#as you can tell i love dramatic irony lmao

[bidokja]

only on episode 3 of the untamed but my fav characters (aside from the obvious wwx numero uno) so far are lan xichen (so sweetie 🥺💖), jiang cheng (YOU HAVE SO MANY ISSUES i just know hes gonna break me), and wen ning (SO BABY...HOLDS HIM SO GENTLE...)

[sonic-love-island-official]

Let's talk about the Babylon Rogues right now !

Thank you to @shadamypositivity who reminded me about them !! <333

This possibly may be the first time I've properly acknowledged SLI's Casa Amor cast (whoops).

More info under the cut x

To the world's dismay, the Babylon Rogues suffer a fate so cruel : being split up. Wave makes her debut in the Casa Amor Villa to meet up with the Villa's boys, while Storm and Jet are sent to the Villa to meet the Villa girls.

They all grew up quite close, all hail from Metal City, and are all, no doubt, in it for the money.

Jet, 24, semi-pro skateboarder, another Sonic knock-off

Why does bro look so mad in these photos tho ;-;

Jet the Hawk ? Tony Hawk ? I see no difference /j. I'm sure it's been joked about before, but come on, it was right there. How could I possibly pass up making Jet a semi-pro skateboarder ? Boy thinks he's in the big leagues (he isn't) and so he's probably trying to compensate by becoming a menace on reality television to Get Noticed.

I can't say much of his visual design, as my sister made him, but I do know that his model now is his re-design (I dare not speak of the original). The irony with this design is he looks very similarly to Sonic — the hair, features closely matching. Of course, they're not identical, but they're so alike that one could easily be mistaken for the other. How do you get sims to look like anthro birds ? We don't know, so he looks like this. At least we got down to the fine details like his dramatic red eyeliner.

He's all right... but would I personally interact with him ? No lmao. His personality traits remain the same from the canon sources. I think his appearance and persona align well, to be honest.

Wave, 28, automotive mechanic, girlie with an Attitude

Can we just take a moment here to appreciate this baddie, who not only looks like a goddamn model, but also kicked ass in trade school ?

I have such a love-hate relationship with Wave's character, both canonically and in the AU. But I was insistent that I made her sim back when we made the Casa girls, because I love her character design so much — so at the very least I can speak on her design a little more!

Her hair was inspired by how its styled in her canon design, and on her sim that can vary between the images you see here, and twin braids. I don't think I colour picked her hair colour from her original design (regret. Might change it at a later date if I can be arsed). She wears purple eyeshadow with a winged liner and a nude-pink lip gloss in her default design, but she's also seen wearing mostly neutral shades. She's also got a ton of piercings because Yes.

Look at her biceps tho <3 To be fair, she could be more buff, but I wanted to include the fact that Wave is athletic and although not a semi-pro skateboarder like Jet, she still engages in the sport and actively works out.

Her act is ripped straight from the canon source. Self-important, competitive and takes absolutely no shit. And of course that causes her to come off abrasive as hell. She's backhanded with her compliments and can be manipulative to a malicious degree. Her bitchiness even rivals Rouge's antics, which... Well, just imagine how well their interactions go down. Unfortunately, her foul play and even fouler attitude took her pretty far in the competition, as she lasted on the show slightly longer than either of the boys did </3 (Who knows how.)

Storm, 29, personal trainer, could be more problematic tbh

Oh, Storm, buddy, good for you !! I don't know what to tell you about Storm. He's just There. Real himbo energy, except his defining 'dim-witted' trait feels quite reduced ?? He's actually pretty mellow in this AU — or at least from what we've established of his character so far. Storm, in typical Storm fashion, goes along with whatever Jet says. If Jet is the overly proactive one, Storm is the opposite. He lacks agency, but is trying his best to do whatever the Rogues set out to do coming on the show.

Why,, do I feel like Storm was the only Casa boy I made ? This is how little I care about the Casa cast; I hardly remember which sims I made. Not much to say, though. He's jacked, sporting his styling grey hair, got more square looking features as opposed to Jet's rounder and Wave's more oval face. I actually made a last minute tweak to his design before taking these screenshots and gave him sideburns and stubble, just because I think he suits it. And to be real with you, he looks (and acts) the least obtrusive out of all the Casa boys, so yeah — genuinely good on him.

But, of course, he didn't carve himself much of a presence as he never posed any threat or acted out or got very successful in getting to know anyone. That... might be in his favour, though, all things considered.

Storm's design definitely has grown on me over time. I hope he makes the best of his time in the limelight. You know, while it lasts lmao.

Other notes / titbits :

I headcanon the Babylon Rogues to be of middle eastern descent (well, the canon/AU equivalent of), but that might be my bias and interpretation given context hehe

If only I could give these guys their flame sleeve tattoos. The cake is plain without the icing :(

My sister established Metal City to be renowned for its skate parks and holding the EX Sports World Cup for 17 years consecutively, making skateboarding incredibly important to the region

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 4-22: Ephemeral

Alright, big episode! 100th episode! Alternate timeline episode! Let's watch the Chrome Dome Empire win!

Why don't I skip the intro? I don't like it at this point. Is it a compulsive thing after being so used to cable television? Probably.

Oh. We're back here again.

"Wait, Adrien. A man lost a penny in the drain. I'm ditching you again."

Evil cube

Holy crap! Is everyone except for Chat Noir and Rena Furtive here?

This asshole again?

Dramatic irony lmao

Oh boy! 1am!

Ladybug, just can just say Su-Han wants you to know.

Bouncing off the walls

Bro's busting out the puns

Chat Noir jumpscare

Oh boy, here it comes.

Poopmoth found the braincell

Ah, so that's the description of the wishpocalypse. Good to know.

Go girl! Tell him off!

While thinking about what Miraculous would be like if the show Phineas and Ferb existed in Miraculous, because it clearly doesn't with how these characters are acting. I ended up coming to the conclusion that Marinette is like Candace, for obvious reasons, and as a result:

Adrienette is like Candace busting her brothers. It's the main focus of the show, the universe wants Marinette/Candace to pursue it, it's incredibly unhealthy, brings out the worst in Marinette/Candace, and it can only happen in your dreams inside another person's dreams, or will cause a catastrophic future or reality to downright break.

Lukanette is like Canderemy. Another thing to do instead of #1, alongside hanging with her friends. While there is creep potential on Marinette/Candace's side, it's ultimately healthier to date the not-famous heartthrob teenage boy that's chill, plays guitar, also loves her, and has a little sister. Except this little sister is supportive and one of the highlights of the show!

Marigami is like either Candacy or Candessa. I'm not sure which one. There isn't a real Kagami equivalent in Phineas and Ferb.

[reitheist]

bucchigiri ep 9 thoughts:

taken over huh... is that also what senya is doing to arajin maybe? like with the magic trampstamp (words i never expected to write...)

shindo is a bitch and pathetic but i enjoy his character unfortunately (in my defense, my interpretation of him threatening to do That to mahoro was just to make arajin pissed and get him to reveal senya. i think it was kind of narrative low-hanging fruit honestly.)

