#are there any more spoiler tags i need to use

[strawberry-spritz]

Rough mission

spoilers for chapter 1137 if you're gonna read this!! <333

Shamrock x gn!reader

summary: You are the Holy Knight's hairdresser, they had a rough mission and come back to you finally at the end of the day and you take care of them and give them a hair cut. <3

contains/tags: Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns when needed but i used (you)! Hair Washing, non-sexual Intimacy, Facial Shaving, Hair Braiding, mention of child neglect, kissing, Injury Recovery, g*rling

its on my ao3 here!

Hope you enjoy <3

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The announcment rang through the Figarland's family residence.

"Master Figarland Shamrock has returned!"

Garling did not make the slightest effort to move to welcome his son back, his son would come to him, just like he did after each mission.. to give garling the report himself like he had always done for his 39 years of living.

You were grooming garling's hair, using a shit ton of hairspray to make it stick in that spike he liked to keep it in. Truthfully, it looked like utter bullshit, but if you said anything your head would be hanged for decoration on the family residence until it rotted and had the rodents eat it. You hesitantly grabbed the razor and approached garling's moustache, holding his face (ew) with 3 fingers to angle it right for you to clean up around the area. His sunglasses obstructed your view of his eyes, so you couldn't tell if he was satisfied or not, and you didn't want to know to be honest, you were just here to do your usual work.

You gravely hated working on garling, any mistake on him would quite literally be your death, any other knight would just scold you for a poor job... but that wasn't the case here. You continued silently, your heart beating faster at what's supposed to be just a normal day to you...

☆☆☆☆☆☆

Shamrock walked with his usual confidence, ignoring the fact that his usually neat hair looked like a rat's nest, his braids were close to coming undone, his uniform was tainted with blood from battle, bottom lip busted and bleeding down on his chin.. his elegant appearance completely disheveled and inappropriate for a man of his status.. but at this point the poor man was too tired to care. His body was on autopilot. He couldn't even see infront of him.

He wordlessly entered garling's office, luckily you just got finished with garling's hair, it beamed bright after your work, signifying how good you were, but you felt like your efforts were wasted on the old geezer that only had a few more years to live...

You were dating his son, but due to you only being a Holy Knight, the two of you had to keep your relationship a secret, for garling always wanted shamrock to marry a woman of high status that would increase their general power and reign.

You wanted to run to your boyfriend but you didn't make a move that suggested anything, you just packed up your items wordlessly without so much as glancing up. Shamrock approached garling's desk and placed the report of the mission down on the expensive wood.. he had had gunko write it down for him because she was in better shape than him, he was sure he couldn't speak properly anyways.

You could see the blonde knight standing just shy of vision at the door, also looking worried for shamrock and was likely there to help him walk back to his (also your) room. You could see him slightly tilt cerberus back on his hip to lean on it to try and stand up straighter. Your heart shattered at how hard your boyfriend was trying.. knowing how much it meant to him that he always looks in his best shape, and how harsh garling treated him for all of years he lived.

Garling looked at your boyfriend with disgust. You truly wished to just jam the scissors in your hand in his head that should've balded a few years ago now. Garling used a pen to turn the report that was stained with a few drops of blood towards him, his lip turned up in disdain as he used the tip of the pen to open the folder so as to not touch it himself. He knew this wasn't his son's hand writing, while all holy knights wrote in perfect cursive, naturally the female knights had a softer look to their hand writing since their hands weren't as big as the male knight's hands.

You left garling's side and bowed politely, "Excuse me, Saint Figarland, commander Shamrock."

You heard the folder that shamrock put on the desk be pushed off the desk into the trash while you were walking out, damn that arrogant geezer, you walked out and stood next to gunko who also looked like she needed treatment.. God, what happened to them? You carefully approached her, your tone softening for her,

"Are you alright? You guys look like you got beat up bad.."

She nodded quickly, yet you could tell she was lying and wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.. you knew your boyfriend would take some time inside that would allow you to take gunko to the infirmary, so that's what you did... you would have an entire different story tonight, comforting shamrock from the shackles his father held deep into his skin if he even woke up..

☆☆☆inside the room after you left☆☆☆

"You did not write this with your own hands, son"

Shamrock opened his mouth to speak but the metallic taste of his own blood coated his tongue firmly.. he closed his mouth instead and nodded, turning his head down in shame. Garling threw one of the rags that the slaves use to clean straight at shamrock, the latter's step faltered at the small item and his face flushed in utter embarrassment.

"Go clean yourself, you look no better than a jester playing dress up to impress a king."

