#and it begins with the three year time-skip which makes me assume that it’s a different writer too

[miss-musings]

"The Bad Batch" Timeline: Explained

I've had some interesting conversations with folks on Twitter over the last few weeks about the timeline of "The Bad Batch" show: How much time passes between any given episodes? How old is Omega during S1 or S3? etc.

The short answer is that the entire show takes place over 18-24 months*

(*NOTE: All timeline discussion excludes the TBB epilogue at the end of episode 3.15 "The Cavalary Has Arrived.")

EDIT: I’m also calculating time based on Earth weeks/months/years. I recognize that time in the Star Wars universe likely varies from planet to planet, so I just want to clarify we’re going off IRL time calculations: 7 days to a week, ~30 days to a month, 12 months to a year. I’m also not referring to any external sources (except Wookieepedia, but that’s more to confirm the timeline than create it), so I don’t care what some guidebook says. I’m going based on what happens in the show itself.

Wookieepedia lists Hemlock's death as 18 BBY, so 12-24 months pass between 1.01 "Aftermath" in 19 BBY and Hemlock's death in the series finale.

However, the two biggest and clearest indications of how much time passes during the show is Mayday's comments in 2.12 "The Outpost" and Omega's tally marks in 3.01 "Confined."

In 2.12, Mayday says he's been posted on Barton IV for over a year, and based on his comments, he wasn't posted on Barton IV until after The Clone Wars ended. So, it's been at least a year -- but probably more like 14-15 months because Mayday says "over a year" -- since the events of 1.01 "Aftermath."

Then after the time-jump during 3.01, Omega has about 5.5 months of tally marks. Rounding up from when Crosshair was arrested and taken to Tantiss, about 6 months have passed since 2.12.

So, between those two indicators, at least 18 months have passed between 1.01 "Aftermath" and the end of 3.01 "Confined." But, realistically, it's probably been more like 20-21 months.

Then, the rest of S3 takes place over a pretty compressed timeframe, as no more than a few days seem to pass between episodes. I'll get into this more later, but I'm guessing that the end of 3.01 "Confined" to the big showdown on Tantiss in 3.15 "The Cavalry Has Arrived" takes place over the course of 1-2 months.

Again, it's confirmed that 18-24 months pass between the series premiere and the series finale.

But, my best guess is that the entire show takes place over 22-23 months based on in-universe clues.

THE SEASON 1 TIMELINE BREAKDOWN

Overall, I'm guessing that Season 1 takes place over the course of 4-6 months. I think this is much shorter than some people think, but it makes sense to me based on context clues.

1.01 "Aftermath" takes place over the course of a few days, and then 1.02 "Cut & Run" to 1.06 "Decommissioned" all seem to take place in a very compressed timeframe. No more than a day or two seems to pass between episodes, and no more than a day or two passes within each episode.

So, I'm thinking the end of 1.06 takes place about a month after 1.01.

Then we get our first notable time-jump between 1.06 and 1.07.

1.07 "Battle Scars" opens with the Bad Batch having done at least 10 more jobs for Cid since we last saw them in 1.06. (FYI: this is based on Omega and Wrecker's order of 20 cartons of Mantell Mix).

However Cid talks about the Corellia job like it wasn't too long ago, and if we average 2-3 days per job (which seems realistic based on what we see in the show), then about a month has passed between 1.06 and 1.07.

So, at the beginning of 1.07, I'm saying about two months have passed since 1.01 "Aftermath."

Then 1.08 "Reunion" and 1.09 "Bounty Lost" take place immediately after 1.07.

Skipping over 1.10, we get another notable time-jump between 1.09 "Bounty Lost" and 1.11 "Devil's Deal." The biggest indicator is Crosshair's recovery from his injuries on Bracca.

Assuming at least a month for him to recover and be stationed on Ryloth with Rampart & co., that means at least three months have passed between 1.01 "Aftermath" and 1.11 "Devil's Deal."

Even though we don't have any firm timeline, I don't think more than 2 months passed between 1.09 and 1.11, because everyone on Ryloth talks like it hasn't been that long since the Clone Wars ended.

Anyway, then 1.12 "Rescue on Ryloth" takes place immediately after 1.11.

Now, we know that 1.14-1.16 all take place over the course of a few days. So that just leaves us with how much time passes between 1.12 "Rescue on Ryloth" and 1.14 "War-Mantle."

Given that Rampart gave Crosshair permission to hunt down his brothers at the end of 1.12, I'm going to assume he wasn't looking for them that long. Rampart never complains that Crosshair's manhunt is wasting time, or that it's taking so long that they should abandon the effort. Plus, they were also busy decommissioning Tipoca City and the other Kaminoan facilities, so I imagine that took some time.

So, maybe 3-5 weeks (or another month) in all.

To recap, we have:

A month from 1.01 to 1.06

A month between 1.06 and 1.07

A month between 1.07-1.09 and 1.11/1.12

A month between 1.11/1.12 and 1.14-1.16

Overall, 4 months for sure, but 5-6 months seems a good estimate.

This would also account for how much time passes during the Bracca and Ryloth arcs, and gives more wiggle room on how long Crosshair's recovery process was. Maybe it took him two months to recover from Bracca and be assigned to Ryloth. Or maybe Crosshair was searching for his brothers for more than a month after Ryloth. Who knows?

But, overall, I'm estimating the events of 1.16 "Kamino Lost" take place 5-6 months after 1.01 "Aftermath."

THE SEASON 2 TIMELINE BREAKDOWN

I'll tell you now: early Season 2 is where a lot of my guesses go out the window, because we get far fewer clues as to how much time passes between episodes.

Let's start with the time-jump between the end of Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2.

Based on Rampart and Crosshair's conversation in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," Crosshair was stranded on Kamino for a month.

Given that he didn't have any food or water on him when his brothers left him on the platform, he must've been emaciated and dehydrated AF, even if he found some way to collect rainwater and/or catch fish. And Rampart said he needed to be "medically cleared" for active duty.

At least two months seems a good estimate. One month for Crosshair to be stranded; another month for him to recover. It's possible it was longer, though, I admit.

So, at the beginning of 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," we're at least 7 months removed from 1.01 "Aftermath."

Now, I actually think 2.03 takes place before 2.01/2.02. Story for another time, but it boils down to:

1) The creators would want to kick off Season 2 with a Bad Batch-centric episode not a Crosshair-centric episode, even if Crosshair’s episode takes place first chronologically; and

2) Rampart learns the Bad Batch is alive in 2.02, but never has Crosshair arrested or monitored as a potential spy or anything -- this only makes sense if Rampart finds out TBB is alive after Crosshair is cleared for duty and has proven his loyalty.

But, ultimately it doesn't matter:

Based on Mayday's comments in 2.12 "The Outpost," early Season 2 has to cover at least 7 more months. That means that months are passing between episodes in early S2.

In 2.12, Mayday says he's been stationed at the Outpost for over a year, and that he wasn't stationed there until after the war ended. So, assuming at least a month after the war for him to be reassigned, and then 13 months for him to be on Barton IV ... 2.12 has to take place at least 14 months after 1.01 "Aftermath."

So, ultimately, I think 2.01/2.02 might take place 3-4 months after the Fall of Kamino in 1.16 "Kamino Lost." It would allow enough time for the Bad Batch to get new clothes, repaint their old armor, and for Omega to start all of her studies while the Bad Batch continues to do jobs for Cid.

Then we probably have another month between 2.02 "Ruins of War" and 2.04 "Faster." Then another month to 2.05 "Entombed." And then another month to 2.06 "Tribe." And then another month to the beginning of 2.07 “The Clone Conspiracy.”

Because of how compressed the back-half of Season 2 is, I think 2.07/2.08 takes place about 13 months after the war ends in 1.01 "Aftermath" and, thus, about 7-8 months after the Fall of Kamino in 1.16 "Kamino Lost."

Now, once we get to 2.07, that's when the timeline starts compressing again based on in-universe clues.

We know 2.08 "Truth and Consequences" takes place almost immediately after 2.07. So, no more than a week seems to pass between the beginning of 2.07 and the end of 2.08.

Then, 2.09 "The Crossing" takes place a few days after 2.08, as Omega is still adjusting to Echo's absence. Then 2.10 "Retrieval" is immediately after 2.09, and 2.11 "Metamorphosis" takes place maybe a day after 2.10.

So, from the beginning of 2.07 to the end of 2.11, maybe two weeks have passed in-universe.

Then, at the beginning of 2.13 "Pabu," Cid remarks that it's been 20 rotations since she last talked to the Bad Batch in 2.11.

From 2.13 to 2.14, I'm guessing 1-2 weeks have passed based on how much of Pabu has been rebuilt since the sea surge and other context clues (like Shep and Hunter's conversation about the Bad Batch staying on Pabu).

Now, we're not exactly sure where 2.12 "The Outpost" falls in the S2 timeline. I'm guessing it's simultaneous with 2.13 "Pabu" for thematic and dramatic reasons, but we see all our various plot threads align in 2.14 "Tipping Point." Everything Echo, Crosshair and Hunter & co. do happens within 2-3 days.

Then, based on Echo's comments, we know 2.15 "The Summit" takes place two days after the Bad Batch's conversation at the end of 2.14 "Tipping Point." And then 2.16 "Plan 99" takes place immediately after 2.15.

So, while I can't speculate much on early S2, I can tell you that 2.07-2.16 spans about two months.

To recap:

2 months between 1.16 "Kamino Lost" and 2.03 "The Solitary Clone"

Several months between 2.01/2.02 and 2.07

A week during 2.07 and 2.08

A few days between 2.08 and 2.09

Another week during 2.09 to 2.11

Three weeks between 2.11 and 2.13

Two weeks between 2.13 and 2.14

A week during 2.14 to 2.16

But, overall, I'm estimating the events of 2.16 "Plan 99" take place 15-16 months after 1.01 "Aftermath."

THE SEASON 3 TIMELINE BREAKDOWN

Unlike the previous two seasons, Season 3 is very compressed. Outside of the time-jump within 3.01 "Confined," the entire season takes place over the course of 5-6 weeks. Not months. Weeks.

Now, again, I actually think 3.02 "Paths Unknown" takes place during the five-month time-jump within 3.01. But that doesn't really matter.

As we see from Omega's tally marks, the end of 3.01 takes place about 5.5 months after 2.16 "Plan 99." So, we have our between-seasons time-jump spelled out for us this time.

This means the end of 3.01 "Confined" takes place 21-22 months after 1.01 "Aftermath."

Skipping over 3.02, episode 3.03 "Shadows of Tantiss" seems to take place within a few days of the end of 3.01. We see that Omega is still being monitored closely after her outburst in the lurca kennels; and Hemlock told Nala Se in 3.01 that the Emperor would be arriving soon to check on their progress, which he does in 3.03. Heck, maybe 3.03 takes place the day after 3.01, but I’ll give a little wiggle room and say it’s been a few days.

Then, we know that the beginning of 3.03 to the end of 3.05 all takes place in a very short amount of time. Maybe a week.

3.04 "A Different Approach" takes place immediately after 3.03, and no more than a day or two passes between the end of 3.04 and the beginning of 3.05 "The Return."

So, from the end of 3.01 to the end of 3.05, two weeks have passed at most.

The gap between 3.05 and 3.06 is the only span of time in S3 we don't have any solid indicators about. It clearly wasn't too long, as Howzer talks about Crosshair escaping Tantiss like it happened fairly recently. Overall, I'd guess it's been maybe a week or two since Crosshair and Omega escaped Tantiss.

Then, 3.07 takes place immediately after 3.06.

Excluding 3.10 "Identity Crisis," we know that 3.08-3.11 all take place within a short amount of time. No more than 2-3 days seem to pass between episodes, and no more than 2-3 days passes within each episode. In total, I'd say these three episodes take place over the course of two weeks.

Thus, I'm guessing 4-5 weeks, or about a month, passes from the end of 3.01 "Confined" to the beginning of 3.11 "Point of No Return."

Then, we know the timeline between 3.11 and 3.15 is very short because all the episodes take place almost immediately after each other. The only exception is between 3.12 and 3.13, when maybe 12-24 hours passes based on Omega's movements in the Vault and her brothers' plans to infiltrate the orbital station.

You can round up and say a week, but that almost seems generous to me. Maybe a work week. Like the Empire invaded Pabu Monday night and Omega & co. were back on Pabu Friday morning.

Overall, I think the beginning of 3.11 "Point of No Return" to the end of 3.15 "The Cavalry Has Arrived" spans 3-5 days.

To recap:

5.5 months from the end of 2.16 "Plan 99" to the end of 3.01 "Confined"

A week from the end of 3.01 to the end of 3.05

A week between 3.05 and 3.06/3.07

Three weeks during 3.06/3.07 to 3.11

A week during 3.11 to 3.15

Again, outside of the time-jump within 3.01, the entirety of Season 3 takes place over 1-2 months if we're looking at the larger post-"Aftermath" timeframe.

Overall, I'm estimating the showdown on Tantiss and Hemlock's death in 3.15 "The Cavalry Has Arrived" takes place about 22-23 months after 1.01 "Aftermath."

We know it's not more than 24 months after the war ends, because Wookieepedia would list Hemlock's death in 17 BBY instead of 18 BBY. So no more than 24 calendar months can pass between "The Bad Batch" series premiere and series finale.

But, accounting for things that happen within the show, 22-23 months seems about right. Like, it's been almost two calendar years, but not quite.

So, to give a real-world example, if Palpatine gave his "Revenge of the Sith" speech to reorganize the Republic into the Galactic Empire on Jan. 1, 2022, then the big showdown on Tantiss takes place in October or November 2023.

That means:

If Omega was 12 years old when her brothers met her on Kamino, she was 13-14 during the showdown on Tantiss.

After his inhibitor chip activated, Crosshair was separated from his brothers for more than 18 months before finally reconciling with them in 3.05 "The Return."

The Bad Batch worked for Cid for over a year, and she still betrayed them.

Phee and Tech's ~situationship~ might've lasted half-a-year between their first meeting in 2.01 "Spoils of War" and his death in 2.16 "Plan 99."

When Crosshair sent the Plan 88 message, the Bad Batch hadn't seen or heard from him in 8-9 months (since the Fall of Kamino).

Omega only got to spend 15-16 months with Tech before his death in 2.16 “Plan 99.” 😭

Crosshair hadn't seen his brothers for over a year between the Fall of Kamino and escaping Tantiss with Omega.

Omega and Crosshair only spent about 7 months together during the show (5.5 on Tantiss and 1.5 after their escape), and most of that was off-screen. 🙁

Apparently, more time passed between S1 and S2 than during S3 (excluding the time jump and epilogue). Seriously. From the end of 3.01 to the final showdown on Tantiss, the Bad Batch had a very insane and stressful 5-6 weeks. They all looked like they could use a nap in that final group shot under the tree, and I don't blame them!

All the clones (except Omega) aged 3-4 biological years over the course of the show. So, if Hunter & co. were biologically 22 when they met Omega on Kamino, they'd be around 25-26 when they finally settle down on Pabu.

Not sure how this will help people, but I wanted to share it because I've been thinking about how insane this show's timeline — how loosey-goosey it is in some places while being super-rigid in others.

So, enjoy!

[daydreamerdrew]

Jungle Comics (1940) #5

[awearywritersworld]

i have for the first time found what i can truly love—i have found you

sukuna x reader summary: you and sukuna go out for a late night meal. gojo finds out about your... relationship. sukuna is forced to take care of you when you come home drunk. w/c: 2.85k tags/warnings: enemies to lovers. fluff. lots of banter. cursing. jealous/protective!sukuna. gojo being a flirt. aged up!yuuji. features a teeny bit of yuuji x reader. drinking and drunk!reader. not canon compliant. fem!reader. no use of y/n. no manga spoilers. a/n: i think i like how this turned out! also, the first two sections could def be read as a fluffy lil stand alone. idc whats happening in the canonverse, sukunas just a tsundere who adores us very much<3 series masterlist // masterlist

"maybe if you stare long enough, food will magically appear," sukuna calls to you from the kitchen table.

"this is no joking matter," you scold from your place in front of the fridge. "i'm starving."

"well, here's an absurd idea— let's go eat."

you turn toward him, finally closing the fridge, and tilt your head to the side. "you eat?"

"of course." he leans back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "i typically prefer babies, but hell, i'd even go for an old man right now. i'm famished."

your eyes widen and your mouth falls open. he lets the panic simmer on your face for a few more cruel moments. "i'm kidding, idiot. i eat food, same as you."

"i knew that," you assert. the way your shoulders sag in relief tells him otherwise.

