#and I'd like to develop some of them more/collect more dynamics for them/just have some more fun with them

[byanyan]

what if... what if i did a starter call, but it's for all my verses except for main... 🤔

[prudentseer]

etho down bad on his knees for joel after initially rejecting him but pride-and-prejudice-enemies-to-lovers-period-drama style

sorry i had to find someone who might(?) share the vision

Hold my hand when I say this anon but never be afraid to drop your takes into my inbox, I love to hear them regardless of whether or not I see the vision.

Fortunately for you however. I SEE THE VISION, I UNDERSTAND YOU.

The "fell first--fell harder" dynamic for boat boys fits SO WELL in my mind because of double life. Etho being wary of Joel, kinda sad that he's teamed with him and by the end he's right there with Joel in chanting "The ship burns everything burns". Also their dynamic in limited life where they were "exes"...they are enemies your honour. I call that character development.

In fact, I see the vision so much that I actually wrote something in a more arranged marriage, period drama-esc style a long while back. It's unfinished (and a bit out of order for context purposes) because historical fiction is not my specialty and I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but it's what I had and I thought I'd share a snippet (it's 1.2k words I don't think I can exactly call it that anymore) of it.

It was odd, really, how much love could feel like an obsession.

He expressed it as quietly as he possibly could in forehead kisses and small gifts; just so it didn't collect in his chest to claw at the confines and suffocate him. And it was probably dramatic to say but with the lack of air he felt around Joel it truly did feel as though if he didn't let some of it out of his heart, he'd explode.

Or even worse, he'd tell Joel how he really felt.

He'd gotten dangerously close on occasion after too many drinks by the fireplace or Joel dancing a step too close. But he didn't.

Because Joel didn't love him back.

And why would he? Etho had all but forbidden him from doing so.

This day had felt equal parts fast and agonizingly slow. But he had a feeling that a marriage he didn't agree to, with someone he barely liked, for power he couldn't have might have something to do with that.

Joel rests on the edge of the bed, one leg up and crossed on the mattress while the other dangled loosely over the edge. His tie hung loose around his neck and his shoes long kicked off but his suit still on. Etho leaned against the dresser across from him, arms folded and mouth pressed into a firm line. The grandfather clock ticking beside them. It had been three minutes and 29 seconds since they've entered their shared room and neither of them had spoken.

It was much easier to watch as time passed silently than it was to look at the person in his bed, the matching ring on his finger.

A heavy sigh startles him from his thoughts. "Listen, could you at least pretend to tolerate me?"

Etho blinks slowly. "I--"

"Don't say you have because how you've been acting like there's been a knife at your throat the entire day." Joel interrupts, running a hand through his hair. A nervous tick, something Etho noticed in the time they've spent together. "I've sent you three letters since we last saw each other; none of which you replied to, you were barely there for any of the planning process and when I see you for our actual wedding, you can't even look me in the eye."

"That's because--"

"Of what? Because I told you that I loved you?" Joel rolls his eyes. "God, excuse me for putting an effort to make it work with the man I've been betrothed to for over a year."

He remembers the day. They'd been exchanging letters weekly for several months at this point but it was only their third official time meeting in person. It was a nice day so they took a walk through Joel's garden and I instead of the flowers Etho noticed that there was this look in Joel's eye, a smile on his face and a certain tone in his voice...Joel didn't even need to tell him. He just knew. It made it extremely uncomfortable to see him again, that they both knew.

He glances down at the ring on his own finger before shaking his head.

"I'm never going to love you like you want me to."

"That's fine." Joel states, a small twitch in his face betraying his words. "I'll...I'll get over it eventually if it means you'll work with me."

Etho tilts his head. "Work with you?"

"You don't have to love me. You don't even have to like me or be friends with me..."

"But...?"

"But we're going to be a team." Joel finishes, pulling off his tie in one swift movement as he does. "This means you're going to sit next to me at gatherings, you're going to dance with me at least once when we're invited to balls, you'll eat one meal a day with me, you'll share a room with me and please for the love of God, at the very least don't look like you're going to throw up when you see me."

A compromise. A reasonable one.

"I can do that." Etho replies, as level as he can, straightening his own tie as he does. "On one condition."

"What?"

"You won't ever expect anything more."

He's being bitter and he knows it. Taking out his anger out on someone who doesn't deserve it, someone who didn't ask for this either. It's unlike him really, that he can't bring himself to care.

"You're not exactly making it difficult lad."

"Joel--"

"You have a deal."

Etho nods. "Then I'll play the part."

"You'll play the part *well*."

"I promise."

Etho didn't remember exactly when it stopped being a show to him.

"Really interesting page?"

Etho blinks himself back into reality, Joel staring at him so intently from his side of the bed that he feels his chest tighten. "What?"

Joel chuckles, rubbing his eyes sleepily before shuffling close enough that Etho can wrap an arm around his shoulder. And he does, squeezing it lightly as his arm curls around.

"You've been staring at this page blankly for the past ten minutes." Etho glances at the grandfather clock in the corner. It's been longer. "You don't have to read the book if you don't like it."

This book was Joel's recommendation and Etho had to admit that it was good, he'd just been...very distracted lately.

"No I like it's just..."

"Yeah?" He smiles, head bumping Etho's shoulder. It burns. Every touch Joel gives him feels like fire has been set to his veins. "What's wrong?"

And his eyes are staring up at him so soft and kind and warm and understanding and it feels like he can tell him anything. Almost anything. The words feel heavy on his tongue, going down like oil as he swallows them.

"Nothing, you should go back to sleep."

He won't be able to resist forever but he buys himself one more day.

Joel's nose wrinkles. "You--"

And Etho is saved by the fact Joel's interrupted by his own yawn.

"You know I'm not stupid right Etho?" Joel states, settling further into Etho's arm as he does. Etho only pulls the sheet tighter. "You've been weirder than usual and if you won't tell me, I'll figure it out myself."

Theoretically, he could tell him but what then? He wouldn't leave, he wouldn't laugh but if Joel knew what Etho felt for him, he would never let him get this close to him again.

And it'd exactly what he deserved.

Karma for being an asshole to someone who just wanted to not be treated like dirt by his husband of circumstance and all he can do is accept it. Accept that he missed his chance.

Maybe one day his heart will catch up with his brain.

"Goodnight Joel."

"I'm serious." He yawns again, head tucked into the crook of Etho neck; breath tickling his clavicle. "I know you better than you like. Just wait."

It's true and it's even scary sometimes. Etho wonders how on earth he got so lucky to have someone that understands him like Joel. Someone who was willing to stick by his side through everything.

Etho waits until Joel is settled, snoring softly again before he places his book down gently on the nightstand, blowing out the table side candle. He tilts his head and presses a soft kiss to the top of Joel's head, waiting in case he stirs.

"I love you." He whispers into his hair, taking a breath when there's no response.

And the part of his chest settles just enough that he feels like he can sleep too.

[twocubes]

Back in middle/high school, I had this brief moment where I fixated on how chiptunes worked. I read a bunch of stuff but never actually made anything. During that time, I'd developed this theory that, at the end of the day, individual square- or triangle-wave channels were most similar to violins, due to their inability to play more than a note but relatively precise control over the dynamics of the note.

This idea ended up rattling in my brain for some years, until November 2023, when I finally decided to try and make something to test it. So, I fished out a book of compositions for string trios from my grandmother's collection (she played the fiddle all her life into her 80s, and left a large collection) and tried to transcribe this piece. I hadn't looked at sheet music in 20 years though. I thought maybe I'd post it here after.

Towards the end of the month, my mom came over, and we talked about how we'd gotten a bit estranged from each-other recently, and talked about meeting more often and sharing our lives more. Her mom had died about a year before (cancer) and I showed her this dumb project. She helped me correct some of the mistakes I'd made. I don't know if it's all of them.