'is that a yes or no' take a wild fucking guess buddy

zabuuuuuu you are such a good friend

senya hitting people as a show of affection lol

matakara gathering money, presumably he was saving to get an apartment with his brother. what's he planning to use it for?

oh my godddd the cat boy drama 💀 this side gag is so stupid but so funny i love it. i imagine jasmine as as a pure white long hair cat and pu'er as a classic brown tabby. also cat boy getting way too invested in his personal life is *chefs kiss*

arajin is trying his absolute best to convince himself he doesn't care about matakara

the dynamic between komao, zabu, and ara is really funny. i think in other shows they might just sideline the friend characters but they really have an awkward 'friend of a friend' dynamic i like. komao isn't really socially aware enough to be mean to ara despite being him being mean to matakara, and zabu is more hostile but puts most of that aside for matakara's sake. it's like your friends scoping out your awful crush lmao

THE LIFE SIZED NAKED MARITO DOLL? EXCUSE ME??? there is so much wrong with mahoro oml

wait is the life sized naked marito doll marito's? that's somehow weirder.

mahoro, is that concern for a person who isn't your brother? wow

matakara :(

so is the 'monster' literal or metaphorical? interesting

ichiya you're hot as hell but stop telling matakara to draw away from his friends you bitch

'one person would've wanted it' stopppppp 😭 arajin is realizing he liked having matakara around while matakara is being turned against his friends by ichiya. the dramatic irony is killing me

the fact that this 'love forever stone' is a lake blue stone wrapped specifically in a blue cloth as well... that thing is definitely going to be given to matakara by the end, right? pretty gay if you ask me.

ohhhh my god mahoro character growth. plus her relating to him specifically through their shared brother idolization is a good touch. very sweet

mahoro's basically saying like "dude how are you only focused on yourself and me right now. how have you not noticed your childhood friend is depressed and crazy in love with you. like seriously he has not been subtle. at all." lmao i love herrrrrrr

mahoro deserves her own show

also relieved to have ara's interpretation of matakara and mahoro's relationship as romantic to be kind of trivialized again in this scene. i think their dynamic is more interesting as two very different personalities which share just enough to relate with each other. she only wants ara to get his shit together for matakara's sake. i want them to be besties please

arajin is The Worst with emotions huh. he can't read other's feelings and he's somehow worse at reading his own. he needs to stop being relatable right this second

yknow at this point i think i can say i truly and properly enjoy arajin as a character. he's mostly an asshole and deeply emotionally unintelligent but i like him regardless and because of it

ah senya ichiya and arajin matakara parallels as i expected

so does senya=matakara and ichiya=arajin kind of?

i really wasn't joking about them being exes huh

stoppppp ichiya gave him his name? senya was and continues to be so ridiculously down bad

'he meant absolutely everything to me.' dude.

senya is trying to get ara and matakara together bc he couldn't do that for him and ichiya

i am so gd curious what happened to drive them apart

matakara losing sight why he wanted to become a honki person in the first place (ara) and trying to destroy it

'what senya wants is your body' context needed.

i'm thinking maybe ichiya is willing to fully take over bodies and senya isn't, thus why he hasn't done it to arajin already. that or he was planning to in the beginning but got too attached

ohhh this is gonna make for a good dramatic fight

ughhhh another really good episode. i think the story's finally full found its stride. very hyped for the last 3 episodes. i think next episode will probably deal with betrayal between senya and ara, leading senya to explain exactly what happened between him and ichiya. matakara will trying to fight ara and ara will have to run away, frustrating matakara even more. mahoro might focus on trying to help matakara

[obae-me]

Lmao how long can we keep this Siren!Lucifer AU brainrot going (Forever. It never ends. We’re stuck here forever now. Siren Lucifer is aLL YOU SHALL THINK ABOUT-)

I just had this realization about this AU and it’s getting me man- There’s this sense of dramatic irony all over the story of this AU simply because, if you ask me, MC technically does get hypnotized by Lucifer but not in the way he thinks (or really wants)!!! Like hear me out MC is fully immune to the siren song, that’s just fact, they can’t be controlled through those hypnotic magical ways. BUT ever since that night when they first met Lucifer, heard his song, and saw his beauty they have been coming back again and again just to see him. They know that sirens are dangerous hunters and that they could be putting their life in danger, but despite that they keep coming back cause of their growing connection with Lucifer. Lucifer has basically metaphorically hypnotized MC via their love and care for him. And the dummy doesn’t even realize that!!!!!

Course the “spell” is broken when they get betrayed but STILL (Though I don’t doubt Lucifer is still constantly lingering in their thoughts whenever they visit the ocean)

However will Lucifer realize his wrongdoings and mend his relationship with the human he learned to hold dear to his heart? He must work quickly as danger begins to loom beneath the waters surface…. *dramatic music* (lol)

I've been thinking about siren Lucifer for a long time (and just mermaids/sirens in general my entire life). I'm really tempted to maybe just experiment with this idea on my own time...

I love the thought of him just having that "so be it" attitude at first when MC stops coming around. He doesn't care (is what he tries to tell himself). But the longer they're gone...the more worried he gets... To the point where he starts to wonder if he can somehow leave the water to go find them. All just for closure, surely...

God, this AU, I can't.

[caliburn-the-sword]

cress thoughts and reactions

this was originally gonna be just one post for the first 7ish chapters but i have SO many thoughts as i tend to at the start of books, compared to the end where i want to race through the action and not write down every reaction, so i ended up having to split this in two. basically what i was reading during class time at school (no one tell my teachers) and then what i read when i got home to procrastinate homework lmao

HOLY SHIT SHE'S ALREADY MEETING THE GANG WHAT i thought it would take AT LEAST 5 more chapters

FSKDFSDKUHCNS she is so delulu and obsessed with thorne it's giving me second hand embarrassment i LOVE it. girlypop thinks she's in a romance novel thinking he's gonna have instalove

"Is that all hair?" coming from mr flirts with everything that moves, that's HILARIOUS. REJECTION. poor cress but unfortunately i find her misery hilarious

damn thorne is NOT holding back in his description of her hair LMAO. he fucking killed her no mercy. NOW i feel bad

"wing nut" scarlet tf kind of insult IS THAT. still love it. this is being integrated into my vocab as we speak

cress is hiding under a desk she's so socially awkward (just like me fr)

personally just from where we're starting i actually hope that it's just a silly schoolgirl crush that cress gets over and she gets to have real experiences, meet a whole bunch of people, and that she ends up being friends with thorne. it would be nice to not have romance as the answer for EVERY single character

i already have ALL the respect and admiration for priya. i need to stop getting attached to random side characters but i can't help loving her already. she was introduced spectacularly well

"Restraining a melodramatic sigh (…) He knew he was being childish" no actually?? kai is being entirely reasonable here. he's literally about to be in a child marriage and gonna be assassinated and his dad is dead and he's handing his country over and then there is gonna be a world war. he has every right to be upset

if no one knows who cinder's father is then we're DEFO gonna get a reveal. especially because we already know the lunars are non monogamous then it could be ANYONE

again i LOVE the dramatic irony of kai thinking cinder's trying to find princess selene. i mean i guess in a sense that WAS what cinder was trying to do

OMG ERLAND CHAPTER. I RECKON WE'VE GOT A REVEAL INCOMING (note: i was right and i'm a genius)

