#but i do get why people would feel that the betrayals are contrived and not well executed

[drasticdoodling]

i get why ppl dont like night terrors but i like it with a party pf aveline, varric, and anders bc then aveline and varric- the two in the group who’ve known hawke the longest betray hawke to demons while JUSTICE who everyone(including anders!) talks about as being dangerous and not able to be trusted stands by hawke and helps defeat the demons.

and then aveline doesnt even apologize and says that mages should be locked up.

EDIT: she does apologize immediately after getting out of the fade but doesnt in her follow up quest. (which is where the "mages should be locked up" line is. got the timeline mixed up in my head this makes more sense lol)

[awholelottayeehaw]

I know, another post by me. If you're going "oh my god not again just stfu Billie" I absolutely will not and I am not sorry so anyone who doesn't want spoilers, just skip over this, otherwise enjoy my 3/5 A.M episode 7 thoughts/theory.

Who's Behind the Betrayal?

I know, another post by me. If you're going "oh my god just stfu Billie" I'm not sorry so anyone who doesn't want spoilers or to hear my dumbass 3 A.M thoughts on who it could be just skip over this, otherwise enjoy. Or suffer. Whichever you prefer.

The Armorer

I know a lot of people have their eyes set on The Armorer, but I'm not completely sold on her being the one who sold everyone out. I could see The Armorer wanting Bo out of the picture so that she can go back to having a tight lead on her cult again and didn't plan on Din or even Paz getting hurt, but it's still a leap of faith to trust someone like Gideon to keep up his end of any bargain. One I can't see The Armorer risking. She's not dumb. But in terms of not wanting to get people hurt, I honestly wouldn't put it past her that she doesn't care. I know people may get offended over that but after 35+ years with Din, she was willing to toss him out the moment he admitted he had gone helmetless and that was all I needed to know that her loyalty ends the moment you stop following her standard of the Creed. Even her reaction to being at the forge surrounded by the empty helmets of following Mandos in Season 1 felt empty, like she's able to disconnect from loss like that and she either has experienced it enough to where it's water off her shoulders or she just doesn't care.

It IS suspicious as hell that Gideon's goons had Beskar armor, but she would have had to sneak away from the covert enough times to not be detected and I have a hard time believing no one would notice her constantly coming and going at all hours. Even if she came up with an excuse to go off world, it just feels contrived that no one would pick up on odd or questionable behavior like that. We're assuming one must be trained to forge the Beskar armor and isn't something anyone can just pick up and do, but someone from the Survivors on Mandalore or even Bo's fleet could easily have been Armorers before the Purge.

The other thing that tripped me up at first and I know many others is why she changed her mind so quickly to make Bo out to be this person of prophecy after dismissing her Mythosaur claim when she warned Din in BOBF that:

"Bo-Katan is a cautionary tale. She once laid claim to rule Mandalore based purely on blood and the sword you now possess. But it was gifted to her and not won by Creed. Bo-Katan Kryze was born of a mighty house, but they lost sight of the way. Her rule ended in tragedy. They lost their way, and we lost our world."

At first, I had a hard time believing The Armorer would willingly follow someone who she knows was the reason for Mandalore's downfall. But after re-thinking it, I realized The Armorer never went into detail as to how Bo was a cautionary tale outside of being a tragic leader victim of circumstance when the Armorer only mentioned "they" and not "she." Pair this with how she told the Mandalorian Survivors that

I realized The Armorer may not have any idea that Bo is the reason for Mandalore's current state nor does she realize that Bo had been a member of the very terrorist group she mentioned. The Armorer said she was from the Moon just like Din was, and it's possible that everything she heard was second hand information because she genuinely didn't seem to know that Bo has a crime rep sheet as long as she is tall.

Bo, throughout this season, has been made out to be a broken leader who lost her way and Bo has been playing into that. This is probably the first time she's had a semi-clean slate. And if the Armorer knew about Bo's past and is just fucking with her... I guess we'll find out but I genuinely do think that The Armorer wouldn't follow someone like that if she knew they were part of their people's/planet's downfall and is doing this purely out of a change of heart for Bo, but we'll see.

Koska Reeves

I know others are guessing Axe, but between him and the Armorer it feels way too obvious. We already know Axe's loyalty starts and ends with whoever he thinks is worthy of owning the darkaber, and we already know even then there's no true loyalty to Bo or anyone else from him, so I honestly wonder if the spy/whistleblower would be Koska and not Axe. Koska's loyalty to Bo is much like Axe's despite the fact that Bo treats her like a close friend/confident. When sitting together on the survivors' ship and Bo barely scratched the surface as to what she had done and her involvement in Mandalore's current state, Koska opened her mouth as if to spill the beans and Bo just waved her off like

Koska clearly knows of Bo's tragic past to some extent, probably the most out of any of the other Nite Owls, and would be the last Bo and Axel would expect to be a spy. However, I just can't think of a good motive for her to side with Gideon. But it's hard to rule her out when, as I mentioned, the whole fleet and even Din's cult behind Bo aren't there because she's a worthy leader to follow, but is someone that Din has put his faith in and is the current "owner" of the darksaber." Loyalty to Bo, outside of Din's naivety, doesn't exist. At least, not without major conditions. And this leads me back to...

Bo-Katan Kryze

Do I think Bo is the spy/traitor? No. At least not intentionally.

If you've seen Bo in CW and Rebels, there's two things that have always been consistent about her character: Bo will do anything to achieve her goals regardless of who or what gets hurt and she never learns her lesson. In the past, she worked under both Maul and Count Dooku until both betrayed her. Her loyalty starts and ends with who best benefits her goals, and that has remained the same even in Mando. When she mentioned:

“In exchange for submitting to the Empire and disarming, all remaining cities and Mandalorian lives were to be spared. It was the only chance I had to save our people.”

I couldn't put my finger on why that confession bothered me the way it did. And it clicked: that doesn't sound like Bo. This is Bo-Katan Kryze, the woman who joined a terrorist group because she disagreed with her sister's pacifist ways. This is the woman who burned down a village and enslaved the people there for fun. This is the woman who trusted TWO Sith lords to help her and her fellow terrorists to achieve their goals and only fought against them the moment they were betrayed and not because "Siths are bad." This is the self serving woman who will do anything to get what she wants, including hiding the Mythosaur from Din after gaslighting him that it doesn't exist, and I have a very hard time believing what she said is true when she's never done anything like that in her history as a SW character because it requires the type of sacrifice that Bo wouldn't do willingly. So her comment made me wonder if that was a white lie pertaining their current predicament.

I could see Bo originally planning on sacrificing Din and his cult to Gideon in exchange for them to leave Mandalore alone and the darksaber so she can rebuild the planet just as she's been saying she's wanted to for decades. It's the only reason I can think of (other than bad writing) to explain why she openly lived in a castle in the same sector as Mandalore despite knowing an Imperial presence was present. It would explain why she felt so confident walking around Mandalore despite knowing the true threats were Imperial and not the Troll species or angry robots. It would explain why TIE fighters chose to blow up her home only AFTER Din was in her presence and wasn't too bothered by it. And it explains why she hide the Mythosaur from Din. Bo losing her home means now having a reason to be welcomed into Din's cult and earning their trust to push them into Gideon's trap, but I don't think Bo expect to end up experiencing what it's like to actually like to have people around you who are there because of honor and loyalty and not because you're waving around an ancient, glowy sword that people need to listen to.

Bo witnessed first hand, finally, how respected Din is within his covert and even the people of Nevarro. She saw how much foundlings meant to them, and how far they'd go to ensure the safety of their people that didn't come with strings attached. She witnessed Din's selfless acts and how he gave her unfair credit for a lot they got accomplished and, even if all of that was part of her initial plan, I don't think Bo realized how good it felt to be seen and welcomed as a hero for once and not a terrorist. Although she made a weak attempt at admitting out loud how she may have had a part in Mandalore's current state, she still hid the truth from everyone to have control over the siege because she knew people would back out of helping her. Because until Din volunteered himself and Grogu

No one was willing to volunteer. As I said: no one here willingly follows or trusts Bo. She hasn't earned that trust between her history and her "onward!" and not "follow me" leadership tactic. So with Din not only volunteering but saying this to Bo:

Bo, for the first time, experienced someone believing in her and willingly following her as a leader and not as a resented leader who people only follow because she had the planet's royal talking stick in hand.

She expected Din to reject her as a leader after her weak admission to her sins and that look she gives him after he walks away isn't because she's fallen for him (I won't piss on people who want to see it as such), she's looking at him with awed guilt. She's touched that she finally has someone who respects her as a person and not as the Heiress and that makes her feel guilty if it is revealed that she had planned on sacrificing him and his covert to Gideon all for a chance to rule again and awed that maybe, just maybe, she could be something other than a selfish jinx to their people. Her expression is very bitter sweet.

So where I think, if my theory is right, that her intensions had originally been malicious, I think her experiences with Din's cult inspired her to try to turn the tables on Gideon. That would explain why he wasn't surprised to see her but was surprised to see her fleet working with Din's cult. I don't think Bo knew or expected there to be a full on base built right under her nose like that nor did she expect Imperial soldiers to have Beskar armor. I have no doubt her reaction to Din being kidnapped and Paz potentially killed was genuine, along with her trembling in panic not just from losing her two best fighters, but also from the grief of once again setting history up to repeat itself. I think she'll try to use the darksaber to get people to help her save Din and Paz but will be met with silence because she's not the person they followed and believed in in the first place. I can see her trying a last ditch attempt at winning everyone over by finding and riding the Mythosaur but will be unable to find it. I'd put money on Din, Grogu, or even Boba being able to ride it before Bo does. And I know some people may be upset by this, but I also wouldn't be surprised if she dies doing the first selfless thing with her people in mind in her decades long journey. When Din mentioned Bo's song was not yet written without realizing that it's been told three times over, it was a perfect set up for Bo's death to be a "Swan Song." It would honestly be a beautiful way for Bo to go and giving the saber and title to Din before going out with a bang, recognizing that he's the one that the galaxy and strangers on the internet trying to figure out how to get to him through their TV would follow and be the peace bringer the galaxy has longed for. But like I said: we'll see.

No One's a Spy

I know some of you may be wondering why I didn't mention the surviving Mandalorians they run into, which is fair, but I think they'd be too obvious to be the spies. I am surprised Bo and Din's respected people didn't suspect them of anything and trusted them right off the bat on top of them somehow not knowing that the Empire built a whole base without their knowledge and somehow either forgot or choose to forgive Bo for being the reason they're even like that in the first place, but I would put money on that being bad writing cause it would be really out of character for Din and his people at the very least to not suspect these strangers of any malicious intent. They're so distrusting it wouldn't be logical for them to be blindsided by the most obvious choice. So in the end, the other option is no one is the spy. No one set anyone up to be betrayed and it was an unfortunate circumstance cause by poor planning and strategy and now everyone's paying for it. But we'll see tonight/tomorrow!

I meant to post this earlier this week but I've had a bad chronic flare up from a food allergen. I'm fine, but I'm exhausted and in a lot of discomfort waiting for the flare to pass. Until it does, I'm curious to hear all of your thoughts and I'll see you on the other side.

[cityjacket]

spoilers for hotd s2

why…. Did they make it so that Halaena only has 2 kids and not 3????

Am I tripping? In the books she had two boys and a girl. Not one boy and one girl.

The scene feels so much less impactful, especially with the children sleeping. Like the whole point in the books was supposed to be the Sophie’s Choice situation but between her two sons and the betrayal felt by the son who was forced to live after being chosen as a sacrifice by his mother. “Pick which son will live,” not, “hey which one is your son so we can kill him easier?” It feels so much cheaper this way. And the fact she just does it????? Like no struggle, no begging, no threats? Idk I guess they were going for the “quiet kind” of tension and yes it was tense but it wasn’t a hold-your-breath moment for me at least. It could’ve been executed better.

edit adding to this:

another layer of why the tension felt so weak is because it was so contrived

“oh no! How can we tell which twin a boy so we can murder him? Oh, wait, the mother will know!”

Instead of the totally logically option of just checking which toddler has what parts, which would have been actually logical and realistic to do even if it was fucked up and would’ve been done in the early seasons GoT era asoiaf adaptations (back when we weren’t scared of protagonists with moral complexity). But no, that makes too much sense. We’ll just hold the mother at knife point and make her identify the boy. And we’ll just take her word for it. It’s simply the only way!

like dude. What killer who is specifically looking for the boy to murder wouldn’t get actual evidence that he did in fact kill the boy.

it’s contrived tension. Like in order for the tension to work we have to ignore all logic and reasoning and common sense.

so THAT makes it fall flat too

and it also falls flat because, again, the entire tragedy of Haelena was being forced to choose which son to live, and they kill the opposite one she chooses just to fuck with her and ruin her with guilt. And it’s not contrived by “oh we can’t which one is the heir, identify him,” it’s, “we don’t give a fuck which one is which - pick your favorite.” Maybe it would’ve landed better if instead of B&C being all “a son for a son” they were on some “blood for blood” type shit and pulled a “we don’t give a fuck which is which, pick your favorite to live,” and then did the double cross thing again just to be cruel.

and seriously, blood and cheese was an accident???? I think it would’ve landed better if we had a moment of Daemon seriously underestimating their capacity for cruelty or being more overtly purposeful. Giving them vague orders but leaving it open ended — which he kinda did but they still left him with that deniability. I don’t want Daemon to get deniability. He ordered this, he should relish it and almost brag about it to Rhae.

Or, if it truly was an accident, I want Daemon to have a moment of shock like everyone else. A private moment of “oh shit. I did not think they would take it this far. Well damn, I guess this is who I am now. Let’s roll with it and try our best to leverage this.” Also it would’ve added complexity to Rhaenyra I think to have people accuse Daemon, she defends Daemon in public, but then in private their fight goes the same way. It would show a level of rationalization on her part of the sins of her camp and looking over other people’s actions that they take on her behalf so long as she is not the one who did it. I think it would be a nice juxtaposition to her vs Alicent’s sense of moral superiority. A parallel. The girls are each other’s foils and mirrors.

I just can’t deny at this point that in this season Team Green is far more compelling and better written. Everyone is complaining that Team Black is being sanitized (because the writers want everyone to root for them and like them) and that they’re clearly the favorite because they “can do no wrong” BUT I think that by robbing Team Black of their complexity from the books and watering down things like B&C, what the writers are actually demonstrating is a bit of boredom and dislike towards Team Black.

Writers will pour so much into the complexity and the drama of their favorite characters. You can FEEL the thought that has been behind every Team Green scene in this show. Those scenes hit DEEP these last two episodes. Their dynamics and family are captivating on screen. The intricate web of their personal relationships and the way they act and react as people is a pleasure to watch and HOOKS me. Team Black’s writing has been just so… bland. Dull. Boring. At least for these last two episodes.

I think the writers may be technically on Team Black but that they LOVE Team Green’s characters and are very invested in their stories way more than Team Black’s. It’s just crazy the way they knock it out of the park every Team Green scene with all of these deep character moments and how it propels these characters’ narratives so much and these last two episodes Team Black has just fallen kinda flat.

but I do think that by changing B&C, both teams were robbed of the biggest highlight of their stories (from the books)

ok rant over.

[perpetual-fool]

-

The point of this was to achieve some measure of happiness, wasn't it? I feel worse. This is like Breath of the Wild all over again. I saved up and bought a Switch, 'cause I 'knew' it'd make me happy. That was such a betrayal. So much promise and it was very wrong in all the little ways that actually matter.

I saw an interview with Tunic's designer, he said something along the lines of the game being 'deeper than you could imagine'. Or the attempt at such. It does give the impression of there being more, but it's already failing to deliver. Like, the 'cheat codes' with the Holy Cross give you one free consumable per playthrough? I could be casting fireballs, or shifting back and forth from the spirit world, or reprogramming the codes to give me items that were never placed in the world at all. But instead it's a glorified hidden object puzzle. And it occurs to me that 'what you can imagine' is highly subjective.

