#but i guess if he has three faces i can justify three pics

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

TFA Blitzwing

[cutegirlmayra]

Is this good enough? @sky-dream161​

Works for me~ (This is a prompt art trade! Send me your pics and I’ll write a story based on them!)

PROMPTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN, please only send me prompt requests when it’s open UNLESS you pay 1$ for a priority prompt! :Db Then I’ll get it out right away!

Prompt:

“Don’t worry, Caterpie, we’ll find the crooks who broke your glass orb.” Chikorita, still feeling uneasy after turning into a pokemon, couldn’t help but try and comfort the small caterpiller creature.

She had lived her whole life as a shut-in gamer girl, until one day her crazy ex-boyfriend who she had busted out of numerous criminal activities pit the blame on her that his gang’s ‘transferred goods’ were interfered by her.

Last thing she remembered is waking up in a world of pokemon, with her new best friend, Charmander, constantly showering with her support and praise for how well she fought and did in combat.

She wasn’t sure about any of this… in Anime, isekai meant that you were accidentally taken into a new world.

She wondered��� did she get taken into an anime? For being completely innocent in her past life as a human?

Even so, seeing the poor thing crying after losing something so precious to him…

She wanted to do something better with her life, and not make the same mistakes like trusting those who she shouldn’t. Though her heart was guarded in some aspects, she couldn’t lock it away completely from those innocent pokemon who needed her help.

She was always too kindhearted… she just hoped not to make the same mistake this time around…

“Charmander,” She looked to her trusted friend, still finding it hard to admit that she could trust again…

She nodded, “You better believe me and Molly will help you out!” Charmander bundled a fist together and rose it to the sky, “We’re Team Happiness! We make sure justice is served and the weary are saved! We’ll justify you! The homeless friended, the starving fed and fulfilled! We’ll find those goons and get your precious orb fixed in no time!”

The Caterpie sniffled a moment, “You… You guys are so cool.” Seeing snot coming from it’s nose, Molly the newly joined Chikorita to Charmander’s big dream of helping and saving the innocent, lifted up her scarf wrapped tightly by Charmander around her stubby foot and let him blow onto it.

“H-hey..!” Charmander seemed to be offended, but Molly just smiled, apologetically.

“It’s okay..! He’s just a kid, and besides, I’ll justify dirtying the rescue team scarf by washing it later.” She humored, something she wouldn’t dare do back in her human life… she was always too afraid to fight back, but here… she felt some freeing power… as though this world was a dream she could live out the best possible side of herself.

Charmander sighed, “It’s strange enough finding a pokemon who gives itself a nickname… but now one that’s fine with snot on it’s arm?”

The three pokemon laughed as Team Happiness took off into the dungeon for some justified rescuing.

They weren’t expecting this though…

After traveling so far into the dungeon, they were confronted by an evil pokemon trying to gather something called the ‘Soul Orbs’ that contained powerful legendary type power within them.

If one were to wield it’s amazing power, it could make an ordinary pokemon have the same power as that of a legendary!

“No longer will I we be known as the weakest pokemon!” The leader stated, a Kakuna, who had been scheming this for a long time it seemed before Team Happiness entered the scene. “Pokemon that can’t evolve… Pokemon that only know one more like Splash or Transform… well… We’re not gonna be stuck in one form forever! Now, we’ll join together! Fusing ourselves with the Soul Orbs, and become the new terror on this world! Then everyone will have to respect us! In fear!!!”

The pokemon around him smashed the other Soul Orbs, as Caterpie scooted back to hide behind Molly and Charmander.

“Grrk! If they become legendaries, we won’t be able to fight them in our current states!” Charmander threw her arms up over herself, the wind from the pokemon started to unnaturally evolve taking place. As the room began to glow a pure white, there was suddenly a sound that Molly heard… that from when she first had the dream of becoming a pokemon…

“The soul of a human can save that of a untamed Pokemon… they’re wild natures long for friendship and peace… Young Chikorita… Do you accept this great burden? Will you give your soul to protect all those that you cherish? This world that has only brought you joy and purpose..? What will you choose… I wonder.”

It was common for the voice to say, ‘I wonder’ at the end of everything it said, but now, as Molly took one powerful step forward with the dried tears and snot of the little Caterpie behind her, she gained the courage she lacked in her previous life to to do what was right.

“I won’t let you place the blame on those that didn’t do anything wrong! If you want to be strong, then your physical forms can’t stop you! It’s the heart that makes a hero! And friendships give you the power to become mightier than even that of a legendary!”

Molly felt her being begin to glow too.

As the pokemon did infact turn into what looked like a mutated version of a large, powerful pokemon with many types, abilities, and moves… Chikortia evolved into a Bayleef.

“B-but they’re still more powerful!” Charmander was amazed she evolved, but still not fully convinced.

Molly lowered her now elongated leaf to her dear friend, “You once rescued me, thinking it was impossible to reach me before the cliff collapse. I was still so new to this form- I-I mean… Well, I’ll explain later, but I couldn’t get up and run. I was so tired and scared… Charmander… can I give you a name?”

A name to a pokemon meant a higher level of friendship, and Charmander’s eyes began to swell in gratitude.

“Molly…” She nodded and took her leaf, getting back on her feet. “I won’t let you down, Molly! Just like you, I want to be able to help all pokemon! Even these guys deserve a chance to face their wrongs and be saved too!”

“Then… You’re new name… is … Kayda.”

In a swarm of white, Molly could feel Kayda’s evolution power as it began to morph and change her body, biologically configuring her to be a more powerful, truer self.

“RAWWWAH!” Swiping her new Charmeleon head around, she seemed more riled up then ever! Her voice also had a bit of a growl to it now, more matured than before. “Let’s take these down and teach them what true power true redemption means!”

“Yeah!” But before they could, turning behind them, they saw the little Caterpie morph into a strange pokemon. Not a metapod, but a pink creature that flew and had the same sort of body-shape as a kitten…

“Hehe! My wondering was right.” The little pink kitten spun in a circle and giggled. “I guess bringing you here was a good use of my last bit of strength after all.”

“Ah! What are you!?” Molly exclaimed, but before anyone could answer anything, the conformed, unified monster in front of them let out a terrifying roar.

“We can’t… control… ourselves…” the voices of many different pokemon sounded like they were in pain.

“Whaa?? What is that thing!?” Kayda stated, gawking and standing back. “It’s hideous!”

“This is what happens when one isn’t true to their own selves, and uses artificial means to grow stronger…” The pink kitten pokemon stated. “Could all of this been avoided if they only knew… that true power comes from deep within themselves… it was always there… lurking in wait to discover a true soul to connect with… and through that bond, create a even greater them… I wonder.” it’s long tail flicked behind it in a fluid motion.

“I… I know that voice.” Molly began to recognize the pokemon.

“Hehe! I’m Mew. I called to you and saved you from your moment of peril. It was fun!” It whipped it’s tail in front of itself, acting carefree.

“F-fun..?” Molly looked a little unnerved by that statement, knowing that she was about to die when she was suddenly taken to the pokemon world.

“Those humans were bullies… Your soul shone like you were about to evolve to protect your little sister who was still in the house…”

“Ah! Beth!” Molly began to freak out, “Is she okay!?”

“Not to worry! She’s waiting for you… in this world too.” Mew lightly hovered, “I’ve given her a special form. One that will help you both get back to your world… but first-!” She spun around again, dropping what looked like…

“Are these..!?” Kayda exclaimed, seeing their evolution stones fall down along with one mega stone…

“It’s your time to decide… do you feel you need these to win?” Mew tilted it’s head to one side, “Or do you believe you can rescue each of those fused souls and bring their true pokemon natures back to their original forms..?”

Molly and Kayda looked to one another… then nodded.

“We can justify this on our own means!” Kayda stated, doing her signature bundled fist gesture and gesturing it high out in front of her.

“Yeah!” Molly stomped on the ground, “We don’t have to faint them, all we have to do is reach them. Our hearts will be more than enough… and then… I can see my sister again…” She looked determinedly towards the mutated legendary pokemon that held many different pokemon’s souls within it.

“Hehe! I knew you’d say that! Good luck, rescue team! I’ll be over here in case you need me… I wonder.” Mew flew up to the top of the room, and at times, would dive down to use a legendary move that would help Team Happiness as they tried to pull out a soul that wanted to be saved.

With the power of Mew to help unfuse the pokemon, but only being able to if they were willing to be freed, the last pokemon to convince was Kakuna…

It was still trapped, panting in it’s new form as it had gotten increasingly smaller in size from each soul being freed from the team.

“I… don’t care… if I can’t control myself… I … won’t be made fun of… anymore!” The Kakuna reared it’s mutated legendary head up. “AHHHHH!!” Clearly in pain, the monster seemed to charging up for some ultimate attack…

Already at their ropes end, Molly and Kayda panted themselves, sweating on the sides of their faces.

“We can’t… keep holding out like this much longer…” Molly admitted.

“We just… gotta hold on… break him out of it…” Kayda faltered slightly and had to catch herself with one claw upon the ground.

“Ah! Kayda!” Molly dashed to her side, using her leaf to stabilize her back up. “We can’t give up… but… I can’t lose you either.” She gritted her teeth. “Maybe.. maybe we can’t save them all…”

Kayda looked exhausted, “I… won’t give up… I’ll save every soul… not just the innocent ones! But the ones that deserve a second chance too! That Kakuna…” She looked tenderly up to the beast, still charging it’s ginormous legendary attack above it’s head in a white sun… “It never knew friendship or kindness… it never had the chance to just feel accepted and loved before…”

Molly reflected on her own life…

“He doesn’t know what it’s like! It’s not fair! I’ll justify the cause and means to bring it back to safety! It’s gonna know what it’s like to not have someone give up on it!!! I won’t lose!!!” Kayda took a powerful step forward,… but again, twitched and fell back down, getting held up by Molly.

“Kayda!”

Watching this, the rescued pokemon behind the team began to look to one another.

“We may be weak…” A Magickarp hopped over to the team…

“But we want to help…” A tiny Dunsparce also bounced up, slowly…

The other pokemon, unable to evolve or naturally weak by their natures, began to surround Molly and Kayda.

“E-…Everyone…” Molly watched as they formed a shield, basically moving in front of them to take any hit for them.

“Stop this, Kakuna!” A Spinda cried out.

“We know you feel forgotten… I can’t evolve, so no one really spars with me…” A Patchirisu declared, lowering it’s head and ears in shame. “But… We trained countless times to get ready to steal the Soul Orbs… didn’t we? We broke a few but were able to hang in there till we succeeded! Maybe… maybe that was fun enough… Maybe we don’t need to get stronger this way!”

“Let’s all hang out and play without worrying what we can and can’t do! We’re stronger together! Just look at what we accomplished!” A little Emolga stepped up then.

“Please, Kakuna!” Qwilifish’s voice came off deep but sorrowful, “Let’s all be friends again!”

A Rattata jumped in place, “We don’t care if you’re strong! We like you just the way you are!”

The white sun above the mutated legendary pokemon’s head began to shrink in large strokes, as Kakuna’s true voice began to ring out, crying…

“Everyone…  I didn’t want to fail you… I… I love you guys so much!” the mutated legendary began to cry too. “You trusted me as your leader… I didn’t want to give up for you all… I know you’re not betraying me… this is scary, but I just didn’t want to disappoint any of you… I… You’re all my friends!”

“Then don’t destroy your friends.” Mew mused, giggling into it’s paws. “Time to come out then, did you have fun?” flying down, it used it’s power to then separate Kakuna from the mutated pokemon.

“It’s acts like this is just a game…” Kayda sweatdropped, awkwardly. “The whole world was about to be rampaged by these pokemon but it just… cutely chimes in at the last moment?”

“Oh? You think I’m cute?” Mew flew the soul back down, and it reformed into a Kakuna, who was lovingly embraced by everyone.

“Now for the finishing blow.” Molly held up her Rescue badge, as Kayda did too.

They shot out their Rescue Team Power as the mutated legendary’s husk was destroyed, and with it, new Soul Orbs were created in it’s heated remains…

They tinked against the ground while Mew gathered them and sent them into a pocket dimension. “I think Beth will be so happy to hear her sister saved the world..!” Mew playfully flew in loops in the air.

As a final wish, Molly asked if Kayda could return with them to the human world…

“Silly!” Mew giggled once again into it’s paws.

“Ah! Why are you laughing!?” Kayda threw her shaking fist up again, “Am I not justified to want to be with my friend always!?”

Mew flew down to Kayda, smirking almost as it lowered it’s eyes to her…

“You are Beth…”

Kayda stood back, “W-what..?”

Molly also looked to her friend, “It… It can’t be…”

“Hehehe! In order to teach Molly true strength, I had to bring her someone’s soul who already had a strong spirit to teach her.” Mew danced in the air, “Her own sister!” it spread out it’s arms in glee. “Now that you know who you are, I’ll return your memories for you!”

Mew glowed and passed through Kayda like a ghost, but as she did so, Kayda began to cry.

“Molly…” she looked over to her. “I remember…” tears streamed down her eyes. “I remember hearing noises from my bed as I was playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon… I remember the yelling of men’s voices I didn’t recognize… gun shots… but..!” she looked to Mew, “There was a light-!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to throw you into that mix, but I figured if you both disappeared, those mean bullies would simply just go away. You’re home’s a little ransacked though… nothing a little Legendary power can’t fix!”

Mew had brought back Caterpie, revealing it had switched places with their old friend, and also summoned many real legendaries that the team had helped previously to turn back time.

Molly and Beth were returned to their human selves, able to call the police and for Molly to finally have the strength to turn down her now Ex-boyfriend from bailing him out of any more trouble.

The girls moved and continued to be successful in their lives… one learning that strength comes from declaring a true feeling of love from one’s heart, and the other, that she was never truly alone, and her sister was always right there beside her… that she could benefit her Sister’s life too, and they could teach one another.

She never let Molly live down the fact that Mew thought her ‘younger’ sister was what she needed to grow and be the strong, independent woman she is today. But Molly lets her enjoy that right to boast, after all… she wasn’t wrong. Molly had always felt she needed to shelter and protect Beth since she was so shy, but it was truly Molly who was the shy one… who needed Beth the most.

(A little darker than most, but I feel the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Games do have some incredibly cool twists! I hope you enjoy your prompt and that many pokemon fans can enjoy your blog! ^^)

[acflare]

Who are your favorite top ten black clover characters & ships? Talk about them!

Oh boy let’s see (guess I gotta draw pics too to justify rambling on my sketchbook blog, lol)

Wow picking favorites is hard

Probably the best way to find out would be to write why I love every character and see who ends up with the longest rant but that’d take way too long, lol

1. Zora

Oh boy, Zora is just… 100% my aesthetic. Sharp teeth, edgy, snarky, his magic is awesome As a character he’s just so fun because he looks the ‘doesn’t care about anything’ type, but he had to train SO hard to get his magic to be that way, and he cares a ton about justice and people not being garbage.

