#and the strategists are apparently also shit

[alphataurifan]

yuki's own strategists are his biggest opps fr

[spicywhenspeaking]

heaters out: noah x reader

Just some fluff about you and Noah dealing with a little power outage during your weekend away.

🥶🌬️⛄️❄️🩵

“Its freezing, Noah can you check make sure the heater is on please?” you ask from the bundle of blankets you’re buried under on the bed. Noah surprised you by whisking you away for the weekend to a secluded bed and breakfast in th mountains.

“Oh shit.” You hear noah mumble from the other side of the room. “Umm, I think the power is out. Let me run down to the front desk and ask really quick.” He runs over to where you’re huddled and gives the top of your head a kiss before quickly exiting.

You get out of bed to add more layers on, one of Noahs hoodies he brought back from tour and a second pair of fuzzy socks you packed. Hoping back under your mountain of covers you wait for Noah to get back. Several minuets pass and Noah returns with a bundle of fire wood, more blankets and a thermos of something.

“Well a few things.” He begins. “The power is out and we are snowed in for at least the next day or two until the snow plows can get up to clear the roads. Good news is I have firewood, more blankets and hot chocolate.” He throws the blankets onto the already comically large lump on the bed and sets to building a fire in the fire place. Thats the great thing about staying in cute bnb’s like this. Each room has a beautiful fire place but unfortunatly the electrical work is old and apparently prone to outages when the snowfall is heavy.

Crawling out of the cave of blankets, you move to sit on the small loveseat next to Noah as he pours two mugs full of steaming hot chocolate. “There is also a huge collection of games down in the library if you want me to beat you at monopoly again.” Noah jokes and you knock into his shoulder “hey! You totally skimmed from the bank last time.”

The two of you laugh as you warm up by the fire and drink the delicious chocolaty beverage that heats you from the inside out. “This is the best hot chocolate i’ve ever had.” You groan as you finish the last sip. Noah grabs a blanket off the the bed and you cuddle closer together, watching the fire shift in orange and reds and hear the wood crack and splinter. “They said they’d bring some more wood when it’s closer to dinner time so we should stay plenty warm tonight.” Noah tells you. We spend most of the day cuddled and reading by the fire.

Before dinner, which is soup the owner of the air bnb cooked over the fireplace in the main room. We played a game of monopoly like Noah suggested and he beats you. “How!? How are you so good at this game? You- you capitalist!” You joke and he holds his hand to his chest, gripping his heart. “Capitalist? I resent that, I’m just a master strategist.” You roll your eyes and laugh “okay, okay, but next time I get to pick the game.” He holds out his hand to shake and says “you got a deal.”

“Perfect. Strip poker it is.” His eyes widen and then he gets knowing look in his eyes. “You’re just trying to get me naked arent you? Last poker night you nearly got Jolly to bet the keys to his new car.” You both laugh because you’ve always won when you played poker. “What can I say, I guess I’m just lucky.” He leans over the small table you were playing at and kisses you softly. “I think I’m the lucky one.”

After eating you decide to both bundle up and go on a walk in the snow.

“Wow, it's so beautiful. I haven’t seen snow like this since I was a kid” you pick up some of the snow in your hands and ball it up tight. Noah is looking out onto the snow covered field so he doesn’t see you when you wind up to lob a snowball right into his left shoulder.

“oh! It’s on now!” He exclaims as he rushes to make his own snowball to throw in retaliation. The two of you spend the next 20 minutes until the sun has begun to set, throwing snowballs at each other until you start to feel the cold sneaking into your coats.

“Okay, time to go in and warm up” Noah says as he wraps his arms around your shoulder and ushers you back inside the bnb.

Heading back up to the room you get inside and quickly remove the first layer of our snow covered clothes. Hanging them to dry on the coat rack while Noah goes to start up the fire again.

In your warmest pajamas you sit cuddled on the love seat in front of the fireplace as Noah opens the bottle of wine the owner gave him after dinner and pours you each a glass. “This, along with the fire should warm us up pretty fast.” I comment as I take a sip of the silky red liquid. “I can think of a few other ways we could warm up.” Noah says in a sultry voice as he leans to place a soft kiss to my neck.

[broodwolf221]

happy friday! i said i'd send you tethraghast, and here it is :3 from the "as said by cassandra" prompt list: perhaps this would be a good time to stop talking.

hehehehehe oh this was FUN. im love them 😭also what a fitting prompt @dadrunkwriting 636 words cws: none

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve already read that part.” She winced as Varric approached, resisting the urge to slam the book shut and try to hide it. Useless.

“That is true,” she admitted simply. He snorted, then sat down on the bench beside her.

“You’re actually rereading it? Seriously?” Under the apparent shock she swore he sounded a bit flustered, glancing over at him. His eyes were wide.

“It seems so,” was all she said, beginning to feel a little more playful than defensive. 

“Seeker, it’s really not that good of a story.” He sounded almost beseeching—a bit dramatic, even for him.

“You underestimate yourself.” She turned the page, although she hadn’t really been reading since he approached. “As usual.”

“Excuse me, I think I need you to say that again.”

“You have so many layers, Varric, I could write a book about them.” She gave up the pretense, closing the book and setting it on her lap. “A false humility to cover your ego, except the ego itself is false. It’s all false. Layers upon layers.” He blinked, looking genuinely surprised. She pressed her advantage. “You are a capable fighter, a good strategist, and a skilled writer. Even when you think you aren’t.” She tapped her finger against the book on her lap, driving home her point. “Your skill with wordplay is remarkable, but it is not surprising—you couch yourself with half-truths and deflections as a matter of course. It’s all parabole and hyperbole. Nothing straightforward.”

“I— um—” She smirked, watching him flounder for the first time. He cleared his throat and glanced away, fingers curling into the edge of the bench.

“I think the most sincerity I’ve ever seen from you was… during our fight.” Her voice dropped as she recalled that time, her anger. It had deepened the wedge she had already driven between them before, when she had Varric brought in for questioning.

“You were scary, Seeker,” he muttered and she winced again, nodding.

“And you were angry.” Now he nodded. “And hurt.” He hesitated now, then sighed and nodded again. She was only watching him out of the corner of her eye, trying to not intrude.

“We both were, I guess,” he pointed out somberly. 

She stared down at the book in her lap. This was her fault—she had brought this up. She had twisted this moment. “Varric,” she began quietly, feeling his attention shift back to her. She steeled herself, wondering why this was harder than facing down a dragon, and turned to meet his eyes. “I should… That is, I have been meaning—”

“It’s okay,” he began but she shook her head.

“It is not. I am sorry, Varric.” They stared at each other in silence for long moments. He looked away first, laughing a little.

“Shit. Never expected to hear that from you.”

“Nor I,” she admitted a little sourly, smiling when it made him laugh again. “There is much that I regret. I should have apologized long ago—I should have thanked you when you stayed to help. That was brave. I should have—”

“Seeker,” he interrupted, turning to face her properly, drawing a leg underneath himself. “Cassandra,” he said, her name startling on his lips. “That’s enough. Perhaps this would be a good time to stop talking.” She turned to face him with a frown, wondering if she had upset him, but he looked…

She did not know how he looked.

Not upset, certainly.

But she did not press, and eventually he smiled at her and resumed his position—but she noticed he had closed some of the distance between them, his shoulder brushing her arm. She did not move away. And eventually she opened the book again, feeling his attention lingering on her even as she lost herself in his words and world once more.

[hojiteaversion]

Mehmed and Laia: ClownTP

I think something that has been consolidated in my mind after this update is that Mehmed and Lale/Laia are both losers, in the most hilarious way.

True, their relationship started with an act so vile that it's in the background of their every past and subsequent moment. They were doomed from the start, despite his later careful, desperate gestures to prove he'll be different this time, that they can make it, that he can be trusted. And we know he can't. He's still openly thinking of women as bodies to please him, and of Lale as another Constantinople to conquer, and manipulating her every step of the way. Even if she finds herself terrified because she likes it, she realistically would not have any way to escape if she didn't. This is a very serious and dark undercurrent of their relationship, and it's fascinating to observe and play with.

But also…

This is the genius strategist who at some point thought the best course of action to seduce his cousin was to send her friends away and then flash his own wet chest in her direction, and it worked. She thought the best course of action to intimidate him was to stab him, and it violently backfired because he was into that shit. He literally pulled an AO3 and asked her to fake date for a day.

That same guy, 600 years later, saw a night curse befall his city because his mortal enemy was pissed, and his first thought was, "Good, this way I can invite Laia for date night without breaking any promises". She thought his manipulation was blatant and humored him while thinking he was super lame, then was shocked the guy who conquered Constantinople apparently knew what he was doing. She had the stray thought that this same 600-year-old conqueror she'd just boned had had sex with other people at some point, and immediately tried to leave a magical tower. She was slightly annoyed he used his wish to gift her something expensive instead of unethically asking her to suck his dick. She pisses him off on purpose because she thinks him hitting tables is kind of funny.