I'm pretty sure that either I am substantially more clever than average, or I'm too experienced for this amount of depth. Like, when I was eight years old Hyrule Field was an open world full of promise. When I was sixteen it was meaningless filler to make the world feel bigger than it actually was. Now it feels like the whole game is meaningless filler, giving just the impression of a game that doesn't really exist. And it's stuff like, (leaving Zelda) the starting town doesn't reliably stock the ammo for early-game weapons because shop inventory is randomized. Or there's a moral dilemma where nothing about the scenario makes any sense, so you just have to accept the developer's poorly argued contrivance that you're totally deciding whether you should free the slaves if it means you have to kill a baby.

Probably, like the interpersonal stuff, I'm not going to get anywhere by arguing at it. I suppose the outcome I'd like out of all this is for someone to tell me I'm not crazy. And that ain't gonna happen. To actually convince me, you'd have to explain why people like 'bad' things. So I have to convince myself. And that would entail experiencing something that's actually 'good'. And since I can't seem to find that, I have to make it myself. And where am I supposed to get the energy for that? Legitimately, sex? Sex appeal is very ephemeral, but it's usually available and it's not picky. And it's basically all I've got left to work with. So, should I be writing smut or learning to draw porn?

I'm not sure what to actually do.

I could try writing out that combat system I was talking about, and I've been thinking there's basically one particular way that fictional time travel has to work. But is there a way to make that about sex? Sexy time travel, powered by horniness? Sex-combat, with characters wielding sex toys instead of weapons? I dunno. If I had any idea what to do I'd be doing it.

[not-souleaterpost]

The double edge of a dull, toothless movie

So a few days ago I watched a movie that someone picked from some list (red flag in retrospect lol) and it was just bad, in a empty, boring, sacharine and formulaic way.

But, I tried to look at the positive of such experience:

I thought "Hehe, now I feel better about my own story, because atleast it cant be worse than this!"

Or if it is, atleast I didnt have a hundred million budget and whole theme of writters and producers that should have known better.

It gave me confidence in doing work, cause either I am good enough or others are too stupid to see what is real quality so why care?

Well, thats what I wanted to think.

In reallity doubts started to enter - is the glib condescension I feel about the surface level morals and platitudes, the unconvincing conversions and "changings of worlds", the contrivances and cliches and reheated feel-goodisms valid?

Is it just a way to avoid my own realisation of how my own writting sucks, how it revolves around wish fulfillment, easy solutions and a sophomoric childish view of the world? Am I just exchanging mass apeal for personal theraphy and self affirmation - both as self obssessed as the other, as twins that laugh at each other crooked nose?

In a way it even went deeper than that - was any non-cynical thought as braindead as this movie, or worse, because the movie atleast used it for cheap gain and fame for the author and actors all the same, while I'm too clueless to even play the game?

I would say - I don't know... But nah I do, and yeah I do now better - I atleast now that the movie sucks, that my stuff atleast sucks in a way that is more interesting, as someone who eats a chuppa chupps stick-in first.

And in a way the blade cuts this doubt too - arogance is needed otherwise one just sinks into this shitty sacharine "well maybe you are just as bad" - I rather be worse, not lukewarm like this shit that gets spat out and put on netflix (also why you should allways pirate)

Maybe this is the true porpuse of negativity, of the ranting youtuber who cant even light his own set better than 12 year old lego stop motion animators?

Cause politness is not the full story - iron sharpe s iron - a platitude as true as some even in that shitty movie where - so one needs the doubt as they need the dick, even if this sounds gross, maybe thats why people truely like dysfunctional couples?

So I may be making a soap opera - but even a self parodying telenovella full of jumpcuts and betrayals is more memorable than whatever a soulless movie is, so don't let yourself be soul eaten.

Yeah...Sorry

[labarch]

Attempt at a Witch Hat Atelier timeline

We are still missing a lot of backstory for our main cast, but I thought I’d try and write a timeline based on what we know so far, and explore where their storylines might intersect.

I am pulling these numbers out of my hat for convenience sake, but here are some approximate ages for the characters: at the start of the manga, let’s say Coco, Tetia and Agott are all 12, Riche is 11, and Qifrey and Olruggio are 28.

20-23 years ago: Olruggio leaves his birth town Godley and moves to the Great Hall, maybe as young as 5 years old.

While many witches are born in the Great Hall, Olruggio comes from a town called Godley in the North. Yet he doesn’t remember Utowin, who came from the same place. We know that young witches usually start their training between the age of 7 and 10, but since witch society is awfully elitist, Olruggio would have been sent there as soon as his talent for magic became apparent.

Being ripped from his home at an extremely young age could explain his fear of being unwanted and left behind: he overworks himself as a way to feel useful and validated, is defensive about his own feelings, and he gets agitated and sometimes aggressive whenever Qifrey hides things from him.

20 years ago: arrival of Qifrey at the Great Hall at age 8. Olruggio befriends him soon afterwards. The both of them start sneaking out at night to chase Brimhats.

8 year old Qifrey was one fierce little thing, you have to give him that. His abuse at the hands of the Brimhats was brutal enough to break a grown man, but he picks himself up and goes right after them like “Alright jerks, you’ve got some explaining to do and I want my eyeball back!”.

Also it cracks me up that Olruggio was carrying this massive book in their flashback. Gotta love that his reaction to Qifrey’s ���Let’s go chase some terrorists!” was “Sure, let me just pack my homework =>”.

Finally, there might be a slightly more selfish motivation for Olruggio’s fast friendship and devotion to Qifrey. Olruggio’s self-esteem lies in his ability to help people, so he would naturally be drawn to someone helpless. It’s unclear how much of Qifrey’s memory was missing: apparently he didn’t know about birthdays. How many other basic concepts was he missing? Did he know how to read? Between that, his lack of knowledge about magic and his injury, he was probably completely dependent on Olruggio at the beginning. Given Olruggio’s wish that they go back to “the good old times” when they were always together, I am wondering whether some hidden part of him misses being essential to someone. It’s well-intentioned, but not entirely healthy, especially if he is using Qifrey as a coping mechanism for his own insecurities.

14 years ago: Olruggio and Qifrey make a pledge of (betrothal) friendship, exchange tassels and attempt the Librarian test at age 14. It is their last adventure together, but Qifrey will continue his investigations on his own, to Olruggio’s disappointment and betrayal. Qifrey starts wearing his half-tinted glasses.

In the pledge flashback, they are wearing their old tassels, but they have swapped them by the time they undertake the third test. Also, when he remembers that pledge, Olruggio says that Qifrey’s investigation “should have ended at the Tower of Books”. The tower is the last likely place where Qifrey could have found answers about his past and a non-forbidden way of getting his eye back. Olruggio probably made him promise that he would stop his search afterwards.

Beldaruit says that he thought Qifrey had given up on his search after the third test, but Olruggio tells a slightly different story. Apparently he thought Qifrey “finally stopped causing trouble” after taking in apprentices, which means he was still behaving suspiciously right up until he became a teacher. Alaira also comments on Qifrey’s interest in the Brimhats in the first volume, so clearly his investigations were common knowledge among his friends, even as an adult.

Olruggio’s anger whenever the Brimhats are mentioned would then be caused not just by his own fear of forbidden magic, but by the reminder that Qifrey broke his promise to him, and refused to leave his past behind. Naturally, Olruggio doesn’t know about Qifrey’s change in circumstances: he is no longer looking to retrieve what he lost, but trying to stop an impending threat.

Qifrey’s discoveries in the Tower of Books also seem to have renewed his disgust towards his own scar: he starts wearing glasses shortly afterwards, even though his eyesight hasn’t yet started deteriorating.

14-5 years ago: in that interval, Coco’s father dies of illness. Olruggio becomes more and more famous for his magical items, and is given the title “Shining Torch” / “Master of Lights”. His glowstone paths become widely popular, and are installed around the castle near Coco’s mom. Both Qifrey and Olruggio pass the fourth test and complete their training.

At this stage, I really doubt that Qifrey intended to become a teacher. Whatever information he found at the Tower of Books convinced him he had to stop the Brimhats’ plan. He was probably planning to complete his training and then go straight on to his quest, not really expecting to return alive.

There are also hints that this was a strained period for Qifrey and Olruggio: Olruggio mentions that he would like them to confide in each other “just like old times”, which implies that they grew more distant after the Librarian test. I’m suspecting that Qifrey was trying to slowly remove himself from Olruggio’s life, hoping Olruggio would be so famous and beloved by the time they graduated that he would forget about Qifrey and barely notice his disappearance. Qifrey’s self-esteem isn’t the best y’all.

5 years ago: Coco receives the magic picture book from Iguin at age 7 at the Silver Night Festival. The Brimhats stop showing signs of activity. Qifrey takes on his first apprentice (probably Tetia, age 7). He interrupts his investigation of the Brimhats and creates the atelier. Olruggio becomes his Watchful Eye.

We don’t know exactly how old Coco was when she got her book, but her tiny chubby face makes me think she was 6-7. Alaira also tells us in the first volume that the incident with Coco’s mother is the first sign of Brimhat activity in five years. I am thinking that after Iguin gave away the book, he instructed the other Brimhats to keep a low profile until his scheme could hatch.

I also wonder whether Coco getting her book might coincide with Qifrey becoming a teacher and creating his atelier. Given that Qifrey is probably tied to Iguin’s schemes, how coincidental is it that Qifrey wandered into Coco’s village and set her fate in motion? Perhaps Iguin contrived for them to live in the same area so that they would meet eventually. Either he somehow influenced Qifrey’s choice of location for his atelier, or he selected Coco as his “child of hope” because of her relative proximity as well as her love for magic.    

7 years old is when we could expect Tetia to have passed the first test. For now we know little about her backstory, but we can guess a few things: she is enthusiastic and ambitious, but gets easily side-tracked by pet projects and struggles to stick to the curriculum. She craves positive feedback and is worried her spells and interests will be condemned as frivolous. It makes me think that she passed her first test early, but was then mistreated by her first teachers for being too childish.

We’ve seen that Qifrey has a compulsive tendency to adopt children in distress. It would fit his character if he became a teacher on impulse. Maybe he had to pass the fifth test in a rush to be allowed to keep Tetia by his side. This also brought Olruggio back into his life, as he was the only one willing to follow him away from the atelier as Watchful Eye.

The complicity between Tetia and Qifrey, and Tetia taking on the role of a big sister for both Riche and Coco, also make me think she was Qifrey’s first apprentice. Tetia is often shown teasing Qifrey, quoting both Qifrey and Olruggio, and imitating Qifrey’s teaching style: I can totally see them as a little family of three at some point in the past.  

4 years ago: Riche starts training under her brother’s master, a creepy asshole, at age 7.

We actually have a clear timestamp for that one in chapter 25, woohoo! Riche’s old teacher can eat a brick.

3-2 years ago: Qifrey and Olruggio learn about Riche’s mistreatment in her old atelier and promptly adopt her. Beldaruit takes on Ririfin as an apprentice. Qifrey’s eyesight starts deteriorating. He adds the light protection glyph to his glasses.

Before that time, Qifrey might have intended to put his quest on hold until after Tetia’s graduation, but now his impending blindness puts him on a time limit. He can’t do a lot about it however, since the Brimhats have been keeping a low profile for years and are not leaving him any clue.

It’s unclear how long Riche stayed at her old atelier, and whether she joined Qifrey before or after Agott. I’m hoping she made it out as soon as possible.

2 years ago: Agott passes the first test at age 10. She gets accused of stealing someone else’s spell, is rejected from her prestigious family’s apprenticeship, and joins Qifrey’s atelier.

Agott has been treated harshly by her family for not being enough of a genius. She mentions passing the first test at 10, the upper end of the normal age range. She was probably given a hard time for starting her apprenticeship so “late”, which explains why she is now adamant about passing the other tests as quickly as possible.

I wonder whether she felt ambivalent about joining Qifrey’s atelier at first. On the one hand, Qifrey was taught by the Sage of Education himself and is clearly very powerful. On the other hand, he has only a couple students and lives in a weird little school in the middle of nowhere, a big fall from grace compared to her prestigious upbringing. I wonder whether Qifrey went to find her after he heard she was the object of nasty rumours (he knows a thing or two about those), and Agott didn’t feel like she had other options.

0 year ago: Coco and Qifrey meet. Iguin goes “F***ing finally, I thought I’d have to watch that humdrum one-eyed twink bake potatoes for another five years. It’s dragon-slaying time now baby!!!”  

[yandere-daydreams]

Can we have a general yandere typing for the TW dorm leaders or your favorite dorm pls?

This is very, very general (it has to be, if I’m going to fit seven different characters into the same post), but I hope it covers what you’re looking for! I’ve been meaning to write a ‘darkest fantasy’ drabble for the dorm-heads but,,, this’ll have to do, for now.

The NRC Dorm Heads as Yanderes.

TW: Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Dehumanization, Implied Kidnapping, Unhealthy Relationships, Mentions of Non-Consensual Touching, Mentions of Blood, and Implied Violence.

~

Riddle is Domineering.

He can’t change what he is, and even if he could, he wouldn’t see the need to. Riddle loves you, he loves you so, so much, but to him, you’re so reckless, so impulsive, so inept, it makes his underclassmen seem cautious, in comparison. He worries less for your safety than he does for your carelessness. He doesn’t think you’ll impale yourself on a banister or trip and manage to break your neck, and yet, he’s managed to convince himself that, the moment you’re left into your own devices, you’ll twist, distort, manage to take something that’s so precious to him and turn it into something perverse, something that doesn’t deserve to have a caretaker so devoted. If he has to take a few hours out of his busy schedule to make sure you understand why he’s so adamant that you obey him, then so be it. He’d rather have a perfect, prized doll who can’t meet his eyes without trembling than someone he doesn’t even know, someone he can’t even love. Someone who won’t let him love them, even when he’s made it so clear that if he suffocates you, it’s only because you've forgotten that you can only breathe because he lets you.

Leona is Jealous.

It’s such a classic younger-sibling complex, isn’t it? It’s not that he’s possessive, he’d be more than fine with carving you up and handing out the pieces if he knows who he’s sharing with, but he’s had a say in so little, he’s had so much snatched out of his grasp before he knew better than to let it go, he can’t stand the though of losing you like that, too. He needs to monopolize your time, your attention, he needs to monopolize you, because if he doesn’t someone else is going to come along to do it for him, and he knows they won’t treat you half as well as he will. It’s why he’s so quick to pull you away from conversations he didn’t give you permission to be a part of. It’s why he can’t seem to go five minutes without insulting your friends or implying that you could cling to him as much as he clings to you, even when the two of you have been along for hours. It’s why he’s so desperate to bite into your neck and burrow his nails under your skin and leave proof of his existance, if only to satisfy that repressed, buried, primal part of himself that just wants something he can own. And he will own you, by the time he’s done. He tends to be thorough, with the things he’s so determined to see play out.

Azul is Paranoid.

There’s a connotation with this kind of alignment that might be a little misleading, when it comes to Azul. He’s manipulative, too. He’s obsessive and he’s controlling and he’s so many other things, but above all, he’s terrified by the idea that one day, you might decide that he’s just some pathetic, pitiful bottom-feeder and move on to someone’s who’s worthy of you. His mindset seeps its way into his behavior visibly, tangibly, blatantly, whether or not he’s willing to admit it. A dozen locks on your bedroom door, a new contract he’s gone over a hundred times, a thousand kisses and a thousand promises and a thousand hours spent clinging to your waist, his face buried in your chest as he begs you to never make him let go. He feels like you’ll slip away if he doesn’t hold you close, like you’ll find a loophole or a way to leave him and he’ll never be able to get you back. It doesn’t help that he responds so reflexively to any change he didn’t acconut for. He can make all the plans in the world, contrive as many schemes as he’d like to, but all of his preparations won’t stop him from reacting so harshly when you say something he doesn’t want to hear or do something he didn’t see coming. Above all, he needs you to love him. He won’t respond well to any evidence of the contrary.