2. Finral

My favorite until Zora showed up, lol His character development over the course of the story just… makes me live. No confidence in his fighting ability, literally a coward who develops into one of my favorite fighters. All the moves he pulls in fights are so much fun and well thought out. (Not to mention I totally relate to the inferior older sibling complex 😩)

3. Asta

Frikn He probably makes it into my favorite anime protags of all time Asta is just a ball of love and joy that co-habitates his body with a demon??? (Speaking of the demon, the more lines it gets the closer it gets to being one of my faves) Asta is just so relatable. Also the fact that he has breaking points??? He isn’t always screaming, or happy, he has been terrified, hopeless, full of rage, shocked – the faces he made during the hecking trial chapter made me cry

4. Patri

Such a good villain. Like, he’s a kid who got shoved into the body of the one he idolized in his previous life and forms a cult? When his ‘Licht’ facade wears away and you get to see how petty and angry he is it’s just sooo gooood. And when he just takes a moment to cry in Licht’s arms? Problematic fav.

5. Gauche

Okay hear me out here I firckn hate the whole ‘sisc*n’ gag – but if you take it as just that, a gag, then he becomes a super fun character. Literally alone in the world with only his baby sister whom he loves more than anything, and slooooowly adopting the Black Bulls into his family !!

6. Magna

I almost left him out bc he hasn’t been in any chapters in a while and I forgot how amazing he is Magna feels so deeply and I love it. Nobody is left without hugs due to any attempt to sustain an image – if you need a hug, Magna is there for you. A fantastic senpai and friend. I really hope he’s being left out as a setup to burst in and be a whole new tier of awesome…

7. Yami

Team dad, does not care what anyone thinks and has full faith in his whole team. Like, he recruits all these weirdos, some who don’t even show off combat capabilities, and he only sees their potential. Just… when they live up to his expectations and lights up I just love that. He’s such a perfect captain

8. Marx

He’s very much a side character but he makes me happy every time I see him He’s just got such a hard job (and the Wizard Kind does NOT make it any easier for him 😂) There’s just something fun about a character always 100% stress (someone give him a vacation, please)

9. Gordon

Yo Gordon is so wholesome? He appears creepy by being nonexpressive and ridiculously quiet while wearin heckin Marilyn Manson makeup but he just… wants to be friends. Also, his family is amazing, and with how his father has managed to repurpose his own magic, I have high hopes for Gordon’s in the future

10. Noelle

My precious daughter I love her. Her ojousama/tsundere combination is fun, but her backstory really makes her being adopted by the Bulls that much better, and just makes me root for her that much harder every time she succeeds ❤

Okay, now for fav ships

Oh boy, let’s see

1.Noelle x Asta

Asta’s just full affection toward his friends is such a good combo with Noelle being a tsundere. Not only that, but Noelle has p much been starved of affection her whole life, so pairing her with Asta just feels so hecking wholesome 😭

2.Luck x Magna

Their friendship is already amazingly wholesome, it just makes it that much more fun if Luck has a crush on Magna, haha. Luck has already displayed tsundere-like behavior, and wit Magna being genuine and affectionate when it matters, it makes for a fun (and possibly painful ⚡) combination

3.Charlotte x Yami

It’s a fairytale with a 100% oblivious prince! How much better can it get? 😂 Plus they’re a heckin rad power couple. Plus dat social status gap yo

4.Grey x Gauche

Frikn… I shipped this since the water temple arc for funsies and the CInderella Grey chapter fed me. Any Grey ship is cute, but anxious fluffy Grey clinging to Gauche, who hates literally everyone is just an aesthetic to me.

5.Patri x William

Sort of a ‘you’re the only one in the world who understands me’ feel to it – also Patri is in dire need of affection. Prolly William too.

6.Mars x Fana

Theyre childhood sweethearts that went through wayyyy too much. It’s cute and I want them to be happy

7.Vetto x Fana (Elf)

Give me soft Vetto! We’ve seen how sweet he was before the devil magic made him all angy, and not-psycho Fana looks like she’s on the spunkier side – give me pushover Vetto!

….im a failure of a shipper I think I’m out of romantic ships

I’m not really a multishipper n the show’s done a good job of giving lots of characters cute crushes

I guess I’ll just list fav platonic ships for the last three

8.Finral & Noelle

Finral deserves to have a younger sibling to fawn over and Noelle deserves an affectionate older sibling also seeing all of Finral’s flirting with Noelle as fawning instead makes it cute rather than problematic

9.Secre & Asta

SECRE IS SUCH A GOOD BIG SISTER!!! Gosh she really turned out to love Asta (I mean, so did everyone else, but) also Noelle’s love of her is super cute, I want her to be a big sister to both of them 💕

10.Rhya & Patri

Yo, I love their relationship. Rhya’s always teasing and looking out for Patri, it just feels like he cares about him so much – originally it looked like Rhya was disrespectful, or lazy, but rewatching everything it just feels like he’s looking out for Patri.

[ayanna-wild]

Important!!!!

Please Read!!!

(This is about the effects of mental and emotional abuse. I ask you to read this, it may be long, but this is important.)

Let me start off my saying, she knows I'm making this post. She's okay with it and she's working through all of this right now. We stayed up all night discussing this.

-I was talking to my friend yesterday, she's the sweetest thing, she has social anxiety, but once you get to know her she's very outgoing. Anyway I we were just swapping stories, family stuff (She has a very large family) movies we'd seen recently, etc... and while we were on the subject of family, she sent me this one thing that just broke my heart. She hasn't eaten in like two days because she's tight on money and isn't able to buy any food. And this why....

"I was going to go grocery shopping yesterday but my mom asked me to come over and babysit so she could get her hair done and stuff. And I agreed, didn't really have the gas to drive that far but I can't tell her that. I used my last twenty for that."

I asked her why she didn't just tell her mom that, and she laughed like it was no big deal, but she has a lot of health issues and she really can't afford not to eat. She explained to me why she didn't refuse and I just got so mad.

"My mom gets upset if I bring that up, I think she got sick of taking me to the hospital growing up. 🤷🏼‍♀️ But if I tell my family no they get angry, and they cut me out of things sometimes."

I didn't know what she meant by that exactly so I asked and she elaborated.

"Well if I refuse to help them, sometimes they'll stop inviting me to family functions, you know cook out, bonfires, little things like that. Helping them is kind of how I stay in the loop."

I was appalled to learn this, I almost had no words. She made a small joke about it when I didn't respond. When I finally did I asked her if her mom did that to any of her other siblings (she has 11) and she told me no. And I tried to explain to her that none of that was okay and she sent me a laughing face and made a joke about, that's just how her family is with her, and how her mother used to say it was 'hard to love her' growing up, or how 'I can't wait until you're 18 so we can kick you out.'

She was telling me all this as if it was normal. I realized, she didn't really understand that this wasn't how a family should act. I asked if it ever bothers her sometimes to see that they only excluded her and she replied.

'Sometimes, if I see a group picture of them on Facebook or something and I'm the only one not there. I call sometimes to ask about it, sometimes it's because they forgot to tell me, or I guess my attitude was bad that week.'

She said that as if it was justifiable for them to do that. She honestly believes all of this is perfectly normal. She told me this last part after I asked if they ever help her when she needs it.

'Oh, lol no, they wouldn't drive 45mins out here. That's to much gas, and I'm okay to figure it out on my own.'

She bends over backwards for them, spends money she doesn't have to babysit all hours of the day, that's 7 little kids, alone. She drops her plans the minute they call because if she refuses, they cut her out of their life until they need her again. My breaking point was when I mentioned her being in the hospital not long ago. She was in there for three weeks, with kidney issues, she was literally dying. And I was like 'They at least came to visit you then, right' and I just cried at what she sent.

'...Well no...'

'But that's okay! I know they were really busy! And my mom doesn't like to drive long ways, it gives her anxiety, and my dad gets really tired after work, he always goes in early so he likes to go straight home afterwards. I don't mind, my teacher came to see me though, lol it was great she brought me a new sketch book to, I'll show you the pics I made sometime.'

The hospital is thirty minutes from her parents house. Her mom drives 12hrs to a different state for her business every month. Her dad works 5mins from the hospital. She was alone there for three weeks, dying in a hospital bed and they never even called her. Her mother told her she was dramatic, her high-school teacher cared more than her own parents, she's been graduated for almost 3yrs now, living on her own, with barely enough to even buy food because her parents kept telling her they didn't want her in their house.

That's not love. That is emotional and mental abuse. You don't make excuses for those kinds of people. If you see something like this, if you find your friend, loved one, or even yourself making excuses like this, they need to get those people out of their lives.

Love is selfless, love is sacrifice, love is patience and acceptance.

What you just read, how my friends' family treats her. That isn't love. And if your family treats you like that. Message me. I will help you figure out what is best for you. I may be a complete stranger but I promise you I will care for you a hell of a lot more than people like that.

[fuckyeahcarlosandlidia]

Even Though Everything Has Changed.  Some Things Don’t.

So, we finally got the trailer and I feel like writing something about my feelings and expectations and hopes. I’ll remind you that the askbox is always open so you feel like sharing your thoughts and feelings, feel free to do it.

I should start by saying that the trailer was very confusing, too much stuff, too many shots and I really had to watch it more than once to catch everything. I have so many questions because as I said the trailer made me wonder lots of stuff. For example, from where Sofia ran away to go to Spain? Wasn’t she in Spain all along? Where did she leave after her Grandma’ death?  And then suddenly 5 years have become 7 years, so it’s even more time of separation between Carlos and Lidia, and  between Carlos and Eva, too.  So much for “it’s temporary”, uh, Lidia!  I really really want to know why “it’s temporary” became 7 years. I wondered that even when I thought that it would be 5 years, so now even more.

The new characters already annoy me. Not for the characters themselves, I don’t even know them, but to me this show can’t handle too many characters and too many storylines. Season 4 was a disaster because of that, too. Why should I care about a shirtless (maybe) funny guy who may help the girls? Why should I care about a bespectacled guy who IMO can even turn out evil?  Why should I care about Sofia’s sweetheart? This is just to say we’re coming to an end and I don’t want to waste time with things that aren’t really part of this show.

Now, speaking of the main stuff, clearly Lidia going back to Madrid is a huge emotion. IMO, Lidia left her heart in Madrid because Madrid is the core of the action of the show. Why should I care about Lidia and Francisco’s life in New York?  Of course their shippers are obviously very interested for the obvious, but it’s not the story.  The story is Spain, the story is the girls, the dynamic among all the main characters we’ve known from the start, and this happens in Madrid.  

The trailer focused on Sofia.  The girls’ mission is to find her.  And then, of course, the war. From what I got Lidia and Carlos will share quite a few scenes together, and alone, and this is really good because they absolutely need to spend time alone. I believe he’ll help her very much.  In the few shots we saw in the trailer, the tension is touchable. You can’t ignore it. The ending of the trailer is what left me with a bad taste in my mouth, though, because obviously they had to throw a huge triangle moment and they made it by showing Francisco alias Superman - this is a Carlos and Lidia’s blog, we don’t really appreciate Francisco’s character yet we absolutely recognize and know his role in the show - coming to the rescue when Lidia and Carlos are in jail. And there’s this hug between the two of them, right in front of Carlos. Lidia’s voiceover in the background, saying that Love is what can fight war, is general. Every kind of love can fight war. And this is classic, right? Love and War. Obviously in that context, with that hug and Carlos watching was annoying. I really don’t think Lidia says that in that context, at all. It’s just how they put it in the trailer to show that Francisco goes back to Spain, too, and he’ll very likely bring Eva back with him, and the triangle will be back in full force with both Lidia’s men in the same place and at the same time.

I’ve been asked in private about what I think about Lidia’s pendant, the necklace we see she’s wearing and holding in the car. I believe there’s a picture in it. She’s also looking at that picture and holding the pendant in her hands nervously, when Carlos is taking his shirt off right behind her.  I truly hope it’s just a picture of Eva, but it’s also possible Lidia took a picture of both Eva and Francisco, or the three of them. Obviously, it’s not something I like. The parallel with Lidia keeping Carlos’ ring as a pendant in 2x01 is immediately in my mind. But it’s not really the same thing. Here we have a woman who leaves her home to go to a dangerous place for a good cause and takes a pic of her “family” with herself. A pic of the people who are STILL part of her life. In 2x01 Carlos’ ring represented her incapacity to accept that she lost him. And she still held on what she wanted the most: being with him, marrying him. 

And speaking of this moment when Carlos takes his shirt off and she’s not looking at him, I want to say that this is not simply giving privacy to someone who’s taking their clothes off.  Carlos is NOT someone.  Carlos is the man she was with, the man she wanted to marry, the man he had a life with, the father of her daughter, the man who represed her everything right in front of our eyes. He’s not a stranger.  She doesn’t look at him because she can’t. She knows every single centimeter of that body. But now it’s not her place anymore to even look at it. And she looks at that picture to remind herself what her life is now and she can’t go back to the past, even though the tempation is strong. She can’t look at him in that moment just as much as he can’t look at her when he talks to her about the war and what it causes.  I’m very curious about that scene because the conversation has to be gold right there.  But the thing is they can’t look at each other to keep an emotional distance between each other and to protect each other. Carlos needs to protect himself because of the heartache of the possibility of losing her again and Lidia needs to protect herself because she can’t give in to feelings that never went way because too much time has passed, too many things have happened. 

But that’s the thing: even though many things have changed, some things don’t. The love they feel for each other. The passion.  The warmth of being so close yet so far.  And so far yet so close.  The sparkle that’s always been between them, that always challenged them.  And this is not the connection Lidia and Francisco have always had.  Here, we’re talking about another kind of connection. 

What really hurts me even more, I think, is Eva.  Eva has grown up for 7 years having Francisco as her only father figure, seeing her mother close to this man, seeing them together. Eva doesn’t know Carlos and Carlos doesn’t know his daughter. It’s a real tragedy. Even though I guess some people know each other by their heart no matter what. And this kind of bond is even stronger when we’re talking about parents and children. But that’s not fair what happened to Carlos. Again, I would say we’ve seen everything about the Cifuentes-Aguilar family, we’ve known Eva since the moment she was conceived and all the obstacles and dramas this family had to go through just to be able to live their life. We saw how it ended because that was a real break up. They gave them 7 years of separation and I’m more than sure they never saw each other in this huge amount of time. It just can’t be compared to the separation Lidia and Francisco were forced to face. Yes, we know they suffered, because we’ve been told. He was luckier than her.  He got Carlos before she got him. But here we’re talking about much more memories.

I just hope that through all this time, Eva may have known Carlos through Lidia’s words and that she tried to picture him in her mind. And that when she truly sees him for the first time, reality will be a long way better than her imagination. And her reaction will be full of wonder just as I hope the one of her mother will be when she sees Carlos again. The man that broke her heart but that changed her life completely, hitting it and overthrowing it like a hurricane. Because that breath of life Lidia lost at the beginning, it was Carlos who gave it back to her.  

And that’s not what Francisco is.  Francisco is the shelter, the one you always find when you’re having a bad time.  The home you’ve always known.  But Carlos is the place you want to live in, the place where you actually belong, even though it’s hard and risky.  But that’s what life is.