"ballyhoo" ERLAND I LOVE YOU. silly old man

I FUCKING KNEW IT THAT CRESS WAS ERLAND'S DAUGHTER - but WHY was she kept alive without his knowledge?? i don't need sleep i need ANSWERS

also makes sense that erland was behind the wolf genetic engineering thing which also links him to wolf

love the detail of erland glamouring himself to be taller. so real

SYBIL'S CHEEKBONES MADE OUT OF PIPES FKSHFSDKH all of erland's inner monologue is literally so humorous. slayed

but is letumosis mutating?? or have levana's people started engineering it for biological warfare to make kai more likely to go forward with the marriage in want of a cure?? usually i'd agree that the disease can mutate but the timing is just extremely suspicious, cause otherwise the best thing in writing would have been for peony to catch the mutated strain to give higher stakes to cinder

the opera singing shower scene - cress is such a DRAMA QUEEN and i LOVE her

i'll say this once and i'll say it again: scarlet is such a girls girl. looking out for poor cress and they haven't even met in person yet + she doesn't even know if it's a trap. i adore scarlet

knowing what i know about thorne now part of me reckons that the big softie just wants to use the reward money for philanthropy

iko is a ~material girl~

"young, semi-cute ones" remembering that thorne is 20, HOW old is cress. uh oh. ew. remembering cinder's age makes it a double uh oh since she and cress should be about the same age. disappointed because the rest of their interactions were totally chill and he didn't seem to have any real interest

i love how thorne is completely unable to take sybil seriously but also i'm freaking out like he's so unprepared cause he thinks the others are coming to help. he's fucked

holy shit the sat is crashing. talk about thorne "falling out of the tower" when he tried to rescue the princess

I LOVE THAT SCARLET WAS WATCHING HIM DOCK JUST LIKE HE WISHED FSKHFSDHK

wolf is an idiot WHY would he come down istg if he gets controlled i'm gonna smash my head in (note: he got controlled. since i need my braincells for homework i will make a raincheck on smashing my head in)

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees

[summercourtship]

Hi Kyra! this post will just be me commenting my favorite moments from this chapter ( it’s so funny bcs this IS my favorite chapter so far… to be fair, every chapter that you post becomes my new favorite chapter….) so don’t be surprised of how LONG this will be…

I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THE FIRST SCENE!!!! how could you think of not putting it in??? it’s SO GOOD!!!! i loved edward getting conflicted about telling his fantasies to the mc, only to say it anyway bcs she basically said: “pretty please with a cherry on top 🥺🥺🥺” and after it he even strokes her hair??!!?! what a man….

I want to congratulate you on the build up and immersion that you created when Jonathan was guiding us to the basement! Holy fuck! that was INSANE!!!! i was genuinely scared while reading it, like i knew that he wasn’t going to actually hurt us BUT STILL!!!! and him (angrily) taking his glasses off when talking about Bruce (like i have this gut feeling that he still holds a resentment to him for dancing with us) was TOP TIER!!! and jesus fucking christ i don’t even need to say the smut part of it all so fucking good… the small gestures of yearning that he did (that could -it is- be him manipulating us BUT WHO GIVES A FUCK?) the “have you missed this?” YEAH I DID!!! and i KNOW he did too!! you can’t fool me!!! everything about was just perfect… goes to show that Jonathan Crane is intoxicating…. that jerk…

Bruce Wayne is the people’s princess, he IS the ultimate damsel in distress, EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET THAT MAN!!! but seriously, the scene where the reader is deciding that she is going to betray Bruce and he just smiles at her and she realizes that SHE CAN’T HURT HIM!!!!! IT MELTED MY HEART ❤️ him being worried and still being there for her…. BRUCE NATION WE WON SO HARD WITH THE PECK IN THE ROOFTOP AND WE ARE GOING TO A PARTY WITH MISTER WAYNEEEEEE!!!!!! WHAAAAAT??!!! him asking was so funny and cute too!!!! i absolutely LOVE their dynamic!!!

Thank you so much kyra!!! thanks for sharing your amazing story! i know how personal they are! i don’t think you get thanked enough!!! i love your art, i love the passion you have for it… so yeah thanks!!!

ahh! thank you so much! I love getting these asks, I love hearing everyone's thoughts and analysis of what I've written it really makes my work feel appreciated!

I was very nervous that the first smut scene would feel unnecessary or OOC but decided that it didn't matter! I also don't really think there's going to be anymore Edward smut (in this fic, at least) so I wanted to treat you all to some more since a lot more people liked their dynamic than I thought would when I was planning the fic! He's sweet now but he is also... volatile.

Thank you! I was so excited to write the basement scene with Jonathan and I'm glad you all are enjoying it! Jonathan definitely doesn't like Bruce, the extent of which will be revealed slowly. I also loved writing the contrast between Jonathan's downright tender moments and the gross filthy stuff. Both of which are, indeed, ways he's trying to regain his control over the reader.

Bruce and the reader's relationship is FINALLY moving somewhere lmao. I know y'all have been SOOO patient. It is so funny to me, though, that the reader is like to Batman "please please protect Bruce!! he's a lil baby, he can't protect himself!" because girl.... that IS BRUCE. he'll be fine. It also adds another layer to their conversation that is, to me, delicious. I really enjoy dramatic irony, can you tell?

[turnupswritessometimes]

Hello again....Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (can books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much or if I accidentally send this ask twice.....

Sorry I left this in my inbox for a bit. Honestly, I really struggle with top anything media, because I hop to one thing from another pretty fast. Even things I really enjoyed lately I wouldn't say would be top of all time, you know? It's much easier for me to do a top 5/10 of something specific. (I could do a top 5 80s horror easily, lmao)

But here's a few:

1.) The end kiss from the Princess Bride.

Hey, the narration says it all: since the invention of the kiss, there have been five that are deemed the most beautiful, the most pure, and this one blew them all away.

2.) The apartment scene from The Crow (1991). It's a quiet and sensitive moment of Eric mourning Shelly and you see the man behind the persona. (I like it so much I've cross-stitched it!) Underlined by Eric saying "I thought I'd use the front door" (to leave, instead of disappearing) in that defeated way - it's a short scene that shows how much grief he's carrying.

3.) The plot twist in Saw (2004)

I'm not including a gif or talking about it because if you don't know the twist, it's such a good reveal. Tbh anytime the Hello Zepp theme plays I get very excited, though the quality of twists vary hugely. (I wouldn't say the end of Saw X was a twist, but very fun to watch!)

4.) "We saw Tri-pods wading up the Thames, cutting through bridges as though they were paper. Waterloo bridge, Westminster bridge - one appeared above Big Ben."

From War of the Worlds (The Jeff Wayne musical version but the book too). Gives me goosebumps every time! The Definitive Alien Invasion story, with just the poignant imagery.

(I can't find a good image, though! This is the best I can do!)

5.) David finds the Blue Fairy from A.I: Artifical Intelligence (2001)

Major Spoilers! David is a robot, given to a family who's son is in a coma. When the son wakes, he tells David he's not a real boy. Taking the story of Pinocchio literally, David tries to find the Blue Fairy, who'll turn him into a real boy (and then his parents will truly accept him.)

Only...the Blue Fairy is a statue...

The pathos. The dramatic irony. Haley Joel Osment acting his heart out. This scene had me inconsolable.

