#because unfortunately for me i have neither the time nor the money (or support!) to make myself how i'm meant to look

[therealjammy]

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[5sospenguinqueen]

Pocket Money | Lance Stroll x Reader

Summary: Since the start of the relationship, fans have been convinced you're only with Lance for his money. When he mentions your future in an interview, they accuse you of trying to baby trap him.

Warnings: Swearing. Angst but mostly just for sadness. Hateful fans.

Female reader with various facelaims. Pics found on Pinterest.

A bit different to the other three.

next.

Main Masterlist

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YourUserName just posted

liked by lancestroll, chloestroll and others

YourUserName lovely london was kind enough to be sunny for me this weekend 🇬🇧

2,385 comments

chloestroll i’m still so jealous that you didn’t take me

→ YourUserName yes but if i had, i’d have spent the entire time trying to stop you from running off with a brit. i doubt scotty would appreciate that

→ scottyjames31 do NOT let her run off with a british man

→ YourUserName make sure you behave yourself then

User1 oh, so she’s on yet another holiday funded by her sweet, naive boyfriend who can’t tell he’s with a gold digger

User2 that’s it sweetheart. post pics of your trip that your boyfriend undoubtedly paid for whilst he’s busy racing all weekend without your support

User3 she’s quite possibly the worst wag. give the role to someone who would enjoy being there

→ User4 it’s not a fucking role, sweetheart. being someone’s fiancée is not a role you play, and i think y/n happens to do an amazing “part”

danielricciardo bring me back some crunchies

→ YourUserName no, i got into trouble last time. your trainer told me that you’re not allowed them

→ danielricciardo boo, you whore

User5 so she’s on yet another weekend away in london the same weekend that lance is racing in jeddah? can she make it anymore obvious that she doesn’t support him?

→ User6 her job means she has to travel a lot - just like lance - so unfortunately she cannot follow him around the world

→ User7 you tell ‘em, honey. y/n is a successful businesswoman but everyone seems to forget that? she makes every race when she can but sometimes she can’t get out of work

→ User8 at the end of the day, their relationship is none of our business

astonmartinf1 missing your face in the paddock this weekend

→ YourUserName i miss you too! although i bet nando is enjoying the peace and quiet

→ astonmartinf1 can neither confirm nor deny but he did mention something about yapping

User9 this is so cute. the way his whole face lights up when he’s asked about/talks about her

User10 not lance revealing that y/n would run away and marry him just to call him her husband

→ User11 yes! but he’s so dedicated to giving her the wedding she wanted since she was a child. these two have my whole entire heart 🥰

User12 ugh, where can i get a lance stroll? the way he loves his fiancee 😍 and not him being desperate to have babies with her

User13 so is this confirmation that y/n is pregnant? like, if he wants a baby in a year, then..?

→ User14 wouldn’t surprise me. if they get married, he can still make her sign a prenup and divorce her without a worry, but a baby would tie him to her for life so she can continue to spend his money

→ User15 okay but i’m with you on this. it’s the best way to ensure she can keep him around in some way because let’s be honest, their relationship doesn’t seem the best

→ User9 what the fuck is wrong with you two. where in that entire interview were you getting the impression their relationship is on the rocks? he’s literally planning an entire life with her???

→ User15 yeah and where is she? unbothered in london. she’s only with him for the money and that’s the only reason why they’re engaged.

→ User13 they’re engaged because they love each other! he’s also the one who said he wants her to have his children so he can keep her home????

→ User14 no they’re engaged because for some reason, he’s infatuated with her and she’s only using him, and she’s clearly tricked him into wanting children without realising that’s further entrapment

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YourBrother just posted

liked by danielricciardo, yourbestfriend and others

YourBrother when sprout takes time out of her busy life to visit, Nonna cooks a whole feast (can you tell who the favourite is) tagged: YourUserName

879 comments

YourCousin the only reason we look forward to y/n coming home is because nonna feeds us GOOD

→ YourCousin2 agreed, nothing to do with us missing y/n at all

→ YourUserName this is why i left 😂😭

User1 anyone else find it odd that she’s in a different country again on race weekend? i mean, i know her and lance were still a couple last month but i’m starting to wonder if that’s changed

→ User2 she’s also not been active on socials despite that being part of her job description?

→ User3 can you blame her when everyone constantly hates on her

→ User4 being on media isn’t part of her job, she just liked to share her adventures with us and some of you arseholes ruined that.

User5 oh my gosh, her parents are so cute together. i want to be like that when i’m older

→ User6 and her brother and SIL curled up in the chair together. this family really do produce the cutest couples

→ User7 looks like the only absent spouse is lance :(

→ User8 um because he’s currently in china? he has more important things to be doing??

User9 i love that her brother's first idea to cheer her up is to give her beer

→ User10 well, at least we know she’s not pregnant currently

→ User11 thank god. we know lance is free from her in that aspect

→ User9 seriously? making these comments on twitter wasn't bad enough, you people are actually commenting on her BROTHER’s instagram

(Comments have been disabled for this post)

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astonmartinf1 just posted

liked by estebanocon, YourUserName and others

astonmartinf1 our first race back in shanghai sees a p7 finish for fernando with the fastest lap. lance comes home in p15 after contact earlier in the race

1,443 comments

User12 literally give the seat to anyone other than lance stroll please

User13 can we all stop hating on lance, please? it was an accident, they happen

User14 not him blaming danny ric. sweetie, the car has brakes for a reason

User15 danny ric was fuming but also seemed like he was trying not to be

→ User16 no literally. it was like he was trying not to say something but in one interview slipped up and said that lance has been really distracted due to issues at home

→ User17 i saw that! and the way he ran away after like ‘oo the team is calling me’

→ User18 are we smelling a breakup?

User19 i personally think lance stroll shouldn’t be in f1 but can we take a moment to think that whilst it was really bad driving, he’s not been himself lately? he looks really sad in all the media things

→ User20 literally, like he’s constantly coming under hate for his fiancée, and then she hasn’t been to any races recently and he’s not talked about wedding planning once. this is the man who was telling everyone about his wedding even if they didn’t ask

→ User1 maybe he realised that his girlfriend was a gold digging bitch

→ User2 literally. he talked about having children with her and then realised that meant she’d never leave

→ User3 you people are actually crazy. how do you turn a man talking about wanting children into the woman he loves trying to baby trap him? y/n has never talked about wanting kids

→ User4 this. like i definitely think they’ve broken up but for all we know, it could be that lance was talking about children and y/n realised she wasn’t ready/didn’t want them.

User5 can’t believe people are still running the baby narrative. we know nothing about their relationship because they’re quite a private couple - and after this, we can see why - and yet people have somehow created a whole drama about babies from nothing

User6 i know lance is one of the more private f1 drivers but i really think he needs to comment on this? the amount of hate y/n is getting is insane and shouldn’t be ignored

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YourUserName just posted

liked by estebanocon, danielricciardo and others

YourUserName the view from my office is better than yours. sorry, not sorry

863 comments

BestFriend i’m looking for a woman in finance, trust fund

→ YourUserName you know you’re welcome to my trust fund anytime

→ BestFriend the best sugar mommy i’ve ever had

YourBrother congratulations on your promotion, shithead. one step away from ceo!

User7 wait why did no one tell me she was running a company?

→ User8 babe, we’ve been telling you bitches this from the start! but none of you listened

chloestroll congratulations, business barbie 💕

→ YourUserName thank you, music barbie 🤍

→ User3 so chloe is still here? does that mean we’re still getting a wedding

→ User9 idk. lance isn’t in the likes..?

→ User10 @ chloestroll please tell us what you know. Some of us are rooting for them to end up together

User11 so she goes radio silent for three months just to come back and pretend like she has a job? nothing about the man she supposedly loves?

→ User12 seems shady to me. you got caught out for being a gold digger so now you’re going to act like you actually go to work?

→ User13 i really hate people like you

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Baby Fever Angst Series

Tag list

@lav3nder-haze @minkyungseokie @callsignwidow @luvrrish @fall-bambi @evans-dejong @sadsierra2 @justdreamersdream @spookystitchery @dark-night-sky-99 @elijahslover @gaypoetsblog @luckyladycreator2 @bborra @mrosales16 @reguluscrystals @raizelchrysanderoctavius @tvdtw4ever @alwaysclassyeagle @gigicisneros @spanishcorndogs @dullypully @thecubanator2 @goldenharrysworld @awritingtree @jxnellat @sbrn0905 @leclercsluvs @hc-dutch @mxdi0 @buckybarnessweetheart @ironmaiden1313 @dreamercrowd @yourbane

[tangledinink]

Hello sorry for tagging. I am very sick, my asthma is at its maximum level, my nose freezes, I have no medicine or food. I am in bad shape financially, I am a black disabled, who uses multiple medications, I pay for my food and lodging

Unfortunately I do not have all the resources to keep me safe, that is why I need your help, whatever you can contribute to me will be of great help.

Okay kids, are you ready for a lesson in SPOTTING ONLINE SCAMS????

*please don't message this person or harass them-- i do recommend that you report and block them, however.

right now it's incredibly important to give time, attention, and money to online fundraisers. but it's also incredibly important not to let scammers take advantage of that and steal money that could actually save lives right now.

firstly-- if we go to this person's blog, and navigate to "archive--"

this person's blog has only existed for a few days, only has a handful of generic posts (many reblogged multiple times,) and made their first reblog the same day that they posted their "fundraiser" post. this is a MASSIVE red flag.

please also note that neither their ask nor post actually mention palestine or gaza at all, but it's still tagged with "free palestine" and "gaza."

though this one should obviously be taken with a grain of salt, it is also worth noting the poor grammar here, because this can be (but isn't always!!!) another red flag. Note also that all the details are really vague and don't quite make sense... user describes "enduring cold" and their "nose freezing" though it's the middle of the summer. This user says that they're "sick," but doesn't really offer any further details about this. This user says that they need money for "resources," but don't elaborate on what exactly they need. They vaguely elude to a need for lodging, caretakers, and medicine, but don't actually give us any details-- despite this they have a "$1200" goal. What is this specific goal of $1200 for? Is that the cost of their medication? Overdue medical bills? Cost for rent this month?... They also apologize in their ask for "tagging" me... but they didn't tag me. They sent me an ask.

Another red flag is that their link labeled "Fundraiser link" leads directly to a Paypal donation page rather than a gofundme or anything else. If someone chooses to collect aid through paypal, venmo, etc. instead of through a gofundme, that's not a huge issue in and of itself... but it is fishy that it's mislabeled like this.

And if we GOOGLE this user's tumblr name or paypal name, we can find results like this:

This also led me to find them on @/kyra45's blog on their list of current scam accounts.

Despite all this, they have close to 100 reblogs from well-meaning people trying to signal boost and ask for donations on their behalf.

With the current situation in Palestine and the amount of actual, legitimate fundraisers and donations being circulated right now, for Palestine, Sudan, the Congo, or otherwise, it is more important than ever to be aware of people who are trying to take advantage of the situation for their own personal gain. Whenever possible, please take the time to do some due diligence when you receive messages like this and check to see if a fundraiser is legitimate! It always sucks for someone to be the victim of a scam and lose money to someone playing pretend on the internet... but it sucks even more when that money could have gone to people in actual, acute, dire need.

Here's some more information about spotting scams on tumblr! Shoutout to tumblr user kyra45 for compiling this, and for all the other hard work they do-- thanks.

Here's an actual, vetted, and legitimate campaign that could use your support. After receiving this ask, I went and donated. If you have the means to do so, it would be amazing if you did so, too.

[ see ALL gaza funds campaigns here ]

[destiny-in-the-universe]

The Meta-Analysis on Howard and Randy [1/?]

Okay, so this is happening apparently-

This is less about the ship Weinerham and more about the canon technically, but either way- they'll probably still be connected because that's just how we roll, baby; also fair warning: this might get a bit long so you might want to buckle in and just be along for the ride

So honestly, I wanted to start Howard because there's so much for this kid and keep in mind, this is my interpretation- you don't have to agree with me but be nice in the comments, yeah? Anyway!

Right off the bat, Howard is shown to be Randy's direct opposite- where Randy is energetic and impulsive, Howard has a mean streak, he debuts as a character that honestly feels a bit unlikable because it took me a bit to warm up with his character. Howard is shown to be a bit selfish, but then again so is Randy- this is equally true for both of them; that being said, Howard is shown to put his interests above others and is one of the reasons he would not make a good Ninja (although he did it well when Randy, in his dumbassery, wiped his own memory-)

though moving back to the topic at hand, Howard is openly meaner and doesn't seem to realize how his actions would affect others; now I am in no way saying that either of the boys are in the right or wrong at the moment, but Howard doesn't seem to take Randy into consideration at first. He focuses more on his own plight, but then again- Randy did sort of leave his friend in the dust more than once because of his Ninja'ing. Now granted, this isn't done intentionally but again we're starting with Howard!

Howard is canonically an extrovert- he hates being alone and this isn't fully addressed, you're left wandering why he apparently takes such an issue with not having others around him. On one hand, neither he nor Randy have a large friend circle- they mostly depend on each other which has brought on a sense of codependency. What we see is two best friends with practically no one suddenly being thrust into heroics- we have them now facing danger and probably the last thing on their minds is acknowledging how they treat each other

Let's also add onto the fact both of their families seem to constantly be busy enough to leave them unattended- between Heidi as the older sister who has her own ShoobTube channel and likely has more work on her hand, and the fact that Mort clearly is busy a lot of the time, then that literally means there's no one to supervise them. They get away with a lot; with Howard, he's dependent on Randy for a lot of things which in a realistic lens means his family struggles with money- (also complete side note, where is his mother? She's referenced in a single episode but is never directly breached- are his parents divorced, or is she just also a workaholic?)

Though it seems I'm getting sidetracked again, but Howard and Randy used to practically do everything together- and now they're seemingly being torn apart because Randy's now the Ninja and the protection of Norrisville isn't something that can just be ignored out of nowhere. Let me reiterate: they are teenagers.

The Sorcerer is one thing- but McFist and Viceroy? We don't know their exact ages, but they are literally actively trying to destroy the Ninja- and on top of that, flat out kidnapped the boys before but going back on Howard's dependency on Randy and the fact he hates being alone-

This is crucial honestly, because Howard has something along the lines of a literal phobia- which unfortunately Randy dismisses, but even with this: could this also just be a product of him just not having enough of a support group? It's also an added thing to mention that Howard is the youngest sibling and Randy's an only child- they're bound to have been painfully close, and now Howard feels like he's losing him (also the added notion they're bullied, but are they being affected by this? It doesn't seem like they are- because they just continue doing as they want, but even then-)

Howard is fourteen.