Kalim is Smothering.

You have to understand, he really, really thinks he’s just being the best boyfriend he can possibly be. Kalim is naive, like that. He loves you, and he doesn’t know better than to show that love off any way he can and every way he can. It kind of sweet, if you look at it like that. How is he supposed to know you wouldn’t enjoy receiving his gifts as much as he enjoys piling them onto you? You never told him how much his endless parties overwhelm you, so why would he ever stop throwing them? You always bite at your lips and look away and try to cover yourself when he gives you something pretty to wear, and Kalim just thinks you’re so beautiful, so wonderful, it’s only natural that he’ll - playfully, of course - pull you into his lap and go on about all the many reasons he loves you, layering on compliments so thickly, it’s only a matter of time before they start to seep into your lungs and force out the air. Remember, he’s blind to anything he doesn’t want to see, so by the time he finally crosses one too many lines and forced you to snap, he’ll be so caught off-guard, so heartbroken, he won’t know what to do besides buckle-down and give you more, force you to take more. He’s a simple man. If his antics were enough to make you snap at him, surely, more gifts, more attention, more love will only make things better.

Vil is Narcissistic.

This one speaks for itself, really. You might manage to worm your filthy little way into his heart, you might find a way to root yourself there and drive him to the point of near-insanity, but no matter how dear you are to him, no matter how much he loves you, you’ll always be second to the man himself, you’ll always be less than, compared to Vil. It shouldn’t be such a problem, he already acts like he should be the pinnacle of all mankind’s aspirations, but it’s taken to a new extreme when it comes to his closest companion. He expects to be doted on, to be worshiped, and when you’re not busy tripping over yourself to tend to his every desire, you should be hanging off his every word, letting him do whatever he’d like to because you’re just so honored he’d take a moment out of his day to look after you. If it takes a love potion or several, he’ll find a way to live with it. That’s the thing about a mentality like Vil’s, an obsession focused inward that just so happens to brush against someone it’s not meant to - he doesn’t really care about the parts of you that don’t lead back to him. Your health, your happiness, it’s all on the table if he has a chance to take hold of what he wants. He’s always been ambitious. You shouldn’t be surprised when he approaches your love with the same cut-throat attitude.

Idia is Possessive.

If it’s any help, he wants to lock himself away from the rest of the world just as much as he wants to isolate you. You’re the one person he can stand to be around, the one voice he’ll never get tired of, the one pair of eyes he knows will never judge him, even if he’d prefer that you call him more affectionate nicknames, as he explains that he’s just trying to keep the two of you content and alone. He’s greedy, when it comes to you, but that’s not his fault. He gets… sensitive, when you start to focus on other people, when you let other men touch you like they have any right to put their hands on something he deserves to keep to himself. It leads him to some habits he’s not proud of, some reactions that don’t exactly encourage you to indulge his more questionable habits, but while Idia still wants to be able to hide in your arms and ramble on to the only person he knows will listening, he stops caring about how much you want to embrace him, eventually. The world’s already so unfair in so many ways, and no one knows that more than Idia. He doesn’t think he’ll mind if you begin to think he’s as much of a disgusting freak as he already knows he is.

Malleus is Apathetic.

He wants to care. Don’t forget that - he really, really wants to care about your feelings, your interests, your happiness, all of it! He tries to care, too. Not a day passes where he doesn’t make an attempt to get you to smile, to coax out a hint of fondness from your scorned little heart, to sort through all the betrayal and the hurt and the pain and find something redeeming, something that proves he’s not making you any more miserable than he has to. He’ll give you what sparse freedoms he can, keeping your leash as slack as he can afford to, but when you take a step too close to an open window or refuse to hold his hand or he just decides it’s been a few minutes too long since you last swallowed your pride and showed him the affection he strives after like a touch-starved puppy, he never hesitates to pull you back to his side and ignore how violently you’re choking as he takes whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. He never feels guilty, either, not for the act itself. He’ll fret over the hatred in your eyes, he’ll loath himself whenever you flinch at the first signs of his touch, but in the back of his mind, he knows he deserves what he rips away from you. He’s doing you a favor. Humans are so fragile, so delicate, so easily tricked, and as a prince, a prodigy, a source of unadulterated power, he’s the only suitable candidate when it comes to keeping you safe, to guarding you as fiercely as dragon guards its hoard. He protects you, and he treats you like royalty while doing it, so he wants something in return. He doesn’t think he’s asking for a lot, considering how much he’s been denied.

You should just count yourself lucky Malleus might feel a little bad, by the time he’s done. At least he won’t leave you as bloody as he could, after he’s finished.

[bevioletskies]

spare me a little (of your love)

summary: Klavier always liked to express his love with flowers, so sending a beautiful bouquet to his boyfriend every now and then seemed like the obvious thing to do. However, there’s just one little problem - Apollo is very, very allergic to pollen.

word count: 5.3k | read on ao3

a/n: For @klapollo-week, day two of seven (prompt: "flowers"). All seven of my fics take place in the same continuity! However, each can be read as a stand-alone, with the exception of day seven being a sequel to day five.

This fic takes place at some distant point in time after Spirit of Justice where Apollo and Trucy have learned that they’re siblings, but doesn’t reference any specific plotlines otherwise. My source for flower meanings can be found here. Fic title is from the song Spare Me a Little of Your Love by Fleetwood Mac.

“The language of...flowers?”

“Oui, oui, mon ami!” Athena chirped, nodding eagerly. “That’s just one of the many languages I speak, y’know.”

Apollo eyed her skeptically over the top of his laptop screen. “...right. Elaborate, please.”

“Well, you know how people usually give roses to express their love?” Athena said, leaning across the gap between their desks. She didn’t even blink when she accidentally knocked over Apollo’s calendar and pen holder in one fell swoop. Apollo, on the other hand, shot her an affronted glance that she deftly ignored. “Well, each flower actually has its own specific meaning. It even varies from color to color! Par exemple, white roses symbolize innocence, while yellow roses symbolize friendship.”

“That seems unnecessarily complicated,” Apollo remarked. “Don’t most flowers come with a card? Why can’t people just write their messages instead?”

They turned at the sound of a disappointed groan coming from the middle of the room. “You’re so unromantic, Polly,” Trucy complained, peeking at them from over the back of the couch. “I almost feel bad for Mr. Gavin!”

“Hey,” Apollo protested. “I can be - I-I’m romantic!”

“If you say so,” Athena giggled, poking him in the shoulder. Huffing, Apollo prodded her back. Athena reached for a rubber band, fully intending to escalate things. She lowered her projectile dejectedly when Apollo raised his hands in surrender; he had no interest in losing an eye today.

“Sunflowers and tulips are supposed to symbolize happiness, right?” Phoenix asked. “Those are pretty much the only flowers I really know, so.”

There was a long, uncomfortably drawn-out silence. “...Daddy, your ex-girlfriend’s name was Dahlia. Her real name was - is - Iris.”

“Oh...right,” Phoenix chuckled, only mildly embarrassed. “Speaking of, do you know what dahlias and irises mean, Athena?”

Athena’s eyes were practically sparkling now. “Oui! Dahlias symbolize elegance and dignity.” Phoenix made a face. “...but, they also symbolize dishonesty and betrayal.”

“That’s more like it,” Phoenix muttered under his breath. “And irises?”

“Faith, wisdom, that kinda thing,” Athena shrugged. She then paused. “Y’know, if you want some ideas on the kinds of flowers Mr. Edgeworth would like, I can make some - ”

“Nope, nope, I-I’m good,” Phoenix interrupted swiftly, his face reddening. He had a vase of daffodils sitting on his desk, which Edgeworth had sent to the office a few days ago. None of them believed Phoenix when he claimed they were purely intended for decoration. “So why the sudden interest in flowers, Apollo? Is this, er...is this about Gavin?”

“If you’re not talking about your prosecutor, sir, I’m not talking about mine,” Apollo said firmly, turning back to his laptop.

“Sure, except I think your prosecutor’s fair game when he picks you up from work most days,” Phoenix teased. His tone was eerily similar to Trucy’s. If Phoenix wasn’t both his boss and his sort-of stepfather, Apollo would’ve picked up a rubber band himself.

A few hours later, Apollo was locking up the office for the evening when he heard the roar of a familiar-sounding motorcycle coming up the street. He turned, biting back a smile as Klavier pulled up beside the sidewalk and turned off his engine. “Your bike really is as obnoxious as you are.”

Klavier removed his helmet, pouting. “Achtung, is that any way to greet your boyfriend?”

“It is for me,” Apollo replied, kissing him briefly. “Hi.”

“Hallo,” Klavier murmured against Apollo’s lips, grinning as he pulled away. “Dinner?”

“Yes, please,” Apollo said, reaching for Klavier’s spare helmet. “I’m feeling...pizza and all the cheesy garlic breadsticks. Or maybe we can just get cheesy garlic breadsticks.”

“As nice as that sounds, you need more vegetables than the little bits you get in your cup noodles, baby,” Klavier said, patting Apollo’s hip affectionately. “Pizza, breadsticks, and a side salad, ja?”

“Fine, fine,” Apollo grumbled, settling in behind Klavier. “Turn me into a rabbit, why don’t you? Buy me a bag of carrot sticks the next time we go to the grocery store. Stuff my mattress with straw and newspaper - ”

“And people think I’m the dramatic one,” Klavier lamented, shaking his head in amusement.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were sitting on the floor of Klavier’s living room, pleasantly stuffed with pizza and breadsticks and a mediocre amount of Greek salad (“I’m not a fan of olives, you know.” “Not surprising, since the color doesn’t work with your complexion.” “Klavier, I swear to - ”). A random made-for-TV movie was playing in the background on mute, though neither of them were particularly interested in watching it.

“How was work?” Apollo asked, taking a much-needed gulp of cold water. He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to get the taste of garlic out of his mouth.

“Boring, unfortunately,” Klavier said with a grimace. “Herr Edgeworth didn’t have anything but paperwork to offer me. No trials, no investigations, nichts. You?”

“Same,” Apollo replied. “Mr. Wright’s mostly working with Athena this month, so they’re taking the big clients while I get stuck with the smaller cases. Not that I’m complaining, I mean - it’s a nice change from Khura’in. I don’t want every trial to feel like I’m going under, you know?”

“Nein, that would be terrible,” Klavier agreed. “Exciting, sure, but the stress wouldn’t be worth it. I already found a gray hair the other day, ach.”

Apollo snorted. “Just one? You should see mine - I’m gonna be completely gray by thirty-five at this rate.” He shuffled closer so he could snuggle up against Klavier’s side, letting his head drop to Klavier’s shoulder. “So...turns out, Athena knows all about the flower language thing. Figured she might.”

“Flower...language...thing?” Klavier echoed, confused. He then brightened. “Ah! From our video call with my mama the other day, ja? I didn’t know you were actually interested.”

“I wasn’t, not at first,” Apollo admitted, squeezing Klavier’s arm. “But...I want your parents to like me, and since she said she was taking an interest, I thought, y’know, why not look into it? And it sounds kinda...contrived, not gonna lie. But I guess it’s kinda sweet, too. Like a secret language between just two people.”

Klavier’s face softened. “Ja, exactly. My parents used to write love letters to each other when they were in school, so I think this is Mama’s way of starting a new tradition - buying Papa flowers so he can plant them in his garden. You should see our family estate in the summer, it’s absolutely stunning.”

“Sounds like it,” Apollo said, smiling. “Your parents’ lives sound so...peaceful. Baking, gardening, travelling...I know it’s a little early to start thinking about retirement, but still, they’re living the dream.”

“They’re not retired yet,” Klavier chuckled. “And stop making me feel like I’m dating an old man, bitte. You complaining about your back makes me feel like I have to start complaining about my back.”

Apollo hummed, tracing random patterns along Klavier’s forearm with his finger. He was pleasantly sleepy from a number of things - his long, if uneventful day of work, the amount of cheese and carbs he’d just consumed, and the warmth of Klavier’s skin against his. “Sorry we can’t all afford chiropractors and massage therapists, sheesh,” he teased, unable to hold back a yawn.

“Maybe we can get a massage together someday,” Klavier suggested, stretching luxuriously. “Ah, before I forget - since we were talking about my parents just now, they asked me the other day if it would be alright to text you and send you things, little gifts and whatnot.”

“Huh? They would do that?” Apollo exclaimed. “I only just met them, like, a week ago!”

“They’re a bit...much,” Klavier said carefully. “Even when I was in high school, every friend I brought home was a potential lover to them, you know? They wanted to know everything about them, to shower them with gifts and affection. Even when I started working, I would ask Papa if I could have some flowers from his garden - you know, an arrangement to thank Herr Edgeworth for giving me a raise, a bouquet for my manager when we got our first record deal - and it was always the same story. Achtung, it’s embarrassing, but they mean well. You don’t have to say ja if you don’t want to, I just thought I’d ask.”

“No, I - it’s okay, I’d love to get to know your parents more, I’m just surprised,” Apollo admitted. The thought of them liking him this easily made him both relieved and unnerved at the same time. “Should I, uh, get them something in return?”

“Nein, nein, let them spoil you.” Klavier cupped Apollo’s face in his hands, kissing him softly. “Just like I do.”

“Sap,” Apollo murmured, kissing him back.

_____

It was a sort of gradual thing, for the most part. Barely a day had gone by when Apollo found himself in a group text with Klavier’s parents; he quickly discovered how witty and sweet and whip-smart they both were. Klavier’s father sent gorgeous photos of his garden - and calling it a garden seemed almost too modest when it seemed to be the size of a soccer field - while Klavier’s mother sent book recommendations, even the occasional movie recommendation.

“I never thought I’d be at that point in my life where my boyfriend’s mother sends me three long paragraphs about how she ‘discovered’ the Legally Blonde musical, but here we are,” Apollo had mused to the other agency members.

“Did you tell her that Klavier reminds everyone of that song, the one that goes - ”

“No, Athena, I did not. I want her to like me, remember?”

Soon after that, gifts started to arrive. Apollo had requested they send them to the agency, given how little he trusted his apartment building’s security after they nearly let his cat escape not too long ago. Unfortunately, it was too late before he realized that sometimes, he trusted his co-workers - or more specifically, his sister - even less.

“Trucy, do you know who ate the last piece of pie? Y’know, the one I was saving for today, to celebrate the end of my trial?”

“...huh. No idea, sorry, Polly!”

“Wait - th-there’s graham crumbs on Mr. Hat, what the hell - ”

His sister’s betrayal aside, Apollo felt good about things, almost unusually good. He soon started texting Klavier’s parents just as frequently as he did his own mother, thanking them for their generosity whenever they sent the occasional box of pastries or discounted event tickets. They also exchanged anecdotes about Klavier, along with stories about their own lives. He even received celebratory emojis whenever he told them about his victories in court - over their son, no less.

“I’m starting to think they like you more than they like me,” Klavier had lamented, though he seemed pleased all the same.

Then, a month into their budding familial relationship, a problem arrived on Apollo’s desk in the form of a bouquet the size of his head.

“Ah-choo!”

Trucy and Athena, who had been standing by the latter’s desk, both startled at the sound. “Ay Dios mío!” Athena exclaimed, clutching her heart in shock. “Are you okay, Apollo? That was some sneeze. I thought we were having another earthquake!”

“Har, har,” Apollo said dryly, reaching for a tissue. “It’s just the - achoo - flowers, that’s all.”

“They’re beautiful - very classic,” Athena added, dropping into Apollo’s desk chair so she could get a closer look. “Red roses and white lilies, claro. Ooh, I see some red carnations and white chrysanthemums, too!”

“Well, I see a card,” Trucy said, plucking a small white notecard from between the leaves. “Let’s see what it says!”

“That’s for - achoo - me, thank you very much.” Apollo snatched the card out of her hands, then squinted through his watery eyes to read it. “I...oh. Klavier says his mom helped him make the arrangement, with flowers from his dad’s garden.”