[chxna-cheeseycake]

So like at 12 years old I used to be a major and I mean MAJOR Zane fangirl. Zane Ro'Meave was my everything as a kid frfr like I would deadass defend his every action when I was 12. Like even in his MCD form you best bet that 12 year old me was using their every waking breath to stand up for Zane. I would see someone make a valid point about Zane being a dickhole for killing Jeffory and I guarantee you my 12 year old self would still try to find a way to defend Zane. That's just how much I was fucking in love with him bro. This man's straight up shaped my whole personality as a kid because his existence is why my main persona/online alias is Zana. Deadass before I gave her a heavy revamp, my persona was straight up just a female version of Zane 💀 And I always find it kind of funny because I created her long before we got canon genderbents so like... Jess you copying me gurl??/j Anyways, I was such a Zane fangirl that I even cut my bangs at 12 to try to look similar to him. I had wannabe emo bangs in 6th grade because of this fucker. He ruined my life I tell you. I never technically got rid of them either, I just let them grow to be the same length as the rest of my hair. No one in the present day will ever know about it but I will always remember. It's a memory of my middle school days that will never leave me.

And then there's the dramatic irony that after rewatching MCD and Mystreet now, Zane is no longer my number one fave anymore. It's fucking Dante now. Of course I will always love Zane, that bastard clearly holds a special place in my heart. But ultimately, Dante did in fact steal Zane's place as my number one favorite Aphverse character. He pushed Zane off the goddamn podium and snatched up the first place medal for himself. And I have no problem with that. But I just know my 12 year old self would be in pure shock if they saw that I ditched Zane for Dante lmao. Yet at the same time, I can't help but look at this in a poetic sense.

As a child I know I had such an attachment to Zane because I related a lot to him with being that person that was kinda seen as weird because I was quiet and wasn't a social person. I also had a few friends like Zane but just like him, I met some of them through a single friend that interacted with me first cuz I was far too socially awkward to speak to literally anyone. But now that I'm older, I don't really relate to Zane anymore. I'm not a full on social butterfly but back when I was 12, I couldn't even talk to people my own age that weren't friends because of my shyness and socially awkward personality. But now I'm not like that anymore. I would still say I'm a quiet person ofc but nowadays I don't freeze up and immediately get awkward when people I don't really know try talking to me. Sometimes it can still happen but I just don't really do that anymore. I don't think I actively made this choice though it just sorta happened. Growing up will just do that to you I guess lmao. And that's probably why I don't relate to Zane as much anymore and have now gravitated towards Dante. I grew up and now I find myself being more attached and sorta relating to Dante way more now than Zane. Zane's still cool to me but he's just not my fave anymore because I'm not the same person I was when I was 12.

That got way more deep than I was actually expecting lol. But I still stand by my point regardless. Zane was a huge comfort to 12 year old me but not anymore. I still love his character but he just doesn't bring me that same comfort like he did when I was 12 because I don't need that type of comfort anymore. Dante however is my new comfort character probably because I relate to him more now than I did as a kid. I barely paid attention to Dante when I was 12 but look at me now. He's all I ever seem to post about on this blog lmao. Honestly, seeing myself go from having Zane as comfort character in the past to now having Dante as my comfort character kinda brings me a peace of mind because I think it truly represents all the healing I've done over these past years. Even if it is a little silly to think about it in a deep and poetic fashion like this but I don't really care, thinking about this topic just brings me this sort of warmness I don't really know how to explain. I feel like maybe some people will understand what I'm trying to get it. Hopefully. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy my stupid thoughts and rambling because honestly I don't even know what I'm typing anymore skssjkdsdjknon

[bookwyrminspiration]

and ALSO- okay i might have sent that other ask preemptively lmao where was the conclusion. but something funny is both of these books a manol vane has to explain to the book's main character their past lives and then the main character is like WHAT THE FUCK. but then you also see the different layers to their characters which is SO FUNNY. kihrin going (to doc) "i literally don't care if you were a king but you were THAT GUY??? THE FAMOUS SWORDSMAN FROM MY DAD'S SONGS???" and then janel going to teraeth "THAT IS SO FUCKED UP. WAIT. HOLD ON. THAT IS SO FUCKED UP OF THAENA FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. MOST DRAMATIC IRONY EVER." and teraeth sighing and being like i know ah i love characters and the ways they are Shaped

Putting every single brain cell together to figure out which events and explanations you're talking about because so much happens always I'm not sure which one's are being referenced here.

But! I adore how important past lives are in this book. At first i thought it was just a funny little worldbuilding quirk, like yes reincarnation and resurrection are real and possible. That's just background knowledge. But nope! It's is actually front seat knowledge, could not be MORE relevant to everything happening if you tried. And each of the characters are trying to be relatively normal people living without knowledge of memory of their past lives, but everyone around them is like Hey. And then they tell them the most random, confusing bit of information about who they used to be and expect them to just? Know things about that?

Khaemezra's explaining to Kihrin who he used to be and how he volunteered for this is a past live, meanwhile he's like "i'm living in this life I don't care what past me said I'd like to unvolunteer". Alas. He is the one person who cannot unvolunteer.

I love these characters so so much. Words cannot explain how I adore the shape of them. They're so distinct and formed and engaging. they both take everything seriously and have their fun when they can. Well. Most of them. Some of them are serious always, but that's part of the distinction I was talking about! Not everyone needs to be funny, humor is nice but some characters are distinct and interesting for their lack of it!

Anyway. I love you a chorus of dragons I love you acod characters I love you acod past lives I love you I love you I love you

[three-headed-monster]

I saw you say something about Brandt/Luke am I allowed to ask for you to expand on their dynamic or will that spoil something?

anon you don't know the can of worms you just opened!!!

because ABSOLUTELY you are allowed to ask about their dynamic, and i would be sooooo happy to share too :))) i also ! will info dump a little bit about the upcoming fic !!!! because i am very excited about it, and it feels very much like a love letter to ann arbor and that era of umich hockey in some ways, and i would love for more people to want to read it

so, basic brandt/luke dynamics stuff first. i did make a primer on them which you can find here, that explains a lot of the backstory of how i personally came to ship them. it is, to preface, kind of a crack ship, so if you're coming in expecting a lot of interactions or smth between them, um...don't? they don't exist unfortunately.

but a lot of what really intrigues me about them, or the idea of them as a dynamic, is that a good enemies to lovers ship is really revealing for both characters. you hate each other sure, but you're also the only people who understand every little part of one another, the only people who know exactly how to get under each other's skin and know all of each other's deepest darkest insecurities. for brandt and luke, they hate each other on principle until they don't because they realize how similar they really are, in the grand scope of things. they're both siblings in a group of 3. they're both offensive d-men who have been told they're not good at defence. they've both at some points lived in their brothers' shadows (which btw, that doesn't need to be a good or bad thing, that can just be a truth. as a younger sibling, you will be somewhat defined by your siblings to other people that know you all, even if you don't feel that way when around your siblings). they're both people who are kinda lost, who have made it, but haven't really made it, yet, and that's what gravitates them to each other.

in the fic, this is even more apparent! and i can't say why because it really does spoil a big running storyline in the fic, but trust me when i say it plays a lot on dramatic irony and the foreshadowing is RIFE throughout. the fic itself is a rule 63 fic, but i promise you it feels less so like a trope-y fic, and more like something you would read in a hockey romance novel (not to like toot my own horn or anything). it genuinely doesn't even really focus on the genderbent women of this verse, as it's in luke's perspective and he's still a guy. if you're not into thetrope, that's totally cool! but i really try not to play into any of the basic rule 63 fic plots, and there is no moment where brandt contemplates what it means to be a woman in sports lmao.