What we're given is that due to Howard's blatant as day immaturity, he just focuses on himself- but we also see the fact that he deeply cares for Randy; and this has been proven over and over again to be canon and true. I am not going to hunt down the episodes right now, but Howard covers for his friend on more than one occasion- also I cannot stress enough the look on his face when Randy threw himself into the portal when he was fighting the Sorceress, like he was worried sick- Howard is a good friend, but he's also extremely bad at regulating himself which, guess what?

That's a neurodivergent symptom! Who would've guessed!

I also literally recall the season two finale when Howard was very stressed over Randy having to move away- (i need to rewatch the series for... science, duh, and i'll cover episode stuff later heh)

but I do see Howard as being neurodivergent, more specifically he's autistic- like, are you seeing what I'm seeing? The special interest on video games, the niche understanding on chess (like that kid is a prodigy-), certain safe foods that are brought up in some of the episodes. His seeming apparent dismissal of Randy's emotions- also are we not going to address the distaste he has toward his schedule being changed? He likes routine- and somehow this leads to a second issue,

Howard is openly shown to have frustrations over Randy being the Ninja, but is still willing to defend him-? Like, this has got to be talked about (i obviously am not the only one- i looked through the rc9gn hesdcanon tag and found stuff that aligned-) we do once again have the codependency shenanigans, but there's still the added fact that- I like to think that Howard reacts the way he does toward the Nomicon and Randy's double life because of the fact a; Randy has literally complained about being the Ninja before- that's not to say he doesn't love it because he does but he does have quite the weight on his shoulders and b; literally the fact that, on more than one occasion, we have Howard covering for Randy- he's seen Randy get hurt repeatedly and to make matters worse, the connection with the Tengu which is a topic for another day (i will rant about this, just not right now-)

I am going to bite people istg, but Howard and Randy are such idiots- granted, they are teenagers, though you have Howard knowing full well the life Randy leads and he wants to keep him safe, hell he wants him to be happy and comfortable, and because Howard's still a freshman- his ability to express this is not that great

Howard's not adequate to be the Ninja but even then- we see that their dynamic is literally influenced by one another; they don't exactly have role models (although i will incorporate mentor finja into some of my stories until the day i cease to exist-)

but okay, this is not going to be completed in one part because this is standalone to Howard and not the full depth of their relationship just yet- Randy's analysis has to happen, also the fact that I want to cover Weinerham and Randy's literal jealous and possessiveness from the canon-

I apologize if not all of this makes sense, but this is what you're getting. I'll see you soon!

~ Mod Danny (They/Them)

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

Help Nevin give birth to her baby safely!

This fundraiser is verified through Operation Olive Branch, a volunteer organization working to elevate the fundraisers of Palestinians looking to evacuate Gaza and get aid into Gaza via on-the-ground aid work. Please check them out for yourself! 💖

Transcript of G/F/M Description under the cut:

My name is Nevin himaid , I'm 32 years old I am pregnant with my third daughter and displaced from Gaza to Rafah. I am in the eighth month and suffer from chronic rheumatoid arthritis . I have a specific lifestyle and medications specific to my condition. I have lost all of this since the beginning of the war. As the date of my daughter’s birth approaches, we have reached a difficult stage. Every things were destroyed ,even Hospitals around us. Even my house has become unlivable due to the massive destruction in it there’s no medical care, birth conditions are very difficult in Gaza, and I could lose my baby girl due to poor health care, and because my condition is special and requires special care due to my illness.

Medications related to my illness have been discontinued for six months, and my health condition and my bones are unfortunately in a difficult health condition. Please, I want to give birth to my baby. In a healthy environment suitable for my health condition, especially since I did not receive any health care, neither during my pregnancy nor during my illness during the war. In addition to all that my two daughters have not received their education for months because there are no schools, everything stopped education, healthcare our life stopped. In addition to all that my two daughters have not received their education for months because there are no schools, everything stopped education, healthcare our life stopped. I have a little time left to raise money so I can save my daughters and my family and most importantly give birth to my future child in good and healthy conditions.

[zaenaris]

What would you like for your birthday?

🎂it’s Inupi’s birthday!🎂

🎁Kokonui/Inukoko 🎈Words: 2350 🎉 feat. Akane (alive, for once) as special guest and nr. 1 inuneko supporter🫶

Just something short set in the final timeline for Inupi's birthday.

“And enlighten me, Inupi, why should I waste all that money on your birthday gift?” “Because-” Seishu stopped himself just in time. Probably saying because you love me would have been a little too much, considering that, while they have been dancing around the topic for a while, and they even almost kissed once, before being inadvertently interrupted some of their Toman’s subordinates, they never really talked about their feelings for each other. “Because I’m your best friend and you care about me”

Read more under the cut or on AO3

After Toman’s disbanding, days passed by quietly for the two of them.

Seishu knew that day would have come, just like it happened with Shinichiro’s Black Dragon. He was just happy he lived those days and they would have been forever in his heart. So he accepted it, but it also meant that they were all growing up, and sooner or later, they’d have to choose their path.

It was inevitable, that’s why, even without the gang, he just wanted to enjoy those days. He was excited for the future but he also knew he and Koko wanted to do different things. Koko wanted to go to university while Seishu wanted to become a mechanic and he already convinced Shin to make him work for him a couple of days a week starting from the next year. So in the end, he cared even less about school and studying. The only reason why he kept showing up at school (besides his nagging parents) was that he just wanted to be with Koko as much as possible. He never admitted it out loud, but he knew that was the reason. Which was the same reason why Koko decided to join a bike gang all those years ago when he never showed any interest in bosozoku nor motorcycles. They just wanted to be together, and while it was clear to anyone, neither of them ever dared to speak clearly to the other.

So that’s how they ended up wandering for the city, on a lazy Saturday, a few days before Seishu’s birthday.

“So Inupi, is there anything you want for your birthday?”

“The red pair of Louboutin we saw earlier”

“Something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?”

“The black and gold Versace outfit”.

“You think you’re funny, right?”

“Very much”.

“Well, unfortunately I’m still not rich enough to afford any of that, and we’re not in a gang anymore, so I guess stealing your gift is out of question; sorry Inupi, I guess you’ll have to settle for my birthday wishes” Koko stuck out his tongue, grinning at his friend.

“That’s okay, one day when you’ll be rich with your big company, you’ll buy me all those things, I can wait”. Seishu smiled back, jokingly.

“And enlighten me, Inupi, why should I waste all that money on your birthday gift?”

“Because-” Seishu stopped himself just in time. Probably saying because you love me would have been a little bit too much, considering that, while they have been dancing around the topic for a while, and they even almost kissed once, before being inadvertently interrupted some of their Toman’s subordinates, they never really talked about their feelings for each other.

“Because I’m your best friend and you care about me”

“You really have high hopes, right?” Koko smirked. “No but seriously, is there anything you’d like?”

Seishu just shrugged.

“Koko, you know I don’t care about that stuff. I guess Mom, Dad and Akane are thinking about something, just join them and that’s it”.

“Whatever, I’ll think about it”.

The weather was still nice, and the city was tinged with the warm fall colors, but it was starting to get chilly in the late afternoon especially after the sunset. They walked side by side to reach the subway to come back home. Hajime sometimes couldn’t help but stare at Inupi, who apparently was a human radiator and was perfectly fine going around without any jacket nor scarf, while he wished he had something warmer on. Hajime noticed Seishu was letting his hair grow since their delinquent days were over. He remembered how pretty he was, with his hair longer. Inupi was always pretty of course, it was just he would have been even more ethereal… he needed to stop thinking about that.

“Anyway, it’s kinda weird now without Toman, right Inupi?”

“Yeah, we almost have too much time…” a small nostalgic smile appeared on his friend’s face. “But it was nice, while it lasted; I’m happy one day when we’ll be adults we’ll think about those days fondly. It’s just annoying that we never decided who had to be vice-captain between the two of us. I think Mikey, or at least Taiju should have had decided in the end.”

“You’re lucky, because it should have been me, obviously,” Koko teased.

“And why? You never cared about joining a gang, you just followed me. You don’t even have a bike”.

“Because I’m smart, and obviously the more qualified”.

“Being an honor student is not a requirement to be in a gang, and I’m a better leader than you, subordinates need to see the passion in their leader’s eyes!”

“I am passionate! And I can also fight”.

“You’re half blind”.

“You never beat me”.

“We never had a real fight!”

“Well, I could take you”. Hajime realized, one second later, that his last line could have been easily misunderstood. He felt himself flushing when they both turned around, hearing a crystalline laughter.

“It’s always good to see you guys getting along”. Akane just joined them, greeting them with her usual warm smile; she was probably coming back home too.

“Yo”.

“Good evening Akane-san”.

“Is it me or is it starting to get cold?” She started walking arm in arm with her little brother, to fight the crisp evening air. Hajime would have wanted to imitate her, Inupi’s left arm was just there, almost an invitation.

Seishu shrugged. “Don’t know, I’m okay”. He tried to get closer to Koko, making him understand that it was okay to grab his arm, but now that his annoying big sister joined them, Koko would have never dared. Seishu would have definitely preferred walking arm in arm with Koko, especially since there was no one around except them.

“What were you talking about?” she asked curiously.

“About how unfair it is that neither of us was declared vice captain of our Toman’s division before its disbanding,” Koko summarized.

“Wait, Toman disbanded?? Seishu, you didn’t tell me!”, Akane exclaimed.

“Do I have to tell you everything?” he sighted, annoyed.

“Of course not, but I’m your sister, and the gang was so important to you! You don’t talk to me anymore” she pretended to wipe a tear. “He was so cute when he was younger and used to tell me everything, right, Hajime-kun?”

Hajime found himself being stared at by two pairs of identical green eyes, waiting for his answer.

Devils.

Devils with angel faces, that’s what the Inui siblings were.

At that point of his life, Hajime had the intellectual honesty to admit that his childhood friends really won the genetic lottery, it was a fact; when he was younger and used to have an honestly embarrassing crush on Akane that lasted for a few months, he fooled himself believing that Akane looked like Seishu, but she was pretty, when it was obvious he was trying to avoid the implications of his own reasoning. Now he was self aware enough to know that, while they both were objectively stunning, the one he had a crush on, since he was thirteen, was Inupi. But he knew better, answering Akane's trick question would be foolish, she just loved to affectionately tease them endlessly. He just hoped Inupi wasn't in the mood to join her in that little game.

“Everything I say can and will be used against me, I’m not answering without my lawyer” Koko declared, knowing when it was the right moment to give up the fight. Akane just laughed, while Inupi, with a deadpan expression simply commented “Boring”.

Koko sneaked a glance to Seishu.

He was cute, of course, and he wanted to be able to say it to him.

He though about that day, still very vivid in his mind, when they almost kiss; that would have made things easier, because now they were in a limbo, incapable of talking, but knowing they had to clarify what they were. And Koko was afraid because he knew it wouldn’t have been easy openly saying it to anyone, starting from their friends, then at school, and in the future, in university and at job, let alone his family, that he had a boyfriend; he suffered because of that, realizing he liked a boy and not only some random boy, his best friend; but if it was for Seishu, he wanted to try his best, even if there were moments were he felt wrong to be like that. He had the impression Akane already knew what was going on and she seemed supporting. Maybe it was just his impression, but he hoped that at least Akane would have been on their side.

They finally reached the subway, looking for a not too crowded wagon. Their stop was one of the last ones, so at some point they found a seat, where they could finally relax. Hajime and Seishu roamed around the city the whole day, spending some quality time together, and while it was fun, they definitely needed to rest. Akane too apparently, since she fell asleep a few moments after taking a seat. Seishu followed her example. As people got off, Akane, Seishu and Hajime were the only people on the wagon.

Hajime sighted. Sometimes he envied Seishu’s and Akane’s ability to just fall asleep anywhere at any time. But at least, that gave him an excuse to stare at Inupi. He was sleeping peacefully, his head against the window, with his head tilted toward Koko.

“Inupi… It was something unplanned, Koko barely recognized what he was doing. He got closer and closer to Inupi, he could have counted his eyelashes. He could feel his regular and deep breath against his lips. He closed his eyes. He was so close…

“Koko” He stopped immediately, when he realized Inupi's green eyes were staring at him.

Seishu was awake and was staring at his friend with an expression that would have appeared neutral to many people, but Koko could recognize his surprise and… something else? Koko’s heart was beating fast. He didn’t know what to do? Did he make a mistake? Of course he did, what was he thinking?? Maybe Inupi changed his mind?

“Inupi, I’m-” “Do it”.

It took all of Seishu’s resolution to say those two little words. He knew he was flushed and he probably looked pathetic, but he didn’t care. He wanted Koko, he’d known it for years; he was afraid because he knew it wouldn’t have been easy but he didn’t care about anything nor no one else, besides what Koko wanted. And if Koko wanted him just like he did, there was no reason to keep waiting.

"Are you sure?” Koko asked, faltering.

Seishu nodded, his turn to get closer to Koko’s lips.

Their first kiss was shy, their lips moving hesitantly without really knowing what to do, but it was full of the love they were finally able to express. When they separated, they smiled, content.

“At least I was awake”, joked Seishu.

“That’s so embarrassing, I’m so sorry Inupi, I had no idea what I was doing”. Koko was genuinely mortified.

He cupped Seishu’s face, still flushed.

“May I try again?” He wanted to make things right.

Seishu nodded, closing his eyes. Their kiss was possibly even sweeter than the first one, more languid and less scared. They lost in each other’s taste, in each other’s breath. They were in their own world. It was just the two of them, and it was perfect.

***

It wasn’t her intention to eavesdrop, but they were literally sitting next to Akane and clearly they weren’t paying attention to what was going on. She tried to pretend to be asleep, hoping they wouldn't notice her smile. She was happy for them; after all those years, they finally realized their feelings for each other.

***

Akane stretched out her arms when the train approached their stop, pretending to wake up at that precise moment, making some noise and yawning on purpose. Luckily Seishu and Hajime got the hint and when she opened her eyes, they were acting nonchalantly.

When they got off the train, Akane waved them goodbye. She had a sleepover with some friends that were waiting for her.

So Seishu and Hajime walked back home together. It was awkward but exciting at the same time and, tentatively, Seishu tried to reach Hajime’s hand. They intertwined their fingers and walked around their quiet and empty neighborhood hand in hand.

They were approaching Koko’s house, but Seishu didn’t want to leave him, not yet.

“Inupi?”

“Koko?”

“Sorry”

“No, no, tell me!”