"right," he smirks. after standing up, he grabs your purse and tosses it in your direction. "where to? you're buying."

with only so many places open at midnight, you begin your journey to a 24 hour ramen shop.

you've hardly interacted with sukuna outside of your apartment, so this is certainly an experience you didn't anticipate. and in fact, you're shocked at how normal it feels— almost as if it's a date.

as you walk down the street, people eye him suspiciously because of the dark lines they assume are tattoos. it doesn't bother you though, nor does the lateness of the hour. you know that you're safe because you're with him.

your hands keep brushing against one another's, and you're hoping that he'll eventually take a hint and reach for yours. he doesn't (i mean come on, do you even know who you're dealing with?).

he does at least pick up on your pouty expression with impressive ease. "what now?"

"nothing," you huff.

"don't be a brat."

you sigh dramatically. "you're supposed to hold my hand."

"sure princess," he says condescendingly, lacing his fingers through yours. "maybe use your words next time like a big girl."

he doesn't fail to notice the ensuing skip in your step, and he kicks himself for regarding it as cute.

when you arrive at the ramen shop, sukuna orders no less than three bowls, which earns him a glare once the waitress walks away.

"when i agreed to pay, i didn't know what a glutton you are."

"oh yeah? cause i'm just the picture of temperance any other time?"

you scoff. "well you've got me there."

a sly smirk settles onto his face before he speaks again. "maybe one day you'll learn how greedy i am when it comes to the things i've deemed pleasurable."

you choke on the water you'd just brought to your lips, your face heating up as if it'd been bathed by fire.

wiping at your mouth, you try your best to recover quickly. "whatever, you hellion. as long as that doesn't involve a fourth bowl of ramen."

you're no more than 10 steps away from the shop when you hold out your hand to him. "ahem."

he grabs it roughly and not without rolling his eyes.

"what?" you ask innocently. "that was a word."

"hardly," he jeers. "for as much as you read, i'd expect you to be more fluent than a child."

"and at 1000 years old, i'd expect you to be more charming than a teenage boy, but i guess we're both making concessions."

"see, this is the part that puzzles me. you never seem to have trouble with your words when you're being insolent."

"maybe it's a sign," you begin whimsically. "the universe decided you need to be taken down a peg."

"ah, yes. you as the executor of the universe's will. i don't know why i couldn't see it before."

you giggle, rather delighted that he's elected to play along with your quips. there's something that feels so warm and pleasant about it.

as you wonder if he feels it too, your hand tightens around his.

you're not quite ready to head back to your apartment just yet, because you're scared you'll lose the atmosphere surrounding the two of you. in truth, it's a bit intoxicating.

the perfect opportunity arises when you spot a small park up ahead. lights are strung around the trees, all of which are situated around a small fountain.

"we should stop at that park!" you hardly finish speaking before you take off in that direction, tugging him along behind you.

after you plop down on the fountain's ledge, sukuna takes his place beside you.

"let's sit here for a little while."

he doesn't respond and you take his silence as agreement. he's not really one to stifle his grievances.

as the minutes pass, the rush of the fountain is the only noise that fills the air, while you gaze at the trees with a serene expression.

sukuna, however, is looking at you. the only care he has for the trees is the way their lights reflect in your eyes. otherwise, he's fully occupied by the curve of your nose and the fullness of your lips.

"isn't this pretty?" you finally ask.

"it's pretty," he agrees, even when such a soft word feels foreign on his tongue.

his eyes still haven't left you, and you seem to be oblivious to this fact until he reaches up to stroke your cheek with the back of fingers.

when your gaze lands on him, the fondness written all over his face catches you off guard and you realize how close the both of you are. without really thinking about it, you lean into his touch.

"very pretty," he repeats lowly, as if he's talking to himself.

your heart lurches once in your chest, then hammers away at your ribcage without respite. he leans toward you a fraction of an inch, his eyes flicking down to your lips for a brief second.

truthfully, sukuna has never felt the way he does in this moment. it's a sincere sort of desire. he doesn't want the mindless devotion he once thirsted for from his followers. and he doesn't want the sex he used to crave from his concubines.

no. he just wants you— in whatever capacity you're willing to have him.

the way he's looking at you is just too much. there's a dull thudding in your ears and you swear your thoughts are moving at a million miles a minute.

so naturally, you blurt out the first thing you can manage. "we should take a selfie!"

his face shifts from whatever that expression was to one of confusion. "take a selfie?"

some twisted mix of relief and disappointment crashes through you.

"yeah, a selfie. a picture together. ya know, since the park is so pretty," you ramble.

he pulls away from you. not all the way, but enough that it gives you space to finally breath. he chuckles and it doesn't sound lofty like it so often does. in fact, he seems genuinely amused by you.

"a selfie," he deliberates. "that sounds great, but to the best of my knowledge, hell hasn't frozen over."

and just like that, your dynamic feels like it did during your walk from the ramen shop to the park— comfortable and fun.

"well i guess you would be one of the first to know."

ignoring his protests, you take out your phone and hold it far enough away that the camera captures both of your faces. you can see on the screen that he's put on an expression of complete boredom.

"c'mon," you nudge him with your elbow. "you look like you hate me."

the corner of his mouth curves upward. "that's because i do."

you think back on the way he was gazing at you just moments ago and laugh. "you're so full of shit."

then, without warning, you press a kiss to his cheek and click the button.

you decide that his vague look of contented surprise will just have to do.

when you and yuuji walk into the bar, you immediately spot one of the people you're there to meet. he's sitting at a hightop by himself, his snow white hair pretty hard to miss.

you tap his shoulder and his face breaks out into a grin. he slides out of the barstool. "if it isn't my favorite civilian!"

as he pulls you into a hug, you wonder if he's ever going to get tired of that joke. "if it isn't my favorite old man."

"35 is not old," he argues, moving to greet yuuji. "i'm still in the summer of my life, thank you very much!"

"gojo you're 36," the pink haired man remarks.

"gah! such betrayal, yuuji!" he presses his hand to his forehead and takes a deep breath. "now i'm going to need another round."

"i'll go and get drinks for all of us," you offer. "you two stay here so no one takes the table."

before either of them can respond, you turn and begin making your way through the crowd. you don't hear gojo when he calls out, "but darling! i should go with you!"

he takes a step in your direction, but stops when sukuna's mouth appears on yuuji's cheek. "you certainly should not, you insufferable half wit."

"relax, dude. he flirts with literally everyone," yuuji informs him.

gojo scoffs. "i am right here—"

"as if that makes it better?" sukuna barks. "she isn't some toy to be played with."

"of course she isn't! you can't honestly think i'd believe otherwise."

gojo is left forgotten for a moment as the other two bicker, so he interjects once there's a lull in the conversation. "do either of you care to explain what the hell is going on?"

yuuji turns toward him, trying and failing to hide the embarrassment on his face once he realizes that gojo is, in fact, still standing there.

his eyebrows are raised above his sunglasses and it's clear he is inappropriately amused by the situation (what else is new?). he moves to sit across from the younger man, looking at him expectantly.

having no way to talk himself out of this, yuuji relays the recent events regarding you and sukuna, sparing some of the finer details. gojo's face doesn't really betray much emotion throughout the story, though he does look thoughtful by the end of it.

leaning forward, he crosses his arms on top of the table. "maybe your feelings for her are influencing his own, forcing a sort of bond between them?"

"i don't think so," yuuji contends honestly. "other than her, you're the person i admire and respect the most, but he thinks—"

"that you are perhaps the most imbecilic rampallion i've ever had the displeasure of coming across."

gojo jerks back, as if the insult had hit him squarely in the jaw. the look of giddiness from yuuji's compliment, followed by the shift to indignation at sukuna's insult is almost comical.

he stretches his neck forward, cupping his hand around one side of his mouth as if it'd keep sukuna from hearing. "what'd he just call me?"

yuuji shrugs. "beats me, but i don't think he was singing your praises."

"i see your point." gojo pauses, glancing over his shoulder. you're approaching the table, so he turns back to yuuji and quickly adds, "we'll talk more about this another time, but for now, keep this between us."

a few moments later, you appear in front of them and exclaim, "look who i found!"

megumi and inumaki situate themselves around the table too, offering their greetings. you slide yuuji and gojo their drinks, both of which are filled to the brim of the glass. "now then gentlemen, shall we?"

when gojo teleports you and yuuji back to your apartment that night, it takes everything in you to keep from yakking all over your carpet.

"ta ta, hooligans!"

you turn to request that he never do that again, but he's already gone. taking one step forward, you promptly fall on your ass in the entryway with an unforgiving thud. yuuji staggers toward the couch, making it there just in time to face plant into the cushions.

looking down toward your shoes, you're dismayed to find that each one appears to have two sets of laces. you're fumbling with them determinedly when someone crouches down in front of you, their elbows resting on their thighs.

he doesn't say a word. brushing your hands away, he unties your shoes and carefully pulls them off your feet. you're lifted from the floor before you can register the arm that's looped under your knees or the other that's securely around your back.

"careful," you hiccup, your head falling into the crook of his neck. "'m gunna p-puke."

"i'd rather you didn't."

you groan. "s'not like i 'ave a choice in the matter."

he hums. "how much did you drink?"

"dunno. sss'much. nobara—" you hiccup again. "nobara n' maki made me."

he chuckles, placing you down on what you figure is your bed. "right, i'm sure you had no choice in the matter."

"tha's correct, yes."

unbuttoning your jeans, he tugs upward on your belt loops. "lift."

you do as he says, lifting your hips from the bed so he can slide your jeans off your legs. he knows you won't remember this— hell, your eyes are already closed— but he looks away as he does it anyway.

pulling your phone from your pocket and putting it on the charger, your pants are discarded off to the side. he only turns his head back in your direction once he's pulled the blankets up over your body.

"tuck me in?" you request.

sitting down on the bed beside you, he does so without protest.

he stares at you for a little while, worried about how poorly you're probably going to feel in the morning. he presses a kiss to your forehead, intending to get up and grab a water bottle for your nightstand.

instead, his body freezes when he hears you mumble, "i love you s'much."

his heart clenches so painfully, he honestly considers ripping it from his chest— it would probably be less agonizing.

but a thought that makes him feel like a fool occurs to him. of course it's not him that you love. "i'm not yuuji."

"well, duuuhhh. you're s'kuna." you're peering up at him through tired, hazy eyes. it's the first time you've ever seen him look bewildered, so a small giggle erupts from your throat. "s'okay. you don't 'ave t'say it back."

your eyes flutter shut and your breathing evens out before he even thinks to respond. all at once, it's as if his head is empty and as if it's about to explode.

love?

what does he know about love? it's a sentiment he's cursed for so long, but sitting here beside you, he can't quite seem to remember why. one thing he is sure of, however, is that there's never been a thing in the world he's loved.

suddenly, he's struck with remembrance of a quote from jane eyre you had emphasized with messy underlines:

"after a youth and manhood passed half in unutterable misery and half in dreary solitude, i have for the first time found what i can truly love—i have found you. you are my sympathy—my better self—my good angel. i am bound to you with a strong attachment. i think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wraps my existence about you, and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."

rochester says it as he begs jane to stay at thornfield with him, an act sukuna had previously regarded as ridiculous, but is that still the case?

were you to ever scorn him, would he fall to his knees and plead with you to change your mind? or if you were in danger of dying, would he drag himself to a shrine and pray to the gods he doesn't believe in?

is that what love is?

could he stand to be apart from you? are you special to him? does anything else in the world compare to you? does he seek out your company? is he consumed by you? can he know himself without knowing you?

does the definition of love lie in those questions?

sukuna hopes not, because he's terrified of the answers. being in love is not his way, nor is it in his nature.

he buries his face in his hands as realization settles into his bones. it feels as if they're splintering beneath the pressure, trying resentfully to stave it off.

he transcends any imaginable scale of power. he's bled entire villages dry, he's commandeered death, he's the king of curses.

so why now? and why you? is it divine retribution? a sick sort of joke that even he couldn't have dreamed up?

gods, you were right. the universe has sent you to carry out its will and he's completely powerless to stop it.

the worst part of it all? he doesn't want to.

taglist: @96jnie @ay0nha @sad-darksoul @bbysatoruuu @luciiferian @thepup356 @risuola *users in bold could not be tagged

[dalliancekay]

Aziraphale does NOT need to suffer MORE

Can't believe I have to say this. TW: grief, mourning, death (sorry) I have, since falling into the fandom 6 months ago to escape real life, seen many takes on how Aziraphale needs to suffer in S3 to match Crowley's suffering. Mainly as the counterpart to the moment Crowley thinks he lost Aziraphale as he's looking for him desperately in the burning bookshop....

...after this he drinks, we suppose, to dull his pain, waiting for the Armageddon. Also, for the way Crowley suffers at the bandstand argument, the 'I Forgive You' moments, which many people find utterly devastating and incredibly heartless from Aziraphale. Not to mention when he doesn't react in the 'right way' to Crowley's confession in the Final 15. And then on top of that, 'abandons' Crowley. For Heaven. Oh and also for, and I quote: "The smug and entitled way Aziraphale went around in S2 assuming Crowley would love and follow him everywhere." And so for all this pain that Crowley endured for him, Aziraphale should suffer in S3 (to I assume) even out the scores. Some people want to see him lose it, show his emotions, to cry or beg or otherwise show how much he misses Crowley and how very sorry he is for what he has (so thoughtlessly) done.

Now for the TW grief content I motioned above. You can skip to the next sentence in bold.

I was on holiday late September last year, visiting my mum, stepfather and my two younger brothers. We went to a cousin's wedding. It was great. The day after, as I was hanging out reading a book, my mum got a call. The kind of call every mother fears. My youngest brother (he was 27) died in an accident. We needed to speak to police and the coroner. She cried and cried. She's still crying. She asks questions. She gets no answers. I...did not cry. I talked to the police. I googled a funeral home. I bought my brother his last set of clothes. He lived in a hoodie and torn black jeans. Mum wanted a suit. But he died in the one he bought for the wedding. I texted a lot of people. I bought snacks for the many friends who came to the funeral and wanted to speak to us after. My grief feels like a vice. I am not sad. I do not appear sad. Contrary to what people expect. But I am ANGRY. I am furious. But nobody can see this. I am not fine and I wish no one would ever* ask how I was again. TW/Personal content over. WE ALL SUFFER DIFFERENTLY Since I was small (because I am weird like that) I genuinely wondered if, finding myself in danger, I could scream like people in films do. I don't think I could. I cope with hard situations, fear and stress and anxiety by shutting down, sometimes by retreating as well, and by furiously (but quietly) trying to find a way out. And I think Aziraphale does the same. And that's why I love him so much. And why I feel I get him and understand that people sometimes can't tell how much he's actually feeling. I also express love the way Aziraphale does - by organising things for people, inviting them places, making plans. When Crowley said you call me for three things (and it's basically any old reason) I felt SO SEEN. This is what I would do with a friend who I know is feeling unmoored, sad, stuck (Crowley's 'What's the point of it all' at the beginning of S2). I'd text them with any old thing. I'd never actually say I love you, but I would try to get them to talk, meet me, go somewhere. Aziraphale does not express emotions the same way as Crowley.

But his emotions are valid nonetheless. He is worried for Crowley from around 3 minutes into their acquaintanceship. And he NEVER stops worrying from then on.

And are we quite sure he has never lost Crowley?

How many times did Aziraphale's heart freeze in horror when he realised Hell has taken Crowley and he had no idea if he'll ever come back and what is happening to him?

How did Aziraphale spend the night after vanquishing the demons and starting a war? He had no idea where Crowley was. What happened to him. He was probably sick with worry that Hell just took him away. We didn't see him drink and cry, but surely, the worry must have been overwhelming. The wait for what will happen.

ALL his worries over the Arrangement. Was he worried for himself? Do we really think that?

Crowley thought he lost Aziraphale in S1, yes, we saw that. And what happened to the angel then?

He got blown into atoms which I bet wasn't pleasant and when he arrives in Heaven he limps. Why is he hurt? And why is he quickly pretending he isn't? Why is he always hiding how he feels? Also, he immediately deserts, wants no part in the Holy War and quickly finds an extremely unconventional way to get back. It's not a grand gesture, he doesn't deliberate, doesn't worry that he will Fall (although surely that must have been what he thought will happen if he survives this), there's no pomp around it, he thinks it and then does it. No hesitation.

Is this coming from an angel who just can't leave Heaven behind and longs to be a part of it? Who loves to follow rules? And let's not forget in those moments Aziraphale thought Crowley was most likely gone. That he probably left for Alpha Centauri. Last he heard from him he was told he was talking to an old friend and had no time for him. Why we NEVER talk about how that might have felt for Aziraphale? About his sadness?