the basic synopsis for the fic is that it's set in luke's sophomore year at umich and follows what happens when he's paired with his mortal enemy, brandt clarke, at a local sorority event called my tie (which is why i always shorthand this fic as 'my tie' ). it doesn't focus that much on the event itself, but the aftermath, of luke juggling school, dating, and expectations of him from other people in the hockey world. i also love to call it a backdoor luke hughes character study, because the romance at some points feels almost secondary, to the larger plot that's going on surrounding luke and his feelings about leaving college to play in the nhl with his brothers. in a lot of ways, brandt is someone who deeply supports luke on whatever decision he's going to make, but as aforementioned, she has this secret that's going to majorly piss luke off, and kind of fuck up what their dynamic was up until then. it's less so, then, a story about falling in love (although there is still! a TON! of that!), but more finding your own identity in the wake of people telling you who you're supposed to be.

and of course, it includes scenes at several iconic ann arbor locations, and mostly accurate descriptions of what college life actually looks like (coming from a college student herself)

[caliburn-the-sword]

cress commentary (hehe i love alliteration)

i love how you can tell how far into a book i am by how dense?? my commentary is in terms of like how many comments i'm making over a given number of chapters. because when i'm first starting a book i'm good to interrupt my reading to taking a note down but once the stakes and tension start hitting i'll only note something down if it's significant enough

"She would have kept walking all day if he had asked it of her" jesus christ cress sounds like she's been glamoured LMAO

CRYING SHAKING THROWING UP CINDER DIDN'T MENTION CRESS TO ERLAND - but now that i know how common a name crescent is it's likely he wouldn't even think twice about it

cinder and erland's relationship honestly reminds me of the relationship between buffy and giles. a teenage "chosen one" so to speak, who has the weight of the world on their shoulders and copes being sassy, and her long suffering but equally sassy mentor figure. i think that's why i love it so much

SAHARA. THAT'S WHERE CRESS AND THORNE MAYBE ARE. THEY'RE GONNA FIND EACH OTHER

i really like the townspeople of farafrah

OMG AND NOW KAI THINKS SCARLET IS THE LUNAR PRINCESS. dramatic irony my beloved. i mean kai is right that cinder has found the lunar princess,,, just wrong about WHO it is LMAO

YES THORNE HAS REJECTED HER. god she's freaking out

cress' reaction to seeing the goat <3 she's got such a distinct character voice. also she's super delulu and i love her

i remember questioning on a previous post how everyone talked to everyone else. universal language explains it. praying it's not english

thank goodness cress and thorne found someone. hopefully no one recognised him

jail for a thousand years DO NOT hit me with the one bed trope with CRESS AND THORNE OF ALL PEOPLE (note: i've never been more glad to see a character kidnapped and to NOT see the one bed trope happen)

back to being grossed out by thorne again. i don't like him. idc if he can't see, it's about PRIVACY and BOUNDARIES. he should not be entering a bathroom where an underage girl is showering, with or without consent. it's gross

omg is thorne buying the escort droid for iko

jacin is kind of a dick ngl. sometimes his humour is funny and other times he's like a 12 year old boy that thinks dark humour is like making jokes about war. like bro people are DYING. you don't have to give a shit about cinder but at least don't make fun of her friend that's been kidnapped by the queen

losing my mind that erland and cress have met

help has cress just stumbled across wolf?? this is hilarious NAUR JACIN HAS JUST COME IN OMG. THIS IS LITERALLY THE WHY IS GAMORA SCENE IN INFINITY WAR. AND NOW ERLAND AND THORNE. THIS IS CHAOS INCARNATE OMG FSKDHFSKH

EW EW EW the sex bot androids are modelled after LATE TEENS??? YIKES.

(intervention voice) come on cinder, what have i told you?? friends don't control the bioelectricity of friends

holy shit. what's happening to scarlet is literally horrifying

scarlet referencing helen of troy~

OMG PRINCESS WINTER

HOLY SHIT SCARLET'S FINGER I HATE CLIFFHANGERS I NEED HER NEXT CHAPTER IMMEDIATELY. fingers can often be reattached (or a toe in place of a finger) so HOPEFULLY that's what happens for poor scarlet if she does lose her finger

IKO FSKHFSCKFNHS SHE HAS A BODY NOW

cress is literally so paparazzi by lady gaga. and also lovefool by the cardigans. also this is home by cavetown but specifically the bridge. ocean eyes by billie eilish (even tho i imagine thorne with brown eyes lol). a few penelope scott songs but you're not allowed to make fun of me for this. god this is probably gonna end up with me making a playlist. thankfully i'm too lazy to make playlists so my ears are safe from the onslaught of random mishmashed songs that remind me of cress (that said thinking of a song when i see a character or thinking of a character when i hear a song has gotta be the highest honour i can bestow to any character)

i remember reading meyer's pronounciation guide when i first started the series and jacin's was like "jay-sin - so the real pronounciation of jason" but i'm aussie and every jason i've known has been pronounced jay-sen, so i'm respectfully ignoring that. i doubt i'm pronouncing anyone's names right anyway LMAO like i have to mentally correct myself every time i read benoit as "beh-no-it" instead of "ben-wah" (if i'm STILL incorrect i apologise to french speakers). i've also been pronouncing wolf's actual name as "zay-ev" idk how right that is

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees @shellyseashell

[ashlingnarcos]

.

@narcolini

Me looking at the no happy ending(!!!) warning [insert ben Affleck smoking meme here]

Unhhhhh this early dialogue they're so friendly idk maybe I came in too scared but im getting scared already lol

‘You’re gonna smoke it all before you make any money off it, Rafa.’ Literally lmao

The dramatic irony of knowing where this all goes is killing me cause Reader so just thinks this is their bright yet silly Weed Friend

"You’ve seen him cry like this before. Once when he left school, once when his mum died." Things to feel normal about

READER TELLING HIM TO BLOW IT UP. LOVE LMAOOO

Rafi is a cute nickname choice btw

"No, Rafi, I like what’s mine." Thank god too. Reader has some sense

"A new project, you realise, that’s what he’s found. Something he can’t have, something impossible. Something to solve." Love the way you put it and it is indeed Rafa. Dreamer who loves to dream. Followed up with "That’s how he is. Passionate. He fixates, he works, he wins. Loves with a tunnel vision that you’ll never understand."

"Tomorrow, you told him, it’s the soonest I can. " Really into this actually.

The slow camera going through the room approaching him seeing the carnage before you see the man, chefs kiss

"No, not her, only you. " HOWLS

WE???? WE NEED TO GO AWAY FOR A WHILE? OH I THINK NOT !!!!!!