Seishu took courage to speak. “Do you want to stay for dinner?” It was a simple request and Koko had dinner together with the Inui family so many times it shouldn’t have been that awkward, but something big had just changed n their relationship. For the better, but it felt so new and different.

“Of course” And then Koko remembered. “My parents aren’t at home, Inupi, so, if later you want to, we can go back at mine, watch a movie, play some video games, you can sleep at my place” he asked, hoping it wasn’t too much.

“I’m glad you asked, I don’t think I’d be able to think of anything else besides you even if we were separated,” confessed Seishu with a smile on his face.

“Same for me, I just hoped I wasn’t imposing”. Koko joined him with a laugh.

“No, you’re not”.

They passed Koko’s house, approaching Seishu’s.

“So… I guess now we’re officially together, right?”

“I sure hope so Inupi, I usually don’t kiss people randomly” Koko smirked, meeting Seishu’s equally smiling face.

“I think this is the best gift I could ask for. The only one I really wanted to be honest”.

Seishu hugged Koko, just happy to be with his best friend, now also boyfriend. Koko hugged him back.

“Good to know I picked the right one in the end. Is it a problem that you got your gift a few days earlier?” Koko asked playfully, sticking his tongue out.

“Not at all.”

They kissed again. That night was only theirs.

[somnimouse]

I don’t want to be harassed by Vinca and my memory is fuzzy but she used to identify as white/white passing and made/reblogged a lot of posts where it was clear she felt guilty for that. I’m glad shes been able to embrace her mixed heritage but it’s really weird to see her claiming that any criticism of her is anti-black. Like I’ve seen photos of her she is not ambiguously white passing she straight up just looks white so for her to use that as a way to get money and clout chase feels really gross especially since she seems to be integrating herself with other POC who actually face discrimination based on their looks.

Idk what to do I guess it’s just a matter of time until she deletes all her blogs again and starts anew in a fresh community like always.

Hey, thank you for your ask! A few others have come forward to me and mentioned seeing that information as well in the past.

Racial identity and the difficulties that come with being half of different races isn't something I can discuss myself because I'm neither half nor Black, but passing privilege also exists in the context of skin color and gender, the latter being something I can talk about.

My own lack of passing privilege in gender has net me years of transmisogyny from both cis people and now Vinca because my "fem-leaning" is apparently not fem enough, no matter if I identified as transfem or not in the past, and I therefore cannot reclaim the slurs and mention my experiences. It is gender essentialist truscum rhetoric and goalpost-shifting. If one is very much white-passing, they should understand the impact of privilege no matter the context.

Unfortunately, the main issues we have in the incident happening right now aren't the labels or passing privileges themselves, but the fact that they're used to dismiss other trans POC and farm emotional supply. This is a common tactic to garner sympathy and avoid all accountability of one's actions and the hurt they cause. No matter what they've done, people with self-serving and malicious intentions will dismiss everything with, "I'm marginalized, so you criticizing me is bigoted! If you're marginalized and have personally experienced it, no you didn't because you're not marginalized enough!" It's a surefire way to generate dishonest outrage, abuse victims, earn money, take advantage of the kindness of others, and play wounded gazelle all at once. Combined with virtue-signalling and grandstanding, it's just a mess of emotional vitriol.

That said, Vinca is not someone who responds to logic or reason, and assumes silencing her victims by slandering them as racists or transmisogynists, downplaying her own actions and privilege, and utilizing ad hominem and constant harassment can obscure the truth, even when it's corroborated from many people in the community who aren't even friends with each other. It's to protect her sense of self-perception and feel vindicated in lashing out at the perceived injustice in her life. But because this is a recurring cycle, it will only be a matter of time before she hurts someone else in her current community with her behavior, accuses them of bigotry to absolve herself of accountability, and moves on to escape, just as she did before. Nothing you can do about it.

Either way, I've already said my piece with all of the information listed in the reblogs of Z's and Robin's posts to clarify the pattern and exact nature of Vinca's actions. I can't force her to listen to logic and self-reflect if she fully believes she's morally right, no matter how many unhinged DMs she sends me. It's better to wash your hands of it, Anon, and support her victims.

[throwawaytumble]

I know I said I would update, so here I am. Unfortunately much has happened regarding the situation with my brother, so it took some time to navigate. I'll try to be as quick as possible, as I know that people have likely moved on from the drama.

My brother found the AITA post before I did, and made demands that I rectify it to salvage his image, due to the custody battle between his recent ex wife with their children. Knowing he could see what I posted after the initial AITA ask, I was careful to play along without outright lying. I, of course, was in contact with my niblings' mother as this behavior of controlling my posts was a massive red flag. I didn't want him to know this, which is why many of my posts were written the way the were.

I contacted his first ex wife via Facebook, explaining immediately that even though I was his sister I was concerned about him being safe and wanted to know her full side of the story. She didn't reply for a very long time, so I assumed she never would and was fully understanding, but eventually she replied. As it happens, she insists that while she did eventually cheat on him, it was after years of accusations that she was cheating when she wasn't. He used his fear of her cheating to insist she could not travel for work (at the time she had a job) which eventually turned into him saying she couldn't work at all due to his concerns a certain male coworker was hitting on her. He managed to convince her that the men at her work were only calling her a good worker because they wanted to have sex and that eventually they would sexually assault her. She told me that now she saw how ridiculous that was but he managed to convince her to quit because at the time he was charismatic and kind enough she believed his worries. It then turned into a situation where because she didn't make her own money that she was given an allowance from him, which to her at the time made sense because she believed that since it was his money that he could dictate how it was spent. He then became enraged if she looked too attractive when they went out, so she wasn't allowed to wear makeup or look too nice outside of the home. By the time she realized he was controlling her every move, including forcing daily weight checks to make sure she was healthy, she felt like she couldn't safely leave unless someone took her away. By this time she had gone no contact with all of her friends and family, as he had convinced her that they were abusive. So she cheated as a means to have a man to protect her and give her a way out. Eventually the man she was cheating with offered her and her children a place to stay that he didn't know about when he hit her. He took her to court, saying she attempted to kidnap the children and for spousal abandonment, but both of his children were in their teens at this point and said they wanted nothing to do with their father. She was able to get complete custody and did not want any alimony or child support from him, as she did not want him involved at all, and neither did his children. I don't know anything about family or divorce law so I don't know if she is telling the full truth nor do I know how difficult it is to completely and legally cut a father out entirely with no financial support, but as it is a personal situation for herself and her now adult children, if there is something else to the story she isn't telling me, I accept she doesn't owe that to me and have no interest in prying further.

I did talk about this with his recent ex wife, who said that he did the exact same thing to her, and that she had noticed he was forcing their daughter to get up early and do all the chores and do well in school and look presentable at all times, although their son could sleep in as much as he liked and neither do chores or keep a good grade or attendance record. He was so convinced she was cheating she was not allowed her own cell phone and he would turn the wifi off while he was at work. She had to use the public library to email friends or do anything online. She did cheat as well but she said it was not as a means to escape, but because she felt a genuine human connection for the first time in years in a situation she felt she couldn't afford to leave. She managed to save up money by always saying "yes" when asked if she wanted cash back at the cashier. She, however, was not able to get full custody of the children and was strong-armed into filing for an "irreconcilable difference" divorce as there was no evidence of him having ever physically struck her, although she told me that he had, there was just no evidence of it and it was her word against his.

His recent ex wife did show the judge the AITA ask, and he said it raised concerns. I was eventually asked to discuss everything with the family court, including that he was monitoring my posts. My brother somehow found out that I had been asked to talk to family court (I don't know if they legally have to tell him, as I said I know next to nothing about divorce and family law) and decided I was no longer allowed to watch his kids. This was heartbreaking, but I had no interest in making issues worse. However, since I no longer was his babysitter, he left his kids with a neighbor who his ex wife had not met, which is against their custody agreement (as both parents need to meet anyone watching over their children and both agree they are safe.) While nothing happened at the neighbor's house, the kids did mention it to their mom over the phone, which is how she found out about it.

Just like he yelled at them when they told me what he was saying about me when I wasn't around, he yelled at them and also took away their phone privileges. He also struck his daughter once. Even though he took her to get ice cream afterwards, she told her mother this as soon as she went back to their mother's at the end of August, as everyone in care of the children has taught them never to keep secrets. Due to this, he had custodial rights revoked, and is no longer allowed to see his children. I spent much of September speaking to their judge and a lawyer over Zoom abput what had happened over the summer, ad well as keeping them informed of any correspondence I had with my brother, even if it didn't seem relevant.

My brother left me an incredibly long and emotional message explaining that he, like my parents had before they died, had to cut me out of his life for his own personal safety, and that I was an abusive, lying psychopath, and that he felt morally obligated to warn people about me for their own safety. He did message my boyfriend, which I only know happened as my boyfriend told me he had but did not tell me what he wrote. O dod ask him to forward the email to the proper people, as i had been instructed, and also forwarded a screenshot of the message he sent me. I have not heard from anyone else if he contacted them, but absolutely nobody has treated me any differently or asked me odd questions.

Sorry it has taken so long to give everyone an update, but it took this long for everything to get squared away. I am safe, as are my niblings who I do speak to every now and then through Facebook messenger, as well as his ex wife. I don't know how he is doing, as I have no interest in following up with him. There may be a few other things that need to be officially squared away legally regarding paperwork but the bulk of it is over, I think.

[theelitespear]

After spending a year with my license suspended I can finally figure out how to put the past behind me. I love my mom dearly but the emotional abuse she consistently gives me just to help me keep afloat is exhausting. She’s been calling me a failure the moment I started being a C student in middle school. Don’t help my father is a physically abusive alcoholic who almost tried killing me one night just because I can’t keep a stable job. I am sorry most of the jobs out there don’t pay enough for someone to live by themselves without help anymore dad, like please give me a break for Christ sake! All this is how I ended up in PA, stuck with my ex who now brings her bf over so much he might as well live here! I need to leave because even here it’s getting a tad unsafe due to situations I can’t really talk to anyone about other than to say it’s also abusive here.

I know now the goal is to find a better place to work either here or back in Massachusetts where I am originally from but I really have no idea where to start. I have held literally every job I can do, even worked 2 jobs at one point just to make ends meet and possibly end this cycle but unfortunately I can neither find the job nor the support I need to do any of this.

People always say to take care of yourself first before you involve others; I have been doing this since 15! I can’t do it anymore! Every partner I try to have to start to build with leave, and any of my “friends” don’t stay long because they seem to believe I am nothing but an attention seeker and never hold myself accountable for my own decisions…..

Like bitch what do you want me to do?!? Most jobs pay around $11 an hour, most apartments are around $800 a month or higher! Cell phone, internet, a computer with a printer, and car insurance are all necessary just to live…

Yeah yeah you can go to a career center but not a lot of counties have those, libraries charge you to print and you can’t use your cell phone to apply to every job. Rent doesn’t include utilities in most apartments and don’t get me started on the housing market. This is why my mom is so upset, she has to constantly pump me with money just for me to exist. Yeah she’s my parent but like at least 70% of American families they want their child independent and on their own by age of 18 with no excuses. “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps!” Like bitch I am trying!

I try to be positive every day because now that I am on socials a lot people expect me to be present. I love them for that it gives me something to look forward to I just hope they don’t think I am some jobless bum screaming for attention. It’s the one thing that has bothered me since getting called back to work after lock down ended…like why are we still doing this pay to live system?!? Universal basic income proved it can work to help those who are still trying to find themselves and where they belong. Without a financial safety net in a system the refuses to help it’s people there’s barely any motivation to improve. This goes especially now since for some reason most companies have decided to ghost post positions, and pretend to be recruiting people to avoid any responsibility of not hiring. It’s so bizarre. So anti-worker. I promise I am not trying to make excuses if you’re reading this but seriously I want a better life. I am tired of living like this, every day I feel like I have to bend over backwards just to keep myself alive and slightly happy. I am 37 for fuck sake I am getting too old doing this running around bs, seriously. I was suppose to be settled with a family of my own a long time ago! Best I can do right now is just keep applying to places till I figure out my next move….

One thing about being on the internet I found a community at least…I seriously hope they understand just being there helps even a little bit. #endrant

[twosandwich]

HEY!!! If you’re a person in need and want to send me an ask or a DM, Please read this post thoroughly before doing so!

I’ve been getting a lot, and I mean a LOT of asks and DMs lately from Palestinians and their families who desperately need our help. It’s not a problem nor is it a bother AT ALL, absolutely not in the slightest. But.. it has been getting difficult trying to keep track of them all. I usually get more than 5 messages in an hour alone so it takes some time to try and manage replying to them swiftly. And oftentimes when I’m busy doing tasks it gets even harder to keep a straight consistent record of them. while I type this message out, my inbox currently has about 186 asks in total.

Very unfortunately, I’m not able to donate to any of these campaigns because of my restrictive parents and the circumstances I am put through. But, I made a genuine promise to help share their campaigns and stories regardless. And I swore with all my heart that I would do my utmost best to help them. soo… those fundraisers? they’ll all be put in here!

So, please donate to them if you have any money to spare. Give what you can and reblog and share!!!! These people need our unending support more than ever! your goodness to others can help save real human lives that are being put in life-threatening danger as we speak, I only ask of you to please illustrate your heart to the word to help save the gorgeous people of Palestine!!

I’ll be making this my pinned post so I can easily keep up with campaigns in general (Not just ones about Palestine but ones also centering Congo, Sudan, Ukraine, Etc.) and whenever one messages me or I come across something like that I can simply share their fundraiser here. If you want me to add your fundraiser there, then please send me an ask and I’ll do what I can!! It’s more easier for me to keep track with my inbox than my DMs. Thank you.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I am NOT eligible to vet fundraisers. I am NOT eligible to make fundraisers. Neither am I personally able to financially contribute in any form, way, or manner. I am using this as an opportunity to help bring attention to them. Please keep in mind that if I do add any unvetted fundraisers they will ALWAYS. And ALWAYS. have the donation protected guarantee! and I’ll always state if the RIS comes out clean when mentioning them myself.

[shutterlens]

Hello, my name is Rana from gaza🍉, and I am a mother to two beautiful boys, Amir, who is 3 years old, and Taim, who is just 2. Our lives were shattered when our home was destroyed in a bombing. I’ve suffered multiple fractures,💔 and neither my husband nor I are able to work now.💔 We are struggling to provide for our children and rebuild our lives.Like milk and pampers. I recently got hepatitis from the contaminated water. We need fresh food to recover.���� If you can find it in your heart to help us, through a donation or by sharing our story, 🙏we would be forever grateful. I’m so sorry to burden you with this, but we desperately need your support.🙏Achieved 28500 kr/ 200000 kr, 🚨But unfortunately it took 10 months , 📣 I now want to start accumulating money to pay for my second child’s travel costs, which is also $2,500. I hope to achieve this in a short time ,my account vetted by gazavetter no#59 & 90-ghost , 100$=1100kr .