It’s different when you hear something and when you actually see it. We’ve seen every chapter of Carlos and Lidia’s love story, something that didn’t happen with Francisco and Lidia. Sure, we’ve seen two people with a deep bond that couldn’t be together because Lidia has always wanted and loved Carlos.  She only went back to Francisco when she couldn’t have Carlos or when she was on the outs with Carlos. And now they can’t just tell us that Carlos turned out being the third wheel.  It just doesn’t work like this. It doesn’t make any sense with what we’ve seen so far.  And 7 years apart can’t justify it.  Sure, they mean a lot, they have a huge impact, these years exist but there has to be logic with what we’ve seen ‘till now.

And they can’t rob a character like that, taking everything away from Carlos to give it to Francisco, as a sort of a punishment. Carlos doesn’t deserve this.  And Lidia as character doesn’t either. Remember what she told Francisco in 1x07? “Carlos makes me happy. He’s giving me the chance to build a new life.  We’re not good for each other.” That was one of Lidia’s milestones.  And I won’t even repeat now what a asshole Francisco was with his insinuation. If Lidia is okay with the life she built with Francisco in New York, a life we may be informed a bit about, it would make her an idiot. So what, it doesn’t matter who you build a life, a family with, what matters is that you do it?  My point is I want Lidia to prove that she can even be content and she may have settled for her life in New York, but that’s not what she truly wanted and something is missing because Francisco is not the man she wanted all of this with. Because Francisco is NOT the man she wanted all of this with.

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck season 2, episode 8 reaction

Things go to hell pretty quickly, except Björn, who doesn’t go to hell fast enough.

Episode 8

Clip 1 - Happy ending for now

Mia and Alexander head into school together. Their little sideways smiles at each other warm my cold heart, I’ll admit. She hands him his keys so she drove his car. There was a windshield wiper situation, heh. Really I just love how they’re looking at each other, like they’re deeply pleased to be with each other. I know that seems obvious, but for some reason a lot of fictional couples spend so much time having drama that they don’t seem to actually enjoy each other’s company. Something I like about Mia and Alex is that I do think that they enjoy just hanging out and talking to each other about whatever. It’s not just about attraction, I do feel like there’s some inherent compatibility there.

Mia is rocking that red lipstick, by the way. It seems particularly bold today, reflecting her mood, I guess.

Mia and Alex hold hands when they get inside and people stare, I assume because Alexander Hardenberg is holding hands with a girl. He’s dating someone? Not just banging her??? And it’s Alexander Hardenberg of the Hotel Hardenberg fortune, you know, he’s a big deal at this school.

Also, they’re basically announcing themselves as a power couple, lmao. Let me put it this way, if fandom hadn’t come up with Winterberg as a ship name, the students themselves would have, because that couple is a big deal.

LMAO, Druck gets in its own version of the “I’m so hungover from the weekend”/”It’s Wednesday” exchange from Skam when Kiki says she’s still hungover from the Tangore party and Mia says that was two days ago. I fucking love that they managed to work in that iconic line somewhere without totally copying the scene. (Again, I have to ask: what was Julie’s inspiration for that moment? Did those girls win a walk-on contest?)

Mia and Alexander are going to the movies on Thursday, Valentine’s Day. You know, they’ve actually established movies as a thing that both of them enjoy, a common interest? I know liking movies is not exactly an obscure trait, but we’ve seen Mia and Alexander have a movie night where they both discuss movies briefly, and a day where they watch a film in bed together, and now they plan to go to the movies on Thursday. Mia has a pic of an outdoor movie screen on IG. I forgot if there were anything else, but it’s a small detail that makes it feel more like a real relationship.

We get a Kiki/Carlos conversation as they walk away, so super POV break, although not unusual for Druck. Kiki asks Carlos what they’re doing for Valentine’s Day and he says that’s just something the Americans invented, like Halloween. Carlos, I’m not gonna stand for lumping Halloween and Valentine’s Day together like one isn’t an extremely fun day where as a kid you wear a costume and get a lot of free candy and the other isn’t an extremely bleak day where as an adult you wear sweatpants and eat a whole bag of candy you bought yourself while you try not to think about your love life or lack thereof.

Kiki says she likes Halloween, however, and Carlos pretends to be a zombie and attacks her. It is extremely cute. I’m glad the German Magnus/Vilde equivalent proved to be so delightful, I wouldn’t even mind seeing these two being gross at each other. (I mean. Don’t push it.)

Mia hugs Hanna happily, and Hanna says, “Happy Ending?” which in a fictional context with three episodes to go might as well be putting a curse on Mia. She also knows that Mia and Alex are going to the movies on Valentine’s Day. Already? Alex just said that downstairs? Mia says Kiki is unbelievable. So Kiki just texted that to the girls right then and there, in the middle of a zombie attack no less. That is a special skill 

There’s some very cute girl squad interaction, Sam filmed Mia and Alex holding hands, all the girls are so happy that Mia is happy, everybody’s cool with each other, no more drama, yay!

Except some drama, because Mia asks Hanna about Jonas, Hanna is stressed because Jonas is all freaked out because boy Sam flirted with her. I love Jonas but he needs to chill. Poor Hanna has other things to worry about, and you’re not dating anymore so she can flirt with anyone she wants. 

Clip 2 - Violence is not the answer but hit him harder

Alex twirls Mia adorably. I’ve said this before but they’re a really enjoyable couple on just a clip-by-clip basis, watching them interact. A scene of them doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping or doing laundry together would probably be entertaining. Assuming Alexander does not pay someone to deliver his groceries or do his laundry.

He’s taking her to an indoor skate park. He did have that skateboard in his apartment! They managed to work in a skater despite German Jonas being more of a musician.

Alex says he goes here to blow off steam. Mia asks if he means from school, and I do not think he actually means from school, probably all his family and personal drama. He clearly knows some guy there and is friendly with him. It’s great that we see Alexander have like … actual interests and hobbies considering that was one of my gripes about William, I had no idea what he did in his free time.

Lol, watching someone else skate is not the most exciting date, like what a typical sidelined-girlfriend activity. I mean, I do think in a relationship you want to learn about your partner’s hobbies and it’s probably really exciting for Mia getting this insight into Alexander, fun to just watch him when they’re in the glow of their new relationship. But on Skam and the remakes we had the Evas watching their Jonases skate, basically them being passive, the Jonases being active. Though I feel like that was part of the point about that relationship, with Jonas having more of an identity and Eva just being a tag-along, and the context is pretty different here with Mia and Alexander. But damn, what’s with all these dudes bringing their girlfriends to dates where the girls are just spectators to the guys’ fun? Where are all the girls and their skateboards? Or where are all the guys watching their girlfriends play sports? It’s not really a criticism of the show, just an observation. We know Mia is driving Alexander’s car so I’m going to headcanon that she also borrows his skateboard. 

Lol, Mia even sees the women on the sidelines and is like, are you the players wives and girlfriends? There’s a whole group of women just hanging out and watching their guys do stuff! But they seem nice and offer her a drink.

So I actually missed the first time around that there’s a text message where they plan this outing. It’s Mia who asks about watching him skateboard. She also asks if she can try and he teases her by saying it’s just for boys. Lol, I love that it played out like that and that it’s her idea. I’m sure in the future once their relationship heals, Mia will get her own chance with the skateboard. 

We see Alexander skateboarding and being dorky, Mia smiling as she watches him. It’s all fun and games until Björn shows up. The upbeat 50 Cent song fades out and there’s a brief moment where there’s like a tense sound effect as Mia waves to him. It’s gone when Alexander skates over, so it’s like it’s establishing specifically this ominous connection between Björn and Mia, which we know turns into something awful later.

Alexander is pissed and wants to know how Mia knows Björn, and she explains that he was in the flat when she stayed over at Alex’s place. Alexander is being somewhat alarming with his demanding answers from Mia, although his anger obviously is not targeted at her and is motivated by this scumbag not only being in his presence, but having some sort of acquaintance with another person he cares about. After losing Sophie, the thought of losing Mia because of Björn is terrifying. Like I get why Alexander freaks out, knowing that Björn was in his flat, and not only that, but when Mia was alone there and didn’t have a clue who this guy really is and that he’s dangerous.

Alexander walks over and hits Björn with a skateboard twice, so Björn is crumpled on the ground gasping for breath. We get that ringing in the ears sound which is both Björn dealing with getting whacked and Mia having a harsh reality crash into her beautiful love story. People pull Alex away and someone says to call an ambulance, Alexander runs off. He shoots Mia some glances before running, so I’m wondering if he realizes he fucked up, or is just concerned about her well-being, or scared what she thinks of him now, all the thoughts running through his head.

I mean, … violence is not the answer and I do think Alexander should face consequences for that action because that’s just how it works. BUT it’s hard for me to be appalled at this knowing what Björn did to Sophie and later did to Mia. He’s an abuser. Even when this clip first aired and we didn’t have the full story of Björn’s history, I was like, well, if Björn raped/assaulted/did something bad to Alex’s sister, and she’s dead because of it, then I have a hard time judging him for this. 

But I also don’t care for William smashing the bottle over that guy’s head, which is essentially the equivalent scene. Is that hypocritical? I’d argue that they’re two different circumstances, and that William didn’t need to do what he did. I think a big difference is that the situation with the Yakuza boys might have been able to be prevented before it got out of hand just by going to the police, which William dismissed at the time as naive. Alexander didn’t need to attack Björn either, but Björn probably wasn’t ever going to face justice for abusing Sophie and influencing her death. Again, not that it’s justified, but I can admit that on a gut level I get it more.

And honestly, looking at the whole season, a lot of it has to do with the respective degrees of investment in this situation by Mia and Noora. The Yakuza plot seems very impersonal because Noora doesn’t have a solid connection to it herself; the whole time she’s a bystander. She watches Chris get out of the car with a black eye, she sees Isak get into Chris’ car, she observes the fight. Sure, Chris and Jonas get beat up and William might face punishment, but she feels so outside what happened. Mia, on the other hand, gets very personally involved in the Björn drama. Björn preys on her, and even aside from that, Mia is more up close and personal with the effects of Björn’s behavior on Alex such as the panic attack. Ultimately it just feels like the Yakuza dudes are a nebulous menace with nebulous motives, I don’t even know the name of the dude who got a bottle smashed on his head, and that makes less aligned with William and more skeptical of his motives in attacking that guy, but I do have a clear idea of who Björn is, why he’s a bad guy, and what he did to Alexander and his family, and later Mia, and so I just find this more engaging and Alexander more sympathetic, even if I get that these are both inappropriate actions.

Intellectually I’m like: violence is bad, vigilante justice is bad, don’t do that, Alexander needs to learn to control his anger. Emotionally I’m all: kick his ass.

Clip 3 - Someone needs to adopt Michi

Mia comes home and flops on her bed. She’s been texting Alex and trying to get in touch with him to no avail. Alex, dude, that is a bad move. Even if you need to cool off and clear his head, you’re leaving your girlfriend in the dark over an extremely shocking, possibly traumatizing moment. Plus, you know, leaving her open to sympathizing and possibly being manipulated by Björn, the guy who ruined your life and Sophie’s.

Linm comes in and offers her soup in Chinese. Michi comes in because he heard someone offering food. Relatable as fuck, my boomerang friend.

Actually he came in because he said Hans went to get pizza but Michi doesn’t know if he’s coming back. DUDE, Hans, did you really go out for pizza but not see if your boy wanted any? You ditched him?

Also, this seems like a parallel to Mia and Alex, which I thought might happen. Hans ditched Michi like Alex ditched Mia. Michi asks if Alex cheated on Mia, with what seems like a casual tone, like it’s expected, which is depressing if you think he’s used to that in his relationship. Mia asks him to leave, lmao. 

Mia tells what happened at the skate park to Linn. Linn asks what happened to Björn. You can see Mia get an idea. Oh no, don’t talk to Björn before Alex gives you the story! We know where this is going!!

Clip 4 - Fuck Valentine’s Day

It’s Valentine’s Day. Mia walks through the rain as we hear her leaving Alex a message about being worried about him. The music has some apropos lyrics: “And if you dream you fix me / And if you stay you hurt”

Mia waits outside of the movie theater, like they planned. They’re showing Casablanca. I’m trying to think up some symbolic reason why it might be that movie, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen Casablanca. Errr, it doesn’t have a happily ever after for the couple? 

The marquee says “Valentine’s Day Surprise” which is not inaccurate, lol, it’s just a fucking shitty surprise for Mia. She waits for him. Another happy couple shows up and rubs their romance in her face. Always a great feeling on V-Day! A dude in an Alex-typical coat and hoodie strolls up just to rub his Alexness in her face. She’s being hit with reminders of her fraught love situation like pies to the face.

Mia gets a call, not from Alex, from Hanna, saying she got a message from Jonas telling her that if she went to Sam’s gig, that’s it for him. WTF, Jonas? “It” as in him and Hanna? Stop being a drama king. You guys broke up. IDK if there’s a clarification in German, but could he also be like his well-being/stability is over if Hanna goes to the gig? Because that’s even more extreme. No matter what, it’s manipulative. He’s putting something about his quality of life on Hanna, like what is she supposed to do? Not go because it will make Jonas upset?

Mia is getting emotional about being stood up on Valentine’s Day and seeing happy couples show up to the theater isn’t helping. She throws away her card and the movie tickets and leaves.

Bad move, Alex. You could have at least sent her a text. Even if you didn’t want to explain, just say you can’t make it to the movie so she doesn’t wait outside in the rain on Valentine’s Day. 

Clip 5 - Happy ending my ass

Mia goes to see Björn, who’s in the hospital. She got the info from a girl at the skate park. The lighting in this room is very warm and bright and I wonder if that’s intentional, to create a sense of security and trustworthiness and to influence us into thinking this guy doesn’t seem so bad. It just struck me immediately when you compare it to Mia outside, or previous clips of her waiting for Alex at the theater. 

Mia wants some answers. Björn says he was dating Sophie, who lived in Bali, and when Mia asks if she came back, Björn is like … she died. Shit, so she is dead. I thought they might make her alive but dealing with serious consequences of being with Björn. I will say I am surprised Mia didn’t find any news of Sophie’s death during her Google stalking, or from people gossiping, but I can also buy that the family tried to keep it quiet, especially because of her manner of death. He says that Alexander told her something totally different, and the way he says it, he’s presenting it like, of course Alexander has lied to her, not surprising, like he knows Alexander is the untrustworthy one. We hear that same ringing sound that happened when Alex was attacking Björn, because again, it’s Mia’s world getting rocked, it’s the happy ending being overturned, she’s learning upsetting things about Alexander.

Mia is upset and Björn comes off all comforting, saying it’s not her fault, the whole family is broken. He tells her about the dysfunctional family dynamic and describes Alex’s charming act. Obviously this applies more to Björn rather than Alexander, down to Sophie falling for the act, but it’s unclear how much Björn knows he’s fucked up or whether he’s just projecting like an IMAX. Or you know, lying. 

Björn says Sophie committed suicide and that she always suffered from depression but it didn’t fit in with the image her family wanted. Björn and Sophie planned to go to Bali and travel after graduation, but the family didn’t like Björn and constantly tried to get her to come back. I bet Mia is reacting to this strongly because of her relationship with her own family. She also has parents who try to get her to fit into their own image and come back to them when she’s living independently, parents who don’t seem to really get her. It seems like they were most concerned about Mia being away from them because of how people talked about it, not necessarily because they missed her.