An elderly mullah told Mehmed he had been single too long. Mehmed went full lovestruck sap and told him that he and Laia knew they were made for each other. He said that out loud, where other people could hear. He was so down bad for this woman that he built a tulip-shaped mosque next to his mosque, in the district named after him. He won't stop wearing his 600-year-old outfit, and no one bats an eye. They think the world of each other, and also purposefully go out of their way to annoy the other, partly because they find it kind of hot.

Is he still displaying red flags? Oh yes. But the less dangerous he is, the funnier. You can engage with them in the dark, serious level that absolutely exists there, or in the clown one, because somehow they are a perfect match in that sense.

In conclusion,

[highfantasy-soul]

Things I LOVED in NATLA Episode 7 - The North

Lt Jee actually being worried for Zuko!!!!

And Iroh tenderly bandaging Zuko's head 🥺

Zuko desperate to make sure his father doesn’t truly think he's turned against him!!!!!

A FANTASTIC set-up for his eventual ACUTAL turn against his father

Zuko genuinely thanking Lt. Jee 😢

And aaggghhhh!!! Zhao being a tricky slimey mf

This is a slick way to get Zuko being blown up without the pirates - though they're fun characters, I think this set-up enhanced the themes they were exploring in the season more

TEAM AVATAR!!

So cute that Aang excitedly tells his friends he made a connection with Zuko - Sokka is unimpressed while Katara has hope that people can turn out to be good.

Agna Qel'a!!!!

It looks GORGEOUS! And love that it has a name now!!

Apparently it was given a name in one of the books, but they never did name it in the show, so I'm glad they did it here

I don't even care that they know it's the Avatar right off bat and they're ready to welcome them in - it was cool as shit flying over the city on Appa

Maybe they had scouts out that saw Appa flying and brought news to the city, same as the scouts who saw the Fire Nation fleet - I'll accept that

Them treating Aang like a weapon rather than a person 😡

It's something that comes up a lot in the series and I'm glad they aren't shying away from it

Lol Katara's sibling jibing at Sokka staring at Yue 🤣

I love these little sibling moments - they're just so cute

And Sokka now hard-core staring at the ground instead of at Yue because Katara said he looked like a weirdo doing that 😅

Zhao's overacting at how pissed he is 🤣

Then his 'omg I can yes and this. I can SO yes and this!' as Iroh tells him what he 'think's happened

Oooohhh Iroh's understated insults at Zhao's qualifications

And Zhao's comeback about no record of failure unlike Iroh😐 bitch, that still doesn't make you qualified!

More Azulaaa!!!!

I really love this added storyline to see exactly why Azula is the way she is

It's great to see that her place as next-in-line isn't a shoe-in here - she's desperate to show her father that 'she's the one' and will do anything to get there

Sokka's heart eyes 😍

Stewed sea prunes 😭😭😭

"It tastes like home" 😢

I like this intro to Pakku - like with Sokka, they're not doing a comical level of sexism, they're making it more realistic

YUE IS A BEEENNDDEERR!!!!!!

Also, using it for the most important things: dessert

Sokka's absolutely abysmal (bet very endearing) interaction attempts with Yue 😅

Her little fake gasps as he keeps saying the wrong thing, but smiling because she knows what he means, she's just teasing him 🥺 incredibly adorable

Love that they have a conversation that actually has substance!

Don't hate me, but in the cartoon, they never had a substantive conversation ONCE. It was just Sokka flirting, Yue giggling, then Yue freaking out and running away - rinse and repeat like, 5 times in the course of 3 episodes.

Omg Hahn isn't a dick!!!

I like the more mature tone they've taken in the live action - they can have jokes, but for serious topics like…idk, a battle against the Northern Water Tribe being genocided, they make the characters take it seriously

GOOOOODDDD the adults expecting Aang to be a master strategist and offensive weapon!!

This actually makes sense that they'd believe he could do it - Aang is the culmination of all the past Avatars, so they'd assume he has all their knowledge and power.

The poor kid just got out of his iceberg, though!!!

"Airbending is primarily a defensive discipline"

You tell them, Aang!!

"But you're not JUST an airbender" :( don't bring logic and reality into this, Arnook

"I did it with the help of my friends 😊"  sweet baby Aang

And here's Pakku, telling Aang what a lot of watchers were frustrated about this season: uuhh maybe you should have been focused on your training

While that's a legit comment, I think the live-action showed why Aang didn't pretty well

Love love LOVE that we're introduced to healing with respect rather than the distain it was shown in the animated series

Healing is a wonderful and beautiful skill and I'm glad we got to see Katara interested in it (and it being used) rather than Katara sadly moping into the igloo filled with children learning healing

Sometimes, when people try to make things less sexist, they end up making it more-so. I think that happened with the animated series where healing was actually put up in conflict with combat - where combat was clearly shown as the 'better' skill and healing was 'stupid and bad, we don’t want to do that'. The live-action showed that healing is an important and powerful skill, the only issue comes when you aren't ALLOWED to do anything else. Healing itself isn't the issue, the fact the women are kept from combat IS the issue.

Nice Hahn and Sokka fishing for info about Yue

Avatar Kuruk RESPECT!!!!

LOVE Yue getting more character here!

She can pop into the spirit world! It makes so much sense with her having part of the moon spirit inside her!

The live action fleshed her out soooo well!

Poor Sokka not understanding AT ALL why someone would want to go to the Spirit World for fun 😂

"Don't do that. Don't make it less than what it is"

Such an important message for EVERYONE. You don’t have to have the most tragic of backstories for your trauma to be important. This isn't the oppression olympics - we aren't doing the whole 'well someone else has it worse so you can't complain' bullshit.

Everyone has hurt in their lives and everyone deserves to have their hurt taken seriously and healed. It isn't 'strength' to pretend it's nothing - it's strength to face it and accept that it was important, not something to shove under the rug

Yue reminding Sokka about what makes him special - his care for his friends! He's not a selfish guy - just because he wasn't the best leader or warrior when he was 13 doesn't mean he has nothing to offer the world

"Hahn is everything a girl could want. But he is not the boy of my dreams" 😭😭😭

"Being the Avatar means being the one who bears the burden: alone."

The thing is: like in the animated version, this advice MAKES SENSE! But it's how you USE the advice that makes the difference

No, you can't put all the weight of responsibility on your friends, but neither can you do it without any help - or without caring for others. It's very much advice coming from pain: all the Avatars got hurt because they DIDN'T abandon their friends and so they're giving a skewed version of the advice onto Aang to try to spare him the pain they went through.

It's Aang's job to find the balance

Sokka's fish carving that Yue thinks is a bear 😭😭😭

I wanna see it, props department!!!!

Yeess!! Katara's first confrontation with Pakku!

I like how she still tries to lead with diplomacy, making her case, and Pakku has 'reasonable' excuses not to let her fight

Instead of him being cartoonishly sexist, he's much more realistic giving 'logical' reasons for Katara not to be in combat, but she stands up anyways because she knows it's wrong.

I can see how some might find Aang not wanting Katara to fight to be jarring, but this is in line with the animated series

When they're going into particularly dangerous missions, Aang does have a tendency to try to do it himself and tell Katara to sit this one out - he does it in The Winter Solstice: Part 2.

He's just been told a past life's love was killed because he didn't keep her out of his fight, he has no idea how he's going to win this battle, and he's realizing that he does see Katara as someone incredibly important to him. It's in line with who Aang is to try to keep her safe and away from the battle

Zhao coming up with nicknames for himself 😑

Iroh straight up calling Fire Nation 'info' propaganda!!

While some people could see this as 'treason', when you're in positions of power in high-control groups, you KNOW it's propaganda - you HELP CREATE the lies and when people are going to do something stupid (like attack the North without a solid plan), you let them know that they're being stupid if they're going to make battle plans based on the lies you've helped spread.

Zhao and his dumb bitch destiny 🙄 he's such a great villain - he's one who's bought into his own lies

"The plan is to prove my father wasn't wrong to trust me with this mission. The plan is to go in and capture the Avatar once and for all. The PLAN is to reclaim what is rightfully MINE!! 😤" - "So, no plan? 😐" - "I'm working on it uncle 🥺"

This exchange = gold. Pure gold.

"It's almost as if he's working for someone else - someone much smarter"

WOOOOWWW Iroh, throw that shade a little more, why don't ya 🤣

Though I LOVE that they're giving Azula her brainy due - she's smart and she's the one not to be underestimated.

AZULA'S LIGHTNING!!!!!!!

Love how she stood up to her father, but because she was able to 'prove' her strength, he respected it rather than punished it

"Set me loose" AAAAHHHHHHH

SUPPORTIVE BROTHER SOKKA!!!

Love how matter of fact Katara is "I'm going to challenge Pakku to fight" - just like that. She's decided, so it's going to happen.