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

I unfortunately cannot safely donate because my genocide supporting dad, who heavily monitors my purchase history, is now further restricting my money and threatening to not let me have any money due to the donations I made to Palestinian families, but for those who can afford to donate, I have attached the link to Rana and her family's GoFundMe here: gofund.me/806cc35c

[mikuni14]

Dangerous Pleasure Ep 1-2

I continue catching up - this time Dangerous Romance. Hmm, I have some conflicting feelings! 😄

I've loved Perth since LBC, now he's even better. I'm not a fan of his pairing with Chimon, but they are beginning to grow on me :)

The bullying for me was very disturbing because it went beyond classic school violence. There was sexual violence, an attempted pedophilia and theft charge, which the series pretty much ignored (well, Thai BL dramas just tend to dismiss criminal acts 🙄). Unfortunately, this is neither The Glory nor School 2013, which realistically treated bullying. I have the impression that in Dangerous Romance bullying is just a form of start for the romance, enemy to lovers, without the actual reflection in the real world.

All that aside, the series is well done, fast-paced, Kang and Sailom have well-written scenes full of tension, and they're very focused on each other. Sailom as a hardworking, self-supporting, smart and brave boy, a good friend is of course my fav. Kang is a typical bully with daddy issues, who is doing well thanks to his daddy's influence and money. In addition, daddy doesn't take him seriously. Kang is fully aware of this, hence his furious attempts to gain control over Sailom, to gain respect and be noticed (at least) by him. Kang's obsession with Sailom apologizing on his knees is quite understandable, all things considered, and I admit I was just waiting for Sailom to mention his father at some point, which would probably send Kang off into space.

In the finale of episode 2, Kang's dream came true, only in a different version 😃 Sailom finally noticed Kang and "surrendered" to him. Kang could finally be "on the top", prove himself, show his own strength and agency, be strong! Without daddy and friends! He! By himself! It must have been one hell of a feeling for Kang ✨ Something tells me, that he will start following Sailom like a dog from now on, looking for a repeat of this feeling 😎

[luxshine]

Moon Knight Primer, part 5

Punisher Annual 2, Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989) #1-60, Spectacular Spiderman #353 – 358

Prologue

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

The PAIN people, the PAIN.

Can you imagine a Moon Knight run without ANY mention to the Alters, the System, Khonshu, or any of the supporting cast with the exception of Frenchie and Marlene? Because that’s what we got here.

The first problem is the writer. While Chuck Dixon has a long, long list of previous works that prove that the man knows how to write a comic, he is also self-described as “Slightly Right from Ghengis Khan” so in his 24 issue run? He pretty much disregards EVERYTHING about Moon Knight as a social warrior who fights for those who are left behind by society and instead puts him fighting against black terrorists, Muslims, and Latin American cartels.  Also, we never find out if he even cared to read the old issues of Moon Knight as there’s literally not a single mention of the System in any of the 24 issues. Not even a “well, I created these identities to help me and I went a bit insane”.

So I am going to do a fast run on what was good and bad of the series, especially once Dixon left and we had some more capable (And less fascist) writers on deck. Although there was not much good here.

Oh, we started with the Punisher Annual as part of a crossover named Atlantis Attack? But it was nothing to write home about as since it was a Punisher book, we don’t even get to see who fronted at the time.  I assumed Marc because, well, Marc pretty much fronted the whole time because the writers even forgot that at times Moon Knight was a separate alter.

It is THAT bad.

I mean, just for starters? Frenchie wants to kill people and think Marc  not wanting to kill people is Marc going soft.  Because there are people who deserve getting killed. Marlene is back, as Marc’s girlfriend, and her ex-husband is never ever mentioned again because Dixon didn’t read Fist of Khonshu. And we get the origin again because of course, Bushman has to be the first villain. And it took literally 19 pages of the first issue for Marlene to get back on the “BUT WHY do you have to be Moon Knight and help people?!” train. 19 pages. And here she is a gold digger who only gets placated when Marc gives her his gold card so she can buy herself whaever she wants.

Chuck Dixon, writer of great women… NOT.

We also begin the… I want to say “heroification”, of Marc Spector begins. I mean, previously, no writer shied away from the fact that yes, Marc had been a mercenary, and he had killed innocents only for money and thus, a lot of his work as Moon Knight was a sort of atonement.  But here, Marlene, of ALL PEOPLE, tell Marc that sure, he was a merc, but neither he nor Frenchie were “doing it for the money” but usually worked “for the losing side” because it was a ”more noble battle” than what Marc is doing as Moon Knight.

YES, that is how  far right Chuck Dixon is: Killing innocents for money is more noble than helping people escape gang life.  (Oh, and Black African countries were sub-civilized and black rulers decided just to kill AIDS patients because they’re evil and that was the cure )

Now, I am not going to spend more on this than what I need to for the basics so, quick points: In 60 issues? We get TWO, yes, TWO mentions of the Alters. BOTH during nightmareish moments were Moon Knight is losing his humanity and becoming a demon, both around the end of the run. Other than that? Not a single peep. And they only speak in ONE of the nightmare moments. So in the sense of representation? This is probably the worst Moon Knight run. (I mean, it IS the worst Moon Knight run in general, but at least it doesn’t go the “evil” alter controls Moon Knight route?)

At some point, because Dixon forgot he was writing Moon Knight and not Batman, he introduces Anton Mogart (Midnight)’s son, Jeff Wilde, who is obsessed with being Moon Knight’s Sidekick and Tim Drake was popular. Unfortunately, Jeff is no Tim Drake, and after being annoying for 10 issues, he gets kidnapped, experimented on and turned into a cyborg by the evil Secret Empire and…. That particular Arc gets resolved in Spectacular Spider-man 353-358 because absolutely no one who followed Dixon’s run cared any about Midnight II. Although it's funny to see Marc claiming that Moon Knight works solo… In front of Frenchie. And ignores Crawley, Gena, Gena’s kids and Marlene. Oh, and the fact that in a few issues after Dixon is gone? We’ll get introduced to the Shadow Cabinet, a group of about 10 people who now do Jake Lockley’s job of getting information for Moon Knight (which costs Marc a pretty penny when it’d be a lot cheaper to pay Crawley and get into a cab)

Dixon ignores Marc’s strength growing with the moon, and thus no writer that followed him remembered so we have NO idea how he lost that power since that came BEFORE Khonshu possessed him in West Coast Avengers.

Khonshu finally gets a mention in issue eleven, as “the Moldy Egypcian God” who resurrected Marc, and a little later Moon Knight is called Khonshu by African natives because “their priestess saw a vision” and it is very telling how Dixon only allows black people to believe in pagan gods. It isn’t until AFTER Dixon leaves when Marc starts praying to Khonshu again, and we get something interesting done with the God, even if he is still not back on Earth. Around issue 23, Marc seemed to remember his faith on Khonshu and started saying that the god found his enemies lacking but… it feels a lot like lip service after so many bad issues.

But when Dixon leaves, Howard Mackie comes in for a bit and introduces the very interesting concept of the Knights of Khonshu, a modern sect that follows the god and hates Moon Knight as they see him as a fake, an impostor and some, one who must die in the name of the True Avatar of the God. This is at first a one issue, interrupted by the very good but incredibly weird J.M. De Matteis run that deals with the now telepathic and pyrokinetic Stained Glass Scarlet, but it makes Marc start doubting if Khonshu is really a good God, given that the cult are quite extremists and tend to work with terrorists.

And here is where the ONLY interesting thing that the Marc Spector: Moon Knight series did with the character happens: On one hand we have the retcon that Marc wasn't always at odds with Rabbi Spector. In fact, we’re now told that he WANTED to be a Rabbi like his dad when he was younger (This is on the De Matteis run, that has a LOT, and I mean a LOT of images where Khonshu turns into Rabbi Spector and vice versa). On the other… Randall Spector is back, as part of the Knights of Khonshu.

Because see, the crazy Hatchet was NOT Randall, but a vagrant brainwashed and made to look like Randall, in order to test Marc since Randall HAD been at the Seti tomb at the same time as Marc because he had been at the camp where Bushman and Marc had their first fight, and was convinced that Marc wanted to kill him, as, again, they were both mercenaries because, get this, Marc was following on Randall’s footsteps! Yep, good ol’ Randall was the one who convinced Marc to become a mercenary. Once in the tomb, he saw Marc’s resurrection, and went to the statue to beg for a chance to redeem himself, but was ignored by Khonshu. Thus, he stole a papyri and hooked up with the head priestess of the cult of Khonshu who told him that, if he killed Marc, then he’d be the real Moon Knight as long as the killing was done under a full moon and a very specific star configuration. Oh, and he gets made immune to pain, and calls himself Shadow Knight. During the fight, Randall hits Marc on the chest, and thus, gives him a moon crescent scar.

Also, it is weird to see them fighting “for the power of Khonshu” as at that moment? Marc has absolutely no superpowers. Like, none at all.

Of course, Marc wins, and Randall dies, AGAIN. But here’s the really interesting part: Once he beats Randall, Marc suddenly gains the (never used again) ability to read hyerogliphics as if they were English. And so, grabbing the papyr that Randall stole, he realizes that all this time, he’s been wrong: Khonshu is not the god of Vengance. He is the god of Justice. And thus, he decides to continue fighting for his god, under a new mission.

And then everything else in the series gets into a very bad case of the nineties so it’s a pain to read. I mean, Frenchie happens to be the last descendant of a Templar family who can bring on his ancestors into his body to fight for him. Marc first gets infected by the Demogoblin (the hobgoblin most demonic face created during Inferno) and turned into a demon, then cured with mystic surgery courtesy of Reed Richards and Dr. Strange, then discovers he IS half demon, descendant from a man who happens to look just like him, but calls himself Seth the Immortal. And TEN issues after that reveal? Marc dies killing Seth, and I am convinced he committed suicide just to get out of this horrible mess of a series (I mean, the art alone? Would make even Rob Liefeld weep)

Seriously, the only worthwhile thing in 60 issues is “Khonshu is not the god of Vengance, he is the god of Justice”.

And thankfully, in 1998, a new mini would come to erase all that was said here.

But that will be Part 6 because right now, I need a drink and I don’t drink!

[renisfan]

:(

iirc in Crimson Flower Sylvain can mention to Billy, in a random exploration quest, and most likely very quietly, that Hubert is kind of stupid or something. It counts as criticism, right? /s

Unfortunately the Hubert reference is a creation by Treehouse :( In reality he's saying that neither the gard nor the stubborn guy aka the mitri is willing to reconcile (see).

Anyone else find it shady that Claude is killing any noble who doesn't want to follow his new system? I get it, but that's sus as hell. It's esp funny because the Empire is trying to smear Dimitri for taking out the Western lords (who all helped in a genocide), but their allies doing the same to not-evil people is fine.

King Clout on his way to promote new values so people will come to appreciate differences!

...except if you have different opinions then you should just die.

But remember it's not important what you do. It's always who you are and only who you are that matters. Adrestia and everyone who bows to Adrestia can do nothing wrong ever, while the northern barbarians just can't do anything good. Taking out corruption? BaD. Defending your home and loved ones? BaD. Making the invaders kill you? BaD. Not caring enough for Edel-chan? BaD. Clout doesn't know what the king is thinking? BaD. Growing crops with the lizards? BaD. Breathing? Bad. Existing? Bad.

But nope, of course not, it's because he's a noble and a noble is better than commoners than he needs to be stronger than her.

Here for a moment I thought it's gonna be followed up by something like "commoners pay taxes for nobles to protect them so it only makes sense that we shouldn't fail on that task by being weaker" ...but welp, seems I'm thinking too much 🤷

Hilda is convinced that Holst is uncurroptable because he only like things that are just. Balthus seems to hint otherwise.

Lmao.

Holst only like things that are just but he's totally fine with keeping Almyran servants and respecting differences by elimating differences and attacking a country for "they were mean to us 300 years ago" and [things that happen later in GW] [things that happen later in GW] [things that happen later in GW]

Also is this support trying to tell me that Holst is actually a very corruptible person who can be easily manipulated by alcohol and his sister? Is this what it wants me to think of him?

Claude suggests letting the people of the Alliance pick the king. Lorenz thinks it's silly until he changes his mind.

As if the people got to pick him as the king.

It's funny how offended everyone is. As if this didn't happen in real life all the time. I mean, they'd only be mad a noble died because you can make money taking them as hostage.

Remember: lives are not equal. One precious imperial life worths 1000x more than whatever number of lowly northern barbarian lives.

This will come up later in the test. Remember closely.

Golden Wildfire Ch 9

Spoilers for GW up to Ch 9 below.

STORY

Edelgard makes no progress in the war. More news at 6.

Wow, 6 month time-skip. Part 1 finished. Didn't think we were getting another time-skip, but with Edelgard licking her wounds, it makes sense because no one tries to murder anyone when she stays in her own country.

"End of the Alliance" - sounds ominous.

Oh. It's now a Federation. Like Star Trek. But shady as fuck. Because Claude just crowned himself king so he could take more control. Weird how everyone just accepts this. It doesn't really fit the narrative that people don't trust Claude.

So . . . Edelgard's war actually made the Alliance less progressive 😅. Because now the Liecester is just a monarchy.

Claude didn't tell Shez, lamo. It really feels like these two aren't close at all. I feel like Shez is closest to Dimitri -> Edelgard -> Claude.

It would be nice if this was an Alliance focused part and not about Edelgard's nonsense anymore.

There's trouble in Alliance territory with areas that didn't want King Claude and they're rebelling. Honestly, don't blame them. Ohhh, they want to join Faerghus. They like King Dimitri better. Agreed.

This really is heading towards an Edelgard Claude team up, isn't it? With the people who don't want to bow to king Claude wanting to leave and join the Kingdom. Welp, at least it'll be different. And hey, Claude's funeral, not Dimitri's so what do I care? As long as it's interesting and different from VW.

Don't blame Claude for wanting to put down the unrest. Happy not everyone drank the Claude kool-aide. And don't blame anyone for wanting to leave the Alliance. It's kind of a no one is the bad guy here (except Edelgard), unlike with Dimitri with the Western Lords where they are definitely the bad guys.

I don't trust Claude farther than I can throw him though.