Things are not as simple as Aziraphale has been supressing his emotions and lying to himself about how he feels and he should get over it and become free. That's not how this works. And first of all, he was suppressing his emotions OUT OF LOVE. His main goal was always to keep Crowley safe. They simply couldn't run away or hoodwink Heaven and Hell. They had nowhere to go. They had no hope and yet they kept loving each other. That's courage. I know we all grew up with Romeo and Juliet and Heathcliff and Cathy and we FORGOT that those were CAUTIONARY tales. And this is not what Aziraphale wants for them. He would never allow himself to go so fast he would hurt Crowley. He feels guilty enough for agreeing to the Arrangement and for meeting Crowley at all when he knows they can be discovered and punished at any point. And Crowley knows it and RESPECTS it. He does not tolerate Aziraphale's decision to not go on a date and to hell with circumstances. He understands Aziraphale's reasoning and he respects Aziraphale's decision. Don't forget, they have NO POWER. They can't change Heaven and Hell. They can't stop believing in God and work on their religious trauma. Their Heaven and Hell are real places with real power and they both BELONG to them. Aziraphale's trauma and his personality are deeply intertwined and he'd probably never be the kind of person who is open in showing their grief or stress like Crowley does. He will learn to be more open, I'm sure. With his love especially, we see him reaching for and touching his demon in S2. Openly being with him, looking at him without guarding himself. They got a little bit of freedom for themselves despite ALL odds. So. Just because Aziraphale is not crying and screaming and I dunno, tearing his hair out or whatever some people would have him do, does not mean he isn't overflowing with pain, fear, uncertainty, doubts, worries, and so much anxiety that if he let it all out, half of the solar system would turn to ashes.

Aziraphale does not need to suffer in S3 to level out Crowley's suffering. They are, unfortunately, equal in their pain as they are in love. If there is one thing Crowley would never abide, it'd be this take from the fandom. * One more note on grief: (obviously from my personal experience) As initiated by @anthony-crowleys-left-nut in a comment

It's not that I mind to know people care and worry etc, not at all. But asking how I am can only end up in me lying (fine, thank you) and both of us knowing it's not really true and feeling awkward or not lying (I feel like shit, mostly cos I can't sleep and think the world is a stupid unfair place) and both of us feeling awkward anyway. Does that make sense? I wish I could tell friends/colleagues to ask what I've been up to or something similar instead. What I've been reading (um, AO3, but I'll make something up), watching, do I want to go see some spring flowers bloom (I do). I think...this would probably work not just for someone who is grieving but also for someone who you know is dealing with depression for example or a serious illness etc. Edit 2. It's now almost (in 15 days) a year since my brother died. The random attacks of pain and grief have lessened and I have started to do more of the things I enjoyed before... and I am able to answer how are you questions without feeling like they are trying to mock me (the questions, not the people). So I suppose things do get ... lighter? More diffused? I'm not sure. Because it's still exactly as unfair that my brother has not lived this past year as it will be however many years pass I expect.

[em-harlsnow]

the ages of shameless characters does nothing but drive me crazy, so I'm activating some detective skills to figure them out throughout the seasons. also - im ignoring the years or times that the seasons came out, just going by what the show says.

First off: Mickey - bday is 10 August 1994

Season 1: 16, because...

he's not in it much, he doesn't speak much, but we know two things - he's a teenager and he's under 18 since he goes to juvie. He's in juvie for some part of three seasons, so I think it's safe to put him at 16.

Season 2: 16 for a bit, then 17, because....

it's now summer, and Mickey comes out of juvie. I think he turns 17 that summer, because when he goes back in, people are wearing coats more so I assume it's getting colder, so it's past august.

Season 3: 17 for half, 18 for the other half, because...

it's summer at the start, so Mickey's been in juvie for like 6/7 months. he's still 17, because he didn't go to prison at any point. by the time he marries Svetlana, I think he's 18. I don't know how old you have to be to get married in Illinois, but I'll say 18 because American laws confuse me more than anything else. either way, again, people are wearing warmer clothes around the time he marries her, so he must be 18.

Season 4: 18, because...

it's winter, the whole way through. There's no way it's the next year, since Ian is still underage according to Mickey (altho there's a possibility he meant under the drinking age of 21, but I don't think so). So Ian's been gone for a few months, maybe like 5 since it could be Jan/Feb and he must have left Autumn time. Therefore, Mickey's 18. The whole time. Summer hasn't come, so his birthday hasn't passed.

Season 5: 19, because....

it's summer for the first part. Late summer, since the last half is in wintery time based on everyone's coats. We can assume that Mickey has his birthday either between season 4 and 5 or right at the beginning of season 5. So maybe he's 18 for like 5 seconds. But for the majority and the end, he must be 19.

Season 6: 19/20, because...

he's only in it for one scene (diabolical). I can't tell what the season is really, because there aren't many coats being worn at the start, and then loads at the end. It seems unreasonable that a whole spring and summer have been skipped, doesn't it? although, maybe it's possible. There are also some days when it seems really hot and some where it looks cold, so I have no idea. I don't know what the weather's like in Chicago, sorry. So he's either 19 or 20 when we see him. Most likely 20. Either way, he went into prison when he was 19, unless the trial was really long and lasted from winter to august, which I doubt.

Season 7: 21 (when he appears), because...

we have two episodes (again, very sad). it starts in the summer based on the t-shirts without jackets everyone wears. by the time ep 10 and 11 hit, it's colder. it's hard to tell at the end, since they're at the border or approaching the border and the further south you go the hotter it gets, and it's very sunny when mickey goes across. If season 6 really is that winter and they skipped the summer (which now makes more sense), it's the following summer, going into autumn. so, august has probably passed by the time we see mickey. so he's 21 now.

Season 8: 21, 22 by the end (even tho we don't see him), because...

no mickey (rude). we can still assume his age based on the seasons and other characters. it's summer again! I'm guessing it's the year after?? since it looked like season 7 was approaching autumn? that also means Ian and Trevor were dating for around a year, and I didn't realise it was so long to be honest. anyway, if it's summer again, at some point throughout mickey turns 22 (alone, in Mexico).

Season 9: 23, because...

one scene with mickey! it's still summer, the same summer as before I think, because there's no way the Gay Jesus thing lasted a full year. it looks like it's a direct continuation from season 8. by the last ep, Ian is wearing a hat and an undershirt under the prison uniform, so it's autumn-y time. so, mickey's either already 23 when we see him, or about to turn 23. by the end, he's definitely 23.

Season 10: 23 at the start, 24 by the end, because...

it's summer when Ian comes out of prison. I'd put it at early summer, since Ian says it's been less than a year of being in prison. so at the start, mickey's still 23. by the wedding, it's 'supposed to snow', so I guess it's full on winter. so august is passed, mickey is 24, and finally had his bday when he's with Ian.

Season 11: 24 at the start, 25 at the end, because...

summer again at the start based on all the t-shirts. early summer, because by ep 10, mickey goes swimming or does something in the pool, because I'm not convinced he can swim, which you aren't gonna do in the autumn/winter, right? by the last ep, there are more coats, and it's their anniversary so it's 'supposed to snow', so it must be winter time. so he's 24 at the start, 25 at the end.

In conclusion, Mickey is way younger than he seems (im not talking about Noel, he looks the age he's meant to be, he just seems older). Also, Gallavich has been together for 9 years.

Let me know if you disagree with any of this, I think I'll do Ian next! I don't know if this was obvious to everyone else and I'm just slow, but this is gonna help me loads when I'm figuring out weather seasons and ages for fics lol.

Shameless needs to deal with its shitty timelines. It was much better at consistency in the earlier seasons.

[seirei-bh]

I'm trying to calculate or at least approximate in headcanon the ages that I think each character is in New Gen

First according to ep 5, Ysaline is 22 years old, since she says that she was 9 when her sister Tasha was 3, and now her sister is 16, (although since each sucrette is customizable, I think each player can have the freedom to decide what age prefer to imagine that they have their sucrette in New Gen, and that's what I'm going to do with mines)

Anyway, this also gives us a clue as to at least Thomas's current age. And also this other important fact: Thomas is 10 when OldSucrette (Lynn) is 17. So they are 7 years apart.

And there's supposed to be a 3-year time jump after Love Life to the special crossover ep. Since Lynn is 26 in LL, she is 29 in that special ep.

If we subtract 7 from 29, then Thomas is 22 years old. The same one as supposedly Ysaline canonically.

Now, it is much more difficult to estimate the age of the other characters. The only clue we have is that Elenda said in ep 4 that she was 6-7 when Devon was 10-11. Taking into account that many stories in video games, books and animes sometimes tend to use even and round numbers in big time-skips so that readers can easily remember the dates, it makes me assume that 20 years have passed since that time. So Elenda would be 26-27 and Devon about 30-31. Now the problem is that we don't know if Roy and Devon are the same age or if Roy is younger, we only know that they went to the same high school and so did Elenda, and these three met each other since they were kids, but I'm inclined to think that Roy and Devon were more like friends in a sense of older-younger brothers, since Devon seems older due to his features and behavior, so perhaps Roy is the same age as Elenda. I can be wrong though, and Roy and Devon being the same age, but this is what I think for now~

We also don't know Amanda's age, but due to her features, she appears to be around the age of Thomas and Elenda. Although Elenda in a scene from ep 3 defines herself as "the fairy godmother of Devenementiel" and says that she was there from the beginning, while Amanda seems like a recent member of the company, which makes me think that perhaps Elenda is a little older than Amanda.

Jason could be either Roy's age or Devon's age, but I'm inclined to think that it would be more convincing for Jason to be Devon's age, given his features, and since they are both company bosses and direct rivals, it would make sense for them to be the same age, and olders than the other crushes.

And Brune seems from her features to be somewhat older than Elenda, but perhaps not as old as Devon.

So my final conclusions are:

Thomas: 22 (the only age probably canon for now) Amanda: between 22-24 Roy: 26/27 Devon: 30/31 Jason: 30/31

Elenda: 26/27 Brune: 28~

There are other possibilities, of course. But the only thing we can be quite sure of is Thomas's age, being 7 years older than Lynn and the same as Ysaline, and that Devon is 4 years older than Elenda. It's also possible, for example, that they are all 22 except Devon and Jason being 26, but Rayan Zaidi is 33 in UL and Devon and Jason's features seem -at least from my pov- closer to that age than in the middle of the twenties~

Anyway, I'd like to know the opinion based on these calculations and/or headcanons of other players regarding this topic 💜

I guess we won't know until they confirm it in the game, if they confirm it in future eps, however if it is never revealed, I'd really like to know what the canonical ages of each crush are. So @chinomiko if you ever see this, please it'd be wonderful if you could answer this some day, or at least if these ideas are close to the canon. I know that the age of each character is something that doesn't have too much importance since everyone can imagine what they want, but I am especially curious about Jason and Devon <3 Besides these details are always useful for fanfic material.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am i the asshole for responding in distress and upset after my best friend of six years cut me off??

Now, i know this sounds really cut and dry to begin with, but i promise it’s way more than just the title. That’s why I’m reaching out in confusion here.

About three weeks ago, my best friend of six years asked if i was free in the evening. It’s important to note that at this time there had been no communicated issues between us, I legitimately thought everything was fine. I try to be a very communicative person, so i talk about issues when they come up, and encourage them to do the same.

they showed up on my doorstep at 10:30 at night and asked me to come outside. Assuming we were going to be driving around and hanging out, i grabbed my things and happily skipped out to their car where they were waiting for me, and proceeded to say,

“I don’t know how to put this in a better way than this. I don’t think we work. I don’t want to be friends anymore.”

To say i was completely shell shocked would have been an understatement. I didn’t even know we had issues. We had been inseparable for six years, and even planned to move in together. At first i briefly thought they were joking, but when i realized they weren’t i turned around and walked back inside. I knew it would have been best for me not to continue to conversation in person. They hate being screamed at, and i knew i wasn’t going to be capable of not raising my voice in that moment as they gave me no warning of this situation, and no time to process. So, i simply turned around and went back inside. They texted me a few minutes later saying that they hated it had to be this way, but they needed to grow as a person.

Naturally, i have no issue with needing to personally grow, but i felt i had no understanding of the situation, so i asked them why and why i might have done to bring this on. They said that they constantly feel ashamed around me, and that they couldn’t be themselves around me. I was confused, and quickly let them know that i have always encouraged them to be the person they want to be around me, and to not hide themselves. However, they said they couldn’t.

They said that they make me uncomfortable, and that they scare me. Naturally, as this wasn’t true, i asked them where they got this notion, seeing as i had never said such a thing to them. They said they could tell from my body language, which i found to be ridiculous. I told them it was unfair of them to assume how i feel about them without even asking me, and that if i was upset with them i would have told them. They said,

“You don’t have to say anything.” Your body language says enough.

They than proceeded to say that we were different people, coming from different backgrounds, and that made us incompatible. I asked them what they meant, and they told me

“You have more opportunities than I do, and always will, and you're comfortable with that, again, that is okay.

You can have a decent paying job in a church, spend money on coffee and dirt cheap earrings online, and repress yourself around people you're afraid of, and my experience in the world is entirely different.”

This message completely confused me, as 1.) i don’t believe the opportunities a person has should define them as a person, and i certainly never flaunted mine. I’m in college, yes, and i have a decent paying job… but never have i rubbed that in anyone’s face, in fact i try to do the exact opposite. I felt icky about the way they commented on how i spend my money… as it never effected them, and i didn’t like the light that they were painting me in.

Not to mention, they seemed to be calling attention to the fact that i wasn’t out yet with my family (I’m bisexual.) when they brought up me repressing myself. In the time I’m in right now, this is a non-negotiable for me, as my family is intensely homophobic and would have disowned me if i came out. My ex best friend has always been more radical than me in a lot of view points, and i hate the thought that they may have demonized my fear of my life falling apart around me.

Naturally, after reading this message, i accused them of calling me shallow. They said they weren’t accusing me of anything, but i believe there’s no denying the object accusations and rude phrasing of the message that they had sent.

The conversation went on for some time, with me desperately attempting to understand what was going on, before finally i grew angry.

I told them it was unfair, no matter what their reasoning was, that they handled it this way.

They said it was fine because it was a selfish decision they were making for their own betterment and mental health.

I understand this- but none the less, i feel the way they handled it was wrong.

I told them that they should have given me some warning or time to prepare for this serious conversation, but they claimed that there was no way they could have prepared me for it. I told them it was unfair of them to expect a calm reaction out of me when they literally ripped the rug out from under me and cornered me into a volatile response. They told others that my emotional reaction to all of this was me ‘attempting to manipulate them.’…. I genuinely can’t figure out if this is true or not. I believe manipulation implies i had something to gain… but i didn’t- i just- didn’t understand anything, and i was angry and hurt and i wanted them to know that how they had handled this was wrong.

They told others that my reaction was extremely emotionally immature… and i just- don’t understand anything anymore.

Following they interaction, i went to my two other closest friends. I needed my support system. I was scared and alone. I didn’t try to manipulate the situation into something it wasn’t. I didn’t want that. I wanted objective opinions. I offered the situation in its full, explaining it and showing all the screenshots, asking for opinions and advice.

One of these people happened to be my ex best friends partner…. But they were my best friend as well. We were a trio, always going to each other. This is where the situation gets messy. Maybe i shouldn’t have gone to him- but he was also my best friend… i was equally as close with him as i was my other best friend. I called him in tears, showing him all the screenshots and telling him i didn’t know what to do. I specifically told him he didn’t have to choose sides, and i didn’t want that… but i did express my fear that he would stop being my friend too. I didn’t want him to choose sides, i didn’t care if he remained with my ex best friend. I just didn’t want to lose him too.

He read through the messages, and was so horrified by my ex-best friends behavior that he felt as though he couldn’t trust them anymore. He said it was like seeing a different side of them. I didn’t say or do anything, he came to his own conclusions after looking at the situation, and he even told me he has his own issues with them separately from my situation. I still repeatedly have reminded him that he doesn’t have to make any rash decisions just to defend me, and he says he knows that… but it’s his personal stuff as well. He took a break from my ex-best friend.

As of recent, my ex-best friend has been telling others that i am manipulative, and that i am rallying people against them. They’ve aired out my personal information to others… people i go to school with. Though they didn’t give names, everyone they are talking to knows our friend group very intimately. These people know exactly who they are talking about.

They have told people I’m a narcissist because my parents are too… they’ve said “they feel bad for me” for responding the way i did, because I’m ‘traumatized’, so of course my reactions would be emotionally immature. They’ve accused me of jumping to conclusions… they haven’t given the whole story to these people. They’ve only shown one screenshot towards the end of our argument where i finally snapped and said ‘fuck you’. They showed nothing that lead up to it… only me in my worst moment and not what they said to cause it.

And they’ve accused me of rallying the people around them against them. This is in now way the case… but even if was doing it on accident… (which i don’t think I’m doing.)