Sokka admitting Katara was right 😭😭😭😭😭

"Who's talking sense? What I'm trying to say is: go kick his ass" FUCK YEAH THAT'S RIGHT!!!!

Aang trying to go forward and help Katara, but Sokka holds him back

Love the sibling solidarity!!

The fight is almost beat for beat the one from the animated series!!!

I love that the live action knew exactly which sequences to put in almost 1-1 from the animated - this fight being one of them

"Is that all you got?!?!" FUCK YEAH!!

"They'll just say I lost" "Did you?"

The fact that it wasn't just Pakku's opinion that would change everything - Katara's actions inspired everyone else, even if Pakku didn't want to change his decision.

Change isn't made by changing one man's mind - it's about standing up to them and inspiring others (like in the Imprisoned storyline) to stand up too

Even inspiring Aang to realize that the conclusion the other Avatars came to from their pain was wrong - that Katara was right and that EVERYONE gets to choose whether to fight or not for themselves

Avatars aren't the only ones who worry about protecting people - it's a human, family thing, not just a mystical force of balance thing

Only Aang can write his own story - not anyone else.

This is a great through-line for the whole series where everyone has expectations put on them and they have to decide themselves who they want to be

Don't eat the sooty snow, Momo!!!!!

"Ok, time to fight"

I like that we end on the fire nation ships arriving: next episode is going to be THE BATTLE

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

[chershare]

Cher, you're so lovely. 💕

For the prompts: Shunsui/Starrk, the depths of winter?

Who needs snippets when apparently you can just write a whole goddamn oneshot?

❄️

Spiritual energy had a lot of uses, and while the vast majority had become weaponized spells, there were more mundane uses as well.

Like not freezing in winter. He'd always held a particular sympathy for the souls who didn't have the protection of reiatsu in winter, even if they didn't suffer hunger.

An unfortunate form of equality, perhaps.

Shunsui had many reasons not to particularly like the season, and most of them revolved around Jushiro and his fragile health. Even with his best friend no longer around to have his weak body ailed further, Shunsui's first reaction was always a moment of resigned dislike. A flicker of worry that the cold and wet would exacerbate a problem that had no good answer.

Winter was tolerated, but not anything special. A season was a season, and he didn't dislike it enough to have a word with Captain Hitsugaya about it.

This wasn't so for Starrk, who had slipped out of the warmth of Shunsui's little house to stand in the yard. At this point, it looked like he'd been outside for some time, and while Shunsui had been absently tracking his reiatsu, it wasn't as if he'd really been following what the former Espada was doing. After all, it had been just over half a year since the man had taken up residence with him, cajoled bullied out of Hueco Mundo and into Shunsui's comfortable guest room.

Although the Hollow rarely actually used it, preferring to flop onto the cushions in the main room, letting Shunsui's subordinates step over and around him. He said he liked the noise, the business of it, even when someone would get fed up with him taking up floor space and kick him out.

He was a lonely thing, even with all the rest of them around. Even with Shunsui beside him.

Of course, he wasn't alone in being lonely.

Shunsui hadn't latched onto Starrk for nothing, after all.

Because as he looked out at the snow, at Starrk standing in the snow, he ached for the routine of going to visit Jushiro. Of bringing hot foods and snacks, of their seconds preparing hotpot and bundling up under the kotatsu for a game or two of whatever struck their fancy.

His first thought wasn't the amount of snow piled on Starrk's head and shoulders telling in how the Hollow hadn't moved in quite some time. It wasn't about the way he looked unreal and a bit silly with his feet half buried in new snowfall, dark hair coated in crystals of ice. A statue that didn't need to breathe if he didn't want to, completely and totally still, simply observing the world around him in a way that unnerved most.

Starrk wouldn't begrudge him his thoughts turning first to Jushiro, of course, but Shunsui himself felt a bemused guilt over his inattention.

With a sigh, he bracingly pulled his heavier winter yukata around himself - it was thankfully one of his rare days off, no Nanao to bug him about work - and then slipped on the sandals he kept by the exterior door, and hopped down into the snow.

Since it was his day off, he'd rather wanted to stay cozy inside, potentially waking to Starrk staring at him from where he sometimes flopped down next to Shunsui's futon like the large canine he took after.

Shunsui was, for all his youthful vigor and handsome face, old as shit. He was a deadly combatant and capable strategist. He'd killed more and fought more battles than just about everyone still around in Sereitei. He could walk on air as easily as the ground, and catch a mote of reishi without effort.

But of course, Shunsui was also human.

So, he slipped on the slick stones beneath the snow.

Oh, he nearly instantly corrected himself, vaguely exasperated with needing to at all, but he still had almost fallen in the yard.

At least only Starrk would have seen.

Starrk, who was suddenly at his side, the snow that had coated him - and the ground at their feet - puffing up into the air at the force of his swift movement.

It spun in a little whirlwind, drawing more chill air in around them, seeping into Shunsui's cold bones and he couldn't suppress a shiver. Sure, the cold wouldn't hurt him, but it still wasn't exactly pleasant.

Starrk's hand lifted and wrapped around Shunsui's wrist, a point of frankly icicle level touch.

"Oi, oi, oi," he shivered harder, but didn't pull out of the icy grip. "You're way too cold for being handsy, Starrk."

Gray eyes looked into his own, snowflake catching momentarily on Starrk's lashes before Shunsui could tangibly feel the grip on his wrist heating up as Starrk cycled his reiatsu. Apparently, rubbing it against his hard hierro would cause friction which gave his body exterior heat, when otherwise he didn't care about surface temperature regulation. The man was normally sitting at room temperature, his environment choosing the heat or cold of his hierro.

The flakes on his lashes melted, and glimmered in the morning light before sliding off the ends to drip away on a slow blink. He looked nice, his hair a bit more in disarray than usual from the snow and melt, wearing one of the yukata that Nanao and the women's association had dragged the Hollow out to get.

It was not a winter yukata. The shit.

The grip on his wrist shifted idly down to Shunsui's hand, their palms fitting together in a comfortable but still somewhat new motion. It was a pleasantly warm hand now, the hierro adapting as Starrk wished with barely a thought.

A tingle of affection, a different kind of ache in his breast, had Shunsui quirking up a smile despite the chill.

He squeezed Starrk's hand gently.

"Come inside and have something to eat. You haven't even tried out the kotatsu yet, and for a lazy hedonist that's a must in the winter."

"If you say so," was Starrk's reply, shrugging but letting himself be pulled along. "But you also said that about making our during the fireworks at festivals, and -"

"I cannot control what my Shinigami accidentally set on fire with experimental products," he interrupted huffing at the familiar jab. "Akon-kun was much too excited by Urahara-kun's visit, truly."

"Mm."

He shot a look at the former Espada, and received a softening at the corners of lips and eyes that could almost be the beginning of a smile. That little prick of affection twitched once again, and Shunsui gave a mental sigh as he told Starrk to wait for him for a moment.

A couple of absent shunpo had him rattling around his house for sake and snacks, and then back to the room.

Starrk had left the doors open to the outside and was watching the way the snow fell again, his sandals kicked off messily next to where Shunsui had left his own.

At least this time he was standing inside, Shunsui wasn't going to nag anymore than that. It wasn't as if either of them was going to catch a cold, both of them more resilient than they'd perhaps prefer.

As it was, Shunsui set up the kotatsu, seating himself on a cushion and placing out the crackers and fruit with no particular finesse or thought to the plating the way that Nanao or Jushiro might have.

The edges of a blanket flopped over his shoulders as Starrk sat on his own cushion pulled up right next to Shunsui improperly, but he honestly found the little obscure idiosyncrasies rather charming.

Starrk was a line of heat at his side.

He leaned into it, that heat, that Hollow reiatsu which had been anathema to him for so much of his life, and let himself think about how much he appreciated Starrk's company. His willingness to be gently bullied into Shunsui's house, into the empty spaces, to share his own empty ache and soothe and be soothed in turn.

"Hot sake?"

"Sure," slowly, he felt Starrk soften into his side, like he was defrosting even after heating himself and returning inside. Even though the cold hadn't affected him. "It's part of the experience, isn't it?"

Shunsui huffed a laugh, his own tendency to use that turn of phrase to convince Starrk to do something gently lobbed back at him.

With the ease of long practice he traced his fingers around the bottom of the bottle, his reiatsu heating the sake gently in a manner as a youth he'd bungled more times than he could count.

So many porcelain splinters.

He poured for them both, and enjoyed the faint zing of hands brushing once more as Starrk took the cup from him in a mannerless but elegant motion. They raised glasses to one another before sipping, and Shunsui sighed appreciatively. It was a good heat that bled from his tongue down his throat, soothing that phantom ache in his chest.

"Good?"

"Mm. I like it."

Shunsui smiled, watching Starrk watch the snow.

When the sake ran out, Starrk pushed the kotatsu to the side despite Shunsui's protests over his precious heat, and then laid his head in Shunsui's lap.

Ah.