You can see why Mia believes him, because this dude isn’t like, radiating an evil aura. He’s very convincing in his manipulation. He seems sincere about caring for Sophie and very broken up about what happened to her. And Alex did lie to Mia about Sophie, and he had a sudden incident of violence, and Björn happens to be hitting close to home when he describes Sophie’s relationship with her family. I get that we know as a viewer that Björn is bad news, but Mia? Mia doesn’t have the benefit of knowing she’s on a TV show and that this storyline played out with a Norwegian girl already. 

As Mia leaves, Björn tells her to stay away from Alex, he’s dangerous. And Mia has reason to think this is correct. I mean, she went to meet Björn at a hospital, because Alexander put him there.

When Mia steps outside, she finally gets a text from Alex saying he was at his parents’ place to clear his head and he wants to meet. LMAO, dude, it’s not like you went to a spa to take a break from studying for exams, you ran off and ghosted your girlfriend for days after beating up a guy in front of her. You need to offer a way bigger apology than that. Especially because you want to meet with her? Do you think she necessarily wants to meet up with a guy who’s physically violent?

I like Mia’s face as she walks away. She’s not crying or anything, but she just gives off this sense of being torn and turning over what she just heard in her head. She puts in her earbuds and even though she’s not literally muffling Alexander’s voice like in that previous clip where he meets her in front of her place, in a way it feels like it’s a sign of her blocking him out. She doesn’t wait for his response after she tells him she met Björn, that’s all she needs to say and she’s done.

Social Media/General Comments:

As I mentioned above, Mia and Alexander planned the skateboard date. I wonder what fun activity Alexander will observe of Mia’s? He’s already seen her piano-playing, the true reveal will be when he walks in on her ironing to classical music. Now that tells you a lot about a person.

Mia tried to get answers from boy Sam about Alex’s whereabouts and what the hell happened, but Sam does not tell her anything except to find out from Alex himself. I can respect that, honestly. It might be frustrating for Mia, but Sam isn’t giving away his best friend’s sad backstory without his permission. 

Both of Mia’s parents contact her this week:

Her dad makes small talk and then asks if she knows where her mom went, never a good sign. That makes it seem like the mom walked out on him.

Her mom wants to come to Berlin and hang out with Mia. She complains about Mia’s dad getting on her nerves and how they’re so different and she doesn’t know why she got with him. You know, all stuff that you should maaaaybe not dump on your teenage daughter about her father. Tell that shit to a friend. Also, there’s something childish about it, not just the complaining, but that she wants to hang with Mia as a way to escape Mia’s father, not necessarily because she wants to see her daughter.

Druck conveniently did not have to provide any footage from boy Sam’s secret concert by having the invitation state NO PHOTOS - NO INSTA. Saved them the time and expense of staging a performance just for the SM content.

Jonas was bitter about the concert but what else is new. Stupid sexy Sam and his stupid sexy music, being in proximity to Hanna.

Hanna went ahead and posted a picture of her and boy Sam at the concert despite Jonas warning her that it’d be over if she went, which is a power move if there ever was one. I love Jonas but fuck if Hanna needs to listen to his dramatic ass. 

So Mia had a crappy V-Day where Alex ditched her, Hanna had Jonas drama weighing on her, Amira and Sam seemed unimpressed by Valentine’s Day, judging by IG posts that suggest so. In fact, I think the only couple who had a happy Valentine’s Day, whatever they did, was probably Kiki and Carlos. 

I’m not German so please feel free to correct me on stuff like cultural context and translation issues.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[asidian]

prompt!!! De-aged Ignis :) Is he freaked out by these 3 weirdos? Do the bros try to take care of him? Does baby Iggy take care of them?! Hijinks!

Author’s Notes: Sorry it took so long, bean. Here’s your baby Iggy. :)

===

Not So Very Different

===

When they go to bed that night, everything’s normal.

The campfire’s still a warm glow outside the tent, casting golden light and flickering shadows across the fabric. Gladio’s against the far wall, snoring away in his sleeping bag. Noct’s sprawled against Prompto, boneless and dead to the world. And Ignis is directly to his right, glasses folded neatly in their case and arms folded neatly over his chest.

Prompto thinks, just before he drifts off to sleep, that the pose is like some cartoon vampire, all stiff lines and rigid posture. His brain’s doing the slow, nonsensical loop it always does just before he goes down for the night, and he imagines, very vividly, Ignis dissolving under the glimmer of magic, doubtless so that he can become a bat.

It’s such a good mental picture that Prompto’s still smiling when sleep rises up to bring him down.

The next thing he knows, someone’s screaming. 

It’s a short scream, but it’s shrill, and high-pitched, and it’s right next to him.

Prompto blinks his eyes open – struggles into awareness and pushes himself up to sitting, all in one motion. They’ve been on the road long enough by now that he puts a hand out, ready to call his gun.

He takes in the scene: Gladio, sword drawn and face dark as a thunderstorm. Noct, still blearily blinking his eyes open, struggling to wake as he always does. And there beside him, where Ignis ought to be: a small boy with sleep-mussed hair and wide green eyes, all but drowning in Ignis’ button-up pajama top.

Prompto waits a beat for this to make more sense – waits another, just to be sure. But nope, the pieces aren’t connecting, and he just keeps staring, and the boy just keeps staring back.

“What the hell?” says Gladio, behind him.

And Noct says, “Ignis?”

Prompto swivels his head around – blinks at Noct. Turns back, and blinks at the boy.

There’s uncertainty in his expression – suspicion.

Then Noct says, “It’s me. Noct,” and the eyes go wide and stunned.

“Your Highness?” says the mini-Ignis, and Prompto feels his mouth fall open, because – because. It’s justified, dammit. Ignis looks like he’s all of about eight years old, but that perfect, proper accent is still the same.

“Uh,” says Prompto. “Guys? Why’s he so small?”

Behind him, he can hear Gladio shift forward, presumably for a better look. “Holy shit,” he says. “It is him.”

“Guys?,” says Prompto. “Seriously, he’s like tiny.”

“I most certainly am not,” says mini-Ignis, in that proper accent of his, almost offended. “I’m nearly nine years old.”

Prompto stares at him for a beat. Ignis stares back. Prompto feels like he’s probably in the middle of the weirdest dream he’s had this decade when he says, “Uh. Yeah. Um. Sorry?”

“This is Prompto,” says Noct, like introducing him to someone he’s known for years is the kind of thing you just do every day.

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” says mini-Ignis, tone perfectly polite even while his expression says he still subtly resents being called tiny.

“Hi,” says Prompto.

“And you’ve met Gladio,” says Noct.

Those somber green eyes dart around the interior of the tent – linger on Gladio like he’s working out a puzzle, and then, finally, seem to brighten with recognition. 

“Yo,” says Gladio. He stretches out his sword hand, away from Ignis – lets the weapon flicker and fade away in a shimmer of white light.

Ignis gives him a cautious nod in return.

Then his gaze swivels back to Noct. “Highness,” he says at last. “Don’t worry. Whatever manner of magic this is, we’ll find a way to return you to yourself.”

It’s kind of cute. He’s so earnest. He’s like regular-Ignis, all serious business, but with floppier hair.

“Hate to break it to you, Specs,” says Noct. “But I think you’re the one who’s gonna need the help.”

Ignis peers around at them, small brow furrowed. Gladio gives a nod; Prompto offers an apologetic smile.

Ignis takes an unsteady breath in and lets it out slowly. Prompto’s kind of impressed he’s not still screaming his head off. “I’m meant to be older, then,” he says, in a voice that wavers only a little.

“Like our age,” says Prompto. “Give or take a couple years.”

“Ah,” says Ignis, distantly. 

Then he takes another steadying breath in and faints dead away.

== 

By morning – after a very, very late night of discussing probable causes and potential fixes – Iggy’s got his head screwed on right again.

Not long after the sun comes up, he dresses himself in a white striped button-up that’s large enough to be a night shirt, and when Gladio tries to make breakfast, he looks downright scandalized. “Astrals preserve us,” Ignis breathes. “You’ll kill us all,” and Prompto laughs so hard he chokes on his coffee, until Noct has to pound him on the back to get him to breathe again.

Breakfast’s scrambled eggs and toast: not up to Ignis’ usual standards, maybe, but definitely better than Prompto could manage when he was eight. Probably about the upward limits of what he can make now, his brain reminds him cheerfully, and he blushes, and eats his eggs, and tells it to shut up.

“We need an actionable plan,” says mini-Ignis, reasonably, when the dishes are done.

“Dude,” says Prompto. “Are you secretly a little adult?”

Noct lifts one shoulder and lets it drop. “I told you he hasn’t changed since we were kids.”

Gladio clears his throat. “Iggy’s right, though. We’d better figure out what we’re gonna do.”

“Of course I’m right,” says Ignis, a touch testily. “Now: I understand that the most likely culprit is the time daemon you claim we fought yesterday.”

“Yeah,” says Noct. “Unless you ended up trying those weird mushrooms we found.”

Ignis pauses. He presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose, and the gesture is so him that Prompto finds himself grinning.

“Don’t worry, dude,” says Prompto, and nudges him companionably. “You grow up to be a pretty reasonable guy. Ten to one, it’s not the mushrooms.”

“Daemon or mushrooms,” says mini-Ignis. “A remedy ought to fix the problem regardless. Correct?”

“You got it,” says Gladio.

“Excellent,” says Ignis. “Then we’d best get moving.”

They all stand there, waiting expectantly, until Noct realizes he’s going to have to actually drive for a change.

===

It’s kind of cute.

Mini-Ignis lasts all of about three minutes in the car before he sacks out in the back seat, curled up on one side, practically twisted in his seat belt.

Prompto doesn’t blame him. They’ve been up most of the night, and he’s kind of dragging, himself.

He still finds the energy to say, “Awwww,” and twist around in his seat to lean over the back and peer down at the sleeping kiddo. “Lookit his little face.”

He’s just getting the camera up to snap a pic or five when Noct says, “You know he’s gonna kill you when he’s back to normal, right?”

“Why?” says Prompto. “Cause I got photographic evidence that he actually sleeps sometimes?”

Gladio snorts, nose buried in his book. “Guess this is what life was like, pre-coffee.”

Prompto snaps another couple of pics, trying to get the right angle – goes to twist back around and face forward again.

A little detail catches in his mind, though: the way the glasses are smooshed up against Iggy’s nose, biting in so they’ll leave a red mark. 

Prompto knows those feels. He reaches back and swipes the glasses – way too big for the kid – right off his face.

“And you touched the glasses,” says Noct, and gives a low whistle. “We’re gonna need two funerals for all the pieces you’ll be in.”

“Dude,” says Prompto, and pokes him in the side. “Shouldn’t you be watching the road?”

===

They stop at Galdin Quay. They stop at Hammerhead, where Cindy coos over their newest (much smaller) addition to the party. They stop at Lestallum, and Old Lestallum, and some little outpost down by a concrete river.

Thank gods Iggy sleeps through most of it, cause he’s awake for the last two, and he judges them like crazy both times they have to go poking in the shop and come away empty-handed.

“None of you remember where to find one?” he says, almost disbelieving, the second time Gladio heads back with nothing to show for the pitstop.

By now, the sun’s chasing the horizon, and the sky’s gone dusky orange with the onset of night. It’s kind of pretty. Prom’s leaning out of the car to line up a landscape in his viewfinder when Noct says, “Sorry, Specs. You, uh. You’re the one who pays attention to stuff like that.”

“And when I’m the one in need of a remedy?” says Ignis, a little stuffily.

Prompto sits back down in his seat. “We’re working it out. Kind of. Progress is being made.“

“Well,” says Ignis, in the most long-suffering tone Prompto thinks he’s ever heard. “I suppose there’s nothing for it. We’d best find someplace to spend the night.”

Someplace to spend the night is a haven in the middle of nowhere, the fire burning warm and golden and the stars spread out above them in a wash of white.

It’s not until Ignis goes to unpack the cookware that something stirs inside Prompto: a memory, half-buried, of a little boy alone in his house, parents away on business. Of scraping simple meals together, night after night, because no one else is there to do it.

Ignis is about that age now.

Prompto almost upends his chair, he gets up so fast. He says, “Hey, how bout I make dinner tonight?”

Ignis looks him up and down, plainly evaluating, and Prompto tries on his best smile. He says, “It won’t be fancy, but it’ll be edible.”

“Edible,” snorts Gladio. “That’s a glowing five-star review, if I ever heard one.”

“Dude,” says Noct. “Last time you tried to make a cake, you almost burned down the kitchen.”

“Lucky us,” says Prompto. “We don’t have a kitchen. And I’m not making cake.”

He makes stir-fry. 

The meat’s overdone, and the greens are kind of wilted, but he delivers on that promise: it’s definitely edible. 

And while Prompto does the dishes, mini-Ignis sits by the fire and re-discovers King’s Knight on his phone.

===

The little store nestled down at the base of Mount Ravatogh has a remedy.

They stand there out front for a couple minutes, mini-Ignis holding the smooth glass bottle in his small hand. “I suspect,” he says at length. “That I will wake up and think this was all a strange dream.” His lips soften into a smile. “I’ll tell you all about it, Noct.”

When he downs the remedy, the change happens all at once, in a glimmer of magic.

One second, a boy is standing before them. The next, regular-Ignis is taking off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose.

“Well look who’s here,” says Gladio.

“Hey, Iggy,” says Prompto. “Welcome back.”

Noct says nothing at all. His eyes are very wide, and Prompto wonders, fleetingly, whether he’s recalling a much young version of Ignis telling a much younger version of himself about a very familiar dream.

Ignis lifts his head. He slides his glasses back on. “As my very first order of business,” he says, “I’m going to mark our map. Astrals forbid we ever need a phoenix down if I’m indisposed.”

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 100 Poll Results

The chapter 100 poll closed with 1,915 responses. When we compiled the write in comments, they filled a 65 page word document. Since we can only share a fraction of those, we are linking to the document so it can be viewed in entirety.

Thank you to everyone who participated.

  RATE THE CHAPTER 1,869 Responses

Close to 60% of the fandom gave this chapter the highest mark possible while those disapproving were negligible. Still, those selecting “5” on this highly anticipated chapter were down more than 10% from last month. 

Can I have my white-and-black morality back, Isayama? Please?

this manga has successfully crushed my moral beliefs into rubble and I don't know how to feel about it

I hadn't felt dead inside like this after reading a chapter since chapter 84.

I really like the interaction with Eren and Reiner. Reiner’s breakdown felt so real and honest and Isayama really conveyed that he was suffering .

I'm disappointed, I expected great things of this chapter. Isayama really tends to unnecessarily lenghten scenes that don't need to be. You'd think he would've learned about pacing by now. I guess the real shit will go down next chapter... hopefully.