It would only be two people… one of which is my close friend and their acquaintance…. It’s almost as if they don’t want me to ask for support to anyone about this… but i feel as though I’ve been made into a terrible villain, even after reaching out a few days later and apologizing for getting so emotional. I told them i never wanted them to feel like they couldn’t be themselves around me, but they never communicated that so how would i have known? Even still… i apologized, but told them it wasn’t fair how they sprung it on me and asked them to maybe try to understand my reaction. They excused that by saying that they only had half a week of preparation… which doesn’t seem fair seeing as i only got 10 seconds.

Too long didn’t read: my best friend showed up at my house at 10:30 at night and dropped me, accused me of things (maybe?? I’m not even sure anymore??) and then accused me of manipulatively rallying people against them when i reached out to my two closest friends for support- when they’ve been doing the exact same thing.

Am i the asshole?

Please be honest here- i don’t need pity. I need truth. I’m lost and confused and I’ve never been more angry and hurt than i am right now and i don’t understand what the fuck is going on-.

What are these acronyms?

[piratefalls]

i really did not expect the kind of response these lists are getting. i just do these for fun, but thank you for interacting with them! as always, if you want to be tagged in future lists, just let me know!

with that said, it's wednesday. welcome back to the shit show.

list one. list two. list three.

everything's growing in our garden by matherine

That night, in the safety of his hotel room on the outskirts of the Olympic Village, Henry couldn’t catch his breath. He coughed and coughed, feeling like he was choking on nothing, but there was a scratching sensation in his throat that he just couldn’t shake – until a single blue petal flew past his lips, landing in the porcelain bowl of the sink. After an hour of painstaking Googling, he learns that it’s a Texas bluebonnet. He also learns what the fact that he’s coughing up petals means – the beginning stages of Hanahaki Disease. Rare, but not unheard of, according to the NHS website he browses in an incognito tab. Common in royal bloodlines (thank you, inbreeding). "Only curable if the afflicted’s love is requited with a declaration," he reads, and slams his laptop closed with a bitter laugh, wet with tears. "A surgical procedure removing the afflicted’s capacity for love may be performed if the love remains unrequited. Otherwise, the condition is terminal." So, then. He has no chance.

he is exactly the poem i wanted to write by metacrisis

There is no Turkey in Alex's room this year, but there is a prince. AKA, Henry spends thanksgiving with Alex after the election and reflects on all of his dreams coming true.

(Im)patience is a Virtue by clottedcreamfudge

"Why don't you want to fuck me?" Henry just about manages to avoid spluttering Earl Grey all over the coffee table, but it's a close thing. Alex is staring at him, looking kind of annoyed. "Excuse me?" He's never refused Alex a thing in his whole adult life. Also, he very much wants to do that, but Alex hasn't said anything and usually Henry can't shut him up; he'd assumed Alex would bring it up when he was ready. Which appears to be now.

Handprints in wet cement by kiwiana

“I like learning about all the things that make you you. Especially the sexy parts,” he adds with a grin, and Henry couldn’t contain the laugh that escapes him if he tried. “As long as they’re not, like, bad memories for you, I want to hear about them.” Or, five things Henry learned during his Oxford Slut Phase that he shared with Alex, and one thing they learned together.

best laid plans by rizcriz

Henry knows. He knows Alex is planning a big, extravagant proposal. He shouldn’t know, but he does. He also knows that the ring tucked within his own pocket was purchased long before Alex ever even considered a proposal. Long before either of them should have ever feasibly even considered such ideas as proposals. Alexander Claremont-Diaz, genius that he is, is blissfully unaware of all of that. -- Or, Henry just really wants to be the one to propose, okay?

Soft Shock, Put a Spring in My Step by Mags (sparklepocalypse)

“What, you don’t remember every instant of our torrid fuckathon?” Alex asks, pulling an exaggeratedly offended face. “I am hurt. If I can remember all your middle names, you should be able to remember that time we were so horned up on our new relationship that we managed like, seven positions in a night.”

you know i love a london boy by coffeecatsme

“A very special friendship bracelet,” Bea corrects, with such a delight in her voice that Henry is immediately suspicious. He grabs the darn thing and twists it around, glittery beads shining under the lights of the room. A phone number, if Henry is counting them right. Despite himself, his heart skips a beat. “From the one and only Alexander Claremont-Diaz.” She grins, bouncing on the balls of her feet—the day she stops playing matchmaker for her brother will surely be a cold day in hell. The sole excitement of her life since she doesn’t do romance. Henry twists the bracelet in his hands, counting the numbers again, and then looks up. “Who?” Or, 5 times Alex and Henry keep their relationship a secret and 1 time they don't.

Burnin' Through the Sky by cricketnationrise

This whole thing is Nora’s fault, actually, and he will hold this against her for the rest of their natural lives. Possibly into the next. His personal life is fine. It’s possible he was whining about not having dated anyone since his last boyfriend, but this event is so clearly not going to fix that problem. Or: Alex wasn’t expecting to meet anyone at speed dating, let alone anyone like Henry.

it's (not) the end of the world as we know it by viciouslyqueer

BREAKING NEWS: SHOOTING AT NYC’S GAY CLUB ‘Ritz Bar and Lounge’. June is saying something. He can’t hear her – or anything else for that matter. It’s like his brain decided to shut down and not comprehend anything in front of him. The only thing he’s aware of is a thought at the back of his mind, hitting him with such force it’s all he can focus on – no matter how much it makes his knees give out under him, how his heart feels like it’s being ripped out of his chest and stabbed repeatedly with a sharp knife, cut into a thousand pieces with no possible repair. Henry is in New York. — Actors Alex Claremont-Diaz and Henry Fox meet on the set of ‘Roses, Wisteria, and Royal Bluebells’, and stay friends after filming is over. When a catastrophe happens that tips Alex's world off its axis, he realizes just how deep his feelings for Henry run.

General Incivility by cmere

"Okay, kids, settle down, we're all friends here," Nora cuts in. "And we haven't discussed where the night is going yet. I'm of the personal opinion that we should offer our British guests the quintessential American coming-of-age experience." Alex's eyes widen in what can only be sheer delight. "What, like beer pong?" June says, nose wrinkling. "No," Alex interjects. "Truth or dare." "You read my mind, Alexander." Nora turns to open the mini-fridge. "What would everyone like to drink?" "Henry and I will take vodka if you've got it," Pez says. Henry narrows his eyes at Pez, trying to communicate his alarm, but Pez simply grins back, feral, licking his top teeth.

the conclusion literally any normal human being would come to by chaa_kiao

My [21M] flatmate [20M] gives me forehead kisses when he thinks I'm asleep. How do I ask him to do it when I'm awake, too? ____ Henry and Alex are roommates quarantined together. Henry takes to Reddit when Alex's behavior gets too confusing for him to sort out on his own. Surely this will have zero impact on their completely platonic relationship, right?

all's well that ends well to end up with you by karish

“Fuck, thank you, you’re a lifesaver, Hen,” he says as he closes the small distance between them and places a faint kiss on Henry’s lips. His lips are soft and Alex melts into it for a second before pulling away. He bumps their noses together for good measure before stepping back and grabbing his bag from the chair. When he turns back to look at Henry, he’s still standing still, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Alex can even see a dark flush starting to spread over his face. It looks cute. Alex wishes he could– Oh. Oh shit. Fucking goddamn shit. He just kissed Henry. Fuck.

no sweeter innocence by extasiswings

"Well. Babe. You've been wanting him to dick you down forever, right?" [Or, the one where Alex does, in fact, finally get what he's been waiting for.]

Heartaches and Cupcakes and Sunshine Boys by everwitch

After a public fight involving a little too much cupcake frosting, romance writer Henry Fox must deal with the obsessive speculation that one of his most despicable characters is based on the very successful model turned photographer Alex Claremont-Diaz. Which couldn't be further from the truth. There's a reason for why Henry's love stories are almost always unrequited, immensely emotional yet devoid of any real hope, and that reason is currently vagueing him in a series of scathing tweets that has Henry's publisher calling a crisis meeting. The solution? Henry must rewrite his upcoming sequel in a way that redeems the character in question completely. The problem? Henry's attempt to get away from it all so he can actually write leads to a direct confrontation with Alex himself. After a series of clandestine kitchen encounters, the two of them end up with a very fragile truce. But can you really find friendship, or maybe even more than years of achingly unrequited yearning, when you don't have the courage to let your disguise fall? How do you really tell the difference between fiction, and the truth?

washing machine heart by pissedofsandwich

This time he cannot escape. It's not like the night at the lake, where he can dodge and blame it on mosquitoes, write a stupid note and flee the country. This time Alex keeps him, and he does not let go.

Powerless by floatingaway4

“Do you know what I’ve had to put up with in the last twelve hours?”  Henry wants to point out that in that same twelve hours he’s had his body sliced open and an organ removed, but this doesn’t seem to be the time. He also got to sleep through his experience, while Alex was very much awake while dealing with Henry’s family. And Henry got the nice drugs, while Alex looks like he could use a drink.

Someday We'll Know If Love Can Move a Mountain by allmylovesatonce

The emails were never leaked, but the Queen has forced Alex and Henry apart. Alex believes they're biding their time until they can be together for real. One day at work, he's forced to confront how wrong he is when Henry's engagement is announced. With both of them miserable and neither wanting the wedding to happen, they grapple with how or if they could even stop it. Or even if they should.

"Exclusive Top" My Non-Virgin Ass by QueenKatelynTheAristocrat

"It all started when Henry and Alex were guest judges on RuPaul’s Drag Race..." Also known as: a queen on Drag Race made a joke about how Alex Claremont-Diaz is clearly an exclusive top, and now the internet can't stop talking about it, and Alex can't stop thinking about it, and maybe he kind of feels like he has something to prove. In which, Alex bottoms for the first time. And the entire thing is a beautiful emotional roller-coaster, just like we'd expect from these two.

wondering if there's anything to say at all by dearestalez

It was Alex, and not a motorcycle that had managed to grow opposable thumbs and open their front door. He was untying the laces of his shoes while David snuffled up against him, eager for pats. It was noticeable and honestly quite concerning when Alex pointedly didn’t pet him and instead tiredly pushed him away.

Body Count Baby! by orestespdf

“Okay,” Henry says eventually. “What do you want to know?” Alex raises an eyebrow. A small smile plays on his lips. “Can I ask you anything?” “Within reason, you hellion.” Alex flops back down and grins, a new vigor running through him. He rubs his hands together, clearly thinking hard. When he finally looks back at Henry, his smile has turned mischievous. “Am I the best you’ve ever had? Like, has anyone been better than me?” ----- Henry and Alex talk about how many people they've been with.

shake the glitter off your clothes by demigodbeautiies

It was meant to be a short thing, a fun trip, tacked onto the end of a frankly dull conference in Nevada. But getting drunk in Vegas has the potential to go very, very wrong, in some pretty unexpected ways.

Seven Years by LolaLand (Lola_di_Penates)

Seven different places, seven different timelines, seven different meetings, seven different Decembers. And still, Alex and Henry find each other in every universe.

my heart in a house (half a planet away) by annesbonny

“I miss you.” It’s the first thing Alex says when Henry answers the phone. He gets a soft huff of laughter in response. He can picture the quirk of his perfect brow, in the dim light of his Kensington bedroom. Alex wants to be there to straighten it out with his thumb, and kiss the growing concern away. 5 times Alex misses Henry, and 1 time he realises he doesn't have to miss him anymore.

All the Old Showstoppers by chamel

“Dunno, kinda looks like you know what you’re doing. Are those macarons?” Alex asks incredulously after a little while, and a moment later Henry sees him start slowly approaching out of the corner of his eye. “I didn’t know princes could bake.” “I’d wager not many of them can,” Henry replies as he works, letting one corner of his mouth tug upward. (In a universe where Alex didn’t go to the royal wedding, three years later Alex and Henry find themselves both competing on an episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off. Will old hostilities lead to disaster, or is there something else causing all that tension in the tent?)

One Number Away by smc_27

“Hello?” a confused sounding voice on the other end of the line says. It is not Pez. Pez doesn’t answer like that. With the fanfare of “my dearest Hazza” or “my sweet prince” or “you absolutely unforgivable scoundrel.” Only the first of these has any root in truth or accuracy. Also, Pez is not American. “I’m sorry. You’re not…Not Pez. Right. I’m sorry.” OR: Henry dials a wrong number. Alex answers.

Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Place (and forget macbeth is a fucking tragedy) by Celaestis

"You don't owe me anything." "Of course I do. If you have time now...there are things I'd like to say." Alex hesitates. "I know I don't have any right to ask you to listen," Henry adds. He sounds so hopeful though. A little closure doesn't sound like a terrible thing. Agreeing to go with Henry, alone, to Kensington Palace sounds like returning to the scene of a crime. It's been over a decade since their breakup - Alex is now a single dad forging his career as a lawyer, and Henry's finally getting the courage to stand up to his grandmother. In finding themselves, can they also find their way back to each other?

A Goddamn Fairytale by toffrox

Henry wants to be angry. He does. He wants to feel it simmering in his chest, wants to be sitting there like Alex is next to him with his eyes smouldering. He wants to be like Bea, pacing the room with her fists clenched, absolutely livid.  "You can't let her do this!" Bea cries. "It's just one tiny part of the day," Henry says with a sigh. "Everything else will be exactly as planned. I'm just not sure it's worth having a big fight over." Bea glares and looks like she's going to rant when Alex cuts in- "Fuck. That." - The Queen makes some uninvited changes to the upcoming Royal Wedding plans, but Alex is determined to give Henry the fairytale wedding he deserves.

the key that unlocked me by railmedaddy

Something sharp presses against his collarbone – the key that Alex wears around his neck – before he rolls his hips and Henry moans. Alex lifts his head and grins. “You like that, sweetheart?” he asks knowingly, rolling his hips again. He’s got his arms braced on either side of Henry’s head, looking down at Henry with dark, sparkling eyes and his mouth curved into a lopsided smile before raking his lower lip through his teeth. Alex’s curls have fallen forward into his face and at this angle, so close, he’s devastating. Instead of answering him, Henry tugs at the chain around Alex’s neck with one hand, pulling him down for a kiss. He gives in, sliding one hand into Henry’s hair as he kisses him deeply, letting Henry take what he needs. or, Berlin, from Henry’s POV

go the distance by indomitablelove

His legs are like jello. He’s not entirely sure how he’s still upright. He’s running on fumes and the energy gel he’d been handed about forty minutes ago by one of the secret service as he’d passed by. Fumes, energy gel pouches, the roar of the crowd against New York streets, and pure adrenaline because he can see the finish line. He knows what’s there: June and Nora and Henry. Henry. The reason Alex is doing this whole damn thing in the first place. --- Alex decides to run a marathon. It's all Henry's fault, really.

making the headlines by stardisnight (athousandrooms), villageidiot

For no other reason than sheer boredom, Alex decides to set up a Google alert for the exact phrase "HRH Prince Henry." When Henry asks why, he quite literally cannot come up with a reason for the decision. He just… wants to. Also: five times Alex overreacted to a Google alert (and one time Henry did)

Captious (calculated to confuse, entrap or entangle in argument by lucky (revolutionbarbie)

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Alex hadn't intended to be 45-minutes late to his blind date, he really hadn't. Thankfully Henry - broad-shouldered, blond, British and downright beautiful - didn't seem to mind.

and you would be there too by smc_27

It’s mostly dark out here, just the lamp poles in the parking lot casting a warm yellow glow across the packed snow. “We’re closed.” Henry spins around, heart racing, and sees the beautiful man from the café and from earlier at the shops. He cuts a stunning image, swinging one leg over the wooden fence rail and stepping into the parking lot as he pulls a red and black plaid shirt over his shoulders, his tan pants tight enough across his thighs to make Henry blush for noticing.

until next time!

[derekscorner]

Kurosaki Twin Conundrum

For the past few weeks I've been talking about Zanpakuto types, Ichigo's non-canon forms, or gushing about my Quincy Ichigo ideas but after finishing my part three to the zanpakuto types I was reminded of something; The Kurosaki Twins.

I used to have a post on them way back but now that the 'Thousand Year Blood War' is being animated with Kubo's noteworthy influence involved I'll tackle this topic again.

This isn't a post about their characters per say but about the nature of their abilities. There is no doubt they have some power but we don't know what kind of powers. Allow me to explain.

Masaki & White

Thanks to the TYBW anime any Bleach fan knows by now that Ichigo was so unique due to the incident involving these two. I'll skip the convoluted nature of Ichigo himself since the show explains already.

What's important to Ichigo's sisters is that White was not present when they were conceived and later born. By the time the twins were a thing in their mothers womb White had already merged with Ichigo and transformed into Zangetsu.

Like Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu are the children of a pureblood Quincy and a Soul Reaper from a very old clan. Unlike Ichigo, they did not inherit a hollow.

Another thing that should be noted is that the sisters are fraternal twins rather than identical ones. I do not know if this had an impact on their powers or not but it is something to keep in mind should the anime or Kubo make a statement in the future.

Either way, going by these sequence of events, you'd immediately assume that the girls are perfect hybrids of a quincy and soul reaper.

But I do not think it's that simple. For one, we know that mixed blood quincies (which the girls happen to be) need more work to awaken their full potential. There are even some abilities they'd have to work for that a purebred quincy would have at birth.

Ichigo himself never uses his quincy abilities consciously. It is Zangetsu who uses them and even then the full "flood gates" as it were did not open until Ichigo battled Quilge Opie. Yhwach clearly states that this battle and the cage Quilge trapped Ichigo in awakened his latent quincy power.

Yuzu nor Karin have had a teacher nor any circumstance strenuous enough to awaken those powers. Even when in the grip of a hollow and their lives threatened they did not awaken any abilities.

Of course, I must remind you, Ichigo is special. White became Zangetsu, Ichigo's quincy powers had taken on a mind of their own and could do these things.

Which brings us to our next point.

"Old Man" Zangetsu's Absence

Masaki's inner hollow, White, became Ichigo's inner hollow and then transformed into his zanpakuto. As flawed as it was compared to a true zanpakuto used by actual Soul Reapers it still existed.

The absence of White means that Yuzu & Karin do not have the special circumstances to have their own innate zanpakuto. The Soul Reaper powers they would've inherited have no way to manifest.

Although Soul Reapers have families, unique powers, magic, and knowledge they do not come into the world with a zanpakuto in hand. They only get that once they begin training and receive their "Asauchi".

The "asauchi" will bond to that Soul Reaper and eventually become the zanpakuto. It is a crucial element they'd need.

Their human forms may also hinder this process. Even Ichigo can't use his Soul Reaper powers without leaving his human body....although his son doesn't seem to have that issue but he's a headache we won't cover.

So where does that leave us?

Well, they have no hollow powers. White was already gone when they were conceived.

They should have latent Soul Reaper powers but being living humans and without Zanpakuto they can’t manifest.

They should have some degree of Quincy powers but they seem entirely dormant. Even Yhwach's Auswählen didn't target them nine years ago.

In essence, they're effectively human....but they're obviously not. Despite the lack of unique abilities both sisters show the ability to see spirits.

For Karin this is even more pronounced because she's fully capable of seeing Ichigo in his Soul Reaper form. She has the spiritual power to see and touch a Soul Reaper.

That is way more impressive than the series lets on. The Soul Reapers even refer to humans with this level of spiritual power as "High Spec" humans.

They're rare but they are not unheard of.

Although the anime makes her unable to see spirits it's a fact that Yuzu actually can see ghosts. She can only perceive a blurry image but she is spiritually aware.

She too has something innate even if it's just raw spiritual energy. Sadly, we see little of it save for anime filler which obviously do not count.

Between the two the series actually makes a bigger deal of Karin's powers especially for the year Ichigo was powerless:

She even goes to Urahara often to get items to ward off things like Hollows since she's essentially an easy target they can sense miles away.

You may wonder what my point is with all this when I systematically closed the routes of them having powers earlier. It's simple, they do have powers but we just do not know what form they take.

Even if you argue that Yuzu is effectively human it's obvious that Karin isn't. Without Ichigo's overwhelming spiritual pressure her own skyrocketed.

She has a power that's developing which is why this curiosity over the twins persists.

Hypothesis & Conclusions

In conclusion to all of this they should not have specific powers. Yuzu, in fact, seems to not have anything other than weak spirit perception. While Karin is obviously more than she seems even if she has no desire to explore what that power is.

And all though I shut down so many possibilities earlier there is things to consider;

For example, White may have been gone but it's possible remnants of it's spiritual power resided within Masaki. That would make it possible to one or both twins to have latent Fullbring potential.

There is always a possibility that their Quincy natures could awaken as well under a specific circumstance.

Then there's the Shiba clan their father comes from. It is one of the five founding clans of the Soul Society. It is a literal primordial bloodline and there's no telling what unique powers are latent there.

The reaper powers they did inherit would awaken should they get an asauchi and become a reaper. Or should someone grant them powers as substitute soul reapers.

I have no real answers to any of it but it is a topic still fun to talk about. I'd like to know what they could be even if they never go that route. Kubo is answering a lot of questions on his website these days so maybe we'll get one some day.

Either way, I'm done now. Bye~

[axelsagewrites]

Lucerys Velaryon*Study

Paring: Modern!Luke x gn!reader

Platonic: Luke x Bran x Jojen

Summary: Luke finally has an opportunity to get close to his crush but now he's scared his brothers and uncles will ruin it.

Word count: 2479

Masterlist Here

Biology was Lucerys least favourite subject but when the teacher began to list of who was paired with who for the partner assignment, he didn’t know whether to jump for joy or sink into his chair when she read your name. Despite never speaking to you Luke had a massive crush on you, something only his friends Bran and Jojen knew. Bran shot him a cheeky grin before high giving Jojen who he had just been partnered with.

“There’s five minutes left so please go find your partner and set up a time to study,” Mrs Lannister said before turning back to her computer to look up more ways to torture children Luke assumed.

Suddenly his legs became noodles, and he couldn’t bring himself to stumble out of the chair. He glanced over at you and saw you pack up your bag before approaching him which made him quickly look away. “Hi,” your voice was sweeter than he imagined and caused his cheeks to tinge a mortifying shade of pink.

“Hey,” he croaked as he finally looked up from his book he pretended to read. Up close he realised you were even more beautiful, “So looks like we’re partners then,” his eyes darting between you and the clock as if it would make him seem cooler.

“Guess so,” you said, almost a giggle. The blush set deeper into his skin at your laugh, “So are you free tomorrow after school?”

“For what?” Luke sat up straighter in his chair and you laughed as a dopey grin spread on his face.

“To study,” a teasing grin spread on your lips that drove him wild yet also made him deflate. “Otherwise, I’ll be busy until like Saturday,”

“Yeah, sure tomorrow works,” his heart was beginning to skip beats at this point, “Where?” he managed to croak out.

You paused for a moment to think, and Luke took the time to admire how your eyebrows scrunched, “My parents would probably ask us a million questions at mine so would we be able to just study at yours?” you asked, and Luke quickly nodded in agreement. The idea of you in his room in his house with him? Amazing. Even as study partners, “Okay great I’ll give you my number,” you said as you took the pen, he had been tapping out his hand and scrawled it into his notebook, “Just text me the address and I’ll come around 4?”

“Yeah, sure that’d be great,” Luke grinned as he took the pen back from you.

A perfect smile fell on your lips that made his head spin, “I’ll see you then. Bye Luke,” He watched as you walked away to return to your friend’s side.

“Dude!” Jojen grinned as he slapped Luke’s shoulder, “This is your in,”

“Yeah, finally you can’t wuss out,” Bran joked causing Luke to slap his friends head, “Hey! It’s like you don’t want us to help you,”

“How are either of you gonna help me?” None of the three had ever had a girlfriend and were considered the geekiest guys of their year. None of them knew anything about girls. But he knew some people who did.

His uncle Aegon was a known ladies’ man, but Luke assumed that came with being on the football team. Aemond as well was no stranger with women however unlike his brother he tended to keep them around for more than a week. His brother was practically the school heartthrob, but Luke knew Jace would never let him live it down if he asked for girl advice.

Then the next day he realised something horrible as he walked into school and saw his brother and uncles talking. “Shit,” Luke said causing his friends to turn their attention back to him, “Aemond and Aegon are coming over tomorrow to play Jace’s new Xbox,” Bran shut his locker with a dramatic sigh and Jojen cringed at the thought.

“It’s too late now to cancel on them now,” Jojen told him. “You’ll look like a massive douche,”

“Yeah, but those three are the biggest douches,” Bran jumped in before looking at Luke and adding a no offence.

Luke shook his head, “Oh my god they’re never gonna let me live it down. What if they try and talk to us?”

The three began to walk towards their first class as Luke debated throwing himself out a window, “Surely they’re not that bad?” Jojen asked.

“You can tell you don’t have brothers,” Bran said as he wheeled himself alongside his friends. “They’re awful. Robb locked me outside the house last week when he had his girlfriend over. it was raining,”

“Ouch,” Jojen muttered, “Thank god I have sisters,”

“They’re not much better,”

“Guys this is about me,” Luke butted in causing the pair to roll their eyes but finally focus on the issue at hand, “How am I supposed to get them in the house without being caught but without looking like a total weirdo?”

Luke was so wrapped up in his own dilemma he didn’t notice you walking towards him until you spoke. “Hey Luke, we still good for tonight?”

“Totally,” Luke beamed when he saw you.

Blush took over him when you rest your hand on his arm. “Okay great I’ll see you at four. Can’t wait study buddy,”

“Cool,” Luke gushed as you walked away, “Man she’s so pretty,”

Bran scoffed and began to wheel off even quicker, “You’re such a simp,”

“Am not!”

The day moved painfully slowly as Luke waited for the final bell to ring so he could run to find you to set his plan in motion. While his brother sucked his mother was somehow less embarrassing. Well hopefully. He texts her to ask if she would pick you both up after school and she had agreed without question. When the last bell rung Luke sprinted out of class and rushed to your locker.

Luckily for him you were still at it, “Luke!” You exclaimed when the boy ran up to you.

“Hey, my mum said she could just drive us to mine the now if you want,”

“I mean yeah sure if she doesn’t mind that’d be great,” You grinned as you quickly grabbed your stuff to follow Luke who was walking oddly fast. “Don’t you need to stop at your locker?”

“Nope,” Luke said as he held the door open for you before speed walking to the parking lot where he saw his mom’s black SUV parked. “C’mon she’s over here,”

Luke looked around for his brother before he ushered you into the car, opening the door for you and closing it behind you before running round to the other side to clamber in. “Hi Mrs Velaryon. Thanks for the lift,” you said, and Rhaenyra smiled at you through her rear-view mirror.

“Just call me Rhae and its not problem sweetie. Buckle up you two,” she said as Luke was still looking out the window to make sure his mother didn’t see you, “Is Jace needing a ride Luke?”

“No, he’s walking. Can we go?” Luke said and you shot him a confused Luke at his hurry, “We just have a lot of work to do for this assignment,”

“Whatever makes you actually do your homework,” Rhaenyra mumbled before pulling out of the parking space and driving away.

Luke saw his brother in his mother’s rear-view mirror looking at them but just pretended not to see the boy. While his mothers questioning of you did slightly embarrass Luke it was just typical mum stuff. You even commented on how sweet she was when Luke opened the door for you to get out the car.

“I usually make dinner at six so if you’re still here you’re welcome to join Hun,” Rhaenyra said as he shut the front door behind her.

“I’ll let you know thank you Rhae,” you said, and Rhaenyra smiled at you using the nickname, “So where are we studying?” you turned to Luke.

“My room,” Luke said as he grabbed your arm to pull you up the stairs with him.

You didn’t argue but couldn’t help shooting him a confused Luke and Rhaenyra was even more curious as she stood at the bottom of the stairs, “Keep the door open!” She yelled.

Luke ushered you into his room before shutting the door behind him, “Sorry about her,” Luke said, as he led you into his room which he had stayed up all last night cleaning.

You laughed as you took a seat on his gaming chair, he used for a desk chair and placed your bag down, “She’s just being a mom its fine,” you said as you began to spin in his chair causing Luke to laugh at your actions, “Why were you in such a rush though? This project is defo not that interesting,”

“Yeah well,” Luke said as he rubbed the back of his neck, “I just wanted to get a head start,”

“I don’t mind,” you said as you began to pull out your biology notes. “Do you have yours here?”

Luke sighed and closed his eyes tight in annoyance, “I left them in my locker,”

You burst out laughing at his confession which made Luke smile and feel slightly less stupid, “Oh my gods your lucky you’re cute. You can share mine,” the words had left your mouth without thinking and when you realised you felt your skin grow red.

“Thanks,” Luke stuttered out as his own flush fell on his cheeks.

Once you began studying the tension wasn��t nearly as bad. While you did stay on track at first after fifteen minutes you began to discuss your shared hatred of Mrs Lannister, “Did you know one-time last year I was walking into her class and she- “you were laughing as you told your stories but suddenly stopped when the door open, a blush covering your face as you quickly looked back at your notes.

Luke turned around from where he was sat on his bed to see Jace standing in his doorway, a grin covering his face. Luke’s face fell at the sight. “What?” he asked as his brother walked into the room, picking up his notebook he had started talking notes in before they got distracted.

Jace held it out his reach when Luke went to snatch it back, “Mum said to ask if your friend was staying for dinner,” Luke glanced at the clock to look at the time and saw that they had already spent an hour and a half talking about everything but biology, “How’s studying going?” Jace asked as he flicked through mostly empty notebook.

“Fine,” Luke grumbled as he snatched it back from his brother. Luke turned to you who was sat quietly on his chair, “Um would you wanna get dinner here?” he asked. He cursed the fact he was now blushing in front of his brother.

“Eh yeah sure um I’ll just need to text my parents,” you said before quickly looking at Jace then back to Luke, “Tell her thank you,” you said.

Jace nodded before turning to leave, ruffling Luke’s hair then shoving head as he went. When he walked out though he left the door wide open, “Can you shut the door?” Luke groaned.

“Mum said not to,” Jace grinned as he pushed the door open wider, “Happy studying,”

As soon as Jace walked away Luke went up to shut the door when you spoke, “Maybe we should leave it a little bit open. I don’t want your mum to be upset with me,” Luke nodded and left the door open a crack before sitting on the bed again. “So, I guess we should try finish this then,”

“Yeah,”

You spent the next half an hour studying and with your help he finally seemed to understand the work he was doing. “So, if we do this, I think that it means- “Luke was saying but you cut him off when you nodded towards the door.

“Nephew,” Aegon grinned as he leaned on the doorway, “Nephew’s date,” he nodded at you causing your face to beam bright red.

“We’re just friends,” Luke mumbled, glancing at you who refused to look up from the notes, “What is it?”

“Dinners ready lovebirds,” Aegon grinned before sauntering off and laughing as he went.

“I’m sorry about them. They’re just- “

“It’s okay I get it,” you said as you closed your textbook, “Let’s just go eat yeah?”

Luckily Rhaenyra was there during dinner to stop any of the older boys’ comments or questions. At least the deliberately mocking ones. Aemond insisted on questioning you about the project and Jace on generally everything in your life. Aegon only asked one, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Aegon!” Rhaenyra chastised her brother.

“Or girlfriend?” He quickly added causing Rhaenyra to grumble.

Luke shot him a deadly glare as you mumbled a no which made Luke at least a little happy knowing he had a shot. “Don’t you think you’re a bit old for them?” Rhaenyra asked her brother.

“I wasn’t asking for me sweet sister,” he grinned before turning his attention to mock his own brother for whatever it was, he had unknowingly done.

When dinner was over you, both quickly returned to his room, and you began to gather your notes. “You’re leaving?” Luke asked with a frown.

You gave him a small smile, “It’s a bit crowded here. Maybe another time when they’re not all here?” you offered, and Luke nodded and helped you gather your things and walked you to the door. your parents were waiting for you outside as you and Luke walked down the stairs. “Are you busy Saturday?” you asked as you approached the front door.

Luke shook his head, glancing at his uncles and brother playing Xbox on the couch. “No. Are you wanting to study? My stepdad gets back Friday with his kids so it might be a bit crowded again,” Luke said as he scratched the back of his neck.

A blush crept across your face, “I was thinking more of the mall or a movie,” you offered, and Luke felt his heart skip in his chest.

“To study?” he asked but you just shook your head no with a small smile, “Yeah I’d love that,” Luke grinned as he opened the door for you, “Text me?”

“For sure,” you said, glancing to where your parents were parked. Without warning you leant in and pressed a soft but brief kiss to his cheek, “See you Saturday,” you said before running down the driveway and into your parents’ car.

Luke ignored the wolf whistles coming from his family on the couch and stared after you with a dopey grin. You waved as you drove away, and Luke did the same. He shut the door with a dopey smile still on his face. “I’ve got a date,”

part two here

[humornaut]

A Silly Little Post Regarding Mari's Birthday

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in a bit, but I kinda wanted to throw this here. I've spoken about it on both Twitter and Reddit, so this is just rehashing stuff I've mentioned before.

Mari's birthday. Officially, it is March 1st. This makes sense as a little joke, since it shortens to Mar1! However, there is something that has always bothered me about this.

143, as I've mentioned before, is a big number within Omori. If we take Mari's stated birthday, and count the days to Sunny's birthday (which is interestingly the date of the moon landing, a fact that is drawn attention to in Breaven), we get 142 days.