“How sweet!” Trucy gushed, taking a moment to sniff them, inhaling deeply as her eyes drifted closed. “Ooh, and they smell amazing. Mr. Gavin is such a good - ”

“Ah-choo!” Apollo sniffled, wiping his nose carefully. “...dammit.”

“I didn’t know you were allergic to pollen, Apollo,” Phoenix commented; he was on the other side of the room, pouring himself a cup of tea. “You never had any problems with the flowers Edgeworth sent to m - I mean, to the office.”

“Maybe it’s a freshly-cut thing?” Athena guessed, ignoring Phoenix’s awkward laugh. “Or, y’know, some flowers are worse for allergies than others. Dahlias, for example, are the worst.” Phoenix made another face before turning back to what he was doing.

“You should tell him you’re allergic,” Trucy said, patting Apollo’s free hand in sympathy. “I’m sure he’d understand.”

“But…” Apollo hesitated. The others braced themselves, anticipating another sneeze. “...this is from Klavier and his parents, you know? I can put up with a sneeze or two if it makes them happy. He loves sending flowers, and his dad’s really into gardening, so...if I tell them, they’ll stop doing it, and they’ll be too understanding, and I - I can’t deal with that. The, uh, the niceness, I mean.”

“Poor you, having the sweetest in-laws in the world,” Athena teased, pouting exaggeratedly. Oh, the humanity, Widget added. Apollo would have glared at them both, had he not started sneezing again. “Como tú quieras, I guess.”

Hours later, when Klavier met Apollo at the agency, the sight of his face brightening when he saw the bouquet confirmed Apollo’s fears. “Ah, how wunderschön,” Klavier declared, beaming. “I was worried they wouldn’t hold up during delivery. Do you like them, liebe?”

“They’re beautiful,” Apollo said, as honest as he could be. “Thanks, Klavier. I, uh, I hope it didn’t take you too long to put together.”

“You know how picky I can be,” Klavier hummed, carefully drawing a carnation out of the vase between two practiced fingers and bringing it up to his nose to smell. “I don’t settle for anything less than perfekt.” He turned, smirking. “That’s why I’m dating you, after all.”

“Gross,” Apollo said, wrinkling his nose; the effect was ruined by his affectionate laughter. “Hey, is it okay if I press them after they’ve wilted? I was thinking I could keep ‘em in my journal as a nice little reminder.”

Klavier chuckled, reaching over to squeeze Apollo’s hand. “Of course, Forehead. They’re all yours, you don’t have to ask for my permission. And I’m sure Mama and Papa would be delighted to hear you’re planning to give Papa’s flowers a second life. We’ll have to send you more in the future, ja?”

“...ja,” Apollo said weakly, his heart sinking.

_____

The next bouquet arrived two weeks later, bigger and bolder than before. According to Athena, it consisted of pink and orange roses, pink lilies, and yellow alstroemeria. However, it seemed to be the handful of sunflowers that topped everything off that left Apollo’s nose running all day.

“I think the only sunflower I can stand to be around is my attorney’s badge,” Apollo had bemoaned.

After that came an arrangement of white daisies, red gerbera, and white limonium (or, as Trucy liked to call it - she liked practicing tongue twisters when she was bored - “linoleum”). Then green hydrangeas and Queen Anne’s lace, which admittedly wasn't so bad, followed by purple daisies and pink gerbera, which was very, very bad. Apollo did not like the fact that he was getting used to the taste of Benadryl. He did manage to get some reprieve when Klavier sent him a simple vase of pink peonies.

“They’re hypoallergenic,” Athena had informed him. “But...mein Gott, Apollo, just tell him already!”

“But if I do, i-it’s…” Apollo had gestured wildly, unable to find the right words. Athena and Trucy had exchanged glances, then shook their heads in eerily synchronized disappointment.

Pink carnations and pink alstroemeria, purple irises and white aster, yellow daisies and orange roses; Apollo was starting to think the Gavin family garden was endless. And while his journal had never looked prettier, every page decorated with carefully pressed petals, every other page detailed with a date and a description courtesy of Athena’s expertise, his nose had never looked worse, his skin pink and dry and irritated. He was getting too used to the smell of CeraVe as well.

Finally, a bouquet of red roses - thankfully, also hypoallergenic - arrived with Klavier himself. He seemed delighted to be at the agency while everyone else was present for once, chatting happily with Athena and marvelling at Trucy’s card tricks. He and Phoenix seemed awkward around each other, though Apollo supposed that was to be expected. Even now, they hesitated whenever Apollo brought the other one up.

“So what’re you doing here, Mr. Gavin?” Trucy asked after she’d successfully duped him three times in a row. Apollo had to stop her before she started charging him for it. “Is it date night?”

“Not exactly,” Klavier said, turning to Apollo. “I came here to ask you something in person, liebe.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s not suspicious at all. What’s up?”

“I think it’s about time you meet my parents in person.” Klavier took both of Apollo’s hands in his, smiling hopefully. “So, if you’re ready...are you free this weekend? We could go to my family estate, spend the day - Mama would love to teach you how to make those puff pastries you like, and Papa wants to show you around the garden so you can see where all your wunderschön flowers came from.”

“I...oh.” Apollo’s face fell for a split second before he quickly regained his composure. “Sorry, Klav, that sounds incredible, but I-I was gonna stay with Mom this weekend. Maybe another time?”

“Natürlich,” Klavier replied, still smiling. While his smiles usually made Apollo feel warm and fuzzy, now all he was feeling was gnawing guilt. “Let me know when you have a free weekend, ja?”

“For sure,” Apollo promised, pecking him briefly on the cheek. “And thanks for the roses, even though I, uh, kinda ruined the occasion.”

“Ruined?” Klavier repeated, chuckling. “Ach, it’s no big deal, you’re busy. We have time, don’t we?”

“Of course!” Apollo exclaimed, far too loudly. Klavier didn’t seem to mind, though; he leaned down to kiss Apollo properly, humming all the while.

“Anyway, I should get going before Herr Edgeworth notices I’m not in my office,” Klavier said, reluctantly pulling away. The look on Phoenix's face suggested he knew that Edgeworth had figured it out long ago. “Auf Wiedersehen, süßer!”

The second Klavier left, Apollo let out the breath he’d been holding. He didn’t even need to look up to know the others were staring at him very judgmentally. “...I don���t wanna hear it.”

“You really shouldn’t lie to your boyfriend, Apollo,” Phoenix said gently; his voice had taken on the sort of “dad” tone that made Apollo feel even guiltier. “Er, that is, you shouldn’t lie to anyone, but you know what I mean. Are you really protecting his feelings by doing this?”

Sighing, Apollo collapsed into his desk chair, dropping his forehead to his desk with an audible thunk. “I know, I know. It was stupid from the start, but...I-I honestly wasn’t expecting him to send this many! I thought it’d be, y’know, for special occasions only, like every few months or whatever. Then I could deal with it, and he would never have to know. Not, like, just ‘cos he felt like it. Though I guess I really should’ve seen it coming, knowing him.”

“You really gotta tell him,” Trucy insisted. “Next time you see him, okay? Or else you’re never gonna say anything!”

“I will, I swear,” Apollo insisted, combing his fingers through his hair. He could feel more grays coming in by the second. “I have no interest in being the worst boyfriend ever, believe me.”

_____

It didn’t take long for Apollo to realize that while he was perfectly fine - or, at least, reasonably fine - with confrontation in the courtroom, he was very much not fine with confrontation in his personal life. The flower arrangements came less frequently now, and when they did, they seemed to be exclusively hypoallergenic. Klavier’s invitations, on the other hand, seemed more persistent.

“I don’t mean to push,” Klavier would say. “It’s just that exam week is coming up and, being professors and all, they’re going to be very busy soon. I was hoping we’d be able to spend some time with them before then.”

“Yeah, o-of course,” Apollo would reply, his stomach twisting every time, knowing full well he was about to turn him down again.

Another weekend went by, then another. There always seemed to be something, whether it was Apollo’s sudden frequent visits to Thalassa’s, Trucy’s sudden need for a magic show assistant, or that Apollo was just too tired to be good company. Eventually, Klavier seemed to simply stop asking. In fact, he seemed to stop asking him about anything at all.

“Do you wanna grab lunch?” Apollo had once asked Klavier while they were both packing up after the end of a lengthy trial.

“I don’t know.” Klavier had sounded tired, subdued; he refused to look Apollo in the eyes. “I think I’m just going to head back to the office and catch up on my emails. Take care, Herr Forehead.” He’d quickly swept out of the courtroom before Apollo could even say goodbye.

Apollo’s group text with his parents seemed to slow down, too, especially when it came to Klavier’s papa’s photos of his garden. Klavier’s mama, on the other hand, sent him short, stilted messages, now seemingly out of obligation instead of affection. Their near-radio silence, Apollo had to admit, was well-deserved. He knew he had to do something before it was too late, if it wasn’t already too late.

“I was surprised you wanted me to join you today,” Klavier said one morning as the two of them were taking a leisurely stroll around People Park, hand-in-hand. “Lately, I feel like I’ve been dating a ghost, achtung. We only ever see each other in court. Maybe at crime scenes, too, if we’re lucky.”

“And I’m surprised you agreed to come,” Apollo admitted. “I missed you, Klavier. Only...I, uh, I know that’s really my fault, not yours.”

“You do, do you?” Klavier sounded bitter. His grip on Apollo’s hand was looser than usual, like he was ready to pull away at any second, like he wanted to run. The thought made Apollo’s chest ache. “And here, I thought you were as oblivious as ever.”

“Hey,” Apollo protested, frowning. Then, he sighed. “No, you - you’re right. This is on me. Will you - I - listen, I have something for you, back at the office. Can we go get it before you head to work?”

Klavier nodded shortly. While his eyes had softened, his smile was still strained. “Ja, let’s go.”

Thankfully, the agency was empty when they got there, save for a certain something sitting patiently on Apollo’s desk. He set his bag down, then turned on all the lights, his heart pounding rapidly against his ribcage. “So these aren’t as nice as your dad’s, but, uh. This is for you...and your parents.”

“What do you - ah!” Klavier approached Apollo’s desk with wide, disbelieving eyes, his gaze fixated on the beautiful arrangement of white lilies, yellow tulips, and white orchids wrapped in white decorative tissue paper. “Apollo, these are...they’re lovely! Did you pick these out yourself?”

“Athena helped,” Apollo said, hovering nervously. “She said white lilies are for humility, yellow tulips can mean forgiveness, and white orchids symbolize strength. Fitting, since I wanted to...apologize. For being a horrible boyfriend.”

“I don’t know about ‘horrible’,” Klavier said, gently running a finger down the length of one of the orchids. “...but you have been distant. If you’re not actually interested in meeting my parents, or if you...if you want to end things, just say so, will you?” His voice cracked. “I might like a bit of drama every now and then, but not in my own life. Not in my own relationship.”

“What?! No, no, I-I don’t wanna end things at all!” Apollo exclaimed, his voice filling the room. He took a few deep, even breaths to calm himself. “Just...will you hear me out? Please?” Klavier nodded, though he refused to look at him. “I’m...I’m sorry for avoiding you and your parents. And before you ask...yes. I was doing it on purpose. It’s nothing that - none of you did anything wrong, okay? It’s me, i-it’s - it - I - ah - ”

Klavier turned on his heel, worried. “Apollo? Are you - ”

“Ah-choo!”

Klavier jumped. “Ach - Apollo?”

“I forgot there were asters in there,” Apollo grumbled, reaching for a tissue. He wasn’t sure which was redder now, his nose or his cheeks. “It’s - I - achoo - ”

“Apollo,” Klavier said slowly; if Apollo didn’t know any better, he would've thought he was trying not to laugh. “Are you, by chance...allergic to pollen?”

Apollo sniffed sharply. “...yes, dammit, yes! That’s literally what I’ve been trying to say - achoo - just now, until - achoo - my sinuses decided to - achoo - speak for me!” He was half-doubled over at this point, clenching a fistful of tissues in both hands.

“Baby, have you been rejecting my invitation to meet my parents because you’re allergic to all the flowers we’ve been sending you for the last several weeks?” Klavier sounded more incredulous than angry.

“...yes. Yes, I have, yes, I’m an idiot and an asshole and - achoo - I’m so sorry, Klavier, I - achoo - ”

“Bitte, say it, don’t spray it.” Klavier held up Apollo’s tissue box for him, keeping it - and Apollo himself - at a good distance. “Mein Gott, Apollo, I thought you wanted to break up with me! Why didn’t you say anything earlier?!”

It took another minute or so before Apollo finally stopped sneezing long enough to get a full sentence out. He sniffled again, wiping his nose completely clean. “...have you ever told, like, the tiniest lie to make someone happy, only for it to turn into a big...thing? And then you know you have to come clean, that it’s what you’re s’posed to do, but the thought of doing it makes you anxious, even if not doing it also makes you anxious, and then...it just...it, uh, it stays with you.” He swallowed thickly, shaking his head. “Not that that’s an excuse, it’s just - that’s just what happened. I’m sorry, Klavier, I really am. I really do want to meet your parents, they’re so sweet and friendly a-and funny, I’m just...I’m bad at this. Really, really bad at this.”

Klavier sighed. Apollo held his breath, anticipating the worst. Then, Klavier wrapped him in his arms, letting out another sigh of relief. “I understand, liebe, and...I forgive you. Danke for explaining yourself.” He kissed the top of Apollo’s head. “Maybe we should’ve stuck to sending you pies, ja?”

Apollo laughed wetly. “I don’t know how you’re joking right now. That’s usually my job.” He lifted his head from Klavier’s chest to look up at him with a grateful smile. “I really did love the flowers, you know. When they weren’t attacking my respiratory system, that is.”

“Still, let’s not push it any further,” Klavier said wryly. “Now - two things, if you don’t mind. First, let me give you some moisturizer for your poor, poor nose. I’m not kissing you until I’m sure your skin won’t flake off in the process.”

“Ew, thanks for the gross visual,” Apollo grimaced. “And the second thing?”

Klavier smiled. “If you're alright with it, I’d like you to tell my parents what happened...in person.”

_____

The garden was just as beautiful as Apollo imagined it to be, given the dozens and dozens of photos he’d gotten from Klavier’s papa. It was full and lush and vibrant, with towering trees that provided ample shade, a beautiful gazebo with a built-in fireplace, a gorgeous two-tiered fish pond, and of course, a plethora of flowers, as far as they could see. Everything was especially beautiful, in Apollo’s opinion, from the relative safety of the conservatory.

“We’re not throwing you to the wolves, darling,” Klavier’s mama insisted, as if she were talking about actual wild animals and not her husband’s hobby. “We’ll stay in here for high tea so you can admire the garden at a safe distance, yes?”

“Yes, th-thank you,” Apollo stammered, relieved. “High tea?”

“Today’s menu is German chocolate scones and mini-sandwiches. With the crusts cut off for my fussy baby boy, of course,” she added, pinching Klavier’s cheek with a devious grin.

“Mama,” Klavier protested, embarrassed. His papa chuckled, settling into the chair across from his son; he still had a smudge of dirt on his nose. “I’m a grown man, achtung. I have my own health insurance and everything!”

“I really am sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Gavin,” Apollo said sincerely. Despite their kindness and generosity, he was still somewhat intimidated by them, by how tall and beautiful and well-spoken they were. As much as he didn’t want to think about his former boss, Apollo could see where he and Klavier got their good looks and charm from. “I wanted to make a good impression, but I, uh, I didn’t go about it the right way. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now, but...I kept it from happening for a dumb reason, and it led to me hurting your feelings and Klavier’s feelings. I’m sorry.”

“All is forgiven,” Klavier’s papa insisted, waving a hand. “Just promise you’ll stop by every now and then, alright? Our doors are open to you, Apollo. Consider us your parents, too, if you’d like.”

Apollo smiled softly. “I would, sir.”

“It’ll be a good, allergy-free time, I promise,” he continued with a teasing wink. “We’ll bake some bread, watch some home movies...are you interested in seeing - ach, what do the kids call it - Klavier’s ‘goth phase’?”