Shamrock forced himself to nod, his last bit of energy depleted while walking back outside..

☆☆☆☆☆☆

You just dropped off gunko at the infirmary and ran back like a maniac, you were pretty sure you bumped into a few knights but who cares? You almost sprinted past the office door but stopped yourself and your boots screeched against the floor... you saw shamrock finally leave the office, he looked 2 steps shy of passing out, you immediately ran to grab his arm and put it around your shoulders, holding his weight on you with ease.

"Shamrock, stay with me, i just need you to make it back to our room, can you do that for me?"

He slumped more of his weight on you wordlessly and you tightened your grip on his side, helping him walk step by step, his eyes were blurry, and he could barely recognize his surroundings.

You were so damn lucky that saint shepherd sommers was in the residence, probably to drop something for garling, the older man saw you and shamrock and immediately approached, looking concerned for his commander.

"Hey, hey, hey... don't fuck with me, what happened to shamrock?"

You straightened your back slightly before replying to the older knight.

"Seems like the mission they went on was too brutal, gunko's in the infirmary. That's how bad it is."

Sommers nodded as he listened to you- you were both interrupted by a loud cough from shamrock, the blood pooled from his busted lip spilled all over the floor in a horrifying manner. You immediately looked panicked, not only were you worried about your boyfriend, but if garling or anyone sees this.. shamrock would not be let off the hook so easily.

"Sommers, can you order a maid to clean this up, please? Don't tell anyone its source, I'm begging you. I'm taking shamrock to his room."

You asked the older knight before immediately speeding your steps and forcing shamrock to walk with you. When you finally reached his luxurious room, you broke the door down with your foot, that could be fixed and explained later.. you managed to lay him in bed and keep his head elevated, that busted lip needed treatment as it could slowly choke him...

You brought a wet rag and gently opened his mouth, cleaning his bottom lip where the cut was, you could see his eyes shaking slightly, which was a good sign he was with you, maybe after the bleeding stops he'll come around more. He was wearing too many clothes for his own good, you slithered the cloak under his body first, and then his thigh high boots, truly.. you didn't know how he walked in these, they must be painful in battle.

You took apart his top with one hand while keeping the rag pressed against his lip.. you began to wonder how your boyfriend's brother was called an emperor with one arm. you had trouble getting the military tail coat off him but eventually got it above his head, luckily you knew he always wore a long sleeved black shirt under it. (That thankfully saved you the embarrassment of seeing his toned muscles.)

The trousers... shouldn't be an issue for now (You decided to save your dignity). The bleeding stopped from his lips and you could see it wasn't a deep wound thankfully so it wouldn't need stitches. But you knew you still needed to press ice against it every once in a while.. you worked on his other scratches and wounds, some hidden under his sleeves which was easy to spot, some on his legs and thighs in which you had to pull his trousers legs up to be able to treat him well, if you had to generally guess. You would guess he's conscious, but only barely enough to recognize his surroundings, otherwise he would've pushed you off and told you not to treat him ever again..

That man hated showing weakness under any circumstances, not for you, not for garling, not for anyone. You had been patient with him, in his own way he was caring, a little confused on what exactly he should do in a... relationship, but he's trying. His commands didn't work on you like they worked on everyone else, you didn't hesitate to fight shamrock evertime over an order that you couldn't take for whatever reason, you occasionally fought him for both killingham and gunko because they both were scared about stepping up to shamrock like you do.

You finished patching his body up and eventually and sighed, you were tired. You gave him some pain meds via syringe (you never asked him why he had those lying around). His pained face finally relaxed and he looked to be in deep sleep, your expression softened at the sight... it was rare that you and your boyfriend ever had time together. It was even rarer if he had time to spend with you, he was always coped up on that shitty desk of his.. working on endless paperwork.

You took the opportunity to release his braids, untangling them gently and carefully with your fingers. His hair needed a damn good wash.. but you weren't gonna reel his unconscious body to the tub and back. You had already cleaned up most of his body while bandaging him up. You got a wide tooth comb and began brushing his fiery red hair, it was so damn pretty, and he only let you touch it. That meant alot to you, for him to trust you with what makes him... him.

You began detangling from down to up, holding the more tangled parts and seperating them hair by hair with your delicate fingers. It didn't take long with how he always takes care of it, so you looked at it in satisfaction. You could give him his monthly trim when he wakes up.

For now, you just needed to focus on icing his wounded lips and finding soft foods for him to eat when he wakes up. You got up to go to the kitchen, firing up the kettle to make yourself some strong coffee so that you don't sleep, someone needed to keep an eye on him and it sure as hell was gonna be you. You closed the door that you broke down earlier, thankfully the lock still worked but the handle.. looked unstable-

You sat next to shamrock on the bed and picked up a book..