A week and a half later, she was dead, (apparently) killed by her boyfriend. She was found a month later, having been left in a park to rot under a rock.

Anyways. It's like, a piece by Robert Mackintosh. I selected it randomly, it's on p.2 of the book titled "the Mackintosh Collections". It was just supposed to be a test.

[renard-dartigue]

Kaiju no 8 ch.117 Review

Bruh I'm so shook right now! Some of my previous predictions turned out to be true. But I never would have guessed in what way!

Spoilers Ahead:

(And possible deranged rambling)

So it appears that the phantom samurai isn't an entity that has once had the kaiju shifting ability, the samurai IS the kaiju itself. Which is, holy shit!

It takes Kafka back in time to witness how it was created. I wonder if what's happening is similar to Assassin's Creed where using your genetic code, you can experience events that happened to your ancestors.

This would provide an explanation as to how the kaiju found Kafka. It identified Kafka through his bloodline.

Also, the way I shouted "My boiiiii!" when I saw Hoshina's ancestor lmao. Those cyndaphil looking eyes will forever stay with the Hoshina bloodline.

And I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but it never occurred to me that they were using kaiju weaponry back then. I just assumed that was a more resent development. That's really cool.

But, as Kafka states, its difficult to draw out power from them and they take a huge toll on the body compared to modern weapons.

It's also pretty funny how we got a hoshikaf moment in a flash back. I'd like to think that if Kafka really is in the place of his ancestor, he and Hoshina's ancestor had the same dynamic they have in modern day to some degree.

I'd gush about it more but I have to set that aside for now because this chapter takes a turn for the gruesome.

The warriors are able to take down the kaiju and I'm just as shocked as Kafka. Because I remember when Hoshina was talking about the warriors of the past and how their weaponry was more suited for smaller kaiju. But these clearly aren't KDF squads. It's untold thousands of warriors with spears, swords, archery, and cannons. What they lack in strength, they make up in numbers. And it works at first.

But the phantom samurai states that something happened that wasn't in the norm. If I remember correctly, they are called "after beasts".

So call me crazy but isn't that the same creature that they are currently fighting in modern day? I don't mean 9. The creature that is within 9. I don't think it was given a name yet so for convenience, I'm going to call it no.0 for now.

Kafka either recognizes this being as no.0 or has a gut feeling that the warriors are in danger. Regardless, Kafka is fully immersed in the flash back, thinking he can change events. That or these are the words of his ancestor and Kafka is just a spectator.

And can I just say that this is the most amount of gore we've seen from this manga. It isn't as visceral as say Chainsaw Man or other seinens. But this is a first for this particular manga. It makes the events much more brutal.

Man, this moment of Kafka seeing Hoshina's ancestor die and get eaten seriously hurts my soul. He may not have been the man Kafka knows but the fact they look so much alike is probably traumatic for him.

Kafka is forced to watch and experience the pain and loss of the warriors, even getting cut up himself. Given Kafka's personality, it must be agonizing for him to see people die and not be able to help this time.

And apparently this is a sentiment that the warriors share. As the phantom explains how helpless they all felt, the words "Damn it" flood the page, the same thought as Kafka.

We get interesting, or macabre, panels of the warrior souls converging together into one.

Forming into the creature responsible for kaiju no.8 existence.

So the phantom samurai is saying that all the souls of the dead warriors merged with their kaiju based armor, their collective consciousness united in one goal. Killing kaiju.

That is FUCKING AWESOME!

God damn it I wish chapters were longer I can't take the suspense anymore! We get something new every chapter but it never feels like enough aaaaagh! Please Naoya Sensei, I can't stand it! Its killing me fdfhdzcgd!

Anyways, time for predictions.

Even though I implied at the beginning that there where no kaiju shifters before Kafka, that might not be true. We still don't know what no.8 was doing before finding Kafka. It could have latched itself to another descendant of the warriors before Kafka but it was at a time with poor documentation and secrecy was necessary for their survival. The next chapter might go into that.

I no longer believe the phantom samurai to be a previous kaiju shifter. He looks to be an amalgam of the collective minds of the deceased warriors will.

I wonder why it took until now for the phantom to appear to Kafka. In his previous near death experiences, Kafka only saw the tiny kaiju repeating "kill" over and over.

Could it be that Kafka's training with Narumi, willingly giving himself up to kaiju no.8's full power, drew him closer to the warriors will?

OR, did the resurgence of no.0 trigger the phantom to appear due to it being the reason they all perished.

God, so many more questions. And I know they will likely be answered in the next few chapter but the wait is agony, blarg!

If you came this far, thanks for reading. Hope I don't come off as too deranged lol. It's just so exciting finally getting answers to questions I've had for so long heh.

[nodutra19]

Rambling

Reading RGU analysis always makes me feel dumb as shit. I'm a heavy reader but outside some manga and videogames, I've pretty much neglected visual mediums, so watching RGU was a very strange experience. I love it, I just feel tiny in comparison to everyone else who seems to get it, unlike I.

Obviously, Ohtori Academy is a coffin, a trap, an arrest of development. From Sôji's fixation on Tokiko to Akio's obsession with becoming Dios, the rotten ideal in white, everyone has to disassemble what they've been taught. Juri has to let go of Shiori, and everyone has to let go of these stupid and harmful games and ideas. One thing I did struggle with understanding until now was how possible it was for Miki and Kozue, Nanami and Tôga to have healthy familial relationships after everything.

I realized I was thinking too rigidly, in spite of my planned no-contact with my own family. CLAMP once said "Family is other people too" (in xxxHolic). The main thread for all the characters in RGU is the fact they're holding onto something they need to let go of. After everything's that happened, the Kaoru and Kiryû siblings have unsalvagable bonds. That's how I see it anyway. They were already taught horrible things. It's just that on top of that, they've morphed their relationships into something incredibly foul and mephitic. A bit of separation anxiety isn't harmful in itself, but the four of them have festered it into one of the most twisted things I've ever seen. As Ikuhara said in episode 15's commentary, there's this idea that familial relationships are the deepest. "Blood is thicker than water."

The hell of it is, the original line is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Meaning that what matters more in this world is the bonds you choose. You don't choose where or with whom you are born. But you do choose who you associate with. Obviously there's a lot of complexity about the interactions between the individual and the collective, the individual and the structures about the individual, but ultimately a choice is a choice.

Family bonds are just as fragile as any other. They're just as fleeting, just as prone to deterioration. They're not eternal as we're taught, hence the revolving, spiraling incest throughout the show. We're taught family is forever, and so it's no wonder the Kaoru, Kiryû, and Himemiya siblings have the dynamics they do. They represent different forms of what this sort of thinking leads to. Especially Akio. After all, a Prince is a member of Royalty, no? And we all know what Royalties throughout our histories commit in order to be "pure." This thinking is what traps so many into cycles of familial abuse. If we were to treat family as we treat "outsiders" (because that's how we're taught to think of anyone outside the family), if our lenses were shaped to this analysis, if our retinas were shaped to recognize these true colors, I'd say most of us would never like our families from the jump. It's much the same way adults justify beating their children and yet if anyone even their age beat on them whenever they made a mistake, you bet your fucking ass they'd fight back. But if it's family, it's suddenly different, when really it isn't.

Hell, this is part of why we say "bro," "homie," "twin," "brother," "sister" to people we're extremely close with. Even I do that. Found family is a wonderful thing, but if "Family is other people too," then how does "found family" factor into things? If we're so rebellious against things such as the nuclear family structure, if we understand that family doesn't determine anything, then what use is found family? If we so despise these structures, why do we mimic it? Are we like Utena who say "I'm completely different from you, Saionji/Tôga/Juri/Miki/Sôji/Akio" when we're mimicking said structure? Is what we seek in these relationships undefinable in the lexicon we're given? If family is as fleeting and prone to death as any other bond, then what's the worth of referring to these non-familial bonds in terms of family? Maybe that's part of why this show has so many fucking orphans and/or absent parents.

I'm not saying you should stop feeling sisterly or brotherly to that one friend who just seems to get you. Really, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I did. But it's still something to chew on, I think. I can't provide any answers though.

I hope this has been insightful in some way. I feel late as hell to the party. One of these days I'mma go through all of Empty Movement.

[countlessofvoids]

Talking about/analyzing the warlords is pretty much meaningless since they're kind of a nothing characters but I'll do it anyways:

Firstly, I feel like three of them is too much. With Grimmel, that makes four antagonists in one movie. Of course it's not impossible to write all four well - but with other things the film focuses on such as The Hidden World and the fury romance - even with enough screentime, one of them is bound to be underdeveloped.

I've seen people say there's no reason for them to exist at all. I disagree, I think removing them is arguably worse. They are Drago's allies, him being defeated puts a dent in their plans and makes Hiccup a threat in need of elimination. They have a reason to be there. Defeating Drago should have consequences; building all this up then having no sign of it in the next installment - while the villain is a hunter with zero connection to anything - doesn't make sense for the worldbuilding and would be a backwards progression.

Another thing is the personalities given to these characters. I do like how even though with their limited screentime and depth, we can see they all have their own, unique personality rather than everyone being the same angry brutes. But do said characteristics make sense for their role?

Chaghatai Khan is who I consider the best fit for his job. He's smartest of the three, calm and collected. Unlike Griselda, he doesn't let his frustrations with Grimmel get to him. He seems to know when someone's useful and when they need elimination. All the attributes you need for a succesfull leader are present.

Griselda is what you'd expect from this character archetype. Quick to anger, doesn't respect failure, harsh and a ruthless fighter. I don't think Griselda's dumb, but with how easily irritated she gets, she'd probably start few extra conflicts on her own if it wasn't for Chaghatai stopping her. I kinda wish there was more of her interactions with Grimmel, the tiny bit of their dynamic that we did get sparked some interest in me.

Ragnar makes the absolute least sense to me. He's shown to be cheerful, a bit of a coward and even childish. Not the personality I'd write for this character trope. You're telling me he raided villages, possibly enslaved both people and dragons, build an army and went on a succesfull conquest so barbaric it earned him rank of a warlord? An explanation for this could be him being in a nepo baby situation. But we can't really speculate on that, since there are no canon implications for it.

Now I don't wanna sound like a snob who thinks they know better than THW's writers, because I definetly don't. So feel free to ignore this part. Personaly to avoid having characters who are/should be important to the plot then end up with no development or arc whatsoever, I'd either:

A) Get rid of one or two warlords, making the cast less bloated - which means there are less characters to focus on, allowing more exploration for the remaining antagonists.

B) Have one of them takes on a role akin to Drago. Whoever that would be stays a warlord and becomes the driving force of conflict, meanwhile the other two are reduced to generals. Grimmel has a role similiar to Eret, as in he's under the warlord's command. This way it's clearer that he works for them and is not a warlord himself. You know, instead of like in the movie where he just walks in and bosses everyone around like he's been their leader all along. Seriously, why were the supposed brutal conquerers letting him treat them like insignificant soldiers while they're just standing around pouting?

C) Remove the trio entirely and leave only Grimmel. Either he's a warlord who disguised himself as a hunter, or he used to be a hunter who then became a warlord. Why am I insisting on not keeping him just as a hunter? Like I mentioned above; to me, going from armies and wars to simpler dragon hunters feels backwards.

So in conclusion: The Warlords should've been given a lot more importance to the plot because they have connections to the previous film's antagonist and I believe both them being empty characters and not existing at all is a waste. Think of the possibilities that could've been done with them, like making them pararells to Hiccup's friends/family.

(Feel free to correct me if I got any information wrong!)

[someprettyname]

Whoses your favorite hq character so far?

OH MY (͡⁠°⁠‿⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)

*gets hysterical* OH NOOOOOOOO

Why must you ask me this questions when you very well know every character is written SO WELL???

.

.

.

Just kidding.

*rolls up sleeves* oh this is going to be long

I was waiting to finish S2 first before answering this so i could see all the seijoh players and my understanding of them mature a bit more before I go on and yap about them. I still haven't properly processed the vs Aoba Johsai match because. What. The. Hell. Wasthat? 🧍🏻‍♀️

ANYWAYSSSSSSSSS the point being, i really do like every character. Genuinely. It's not the "Ah. I don't think they are necessarily bad so i like them yeah 🤷🏻‍♀️." It's the "My goodness, even a side character is so well written, what? How am I supposed to forget you after I understood you and your story? 🥹" Kinda like.

Now that it's established that i adore every character and team that showed up on the screen we can now discuss the characters that have caught my attention so far :3 [keep in mind that I've only watched 2 seasons so far so there might not be enough kenma and shiratorizawa players :D]

Okay starting off with team karasuno ->

GUESS WHO WAS THE FIRST EVER CHARACTER TO CATCH MY EYE IN THIS WHOLE SERIES?

🥁

🥁

🥁

Ta-Da!

It was NISHINOYA!!!!

Oh my god WHAT A SWEETHEART.

WHAT WOULD I EVER DO WITHOUT HIM BEING IN THE MATCH/COURT? *Sniffles*

I saw that shine in his eyes and I was SOLD. HAVE ALL MY MONEY. I LOVE THIS CHARACTER ALREADY. AND HIS VOICE? MY GOODNESS. It's very specific but there's this huskiness in his voice that's absolutely divine to my ears. His dynamics with hinata and asahi is something i look forward to ALWAYS! I mean this adorable boy here is a sight to behold every time he shows up, so need i explain more? He's like a ball of sunshine, he has magical cheering up powers. I love him so MUCH. I'M IN TEARS.

*clears throat* *collects oneself*

Moving on, Daichi is an amazing character. He isn't the most flashy charcter but without him - the captain - it's empty and on the edge of falling apart. Captures the essence of his role quite accurately, nein? Pillar of maturity and calmness. That's how I see him and it's beautiful.

Then it's Asahi. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MWAH CHEF KISS. His character development is gorgeous. GORGEOUS.

Next up is Kageyama of course. My famous infamous opinion of him is that he's seriously a serious silly goober your honour 😌

When I was watching their second official match with seijoh for a moment i really thought "Ah. Kageyama is going to win but as a team isn't it? Oikawa would still be superior to him as a setter, isn't it? That's how it's going to balance out?" Guess I was wrong. My mind was ABSOLUTELY blown when their last set was the same as the one in their previous match with seijoh. And then he was standing in front of oikawa WHILE I WAS GOING CRAZY. DAMN IT.

His character development and him learning to move past being the "king of court" is amazing. I feel like a proud mom lol.

If I'm talking about kageyama i HAVE to talk about Hinata but I'll sleep on that for now because lol. It's quite obvious. Maybe i should yap about why I wanna pull his cheeks some other day. This is getting long as it is.

Coming to TEAM AOBA JOHSAI :

I'd really like to yap about oikawa but he's one character who gets me thinking. I have so many thoughts about him but it's quite a blur, he's a complex character. That much i have understood. I mean, everytime i see a character i have this immediate impression of them and everything they do afterwards usually builds up on that without contradicting my first impression. That's how it usually goes. But he was one character who keeps... surprising me? Somehow? Does that make sense? So yeah, i would like to re-watch stuff and form a stronger opinion before I yap. He's a complex and beautifully written character, i don't want to disrespect him with him half assed opinions lol.

He intrigues me, that's for sure :)

Then it's Iwaizumi i.e iwa-chan~ because WHY THE HELL NOT. I teared up over him afterall. Damn it. So yeah, i definitely like him.

honourable mention : shinji watari!

Then comes the honorable mention of Yuji Terushima from TEAM JOHZENJI. Whenever I think about that team and it's essence his face pops up in my mind, rightfully so. He has a cool character design, so that too.

That team to me personally is really memorable because my personality IS like them upto a lot extent LOL. So throughout the match I was secretly rooting for them a lot. And when they said "Ah. I was just getting started. I wanted to play more." I found myself thinking the same. And when that happens, you as a viewer know this match was well written. I also love how author captured their story and feelings in just an episode. Definitely a memorable match :D

HEHEHEHHEH NOW COMES THE CHARACTER FROM TOKYO POWERHOUSE PRACTICE ARC.

Ah. So many memorable characters ahaha xD

*sighs reminiscingly*

Anyways. Kuroo, Kenma, Lev, Bokuto. I'll hold yapping about them too much too simply because they haven't be explored too much yet. But my GOD. THESE 4 CHARACTERS? I'M SOOOOOOO SOOO CURIOUS ABOUT THEN. I wanna see how it all turns out and how they grow! Specially Lev!! If he gets better at other areas too he's going to be a challenge for Karasuno isn't it? That'd certainly be fun to watch.

Also i want to squish kenma, put him in a container and shake him violently then put him in a jar and GRIND him. Hahahahahakwiehhehehehehhh 😈

What? Don't look at me like that. He has a very squishy soft warm kinda character design. It's not my fault ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Lastly, I'd like to say i love Bokuto's energy 😌↕️😌↕️ and OF COURSE! HIS SILLINESS AHAHHAH XD

He's so dramatic oh my god 😂 but I also love how he taught hinata to be so much better 🥹 so far, as per my perception of him, he's a simple, optimistic and silly guy who wants good competition. And I'm all here for it 😌↕️😌↕️

OH MY GOD CAN KARASUNO HURRY UP AND PLAY FUKURODANI ALREADDYYYYYY 🥹

Ending this huge ass ted talk [which you probably didn't expect, and if you didn't, I'm sorry to put you through this] with the last honourable mention : Ushijima. Of course. First of all, why is built like a Hollywood character? Second of all, i wanna watch him play sooo bad oh my god. 🥹

....but I'll probably end up rewatching S2 before that. LOL 😂😭

[murmurmurl]

hiii pjsk oc ramble again :3

(this is super all over the place btw)

I feel like I should be developing Toshiro more, since he's the unit leader but I haven't come up with that much stuff about them compared to the others. BUT. I'm thinking about Seina. In the relationship thingy I mentioned that she works part-time at a café. I think it'd be funny if it's a café Ena and Akito go to somewhat regularly. then I'd have to change some stuff up though, because it wouldn't be just "met them once". Maybe I'd even make her friends with Ena. I did say I'll change a lot of stuff lol

Seina is very collected and pretty much knows how to deal with ppl, so I think she's pretty good at handling customers. It's still tiring for her though, more than you might expect, actually.

I think she deserves a break ngl (I say after being the one to make her need a break in the first place but uhm anyways)

I've also been thinking about their siblings... Seina and Toshiro both have siblings, actually. I haven't figured out their sibling dynamics as much yet. Like, I keep going back and forth on Seina's sibling especially, whether to make them older or younger. Because I have both options thought out, how they would have affected the relationship and in what way they contributed to how Seina acts. I know I'm gonna project with the sibling thing a lot, but uh. That's what OCs are for..? Kinda??? I guess?????

Fumi and Matsu are only children in their families, but I think with how they act with each other and their past connection, they act a little like siblings. I've also been thinking more about the period where Fumi wasn't as strong-willed and couldn't help or stand up for Matsu when he was bullied. Around that time, they had a bit of a falling out due to Fumi blaming herself too much and ending up isolating herself. They interact again for the first time since then already when the unit's story starts. Its awkward at first, and despite all this time working on being the best she could be to make sure nothing like that ever happens again, Fumi still blames themself and ends up avoiding Matsu at all costs. I can't say that he NEVER blamed her... of course, at first, back then, he felt hurt because no one would help, and when he needed his best friend more than ever, she ended up practically abandoning him. There is a little bit of that.. bitterness (??) left to this day, but overall, he doesn't really put them at fault. Fumi is extremely harsh on herself – that's actually something all of them have to a degree. Toshiro wanting to improve, be better at everything, be reliable because of his family problems, he wants to prove a certain person wrong. I now realize that this might sound kinda like the Shinonome dad situation, but it's still different. Seina blames herself terribly for accidentally hurting a dear friend in the past, she thinks of herself as unworthy of being forgiven and cared for, and tries her best caring for everyone around herself instead, devoting it so much time and effort that it leaves her exhausted and even puts a distance between her and the people she loves because she doesn't want to bother them with any of her personal struggles, even thoughts, she doesn't want to be a burden and upset them by having feelings. Fumi's case I already described here. With Matsu... I feel like it's less present in him, but it's still there. He tends to put a lot of pressure on himself about being good enough to be loved. Also because of stuff in the past, partially because of the bullying, partially because of how he as a child perceived Fumi distancing herself from him. He tries really hard to fit into the expectations others have of him, as well as be as independent as possible.

Of course, during the course of their story/ies I want to work through all of that. I think that coming to terms with things and starting to heal would take the longest for Seina. In part because she doesn't let anyone worry about herself as best she can.

ANYWAYS. Uhm. Stop the angst yapping, please, okay, thank you.

I like thinking through the sad and struggling parts of their characters, but I don't want to stop focusing on how they support each other and how much they care about each other. I also think I focused a little too much on their personalities and less so on the. Other necessary stuff... I've started thinking about their SEKAI. I think it should be something nostalgic in a way? With how much their stories seem to be dealing with the past so far, it'd make sense. I have a few ideas maybe, but I still need to flesh them out to even choose hehe

[scabopolis]

fic recs: l/v fic fest, "I love a man in uniform"

In anticipation of the upcoming 2023 Logan x Veronica "New Year, New Fic" fest, I bring you a small selection of fics inspired by the site of Logan in uniform. Again, the kind of uniform is up to you. The sky is the actual limit.

Day 1 of the challenge is February 1, 2023 so be sure to check out the #2023 LV New Year here on tumblr or the AO3 collection for more fic and art.

As a reminder, there are so many fics that fill these tropes. These are just a smattering, so make sure to make note of the ones you love the most and next week, when the challenge starts, maybe go drop those you love a kudos, a comment, or both to share the joy.

To begin, let's start with the inspiration fic for the prompt and then we'll add a few more.

These are mostly all Logan in a Navy uniform, so I'll be excited to see if there are ways we can open that definition up in the next week!

Fic: Metal Under Tension by @machawicket (AO3 account required to read) Rating: T and/or M depending on your POV Tropes and Themes: Reunited after 180-days, Veronica climbing Logan like a tree, these two are OBSESSED with each other Read if: You want to be transported back in time almost 9-years to that post-movie time when macha kept us all very well fed with fic inspired by the movie and what came after. This fic is romantic, and funny, and touching, and man. WHAT A TIME!

Fic: The Long Way Home by @absolutelyiris Rating: E because of those two-weeks of bliss iykwim Tropes and Themes: Idk, man, this fic is perfect to me - (but also it's a movie compliant fic, with chapters 1 and 2 showing snippets throughout the film, and chapter 3 post-Logan's deployment) Read if: This fic messes me up in the best way and somehow I'd FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT which is why these kinds of challenges are the best. The part of the chapter when they're back together but he's about to leave for 6-months. AGGGH! I can still feel it in my gut.

Fic: Every Belt That Hit Someone (is Still Made to Hold Something Up) by @igrockspock Rating: E for sex and for some violence and some swears Tropes and Themes: This fic is perfect (I've said that twice now and idc), snapshots of Logan's life pre-movie, some of the most developed Logan/Carrie dynamic, THE BOOK SCENE Read if: You've somehow managed to never read this before and you're curious what all those weird fragments I just mentioned even mean.

Fic: The Crowd by @ghostcat3000 Rating: M for "genteel smut" as GC calls it Tropes and Themes: Another reunited after 180 days fic (I CAN'T HELP MYSELF I LOVE THEM ALL), they don't have sex in public but it's a close thing, appropriate (as in inappropriate) jokes about the uniform Read if: Look, this fic makes me happy. Do you want to be happy? Then read it.

Fic: Waste of Breath by @bryrosea Rating: M Tropes and Themes: It's called growth!, starts one year post-s3 through Logan returning from deployment, every single moment makes me want to set myself on fire and then read it again to experience it all over (too much?) Read if: You want to feel like you're inside Logan's heart and head.

Fic: Blackbird by AliLamba Rating: T Tropes and Themes: AU where Logan and Veronica are at ballet academy, battle couple but in the art of dance, found family and friends as family Read if: Okay, technically Logan wears ballet costumes not uniforms, but again, I hope this goes to show how open to interpretation these tropes are. Also, if you're looking for a completely alternative world fic, then this one is top notch. Romantic and clever and takes me right back to being teenager and loving Center Stage.

[worldunbent]

well my volunteer shift for tonight got cancelled so i'm starting my natsuyuu reread with volume 1... it's been years since i read the early volumes (and it's my first time reading the official translations) so this is basically a brand new experience.

getting used to the rather plot-heavy past 40 or so chapters and then just jumping back to the beginning is a bit of a trip. the pacing of the series has evolved so smoothly and slowly that you don't notice it in process, but the difference becomes way more obvious once you travel back 120+ chapters. that's not a knock on the early chapters at all, because i think they're all fantastic standalone stories. they're just so different from the current series!

but despite all that, the themes are extremely consistent and i kept getting surprised at how many moments in these first four chapters can be connected with a straight line all the way to the present.

chapter 1

i'm going to restrain myself and not laugh at every early nyanko. his design had charm! it's just so different from his current look!

Sensei: I've spent such a long time in that ceramic cat that my body's gotten used to it. My true form is very graceful and elegant, you know. Natsume: Oh yeah?

it’s soooo cute that it takes approximately 2 minutes for natsume to start treating nyanko like an actual cat.

Sensei: Reiko couldn't get along with humans. So she started to pick on yokai. She bullied them into duels and crushed them. She was born with substantial mystical powers. She made them promise that the winner would get power over the loser, and then had them write their names down to ensure their obedience. This book is the collection of those names. Natsume: So... why do you want it, Nyanko sensei?

reiko’s methods of defeating youkai are very… prosaic lol. this could be because this is essentially a pilot chapter and midorikawa hadn’t fully developed the worldbuilding rules, but i also wonder if we can justify this with her “substantial mystical powers.” she can accomplish with a baseball bat or her foot what exorcists need elaborate rituals to do. or it could just be the terms of her duels! also, the “kick me” panel cracks me up.

HMM... i started to write something up on this but i think i need to return to it later.

Sensei: It's easy to do, but many yokai are vicious. You won't last long. I'd advise against it. Natsume: I'll be fine. I have you, sensei. Sensei: Say what?! Natsume: I didn't want to get involved... but I kind of owe it to [text is cut off]. If I end up dying partway through, the Book of Friends will be yours. Please, sensei. Will you help me out?

natsume is super quick to propose a partnership with nyanko and begin relying on him. again, this about economical pilot writing, but it’s still interesting when you compare it to the pacing of other relationships.

Sensei: ....Are you sure? I can have the Book when your life ends? Natsume: Yeah, I'm sure...

the shoujo bubbles showing up here are. so

“I bet she was waiting… for the yokai to come find her, to get their names back. As many as she could find. And the yokai felt lonely being no more than one of many…” this reminds me of hinoe in the most recent reiko-centric chapter, but more generally, complicated bonds of loyalty and servitude, reciprocal and nonreciprocal, seem to be some of midorikawa's favorite dynamics to draw on. putting a pin in this.

chapter 2

this touko is so cute. shigeru is a nonentity in the first volume.

you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like

Sensei: Bad dream? Natsume: Because you were on me! Sensei: You must've left yourself vulnerable. Weakness lures demons. They take advantage of it. Be strong if you don't want to get eaten.

madara brings up survival of the fittest mentality for the first time, which is another consistent theme - the value of individual strength vs sharing your struggles with others. but the latter hasn’t really been addressed as an option yet! natsume kind of speedran thru part of this by enlisting nyanko as his bodyguard, but it will take him a lot longer to start learning to share burdens with other humans, or to allow the emotional vulnerability aspect to enter into it.

Natsume: I'll come to worship you. I can't promise to come every day, but I'll bring you offerings. Shrine god: You can't, Natsume. You're my friend.

this chapter hits very hard for me in general, but especially this exchange. the first volume of full of relationships with marked power dynamics, but now we finally get some friends. weh.

no specific screenshot for this, but i get a bit emotional reading midorikawa’s sidebar notes. i don’t know how old she was when she started writing natsuyuu, but it’s 20 years younger than she is now. i wonder if she still has the same editor she’s talking about in these notes!

WELL MAYBE. weh!!

chapter 3 natsume’s flashbacks to the various youkai he encountered as a child are way creepier than i remembered. screenshots not included due to image limit, but midorikawa has been good at conveying unease very quickly from the very beginning.

Natsume: Oh boy...

speaking of unease, panels like these are why i felt the need to use screenshots economically. tanuma bb you have come so far. i love the lighting in the center top panel.

another thing i love is midorikawa's assistants getting feature sidebar panels, which again i didn't screenshot because i was worried about running out of images for this post. but they're great.

Natsume: I'm sorry, can we do this later? Misuzu: Are you busy? Sensei: Exorcising humans. Natsume: Sensei! Misuzu: Oh? Then allow me, Misuzu, to help. It would be dull to never serve my master. And you saved one of my own servants earlier. Natsume: The frog... Sensei: No good deed goes unpunished. Natsume: You be quiet, Sensei.

misuzu’s introduction brings back the theme of servitude and mutual loyalty. i also completely forgot that misuzu’s introduction was tied to tanuma’s, something that will come back up like... 95 chapters from now. i am frequently surprised by basic narrative consistency.

natsume and tanuma are able to connect so quickly and again i wonder if midorikawa would have paced things differently if she’d known how long this series would last. but i’m not saying that as a criticism - the way they’re immediately drawn to each other is an important contrast to other dynamics that come up later.

chapter 4

Natsume (in narration): This might take a while... Natsume (speaking): Kitamoto, have you heard of Futaba village? Kitamoto: Hmm? My dad's from there. Natsume (in narration): What?! Kitamoto: Most of the people relocated around here. I've heard the name Taniozaki, so I'll ask my dad tonight.

another thing i forgot is that kitamoto and nishimura have always been here! for some reason i remembered them joining the cast later on, but they’ve been there from the start, even before they're named. kitamoto’s name does come up for what i think is the first time in this chapter, and i love how willing he is to help natsume, no questions asked.

i like this chapter a lot, but don't have much to say about it because it's such a standalone.

Youkai: We dance, drink, and gamble. There's a race where the prize is a yukata that allows the winner to take human form for one night. Natsume: What? Youkai: It's a whole night of carousing and frolicking. Natsume: What did you say?

the one thing i do want to point out is that's it's interesting that we have youkai getting agency over when they are seen! it's usually left up to the humans, regardless of whether the youkai would like to be seen or not.

[remyfire]

I recently finished Dear Sigmund and it just made me want even m o r e for Sidney to have more screen time! Seeing the 4077th through his eyes was such a fun little change of pace, as well as seeing the way he comes to them for comfort 🥺 Regardless of whether you view it as platonic or romantic, it's so obvious he loves everyone there! And while we're on the topic of characters who deserved more: Captain Sam Pak. I know he was only in two episodes, but he was wonderful in both of them! I loved the exchange between him and Sidney in Deal Me Out, just the easy "that's my wife!" "Interesting joke there, Sam" "Thanks for seeing me, Sidney". I wish we had more Sid, I wish we had more Sam, and I also wish we had more of them together.

And thanks so much for the rec! I've only recently been getting into the fic side of things, so I haven't come across their work yet, but I'm sure it would only have been a matter of time. (Aka I have Sidney's Ao3 tag open on my phone right now) I took a quick scroll through their collections, and read a short BJ/Hawkeye/Peg piece since I had a couple spare minutes, and I think the recommendation is right up my alley! I'm really not gonna have to search for fics for the rest of the week with all that you've provided me 😅

DEAR SIGMUND MY BELOVED!!!! AAAAAAA I love that one so MUCH, I go back to it often. Brilliant work from Alan all around, writing, directing, acting, all of it. God, the way he just saw the characters is so fascinating. I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much!! God, Sidney fits into the camp so well, really just matches their pace and rhythm as easily as he sinks into the background to observe them. He does love them, you're so right. You're gonna love some of his upcoming episodes, I think. War of Nerves in S6 is a lot, but it's wonderful.

Also Sam is the fucking love of my life. Canon also wrote a really interesting Hawkeye/Sam chapter for a multiauthor collab fic called The Famous 4077th Dog Tag Party, which I definitely recommend if you enjoy Sam to that degree, because my goodness, he's such a fucking delight as a POV character in it!! But even beyond that, Sam and Sidney give me such old married couple vibes, like, they're usually surrounded by all these 20- and 30-somethings, so I feel like they found each other as men in their mid-40s and were just like oh, thank GOD, and things went from there. I am yet again exposing myself as a shipper to the core, oops.

I am usually very shy about self-reccing fics, but since you've mentioned you loved Dear Sigmund and also a fondness for Sam and Sidney, I'm gonna give you a couple, if that's all right:

—I'd Give Up Forever to Touch You: This is BJ/Sidney-centric with BJ/Hawkeye developing in the background of the narrative, but I offer it specifically because "Dear Sigmund" plays a large role in how BJ and Sidney interact in it. It's a forced proximity romance that also selfishly lets me play on a favorite trope of mine—only one bed—and I loved writing it so much that I have so many thoughts about a potential sequel that might let me lean into more of those polyam feelings

—To Be Kissed Upon the Eyes: This is a Sam/Hawkeye/Sidney fic with an established Sam/Sidney relationship. I wrote it because, yes, I really love their dynamic even if we only get a single episode of it, but also because I wanted to dig into how I view my iteration of Hawkeye's complicated relationship with sex. Getting the excuse to make Hawk the center of very affectionate, fond attention and give him a little bit of healing was just exquisite for me to write

Again, no pressure to read either of those!! But you might enjoy them :) I hope you enjoy your continued watchthrough too!! I feel like I've been seeing a lot of people diving in for the first time recently

[pikespendragon67]

Work today was also...a thing, so for now I'll destress by talking about my current interests to see if folks wanna talk about them! Gonna list them individually

Anime seasonals:

Vampire Dies in No Time: It's fun knowing the seiyuu for this. Some jokes are hit or miss (such is the fate of comedies), and I like when it touches on more heartfelt moments. Usually watch the newest episode during my lunch breaks on Mondays

Vinland Saga: God seeing Thorfinn's character development is fucking beautiful. Canute's slowly becoming one of my favorite characters.

Revenger: Originally got into this for Teppa (if you know, you know), and I like the seiyuu cast, but it's...boring, I think? Either that or I've watched too many anime to really get hyped for this kind of stuff. Not wacky or bloody enough to keep my interest, so it's just background noise for Thursday lunches

Urusei Yatsura: Same with Vampire. I would have this as my lunch break anime if HiDive had a pop out player/mini player/whatever it's called

Hero Academia: HOOOOOOOOO DARK ARC SO GOOOOOOOOOD.

Trigun Stampede: Love how expressive the 3D animation is, and some of the new elements surprised me. I still miss Millie, and wish we had more time to really explore character dynamics/world building

Nier Automata: "hm not sure how they'd cover all the endings-IS THAT REPLICANT"

To Your Eternity just ended its second season last week. I didn't cry like I did with the first season, but this arc had a nice conclusion. ...Rushed a bit with the "where are they now?" part, but eh

Then I'm currently going through Iruma during the lunch breaks where a seasonal anime doesn't air. Pretty charming so far. I tried getting back into watching '98 Trigun, but I lost my place and I don't feel like starting all the way from episode 1 again. If HiDive allowed it, I'd probably watch the rest of Big O or Moribito next. I thiiiink after Iruma I'll have to figure out what to watch next.

Games:

SO HELP ME I WILL GET THROUGH OCTOPATH 2-

Nah but for real, I always think I have enough time to play it on my Switch during my lunch break, but nope. Hour's too short I say. I just finished recruiting all 8 party members and I'm currently in the middle of Throne's chapter 2/intel digging. I like the spruced up mechanics like the day/night cycle, but god I wish we could change party members on the fly to make level grinding easier.

The game collecting spark rose again as I got reminded of the eShop closing on March 27th. I have a few titles I say I need for the sake of having them before it's too late, but eh, nothing so incredibly urgent that I gotta have it now (already got those games. Thanks 2020 Pikes for getting me into this hobby). I almost got 999 on DS, but I already have that on PS4 (I feel iffy getting the same game on different consoles unless it's like a remake for a game that's old) & I've already gotten some other games.

Paranormasight's really got me interested. I'm not really one for horror media, but I absolutely love the character designs

And then I've just been plushie collecting, too

so ye

[brooklyndadshow]

One step further for the white rabbit

I've gotten some reactions to the beginning of the white rabbit story from middle school so I thought I'd take one step further on at least writing the story. Not sure exactly where this will go - but let's go down the rabbit hole.

With my daughter going to middle school this fall it definitely has me thinking back on my own middle school experiences. Middle school was rough for me. I feel like I learned a bunch of life lessons that I've held on to, probably a few narratives that I should let go. It's funny how the mind works there are three mini stories from me starting middle school, two that stuck with me and one that I completely blocked out until my parents told me recently.

What I remember learning most is about popularity, cliques, and norms. I went to a small school and had been there for years so I had some middle school street cred. What I remember most is losing street cred for befriending kids that we're new and not in the in crowd. I remember saying the phase - "Why does Jamil think he can be friends with them and us? " I'm lucky - I have always have had the ability to fit in, but I hate that need for people who fit in to exclude others - with a passion. I've always believed in bringing people in - that in almost every situation, if people want to be part of the collective that is focused on common good and justice, we are stronger with every individual we can bring in - stronger in the sum of our parts. If I think back on my life, it's middle school where this part of myself developed and hardened in being a core part of who I am. Is it really this time, or more the collection of experiences - hard to say - and really does it matter - I know that's a core part of my personality.

The second story is the Alice in Wonderland musical. Frankly as awkward 10 and 11 year olds, the fact that we were in tights was a bigger deal than me being in white face. In fact, me being in white face was zero deal. It's just now looking back and telling other people and seeing their reactions, that I reflect on the dynamics of a white teacher putting a black child in white face - and I have pause.... I have this idea for a video sketch I might do for the show where I do this monologue or a promo for it while I paint my face white... I feel like it will make some people very uncomfortable and I like that... It's like an itch I want to scratch in my art - are you uncomfortable just reading about me slowly painting my face white? Instructed by an older white woman... why are you comfortable?

Also everyone should re-watch Bamboozled by Spike Lee.

I'm going to have paint my face a few times and remove the paint before I get to the bottom of the white rabbit rabbit hole...

Last story that I blocked out and had no memory of. The same teacher that put in me white face, also put me in the lower math class when I entered 5th grade. I was devasted. I had always been in the top level of math and all of a sudden I wasn't. My parents noticed that I was noticably upset. They inquired and discovered the reason. They went to the teacher to advocate for me and find out what was going on. Apparently there was no reason, I'd been put in the lower class and was moved back to be among my peers. I have zero recollection of any of this. I do remember always being in the highest math class, I do remember going on to Stuyvesant High School, the top math and science magnet school in New York City, I do remember scoring significantly scoring higher on my math SATs than my verbal SATs. I do remember going to Engineering school at Columbia and continuing to be in technology for the rest of my 25 year and going career...

So reflecting back on the white rabbit and his journey to this point.... What are my thoughts.... I remember singing "I'm late"... and having an awakening to my stage presence, my love of singing and performing - the memory itself is pure - later in life I begun to think of the minstrel show that black entertainers have to endure, wrote a show about it, still have more to say about it... Where does my original minstrel show performance fit into my journey? I think every person of color who entertains- especially with comedy - faces that moment. Are they laughing at me or with me? The disturbing truth is sometimes you never know. That's a creative minefield - am I the minstrel or the auteur... I guess I'm still figuring out. Guess it's time to go on Amazon and look for some white face paint.

[dnd-thrrasir]

Ishvi Snippets

More random Thrrasir NPC side-stories! This time, they aren't particularly plot relevant, just a few snippets of conversation I wrote between Ishvi and Wagner to better develop their dynamic and write more of Ishvi's personality. But you all might enjoy regardless! Mild content warning for some allusions to sex, racism, and dysphoria, though nothing graphic or extreme.

Seven years before the events of the campaign...

"...Is that a text about Dhorilian privateers in the late 2000s AC? Why in all the stars of Hef are you reading about pirates from three-thousand years ago?"

Ishvi jerked, their elbow knocking into a nearby inkwell and almost toppling it. Mentally they felt rather as if they'd been riding at a top speed gallop, only for the horse to careen around a bend and send them flying into the dirt. The mental whiplash was almost dazing, and for a moment they couldn't fully process what was even being said to them. 

Then, they saw a dark skinned hand leaning on the table just a little ways to their left, and looked up into the face of the thirteen-year-old Prince Wagner. A spike of annoyance made them grit their teeth, and they hissed, "I've told you not to bother me when I'm actually managing to concentrate for a change! Now I'll never get my head back on track!"

The young tiefling smiled apologetically, pointing towards a nearby window. "In my defense, it's ah… almost four in the morning? I woke up and saw you never made it back to the barracks and thought I should come get you before you forgot to get any sleep."

Befuddled, Ishvi followed the path of Wagner's pointed finger, and was surprised to see that the sky outside the holy library was black and spangled with stars, and the moon had very nearly set. Some of the radiant fury of being pulled down from the euphoric high that they felt on the rare occasion they actually managed to find a topic to catch and hold their interest faded, and they winced. 

"Shit… I lost track of the time again."

"Mm-hm," Wagner agreed, starting to collect some of the stack of books his friend had already read and discarded. "You're gonna be a mess tomorrow during training as it is, you ought to get at least a little sleep."

Ishvi sighed, raking a hand through their bangs and picking up the books as well. "Right. You're right. Ugh, what was I even doing in here in the first place? I feel like it definitely wasn't supposed to be a ten hour bender on the history of Dhorillean naval warfare…"

"Either you'll remember when the captain scolds you for not getting it done, or it won't matter too much," Wagner pointed out reasonably, with the casual aplomb that came from having witnessed both scenarios more than once. The twenty-three year old squire stuck their tongue out at the younger boy.

"Easy for you to say, asshole, you're not the one who's got a graduation assessment next week. My ordeal is already late- the last thing I want is another letter from Father about how I failed the assessment again."

Wagner tweaked the older man's nose. "Talking like you even read any of those letters. And nineteen is just the average age for the ordeal year- some take it younger, some don't pass until they're in their thirties."

"Perish the thought," Ishvi barked with an exaggerated shudder as they shoved the books into the return bin. "If you get promoted before I do, I will have something to say about it! You ollie off from training every few weeks for some other stupid dinner or party with the nobility!"

"You talk like you're not nobility," Wagner said, dumping his own armload and turning towards the exit. 

"I wish I wasn't," Ishvi mused, following their young friend out into the cool night air outside the library. "You may joke about my not reading Father's letters, but he makes it clear that with Mum's difficulties conceiving I'm all he's got. Soon as I pass my ordeal he's probably going to start badgering me to secure the line. Produce a grandchild he can name heir instead of me. Not that I'd mind being passed over, but you know how I feel about…"

The uncomfortable silence hung for a moment, and the thirteen year old tentatively offered, "Siring?"

"Nnng," Ishvi looked down uncomfortably. They'd had to explain a little under a year ago exactly how the mechanics of creating a child worked, seeing as no one in his family had seen fit to do it, which had of course led to equally frank discussions of how Ishvi felt on the matter. But talking about it ostensibly in public, even at this hour when no one was liable to be about, wasn't something Ishvi was fully comfortable with. They'd had one conversation with their parents, at fifteen, about the possibility of surgery, but the answer was one they really should've expected- they were fine with it, but only after Ishvi produced for the family at least one, preferably two heirs. 

They'd be in for a lecture on duty next time they saw their father if word got back that they were complaining about it. Even the Queen, who had taken a wife as her partner, had to lie with a man at least one time for the sake of duty, after all.

Shaking their head, they said, "But nevermind that- what were we talking about again?"

"You getting some sleep so you don't fall on your nose during training," Wagner reminded them with a raised brow. "Also you fretting about your assessment, but some sleep will be good for that too."

"Right. I uh, might have missed dinner too, do you-"

Wagner shook his head, but bless him, he seemed to have anticipated that too, because he pulled an apple out of his money pouch and offered it to his friend. "Over breakfast you'll have to tell me what you were reading that held your attention so long. But not right now- bed Ishvi."

"I'm going, I'm going," they said, picking up their pace towards the barracks to a trot.

_________

Shortly before the events of Eldritch Eulogy...

The two bed room was spacious as inns went, with about a man's height of space between each bed and everything carrying the telltale smell of having been freshly laundered. The blankets on the bed were made of some sort of animal fur, and a brief glance at the pillows confirmed they were stuffed with down, not hay.

"For as remote as this place is, the accommodations are quite nice," Ishvi mused, rocking on their heels as they looked about the room that had been letted to them.  Turning back to Wagner with a wry smirk, they added, "Which is good, if we're going to be here for a while."

The prince- currently disguised as a wood elf and going under the alias "Walker"- groaned with mock resignation. In his hands the younger man was holding an envelope that had been pressed upon them before they even got to the inn.

"As remote as it is, you would think that the sort of trouble they'd ask paladins to intervene in wouldn't bother with them," Wagner replied with a sigh. "Normally I'd be thrilled to have something actually productive to do, but-"

"But you can't wait to get to Alu Lyth, you're missing your sweetheart terribly, wax about it again, please," Ishvi interjected, sauntering over to the bed and running their fingers over the plush fur. "Duty calls, my friend, so your cuddles and kisses appointment will have to wait!"

They glanced over their shoulder, and were rewarded to catch Wagner sticking out his tongue at them. The moon elf laughed, waggling a finger admonishingly. "Now, now, is that any way for someone of your stature to behave?"

"My stature? I have no notion what you mean," Wagner replied, turning away to open the envelope. "I am just a paladin, same as you. An inferior, magic-less paladin even."

Ishvi glanced over Wagner's shoulder at the note, but they could immediately see that the effort was fruitless- as had been the case with most everything else in this town, it was in Draconic, which Ishvi did not speak. With a shrug, they left their young friend to it.

They had been speaking in Elvish- the language that both they and Wagner were most fluent in, the language of both their childhoods. They also shared a fluency in common that was required of nobles, and Ishvi had tried to pick up both Goblin and Gnomish. As was often the case, however, their lack of patience for intense study had kept them from getting more than a few gloss words and phrases of either. Wagner, on the other hand, was a proper omniglot. On top of the aforementioned Elvish and Common, he was fluent in Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, and thanks to his status as a tiefling, Infernal. He was further conversational in Dwarvish, and Draconic.

No Undercommon, which might have surprised anyone who knew the boy's heritage, but this was at the direct pressure of the rest of the Elvish nobles. They already didn't like that their prince and princess were half tiefling, half drow. They absolutely balked at the prince sullying his tongue on Undercommon when most drow he would need to talk to for diplomatic reasons would understand Elvish.

Nevermind the duergar or the svirfneblin. Or the various non-native races who live down there and will speak Undercommon by proximity. They thought sarcastically. The drow are bug-eyed cave rats but at least they're proper elves. The rest? Pah!

Ishvi gave a soft snort of derision, making Wagner look up from the paper in his hand and quirk a brow. "A copper for your thoughts?"

"Just insulting our dear, divinely appointed overlords in my imagination again, don't mind me," Ishvi replied with a shrug and a crooked grin. They caught themselves petting the blanket again, and folded their arms, turning back to face Wagner. "So what's the letter say?"

Wagner's expression was one of bemused understanding, but he took the change of subject with good grace. "The clan's Rimem- their chief- wants us to look into some strange creatures that have started to infest the woods around here, as well as a string of disappearances."

"I don't like that those two things are happening at the same time," Ishvi said grimly. "Implies one might be causing the other. But are monsters killing people, or might it be some sort of lycanthropy thing?"

"Impossible to say without more information," the prince pointed out. "Which means it's time for your favorite- questioning the locals."

"Aaaah, but I don't share any languages with the locals," Ishvi fired back. "So I am literally incapable of playing the face. And I won't even be able to understand when they needle you about the fact that I'm standing behind you and fidgeting like a bored three-year-old. Such a shame."

Wagner scowled a bit. "As if I wouldn't make it clear I won't stand for it if they do."

Ishvi shrugged with far more dismissiveness than they actually felt. "Come on, hero, it's late and we're both tired. Let's get some dinner in us, and figure out what our plan of attack is for tomorrow morning."

[enigmaincrimson]

Thinking a bit on how Evie would sort of fit into the group dynamic...

When first introduced, she is kind of downplaying her appearance with her powers but would become more visually striking one she feels more comfortable with being herself.

Generally, her overall regard of Tsukune is something of a curiosity... less in regard of him as a boy or a human and more along the lines of wondering how in the world he ended up being transferred there and hasn't died already.

I'm not entirely sure what sort of Dynamic she might have with Moka... I mean, I wouldn't say her actual blood is tasty, but she probably could replicate Tsukune's blood and store them in blood bags. Although it might take a few tries to get the recipe right. Basically, she's sort of built a blood bank.

I get the feeling that Kokoa might find Evie to be something like fresh air from the other girls... or they might bond over their fondness for transforming pets.

No idea how much of a "bad influence" Kurumu might be when it comes to her... since that more troublesome side of hers doesn't normally show unless she feels comfortable enough about it.

While Yukari and Ruby might bond with her to some extent over their experiences with magic, the kind of relationship that would develop might become something awkward to some extent. I'd probably joke and say she'd probably get roped into being in "charge" of the local coven.

Her and Mizore probably have a somewhat mellow relationship, accounting that Evelyn usually isn't "noisy" like the others. They might or might not share notes they've collected.

Fang Fang might be both fascinated and horrified by her as he gets to know her, but that's not a year one discussion.

_

But I am just kind of rambling like a crazy person as things are slow and I really need to read the manga and watch the anime again.

[lillymakesart]

this is the first time i'm seeing this articulated so well for us in the BES fandom!! definitely required reading for everyone imho pls take a look

i have some thoughts too long for tags so im adding here but feel free to reblog directly from OP

i have nothing to add but an expression of longing for the akemizu girlies because to be honest it does seem a little unfair that it takes so much more reading between the lines for akemizu shippers than it does for taimizu shippers and this dissonance is where i think this subset of the fandom could be 1000% better if we're more aware of this

taimizu is literally spelled out for us by the writers. like we literally get animated screentime of taigen's fat cock saluting us after his tussle with mizu on top of some fluff scenes of him and mizu together laughing, smiling, having a good ol' time and we are all watered from that. BUT on the flipside, akemizu stans were completely snubbed of a positive development by the end of season 1. yes mizu comes back to save her, but they are ending on a sour note with akemi literally speaking the words "we are not friends" as she remains upset with mizu and the writers have given us no resolution for any of it.

all of that, plus OP's analysis of akemi and mizu's dynamic is honestly so hard to articulate and think through for most of the audience, it's almost as if akemizu fans have no choice but to flatten them into something that's more digestible because honestly?? we are all here to have a good time, we just want to turn our brains off and enjoy this content together, but not everyone might be willing/interested in reading 8 layers deep into two characters that they just wanna see together. totally understandable but unfortunately i think this is where a lot of akemizu content falls really flat.

taimizu simps are all united on the same source material, but akemizu girlies carry the burden of doing the rest of the legwork that the writers refused to give them this season, and thus we get a disparate collection of all sorts of fan interpretations of akemizu dynamics and relations, each likely valid in their own right but not all the way united like us taimizu simps have it. for example i've personally seen some AMAZING akemizu fanarts and oneshots on tumblr, but on a personal level there's always some parts that don't quite sit well with me as i revisit the source material and it just can't seem to hit me on the same wavelength in the manner that taimizu content hits me.

i think akemizu definitely has lots and lots of potential, and i have a sneaking suspicion that season 2 will probably be dedicated to cementing akemizu on screen like how taimizu was cemented in season 1. i think it might just be a matter of time before we get a renaissance-level romance reveal for akemizu like we did for taimizu so we just have to be a bit more patient

all that just to say this: i definitely have a lot of respect for akemizu shippers just because the writers are making you guys do so much more of the legwork to interpret their dynamic and get on the same page on the status of their relationship. i mean this could be either a good or bad thing or maybe you guys don't really care in general, but i really did earnestly try to get into the akemizu girlie gang but there was just too much dissonance in the fan content for me personally. if the writers did us dirty like this with taimizu trust me i'd be PISSED OFF but i'd probably be spewing more content for akemi and akemizu content too if the writers were feeding us like that.

(end rant but i literally had to delete an entire paragraph pissing about how taigen and the taimizu shippers have it out here BUT that's neither here nor there because this post is about our girl akemi, we all love her so i will respect her space here thank you for reading)

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.