Apollo’s mouth dropped open. “...his what.”

“Papa, nein,” Klavier whined; he really did sound like a child now. “Maybe it was a mistake to bring you here, liebling.”

“Oh, I disagree,” Apollo said, his grin widening. “I would love to see Klavier’s goth phase. Did he dye his hair?”

“Oh, did he,” Klavier’s mama said slyly with the exasperated sigh of a parent who had dealt with too much. “It’s a miracle he managed to get back to blond at all.” She then got to her feet, smoothing out the front of her apron. “Anyway, Papa and I should go check on the scones now. You two sit tight, okay?” Before Apollo could blink, she’d dropped kisses on both his and Klavier’s foreheads, then disappeared down the hallway and into the kitchen, her husband in tow. He turned to look at Klavier, who was watching him nervously.

“I love them,” Apollo admitted. “They’re so sweet, Klav, they - stop looking at me like that, will you?”

“You can’t blame me for worrying,” Klavier said, kissing him briefly. “But I’m glad to hear it. Ich liebe dich, schatz.”

“Love you too, dork,” Apollo murmured against Klavier’s lips. “...so. Did you have a lip ring, or snake bites, or - ”

“Get out of my house,” Klavier huffed, pinching Apollo’s arm with an exaggerated pout.

“Hey! This isn’t your house, it’s your parents’ house, and they said their doors were open,” Apollo teased, laughing. Rolling his eyes, Klavier pulled Apollo into his arms, the two of them snuggled up on the loveseat. In the distance, they could see birds and butterflies fluttering among the flowers, a stray squirrel or two sniffing curiously at the edge of the fish pond. It was peaceful, serene. If it wasn't for the pollen, Apollo could see himself staying outside for hours at a time. “...but seriously, I’m looking forward to the video evidence.”

“I’m sure you are,” Klavier sighed, giving Apollo one last kiss before his parents returned with a large tray of sandwiches, scones, tea, and a vase with a single red rose for decoration - hypoallergenic, of course.

_____

a/n: Welcome to my second entry for Klapollo Week 2021! Continuity-wise, this is the fourth of seven fics, but again, there is no need to read the others to follow each fic on its own. Today, I have projected my allergies and anxiety onto Apollo, because that's what fanfiction is for, right? I hope y'all like my version of the Gavins; I've written them as cold and distant a couple of times, but I usually prefer to write them as warm and witty so that Klavier has a good support system in his life.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Likes and reblogs would be much appreciated. Hoping you're all safe and healthy and doing well ❤️

[margoslxix]

Incoming mini-essay/rant on Little Shop of Horrors because I can't stop thinking about the movie and the musical and the different endings and all of that. I'm on mobile, or I'd put it under a cut.

Anyway, I keep thinking about how the ending of the musical was also originally the ending of the movie, and the fact that test audiences hated it, they were upset and felt cheated by it. And most people either basically chalk it up to "people who watch movies are too unsophisticated to appreciate unhappy endings" which... ugh, no; OR the more widely-accepted theory, "this isn't a play, so there's no curtain call, no assurance the actors are alright, they've simply been taken away and audiences feel that's unfair" which... what? Are we assuming that these people do not understand the concept of acting and can't handle character death?

No, I don't think that's the case at all.

For years, I struggled with the movie's ending. I thought it was silly, too predictable, a neat little Hollywood bow on a Faustian tale. But then, the last time I watched the movie, I completely changed my mind. I actually think I understand exactly what those test audiences saw that they didn't like.

Okay, bear with me.

I think that most of the test audience hadn't seen the musical. That's... probably obvious. What they had seen, though, was the whole beginning and middle of the movie which, being a movie, made some minor changes that changed everything.

Here's what I mean:

In the musical, Audrey II can barely move. The puppet is usually cool, but generally, you get full jaw motion and maybe a couple floppy tentacles. In the movie, however, they're this gorgeous Henson Workshop puppet, with an absolutely ridiculous amount of articulation that just wouldn't be feasible on stage. This leads to three huge changes:

1. There is no need for Seymour to trick Mushnik into climbing inside the plant. In the musical, we see Seymour calculate the most effective way to get rid of Mushnik, calmly telling him that the money is hidden deep inside the plant, easily cleaning up the loose end of Mushnik's suspicions. It's cold, it's premeditated, it's the first actual kill Seymour makes (we'll get to Orin later). In the movie, however, Rick Moranis is panicking as Mushnik accuses him, unable to get a word in edgewise as the accusations come between lines of the Suppertime song. They head up the stairs, and Audrey II easily snaps Mushnik up. Rick Moranis looks on, horrified, not necessarily consciously cornering him against the plant. It takes the agency, the premeditation, the decision to kill out of Seymour's hands.

2. In the musical, Audrey simply comes to the shop because she couldn't sleep. She senses that something's wrong with Seymour, that he's been acting erratically, and she comes to check on him. Audrey II takes advantage of this and tricks her into falling into their mouth, ultimately leading to her death. In the movie, however, this bit of contrivance isn't necessary, and we don't see this thought process for Audrey. Audrey II directly manipulates the situation, calling Audrey on the phone to goad her into coming to the shop where they can easily grab and eat her. If the ending had stayed the same, this would have ended much the same way as in the musical, but with more manipulation by Audrey II and less concern for Seymour on Audrey's part.

3. Even with the originally-filmed Bad End, "Mean Green Mother" was an entirely new song and sequence added to the movie. It's a great showcase for both the beautiful Audrey II puppet and the singing talents of the legendary Levi Stubbs, who honestly would have been wasted without a big solo number. This is a thrilling, fully-choreographed fight scene that wouldn't have worked at all on stage, but it pits Seymour against Audrey II, and we watch Seymour's sad, hopeless attempts to destroy the creature he's created. We see him struggle and fight, not quite at the bottom of a downward spiral, but finally reckoning with the creature who's been manipulating him all this time.

Even aside from Audrey II's increased physical power and aggression, there are changes to the story. Like most movie musicals, several songs have been truncated or cut completely for time, and some of these are absolutely crucial to Seymour's fall as a tragic hero

First, there's "Now (It's Just the Gas)." In the musical, this represents Seymour being unable to kill Orin, but realizing that he doesn't have to, as he is about to asphyxiate. The whole musical number features an increasingly desperate Orin begging for his life, and Seymour responding with a sort of patter song about moral dilemmas. Orin is unaware that Seymour is trying to kill him, and does not stop begging for help.

It's the first time we really get to see Seymour calculate, see his lack of empathy (not that Orin necessarily deserved it, but still). It's the beginning of the end.

In the movie, the song is replaced with a scene in which Seymour confronts Orin more directly. Rick Moranis is clearly terrified the entire time, hand and gun shaking. Orin gets the chance to ask why he's doing this, and Seymour gets the chance to tell Orin exactly what he's done wrong, reminding the audience as well that this man is a villain, and that his death is justice. He asphxiates quickly and quietly, and Seymour barely has any time to think or process what's happening.

The other most important changed song is "The Meek Shall Inherit." It's long in the musical, and Seymour gets a soliloquy about his situation. At first, he resolves to kill Audrey II, only to talk himself out of it. He clearly states that what he's doing is wrong, he knows it's wrong, but he sees himself as so worthless that Audrey will no longer love him if he destroys the one thing bringing him wealth and fame. He then immediately, very clearly, asks "where do I sign," metaphorically sealing his Faustian bargain.

Movie Seymour does no such thing. The song has been shortened to a single chorus, sung at a frenzied pace compared to the musical's version, set to a rapid montauge of a distressed, confused, lost-looking Rick Moranis being herded around to various events and crowded by reporters. He barely looks like he gets any say whatsoever in this, his fame is a tide that he's utterly swept up in.

All of these changes utterly change the themes of the story. Seymour is no longer a desperate man who makes a deal with a being that is wholly dependent on him, consciously and coldly killing to sustain it, in the hopes of winning the heart of the girl of his dreams with money and fame, as he is in the musical. Instead, he's a poor, anxious man, helplessly being passed from an abusive father figure to a manipulative, dangerous, powerful alien who causes mayhem and violence around him.

For this Seymour, a tragic end is a slap in the face. It's a betrayal of the audience, who have been rooting for this poor guy to free himself of these influences in his life from the beginning of the movie. It would have been an empty, soulless ending for the musical, of course, but that's because the entire musical has been establishing the classic downward spiral of a tragic hero, while the movie really wasn't.

The thing is, I don't think any of these individual changes are bad, per se. I think that each one was pretty sensible to manage the runtime and spectacle of a feature film, as well as utilizing the cast to their potential. It just so happens that they all come together to make something that is fundamentally, incompatibly different from the source material.

And that's okay!

[gch1995]

A part of me feels like doing a rewatch of OUAT S1-3A on Disney+ and/or Hulu, but the other part of me is shying away from that idea because I feel like I'm probably going to end up crying my eyes out of heartbreak over the sheer feelings of bitterness and betrayal towards A&E and the writers of this show for making the dumb choice to kill off Neal in 3B, and then systematically destroying and retconning Rumple, Belle, Rumbelle, Snow, David, Snowing, Emma, and even Henry from the end of 3B-S7 because Kitsowitz and these writers clearly ran out of story to tell after the Neverland arc, and because these writers got a boner for Captain Hook/CS.

It's just that I really loved the Rumple, Belle, Rumbelle, Snow, David, Snowing, Emma, and Henry of S1-3A. Yes, they were flawed, but not in ways that ever felt cheaply shocking, cartoonish, ooc, one-dimensional, and/or stupid.

I related to their insecurities of not feeling worthy of love. I related to their tendencies to push people away because they didn't want to get hurt, and/or they didn't want their loved ones to get hurt because of them. I related to their introversion. I related to their desires to be better people. I related to their internal moral struggles with fighting the temptation to take the easy way out by being selfish to protect themselves, protect their loved ones, and/or find their loved ones, even if it meant that others might/would get hurt in the process, which we got to see play out on screen. I related to their awkward and witty senses of humor. I admired their bravery, their curiosity, their intelligence, their great capacities for love and selflessness, and while I didn't approve of their bad choices and/or crimes, it usually made consistent, relatable, and sympathetic sense as to why they were driven to make them out of desperation, fear, a desire to protect their loved ones, and/or a desire to be close to family again.

I quit watching after S5 because I couldn't stand the most of the writing choices for anyone in the main cast anymore, and, while I know that Emma, Rumple, Belle, Snow, David, and Henry all got "redemption" arcs and "happy endings" tacked on at the end, I still didn't feel emotionally invested anymore in their canon because everything that once made them relatively compelling, consistent, dynamic, and relatable characters and/or relationships had been completely destroyed by increasingly cheaply shocking, contrived, inconsistent, flanderdized, wildly ooc, melodramatically toxic, and stupid character assassinating bad writing choices one times too many throughout the end of 3B-S7.

Plus, no one in the remaining main cast really ever experienced any sort of growth after the Neverland arc, anyway. They just got character assassinated and/or retconned multiple times in increasingly contrived, ooc, and stupid ways , so that they could force them all to have Aesop's Amnesia (learn the same lessons over and over again) , which ultimately led them back to the exact same places they had already ended up at in "Going Home" (3x11) at the end of S6-S7, anyway.

Unfortunately, like I said before, I didn't care anymore about canon because they had all been destroyed by inexplicable character assassinating bad writing one too many times, both individually and as couples.

I'm tempted to do a rewatch of S1-3A because I don't want to acknowledge the bullshit on screen that came after in the next four-and-a-half seasons to be canon, but I'm worried that I'll just start sobbing my heart out when I remember how much Kitsowitz and these writers destroyed really beautiful, relatable, and complex characters and relationships, so that they could essentially reboot the show centered around Hook/CS, cheap shock value, recycled plots, and nonsensical and painfully character assassinating magical soap opera melodrama garbage instead.

[tea-mew96]

An Analysis of Armada Starscream’s Character Arc

So after reading @baebeyza‘s answer to an ask here, I decided I wanted to make a separate post sharing my view on some of the points made there, mainly the ones taking about Starscream’s character arc. Make sure to read that original post before going through this in order for this anything below to make sense. This is all my personal interpretation btw, so feel free to agree or disagree as much as you want. Also, spoilers for Transformers Armada.

For starters, I’m of the belief that Armada is a mess in regards to writing up until the Unicron Battles act of the show, but Starscream’s arc was arguably one of the better parts of Armada IMO. Plus he’s one of my fave characters in the show. Thus, I’m going to analyze and provide my perspective on some of the things mentioned in the original post. 

1.) The fight between Megatron and Starscream in “Rebellion”. If you thought the fight between these two in this episode felt contrived, that’s because in-universe it kinda was. Remember Sideways? He was manipulating both Megatron and Starscream throughout that entire episode in order to get those two to fight to the death. He was successful in getting the fight to happen, but there was no death of one of the bots like he had hoped would happen.

2.) Thrust and Megatron’s plan in “Sacrifice”. It’s true that Starscream had ownership of the Star Saber when the Decepticons finally got it their hands on it. That is, until Megatron had his Minicon Leader-1 trick him into attacking Demolisher with the sword in “Conspiracy”. The end-result was everyone agreeing that only Megatron should be allowed to wield the Star Saber, questioning Starscream’s competence. Ever since then, Megatron was the one in charge of the sword.

So why didn’t he want Starscream to have the sword? Simple: Megatron is an arrogant dick who is afraid of Starscream. Megatron sees Starscream’s confidence as a threat to his status as supreme Decepticon leader, and Starscream challenging him to that fight in “Rebellion” (despite his emotions being manipulated by Sideways in order to do it) is evidence of that fear being somewhat founded in Megatron’s eyes.

As for Thrust, he’s also quite arrogant, thinking of himself as the “best tactician”. Because of his perceived high-intelligence and ability to think of “great strategies”, Thrust believes that he’s better than any other Decepticon…including Starscream. The fact that someone so “below him” has the title of “second in command” doesn’t sit well with Thrust.

Basically, what you end up with are two arrogant people who either don’t like and/or fear Starscream.

The plan that Thrust makes is aimed to retrieve the Requiem Blaster, a powerful weapon which is currently back at the Autobot base. If they want a chance of breaking in, they’re going to have to lure as many Autobots as they can out of the base. In other words, they need a distraction. And because of their combined distaste for Starscream, Megatron and Thrust decide that he is the one that should be the distraction. I’m also guessing another reason to keep him in the dark was to keep the reaction as convincing to the Autobots as possible; sometimes being informed on the twist causes a less-convincing performance, and a convincing disguise was an important thing the plan needed in order for it to work. Thrust does imply that Megatron would have to give up the Star Saber for a time in order to ensure the retrival of the Requiem Blaster, which Megatron agrees to. Starscream only got the Star Saber in this situation because of that little tradeoff to make the plan work: distract the Autobots with the opportunity of getting the Star Saber back while the Decepticons invaded their base and grabbed the Requiem Blaster. And the mission does end up being a success.

This plan was definitely a gamble, as they could’ve easily lost the Star Saber and the chance to grab the Requiem Blaster, but it was one that worked in their favor, so all’s well that ends well. Who cares how Starscream feels about not being informed? Megatron and Thrust sure didn’t.

3.) Starscream, Alexis, and Sympathy

I’m also going to argue that while the messy writing can make it difficult to feel bad for Starscream, that doesn’t mean the potential to isn’t there. I personally have a lot of sympathy for him, even if his story wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve.

“Rebellion” and Thrust’s plan in “Sacrifice” are both driving forces for Starscream to join the Autobots, and a justifiable one IMO.

In “Rebellion”, Starscream gets beaten by Megatron for…no reason. Starscream followed Megatron’s orders exactly as he wanted. But because they lost the previous battle and Megatron can’t admit to being wrong, he blames the loss on Starscream anyway. Sideways says in-show that Megatron beating up Starscream for his own loss was absurd. And the abuse only stops when Demolisher blasts his way in and intervenes.