MAP/SIDE QUESTS

This "battle suggestions" is interesting, but it makes it seem like Shez is in charge of the whole army lol.

Can someone explain how the "merc whistle" works? It seems like you can take someone's special ability and give it Shez. But you could also equip it on someone else? So I could make someone else invulnerable like Lorenz if I gave it to him? But that person's "ability" goes away? Anyone have a list of what those abilities are exactly?

You can actually tell Claude you don't support his actions (or are unsure). Edelgard routes could never.

NPC says the minor lords now get no say in what happens.

Yep, here it goes. Claude's meeting with Edelgard to ally with her again. At least here Claude's calling out her shit on attacking them for no reason.

Edelgard is so two-faced, denying that her end goal is take over.

"We'll take tangible resources over insincere apologies any day." - Lamo, Claude, if you know she's a two-faced, insincere liar why on earth are you doing this?

I like this version of it better since at least Claude seems like he has two brain cells at least. In SB, he really came across like Edelgard's mindless bitch.

Now he's calling her out for creating her BS southern church lol. Holst called it an "obvious sham."

Arval said Edelgard wouldn't even acknowledge Shez's existence.

Shez is actually not supporting Claude's decisions in cannon.

See, this makes it WAY more interesting. SB/CF cram what you should think down your throat (SB less than CF, but still doing it), but GW is giving it more nuance.

I think I can say GW is by far my 2nd favorite right now.

Oh, another time limit one! I liked that in the paralogue.

Hurt having to fight the Kingdom again.

Judith also calls out Claude, saying he's talking about people's lives like they're just pieces on a chessboard.

Marianne and Ignatz are also upset.

"You let the Empire talk you into buying the whole store." - Judith

Claude claims he's using the Empire right back. I'd like to see how. Like, I think GW is a way more interesting take on this, but I'm honestly super confused why he thinks this is a good idea for the Alliance.

Lorenz also said he's throwing the Kingdom to the wolves for no reason.

Claude drags up ancient history as an excuse. Which is hysterical since recent history the Empire just killed Alliance people.

Seems like Claude just hates the church and that's why he's siding with Edelgard. Even though that leaves it really easy for her to take over and she said she would through non-military means later.

Claude is a complete dumbass here, but at least it's interesting.

Aww, Shez checked on Shamir, making sure she's ok fighting Catherine. This game really ships Shamir x Catherine and I'm here for it.

Shit. I missed Claude x Hilda's B Support. Did I miss something amazing? Does this mean I'll have to play GW again? Not sure I care enough. I like them both well enough and all, but I can really only see myself replaying AG. IDK, maybe one day.

Anyone else find it shady that Claude is killing any noble who doesn't want to follow his new system? I get it, but that's sus as hell. It's esp funny because the Empire is trying to smear Dimitri for taking out the Western lords (who all helped in a genocide), but their allies doing the same to not-evil people is fine.

CLAUDE & SHEZ B SUPPORT

This is going to be funny with how openly Shez isn't trusting Claude right now lol.

They're just talking about him being king and how Shez first suggested that the Alliance had a king.

Claude wants to open up to Shez because she doesn't have any strings attached.

Talking more about Shez's mystery mom who just died of illness. Then she got kicked out by everyone else. Wonder why?

SHEZ & HILDA B SUPPORT

Hilda still lecturing Shez on charging to the front lines, but thinks Shez is skilled enough to handle it.

Hilda compares it to Holst who also leads the charge, unlike most leaders who stay in the back.

Hilda doesn't think her brother is capable of dying because no one is good enough to kill him, and now thinks the same for Shez. No one told the poor woman about arrows.

Hilda now fights more up front but denies it.

Shez can tell Hilda her cheerleading annoys people, lamo.

Welp, that explains why she's ok with attacking innocent people and continuing war because rHeA bAd, because she's convinced herself the people she loves can't die. Ummm. Ok.

SHEZ & LORENZ A SUPPORT

I feel like Lorenz got flanderized a bit in this game. Like, there's not much to any of his supports so far but "I am noble, so I am better." I honestly don't care much about him, but he had more depth in Houses.

Shez expects Lorenz to complain more. But he's just her to brag about why he's grown stronger.

She can assume he did it to get the ladies lol.

But nope, of course not, it's because he's a noble and a noble is better than commoners than he needs to be stronger than her.

He wants Shez to get in trouble so he can rescue her. Ugh.

Shez says that Lorenz fulfilled his oath to get stronger bc Shez only does what she does bc she relies on allies.

That was really one-dimensional, and Lorenz was just unlikeable in it.

HOLST & BALTHUS A SUPPORT

Oh, Hilda's here. So they just squeezed her in his support with Holst to excuse giving her a support with Balthus.

Hilda is worried that Holst is acting weird and thinks Balthus might be behind it because they've been hanging out.

Hilda is convinced that Holst is uncurroptable because he only like things that are just. Balthus seems to hint otherwise.

Seems like Holst is DRUNK. Or just being cringy. Hilda's mad that Balthus set her up so Holst could listen in.

Hilda's embarrassed, understandably.

Holst calls Hilda his "hope." Yeah, I get why she's annoyed.

CLAUDE & LORENZ A SUPPORT

Lorenz points out that his family has always been friendly with the Empire, so this change is no big deal.

He accuses Claude of just copying his father.

He says House Gloucester should rule and not Claude, and says he will be the next king.

Claude accuses Lorenz of his ego being out of control.

Claude suggests letting the people of the Alliance pick the king. Lorenz thinks it's silly until he changes his mind.

Lorenz, rightly, points out that Claude's new position in precarious and its success or failure is on Claude.

Claude is a doo-doo bird though. He thinks that the Empire and King in Adrestia and Faerghus, respectively, are upheld because of "the Goddess's blessing" and not, you know, really complex stuff. Like, both Edelgard and Dimitri face getting thrown out in the two games over things that have NOTHING to do with religion.

That's weird, their support had a picture.

SHEZ & LYSITHEA B SUPPORT

Lysithea feels that their relationship is strained and wants to clear the air. Shez didn't even notice lol.

Shez is a pretty simple character, but I like it.

Oh, wow, Lysithea realized she acted like a brat and apologized. This self-awareness makes me like her a LOT better.

Aw, Shez is helping Lysithea feel mature and older. But then put her foot in her mouth when she referred to people under Lysithea's command as "real adults" lol. Lysithea struggled but kept her head!

Honestly, I like this a lot for Lysithea. Character flaws are great, but they're annoying as shit when they're not acknowledged properly (I still get flashbacks to her awful Ignatz support), but when they're used to show growth, that flaw is suddenly sooo much better.

SHEZ & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Leonie wants mercenary advice.

Lamo, Leonie thinks the bow isn't good enough to be a first-class mercenary. Homegirl's been watching too many movies and not reading enough military history. Mounted archers were unmatched.

So now they're just discussing over specialization vs versatilty.

It's kinda nice seeing Shez in a mentor role.

SHEZ & MARIANNE A SUPPORT

They go out to eat together. Marianne didn't eat her meat and Shez is concerned.

Marianne is now determined to believe she doesn't curse people around her.

Shez encouraged Marianne to just be herself, which Marianne wants but worries about her father.

Marianne accused Shez of talking without thinking and thought it was a good thing lol.

BALTHUS & LORENZ B SUPPORT

Lorenz absolved Balthus of his debts to House Gloucester.

Lorenz credits it to Balthus helping and saving Lorenz on the battlefield.

Lamo, I forgot that Balthus investigated Claude and claimed he found all kinds of dirty laundry.

Lorenz wants him to hold onto it so he can use it later to unseat Claude and take over the Alliance instead.

Balthus is upset Lorenz isn't a lady because he's impressed with him being a scoundrel lol.

MAIN BATTLE

Hahahaha lamo, the Knight of Serios are beating Edelgard's army, which has to be like 5x bigger.

Oh - led by Randolph, THAT explains it. Against Catherine? Pft. Catherine wouldn't even consider that a bout it's so one-sided.

Shez still doesn't understand what Claude's doing. I'm not the only one who thinks these two aren't even remotely close, right? I feel like Shez is way more invested in Edelgard and Dimitri, and like Claude's just some dude who hired her.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Claude legit just left Randolph to die, lamo.

I think we just killed Catherine :(

😂😂😂 Edelgard's forces got wiped out. Randolph is really the punching bag of Fodlan. They should've made it Dorothea or something if they wanted us to give a shit.

Yep, time for Claude to get chewed out. As if Randolph isn't foaming at the mouth to invade the Alliance in SB.

It's funny how offended everyone is. As if this didn't happen in real life all the time. I mean, they'd only be mad a noble died because you can make money taking them as hostage.

Is this evil!Claude, the route? Like because he was such a goody-goody in Houses? I still think it's funny it's always Randolph.

xxxxx

[spade-riddles]

Submission: Adjusting expectations

Okay, guys. Wading in here where it’s possible no-one wants me, but … here goes. 

We - Kaylors - are in a hard place right now. People feel hurt, they feel hopeless. They feel like they were led on by the likes of Spade. I’m not here to invalidate any of the feelings that come from seeing Karlie and Taylor play out this charade.  

But I think we (collectively, as a fandom) need to take a breath and ask if any of this is really as bad or unfixable as we think it is. Because, for me, the recent stunting is hard to stomach but not truly surprising. On some level this is how I expected Karlie and Taylor to handle both the birth of the baby and the launch of the rerecorded albums. As much I wanted to believe in the idea of spring breaking loose and bringing with it a fervent revolution … I could see the pieces still in play on the board and I doubted it was coming. 

I think the problem is that there was a split between the optimist and pragmatist sides of the fandom, over the last year or so. To be clear - I’m not judging the optimist side of the fandom. Not at all. Taylor has pulled wildcard moves before, and emotions run so high in all this, especially with a baby involved now, that I don’t blame people for wanting to believe the best. But it reached a stage where some of the things people were trying to talk themselves into were just wildly unrealistic. And when that happens, of course you’re going to get hurt. It’s inevitable. 

But let’s really look at this for a second. We should have known that neither Karlie nor Taylor was going to be shaving her beard in March. Ditching Jerk right after or just before the birth would have been too soon for Karlie. It’s not unusual for a celeb marriage to fizzle out within a year of the birth, but before the baby even arrives? That would be weird, and would draw attention just when it seems Kaylor don’t want it. They just had a baby. That’s an adjustment in itself, and Karlie is suffering enough social media hate on top of that. I wouldn’t blame her for just wanting to take a break and lie low during this difficult time. And unfortunately, for Karlie, that means maintaining the status quo of the situation she put herself in with Jerk. She may be doing the bare minimum to maintain it, but if she wants to avoid attention, she has to make it seem like everything between her and her “husband” is normal. And that she’s trying to make it work, which I believe will be important later. Good people try to make it work, even in bad relationships. 

Toe wasn’t going anywhere either. Taylor had relied on him so heavily during the promotion of Folklore, with the William Bowery narrative, that she was almost backed into a corner. She had to give some allusion to his air quotes “creative input” and their so-called happy relationship, or her failure to do so would have become the story and overshadowed her night. The headlines would have either been break-up speculation or complaints that she didn’t give him his due. We think the cutesy coverage after she named him in her acceptance speech was bad, but negative headlines have a far longer shelf life and can take on a life of their own. They would have been worse. Whatever we might think of Taylor’s actions, Folklore is one of her best albums and she deserved to have her night. 

So, on to the announcement of the birth. This is a tricky one, and again, I completely understand why people reacted so badly against it. It was everything we as a fandom said we didn’t want. It was Jerk using the baby for personal good PR. But I have to be honest here. I always thought we were kidding ourselves believing he would NEVER be seen with the baby or implied to be the father. I do believe Karlie is doing her damnedest to minimize the digital footprint of his involvement and keep her actual baby out of it. But he was always going to get to bask in the glow of playing daddy for a while. It’s the trade off Kaylor made when they used him to shore up their closet. 

This is also why I increasingly suspect the timing of the announcement got the green light from Kaylor too. If Jerk was always going to be assumed to be the father of Karlie’s baby, then there was always going to have to be a birth announcement that incorporated him somehow - unless the girls were ready to answer awkward questions, and it doesn’t seem like we’re there yet. So the best way to minimize the damage is to have his moment of glory overshadowed by a bigger win for Taylor. It worked pretty well actually. Even on Kaylor blogs the stunt was mostly buried by Taylor content.

I know a lot of fans feel gaslit by all the hints, but I do think there’s a possibility Taylor really didn’t grasp how hurt Kaylors would be. From her perspective, she “fed” fans three times over that night. She gave us a beautiful performance, a gorgeous red carpet moment, and a win to celebrate. I think it’s possible she really didn’t realize the double whammy of stunting that night would make it all feel worthless for many.

Taylor is in an awkward position. As a consequence of Kaylor retreating into the closet, the support base for them has shrunk. (When I use the words “Kaylor fandom”, I refer to this support base.) I would say Kaylor fandom consists of two parts. There is a silent portion, who observe events and comment anonymously, but don’t say anything “on main”. And then there are the small corps of true believers, who think Karlie and Taylor are still together and the baby is theirs. This latter group do most of the actual talking about Kaylor, but they tend to be pretty battle-hardened. They’ve been around for years, they never believe any of the stunts and their capacity to be hurt by them is, as a result, pretty limited. These Kaylors criticize sometimes, but they tend to fall back in line eventually and mostly adopt a “let’s wait and see how this all shakes out” approach. The problem is that I would say these “chilled” Kaylors are the minority. For their own sanity they curate their blog experience and often don’t post the more negative anons they get. Which is fine, but if you were looking at it from the outside, I could see how it might create an impression that the fandom as a whole can roll with the punches. And for a lot of the silent majority, that’s not the case. 

But again, I can see how Taylor might not necessarily know that. She went quiet after the Grammys, when I might have expected more celebratory posts from her. If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t expect the backlash. I’m especially noticing a backlash against her for allowing Karlie to take so many hits while her own reputation has never been better. And I can’t defend her on that one, except to say I hope she has a plan. But I understand where people are coming from when they say the songs aren’t enough and actions speak louder than words. It’s tough to watch. 

