation rising behind his schooled, calm expression.

"Chibana is a well-known family in the resort business," he calmly answered while skimming through his handy book to see if there was something that slipped his mind. "They have facilities across the nation and are expanding overseas as well. They have two sons and a daughter. The father, Yukihisa, is married to the famous actress, Keiko. The eldest is their son, Suzaku, who has been left in charge of the business affairs here, is married to Miyuki Sawashiro, a commoner like yourself. Their second child is their other son, Toma, who has followed in the footsteps of their mother to be a famous actor. The youngest is their daughter Rin; she has not shown much interest in either industry but is most likely to marry into a family for social and economic gain like most girls here."

"How do you always have all that information on hand?" Haruhi mumbled, wondering to herself in hopes to avoid any chances of collecting more debt. She silently eyed the business-like silhouette of Kyouya  standing next to her. It was clear to her that he was annoyed by this unexpected arrival, but she was unable to speculate why. Feeling that it was an innocent enough inquiry, she spoke up once more. "So, she's another one of the rich like all of you…what's the big deal with this gathering then?"

"None of them attend our school. Well, the sons did before us, but Rin doesn't go here like we do," Mitsukuni mentioned thoughtfully from atop of Takashi's shoulders.

"Ah, Hani…Mori, good morning. I didn't see you both," Haruhi greeted as she smiled at the two, earning a silent nod from Takashi while Mitsukuni waved to her with his usual burst of energy.

"That raises the question," Hikaru chimed in from the other side of Haruhi.

"Why would the Chibana family be here though, in the middle of the semester?" Kaoru finished as he leaned on his twin's shoulder.

"Looks like we're about to find out," Tamaki pointed out as the door finally opened. The first to disembark was a tall young dark-haired brunette with long straight hair pulled back into a ponytail. What caught everyone's attention was the stranger's attire. She was dressed in an all too familiar blue blazer that was fit to her gentle curves, black boy shorts, black crew socks, and black laced ankle boots. As soon as she stood up properly, the school emblem on the left side was clear to see and the excitement grew amongst the crowd.

As everyone speculated about who she was, Haruhi was unable to shake a sense of familiarity. Kyoya's eyes narrowed as the newcomer carefully surveyed her surroundings before turning back to the helicopter and extending her hand inside. Everyone watched with bated breath as another young woman stepped down, dressed in the pastel yellow dress that was the uniform for the female students here at Ouran. Unlike the first young woman, this second person was no stranger. 

"Rin Chibana," Kyoya informed the group at the second girl's entrance. Kyoya felt some ease in knowing at least one of two, but that only seemed to cause him more annoyance. Who is the other and why is she dressed like that? "There was rumor of her possibly attending here, but I never received a notification of her finalizing the paperwork." He frowned to himself. The Ootori family was well known for their intelligence and power; coupled with their extraordinary financial status, it was difficult to hide anything from them. Kyoya Ootori always knew what was going on and was always ten steps ahead on every possible outcome. If there was one thing he hated, it was not knowing.

"Oh ho, so there is something you don't know?" Haruhi lightly teased, the minor flaw making him human once more.

"What was that?" He turned to her with his deadly smile and Haruhi froze, a cold sweat running down her back as she quickly assured him it was nothing.

"Well, she certainly is quite lovely. Come now, we must greet our new guests! Who better to do so than our very own Host Club of exemplary gentleman?" Tamaki proudly announced, the nearby girls swooning at his endless chivalry and bravery.

"That," Kyoya initially let out a heavy sigh, ready to stop any unnecessary craziness. However, after a quick moment of thought he found something of value. "That isn't a bad idea," He agreed, just as surprised as anyone else. "I advise that we stay on our best behavior. We don't know why they're here and who that girl is with her."

"One thing is certain, “that girl”  certainly has the guts to wear the boy's uniform modified like that," Hikaru pointed out.

"And the gall to wear it here on campus," Kaoru added, the twins carefully observing how well tailored it was. As the others agreed to this, a light bulb lit up in Tamaki's mind. He quickly turned to Haruhi with hope filled eyes only to be met with her cold glare of annoyance. 

"No," she cut him off before he could even speak, "No, I don't need to hear what you have to say. I know what you're thinking and I'm already getting a headache from it." She scowled, Tamaki shrinking away into his Corner of Woe at the reprimand.

As their heckling and preparation to greet their arrivals continued, Rin gently patted out the wrinkles from her skirt until the fabric was flawless once more. "Well the ride certainly wasn't that terrible. I shudder to think what a limo ride would have been like from our airport!" She lightly shook her head as if to cast off the discomforting thoughts and turned her attention to her companion. "By the way, why didn't you just wear one of my spare uniforms? You would have looked so cute in it!" She huffed with puffed cheeks, "You never listen to me anymore."

"As I told you before, wearing the dress would be a hindrance to my job. I need to be able to move swiftly and efficiently at all times," The taller girl sighed at the repetition of this information. "My job is not to look cute; my job is to make sure you are safe and cared for," She reminded Rin before redirecting her attention to something more important. "Now, we should head to the admissions office to make sure everything to verify what class we'll be in. It should be this way," she motioned to her left which caught Kyoya's attention. Not wanting them to escape, he began to walk towards them.

Seeing their vice-president take the lead, Mitsukuni looked down to his cousin. "C'mon Takashi, let's go say hi too!" He grinned and he pointed toward the two. The silent giant hummed his confirmation in response before he started walking towards the mysterious duo. Haruhi and the twins followed not too long after, leaving their king to sulk. The young woman next to Rin noticed the small group coming forward and quickly stepped in front of Rin to protect her.

"Can I help you?" She raised an eyebrow at the group, carefully observing each, starting from Mitsukuni and ending with Haruhi. When she caught sight of the brunette host, she instantly recognized something about them. She was about to speak again, but attention was quickly redirected to the tiny blonde.

"Hi, my name is Mitsukuni Haninozuka but you can call me Hani." He happily introduced himself and motioned to the young man who was carrying him. "He's my cousin Takashi Morinozuka. You can call him Mori."

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you." Rin stepped up next to her protector. "My name is Rin Chibana and this is my personal aid, Zaina Kirishima." She motioned to her stoic companion who respectfully bowed to the Hosts.

"Oh, a foreigner?" The right corner of Hikaru's lips curled up into a smirk as he circled the two from the left.

"Now that's quite the surprise," Kaoru added with a smirk mirroring his twin's as he circled from the right. Zaina kept a watchful eye on the both of them, stepping closer to Rin once more when another voice grabbed everyone's attention.

"Zaina, is that really you?!" Haruhi cut the twins off as she stepped closer to Zaina and Rin. She had not been able to tell from a distance, but seeing her up close and hearing the name finally made her realize why Zaina felt so familiar. "I had no idea you were coming to Ouran!"

"Yes, my lady didn't make up her mind on whether she wished to attend here until last night. There wasn't much time to really inform anyone," She sighed, recalling the busy night she had along with some others in orchestrating and attaining all the necessary things for Rin to smoothly arrive on time. "Though, I had no idea this was the school you were referring to all this time." She looked over the Hosts once more, but this time she tried to figure out who was whom from all that she learned from her friend.

"You know her?" Kyoya eyed Haruhi in surprise. That's certainly unexpected. He glanced over at Rin to see that she was equally surprised about this revelation as well. At least it isn't something that was common knowledge, he thought, soothing his slightly bruised ego.

"Princess, it is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance! Welcome to our lovely school; I hope it will be to your liking. If not, please, don't hesitate to come to me. I'll do whatever I must to make it so!" Tamaki proclaimed as he walked straight up to Rin, kissing the back of her hand as he dazzled her with his princely smile. Just as he was about to pull her closer as he would one of his many patrons, Zaina stepped in and pulled Rin behind her once more with a stern glare set on the taller blonde. He blinked at the air that greeted him, looking up to see Zaina's expression and quickly concluded it was a case of jealousy. That simply would not do. How could I be so cruel as to ignore her so blatantly! "There's no need to be jealous over me, my dear sweet flower. There is more than enough of me to go around." He winked at Zaina with a rose magically in his hand. Much to his shock and the twins' amusement, their king was completely ignored as Zaina turned to make sure that Rin was alright.