Why would Omocat, someone who is seemingly so fixated on this number, stop this date one number short? We may be able to assume that the non-Sunny or Basil birthdays weren't decided on until after the game was completed, since there are no references to them in game, but still. Was the reference to Mari's name that important?

What if the information that we have been told regarding Mari's birthday is incorrect, or otherwise misleading?

Taking a Leap

There is something special about March 1st. It is the day after the last day of February. Not just February 28th, but February 29th. Consider that someone born on February 29th of a leap year would almost always celebrate their birthday on March 1st. For all intents and purposes, 75% of the time, that would be when their age officially changes.

Had Mari been born on February 29th of a leap year, then length of time between the date of her birth and the date of Sunny's birth would be 143 days, and still allow her to have the "Mar1" reference most of the time! However, I would not mention this in a post like this if this were just a neat idea. I believe there is some evidence for it!

A Quick Note on Hero's Age

Before getting into the evidence directly, I would like to bring up something regarding ages in Omori, and how we understand them.

Within Headspace, Hero says that he is 15 years old. That means we can place him at 15 pre-canon, and 19 in the current day, right? This is how most people interpret it. But I have an issue with it.

When Hero returns during Two Days Left to see the hero sandwich that was purchased for him, he makes the following comment:

What this tells us is that this is Hero's second summer back from college, at least. Why is this relevant? In the United States, where the game takes place, your average person turns 19 during their freshman year of college, and 20 during their second year. Considering Hero's January 1st birthday, this should actually make him 20 during the game's events, and 16 for most of the pre-canon events that we see, with the notable exception that he would be 15 during Christmas. Considering Hero's over-achiever status, one could possibly make the assumption that he simply skipped a year, explaining him being 19 but in his second year of college, but we should also take into account that we are directly told that he barely left his bed for about a year "even for school". Even graduating on time would've been a big ask, and skipping grades isn't all that common to begin with.

There are three much more likely explanations here, in my opinion:

Hero's age within Headspace is taken from Christmas/before most of the events of the photo album, explaining why he would be 15. Of course, the photo album exists within Headspace, which Basil didn't receive until after Hero's birthday, but this could simply be Sunny's mind cherry-picking. It makes sense that he would generally want to remember his interactions with his friends prior to when the violin entered his life. Regardless, this concept is impossible to confirm, as to my knowledge, the age of Aubrey, Sunny, and Basil are not discussed, so we wouldn't be able to go off of them being 11.

Hero's birthday inconsistency can be chalked up to no one other than Sunny or Basil having a stated birthday in the game itself. It's most apparent with Aubrey's birthday, where Basil took pictures of an event only two days after, but never mentions hers, implying that the other characters simply did not have concrete birthdays prior to the publication of the birthday chart.

At some point in development, the ages of the younger kids in the album were switched from 13 to 12. We know this because an earlier version of the album messages exists within Omori's files. From this, we might also extrapolate that Hero's age was also reduced from 16 to 15, and they simply forgot or didn't care to correct the line implying that he has been in college for two years.

Ultimately, there is no actual evidence for any of the potential explanations for this inconsistency. However, we should also consider that there is no actual evidence that Hero and Mari are even the exact same age! We take the fact that they are as a given, but Mari's age is never discussed like the rest of the group. Considering there are multiple mentions of her taking college prep courses leading up to the incident, but none for Hero despite his over-achiever tendencies and similarly future-minded parents, we could very well assume that Mari is actually a year ahead of Hero.

Whatever you believe, I did want to bring this up while discussing Mari's birthday, since it likely does play into how much you buy into this. I also believe that it is relevant that Mari be 4 years older than Sunny, for reasons that I will discuss later.

The Evidence

I would like to acknowledge that there is nearly zero direct evidence either inside or outside the game to support or deny the idea that Mari was born on February 29th of a leap year. Basil skips her birthday in his album, absolving him of having to comment on any weirdness surrounding it, and we have not yet had Mari's birthday happen on a leap year for it to be commented on otherwise.

Of course, the 143 connection could serve as evidence in of itself, but is there anything more?

Well, for this to even be possible, we must be able to show that Mari could've even been born on a leap year. How do we do that, when specific years are never mentioned?

Well, for one, we know that at the very least, pre-canon happens in the 90's, due to Hero's portrait in Last Resort. In addition, there are several days in the album that have to be school days, and March 9th and March 10th must be a Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Without getting into too much detail, this leaves us with two possible years for the year of the photo album: 1991 and 1996. Using various circumstantial evidence such as the kind of technology we see represented, which of those dates would be closer to Omocat's childhood, and some merch related evidence involving the Hooligans jacket, I'd like to focus in on 1996 as our date, though this can also work for 1991 with the evidence we have.

If we work off of the assumption that Mari was 16 years old when she died, then that means that she would've been born in 1980. That's a leap year, showing that it is possible that she was born on that date! Of course, this doesn't work if you believe that she was 15 when she died, but 15 would also work if the game takes place in 1991. However, I do believe that we are to believe that Mari was 16 when she died. Consider the following:

Mari is born in 1980; a leap year, her birthday to July 20th is 143 days.

4 years later, Sunny is born in 1984; the length of time with their birthdays is 143 days.

12 years later, the year of the album. Mari turns 16 and Sunny turns 12; their birthdays are 143 days apart.

4 years later, in the year 2000, Sunny leaves his house. 143 days from her birthday to his.

Of course, it still does work if Mari is 15 and the game takes place in 1991 pre-canon, but I think the four year age difference is relevant as well, due to how it lines up above, plus Hero being in his second year of college implies that the common interpretation of Hero being 19 in the real world sections of the game is actually inaccurate.

None of this really adds up to anything for certain. However, we are about half a year away from the first time Mari's birthday has happened during a leap year since the release of the game, and I would very much argue that the appearance of this number is not accidental.

[project-sekai-facts]

hi! first off, wanted to say thank you for all the fun facts - truly makes my day whenever there’s a new post from this blog :D

secondly, not sure if anyone else has asked this, but i was wondering what your thoughts are on whether a cohesive in-universe timeline of events could actually be constructed? (someday, from the depths of despair happening before n25 main story, l/n main story happening in the beginning of the school year, etc.) i’d imagine you’d have to ignore or somehow squish together all the holiday/seasonal events, or is it simply impossible to squeeze about three years of events into one cohesive ‘canon’ year?

anyways, hope you have a good rest of your day/evening :) keep up the good work!

Omg thank you?? I'm honoured haha

This is my pepe silvia moment sorry

Never underestimate my probable neurodivergence. It's a work in progress and I want to try and get it done by September but the horrible amount of anachronisms in the main story is killing me. Like WxS simultaneously has to be the first and last main story because it needs to happen before the MMJ and VBS stories but also after Leo/need but that takes place at the same time as MMJ but also before it and WxS also has to be after VBS because WxS isn't a thing when akitoya divorce but then Leo/need doesn't exist when akitoya divorce either Saki isn't even at school yet which means there's no MMJ either but WxS exists before Kohane cuts her hair and MMJ story is in progress when that happens like what. I'm calling this confirmation that the main stories were written by 5 different teams. That or no one proofread anything. Oh there's also a massive error with Haruka's age where they say she's 16 but based on when the story is set she should be 15 and the game insists she was never pushed back a year. Thanks colopale.

Anyway since only one main story mentions a date as far as I remember (WxS) I've been trying to build it off of that. There are still errors because the date mentioned is "first day of school break", you can work out that they're talking about summer break by process of elimination but then none of the other units go on summer vacation. But like we'll just ignore that because I'm too tired to deal with colopale's bad continuity writing. Also the game takes place in the 2021-2022 school year because the only date ever shown in game was 2021 and it was in an event set in September/October. The Leo/need socmed posts have mentioned other dates but we'll ignore that also.

And because I misread your question yes you can squeeze everything into a canon year...kinda. You have to timeloop it because they straight up mention in secret distance that they're going on spring break (end of school year break) and literally don't even bring up the fact that it's the end of the school year.

So I think based on what I've got right now:

WxS main story is during summer break and a week or so prior.

Which means Saki and Haruka return to school in June or July probably (they start at around the same time and it's not mentioned that Haruka starts at the beginning of the school year)

and then VBS happens once the WxS story is done (we'll call that after summer break. so september)

Miyajou doesn't get a summer break that year to fix anachronisms rip

Then we skip september for every unit except VBS and pretty much follow the events in order until we get to Secret Distance (March 2022) and loop back to April 2021 and keep doing that at every half anniversary event.

I'm assuming when we reach 3rd we'll skip all the way from September 2021 to April 2022, not timeloop and then pretend that May->September 2022 isn't real and do a Halloween event.

All the flashback events fit onto the timeline without me having to change anything somehow so at least I can respect colopale for that

This is fine

Hatsune Miku broke space-time

[onechicagolife]

ᴀʙꜱᴇɴᴛɪᴀ | ᴊᴀʏ ʜᴀʟꜱᴛᴇᴀᴅ

Detective Jay Halstead is a senior member of the Intelligence Unit, where he is partnered with Detective Hailey Upton after his former partner went missing undercover. While he never wanted to give up hope, the CPD assumed her dead and he was resigned to accept it. Now, two years later, Jay gets a sudden phone call with news that changes his life forever. Avery Clarke is alive. want to be tagged? link in bio <3

Chapter Nine

"Are we helping out on a case?" Avery directs the question to her boss, uncertainty only growing when he folds his arms over his chest and silently looks at Lang.

"Sort of," Agent Lang starts slowly, eyeing her skeptically before noting the impatient quirk of her brow. He clears his throat, "Actually, I'm here about your case. I want to talk about the last two years."

Her heart skips a beat in her chest, and she swallows, "What about it? Are you on the Volkov case?" It's been weeks since her return and they officially lost the case again, not even being told which agency had it. Every single time she or Hank have reached out for an update, they've been stonewalled. She's tired of being frozen out, but if the case is being handled by the DEA instead of the FBI, maybe her connections can finally get them somewhere.

"I'm part of the DEA task force," Lang carefully pauses. He knows her well enough to prepare himself for the temper she occasionally exhibits. "And so were you."

A sharp inhale cuts through the thick silence that follows, Avery blinking with furrowed brows as she attempts to process the admission. How in the hell was she part of a federal task force when it wasn't even a federal case two years ago? Hank can sense the shock and confusion coming from the detective, so he steps in, setting aside his own shock, "What do you mean, she was part of the task force?"

"You weren't missing," the agents starts, "You were undercover, for us." Unable to believe the words coming from the man's mouth, Avery turns on her heels and begins to pace in the small space, dragging her fingers through her hair. She closes her eyes and tugs harder at the tangled strands, as if the pain might magically cause the memories to resurface. At her lack of response, Lang continues with what he knows, "After your cover was blown, they held you for interrogation. They tortured you for weeks. Beatings, electric shock, sensory deprivation. But you never broke. Actually, you convinced them that you were who you said you were — Talia — and that you and a few others were planning on betraying the Aleksovs. The wire was so that you could use the information for yourself.

"They believed you. I still don't understand how you did it, but you gained their trust and struck a deal. In exchange for your life, you'd give them everything they needed to take control of the Aleksovs' operations. After almost three months, you got them to trust you enough to let you go on the promise that you'd work for them. By this time, the FBI had taken the case from Major Crimes, and we were planning on officially making a task force. They had an undercover, very low level but had his ear to the ground. Once Nikolai Volkov successfully used your information to dismantle the Aleksovs, there was talk about a "beautiful woman" that got caught with a wire but was able to charm Nikolai with her business savvy and flexible loyalty. We started to suspect it could be you."

Having heard enough, Avery finally interrupts, shaking her head in disbelief over what she is hearing, "No. This doesn't make any sense. If I somehow 'charmed' them enough to let me go, why didn't I contact CPD as soon as possible? Why didn't I call Hank?" She glances to the older man as his name falls past her lips, desperately searching for any kind of answer in his eyes. But she only finds that he is just as unsure as she is.

Lang folds his arms across his chest, "We had agents waiting at the locations we knew about to intercept you at first chance. That's when you and I connected for the first time. I gave you my pitch: no one has ever gotten as deep within the Volkov organization as you had the chance to, Avery. And if you left then, they'd think you were betraying them. They'd come after you and they wouldn't stop. So, you agreed to go back in as part of our federal investigation long enough to help our undercover agent rise higher up in the ranks. You'd have to stay 'missing' for just a couple months, so that you could get out without raising suspicions and set us up to take them down. Do you remember Special Agent Anderoff – Jim – from the task force a few years back? He became your main contact. After a few weeks, you found evidence of something bigger. Turns out, the Volkovs have been trafficking in more than just guns and drugs."

"Women," Voight realizes gruffly, and her blood runs cold.

Lang nods, "And girls. Some as young as twelve, and we had no idea. You couldn't walk away."

A warehouse full of cages flashes behind her eyes before being replaced by the cold, battered body of Nadia. The image of her teenage self, high out of her mind and pressed down against a dirty couch.

"We thought that by taking the case from the CPD, it would stop the investigation into your disappearance. And it did, for a while. But Detective Halstead never fully stopped looking into things, and one lead he was following started to get close to you. If we hadn't planted faulty intel, he'd have ended up getting himself or you killed." She exhales a breath, facing Lang and meeting his eyes for the first time in minutes. "Avery, it was your idea to fake your death. You knew that Halstead would never stop looking for you so long as there was some shred of hope that you were still alive. We planted some seeds about a woman matching your description having been killed, and after a little bit of pressure on the deputy superintendent, they had you declared dead."

No. "You're saying..." There was no way. "You're saying that I chose this?" Her voice shakes as she forces the words out, a painful sting starting to build in the pit of her stomach. There was no way she would let her friends and family think that she was dead... Would she? To protect them, to protect Jay?

Avery blinks back the tears that begin to well in her eyes, deciding that right now, something she can focus on – something she can control – is anger. "Why now?" she grits out, taking a step towards Lang as her volume continues to rise, "Why come to me now, when you've known what happened to me this whole time?"

"I wanted to," he tries to assure, "As soon as we found out what happened, I wanted to. The decision was made way above my paygrade. When the agency heard about your memory loss, they decided it was better to keep you in the dark. Your cover was likely blown but you... well, they thought you would want to go back in to finish what you started. I finally managed to convince them to let me come see you today." Lang shuffles around a few things in his bag before pulling out a manila file folder. He extends it towards her, "You're not an agent, so this is as much information that I could get them to hand over."

Avery eyes the much-too-thin folder with a scoff, "What, I don't have clearance to read about my own life?"

When she stubbornly refuses to take it from his outstretched hand, Lang sighs and sets it on the edge of Voight's desk instead, "I'm sorry." With no response other than a stiff nod from Voight, Lang offers another apology before leaving the office.

A soft thud echoes as the door closes behind him and Avery brings her palms up to press into her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling and stifle the burgeoning headache. "This can't be real," she mutters as she shakes her head.

Hank picks up the folder before flipping through the pages, eyes skimming over its contents. "There's photos," he confirms, "It's your signature on these reports."

She doesn't believe him. Avery snatches the file from his hands but can't bring herself to look at it herself. She can't believe him. There's ringing in her ears and pounding behind her eyes, and the air is suddenly so thick that she struggles to take in a complete breath. Spinning on her heels, she wretches the door open and storms into the bullpen, immediately feeling the weight of seven pairs of eyes. One pair in particular burns at her skin, and she fights the urge to meet them. Stepping quickly to her desk, she rips her jacket from the back of the chair.

Hank calls out her name from the doorway of his office to no avail. "Detective Clarke," he says firmly, raising his voice in a way that causes her to halt in her tracks halfway across the room. "Just take a breath, we'll figure this out."

Clenching her jaw tightly to fight the sob clawing at the back of her throat, Avery glances over her shoulder at the older man, "We? There is no 'we,' Hank. Apparently, I made sure of that." With that, Voight watches without objection as she rushes down the staircase. He doesn't know what he could possibly say to stop her from leaving, to stop her from spiraling, when he is just as lost for words. As he turns to head back into his office, he spots Ruzek stand from his desk out of the corner of his eye. "Don't," he orders, and Adam halts his stride, "Let her go."

This cannot be real. This cannot be real. This cannot be real.

She doesn't know how long she's been sitting here, alone in her car. The sun has already traveled across every window, shining through the glass and bouncing off the pages now sitting beside her. Avery stares straight ahead, but her eyes blur everything out. Reading the words on those pages — her words — was supposed to give her some answers. Answers other than what she was told: that she chose to let everyone she loves think that she was dead.

But they were her words, and the proof that she was undercover for the DEA was right there in black and white. And she knows that vowing to put an end to a sex trafficking ring is something she would do. After what happened to Nadia, she would never let anything like that happen to another girl if she could help it. The last two years started with torture and pain before being spent gathering intel, arranging deals, and sabotaging whatever she could. The information has allowed her to construct images in her head, rebuilding the memories she lost, but there are still gaps between the reports she was given. She can feel it in her gut that there is something missing, something important. Something that she needs to remember.

She has lost everything. She lost two years of her life, two people she considered family died without her being there. She can understand staying undercover, sacrificing her normal job and life. But if she made the choice to fake her death, that means she chose to sacrifice the man she loves. That means that everything that's changed, the way things are now, is her fault.

The sound of a car horn pulls Avery back to reality, and she blinks away the tears clouding her vision. She hadn't even realized that she was crying as she wipes her cheeks with the backs of her hands. Taking in her surroundings, her eyes land on the bar across the street from where she's parked in front of her new building. After staying with Hank since her return, she decided it was time to get back to normal by looking for her own apartment. She has still been at the home she grew up in, though, until she gets actual furniture besides the mattress still in the plastic resting on the floor.

Avery stares at the bar for a few minutes, watching the people that walk in while it's still light out and contemplating whether she should be one of them. She knows that she shouldn't go inside. She knows that she should go back to work. She knows that she shouldn't let the contents of that file drive her into a spiral.

She goes inside.

Avery sets down the box filled with the rest of her clothes, taking in the furniture finally set up in the bedroom. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips, relieved that she has an actual bed to sleep in instead of the mattress she's been crashing on the last few nights after stumbling home from the bar. She walks back into the main area of the apartment, smiling wider as Kevin finishes mounting her television and Adam adjusts the couch. Avery narrows her eyes as she watches Kim playfully throwing cushions at him to set up, their laughter filling the apartment. "Thank you guys again for helping me today," she gushes.

"Stop thanking us," Kim laughs, "You know we're happy to help." She moves to head to the bathroom, squeezing Avery's hand with a smile as she passes.

Avery watches until she is for sure out of earshot before slowly making her way towards Adam with a smirk. He plops down on the couch with a sigh before spotting her, eyeing her warily, "What's that look for?"

"What's going on with you and Kim?" she counters with a raised brow. He rolls his eyes and throws his head back with a groan. Pointing an accusatory finger, she chuckles, "I knew it. You're hooking up again."

Adam can't fight the smile that creeps up, giving a half shrug, "Maybe."

"Maybe," she mocks as she sits down next to him, earning another eye roll.

They spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out, eating pizza and watching the game on her freshly set up tv. After a few hours, Avery bids them goodbye and starts unpacking her clothes until she can't ignore the itch anymore. She grabs a glass from the kitchen, pouring drink that ends up containing a hefty amount of vodka and just a splash of soda before heading back to the bedroom. She moves over to the window that she managed to turn into a makeshift crime board. Opening the panels, Avery stares at the photos and pages she taped up days ago. She knows that there is way more to the story of the last two years, and she is going to figure it out. Agent Lang was right. She is going to finish what she started.

tag list: @talicat713​ @anotherfan07 @nevaehstreater18 @hehurst23 @goingwiththewind @pinkwhitebrown @jesseleesofferupdates @mrspeacem1nusone @romanogersendgame @nobodycanknowus​ @toomuchtv95 @atarmychick007 @butterflylies​ @imtoanonymousforyou​ @renataficrecs​ @ossypooh​ @haynsey​ @hajrakhan​ @whothehelliskayleigh​ @silentbutscreaming​ @letsstarsfalling​ @brookerz122493​ @mrshalsteadxx​ @itserickalove​ @livstilinski​ @bebataylor84​ @sande5098​ @withakindheartx​ @star017​ @camillyb​ @nerdybeansprout​ @munteanmiss​ @jackson-n​​ @callsignlunar

[kryptonitecore]

Reread: The Transformers (2009), #1-4

This comic really wants you to know that Spike Witwicky fucks, and I hate that.

We’ve gone from Furman to McCarthy to Mike Costa, who, as TFWiki points out, was at one point the third most prolific author in the Transformers canon, writing more than thirty issues. He would eventually be outstripped by later writers like Barber and Roberts, but I think I really underestimated just how much of IDW1 Costa actually wrote.

We have another time jump, this time to either two or three years into the future after Megatron’s defeat. I’m slightly wobbly on exactly how long it has been, since the comics themselves waver back and forth. Costa begins with his version of Optimus, who is very verbose… if in a slightly unfortunate way. No to be juvenile, but when you put together phrases like ‘reduced, in our impotence, to naked hope’ I can only assume you are doing it deliberately.

The art is similarly interesting, as Don Figueroa began to opt for Bayverse-inspred designs, which appear in several issues. I’m not a huge fan of that, though it does perhaps indicate who they are aiming this comic towards. A slight quirk in the art of the human characters, meanwhile, is that they often look kind of sleepy, with their eyes half-lidded. That, or they have a sort of resting sneer.

Characterisation with Costa is extremely variable. In some cases he picks up right where Shane McCarthy left off and builds from there, for example with Thundercracker, but with others he takes characters in a completely different direction. I think the most obvious example of this here is Prowl. In one of the first scenes, Prowl sees that Breakdown is potentially about to be captured or killed by Skywatch, Spike Witwicky’s anti-Cybertronian task force. Morally outraged, Prowl impulsively rushes in, breaking cover and disobeying orders to try and help the Decepticon, eventually getting captured for his trouble. Now, character interpretation is subjective, but this is coming after Furman’s strict Prowl, McCarthy’s embattled Prowl in All Hail Megatron, and the introduction of Nick Roche’s cynical, pragmatic version. Not only is this pretty out of character by any of those standards, it’s just kind of a confusing move - there were so many other Autobot characters who could have done something like this more believably, but it ends up being Prowl for some reason.

Ironhide is killed off very early on, so new readers probably would not have had much time to develop an attachment to him, and his backstory with Optimus was only filled out in one of the coda stories at the end of All Hail Megatron.

Speaking of Optimus… Wow, is Costa’s Optimus Prime not working for me at the moment. He’s combining a lot of verbose narration with some very high-handed actions and overall the character seems sort of clueless, vague, and oddly indifferent to the wellbeing of his own faction. I presume that Costa was interested in exploring the idea of a martyr complex and I honestly don’t mind that angle at all, but here the character seems to view himself as beholden to humans to a weird degree, even defecting to Skywatch. I know that Costa was interested in a human-focused storyline, but it’s really kind of jarring to see the character change so abruptly.

This isn’t helped by the fact that a lot of the Cybertronians in general, not even just the Autobots, come across as a bit hapless and are pretty easily captured by small teams of humans with some advanced technology, when only two or three years prior the US military was so incapable of fighting the Decepticons that other countries were preparing nuclear countermeasures. The time-skip helps make this more plausible and characters like Breakdown are presumably not in good condition, but it’s still a massive turnaround that takes place off-page. Regardless of these technological surges, Optimus is portrayed as feeling intensely guilty and somewhat pitying towards humanity, even as Skywatch begins attacking and abducting Autobots, including Prowl. And that’s a thing! Optimus seems weirdly complacent about Prowl being captured, despite the fact that Skywatch were actively trying to kill a fleeing Breakdown and, say, what the Machination did with Sunstreaker. I think perhaps Costa was so focused on developing Optimus’ relationship with the human characters that any sort of loyalty or camaraderie or concern about the second in command being kidnapped is framed as an overreaction. Certainly, Hot Rod/Rodimus is painted as impulsive and over-emotional, even as Optimus abdicates and defects, abandoning his faction in a crisis situation, because he feels really bad, you guys. The problem is that I don’t know if the irony is intentional or not.

Ironhide’s comments really don’t help in that scene, as he is written with a very condescending tone: ‘You did the right thing, Prime. Make the kid [Hot Rod] feel like he’s doing something’. Keep in mind, this is in response to Hot Rod taking a team to rescue Prowl… The apparently shocking revelation that the humans are willing to use lethal weaponry against them (despite the fact that they have killed and abducted multiple Transformers by this point?) results in Ironhide taking a shot for Hot Rod and dying. To be honest, it didn’t have a ton of impact on me, especially as it felt rather hurried. Apparently, Costa wanted to kill of Bumblebee, but Hasbro refused, so Ironhide was substituted in. Initially, I thought that Ironhide’s death was going to be used as a sort of ‘punishment’ for Hot Rod for not listening to Optimus, especially given the emphasis those panels put on the fact that Ironhide died protecting him and his reaction afterwards. However, in the following issues it didn’t seem to head in that direction at all. If anything, it helped to speed up Hot Rod’s alienation from the Autobot hierarchy. Also, a lot of characters call Hot Rod ‘kid’ in this, despite the character not being younger than them in this canon. It’s minor, but the character is written to be particularly immature here in a way I don’t think some fans would appreciate.

The strongest moments of these issues probably come in the one focused on Thundercracker, which I don’t particularly like, yet I suspect is the most competent bit of writing. Between this and ‘Heavy Lies the Head’, perhaps this is an indication that Costa fared better with character-focused issues? However, I didn’t enjoy the slower pace as much as I could have, as one of the chief complaints about the Costa run overall is that it is very decompressed, essentially not a lot happening in each issue and some arguably wasteful uses of limited panel space throughout. As a result, this feels like a slow issue among already slow issues, rather than a change of speed. 

Costa leans heavily into the change of heart for Thundercracker that McCarthy began, really developing his appreciation for humanity and Earth into something more philosophical and personal, a choice that would influence the character’s portrayal for the rest of the continuity. Nevertheless, I don’t love it, as I feel that his internal narration relies on a few too many faulty premises (the Decepticons were incapable of wiping out humanity, Transformers are a static and unchanging species, lacking in personal development, that Earth is the first time that Thundercracker has had an opportunity to appreciate beauty). Ultimately, I think that Costa turns the very internal process of Thundercracker reevaluating his life and then focuses that outwards… But it ends up going in the direction of putting humanity and the Earth at the centre of everything in a way that feels a little self-aggrandising. It feels like it flattens the Cybertronian characters (and any other alien species that are portrayed later) in favour of the human ones, I suppose.

Speaking of flattening, this is a minor bugbear, but IDW1 in this period had a bit of a fixation on ‘brothers’. Characters use the word a lot in dialogue: talking about literal brothers, members of their faction, members of their team, particular friends, and even just anyone with a similar frame type to them. I don’t like it because it’s used to so many times and in so many contexts that it starts to lack any meaning, effectively just flattening social dynamics between specific characters to very broad, boring ideas of loose alliance. Costa also makes a point of having several characters fail to understand idioms, despite the fact that it hasn’t really been a problem in previous comics, which further helps to make their speech seem formal and distant. See also: Optimus Prime’s voice.

This is also my first extended look at Spike Witwicky under a new writer and it’s not great. Thing is, I think there were ways Spike could have been a much more interesting or sympathetic character than he has ended up being so far, even keeping this general shape.  They clearly wanted a more action-hero-esque version of the character, so they aged him up, made him and his father military, had him be incredibly central to the plot and way more adversarial… Yet you also cannot tell me that Costa was not writing him to be obnoxious on purpose. I think wish fulfilment is the only explanation I can think of, that Spike was intended for certain readers to project themselves onto. Hence the insistence on the fact that Spike fucks. And drives a cool car. And is really muscular. And is in a super prestigious position with authority yet does whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences. And the frequent references to incredibly non-specific problems with his father.

Swindle does have good finger guns, though.

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

BLEACH: The Thousand Year Blood War Ep 17 Reactions and Thoughts

Overall reaction:

I must admit, I don't have much to say about this one. There were only three main events, and two of them I really liked.

Highlights:

Theory confirmed!: it was a theory everyone and their mother had, but it was still nice to get confirmation. So, Ichigo got glimpses of Reio's past, and more or less showed he has the power/ability to become the next Reio. Considering that the manga more or less skips over Ichigo's development after the attention turns back to the Soul Society, this additional content is welcomed for me. I looked forward to seeing what he'll have to do with Senjumaru (I assume they'll have a scene with the two of them). MY GIRL IS BACK: and she has some awesome gifs of her:

After so many years, seeing Momo for more then a minute was so great! And of course, she can LIFT! I'll admit, i laughed the first time I saw her pick up Shinji and carry him off, but now, I'm glad a fandom headcanon about her being hella strong got confirmed. Sajin vs Bambietta: talk about emotional! This was a fantastic adaption, and one that reminded me of what I came to really like about Sajin. Back when he fought Tosen, he looked down on his former friend seeking revenge for the sake of another. Tosen sought revenge against the Soul Society for not giving justice for his dead friend and letting the killer walk away unscathed. He transformed himself, both internally and then externally with his Ressureccion form, which was essentially a power up. In doing so, he gained sight for the first time in his life, and ended up calling Sajin 'ugly' because of his appearance; however, in his dying moments, wanted to see Hisagi's face, but was unable to do so. In the current fight, Sajin went through both the same and the opposite. He transformed into a human, but it was at the cost of handing his heart over to his Great Grandfather. He gained a power up that allowed him to defeat Bambietta, but as he was dying, he transformed back into a wolf, but into the form of an actual wolf. As he transforms and begins to lose himself, he reflects on how this is where revenge for Yamamoto has led him. Both men were out for revenge, and both gained something and lost something in return. For Tosen, he gained sight and immense power, but lost his life in the end because of Aizen, the man he chose to follow to complete his revenge quest. For Sajin, he gained immense power and stayed alive, but he lost his humanoid and beast man forms, unable to ever raise a sword or fight for the Soul Society ever again. He still has Iba, who as we saw is loyal to him through and through, but they can no longer fight together as equals. If I'm also not mistaken, I think it was said Sajin eventually loses his memories of being a Shinigami and currently lives in the woods? Correct me if I'm wrong. Gotta admit though, for all of the emotions this fight gives, I still can't ever how he looks as a human:

What a badass design! Overall, another adaption done right, and another character we have to say goodbye to. Seeing this actually makes me wonder if this was why Rindo Atau was picked to be Seventh Division's next lieutenant. With affinity towards animals, maybe he's able to summon Sajin to the Seventh Division?

So next episode, we have the, uh...beating fight of Rose and Knsei vs Mask de Mascuile. If nothing else, at least we'll get to see Rose's bankai animated, and hopefully they'll include some extra moments of these two at least showing off a little.

[alfvaen]

Novel Score

It's sometime around the beginning of a month, which apparently means these days that it's time for me to do a roundup post of the books I read in the preceding month--in this case, January 2024. Once again have been keeping on top of it during the month which helps me actually produce it in a timely manner. Because I started this back in November/December, doing monthly book posts isn't a New Year's resolution, unless the resolution was just "keep doing it". I'm keeping doing it.

Book list under the cut, book-related ramblings may include spoilers for Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, Martha Wells's Murderbot series, Kelly Meding's Dreg City series, and maybe others. You have been warned.

Ashok Banker: Siege of Mithila, completed January 6

As mentioned previously, I am rapidly running out of books by male "diversity" slot authors in my collection. I read the first Ashok Banker book, Prince of Ayodhya, a few years earlier, and was kind of meh on it, so I wasn't sure if I would continue. But I did pick up the other one as a library discard (ah, the days when I got books and CDs as library discards…back when they used to have a sale rack in the local branch all the time, instead of saving them up for periodic bulk sales…) so I hadn't entirely given up on it. So, in not quite desperation, I turned to Siege of Mithila as my next diversity read.

The series is apparently a retelling of the Ramayana, which is some kind of important epic in India, though I can't judge if it's like "the Bible" or "King Arthur" or "The Iliad" or what, but I assume it's somewhere on that level, at least among certain cultures. My brief skimming of the Wikipedia article on the Ramayana implies that Banker is following the story pretty closely, which means that sometimes it gets a little weird plotwise, but is perhaps more revealing culturally or something. And sometimes it's a wee bit problematic…like the way that the main adversary for the first two books is Ravana, lord of the Asuras (basically demons), who rules over the southern island kingdom of Lanka (like…"Sri Lanka"?), which is populated entirely by Asuras. Which is about like if there was a fantasy series set in England where they had to fight evil demons from the western island kingdom of Eire or something. (Wait…do they have those?) One wonders if this series (or the original Ramayana) are quite as popular in Sri Lanka, then…

Anyway, we mostly follow Rama, the titular Prince of Ayodhya from the first book, and his half-brother Lakshman, but a lot of this book is also set back in the palace in Ayodhya following Rama's father the Maharaja, his three wives, and the evil (and hunchbacked--oh look, it's equating deformity with wickedness, that's awesome) witch Manthara as she and Ravana try to sabotage the kingdom from within. Rama and Lakshman end up going to Mithila instead of back to Ayodhya, and foiling a big Asura attack on the city, which comes unbelievably close to the end of the book and is not quite solved by deus ex machina, but doesn't feel particularly satisfying.

One element of the series is that some of the characters are just like ridiculously powerful sages who were like "I've been meditating for 5000 years so I'm really wise and can do anything, though I guess I should let Rama solve a few things on his own to gain some of his own wisdom". Not that this is all that different from, say, Gandalf or Merlin, of course... There are also some odd storytelling choices, like switching to a different set of characters just at a dramatic point in a different storyline, or, in one major side-quest, just skipping the ending of it and coming back to it a couple of chapters later in flashbacks. Also, one character is given important advice by a ghost which he then completely ignores (luckily other people overrule him, but it bugged me).

The book kind of feels like the second book of a trilogy, but not quite, which makes sense because apparently there are eight other books in the series, so it's not just about fighting Ravana and the Asuras. I'm on the bubble about the series, as you may have gathered, so I don't know offhand if I'll be going on.

T. Kingfisher: Clockwork Boys, completed January 9

I paced myself going through Siege of Mithila, taking seven days for it (I started on December 31st to get a little head start), so it put me a bit behind on my Goodreads challenge (100 books for the year, again). This means, time to read some shorter things! I haven't read any T. Kingfisher yet (though I have read, like, the webcomic "Digger" under her real name, Ursula Vernon, if nothing else), so I let my wife, who has read a lot of them, suggest which one I should start with, and this was the one she chose (at the time; it may have been a couple of years ago). We have it as an ebook from Kobo, which sometimes makes it a little hard to tell how long the book actually is in pages, but Goodreads claimed it was under 300 pages, so it seemed a possible three-day read.

I was, I guess, vaguely expecting a steampunk story involving two boys who were made of clockwork or something, but apparently it's more straight fantasy (not too similar to the Ramayana was far as I can tell, though, which is good because I like consecutive reads to vary in genre if at all possible) where the Clockwork Boys are the bad guys. Also, apparently this is the first of a duology, a "long book split in two" duology as opposed to "book and a sequel featuring the same characters" duology.

The characters seem somewhat interesting, though I'm not sure I'm 100% won over. Sir Caliban for some reason reminds me of both Sanderson's Kaladin and Bujold's Cazaril, but maybe it's just the similarity of names enhancing certain similarities of character. And the demons also made me think of Bujold's Penric books. Maybe the tone is a little light for me on this one. We've got the second one as an ebook too, so I'll finish it off at some point and then maybe take a look at Nettle & Bone or something.

Kelly Meding: The Night Before Dead, completed January 12

As I may have also mentioned previously, I've tried a whole lot of urban fantasy series. Many of them, my wife has enjoyed more than I have, and is all caught up on them, but most of those I'm only a few books in. (I've given up on relatively few--Jennifer Estep and Jess Haines, among others.) For whatever reason, my wife didn't like the first book in Kelly Meding's "Dreg City" series, Three Days To Dead, and this time, to be actually clever about it, I decided to read the book myself and decide if I wanted to continue on in the series before it went out of print. As it turned out, I did like the first book, and I kept reading it on my own. When the series got dropped by the publisher after four books, I even went and bought the last two books (self-published, probably print on demand) to finish the series.

So this is the last one, which is supposed to wrap up the main conflict. Our main character, Evy Stone, started out the series waking up after death in a newly-vacated body; she was part of a group that worked to deal with paranormal threats. This world has beast-form shapeshifters named "Theria", vampires, and lots of types of fey--mostly pretty usual when it comes to urban fantasy--and their existence is unknown to world at large, etc.

Thie book does seem to wrap things up well enough, at least for the main characters, though it's hard to say if all the resolutions are satisfying. Still, it was enjoyable enough. She does have a couple of other, shorter series which I can try next, since we do actually own them. (And maybe some stuff under a different name?)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Brothers In Arms, completed January 15

Next (chronologically) in the reread order, this is the one where Miles goes to Earth and discovers the existence of his clone-brother Mark (spoilers). It starts up with a level of frustration--why does Miles have to stay at the embassy, and why aren't his mercenaries getting paid?--but things mostly work out in the end. Ivan shows up again (by authorial fiat--it's a bit too much of a coincidence, really), we meet recurring character Duv Galeni, and of course Mark, as mentioned already. It's not a particular favourite, but it's pretty good. And without it, how would we get Mirror Dance, and thus Memory?

I feel like I should be able to say more about it, but I've already talked about the Vorkosigan series a lot in previous posts, and, like I said, it's not a particular favourite. I guess I could mention how the first time through the series I read them in publication order, and so this was before The Vor Game and Cetaganda… Also, although we don't see much of Earth outside of London, we do get a good look at the gigantic dikes being used to hold back the ocean, because in the intervening mumble-mumble centuries the sea levels have risen. So presumably the icecaps have melted or something, though it doesn't seem like the Gulf Stream has shut down or anything, so maybe they have managed to mitigate things somewhat. An interesting view of future Earth, anyway, without going too overboard on covering the vast majority of the planet not relevant to our immediate plot.

Seth Dickinson: The Traitor Baru Cormorant, completed January 20

Taking another book from my list of authors to try (currently stored on my pool table); I picked this one because apparently the author has a new book coming out, and I do see people talking about the character from time to time, so clearly this is a book/series that has had some staying power and cultural impact, as opposed to something obscure that apparently sank without a trace. But this is a book that my wife tried, and either didn't finish or didn't want to continue the series.

And, having finished it, I can see why. I wouldn't say that it's a bad book…but I didn't, in the end, like it. I read it all the way to the end, and I've decided I'll leave it there and not try to continue the series. And probably I won't look for other books by Dickinson either. Like Ian McDonald's Desolation Road, which I read last year, I felt, as I was reading it, that this was a book I would have liked a lot better when I was younger, but these days it just doesn't do it for me.

It has the feeling of fantasy, in that it's set in a different world from our own, and there is none of the futuristic technology that would explain this as being a colony world…but there is also little or nothing in the way of magic. A little alchemy, maybe, but I don't know that it's out of line with what you could achieve with actual drugs. No wizards, and I don't think there were supernatural creatures either. But it's fantasy-coded, and maybe there's some minor thing I'm forgetting. It's not about magic, though. It's really about colonialism, and what happens when you're sucked into the colonizer's system so far that you think that the only way to help your people is by going along with that system. And Baru Cormorant is somewhat autistic-coded, perhaps--not only is she a savant, but she seems to have trouble figuring out the motives and feelings of others. Puts too much confidence in the ability to explain everything using economics (the character and possibly also the author, quite frankly), in a way which reminds me mostly of Dave Sim's deconstruction of faith and fantasy in Cerebus: Church And State. Not sure if it counts as grimdark, but it feels like the honorable are punished for their naivety like in "A Song of Ice And Fire". I lost sympathy for the main character partway through, and never got much for anyone else either. One character I liked and hoped to see more of was (gratuitously?) killed in the middle of the book. I was forewarned of the existence of a plot twist at the end of the book, and when it came, although I wasn't completely surprised, I was disappointed, and I didn't feel that it worked.

So, yeah. Your mileage may vary, but this book did not win me over.

Charles Stross: The Annihilation Score, completed January 25

I wanted something a bit more light-hearted after the previous book, but not, apparently, too much so. Charles Stross's "Laundry Files" series is set against a backdrop of cosmic horror and the looming end of the world, but also of British governmental bureaucracy, out of which he can usually pull of a fair amount of humour, as well as humanity. The main protagonist of the series is Bob Howard (named in honour of Robert E. Howard, inventor of Conan and friend of Lovecraft), computational demonologist, and the books in turn have paid tribute to a lot of different sources--James Bond, vampires, American evangelical megachurches, and--in this book--superheroes. But also, in this book, Bob is not our narrator; instead, we get his wife, Mo, in the fallout of a scene in the previous book (which we get from her POV here) with dire implications for their relationship…which has always been kind of a three-way between Bob, Mo, and Mo's soul-eating sentient violin, and this triangle has now come to a crisis. Plus there's superheroes.

Stross notes in the introduction that he never really read American superhero comics, so he had to pick a few brains about them, but the book really isn't about American superheroes either; he references the British superhero anthology series "Temps" (which I never did manage to read, since I only managed to find the second book, but now I feel like I should check out) as contrasted with the "Wild Cards" series.

All in all it's pretty decent, with lots of witty read-aloud bits, but the pacing is odd; there's a lot of plotlines, and some of them don't seem to progress for a long time. Some of them turn out to be red herrings, I guess, but overall it doesn't gel as well as it could. We don't see much of Bob (which makes sense since this isn't his book), though Mo is a perfectly fine protagonist. I'll be fine going back to Bob for the next book. If I can ever find it.

See, apparently this is the last book in the series I own right now, and probably the next one, The Nightmare Stacks, came and went while I was behind on reading it, and now it's out of print (and possibly never had a mass-market release at all, which is still my preferred format) and seems like it'll be hard to find in any physical format. I mean, I went on a site which allows you to search indie and second-hand bookstores, and the title didn't even come up on search. I have long been resisting switching wholeheartedly over to ebooks (a transition my wife has already made), but I can see that at some point I may have to get used to the fact that ebooks are just replacing mass-market paperbacks for the cheap release format. (I still can't manage to bring myself to spend as much as $8, let alone $12 or more, for an ebook, though. Like…what am I paying for? The publishing costs are minuscule compared to physical copies, and I expect that saving to be passed on to me. I guess I don't know if the extra is being passed on to the author in a non-self-published situation, but given our current corporate hellscape I'm gonna say probably not. Note: if you think this makes me a horrible person who hates writers to make money, please remember that I am married to a writer who I would love to make enough money that I don't have to work, but the publishing industry is horrible and they're the ones that actually have the capability to allow writers to make enough money to make a living, and they're not doing it, so I don't know what to tell you. I've bought thousands of books in my life, even if I don't go out of my way to buy the most expensive ones, because that's a good way to go broke. Get off my back, person I made up for this parenthetical aside.)

Martha Wells: System Collapse, completed January 28

I may be the last person in my house to have read Murderbot. My wife had already read some of Martha Wells earlier books (Raksura series, I want to say) before she read the Murderbot novells, and she loved them and read them to/got our kids to read them too. I eventually scheduled one in (novellas are good when I'm behind on my Goodreads challenge) and…it was okay, I guess? And I kept reading them because, well, more novellas. Last year I read the first novel-length story, Network Effect, and I liked it somewhat better than the novellas, for whatever reason.

I had been putting off the latest one for a little while, though, partly because of my Vorkosigan reread--I generally don't like books that are too close in genre too close together, and they're both kinda space opera-ish, though quite different kinds (Murderbot's future is more corporate-dominated), but next up I'm taking a break for a Dick Francis reread, so I thought I might as well put it in now. Though I've got to say that, since we have it as a physical hardcover as opposed to the digital novella ebooks, I'm really not a big fan of the texture of the dust jacket. Like, it is physically unpleasant to touch, being just a little bit rough. But not as bad as some I'd run across in the past few years, so I don't have to, like, take off the dust jacket to read it.

In the end I didn't like it as well as Network Effect, though I did like the middle bit where Murderbot becomes a Youtube influencer. The early part of the book, Murderbot is in a bit of a depressive state and not fun to read, like the first part of "Order of The Phoenix" or something. I guess if a character is too hypercompetent then nothing challenges them, but I wasn't a big fan of the emotional arc.

Dick Francis: Forfeit, completed January 31

I remember precisely where I was when I first heard of Dick Francis. See, I went to this convention in Edmonton in the summer of 1989, "ConText '89". It was an important convention--a reader-oriented rather than media-dominated SF/Fantasy convention, for one thing, and also it resulted in the formation of the first SF/Fantasy writer's organization in Canada, currently named SF Canada. Oh, and also, I met a cute girl there (Nicole, a YA author guest from northern Alberta), started dating, fell in love, got married, had three kids, and we're still married today.

I also saw this posting for a writing course out at a place called the Black Cat Guest Ranch, in the Rockies near Hinton, and decided to go. There I met Candas Jane Dorsey (who was the instructor for the course) and several other writers, and we later formed a writers' group called The Cult of Pain which is still going to this day. Anyway, I went out for a second course there, with Nicole coming along this time (though we may not have technically been dating and didn't share a room)--I think it was in mid-February sometime--and one evening we were all hanging out in the outdoor hot tub, watching snowflakes melt over our heads, and talking about books. And Candas and Nicole started rhapsodizing about this guy named Dick Francis. I said, "Who?" And they both told me I had to go read him, like, right away.

Dick Francis, apparently, was a former steeplechase jockey turned mystery/thriller writer. Now, mysteries and thrillers were not really my thing--I was into the SF & fantasy--but I supposed I was willing to try it. I was in university and trying to read other stuff outside my comfort zone, like Thomas Hardy and The Brothers Karamazov and William S. Burroughs, so why not. Plus, I wanted my girlfriend to like me. And the first one I picked up was one that one of my roommates had lying around, called Forfeit. It was pretty decent, and I went on to others--Nicole had a copy of Nerve, and I soon started to pick up more--and eventually read almost all of them (a few proved elusive, but I tracked down a copy of Smokescreen not long ago…).

Every book was concerned in some way with horse racing, but there was a wide variety--sometimes the main character was a jockey, but sometimes that was just their side hustle, and they had another profession, or sometimes they did something else like train horses or transport horses, or paint pictures of horses, or they didn't do anything about horses but the romantic interest did… He covered a lot of different professions over his books, they were usually quite interesting, and his characters were always very well-drawn. After his wife Mary (apparently an uncredited frequent collaborator and researcher) died, there was a gap of a few years before he started writing them with his son Felix. I think I read all of those ones, but after he died and Felix started writing solo novels, I haven't really kept up on those ones.

Instead, a few years ago I decided I was going to reread all the books, in publication order, interspersed with my series rereads as I was already doing with Discworld and Star Trek books. Forfeit is his seventh published book…and when I went to look for it on my shelf, I discovered that I actually didn't own a copy, and probably never had. I had just borrowed it from my roommate, and then given it back (a rookie mistake). Was it in print? Of course not, don't be silly. I had managed to find a used copy of Smokescreen online, as I mentioned, but for Forfeit there was only more expensive trade paperbacks, or $8 ebooks. They didn't even have it at the library! Except, well, they did…but I'd have to interlibrary loan it. I went back on forth on which to try to do, and eventually went ILL, and it came in for me at the library on the 20th. So there, overpriced ebooks. (And person I made up for the earlier parenthetical aside.)

Dick Francis novels have turned to be pretty rereadable, because they're not primarily mysteries of the sort where you don't remember which of the suspects is guilty; they're mysteries where the main character has to figure out who's behind the crimes and then avoid getting killed by them. Some of it is competency porn as they use their special skills to solve problems. And some of it just because of the engaging characters, which are maybe not quite all the way there in the earlier books (the ones I've reread so far are still books from the 60s, so the female characters could be more nuanced). In Forfeit what I recalled from that first read (some 34 years ago) was that the main character was a sportswriter, it started with one of his colleagues killing himself, and his wife was disabled and bedridden. (And one exciting scene in the middle of the book in which spoilers.) Though it turned out I was conflating two suicide openings (Nerve also starts with one, a gunshot suicide on the first page, whereas Forfeit's is more falling out of a window), and the exciting scene is missing an element I was sure was there.

So that's eight books in one month, which is basically enough to keep up on my Goodreads challenge, but I also managed to squeeze in a couple more on the side track. First of all, there was my brother's book, Paths of Pollen, which came out last year; my mom went to the book launch in Toronto and brought back a signed copy for me. As one might expect, it talks about honeybees (and the time he was working on our stepfather's apiary), but covers a lot of pollen details I didn't know, about all the other bees, beetles, butterflies, insects, and other animals that also do pollination. It's a sobering look at how plants reproduce and how we're screwing it up in a lot of cases. (I hadn't realized before how much insects use pollen as food…somehow I thought they were nectar-eaters and they just picked up pollen because the plants forced them too, but I guess it makes sense that they also eat it.)

Then there was another one of the Love & Rockets ebook bundle that I've been going through. This volume, Esperanza, is around the latest stuff I read in the Love & Rockets Vol. 2 comics (which I have only read once or twice), so it's fairly unfamiliar to me. Despite it being named after Esperanza "Hopey" Glass, most of the book seems to revolve around Vivian, a.k.a. Frogmouth, a hot, buxom woman with an unfortunate voice, who both Maggie and Ray are lusting after, despite her problematic relationships with some violent criminals. Ray and Maggie do meet up again briefly; Maggie's working as an apartment superintendent, Hopey's working in a bar but trying to get into a teaching assistant job, surreal things happen with Izzy, Doyle's around as well, and we see brief glimpses of Maggie's sister Esther. It was interesting but I didn't find it altogether compelling.

With ten books for January, that means I'm really read up to 36.5 days into the year, or February 5th, so I'm a little bit ahead. I'll be taking advantage of this to start off February with a longer book, for my female diversity slot--Fonda Lee's Jade Legacy, to wrap up that series. More about that next month, of course…