If feels as though we're finally getting somewhere but I'm not sure I like where we're getting

It definitely lives up to the large expectations from being the 100th chapter

It is clear to me that this chapter was meant to tease us with the very beginning of the fight that is to come and it's quite sad that a part of the fandom fails to see that. We were purposefully given too few information or images to make conclusions of. Any possibility (almost everything included in this poll) seems likely at this point.

It was so close for another Marcel Flashback but mystery still endures. Dissapointent!

One hell of a milestone chapter. Isayama truly delivered.

the anime better knock this one out of the park in 2000 years lmao

January pls

  WHAT WAS THE MOST POWERFUL PART OF THE CHAPTER? 1,880 Responses

For the most powerful moment, “Eren’s titan transformation” takes a quarter of the vote, followed by “All of the above.” Reiner begging for Eren to kill him and “Attack on Willy“ round out the top four.

 "Did I say that? Please, forget I said that."

after watching the same scenarios over and over, i'd say to  finally see someone taking responsibilities of their actions: magath and will being conscious of the fact they are getting their hands dirty

Eren and his Freakish Toes

Eren's glare just before he transformed. And his flowing hair, are you sure he's not modelling for L'Oreal right now?!

For me, it was Eren's expressions throughout the chapter. Especially when he reacted to Willy's words.

Reiner. GET IT TOGETHER. Not the time, not the place, not the person you should be begging. But if you kept Falco alive and will fight for your fellow Eldians in the ghetto next chapter we're good.

ok but is there sour cream in marley?

  WHAT WAS THE MOST INTERESTING NEW INFORMATION 1,866 Responses

The walls being named for Ymir Fritz’s daughters and Willy knowingly being set up as a martyr were nearly tied for “most interesting new information”. And you people are honestly freaks because Duck Shaped Potties came in third.

  ISAYAMA DELIVERED ON THE BODY HORROR THIS CHAPTER. WHAT PART GROSSED YOU OUT THE MOST? 1,870 Responses

Carrot toes win by a landslide--and also made for the best write-in comments!

Dem Toes Be FREAKY

Don't regrow limbs anymore, please

Eren's foot regenerating is more gross than all the deaths in Attack on Titan I've ever seen. I hope he never does that again tbh.

Thank you for mentioning my "little baby carrots"

Everyone's complaining about the body horror, but I'm upset that Isayama held back on having Eren regenerate his left eyeball. Might've looked similar to Reiner when his head blew off, except with beautiful, long flowing hair.

the foot flower just (shudders).

as I try to gather my overwhelming amount of thoughts on this boy, and despite those gnarly baby toe sprouts close to ready for harvest, I will glorify those chiseled calves of a god.

THANKS MOM I CAN'T EAT BABY CARROTS EVER AGAIN

  ON A SCALE OF “YOU CAN STAY RIGHT THERE CRYING ON THE FLOOR” TO “I WILL HOLD YOU AND NEVER EVER LET YOU GO,” HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO HUG REINER AFTER THIS CHAPTER? 1,880 Responses

When I compare this to the chapter 93 poll where 21% had little to no sympathy for Reiner, 18% were non-committal, and the remaining 60% felt strongly about him, it appears that seven months later those numbers have remained constant. People either like Reiner or they don’t, and no amount of effort on Isayama’s (or the poll co-creator's) part is going to change that.

I would steal all the stars in the sky so that Reiner can be happy I sWeAr 

Never flipped opinion on a character faster than when we started seeing Reiner in Marley

Still finding it hard to care what happens to any of these characters.  Apart from Reiner.  He needs a hug, a strong drink and a long vacation.

I feel sorry for Reiner but I kinda got desensitized after watching him suffer so many times. He almost beats Levi in the worst life ever competition. I feel exhausted just thinking his life and suffering will continue... I can barely feel any sadness for him anymore, I think he should probably get his final rest soon.

A lot of Reiner's flaws get overlooked lately because readers pity him. His selfishness led a lot of people to their deaths and even though he regrets it now it is too late and he deserves that suffering as karma. Other characters had it much worse and they didn't deserve that suffering (ie Eren) while Reiner brought it upon himself with his own choices. He should have listened to Bertholdt and Annie and stopped the mission after Marcel's death but he even threatened them to continue multiple times.

Reiner baby deserves all the good in this world. Isayama please give the boy a little bit of peace!!

  HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CRIED ABOUT REINER’S HORRIBLE LIFE IN THIS ARC? 1,881 Responses

While the majority have not metaphorically or otherwise shed tears for Reiner, 55.2% of the fandom have been touched by his story and for almost 30%, it’s been extreme.

I'm crying all day thinking about my sad Reiner ;-; he just want to disappear from the world. I want to hug him.

I have never loved a character quite like I love Reiner. Watching him break in front of Eren has been heart-wrenching. He wants judgement for his crimes, to help abate some of the guilt he feels so heavily… And Eren’s the only person that seems to understand him completely. I know Reiner isn’t long for this world anyway with the curse of Ymir, but I’m still holding out hope that before he dies he has a moment of peace and satisfaction.

  HAS EREN MADE YOU CRY IN THIS ARC? 1,883 Responses

We felt like it was only fair to include this even though Eren hasn’t been presented as emotionally as Reiner in this arc. As a bonus, it allowed for us to acknowledge the two groups who were most vocal in the write-ins--the 18% who find Eren hot, and the 8% who are angry with him.

Eren has never been one of my favorites, but he's been breaking my heart almost as bad as Reiner in the past few chapters. He's come so far, and not really in a good way. If he's lost all hope, the relentless freedom chaser, we're heading for a truly dark end.

I'm sick of him.  I'm sick of his anger, I'm sick of his angst, I'm sick of his selfishness, and I'm sick of watching teenagers struggle.  Please bring my adult vets back.

I never thought that Eren would ever become close to sympathetic.

I cried my heart out when he told Reiner he understood him, his development just blew me away, I am so proud of this boy I want to cry again now. Let's wait till we understand his plan to pass any judgement over what he did.

  Since this is the 100th chapter of SNK, let’s take a moment to appreciate the improvement that Isayama’s art has undergone, specifically his character art and expressions. The fandom at large has been quite vocal on the attractiveness of the characters after the timeskip ...so, in your opinion,

WHICH PICTURE OF REINER IS THE MOST HANDSOME (OR THAT YOU LIKE THE BEST)? 1,869 Responses

With so many handsome Reiners to choose from, I wish I could convey the agony my poll co-creator had in selecting these six images. The elimination process was intense and whether to include the booty pic probaby took years off her life.

As she’d predicted, Happy Daddy Reiner was declared most handsome! His full face was number two, and the last minute inclusion of the booty pic resulted in our number three.

Isayama will achieve perfection on drawing Reiner's asscrack showing through his clothes soon.

"Of course i’d pick the booty pic of Reiner. It’s not Erwin’s but with a little 👏🏼🌈Imaaaaagination👏🏼🌈 anything can be Erwin.

Roses are red, Reiner is handsome, SnK fanbase Is mostly awesome.

AND WHICH OF EREN? 1,851 Responses

There was no way Eren’s Loréal Paradis wasn’t going to win this. Eren’s soft smile after Willy’s declaration of war was second.

THAT FLOWING HAIR DAMNNNN SON

This homeless look is working for him

Eren  has beautiful hair.

The panel where Eren is about to transform and Reiner looks at Falco in fear is the most badass panel in a long time. I could FEEL the YouSeeBigGirl sires just from looking at Eren's eyed in the panel

Eren, my ovaries are ready.

Eren's always been hot, I dunno why y'all think he's only been hot now, keep up! ;)

Damn we went from him being some courageous hot piece of ass to him being an older, smarter, and even hotter piece of ass even if he might be a bit emotionless

He's definitely Hobo Daddy™

  EREN’S ATTACK ON WILLY AND HIS CONVERSATION WITH REINER HAVE THE FANDOM DIVIDED. HOW WOULD YOU RATE HIS MORALITY ON A SCALE FROM “GENOCIDAL KILLER” TO “TOTALLY JUSTIFIED” 1,881 Responses

Eren’s morality continues to be a point of contention in many discussions about the chapter, though a majority 83% find Eren’s actions morally neutral to justified. However, the write-ins in the following sections show a huge variation in opinions, with many being quite harsh on either end. Needless to say, everyone has something to say about Eren!

I don't think his actions are justified, but people calling him "genocidal killer" as he wanted to kill Falco and Reiner and all these people is quite idiot, i mean i didn't see any satisfaction on his eyes, while doing what he did. Just a " i need to do this, even if it is going to kill you"... This isn't  a intent of kill... to me is his determination to get his freedom. 

Someone, anyone, punch him for me, please.

I've seen how divided people are on Eren's behavior and his true motives, but I think we should all agree that Eren has grown out of the purely revenge-seeking hothead who constantly demonized his enemies. He now understands that they're all only human, but nonetheless he must do what needs to be done to save his people. I don't know at this point if Eren and Reiner will ever be on the same terms, but here's hoping they can all find forgiveness in the end.

Genocidal Bastard..still justified

He's a war criminal. Seriously, look it up.

Frankly, all this pearl clutching about how "evil" Eren is, is ridiculous, and just shows the willingness of certain part of the fandom to dunk on Eren at the drop of a hat. We don’t have the full contest of this scene yet, we don’t even know what Eren is trying to do, or why, we don’t even know with whom he is coordinating, but we know that he’s evil? Even when it’s been 2 chapters that Isayama is been hammering that Eren isn’t revenge obsessed anymore? But well, obviously that’s clearly Isayama’s intention, to toss out 24 vols. of character development for a cheap twist.

I think there's a reason behind what he's doing that is not even a little bit fueled by pure revenge.

I trust him. Something something greater good.

Still love him, he's my boi. Also this is a manga about war; there is no right or wrong. I think people forget that when pointing fingers at Eren for his actions. I highly doubt this was Eren's plan to begin with.

Eren did nothing wrong.

However justified Eren was or was not, innocent blood has been spilled due to his own actions, so whatever morale high ground Eren had is now gone.

He is a murder, plain and simple.

Feels like isayama's trying to make us believe that Eren is suddenly a bad guy. I ain't buying it.

I was rooting for you. WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU! HOW DARE U?! T_T

I'm so disapointed in him. I am forever the believier that things can be done diplomatically and he just fucked that up and killed a bunch of people. I get why he did it, doesn't mean I'm not super disappointed.

The chapter justifies my feelings towards Eren for months now. Glad some readers are starting to see him in a more realistic, less idealized light. He had civilians killed back in Stohess, remember.

  WAS EREN BEING SINCERE WITH REINER WHEN HE SAID HE UNDERSTOOD HIM? 1,880 Responses

I do think that Eren meant the things he said in response and maybe even forgave him, but apparently regardless of his personal feelings, he's trying to do something very specific, granted the margin of whatever extra casualties there are. 

It seems like he still has this good core, but this story is highlighting that 'good' is relative. I thought he was quite sincere talking to Reiner, and Reiner's sincerity in return made me change my opinion of him (and I've hated him for ages).

It was so gratifying to see him say he understands Reiner and the other warriors finally. I've needed this understanding for so long. I'm so happy! Maybe it wasn't wholly sincere, but Eren's finally made the connection that Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were just kids too, that they were fed information and forced into doing something they didn't necessarily want to. He finally understands how similar they all are; how screwed they all were from the start. And I'm just really happy that he's finally reached that point.

  DO YOU BELIEVE THAT EREN INTENDED FOR REINER AND FALCO TO DIE IN THE BASEMENT? 1,878 Responses

Pretty sure he's protecting Reiner and Falco. He made contact with Reiner before the transformation. I don't know why he'd shake his hand before transforming. That would make for a very odd titan transformation. Either that, or he purposely crushed him as he transformed. But I doubt it, this chapter was about Eren gauging Reiner's alignment, imo.

Eren better not have intended to kill Falco

I believe he probably used some hardening to save Falco and Reiner in the basement, or somehow made it so that Reiner was able to save Falco. I definitely believe they're alive and well. I'd like to draw attention to the last panel of the manga, where it shows Eren's titan hands LITERALLY covered in blood. Emphasized, I believe, because Isayama is a master in symbolism and meaning.

I actually really like his eerily-calm demeanour. But I'll be so upset if he killed Reiner and Falco.

I really can't wrap my head around Eren killing Falco and I don't believe he did, its so unlike him. The whole events leading up to the transformation was beyond peculiar with Reiner snatching his hand back and looking horrified at Falco just before Eren transforms. I swear for some moments I was getting Grisha vibes from Eren and his Titan form.

I really hope Reiner has protected Falco, because he has survived worse things.

My personal belief so far is that from the get go Eren intended on using his hardening abilities to shield Reiner and Falco...with the plethora of parallels to the Reiss cave already in place, I dont think its too far fetched (or Im just in denial lmao)

Well he's clearly not fucking around. FWIW, I still think he did something to prevent Reiner/Falco from being instakilled

  IS EREN WORKING WITH THE PARADISIANS OR APART FROM THEM? 1,877 Responses

Despite not seeing any other member of the Survey Corps, the vast majority of respondents still believe Eren is not working independently.

  DO YOU BELIEVE EREN’S LETTER WAS ADDRESSED TO ZEKE? 1,867 Responses

We first asked this question with chapter 98. At the time 86% believed Zeke was the recipient of Eren’s letter. That number is now down to 61%. I suspect the use of the word “comrade” has dissuaded  some people.   DO YOU BELIEVE ZEKE AND EREN ARE WORKING TOGETHER? 1,874 Responses

This question was also asked with chapter 98. the number of people who believe in an Eren/Zeke alliance have only fractionally changed.

I'm glad we finally got some clarity regarding who is on what side, even though Zeke is still  a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. I feel like Zeke is playing both sides of the fence, but also has his own little plan going and might doublecross everyone in the end.

He had inside info. Had to be Zeke

So Trapdoor-kun told Zeke to go in the front door yet here we see him still walking around the streets. Very suspicious and makes me believe the theory that he's working with Eren/Paradis Crew

Anyone considered the possibility that it might be Colt who's in touch with Eren and not Zeke? After all, he's played baseball too, and he's related to a deceased Eldian Restorationist.

  ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON EREN THIS CHAPTER? 626 Responses

He is clearly in his grunge/alternative-rock phase and just want to show to the world that he is edgy af. We've all been there.

I try very hard not to think about Eren at all tbh.

HOT DAMN EREN. Not too sure what I love the most! His looks of his growth as a character. This new Eren is a blessing. For better of for worse, we can all agree that Eren's change is amazing. Can't wait to see more of him!

baby's all grown up and meeting DSM-5 criteria for like seven different psychiatric diagnoses

Never liked Eren. Am a fan now. Give me a problematic murder boi and I’m fucking in.

He's certainly matured, not prone to regular angry outbursts like when he was 15. Now Eren is extremely controlled, the master of making grown men cry and his angry outburst is busting through a building in Titan form!

I loved seeing how much Eren has grown up. He's a far cry from the angry young boy he was at the start of the series. But on a final note, I think this chapter may be the one that finally sold me on this arc. I'm really enjoying seeing the (sometimes vastly) different political and moral motivations for the various (new and old) characters!

Had no choice after Willy’s declaration of war.