Still, we’re in a position we should realistically have been able to see coming. We should have known Jerk wasn’t going to be out of the picture immediately after the birth. This is one of those things nobody likes, but maybe we all just have to be patient on. I don’t see Karlie busting out of the closet to admit her marriage was a fake, or testifying to the FBI. I think she’ll just let her marriage quietly fall apart, as many real marriages did during the pandemic. And for that to work, she needs to make it look like didn’t throw away a family unit lightly. Hence the “I tried” post, the social media break, and the suggestions of spending time with Jerk’s family. All of this can be spun later into a narrative of Karlie having tried to make it work, only to never really be accepted. The hate online affected her mental health and she gradually realized how unhappy she’d become and decided she needed to break free and find her old self again for her baby’s sake. This is the most likely narrative for Karlie’s freedom and it’s one that could work - but it’s going to take time to unfold. Personally, I’m giving it a year. If we don’t see a separation by then, and definitive moves to a reunited Kaylor, I’ll be bowing out. I’ll still know what I believe the truth to be, but I won’t see the need to devote my energy to defending it. ,

Meanwhile, the masters rerecords are about to be released, and Taylor has invested a lot in their success. Because of this, I can’t envision her coming out until at least the big three (Fearless, 1989, and Red) have dropped. She might drop hints, but I don’t expect anything earth-shattering. Even the order of the album releases seems to confirm this. She’s breaking out the big guns first. 

I’ve seen people speculate that because Rep can’t be rerecorded until 2022, Taylor will hold off on any coming out until then. And I’m not so sure of that. Yes, people listening to the album for clues would give Scott and Scooter money, but if we’re being honest, a fair amount of people are probably listening to those albums already, regardless of the drama. Those sleazeballs are profiting from Rep, full stop. But if Taylor profits more, from her bigger albums, she still wins. And she can still put out a Taylor’s version of Rep with vault tracks and collabs, to seduce people away from the Big Machine version in early 2022. Honestly, I think there’s a good chance Taylor would consider this is a worthwhile trade-off anyway, if it meant she got to live a more open life with Karlie - and most crucially, begin to repair Karlie’s reputation. As children get older and the world begins to leave the pandemic behind, it becomes harder to live behind closed doors. I guess we’ll find out how Taylor finds the reality of such a life, and what she considers worth sacrificing to step away from it. 

All this to say: I can’t predict the future more than anyone else, but I don’t think the situation we’re in now is irreparable, and if we’re being really objective, I don’t think it’s even surprising. I do think Taylor should give us something, if she wants to keep us around. No-one can live on a complete absence of hope, and as I’ve stated, letting the fandom dwindle to this extent has its own dangers. But I think we also need to keep our time frames realistic, even if it means rejecting lifelines like the Spade riddles. We shouldn’t expect Karlie to be free of Jerk for around a year, and we shouldn’t expect Taylor to do anything much beyond general music promo until at least the big three have dropped. Sucks to say it, I know. But at least this way we won’t be disappointed, and if Kaylor do pull a wild card and move towards freedom, we can be pleasantly surprised. 

Just my two cents. 

___________________

Well written and fair arguments on our reactions and expectations. I had typed up more, but I will let others post their comments before I chime in.

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 9

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

How the turnabouts have turned! It's time for Twisted Karma and His Last Bow!

Episode 2-4: Twisted Karma and His Last Bow

With Van Zieks's tragic backstory (…) exposed, it's time to head on into waters we've charted before, waaay back in the very first Ace Attorney game: The Prosecutor becomes the Defendant. It all starts off with some shenanigans which appear to have very little to do with Van Zieks (the arrival of Mikotoba and Jigoku, the Red-headed League, a missing prison warder, etc.).. Ryu does still run into Van Zieks very briefly in Stronghart's office, with Susato noting that there appears to be an awful lot of tension in the air. I expect Van Zieks is questioning that decision to leave Genshin Asogi's son in his care, but even so, he's very civil towards Stronghart. Susato also notes that Van Zieks gives Ryu a cold stare as he leaves, with Ryu wondering what he's done to earn that. This may also be a result of him being besties with Kazuma, since Van Zieks had already buried the hatchet towards Ryu for the most part. When Ryu asks about the decision to leave Kazuma in Van Zieks's care, Stronghart explains it was to best keep an eye on this 'mysterious amnesiac with no identifying papers'. Well OK then. Stronghart also explains he made Kazuma wear a mask because he didn't want to “burden Van Zieks with tiresome explanations about why he had an Eastern appearance.” … I would assume the very simple explanation is that it's because he's of Eastern descent, Stronghart. Regardless, the Lord Chief Justice has high hopes for Kazuma's future and isn't at all bothered by the fact that the guy has gone missing for a little bit.

Things take a turn later when Gina Lestrade comes barging into 221B with some pretty shocking news. Inspector Gregson was murdered. Yes, THAT Inspector Gregson. The suspect has already been arrested:

It's true that to the average civilian like Gina, Van Zieks's name is pretty much synonymous to the Reaper (of the Old Bailey). Even so, to have her outright calling him by that title adds a sort of emotional distance that's really striking. Gina explains they caught him at the scene and there were several witnesses, but Ryu thinks to himself that there's no way Van Zieks would have taken Gregson's life. So naturally, we owe it to our good pal Gregson (who actually was just coming around and being nicer to Ryu) to find the truth. Time to go have a talk with Van Zieks in prison!

… Okay that's funny. Don't worry, Barok, one day we'll all look back on this and laugh. Anyway, Van Zieks says he's in the last place on earth he'd want to be, with the last person on earth he'd want to see. And this line can easily be misinterpreted as Van Zieks saying he hates Ryu more than anyone else in the world, but what he's actually saying is that Ryu is the last person he wishes would see him in this troublesome situation. Ryu says he couldn't very well not come, but Van Zieks tells him to go home since it has nothing to do with him. Susato interjects, pointing out that Gregson has helped them out on numerous occasions and so, they're indebted to him. She pleads for Van Zieks's help with the investigation and he's silent for a moment, only to say: “There's really nothing I can tell you.” Which I suppose means he doesn't think he has anything helpful to say. Ryu asks about what Van Zieks was reading when they came in and assumes it to be a case report. Van Zieks says the Yard wouldn't share case details with a suspect (keep that one in mind) and explains it's a letter from Albert. Dear Professor Harebrayne has arrived in Germany safely! Ryu notes that Van Zieks usually never minces his words, but they seem to have less bite than usual now. No wonder, really, since he's in prison for the murder of an old friend. Van Zieks asks how much they already know about the case, so the two of them go through the facts and Van Zieks says they're well-informed. He's got nothing to add, because... Well.

Oh, this is going to be another one of those cases, huh. Susato asks what Van Zieks was doing at the crime scene in the first place, but Van Zieks points out he doesn't need to answer that, as they aren't representing him. When asked who is representing him in court, he says it'd be anyone other than Ryu. That said, he doesn't actually have any representation because of his reputation as the Reaper. Sixteen people he's prosecuted have mysteriously died and now that he's actually been apprehended for a murder, that whole Reaper ordeal is sure to be thoroughly examined.

BOY, have we got news for you! When it's pointed out that Van Zieks didn't actually have anything to do with those mysterious deaths (right???), he replies that no one wants to know the true identity of that killer more than he does, but it seems things may come to a head before he can uncover the truth. Van Zieks basically tells Ryu to leave, but being the kind-hearted gentleman that he is, Ryu offers to advocate for him in court. Van Zieks asks whether Ryu trusts him, which is a pretty fair question to ask. He's built up so many racist scumbag points and has such a bad reputation in town, it would be weird for Ryu to trust him unconditionally. Luckily, Ryu has been paying attention just as much as I have; he's heard Van Zieks speak in court and seen the way he treats people (uhh, English citizens, anyway), so he doesn't believe this 'Reaper' has it in him to take a life. Unfortunately, Ryu also has to acknowledge that feelings can't be used as evidence in court. Van Zieks considers the offer gracious, but...

“Not the police, not the judiciary... And not you Nipponese.”

One more scumbag point for putting “you Nipponese” in its own category for no reason. Either way, this man has built up such high defensive walls, you could see them from three galaxies away. Trusting no one is a pretty drastic way of living. Ryu thinks to himself that there's a chasm between the two of them that's 'just too wide and too deep'.

As a sidenote, presenting the attorney armband doesn't lead to any interesting conversation this time, but we can also present the Red-headed League advertisement! Van Zieks surmises that if it were a Black-headed League, Ryu would join without delay, which Ryu then confirms. Van Zieks says that sadly, his hair is neither black nor red. He goes into a most curious identity crisis of sorts, where he looks quite anguished as he wonders which coloured league he should join instead. There have been several debates over his hair color, actually, from lavender to purple to grey. Regardless, Susato points out that “people are troubled by the most unexpected problems at times.” It is unexpected, since Van Zieks needs neither the money nor the company that he would get from joining any such league. It's just the principle of the matter, I suppose.

Over by the crime scene in Fresno Street, Gina gets a little razzled when she suspects Ryu is thinking of defending “that Reaper bloke”. Susato points out that if “Lord van Zieks” really is responsible for the crime, he'll be judged fairly in court. This gets Gina to calm down again, because she really wants to know the truth of what happened and much like Van Zieks, she must know that getting the truth is what Ryu does best. A bit of conversation later, Gina points out one more interesting thing; Gregson apparently held a lot of respect for 'the Reaper'. “I take my hat off to that fella,” were his exact words, apparently. Ryu is skeptical, as am I, because I've seen the way Gregson talks about Van Zieks behind his back.

Gina explains that's exactly why he respected Van Zieks. That's... a little weird and ambiguous. So either he respected Van Zieks's ability to stand tall despite all the public scorn, or he respected the fear he struck into people's hearts. There's one more option; Gina keeps talking about the Reaper instead of Van Zieks, so it's possible that Gregson was talking about the actual Reaper. This seems unlikely, though, since he didn't seem to enjoy being part of the Reaper organization.

And now that we know Van Zieks is the defendant, one might be wondering: Who is the prosecutor? Who is the antagonistic force who will try to stop Ryu from uncovering the truth? Well, we find him over in Stronghart's office. Apparently he took an express train back to London from wherever it was he's been these past few days.

YOOOOUUUU!!! Though before we can address his presence properly, we need to discuss the new case. Stronghart wastes no time asking Ryu and Susato whether they've heard “the sickening news about the Reaper's latest devilry.” Which stands out, to say the least, since Stronghart has always been a strong supporter of Van Zieks up until this point. When Susato points out that surely he doesn't believe it, Stronghart says he believes only in facts, which all point to the unavoidable accusal of Lord van Zieks. Someone sure had a quick turnaround when it comes to his number one prosecutor, geez... Stronghart points out the irony that there's no salvation for anyone prosecuted by the Reaper of the Bailey, and now the Reaper himself must stand in the dock. Just as Van Zieks had already alluded to, Stronghart now claims the public will want answers about those mysterious deaths. Ryu and Susato both point out that which had been rubbed into our faces several times already; Van Zieks denies any involvement, and also there have been several investigations into whether he had anything to do with it. Stronghart kind of brushes this off, though. Turns out, Van Zieks is being traded in for a newer model number one prosecutor: Kazuma Asogi! Which seems weird at first glance, since Kazuma is a defense attorney, but Stronghart considers that a bonus:

“A devastation combination, wouldn't you agree?”

I do agree. Granted, it seems Van Zieks had already figured out the defense's strategies too, he just never actively used them to his own advantage. It also turns out that Kazuma personally requested the prosecutor position for this trial. Susato thinks it's pretty unprecedented to grant a newcomer exchange student such a request, but Stronghart offers some petty excuse about how this way, it won't look like the judiciary are closing ranks. Kazuma, who assumes his friend will take on the defense, says he'll see how Ryu's skills have been honed after practicing law in England for so many months. (Uhh. Actually, bestie, it was only about two months of being a defense attorney and six months of disbarment.) Ryu notes that Kazuma is being hostile towards him and wonders why. On a final note, when asking Stronghart about the gun found at the crime scene, we're told that it's issued to all members of law enforcement, including prosecutors. Van Zieks claims to have lost his. That's a troubling claim indeed, because it's difficult to prove or disprove. GOSH, if only fingerprints were allowed in court.

As Ryu and Susato turn to leave, Kazuma stops them. He once again states he wants Ryu to witness this trial as the defense counsel, to “see how it ends”. Since Kazuma has a very distinct vision for how he wants it to end, I guess this means he intends to confront Ryu with Van Zieks's guilt and have his bestie see that a man like him is unworthy of his trust. Either that, or he expects Ryu to use this trial to find the truth of what really happened with the Professor ten years ago, just as he used Albert's trial to dig into that incident. Still though, this reads as pretty scummy to me, because it means he wants Ryu to lose a trial and lose some of his belief in his clients. In the trial itself, it seems to me that Kazuma desperately believes Van Zieks to be a horrible person deserving of the guilty verdict. Therefore, he in no way can hold hope that Ryu will prove him wrong (unlike what went down in case 2-3 with Albert). Anyway, Ryu says that Van Zieks would never put his fate in his hands.

“... It's not easy to see behind the facade sometimes.”

Case 2-3 already told us this, but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who was closer to Van Zieks. Because remember, Kazuma spent three months by Van Zieks's side (and even fighting by his side), so of course he would know more about his personality than we do. Kazuma hands over a photograph of Barok when he was younger and

GOOD LORD, HE CAN SMILE. Or he could when he was younger, anyway. Kazuma states the picture was displayed in Gregson's office. What he's 'trying to say' is that if Ryu really thinks he can trust “the Reaper” (distancing choice of words again), he might find that some straight talking will change his view. I got the impression we've been straight talking Van Zieks ever since we first met him, but okay. Let's take the picture and back to the gaol we go! Van Zieks is once again reading from some paper and Ryu points out that either he's an incredibly slow reader or it's an incredibly long letter, but either way, Ryu might even be able to read English faster than him. Naturally, this was said loud enough for Van Zieks to overhear.

Scumbag point for hypocrisy, but also a scumbag point for “Nipponese”. When Ryu asks whether it's still Albert's letter he's reading, Van Zieks says he had the case report brought to him in secret. So wait, the Yard does share case details with its suspect? Hilarious. Once again, Van Zieks insists the situation has nothing to do with Ryu, up until the prosecutor's name is revealed to him. And so, the masked cardboard cutout student has become the master! Ryu notes that all the color drained from Van Zieks's face, which is pretty impressive when there's barely any color there to begin with. Ryu has the opportunity now to thrust the photograph into his face, so let's do that. He's immediately alarmed, since he assumed it to be lost and would never have expected Gregson to have it. When Ryu says that Gregson had a deep respect for him, he dismisses that as nonsense, only to correct himself. “There was a time things were like that.”