“Sacrifice” only furthers this mistreatment of Starscream, being used as a punching bag for the plan and getting abandoned without being informed about what was going to happen. This combined with the multiple times he’s been belittled by both Megatron and Thrust sends him over the edge, attacking everyone in the base when he gets back and eventually going to the Autobots for refuge and help to get revenge.

When Starscream arrives, the Autobots-especially Hot Shot-are reluctant to have a Decepticon join the folds so little after their dear friend Smokescreen almost dying by their hand. Hot Shot in particular is still hurt over Sideways’ betrayal. I’d argue those facts make for valid and understandable concerns, even if it results in some drama.

Regardless of their hesitance, almost everyone knows and agrees that having Starscream go back to the Decepticon base after attacking everyone there wasn’t going to end well for him. Thus, Optimus orders that they will let Starscream join their ranks (he’s a good dad).

Alexis was one of the first to suggest that Starscream join, and one of the first to attempt to get him to open up to cooperation with the team, probably because she saw potential in having him as an ally like Optimus did. Towards the end of the episode “Mars”, Alexis congratulates Starscream on a job well-done with getting the Minicon Firebot to join their side (praise ain’t something Starscream receives a lot of). Starscream scoffs and says he’s only on their side to defeat Megatron, but he leaves behind a moon rock, something that the kids had asked Jetfire and Starscream for earlier before going on a mission to Mars. I agree with Alexis in her conclusion that this is evidence of Starscream starting to change for the better. In the next episode “Crack”, the kids award Starscream for his nice gift by throwing him a surprise party and gifting him a chamois. What stands out to me about this scene is that Starscream has no idea how to react. He’s confused because he’s not used to receiving many positive words of praise from his former Decepticon peers, much less a present. 

He does push away help and positivity from the Autobots and the kids (to unintentionally hilarious degrees at times), but I think that’s partly due to the kind of impact his experiences with Megatron have had on his mind. He wants approval and acceptance, but once he starts getting it he rejects it. This is merely speculation from a psychological perspective, but I think Starscream has a hard time getting used to receiving kindness because whether consciously or subconsciously, he doesn’t believe he deserves it. The belittlement and mistreatment by Megatron has made him believe otherwise, and/or that every positive acknowledgement received always comes with a catch later on.

Yes, Starscream does return to the Decepticon fold later in “Crack” when Thrust convinces him that he has a better chance to get revenge on Megatron by coming back and conspiring with Thrust. But his short time with the Autobots and kids did impact him. He was extremely hesitant to fire the Hydra Cannon at Earth in “Threaten” and “Crisis” (even though he fires the cannon anyway after said hesitation), regretted the death of Optimus in “Remorse”, saved the kids from being killed by the Requiem Blaster (now in the hands of Thrust) in “Drift”,  and stays behind to help Alexis retrieve her necklace safely (made from the moon rock Starscream gave the kids) in “Portent”. Starscream shows even after leaving that he has started to learn a little bit about compassion.

During the show, Starscream becomes a person who isn’t quite sure whom he should side with, as his personal goals contradict the overall goals of both sides. And how does his story end? He gets killed by Unicron, trying to convince Megatron (technically Galvatron now, but whatever) that Unicron is a real threat and that he needs to ally with Optimus and his team to defeat him. And his final words? Telling Megatron that he was a dick to him and that Optimus treated him better in that short time period than Megatron ever did.

Look, I get it. Armada’s a mess of storytelling. I wish there was more build up to Starscream defecting to the Autobots and coming back to the Decepticon fold. But we still got a pretty descent arc in the end, even if it could’ve been done better. I can’t make anyone feel sympathy for Starscream, but I refuse to deny that his story didn’t impact me or many others.

Starscream’s arc to me is the story of an abused bot trying to find his place in the world and not truly finding it in the end. It’s the story of a bot who dedicated every fiber of his being to serving his leader and getting nothing but shit in return. I feel bad for Starscream; he deserved so, so much better than what he got.

The thing about that chamois scene is that it had a longer impact on Starscream than the episode initially implied, as I mentioned in the examples above. I’m sure exchanging of gifts probably won’t mean much to someone who is used to getting and giving them. But to a bot who’s been abused by Megatron like Starscream was? That’s a fucking revelation. That’s new. That challenges his viewpoint of the world around him. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t have had second thoughts about firing the Hydra Cannon. He wouldn’t of saved the kids, he wouldn’t have helped Alexis with the necklace. He wouldn’t of helped Optimus convince Megatron to join forces and defeat Unicron.

Alexis was a firm believer that Starscream could be a better person and by extension get onto a path of recovery by showing him small acts of compassion and kindness at a time and celebrating those small victories of improvement. She wanted to be his friend because she recognized the potential he had. She recognized that Starscream needed support, needed a friend, deserved respect. That’s something he never got much of if any during his times as a Decepticon. 

TL;DR Starscream’s character arc in Armada ain’t perfect but it’s still one of the best stories in the show that can impact you and I will forever stan him.

[princeescaluswords]

For the fanfic ask meme: 14, 15, and for number 4: "Androcles and the Lion"

Number 14:  What trope would you refuse to write even if you were paid to do it?

This was an extraordinarily difficult for me, because at first I tried to narrow it down to one trope, and in the end I couldn’t do it.  I also want to say that I’ve only ever written in the Teen Wolf fandom, so it is very heavily influenced by the fiction of that fandom.  

1. Neglected Friend Seeks Redress.  To be specific, I would never write this trope from the point of view of the so-called “neglected” friend as a positive story.  I might write it as a horror story, but I would make it absolutely clear that the so-called “neglected” friend was the monster.  

I get that it’s a powerful fantasy, the desire to hurt those people who did not treat you right, but ninety-nine times out of a hundred this particular trope is based on the idea of ‘friendship as transaction’ and I have had enough people in my own life who confused being in a relationship with ownership.  Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, these stories are written as if a friend exploring other aspects of their own life, such as having other friends or getting a romantic partner, is a betrayal.   Do friendships change and sometimes that hurts?  Sure.  But if you believe that your relationship gives you the right to determine the course of other people’s lives and that their primary focus must always be on you, you don’t need better friends, you need therapy.    

My stance comes from two sources: my own learning as a child, where I grappled with an overactive imagination which suspected my friends of not actually liking me, and from the Teen Wolf fandom, where parts of the fandom treat Stiles as if he owns Scott, and that Scott having other priorities is the rankest betrayal.  How many times have you seen someone claim that Scott was a terrible friend in Season 1 because he spent too much time and effort staying alive and fighting Peter’s attempt to enslave him and not enough time seeing to Stiles’s emotional needs?  How many times have you seen an angry Fanon Stiles sulk and whine and plan to show Scott who’s boss because Scott’s attention shifted to Allison or Isaac or Kira or Liam, when Canon Scott still spent most of his time with Stiles?  How many times has Fanon Stiles arranged for Scott to be hurt, maimed, stripped of his power, and even killed for the unforgivable crime of not making Stiles the most important person in his life?  

No.  There’s enough of that crap in the fandom already; I don’t need to add more to it.

2. In a similar vein, Suicide as Revenge, aka The 13-Reasons-Why Scenario has an extraordinarily slim chance of ever appearing from my pen.  Suicide is a terrible thing, a tragedy, and writing about it deserves the utmost sensitivity and competence, but I’ve never seen it handled with enough of either, even from the original novel or the television show.

I’m sure that a more talented writer could make this particular trope work, but too often to me the stories that use it come across as power fantasies and not  particularly healthy ones.  It feels like emotional blackmail -- you, as a reader, can’t even question the suicidal character’s motivations and ethics because of the necessary sensitivity when approaching the topic  Even saying, for example, that there must be two sides to the story, that the people accused in the letters or the video-tapes or the messages from beyond the grave have a right to defend themselves or even given the benefit of the doubt feels like callously dismissing the suicide itself.  The whole story feels like cheap manipulation, and writing about suicide should never feel that way.

Number 15: Describe one of your WIPs in the weirdest/most contrived way possible!

Colton Haynes walks into MTV studios at the beginning of the process of writing season 4.  

Jeff: “Not that it’s not good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

Colton: “I’m here to talk about Jackson’s arc in Season 4 and 5.”  

Jeff looks around, confused: “We wrote you out at the end of Season 2.”

Colton: “Yeah.  Super dumb.  You really botched cast changes, J.D.  You derailed narrative focus and twisted your plots into pretzels because you were afraid to recast me.  I’m here to fix it.  We’ll start with having Jackson and Stiles fall in love.”

Jeff: “Ohhhh-kay.  Uhm.  What else did you have in mind?”

Colton spreads his hands out: “I see Jackson returning from London as a catalyst for the characters actually confronting their trauma instead of burying it like no teenager ever did in the history of teenager-dom.”

Jeff: “Teenager-dom is not a word.”

Colton: “It is now.   We’re also going to explode amatonormativity, especially the idea that a character can only have one intense relationship at a time.  And --”

Jeff, sweating: “Yes?”

Colton: “We’re going to stop treating the audience with contempt.  Teenagers and young adults are absolutely capable of embracing nuance while still being entertained.  Okay?  Let’s get to work.” 

This is for the series, Strike the Sun.  

Number 4: What would this fiction be about, based on the title?

This story would be about that there are many reasons to save someone else’s life or to save someone from pain, and that they shouldn’t necessarily engender trust.  Empathy is a powerful emotion, and it can lead to friendship and trust and leadership, but it’s not an absolute given that it will end up that way.

Saving a person’s life is a good act, but the empathy and courage required to do it doesn’t prevent the character who saved others from indulging in immoral actions or even villainy and it certainly doesn’t justify their villainy.  Only principle can help determine if a person could be trusted or followed.  If the character doesn’t believe that a person deserves saving because they are a person, or that killing someone to achieve their goals is wrong even if  it someone the character dislikes, all the empathy and courage in the world won’t keep the character from being the bad guy.

In other words, the story will be about taking the concept of ‘shades-of-gray’ out behind the barn and shooting it like Old Yeller.

[theonceoverthinker]

One thing I feel like hasn’t been brought up in the ever-growing list of BS that us Clover/Fair Game fans have had to deal with over the past few weeks (Though to be fair, it is QUITE the pile) is that not only was Qrow’s arc of recovery botched up, but so was Qrow’s arc of accepting a new team (They’re similar, mind you, but not the same).

Qrow and Clover’s opening piece of dialogue in “Ace Ops” very forwardly presents the fact that Qrow’s gone without a team for a long time. Honestly, when I heard this exchange, I felt the episode practically screaming at me that this was going to be Qrow’s major arc this volume. It was Qrow’s second 1:1 scene of the volume, and while the Ironwood hug was nice in the moment, it didn’t present an arc in the same way that this moment did. And it made sense. It’s been years since STRQ were all together, they’re clearly not coming back together any time soon (Or, so it seems, at least if Summer ends up being alive), and because of that, Qrow’s been off on his own since they broke up. True, he was working for Oz, but in terms of people who he was on an equal footing with, he didn’t have one once he lost STRQ. Right now, his main roles in life are either a mentor to the kids or a pseudo underling to Oz, and his trust in the latter -- the closest thing Qrow had to equality -- was completely shattered in the last volume.

And let’s talk about RWBY and the concept of teamwork. Teamwork and unity in RWBY are the end all, be all themes of the show. If you have a team, and you’re all together and working in harmony, you’re basically unstoppable (Bonus points if you’re at least friends with them). On a meta level, that’s how our main characters are able to take on so many of the insane threats they’ve been exposed to despite their ages, and the series wants you to know that. For God’s sake, the theme song of the first volume has the prominent lyric of “your heart will open mine,” and this volume’s theme song was literally called “Trust Love.” 

Basically, Teamwork is a BIG DEAL in RWBY. 

And Qrow hasn’t had a team in a long time, and after everything that happened to him in the previous volume, getting a new teammate at the very least isn’t out of left field for his direction. It’s a new avenue to explore with his character, at the very least as well as a logical next step. So to see this volume acknowledge that absence of a team in his life and try to pair him off with someone make a lot of sense. If you have teammates, and especially if you like them, you are strengthened and empowered. And Qrow’s character, especially after hitting his lowest moment in Volume 6, needed to feel strengthened and empowered in order to further his own recovery (The only story it made sense to forward for him).

That’s where Clover comes in. Yes, he’s part of a team, but he’s the odd man out (Quite literally, but also in his post “Ace Ops” framing, where he’s basically never with his team). He and Qrow (On top of being paired together in the only two-man group of the episode while the rest stay in groups of at least five) work well together, and complement each other’s abilities, to boot.

AND this is the big thing -- Clover’s character is aware of the fundamental (Borderline meta) law of this universe in the same way that so many of us are: Teams are a good thing. Teams make you not only a better fighter, but a better person. So when Qrow tells him that he no longer works on a team and decided to stick to working on his own, Clover calls that a shame. It’s no accident that this is Clover’s first humanizing moment (While we have the apology in the previous episode, the fact that this exchange is made on a 1:1 scale makes it far more personable and memorable) and we agree with him because we too understand the laws of this universe, and want the characters we like to stay together.

And every subsequent action that followed the two of them -- from Qrow trusting Clover with the knowledge of his semblance to Clover making sure Qrow doesn’t beat himself up about it nor deflect compliments to wordlessly communicating to flirting making fun quips at Schnee Manor to flirting jovially showing off on the plane to basically everything having to do with the first Tyrian fight -- reinforced this idea and showed that Qrow was not only rewarded for finding a new teammate, he was rewarded WELL for finding one. Clover’s emotionally supportive, kind, someone Qrow can bounce off of and back onto on equal footing, and has enough of his own nuances to make him interesting, even without Qrow by his side. By the laws of the RWBY universe, Qrow and Clover are doing everything right in terms of developing as a team. I’d argue that this development for him is just as important for him as his addiction recovery because this is such a root cause of his suffering. STRQ falling apart meant a great deal to him, and may have been if not the first instance in his life that played into his alcoholism, a major contributor all the same.

It’s why we were all so strong in our belief that Clover would come through -- because he was the base that Qrow’s arc this volume revolved around: It’s not better to avoid being part of something because you’re scared of your dangers, and it’s worth it to take the risk to trust others because that’s where one gets their strength. @skybird13 just started a series of writings going into a lot more detail about how the character we got in episodes 1-11 was not the character set up in episode 12, so I’m just gonna link you all to part 1.

And then that wonderful arc is taken away. It’s taken away in the cruelest, most contrived, most violent way possible, set up only by a borderline throwaway line, yet has the gall to deliver itself in a way that pretends like it had so much more backing. This isn’t a situation of “oh, cruel fate,” showing that even when they did everything right, things still fell apart. It’s a case of bad writing forcing a tragedy by pushing the characters around like toys in a dollhouse (Only with more contrivances). 

Just...hasn’t Qrow suffered enough already? So many others have said this, but what comes of Qrow losing yet another person in his life, either to betrayal or death? They had a chance to do something different, and all the stars were aligned to do so...but they didn’t, and that just sucks on every level.

[thatoldijivibe]

YashaHime Episode 5 Iji Ramble

What I thought was just going to be a “Queen Kags got shoved into Kikyou’s shadow :|” two para turned into a bit of a ramble so.. incoherent rambling under cut. 

Will Kagome ever not have her worth be directly tied into the fact she’s a reincarnation of a GREAT PRIESTESS KIKYO? How about, I don’t know, Moroha was born from the great priestess who traveled through time, tamed the wild InuYasha, destroyed the Shikon no Tama and saved the world versus being likely corrupted by it like ANOTHER PRIESTESS WE KNOW? Am I the only one who noticed this? 

Why are our kids being stepped over for Taisho and Kikyou as far as recognition? Wat? WAT? 

And the rouge of Moroha’s. I don’t remember that being a thing in the Manga, but I thought InuYasha gave that rouge to Kikyou in the Anime series as a show of affection to her, saying it was one of the last remnants of what he had of his mother, Izayoi. And I remember Naraku showing that he had the rouge and crushing it in his hand as InuYasha to drive home his betrayal to her. 