YOU AND SOFIA WILL GO FIRST?????????? ABSOLUTELY NOT

"He’s never been nobody anywhere. Even before all this shit." Oh fucking hell

"someone you love is in there" OH EYE— makes furious gibbering noises the way you never used the word love from Reader to describe Reader's feelings towards Rafa until he's locked away from them…for FUCKSAKE fit to throw a tantrum

"They got Sofia too, and she sold him out like the criminal he is, without hesitation" love this precise framing of it by Reader. You're right, Reader, you're right

"You’ve met him before, of course. He isn’t a character you can forget easily. " That must've been QUITE the interaction

‘It’s always been about you, Rafa,’ you push, looking at the table instead of his hope, ‘every time, it’s all about you. I can’t do it anymore. I have to…’" literally. I'm still feeling resentment towards him about him just yelling about Sofia for 2 hours straight. Like god he's so self centered

and you won’t say goodbye to the cheek of him, so you don’t say anything else at all chef's kiss

five and one

rafa x gn!reader, 7598 words, canon typical drug use, hurt/comfort/angst, no happy ending(!!!)

the five times you were his friend, and the one time you weren’t 

a/n: this has been in my docs waiting to be finished for sososo long omg finally the rafito despair is here. enjoy!

taglist: @ashlingiswriting​ @drabbles-mc​ @cositapreciosa​ @hausofmamadas​ @cherixrosa​ @purplesong1028​ @mandaloria314​ @dashavau​ @yeetintomadness @thesandbeneathmytoes​ (as per i have forgotten who wants tagging and who doesnt sorry!)

1

Rafa’s been asking you for weeks. Come smoke, carnale, come on. I have something to show you.

Soon, you told him. I’m busy with school, work, I have to pick my Abuela up from church—I’m the only one who can drive her, remember?

They weren’t made up excuses, even if he thought they might’ve been. You didn’t like it either, having no time for him, but it’s how it went. How it is. He dropped out of school, never made it to college. You did. It gives you different markers now, different structures to shape the friendship around. When you were classmates it was easy, natural: before class, in class, after class. Simple. There you were, there he was. Now, you have to pencil him in like any other obligation.

He isn’t an obligation. You try not to let him feel like one.

Keep reading

[lalunanymph]

“The Lord of the house and fief is the pillar onto which his people cling to, Naoya,” his father had said in a low tone, the vassal’s heir lighting the end of the wooden stave before setting the body aflame. “He has to be worthy of the titles and perceptions and should always stand tall; to never bow and break from outside pressure. He kneels to no one.”

vs.

Barely affording you the space to refuse him, Naoya turned you to face him and sank to his knees, his cheek pressed to your stomach. “You are all I desire. I can barely go through my day, eat or even sleep without the thought of you constantly on my mind.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

omg we are opening on a callback to chapter 212, a.k.a. the chapter with by far the cutest flashback that doesn’t involve any baby Todorokis

baby Ochako is lethally cute. she could literally murder someone with her cuteness. I just want to scoop her up and play airplane with her until she accidentally activates her quirk while we’re spinning around and we both helicopter up into the air never to be seen again

“a child’s insistence” huh well that’s all well and good, but I sure hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to drag out the whole “sternly lecture the obnoxious citizens” plot for another whole chapter. no offense but I think we’re good

so page 2 is just continuing the whole happy/worried faces monologue, which of course is very important to Ochako’s character as it provides the context for why “who protects the heroes” ended up becoming her thing. and this is making me think we actually are in for a whole second chapter of this sob. when will my boy finally get to rest

OH MY GOD SUDDENLY THESE PEOPLE HAVE EYES IMAGINE THAT

HORIKOSHI: [reaches for a box of tissues while tearfully penning an homage to his beloved Spider-Man 2, specifically the train scene where the crowd sees Peter without his mask and they suddenly realize just how young he is]

HORIKOSHI’S HOMAGE SCENE: “COME TO THINK OF IT, I GUESS IT WAS KIND OF MEAN FOR US TO PICK ON THIS TEN YEAR OLD KID WHO WEIGHS 75 POUNDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE LOST A FIGHT WITH SATAN’S MOLDY OLD BASEMENT”

lol at this one guy who can feel the mood of the crowd shifting and is all “WAIT, NO, I WANTED TO KEEP BEING AN ASSHOLE DAMMIT”

as many pointed out last week, this man is wearing an All Might shirt. that’s some fantastic irony there

-- SDKFJWIGKS

“LITTLE GIRL, I HOPE YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A SOVIET-ERA BUS STOP.” heh. last week I said I was ashamed of BnHA being my favorite manga. that was a lie, actually

(ETA: in the original Japanese Ochako’s next two lines are basically “the only ones covered in mud will be us heroes!” followed by “please give us some time to get rid of the mud”, with that second line basically being the single funniest thing I’ve ever read rdslkjl. Ochako thank you so much for supporting my running gags. “YEAH WE KNOW HE’S DIRTY. WE ARE GONNA TRY AND CLEAN HIM UP, BUT IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, I’M JUST SAYING. I MEAN LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE AN ASBESTOS COSPLAY.”)

doesn’t the megaphone kind of look ever so slightly like an axe that she’s wielding maniacally here

easy there Lizzie Borden

also that’s a really bold claim to make there. and not one she necessarily should have to make, either. but as we all know, there’s nothing that shounen manga likes more than having its heroes bravely hoist heavy burdens of responsibility like good self-sacrificing citizens

p.s. lowkey loving how Kacchan is positioned here standing slightly behind Deku. not presuming to stand in front of him all overprotectively (because he would hate if anyone ever did that to him), and kind of being unobtrusive and letting others take center stage -- but still being close enough to Deku that he can catch him if he stumbles or passes out again

(ETA: or maybe not lmao.

DEKU: [falls to his knees]

KACCHAN: [glancing up from his phone a few minutes later] “someone just sent me the stupidest meme about milk crates -- oh. uh. you good...?”

really, son. “the burdens you can’t carry, we’ll carry them for you. ...later, I mean. right now it’s late, and we’re all cold and wet.”)

also lowkey loving this OchaTsu moment here

I was going back and binging Ochako chapters this past week for reasons, and I gotta say it really stuck out to me just how often these two are paired with each other. they do everything together. it’s a really sweet friendship that often goes unappreciated but it’s very cute

meanwhile, not to be outdone by the OchaTsu, Iida is staring at Ochako with open admiration talking about how she’s fighting too. it’s been so long since we’ve had any IidaRaka you guys. I was starving and I didn’t even know it

oh my lord IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING

THE LIGHT IS BACK. he finally looks like him again. what a cathartic fucking moment omg

ffklkdw

“I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SCARED, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE DEFINITELY CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY AND WE ARE ALL SCARED TOO!” good pep talk there kiddo

BUT, jokes aside, truth be told this is the exact right approach to take imo, and something that’s long overdue. I’ve said this before, but this new generation of heroes is shaping up to be much more transparent than the All Might generation. they’re basically abandoning the almighty, untouchable Superman “heroes as gods” concept in favor of the more nuanced “heroes as people” concept instead. and that’s a good thing. seeing their heroes as humans, with human limitations and weaknesses and flaws, will hopefully not only lead to more scrutiny and accountability, but also more awareness of how hard some of them are working and how much they’re sacrificing. that’s something All Might never quite grasped back at the start of the series -- that the weak, vulnerable, injured him could be just as inspiring as the mighty, invincible him -- perhaps even more so. there’s a power in seeing otherwise ordinary people show extraordinary bravery and compassion. it inspires others to try and do the same

SSDLHK AIZAWA SIGHTING AAHHHHHH

so he was still back at the hospital this whole time?? smdh at this disrespect. that feeling when your sexy self-insert character’s powers of rationality are too strong, and so you have to nerf him so that he doesn’t ruin your Deku Angst arc twice over by (1) immediately talking some sense into Deku and making him come home Right This Instant Young Man, and (2) not allowing him to leave U.A. in the first fucking place. excuse me, you want to do WHAT now, Midoriya?? that’s it, go to your room

also living for Katsuki and Hawks’s soft expressions. Shouto’s too, although his is tinier and harder to see. and Jeanist’s 12-foot-long neck. imagine Jeanist’s head with Mic’s hair. maybe Jeanist had a mohawk back in the day and that’s why U.A.’s doors are so big now

speaking of soft faces, Enji’s is also excellent

what could this random close-up possibly imply?? hell if I know. but Horikoshi truly fears no discourse and that’s what I love about him