"Thank you very much, I'm sure it will be. My brothers always speak so highly of this  school that I just felt the need to see it for myself." Rin smiled as she turned around to look at the elegant buildings behind her. "I look forward to my own experiences here."

"Yes, the both of them were part of the top of their class," Kyoya commented as he opened his black book. This caught Zaina's attention and she silently leaned towards Haruhi.

"You weren't exaggerating when you said he carries it everywhere. He's the vice-president, correct?" She earned a soft giggle from her dear which caught the ever watchful eye of said vice-president.

"It seems you've got a lot of time and energy on your hands to speak so freely about me. Perhaps that focus would be better directed towards gaining more designations? Or are you implying that the agreed upon number is far too low for you to take seriously?" He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the light catching the lens to make them flash in an intimidating manner.

"That doesn't mean that at all! The number is way too high as is!" She quickly refuted, shaking her head and waving her hands to express just how much she was against anymore addition to her debt.

"Designations?" Rin raised an eyebrow, the word an oddly specific choice that clearly meant something to the group. 

Before anyone could respond, the president of the club leapt out of the depths of his woe to answer. "Yes , designations!" He eagerly nodded his head. "How rude of us to not properly introduce ourselves! We," he stepped back to stand in the middle of the group and spread his arms out wide. "Are the Host Club and we have come to welcome you two beautiful young ladies to our school!" He waved his arms high into the sky as he motioned to the school before turning and bowing to them.

Host Club , Rin repeated this title a few times in her mind in hopes to understand this on her own, but to no avail. "What, exactly, is a host club? 

"Why, it is only the greatest club of the school! We are a group of handsome young men who entertain and charm the young women who come to us after school to partake in our delicious foods and grace us with their lovely presence. It is a club for the girls of Ouran to relax and unwind! The boys are welcomed as well, though we tend to cater to the women more since they are the majority of who come," He explained further as Rin listened with rapt attention. Zaina already knew where this conversation was leading and she was not sure how she would be able to stop it.

"That does sound interesting! Will you be meeting again soon? How can someone join the club?" Rin leaned in closer to Tamaki, her curiosity and interest peaked with an excitement and eagerness that possibly rivaled Tamaki's.

"We will be hosting today! You should come by. We are in the third music room in the main building. Come straight away after class and we can give you a better introduction there. We shall be waiting for your arrival." He winked at the two, Rin stifling a giggle  as Zaina heavily sighed at the trouble this would be. Before any more could be said or something done to stop it, the warning bell was heard all across the school grounds. Zaina turned and signaled to the pilot before ushering Rin and the Hosts a safer distance away for the helicopter to leave.

Haruhi motioned for the two to follow them as the Host Club took this as an initiative to begin making their way to their respective classrooms. Rin quietly watched the group of boys and the one girl who was dressed as a male student. All except for the young woman were well known to her, but one in particular caught her attention as he said something that led to a rather red faced Haruhi. I wonder…what will this host club be like. She kept the thoughts to herself as she heard Zaina update her brothers of her arrival. She had not expected such a boisterous greeting upon arrival, but she certainly was grateful for it. "I think," Rin spoke up as Zaina pocketed her cellphone. "We should give this Host Club a visit today after school. Check to see what it's like. They certainly are an interesting group."

"That's certainly one way of putting it." Zaina heavily sighed. "We can debate what to do after school later. Our priority right now is to head to the admissions office to verify everything has been set and to get our class assignment." She gently grabbed Rin's arm and urged her to move quicker into the building when she noticed her friend was once again lost in staring at the eccentric members of an odd club.