I’m HOPING if it was restored that it was by Kaede and she gave it to Moroha after InuYasha and Kagome poofed for reasons still strangely unexplained because she knew it had been InuYasha’s, which is still a little odd that she’d give a gift he gave her mother’s essential rival as a show of devotion, but it’d be even more strange, imho, for InuYasha to have either given it to Kagome or Moroha after he’d given it to Kikyou. 

“Here you go, Kagome, Love of my life, bringer of my peace, completion of my world - Here is rouge that is the last remaining remnant of my human mother that I cherished so much I was nearly drowned over if you hadn’t stopped me from falling into the trap of her image.”  “It looks used?”  “Yeah, that’s probably from when I gave this to Kikyou, love of my life, bringer of my peace, completion of my world who I nearly tortured you with the thoughts that I would abandon you for her at the end of our journey and let her drag me to hell because of residual feelings for her and personal guilt. Just ignore those :)”

And, again, I’m probably thinking too much here but I’m so confused as to why Kags who fought so hard to be known in her own right and to be considered powerful outside of Kikyou’s shadow is nowhere being given her dues. Moroha’s blood having more taste of Taisho’s and the rouge being able to make her taste moreso like it? When her dad’s, his son didn’t taste as good or as alike to him? Is Kagome’s blood doing that? How does that even work? I know it’s magic and demons and all fantasy but this basic stuff MAKES NO SENSE!? HOW DOES BLOOD TASTE SKIP GENERATIONS? TELL ME SUNRISE, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!

Setsuna and Towa are the same as they always have been to me. I think even if I was a SessRin shipper I’d be pretty meh about these two. Towa, the fighting fiend, wanting to just apologize to a literal monster who sucks out the bones of living men and animals alike? Just apologize and move on? What? Even Kagome didn’t think like that and she was pretty pacifistic. Setsuna is everything about Sesshoumaru I didn’t enjoy so that’s a no brainer that I’m waiting for their scenes to be over so we can get on with the plot. ‘I’m not so weak I need to uproot my life to get the ability to sleep back. Leave me alone, annoying sister who came to the warring states era to essentially just help me with that one task.’

Moroha’s ingenuity still gets me and has me grin. The purification salt in her mouth for the demon was pretty awesome as far as smarts. Would like to know what her debt is about. Her silliness gets ramped up a little too much sometimes. I think they want her to fill too many roles to keep the trio interesting; smart and expositiony, aggressive and foolhardy, and a hint comic relief. Sometimes it works, but this episode I was kind of meh for me. She felt a little flat until the fight, but they all kind of did so I think maybe that was just an issue with an episode for me? 

Hearing her belt out InuYasha’s attacks was total fanservice and I was there for it, tbh. 

I hadn’t intended this to be a full blown rant about the episode, especially given that for all of the balls it rolled into motion it didn’t really feel like a lot at any given point. It moved at a breakneck pace, like they all have, as if they’re playing catch up to something and yet every episode really doesn’t have -that- much happen to it. It all gets crammed into the second half and is done quickly. I don’t remember the episodes of IY feeling like this, but maybe that’s just nostalgia goggles. I remember thinking as I was watching “This kind of a fight, if it’s part of such a big aspect of the coming plot, feels like it should have had an episode or two of build up and a few touch and goes with the enemy to signal its significance to the over arching plot.” Kind of like how some of Naraku’s minions would have an episode or three arc of a grand scheme that moved the team closer to their end goal or a revelation before being shooed off or how a major development/fight between Sesshoumaru and InuYasha would have an episode or two building up to them running into each other. 

InuYasha has always beaten you over the head with concepts but you could still get completely blindsided by something or they’d say JUST ENOUGH to get you interested or curious. Here, stuff that seems important isn’t given much time or energy narratively, stuff that doesn’t seem important is given a bunch of attention (Setsuna learning how to play violin really had to happen in 3 days? She couldn’t have had that been a developmental thing throughout and something to grow with?) and we’re getting bombarded with exposition about things but nobody seems to be talking about anything... interesting? 

 I can see them not necessarily ‘dancing around’ the subject of the inu tachi, if they all know why they’re gone and they’ve been gone for years then they wouldn’t be talking about it because it’s common knowledge; that’s natural. Narratively for the audience, though.. Why would that be obvious not to talk about but Moroha’s blood and lineage need attention? That’s where the logic breaks me. We already know Moroha is a 1/3 demon. We know who her parents are (We can’t go long anymore without someone comparing her to one of them anymore, which is getting old and repetitive.). They know who her parents are. Why do we need to spend a half of an episode of Myoga expositing about -who- her family line is and less about their being missing? Myoga talking about how she tastes better than her father, but no mention of ‘I miss him’ or ‘Poor Lord InuYasha, I wish I knew where he was’ or ‘He was gone from us too soon, Lady Moroha. You would have loved him.’ or anything like he used to go on about Taisho to his sons? He clearly was endeared enough to either InuYasha or Moroha to be hanging with her to the point he didn’t meet up with Setsuna to determine she was Sesshoumaru’s kid before now. 

The same thing goes for how Kohaku and Miroku and Sango’s boy (I can not remember his name for the life of me) Didn’t know about Sesshoumaru and his daughters or that Setsuna was related to him and, for all intents and purposes, Rin - who Kohaku had traveled with for some time? The lack of details or discussion around these things is feeling more contrived than natural at this point seeing as they clearly remember these people, they’ve interacted with them as adults (Setsuna’s memory of Miroku now confirmed) so the memory wipe thing seems... odd. Unless it’s a situation where they’re all enchanted to remember their existence but placated as to not to go seeking them out. Or maybe they searched and didn’t find anything but again.. Miroku talking to Setsuna and her not knowing who he was despite growing up in the same village they settled down in? Was that just an illusion? What is up with this timeline? 

I kind of hope we’re not going to get our fix of the old group through sequences like Kohaku and Sango’s son where each character hits a milestone or a type of demon and someone who knew the original group gives a “Oh, when your Mom/Dad fought that during their journey they learned/defeated it by doing this!” InuYasha got it a few times, but often that was because he was having to learn a new skill via Tetsusaiga, or Kagome needing to learn to do something Kikyou once did, but it was always handled with an almost sense of reverence and feeling of a new challenge, not so much ‘Here’s a clip that the audience would remember that this character will likely shrug off or seem weird learning because they don’t really care about people they don’t remember (All three) or even like (Setsuna).’ 

Final note: Where are the damned twins? I hope they have a boy crazy streak. Miroku was cringe at times with his groping but the girls being the flirty ones would be an adorable change of pace. 

[minaminokyoko]

Peace Talks Reactions

Hey, Dresden Fandom. You guys may or may not be knee deep in Peace Talks, but if you are, I welcome you to the below reactions, in handy dandy bullet form. I would love to discuss the book if you’re interested, whether you reblog with comments or shoot me a chat. I just finished the book, so all spoilers are below the Read More tag. 

Woof. Well, at least it was something after six fucking years of waiting.

·         So before Butcher’s giant hiatus, we had this first chapter of Peace Talks already and I have to say I still feel like I felt six years ago: I don’t really know where he’s going with Thomas becoming a father. In terms of what that will do for him as a character. For Harry, it’s different. Harry keeps it close to the chest with his decisions, willing to die for the greater good in an instant, and becoming a father made him have to be more careful and thoughtful in his actions to be sure he can be there for his baby girl. I’m not sure where Butcher is going with this for Thomas, but I guess we’ll see.

·         I was pleased to find out Harry decided to stick with the protected apartment and is trying his best on Dad duty. Me gusta.

·         Right, let’s get to the first big elephant in the room: Ebenezar. Oh my fucking God. I want to punch his fucking lights out. My friend and I have argued about his reaction to seeing Thomas at the apartment already. I know Eb has Harry by a thousand years or more in experience, but it pisses me off that Eb can’t be bothered to learn more about Thomas. Nope. Just skip straight to irrational anger.  It was also disappointing to find out that Eb is not a part of Harry’s life as much as I thought he was in the past, so clearly he doesn’t understand how important Thomas is to him. I’m a bit miffed that Harry didn’t explain Thomas is his half-grandson to help him understand, but at the same time, Harry might be worried about what that revelation will do. Either way, it displays a massive lack of trust in Harry. To think Harry—who has survived all this fucking shit from the supernatural world so far—is just a pawn and he doesn’t know how incredibly dangerous the White Court is. Eb is downright disrespectful and insulting to his own grandson. I’m sorry, but I think he’s being an asshat in huge proportions by just thinking Harry is too stupid to know better and by not asking him why he feels loyal to Thomas.

·         In that same vein, Eb’s whole thing about wanting Harry to leave Maggie somewhere can kiss my ass. I’m with Harry on this one. It’s not that I don’t trust the foster care system and I think anything negative about adoption, either. Maggie is a target because she’s a Dresden. That’s it. There is nothing she can ever do about it. She is the daughter of Harry Dresden, Captain fuckin’ Disaster of the supernatural world. There is no place she can go where she will be safe and Harry is honestly her best shot at being watched over and protected, but not only that, if she’s gonna be in danger her whole life, she might as well be loved and cared for by her father too. Harry brings up such a good point about feeling abandoned and rejected and how Eb’s “protection” jag didn’t work for Margaret either. I know he wants what’s best for her, but I agree that Maggie has a better chance of surviving at Harry’s side than somewhere else. Hell’s bells, that’s how this whole fucking thing started anyway. Susan’s bitch ass hid the kid and it didn’t work. Sheesh.

·         And now the other elephant in the room: Murphy. I think part of me forgot how severe her injuries were. I had assumed months of PT and such would allow her to be mobile again, but then I read Chapter 5 and now I’m just angry and hurt. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. You just don’t. I can’t help it. Murphy is my favorite, goddamn it. I’ve reread the books where she’s helping Harry the most because their dynamic is so phenomenal. They’re my OTP. She is one of the best written female characters I’ve ever known, so ripping her ability to be at Harry’s side away is so…2020. It’s just a nasty, horrible thing and it’s shot my excitement for this novel right in the foot. I didn’t realize how important it was to me that Murphy is Harry’s badass ace in the hole until I was told she’ll be lucky to walk again. I know things have to get worse for characters in order for them to grow, but fuck this so much. I am praying she gets a magical contract or healing or a wish or something so she’s back in action or I’m done.

·         With that same elephant, fuck Jim Butcher for skipping over the foreplay at the end of Chapter 5. Yes, I said it. Fuck him. I know he thinks it’s funny to frustrate us, but this is an act of betrayal of the highest order. Why? Because I’ve waited TWENTY FUCKING YEARS for Harry and Murphy to go canon, and what does he do the first time we, the audience, get to see them in a relationship? Cut to curtains fluttering. Fuck you. We deserved that foreplay scene. No, I will NOT use my fucking imagination, pun intended. I just paid you $15 to use YOUR imagination, Jim. You spent fifteen books building up the trust, love, loyalty, and sexual tension of these two characters. That’s countless words and countless pages. And now that they’re FINALLY together, nope, skip it. Skip what should have been something intimate and powerfully emotional. Ha-ha-fucking-ha. I hope you step on a Lego barefoot. I will try to have faith that Butcher will give us what we want—a canon version of Chapter 14 of Skin Game—but if he doesn’t, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.

·         The thought of Mab and Lara Raith working together is utterly terrifying. No. Just no. Ugh, there are bad times ahead. I also thought it was kind of contrived that Lara is owed favors, which forces Harry to not be able to say no, and I think it’s a bit lazy on Jim’s part for this convenient block to be there and he can’t refuse the favors. It just felt like he didn’t want to put the energy into painting Harry into a corner this time, so here, a convenient favor. That being said, I cackled when Mab called him a bowl of porridge. That was legitimately hilarious. What a bitch.

·         Mm, Harry just called Murphy his girlfriend. I’ve waited twenty years for that alone. *happy sigh*

·         Oh, great. Someone sent Thomas to assassinate someone. I’m betting blackmail, whether he admits to it or not.

·         LOL @ Harry’s cursing policy with Maggie.

·         Harry. Don’t. Make. Promises. EVER.

·         I would not be the least bit surprised if this assassination attempt is Mab’s idea to cut off all of Harry’s allies but her so he will have no choice but to use her protection more often. Mab is a cold fuckin’ piece. Pun intended.

·         Harry, for real, do not square up with Ebenezar. You are a wolf, for sure, but that man is a werewolf by comparison.

·         I’m getting real tired of Ebenezar’s anti-vampire schtick. I get it. They’re bad. Now shut up.

·         This is so unfortunate: I’ve been missing Lara Raith just because she’s a hoot but with this whole favor thing and Harry and Murphy being fitted for chastity belts, I’m more tired than anything else.

·         Oh, neat, one of Gard’s sisters!

·         Of course Lara knows about Thomas being Ebenezar’s grandson. It’s Lara.

·         Oh, good, I’m sure whatever deal Harry just made with Molly isn’t stupid or reckless.

·         Yes, Sanya is a VERY weird man. That is an understatement, Butters.

·         Aha. I had a hunch it was River Shoulders and not the Genoskwa.

·         And oh good, the Genoskwa’s not dead. Yay. I hate you, Butcher.

·         Now there is a good tidbit of story for the series: that the reason everything is accelerating into bad news is we’re about to hit that 666 year mark that people are talking about, where the even worse shit hits. We’ve had small clues about Harry being starborn and this helps provide context for the shit that happens to him. I hope it’s not a Chosen One scenario, but it does explain why he’s been in so many scrapes and why he’s made it out of them so far. However, I tend to dislike destiny in most stories. It can get tedious. We’ll see what’s in store.

·         Ugh, and there it is, but I already knew Lara was gonna make poor Harry break Thomas out from the book trailer anyhow. Sigh.

·         Murphy calling the White Council useless is a fuckin’ mood and a half. I swear, they ain’t nothing but useless since these books first started. Harry hit the nail on the head earlier with Carlos and the Wardens, that they spend a lot of time talking at Harry but not listening. That’s been their entire M.O. from the start. They don’t listen to anything he has to say; they just insist they know better and that he should fall in line, not caring about what he has on said line, which is very often innocent lives. I love the hypocrisy of them preaching to him about making cold, rational decisions when it’s not their asses who have to deal with the consequences. Yes, there is fallout from what Harry does, but the opposition is always there and it doesn’t act solely based on what Harry Dresden does. I really fucking hate the Council at this point.

·         So we get a second of tender kissing in the tub and an “I love you” and then Butcher cuts away again. I am so over it. I don’t have enough energy to put towards how angry he’s making me right now and he doesn’t deserve it anyway. I cannot believe he spent all this time building this relationship up and then makes it canon and won’t touch it. Fuck you.

·         Murphy immediately spotting all three of Harry’s tails is life. God, I love my bad bitch.

·         I do like that Harry has been practicing his Veils. That’s smart. It also shows character development and wisdom that he’s recognizing how much more useful stealth is and that even though it’s hard for him, it’s worth the effort to learn. Good book boyfriend.

·         It’s still Murphy, bitch. Injured or not. My queen is a queen. Try her if you want, Freydis.

·         PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT MURPHY YOU POOR CATHOLIC DARLING COME HERE. That pass was hilariously unexpected in a book that hasn’t been all that funny so far. Thanks, Jim. That got a whole bunch of cackling out of me.

·         “I like your brother.” I just clapped and squealed. I mean, duh, of course Murphy likes Thomas, but this pleases me greatly to hear her say it aloud. Murph is tough and doesn’t like to say stuff like that out loud usually. I’m delighted.

·         For all my complaints, I appreciate Butcher bringing Murphy in to help Harry plan everything. She’s hella smart and experienced in matters where you need to get someone out without being all guns a-blazing. And it is an apology for her being benched halfway thru Skin Game, imo.

·         Oh, shit. Harry doesn’t know Molly’s the one who attacked Carlos. Ugh. I bet this is gonna explode in someone’s face.

·         And Harry just fucked up the rest of his friendship with Carlos, not know Molly already did the same thing. Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

·         “You just went from a three to a six.” Jesus Christ, immortals are so savage, I swear. I laughed, tho. That was mean as hell.