Well, this seemed a fair trade off.

The kotatsu wasn't that far away, so he somehow found himself reaching over and peeling fruit and feeding the lazy bastard in his lap, who had obligingly left himself warmer for Shunsui's benefit.

Together, they watched the snow.

Shunsui had never particularly liked winter, for all the cozy traditions it held. But this was... Nice. Even without the comfort of his best friend at his side, the absence more destabilizing than losing an eye, he still didn't hate winter.

When he stopped peeling fruit to share, he found his hands sliding into Starrk's mop of hair, curling his fingers through it, scratching his nails over the other man's scalp. Starrk sighed appreciatively, relaxing further into Shunsui's lap, tilting his head into his hands.

Starrk's eyes stayed on the snow.

Shunsui had some idea of what he was seeing in his hazy mind's eye.

Lilynette had been a loud, rambunctious child with a personality twice as large as she was. All the energy that Starrk didn't have, she'd had in surplus, and for all that he was aware, this winter was Starrk's first time seeing snow, which meant -

"She'd have loved this," Starrk spoke quietly, mouth half turned into Shunsui's thigh, as if to smother his own words.

"Yeah," was all he could say. "I bet."

His hands continued playing with Starrk's hair, heart aching in various ways, even as his body remained warm, the weight in his lap a comfort.

"Jushiro loved the snow," he said after a few more quiet moments, the world hushed by the continued snowfall. "Even if it wasn't good for him to go out in the cold, he frequently slipped his minders to play with the younger recruits in snowball fights or building snow houses. I'd have to drag him inside even when he was clearly already relapsing, coughing and feverish."

"Hmm. Maybe they're keeping each other company."

Ah, what an unusually optimistic outlook.

Shunsui liked it.

They could use a little optimism.

"I'm sure he's driven her crazy by now."

"It wouldn't take much, honestly. She had a short temper."

"I recall."

The conversation drifts off naturally, but both of them continue to watch the snow fall, but now Shunsui can almost see an angry child Hollow stomping her foot and pointing at Jushiro. Arguing about a snowman perhaps, or denying being a child as Shunsui's best friend plied her with candy.

They would be all bundled up, the both of them, because of course they would be, and perhaps Shunsui and Starrk would be in this same position. Watching Lilynette chase Jushiro around a snow fort, or catching flakes on their tongues, hands wrapped in mittens and scarves half coated in snow from distractedly being dragged through the snow.

They would be laughing. Happy. Eyes sparkling with it, color in their cheeks and energy in their limbs.

Yes, Shunsui could almost see it.

And he had no doubt that Starrk could as well, those sharp eyes glancing up at him in a speaking look before sliding back towards the snow. Shunsui snuck one hand out of the former Espada's hair and found it caught by Starrk's, the man's arm crossing his own chest, fingers entangled against Starrk's shoulder.

Their grips were matched in strength, warmth seemingly a bubble around them, even as little snowflakes were blown in to land on the hardwood. They melted slowly, leaving little spots of water on the floor, on the boundary of the tatami.

He didn't hate winter. But it did make him sad, he supposed.

Good thing that he wasn't alone then, wasn't it?

With a hum, he shifted and bent - ignoring the pinch in his back as he did so - and pressed a gentle kiss to Starrk's temple. His answer was Starrk shifting to lay his lips to the inside of Shunsui's wrist, gentle against his fluttering pulse.

So they sat, entangled, and watched the snow fall, blanketing Shunsui's yard in glimmering white. Each flake carrying soft hurts but allowing also, a most gentle warmth.

The snow continued to fall, and they continued to watch.

Dreaming.

❄️

[l-norris]

The second-to-last race before summer break has arrived, and yet again I have written down my own commentary, poking a little fun and trying to be funny I guess.

DISCLAIMER: Remember that this is just for shits and giggles, I'm not trying to actually hate on any of the drivers cuz all (most) of them are very dear to me!

Pre-race anxiety is strong

McLaren 1-2 start

Formation lap starts

Lando is hurrying through it

It's lights out and away we go!

Lando, Max and Oscar three-wide into turn 1

Max goes wide, rejoins in second

Lando bottles it once more (sigh)

Oscar is first

Max under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage (3)

Checo in 18th rip

Max has to give the position back to Lando (4)

He's not happy

very aggressive

McLaren 1-2

First pitstops by Kevin, Alex and Esteban (7)

People are actually going for three-stops

very bold

Accidentally deleted the draft for this, had to start over (rip)

Oscar being told to save tires in lap 2 already help😭

They're just cruising along, saving tires (13)

"Lando, your race is with Verstappen"

Uh... yeah I sure hope so?😬

Fernando does not give a shit about what Lance does (so real) (15)

Pit window is open (16)

Lewis pits (17)

Lando pits (18)

Slight issues on front-left

Max complains (what a surprise)

Oscar pits (19)

Good stop

"Think about plan C" oh no Charlie, oh no no no😬

Just like old times

Max and Carlos pit (21)

Slow stop from Max

Checo is in 8th🤯 (22)

Charles first, yet to pit

Lewis fastest lap (23)

Charles pits (23)

Lando pulls away from Lewis (25)

Carlos is plowing through the field (26)

Quick PSA: Logan is not last!🎉

Oscar fastest lap (28)

Lewis falls back (28)

Checo, Pierre and Danny pit (29)

Fuck VCarb, all my homies hate VCarb

Charles fastest lap (30)

Yuki pits (30)

Max is in Lewis' DRS

George pits (34)

Pierre retires again after DNF-ing in Silverstone (34)

Lewis locks up, goes wide

Max passes

Max goes wide

Lewis passes

That was funny to watch

Lando gains on Oscar (36)

More complaining from Max

Lewis holds Max up so nicely (38)

Keep the scrap up boys :)

Even more complaining

"He sounds like a man who could've used a bit more sleep last night" HELP HAHAHAHA

Lewis and Charles pit (41)

Nothing is going Max' way apparently

McLaren strategists cooking?!

Lando pits (45)

2.3 second stop

Oscar pits (47)

McLaren don't fuck this up for Oscar I swear

...

Brother eugh

Nevermind McLaren strategists didn't cook AT ALL

massively overreacted to undercut Lewis tbh

McLaren want them to swap positions

Oscar almost bins it

Oh, Lando wants Oscar to work for it😵‍💫

Oh no, oh dear...

Max pits (50)

Red Bull fucked their strategy lmfao

Oscar catches up to Lando

"Lando radio check please" LMAO PLS

Temporary moment of deafness

Max is grumpy

Oh jeez

"Multi-21, anyone?" Crofty please😭😭😭

10 laps to go

McLaren are playing the emotional card now

Fuck you McLaren

Honestly yeah Lando, you're right, Oscar should catch up if he wants the win /hj

Max locks up

divebombs Lewis

and goes flying

Mad Max is back (63)

Rejoins in fifth... so lost everything he made up

GP scolds Max like a toddler😬

Max under investigation again (after the race tho) (67)

And the McLaren boys finally swapped😮‍💨(68)

This 1-2 is so, so bittersweet

The strategy ruined it for me

But hey!

Oscar won!

McLaren 1-2, but at what cost?

I need some strong liqueur and a cigarette after all this

At least Lando doesn't seem too upset about it

I hope this won't have consequences for them

Well, they both seem pretty high-spirited

I think we're good

So unusual to not have Max on the Podium podcast /hj

Oscar protecting his trophy from Lando😭 pls they're so goofy

Champagne Pop is back baby!

... feel free to add on :)

... This race subtracted multiple years off my lifespan. Fuck VCarb for ruining Dannys race, fuck McLaren and their strategy for ruining the 1-2 for us.

Also, important PSA since I've seen some negative stuff about the whole teamorder thing from McLaren:

Remember, don't blame either Oscar OR Lando for the drama, no matter what side you're on. This is totally on the team for fucking up the strategy once again.

Thank you for your attention, have a nice rest of your day :)

[barid-bel-medar]

At least Hori is one of the few writers who acknowledges that he should’ve done something differently for the early portions of the story. He acknowledges that he should’ve written Bakugo not as harsh and that Aizawa should’ve different characterization. So there are valid reasons for fanfic writers to reduce the Mary Sue-ness of Bakugo and make Aizawa into a better teacher. It’s just that people want to make Aizawa a Batman-like character without the charm and understanding on how Batman works in his universe, infantiled the other characters and bashed the good ones, and not understanding certain cultural impact in the Japan vs US societies.

This is very true! Like a lot of authors won't say shit or just hope people will accept retcons. Yes Hori's also to some extent doing the second, but at least he's come out and said he shouldn't have done some of the stuff he previously did (though I think there was also the issue of him underestimating how popular both Bakugou and Aizawa would get).

Yeah the attempts to make Aizawa a Batman-like figure in fanon/fic again (much like the Kakashi references I noted in that earlier post) miss why things work for that character. This definitely goes into the desire to make Aizawa a much more competent figure then he is actually written in canon. But like...he's not getting called in as a strategist. He's not getting get in because he's a great combatant. He's generally getting called in because they need his Quirk for something.