The willingness to sacrifice the lives of innocents is nothing new for the sc (see: armin's comment during the uprising) regardless of your feelings on its morality. Eren appears to have grown enough to accept that sometimes its necessary for whatever greater plan he (and the sc?) have right now. But the idea that eren wants to kill these innocent people or is still just out for revenge goes against all the development of his perspective that we see in his conversation with Reiner (which I believe is genuine). And there's no indication that he sees all marleyans as the enemy that must be destroyed. So Eren''s actions sit right in the moral ambiguity zone that isa is so fond of, but we can't say he's just some angry murderous genocidal kid (especially since we don't know anything about Paradis's full plan)

I understand his hate towards the country that made hell of his life (and of his beloved ones' libes too), but continuing this cyrcle of violence isn't the right solution. This isn't what the Scouts had died for, so I'm really hoping he isn't working with them anymore because it'd be an insult to all their efforts.

I was hoping he wouldn't take this route, but I don't think I can blame him for choosing it.

Initially I was torn about his decision, I didn't see it coming and didn't think it matched what he had been saying the past few chapters. But, this is war, and he must protect his loved ones. So I've come around to accept it. Oh, and that panel with his hair going up before he transformed is EPIC.

Is Eren playing the game, or is he still a pawn? He still has anger issues but I hope he has just learned to use them productivity.

I will admit he has matured since we last saw him as a teenager, but I believe he has turned that rage on the outside into something awful and gut-wrenching on the inside. He manipulated Falco and basically mentally tortured Reiner. The man may have matured... But he is not sane.

I'm conflicted, I was hoping he had a more elaborate plan than "kill 'em" after his speech to Reiner.

I’m gonna be honest here and say that eren has been one of my least favorite characters since I joined this fandom. I just saw him as this annoying, stupid, revenge-fueled kid. but suddenly he’s kinda started growing on me. we’ll see where this goes...

I'm impressed with his maturity and hope we get to see more of the backstory to his growth.

I'm very disappointed. I loved Eren.

I'm yours, Eren. All yours.

I'm sad he can't grow a beard

Sad that he has to keep compromising his humanity in order to save his people but also kinda proud of how much he has grown up.

I find it sad, and yet a sign of maturity, that he carries out the Attack on Willy out of perceived need to do so rather than desire.

It wish things would've turned out different. You can tell Erem is hurting just as much as Reiner. None of them are villains in my opinion

Please after this attack let Eren cut his god damn hair I CAN'T take looking at that hobo hair anymore IT ONLY LOOKS GOOD IN CERTAIN ANGLES I WILL EVEN TAKE HIS EMO MULLET FROM CHAPTER 90 JUST GET RID OF THAT HAIR AND THAT FACIAL HAIR TOO IT DOESNT LOOK RIGHT!

Step on me, Eren? Does that count?

Eren over the past few chapters has been incredibly interesting to me. For a character I found annoying from the start, made peace with, and then utterly disliked after the serum bowl, it’s been wonderful to find something else to latch onto for his character. I love this cold fire he has. He’s become an emotionally broken man who has shaken morality, turned into something he hates. The parallels between him and Reiner are honestly genius, and I love Isayama for giving us such nuanced and complicated characters in Eren and Reiner.

We love and appreciate Eren in this house.

What an incredible progression for this young man who started out as an unbearable kid with anger-management issues. I'm loving the new Eren to be quite honest. Plus he's hot.

the old eren definitely can't come to the phone

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian.

  ANY BETS ON WHETHER REINER AND FALCO SURVIVED THE BLAST FROM EREN’S TRANSFORMATION? 1,875 Responses

A majority vote think that both Reiner and Falco will survive to see 101 (and god I hope we’re right).

I honestly hope Reiner protected Falco from the blast of Wren's transformation, I truly feel while deep down inside he hates himself - he couldn't stand to see another person, let alone a kid, get killed. So I hope for the best for the Warriors and the Warrior Cadets.

Honestly, I think Reiner's plot armor is too thick for him to die, not sure about Falco tho.

I really hope Eren's and Reiner's handshake was some magic bamboozle shit to protect Reiner and Falco. Please be alive boys :'(

Set-up for Reiner holding Falco's broken body next chapter.

  DO YOU THINK WILLY REALLY IS THE WARHAMMER TITAN? 1,874 Responses

I highly doubt that Willy is the Warhammer Titan tbh. It just- doesn’t seem right? The commander that was talking to Willy at the beginning of the chapter (forgot his name oops) probably is since he’s shown sympathy towards the Eldians and also laid out 99% of the strategy to Willy. So Willy may be a decoy with who truly owns the power.

Villi himself said he saw the memories of Warhammer Titan so this kinda confirms he is, but maybe he was used as a vait bc warhammer titan is too powerful to risk and he was a puppet. Who knows!

Tall Guard is Warhammer Titan

Kiyomi is the Warhammer Titan

Warhammer titan doesn't exist.

The real War Hammer Titan is the friends we made along the way

  DO YOU THINK WILLY IS DEAD? 1,872 Responses

 Willy is an interestingly captivating character. A man who is full of self hatred and doubt, who tries to make the best of his bad situation, who also ends up sacrificing his own life to be taken seriously. Wow. Not saying he's a good person, but he's mighty interesting. Or, "was". Thanks, ERIN.

Honestly, I feel angry about Willy's death. Well, not sure if he is dead but probably he is or will be. I feel he was not 100% bad person, he had a lot of feelings and emotions inside. When he was crying while saying he didn't want to die, I felt that he was telling it to Eren. Willy was one of the characters I liked and I wanted him to cooperate with SC. Seeing him killed pissed me off really a lot. Does Isayama really MUST kill all my fav characters? Maybe he feels pleasure of killing good-written chars and leaving the most plain ones and the ones I don't give a crap about.

  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPEFUL FOR IN CHAPTER 101? 1,870 Responses

1,070 (57.2%) The Survey Corp. Finally!

1,038 (55.5%) What game is Zeke playing?

964 (51.6%) Finding out Eren’s ultimate goal

875 (46.8%) Trapdoor-kun’s identity is revealed

791 (42.3%) ANNIE

654 (35%)  LEVI

581 (31.1%) More Grim reminder

424 (22.7%) More on Lady Kyomi

348 (18.6%) More Reiner suffering

327 (17.5%) Porco and Pieck use the potty

324 (17.3%) Reiner is saved from the purgatory that is his life

309 (16.5%) Armored Titan vs Attack Titan

267 (14.3%)  Flashback of Marcel being eaten

243 (13%) Porco and Pieck are rescued

199 (10.6%) Karina dies

164 (8.8%) Willy survives

Everyone is still looking out for the survey corp to return, followed closely by working out allegiances and identities of several key players. Isayama keeps the mystery going for another chapter.

if 101 doesnt open with the grim reminder narration Im suing isayama

How will Porco and Pieck have any privacy while using the 'duck'? GUYS PLEASE, STOP WITH YOUR STUPID WAR THEORIES AND GET TO THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE

I honestly just want Ponytail Armin to happen by 105.  That is all.

I just want Reiner to have survived, he could do so much good given the chance.

Honestly I'm dissapointed that we didn't get to see the Paradis cast in this chapter.

Flashback of marcel's death  from the perspective of every atom present at the time

Kiyomi drinking wine with smirk in Cersei style watching the chaos in Liberio

Carla using the P A T H S to tell his son to fucking chill

Reiner to have some closure on Bert's death

Surprise! Ymir flashback.

  HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL CAST ON PARADIS? 1,871 Responses

With so much Eren in this chapter, there’s still a good amount of thirst to see the Paradis cast! Of those who chose option 5, we’re down from 38.1% last month to 35.9%, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that from the amount of write-ins we received begging for certain characters to return!

I really have a problem with the ask "How baldy do you want to return to the original cast on paradis?" because i highly suspect that the original cast is in marley but also want to return to their pov so badly! What should i answer? 

Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts. Main casts.

  WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST 1,881 Responses

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES 1,848 Responses

ANY OTHER CHAPTER THOUGHTS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE? 292 Responses

*insert the most epic of Sawano tracks*

Woke AF. Adopting other shifter personality traits (scratching his ear like Zeke) possibly because PATHS?

"I will just keep moving forward until my enemies are destroyed" I dread the meaning behind this line because if "destroying his enemies" is like what happened to Willy then Eren is going down a very dangerous road.

*breaths in* *exhales* BOI

SO GLAD THAT I WON BINGO ON GRIM REMINDER 2.0. Thank you Isayama for the craziest ride to chapter 100! It's been fun, frightening, saddening and honestly, the best thing that has ever happened in my life. It's thanks to Isayama that I met so many amazing friends and experienced so many emotions that only he could ever create. I've been reading since chapter 49, and I will continue until the end.

I really miss Levi and Erwin.  Seeing them in the fake preview from the new volume brought tears to my eyes... it was so nice to see Erwin so peaceful and calm.  Part of me is glad that he's not seeing this shitshow, but I get the feeling that he would have come up with a better plan for dealing with the Tyburs than EREN SMASH! EREN ANGRY >:E

Man. Chapter 100. SnK has come a loooong way

Marley arc and especially this chapter have been a blessing so far, loving every second of it. I hope this arc will continue as is, seeing how well written it seems to be already. May the suffering of Reigner continue

If Annie dies off screen (aka gets Ymir'd) I will be indescribably upset

If Annie is now a comrade of the Paradis people after Eren successing on freeing her, I'm going to eat my pants for breakfast.

Is it me or does the Attack Titan looks a bit different (bulkier/bigger?)

Isayama and his brilliant parallels

Isayama hear my call please show me Hange Zoe I just need her back I need to see her again

Kudos to Isayama for being able to keep this story so engaging.

Magath reminds me a lot of Keith Shadis. He knows that he has sent so many people to death, regrets lots of things, and has started to think differently. He could be an interesting "boss", since some of us always expected Keith to be "bad".

Porco and Pieck are going to be in that pit long enough they're gonna need that little training potty. D:

When Eren cited Marley indoctrination following the word "but" on pg. 26, it told me unambiguously Eren admitted RBA & Warriors are more justified than he since he made a note of that difference. Funny how much of the fandom believed Marley Warriors cannot be justified, forgiven, etc., at all until Eren says 'me, too.' Then suddenly, "Eren's justified! He's just doing an job now!" sans RBA's tremendous guilt, esp. Bert & Reiner's.

IMAGINE FALCO TRYING TO WAKE UP THE IMPALED REINER THEN RUNNING OFF TO SAEV GABI THEN REINER REMENISING AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT EREN'S GONNA DO TO THE PEOPLE HE LOVES AND GOING "I'LL EXTERMINATE THEM, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM" THEN TRANSFORM THEN PUNCH EREN IN THE FACE.

Really epic okay, still left me with a bit of bitterness because it showed how Eren isn't changed in better but only believes in violence. It is madness and cruelty with no end. How sad

Reiner being the main character is the best thing in this manga. Porco migh sacrifice himself to save Reiner from Eren during their titan fight after getting more of his memories back (Eren eats Porco). Enraged, Reiner finally manages to get the advantage over Eren and eats Eren. Thus, Reiner succeeds in having 4 of the shifter powers in his control. Eventually Reiner will seek his own path separate from Paradise and the World itself.

That duck shaped potty thing, what the actual heck??? Is that what that was??? Anywho, this chapter had an interesting moment after Reiner's explanations of his actions. That alongside Willy's desire to live were the most powerful points in the chapter.... The panel where he begins to transform, he has a look of enhanced determination as opposed to desire to snap the olive branch. That in context to the whole conversation, it just makes it seem unlikely. But then, this is SNK. We'll see what happens.

The Guy with the newspaper who is he ?

The illustration in those last few pages was AMAZING. Maybe the best panels I've seen in the manga.

The way Eren listened to Willy's speech and was reconsidering his actions because of the line "I was born in this world" but then closing his eyes and accepting what he had to do after the declaration was chilling.

The whole thing got complicated all of a sudden. I still can't believe Paradis elaborated complex navigation in 3 years. We don't kniw what happened there, but no way they're on par with Marley. Who the hell is this trapdoor guy?

This chapter is THE bomb. It made me cry and smile like crazy. Isayama sure knows what he's doing. Can't wait for 101.

Even though i love the chapter, my issue is still same. Pacing is so slow! I felt this even more at the end of the chapter. Villi screaming "They're only Eldians!" to Magath was totally sick. Also Eren's crazy smile when he shaked hands with reiner..... damn it. I know reiner is fine and well, but i am scared for falco and rest.....

This chapter was amazing from a thematic and character standpoint. I hope that now that the action is beginning we'll get to see trapdoor-kun's identity and the rest of the sc soon.

This chapter was amazing. The way the chapter ended left me (once again) shaking in my seat. Isayama knows how to write his manga, kudos to him!

This chapter was the climax of Reiner and Eren's latest developments, I can tell the story is gonna kick into overdrive soon, and I can't wait.

This is a story about war, there will be lines crossed and sacrifices made. I learned not to label characters and their actions so carelessly without trying to put myself in their shoes or at least try to decipher what caused/pushed them to act as such. So to see other readers so ready to condemn Eren (and the rest of the walldians) as evil is ridiculous - especially after reading the tribulations Eren and the rest has gone through. I do not and will condone or support his actions if he does cause collateral damage, but at this point I'm just going to be on the neutral and observe how this story will unravel. With how things are going, I think...in the end, no one will get a decent happy ending here...perhaps some fool's hope.

This is a long poll

(You’re telling me!!!!)

    Since the third Bessatsu Shonen popularity poll was released along with this chapter, we thought we'd ask your opinion...

WHAT BEST MATCHES YOUR THOUGHTS ON ERWIN BEING THE WINNER? 1,786 Responses

32.3% of you are my people and an additional 42.2% are welcome to eat at my table. There was lots of love for Erwin here, but Kasch and I were both a little surprised at amount of salt. I read it. I’m not including it. (And some of ya'll trashed my guy and added your names 😱 )

Look at this smart person:

Lol i'm not trashing Erwin on fucking momtaku's poll I'm not dumb or a jackass

Thank you for not being dumb or a jackass 👍!

Happily, there were some really great, smart, funny and probably beautiful people who smell nice and have lots of friends who included comments about Erwin’s win:

Erwins a great character and a handsy boy. He totally deserves it haha xD Rip Commander Eyebrows

He deserved it and I love Levi's expression that both asks his fans why they let him down but is also so proud and happy for Erwin!

He deserves it but his massive lead over Levi is surprising. Season 2 still fresh in people's minds, I suppose.

his eyebrows should have been #1

While Erwin deserves it his top place was probably a last homage from the fans. I found it strange that the poll numbers were so low compared to the other polls tho!

I'm guessing he won because of how cool and what a great leader he was this season in the anime and also from the manga readers still being bitter and enraged by the serum bowl? Erwin is definitely in top 10 interesting characters for me.

And a few more comments worth including:

Actually, I'm not even mad, I'm amazed that 2 dead people have the first and last positions....

I loved that fans were rabid enough to vote for a dude who died last year. If nothing else, that's some mighty fine trolling.

ARE YOU GENERALLY HAPPY WITH THE TOP 10? 1,813 Responses

A poll with only 6000 votes is not considerable neither representative of the fandom reality

At least it wasn't Levi.