Van Zieks thanks Ryu for that nice glimpse into the past, and Ryu thinks to himself that there was a glimmer in Van Zieks's eyes- a brief twinkle. He considers that “an insight into the true nature of this man known to all as the stone-cold Reaper of the Bailey”, with “the true nature” being highlighted as orange. So this right here is undeniable; this is what the narrative is illustrating to us now. The true nature of Barok van Zieks is that of someone who was hopeful and jovial; kind-hearted, as Albert knew him. What we see now, that harsh exterior full of harsh words, is not his nature at all.

Van Zieks is more willing to talk now. He once again speaks of Klint, rehashing the same story we've heard several times already. Van Zieks claims there's not a single day where he doesn't curse the name Asogi. He considers it a cruel twist of fate that the man's son intends to crucify him in 'some kangaroo court'. Clearly, he doesn't think highly of the upcoming trial if he refers to it as a kangaroo court, but that's likely because he knows he isn't the real killer. When Ryu points out that he still doesn't understand why Stronghart apprenticed Kazuma to Van Zieks, the explanation is that “it's what he does”. Van Zieks believes that Stronghart knew Kazuma's true identity from the outset, but still provides no real explanation as to why Stronghart 'did what he did' and even assigned Kazuma as the prosecutor this time. Van Zieks goes on to contemplate the name Asogi some more and calls it 'the epitome of his bane'.

I've talked before about how utterly flawed it is that Van Zieks attributes Genshin's crime to his race and/or cultural upbringing and proceeds to tar every single Japanese person with the same brush. There's no need to go into this again; we all know it's wrong. Turns out, even Van Zieks knows it's wrong, but we'll get back to that momentarily. First, Van Zieks needs to talk about Klint even more. (good lord...) He explains that Klint van Zieks was hunting down a mass murderer and “assigned to the investigation as his partner was a certain visiting student dispatched by the Yard.” This was Genshin, of course, and I believe this is the first time it's said that he too was looking into the Professor case. So Van Zieks already mentioned in the previous case that the Japanese students had left a deep impact on him, and also that he once toasted friendship with a Japanese person, but now we have this:

“But none of us saw the true nature of the man.”

True nature is once again in orange here, but this time as a red herring. Van Zieks believes that the Professor murders were Genshin's true nature, when it isn't quite true at all. Regardless, since Van Zieks was still in university at the time the exchange students were in the country, I don't think he would've had that much contact with Genshin. I expect he encountered the man on rare occasion while Klint associated most with him. Every meeting was enough to foster this respect and friendship, though, so it's clear that young Van Zieks was easily influenced and had a very open mind towards a foreign exchange student. But then, that's what makes the next portion of the story all the more damaging.

“My esteemed brother... The people I believed in... And any semblance of right prevailing over wrong!”

As Van Zieks also already alluded to in the previous case, he found himself in a very dark place. That isn't surprising. Every positive thing Van Zieks knew in his life, from his family to his closest friends, was ripped away from him in extremely close succession. What must've been the final nail in the coffin was Genshin outright admitting to his crimes. It erased all doubt that perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding or a frame job. Going over everything Van Zieks has said so far, it seems he didn't just blame Genshin for the tremendous loss he suffered; he blamed himself. He must believe that his trust in Genshin blinded him to this supposed 'true nature', just as it must've also blinded Klint, and that the whole tragedy could've been prevented if only he'd been more cautious. So now, in present day, he no longer trusts anyone. He outright says so.

Van Zieks goes on to talk about how he was the one who prosecuted the Professor. Since he'd only just graduated, such a thing usually wouldn't be allowed, but he “beleaguered the ascribed prosecutor until he consented.” This person was Mael Stronghart, who back then was apparently still no more than a prosecutor. A highly accomplished one, but a prosecutor nonetheless. Since Klint was the Director of Prosecutions (or Chief Prosecutor???) at the time, that means he actually ranked above Stronghart. Interesting. Regardless, since Stronghart agreed to let Van Zieks lead the prosecution and instead only acted as an advisor, Van Zieks now feels indebted to him. That certainly explains why he's usually so good about following Stronghart's orders and not asking questions.

“And, of all things, as a lawyer.”

Ahhh, this is the part where Ryu enters the chronology. Our protagonist points out that he's felt Van Zieks's animosity since the first time he faced him in the courtroom; his obvious deep loathing of Japanese people. And here comes perhaps one of the most important, yet most overlooked lines Van Zieks will ever utter in these games:

“But for so many years, that hatred had festered inside me, I could no longer control it.”

So here, Van Zieks admits to two things. First of all, he admits that he was wrong to hold such deep loathing and by extension, to give that loathing a voice. He's a man of logic, after all. To cling to something which he refers to as illogical is about as wrong as one could get. Not only that, he admits that this was an unstoppable force he should have controlled, but was too weak to do so. The hatred overpowered him and did away with common sense. He behaved stupidly and irrationally because for ten years, hatred and negativity was all he knew. But what's even more striking here is Ryu's answer, which is also often overlooked:

Ryu, bless his heart, doesn't blame Van Zieks for succumbing to this weakness. Bear in mind, he's the victim here. Van Zieks wouldn't have encountered many other Japanese people in those ten years, if at all. This means the first person he lashed out against was Ryu. Naturally, Ryu can't speak for Susato or Soseki, who received their own verbal assaults and might have different opinions on the matter. Ryu is just one man, but in our narrative, he's the main protagonist and the main target of these outbursts. Is it misleading and perhaps even problematic in the grand scheme of things to have the protagonist sympathize with such motivation? Well, that depends on many different factors. There's no easy answer for this because it's a nuanced, cultural sort of thing. Personally, I was a bit bothered by it, but not to the point that it ruined the experience for me.

Van Zieks admits that just as the Japanese were the bane of his life, Kazuma Asogi must believe Van Zieks to be the bane of his. He is, after all, the Reaper who sent his father to the gallows. Van Zieks thinks that Kazuma intends to take revenge in court and... Really, this is true.

There's a quick bit of conversation about Gregson now. Turns out, the only reason the Professor was caught at all was because Gregson forced an autopsy on Klint despite it being considered the highest taboo at the time. Van Zieks says that as a result of Gregson's powerful conviction, he could avenge his brother's death. He looks quite torn, a bit pained. He must believe he owes Gregson something for this. The conversation then moves on to Van Zieks's revolver, which he claims to have misplaced an undetermined amount of time ago. “I must have stowed it somewhere, I suppose. Or left it somewhere, perhaps.” Van Zieks clearly doesn't think highly of firearms as a weapon, since he's constantly carrying a sword around instead. Susato points out that Ryu has a talent for misplacing things in common with Van Zieks, which leads to one more scumbag outburst.

… Dude. Come on. You just admitted it was illogical. You came so far! Scumbag point for you. Still, as the conversation rounds to a close, Van Zieks utters the words “Mister... Naruhodo”, much to Ryu's surprise. This is the first time he's actually said Ryu's name! Van Zieks once again reiterates that he's lost all confidence in England's judiciary system. He doesn't trust the police, the judiciary or lawyers. Even so, there's still one thing he's willing to believe in.

“That which you see in the eyes of another across the courtroom: a simple determination to know the truth. From the very first time we clashed in the Bailey almost a year ago now... I couldn't deny it, even though I dearly wished I could. 'Here is a loathsome Japanese... who has absolute integrity as a lawyer.' There are only two other men I've known with that same look in their eyes: my brother, Klint. … And Genshin Asogi.”

This is interesting. So at first when he saw that look in Ryu's eyes, he must've been reminded of Genshin. And again, this is why he directed such hatred towards Ryu; he saw someone who wasn't alive anymore. But now he recalls that Klint also had that same gaze, and so he wants to believe that Ryu is not similar to a deceitful murderer, he's instead similar to his beloved brother. (Boy is he going to have to reevaluate how he judges people when he finds out that his beloved brother was the deceitful murderer.) Van Zieks says that when he saw the photograph, he was reminded of a time when he could laugh, free of the shackles of mistrust which plague him now. This is very relevant since Van Zieks indeed can't laugh anymore. We never see him do it. He can't even smile.

“But at times the mire into which I've sunk makes it almost impossible to breathe.”

Someone please get this man to a professional therapist. If he means that in a more literal sense and he does occasionally feel like he can't breathe, that's telltale signs of panic attacks. It could just be, of course, that he's being overdramatic and the “impossible to breathe” bit is just fanciful wordplay to go with the mire analogy. Still though, considering he's also mentioned being in a dark place and that he's willing to die so long as it serves a useful purpose, and that he drinks his wine to stave off tedium... He's clearly depressed. But then, he seems to know it. He acknowledges that the way he is now is not the way things should be, and that he needs to fight to overcome it. And so:

“... In tomorrow's trial... Will you advocate for me?”

Boom. Swallowed his pride and turned to Ryu for help because he knows it's what's best for him. He no longer trusts anyone, but he's willing to trust Ryu because once he starts opening up again and has that trust repaid, then perhaps things can gradually go back to the way things were when he was younger. Mind, he still hasn't apologized for his actions, but that doesn't change that Ryu at least is willing to extend a hand to Van Zieks. It's a little sad that Susato doesn't properly form her own opinion on this and instead just goes along with whatever Ryu says. I would've liked to know just how she feels about Van Zieks's attitude and whether or not he deserves to be helped. She doesn't object to it, at least, and since Susato usually always speaks her mind, I can only assume she genuinely agrees with Ryu's sentiments.

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, it's remarked there's a 'menacing tension' in the air and Ryu surmises out loud it's the result of the menacing appearance of the defendant. Well-deserved, that remark. Touché. Van Zieks asks him for a little more courtesy in a polite enough manner, but considering the lack of courtesy he's shown Ryu over the past 8 months, that's hypocritical. He informs Ryu that this is a closed trial without a jury, which bums me out because it means no more Summation Examination. I would've liked to see Asogi react to that. (S)Holmes comes in and has the weirdest little banter with Van Zieks that I honestly can't... really decipher. There's several things about it that really strike me as being off:

- “And I you. I see London's celebrated great detective is as active as ever.”

- “Oh, you exaggerate, my dear fellow. Compared to my paltry engagements with a few trivial cases... The Reaper's overbearing presence is a far greater deterrent to the black roots of crime in our capital. And whilst I may not agree with your methods... There is at least one point on which I would readily commend you.”

- “What an honour. And that would be...?”

- “Your eye for a good lawyer, sir. […] Behind this lawyer there is a very great mind. My own.”

Alright, so... First of all, we know (S)Holmes is super arrogant and would never refer to his past cases as “trivial” in all sincerity. Plus, it's established that he's very weird with compliments, such as referring to Gregson as “the best of those blunderers of the Yard”, so complimenting Van Zieks directly on the effect he has on crime feels off. Aside from that, (S)Holmes addresses Van Zieks as the Reaper and continues to talk about 'his methods', when it's already been established (S)Holmes doesn't believe Van Zieks has anything to do with the Reaper killings. Taking all that into account, I can only really assume that the first half of this above conversation is (S)Holmes being weirdly passive aggressive towards Van Zieks, with Van Zieks being passive aggressive in turn. It really, truly feels as if there was some sort of backstory between these two that they had to scrap at the last second. Regardless, the exchange ends with (S)Holmes warning Van Zieks that this will be “quite a trial”.

Gina Lestrade shows up with Yujin Mikotoba (….. when did they meet???), saying they intend to watch the trial, and I am very impressed with how (S)Holmes manages to disappear from the scene and not say a word when his old partner arrives. Anyway, Gina looks Ryu square in the eye and asks him why he agreed to take Van Zieks on. Everyone's saying it was him who killed Gregson. Considering everyone was saying it was her who killed Pop Windibank six months ago, you'd think she might want to tone down her attitude, but she's clearly in mourning and lashing out. See? People who are hurting can say insensitive things. Ryu insists he doesn't believe it to be true, but Gina demands to know that if it wasn't him, then who?

“An' if it turns out it was 'im wot killed the boss... Then God 'elp 'im!”

It's interesting to remember that during The Unspeakable Story, Gina wasn't afraid of Van Zieks for his Reaper reputation. She didn't believe in the curse and didn't think she would end up like the other defendants. Now, she absolutely no longer gives a damn whether Van Zieks is the mysterious Reaper or not. She only thinks he might be a murderer who took away her mentor and that's what has her judge him so fiercely. Van Zieks remarks on her fiery eyes and tells her that the culprit does indeed deserve every inch of her loathing. “At least that may be some solace to the deceased.” So here, in a roundabout way, it rather looks as if Van Zieks is sympathizing with Gina's anger. At the very least, he's condoning it, just not towards himself.

Entering the courtroom, it becomes clear very fast just how serious this trial will become. Just as was alluded to before, the judge confirms that the 'Reaper of the Old Bailey' has been undermining Her Majesty's justice system and therefore, the people will demand answers on this matter. Ryu thinks to himself the trial will be a lot more far-reaching than just Gregson's murder. Sure enough, Kazuma is at the prosecutor's bench and ready to get that vengeance Van Zieks referred to in jail. Shockingly, the first witness he summons is actually Van Zieks himself. The judge is surprised, but Kazuma explains that as a prosecutor, Van Zieks believes in the oath of office he's taken; he'll be compelled to tell the truth. Because contrary to what happened in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro, Van Zieks is against perjury! (I WILL NEVER GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED WITH SHAMSPEARE!) Sure enough, he takes the stand and Kazuma says the court would like to hear him explain some things away.

He really is just brutally honest, isn't he? Both in his courtroom methods and in how he shows his emotions. He doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't beat around the bush, he definitely doesn't lie... At most, he may withhold some information. Unfortunately, his testimony is mostly useless. The judge remarks that he didn't want to imagine this day would come, but ever since Van Zieks became known as the Reaper, he's been dreading it. The judge, our neutral ground, seems to be convinced that Van Zieks may have actually done the deed. That's not good. Kazuma acts all smug, saying that Van Zieks indeed hasn't explained anything away and that his testimony barely qualifies as an excuse. Van Zieks notes that his 'mute apprentice' has a way with words. Meanwhile, Ryu thinks to himself that Kazuma isn't behaving like himself, which is a sentiment they'll keep repeating throughout the case. … I gotta be honest here, I didn't notice all that much of a difference between this Kazuma and the one from the very first case of the game. I mean, come on, he sliced a man's hair off and cursed his descendants just for insulting Ryu. He's slightly more arrogant here, maybe, but since he was only the assistant there and is a leading counsel here, it makes sense for him to be more proactive and confident in his methods. Then again, I'm not a Kazuma expert; maybe there's something I'm missing.