This was gonna be a long night.

You kept pressing ice against his wounded lip every 2 hours, trying your damn hardest not to wake him up. You didn't know how- but you manged to stay up for 16 hours when he finally began to regain consciousness and wake up, you gently held his face with your left hand, getting his attention gently with your cold tips.

"Shamrock..." You whispered softly, in hopes of not scaring him.

His eyes finally opened, a bit more focused now. ruby coloured eyes met yours quickly.. he had no expression on his face, he just watched you.

You felt compelled to pull away.. thinking you've annoyed him, but just as you were about to back away, he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls your body into him- you ended up firmly on his warm chest and the rest of your body on the bed.. sleepiness hit you like a bullet. But you still needed to keep the swelling down and check on his wounds for atleast another few hours. You pushed against his chest to try and sit up.. "Shamrock, let go of me" you whined and he ignored you, pulling you fully on his body with his 2 arms. (Even if one hurt him like a bitch)

You muffled a groan into his chest, he was so damn warm... he bent slightly to whisper in your ears, "shall I assume that you took care of me, my darling?" You nodded, looking up to him.

"I did, you were in bad shape, garling was also being a dick to you!"

He clicked his tongue in annoyance before speaking, "Do not insult my father like that". you rolled your eyes, "then don't let him treat you like dirt. you are the son of a saint!" You argued back. The red haired man grumbled.. "just sleep"

You shook your head and pulled your head away from his body, "i need to be awake incase anything happens to you."

"I order you to sleep with me, now come back." He said as he pushed you back into his chest.... maybe you could rest, it was still an order from your commander.. so yeah.

You nodded and closed your eyes, feeling slightly guilty for sleeping on your hurt boyfriend but he's the one holding you in his arms. You gave up and let your eyes close... you murmured, "love you..".

Shamrock's eyes twitched, he wasn't very good at expressing his love verbally.. so he just patted your back, as if returning your words in gesture.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

You used any time he was asleep to quickly run to check on gunko who was in the infirmary. You shamelessly asked sommers to stay next to your boyfriend's room incase anything happened while you were gone to check on the blonde. You knew there was something between shamrock and sommers in the past, but to be honest you didn't care enough to put a finger on it, as it didn't affect your relationship now.

For how cold shamrock was, you never expected him to soften up so much, you secretly (and regretted) wishing he got injured more so that he dotes on you more as you usually never had time with him due to his endless duties, and could sometimes go weeks without a proper meal or conversation with him.

You kept waking up mid sleep, for occasional check ups on him or gunko, but eventually you fell into deep sleep on him, shamrock made sure to not let you go from his grasp every time you crawled back into him, your familiar weight on him did wonders and soothed him mentally, making him forget his physical pains, even during sleep.

You almost panicked when you woke up a few hours later- fearing you left your boyfriend unattended for too long. Shamrock put his hand on your hair to calm you down. "You did well, I'm here", He said in a hushed tone for you, you felt your body instantly relax and your eyes soften. When you were finally able to get up (by force because he wouldn't let you leave him so easily) you made him some soup that wasn't too hot to hurt his sensitive lips and sat next to him. He was confused on why you had a bowl of soup- until you scooped a spoonful and brought it to his lips, your expression leaving no room for argument.

"I'm not being fed like a toddler" Shamrock exclaimed and turned his head away. You knew you were going to run into this problem, and truly, your patience was running thin with the lack of proper sleep as well.

Your hand lashed out and grabbed his face, cupping his cheeks and pulling his face back to you, you smiled a venomous smile before speaking softly, "you either eat from your darling girlfriend's hands... or spill everywhere like an actual toddler. So, my beloved commander, which would you like?"

He could feel the venom in your tired voice seething... he quietly opened his mouth and you fed him slowly. Your face was much more tame now, "what a terrifying partner I have", he thought while continuing to eat from your hand. You took care to wipe any excess off his lips while he ate. He eventually stopped eating since he was full and you put the plate away.

"You have split ends in your hair, when would you like me to do them?" You asked while staring into his eyes, he almost fumed with anger, he despised anything that made him even slightly imperfect.

"Now" he responded briefly. You hummed and answered, "you need it washed first though,"

He nodded and murmured "i think i can stand". You immediately stopped him by pushing him back to the bed, he grumbled as he got confused- why were you stopping him when you were the one that suggested he basically needs a bath!?

"You can't bathe with the bandages, your wounds would reopen and they'd hurt like a bitch." You said sternly- he retorted immediately, "then what am i supposed to do, you're contradicting yourself!"

"Wait."

"....?"

You huffed, "You're gonna wait until the bandages come off so you can have a proper bath."

"Oh that's nonsense!"

"I'm not having you bleed to death in the bathtub because you were too arrogant, keep your ass in the bed shamrock or everyone is going to hear how I've wiped the floor with your ass after I already warned you!"

He was silenced again after your ruthless threats...

"Open your mouth" you ordered and he obeyed. You put your right thumb on his lip to check the wound.. you hummed, satisfied, "no more swelling, your lips are fine now, which is good, maybe you'll feel some slight tingles but other wise- hmph!"

Once he heard his sign he immediately pulled you in for a kiss, his hand stayed firmly on the back of your head so that you can't go anywhere, you were shocked at how fast shamrock was despite being injured, you kissed him back despite being caught off guard and almost out of breath again. He didn't let you take control, he was always the dominant one and that would never change, your hands fell on his clothes as he bit slightly into your bottom lip, eliciting a tiny moan from you, the faint taste of the coppery blood was there and you could taste it faintly.

You needed a breath after that so you pulled back and he let you, his smirk was subtle but there, your face flushed red as you yelled at him- "You're not supposed to have energy to do that! It's too early and you could've hurt yourself!" You scolded him, but it didn't look like he was taking you seriously.

"Can't a man want a kiss from his dearest nowadays?"

"Shamrock...rest!"

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

You were always surprised at how fast your boyfriend rebounded, his body always healed quickly, quite fit for a knight of his status you guessed... the moment his body had been in the clear, he jumped in to shower, making sure to wash his hair thoroughly just like how you had taught him.

He would rather be caught dead than admit it, but he loved his monthly haircuts and shaves from your hands, how you were so focused on perfecting his hair and braiding it with utter precision, the scissors that cut clean his hair and made sure the tips were perfect...

You were preparing your equipment when he walked out with just a towel around his waist, you knew your boyfriend did this on purpose to get you flustered, so you instinctively threw the clothes he had prepared and pushed him back into the bathroom without a second word.

He was a second away from laughing but he pushed it into his palm as he got dressed.

"Better?" He asked as he got out, wearing a basic fit because thankfully he had no where to be.

"Yes" you said with a pout at his attempt and pointed him to sit down. "Perhaps i should cut an extra 2 inches for your disobedience these days.." You muttered and his haki hit you like a storm-

"I was kidding! Sheesh!" You yelled as you bonked his hair with a comb, he wasn't phased, you began by straightening his luscious hair and cutting the ends off smoothly, then you curled it just slightly to bring back the wavy hair he always had. The braids came easily to you, having done them time and time again for him, you could do them with your eyes closed now, and finally you stood in front of him to fix his bangs that framed his face..

You took the opportunity to give him a quick kiss on the cheek while giggling. There was a hint of red in his face before speaking "could you clean up my sideburns?" You blinked a few times and touched his cheek, yeah there was little growth that you hadn't even noticed. "No one is going to notice a few hairs, shamrock" You narrowed your eyes at him and he hit you with those adorable puppy eyes he only showed to you-

"Fine! Stop making that face-!"

You brought out a clean razor, since this little amount wasn't really worth bringing out the trimmer for, and the razor was closer to you. You held his face with your whole hand to angle it right for you to just chip them off.

"Working on you is much better than working on garling.." You muttered and he raised an eyebrow and replied, "has father done anything to you, darling?"

You shook your head, "not done something, but your father is fucking scary shamrock. Ever thought of that?" You said with slight disdain. He just giggled, his dad was indeed a force to be reckoned with. You had a question... and it blurted out without you thinking.

"Why do you keep the hair on your sideburns?"

Your question was good, it would be easier to just keep the hair around his mouth and that's it, any other would be extra maintenance. He sighed- and you had a feeling you asked a damn shitty question.

"My brother's facial hair is only around his mouth"

"That's a fucking stupid answer"

He was shocked at your bluntness- you quickly continued.

"Your brother's hair is a rat's nest 24/7, yours isn't, and yours is significantly longer than shanks' shitty shaggy cut. Why do you need some hair to differentiate your faces?"

He swallowed while you made sure your work was clean, now walking over to do the other side of his face.

"Father doesn't... he doesn't like looking at my face if it's too similar to shanks.."

Your hands immediately stopped.. what a shit fucking father.. You were seething with hatred for garling, not like you ever liked him, but everyday you find another reason to hate his ass.

You spoke softly, not wanting to trigger more bad memories,

"since when?"

"Ever since my brother was a teenager and going rouge as a pirate... and having his face in the newspapers. He would just... send me to my room, this room, and just ignore me and I'd be confused. At that time I wasn't interested in the newspapers or pirate news, so Ididn't know I had that much of a resemblance to my brother."

He was shocked at how much he admitted so quickly- but it was you, he trusted you.

"I'm so glad that geezer has a few more years left to live"

You quietly mumbled to yourself as you forced yourself to finish working, it was silent till the end, you gave shamrock one last kiss on the cheek before starting to pack up your tools.

Shamrock looked in the mirror, sharp as always, thanks to you.. he made a point to get you several new expensive clothing pieces and invite you to dinner soon. He wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and rested his head on your shoulder.. you were confused on why he was acting like... that- but out of the corner of your eye you could see his eyes almost closed, fully relaxing against you... it broke your heart how ruthless garling was to him, shamrock always overworked himself and did his best to impress his dad, all for garling to dismiss his efforts. You didn't move, you could see he was sleepy though.

"We can take a nap after i finish packing"

"...sounds good."

You finished quickly and hopped in next to him, you were used to sleeping while turned away, never hugging or cuddling, but this time, he wrapped his strong arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him.. you wordlessly followed his lead and settled with your back against his chest, his grip was firm on you, comforting even.

Sleep quickly took over you, but it left shamrock a little bit as he considered his status and relationship with his father.. it brought him a headache that almost instantly went away when he smelled your hair, you shared his shampoo, so you always smelled of him, he always thought that was so damn hot, a piece of him, even as small as just smell, was always with you...

He buried his face in your hair, before finally falling into the hands of sleep for the first time comfortably in days.

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hope you enjoyed babes!! <33

i do have a gunko version of this, but I'm still writing a part 2 to it, that's why I dont think I'm gonna post it now, but if you wish to read on ao3, it's here!!

[dredgesnails]

i really wanted more gem and mumbo interactions this series because they were so fun in secret life but i really didn't think it would culminate in mumbo spending the better half of his series desperately trying to kill gem to the point of begging and pleading only to end up dying multiple times himself. and yet it was still everything i wanted and more

[verenvuoto]

LONG TIME NO SEE!

Here's the next little comic in the Post-Game DR-Was-A-Simulation AU.

Comics in this series: 01 - 02 - 03 [this one!]

[aq2003]

has anyone gotten the idea that odysseus' storyline in hades 2 is a depiction/exploration of trauma over his SA and how he's blaming himself for things that were out of his control? because that's the impression i'm getting from what i've seen. he talks about "goddesses" as his "greatest weakness" and that "he's not one to say no to them"...

when mel invites him to the bath, he brings up mortals having different standards for intimacy than gods and how it usually has a more romantic/sexual connotation. she then asks if he's uncomfortable and he has a startled reaction and brings up circe and calypso again (but never actually by name)

(this isn't ship/romance bait btw. odysseus knew mel as a kid and they're stated in-game to have a sibling/uncle-niece relationship)

also he grew apart from penelope after his return, but the game makes a point of showing that his love for penelope and telemachus is what drove him on at all so that element of his character isn't brought into question

[egophiliac]

Hello! Could I ask how many chapters does the jp server currently have? I believe you're at the 12th part but I'm not sure. Part 7 came out in the eng server and the measly 16 chapters with no chapters within chapters destroyed me, so I'm trying to estimate how many we'll get when parts come out

yep, we're in the middle of 7-12 right now! they started splitting them up further starting with 11, so we got chapter 11 part 1, then chapter 11 part 2, and we're due chapter 12 part 2 (and maybe 3?) later this month. we've been getting them more regularly though, so it seems like they're switching to smaller but more frequent story drops!

I think Eng is following the same chapter breakdown as JP for these ones, and they've mostly been a decent length each IMO -- 9 was on the short side (two-person dorms go by so fast...) but we're getting nice little wrap-ups to the characters' arcs so I personally haven't felt, like, shortchanged or anything so far! it is SUPER hard being patient though (I'm lucky enough to be able to play it immediately and I'm still dying over here), so. ...I'm hoping the smaller drops help with that. :')

if you want the actual chapter numbers so far:

chapter 8 - 117-139

chapter 9 - 140-157

chapter 10 - 158-191

chapter 11 - 192-211 (part 1) / 212-226 (part 2)

chapter 12 - 227-244 (part 1)

(pretty sure these are correct, but if someone notices that they're off, please let me know!)

[thebrainrotsreal]

Gsgw HC designs :D Not entirely canonically accurate tbh, took liberties. I'm totally right guys tho, trust. Saheon implied to have dark eyes? Smh, they're gold, guys, source? Trust me bro. Minseong totally has a mole + double dimples, Haje rocks a bob, J3 has long hair, and gov't agency standard suits are open suit jackets with warmer color palette leaning into dark purples/brown, while corp has blue/grey with closed/button up. Youngeun has curly hair guys, trust me :/ she told me.

But, had so much fun with these omfg? Fought the same-face demons and actually won, I'm so happy messing with shapes! Literally kept drawing until I got winded/stuck.

[supahstarrr]

i love watari nishino, and so i will ramble about obvious things relating to her background and character. insert heart emoji.

the parentification of watari makes me so so sick. can't stop thinking about that despite the strained relationship with her father she continues to reach out to him despite him not replying, just as she constantly reaches out to others in the game even when they don't reply to her. despite the strained relationship with her older brother based on the lack of energy to her and the younger ones, she is willing to hang out with him—which once again mirrors her tendency to reach out to others.

can't stop thinking about her reassuring her siblings that their mother still loves the family despite the constant emotional and physical neglect, as an attempt to ease their and her mind based on the (valid) perceptions of their mother making them feel unloved. its a reminder of how she tries to find reassurance in okazaki's character despite everyone perceiving them based on how they appear—both her mother and okazaki appear as negative uncaring characters yet it's nishino who is able to see and hope of the potential warmth in them that they don't or aren't perceived to show often, despite the negative perceptions from others having some validity to them.

can't stop thinking about her clinging to leadership roles because that is all she is used to, despite it exhausting her. her deciding to give herself responsibilities revolving around tending to others, despite those kind of responsibilities being forced onto her at a young age. she creates a dance team, and as leader she's the one looking for solutions for problems that risk the existence of her team *all while* constantly tending to her family.

notably her difficulties with the lack of control is what weighs her down, making her prone to being one of the weakest characters in the investigations and trials. this leads her to gravitate to the idea of being a leader.

i can't stop thinking about how the killing game allows her to play with a leadership role, which is something she cannot do while being a leader at home and for her dance team. through playing with the "headmaster" role, she tries to reinforce the false sense of normalcy for both her (that is leadership, tending to others and school) and others (that is school). its an attempt of finding comfort while grappling with the lack of control she's not used to, while also allowing her to be within a "leadership" role that doesn't require much commitment in contrast to being a leader for her family and dance team—thus being an interesting case of (very loosely) reclaiming leadership.

then okazaki takes advantage of watari's role. okazaki takes advantage of watari's "leadership" by utilizing the "privileges" they're given as "hall patrol" for the sake of committing murder. this give more layers to the tragedy that is watari and okazaki's dynamic, as this mirrors how watari's family members (mother, older brother and father) take advantage of watari's role as the primary caregiver so they don't have to put care into the family. watari's tendency to step up for others being taken advantaged by others is a norm for her, and yet okazaki contributed to that normalcy despite the validity to watari's "leadership" being more questionable. watari's attempt to mimic normalcy for the sake of her comfort and others just... became so sad.

i can't stop thinking about how her persistence and dedication leads her to giving energy to people despite them not giving it back the same. and i can't stop thinking about her hope for others.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

See, I think Charles’ annoyance and frustration with the Cat King really was just pure protectiveness and not any kind of jealousy - it’s understandable, because Edwin is not telling him what happened even though something clearly did, which is not typical for them. Edwin doesn’t usually hide things like this! Of course he’s worried!

Charles’ reaction to Monty, on the other hand, is difficult to explain in a way that isn’t jealousy. You could say he’s being protective again, but Charles shows no sign of distrust in Monty, and had no idea of who Monty was or that he might betray them - he was actually very chill with him, except in a select few specific scenes. You could say he just doesn’t like him because he got brushed off during their first meeting, but not only does that not seem like Charles at all, it also doesn’t make sense, since, again, in most instances, Charles is genuinely friendly and is happy when Monty compliments him and seems to have come around to liking him (it completely flies over his head that this is a petty jab at Edwin on Monty’s part but oh well hahaha). You could say it changes up their status quo a bit and that bothers Charles. I do think this bothers him a bit, but I think, unlike Edwin, Charles’ fear and frustration here is directed more at situations (the Cat King whisking him away for several hours, as an example) than others. He’s sociable and likes being able to talk to new people. There’s absolutely no way he’d begrudge Edwin doing the same - and he doesn’t… with Niko. Edwin and Niko hit it off and become very close and that never bothers Charles at all. He’s incredibly endeared to her, just like the rest, and for the most part, he’s chill with Monty too, and smiles pretty knowingly when Edwin confesses to him having awakened some feelings. The only exceptions, where he shows definite annoyance, are when Monty first shows up and gets really in Edwin’s personal space to show him the astrology chart he made, and when Edwin is so sucked into the book Monty gave him that he doesn’t hear that Charles is talking to him, to which he annoyedly says that they seem to have been “spending a lot of time together”.

You could say he’s unused to having anyone get in Edwin’s personal space like that, but, again, Niko. She’s very tactile with him and he doesn’t seem to mind all that much; they spend time together watching things. If it was just someone getting close with Edwin in general, not only would that be weirdly possessive for the character, but it would also mean he would show discomfort with anyone getting close, I think. Does Charles see Monty as more of a potential threat than Niko, seeing as he knows her and her personality and doesn’t know Monty? Well, maybe, but again, Charles shows no sign of distrusting Monty at all.

Monty is a boy. Okay. So something about seeing Edwin so close to a boy that is not him, getting lost in thought over something this boy gave him, really rubs Charles the wrong way. Charles appears to catch on just as quickly as anyone else that there is something (or it looks like something) between Edwin and Monty. He is not surprised when Edwin comes out to him in episode 6, and in fact, seems to have just been waiting for him to verbalize it. He smiles and is not bothered at all by Edwin showing (what he thinks is) a romantic interest in Monty - he just doesn’t like it when Monty clearly shows a romantic interest in Edwin. Um. Well. Well.

Charles is jealous. I really don’t know what else to say.

Look, when I first watched this show, I actually didn’t want them to end up together romantically - I love the idea of one having fallen in love with another who does not reciprocate and the two of them still loving each other just as much. That Edwin’s confession made them closer instead of making things awkward is such a beautiful outcome to this build up and I absolutely love it. However. On my two rewatches, I caught a lot more little details, and I think it would be very strange if the show did not follow up on this. That, plus the deliberate quality of these “jealousy” moments where the camera focuses on him, Charles’ Orpheus coding throughout the show, the fact that Edwin’s arc was far more about realizing his feelings for Charles specifically than just coming to terms with his sexuality, and that even the actors admit that Charles’ response to the confession kind of left things open, it really seems to me like the path leads to a romantic endgame for them, or at the very least, that this possibility will be explored in more depth.

**This is just my reading of it. Please do not use this post as a gotcha for anyone who loves them as a platonic duo or people who really love Crystal and Charles together (because let’s face it, they’re super cute too). I’m just doing my rambles. As per usual.

[clownsuu]

Have you been to the site yet bc the canon voices are CRAZY GOOD THEY WERE COOKING

Y E A A. A H H H H H H HH MAN I FUGGIN LOVE HOWDY'S VOICE DAWG UGGGHHH MY BOYYYYY ;;;;;;;;

[rbtlvr]

& by the way i literally CONSTANTLY think about how loop uses the partys titles to create distance to remind themself that those arent 'their versions' of them. that theyre not loops party anymore. and yet and yet and yet

[knightwhoisni]

concept: unromanced eleanor as drifter's romantic advisor and wingwoman. how successful she actually is at this depends on how serious she's feeling.

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

lmao condal will be like 'noo why do people like d*emon he's not a good guy!!!' but he won't have the balls to make d*emon explicitly be the evil that he is in the book re: b&c lmao.

[frenchonionsoop]

so the new chapter ahaahahahahahaa

[amplexadversary]

Completely self indulgent post but here's one of the post-canon scenarios I have in my head for G Gundam.

Maybe skip this post if you don't like dark themes. Not all of what I've outlined is dark (most of it isn't), but I do cross the line past what appears in the show in regards to DG cells and abduction.

The shuffles all get roped into restoration projects on Earth between the 13th and 14th gundam fights, partially to have something to do alongside their training, partially out of inspiration by the common points of the Kasshus' and Master Asia's goals, and partially because netting their countries some decent publicity is likely to earn them favors during the Gundam Fight's off-years.

Sai is contacted by Kyral about an effort to clear out the infamous buildup of trash and cadavers on Everest; he wants Sai to leverage Neo China's help as something of a reparation kind of deal and Sai goes sure why not.

Sai recruits Argo because Bolt Gundam is built to withstand the cold, and he thinks Argo and Nastasha could help reverse engineer that quality to enable the use of their Gundams as both heavy work equipment and protection from the harsh environmental conditions that normally prevent this kind of operation.

George gets involved because someone he knows has a distant relative who died on the mountain a century ago, and they wanted him to check in with the forensics team on the project. This detail is important because eventually it becomes clear that there is a mystery to solve (that I myself haven't figured out all the details of yet but broadly know the setup and conclusion); DG-infected people are disappearing and not being investigated due to stigma. Our heroes are naturally going to be pissed about this, and will need an "in" with the field if they want to do anything about it.

First massively self-indulgent element: The forensics/body identification team inexplicably includes the real-world author Kathy Reichs, who somehow exists in this universe, and there's a little side bit about her having written a Bones book right before the 12th fight that featured a cooked cadaver found inside a gundam after entry into the Earth's atmosphere. There are a lot of weird coincidences in the book that parallel the DG incident, which creeps everyone out, but the similarities are merely born of the writer threading the needle of being believable and interesting in a way that became very true to life.

What does become relevant is when the Shuffles eventually meet up, she's able to explain the implications of a bunch of weird shit the fighters discovered (also Marie Louise read her book, and one of the in-universe liberties Reichs took writing about the gundams' black boxes that she explains in the afterword leads to ML realizing something important; that Neo Germany does not have its gundam's remains.)

While the Everest project is happening, Domon, Chibodee, and Allenby all want to continue their training somewhere on Earth, and receive a proposal from (an OC of mine who is) a historic preservationist (and an acquaintance of Allenby's): she has acquired the grounds of an abandoned castle in Europe* after submitting a plan to restore it, and needs to hire people to help with the labor.

*the castle is probably somewhere in Germany because I also want this pitch to have drama over Schwarz (pre-13th fight), Schwarz (Kyoji), and Schwarz (the next guy who was supposed to inherit the mask when the older ninja retired). Also Germany is fucking pretty.

In exchange for the help of the three gundam fighters, they and Rain get paid, plus room and board anywhere on the grounds, plus full access to the grounds and miles of sparsely-inhabited countryside for training purposes, and the privacy and ability to practice with their gundams that comes with being in the middle of fucking nowhere. Rain sets herself up to work a clinic in the next town over as well as practicing pro re nata wilderness medicine (I'm convinced every medic supporting the gundam fight would need to be able to do this.)

The group involved in the Castle project sticks around for a time, makes some good progress, and engage in occasional Shenanigans that come up when you put a bunch of weirdos in a Situation.

They aren't in town a lot save for Rain, but when they are they eventually start to pick up on gossip and news about the Mysterious Disappearances correlated with DG cell infection (as well as details that turn out to be important later). Eventually Rain brings this to Domon and Chibodees' attention and they decide that, yeah, this is tied to the DG, this is their problem, they should convene with the rest of the Shuffle Alliance about it.

Also of course Schwarz is involved because I'm the one writing this; the culprits' DG-tissue harvesting operation relies on having him captured and helpless, using cells from his body to "update" other victims' DG infections to a less aggressive strain. One thing I haven't decided is whether I want a reinstantiated Wong to head this shit, or make up my own morally bankrupt opportunistic asshole looking to twist the DG to their own benefits. I also need to decide where on the planet the center of all this insanity is, and it needs to be a place that isn't going to have any unfortunate implications (because that's a genuine risk with dark story elements)

... That's about as much as I have that is thought-out enough for me to explain. I return to thinking about this scenario a lot because it puts most of the characters way out of their element (and has a bunch of details that appeal to me specifically), and it kind of evolved into an incomplete plot outline that I don't currently have any plans to flesh out.

I think it's an interesting enough direction to go, because it follows through with a lot of the themes present in G, but takes advantage of the genre shift to avoid DBZ-crazy power scaling and adjusts the conflict more to a matter of where the main characters' prowess is most effective (Both in and out of the gundams. I'm assuming there are a ton of guys similar to Michelo's gang that just need fighting interspersed with everything else I described. In fact, kicking Some Group of Douchebags out of their protection racket is probably how team Castle even gets ahold of evidence related to missing persons.)

[decaying-sunshine-95]

The 1st episode of S2 was great! I love how familiar it was even with all of the changes, both subtle and complete, but exciting like it's new at the same time.

The most interesting to me was that I think they’re trying to handle Abby a lot, I don’t know if gentler is the word to use, but trying to not repeat what happened when the game came out. Giving us more of who she is and what she’s after right away rather than as it plays out. I understand the change but it’s one I wasn’t expecting.

[boinin]

my manifestation post didn't work... again... T.T

We still have next week (there's no way they're done with the reactions)

I demand a Barosagi confrontation, and a glimpse of the Ubers bench for echari3 ✨

Not as satisfying as seeing your mystery Ubers striker, but we did get Niou in his Manshine fitout!