Hanji Zoe deserves 1st place smh

Bertholt and mikasa are tie fighters now?

I wish that Ymir or Historia at least made it into the Top 10.

ANNIE WASN'T ON THE TOP 10, WTF, THIS IS A TRAGEDY

  AND LASTLY FOR MY POLL CO-CREATOR, BECAUSE SHE WON’T LET ME OUT OF THIS LOCKED BASEMENT ROOM UNLESS I INCLUDE THIS, HOW SAD ARE YOU THAT REINER IS 9TH? 1,766 Responses

Sincerely I think Reiner deserves the first place because his character has really shown emotional depth this chapters.

I'm upset! the guy is already dead. Reiner really deserve it this time

Suffering and begging for death in the manga, 9th in the popularity poll... it's okay, I still love you, Reiner ; _ ;

If you made it to the end of this, thank you! See you next month!

[shuakkinda-blog]

Vernon crushing on you !! // scenario

a bullet-point scenario featuring the legendary meme, Vernon/Chwe Hansol !!

Send in requests for scenarios and reactions on my page if you’d like to :)

- Hansol yall

- this guy is a literal dork but he doesn’t always show it

- on stage he’s kinda cautious and uptight

- but he’s suuuper funny and genuine off stage

- and I guess he’s kinda like this when it comes to his crushes

- he’ll be super serious at first

- but once his crush breaks the ice for good

- she better get ready for a shit ton of moments with

- not just vernon

- but with our legendary memesol too ;)

- ENOUGH OF THE INTRO NONSENSE, ON WITH THE SCENARIO !!

- you’ve been an intern at pledis for a couple of months now

- and during those months you found this one svt member that you really really really click with:

- PPU PPU BOO SEUNGKWAN

- you love his sass and he loves how you react to it

- the conversations you guys have are just so interesting too, and they’re nEVER quiet

- he’s practically screaming and making a fool out of himself whenever he’s with you because he loves hearing you laugh

- Seungkwan is so full of energy whenever he’s around you like

- he’d be practicing a extremely difficult dance in the practice room with the rest of svt and feel like he’d rather die than get the moves right

- but then you’d walk in and Seungkwan would spring from the dead like

- “HEY GUYS GET UP WHY ARE WE SO TIRED LET’S JUST DANCE THIS BS BECAUSE WE CAN C’MON NOW!1!!1!!!!” IJE WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKEE UP

- and the rest of svt would groan and want to slap the shit out of him for interrupting their much-needed break

- anyways, knowing how much !positivity! and !motivation! you guys bring into each other’s days, the two of you choose to hang out often

- and a lot of his fellow group members would think it’s because Seungkwan is crushing on you

- but it’s not that

- it’s just one of those super duper close bff connections ykno

- your amazing friendship with Seungkwan is probably one of the best things you’re getting out of the internship

- ONE of them, just wait ;)

- and although you know that the other svt members find Seungkwan’s attitude is 5x more annoying when he’s with you

- you didn’t know your friendship was really starting to bother a particular member:

- “Hansolieeeee~” Seungkwan comes barging into the practice room to see Vernon sitting by himself on the floor, back leaning against the wall mirror

- “mm?” Vernon hums but doesn’t look up from his phone. He knows the loud voice can only be Seungkwan’s

- “wanna go get some bubble tea? Like right now?” Seungkwan grins widely, but his positive gesture is met with a dull response

- “I don’t know,” Vernon’s eyes are still glued to his phone

- “come on,” Seungkwan pulls on one of Vernon’s arms. “It’ll be fun because-”

- “y/n will be there, I know,” Vernon huffs

- “you never hang out with us,” Seungkwan pouts. “Why can’t you just give today a chance?”

- “you go have fun with your little crush. I’ll be here,” Vernon says coldly

- “HANSOL, FOR THE LAST TIME, I DON’T LIKE HER LIKE THAT,” Seungkwan gets defensive

- “and you’re my best friend. I can’t just leave you here like this...” he looks down in guilt

- “well then go have fun with your new best friend then,” Vernon says as his eyes avoid Seungkwan

- (now a lot of us would expect Boo to get offended by this statement and sass the living shit out of Vernon)

- (but nah)

- (in fAct)

- Seungkwan snickers. “Is my best friend... jealous?”

- “I’m not, I just...” Vernon struggles to make up an excuse

- “HAH YOU’RE SO CUTE, JEALOUS OF SOME GIRL HUH...?” Seungkwan collapses and rolls on the floor, dying of laughter

- Vernon doesn’t respond and keeps busy on his phone

- “okay okay, I’m sorry,” Seungkwan collects himself again. “But for real, I can’t replace someone like you. Ever. You’ll always be my best friend, and no other person can say otherwise.” VERKWAN FEELS YO

- “just please, I’d love to hang out with the two of you guys. I think you’ll get along well... I mean there’s gotta be a reason why I’m so close to both you,” Seungkwan justifies

- Vernon contemplates for a long moment

- “... okay,” he says hesitantly

- “AYYAYAY OMG OKAY LET’S GO LIKE RIGHT NOW BC Y/N IS WAITING OUTSIDE THE BUILDING AND I DON’T WANT TO MAKE HER WAIT SO LONG,” Seungkwan screeches says excitedly as he pulls Vernon off of the floor and onto his feet

- Vernon smiles as he gets dragged out of the building

- and upon arriving at the building’s entrance, he sees you casually waiting on your phone

- while keeping quiet, Seungkwan pushes Vernon closer to you, making you look up

- “uh hello, I’m Vernon,” Vernon smiles plainly at you

- “oh come on,” Seungkwan lightly punches Vernon. “She knows you and you know him. Don’t act awkward like that.”

- “call him Hansol if you want,” Seungkwan looks to you and pats his original bestie. “He’s usually not like this, so please forgive him, y/n.”

- “ah okay,” you smile. “Nice to finally hang out with you today! Seungkwan has told me a lot about you.”

- “same here,” Vernon replies and his smile grows a little. He points to Seungkwan “This guy just doesn’t know how to shut up when he’s talking about you sometimes,” he says as he nudges Boo in the gut

- you laugh. “I think he just needs to learn how to control himself in general,” you respond

- “ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, let’s not gang up against me so soon,” Seungkwan comes in between you and Vernon to link arms with the both of you. All three of you start heading over to the bubble tea cafe

- and during your trio date

- it’s pretty awkward at first

- but then you bring up something dumb or embarrassing that Seungkwan has done before

- and Vernon would be like

- “oh my god I thought I was the only one who saw him do that before.”

- “yeah I know, I can’t believe he actually sneaks his plush toys to the company building everyday. I always catch him talking to them when he’s alone. It’s hilarious.”

- “I know, right?” Vernon would laugh. “You know there was this one time he-”

- “OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH,” Seungkwan would have to shut up the both of you before he can be insulted any further

- and for the rest of the time at the cafe, you and Vernon are just snickering at each other every time Seungkwan tries to change the subject from something he can’t/doesn’t want to talk about lmao

- overall the bubble tea date turns out to be a great time

- while Seungkwan goes to use the restroom, Vernon leans over to your side of the table and asks

- “hey, if you ever need some more Seungkwan blackmail, I gotchu.”

- you shake your head and laugh. “I could definitely use some of those.”

- “yeah, if you give me your number, I can send you a few right now if you want,” Vernon smiles and holds out a hand, which you place your phone in

- as he’s entering his contact info into your phone, you spot Seungkwan returning from the restroom

- “hurry hurry,” you lean over to Vernon. “He’s cominG.”

- “okay, aaaaand done,” he smiles as he finishes up filling out his profile

- he quickly slides your phone back to you before Seungkwan can spot the suspicious activity

- on the way back to the company building, you and Vernon are separated by Seungkwan once again

- but as Boo chats away, you send your new friend a text

- you: “now would be a great time to send some blackmail, don’t you think?”

- upon receiving the text, Vernon looks to you, then to Seungkwan, then back to you

- a huge smile flashes across his face and he begins typing away at the keyboard

- Vernon: “you right” “hold up”

- Vernon: <img231>

- OH MY GOD this is g o l d, you think to yourself as you try to hold back the laughter

- you: “YO I DIDN’T THINK THEY WOULD BE THIS GOOD”

- Vernon: “like I said, I gotchuu”

- Vernon: <img257>

- and the two of you silently laugh at each other as the blackmail keeps rolling into your phone

- until

- Vernon: <img47747>

- Vernon: “WAIT NO I DIDN’T MEAN TO SEND YOU THAT ONE”

- you check the image and

(pic creds to topsy.one)

- you: “... I think this picture beat all of the Seungkwan ones”

- “HEY,” Vernon accidentally responds aloud. An embarrassed smile spreads across his face

- Seungkwan turns to the both of you

- oh shit, you and Vernon think simultaneously

- silence sets in for a moment

- “... ANYWAYS,” Boo continues his conversation with himself

- Vernon looks to you and silently wipes his forehead, mouthing the words “phew”

- you sigh in relief

- Vernon: “my bad omg”

- you: “it’s okay Seungkwan won’t suspect anything this early on”

- you: “he’s super oblivious to everything when he’s on chat mode”

- Vernon: “damn it’s like you’ve known Seungkwan for as long as I have lol”

- you: “lmao I think he’s just super predictable”

- Vernon: “naw, comprehending Seungkwan takes talent”

- Vernon: “and lots of patience”

- and the two of you kinda start of your meme friendship from there how beautiful :’)

- Over time, you guys text more, and then texting leads to talking irl, and then meeting up a few times a week

- and it just comes to the point where the both of y’all are practically ditching Seungkwan for your own hangouts lol sorry boo

- the both of you become so comfortable with each other to the point you can freely unleash your inNER MEME SELVES and it’s gREAT LMAO

- all you guys do together is secretly take pictures of other people around the building and make memes out of them I’m so mean I’m sorrY PLEDIS

- and on most days you’d snap pictures of each other and text them as end-of-the-day (aka i-kind-of-miss-you) messages aw

- one day, Vernon’s gonna be hanging out with you and trying to take pictures of you off-guard without catching your attention

- he wouldn’t check them until the end of the day, when the both of you text each other for your nightly meme exchange is that even a thing?? o o p s

- he’d look through what he managed to capture from earlier

- but

- all of the pictures he took of you

- they’re not off-guards

- they’re bomb ass candid photos

- you’re smiling, laughing, looking at him, just being super genuine in the moment

- and Vernon just thinks:

- why is she so... perfect?

- he smiles as he swipes through the pictures over and over again

- but then another thought hits him:

- do I like y/n?

- also:

- shit what am I supposed to send her today?

- then a text notification comes in

- you: “hey where’s the daily dose of my memeself??”

- Vernon: “uhhh... none today, sorryyyyyy”

- you: “wth did you not take any?”

- you: “whatever I have shit load of memesol from today anyways. ENJOY <3″

- and as you’re sending the pictures you took of him that day, Vernon isn’t even checking any of them

- he’s looking through all of your photos again and griNNING LIKE THE CUTEST KID OMG

- Oh god I do like her...

- wait what the hell am I supposed to do no-

- “wHATCHU GRINNING AT THERE,” Seungkwan sticks his nose into Vernon’s buisness

- “n o TH In G,” Vernon’s eyes widen as he shifts away from Seungkwan and turns off his phone

- “I’m not dumb, Hansol. I saw you scrolling through those pics of y/n,” Seungkwan laughs at him

- “they’re just nice pictures, that’s all,” Vernon tries to cover it up but his blush gives it away

- “mmhmm, ‘nice pictures’ my ass,” Seungkwan isn’t buying it mY FAVORITE PART OF SEUNGKWAN IS...

- “and your smile isn’t like that all the time, I know you,” Boo adds. “It’s really cute right now, and that says a lot.” VERKWAN I TELL YOU

- “okay, fine. You caught me,” Vernon gives up. “But it’s not like anything is gonna change because I like her.”

- “actually,” Seungkwan clears his throat. “knowing you so well comes with the duty to inform you with all of the dumb things you’ll do that’ll make your crush obvious to y/n. May I?”

- “Oh my God,” Vernon smiles and rolls his eyes

- “Oh and by the way,” Seungkwan leans over to Vernon and whispers. “If you don’t make it obvious, I will.”

- “SeungkwaN.”

- “Okay fine, I’ll try not to,” Seungkwan replies. “AnYwAyS...”

- IT’S CRUSHING HABIT ASSESSMENT TIME WOOT !!

- Seungkwan’s right when he says that Vernon will be doing things that’ll make his crush obvious to you

- because for one, he’s gonna have to discontinue that end-of-the-day meme exchange because he’ll just be snapping really cute candid pics of you instead:

- you: “okay memesol, don’t disappoint me today” 

- you: “where’s the y/n meme I’ve been waiting for?”

- Vernon: “sorry I ain’t doing that anymore”

- you: “wait really?”

- you: “bUT WHY?”

- Vernon: “Idk I haven’t been getting any memeable pics of you lately”

- you: “wdym? my natural look is an ugly meme”

- Vernon: “it’s not and that’s the problem”

- you: “... whatchu tryna say then, bud?”

- you: “WAIT A SECOND”

- Vernon: “gn dork”

- and although he may seem pretty calm about hinting here, he’ll probably slap himself in the face a couple of times for slipping up

- Vernon would also stop making jokes about you that insult your personality because whY would he insult something he loves so much about you?? do you hear me screaming?

- but don’t worry, meme time with memesol will still be fun because he’d still be willing to make a meme out of himself for you not like he has any control over that anyways lol

- also, he’d be super blushy whenever you guys have accidental skinship moments nkadbkadfbsd

- like even the slightest touch of your hand would trigger him, and he’s definitely one to stutter afterwards

- last crushing habit he’d have would be fuCk tOns of eye contact omg

- and it’s not just your casual, everyday eye contact

- I’m talking about the kind of eye contact that stares you down to the very core of your s o u l

- okay maybe not that deep, but Vernon’s eye contact with you would just be full of admiration

- trust me, he tries to pay attention to the conversation, but when he looks into your eyes, he gets so thrown off and it’s kinda of cute:

- “hellO, earth to hansOl???” you’d say and wave a hand in front of his face

- “ah, sorry, I was kinda-” Vernon scratches the back of his head

- *cue Vernon’s really shy smile that brings tears to every human*

- and sad enough, sometimes you’ll mistaken this constant staring for lack of interest and/or tiredness:

- “dude, are you alright?” you ask with a concerned face. “you seem kind of tired...”

- “aw no no I’m fine really. I’m just-” Vernon tries to snap out of his daze

- “hey, if you want to go relax or take a nap instead of hearing me blabber about nothing, I totally understand,” you explain. “Your schedule doesn’t always come easy, and I want you to rest if you need to.”

- “no y/n, really I’m fine. I love talking to you, and you know that. And even if I was tired, I’d still want to talk to you.” 