·         I’m dying that Freydis wants a threesome with Harry and Murphy. I mean, who can blame her? Fuck, I want a threesome with Harry and Murphy, if I’m being totally honest here. The thirst is so fucking real.

·         Finally, someone made a joke about Harry and Murphy getting together.

·         Ah, this IS what I missed about Lara, though—she loves to fuck with Harry for the lolz and nothing other than the lolz. I mean, he’s such a peach. I would do the same thing.

·         Also, Jim, for God’s sake, make up your mind about vampires getting burned! I don’t get it. Thomas can touch Harry, and Harry is and always has been loved, so when do vampires get burned and when do they not? We’ve seen Harry touch Lara even when Susan was still alive and remember the kiss in White Night? MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND. I had a debate about this with another fan because it’s so goddamn inconsistent! If anyone being loved by anyone else burns them, then that would mean the entire world would be in the know about White Court vampires because they’d get burnt left and right touching people who are loved. I thought it only happens if they try to feed, not just touching each other. I think Jim needs to pay better attention to his own lore or finally spit out an explanation. We’ll see if he does later with that whole kiss thing from the book trailer, I guess. Argh! *Yosemite Sam curses*

·         I’m really starting to hate Harry’s condition and the fact that he didn’t stop to ask Eb what it is or how to stop it. Ugh.

·         Oh, good, and now everyone will think Harry and Lara are a couple. Convenient. Like they don’t already have constant trust issues. I’m sure Eb won’t block a gasket or anything.

·         Oh, yay, a Malcolm Dresden flashback! This is a delightful surprise. Like a lot of the fanbase, we’ve always wanted to know more about him. He seemed like a good man.

·         Yay! Vadderung to the rescue!

·         Okay, I do NOT like Murphy being alone with a starving Thomas and Lara. Not one little bit.

·         Ah, so the goddess Ethniu gets introduced in this book. That’s why Peace Talks got split and then Battle Ground popped out as the next book.

·         “You’re out of the White Council if you do this.” FUCK YOU, EBENEZAR. Jesus Christ, fuck you. All the Council has EVER done is use and abuse Harry Dresden. They have constantly blamed him for everything or forced him to fight their goddamn battles. You can shove it right up your old crusty ass for all I care. I am sick to death of this belief that they are just so righteous and trustworthy and good when they’re self-important douchebags who think that people are ants and can’t be bothered to protect them unless it directly benefits the Council.

·         I think I’m angriest because up until this point, Ebenezar has been mostly reasonable and it feels inorganic that Jim pushed him this hard. It’s just kind of exhausting because it feels like the plot needs Eb to lose his shit instead of it being something natural. I won’t be shocked if we find out he’s been compromised somehow, but I guess I’ll have to find out myself.

·         Murphy is right on the money. We thought we knew Eb, but we REALLY don’t. And that sucks. A lot. Especially since Harry has barely any family at all.

·         I can honestly tell why this book took Jim six years to write. It’s awful stagnant. It’s the exact same reason that the first draft of Of Fury and Fangs kicked my ass. I wrote the story in the first draft incorrectly, in a way, because all the characters were passive for the most part, and the other half of the problem was that I got halfway through this book and thought up an idea for a better book, but in order for the better book to happen, there were too many things I couldn’t ignore in this one, so I still had to finish it and make it good. Peace Talks, to me, feels like it’s obligatory to set up the next book, and maybe that’s why it feels lackluster to me. It’s a transitional book, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s definitely in the bottom five of the entire series. Transitional books aren’t bad, but they aren’t good either. Most authors know that this tends to happen if you write a trilogy. All the really big, important shit tends to happen in the first and third book if you’re not careful. In this case, yeah, there’s stuff happening, but it’s largely passive. It’s kind of like why back in 2010 people were so hard on Iron Man 2—it spent all this time setting up shit for the MCU, which in the long run is a good thing, but that makes it weak when it tries to stand on its own. 

As it stands, Peace Talks is mediocre. Jim took way too many shortcuts. It felt rushed, ironically enough, because he was so busy moving pieces around to set up for Battle Ground that Peace Talks doesn’t really stand out as interesting or likable like the other books. I really understand why he got stuck and couldn’t write on it for six years. My two biggest beefs here are him pushing Ebenezar into the antagonist role and him completely fucking bailing on the Harry/Murphy relationship after sixteen books of waiting. I mean, yeah, fine, because everything in this book is just set up for Battle Ground, maybe then we’ll get more acknowledgment of the romance and the importance of the relationship, but as it stands, I’m dissatisfied with both aspects. This is part of why we didn’t want a hiatus. If you make us wait this long, inevitably, the result is not going to be up to par. There are VERY few things we as people have waited forever for that ended up living up to our expectations. I almost feel like all the fan theories and fanfiction was a better, more creative result than what actually happened in Peace Talks. That’s harsh, I know, but I’ve been reading the fan generated stuff for six years and that’s just how I feel. 

This is a mediocre novel that’s placing a LOT of weight on what’s to come, which is dangerous from a quality standpoint. It could be a lot worse. I was expecting a disaster. Instead, I got a disappointment. I can live with it, but only if Battle Ground makes up for it. If it doesn’t, then we’re all in a world of hurt.

I’ll take maybe a week or so and then consider if I want to do an actual review or not. We’ll see how I feel once I digest everything and talk it out with friends.

Overall Grade: 3 out of 5 stars

[redroseinsanity]

Don’t Be A Hero - IwaOi Day 2020

Part 1 of the IwaOi hero/villain series, Meet me in the grey area

This is my spin on this wonderful hero/villain prompt from @one-lonely-whumperfly​ (I hope you don’t mind what I did with it) for IwaOi Day! 

For once I am not late can you believe it? Pulled myself from the clutches of MDZS to get this out because my heart will always belong to Haikyuu~

---

Hajime doesn't know how he got here. And no, by here, he doesn't mean his living room. Here, meaning sponging his enemy's forehead and trying his best to ignore the teeny voice inside that wonders why his nemesis would hide such a lovely face behind a mask. 

To say that he's having a slight crisis would not be a stretch. 

Let's start from the beginning. 

Contrary to popular belief, The Ace of Seijoh city is a very normal person. Anyone would say he's the picture of a regular guy; works a nine to five in a small cubicle, doesn't talk much, is overall a decent person and can be relied on to help fix the photocopying machine when it's down, that sort of thing.

Iwaizumi Hajime is a man of routine; he wakes up at an ungodly hour every morning for his workout before breakfast and then work, after which, it's home to his one-eyed cat and a quiet dinner before sleeping. Rinse and repeat. 

The only thing that breaks his routine is any, and every, form of emergency the city of Seijoh can contrive to suffer from. For Seijoh, Hajime has taken bullets, single-handedly unseated corrupt politicians, taken on murderers and saved the mayor at least three times. But most of the time, he's busy thwarting the nefarious Grand King whose schemes keep him on his toes but tend to be more annoying than colossally damaging unlike some other villains he's gone up against. 

It's not easy being The Ace of Seijoh, but Hajime knows his powers give him the chance to protect people and so, protect people he does. 

Iwaizumi Hajime is having a Very Normal evening. He's had an extremely ordinary dinner of homemade pasta and is watching a popular show on Netflix in his very normal pyjamas. 

Yup, totally normal. In fact, the last time he jumped out of a burning building while holding a child was oh, about a week ago. 

His Very Normal evening is abruptly cut short when three uneven knocks sound on his door. Slowly, warily, Hajime approaches the door, placing a weapon within reach from where he stands. Hajime doesn't have friends, relatives or anyone who is likely to visit and certainly not at this hour. 

Squinting at the visitor screen, Hajime frowns when he recognises the glitzy get up, the aqua trimmings on white, and frowns even more when he sees rips on the suit, blood and scuff marks marring the usually pristine appearance. 

It can't be, he's got to be mistaken but as The Grand King raises his head, Hajime comes face to face with his nemesis and his Very Normal night shatters.  

Without taking his eyes off the screen, he presses his thumb to the scanning pad, a security measure that allows only him to open the door and it swings open to reveal a slumped figure.

The villain is barely upright, even raising his head seems to be an effort and he sways, toffee eyes drifting shut before opening again. Instinctively, Hajime raises a hand to his elbow to steady him and through the material, he's surprised by how bony the other man is. 

At the touch, Grand King's eyes clear slightly and they fix on Hajime, blinking a couple of times to focus. Underneath the fog of disorientation, there's a measure of fear and uncertainty that has never been there before. He's shaking in Hajime's grip, whether from the cold or something else, Hajime isn't sure, but he's on Hajime's doorstep, bleeding and afraid. 

It’s a trap. How does he know where I live? What happened to him? 

Even in this state, he's able to read Hajime the way he always seems to do in a fight and the edges of his lips quirk up in an attempt at a smirk that slides off like oil on water, the fatigue overpowering him. 

"...didn't know where else to go…" Is all he gets out before he's slumping, his tall frame folding straight into Hajime's stunned arms. 

Read on AO3 or...

There are a billion questions clamouring in Hajime's mind but he shoves them aside along with all common sense, when he hauls the person who's technically his enemy into his house. 

Hefting the man,who the city has christened 'The Grand King', into his arms, Hajime lays him carefully on the couch - a move that warrants an offended look from Captain, his ginger cat. 

"I know, this is insane, that this could be a trap, and no, I don't know how he knows where we live," Hajime tries to explain himself to his cat, because that's what all heroes do, reason out questionable life choices with their pet. He casts a doubtful look at the crumpled figure on his sofa and sighs. 

"But I don't think so," He murmurs, more to himself than to Captain, "I think he really needs our help."

Having had his fair share of scrapes, Hajime makes quick work of cleaning and bandaging Grand King's wounds and then sits back, taking a good look at the man he's been fighting with for years. 

Normally, he's too busy fending off multiple attacks or rushing to prevent a building from crashing on tourists to really look at his opponent. But in the low light of his living room, in the stillness of the late evening, Hajime finds that underneath the gaudy mask of this pesky villain is a gorgeous man not much older than him.

Without the mask and the banter that Grand King usually keeps between them, he's all creamy skin, long lashes and his mouth is soft, vulnerable in sleep. There are shadows under his eyes and sweeping a gaze over the various bruises and lacerations, it's easy to see someone hasn't been kind to him. 

Hajime wonders who. And then he tells himself it’s none of his business. 

Without warning, Hajime is struck with the horrifying feeling that The Grand King is someone who needs to be protected more than he needs protecting from and it leaves him utterly discombobulated. To avoid the struggle of trying to reconcile this man with the one who had most recently tried to flood a press conference with piranhas in the water, Hajime decides to hook him up to an IV bag to try to flush out whatever it was in Grand King's system that made him so sluggish. 

He wakes as Hajime is cleaning grime off his face and Hajime doesn’t know who is more startled. His hand freezes mid-motion, too caught off guard to snatch itself back and the Grand King’s eyes dart around the room, the sharp gaze whittling down to something like padded caution as he finally stops on the very hand that had been dabbing off smudges of dirt. 

A slow blink that has the dark edges of lashes grazing a rapidly swelling cheek. Hajime tells himself he's looking at the bruise, not the other man's eyelashes. 

Just like that, Hajime has no idea what to do with his hands, if he should wipe that last smear of dirt off or get into a battle-ready stance. He watches as The Grand King's lips tilt up. 

"So you didn't kill me," There's a wheezy rasp in the voice that usually rings clearly across buildings and town squares and Hajime doesn't like it. He hands a glass of water over, scowling. 

"Did you come here expecting me to kill you?" He demands. 

After carefully peering into the glass, Grand King takes a tentative sip before shrugging and immediately, wincing as he jostles the wound that runs across his ribs. 

"It was a gamble," he says lightly, as though delivering yourself to your enemy's door carries the same risk as trying a new brand of peanut butter. 

Hajime says as much and Grand King raises an eyebrow, managing to look regal even though his hair is a mess and Hajime desperately wants to comb his fingers through it so it would stop being so distracting. 

"Are we really enemies though, Iwa chan?"

Hajime cycles through ten different variations of rage before reminding himself that Grand King probably can't sustain a duel right now. 

"What did you just call me?" He says slowly, deliberately, prying his fingers from the indents he's made in his coffee table. 

"You think I would find out where you live but not your real name?" Grand King asks, chuckling. Hajime feels the indignation subside slightly at the familiar sound, the way the air seems to have properly returned to the other man's lungs. 

"If I wake up one day to find piranhas in my house, I really will kill you," Hajime threatens even though they both know this is not the implication that he should be most concerned about. 

"Of course n- Oh," The Grand King breaks off when Hajime's absolute traitor of a cat crawls straight into the villain's lap and starts purring. 

The betrayal continues when The Grand King begins cooing to Captain and Hajime's absolute traitor of a heart does a helpless flop. 

"Who knew a stern old man like you would have such an affectionate kitty, Iwa chan?" Those caramel eyes are soft now and Hajime suddenly feels disconcertingly out of his depth. 

"I told you to stop calling me that," He grumbles, shooting a glare at Captain who responds with a smug look. 

"Aww, don't be such a sourpuss, Iwa chan! Look, you can call me Oikawa and we'll be even," Oikawa grins cheekily, scratching Captain under the chin in the way that has the feline's eyes closing in contentment. 

"Is that even your real name?" Hajime raises a skeptical brow and is met with a knowing grin. 

"Don't sound so suspicious, Iwa chan," Oikawa teases as he sits up and begins taking the IV out. 

"Wait," Hajime hears himself say before realising he has one hand out, his body moving faster than his mind can filter, "You shouldn’t- You’re not in any condition to move around."

The look that Oikawa gives him is undecipherable and Hajime sees him hesitate before he gently moves Captain out of his lap. But he stands and Hajime watches carefully, relieved when he doesn't sway even though he moves with an unnatural heaviness. 

"Do you-" Hajime struggles with himself before he decides he will regret not asking more than he will asking, "Are you in trouble?"

This time, Hajime catches the flash of surprise ripple across Oikawa's elegant features before his confident smirk is back in place. 

"Why? Is Iwa chan worried?" He leans in close, Hajime can see gold flakes swimming in brown, illuminated by the warm light of the lamp, can feel Oikawa’s breath skim his cheek.

"Are you going to protect me if I am?"

Yes, the response rises in Hajime like a wave swelling in the sea, yes. That's what I do. And I want to do it for you. 

"Just wondering if I'm going to get more surprise visits or if this is a one-off thing," Is what he mumbles gruffly. 

"So forward, Iwa chan!" Oikawa gasps and slaps him playfully on the arm, "If you want me to come over more often, you should've just said!"

"Really? I've tried to get you arrested five times this year and we aren't even in April yet," Hajime fixes Oikawa with an unimpressed stare, "You, a self declared villain of Seijoh, want to visit me, the most commonly called for hero in the city?"

They've reached the door and Hajime isn't even surprised when Oikawa reaches for his hand and guides his thumb up to the scanning pad so that he can leave. 

The night air is cool and crisp, and the moon is extraordinarily bright, shedding milky light in layers over the empty street. Oikawa turns, still holding Hajime's hand and Hajime fights the urge to curl his fingers and hold on to the other man. 

Stay, let me take care of you.

"Then don't be a hero," Oikawa says quietly and Hajime's brain scrambles to orientate himself in the conversation, "Don't be a hero and I won't be a villain. I'll come over and you'll just be you, and I'll just be me."

Hajime is still processing that statement when Oikawa lets go and steps back. 

"See you later, Iwa chan." A glint of teeth as Oikawa smiles, a gentle smile, a soft smile.  

And then he's gone, melting into the darkness despite the fact that he was in his hideous white outfit, and Hajime doesn't strain to find him. He just stands in his doorway and listens to his carefully constructed world crumble in the silence of the night. It sounds like Oikawa’s laughter.

Nothing is going to be the same after this, he thinks, I’ve lost my goddamn mind, and then he smiles, gently and softly. 

"See you soon, Oikawa."