In his testimony, Van Zieks revealed that he was investigating Gregson, but when pressed on it he won't admit the exact reason for it. He only says he'd identified a distinct possibility Gregson was involved in a case he was investigating. When asked how he even knew where Gregson would be, he openly admits to having stolen into his office and consulted his diary. (“Dear Diary, today I dropped my fish 'n chips on the way to Fresno Street-”) When told that illegally entering Gregson's office would warrant serious consequences, Van Zieks says he was aware of that risk.

The rest of the testimony is pressed without further hitches, though what did strike me as interesting is that at one point, Ryu suggests the gunshot might've originated from outside the room, but Van Zieks immediately says it's out of the question. He shoots the possibility down with evidence only he could have experienced (the bang sounded inside the room and he could smell gunpowder), and in doing so, only implicates himself further. Detrimentally honest, this one. Not only that, but he picked the gun up.

NO KIDDING that was carelessness. Is he related to Miles Edgeworth after all? Kazuma talks about how three street peddlers overheard the bang and burst through the door with some force. Van Zieks states they almost gave him a heart attack in the process (omg) and Ryu thinks to himself: “(But you're supposed to be the Reaper...)” C'mon Ryu, haven't you seen enough of this man by now to know he gets jarred easily?

When the testimony rounds to a close, things get interesting. Kazuma uses his defense attorney skills, as promised. He uses evidence from the Court Record to point out contradictions in Van Zieks's testimony, thereby 'proving he's lying'. Hey, what happened to Van Zieks believing in the oath of office and being compelled to tell the truth? Did Kazuma call Van Zieks to the stand just to expose him as a liar? He wins the judge over quite easily by illustrating these contradictions and casting doubt on Van Zieks's integrity. Tragic, because as Van Zieks says:

Van Zieks steps down from the stand and disappears for the remainder of the trial day. He doesn't even show up during intermission in the defendant's lobby. Characters do still talk about him, though!

I mean... He ain't lyin'. At one point, Kazuma utters the words “the defence is fated to lose. And the prosecution to win,” which once again confirms that Kazuma basically asked Ryu to take part in an 'unwinnable' trial. Which, y'know, is technically fine. Losing a trial isn't the end of the world, especially when the defendant (in Kazuma's eyes) is actually guilty. Still though, personally asking Ryu to take on Van Zieks just so he can watch the man be exposed as a killer is kind of... Kazuma, sir, are you also unable to control your hatred and having it lash out in illogical ways? Is that a parallel with Van Zieks I spy?

The rest of the trial isn't directly related to Van Zieks. It's just a whole bunch of roundabout arguing with street peddlers, red-headed scammers and the revelation that one of those peddlers is actually Daley Vigil, the missing former prison warder. Despite knowing of the dangers, Kazuma asks Ryu to help him forcefully break some of the man's black psyche-locks (c'mon, we all know that's what's impeding his memories) and they send the man to the hospital as a result. Welp. Unveiling the truth is becoming increasingly dangerous in this game and that's really upping the stakes for us.

Into the next investigation day we go! Ryu surmises that it's clear now “Van Zieks definitely didn't do it.” Even so, there are some unanswered questions about the man. What was he even doing at the crime scene and what's with that investigation into Gregson he didn't want to talk about in court? Heading on over to the Chief Justice's office, we overhear him pressuring Kazuma into 'continuing the trial as instructed'. Once he takes note of Ryu and the others, he tells them that he wanted Van Zieks's trial concluded that day and blames 'Asogi's unwelcome inquiries' for it taking longer than necessary. Stronghart's becoming increasingly ominous, here... I don't know for certain why he doesn't just go the extra mile to have Van Zieks proven innocent so he can keep using his Reaper tool to intimidate the masses. I suppose it's because with Gregson dead, he's lost his most important strategist in the killings and the tool of the Reaper's curse can't be used as easily anymore. Assassins probably come a dime a dozen, so Shinn can be replaced, but Gregson... Not so much. Ryu asks Stronghart whether Kazuma truly believes Van Zieks to be the Reaper, but Stronghart says he wouldn't know. He once again talks about the history of the Reaper with its very long run of coincidental deaths and tells us nothing new or interesting.

To prison we go, to visit Van Zieks himself! He's reading a book now, but we're never told what it is. He tries to ignore the visitors, but just as always, eventually comes up to the bars to talk.

YOU FREAKIN- I CAN'T- WHY- How many more times must we teach you this lesson, old man?!!! Thankfully, even Ryu is fed up at this point.

Finally. He spoke up. I've seen a lot of people criticize the fact that Ryu never properly confronts Van Zieks with the damage he's been doing, and on the one hand I would agree. Calling people out on their bullshit is a very useful step in having them notice their mistakes. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that is also a very Western view. It's very easy for us to think that Ryu should stand up for himself and call Van Zieks a prejudiced little tosser who needs to think before he speaks, but that simply isn't part of his character. There may be several reasons to explain why he doesn't confront Van Zieks more firmly, but I'd like to focus on just two. The first is that Ryu is an exchange student who came to England as a 'guest' and is facing not just one racist. Not even five or ten. Everywhere he goes, he's surrounded by people just like Van Zieks. We've seen it in the judge, we've seen it in the jurors, we've seen it in Gregson and in witnesses... Ryu is a minority in a very literal sense, since there's only one other Japanese person (two if we count Soseki) we know of in this entire city. There's a very natural, very understandable defense mechanism which may kick in when surrounded by potentially dangerous individuals, and that is to withdraw; to be as quiet as possible and to attract as little trouble as possible, since 'they outnumber you'. Bonus points for the extreme difference in social standing between Ryu and Van Zieks.

There's one other thing which adds to the above. Ryu was written to be your everyday Japanese person, and their view on confrontation is quite different from our own. I remembered this from a job interview I once had with a Japanese company and looked into it again to refresh my memory: Japanese people are non-confrontational. It's very important for them to maintain a sort of harmony during conversation and therefore, they'll rarely utter negative sentiments, such as criticism, in a way that will cause embarrassment to the person they're addressing. Instead, they employ something often referred to as indirect communication. “The pattern of Japanese indirect communication uses far less words to convey intent in a more subtle manner. Indirect communication uses expression, posture, and tone of voice of the speaker to draw meaning from the actual conversation.” This is very deeply ingrained into the Japanese culture and, if the sources I reviewed are correct, it goes all the way back to the feudal days. Mind, this attitude isn't even limited to Japan. I've been told there's several other countries who adopt that very same attitude and if you cause someone else to lose face, it can have some very severe repercussions for you. Kazuma is a bit more outspoken than Ryu, for example when they face Jezail, but this makes sense also, since Asogi was written to be more progressive. It seems to me that Ryu has been using indirect communication quite often already and, since Van Zieks is woefully unequipped to read this type of communication, Ryu has now finally resorted to something more direct. It's still not a sharp call-out, but rather, the above line reads to me as something in-between direct and indirect communication. And it works.

HELL FROZE OVER! We've done it, lads! Or, as Iris puts it:

So even the rest of the cast is acknowledging this is a big deal and we've made tremendous progress. Could someone else have confronted Van Zieks in a more direct, more Western way before this point? Sure. But would he have listened? The judge has already snarked at him several times during trials and it's always been brushed off as nothing. The only person he might've listened to would've been Albert, but what is the narrative significance of having a side character confront Van Zieks? There isn't one. This was a very impactful moment where Ryu himself resorted to a more Western tactic to get his point across and Van Zieks, in turn, finally uttered an apology. So now we get to have an earnest conversation with the man at last. Van Zieks says he was impressed; not by Ryu but by Kazuma. On first glance, this seems like a mean thing to say, but... Van Zieks is already intimately familiar with Ryu's performance in the courtroom. Why would he still be impressed by that? Kazuma, however, he's never seen in action before. Van Zieks thinks it's all rather “sardonic”.

It's called a cruel irony, Barok. A common tool in storytelling. He himself considers it “retribution for having played the part of the Reaper all these years”. So once again it's discussed how the Reaper minimizes the amount of crime in the capital and since that's a goal Van Zieks is committed to, he never said anything to disprove the rumors. Ryu insists that someone else is profiting off Van Zieks's silence on the matter and is basically using him as a scapegoat. As it turns out, Van Zieks wasn't quite as passive about the matter as he's led us to believe.

Hm. Alright, so he thinks it's good the Reaper's curse is reducing crime in London, but clearly he wants the Reaper organization brought to justice. In a way, he's profiting off these 'accidental deaths' since the fear that comes from them aligns with his goal of crime reduction, but he doesn't actively condone the Reaper murders and wants them halted. Since there's so much accurate information about the accused used in the killings, Van Zieks surmised a while ago that someone from Scotland Yard must've been involved in the killings. It's taken him “many years” to identify the central figure in the organization: Tobias Gregson. Naturally, everyone is shocked. We knew Gregson! And sure, he wasn't exactly a kind person, but he certainly didn't appear to be a killer. He was very rough around the edges, but from what we'd been led to believe, he had a good heart. … A decent heart. Mediocre, one might say. Ryu asks whether the reason Van Zieks was investigating Gregson was to expose him as the Reaper, but Van Zieks repeats the notion that the Reaper is not a single person. He doesn't have a doubt, though, that Gregson was a key member of the organization who did all of the planning. Believe it or not, Gregson was the brains behind the killings; the tactician who investigated and plotted, then left the dirty work to an assassin by the name of Asa Shinn. (LOCALIZATION WHY)

So now that we have this information, we can come to a very interesting conclusion. Both Gregson and Shinn are dead now, so by Van Zieks's reasoning, the Reaper is dead. You'd think this is good, but it does in fact make it very difficult to find the truth. Rather, Van Zieks believes that the truth died with Gregson (he hinted as much twice already) and while the seasoned Ace Attorney player knows it won't be impossible to expose a dead person as a killer, it'd be a hectic ordeal. The seasoned Great Ace Attorney player will know the Reaper hierarchy extends just a bit higher and the two who died are only pawns, but... Y'know. Approaching this from a first-time-player point of view, you'll know things will get troublesome.

There's another topic of conversation where Van Zieks once again addresses how sharp Kazuma is in court. He didn't miss a thing.

OUCH. So when Ryu first arrived, Van Zieks saw Genshin whenever he looked at him, not only due to his roots but due to 'the look in his eyes when searching for the truth'. Now, he sees Genshin in Kazuma, which surely makes a lot more sense. Van Zieks goes on to say that it's true some of the aristocracy from 10 years ago were problematic and abusing their power. “In a way, Asogi was carving out a canker from society that we British couldn't deal with ourselves.” So here, he sounds almost complimentary of the Professor's actions- specifically Asogi's actions. As if it would've all been well and good, were it not for the Professor's final victim. “But that's precisely why it makes no sense. Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man. He wasn't corrupt.”

Remember way back in The Unspeakable Story when I surmised that Van Zieks boiled Genshin's actions down to his race in order to avoid the belief that there might've been a reason his brother was killed? We see it here again. Van Zieks is in doubt. He may say vocally that “it makes no sense”, but that line in itself is already telling. The fact that he acknowledges it and draws it into question implies to us that he's skeptical of the story. Deep down, he knows something is amiss. He knows there's some sort of explanation he's missing, but if he were to dig too deeply into it, he'd have to acknowledge that perhaps his brother was corrupt. And this still isn't all of it. There's one more thing Van Zieks has to discuss before we can round this conversation to a close. Ten years ago, shortly after Klint died, Genshin saved his life.

There's that phrasing again. “True nature”. It's not in orange this time, but it's there all the same. Van Zieks is convinced that Genshin is the one who had a hidden true nature. In this story, we learn that 'the scum of London' had already targeted him several times even before he became known as the Reaper, simply because of who he was and who his brother was. JEESH. Harsh. So on the night in question, a couple of thugs also tried to kill him (allegedly) but Genshin stepped in to protect him. Genshin became lightly wounded as a result. This is the part where I would have expected them to explain Van Zieks's scars, but he never mentions being wounded himself, so we can't be sure this is when it happened. Curious. This was the perfect opportunity and they let it slide. So anyway, two days after that incident, Genshin was arrested.

Some more telling lines here. Van Zieks thinks he'd never recount the story to anyone; not because there's no need to tell it. It's because it must be difficult to talk about. On its own, that might be a farfetched conclusion I wouldn't make, but Ryu confirms it with his follow-up line: “Thank you... for confiding in me.” We can take this line to mean exactly what it says; Van Zieks confided something painful. He let down some more walls. Growth!

So with all this out of the way, there's a whole load more investigation to do before this case is over. Most of it has to do with Genshin's will, a mysterious trunk belonging to Gregson, the missing time of death on the autopsy report... Nothing too relevant to Van Zieks's character. However, if we go into the prosecutor's office and examine things while Kazuma is there, we do get some fun tidbits about how Van Zieks wouldn't trust anyone else to touch his things and would rearrange it all himself whenever needed. From the sound of it, Van Zieks is very meticulous and a loner, which aligns with what we know about him. Some more conversation later, we reach the topic of the Reaper with Kazuma. He agrees that Gregson was definitely involved in the Reaper organization, but there's one thing that's more important. “Who's been giving orders to the Inspector?” In my eyes, it's a bit of a stretch to assume with certainty anyone was giving orders; Gregson might've just taken up the vigilante justice by himself and found some way to pay Shinn enough money to get in on it. Kazuma insists, though, that Van Zieks is 'the real Reaper'. We as the audience already know that's nonsense, we know Kazuma is wrong. Or perhaps we might think that if somehow Van Zieks pulled the wool over our eyes and Kazuma is correct, that'd be one heck of a wild twist. Kazuma gives no real reason why he believes this, he only goes on to say that ten years ago, it was Van Zieks who 'decided his father must be a mass murderer'. Shockingly, Susato is the one to jump in here and outright say to Kazuma that he's wrong; that Van Zieks only saw that 'justice was done as the law dictates' and he wasn't to blame for Genshin's execution. Kazuma insists that people condemn people and the law is just a tool they use for it. So I suppose that's exactly what he's doing right now. He's condemning Van Zieks, just as Van Zieks once condemned Genshin. We're cycling! And my main question now is this: If Stronghart had been the prosecutor in the Professor's trial instead, would Kazuma be just as vengeful towards him? Because remember, it's people who condemn people. This implies that anyone who had taken on the job of prosecutor at that time is the one who 'decided that Genshin must've been a murderer' and would need to take responsibility in Kazuma's eyes. Kazuma's beef isn't with Van Zieks personally, it's with the prosecutor who used that tool of the law and also evidence.

HAHAHAAA! HAH! If you align this screenshot next to the “Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man” line, you get a wonderful parallel. These two prosecutors are both dead wrong about their beloved family, and they're about to find out in the worst way possible.

One murder mystery spread out over two episodes? You bet! Stay tuned for the last case, The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo!