#because Dang deserves just as much respect not because of something or someone else but because of himself

[blackholesun321]

God I hope Dang goes full punk next episode. I want him to rip up Stocks suit put on a battle jacket and some eyeliner and just embrace the awesomeness that is Dang.

[taiblogcomics]

Taking the "Fun" Back Out of Funeral

Hey there, knit caps. Are ya ready for some more dang-ass Countdown? Lemme tell ya, as bad as this comic is, at least it won't scare someone's dog or set off someone's PTSD, unlike other things you could be doing tonight~

Here's the cover:

Okay, the costumes I understand, secret identities are a thing, even among the cape crowd themselves. But, like, Mia, did you have to bring your bow to the funeral? Like, unless you and the other archer heroes are doing some variety of 21 gun salute, you coulda left it in the car or at home or whatever. Or even just put it over your shoulder, it doesn't need to be in your hand right now. Like, everything else about this cover is pretty good, it's moody, it's framed well. But Speedy having her bow out just strikes me as so dumb in, I dunno. Did they think we wouldn't recognise her without it? Is Mia Dearden the DC equivalent of Tony Hawk~?

So, the recap. Former Teen Titan Duela Dent is murdered by a Monitor, and former Titans Donna Troy and Jason Todd are investigating it. Future Titans auditionee Jimmy Olsen is developing superpowers. Mary Marvel, related to Titans member Captain Marvel Jr, also got new superpowers. Holly Robinson, no relation to the Titans, is in an Amazon women's shelter. Karate Kid, who knows someone from Saturn's moon Titan, is in the past for mysterious reasons. And Trickster and Pied Piper, participants in murder of Teen Titans member Kid Flash, are on the run. We join our heroes at Kid Flash's funeral, already in progress.

So we open with Jimmy Olsen narrating about Keystone City and how much they love the Flash. Like, Metropolis is very fond of Superman, and the relationship between Batman and Gotham is contentious at best (and toxic at worst). But Keystone flipping loves the Flash. There's a whole Flash Museum, if you didn't know. But it's closed today, in favour of all the Flash-themed bars. Because their beloved hero has died. It's only, like, the third time this has happened! You'd think they'd be used to this after Wally, if not Barry. Just saying, this happens to the Flash a lot.

Jimmy's here in a role of official photographer, and he's not having a great time at this, the funeral for a fun-loving aged-up kid. Anyway, Jay Garrick, the golden-age Flash (too often the last Flash left), starts the proceedings. He introduces everyone to Bart Allen's secret identity, since he figures everyone deserves to know the name of the guy who was protecting their fair city. Bart, in case you didn't know or couldn't tell, is also the grandson of Barry Allen, who's still referred to as the Greatest Flash Ever. Geez, and they haven't even resurrected him yet. Give it a year, guys~

So while Jay continues eulogising, we cut over to Jason Todd, Donna Troy, and their Monitor pal. He thinks this is a waste of their time, and I hate to tell you, pal, but this whole series is a waste of time. This might be one of the better issues, in fact. And while he thinks this is a waste of time, Jason thinks his whole proposal to run off and start another tie-in miniseries to go searching the multiverse for Ray Palmer is also a waste of time. Donna tells them both to shut up, since she was actually a Teen Titan herself and wants to pay respects to Bart.

Cyborg comes up to eulogise next, and really, I invite you to read these yourself. Coz it's just a lot of nice things being said about Bart, who was always one of my favourite characters. Whether in his solo series or in Young Justice as Impulse, or in the Teen Titans as Kid Flash. Even the 13 issues they let him be the Flash to lead up to this were… Well, something, to be sure. Anyways, after Cyborg is Wonder Girl/Cassie Sandsmark, and she takes an unusual tack during her eulogy by vowing Bart's murderers will rot in hell. I tell you, no one vowed someone would rot in hell and my grandma's funeral.

So this declaration gets a couple folks in the crowd spooked. In the stupidest possible decision, Pied Piper and Trickster are actually in attendance at the funeral. Guilt, I guess! After Cassie's big rant, the pair of them leave in a hurry, figuring it was dumb to even come. Best they can do is hope some world-ending event makes everyone forget about this. And, I mean, technically that is what happened! After Final Crisis happened, everyone immediately forgot about Countdown--including the writers, even though this series was meant to be leading up to that one~

Piper and Trickster make their exit, but not cleanly enough. Once out in the parking lot, before the pair can go their separate ways, they're ambushed. But not by any of the heroes attending the funeral, including Jay Garrick, who distinctly shoots them a dirty look as they hastily exit. No, who shows up to stop them is C-list Firestorm foe Multiplex. Given his other associate, Deadshot, I'm guessing he was a member of the Suicide Squad at the time. The pair of them take out Trickster and Piper, with Deadshot declaring them to be the dumbest criminals he's ever seen. Yeah, no arguments from me, pal.

We eat up a couple pages still talking about Monarch and Forerunner, who need to move onto their own spinoff where we can really not care about them. Then we join Holly Robinson in her storyline. Athena shows her the amenities, which Holly makes snarky remarks about, but helps herself to regardless. Later on, while she's relaxing in one of those single-seater spa pools, another girl brings her some tea. She tries to shoot the breeze, but Holly blows her off, not interested in building comraderie through shared trauma. But then the other girl remembers to introduce herself. Her name's Harleen Quinzel. Yeah, she's in this too~

Back at the Flash Funeral, we've got Tim Drake giving a eulogy now. I wouldn't want to be the one following Cassie's "rot in hell" speech, but here we are. I kid, but this must really suck for Tim, coz Connor Kent/Superboy just died back in Infinite Crisis, and now he's the only original Young Justice member left. In fact, speaking of, he recalls "the last time it was this bad", a day when something bad happened to Donna. And if you know anything about DC Comics, especially Titans storylines, he's talking about Graduation Day, a comic only better than this series because it was shorter.

Anyways, right around the time the 2003 Titans started up, Bart had just heard of video wills. He had one made eventually, and the Titans have agreed that the whole people of Keystone deserve to see it. In the video, Bart's just recovered from being shot by Deathstroke, which was the first time he'd ever really confronted his mortality, and was the genesis for advancing his identity from Impulse to Kid Flash. And he's also reflecting on the Graduation Day incident. So he's ready to give this Titans thing his most serious try. And he'll be lucky if he goes out even half as cool as his grandpa Barry. Alas, Bart, you were not so lucky.

So while the video will is playing, Jimmy notices something odd about up in the rafters and goes to take a look. But Jason, Donna, and their Monitor fly away before he can get up the fire escape. Jimmy resolves to try and be a hero like Bart, now that he has powers. Meanwhile, the reason why they flew off so quickly is that both Jason and somehow the Monitor are being immature jackasses to each other, so Donna flew them away to straighten them out. Get ready for this to continue to be a recurring theme. So they resolve to finally go looking for Ray Palmer, who will solve all their problems for sure. And the comic ends on another page of Monarch and Forerunner that I just don't care about. Go be in your own spinoff already! I know you have one!

I'll be honest, this is actually one of the better issues of Countdown. Which is sad, because it's still dead depressing. Like, the main parts are well-written, and the sucky bits are all the things that tie it to the greater story of Countdown (Holly Robinson, Jason and Donna, Monarch). But I still think it sucks that they killed off Bart Allen for this storyline. (Both Bart and Superboy would return in the aftermath of Final Crisis, so they didn't even stay dead that long.) Like, if I haven't ranted to you enough already in stuff like Heroes in Crisis about how often DC loves to kill off members of the Teen TItans, here's another reminder. What a load.

And you know what, even though he didn't technically die in this series, I'm putting Bart on the list with Duela, Lightray, and Sleez, because his death was the direct result of Countdown and its plotlines. His funeral's in this series, so it's as good as.

[animation-is-my-jam]

Doctor two brain ships? Like all of themn? Or another question, which characters you DONT like shipping with ? you chose

Even though the rat man does give me fatigue sometimes, I still think he's great and his dynamics with other characters makes him really fun. For his ships, or if you're asking what ships I like with DTB--then yeah I can say.

-Like I said before on my top Otps, I'm very fond of him and Professor Robert Tubing. Tubing in general deserved more and I have a lot of headcanons/character writing for him, during that process I played with the little idea of him and Steven being ex-friends or colleagues. And with that very little interact DTB and Tubing had in "Cat and mouse game" I was like... but what if. So then I proceeded to go insane coming up with these ideas about Tubing and Two Brains having this wild ass dynamic and of course boats of angst. If Tubing was used more he literally would have been DTB's foil and I'm a sucker for that in shipping. Also yeah I did the ultimate cringe thing and created fan kids of them for an AU. I could go really on how much I love these two and how it sparks me to engage with Two Brains content. Plus giving Tubing what he truly deserves.

As for other DTB ships, I like them and think they're pretty good too. While they're not at the status of top ships for me, I respect them.

-I always appreciated Provoclone and it's kinda grew on me, but a bit hard for me to see Beatrice not as either sapphic or aromatic personally. Still cute!

-Butcher and DTB is really funny. Someone pointed out how they have a really (one is super affectionate and the other doesn't reciprocate or is too hesitant). DTB really likes Butcher but our meat man is all “y'all hear something?” with him, it's great. This one is kinda underrated, like most Butcher ships-- but again not for me personally, but I respect it's uniqueness if this is the dynamic to go for.

-Grilled cheese is good too. The Chuck's mom's not home episode really solidified their potential and wow that truly was one of the gayest. But also sometimes they appear to be at each other's throats too. They got a little animosity but will kiss each other vibe. Again not for me, but dang their name is good

- That's the more notable ones I can think of, I know there's also a boat load of other miscellaneous DTB ships that I'm missing but I think for me they all fall into "this is a neat idea" camp and nothing much else unfortunately. There's also the very rare but also hype idea of Headcanoning DTB as a flirt Aro--which I think is really cool and actually could be true if you want to stick to his characterization in canon.

As for characters (singular characters) I don't like shipping? Idk if that's just in general or something else..but I'll go with the first one bc I like painting targets on my back. (Disclaimer this isn't me saying I don't ship these characters with others bc it's problematic or whatever, it's just preference or HCs).

- Violet. Yeah I know kill me. But there's a good reason. Even though I appreciate like every Violet ship and think they're all cute in their own right... I'm sorry but to me this girl is Aroace. I know as someone who likes to follow canon interactions to justify ships, I should be all over Sciolet, Vibecky, Scoobecklet, but idk they're all cute, but I always imagined that after a certain time Violet would be great avenue to explore her being super affectionate and friendly to the point others might construe as romantic but nope she's just like that :) and that's perfectly fine.

- Same with Rex. To me they're aromatic, and not because he's an unfamiliar with things like emotions and acts almost robotic with his mannerisms with human culture bc he's alien, it's more like Rex does understand and they wouldn't say no to a date or partner, he just doesn't prefer it.

- I mentioned on the DTB ships that Beatrice (LRW) also follows into this category. I love her, she's my perfect blend of fail woman by day and girlboss by night, she deserves no one and nobody deserves her. Or sapphic but still prefers not to be in anything committed.

- Tim and Sally. Sorry but they're inseparable and probably too monogamous to shipped with others, even in a polycule.

- Ms. Power. Yeah I know I technically have a Pla//sma rope fankid, but to be fair I never said they were together. For me it's not a matter of HC with this one, I just don't really vibe with much of Powers ships, like I think girlie just wants to be alone nor do I think she would be a good partner if we're being honest. Like I'm iffy on even giving her a redemption arc since I like her so much as an antagonist. And even with evil partner ships I'm like eh. To me I think the only love she really needs is herself...both in a narcissistic way and to do something about that underlying self esteem she probably has.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Gang of Secrets!

I'm very late today at writing this because life ;-; You know it's a bigger episode when they start off with a problem. Ladybug doesn't want to detransform so she's desperate to find reasons to remain Ladybug. I love how the entire time, Chat Noir knows something's wrong and wants to get her to talk about what it is, but she just tries to pretend she's fine. If anything, Chat Noir would probably be the best person to talk to considering everything he's dealt with too both with Kagami and his responsibility as Chat! She could mention that she was seeing someone but they broke up because of her secret, and she could tell him how much being the Guardian's having an affect on her. All perfectly well and good without exposing any identities or things like that with questions for details asked. Instead she puts up a front with him and pretends she's okay in front of him and it's just so sad. :/ I understand why she doesn't, probably because she doesn't want him to know how much she's struggling. But ugh my heart hurts for her. Chat: I know where we can go where we won't have to talk! Ladybug: Yes, take me there Chat! *in the theater* Ladybug: You lead me into a trap. I MEAN HE'S NOT WRONG THOUGH! Not many places you can go where it's okay or encouraged to not talk without there being an awkward silence. But that cracked me UP. Also that casual attempt to wrap his arm around her lolol still hasn't give up, I see. I also find it simultaneously hilarious and extremely depressing that Ladybug's ranting like that in the theater because of a romance movie. When your heart is broken, that's probably the last thing you want to be doing. And Chat Noir yanking her down asking that she be quiet 😂 Literally just rants her entire love life out for everyone including Chat to hear in that theater. CHAT NOIR, YOU BETTER BE LISTENING BECAUSE SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ADRIEN HERE "She takes a long time to tell him and stutters and blah blah blah" lol sound familiar, sunshine? If anything please have him recall this later and be like, wait, didn't Ladybug say girls stutter around a guy when she likes him? BAM. Then he's off on his path towards Marinette. I can dream. Ladybug: And how do you know if he loves her? IMPOSSIBLE. Adrien: No, Marinette couldn't possibly be in love with me. *eyetwitch* But at the end of the day. This is Marinette ranting to Adrien about how she had to give up on Adrien and then couldn't make things work with Luka because of her secret. Ooof. And poor Chat having to apologize for everyone because Ladybug's disturbing them XDD THE GIRL SAVES EVERYBODY'S LIVES PRACTICALLY EVERY DAY AND THEY'RE PISSED SHE'S RUINING A MOVIE THEY CAN JUST REWATCH? 😂 She's clearly having a hard time right now, c'mon people! Chat can tell she has a broken heart. This boy is so sweet. He wants her to at least admit that and talk about it so she can feel better but you know, Ladybug's stubborn. I WANT TO GO SWIMMING LET'S GO SWIMMING CHAT, WOO HOOOOOO! Ladybug acting like Chat to hide her pain just like how Chat acts like Chat to hide his pain. YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S FINE. :') It doesn't matter how much pain she's dealing with, those pictures mean too much to her to remove them. x3 Thanks Juleka for showing us how sad Luka is now, that's very helpful. Marinette's been going into the bathroom at school to cry, and then had planned stupid looking glasses to hide her tears so people wouldn't have to know she's cried because wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses that's embarrassing is better than being asked what's wrong. Because the pain I feel for her wasn't already enough. Ugh I adore Trixx. Trixx being the voice of reason when Tikki's not there, trying to help and letting her know that Tikki may need to rest too when she's so upset it doesn't cross her mind. And the tears in her eyes when she apologizes to Tikki for not thinking of her like she should. ;-; SO MUCH PAIN. OH DANG Alya was literally a second away from seeing a detransforming Marinette lol But she did say DETRANSFORMATION or well in the English dub it'll be "Spots

off" I love Rose, she's really sweet. and considerate But she also shouldn't be touching things in others rooms like that. I never liked it when my friends went around my room touching stuff. Also didn't help that a couple of them stole from me... but it's just not a cool thing to do. Would've probably ended up much better had she not had to desperately hide an exposed Miracle Box. But then we wouldn't have had what happens so it's all good c: Marinette saying she doesn't want to be friends with the girls anymore

It hit Alya deep. Everyone else is like *le gasp* but her eyes all shrunken like that, you can tell it really got to her hard.

This entire exchange right here. Alya's glance at her in the first picture is piercing, like I can feel that OOF feeling in my chest when I see it. The new music dramatizes it so well that a lot of people probably didn't pay attention to it the first time around. Can we just appreciate how these animators got all these emotions so right and did such a good job animating everything for us? And those that work on the music too? Everything's so spot on. Marinette's red-rimmed eyes is so well done. "No, it can't end like this!" Awww Alix getting super upset too x3 I honestly think Alix could be the next one.... you know what I mean BUT I'll wait until the end to talk about it. Trixx pulling a Plagg and rescuing Marinette! x3 I seriously love Trixx, I really do. I know the other Kwami's got mad, but if he hadn't done that it would've been disaster, probably. And the episode wouldn't have ended how it did! And Plagg knowing it was Trixx who caused the Eiffel Tower to be all weird xD Why do I get the feeling the relationship between Trixx and Plagg would be like that of Chat Noir and Rena Rouge? And I want to point out, we got 7 whole seconds of Adrien again! Aren't we lucky? The last time we got so little of Adrien in an episode was when we had his parallel episode Lies. I don't think that'll happen this time but I do hope it means more Adrien later on. Ladybug: They're after Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chat Noir: Okay but remember everybody likes her (so don't go thinking she's a bad person for causing their akumatizations) Yes, I read between the lines. Ladybug being able to get through to Lady Wifi and have her deakumatize herself was absolutely amazing! I know Chloe was the first to fight off being akumatized but once you're akumatized it's obviously extremely hard to break. That says a lot about Alya. "Because you're an incredible friend, Ladybug." One, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Two, did you notice the little jerk of her head, gesturing to Ladybug like that when she said it?? It's the little details guys that make this so good. 😍 "Chat Noir, nooooo!" Guys, we got our tiny little Marichat scene! It's not actually real, but still! (okay but why do I also get this really weird feeling like something like this may end up being real later?) Alya giving Ladybug that hug 😭 Marinette has such good, supportive friends. I love them all. x.x YES THANK YOU. Alya's finally realizing there are more things going on with her than just boys. One of the things that's always irked me since Chameleon is that any issue Marinette has, be it with Lila or otherwise, she always assumes it has to do with Adrien. Of course, at the time she didn't know she was Ladybug but she should've still listened and realized there's something else up. But now she finally is noticing and I love how she was going to respect her regardless and not push. Pushing has always been one of Alya's characteristics, but she knew whatever it was was something too big and serious to push her on. "Marinette, I'm your best friend, and I always will be." 😭😭😭 This episode brought me so close to tears so many times. Marinette admitting she's keeping secrets, lying to everyone. Admitting that that's why she draws a line between her and Adrien, and why her and Luka didn't work out. Alya saying however heavy it is, they'll carry it together (MY HEART) And then Marinette saying "If I tell you, things between us will never be the same. It's going to destroy everything, change it all." It sounds like this girl is thinking about Chat Blanc and oop there's the sound of my heart breaking again. So much paaaain. "Je suis Ladybug." YESSSSSSS Why they had to leave it off on a cliffhanger But YESSSSSSS First, the expressions she had flash on her face, the gasp 😮, then the expression like she's trying to get her mind to process. Then if you notice, Marinette gives a little nod, as if letting her know that it's true. Then the way her eyebrows furrow and pulls her into the hug as she understands all that she has on her shoulders as that music plays. I'm getting

emotional just writing this. 😭 This episode is just so amazingly good in so many ways, I don't think I can actually cover it all. I'm very impressed. I've loved nearly every episode this show has put out, even those that a lot of people seem to hate. But this one, I don't see how this could actually be hated if you're trying to think of everything that happened from Marinette's point of view, her thoughts, feelings, struggles, depression. I will say, personally I hoped Chat Noir would learn who Ladybug is first. He's been such a good partner, very thoughtful, always putting his life on the line. He's also been dealing with a lot of the same struggles. I felt like he deserved to know first. However, this isn't about who deserves what, it's about what Marinette needs. It's not that she doesn't want to tell him who she is! Don't misunderstand. There are many times throughout the past 3 seasons where she wants to or regrets not being able to. But now, Chat Blanc's in her mind. She knows what could happen if she tells him with Hawk Moth still there, so she can't do it. So instead, she tries to pretend in front of him that she's fine even though talking to him about everything would help and fix so much. In her mind, that's not an option. I just hope that when he finds out she told someone else first, he doesn't think that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him. Next I thought maybe Alix. That way it'd be more understandable to Chat that she'd know, after all future Bunnyx clearly knows and said to Ladybug that she chose her because she's capable of keeping secrets (notice how Alya said that to Ladybug in the alley? I bet Alix will find out in the near future. Maybe not this season, but she'll find out.) But that's for another time. But now Alya knows! Her best friend, the one to have her back and will no doubt have it even more so now! Watch out, Lila. Alya doesn't hold back so I can imagine how vicious she could be to her (and I can't wait). And that brings up a very interesting thought. Alya will realize Adrien has been the only one to have her back in Lila situations. Why would he do that, hmm? When everyone else was so sure Lila's an angel and Marinette must be bad for saying anything negative about her. Journalist Alya, incoming! There's also the matters of Alya bringing up Marinette's feelings for Chat Noir because duh, everybody can see how much she loves him! There are even photos of them kissing, one of which happened in front of Alya's own eyes! Though affected by an akuma, they all know that kiss didn't happen because of it. And of course, Alya has brought up twice in the show so far that Adrien and Chat Noir could be the same person. And last time Alya said that neither of them could be Ladybug and Chat Noir. Except, she's now found out that Marinette is Ladybug. So maybe Adrien could after all be Chat Noir. I look forward to seeing how their new dynamic is. I wonder how this affects their relationship with the other girls. And I'm most curious about how Nino and Adrien may react to this change. I thought during Truth and Lies both that their best friends were going to find out about their breakups. Gang of Secrets was Alya finding out. Even though I feel like another parallel episode is just wishful thinking, I can't help but think it may be a possibility. Nino and the boys are going to wonder what's up with Adrien too. They're going to wonder why he's not with Kagami anymore so suddenly. So what if i the end, Chat Noir ends up telling Nino? I could see it, if this takes place shortly after Gang of Secrets, where she tells Chat that she's confided her identity in a very close friend and somehow they agree that he can tell someone too that he trusts to make it fair. It'd be an amazing way to exercise Ladybug's trust in Chat Noir too. Then we'd have both Alya and Nino in on it, keeping their best friend's secrets for them without knowing about the other one. Oh that'd be so beautiful! And also let them keep their Miraculouses too after the charms are given to them and Alya has the ability to break

free after being akumatized. I adore Rena and Carapace so much I'd be ecstatic if they kept them. 😭 Anyway, so much potential can come out of this episode and I honestly cannot wait until episode 4!!

[aiura-stan]

today on things fanfiction makes me think about: Toritsuka and Saiki’s relationship

I think Toritsuka legitimately really likes Kusuo’s company. I’m not altogether sure -why-, since he isn’t very nice to him. I think it’s because Saiki is the -nicest- anyone has ever treated him, and that’s honestly sad. I wonder if anyone else really respects or cares about him on a fundamental level- as a human being. I don’t really think so. His parental figures seem to have abandoned him, his grandparents were dead from the beginning, and most people at school avoid him like the plague. I imagine an inability to tell humans from ghosts growing up did a number on his capacity for social interaction. Getting addicted to porno mags was the nail in that social coffin. It’s a shitty coping mechanism.

It’s no wonder he’s constantly vying for Saiki’s attention. Though I think it has little to do with who Saiki actually is as a person and more to do with just wanting... someone who will listen. (haha remember that one throwaway line about Kusuo only having a shitty personality left, if he got rid of his psychic abilities??) Saiki is too nice (rather he refuses to enforce his boundaries or cut him off for good) He still constantly pushes Saiki to help him do gross and unnecessary bullshit. I’m not trying to exuse Toritsuka’s actions by any means. I’m just saying that he’s got more reasons for it than just being horny. And also that Kusuo doesn’t always necessarily have the most noble of intentions for not cutting him off. Tortisuka is a fairly usable pawn to Kusuo.

Also, there’s the whole “Master” thing. Toritsuka deifys Saiki for reasons established in the Manga. But he doesn’t leave once Saiki tells him that he was born with his powers, and cannot teach them. He’s still interested in Saiki because of what he is at that point, and wants to know what life would be like as someone with powers that can basically grant them control over anything and everything in their life. So he strokes Saiki’s ego and continues to call him “master” in hopes of finding out something interesting (and maybe in the back of his mind he’s still holding out for psychic powers that can be taught.) Saiki threatens him, and Toritsuka very quickly figures out there’s absolutely nothing he can do to actually complete with this guy. He slowly figures out that Saiki’s powers don’t actually solve all of his problems for him, more often than not being more troublesome than they’re worth. But he sticks around for the fireworks shows because it’s pretty dang impressive (and because he’s scared.)

Aside from that, I think Toritsuka is attracted to Saiki because Saiki is inclined to use his powers to help people, and that’s something Tortisuka can’t quite grasp. After all, no one’s ever really been there for him. Sad as it is, that would make Saiki the first (also probably his first... I hesitate to call them real friends, but I guess they are.)

Conversely, Saiki doesn’t like Toritsuka very much at all. I don’t think I need to explain that part. But from the beginning, he’s interested in Toritsuka’s powers and he’s sympathetic to Toritsuka for what he had to go through because of his powers. He admires the potential of said powers, and wouldn’t mind Toritsuka as a person if he were a more considerate human being, and actually put some effort into the scholastic subjects that interest him (anything except skirt chasing.) He simply refuses to excuse Toritsuka’s shitty attitude and creepiness. Which, honestly, is pretty great. There isn’t enough of that in anime. The scene where Kuriko kicks him across the schoolyard for abusing his powers to attract women is one of my favorites. I do think he goes too far by outright threatening murder to ensure his silence. He theatens to kill him multiple times throughout the comic which, while well deserved, I am sure doesn’t do his confidence any favors. Constantly intimidating someone and meddling with someone who already deifies you is probably... not good for that person. Definitely not if you don’t want them dependent on you. Tortisuka needs a support network and professional help, not a teenage asshole ordering him around.

But for what it’s worth, Saiki is trying to make him a better person (and not just use him as Kuusuke 2.0: a Punching Bag for venting his frustrations.) By the end, Toritsuka has grown as a person, with Saiki’s prodding and meddling. Or at the very least, he’ll do whatever Saiki deems appropriate, in hopes of gaining his favor, including helping people. It’s better than constantly violating people’s boundaries, though it raises new concerns of dependency and such. Luckily he’s not Toritsuka’s only friend by the end- there’s at least two other Psychics who are sort of friends-by-default, and I’d say he’s actually starting to become friends with Hii chan by the end. So maybe Toritsuka won’t stay the school perv forever; maybe there’s hope for him yet. I don’t think it’s entirely because of Saiki- I think it’s more because they became friends. Even though it’s a friendship with a pretty bad power imbalance, it’s the first valuable relationship Toritsuka has, and he learns something from it.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Escaping Expulsion" From The Owl House

Salutations random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Do you wanna know what I love the most about The Owl House? The writers waste no time getting to the good stuff.

Things like Willow working things out with Amity, Lumity, Lilith's redemption, and Luz's fight with Belos are stuff that most shows would drag out and wait upon using until several seasons down the line. Most of them for the final season. And yet, it all happens in the first! The writers somehow knew what the fans exactly wanted and gave them just that before they even had to ask.

Take "Escaping Expulsion," for example, as it has some great plot points and ideas I thought would happen later in the season and maybe even near the end. But it's only episode TWO of the new season, and I'm appreciative of it for that reason alone.

But explaining the good stuff this episode delivers requires spoilers, so if you haven't watched the episode yet (even though you definitely have at this point), I recommend that you do so. Now let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Blight Industries: Huh. I'll be the first to admit: I would have never expected that the main reason why the Blights are rich is because of their technological advancements. Large in part of how the Boiling Isles is a fantasy world, and rarely do you see technology taking place in a setting such as that. Still, points for total expectation subversion added with some pretty cool tech, I might add.

Odalia Blight: It's nice to put a face to the name I've grown to hate with a fiery passion. Now I can update my dartboard!

But to tell you the truth, it feels weird saying I like someone so vile. I mean, the woman is a manipulative, smarmy b-word who nearly killed Luz. Anybody who does that last part deserves to go on my s**t list! I despise her with the same fiery passion I've had since "Understanding Willow" premiered...and it's that reason why I like her.

Because here's the thing: Characters and people are two different things. If Odalia existed in real life, she better hope that I never meet her. But as a character whose purpose is to have the audience hate her, she succeeds with flying colors. It's the same reason why I consider it unfair to hate an episode like "Something Ventured and Someone Framed" because Mattholomule exists. I get it but understand that hating him is his purpose. It's the same with Odalia. I love her, but only because I love to hate her.

Alador Blight: Wow. I guess Alador really is the lesser of two evils.

By the way, keep in mind that I said "lesser of two evils" and not "the nice one." I don't care how adorable it is to see him get distracted by a butterfly. He's still an abusive figure who stood aside as Luz fought for her life against the Abomitron and still goes along with Odalia's plans despite how heinous they are. And whenever I remember how he treated Amity in "Understanding Willow" as well--

Also, don't make him neurodivergent so he can seem redeemable. It is painfully obvious that he is just exhausted after hours of toiling away in his lab working on his inventions to the point that his brain is beyond fried.

Now, seeing that I've dismissed the argument about how Alador is the nice one, let's actually talk about his character. Because I can see what Dana Terrace meant when she said that he's interesting. He's not explicitly as awful as Odalia, as he mostly seems to be in his own little world half the time. Despite that, Alador still shows signs of being just as dismissive of Amity in general. You see this as he focuses on how her strength shows signs of Amity being a potential coven leader instead of noticing how his daughter nearly died to his own invention. Alador doesn't manipulate, but he doesn't love his daughter in a way a father should either. I'm very intrigued by this route for his character, and I can't wait to see what is done next with him.

Amity’s Amulet: My heart sank when I realized the true purpose behind Amity's amulet. The thought that Odalia found a way to literally be in Amity's head at all times...I hate that. I mean, I love it because it's A+ storytelling and symbolism, BUT I F**KING HATE IT!

Amity in General: And seeing how we're already talking about Amity, let's dive into the fact that "Escaping Expulsion" is easily her best outing so far in the series. I say this because it really puts to the test Amity's dedication to being a part of the group. You can tell by her expressions and Mae Whitman's performance that Amity so desperately wants to help her friends, but she can't due to being afraid of her mother's wrath. Which doesn't surprise me, given what we know about Odalia so far. But what does surprise me is that Amity stands up to Odalia in this very same episode. I expected it for sure, but most likely at the end of the season, due to most shows dragging out a similar concept for drama's sake. However, as I said, the writers don't waste time giving the fans what they want. So, yeah, Amity defies her mother in the very same episode we're officially introduced to her. And it's totally believable, as Amity has been fighting her parent's control ever since Luz literally showed her the light after "Covention" (click here if you don't believe me). It's yet another impressive showcase of Amity's character development and how she's leagues ahead of other redeemable characters who would go through five more episodes like this before getting to the point.

Luz in General: But enough about Amity. For now, let's talk about the actual best character of the series!

Just like Amity, Luz is on top form in "Escaping Expulsion." She is quick to call 'applesauce' about Odalia and Alador expelling the Hex-Squad and is smart enough to figure out the deal Odalia is worming her way into making. Several people classify Luz as stupid, and while she definitely leaps before she looks at times, this episode proves that Luz isn't going to fall for the sweet talk that someone like Odalia offers. As reckless as she can be, Luz is still intelligent enough to know what someone like Odalia wants and cuts to the chase despite knowing the woman can't be trusted. Still, Luz going through with the deal anyways is fantastic character work for her as it shows her dedication to the people she cares about. It hurts my heart to see Luz get all beat up from Alador's inventions, but her willingness to put up with it for her friends is an act of service I wouldn't have expected from anyone else. "Escaping Expulsion" may be more centered around Amity, but it still proves why Luz earns her spot for one of my favorite characters.

Learning How Glyphs Work: Another solid aspect of The Owl House is that the writers find brilliant ways for world-building and explaining the rules of the Boiling Isles. Take this episode's b-plot, for instance. Eda and Lilith need to learn how to do Luz's version of magic, so having an entire section of the episode dedicated to them figuring it out is a perfect outlet to explain how glyphs work in the first place. Although, I have some tribulations with this subplot that I'll get into with the dislikes. But I still consider this a brilliant workaround to explain glyphs, even if specific executions could be handled better.

The Fairy Pie: Not only is this well-crafted dark humor, and not only is it adorable as hell, but it also shows how Amity has calmed down with her feelings toward Luz. She still blushes when handing over the fairy pie, but it is certainly more subdued in comparison to "Wing it Like Witches." I like to think the time off from her (and our) favorite weirdo helped cool down those emotions a bit, but that doesn't mean she won't get slightly flustered every now and again. Because as much as I adore seeing cool and collective, I'm still very much a fan of Disaster Amity due to how cute it is.

Principle Bump: "This character is underappreciated!"

"That character doesn't get enough love!"

YOU WANNA KNOW WHO'S UNDERAPPRECIATED AND DOESN'T GET ENOUGH LOVE?! PRINCIPAL GOSH DANG BUMP, THAT'S WHO!

So many kids' shows focus on how educators are the bad guy who treats students poorly because they love seeing children suffer. But that's not Bump! Sure, he made a misstep in "The First Day," but for the most part, he really cares for his students and hopes that they work hard to be their better selves. So when he's forced to send Luz, Gus, and Willow away, he's genuinely saddened by it to the point where he breaks down crying! On top of being wholesome, Bump missing his students is another example that a character shouldn't be written as evil just because they run a school. Sure, there are scumbag teachers and principals out there, but for others, they're a lot like Bump: People who show admiration and respect to their students rather than ridicule because a principle "just doesn't get it." And I appreciate Bump all the more for it.

Gus and Willow: It feels weird that these two basically got sidelined, especially since they have a stake in the plot as well, but it's understandable. "Escaping Expulsion" is clearly more Amity-centered, and with Luz being the main character, it would also be odd if she didn't get more of the focus than her friends. Having them do more would have been great, but what they've already accomplished is pretty decent anyway. They show how much they're on the same page as Luz when trying to figure out a way to sneak back into Hexide, Willow is still the best voice of reason when saying no one will be killed through their plans, and Gus wins the comedic highlights in the episode. While I would have loved that they did more, I'm perfectly fine with what we got. Besides, this is only episode two of Season Two. We got nineteen more episodes to go to focus on these two.

King: Ok, now, this is the version of King I like to see. A character that mocks Eda as if they're equals and acts as a reluctant voice of reason. This episode shows King more at his best and is a major step above what we've seen in "Separate Tides."

Lilith: ...Yeah, f**k it. I like Lilith.

Personally, I would have preferred seeing her dragged through the coals at least a few episodes, but that's judging the show for what I want. Not what it is. And as is...It's fine. Lilith has a great dynamic with the rest of the Owl House, it's honestly adorable seeing her refer to Luz as a teacher, and that scene where she makes presents out of ice for Hooty is all kinds of wholesome. I'd say your enjoyment of Lilith highly depends on how forgiving you are, and if you think her splitting the curse is enough of a gesture, you probably won't mind her as much. The execution of her redemption really could have used more time in the oven, but Lilith is still a decent character regardless, so what's to complain about.

Luz Making the Abomination Have a Cat Face: ...Luz...I f**king missed you.

DON'T EVER LEAVE FOR THAT LONG AGAIN!

(Also, I just love that this is all Amity needed to know Luz was in trouble)

Hop Pop Cameo: He's on the cover of one of the books Willow's dad lifts up. Which is extra cute given how Dana Terrace and Matt Braley (creator of Amphibia) are close friends in real life.

Willow’s Dad Pretending Not to See Anything: One single action defines the type of man this guy is. He's the fun and understanding dad!

Gus, Willow, and Amity Arguing How to Break In: This little quarrel just shows how much these three need Luz. Without someone to keep the peace and bring up compromises, these idiots would have just kept arguing all night.

In addition to that, this clash over ideas acts as a showcase for who these characters are. Willow is careful and smart, so she's going for the option more unlikely to get them caught. Amity is brash and to the point, so she's going for the route that gets them inside as soon as possible. And then there's Gus, who's young and naive, so his plan sounds like something out of a cartoon. The odds of any of these plans working are highly debatable, but seeing these characters with clashing personalities and ideas is a ton of fun to watch regardless.

Edric and Emira Helping: There's not much to add here. It's just another sweet scene that makes me so glad that the writers decided to make Ed and Em more like supporting characters than minor antagonists like "Lost in Language" made fans think they would be.

(Amity throwing the "Hex me" signs back at Edric is just the cherry on top).

“Stay away from my Luz!”: ...What the f**k do you want me to say that? It's f**king perfect!

Luz Catching Feelings for Amity: ...Huh. Neat.

...

...Alright, let's move on.

Luz Wanting to Take a Nap After--Yeah, I can't do it. Not even for the joke.

WAH-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO! MU! TU! AL! PINING! AH-HAHAHA!

THIS! This is more of that good s**t I'm talking about! Due to being so used to other shows going for the slow burn when writing the endgame romance, I was expecting Luz to catch feelings halfway through the season, even at the end of it. But near the beginning?! That is something I am more than ok with!

And much like Amity standing up to her parents in this episode, Luz catching feelings this early on is totally believable. Many fans have already analyzed how Luz's love language is "Acts of Service," which I'm somewhat sure is romantic gestures. Meaning that I f**king challenge you to find a grander gesture than holding back a literal killing machine while swooping down like a knight in shining armor! Oh, wait, you can't. BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY!

But by far, the best--the BEST--thing that can come from this is the dramatic irony! We, the audience, know that Luz and Amity like each other, but they don't. So the constant failings as these two fools try to work out their romantic feelings for one another is something I cannot wait to see in all its glory.

This is one of the best things that could have come out of the episode, and while it doesn't mean Lumity is canon, it is definitely closer than ever before. And I'm excited about all of it!

Luz Wanting to Take a Nap After Getting Home: I adore this because there's no one way that this can be interpreted. Either it's because Luz is exhausted after nearly getting killed for the fifteenth time that month, or it's because Luz is overwhelmed about having a crush on Amity...or both. Most likely both.

Belos Wanting The Abomatrons: Wow, what an ominous ending to the episode! I'm sure it won't come into play at all in the future...The season finale is going to hurt, isn't it?

WHAT I DISLIKED

Gus’ Growth Spurt: I mean...that's just weird. Gus suddenly being almost as tall as the others is a change so jarring that I feel like an explanation other than "witch puberty" is required. I get that they wanted to explain away why Issac Ryan Brown's voice got deep this season, 'cause puberty's a b**ch. But sometimes I feel like it's best to just ignore it, like with how Phineas and Ferb or Steven Universe just goes along with the fact that VAs tend to grow up when the characters themselves remain ageless.

Eda is Kinda Stupid in this One: It's not just me, right? Because I feel like Eda is more careful in the past than she is in this episode. She's been as reckless as Luz is at times, sure, but carelessly screwing around with magic when she has no idea how it works? I can maybe see King doing that, but not Eda. Just seeing her act dumber than usual is something that doesn't sit right with me.

Lilith Explaining Her Glyph Magic: I don't mind this. Glyph magic is pretty confusing, so having Lilith explain how it works to Eda and the audience is something I can understand. My issue, however, lies in how they did this.

Why, in the name of all that is holy, would Lilith explain her theory after the fact. It would be much more natural if she explained while saving King, but doing it after comes across as more forced than it should. Which is a shame because this series is usually on point when explaining how things work in the Boiling Isles.

And...That's about all the complaints I have with this episode. Which are nothing but nitpicks and possibly personal preferences.

IN CONCLUSION

If I'm willing to forgive and forget, I would give "Escaping Expulsion" a well-earned A+. But I'm not, so it's going to be another solid A. And, I mean, if you complain about that...there's something wrong with you.

"Escaping Expulsion" delivers on quite a bit of what fans want to see on top of giving these great character moments that show why we love these casts of oddballs and weirdos. I wouldn't say it reached perfection, but it still carries the winning streak that this new season has so far. Meaning there's no escaping the fact that Season Two is off to a better start than the first.

(Although, the fact that we got two solid As in a row means that we're in for a stinker real soon, doesn't it?)

[maddiebiscuits]

Personal Opinions on FFXIV Villains (in general order of appearance)

As a note, I will not be including any pre-A Realm Reborn villains (as I did not play the original Final Fantasy XIV) nor will I be including any one-off primals, raid bosses, etc. I will be trying to focus on villains as they appear in main or side storylines, in cut scenes, that have some over-arching influence on the story they participate in with something akin to a clear presence - Garleans, Ascians, and so on. Also SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.

Rhitahtyn sas Arvina

Rhitahtyn gets the shaft out of Gaius’ three main players in A Realm Reborn. A conscript from a Empire-conquered land who rose to power and respect, directly honored by Gaius himself, and possessing an even temper and noble ambition really helped to level out Nero and Livia’s general nonsense. Unfortunately, Rhitahtyn is provided almost no screen-time, development or exploration, and as years have passed, his in-game 8-man trial can now be completed in a regular synced party in mere seconds. He deserved a lot better than what he got, yet remained too sidelined to really leave me feeling invested in wanting to see what sort of story this character could be used to tell.

Livia sas Junius

When first playing through A Realm Reborn my feelings on Livia were...tepid, but optimistic. Of Gaius’ three main players, Livia was easily the most active and ruthless, lacking the shady “long game” and self-serving ambitions of Nero or the more honorable, measured personality of Rhitahtyn. Suffice to say, the dawning (and then confirmed) realization that Livia’s sole motivation seeing the plan of the man she loved through to completion by any means, to the point of tunnel-visioned, murderous intent, was...disappointing. Add to that Livia was raised by Gaius in her backstory, the man being a father figure to her, and the romance motivation becomes even more unhinged (especially since it is largely considered to be a reciprocated romance, at least physically, by Gaius - barf)

Nero tol Scaeva

Nero has become a fan favourite character over the years, thanks to his continued development into Cid’s boyfriend foil rather than outright villain of the main storyline. This development was easy to spot early enough though, as it was clear Nero’s fealty to Gaius was largely self-serving. He didn’t care much about conquering Eorzea or felling primals/eikons - he just wanted to show that he possessed the brilliance to build weapons capable of doing so. His speech/squabble with Cid during the Praetorium sequence paints that picture even more clearly if the players missed the not-so-subtle implications for Nero’s character already. The man lived, breathed and seethed with inferiority when compared to Cid, and in the end he did ultimately prove his engineering mastery, even if the Warrior of Light took it (and him) down. Ultimately though, Nero serves as a much better supporting and “redeemed” character than a villain, so I do have to rank him pretty low.

Gaius van Baelsar

Aside from whatever...weird...thing was going on between him and Livia (again - barf), Gaius in A Realm Reborn was a pretty solid villain, with clear-cut motivations that I actually understood, and begrudgingly agreed with to a small extent. As legatus, Gaius was still the tyrannical arm of the Garlean Empire, but a level-headed one who was more interested with the purging of the primal/eikon threat from Eorzea than subjugating other peoples. Further development of this character into something of an anti-hero and glimpses of how other characters viewed him in flashbacks in later expansions ends up providing his A Realm Reborn rendition with more strength in retrospect. The heads of the three city-states deciding to accept Gaius off to willingly join the Empire is a pretty good sticking point for the validity of his plan as well. Ultima Weapon is...you know, pretty impossible for Ul’dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa to face down if they refuse, but more enticing is its ability to, indeed, single-handedly defeat primals/eikons - something the city-states desperately need at their disposal, having been plagued by such threats constantly, for years and years.

Gaius cuts a pretty direct swath to the truth of the Twelve as well - they’re no different than the primals/eikons he seeks to eradicate, and the more stock Eorzeans put into them, the more empowered they become should someone ever try to summon one, making Eorzeans no better than the beastmen and their ‘gods’. Join the Empire and have protection from such powers, and put faith into the leadership of man, versus that of fictional deities that can be given terrifying form...in the world of Final Fantasy XIV, that’s not a terrible proposition. But it would still subject thousands of people to the Empire’s tyranny, so even if Gaius has the oft-coveted ‘Point’ that most villains wish they had, he still must be stopped. Eorzea will simply find other ways to endure the primal/eikon threat rather than bend the knee, and I like that defiant angle the Warrior of Light represents to counter Gaius’ character. Also, Ascian meddling and Hydaelyn shenanigans, sure, but I don’t feel that takes away from the core conflict that Gaius presents. He was a good villain, and I’m happy to see him return and go through the motions of penance for his past deeds and aid the supporting cast now, elevating him even higher into a good character, in general.

Lahabrea

I admit I have a soft spot for Lahabrea, only because he seems to be a universal punching bag for heroes and villains alike in Final Fantasy XIV. He lacks the more subdued, long-term planning of Elidibus or the explored nuance and sympathy of Emet-Selch - he’s sort of the odd one out between the trifecta that make up the unsundered Ascians. Just a blindly-tempered zealot of Zodiark, seemingly more enthused by the ancient primal’s return than the promise of the world being set back to how it was before The Final Days. Even the other Ascians don’t seem to like Lahabrea that much - Elidibus seems keenly aware that Lahabrea has gone off the deep end, constantly needing reminders and wrangling-in to keep the plan in motion. But I will admit, he serves his purpose well enough, and the additional side-story that reveals that Lahabrea was a brilliant scholar unmatched in the Amaurotine field of ‘phantom creation’ was a nice touch to explain why he’s pretty dang good at getting people to try and summon primals and conjuring or corrupting monsters himself. By no effort of Square Enix themselves, I sort of feel bad for the guy. He really was just Doing His Best, and getting no respect for it. His end was also anti-climatic, but by the time it happened, there were far more interesting characters and stories to tell, and he was unnecessary - it was just better this way, Lahabrea.

Nabriales

This one-bit player served one substantial purpose, and it was to see an Ascian get obliterated permanently and thus provide the means and understanding to battle Ascians in the future. Except that the cost to do so was a throw-away villain, a throw-away damsel-in-distress 8-man trial, and turning Moenbrya, a character with a lot of potential to be great, into a throw-away character who has to make an untimely sacrifice because the script says so. Nabriales you’re boring, you’re bad, you’re a waste of time and your mutton chops are dumb as hell.

Ilberd Feare

You know what, I like this villain. I absolutely want to punch his face in, but I figure getting that sort of rise out of me on sight is intended, since, you know: villain. His motivations aren’t bad either, even if his methods are deplorable. The speech he gives at the very end of A Realm Reborn to rile up Raubahn is pretty effective too. Despite both being refugees of Ala Mhigo, Raubahn fought his way to wealth and status, and Ilberd was never afforded that chance, or at least never quite managed. Raubahn pledged himself more to Ul’dah and the Immortal Flames with his new privileges, however, and Ilberd was perhaps right to resent that, with Ala Mhigo still under the yoke of the Empire, and so many refugees left to flounder in The Black Shroud and Thanalan both, Raubahn seemingly unwilling to step in. Ilberd saw the opportunity to change the status quo and took it, and proceeded to rally others to reclaim Ala Mhigo. If the city-states would not help, then they would be forced to help, and for all his dirty tactics, punch-able face and Shinryu-summoning finale, Ilberd’s plan did work: he forced the hand of the city-states to fight against the Empire to reclaim Ala Mhigo, and did indeed remind Raubahn and other passive Ala Mhigans that there was still an important job to do. So, good job Ilberd. Gold star. Now perish.

Teledji Adeledji

I thought the politics at the very end of A Realm Reborn were intriguing, and Teledji’s heel-turn pretty fun, since of all the Monetarists, he seemed to be painted as the most reasonable. Though I found his game plan a bit...suspect. Yes, a poisoned goblet assassination attempt on the Sultana that he could frame on someone else, while usurping control of the Crystal Braves so he could make a bid for full Monetarist control of Ul’dah (with him at the helm) makes sense on paper, but I’m not sure why he sought to frame the Warrior of Light for it, and implicate the Scions either. While it’s true that the Warrior and the Scions would be an obstacle and want to investigate the death, and would prove tenacious foes, if you think about the scenario a bit more, it seems unnecessary. The Warrior and Scion efforts were likely going to start swinging towards Ishgard and the Dragonsong War, to better embellish the northern city-state’s relations with the Eorzean Alliance, nor are the Warrior or Scions people you’d want to make an enemy, especially with the Warrior being one of the only people who can defeat primals (a very active threat in Thanalan).

Framing Lolorito would have been a wiser idea, as he was already disliked and untrustworthy in the eyes of many, powerful and dangerous to compete with though he is. If Lolorito had been framed, Raubahn and the Scions may not have questioned it, and Teledji could have enjoyed planting himself in the eye of the power vacuum that was to come while the Warrior of Light focused their energy up north. Instead, Teledji bet on the wrong chocobo and paid dearly for it - his plan fell apart (and so did he) in more ways than he could anticipate, but on the whole? This was a pretty intriguing and entertaining storyline, I enjoyed it.

Lady Iceheart / Ysayle Dangoulain

I debated putting Ysayle on this list because by the first act of Heavensward, she’s not a villain - but, she certainly was in A Realm Reborn and going into Heavensward, so we might as well just keep representing how good Heavensward is and include her here. Aside from Minfillia, this is one of the only ever characters you meet early(ish) who shares The Echo with the Warrior of Light. Unlike Minfillia or the Warrior, though, Ysayle doesn’t really adhere to the call of Hydaelyn. Instead, her powers allowed her to hear and learn the truth of Ishgard’s history: that it was a lie, and that King Thordan broke the peace in a bid for power for Ishgard, turning Nidhogg to rage and setting the Dragonsong War into motion. Having witnessed Ishgard’s cruelty at a young age when her home was destroyed by snow and ice after the Seventh Umbral Calamity, and knowing what she knew and maintaining close bonds with dragons throughout her life, it’s sort of easy to see why Ysayle would be set upon the path she is. She wishes to end the war much like how Thordan does: ending it, with the dragons as the victors.

Her slap in the face is when she confronts Hraesvelgr though, her bid to sort of not only take the form of Saint Shiva but embody her memory being dismissed as a pale imitation. Saint Shiva wished for true peace, whereas Ysayle demands it through bloodshed - she realizes this, and changes her current course. This is why I debated to list her as a villain, because her gradual change into a supporting character and hero is a logical conclusion as she and Heavensward’s story develops. She starts a villain and dies a hero.

Igeyorhm

Full disclosure: I completely forgot this character existed. And I still don’t actually know why they exist. They’re a second to Lahabrea during the events of Heavensward, and is easily shut down by the Warrior of Light before being annihilated permanently by Thordan. Despite this, I don’t find their existence as offensive as Nabriales’, so...that counts for something.

Archbishop Thordan VII

When I first encountered Thordan (”pope grandpa”, if you will), I thought “oh, he’s evil”, because “church bad” isn’t exactly and uncommon trope and it’s apparent that Ishgard is a broken and unjust society, with this man sitting at the highest seat of power and consorting with Ascians. Yet to my surprise Thordan was...pretty reasonable. At least to start. He makes his audience with the Ascians known and seems unaffected by them and their schemes, is polite and cordial to the Warrior of Light...he doesn’t seem so bad. But the gut feeling remains, and slowly builds as Thordan’s true plan is revealed, becoming a primal-esque deity. And much like Nidhogg, I do get his motivations. Trying to broker peace with the dragons, to him, is just not going to happen - in fact, it’s insulting to ask dragons and Ishgardians both to make a bid for it, when so many people have died and live with the burden of hatred and grief. His solution is more direct: end the war entirely, by winning it for Ishgard.

After assuming his new form and powers, him and his Heavensward have the power to thwart any dragons that oppose them, perhaps even Nidhogg himself if the dreadwrym were to re-appear. Fueled by the generations’-worth of prayers from the Ishgardian population, Thordan was set on ending the war and ousting the dragons from the land, ushering in peace and prosperity. But the Ishgard he sought to protect and defend was built on a history spun of bloodshed and lies, and the dragons were not the true enemy and did not deserve to be put to the sword. Thordan’s plan would have worked in the way he envisioned it, and he made a good argument for it, even if it was ultimately wrong, and that’s a good villain.

Nidhogg

Having come to Final Fantasy XIV from World of Warcraft, a giant, scary black dragon that rants on and on about suffering and misery and pain and vengeance was something of a red flag for a Very Bad Story. Imagine my surprise when Nidhogg was given the screen-time to be properly fleshed out and explored, his motivations and hatred more sympathetically-human than his giant dragon body would have one believe, his presence menacing and well-paced, and his overall being representing the true, dark heart of the Dragonsong War: the cycle of hatred. For dragons, centuries are like days, and the pain Nidhogg feels is no less than what he felt when the Ishgardians brutally broke their pact. Because of this, with each re-emergence of him and his brood, the wheel of suffering turns anew, breathing new hate-filled life into the ongoing Dragonsong War, generation to generation. Time has no effect on his turmoil, and his existence ensures that no other Ishgardians will ever be able to move on from the war either, even as generations continue on.

I find Estinien being consumed by Nidhogg’s rage very thematic as well, Estinien truly embodying the countering hatred the Ishgardians feel towards the dragons, and it makes the final trial with Nidhogg bittersweet. He defeats Hraesvelgr, because as long as Nidhogg exists even the brightest hope for peace will be squashed under the cycle of malice and war. The Warrior of Light must put him down because he cannot be saved - but Estinien still can, and can choose to move on and pursue the peace that Nihogg strived to prevent and Ysayle died to see come to fruition. And he does, and it’s touching, and Heavensward is SO FUCKING GOOD I LOVE THIS EXPANSION.

Quickthinx Allthoughts

I don’t care much for timey-wimey storylines, but I found the Alexander plot easy enough to follow, and the timeloop it creates to be manageable. The truth about the Enigma Codex and the journal Quickthinx has isn’t exactly hard to figure out though once time travel becomes a part of the plot, and beyond beind a fun goblin with a cute kitty cat friend...there’s just not much in the way of compelling character writing here for this gobbo.

Diabolos

Big ancient demon is revived and wants to wreak havoc. Uninspiring, but its also not necessary for Diabolos to be anything more than what he is either. The heart of the Void Ark storyline is the tribulations of Cait Sith, the sky pirates and the history of the Mhachi, Diabolos just being an excuse to explore those characters and lore.

Regula van Hydrus

Regula deserved better damnit. This is the last Garlean villain with nuance and humanity before Stormblood turns everyone who is so much as associated with the Garlean Empire into a cartoonishly-evil, absolutely twisted, reprehensible confusing mess of a person.

Fordola rem Lupis

Stormblood has a lot of story, pacing and character problems. A lot. It has its moments and some people love this expansion, but I do not and its villains are a very large reason why that is. Fordola, for example, had the potential to be quite interesting. She was raised to believe in what her father did: that Gaius and the Empire were not all bad, and then watched her father die trying to protect her from angry, almost barbaric Ala Mhigans who decided that pelting a little girl with rocks because her parents were Empire-sympathizers and supporters was an okay thing to do (as the Garlean soldiers just watched on and let it happen without intervening because they didn’t feel like it - a fact that Fordola knows and remembers). You would think this event would have a sort of polarizing effect on her, feeling betrayed by both her people and the Empire her father believed in, feeling caught in the middle, in need of finding her identity and sense of self. Instead she...basically throws her entire stock in with the Empire, deciding that if she’s a good little soldier for the Empire, then Garleans will have to change their minds about Ala Mhigans and respect them because, see, look: an Ala Mhigan is a respected Garlean asset.

Except this backfires over, and over, her Ala Mhigan team nothing more than vicious dogs that never bite the hand that feeds them, turning their teeth on their own people instead. Fordola is constantly belittled and ridiculed for her heritage and even her gender by the Garleans, and at no point does she ever stop and go “wow maybe the Empire sucks hot ass and I’ve been terribly wrong about my motives this whole time”. And yet, no...Zenos offers her power in some magitek-aether experiment, she kills her own Skulls team, she finished the expansion jailed for her crimes, believing until the very end that the Garleans will win (they did not). She utilizes her anti-primal abilities once, and vanishes from the plot entirely, only to re-appear in a bad side-story where the Immortal Flames have her hooked up to some penalty-of-death submission collar so she doesn’t act out so they can use her synthetic Echo abilities to fight a re-summoned Ifrit.

Bad character, bad writing, and a waste of her new, game-changing anti-primal abilities.

Grynewaht pyr Arvina

This is such...a stupid character. His design, his voice and dialogue...I can’t tell what Grynewaht is supposed to be. Is he comedic relief? Because he’s not funny. Is he a character that you’re supposed to pity or despise? Because I felt nothing towards him. Is he supposed to be a rival? Because...no. I had to look up what his name was. The only thing I can clearly remember about him is that he was the final boss of the Doma Castle 4-man dungeon. That’s it. If you removed him from the plot entirely, nothing of value would be lost.

Yotsuyu goe Brutus

Between the two female villains of Stormblood, Yotsuyu is the more popular. It’s easy to see why: she has a cool design and a lot more screen-time and development, with a big 8-man trial to finish things off. But like Fordola, something is just off about her writing.

I don’t understand her motives or how she even came to feel the way she does about Doma, specificially. And anything bad that could happen to her, has happened to her. She suffered an abusive childhood under her adoptive parents, was sold off to an abusive husband, then sold off again to a brothel after her husband died to repay his debts. She later became a spy for the Garleans, rose in rank and was appointed acting viceroy of Doma, to keep the masses terrified and under her heel. At first, it seems pretty reasonable for her to turn against Doma, and lash out as she does on its people - her Doman upbringing left her used, abused and powerless, and with the Garleans she found power and strength. But this reading falls apart when you quickly realize that Doma was already occupied by the Garleans during the course of her upbringing, her family obedient to the Empire and her suffering just as much the fault of the Garleans. There’s an argument to also be made that not enough time was really spent portraying Doma as the disgusting place Yotsuyu sees it, as from the onset of Stormblood’s story journey into the Far East, Domans are only ever portrayed as a terrified, broken people, scared of the Garleans and Yotsuyu. I also don’t personally care for “character was abused, so now they’re sadistic and crazy” clichés either.

What does work well for Yotsuyu is the theme of power and control. Yotsuyu is a woman who lived a life not her own, weak and frail, until she obtained power. Now that she has it, her drive is to do anything to maintain it and survive - yet for some reason the story is written in such a way as to downplay this much stronger theme of her character, and play up this slightly confusing, all-consuming hatred for Doma instead. Her transformation into Tsukiyomi is also a bit odd (though decently thematic, with her ‘cold, uncaring and distant as the moon’ comparison), with not enough time paid to explore her understanding of Doman deities and why the mirror would trigger this change (and why would she even keep Doman deities in her mind, with her supposed hatred of Doma?)

I also take some issue with her “Tsuyu” arc, where she reverts back to the last time she was ever truly good or innocent, and has the personality of a child while still being an adult woman (and suffering amnesia). I find these infantilizing tropes pretty offensive, especially when Yotsuyu’s arc here is largely just to reinforce and reiterate what cartoonishly terrible people her family were, and provide Gosetsu with some development instead. Aside from killing Asahi and having a cathartic death herself, everything about Yotsuyu just baffles me. Every time I think I like something about her, athe bad writing twists it around.

Zenos yae Galvus

I don’t like Zenos, he’s a bad character, and I hate that Square Enix decided this limp-haired sullen-faced clown was going to be their poster-boy villain for Final Fantasy XIV.

What is the appeal of this character? Yeah, some people find him attractive. I don’t, but I also didn’t find Sephiroth attractive so, okay, whatever - like what you like I guess. But what else does Zenos have going on besides people seeming to think he’s their buff bishonen thicc daddy or whatever the kids are saying these days? His entire character can be summed up in one sentence:

“While the Warrior of Light was practicing empathy, Zenos studied The Blade.”

He’s a Garlean lordling with a bland and cold upbringing who likes katanas and blood sport. That’s it. He’s a sociopath, finding no joy or meaning in life for whatever reason: he just wants to collect Cool Swords and push his bizarre love-hate fight narrative on the Warrior of Light. Because they are opposites, you see: the Warrior of Light is a cardboard cut out of a Good Guy and Zenos is a cardboard cut out of a Bad Guy. He’s not even entertaining about it. He doesn’t want to watch the world burn, he just wants to fight the Warrior because the battle will make him Feel Something. Meanwhile, all I feel whenever I see him in-game, either in a cut-scene or when I’m locked in an unskippable “survive the drawn-out battle!” sequence with him, is a groan coming on. And sometimes villains who are evil just for the sake of it can be fun! But Zenos is not fun - he’s dull, he doesn’t get me hyped up for a fight...I feel nothing.

When he died after using his uber-synthetic Echo to possess Shinryu by taking his own life I thought, “well, at least that’s over” and I felt relieved. And then he came back, bigger and worse than ever! Yippee! I love confusing, unrelatable, boring villains who are recurring. Whatever Square Enix wants to do with Zenos, they need to hurry up and get it done. I care so little about him and just want to explore other stories and characters. I’m assuming he’s going to like, possess Zodiark or something, and then the Warrior will possess Hydaelyn, and there will be some big anime light fight showdown where Zodiark and Hydaelyn both shatter for good and Zenos dies and the Warrior lives another day and uuuugggghhh. How the hell did an expansion like Stormblood follow up Heavensward? Who let this happen?

Asahi sas Brutus

Bowl-cut twink hates his sister because he’s a Zenos fanboy and is angry Yotsuyu got all of Zenos’ attention instead of him. Filled with spite and piss, cartoonishly evil just like everyone associated with Yotsuyu or the Empire in Stormblood. Rest in pieces you little shit.

Varis zos Galvus

I’m lukewarm on Varis. He’s a better villain than Zenos, but that’s like saying a flat three-day-old glass of soda is better than sewage water. The bar is set very, very low. He’s ruthless, but not entirely unfair in his thought processes. Hell, he doesn’t even seem to like his own son (and really, if Zenos was my kid, I wouldn’t like him either). But Varis is a bit too...static, in my opinion. He doesn’t feel like a major player, and his batshit “let’s all just burn so the world resets and we can stick it to the Ascians” is pretty asinine and plays so transparently into the Ascian’s hands. I was originally bummed that Zenos killed him pretty unspectacularly, but...like with Lahabrea, it was probably better this way. 

Omega

I don’t have much to say about this villain, really. The heart of the Omegascape storyline hinges on Cid, Nero, Alpha and the abstract concept of free will and accepting imperfection. It’s almost hard to say if Omega really is a villain, simply acting out a series of programs and statistics in a cold, robotic way, not really with malicious intent, so I think where Omega sort of shines is just as a being to build this sort of story off of, and provide a lot of fun boss fights as well. 

Ran’jit

I had no strong opinions on Ran’jit for a long time, so I guess he improved for me as I now have An Opinion of him. He’s fine. He’s an okay villain. His Zenos-esque “survive the timer” encounters are annoying, but I find his persistence and presence more inspiring than any time crummy ol’ Zenos showed up. The biggest issue with Ran’jit is the lack of time devoted to developing him. This is a man who lost his home in the Flood of Light (which was the First’s equivalent to the Source’s Far East), and has essentially trained and raised numerous Minfillia reincarnations to battle Sin Eaters, just to watch these poor girls he saw as his own daughters die and die and die again. That cycle of loss would break down anyone, and make Vauthry’s postulations of paradise in Eulmore until the end finally comes appealing. Ran’jit pursues the Scions and Minfillia/Ryne not because he’s resolute in following orders, but because he just wants to bring this one psuedo-daughter back and keep her safe - something he could never do for the others who came and went in his tenure.

Naturally, this protectiveness leads to giving in to Vauthry’s nihilistic promises and stifles Minfillia/Ryne as a person. Thancred eventually learns to let the Minfillia he knew go so that Ryne could floruish into her own person - she was not ‘his’ Minfillia and it was terrible of him to ever impose that upon her. But where Thancred can move on and let Ryne develop into the wonderful person she is, Ran’jit cannot. And I’m disappointed this aspect of his character couldn’t be more at the forefront of his narrative.

Vauthry

If you ask me, this is more in line with how I figured Zenos might be. Vauthry lived a life or privilege and power, a child born of divine providence with no true regard for life, just his own desires. He’s spoiled and unreasonable, but his nihilism isn’t really nonsensical in the world of the First. All but a fraction of the world is destroyed, and Sin Eaters are a constant, devastating threat, so why not just relax in luxury, in the safety of Vauthry’s control over the monsters, and live in peace until the world truly ends? The battle against the Sin Eaters is exhausting and has no hope of victory anyway (until the Warrior of Light/Darkness arrives, that is). Even without the meol subplot, it makes sense why so many would flock to Eulmore once Vauthry takes over. Goofy as he can be, I do think Vauthry’s embodiment of just giving in to nihilism, hedonism and annihilation stands as a good thematic contrast to Shadowbringers strong themes of stubbornly striving for hope in even the darkest, bleakest hour. His trial is also fun and a slight swerve. All the Light Wardens up to that point had been monstrous, and Sin Eater transformations the thing of nightmares (Tesleen), so to see Vauthry take on the form of Innocence (ironically appropriate, as he truly believes he is blameless in all he has done) and become a golden-haired, angelic being of beauty - how he likely has always seen himself - is very entertaining, and defeating him feels great.

Emet-Selch / Solus zos Galvus / Hades

Ah yes. The Big One. Most people like Emet-Selch and his involvement in Shadowbringers. He’s sardonic, he’s entertaining, he’s honest, he’s explored, and he’s even sympathetic. The revelation of how Zodiark (and Hydaelyn) came to be, Amaurot and The Final Days is truly tragic. Emet and the rest of the Convocation were trying to save their world, and the cost was staggering - the lives of so many of their own, their minds, and eventually even their own world in the Amaurotine schism that followed. Being able to see a shadow of what Amaurot and its people were like really helps drive home the sorrow of it all, and Emet himself admits that he did try to learn to appreciate what the fragmented world had become. He’s also one of the most “successful” villains in Final Fantasy XIV - his intertwined association with death and masterful ability to raise up and lead empires like the ancient Allagans and modern Garleans to their self-destructing, Calamity-inducing downfalls (of which he was almost successful did with Varis and the Black Rose in the latter’s case) is pretty impressive as far as villainous plans and activity is concerned. Being forced to work alongside him in Shadowbringers because your goals are aligned while attempting to guard yourself from his inevitable schemes - which he’s pretty blunt about admitting he has - is an interesting way to develop him as a villain too. He spends most of Shadowbringers actually helping you rather than outright antagonizing you.

His conundrum is sympathetic as well, if not entirely relatable. If you had the ability to bring back your world, your friends and loved ones, at the cost of countless lives that are trivial in the grand scheme of the cosmos and start again, anew, in a better world that could repair and rebuild, would you do it? Tempered by Zodiark or not, Emet would, and while I don’t agree with him, I don’t entirely blame him either, for feeling how he does. Similar to Ran’jit and Vauthry too, Emet is nihilistic: he clings to something long-gone and will burn the current world down to get it back. To him, the Rejoining and Zodiark’s return is inevitable, and people like the Warrior of Light/Darkness are futile, frustating obstacles that cannot understand not only his plans, but just how he feels. They don’t remember what they lost. Emet does.

And yet in his final moments, Emet seems at peace. He seems to realize, as he is fading into oblivion, that the Warrior of Light/Darkness isn’t just the reincarnation of Azem, but what Azem believed in that made Azem part from the Convocation. Fractured life is still life, and Azem believed that the world and its beings was worth learning about, loving and protecting, capable of great things even when faced with insurmountable odds. The last act of good will Emet can do after requesting that the Warrior not forget about Amaurot, is to free the Warrior from Elidibus’ binds so that the last unsundered Ascian can be put to rest at last. It’s a very emotional throughline for Emet’s character, rather than a more logical one, but it works very, very well and really helps push Shadowbringers into that amazing high its story can get to.

Elidibus

I never liked Elidibus all that much for the longest time. It’s not that his character was “bad’, per se - he’s polite, diplomatic, and enigmatic, providing a much more leveled, intriguing villain to counter-act Lahabrea’s more active plays and cackling. But Elidibus’ long game always left me sort of wanting: I was never really sure what he was trying to accomplish expansion to expansion and how it related to the Rejoining that would bring about Zodiark. His plans also seemed to just regularly...fall through. Sending the Warriors of Darkness to antagonize the Warrior of Light in the Source ended up bringing about the halt of the Flood of Light on the First entirely. Picking up Zenos’ body and squashing Garlemald uprisings while nudging Varis to make and use the Black Rose was promptly halted by the true Zenos making an unspectacular return. I don’t know, I just feel like any plan Elidibus sets into motion gets stopped before it really gets started.

My opinion of him did change, however, during the course of the Shadowbringers expansion. Being the heart of Zodiark, manifesting as the First’s...uhh, first, Warrior of Light, summoning them from across the other shards to wreak havoc and empower himself, only to finally be put out of his misery not just be the true Warrior of Light/Darkness, but Emet-Selch’s last act of will and revealing that he had been an over-working, sad youth who just wanted to save the world he knew was...well, sad. And his first (and last) real gameplay with the various hero summonings was a pretty amazing set piece too, though it also tells me how devastating Elidibus could have been earlier on if he’d taken a more pro-active approach, access to the Crystal Tower notwithstanding.

Valens van Varro

Much like how I wanted to punch Ilberd, because Ilberd is a deplorable person but an effective villain with decent motivations, Valens is just...I just want to punch him, in general. He’s just Disgusting On Purpose. And since we still haven’t shaken Stormblood’s insistence that Garleans are Evil So Evil Oh My God Evil You Guys they’re trotted out a demented borderline sex-offender who forces his child wards to brand subjects who are out of line with red-hot irons. Valens is...entertaining, I guess, in that regard. And Valens does serve as an appropriate counter-part to Gaius in this storyline, the themes of which seem to largely deal with fatherhood and penance for past misdeeds. I just...really miss Garlean villains with nuance.

Fandaniel

Oh god damnit Asahi is back. Square Enix stop doing this, stop bringing back bad characters. Though it is unfair to say Fandaniel is anything like Asahi. Oh sure, he’s using Asahi’s body (and therefore the Brutus’ family inheritance to fund his machinations), he fawns over Zenos, and he’s cartoonishly evil, but at least this go around there’s a certain...goofy charm to it. Fandaniel is a sundered Ascian - he doesn’t care about the Rejoining or Zodiark, he’s aware that he’s a broken being and he is, quite frankly, loving it. He lays his intent out pretty plainly to the Warrior of Light/Darkness: he’s evil, he loves destruction, and he’s doing it because that’s just what he feels like doing. Don’t reason with him, don’t try to understand him, just fight back and cry about it. On some basic level I appreciate that brutal honesty, so much so that I’m comfortable writing my thoughts about him now because I don’t think they’re going to change. What you see is what you get with Fandaniel, and he’s just having such a good time. He’s a terribly-written villain but gosh darnit I just can’t bring myself to hate him.

[angstbabyjae]

DSMP Tier List

This tier list was shared in a discord server I’m in, so I thought I’d give it a go. Not entirely satisfied with the section titles, so I used them quite liberally. I will explain why I put people where I did. On the tier itself I didn’t order them by preference but in my explanation I will. Please not that they will be ranked from favorite to least favorite per category (for example: I put Sapnap technically above Niki despite liking her character more) and not by how much they deserve to be in each category (for example: I prefer Technoblade to Phil but I believe people excuse Technoblade’s actions more than Phil’s). I encourage healthy suggestion in the comments since I only joined the fandom around the Green Festival and haven’t seen the history/POV’s of every character, though I try. Enjoy.

Gonna slap on a big ol’ “/rp” here just to be safe.

You've done nothing wrong come here (holds you gently)

So the thing about this section is that I don't believe any dream smp character is completely innocent, so I used this section more like a top of tier than as it's title implies.

1. TommyInnit

Ngl, Tommy is my favorite character in the Dream SMP. As a fellow Loud Person I relate to him a lot and his feelings that nobody really likes him. His mental health struggles are close to my heart and (SPOILERS) his death just made me so devastated. I really hope they don't end his arc like this. Not when he was just starting to heal, please. Tommy has certainly done a lot of things wrong. I'd highly recommend watching the exile decision from both Tubbo and Tommy's POV's because you can really get a grasp of their mindsets. Despite this, he is my fave.

2. Ranboo

Until recently I preferred Tubbo to Ranboo, but cc!Ranboo just totally outdid himself on lore and acting to the point where I couldn't deny it anymore. Ranboo did do *some* things wrong, but they are less extreme than many on this list (I don't count things he might have done under Dream's control since he wasn't conscious). Ranboo's character makes me go into protecc mode. So yeah, very good enderboi.

3. Tubbo_

Tubbo doesn't have much lore for his character, but like I do with many others on this list, I like to overanalyze and interpret certain characters to be deeper than they are. The Tubbo I have in my head is a lot more complex than what cc!Tubbo probably meant to portray. There is so much angst potential with his character, similar to many others, but what puts him top tier for me is the emotional connection I have to his character and how I relate to getting so much put on my shoulders and having to make tough decisions.

you're an amazing character

Okay so technically Schlatt should be on this list if we are speaking from a narrative standpoint, but seeing as the way OP labelled the other sections on this chart I'm guessing they meant morally as well.

4. Alex Quackity

Quackity is my favorite adult character. I don't even know why, I just love the idea of this comic relief character becoming such a catalyst for plot and more serious as time goes on. I love taking the dream smp characters and making them deeper than they probably are, as I do with Tubbo, but now it seems cc!Quackity is fully taking his character to the height of his potential and I can't wait to see what he does with him next.

5. AweSamDude

(SPOILERS) As such a big Tommy fan I must admit, my first thought when Tommy died was that Sam was partly responsible. If Dream told him what he did to Tommy in exile like he claims then he would have at least put up the obsidian barrier between them or something. After watching Ranboo's most recent stream (right now it's March 3rd) I understand why Sam did what he did more. My initial anger towards him has dissipated a bit. I still love his character so much. He really did care about Tommy and now... dang. I can't wait to see what happens with him next.

6. Captain Puffy

It was very close between ranking her or Sam higher, but given all the in depth character stuff we're getting from Sam right now, I'd have to rank him above. Despite this, Puffy is a character that I started out not knowing anything about and am now feeling her climb the ranks in my books. Sometimes I feel like she's the only adult who actually put Tommy's well-being above other things, despite them not interacting often. I wasn't around for the whole "duckling" thing with Dream and have yet to watch the VODs, but I just want her to visit him now and punish him for the Tommy stuff. (SPOILERS) I can feel Dream's next ploy being trying to convince someone to let him out in exchange for bringing back Tommy and if Sam doesn't cave then Puffy probably will. Also, I really hope that her and Niki's relationship isn't forgotten. There's so much angst potential there. Also, I need sapphics to survive.

7. Eret

So, I wasn't a fan of the SMP during season one. I hadn't even heard of it except for like my friend referencing Technoblade now and then. After watching some VODs of Eret's I am slowly starting to fall in love with her characterization. I am so soft for their redemption arc, for the regret he feels. Now that cc!Eret is back from their mental health break I am so ready for more.

8. Fundy

Fundy's a character that I will forget how much I love until he goes live again, or until I reread his old quotes. He has a lot of lore to him that surprises you every time you remember. Whether its his last speech to Schlatt to COCONUT 2020, Fundy always gives the audience something more to think about.

9. "Ghostbur"

Ghostbur is one of the few characters who genuinely make me want to cry. cc!Wilbur's performance was both hilarious and immaculate. I really want to find out more about his lore, though. Do all dead people with unfinished business get an alternate version of themselves to roam the Earth while you stay in the afterlife unable to make contact unless the veil is thin? Was Ghostbur just Wilbur pretending the whole time? (SPOILERS) Is Tommy going to get one? Is Glatt canon? Much to think about.

10. BadBoyHalo

While I despise egg-possessed BBH, normal BBH has my entire heart. The fact he gave up his mind for Skeppy is *chef's kiss*. I am very impressed with everything cc!BBH is writing right now.

11. Karl Jacobs

My second favorite polyamorous dimension hopper after Star Butterfly (let me have Startomco please)! TFTSMP just gets better and better each week. His time travel shenanigans are so fun and mysterious. Karlnapity is just a big ol' pot of angst just waiting to happen. WEDDING SOON PLEASE!

no intense opinion

While I do have opinions on some of these characters, they aren't intense enough to place them anywhere else.

12. Ponk

I don't watch him all that often since he's live during my school time, but what I've seen I love. Him starting that whole side plot expanding on that one TFTSMP episode intrigues me and I can see it tying into the egg somehow. Him and Sam are really cute together (/rp) and I want him to become more plot relevant again.

13. Antfrost

GAY CAT GAY CAT GAY CAT! In all seriousness, I really want him to do stuff with his character to make him more than just BBH's second-in-command (I have similar feelings with Skeppy, but I know he isn't very big on lore). Side note, but I really love the hc that RedVelvetCake is inside the egg. I want him to join so bad.

14. Purpled

I've only just started watching the actual clips from pre-L'Manberg times and Purpled was once much more plot involved than I thought. Him planning on getting his revenge on Tommy at the same time as the "police" investigating the Camarvan back in early season one was comedy gold. Shout out to BlueberryTV on YouTube for making it so easy to watch. In conclusion, we stan an underage mercenary.

15. GeorgeNotFound

Idk if this is a hot take or not, but I feel a good portion of people who love George's character are just DNF shippers who want to turn his crumbs into an angst factory, but you know what? Valid. While I am not a DNF shipper, I have seen the angst y'all have brought to the table and very much appreciate it.

16. ConnorEatsPants

The most I think I've seen of Connor has been the hostage scene and the non-canon party scene from this season. I don't have much to say except that his small speech to Tommy after he was let go about him not being a bad person despite traumatizing him hit surprisingly hard in the feels.

17. Skeppy

cc!Skeppy is not a big roleplayer, and I get that, it's just sometimes his character feels a little like an accessory to Bad's character. Please link me some good Skeppy moments in the comments if you can, I want to try and learn more about his character. His angst with Bad right now is top tier, though, and I choose to believe that Big Daddy Island is canon and that Bad took him there to keep him free from the egg. I actually wrote a fic about this if you want to check it out! Mind the tags, though, I went a little macabre with it.

18. HBomb

When I first learned about the SMP it was two nights before the green festival and I was up until 3am at my aunt's house reading the plot summary. The first clip of the smp I saw was the election VOD, where HBomb joined for the first time. I don't know much about him other than the fact he was Fundy's maid for a time and it was absolutely hilarious. I saw the recent stuff with him leaving Greater SMP to start over and enjoyed it. Hope we get more stuff like that with him.

19. Callahan

Gets all the ladies. What else can I say?

you're trying your best and I respect that

20. Sapnap

I put Sapnap here because he's on his way to becoming an amazing character. The angst stuff with Dream is the stuff George fans can only dream of (pun unintended). I like how he went from the cop, the pet killer, Dream's right hand man, to mushroom cottegecore gay living his best life and dealing with the pain of losing his best friend. The whole "Dream's bitch" conversation with Tommy that I saw an animatic for some time ago made me hurt so good. Also #KarlnapityWedding2021.

you're redeemable, thin fucking ice though

These are characters who I somewhat dislike to a degree, but still have hope for. In my opinion this section should be switched with the one after it in terms of which is worse, but oh well.

21. Wilbur Soot

I know he's already dead but if he's brought back to life I want a redemption arc from him back. (SPOILERS) If neither him nor Tommy come back to life then dsmp has a horrible track record with killing off their mentally ill and (tw) suicidal characters. Wilbur has done some awful things, but if he's brought back I don't think he'd be beyond saving.

22. Jack Manifold

I need to say something about Jack. He is so very very close to being in the "you're trying your best" section right now after his most recent stream. His redemption arc is so close I can taste it and if he is redeemed right I can see him joining my faves. His most recent stream was just so well acted that my heart just wants to forgive him already... until my brain remembers he tried to nuke a child. Don’t know if this is also a hot take, but I think he had more of a right to be mad at Tommy than Niki did, but I know for Niki it's more complicated than that.

23. Niki Nihachu

There was a time that I adored Niki Nihachu and a part of me still does, but she has gone a little bit off the deep end. I do understand it's a trauma response, though. cc!Niki said that her villain arc is almost over, which disappointed me a bit because we kinda barely got to see it since it was so overshadowed, but I am also relieved. I just want my wlw baker back :(

people excuse your actions more than you deserve

I am just going to pretend that this section doesn't say "love". I still like these characters a lot even though they get away with a lot of shit.

24. Technoblade

I love Technoblade too much for him to be ranked this low, but like I said this ranking is based on fitting the section descriptions, not how much I love them. Technoblade's POV is understandable but also that doesn't excuse the pain he's caused so many people. L'Manberg was more than it's a government as much as Techno is more than a weapon.

25. Philza Minecraft

Philza deserves to be in this section a little less than Technoblade because I actually agree with a lot of what Philza fans say. Tommy is not Philza's kid. Phil has a lot of trauma around killing Wilbur, yes. I just don't see how you could watch Ghostbur's Friend speech during Doomsday and think he was in the right for doing it.

i don't like you

26. JSchlatt

JSchlatt is an amazing character in many ways. The acting? Glorious. The dialogue? Spot on. With that being said, YAYY HE'S DEAD!!! I really like leaning into the abusive relationship hc with him and his cabinet. He was probably the most fun villain we've ever had, though.

I WANT THIS MOTHER FUCKER DEAD

27. DreamWasTaken

Come on, do I even have to explain?

[crazy4myself]

No Harm List | Pt. 6

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Word Count: 7,500

Summary: You live in a city where crime runs rampant. One day, you save a young boy's life, not knowing that he is one of the most powerful crime lord's heir. And you have just been put on the no harm list.

Warnings: cussing, mentions of drugs, description of stalking/being fallowed

Genre: Gang/mafia AU, romance, angst, violence, fluff

Rating: 17 N/C

Banner Credit: @mindays​

Beta Reader: @punkisnotdead2318​

Big fat shout out to Katie for being my beta reader, and standing by me during the making of this chapter. I’m not joking when I say I wrote this chapter about 3 times. As well as completely rewrote my outline for the entier story and Katie read every dang word as well as gave me wonderful feedback and some brilliant ideas. I love and appreciate her so much <3

A/n: I ended up splitting the chapter in half again. I apologize in advance for the ending.

<< Prev

------------------------------------

Suga sighed in annoyance when he opened the garage door and spotted J-Hope underneath the hood of yet another car. The sound of clanging tools and revving engines finally drove him to the brink of his patience. He came down to investigate, thinking it was maybe some annoying underling who was excited to see the collection of cars for the first time. 

But of course, it wasn't, and now he can't even yell at them to be quiet.

Hoseok has been working non-stop for the past two weeks, both at the mechanic shop and for BTS.

 At first, RM and Suga were thrilled, he took on two jobs in the past week, actually asked for the assignments. But now that it was his day off at the mechanic shop and he was out of work to do for BTS, so J-Hope has been busying himself working on every car in BTS's garage. And it was driving Yoongi crazy.

"J-Hope, you're going to break something if you don't stop poking around," Suga offered as a greeting, making his way over to him.

J-Hope looked up from the engine and flashed a brilliant smile. Suga used to wonder what he did to deserve being on the receiving end of one so bright.

"I'll fix it if I do." J-Hope teased before turning back to the vehicle.

Suga sighed again in frustration, he wanted to order the man to go home and take a proper day off, but he could see now that J-Hope was at his wit's end. J-Hope always avoided his problems by drowning himself in his work. 

He's like a shark. If he stopped swimming, he'd sink.

Why can't he just drink like the rest of us?

Suga thought to himself begrudgingly as he made his way into the carport. Instead, Hoseok had to tinker and fix every little thing in the garage. 

Suga knew he should probably let his friend be, leave him to cope and process whatever it was that was bugging him. Still, he couldn't stand the thought of J-Hope test driving another car around the property. All week he's heard nothing but engines revving.

"C'mon, we need to talk," Suga said, nodding his head towards the house. J-Hope froze, looking up from his tinkering with a slight frown, the one that flashed his dimples.

"What's up, you never wanna talk," J-Hope questioned hesitantly. Suga rolled his eyes, ignoring the small jab.

"I got a job that we can look at, and you need to eat something," Yoongi said simply as he headed for the door.

Work, of course.

Hoseok willed his face to stay neutral, to conceal his disappointment as he grabbed the towel over his shoulder and wiped at his hands and face of any moter oil. 

It was always just business with Yoongi.

They stayed in a comfortable silence as they made their way into the kitchen. J-Hope sat on a bar stool, feeling too grimey from the motor oil stains on his shirt to sit in one of Jin's nice dining chairs. 

Suga quickly pulled some leftovers out of the fridge, piling the plate with generous servings for J-Hope before popping it in the microwave. He decided, last minute, to make a quick serving for himself since he couldn't remember consuming anything but coffee since last night.

"Alright, so what's up?" Yoongi finally asked once they both had their food, and he took his seat next to Hoseok.

"Nothing, why?" Hoseok questioned, surprised. Yoongi shot him a look calling him out on his bullshit.

"You're avoiding something. I don't know if it's one of the guys, or yourself or what, but you only get like this when something's bothering you," Yoongi said, laying out all of Hoseok's feelings and vulnerabilities in front of his meal. 

Hoseok's dimples flashed as he pouted and tried to force down his meal over the growing lump in his throat, but he struggled to quell the emotion in his chest.

Only you and Yoongi know him this well.

Know how to read the small tells that slip out when he tries to hide his feelings. 

But Yoongi is Yoongi, and once things picked up for BTS, Hoseok assumed he had lost the ability to know when he was struggling. He felt like Yoongi was too busy to care.

After you walked out of his apartment, he's felt so lost and alone. He never thought someone would bother to read or check in on him again.

With a sigh, Hoseok finally gave in, "It's Y/N, we haven't talked in over two weeks. I'm worried she won't ever speak to me again now that she knows about..." Hoseok let his words trail off, and Yoongi leaned a little closer, pressing his knee against his friends in nonverbal understanding.

"I get it, but I also don't think she's mad at you...well," Yoongi hesitated, then stressed, "I don't think she'll be mad at you forever. She seems like she misses you too." he amended quietly, and it was true. 

Yoongi sometimes spends the afternoon in the bakery for a change of scenery. He's heard the way your voice changes tone when you tell Jimin a story about Hoseok. Yoongi honestly felt a little jealous that he had no idea who you were, but the two were obviously important to each other.

"Maybe it's time you just reach out. Ya know, talk?" Yoongi suggested, taking another bite of food.

Hobi grinned at him, "Min Yoongi, did you just tell me to go talk about my feelings?" he asked teasingly. Yoongi grunted, waving a hand in dismissal.

"It's obvious you're both miserable, and you're both unbearably sappy. I'll suggest anything to stop seeing the two of you mope around and to get you out of my garage," he grumbled. 

Hoseok smiled at him as he took another bite.

Yoongi waited until he finished his meal and busied himself with cleaning up before he finally asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me about her?"

Hoseok looked at his elder, surprised, a bit of his lunch nearly slipping out of his mouth. "Pardon?"

"Ella, you guys have history, how come I never heard about her?" he clarified.

"You don't need to know every person I spend time with," Hoseok started, but Yoongi shot him a look that argued otherwise. "If you did, you would already know," Hoseok challenged. Yoongi shrugged as he busied himself with wiping down his bowl,

"I don't want to pry in your personal life too much, you deserve space," Yoongi muttered.

Funny, because the only thing Hoseok ever wanted from Yoongi was a lack of space.

"Didn't realize you respected me that much," Hoseok said, a little surprised.

"You're one of the six people I'll ever trust in this lifetime," Suga pushed, a little hurt that Hoseok was so willingly blind to how much he cared about him.

J-Hope again worked to keep his face neutral. Of course, he was, they were the inner circle, the inner circle would be nothing if they didn't have trust. They could accomplish nothing. And in the end, that's what connected Suga and J-hope, BTS, their family, their brotherhood, nothing else. It seemed the only feelings they would ever share with each other was mutual respect.

"I didn't want her to know about BTS, and it was easier to draw that line if you guys didn't know about her either." J-Hope offered simply, poking at the last of his lunch with his fork.

Suga paused to look at him, and J-Hope could see the hesitation on his face as he asked, "How long have you two been together?"

He nearly spits out his food, "What? We're not-"

"Obviously not right now, but I think you'll work it out. You seem to be really good for each other,"

"Yoongi, she's my dead sister's best friend, she's my best friend. I could never- WE could never. There are no feelings", Hoseok said, scrambling to recover.

Yoongi squeezed his eyes shut and sighed, "Hobi, I know you want to keep this part of your life a secret. And I'm sorry BTS is taking that from you. But Jungkook has feeling for her, the dumb ass isn't even trying to hide it. If you guys have a history or a future, we need to shut it down before this little crush, ya know, crushes him." 

Yoongi let his sentence fizzle off awkwardly as he heard the front door open then close. Immediately regretting starting such an emotional discussion in such a public part of the house.

Hoseok blinked, his mind had blanked after hearing Yoongi call him Hobi, the elder rarely used such endearing terms, but slowly the buzzing in his ears lifted, and he processed what he was saying. 

Yoongi really doesn't care if he was single or not, the little bubble of hope that crawled up his chat popped before it could even surface.

He was worried about Jungkook. And the protege child's feelings. 

Feelings he got after dragging Y/N into the dangerous world, Hoseok tried so hard to keep her from.

Hoseok balled his hands into fists.

"I don't have love for Ella beyond seeing her as a sister. I see her the same way I see Jungkook. I care about her safety and feelings, too." Hoseok growled as all his emotion surfaced, it was too much at once. Yoongi blanched as he saw the mountain he unearthed.

"And so what if Jungkook gets feelings for her, maybe we should tell him he doesn't need to fall in love with the first girl he has a conversation with. Maybe we shouldn't get her fired from her old job, and get her a new job so she can be more a part of his daily life. Maybe we should teach him he can't get everything he wants. Have you ever considered that perhaps she'll reject him even if I'm not an obstacle? "

"Hoseok-" Yoongi started quietly.

"Don't," Hoseok hated how he felt the knot form in his throat, hated how he could feel the emotions getting the best of him.

You hated him.

Yoogi was indifferent to him.

Hell, he couldn't stand himself right now.

And yet, Jungkook was coming out on top overall of the mess he made. And Hoseok couldn't even bring himself to resent the boy too much. He loved his little brother and wanted the best for him. He just hated that the best was everything he wanted.

But that didn't keep the fire out of his words.

"I did everything I could to protect her. I lied to you and Namjoon and Jin. She doesn't deserve to be a part of this, Suga, she's too good for any of us. I don't want him to have her. I don't deserve to have her,"

"J-Hope," Suga hissed, cutting him off as a tear rolled down the younger's cheek. Hoseok watched Yoogi's eyes soften in what could have been concern if they weren't also wide with panic as they flicked between him and the door.

"Hyung?" Jungkook's voice asked softly.

Hoseok felt his body go cold as he turned and saw Jungkook standing in the doorway, looking like he'd been hit.

"Jungkookie,"

--------------------------------

It was a mostly quiet afternoon at the bakery. Which gave you plenty of time to let your mind wander.

Hoseok had text you last night, after Jungkook had left, asking if you guys could meet up and maybe grab a meal. It was the first direct text of wanting to make amends between the two of you so far.

You hadn't replied yet. Because you still had no clue what to expect when you finally saw each other again. Should you guys talk about everything, should you avoid it and try to go back to normal? You missed him, and you wanted to be able to forgive him.

But the wound left from his lies was still tender, and you didn't know if it was one that would heal over time.

You tried not to dwell too hard on the thought that he was a killer. That he might have taken mothers and fathers and children from loving families. You try to tell yourself anyone who crossed BTS must truly be bad.

After getting to know the other members of the inner circle, you could make yourself believe they were good people. Maybe there was some good in taking a little evil out of this world.

You laughed at yourself in disgust. You were a doctor, what did you believe in other than the moral foundation that life was priceless. It should never be taken. You wanted to give people as many chances as they could in this world.

You lost your mother at a young age to a sickness similar to Hoseok's mom. While your memories of her were starting to get foggy with time, you do remember watching her fight.

She fought until the day her doctor told her it was a lost cause, and then you watched her slowly fade away. That doctor sapped your mother of her hope. And while you had no way of knowing if your mom could have maybe beaten the sickness, hearing those doctor's words almost hurt more than losing her.

You always wondered, what would have happened if you had a doctor that believed in her? If your mom was still a part of your life? You dad remarried, and while your stepmom wasn't inherently a bad person, she was pretty supportive of you at times, you always wondered if your life would have been different if your mom stayed in the picture. If you would be different.

You were so lost in the swirl of your consciousness that you didn't even hear the ring of the bell when Taehyung entered the store. 

You didn't even notice when he slipped past you behind the counter where, you were busying yourself with mindlessly stacking coffee cups at the coffee station. Until he walked up to you, strawberry tart in hand and said, "Earth to Dorito Breath," as he waved his hand in front of you.

You blinked rapidly before grunting in displeasure at the name.

You 'earned' the name Dorito Breath your first week of work. You were running a little late for your shift but didn't have time to grab a meal, so you settled with a bag of chips to munch on as you walked to work. 

Only it was the family-sized kind, not the little singlets that would probably be more appropriate for an on-the-go setting. Taehyung and Jimin didn't let you hear the end of it when you entered the bakery, fingertips coated thoroughly in sweet chili dust.

When you tried to defend yourself saying you were hungry, their only response was you worked at a bakery, and Jin let you snack on most of the pastries and sandwiches for free. Jimin gave you a long lecture on how you could have fed yourself something with nutrition instead of dusty cardboard for lunch.

Since then, Tae had dubbed you Dorito Breath, claiming your potent air would scare off the customers when you took their order. 

His comment had been effective enough for you to self-continuously munch on a few mint leaves throughout your shift.

"What do you want?" You grumbled, watching as he picked every strawberry from the tart before slipping it back into the display.

Unsanitary asshole.

"Ahh, did your mother teach you those manners?" You hissed as you grabbed the tart from the case before a customer walked in.

Taehyung smirked at you, "My mother gave up on teaching me pretty early in life."

You rolled your eyes, "I think I would too if you were my child,"

A change in emotion flashed across his face too quickly for you to identify. You decided to change the topic before you risked hitting a sore spot. You and Hobi weren't the only ones with family issues in this city. In fact, it was a running theme in Alcorn.

"What do you want, V? Jimin isn't even here," you sighed, leaning against the countertop.

"I can't just come by to get a cup of coffee?" Taehyung asked in a mocked, hurt tone. Your eyes rolled again.

"No, because you don't even like coffee, you put so much cream and sugar in it, it looks white," you teased.

"I'm sorry for not enjoying your bitter bean juice, it's a mockery to my delicate taste buds. But at the end of the day, I need to stay awake as long as possible," he added profoundly with a shrug.

"Why don't you just drink energy drinks?" you asked, and Taehyung fixed you with a look, the predatory kind that made you freeze in place and made your heart beat flutter. He chewed his gum a little obnoxiously, smirking as your eyes fell to his lips.

"Because my dear Ella, you don't sell energy drinks here, and I need every excuse to see you," he replied in his deep baritone.

You huffed, turning your back at him to effectively break from his trance, "You're so full of shit," your murmur as you continue stacking the cups. He chuckled as he made his way beside you, standing so close you could feel the heat radiate off his arms, helping you make the stacks even.

After a moment, he asked softly, "Have you talked to Hobi recently?"  

You looked to him, taken a little off guard by the personal question, "Not recently," you hesitated for a moment before adding, "I don't know what to say."

Tae studied you for a moment, you could see the conflict in his eyes as he said, "He cares about you, and in the end, he did what he did to protect you."

"It's not just the lying," you sighed, leaning against the counter. "I just, I don't know what to think. He's killed people Tae," you said softly, worried that saying it too loud would somehow trigger another loss of life. Taehyung's eyes darkened at your comment.

"Ella, you have a right to need time to process everything, but I must remind you, it's Alcorn. This city is corrupt and filled with terrible people. If you're not made of money, you have to kill to survive."

He took in your shocked silence as his cue to continue, "Look, I would like to tell you that not everyone in BTS is a killer, I would like to tell you that the people we do kill are the bad ones that deserve to die. We strive for that, but at the end of the day, we have our motives and family to protect. I would like to tell you any kind of good news that might make you feel safe and help your moral compass see true North, but I can't because that would make me a liar."

You shook your head in disbelief, "That's terrible,"

He smiled a feral grin, "We are terrible sweet, Ella. Alcorn and everything in it is terrible."

He took in your fearful expression, and he sighed as he found himself caught up in the moment and the bitter disdain for this city.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and when he opened them, they were soft. His whole expression changed to a more comforting one. 

In the back of your mind, you remember Jimin telling you how on top of drug dealing, Tae was an excellent spy, he could change faces like someone changes their clothes. Knowing that did nothing to prepare you for the whiplash you got from experiencing it up close.  

"I'm sorry I don't want to scare you. I just want you to understand that killing isn't the worst thing you can do to people in this wretched city. I want to let you know that even in gang standards, Hoseok is as good as they come. You're both miserable without the other, and it's super annoying for everyone else, so please just give him a chance." Tae said, and despite the harsh words, his tone was honeyed, and there was warmth in his eyes.

"I just can't accept that killing people is a normal thing because you tell me it is. He's taken lives, and I'm not okay with that," you argued. V's expression soured.

"Yeah, well, it's really hypocritical of you to turn you back on one gangster only to cozy up with another. I'm sure it's fun, working at our bakery and asking us all about our little gang. It must seem exciting since we censor anything that might upset you. Jungkook and Jimin can sell you the Robin Hood narrative all they want, but at the end of the day, we're a gang." V hissed.

You steeled your expression, "If you want me to forgive Hobi, why are you trying to scare me away?"  

Taehyung faltered, not expecting your reaction, and you smiled slightly as you saw his mask slip.

"Hoseok deserves to be forgiven, he's made sacrifices for you, and just wants you safe. You two are family. It's a mockery for you to be mad at him and then prance around with the rest of us when we're guilty of the same sins," he explained.

Taehyung made a mistake, he didn't even know why he said anything to you. 

It's true he wanted you to talk to Hoseok; his brother was miserable and driving everyone insane. But Taehyung would rather things go back to the way they were before you met Jungkook. 

Jungkook, who spent the whole morning sulking, and won't talk to anyone after skipping two classes and spending the entire evening with you. It was obviously dangerous for you to get involved with BTS, they hadn't known you for a month, and you were already stirring up trouble.

But V did know you. 

He's seen the hunger in your eyes when you slip into the alley behind the Mexican restaurant off-campus. So desperate to claw your way to success, you would turn to some back alley stimulants to give you an upper hand. 

He's seen you at parties too. He gets invited to frat row often and always packs the good stuff. You don't go there anymore, but he's seen the way you acted when you did. You never fully let loose, you were smart and kept your wits about you. You were so good at seeming like you drank or smoked more than you did, it was almost practiced. You always sat back and watched as drunk guys fell over themselves trying to get you to go upstairs with them. And you would string them along all night, dancing and dodging before you went home early.

You liked to feel desired, but most importantly, you liked to feel in control. 

Tae understood because he was the same way. He wonders what you would do to BTS, what you would do for BTS if you fell a little deeper into their world. You were motivated and had ambition. If you could only get off your righteous high horse, RM could probably give that ambition a lethal direction.

Or you could wreck them from the inside out, and that wasn't a gamble he was willing to take despite how easily the other members have warmed up to you.

You smiled at him sweetly, but there was a challenge in your eye, "I'm confused, do you want me to forgive Hoseok or be scared of you?" you asked.

In a perfect world, Taehyung could have both.

"Or," you added quickly, "you want me to forgive Hoseok, but you don't want me to hang out with Jungkook. I'm sorry I didn't know he was taken." you mocked pressing a delicate hand to your chest in astonishment.

Again, in a perfect world...

"That's not it," Taehyung huffed, "I just want you to understand what you're getting into by asking all these questions."

Neither of you believed his excuse.

You open your mouth to deliver your retort, but the chime of the bell as the front door opens cut you off. Tae watched curiously as your whole demeanor immediately changed, a sweet smile plastering itself on your face.

"Welcome to Sugar Daddy, what can I get for you?" You greeted in a chipper voice as the customer made his way to the counter.

You recognized the man to be named Marcus, he was a usual at the bakery, known to sometimes sit at one of the tables up front for hours at a time. Just watching the people on the street pass by or watch you work. It was odd because he didn't even bring a computer with him to pretend to do some work. He just came here to people-watch, you assumed.

At first, it made you uncomfortable, but you've grown used to it by now. Marcus was polite, tipped decently, and never attempted to flirt with you. So now you've grown used to his presence in the shop.

But today something seemed off, Marcus seemed off. He was stiff as he rambled his order, followed by giving you the wrong amount of change. You noticed the man wasn't really looking at you. His eyes were focused on V, who was lingering behind you during the interaction.

You glanced over curiously as you turned to make his coffee, surprised to see V was glowering at him as well. The two were fixed in some kind of staring match, and the tension in the air was beginning to grow thick.

You cleared your throat casually as you passed V to get to the creamer, kicking him in the shin to break his stare.

"Hey, what's your problem?" He demanded under his breath, turning to you but not breaking his stare from Marcus,

"What's your problem?" You hissed back as you put a lid on the to-go cup. 

You forced a smile on your face as you turned back to your customer, handing him his drink, and wishing him a good day. He nodded, not breaking his stare at the gangster behind you before turning and making his way out the shop instead of taking a seat at his usual table.

"What the hell was that?" You demanded as soon as the man cleared the store, "I thought the two of you were about to whip it out and have a pissing contest, he's a customer, you can't just glare at him like that!"

Taehyung looked at you with mild disinterest, unphased by your accusations.

"Does he come here often? You know his name?" he asked, nodding his head at the door where Marcus let himself out.

"Yeah, we have a lot of usuals," you replied, confused.

"Does Jimin or Jin know he comes here a lot, do they see him?" he asked.

You shifted your weight from foot to foot, and Taehyung's eyes followed your movement, reading your tells of discomfort as you grew uneasy by his questions, "I assume so?" you answered unsurely, "I mean, if I'm here they're usually in the back, but I assume he comes here every day, they must see him when they're working the front."

"Interesting." Was all Taehyung gave as a response.

You immediately put your guard up, "Why, do you know him or something? Is he.. Bad?" You asked hesitantly, not quite sure what you were implying.

Taehyung chucked, "Bad? Everyone is bad sweet Ella,"

You rolled your eyes at the non-answer. He's been toying with you since he got here, and you were getting fed up by it. He scared one of your customers away for christ sakes.

"Why are you really here, V? To try and be my therapist for the day? I know you're not here to be my friend and ask about my feelings." You huffed.

Tae raised an eyebrow at you in response to the fed-up tone in your voice. You looked at him unamused and tightened your arms across your chest to stand your ground.

Finally, he sighed in defeat, "I'm here to send you home. But I will say, I asked about your feelings because you mean a lot to Hoseok, so by association, I guess you kind of mean something to me, and I just wanted to check and make sure you were good. I'm sorry if I spoke too harshly," his voice trailed off, and in the back of his mind, he wondered why he apologized, and why did he mean it?

You tried not to dwell on the 'I care about you' bit, and how the thought of it warmed your insides a little. 

You were still recovering from the cold eyes and harsh words he gave you earlier, but you didn't hold it against him. You saw his attempt to scare you, to let you know scarier and darker people than Hoseok roamed these streets, and perhaps you shouldn't hold your best friend's sins against him.

"Why are you sending me home?" You forced yourself to ask through the fog of thoughts.

"I'm here to relieve you of your shift. I have business to attend to with some customers this afternoon, and I think it best if we were alone," Taehyung explained.

Your brows furrowed, Jin warned you that your hours could be unstable from time to time, that members of the inner circle may send you home so they could use the store for business.

"Don't worry, you'll be compensated for working the entire shift," he assured, although the thought never occurred to you. You had a burning curiosity to ask what he could possibly be up to. If he was using the bakery to deal drugs, were some of the pastries maybe edibles?

Your thoughts swirled, you opened your mouth to ask, maybe argue, for him to let you stay, but he quickly sent you a slicing look that silenced any protest.

"Don't get it confused, just because I told you nicely, doesn't mean that this is an offer, It's an order," Taehyung clarifies coolly.

You stood in shock for a moment before nodding obediently, "I have a test I should probably study for anyways," you offered to maintain your pride. 

"Good girl," he encouraged softly as you slipped off your apron and moved to gather your things from the back. Your cheeks burned slightly in embarrassment, and you shocked yourself with the submissive attitude. 

They wanted you out of the loop for a reason, it was probably best you didn't know what went on when they wanted you gone.

You shouldn't pry.

You told yourself as you made your way back to the front.

Still, you couldn't stop yourself from "Are you sure you don't need any help?" You offered hesitantly as you passed the counter.

Tae smiled at you, "It's safest for you to go, Princess. In fact, why don't you get out of the 7th ward for a bit, maybe go study at the library for a few hours? Things might get a little rowdy on this side of town pretty soon," his tone was pleasant, but you saw the mischief in his eye and the warning came across clearly. You suddenly found yourself very flustered as you realized just how out of depth you were by spending time with these men.

"Yeah… I'll, uhh, go and study… cause, ya know, my test, tomorrow." You murmured in agreement under your breath as you started backing towards the shop entrance.

Taehyung flashed you a shit-eating grin as he dug his way under your skin, "Study hard, Princess," he offered in farewell as you turned and made your way out of the bakery.

You had four hours until your shift was supposed to end, and you decided that it probably was best to put in some time studying. You caught the next bus to your university, and headed for the library, trying your hardest to settle the unease in your stomach. You watched out the window the whole ride, wondering if you could see if there was anything off about the people roaming the streets.

You made it to the library and b-lined it right for the 5th floor- your haven of silence on campus. But for the first time in a while, you found it too quiet compared to the volume of your thoughts.

You told yourself you were caving for the sake of your test tomorrow. Hopefully, after responding, you'll be able to concentrate and finally study.

You reasoned as you slipped your phone out your backpack and opened your message to Hoseok, reading his offer over three more times, as if you could find some hidden meaning. 

Finally, you responded saying you would grab dinner with him later today, and turned back to your textbook desperate to get something done.

You didn't make it an hour into studying before you were ready to give up, totally unfocused.

You sighed as you packed your things, deciding you needed a shower to clear your head before you talked to Hoseok. Ignoring Taehyung's previous warning to stay out of the 7th ward, you decided he was just trying to scare you as you rode the bus back to your apartment.

Luckily, the bus stop was right outside your complex, so within twenty minutes of mindlessly scrolling on your phone, you were back home.

You made your way upstairs, eyes still glued to your screen as you scrolled through your social media feeds, and nearly ran straight into your neighbor.

"Watch it!" You heard him hiss as he dodged you.

You shrunk back and looked up, frozen to see Dawson sneering at you; he held a trash bag in either hand, and you smiled apologetically for your distracted walking offense.

"Sorry," You said sheepishly, and he only scoffed as he pushed passed.

You watched him walk off, shocked. Dawson was typically super friendly to you. He was one of your more social neighbors, but something felt off about him today.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face looked like he was exhausted.

You are in no position to judge someone for letting themselves go when they're stressed.

You reminded yourself, and it was true.

You had barely made an effort to put on makeup since you and Hobi got in a fight. Your eyes were perpetually puffy from all the crying you were doing during your self made pity parties, where you made yourself watch cheesy Hallmark movies, unironically.

Dawson was probably just going through a hard time. And he has no reason to be kind to you when you almost made him spill trash juice all over himself.

Pushing the encounter out of your head, you unlocked your door and made your way into the apartment. Jeremy was there to greet you immediately, demanding attention.

And who were you to deny him?

You indulged in a few minutes of cuddles and pets with your new kitty, eager for comfort as you mentally prepared yourself for tonight's dinner with Hoseok. 

After a while, you decided you needed a shower to clear your thoughts; you always did your best planning and emotional navigation in the shower. Not to mention, it's been a few days since your last one. You eyed the oily roots with a frown. You had tried to hide them with a cute bucket hat at work today, but you were painfully aware of the filth under your cap all day.

You let the hot water rain down your body and help your muscles unwind before you reached for the soap, pausing as you inspected the small green and yellow bar in your hand. 

Hoseok always bought you boujee essential oil soap from the hipster soap shop down the street from Sugar Daddy, and soon the bathroom was filled with the scent of lemongrass and eucalyptus.

The two of you always bought 'gender-neutral' smelling soap so that there was never a problem with using each other's showers when you stayed the night. You had relatively sensitive skin and always complained about the soap in his bathroom, telling him it was practically dish soap before you finally caved one day and showed up with your own products.

That didn't go over well, Hoseok immediately complained about having too many bottles cluttering his bathroom. 

Not to mention, any overnight guest he might have had in his downtime quickly went on high alert when they saw your expensive bath products. But you also smelled the sharp scent of your favorite apple and pear shampoo in his hair, and the next time you came over, your new bottle was half empty, and his hair looked glossy and voluminous.

The two of you have since found a compromise at the hipster soap shop. You liked neutral scents like eucalyptus and lemongrass or bergamot and lime and agreed to use the same products. 

Now any time you showered, you smiled at the memory and little connection. Hoseok really did worm his way into every part of your life down to the way you smell.

Breaking yourself out of your reminiscent sob story, you washed off quickly before moving to wash your hair.

By the time you toweled off and got dressed, it was still a little too early to go to the Diner, but you felt a restless energy nagging at you—a need for action. A need for movement, and you decided you could walk to the Diner, instead of taking the bus to kill some time.

--------

It wasn't quite 5p.m. when you left, but the sky was dark grey, and the humidity in the port city was so thick you felt like you were breathing equal parts water and air.

The gloomy sky warned you of the coming storm, and by the time you were three blocks out, you debated turning around and grabbing your umbrella. But you couldn't even remember where you left it after the last big storm. You knew you didn't see it on your key rack on your way out.

You were confident you could beat the storm if you hustle a little faster to make it, and you were in your rain boots if you did get caught in the downpour. You knew if you veered off the main streets a bit and cut through a few allies between the businesses, you could make it to the Diner faster.

It wasn't late enough for anything spooky to be hiding in corners. Alcorn was a shameless and troubled city, but even here, only so much could take place before nightfall. The worst that could happen is you stumbling upon a homeless man, but that was an encounter you were willing to risk if it got you to the Diner before the sky bottomed out.

Not to mention, the alternate route would keep you from passing by Sugar Daddy, and you didn't want V to think you were trying to poke your nose into any of BTS's business.

You brought a few flashcards with you as a last attempt to study on your walk, and you flipped through them, quizzing yourself as you made your way through the town. You took extra care to look forward as you tested your memory, not wanting to risk running into someone. Especially, after your almost run-in with Dawson.

His rude attitude plus Taehyung's warning from earlier had you a bit on edge.

When you turn into the sliver of space between two buildings on the main road, you try to tell yourself it's your paranoia that's making you feel like you're being watched. That you're just letting V get in your head.

You fiddled with the thick paper of your flashcards, admiring how the corners of them curled slightly in the heavy humidity. Your hair was probably doing the same, despite taking the time to blow dry it and put a straightening product in it.

Coming out of the mouth of the alleyway, you stopped in front of the tinted windows of a random shop, head-turning to try and inspect your hair. As your eyes narrowed and focused on your locks, you froze when you saw a hooded figure behind you.

You glanced over your shoulder to see a man in a black hoodie, with a ball cap pulled low to cover his eyes trailing behind you at what felt like an intentionally casual pace.

This is a popular part of town, a lot of people probably use this shortcut.

You told yourself as you exited the alley and made your way back onto the main street. You crossed the road at the next crosswalk, even though it wasn't the best route for the Diner.

The hooded man crossed as well.

That's okay. Just cross again at the next intersection.

Again, your thoughts tried to comfort you as you decided that navigating the crosswalks was the best way to know if he was blatantly following you.

Unfortunately, with the route you took, there was no efficient way to get to the Diner from this road without cutting through another alleyway or backtracking and going back up the alley you just came from. You didn't want to backtrack at the risk that the Hoodie might have a few more friends.

You walked a few more blocks, checking over your shoulder every few steps to see if the man was still on your trail. You tried to be discrete, not wanting your paranoia to feed his agenda. You knew some sick people in this world enjoyed the chase.

You turned at the next crosswalk, pressing the button furiously as if that would give you the signal to cross any sooner when you heard a pair of leisurely footsteps come to a stop right next to you. You looked over your shoulder and gasped as you saw the hooded man standing right beside you.

His mouth curled into a cocky smile as he leaned towards you, tilting his head, so the bill of his hat still concealed his eyes, "Are you alright? You seem a little spooked," his gruff voice taunted. 

You leaned away from him, taking a step towards the curb of the street, your clunky rubber boots almost causing you to trip. Your mind blanked, unable to form any response as you felt your heart start to pound in your chest.

Your eyes flashed to the road and saw the traffic was surprisingly sparse and decided, j-walking be damned, you'd risk the fine and on an impulse, ran across the street.

You knew staying on the main road was the safest option, but you genuinely didn't know the town very well once you passed the flower shop around the corner. The next block would take you into the 6th ward.

So you turned down the alleyway by the flower shop, falling into a pace that was closer to a steady jog, your rain boots creaked under your fast pace steps.

You looked over your shoulder as you turned the corner to see the hooded figure trailing at a short distance. You cursed under your breath as you willed your steps to go faster.

You waited until you cleared the corner of the alleyway before you broke out into a full run. The top of your rain boots rubbed at your calves as you ran, and you cursed yourself for not wearing sneakers.

Was out running him your best option? Could you even do so in your clunky footwear? Should you face him?

If you let him catch and grab you, you knew Jungkook's training would help you get yourself out of his hold, but you couldn't take that risk.

Maybe sending Hoseok a pin and dropping your location and hoping to God he knew you were in trouble and was willing to come to find you, would be best.

You reached in your pocket, your pace faltering slightly, as you felt the can of pepper spray you still had on your keys. You smiled, a new thought coming to your mind. 

He would have a hard time fallowing you with a face full of mace.

Behind you, you heard footsteps punding against the rough concrete, and maybe it was your heart pounding in your ears, but you swore it sounded like two sets of feet.

A holler from the man who spoke to you earlier confirmed your fear.

Could you take two guys?

With surprise on your side, maybe.

You pulled yourself into a little alcove as you turned the corner again, trying your best to steady your breathing as you heard footsteps come closer.

Your keys rattled softly as you gripped the pepper spray tight in your trembling hand.

You strained your ears waiting for you aggressors to approach, and heard the sound of sneakers scraping across the concrete as if someone slipped and a shout before silence fell over the alleyway.

-------------------------------------------

A/n: Sorry for that 'cliff hanger', and I'm sorry I keep pushing Hobi and Ella talking it out further and further back. Please let me know your thoughts or theories of how you think Ella is getting out of this mess. ;)  

Next >>

Tag List:

@curryshesus​ @mel-gonzalez07​ @atomickokorox​ @pfannkuchen07​ 

[randomidiocyncrazies]

i know you like them both so yunichika and oda/aoki for the ship ask

thank you for giving me a chance to gush about these kids!!! they’re precious.... this got pretty long so imma put it under a cut

YuniChika, the main boys of 2.43:

• when or if I started shipping it:

tbh i didn’t really ship them when i read the first book... they’re the kind of pairing that i can see people shipping and i think it’s cute, but i’m not super invested in them as a romantic pairing. I think i was more sold about them as a ship in the second book, but i can’t quite remember if there was a specific moment that made me change my mind, or if it was a gradual process

• my thoughts:

i think the anime definitely played up the tension between them (allll the blushes lol), but i’m glad people are enjoying the YuniChika content XD they’re pretty cute!

also, i think they balance each other well and spur each other to become better—Yuni and Chika are both self-centered(?) in very different ways: Yuni lacks drive because he mostly wanted to please people so they’ll like him, while Chika has the opposite problem in that he acts like he doesn’t care what people think of him. 

but now Yuni is able to take a stand for his interest in volleyball and for Chika, and while Chika doesn’t really soften and still has a problem with not realizing how harsh he could be, he’s more willing to communicate his thoughts.

• what makes me happy about them:

boys reuniting! relearning how to have a relationship with one another! learning from past mistakes and trying to be better people together! HELL YEAH

• what makes me sad about them:

boys, please use your words to communicate with each other...

also, from Yuni’s perspective, it’s kinda sad when someone you used to know really well comes back into your life, but they’ve changed so much that they are essentially a different person... but of course they have a new opportunity to become closer now 😉 so i’m not that sad about it

• things done in art/fic that annoys me:

... there are fanworks for them????????? 

(on a more serious note, erasing their flaws to make them more likable... please don’t make Chika ‘secretly nice’ or whatever, the kid is blunt as hell, and not realizing how his words affect others is his biggest flaw. on the other hand, Yuni can still be a little spineless at times, and sometimes his priorities are. questionable.)

• things I look for in art/fic:

hm, i’d like a future fic about them as professional players! i think their inclination is to stick together (they’re a package deal!) but it’d be super interesting to read something where they’re on rival teams years down the line

EDIT: haha Chika actually transferred to Keisei High School after their first Spring Tournament, so he and Yuni have faced each other as rivals since then (2.43 next 4years). they’re go to the same university and are on the same team now though!

• who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

uh i don’t really have specific people for this, but Chika would probably have to be with someone who understands his love of volleyball (like Oda, but if Oda wasn’t their team captain and thus too much of a dad friend to qualify as a romantic interest), and someone who can inspire Yuni would be good for him

also, i know who i’d NOT be comfy about: the first book (and anime i guess) had this weird tension between Itoko and Yuni, COUSINS who BASICALLY GREW UP TOGETHER. i think(?) their weird whatever was mostly dropped in the 2nd book and wasn’t really made explicit, but like. what the hell. (i have no idea what happens beyond the 2nd book.)

• my happily ever after for them:

the YuniChika in college arc is being serialized rn, so in a way that’s already fulfilled? (i have NO idea what’s going on tho) 

in general i just hope they can play volleyball together until one or both decide not to, for whatever reason, and that they stay in each other’s lives and support each other even after they’ve retired from competitive volleyball. i think with Yuni’s personality he could be a good coach after getting more experience, and Chika... he’s really valuable as a strategist, but I think he’d always be a little brusque, so he’s respected but hard to bond with if he does take on coaching?

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

bold of you to assume Chika even cares about sex

anyway, they don’t go to movies for a romantic date night, they go watch volleyball matches. sometimes this backfires when Chika gets too frustrated at bad plays tho

and of course i will never pass up an opportunity to talk about Oda/Aoki, the main guys of my heart (my OTP for this series tbh):

• when or if I started shipping it:

they pinged on my radar when they were bickering in Ibara’s chapter, but i wasn’t super duper invested... and then I got to The Dog’s Perspective and the Giraffe’s Perspective (specifically The Kick™) and oh god i’ve never fallen so fast

• my thoughts: 

GOD WOW Aoki really loves Oda... even though objectively Oda’s height prevents him from being a super ace, he is the coolest, strongest super ace to Aoki. i think it’s beautiful that someone can see you as your best self even when you’re feeling shitty about yourself. Aoki knows that objectively Oda faces a lot of obstacles, and wants to support him as best as he can—not out of pity (pity would’ve burned out long ago), but because he really respects Oda’s passion and drive.

also, these two have unaddressed issues that they should talk about! Oda, i know you feel inferior but you are so much better than you think you are. please accept that Aoki really does respect you, and that you are worthy of it (or like, you don’t have to be ‘’’worthy’’’’ or ‘’’’’’deserving’’’’’’’’’’ of it, because it is Aoki’s choice to support you and play volleyball with you!!! it’s not something you gotta earn, it’s something freely and happily given to you)

(ahhhhhh i die when i think of them)

• what makes me happy about them: 

gosh i love their dynamic SO MUCH! Oda is exactly my type of character (passionate, determined, knowing that he can never be the best at what he’s passionate about due to factors he cannot control, trying to be kind and gracious but struggling with feelings of inferiority and jealousy, thinks of himself as a selfish person, a supporting character...) and Aoki’s devotion is really touching. 

again: even when you feel like crap about yourself, there’s someone out there who thinks you’re the best thing that happened to them.

there’s also the fact that Oda thinks the world of Aoki as well (to the point of feeling inferior, which is like... c’mon Oda :/ you are better than you think you are!) he trusts Aoki a lot, despite knowing his willingness to engage in, uh, underhanded methods

• what makes me sad about them: 

it’s their last year together, and they’d be approaching a new phase of their lives in different places... although Aoki offered to lower his rankings so they’d go to the same university, realistically they’ll go to different colleges, and most likely end up in different prefectures. (like, not only do i think it’s a Terrible Idea to give up your dream school so that you could stay with someone else, there is no way Oda would accept the offer without being crushed by guilt. something like that would actually ruin their relationship, which i think Aoki knows as well.)

there’s also a lot left unsaid between them at this point and i just want them to lay everything out between them and move forward together

• things done in art/fic that annoys me: 

the fact that there’s NONE >:[ what does a gal have to do to get some content for them???????

• things I look for in art/fic: 

at this point anything is fine.... it’s a desert out there and i’m dying

more specifically i’m Extremely Down for a get together fic; i personally only see them getting together after high school, at least several months (or even longer) studying in different prefectures and no longer able to see each other every day. (i mean... absence makes the heart grow fonder right?)

i’d also love to see Oda using Aoki’s first name, considering Aoki calls him “Shin” and all. Oda managing to surprise/fluster Aoki would be nice too.

EDIT: they’re both in the Kansai region (2.43 next 4years prologue). Oda’s revealed to be studying in Osaka, and assuming Aoki got into KyoDai, they should be around 2 hours away from each other by train? so visiting each other over short breaks would be cute! also, apparently Oda took a gap year before going to Osaka (2.43 next 4years Ch 1.2), so something set during that time would also be awesome :V

• who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

hm... if i had to imagine people well-suited to them, i’d say Aoki’s type is people who are straightforwardly passionate about their interests (Oda hooked him with his unbridled love of volleyball way back in their first year of high school after all), and I think Oda probably needs someone who is willing to indulge him a little (like Chika he can be pretty dang determined about what he wants, though without the single-minded intensity at the expense of everything else)

... this is just a roundabout way of saying i think they’re ideal for each other, especially if they resolve the problem of hiding things from the other

• my happily ever after for them: 

they get careers/hobbies they enjoy, and get a place together as boyfriends/husbands. no i will not hear any criticism of this idea

i can see Aoki working in the private sector (this guy is fine with ‘joking’ about blackmail after all!) after getting his law degree. this is super self-indulgent, but given his penchant of rooting for passionate but objectively disadvantaged entities, i think it’d be pretty awesome if he works for a smaller company that truly believes in their work, instead of working at a big firm pulling in big bucks.

while I’m not sure what Oda is canonically studying, I can see him going into sports education or sports therapy—i think he’d be really good at nurturing the talents of other athletes, and he’s good at rallying the team (Aoki pretty much says he’s the heart of the team in the epilogue of the first book, though Aoki’s kiiinda biased lol). i think it’d be really cute if Oda coaches a grade school team!

neither plays volleyball competitively after high school, but sometimes they watch matches for fun (esp if their ex-teammates are playing). Oda also makes Aoki come to his students’ matches if he doesn’t have work

EDIT: apparently Oda continues competing as a wing spiker in college, playing in Kaisai’s 2nd Collegiate Division (2.43 next 4years Ch 1.2)—Aoki probably watches his matches, even when he’s busy (and Oda probably chides him for neglecting his work, but they both know Aoki can manage his workload).