I should note this is also an issue Nedzu suffers in fic/fanon. He's certainly brilliant and manipulative. He also still misses some pretty obvious shit or handles it poorly (no matter what, someone as smart as he's supposed to be should have realized immediately how stupid the 'chain Bakugou to the pole' thing was)

(Though also in context of Batman I think it also gets missed a lot that the man himself fucks up/DC writes him as doing things that make no sense. I know I've talked about in the past the issue of how in the Nu52 when he's explaining his take down plans for JL members his plan for taking out a GL is apparently to use a yellow ring. You know, the thing these guys are specifically given training to fight against? And the ring-type that two of them (Hal and Guy) are perfectly capable of wielding themselves? Also in general Lantern rings are much, much harder to use then they seem on the surface, and trying to use one against people, who have the case of the four GLs he would have been setting up the plan against, been using those rings for several years is just stupid. Though also there it's a good demonstration of the arrogance DC also is prone to writing with Batman)

Though to be fair to the cultural impact issue, that's a pretty wide ranging issue in a lot of stuff, not just things related to Aizawa. There's a reason I had it specified in Words May Hurt that the detention thing is a result of WHA standardizing punishments at hero schools, rather than a norm.

[evendumbo]

Apropos of I’m still mad, I also hate what they did with Roy Kent’s character. Hated it, hated it.

Roy was a great character in seasons 1 and 2, a thoughtful, principled person who struggled with issues of abandonment and intimacy because of childhood trauma. I loved the way he was written. Plus his relationship with Keeley felt very intentional: two people figuring out how to rethink their hyper-gendered lives — Keeley becoming more of a leader and strategist rather than only being almost famous for sexy modeling, Roy figuring out how to be more self-aware about his feelings and experiment with trust and vulnerability. Both of them learning how to adjust their boundaries in a committed relationship while practicing mindful accountability when they fucked up as people do. I also loved it when they hit a point at the end of season 2 where they loved each other, but were tempted by other compelling people, a real test to see if they could manage the emotional risk of commitment.

I was happy when season 3 opened up with them being broken up, that totally tracked. I looked forward to the story revealing how the breakup happened, providing more clarity about their fears and learning edges, and figuring out how to navigate their respective issues to make it back to each other. Even if they didn’t make it, I was still looking forward to a good story.

Some of Roy’s journey in season 3 was on point, especially Roy’s very nice resolutions with Trent and Jamie. But beyond that all we got was Roy being uncomfortably weird for no apparent reason: Roy saying weird shit to Keeley in the parking lot for no clear reason; Roy describing a twisted bullying scenario for no clear reason; Roy tying strings to penises for no clear reason; Roy being oddly mesmerized by Jamie’s mother for no clear reason; and then…a random brief visual of Roy going to therapy in the finale montage. All of these alienating, out of context, out of character scenes did not move a narrative, they were just a series of confusing non sequiturs.

And of course I was out here like Linus waiting for The Great Pumpkin urging people to just be patient for what I just knew was gonna be a great episode that pulled this silly shit together.

So pour one out for the great Roy Kent. He was a nuanced character who turned into collateral damage by writing that just gave the fuck up.

[vro0m]

vro0m's rewatch - 170/332

2016 Chinese GP

Okay so they reverted back to the old quali format, Lewis had a problem with his PU and he's last on the grid meanwhile Nico is on pole for the first time of the year… He's sharing the first row with Ricciardo. Raikkonen is behind them alongside Seb. Valtteri is fifth, then it's Kvyat, Perez, Sainz, Verstappen and Massa. 

From the drivers' truck Lewis tries to say hi to the crowd but they can't hear him. Johnny asks if he's ready for the race and Lewis says he doesn't have a choice. It reminds him of going to races with his dad and a shit car and starting from the back but this time he has a good car.

It's gonna be a challenge but he'll give it everything he's got. He hopes it's entertaining because he doesn't plan on staying where he is.

He knows he has great fans who will be on that journey with him. Johnny asks what result he'd be happy with today. Lewis says with a laugh normally you're never happy with anything other than first.

But considering where he's starting he just wants to make sure he gets points. He acknowledges the work his guys put in the night before, putting the car back together, so getting the most possible points is a reward for that. 

The build up isn't very interesting. There's a segment about Haas' good results in their first two races, and an Alonso interview

They're on the way to the grid. Crofty says nobody has ever won from the back of the grid, but John Watson, in 1983, started 22nd, so same as Lewis that day, and won. At the time, there were 28 drivers total. 

Okay. It's time for the race. 

They are racing! 

Ricciardo overtakes Nico while I see Lewis overtake at least two cars at the back. The Ferraris struggle! They got very close and Kvyat overtook them both. AND THERE IS CONTACT BETWEEN THE TWO FERRARIS! Oh it's chaos, the top 10 is in shambles. Apparently Lewis also got damage? HE LOST HIS FRONT WING omg. It's stuck under his car. Horrible horrible weekend. Seb is on the radio saying he made contact. He says the RedBull was coming up the inside "like a madman" and that's why he hit Raikkonen. At the end of the first lap, the order goes Daniel, Nico, Kvyat, Perez and Hulkenberg, Sainz, Massa, Seb, Jenson, and Valtteri. Raikkonen pits from P20 and Lewis is nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. Oh here he comes in as well. And Nico overtakes Ricciardo just as Ricciardo's tyre BLOWS UP! Completely delaminated 2013 style. Kvyat overtakes him as well, of course. And it's a safety car. There's too much debris on the track. That's good for Lewis because it brings him right back near the other cars but he's complaining of how the car feels. A bunch of people pit, of course. Including Seb. Loads of traffic in the pitlane. On the start replay we see Lewis ran over the debris from the Ferrari collision and then got hit by Nasr. We also see Seb overtaking two cars in the pitlane entry and then Lewis pits again?! They put him on supersofts now (he started on softs and then got back on softs after they changed his nose). I guess the idea is he needs to be able to overtake at the restart… On the radio, Bono says : "We have a plan, nothing wrong all part of the plan." – "Sorry I’m boxing again now?" he asks. OH MY GOD HE IS ACTUALLY PITTING AGAIN?! . "Affirm, we’re going to fit the soft so we don’t have to use any other compounds," Bono answers. It's not even lap 10 and they pitted him THREE TIMES already?! I mean I get it but it's not like he's gonna be able to do 50 laps on softs, is he?! Well I've shown over and over on this blog that I'm a terrible strategist so we'll wait and see and trust their experience but right now I'm mostly just baffled. Seb is still talking about the collision. "Kvyat's attack was suicidal, there was always going to be a crash. No way with the speed he had he could have done the corner." I haven't really watched the collision carefully so idk. I guess we'll see in the postrace. The journalists aren't convinced. Also Ted is about as convinced by Mercedes' strategy as I am because we get from the radio that they don't wanna use the mediums. Ted says getting to the end of the race only on soft tyres would probably necessitate 3 more stops, for a 6 stop strategy ultimately. So… Yeah… in the meantime we see all the traffic jam in the pitlane earlier. It's insane. Nowaday that would be a bunch of penalties. So many collisions were barely avoided. The safety car is about to come in. Here we go. Seb is making moves.

On lap 10, Nico is in the lead followed by Massa, Kvyat, Alonso, Wehrlein, Gutierrez, Perez, Valtteri, Pal ? Who's Pal? Oh it's Palmer, right, then Jenson is P10. Seb is currently P12, up two places in one lap I believe, Ricciardo is P15, Raikkonen is P18 and Lewis P19. And Seb overtakes Sainz for P11. Raikkonen overtook Magnussen for P17. Lewis overtakes him as well, quite aggressively. Seb is up in P10 in the meantime. Nico is cruising ahead but Valtteri attacks Perez who's on the tail of Gutierrez, Seb is just behind, now in P9, biding his time. LEWIS OVERTOOK RAIKKONEN! Good job. It would have been difficult having to follow him up the pack. Loads of action I can't keep up. Palmer and Ricciardo are battling over P12 and Ricciardo won, at least for now. Seb attacks Valtteri but can't quite make it. These four are very close to one another. Lewis is up in P15! Seb finally gets Valtteri for P8. Wehrlein is overtaken by Perez for P5, just as Seb makes up another place by getting ahead of Gutierrez. At the back Lewis overtook Palmer for P14. And as we're watching replays of his overtakes, Seb overtakes Wehrlein and puts himself in P6. Kvyat gets P2 by overtaking Massa and Lewis is P13 after getting Hulkenberg. Next step is Ricciardo. And here he attacks! Not enough yet… Daniel is also attacking Gutierrez for P11, they're wheel to wheel… It's done, down the inside, Lewis follows through and HE's now wheel to wheel with Gutierrez. But he has to wait for a couple more corners to do it from the outside. He's immediately catching Ricciardo. Seb overtakes Perez for P5! He's so close to Alonso he's basically tapping him on the shoulder. He attacks! He's ahead down the straight but Alonso gets the slipstream and tries to attack back. The straight is too short though. That's P4 for Seb. BUT OH HO some pieces flew off his car! Raikkonen pits. He wasn't able to follow Lewis up the field. Lewis overtakes Jenson for P10! He's 25 seconds away from Nico now. Alonso pits and that puts him on P9. Seb is chasing P3. Oh he pits. He's out behind Lewis, in P13. It might be interesting if they battle. But Lewis probably will pit as well. 