OMGGGG

“smh my child is so dumb.” poor Ochadad. your child is cute af count your blessings

SDOFFHSMH

I’m telling you guys. lethally, catastrophically cute

this speech is still ongoing lol. Horikoshi you’re doing so good but I think we get the point now my dude. you gotta learn how to transition out of these things

UNEXPECTED TOGA WHAT

“there we go” Horikoshi says, crossing off the last line on his list of Ochako ships. “that’s all of ‘em”

poor Ochako is just repeating the same “LET HIM REST, PLEASE, WITH EVERYONE’S COOPERATION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE APPRECIATE IT” talking points over and over again hoping someone will throw her a bone and acknowledge her already. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HER

literally they’re all just staring up at her silently omg. work with me people!!

now she’s saying it for the 56th time but more dramatically all of a sudden

they got so dramatic that for a minute I thought she had suddenly leaped off the building or something

look, not to rush you or anything Horikoshi, but I’m starting to get the feeling that this is yet another one of those “the volume is ending soon so I need to either hurry things up or slow things down in order to make sure we end it on my perfect cliffhanger ending” chapters where you go to ridiculous lengths to drag things out much to the exasperation of your week-to-week readers

(ETA: ftr, volume 31 ended on chapter 306, and I’m predicting that vol. 32 will end with chapter 316 (a.k.a. “you’re next!” [explodes]). I’m guessing vol. 33 will follow suit and likely end on chapter 326, so keep your eyes peeled for a big cliffhanger in two weeks’ time. Deku’s dad?? All Might in peril?? U.A. traitor at long fucking last?? we shall see.)

is Deku straight up falling in love with Ochako right on the spot lol what is happening

I know I just said that I enjoy when Horikoshi gives zero fucks about discourse, but shipping discourse is a whole different beast lol. I hope he’s prepared

(ETA: and for the record, I have no interest in shipping discourse either, as always. and I think this scene can be interpreted as platonic, tbh, with the context being that Ochako was literally introduced as someone who was willing to help him so casually without a second thought, and now here she is saving him again.

I don’t think it really fully hit Deku until this moment how much he needed saving. like I said in another meta somewhere, selflessness is basically just selfishness on behalf of others. and Deku is selfless to a fault, but that’s okay, and it doesn’t mean he needs to change -- he just needs friends who are willing to be be selfish on his behalf in turn. and I think the full emotion of what it means to have friends like that just hit him at last. everything his friends have done for him, how much he needed it and didn’t even realize, and how grateful he is. anyways what a terrible day for rain.)

-- son of a --

is he apologizing?? or pleading?? please tell me that’s not the case, because what the actual fuck. Deku you beautiful precious radiant selfless child, this is the exact opposite of how this should be. all these motherfuckers should be on their knees apologizing to you

DEKU WHY

I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS FREAKING BOMBARDMENT OF EMOTIONS GODDAMIT. OUT HERE ARMED WITH YOUR FREAKING TREBUCHET OF FEELS TO LAUNCH AT ME UNPROVOKED. WHAT’S WITH THAT

FREAKING CHRIST. THIS BOY IS CRYING HIS EYES OUT AND HORIKOSHI IS JUST ZOOMING IN WITH THE CAMERA, LIKE CAN WE JUST CUT HIM A BREAK ALREADY. ENOUGH OF THIS. HE’S SO YOUNG AND HE TRIES SO HARD AND I JUST NEED HIM TO FEEL SAFE, HORIKOSHI PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THAT ALREADY WHAT IS THE FREAKING HOLD UP!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY!!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY PLEASE BE MY HUGGER BY PROXY!! SERIOUSLY GIRL IF YOU JUST HOLD YOUR UMBRELLA OVER HIM OR SOMETHING AND DON’T GO THE EXTRA MILE I’M ABOUT TO LODGE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW

!!!!

A KOUTA IS GOOD TOO!!! oh my god if Kouta hugs him I will seriously 100% straight up cry. go on and test me

FOR THE LOVE OF --

is this man expressly forbidden from drawing hugs in his contract or something. DO YOU DO IT JUST TO SPITE ME?? this is tyranny, sir

AND I KNOW, THIS PAGE ACTUALLY CHALLENGED THE VERY PREMISE OF THE SERIES ITSELF, AND HERE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT HUGS, OR THE LACK THEREOF. “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” and just like that, he waves a polite middle finger at all of the Strongest Greatest Chosen One shounen protags of old, in favor of something much less conventional, much more interesting, and much more suited to Deku’s character. because if that one sentence doesn’t just sum up Deku to a T. he gladly relinquishes his Greatest Hero status in favor of acknowledging the hero in everyone. what a class act. that’s my protagonist

I love this kid so fucking much I swear. only just PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. GIVE HIM HIS HUG

[initforthecache]

Minish Cap Manga Rant. I have... feelings

k first I want to set the stage. This is Minish Cap we are talking about. Minish Cap, the beautiful game with beautiful, charming characters, and a really cute and interesting premise. You've got Link, Link's grandpa (he's got an actual grandpa in this game! so cute!) Zelda, the Minish, the Sky Tribe, not to mention Ezlo (who I think they did a pretty ok job with actually) and Vaati! This is the origin story of Vaati! Vaati was actually a Minish! How cool is that???

rest of rant below the cut:

This is also Akira Himekawa we're talking about. When I first read the Himekawa mangas, I read them all back to back, having gotten a giant pack of them for my birthday. Guess which one I read first. Ducking Four Swords. Needless to say I was floored. Shocked. Hooked. Bamboozled. I loved that book. Um, it set my expectations high. Guess which one I read next. (it was actually Link to the Past, but for the purpose of dramatic irony,) IT WAS MINISH CAP. Needless to say, I felt robbed. Bamboozled(derogatory) Shocked. And frankly bored. I remember the first thing I thought after I finished the manga was "wow. They managed to make Minish Cap boring. Impressive" Anyway, let's go through the manga so I can tell you exactly why I am oh so very pissed.

First off, it opens with EXPOSITION. *imagine me rolling my eyes very hard right here* It is at the very beginning, and it is about the Picori, and its not very long, so I will excuse it. It's got some pretty cute art behind it, and I managed to get through it.

But the thing is, right after the exposition bit, we get to Link and his grandpappy and they immediately bring up the Picori. They could have just covered the whole exposition thing here! In dialogue! The exposition was completely unnecessary!

Anyway, after that, we learn the tiniest bit about Link. We learn he wants to 'test his skills', to prove himself. (at the martial arts tournament he was too inexperienced to participate in lmao) Almost immediately after, we meet Zelda. We learn that she and Link have been friends for a while (and that Zelda emotionally manipulates Link into doing whatever she wants 😳) They go off to see the Picori festival together. Now its been nine pages and I feel like I know nothing about Link. (or Zelda. But she's not important cause she gets zapped in like, two pages, so pssh) What is his goal in life? He says he wants to prove himself, but to who? His grandfather already seems proud of him. What are his weaknesses? (other than Zelda's tears lmao) this is basic stuff! To compare this to Four Swords once again, In literally five pages, I see Four Sword Link's motivation and hubris all on full display. I can feel the motivation his character has already! He's full of energy and plot potential, ready to kick off his journey of self discovery and maturation. Where the hell is Minish Cap Link going? Please tell me.