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

hm... idk, i think they’re the kind of couple who are cool with just chilling with each other doing their own work. like, Oda planning strategies for the kids he’s coaching while Aoki reads next to him, occasionally glancing over to make comments, stuff like that

also since Oda says they mostly talked about volleyball during high school, I can kinda see them finding something new they both enjoy after they get together? Maybe shounen manga, for something fun

[freebooter4ever]

i’ve seen the discussion going back and forth on boundaries and sexual objectification, and i don’t have much to add to the conversation other than to say everyone is allowed to determine their OWN ‘lines’ and just because we don’t vocalize them doesn’t make them any less valid. but here’s the limits i set for my blog if anyone feels it is important for them to know (<3):

personally I consider ‘characters’ fair game for anything goes, with ‘public personas’ a little more iffy. ‘RPF’ isn’t new - it just takes on a new more accessible/visible form nowadays. i remember reading my first fic about a ‘real person’ back in my LOTR fandom days - it was a story in first person perspective about the main character meeting orlando bloom on a plane before he was ‘famous’. like a lot of these types of stories, it wasnt so much about the person as it was about the meet cute. the actor was just a convenient placeholder with a handsome face and some personality quirks thrown in to make the romance/dialogue more specific. i personally dont read much xReader fic nowadays, but mostly only cause i’m an old fart who can’t relate to the ‘you’ format. i miss the good old days when people actually created OC’s and then inserted them into things LOL. but also LOL if you think i’ve gone an entire year of quarantine without some imagined personal fantasies of joe mazzello (or steve aoki in the years before)(ramilicious can attest to this. she can also attest to most of these fantasies ending in friendship rather than anything explicit cause that’s just how i roll these days lol). the line i draw is i would never post these types of fics in a place where the subject could accidentally find them - you have to go looking for this stuff on tumblr, most fics are given explicit ratings and under read-mores. with the blacklist tags it’s pretty easy to filter things out. its even easier to add filters to ao3 searches. i am NOT going to do something like message steve aoki and say ‘yeah i watched that movie Ibiza like five times, here is my 1k fic where you’re the dj and i’m the one night stand’. but obviously people still enjoy imagining scenarios like these otherwise movies like Ibiza wouldn’t exist?

for art, i consider anything already on display up for grabs, we all know a certain person’s ass is all over the place...all you have to do is google ‘need for speed’ and rami’s name. HOWEVER, in the case of actors i personally would not draw anything more explicit than what’s already there. i’m not gonna draw full frontal nudity for rami (unless he gifts us with it in a movie, i suppose) or anyone. this is 100% a personal choice for me. 

i was a sophomore or junior in college when i volunteered as a figure drawing monitor where i’d time the nude model’s poses and help them set up the stage and lighting and such. there was this one guy in his mid forties probably, a regular who came every week, and i always thought of him fondly till one day (the day after i ran into my Hot Programming TA during dinner and later sent him an email begging him to go on a date with me because i was desperate for kissing experience)(and Hot Programming TA emailed me back within minutes saying yes) this artist guy who i saw all the time and thought i knew fairly well, decided to draw me instead of the model. which would have been fine except he drew me naked. i was NOT naked at the time, i was wearing a shirt, and a bra, and a full prairie skirt with alternating calico and floral patterns. he drew what he imagined was underneath all that. he came up to me after the figure drawing session and showed me his drawings and told me i had been ‘glowing’ and my response was to laugh it off awkwardly and get the hell out of there as soon as i gave the model their pay check. but inwardly i was thinking a) i was NOT glowing for this creepy man twice my age and b) i did NOT give him consent to sexualize my body under my clothes and then SHOW me that objectification. i never said anything to him or anything else, i continued to be the monitor, and i continued to field off creepy advances from him including multiple job offers, but when i finally realized i could just...stop..and i passed the student volunteer monitor job on to my friend naeem, i also realized that what that older male artist did was NOT ok in my book. and it was probably not something he would do while naeem was monitoring.

nowadays im working in an industry that regularly objectifies female bodies. in the past year alone i have had to deal with requests to make breasts bigger, i have been given character rigs that in addition to the usual elbow, knee, and spine joints also have ‘nipple’ joints but ONLY for the women (to make them jiggle for animation), every time i send out a female pose i get it back with notes that push it further into the sexy type of body language reserved for women (twist the spine more! sway the back more! give it ‘energy!’), i have been told to erase wrinkles and fat and pores but ONLY for the women (men you ADD pores bc realism! and manliness!) and this is all me working for a company that is actually fairly progressive in terms of sexism compared to OTHER studios.

like it or not, sexual objectification is a huge part of specifically women’s lives and how we react to that is our business. for me, turning the tables and putting men on display feels like fair’s fair. i cant stop the men from doing it, so if i want to enjoy sexualizing male bodies, damn it im gonna! like dang it, boy do i want to send steve aoki a thank you note every time he posts a video of himself doing those ice baths during the sunset golden hour bc holy shit gorgeous or working out in his gym wearing VERY little clothes, but i dont because i know what its like when someone imposes their personal fantasies on the subject. or, god, there was that time i had to unfollow nicole’s insta for a while bc i had a very explicit dream about her and realized, shit, i need to take a break and get my emotions under control before i can refollow. and god some of the stuff i see dudes sending her during her live videos on mental illness/meditation is TOTALLY gross and not something they should be confronting her with. and she’s not even ‘famous’ famous. or how some fans send their idols explicit direct messages without consent. THAT feels inappropriate to me.

a part of me feels like i shouldn’t have to defend this. men don’t. they’re even encouraged in mass media to sexualize women. but i also recognize the importance of talking about consent. the importance of recognizing that a celebrity deserves to have their boundaries respected. these are my lines in fandom. other people have different lines they won’t cross, and that’s okay to me. i block or blacklist any blogs or tags i think go over the top.

heck, even in fandom-only spaces i still try to keep my own more sexual fantasies off this blog and only in private messages with my friends and mutuals, and i feel like that might come across as unintentionally prudish or judgmental sometimes. i’m not ‘horny on main’ very often. but like...every time i reblog that particular ‘washing machine’ gif of joe mazzello am i thinking about him naked and thinking about how he’s got very loooooong feet, and ‘gee i wonder if that means /other/ things are Too Big for my tastes’ but also ‘gosh wouldnt that make a pretty picture to draw’???? hell yeah.

i dont know who is gonna actually read this essay but yolo i guess :)

[jawritter]

Broken Me...

Ch. 3

Summery: The Dallas Convention couldn't have come at a worse time for Jensen. His world fell apart earlier that morning, but was expected to just act like everything was normal. You and a friend were at the convention for her birthday. Life hasn't been that great for you either, but a forced meeting on stage changes two worlds. Will you be able to put this broken man back together again...

Series Warings: Cheating, shitty marriage, Danneel is a bitch, I unfortunatly have to put that as a warning because some people tend to get turnt up about it if you don’t... Smut, Crying, Suiside Attempt, brief discription of suicide attempt and recovery, depression, hints of self loathing, language. I think that’s it... Suicide Trigger warnings will be placed over each chapter!

Chapter Warnings: Online bulling, language, insecurities, mean girls. I think that’s about it..

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 1779

A/N: BINGE READ TIME!! As always all mistakes are mine! Please do not copy my work! Feedback is gold!! Hope you all enjoy this one!!

Want More? Check out my masterlist!!

****MASTERLIST****

Jensen's POV:

"I can't believe I lost it like that man! What the hell!!" Jensen yelled, throwing his hat across the room, watching as it hit the wall with a limp thump before falling to the floor.

He’d never been so pissed off at himself in his life, the way he ran off stage like that, Y/n probably thinks she did something wrong. 

He knew she saw him upset…

He knew she saw him try to hide the fact that I was up there crying like a little bitch... 

Maybe that many shots before he got on stage wasn't such a great idea after all... 

He was just trying to get numb enough to get through this damn concert without feeling anything. That turned out well didn’t it...

"Dude stop!! You're doing a hell of a lot better than I would be doing. I would have left the convention by now, and would be a blubbering mess somewhere. As far as y/n goes. I think she's fine. I saw her taking selfies with some other fans after the concert was over. Now Richard on the other hand, he saw, he's asking questions. I know you're not ready to talk about all this to everyone, but if you're going to stay at the convention. You're going to have to tell the rest of the cast and crew what the hell is going on with you." 

Jensen knew Jared was right, but he couldn’t help the stone face that he gave him as he watched the overly tall man take a swig of his beer. 

Even though Jared has the mental maturity of a ten year old, when stuff is going down he usually is right. 

As far as Jensen was concerned he was nowhere near ready to talk about what happened between Danneel and himself, everything was still so fresh, so raw, hell it had just happened today! 

He knew he couldn’t get into telling people without breaking down, and that was NOT something he was going to do in front of everyone. 

It just isn't going to happen... 

"I know you're right, but I’m not ready to talk about this with everyone, man it all this just happened less than 12 hours ago! I haven't even had time to process it yet. I'll try, and talk to everyone in the morning if people are asking too many questions. I just can't do it tonight. I'm still a little drunk, I'm exhausted. Probably too damn exhausted to sleep, which means I’ll probably drink myself to sleep…. Don’t look at me like that Jared, I just ….need tonight okay......Put Richard and everyone else off till in the morning if they ask you any questions."

Jared fought the urge to shake his head and roll his eyes, but this was Jensen’s battle, not his, and he had to deal with all of this how he saw best. No matter how much Jared didn’t agree with it..

"Okay I can do that. I told Richard tonight that you would probably tell everyone in the morning what was going on anyway, It was the only way he would let it go. They're worried about you man."

Jensen pushed his hands through his already completely messed up hair, and stood there with his eyes closed, trying his damndest to get a hold of himself. He was tired of crying about this already, and had just happened today, hell it’s not like they were together every day of their marriage, he was practically single anyway… They never even fucking saw each other.. Why did this bother him so much?  

"Ugh Jen?" Jared said, sounding almost like a little kid afraid to tell their parents something bad.... 

"What?" 

White hot fear licked at Jensen right up his backbone, it was never good in this industry for someone to use that tone while looking at social media... 

"Uh, looks like the video of you and y/n tonight has gone almost viral." 

Video of him singing at cons did that all the time so it was no surprise to him that one of him signing with a fan had gotten a lot of attention. So Jensen knew that was just the warm up for the let down, and braced himself…

"Okay, So." 

"Well Danneel saw it and, well......" 

Jared handed Jensen the phone, and what he saw there made him nauseous, and like he’d been shot in the chest with a 12 gage full of buckshot all at once….

“That bitch..”

............................................................

Your POV:

Walking back through the door of your hotel room you fall face first on the bed. 

Exhaustion was a very real thing, but you still had a lot of adrenaline pumping through you, way too much to sleep right now. Your mind racing a thousand miles a second. Analyzing everything that had happened tonight almost to a fault. 

Did I dream that or did it really happen? 

What's going on with Jensen? 

Why was he so upset? 

Were Richard and I the only ones that noticed? 

Jared obviously saw? 

Every time you think about it  your skin would tingle where Jensen had touched you. Hell by the time the two of you hand ended the song he was seriously so close for just a moment you thought he was going to kiss you. 

Thank God he didn't... 

Cause you probably would have passed out in his arms... 

Which probably wouldn't have been a bad thing, if you were alone, and not on a stage in front of hundreds of people with cameras and smartphones. 

Not cool...

With that thought you picked up your phone, and saw literally hundreds of twitter, facebook, and Instagram notifications on your phone. 

Your eyes bulging out of your head as you scrolled through twitter, the video of Jensen and yourself had gone almost viral. 

Your head started spinning and you honestly felt like you were going to throw up. Everyone seemed to like it, that wasn't the thing. The SPN fandom was seriously awesome that way, and for the most part everyone supported each other in one way or another... 

It was the post from Danneel that shook you from your head to your toes... 

"Y/f/n!! Get your ass over here!!" You yelled toward the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth. The room was spinning slightly as you read the tweet over and over again, as if you could make it disappear from the world wide web by sheer willpower...

"What?" She yelled back, running toward the bed, a look of concern on her face. 

She knew your tone had changed from joking in the elevator to almost sheer panic. 

"What is it?" She asked, taking the phone out of your hand. 

"Dang...Poor Jensen!!" She said, staring stocked at the phone. She was staring at the phone in slack jaw shock probably like the rest of the fandom at the moment.. You knew this was just the calm before the storm though, and you were about to be under fire form some of the more hardcore fans in the fandom...

"Well he was having a harder time than what it looks like on the video." You said, she looked at you completely lost. Apparently the audience didn't catch it. A moment ago you would have been relieved, now though you wished they would have just seen him.. 

Then man was a damn good actor...   

"That part in the video that looks like he's kissing my neck….. He wasn't. He had started to cry, and was wiping his face." You mummer, guilt rocking you to your core for agreeing to sing that song with him now that you knew what was going on with him... 

"Bullshit!" She yelled. "Why didn't you tell me he was that upset!" 

“I thought it wasn't any of our business! What was going on with him was obviously not intended to be a public thing. So I kept my mouth shut out of respect." You shot back. 

Looking down at the tweet you still couldn’t believe what you were seeing was really happening..

The tweet was a repost of the video of Jensen and yourself singing. That wasn’t the problem. It was the comment above that  made you nauseous. 

Well since Jensen seems to have ALREADY moved on to basically screwing fans on a live stage!! Looks like I OWE my fans the explanation! Jensen and I are getting a DIVORCE!!! WE ARE NO LONGER TOGETHER!!  I don't know who this girl is, but baby girl RUN!! I PROMISE YOU DON'T WANT THAT!!!

---------------------------------------

A few hours later you found yourself still awake and staring at the ceiling. Sleep wasn’t going to come easy tonight no matter how you sliced it.. 

You couldn’t believe she did that.. 

She doesn't even know you!!! 

Some fans jumped to your immediate defense, telling her to go screw herself, and that didn’t happen the way the video was making it look, that it was a lot more innocent in person. 

Then there were some ‘Jensen always deserved better than you anyways’. 

That It was just a performance... Meaning nothing and she needed to get over her high and mighty act... 

Jensen was a sweetheart. He was probably totally heartbroken, and she was a bitch... 

Then there were some that were attacking you... 

"She's just a whore. He'll come crawling back." 

"He's a jackass you deserve better." 

"She wont even last with him a week." 

"She's just a side bitch."

 "She's ugly, he downgraded." 

"OMG I didn't know Jensen was into fat girls!"

They cut deeper than a stranger's opinion of you probably should have. Especially that last one. You weren't fat by any means, but you also weren't hide stretched over the bones. 

You had curves. 

Your stomach wasn't perfectly fat. 

Your thighs touched together when you walked. 

You didn't have a model body, but hell Marline Monroe was fatter than you are!! 

You and Jensen we're NOT together in any sense of the word, and by no means was he practically “Screwing you” on stage tonight..

A slight knock on the door disturbed your thoughts, and you looked over to y/f/n. 

She was still knocked out. 

So you quickly wiped away the tears that had fallen down your face, dragging yourself out of bed. You got up and looked through the peephole in the door, but all you could see was a white t-shirt. 

You unlock the door, and peck through the crack to see who was standing there at this hour in the night, and who you saw nearly knocked you on your ass for the second time tonight..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tag List: @screechingartisancashbailiff​ @thecreatiivecorner​  @aflamboyanceofgays @deanwanddamons​​ @imabitch4jensen​​ @rvgrsbrns​​ @bi-danvers0​​ @onethirstyunicorn​​ @i-love-superhero​​ @akshi8278​ @alanegaming @magssteenkamp​ @lemondropirwin​ @squirrelnotsam​ @hobby27​ @spnbaby-67​ @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @defenderrosetyler​ 

Binge Tag: @sarahbaker2010​

[highfunctioningflailgirl]

My notes on Lethal White episode 3

As usual, my poorly sorted and not-really-filtered thoughts on “Lethal White”, episode 3. Continued under the cut because ALL THE SPOILERS!

We’re back with Robin and cling-wrapped Chiswell. Holliday plays Robin’s tenuously controlled panic very well. The subtle trembling, the tears she forces back. She’s so good. 👏🏼

A two-week jump. These always jar me. Did that happen in the book?🤨

Another mention of Strike talking with Wardle, and again we don’t get to see him. Dang. I really miss his leather-jacketed wry humour. 😔

Of course they’re meeting at “The White Horse”. Where else? *Rosmersholm vibes*

The reveal about the bones was a bit anti-climactic, wasn’t it? It had a better effect with the skull, in the book. And how do you “accidentally” shoot a horse, even when it’s a small one? How much more are we supposed to hate Freddie? (This episode is just full of terribly behaving men)

Who are the kids playing with the dog? Pringle and Pong? Were those their ridiculous nicknames?

And here comes the “Knives Out” scene. 🔪The Chiswell family is such a loving bunch. *coughs*

Did you see the playful tension between Raff and Robin? And that little disconcerted look Cormoran casts them? Bit jealous, Corm? 😏

Raff’s sarcastic little throw-in remarks are really making this scene more fun. Gotta give him that: he adds a bit of “black sheep” dash to the family!

“KEYS!” 😁 Cormoran is like the adult stepping between a bunch of fist-throwing kids.

Cormoran and Robin are staring at the Chiswell’s bickering as if waiting for one of them to actually start spitting and biting.

Raff: “I’m sure our charming hostess means to offer you tea at some point.” 🤣

Cormoran: “I’m thinking it might be suicide after all. He couldn’t face another family gathering.” 😂

*grunts* We’ve all been there, haven’t we? (And I don’t even want to start thinking about Cormoran’s family gatherings…)

Hah! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I guessed right from the leaked stills: it is the hospital Billy’s in! (Cookie points for me!)

That staff woman gives off very sensible and caring vibes. They picked the actress well.

And, god, Billy carved the horse into his own chest? 😟 Good god…

Vanessa! And she looks good! And - unlike in the first series - she smiles! And is really NICE! (Wow, what a beautiful woman.) 😍

That little lounge corner in Cormoran’s office is new, isn’t it? Very cozy. ☕️🍪

Goth Robin! She looks awesome! 😍 (Excuse me, but have we traveled back into the 80s? She looks like half the people in my school back then.) And look at Holliday playing her: she even moves differently! This season must have been a lot of fun for her as an actress.

I love the Wiccan shop. I had one of those salt lamps (and a lava lamp too), but don’t tell anybody… ☺️

Cormoran’s FACE when he sees goth Robin! 🥰The double take, the pleased surprise, that touch of awe… He is so proud of her! (What a contrast to Matt the Twat’s derogatory reactions to her disguises).

Cormoran: “You liking Raff then?” Are we a teensy bit jealous again, Corm? ☺️

When he asked Robin what she was doing this evening, I held my breath. WAS HE GOING TO ASK HER OUT? 🤗 He wasn’t. 😔 Everybody calm down. It’s not happening yet. Unfortunately. And probably never will. *very long sigh*

It’s so cute how he can’t stop looking at her! 🥰I love her confidence. And his twinkle-eyed, soft grin that doesn’t seem to want to fade. He truly admires her, for her competence AND for her looks. ASK HER OUT YOU FOOL! *headdesk*

Lorelei. With coffee. Apologizing for saying “I love you”. Ack. And then Corm says “I was gonna call you.” (You weren’t, admit it!). I didn’t know what to feel when seeing this scene for the first time: shocked that they were still together? Sympathy for Lorelei? Mad at Cormoran’s lackluster ‘yeah, alright, whatever’ attitude? Very mixed emotions.

Cormoran following Aamir along the South Bank. Watch me pointing excitedly at the screen because I’ve strolled down that same boardwalk way back when traveling was still a thing. *flails* *misses London*

Aamir’s place. Why is Cormoran talking about food again? Robin hasn’t fed him biscuits today yet, has she?

Cormoran’s always a bit unnerving when interrogating someone. He uses friendly words, but there is that tiny bit of menace about him, an intensity and pressure… SIB Corm. Tom does that so well. 😎

“You gonna butter me?” Smooth moves, ex-Sergeant Strike! 🥋 Oh, I love seeing him in action! 🤗

Robin hides the phone, and I am a nervous wreck worrying someone’s going to call and her phone isn’t in silent mode! (enneagram type 6 here, hello…) 😬

I was waiting for Matt to be an absolute prick when he sees goth Robin, but he’s actually not. And he’s had the Green Dress mended. I like how the show gives him a few shades and doesn’t paint him as outrageously hateful as the book does. (jftr, we all still hate you, Matt!)

But then, the way he rushes at her with his “That’s not true” - why does it somehow feel like a physical threat? And wow, Robin is COLD. Dude, your marriage is over. You just haven’t been notified yet.

So we’re ignoring Lorelei’s calls again, Cormoran? *eyebrow lift* Is that what we do as a gentleman? And then he calls off dinner and has no more than a lame “Sounds good, I’ll call you” when she mentions breakfast? If he’s not invested at the mention of food, something is clearly wrong…

Della Winn, and they picked a blind actress for the role. Good for them! ✔️

So, help me out here, native speakers: Della says she can hear the West Country in Cormoran’s vowels, but to me he doesn’t sound Cornish. Am I wrong? To my ears, Tom is speaking in some sort of self-made accent that I can’t place, but it doesn’t sound anything like the Cornish burr Robert Glenister gives him in the audiobooks. Opinions? 🤔

Rhiannon’s story touched me in the book, and it touches me deeply here. A revenge murder would’ve made perfect sense to me.

The party. We’ve apparently time-traveled again.

“What’s ‘Becca’ short for?” 🙄

Ah! The note was hidden in the maxipads box! I seem to recall that, in the book, Robin hid the Houses of Parliament bugging device in a tampon box. Cool parallel.

VANESSA! HURRY UP! 😨

The chase. Good thing this goth girl wears sensible shoes! Nice trick with the crouching and tripping. Take THAT, Jimmy! Robin’s learned from past experience, and I love the addition of the chase that wasn’t in the book. Robin’s no longer a helpless victim. She is a FIGHTER! And - BAM! Perfect timing, patrol car! 🚔

Cormoran: “How did you guess where she hid it?” (Because that’s where girls hide stuff, darling. ONE good thing all the menstruating is good for at least.)

Quick shout-out to Tom Burke’s freckles. They really should be credited as supporting actors. 🥰

Btw, the navy jumper is not a jumper but a cardigan! I bet Tom was pleased. (And my shippy brain can imagine him wrapping a freezing Robin in it 💙)

Enter Lorelei. Here be dragons.

“You know, if you want a hot meal and a shag with no human emotions involved, there are restaurants. And brothels.”

Oooohhhh... 😳

Need ointment for that burn, Corm?

And she’s entitled! Cormoran’s old school gallantry seems to have gone MIA when it comes to treating Lorelei with the respect she deserved. Especially since he had his chance at ending it decently and respectfully at their earlier little talk over coffee. I still don’t think he meant to hurt her. It was thoughtlessness. Which is no redeeming factor at all. He deserved this, even in front of Robin. #TeamLorelei

Well, at least he didn’t get smacked with an ashtray this time.

I LOLed when Robin simply went straight back to business without commenting. A real pro. 😎

Cormoran: “That was a bit awkward.” Was it, Corm? We barely noticed. *snorts*

And although Robin defends him a little bit, her suppressed smirk and her work-life balance remark tell us she’s enjoyed this a bit. And not just because Cormoran is single again.

Matthew calls: “Sorry, it’s a work thing.” (NO IT ISN’T AND YOU’RE A LYING, CHEATING [REDACTED] !!!) 🤬

Robin steps on Sarah Shaglock’s earring, and now starts a scene that makes me want to shower Holliday in BAFTAs. 🏆🏆🏆 Heart wrenching, painful, powerful. And Matthew finally shows his true colours. (And Kerr Logan deserves a nod for his acting too).

On a completely irrelevant side note: Matt stole that coat from Darius Tanz, only that Santi looked hot as hell in it whereas Matt just looks like an accountant who pretends to look hot. (Go and watch “Salvation” if you have no clue what I’m talking about)

Robin is so bravely holding it together, and - wow - her coldness towards Matt is pretty impressive, and at the same time she’s forcing herself not to cry and fights down a panic attack. It’s amazing how she puts every emotion and train of thought from the books onto the table and we can read it in her face and in her voice and body language. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼Best scene of the season, if you ask me. (Not that anyone ever asks me, but here it is.)

“I’m not gonna let you fail again!” 😡 Aaaand Matt tries to put her down again. To make her feel weak and in need of help. BUT IT’S NO LONGER WORKING. She’s got this. Oh, she’s got this!

They left out Robin saying that he “doesn’t even have a knife”, and I’m actually glad they did. This didn’t need to be about physical assault again. Matt wouldn’t go that far, and it wasn’t necessary to go there. They clearly showed how manipulative he is and how strong Robin has to be to walk away from him, and that is enough.

The minicab driver. I remember the actress as Mrs. Fitz from “Outlander”, and she’s the perfect motherly tough love type to crack that marriage joke. And to get our girl out of there with no further fuss.

Whoa. I had high expectations. And they were met 10/10.

What did you guys think?

[twilightofthe]

Chapter Nine liveblog of The Mandalorian Season 2!  Let’s go!!!

Recap time!

Oh shit the ARMORER I MISSED HER even if it’s just her voiceover lol

Y’all I am fucking PUMPED

Oh shit yeah Fennec Shand’s not dead I wonder if she’ll show up again too 

GOD I MISSED THE SOUNDTRAAAAAACK

OOOP OOP OOP OOP OOP HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GOOOOOOO

THAT’S MY FUCKING SON AND HUSBAND

THERE THEY ARE

LOOK AT THEM

THEY’RE JUST WALKING AND I’M IN LOVE AGAIN

BABYBABYBABYBABYYYYYYYYYY

HIS WIDDLE FUCKING FACE

OH NO HE’S WHIMPERING

OH BABY YODA GOD HOW I MISSED YOU

YES MR TWI’LEK LET THE CUTE BABY IN

YES LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS

*cinemasins voice* Space wrestling!

Oh yeah it’s those green pig species guys from ROTJ whose names I never remember, Gamoreans?

Wherever I go he goes KILL MEEEEEEEE

Lol bruh looking for other Mandos won’t teach you how to find Jedi, it teaches you to pick fights with ‘em 

HAHAHA THE BABY IS CASUALLY LEARNING MORE VIOLENCE YES I LOVE IT

Heyyy it was Gamorrean!

I feel like I know Cyclops’s voice for some reason

Lol look at Din he has sense

Ohhhh boy fight time

Time to see my husband kick ass

Oh shit shit shiiiiit is there like, a valuable underground trade for beskar and Mandalorians???  SHIIIIIIIIIT

LOL YEP GO HIDE WHILE DADDY WORKS BABY

EPIC GUITAR WAILING NOISES YESSS

ARMOR HUSBAND KICKING ABSOLUTE ASS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

THAT WAS A FUCKING SASSY HEADBUTT LOOOOOOOOK

HE’S SO AWESOME I’M ;_;

HELL YEAH GET THAT TRAFFICKER BABY

AND CUE THE AWESOME ASS RECORDER THEME

I LOVE ME A MAN WHO NEGOTIATES

Whaaaaaat a Mando on Tatooine?  Good thing my Mando on Tatooine fic is an AU!

Mos Pelgo, huh?  New city!

Pfff it’s been literally less than ten minutes and I’ve already typed THIS much

OHHH SHIIIIIIT HE’S LETTING THE TRAFFICKER GET EATEN ALIVE DAMN SON

BADASS RECORDER NOISES INTENISFY

Oho, “The Marshal”, huh?

WAIT MARSHAL AS IN LIKE “MARSHAL COMMANDER”

ARE WE GETTING FUCKING CLONES?

OH GOD PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

And there’s Peli!!!!!

Holy shit my fic did pretty well predicting that xD

Lol I love her

She is Me

BABYYYYYYYYY

wrinkled critter

Din she doesn’t know what a Mandalorian Armorer means

I LOVE PELI

HOLY SHIT WE’RE GETTING A MAP OF TATOOINE

SHIT I CAN USE THIS

BABY STILL LIKES CAR RIDES

Omg he’s actually sitting with the Tuskens!

TREAT THE TUSKENS LIKE PEOPLE AND NOT UGLY STEREOTYPES 2KFOREVERRRRRRRRRRR

Dang the way he walks tho

(sorry I had to *coughs*)

“Someone who looks like me” pfff Din

Wait hang on a second this “Marshal” isn’t fucking Boba Fett is he he better not

But shit this is on Tatooine it makes sense--

I’M BAD AT MANDO ARMOR IS THAT BOBA IDK I CAN’T TELL IN THE BACKLIGHTING

Ah a blissful stranger.  Not a clone tho, dammit, that would have been nice

He sounds young too, I recognize his voice

WAIT A FUCK THAT IS ABSOLUTELY BOBA FETT’S HELMET I MIGHT BE BAD AT MANDO STUFF BUT I’M FUCKING POSITIVE

oh damn and he just took it off in front of Din The Orthodox Mando WHOOP

Shit I know that guy’s actor who is he

OH NO OH NOPE HE’S NOT EVEN A REAL MANDALORIAN HE’S JUST AN ARMOR THIEF WHO STOLE BOBA’S ARMOR THIS BOI IS GONNA DIE AHAHAHAHA

Ahhh we’re going cowboy movies again

Wait so Boba wears real beskar now?  I thought his wasn’t

Lol yep here we go Din’s goin’ after him now

“He’s seen worse” Din NO, THAT IS HOW YOUR CHILD LEARNS TO STRANGLE PEOPLE FOR ARM WRESTLING

Tatooine’s got earthquakes?

2012 is that you?  Lion King antelope stampede hello

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT IS THAT A KRAYT DRAGON

I’VE WANTED ONE OF THOSE FOREVER

IT’S AN ALASKAN BULL WORM

No really damn what is that thing lol

Could be a Krayt dragon?  But idk their designs

DIN YOU JUST ABANDONED YOUR CHILD IN A POT MY DUDE WHY

AHAHAHAHAHAHA YESSSSSS A KRAYT FUCKING DRAGON HELL YEAH HELL YEAH FINALLY AFTER FORTY FUCKING YEARS.

Ngl I was hoping it would look a little more stereotypically “dragon-ish” cuz I’ve been entertaining this ridiculous fantasy of Obi Wan befriending one in the Kenobi show and learning how to make the noise

But giant angry sand worm friend is also good!

Din bro careful last time you agreed to hunt something on Tatooine with someone new that dude betrayed you

Ohhhh flashback!

Oh for fuck’s sake why are we adding MORE slavery

Y’all know you can also have literally anything fucking else on Tatooine besides slavery

Gah sorry y’all

Lol Jawas again

And more Wilrow Hood ice cream machines!

Ok but so did the Jawas literally fish this off of Boba’s body, did the Sarlaac shit it out and they found it, or did Boba actually sell it to them?

Oh damn and these ppl probs knew who Boba was too

Oooh dinosaur-hyena thingies

DIN SPEAKS TUSKEN

I LOVE HIM

MARRY ME

Ok but now I REALLY wanna know how Din learned the Tusken traditions

GOOD BOY ALERT!  GOOD BOY!  IT’S A GOOD BOY!  DINOSAUR-HYENA IS A VERY GOOD BOY

TUSKEN CULTURE OH MY GOD I’M LOVING THIS

This is not a time to be a picky eater bruh

Ok there Anakin let’s settle down a bit

DIPLOMACY BY FLAMETHROWER DIN I LOVE YOU

Ok so if you eat a sarlaac does that also technically count as eating two meals since you’re also eating whatever it’s been digesting in its stomach for a thousand years?

Yep Alaskan Bull Worm

OH NO IT SCARED THE BABY :O

Din training a village to fight this thing is a wee bit harder than training them to fight an AT-STsaurus Rex

WHY DON’T WE JUST TAKE THE TOWN AND PUSH IT SOMEWHERE ELSE?

This really is just the stereotypical Western episode but kinder to the natives

Damn

“Are you trying to blow us up?” ooooof they WENT THERE

More teamwork!

“Belly is the weak spot” hey so like Smaug!

Wait a fucking second I wasn’t paying attention did they bring Baby Yoda to where he could possibly get eaten by a dragon again

Oh yeah “dank ferrik” is another SW curse

Wait why are they just standing there and letting the Tuskens get eaten

Gahhh everyone’s being so brave I’m proud of them!!!!! :_:

OH EW FUCKING GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS

Gah I HATE vomit scenes especially unexpected ones

Sorry that’s like, a super major squick for me

And dammit they didn’t even kill the worm

Oh and now it’s up there and VOMITING AGAIN I HATE THAT

Oh shite that’s acid

Oh please be careful baby

Ok wait wait wait how did the Jawas even salvage Boba’s jetpack enough to make it fly the whole reason Boba got eaten was because the pack broke

Oh and now I’m seeing a bit of Jaws in this too

Bro noooo are you gonna blow up that bantha?

DIN NO YOU RECKLESS-ASS BITCH

B o i

Actually let himself get eaten

Din where are your braincells

Aw Baby nooooooo

Uh oh I sense more vomit

Or not!

Ok bro that was p badass

Ok yeah Marshal is p hot 

There I said it

ASLDKJFSDLKFKL OF COURSE BABY YODA EATS THE RAW DRAGON MEAT

That guy is hoooooooot

“You tell your people I wasn’t the one who broke that” lol yep Han better look out

Huh?  We getting excited over MORE eggs?

Oh goddammit and there is Boba Fett because of course

Knew it was too good to be true

Lol sorry y’all just wasn’t particularly excited to see him

Guess that means he willingly gave up his armor, huh?

BUT ANYWAY THIS WAS A BRILLIANT EPISODE

AND I LOVED IT

AND THE TUSKENS GOT THE RESPECT THEY DESERVED

Ok but it also seems at least Marshal and the rest of the townsfolk had the same backwards view towards the Tuskens as Anakin did, now I REALLY want to see RESPECTFUL discussion on colonialism on Tatooine, I gotta know more about this

Still super excited for the next ep!

Aaaaaaaaa!

[harveywritings92]

Dad!Connor And Reincarnated! Reader p3

You, Achilles and Diana had settled in the dinning room; Diana had calmed you both down, Connor came back after removing the intruders body from the manor, his body was tense a he looked at your flushed face, he frown and took you from Diana he may not be showing it, but he was just shaken up by this whole thing his eyes were red. mentally beating himself up how could he have let someone get passed him like that?! he almost lost you. "She won't stop crying, she must have been terrified." Diana said voice trembling as Achilles brought her a drink of water.

Connor was in deep thought as he finally found his voice. "How early do babies begin to remember things?" he asked concerned about your mental state, "Everyone's different in regards of childhood memories." Achilles huffed his brows furrowed in concentration as a he tried to remembered his experiences with his own son. "luckily Y/n's young enough to forget this whole thing," *not likely old man!* you mentally interjected while slowly drifting off  to sleep as Connor rocked you. "however it's hard to say if it will effect her later." the old man explained.

Just then the manor door sudden burst open as Terry,Norris Warren and Godfrey holding axes,a ho and a pickax demanding where the intruder was? only to be told by Achilles it's they were late and the scoundrel's been taken care of, the men all lowered their weapons surprised before Terry spotted his wife saw the state she was in and demanded to know what happened. 

The full story was that Diana was coming to deliver some clean linens to the manor when she saw Norris ducking behind a bush looking at the manor warily, he told her there a man sniffing around the grounds before watching him try to climb up to the balcony to Y/n's room, Diana dropped the wash and ordered the miner to gather the men. 

Norris did as he was told while the nurse snuck up to the front porch while keeping her eyes open for the boy trying to break in then managed to quietly enter the manor, she then went down into basement and alerted Connor to the danger , they both arrived just before the man could harmed Y/n. 

Diana took another sip of water "I've never been so shaken in my life!" she said recalling how terrified she was when as she held Y/n cold and stiff in her arms. "I thought Y/n had died of fright, I was so scared!" she swallowed Terry hugged her as the other men looked at the little girl upset.

"But, she alright...right? the man didn't hurt her?" Norris asked as Godfrey raged "It's not bloody right! What kind of ill minded cù (dog) tries to murder a baby?!" while Warren kept a calm head knowing full well Prudence with be screaming up a storm when she find out about this ."Does it have had anything to do with Y/n's mother?" 

Connor shook his head "No, this is Not related to her mother's murder, this was something else." he stated he found a diary on that boy, It was hidden in his room, the assassin intends to read it later and see why that boy specifically targeted Y/n he knew exactly where her room was, but for now he'd make sure everyone was alright.

Now when now to say Connor was shaken by this whole situation was putting it mildly, He went into full blown paranoid father mode, For the last month since your near murder, he'd moved you into his room keeping your cradle next to his bed and silently patrolled the homestead grounds; making sure that boy was the only intruder, Sadly he wasn't.

Connor found out one of his own sailors; Louis, had betrayed him, the boy had been paying the man to spy on the assassin for months now looking for a way to hurt him, hence how he found out about Y/n, he saw a perfect target to weaken the native man emotionally, and Y/n was the perfect target. 

He theorized the boy snuck into the town under the guise of a traveler. Connor was disgusted by how easily the man gave into greed and left the traitorous sailor’s fate to Faulkner and his men to deal with as they were out for blood when they heard what had happened.

Connor returned he took off his gear and came upstairs to find Achilles watch over Y/n, and reading that diary he'd hidden away "How is she is doing?" Connor whispered checking the baby over, she twitched but didn't wake up. "Better then she was earlier." Achilles hummed glancing up from the diary.

He looked concerned which wasn't lost on the young assassin. "Have you read this?" the old man asked keeping a steady gaze on Connor who nodded, the two started discussing what was in the diary unaware that Y/n was actually awake a listening in on their conversation.

The more y/ec eyed child listened the more she started feeling bad for her would be killer, His name was Johnathan, apparently this whole plan started after his mother had passed from fever and he was sent to the colonies to live with his father, a man he barely knew as he had sent his mother away to England claiming to meet up with her later, but that turned to be a lie.

The boy's mother was stranded in a place she didn't know forced to start her life over and worked herself to death so she could provide for her son. and not once had his father tried to find them or send them money or any kind of olive branch to prove he cared about them, it was only after she died he learned the name of his father was sent to America to live with the man who abandoned them.

 Still his father ignored and treated Jonathan like a nuisance than a son, soon he was introduced to the Templars a group who visited his father's home frequently; the boy heard of their war with the assassin's saw the way his father praised and respected these men. 

Jonathan thought if he found a way to damage or Stall the Assassin's efforts against the Templars... then just maybe his father would finally notice him and let him join the Templars? Jonathan was actually quite observant and watched the streets and docks for any suspicious activity before he noticed Connor.

He deduced who the "man in the white hood" was fairly quickly and managed to tail him without him noticing. he found the Aquila, and made a survey of Connor's crew to and figure out who was loyal and who would break their silence for the right price... And that's how he met Louis all Jonathan had to do was buy him a few pints and give him 10$ for him to start talking.

Louie told him about the homestead, the inhabitants, and most importantly... Connor's precious baby girl all coddled and protected up in the hilltop manor; With that Jonathan's fate was sealed. he thought he had the perfect plan and target, with Connor's child dead he'd to broken and disorganized to meddle with the Templars. 

He stayed in Davenport for a while observed Connor's schedule for a week assumed he knew when the assassin would be too busy watch over his child and he saw his opportunity, his last entry was hoping god would forgive him for what he was about to do. All because he wanted to be knowledge and respected by his father...  Charles Lee. 

*Wait...What?!*

That caused Y/n to eyes to snap open as her father and grandfather discussed what to do with Jonathan's body? Achilles suggested sending him back to his father, even if the man was a sadistic fool surely Lee would give own son a proper burial.

the native sighed as much as he hated the idea; Jonathan did deserve a proper burial by family even if his father was uncaring towards him, He knew Lee was in Boston at the moment they had send someone to act as a courier to tell him the news Jonathan had died when he walked on a robbery while the Inn he was staying at was thought to be empty. Luckily there were a lot of people who owed Connor a lot of favors.

*But... Charles Lee never had any children!* Y/n fussed wishing the adults could hear her, Sure in the modern day her knowledge in U.S. history was a little rusty at best... But, she pretty dang sure that Charles Lee never had children! 

He had a sister who inherited all his assets and property when he died; She also died unmarried and childless! Something was wrong here... Y/n's brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going on here?

*Could...Could I be in an alternate Timeline, like King Washington?* That would explain a lot of inconsistencies with the plot Hunter,Norris and being here before Miriam kinda clue the y/hc girl that something was askew, Of Course she just thought she was making a mountain out of anthill, *Hmm...Let's see." Connor found her when he was about 18... that was three days after the Boston tea party... 

that was six...no, almost seven months ago! she read the date on the news papers, She sighed resting her hands behind her head as she tried to calculate, So if Y/n was right? Kanen'tó:kon should be here sometime to tell Connor about William Jonson's deal with the Clan leaders.

[msbluebell]

Dimitri Protection Squad

It’s the understated truth of FE3H that the Blue Lions all adore Dimitri.

I’m not just saying that as, like, a head canon. Just watching their interactions with him in the game, the way they worry of his mental health, their supports with him, and the very real fact that even after he went feral and said/did awful shit their first concern when he starts getting back on the right path is to make sure that he knows they’re not made at him and are just glad he’s okay. 

Like, I’m serious. The Blue Lions all love Dimitri with such ferocity that I’m surprised it’s not brought up more. I know it’s pretty subtle, in some cases, but you can’t convince me that they’re not doubling as a Dimitri protection squad.

Now, Dedue is the obvious one. He is the one man band of Dimitri protection. But I think the others deserve attention for the sheer amount of Dimitri love they have.

Like, Annette outright said that Dimitri is her big brother in their C-Support. You bet that girl loves him with all the love her heart has to give.

And Sylvain is obviously concerned for his boy, his pal, his prince, his friend Dimitri. He concern through their support chain is getting Dimitri to relax a bit, now, one could argue that this is self-serving, but I would argue back that Sylvain bargained with Dimitri that he would hit on girls less if Dimitri just took time to relax a little. Sylvain, who hit on Ingrid’s granny, actually voluntarily decided that Dimitri was important enough to him to flirt less.  Not only that, but he is also very much aware of Dimitri’s habits, crushes, is one of the first people to outright state that he’s going to forgive Dimitri for those four months of insanity, and shows concern for his well-being several times.

And Felix, while he acts like he can’t stand Dimitri, would probably knock someone’s teeth out for the guy. He very obviously the one most concerned with Dimitri’s mental health and has been beating the “Someone Do Something About This” drum for years regarding Dimitri’s untreated trauma. While he does call Dimitri a boar and an animal, I personally interpret those actions as his way of trying to keep Dimitri in line and from going too far. It’s very clear in any of his endings where Dimitri has died that he just isn’t as content with life without Dimitri around. He seems to regard himself as the one meant to keep Dimitri in line, and if he can’t than Byleth will. Maybe he can insult Dimitri, and maybe Byleth can too, but he’s going to fuck you up if you try to touch him.

Ingrid not as obviously close as Felix, perhaps, and not openly loving like Annette, but she very obviously loves Dimitri too. And I think it’s for more reasons than her dreaming about being a knight and Dimitri being the prince of her country. No, she has very found memories with him, openly gets along with him, and has a very interpersonal connection and healthy concern for him that can only come from two close childhood friends. She would 10/10 stab you for Dimitri and you can’t convince me otherwise. 

Mercedes will absolutely not stand and self-deprecation on Dimitri’s part. She loves him, very deeply cares for his well being, and wants the best for him. She is 100% ready and willing to help this boy learn how to take care of himself and she’s going to drag him towards self-love kicking and screaming.

Ashe, while not nearly as close with him as the others, holds nothing but the greatest respect for Dimitri, and very obviously wants to be his friend and his only being held back by how overwhelming Dimitri’s presence is for him. He respects his prince, dang it, and is in awe of him, and he will 10/10 fight you.

Flayn, too, loves Dimitri the moment she joins the Blue Lions and you cannot convince me otherwise. She is delighted by how sweet and kind he is, and is very obviously concerned for him whenever he isn’t feeling well.

Every last one of these kids would fight you for Dimitri. You insult Dimitri in front of them? They’re going to fight you, and you’re going to die. You will die and it will be your own fault. 

Some anti-royal student suggests that it would have been better if Dimitri died at Duscur? Felix is going to break his nose. But not before they have to face a full blast of Mercedes #Disappointed look. Dedue is going to be looming over that dumb kid with a heated glare to rival the sun itself, arms crossed and just breathing contempt. Ashe has already thrown down the gauntlet and is ready for a good ole round of pure fisticuffs. Annette is crying she’s so made, and yelling about how Dimitri is wonderful and this kid is just a bitter bully.

The only reason this kid is still alive is because Sylvain is holding Ingrid back. That does not, however, keep them save from the full on heat of their shared contempt. The power of it could have destroyed this world alone.

Flayn, like Annete, is crying frustrated tears as she insults the offender with all the insults she knows, telling them they’ll never be as good and kind and caring as Dimitri.

Byleth rolls in, stares into the kid’s very soul, and just says one word, “Detention.” Somehow it’s much worse than everyone else.

Dimitri, when he gets back from grabbing the tea-bags or whatever he was out of the room doing, is very confused about the collective contempt his friends have suddenly developed for this one person in particular. But that’s fine, he doesn’t have to know that anyone said anything about him. In fact, the squad are going to make sure he never hears shit like that. Ever.