Alright that was a busy 10 laps, now we're on lap 20, and the top 10 currently reads Nico, Kvyat, Massa, Valtteri, Sainz, Oh but Kvyat pits wait. There's a three way fight between him as he gets out of the pits, Seb and Verstappen. So as I was saying. Nico, Bottas, Lewis now up in P3 somehow?????!?!? /? //// seriously what? Last I checked he was P9?! Anyway Jenson is P4, Kvyat P5, Verstappen P6, Seb P7 AND NICO PITS. So we wait again. And Seb overtook Verstappen and where is Kvyat?! I CAN'T KEEP UP. WAIT A SECOND SO I CAN RECAP THE TOP 10 PLEASE. Seb overtakes Jenson. 

SO. THE TOP 10. Nico, Valtteri, Lewis. Kvyat is now P4, Seb P5, Jenson P6, Perez P7, Massa P8, Ericsson P9, Alonso P10. No idea where Max went so I guess he pitted. Someone is being investigated for driving too slowly in the pitlane but I don't remember who and now we're informed some unsafe release concerning Perez will be investigated after the race. Lewis pits! He's now P14… P13. P12. P11. He attacks Raikkonen for P10. There's a three way battle for P5 between Perez, Valtteri and Jenson. A bit later, Raikkonen overtakes Jenson for P9, and then Lewis as well as he pits. He's back in the points! He attacks Raikkonen again! He still can't make it, Raikkonen is making it hard. But Perez pits so that's P9 anyway. 

That's lap 30. Nico is still ahead of course, followed by Kvyat again, and Seb. Massa and Valtteri are next, then Daniel, Sainz, Raikkonen and Lewis, P10 is Verstappen. On the radio we just hear Lewis say "I am." which is confusing. The transcript shows it was in answer to Bono telling him to give it everything he has. Oh yeah NOW we hear the complete exchange. He pits again and this time it's for the mediums so what was the point of the weird strategy earlier? He's back in P10 quickly enough but as the commentators– well it's P9 now. As the commentators point out though, most people ahead of him will not pit again so he's gonna have to work for it on track. Again. Kvyat and Seb pit. Nico pits but literally nobody cares at this point. There's a battle for P3 between Kvyat, Raikkonen and Seb. Seb overtakes Raikkonen pretty quickly and then Kvyat in about as little time. He's P3. Raikkonen pits. 

On lap 40, Nico, Seb, Kvyat. Four way battle for P4 between Max, Massa, Valtteri and Lewis. Daniel is P8, Perez P9– Massa overtakes Verstappen and Verstappen pits, Lewis attacks Valtteri, P5 ! Daniel is getting into the action as well. Oh that's an easy overtake on Valtteri, dangerous for Lewis. His tyres are fresher. But Valtteri strikes back! Oh he can't… ohhh there we go Daniel is right on Lewis… He defends, he defends, but Daniel has the pace… Lewis locks up again… He's looking for a way past Massa… and Daniel overtakes him. Now he's under pressure from Raikkonen… he's attacking Massa but can't make it and now Raikkonen is attacking him! 10 laps to go. He attacks again… Yeah. That's another lost place. Raikkonen overtakes Massa as well and Lewis is back to chasing the Williams. 5 laps to go now. The ending is pretty anticlimactic. 

And it's the end of the race. 

Nico wins again. In the end the rest of the top 10 was Seb, Kvyat, Daniel, Raikkonen, Massa, Lewis P7, Verstappen, Sainz, Valtteri. 

As usual Seb speaks with Nico in German. I don't understand German despite studying it for like 10 years but I think he mentioned "schlafen", to sleep. They watch the screens. Seb says something about Lewis, but I can't hear because Nico is shaking the camera and the mic makes a noise. Kvyat says something we can't hear as well. Seb turns to him. "You! Asking what happened at the start?!" he says, half stunned, half amused. "(Inaudible) to the left you crash into us and we all flew (inaudible)." – "Well," Kvyat starts but Seb interrupts. "No, not 'well', you came like a torpedo!" – "Well that's racing," Kvyat laughs like a 13 year old boy joking about boobs. "Uh that's racing but you know if I keep going the same line, we crash," Seb says. "Well don't keep going," Kvyat says with the same hollow laugh. Seb is not amused anymore. "Yeah but there was a car on the left also," he says. Nico is all smiles behind them. Kvyat says he didn't see that because he only has two eyes. Seb shrugs. He says they could have crashed if that's how he went at it and Kvyat says "we didn't". "YOU didn't!" Seb corrects him. They keep going. Seb says sure it's racing but he's gonna get damage if goes at it like he's crazy. "You were lucky this time!" – "Well I'm on the podium so that's okay," he answers again with the same equal cocky smirk. He's annoying. Seb raises his eyebrows. This conversation is going nowhere. Unfortunately the video glitches and I can't hear the end. 

On the podium they basically replay the same conversation. I'm over it. Oh apparently Nico almost got kicked out of his plane from Mexico because he was partying too much. Embarrassing tbh. 

I only have a partial post race. Hopefully we at least get Lewis' interview? We do, it's the first interview we hear.

He smiles as she says it hasn't been his weekend. He says he got a good start but it's always difficult from the back not getting caught up in what happens ahead. He tried to fight his way through but everytime he had to pit he had to do it all again. "But anyway, that's racing and uh… Not a great finish for us this weekend but uh, you know, hopefully onwards and upwards." She asks if in hindsight maybe one of the stops wasn't needed. He says he just got out of the car so he doesn't have any hindsight. She asks how difficult it is to follow the cars in front in the Mercedes. He's not enjoying the question. He hums. He says he talks about it all the time. The track is good because you can overtake but the car was pretty damaged. He suspects there was suspension damage as well. 

Toto says there's some stuff they need to work on but he's happy RedBull is back in the mix and it was exciting to see three teams battling for the podium. 

Out of the press conference, Ted says Kvyat has moved from laughing it off to standing his ground while Seb still can't let it go. He also confirms that Lewis not being able to do longer stints on his softs tyres (12 laps compared to Nico's 23) was due to the damage to the front of the car that was shredding the tyres.

At the end of the notebook, Ted mentions Lewis saying something about fighting himself during the press conference. He then says Toto said Saturday night during the Mercedes press conference that Lewis was so one with himself and it was fantastic to see so they asked Lewis about it. Apparently he said it was nice to hear that from Toto. "He's a very big part of the journey I'm on, you know earlier in my life, throughout my life my friends used to say to me 'Lewis you don't know who you are, it's like you're searching for yourself.' but now I've found myself, I've found my identity". And I think that's a very important thing to mention in this rewatch. 

That's it for now! 

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Third year UA student Tenko “Tomura” Shimura as perceived by the younger UA students:

Looks terrifying, no one goes near.

Actually thinks everyone will be scared of his face so he hides behind his hair and doesn't make eye contact.

Gives a sermon in purely gamer speech and just the chosen ones can understand.

Adopted by sensei Shirakumo? Investigate.

It's a big fan of Aizawa sensei. It's shameless about all the merch he owns.

Apparently wants to surpass All Might?

Holy shit All Might treats him like a son, what is this. How are they related.

He's older sister is the pro-hero Hana “Levity” Shimura. So cool!

He's actually very kind. Invites students over to play videogames with him and teaches those who doesn't know how to play.

Constantly decaying doorknobs and pencils and whatever it's in his reach when he takes his gloves off.

He's broke.

Really broke.

According to his previous fights in the UA sport festival, he's not only a pretty good strategist but also he's really fast, athletic and strong. He can barely rely on his quirk so he does most of what he needs with his body.

Throughly an Eraserhead fan.

His neck itches when he's nervous.

He doesn't like violence.

HE HAS A DOG. Someone said he took it secretly to school and keeps him on his room, because it helps him relax.

Future rescue and recovery specialist.

His status regarding Touya “Dabi” Todoroki and Keigo “Hawks” Takami is confusing. There's an on going bet about if their merely friends, someone is dating someone or they all hate each other.

Rumors say he has challenged even powerful pro-heroes before in order to defend his fellow classmates and the younger students.

Worst jokes. Ever.

A loser.