Kyoya secretly watched the two girls as they left, taking note of everything of value from this interaction. Though the morning had started off unusual, it seemed that the normal insanity of the group would be returning shortly now that the mystery had been solved…for the most part. Spending time with a rival company's daughter. Maybe I'll be able to find something of value in this. He adjusted his glasses once more as the crowd dispersed and the regular school day could commence. "We have class shortly; we can discuss club issues later today."

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Solaris reviews Murder as a Second Language, by Joan Hess (2013)

Me: I should've turned this book into a drinking game. Take a shot every time it's racist. Take two every time Claire's a bitch. etc etc Angel: You'd be dead. You'd be in an ambulance and Claire would be withholding your insurance card

Content: I thought the first eleven pages were bad and rage-inducing. Folks i had no idea what I was getting myself into, oh my god.

Who I think would like it: Someone who likes cosy murder mysteries, who feels like turning their brain off for a bit to read something low-stakes.

Things it does well: On a purely technical level, the writing was competent. No major plot holes, unless you count Claire flip-flopping about her motivation to volunteer. Red herrings are successfully set up and disposed of, and clues were laid effectively.

Things that could be improved: The dialogue was a major weak point. Exposition was shoved into sentences without any thought to how difficult that would make them to read, and Caron didn't talk like a seventeen year old. Keiko's grasp of English (as well as Jiang's, frankly) got better or worse depending on the paragraph. The racism, of course, was bad, but Claire was by far the weakest point in the novel. I've read trashy books, but never have I read a character so unintentionally unlikable. Not all protagonists have to be good, upstanding people, but they should at least be compelling - think Fight Club, or The Godfather. Claire was neither likeable nor compelling, I can't see any interest she and her husband have in each other besides wanting to bang, and Caron is an insufferable brat. I'm glad my time with them is over.

My review: The last book I reviewed that was anywhere near this terrible was The Great Zoo of China. As I vented about this book on Discord with Angel, I couldn't help but compare them. The Great Zoo of China is objectively worse on a writing level. Riley's writing was repetitive, basic, and kept defining words for us (you'll recall the line, "The hole was already four storeys - or forty feet - deep."). And, while Claire and Caron were unbearable characters, at least they were characters - no one in TGZoC had any identifiable personality. Initially, I was firm in my conviction that TGZoC was more racist, but by the endpoint of MAASL I was starting to rethink that. Riley's racism was very targeted, specifically calling negative attention at the Chinese characters in his book. Hess's racism is equal-opportunity: everyone who's not a White US American is a fair target for stereotyping and hate. Riley's racism was extreme enough that I don't see most people openly agreeing with it - remember, Riley openly stated that Chinese people are inherently uncreative and only useful as manual labourers to help white people. Hess's racism is banal, common, the sort of thing your apparently decent co-worker might let slip one day without realising they said anything off while you're left scrambling at how to explain that it's not okay. Both are damaging and hurtful in their own ways, but Hess's is so much more normalised that many of her readers are likely to laugh it off as a joke, or try to forgive it by saying Hess is a product of her time. Look, I like cosy murder mysteries. Sure, a lot of them are the equivalent of literary potato chips, but I still read them. But there are much better ones than Murder as a Second Language, so don't waste your time on this one.

Does this book have…: ✅= yes ❓= not sure ⭕= possibly/mixed ❌= no Romance? ✅ Claire is (supposedly) happily married, and keeps going on about her dream husband. Miao and Jiang are engaged, Caron and Inez are boy obsessed, and dating features heavily in the background of the book. Sex? ✅ No on-screen sex or masturbation, but there are frequent references to it. The only thing Claire and Peter seem to like about each other is the possibility of sex, and references to their escapades are frequent in the novel. There's also a perverted old man in a senior's centre who sexually harasses Claire (all in good fun, apparently (sarcasm)) and also tries to grope her. Racism? ✅ So, so, so much. The best I can say for this book is that, unlike TGZaC, it didn't drop any quasi-slurs. I've covered the racism against Asian characters, but Hess is no better towards anyone else - one the book's two Black character is very large and physically intimidating to every white woman who meets him, and Claire automatically assumes any Arabic men she encounters are violent and misogynistic. Sexism? ✅ Yes, with a racial element. All three of the East Asian women in the book are small, demure, and youthful. It's considered a twist that Keiko, the program co-ordinator, is old enough to be married with kids. Miao exists only to be a sexual object for the men around her. On the other hand, the Eastern European women who feature in the book - Ludmila, a Polish woman, and Yelena, from Russia - were both written with sexist, unflattering stereotypes of loud, overbearing, tough European grandmothers. LGBTQIA-phobia? ⭕ Remember in the 2000s, when "metrosexual" was used to insult any man who brushed his teeth and wore clean clothes? Yeah, Hess unironically uses that term on page 20. Other than that, no mentions of queer characters at all. Ableism? ✅ ⭕ One off-hand use of the term "psychopath" at some point, but that's about it Swearing? ❌ Drug/Alcohol references? ✅ References to marijuana with the sort of gravity typical of the early 2010s, and a lot of drinking - as well as the implication that various characters drove tipsy References to or actual violence or suicide? ✅ Well, it is a murder mystery, after all. In addition, Greg's former wife died by suicide before the story starts, which is referenced in detail later on. References to or actual animal death or cruelty? ✅ ⭕ There's references early on to a dead bird left for someone to find as a threat, but nothing on-screen

Recommended: Hells no

[thegeminisage]

oh boy it is MAJOR star trek update time. i've fallen behind (thanks, hades). tuesday we watched "tribunal" and "the jem'hadar," wednesday we watched "the search" part i, and last night we watched "the search" part ii and "house of quark." whew!

tribunal:

O'BRIEN DOES SUFFER MORE THAN JESUS. THE MEMES WERE RIGHT

them shooing him out of the door at the beginning was so cute. he is like a worried mother leaving the station alone. mister workaholic

TECHNICAL MANUALS ON VACATION. scotty would be proud

i love o'brien and keiko so much. i like that their marriage is imperfect but also they're still wildly in love even after being married for a few years and having a baby. i mean, they were literally just rando side-characters on tng and ds9 has elevated to a whole new level. like, o'brien saying multiple times he didn't want her there to see him the way he was, especially if there was gonna be an execution, and her like oh hell No, there are star trek ships that have had less compelling courtroom drama. THEY MADE COURTROOM DRAMA ACTUALLY INTERESTING. even the spirk courtroom drama was a little dry comparatively, all respect due ofc.

keiko was amazing in this. odo was like you are gonna show up and NOT give them the show they want and she was like oh absolutely and followed through. her and odo getting ready to raise hell together was not what i expected but i loved it

it's like such a nightmare scenario for her too. she's never sure when her husband is gonna get hurt when he's away and never sure when she's gonna get that bad news and she still just sticks it out. more on keiko in a few episodes but i love her

unexpected bonding between odo and o'brien!! i loved that tbh. odo is so harsh and suspicious sometimes it shocks me (i'm kind of used to thinking of him as just a little birthday boy), but i love that despite that o'brien's speech genuinely moved him, and he did everything he could to help

i really love when we get into o'brien's cardassian issues. firstly, having seen people he knew be taken and brought back all kinda fucked up, including picard, he must've known exactly what he was in for. he got off lightly compared to picard, but it was still really shocking and upsetting to see him stripped and "processed" also his poor molar. secondly, WHO can blame him for being racist after this...this episode was almost enough to make ME racist. like, the cardassian ideas of trials and justice are so horrific. he was so lucky to have people working on figuring his shit out for him, because that system is DESIGNED to make you give in to despair and become totally resigned, which he almost did do for a second there. that was SCARY.

also, i guessed the plot twist about the guy secretly being a cardassian before they revealed it, which made me feel like a smarty

the jem'hadar:

was prepared to hate this one because it was a "quark being annoying" episode and i am TRYINNGGGG so hard with quark but it's a struggle. i want to connect to him emotionally just a little bit like JUST a little bit. he really is so funny and entertaining sometimes, i'm ALMOST there, but it would be easier if they didn't make him annoying on purpose

that said, sisko episodes for MEEEEEE. we never get enough sisko content. him encouraging jake re: his science project and then also trying to BE A DAD TO NOG even though he didn't want nog along...mwah. and then he also got to have his own action hero moment!! AND he wouldn't that lady leave quark behind even though he didn't want quark there to begin with. HE'S SO GREAT my best friend sisko

i'd like to point out that jake's first request was NOT to visit the gamma quadrant but to pilot the shuttle, which he did eventually get to do lol and good for him

jake and nog were great in this. i really love watching their little shenanigans

plot twist about this lady being a spy was EXCELLENT, i never saw it coming. quark delivering the news (and picking the fake lock!) is an extra nice touch. i like quark better than i like dax, i think (i have yet to connect emotionally with either of them, but generally he's a more fun presence onscreen), and tbf the "are you racist against ferengis" thing was a pretty good running bit

the search part i:

okay, we had to watch this one without subs, so i probably missed a fair bit of it, but i did NOT care for this one as much

firstly, introduction of the defiant, which is definitely just the tng set with the lights turned off lol. come on, get your tng out of here!!

i did like the romulan being there. it really is the wild west out there on ds9 they can just talk to whoever

i loved the bit about jake and sisko finally unpacking 😭

unfortunately neither was not his best self in this episode, which is the main reason i didn't like it.

meanwhile, odo is being a dick to kira who is trying to comfort him and being a dick to ME by extension because i want to enjoy my odo/kira shared screentime, and then we play him needing to go into his bucket in front of quark for laughs when it was Such a big deal in the lwaxana episode, and finally he just KIDNAPS kira and takes instead of staying and fighting? i guess it's not like there was anything he could have done, but it still didn't feel great compounded with "oh i have compulsion to go to this nebula that i'm gonna yell at kira about" who yells!!! like it felt like he was putting the compulsion ahead of what he would normally do. and also, kira spent the entire episode trying to comfort him and he kept rejecting that comfort...come on dude are you crushing on her or not

also, sisko privately being like yeah i tried to keep odo from getting fired but they kinda had a point though...ouch. that's not My Sisko, Who Always Backs Up His People

drove me nuts because odo FINALLY FOUND HIS PEOPLE. i wanted to be excited but i was just tired of him being a dick to kira :(

that said. dax's hair looks MUCH better in the updo. still way too big. but much more bearable.

the search part ii:

luckily. LUCKILY. this episode blew my tits clean off

odo asking All His Questions and kira gently reminding him it's not a police interrogation and him NOT. being a dick to her.

goop hand sex??? did he fuck this shapeshifter lady right in front of kira's salad??? he makes hands to touch people with but also, to goop with.

hey, wtf was up with the implication that odo is SUPER old and possibly fucking immortal? like, they said he'd been gone a long time and they weren't expecting him for another 300 years...do you think he knows how old he is? i don't think he does. he doesn't even know his own birthday. he may not have known the average lifespan/rate of aging for his own species. and now he's getting told he's got at least 300 years left. jesus christ

when dax and obrien showed up i was like no way are they on the fucking holodeck or something that was WAY too easy and then i kept getting convinced it was real but something else would happen and i'd go back to being paranoid AND I WAS RIGHT!!!!! god i love correctly predicting plot twist. i also love being surprised by them so you can never go wrong with a good plot twist for me

"solids" and "monoforms" is really good shapeshifter lingo. i love that. also "changeling" being a reclaimed slur is SO funny

admiral whoever the fuck from tng showing up to be like yeah we are doing another treaty the romulans will have no complaints 😇 girl, like the native american episode? like they didn't have complaints?? i hate this bitch so bad

ACTION HERO GARAK IN THIS EPISODE. however briefly. him knocking that guy out was spockcore. like when spock pretends there's a spider on your shoulder to know you out. same thing with garak said loose thread. i can't believe we got him again so soon...he only had a bit part to play here but hey, did he fucking die?? did fake garak die inside julian's brain??? while in his arms? did julian just have to hallucinate holding garak tenderly as he died for their cause?? are they okay???

oh yeah also whatever the fucj he had going on with sisko was EXTREMELY flirty. wow.

anyway garak dying plus transfer orders made it a sure thing that it wasn't real, but i was so pleased also to have guessed there was holodeck shit behind the shapeshifter door about .2 seconds before we saw it happen. i can't believe odo said "the door was made to keep something in" and still opened it. he is insane(ly in love with kira and would do anything for her including opening cursed doors).

the ending of this episode is what really got me. the shapeshifters BEING the founders. kira having to be the one who goes "you're with the dominion" and odo having to be the one who goes "you're THE FOUNDERS." they figured that awful truth out TOGETHERRRR

furthermore. when odo was like "but why kill so many people, these solids just want to expand their knowledge via exploration" and this lady was like "the solids are nothing like us." HIS. FACE. we got to watch him in realtime evaluate his entire life in about .5 seconds

like, imagine this. he has looked for home his entire life. he has been an outcast his ENTIRE LIFE. and just when he finds it and experiences the brief euphoria of feeling at home in his own skin, so to speak, he finds out they go against everything he stands for and in that split second he realizes that 1. he has more in common with the humanoids he has felt like an outsider to this entire time than he ever will with these other shapeshifters 2. he is no longer an outsider to these particular people because they are his friends 3. he is going to count himself among the humanoids instead of his OWN PEOPLE because this bitch is crazy. ALL OF THAT IN AN INSTANT.

I ALREADY HAVE A LINK: THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! KILL MEEEEEEEEE

also the founder lady being like yeah you think you like justice but you actually want order, like us, you're like us was SO EVILLL like he literally does take his justice too far sometimes. he has the potential to be evil AND HE CHOOSES. NOT TO. AUGHGHGHGH

AND THEN THE VERY LAST SCENE...oh my GOD

like. he's seen kira at so many low points and now she is seeing him go through this

AND

SHE

HELD

HIS

HAND

HE MAKES HANDS FOR KIRA SPECIFICALLY TO HOLD!!!!!!!!!

the way he leaned in his he was tempted to kiss her. do you think that's the first time he felt that urge. did he even recognize it. he may have had shapeshifter goo sex with that lady but they didn't KISS. he's never been kissed and he wants a little kissy AUGHGHGH

also, the way she leaned in like she was tempted to kiss HIM. do you think she acknowledged that to herself later or firmly repressed it because she's technically still banging bareil. girl, forget him. odo could be your man

also, hi, kira touching HIS COMM BADGE TO ACTIVATE IT. AND NOT HER OWN. im going to be ILL i had to pause between episodes because i was in hysterics

kira/odo is. so important adn good. i was terrified after the search part i that it would be bad. but, it is so good that i am dying

house of quark:

i think beating hades and watching odo and kira hold hands in the same day made me invincible bc normally i hate quark episodes but i didn't even mind this one. i thought it was the best quark episode we'd gotten yet

i do like the like. every once in awhile you see quark have an emotional response to something and then firmly repress it. like he accidentally killed the klingon and looked down at the blood on his hands and he was SHOOK but then the very next scene he's like alright we're rolling that HEY EVERYBODY I KILLED A KLINGON! which is like, funny, His Antics, but he did the same thing is that little game episode (i know lol) when he found out he was playing with peoples' lives - he doesn't really wanna be responsible for all of that. it's not what i want from him exactly but at least it's consistent and proof he DOES have emotions under there

at the end of this episode when they were like...quark, now people respect you. it's true. i do respect him a little more after all of that. not only was he uniquely suited to sussing out this klingon's crimes he also outsmarted their system of justice and had to be a little brave to do it. "i got lucky" gambling man indeed. his moment with rom at the end was also kind of sweet, but it makes me wish rom was more than comic relief more often.

i also really liked this klingon woman?? normally klingon politics are pretty dry to me, but even though the sexism was annoying her plight and subsequent solving of it was engaging. it's too bad "quark's ex-wife" isn't a subject that's going to get him roasted in future episodes

B-PLOT. keiko and o'brien!!! man. women? feminism?

so i feel like keiko left because the actress was pregnant...idk anything about it and i'm not gonna look it up bc spoilers, but ik she isn't leaving the show permanently so this seemed like a way to explain a temporary absence. and they could have done that a million ways but they CHOSE to make it about her happiness

like, you could have said "oh keiko's doing fine she's just not here rn" for half a season. you could have done "yeah keiko found out her true passion IS teaching and forget botany." they could have even said "the arboretum will fix her!" like, i would have bought it! she's got plants now! but instead they explored her unhappiness and what she wants out of life and how her needs aren't being met by being a SAHM/teacher. she loves botany. she's passionate about plants, and making her profession her hobby WOULD be unsatisfying. RESPECT KEIKO JUICE?? idk it was so nice. she still deserves that arboretum though

also, she's sooo pretty with bangs. suddenly keiko the most attractive woman in the world idk

anyway, i'm so close to coming around on quark. i should watch more quark episodes right after being extremely difficult video games. manifesting this happens for me in the future

NEXT TIME: "equilibrium" and "second skin."

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S2 E3 - The Seige

I appreciate the "this is going to be bad, so if you wanna leave, you should go" speech at the beginning but what I like more is how most of the crew was looking at Sisko like he was dumb and he should get on with it already. Like, of course we're gonna stay, just tell us what you need us to do lmao

Jake and Nogs hug goodbye! Heart hands for their friendship. I adore them.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Miles/Keiko scene about leaving cause it kinda felt like Miles was being a bit gaslighty but I think that might have been a poorly phrased line or two and my sensitivities so I'm mostly ignoring it. Keiko has every right to be upset at Miles, though, even if I do agree with Mile's decision to stay. He's kinda been more married to the ship (Enterprise) or the station than he has to her.

Quark and Odo's goodbye was def flirting. Also Quark totally deserved to be left being.

Also, them hiding in the conduits and having trenches humor was a nice touch. It was both funny and a bit unnerving knowing some bad shit might happen. I didn't have any concern for our named crewed, I knew the only ones that could die would be the red shirts and Li Nalas, but it still felt like the calm before the big battle.

One of my "nerd" obsessions is strategy on things. It's probably why I love TTRPGs so much. I love trying to figure out what someone's next move is going to be. I'm not talking in a fighting sense, though sometimes that comes in handy, but rather the quieter kind. The shady deals to get ahead, the diplomatic whispers, which politicians are in bed with whatever and what they might be getting in return, the ultimate game of who is actually ahead. It's part of what I liked about Dune, all of the political 3D chess going on there. It's what I loved about this episode, too. Specifically, General Krim's attempt to walk through Sisko's mind in this same way.

The second he walked off the ship and saw everything was too calm, he knew something was up. And then, later, when he was confronted by Sisko and he listened, he backed down with such grace. Krim is a fun character and I hope we see more of him. Not needed but a hope.

Day, on the other hand, I knew was going to be the cause of Li Nalas's death, but man was he incredibly ignorant and arrogant the whole damn time before we even got there. The fact that he didn't tell Krim about the Cardassians involvement even to gloat about how ridiculous this concept was did surprise me a bit, though. He seemed the type to spill all the beans cause he thought he knew better than everyone else.

Li Nalas died a hero, but tbh, I kinda saw him as a hero before that. Even if he did fall down a hillside and ambush a bathing Cardassian. The scenario that led to his hero status didn't really matter as he helped save the day in the end, but he saw it as a fumble.

Off the hook after all but hopefully a martyr at least.

7/10