#alas…. we stay losing 😔

[bikananjarrus]

between the casting of nathan fillion as movie hermes and LMM for show hermes, it’s clear that no casting director understands hermes. and i’m not a book hermes expert or anything, i don’t have all his scenes memorized, but i KNOW they aren’t getting it right!! they keep casting these silly goofy guys and they are misunderstanding the assignment!!! he comes off as this chill, laid back guy (kind of like percy’s first impression of luke) but he’s got a lot of bitterness underneath and he points fingers at all the wrong people for what happened to luke (blaming annabeth especially) but he’s still broken up over what happened to may castellan and wants to help luke but he can’t and he didn’t and he’s a bad father but still loves his son and!!!!!!!

[bibibbon]

I think even the "its realistic!" excuse doesnt work on its own terms - cause yeah, for everyone of the 20 people to allways meet up isnt real life, but to atleast have one good friend from school, especially after going through live and die situations?

like Deku and Kachan were astranged childhood friends, who after all that made up, and also Kachan felt a lot of guilt about being a piece of shit and that Deku lost his quirk - it seems atleast those two should meet up, even do to guilt/pity Kachan now feels.

Or Ida, who is charachterised as cartoonishly proper and robotic - even he would probably see it as his duty to not abandon a friend and check on him every few months.

And Tsuy was charachterised as super caring, so after all the bonding and the fact Deku saved her from death at the start at the series, would make it seem that she would want to stay in contact - especially when she was shown to connect quickly to people.

Guess the one realistic one could be Ochako, if they did kinda try dating in highschool and it didnt work out, so it could feel awkard to then try to stay friends and all - yet then the fairytale reunion of 20 top heroes all saving some minor landslide again looks awkard.

And also its unrealistc that everyone besides Deku stayed in the hero life - especially when Jiro had the whole conflict of maybe wanting to do music instead, or the fact nobody moved overseas or did change their outfits enough to not be recognizable, etc

The real truth is that Hori feels depressed about his life and projected it, hence why the awkward happy ending that framed everything came at the last pages - a power fantasy.

It just shows how Hori, like Deku, didnt ever evolve his mindset, and stayed at the childish level of "I wanna be cool like spiderman!!" - cause if he didnt he would show Deku fulfilled as a teacher, giving the next gen the skills to actually change shit, and not see it as "setteling", with a sad expression of "alas, my dream of wearing goofy spandex suits and screaming attack names is dead😔"

The "it's realistic" excuse can work depending on the context. However, there's nothing normal or realistic about 1A and what happend in 430 (surrounding Izuku and 1A that is). It's incredibly understandable that not all 20 members of 1A were going to keep in contact and be incredibly close to eachother. Heck even in UA some 1A members weren't close to eachother and it's even stated by denki that he was never close to izuku in the vigilante arc but that he wanted to help him.

However, I have mentioned this multiple times (and you even brought it up) it's annoying that we don't see izuku hanging out with his close friends outside of hero costumes or UA uniforms. Them not doing so literally paints a picture that they aren't close at all and the whole theme of WE are heroes and power of friendship ends up failing due to this.

Look I know Iam not a huge bakugo fan but taking this into the perspective that bakugo got a satisfactory redemption arc him and izuku should keep in contact from time to time. Something that's bugged me is that after Izuku loses his quirk it seems like his interactions with bakugo are non existent, almost like izuku being a hero and having a quirk is all that their relationship is: a rivalry between who would be the best hero (kind of contradicting bakugo supposed development).

Or take for example shoto todoroki who izuku was close to but they don't seem to interact at all. Or asui. Or iida who very much helped izuku and truly cared for him. Heck tokoyami has also voiced his care for izuku multiple times and so has yuuga but we don't see any of them hang out outside of UA or heroics. Heck this chapter doesn't even give us a glimpse of maybe Izuku texting his friends in a group chat or anything. To me this all seems too bleak. What do you mean the kids who went through trauma together and had an entire theme of helping eachother and sticking together (a theme that carried the final act and fight) somehow not even hang out with eachother outside of heroics or school?

Lastly, I have no intention of making any comment about horis life unless it was stated by a credible source but it does seem like hori might of just got burnt out and he went too far with the story to give it a good ending (a well written one).

Alas, the ending was horrible.

[imaginespazzi]

Nivi – hey bestie, you’ve done it again – I wasn’t sure it could get more heartbreaking than the last one and yet!

As always, the writing is- well, it’s everything.

The parallels between high school them and college them was immaculate, and I so wish Paige could have fulfilled her dream of kissing Azzi under the confetti, but alas, maybe in another universe 😉

I loved the little exchange about UConn and California, and how that possibility was always there but Paige could just never accept it.

P and UConn winning the natty this year – it had to happen in at least one universe, so thank you for letting it happen in this one.

Side note: Drew and Paige interactions are always top tier, and very much the type of momentary fluff that I needed to break up the sadness while reading.