[mehoymalloy]

Character ask game: Otohan, 21

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I adore Otohan's internal voice because she's a cold-hearted bitch (affectionate). She's quietly commanding with those who work beneath her, to the point that Paragon's Call goes still and silent the moment she shows up. She says the sassiest shit with a straight face ("I assume you are sound enough intelligence..." to Sorrowlord Zathuda, for example). She's known to be smart, considering her reputation as a strategist and tactition when she was a general during the Apex War. This all gives the impression of Otohan as a very cool and level-headed person.

But then she also was apparently extremely devout to the Duskmaven for a time, implying a strong sense of loyalty (a loyalty that we can see is seemingly still integral to her character based on how she speaks of Ludinus) She's infamous for the "atrocities" (tell me the atrocities Mr. Mercer) she commited as the Statros Throne's greatest warrior, a "boogeyman" and a "nightmare" to any that opposed her. She's terrifyingly efficient with the way she cuts people down in combat [looks at Ashton and Keyleth in particular], yet she's also willing to draw stuff out (briefly indulging Fearne and FCG's blatant lies in Razora and downright coaxing Imogen to come into her powers by taking her friends down, and then out, one by one in Bassuras).

The point I'm getting at is: I love the way she intentionally portrays this stern, cold, practical persona, while also containing this disturbingly frenetic, near manic energy just beneath the surface. It's a fun dichotomy to balance through her perspective and actions when writing.

One thing I sometimes don't like when it comes to writing Otohan is her way of speaking. I frequently joke that she is the definition of "no one fucking talks like that" (see this post for quotes; I swear, the fact that she's so scary that her unironically calling people 'sheep' somehow didn't break my immersion is a testament to Matt's skill as an actor). Because of that, writing dialogue that feels like Otohan without falling into melodrama or 'no one has ever said these words in that order' territory always feels like a bit of a fine line to walk.

From this character ask game!

[variabels]

who are your favorite blue lock characters and why?

It ended up getting really long so here's the list:

Nagi

Kaiser

Isagi

Honorable mentions:

Bachira

Chigiri

Shidou

Sae

Explanations (manga spoilers):

1. Nagi

But like in all seriousness, I relate way too much to his motivation problems, especially the setting a goal, reaching it for a second and not knowing what to do afterwards part. We also have similar personalities (although I think Rin or Sae might be the most like me in that department), find a lot of stuff to be a pain and the same hobbies (manga and gaming ftw).

I also really like his chemistry with Isagi, Chigiri and Barou, Isagi really brings out the best in Nagi, Chigiri and Nagi's friendship is so fucking cute and Barou vs Nagi is always hilarious. It was really nice to see Nagi go from skipping practice to willingly joining Isagi and Barou to train.

His playstyle is so much fun to watch. I'm so happy Kaneshiro decided to pair him up with Isagi for the second selection because they were a GOATed duo. They weren't perfect for each other, so seeing them having to work together to improve and win games was so satisfying. I love how Nagi got to actually have an input on the strategies used especially since he used to be the kind of person to just do whatever he's told.

He's also badass, adorable and precious.

And can we take a second to like look at him? How is this dude 190cm??? I deadass thought he was slightly taller than Isagi until I read what his actual height was. I've never seen someone so tall have such short person energy, it's so fascinating and weird.

2. Kaiser

Kaiser's a fucking bitch, that's why I love him. He's always so much fun, if he's in the scene, you know it's gonna be good. He just has this presence, idk how to describe it, but like, he will always get your attention.

He's so interesting and there's still so much to learn about him. I'm really excited to see how his character will develop. I love how he's able to genuinely acknowledge other people's achievements despite being a shit-talker (and one who can actually back up his shit, he's a new gen 11 member after all). I really have a thing for those types of characters.

His rivalry with Isagi is also easily the best rivalry in the series. They both respect each other as players despite having so much beef. Their rivalry keeps getting crazier with all their "I'll fucking kill you" and I'm all for it. Their personalities clash so well making it entertaining af.

Also, Kaiser's design is so iconic. It shouldn't work at all but it just does. Like what is up with that mullet-rat-tail-ombre hair? How does he pull it off? Also, the red eyeliner is beautiful, it's such a small detail but it adds so much.

3. Isagi

So, I know a lot of people didn't like Isagi at the start because he seemed like an asshole for feeling great about kicking the ball in Kira's face. I wasn't one of those. I immediately loved him after that and loved him even more every time he took joy in defeating others.

It's really rare for the main character to make it into my top 3, so when one does make it in, I know they're amazing and oh boy is Goatsagi amazing. He has a lot going for him, such as being one of the calm/Kuroko type of sports manga protagonists which I just enjoy way more than the loud/Hinata protags. I absolutely adore strategist characters (especially when they say "just as planned") so having one as the protag is awesome.

The duality of Isagi on the field and off the field is so good. So many sports manga just have serious/not serious as the duality, but Isagi's is asshole/sweetheart and I love it so much, it just adds so much personality and uniqueness to Isagi.

He's a really emotionally intelligent person (why are these so rare in fiction? especially emotional intelligent guys that are genuinely good people and not manipulative), like it's very apparent in how he interacts with his Blue Lock rivals, especially Barou and Rin. It's never explicitly stated but it's shown that he understands how to interact with each one of them in a healthy way. He doesn't go to annoy Rin or Barou to get them to open up more (istg tsundere/prideful characters end up opening up solely because they were annoyed or humiliated to death way too often), Isagi treats them like actual people off the field and doesn't try to make them uncomfortable. It's so refreshing. This also makes his relationship with Kaiser way funnier because Kaiser's like the only person Isagi isn't nice with.

Speaking about relationships, Isagi has such good chemistry with the entire cast. I find his relationships with his rivals to be the most interesting since it feels like he treats most of his friends really similarly. None of his rivalries really feel the same even when they fit in the same trope (friendly rivals, humbled rivals etc...). It's also really funny how he's got so many rivals and beefs, like he got the second-best in the world to have beef with him. ISAGI IS HIM.

This is getting long, so I'll be brief with the next point. Isagi just has so many traits I respect in a person. Like, he's not afraid to change, he's not afraid to ask others for help, he's ambitious and he'll do what it takes to win.

Never thought he'd be in my top 3 when I started Blue Lock. If he ends up being football Aizen, he'll surpass Nagi as my favorite...

Other favs:

Bachira, he used to be number 3, but Isagi's grown on me a lot and Bachira hasn't done much lately (he's also a fully developed character with a finished character arc, so there's not as much development potential in him atm). He's still really likeable and I love him but he's not as interesting anymore. His design is so sick and I love his playstyle. I also love his character arc in the second selection.

Chigiri, like Bachira he suffers a bit from having a finished character arc (like, there's really only him getting injured to develop him more at this point since the author decide to forget about the Chigiri-Kunigami subplot which could have allowed Chigiri to get more development), but still really likable. He's also the only person in Blue Lock who doesn't need therapy, idk how our princess has stayed sane. His design is gorgeous, I love it so much and wish I could be 1% as pretty as him.

Shidou, like Kaiser, he's one of those characters that just enhances every scene he's in. He's just so much fun and he genuinely loves football so much. His relationship with the Itoshi siblings is also amazing, it's so funny how he hates one and loves the other. He might not have any chemistry with Rin when it comes to playing football, but their character chemistry is great (they're always so funny when they're together). And holy fuck Shidou and Sae, I don't know where to start with these two, they were made for each other. I wish Shidou luck, he got Sae's number, maybe he can get his heart next?

Sae, aka the superior Itoshi sibling. Shit talkers who talk shit because they're genuinely better are some of my fav types of characters. He also kinda reminds me of Itachi from Naruto and he's my favorite character from Naruto, so ofc I was gonna love Sae. There's a lot of potential for his character to develop, especially if whatever he has going on with Shidou ends up getting developed more. I love how he's the one who reached out to Shidou, it's rare for the quiet one to be the one to do that if they're not manipulative. I hope he plays in the U20 team because I need more of his interactions with Rin and Shidou.

[bitegore]

dragstrip for 1, 23, and 26? @gaysontodd

Another long response, cut on account of how I can't shut the fuck up. Ask game here.

1. Canon I outright reject

I don't really like to reject canon, so I tend to instead go out of my way to incorporate elements of canon that seem contradictory to give me more wiggle room instead. But I'm mostly doing Sunbow G1/toy canon fusion for the Stunticons, with a few things taken here and there from Marvel G1 but not much. So I suppose you could say I reject the entirety of Marvel G1, but Marvel and Sunbow are basically two different G1 canons the same way IDW G1 is not the same as Sunbow G1 and certainly is not the same as G1 toy canon.

That being said, I'm not doing RID2015/Aligned with them, because that's an entirely different set of characters and I'm not particularly interested in them at the moment. So I also reject that canon, for a certain definition of reject (though I think "ignore" would be a little more accurate).

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

This is hard because I very badly want to take the literal approach. SO I'll do both.

Literally: gasoline, asphalt, electrical fire and hot metal (copper or iron both work but either way he should smell a bit like blood imo), with undertones of carnuba wax (car wax lol) and some kind of lysol-y air freshener. I know this sounds horrendous but I would burn this candle without question because to me that sounds like it smells very good.