Anyway, Vaati blasts the thing open and poofs away after turning Zelds to stone. Now this would be great motivation for Link, if we got to see him and Zelda bond a bit more. At the moment, his words just sound like what any good citizen of Hyrule would say if their princess was turned to stone. Ok we're moving on from Link's underdeveloped character cause I'm already bored.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART OF THE ENIRE MANGA. We get Link alone, walking in the woods, being his charming self. I always chuckle aloud, when Link screams about not being able to see the Picori with 'these jaded eyes' fearing he's already lost his child-like innocence, I always do, no matter where I am. AND in this same section, we are introduced to the wonderful Ezlo. Ahhh they make such a great pair in this manga honestly. I love Ezlo being this prideful weird uncle type who shows Link the ropes. And he is just as prideful and sarcastic as his cap partner. Honestly they have great vibes together. And I don't really have any complaints about his section. It's some cute fluff that I kind of enjoy.

Here and there we just splashes of the interpersonal drama that I crave. We sometimes get hints that Ezlo is hiding something, we occasionally get hints of what Ezlo thinks of Link. But for the most part, there's very little conflict. And thats why this section starts to get tiring. But for now, this is the most enjoyable part of the manga. They collect the water element quickly with the help of very charming picori. And they help an old smith picori regain his spark and passion for smithing. And it's really sweet, but it lacks anything to do with Link. Like, that's cute and all, but literally anyone could have helped the smith picori out. What did it have to do with Link? What did that add to Link's story?

And now. We are halfway through the manga. And here it begins. AAAHHHHH I HATE THIS PART UGHASHDFSGH *i am clawing, biting and foaming at the mouth* They head toward the library, picori size, and run into a cat which they run away from and then get caught by a little girl (who they literally stab with a sword to let them go (why am I saying them, this is literally all Link's doing)) and then they meet baby chicks and then LINK LOOKS UP A GIRLS SKIRT??? after which they meet a dog and then they finally get to the library and wow its so big and look at this library picori can this one picori lives in a book and he's writing a book and he takes forever to tell them what they need to do and- I DONT CARE OH MY GODDDD.

This goes on for pages and it's been ages since we've gotten even a smidgeon of character development. I barely even see Link and Ezlo's awesome personalties i was talking about! Things are just happening to them! I get that it's supposed to be exploring what life might be like if you were only two inches tall, and I might find this entertaining if was invested in the characters, but I'm simply not. Like, (and yes, comparing it to the four swords manga again) what if the colors were shrunk down to minish size and did all these things? I WOULD EAT THAT UP IN A HEARTBEAT. And I know the four swords manga had two whole novels to flesh out their characters, but it also stands to reason that they had four main characters, and minish cap has half that number, 2, Link and Ezlo) The story did not do a good job of making me care about these characters at the beginning and is now suffering from it. I now want to throw the manga at the wall.

I revive from my stupor when the boring book picori mentions that he recognizes Ezlo's name and voice. Ezlo acts very upset at this and pulls Link away, furthering the narrative that he's hiding something from Link. And when they make it to the temple of droplets, he accidentally, vaguely compares Link to Vaati. And Link was like, who are you talking about? See, now that's interesting! Literally everything that came before and is to come is not.

Now the mayfly fairy in the temple of droplets is cool and fine and all. I really enjoyed this segment. Now, here comes Vaati to screw things up. And- oh wow, I nearly forgot about Vaati. Huh, oh my gosh I know literally nothing about this character. huh. We are more than halfway through this story and I feel like I know nothing about the antagonist. That. Is. Not. Good.

Anyway, here it is revealed that Ezlo used to be Vaati's master! Yes! Good! Angst! and- and they're talking about the light force and exposition crap again. It's over. hhhhhhhhhh ANYWAY he curses the mayfly fairy and its sad.

Now Ezlo tells Link all about how Vaati stole a magic cap of his and betrayed him, cursing him to take the form of a cap himself. Cool! Exposition that matters cause these are characters we kind of care about!

Now they need the wind element which is in the sky oh noooooo- They run into this guy who give them a bunch of kin stones and tells them to go to King Gustaf's grave. There they meet Gustaf's ghost and he tells them how to get to the wind place. They get there and no one is there and they meet these flying monster things that they ride and- Getting bored yet? That's cause it is boring. Anyway, we finally meet the wind tribe people and

IT'S MORE DUCKING EXPOSITION ABOUT CHARACTERS WE DON'T CARE ABOUT.

At this point in the manga where I always reach my breaking point. It's always here. We are slogging through a history lesson about King Gustaf when the drama between Ezlo and Vaati hasn't been fully explored yet and I know nothing about the personality or motivations of the main antagonist. WHY. I FEEL LIKE I AM PLAYING A VIDEO GAME READING THIS MAGNA. IF I WANTED TO PLAY MINISH CAP, I WOULD'VE BOUGHT THE GAME. Mind you Link has not progressed in his personal journey to... wait what was that again?

Ok so now he has all the elements and the fixed picori sword which is now the Four Sword (!!!) They return to Hyrule Castle to find the elemental sanctuary and the King doesn't know where it is?? Sus. Yeah he turns out to be Vaati. Hmmm shapeshifting into he form of Hyrule royalty to make advantage of someone hmmm I wonder where I've seen that before... (im kidding, of course. Vaati disguising himself as the king is in the original game) ANYWAY MORE EXPOSITION YAYAYAYAAY

Zelda has the light force. Vaati freezes the whole castle and then tries to draw the Light force out of Zelda while Link kinda struggles to get over to where he is. He succeeds and now Vaati has the light force. He transformed into this awesome 'Vaati Reborn' thing and looks super sick. But he keeps leveling up and eventually is overcome with power to the point where he turns into a monster. And this is really cool! He lusted for power, but not for the consequences that came with it! (would've been nice if this was set up beforehand, but whatever) Anyway he beats Vaati and frees Zelda. yay

The cursed is lifted on both Ezlo and Vaati and they return to their minish forms.

And here, finally, we get Vaati's motivation. WHY? WHAT?? WE GET THE VILLAIN'S MOTIVATION AFTER HE HAS BEEN BEATEN?? WHY?? Anyway, it's really cute, he thought he could never be good enough for Ezlo, and so wanted limitless power so he could prove himself. They state that true power comes from strength of character, which is why Link was able to beat Vaati (where was that strength of character when Link tried to look up a girl's skirt earlier??) Okay?? Nice sentiment but I wish this was set up earlier??? Link encourages Vaati to keep training harder and not to look for shortcuts. ...ok. So basically Link won cause he worked rlly hard to get all the McGuffins. Nice.

And after a heartfelt goodbye from Ezlo and a tearful one from Link, the story ends. It's really sweet there at the end, seeing the two characters who actually had personalties show off their wonderful chemistry one last time before they depart. Makes me smile.

AND FINALLY IT'S OVER. I'm sorry that was so long, but hopefully now you see my point about underdeveloped characters, wasted time and wasted potential. Thank you for coming to my Youtube Analysis video.