Side note 2: I love that I don’t even need to imagine what Azzi wearing Paige’s jersey would look like, but I’m glad ucla au Paige got to experience it too 🥹

The celebration with the team was so cute and of course it would be KK that basically helps break the ice (and her lil innocent “you should bring her around more often” 🥺). Also, all the little moments Az got with everyone else in the team was so wholesome, and ofc queen Nika being a loveable menace who’s always just looking out for her twin.

Side note 3: I love love love the two piggyback moments haha, just because that’s so pazzi core to me idk, I feel like there’s been a lot of photos where Azzi is piggybacking Paige irl, like that’s very much their thing so I adored seeing it incorporated here. But then, the ending. I knew it was coming, but it certainly did not make it hurt any less when we got there. “Fuck,” Paige’s voice is still wracked with sleep, “I thought you left.” “That’s more your style,” Azzi says – this was particularly heartbreaking, but I can’t really blame Azzi, even if P is trying so hard to make things right.

Overall, I may or may not have been tearing up throughout the entire chapter, and it somehow hit me even harder the second time I read through it? I think that’s just testament to your writing tbh.

Thoughts on what’s next:

Do things finally start getting better? It can’t get any worse, can it? (famous last words) 😅

I did wonder actually, whether you’d have them win or lose the natty, only because if they did win which obviously they did here (thank you), could that maybe change P’s mind at all on declaring or not?

I’m guessing she obviously sticks to her og decision and stays, and so I’m super intrigued on what might come next for them.

Like will they try going back to being just friends? Even though they’ve already tried and failed and knowing that would never be enough for Paige. But can they really not be in each other’s lives??

Will they try seeing other people again??

Summer’s coming up in the timeline and they’ve never spent an entire summer apart, so what will they do this summer? 😔 Or will we have a big time jump?

So many questions, and only you have the answers, Nivi.

Favourite lines/quotes:

The moon shines against Azzi’s face and Paige thinks that so much has changed, but Azzi’s still that kind of beautiful

“Do you know what my answer would have been?” “Yeah,” Azzi says softly, squeezing her hands, “yeah I do.”

Alternate lyrics that came to mind while reading:

Talk about our future like we had a clue. Never planned that one day, I'd be losing you.

In another life, I would be your girl. We'd keep all our promises, be us against the world.

Oh, and in honour of your love for Taylor, a Taylor lyric that came to mind was specifically this:

And I can go anywhere I want. Anywhere I want, just not home - mainly from the perspective of Paige getting almost everything she’s ever wanted, except the thing she wants most.

PS: I don’t really listen to Taylor’s music much anymore (nothing negative, just a shift in my music tastes these past couple of years!), but if there’s anything you think I should definitely give a listen to from her latest album, let me know!

As always, thank you for all you do for us. Have a wonderful weekend 💗

Much love, -🙋‍♀️

Hi bestie, one thing about me is that I will find a way to make it worse! 🤪

Thank you my sweets, it always means the world <3

I'm glad you caught that because I wanted to hint at the idea that it wasn't just a random decision of Azzi's part to choose UCLA and that she'd always been considering it.

If I can add Drew and Paige interactions, best believe I will find a way to do it. That's another relationship that's so precious to me.

Shoutout to the one anon who asked for Azzi to wear Paige's jersey in the universe as well because I took that and ran with it so I hope they liked it, because I liked their idea (come say hi!)

The team scene was one my favorites to write honestly, especially just in general KK is so fun to write because she's so fun and I need my chaotic family (Paige-Azzi-KK-Ice) to be a thing in every universe.

YES the piggybacks are just so Pazzi-core and I know this is an au but I like to take things from what we already know about them and just tweak it to keep some semblance of realism. Also piggyback are just really cute and Paige seems like the kind to beg literally anyone to carry her anyways

Things will get better because I actually don't know if they can get worse (actually they probably could but it might be hard to come back from lol) but things getting better is gonna take a lot

See if Paige changes her mind and declares, things become easy for them with her going to LA and I'm not in the business of making things easy for them lol

You think I have the answer to these question but truly what I write is just as much a mystery of where my inspiration will take to me as it is to you. So we'll see but we're on the ascent upwards, so no more other people lol!

I LOVE THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY SO MUCH!!

As for Taylor, the new album's pretty good babes if you wanna go listen! Lowkey a lot of the songs work pretty well with this fic lmao. But my favorites are loml and Fortnight I think.

Always love your detailed takes on the new parts and just seeing you in my inbox always makes me smile <3

[ishikawayukis]

es que es imposible no cantarla, tanta verdad en una sola canción 🙏🏽 JAJAJAJAJA thanks Belle!! I’m hoping it does bc I’m seeing my siblings next week for vacation and I seriously want to get everything set so I can enjoy it without unnecessary stress 🫡

no bc this truly showed how much Sanji worries and loves his family aka the strawhats, o sea hasta se le iba decir “I don’t want to put everyo- I mean Nami in danger” YEAH RIGHT te voy a creer para que no te pongas a llorar Sanji, claro que no te preocupan todos😌