More figuratively: Drag Strip is ruled by ego and a hatred for losing. He smells like a pale imitation of some more successful candle. So I googled best-selling candle scents and used this article - so chosen because it's by "the strategist" and that's the kind of stupid bullshit he'd buy into - and their best candle is fucking weed flavored. Like fucking cannabis. Which is really low fucking hanging fruit honestly to be like "my favorite character who is a loser smells like weed" but you know what. I did in fact say he was a pale imitation of something someone else thought was cool and then went to the first webpage with the right kind of stupid "cool" bullshit on it so I'm kind of locked into this now. So he specifically smells like, apparently: "Cannabis, suede, white musk, tulip, and amber" but like poor-quality imitations. He mostly smells like burning wax and chemicals, and the oils giving him his flavors are not very well-mixed, but he does smell like that some.

(what the fuck is white musk??? why does this site list the flavor profile as green amber?????? i hate candle scents so much)

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [insert character of your choice from the same fandom] Soundwave or Vortex?

With Vortex, I figure Drag Strip would kind of just shoot the shit until either he or Vortex says something annoying and then they'd start fighting with each other. Ten hours on when they finally get the elevator open both of them are bleeding and Drag Strip has categorically lost and is sulking in a corner.

With Soundwave... I imagine that while the elevator is still working he's quiet and awkward, but as time drags on he starts occasionally trying to give Soundwave like an elevator pitch about why he should be promoted, or put in charge of more stuff, or something... but every time Soundwave tells him to be quiet he shuts up for another, like, twenty minutes, so it's very slow going.

[fictionkinfessions]

its weird being kin with a character who is so commonly headcanoned to have NPD (while not having npd), and then having NPD now like man i Didnt have npd i was riddled with a whole other set of mental health issues lol

"omgg leo isnt DEPRESSED he has NPD and just needs support from his family to validate himself!!" like good for you live your life but also No i Didnt i acted as the "face man" because a) i didnt have a Niche in the team and b) nobody else really Was the face man like i didnt have a *role* aside from just being The Fourth Turtle like, donnie had his tech and raph was built like a tank and also Is Raph i mean cmon, and mikey had his fucken Razzmatazz and i was just sorta There Leo, blue guy, red eared slider, liked instant noodles and cold drinks and warm blankets and sorta just not really A Part of it like why do you think i took up being the fucking medic? so id be like!! useful!!! so id have something to do to say i was helping!! do you know how taxing it is to go and set bones and be the one to help your brothers after they have their shit rocked by like. meatsweats or something? fuck like im not MAD at them but it was like. a stressful thing. but i HAD nothing else! i wasnt leader until way later on and no matter what raph would always be the Unofficial Leader. my portals didnt compare to any of the shit my brothers could do. like "oh yeah hey i can make fucking portals" meanwhile raph can a) FUCKING DUPLICATE HIMSELF and b) make a projection of himself thats like 5 times his size mikey can a) THROW BOATS??? AND BUILDINGS???? WITH HIS FUCKING NUNCHUCKS???? b) yk. make inter-dimensional portals so not even my PORTALS are unique c) FLOAT. EVENTUALLY. d) like. pyro-related stuff i guess. and donnie's so fucking smart he doesnt even NEED mystic shit!! his tech-bo is like, yaknow, EVERYTHING YOUD WANT out of something called a "tech-bo", he set up all of our lair's tech, he made the heaters, he made AI's with the same capabilities of a human brain, and then add on MYSTICS to that???? holy SHIT. then theres dad who can just Kick Ass apparently despite being a tiny rat-man. april is the most resourceful person i know, casey and casey jr. are both STUPIDLY good with hand-to-hand combat because of fucking course they are. barry is a) physically capable somehow, b) has his stupid fucking vines and c) is an ALCHEMIST. even fucking sunita is more interesting than me!!! like what the shit! the most I contribute is being a fucking pest!!! my unfunny-streak has CONTINUED into Now, and im just as uninteresting and all this is stupid because draxum made all of us WITH A PURPOSE. the tank, the strategist, the analyst and the mediator. raph, me, don and mikey. i know, factually im not "without purpose". im part of our stupid, biologically-designed unit. but i cant fucking help myself. what the point of a strategist if the analyst is smart enough to fix everything if something goes wrong. what good is a strategist if the mediator can, again, THROW. BUILDINGS. what fucking GOOD is a STRATEGIST if the TANK can protect everyone!! "oh but leo! you trapped Him in the prison dimension" it wouldnt have been a PROBLEM if I hadnt let them out in the FIRST PLACE. it doesnt MATTER that i didnt know what it was! it still happened BECAUSE OF ME. donnie had to fucking, idk, INTEGRATE with THE FUCKING TECHNODROME cause of me! mikey fried himself cause of ME! dad and april got hurt cause of me! raph got fucking kidnapped and infected BECAUSE OF ME! if i wasnt a factor, the invasion wouldnt have happened at all, and my whole "planning to trap Prime in the prison dimension + self sacrifice" thing wouldnt have even HAD TO HAPPEN, so that point is WORTHLESS! i am a """strategist""" that only serves to hurt his unit. and what kind of fucking strategist is that.

-leo (probably from Lemonade Leak i guess) 🔷⚔🌌. sorry for this ask, mpc. probs more venty than you bargained for.

🐸

[taylors-karma]

It’s time for my first official ranking after seeing the interviews! Here’s to hoping I’m right about some of these (and wrong about others). 

Stan Card Activated

1. Blue- I still really like her and y’all really like her and I trust the fandom with every fiber of my being so I know we are right, I can feel it. I wish she had gotten more screen time in the interview but if she’s a last-minute alternate addition, it just pushes her even further. 

I think I’m gonna like you 

2. Jag- He gave me really good vibes in his picture and he’s giving me good vibes in his interview too! I think he’s gonna be a really chill guy but I can also see him being a huge mastermind and doing well in the game. 

3. Bowie- I like her accent and she seems cool. I feel like I’ll vibe with her and she’ll be on the right side of the house. Don’t let me down woman!

4. Felicia- She seems sweet! She reminds me of all the nice older southern ladies I’ve met since moving to South Carolina. Nice and comforting. I feel like she won’t try to make waves in the beginning but I could see her getting pissed and telling someone off and I hope we get to. 

I want to like you but something’s off

5. Izzy- Like I said, the queer musician connection has me wanting to like her but her crescendo joke was so fucking bad and I fear she’s just another Kaycee. Idk tho maybe she’s the butch lesbian we all needed. I have hope for her. 

6. Mecole- The politician thing is throwing me off I’m not gonna lie. Also she still reminds me of Ameerah and I could totally see her being a bitch. However, I can also see her being an awesome strategist and actually getting some work done. If she’s a girlboss I’ll take her but if she’s just gonna drag people in the mud I will not. 

7. Kirsten- There wasn’t much that I got from her, but she does seem like someone who’d end up aligning with the wrong people. I feel like she’ll be the most tolerable member of the alliance we all end up hating and we’ll all be begging her to work with the other side/s the entire time. Please prove me wrong girl sdifjpef. 

Mid

8. Matt- I do really like the deaf representation, but he seems boring af. Not someone I can see myself caring about. Sorry. 

9. Cameron- I could see myself potentially hating this guy, but he seems unproblematic to me as of now. I could see him woking with annoying people but also being kind of a floater. He’s practically TBD lol.

I don’t know yet

10. Jared- Apparently his mom is a Survivor legend? I haven’t seen Survivor so I would have no idea of knowing how good this guy could be, but family doesn’t mean shit sometimes. I can’t read this guy yet so I’m still wary. I just don’t want another Monte y’all. 

11. Hisam- After watching the interview I have definitely changed my opinion about him, but I’m still wary. He seems like he could be another Michael maybe? I could also see him becoming irrelevant or being part of the annoying big alliance. Idk I can’t tell I think I’m going crazy. 

Can’t stand your ass already

12. Red- I just know he’s going to be annoying. Is he going to be Frenchie? Cliff? Idk, but I don’t care for him either way. Out. 

13. Reilly- She’s going to be in the stupid popular alliance and is gonna get into some stupid showmance and rat on the other girls. Useless!!!! Next. 

14. America- I literally can’t stand her voice or her personality already. She reminds me of Alyssa from last season so much it hurts. She’s gonna get into a dumb showmance, be a bitch to everyone, start every rumor and bully train, etc. I just know it. 

15. Luke- Nah this guy is literally just Kyle. I’m waiting for it. 

16. Cory- I don’t give a fuck that his brother was on Survivor; I couldn’t stand looking at him or watching him talk. Literally didn’t hear a single word he said because I was so appalled by what I was seeing. How is someone just built like that. I’m sorry ksdjfposdjgdfg I know he can’t control these things but I have a feeling I will be proven right. Cory, make me feel guilty about this please.