the thing is I’m convinced people don’t stop to think in moments like these: Luffy was completely set on STARVING to DEATH, his dream AND the whole series of over a thousand episodes is to become king of the pirates, yet for his crew in specific arcs like this one he was completely fine and willing to d*e for them and not have achieved that dream. And again we could say “well he trusted Sanji would come/Nami would have said the truth/Robin was going to ask for help” well that just adds another incredible element of how he has ABSOLUTE trust in them, even when they lie to him, Luffy sees through them and thinks: “you know what, if you’re not with me that dream is doomed, I’m staying here and not leaving you” y así va a hacer and when he brings the “say what you REALLY want!” card- EVERY TIME HE DOES THIS 👏🏽EVERY👏🏽SINGLE👏🏽TIME👏🏽 I just lose it y yo sé que me van a hacer llorar y termino llorando mares y océanos

okay vaya, no es por nada pero si tuviéramos que ponerle pareja a ley: Viola es mucho más bonita en mi opinión y con más salud mental bc Pudding girl, you clearly need a therapist JAJAJAJA todavía no sé si sigue actuando o tiene graves problemas de polaridad but that ain’t it guys, fuera de eso estoy bien con que me lo dejen soltero bc he also needs help and if anything: zosan or sanlu doesn’t sound too bad-

it’s so great that you can actually talk about it with others:’) I literally see random post or comments hating on any character that doesn’t deserve the hate and I’m like yeah bye 🤠👍🏽 and my best friend that does watch anime, has watched many others but op💀 no pero es que vaya, canon canon claro que no hay nada PERO FROBIN MIS ESTIMADOS COMPAÑEROS‼️ he even said to her “isn’t that attractive woman our archeologist Robin-chan??” when they saw each other at sabaody island, my honor they’re married in secret solo están esperando que Luffy se haga rey de los piratas para contarlo-

DUDEEEEE Jimbei and Brook are carrying the whole arc wtf these legends are literally doing everything and saving everyone, so much respect for both of them, de por si ya me caían super bien pero es que se lucieron en este arc🫡 the panties jokes are funny tbh to me Brook is like one of the funniest yet one of the most sincere/sentimental/grounded?? which is to be expected he has lived longer lol

ALSO OKAY- me vale un pepino saber el backstory de Big Mama BUT SHE ATE THE KIDS AT 6 YEARS OLD??!?!? a devil incarnated, los gigantes tenían razón la verdad JAJAJAJA

and I also can’t believe Germa 66 are basically the evil power rangers JAJAJAJAJ literal solo vi la transformación y mi cerebro intercambiando entre “go go Power Rangers!!” y “Power Rangers- NINJA STORM!!!” JAJAJAJA it’s so sad they’re assholes tho, would’ve loved them and hyped them if they weren’t the living trauma for Sanji, but alas😔✋🏽

you're going on vacation that's so fuuuun! hope you can get everything sorted out to fully enjoy them

sanji constantly slipping up by saying he cares about everyone we know what you areeeeeeeeeee and we love you so much LMAO

NO EXACTLYYYY like people truly don't fucking Get what luffy is all about, and that's freedom above everything, entonces si cacha q sus compañeros están en una situación en la q literal no quieren estar va a hacer TODOOOO para q ellos puedan ser libres también. like people don't fucking get how fucking smart luffy is emotionally, what he said to nami robin and sanji were all different thing that they all needed to hear

SANJI Y VIOLAAAAAA literal puro quería q terminaran juntos AJAJJA después de q salvan todo dressrosa viola está bailando flamenco y en la canción decían algo como "su novio es el patas negras" y racionalmente sé q lo están diciendo de la manera de q están engañando al novio, pero mi sanji lover brain estaba como "ESTÁN HABLANDO DE SANJIIIIIII VIOLA AMA TANTO A SANJIII" most delusional moment LMAO honeslty i'm a sanji with anyone (but pudding) enjoyer like, sanzo? amazing 10/10, lusan? also freaking great, sanuso? acesan? sanlaw? sanji with literally any man he ahs ever interacted with because somehow men fucking love him? all for it! LMAO

yeah it's honestly so great because i can be a fangirl but in a more lowkey way as well LMAO lo único q me han dicho es un conocido q cuando dije q sanji era mi favorito dijo "aah a mi nunca me ha gustado sanji" y yo apunto de decir ok y querí un premio un aplauso acaso AJAJJA pero me aguanté. no because when franky said that i was like ooooooooooh how is she not a goner for him like i would be 100%. IMAGINEEEE that would be so funny and honestly a very frobin thing to do

jinbe and brook are SO FUCKING GREAAAT, although i will not lie it does annoy me when the power scaling idiots say that now that jinbe is a part of the starwhats sanji is not a wing anymore like pleaseeeeeee tell me once again you don't get the dynamics at all. and yeah brook is just a silly goofy guy that's what 50 years by yourself does to a man he could be worse

no pero esa era yo viendo su backstory, entiendo pq es importante all that jazz pero al mismo tiempo me caes maaaaal no me importa AJAJJA pero cuando llegué a esa parte fue como 👁👄👁 los problemas serios venían de bien chiquita tal vez era necesario saberlo ajajaj

for me they were evil sailor moon LMAO especially with the way they showed how they transfromed i was like ooooooh oda i Know what you're trying to do this is hilarious