- Vernon begins to blush and so do you

- “ah, I’m sorry if that didn’t come out the right way. But you get me, right?” he laughs nervously

- overall, Vernon is a pretty shy crusher, but he wouldn’t be any less of a meme for you while he’s crushing so don’t worry

- now when it comes to confessing, this guy would want to make it short, simple, and all planned out in his head

- but hey, that’s probably not gonna happen because we caN’t forget about Seungkwan in this equation !!1!1!1!1

- so one day you’re eating dinner with verkwan peacefully when all of a sudden

- “it took me awhile to realize that you guys have been hANGING OUT WITHOUT ME FOR SOME TIME NOW,” Seungkwan bursts his bubble. “CARE TO EXPLAIN?”

- “uhh... you’ve just been really busy I guess?” Vernon shrugs

- “Hansol, wtf we have the same exact schedule for god’s sake,” Seungkwan snaps

- “I think it’s all the meme-ing we do,” you laugh and say in an attempt to save your side with Vernon

- “yeahh. We like to play around with memes a lot and we just thought... you know... you might not be too interested in all of it???” Vernon smiles timidly

- “mmhmm, suUUUuuure. Like anyone said I would rather hang out with myself than listen to you guys talk about memes all day,” Seungkwan says sarcastically and rolls his eyes

- before you could justify your point any further, Vernon’s phone rings

- “oh, sorry guys,” he gets up from his seat. “Let me just take this call.”

- you and Seungkwan watch Vernon leave the table and walk away

- and once he’s out of sight...

- “okay, y/n,” Seungkwan looks you dead in the face and leans closer from the other side of the table. “What’s the deal with you and Hansol?”

- “why? Are you jealous of our friendship or something?” you laugh at him

- Seungkwan shakes his head. “No no, I don’t have to worry about that because I know you can’t replace MY spot as his best friend. What I’m trying to ask is...”

- “... are you guys dating? BehiND my baCK?”

- your face goes red

- ofc you guys aren’t dating

- but the fact that Seungkwan is suspecting it makes you think about how suspicious your friendship with him looks

- do we really look like a couple?

- “w-what? No, what the hell, Seungkwan,” you try to cover up your flustered appearance

- “I mean,” Seungkwan scoffs. “If you two are gonna hang out without ME, there’s obviously gotta be something going on...”

- “It’s funny you think we’re dating because I don’t see any reason why he’d like me like that,” you say as you fake a smile and play around with your food.

- Seungkwan stares at you in silence for a moment

- and then he laughs

- hystererically

- like he’s about to fall of his seat

- “yo are you okay, Boo?” you ask the dying fellow

- “no no no, I just-” Seungkwan tries to catch his breath and wipes the tears from his eyes. “Oh my god, y/n.”

- “what’s going on with you???” you say with concern

- “no, I should be asking you that question,” Seungkwan collects himself.

- “I don’t get it,” you reply

- “y/n, I hate to spoil it but how are you not picking up on Vernon’s obvious crush on you? What is going on with you?” Seungkwan smiles widely

- your face lights up at Seungkwan’s words

- does he... really like me?

- “Are you being serious right now?” you ask for reassurance

- Seungkwan sighs. “Hansol has been liking you for awhile now. And I know he really likes you because he doesn’t even talk to me about it. He tells me almost everything, but nothing when it comes to you.”

- “And that just tells me that you really mean something special to him.”

- “I mean pff, not as special as me but you know... pretty close,” Seungkwan fakes a hair flip

- you shake your head. “I don’t want to believe you,”

- Seungkwan’s eyes widen. “Wait why no-”

- “but for the record, I’ve definitely liked him for awhile,” you cut him off

- Seungkwan smiles but his face contorts at the sight of Vernon coming back. “Good to hear, but looks like your ‘boyfriend’ is walking back riGHT NOW, SO ACT NATURAL.”

- “SEUNGKWAN HE’S NOT MY BOY-”

- “Y/N SHUT UP HE IS- OH HEY HANSOL, WHAT’S UUUUP?” Seungkwan sweats nervously, but Vernon doesn’t suspect a thing

- so after the dinner at the restaurant, the three of you walk back to the company building so that you can head home to your apartment from there

- but the boys agree that it’s too dark outside for you to walk alone

- and of course Seungkwan, being the slick one out of the bunch, complains about one of his feet hurting and insists on staying behind at the company building actor kwan at his finest

- so it’s just you and Vernon walking together

- and although you guys usually talk comfortably

- the walk home was different

- no one says a word

- it’s pretty awkward

- the both of you are busy thinking

- “alright,” you say at the foot of your apartment building. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow like usual?”

- “yeah, that’s... that’s fine,” he rocks back and forth on his feet. “Like usual.”

- after exchanging “good night” greetings, you proceed to enter the building, but

- “I like you.”

- the words fall out of Vernon’s mouth quietly

- You turn around and see Vernon standing in place, but he’s staring at the ground

- “I don’t believe you,” you say

- “w-what?” Vernon looks up to you again

- “I said I don’t believe you,” you repeat yourself

- “what? Why not?” Vernon says in confusion

- you sigh

- “you would’ve looked me in the eye and told me so.”

- after processing your words, Vernon walks up to you with his eyes down.

- and after lifting his head up to see your eyes only inches away

- he tilts his head and presses his lips against yours

- and at that moment, you believed his words

- realizing how cheesy the moment is, you both giggle into your kiss

- the two of you say to yourselves...

- how did I fall for a dork like you?

[wreckthelist]

his hug: meeting Ezra Miller

I remember watching, in passing, the recording of an oldies’ concert at my aunt’s—you know the one, sixties hair with girls losing their heads and minds for the Beatles or bands of equivalent caliber. “I want to be one of those screaming girls in the front row,” I was saying—wistful, trancelike, and feverish in a way your typical nonsensical fangirl can be. “It’s a dream. One day.”

And last night, actually standing there in front row, shaking my head and losing myself to Ezra Miller’s drumming, Lilah Larson’s voice and guitar, and Josh Aubrin’s keyboard playing, could never be more surreal.

I’d never been to a gig at a pub before. I was loitering in the front for a good two-three minutes, before gathering up my courage to wander inside.

Ordered a pint of Guinness (price was upped. But hey, it’s my way of paying for the Free Entry performance, I guess?), stood there sipping for a while until I caught eyes with a friendly-looking Korean girl. Her name is Soohee (Sonny), and we became fast friends, chatting and screaming about Ezra, the band, Doctor Who (Matt Smith), and, of course, Harry Styles (her phone wallpaper).

Lilah walked past from behind Soohee, from the pub’s backdoor to their Reserved Area. She’s so cool, calm, and collected. I was in awe of the all-black get-up and the polished expression on her face. Josh had already passed, at some point (I don’t quite remember this), so Ezra was next. A few minutes later, there he was. Very in the zone. Just cutting straight through, behind us.

We were sitting there, and I regretted screaming a bit already—because I, on a rare occasion, had someone to scream with/to.

So we chatted and waited, and a queue formed before we realised, toward the front of the pub. I forgot the venue was in the basement. And people gathered. We went downstairs, managed to snatch second row seats, and waited for the longest time before the opening act, Jamie Lee, appeared on stage spewing quite decent (self-described as ‘mediocre’) poetry and an acapella song. He spent a few minutes prior to his start picking and choosing through his pile of papers—we were wondering what exactly he was up to.

Think around almost an hour passed (my bad. I’m looking at the photo of the sign now and it’s there, in black and white, that the Sons were up at 9:30pm, not 9pm, as I’d thought.)—before the pub’s runner came out and placed mini water bottles at the front of the stage, by the drum kit (Ez!) and the keyboard.

I remember reading beforehand that they each would write a song and that each could play all their three instruments.

Was chatting animatedly to Soohee while waiting (taking a nap somewhat).

Then the bodyguard came out, followed by the Sons themselves. Just as they were about to start, he grabbed us both and dragged us out to the front.

Breathless with surprise was an understated description of us at that point.

No one was blocking our view. We were, quite literally, the girls in the front row. Dangerously. Intimately. Close to the band.

It was happening, and it was insane.

Live music has its perks, its charms. I, for one, had never thought I’d have a chance (and so close to me leaving dear old England, imagine that) I’d witness one of my favorite actors so immersed in his art, his band that I know he’s been in for 6-7 years, before my own eyes.

I wasn’t there just for Ezra, of course. I wasn’t. It’s the music, the band, and I’m not writing this as a post-mortem excuse to justify my presence there or manipulate my image either.

“Thank you, thank you for coming,” said Ezra, and he pulled out his phone, “This is so amazing. I’m going to take a picture of you guys.”

(Oh. God. So I made it—definitely did—into Ezra’s phone now, no joke. There’s that. Not bragging or anything, but there’s that.)

See, the guitar, blended with Lilah’s magnificent voice (the lush. The layers in her tone, her words, her caressing of those lyrics, the expressions. AH.), Josh’s upbeat, relentless keyboard playing, and Ezra’s powerhouse of a drumming, was a spectacle to behold, a glorious, glorious gift for the aural and visual senses.

Because they were so into it, because they were there and putting all of themselves into it.

Ezra’s bringing the house down, the cymbals and the drumsticks and his face shaking to and fro while playing, contorted and screaming and eyes closed, so into the music.

They broke into an acapella song in the middle (roughly) of the set, coming together at the front of the stage to sing a number about bringing down white supremacy and not stopping until the killing of black men is treated with the same respect and equality as that of the white. To which we all screamed, YES! HEY! YES!

I was holding my phone, and filming the clip, but I raised my arm up high, and screamed.

The rest of the time I was standing there, did some headbanging, closed my eyes, and just soaking it in, the experience, the music, the beats, the voices, losing myself to the music as much as they did.

Ezra took out his phone again at the end. No idea how these would turn out. I’m dying to see them though, fingers crossed should he (or the band!) ever post them.

It’s their first headlining gig outside North America (I know! My sun, my stars, my dreams. I thought I’d never….), after all.

Then came the part where we were a bit of idiots ourselves.

People crowded outside the Reserved Area after the show, waiting for Ezra. Some fans got quick selfies in and left, the rest of us were behind the crowd. He went outside (I saw Josh) for a smoke, not before saying something about (I might have been drinking Guinness on a semi-empty stomach) downstairs and arts and crafts.

So we waited at the exit for the longest time, until one of the security guys told us to go downstairs.

A crowd’s already there. We were quite late, and he’d have to leave soon.

But we stuck it out, and hung around the queue, waiting for our turn. A picture would be enough, we thought.

“Hi,” he said, his voice warm, eyes alert, when he got to me. Again, my coherence and articulation escaped me.

“Hi, hi,” I replied, and managed a, “You were so good!” to which he said, “Thank you!” (I ruminated on this for the longest time, as Soohee can attest, but I should have said: the band. Oh. Well.)

And then I asked:

“Can I get a hug?”

And you know, if you’d been reading this blog, that I’d never asked anyone I met for a hug at that point, until Ezra, whom last night was our second encounter (I thought this morning about how I should’ve told him about the press junket—but it’s not like he’d remember.) and whom I knew I could ask for one.

“Yes, of course!” Then he came in close, those muscled bear arms enveloping me. It was warm and pure and fizzy—and it wasn’t captured on camera, sure, but hug pics don’t always turn out recognizable. It’s two people, faceless, in an embrace, and only you are aware of the meaning behind the photo. (Drumroll.)

I was afraid it was going to be awkward. I was afraid I was not going to know when to let go. But I held on, and he held on. For the longest time. Longer than those fake hugs I’d imagine fleeting encounters consist of. And his arms. His vest. I could feel the fabric. The pressure. Just him being there.

With me.

And then he let go (Bless). I asked him for photos, of course, and said, “Can we do one good pic, one funny pic?” to him (again, when reflecting on this—I have no idea what possessed me to ask him that at that point. I have never.)

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be funny because of my face,” he added, arm around me, and I kept asking in my head, “Why---what made you say that, Ezra!! Your face is not funny.”

He gave me movie star smolders (swoon). I did not get the outrageous pictures Ezra was famous for with fans—but this was incredible enough in and of itself.

We’re back again when it’s all a blur to me. Soohee confirmed we did say ‘thank you,’ twice—I hope I did, because right after he took photos with me he greeted the couple after us, and I had to ask him if he could take pictures with Soohee.

“See, we’re back at this angle again. Just getting this circle of energy going!” Ezra said as Soohee stepped up to him for her photo (I’d taken mine with him at another angle of the room, and Soohee’s were 180 degrees of mine).

We skipped out of the crowd, toward the basement’s exit, Soohee not having asked him for his signatures, because right before us, we heard him saying, “I’d say let’s hug each other, take pictures, and keep moving!” in his cheerful way. “They’re going to clear us out soon.”

(Curse us. Why did we ever go upstairs.)

And the bodyguard (who’d seen us from the beginning, bless his heart) asked if we were okay. We nodded yes.

So that happened. So I’d met Ezra Miller a second time. What a conclusion. What an end to this London life.

It was two minutes, maybe, us there. Talking to him, but it lasted.

Like his hug, it lasted. And I know I’ll have to let go, and go back to reality—but I’m already here. So let me remember it lasting a while, let me remember it while it still lasts in my mind.

[wildlyglittering]

Drabble

I felt inspired by this dailyau prompt:-

“You were supposed to be a one night stand, but we ended up talking till dawn instead of sex. And wow we really click, so do you maybe want to have breakfast and stay longer?” AU

So I wrote a thing.

“I don’t date.”

That’s what she told him, two hours ago when they were at the bar. The fingers of her right hand gripped the stem of her wine glass while the middle finger of her left traced lightly round the rim. She watched as he watched and smirked as his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Ok,” he replied. “What do you do?”

*** This. She did this.

“God, Peeta. Don’t stop.” There was a responding groan from her neck where his mouth sucked on her pulse point. One hand was under her shirt, sturdy fingers massaging her breast, a firm thumb circling her hardening nipple while the other hand was slowly, painfully slowly, pushing her skirt up to her waist.

Yes, she thought. Friday night drinks had been such a good idea. Except there was one small problem.

Her hips rose to meet his and in return he pushed his against hers. Pushing his hardness down into her pelvis, down into his couch. Down into her full bladder. It was her turn to groan, but not from pleasure. “Wait.”

Peeta instantly pulled back, his hands stilling, his eyes lidded. “Katniss, is everything ok?”

“I need to use your bathroom.”

“Oh. Oh.” His face relaxed and a look of relief passed through his eyes. “Sure, of course.” He moved off her and stood with his hand out to help her up. “It’s just down the hall, door on the left.”

“Thanks.” She tried to maintain some dignity, holding her knees together and pulling her skirt back down as she moved off the couch. She wasn’t too sure why she was worried about dignity. After all they were pretty much down to fuck in his living room only hours after meeting. This. This is what she did.

*** She tried not to pay attention. Really, she wasn’t about to start taking any interest in her one night stands but as she used his downstairs bathroom she couldn’t not notice all the pictures.

They decorated the walls. Peeta, a young and chubby toddler, long blonde waves falling over his shoulders. A teenaged Peeta in a wrestling singlet, a teenaged Peeta at prom, a slightly older Peeta in another wrestling singlet, with friends at parties, with friends at the beach, with yet more friends in a cabin.

The same faces throughout but with more and more new ones added each time. Peeta wearing a mortar board at graduation. Some with him and girls, the same girl in a few of them, long dark hair like Katniss but not like Katniss. A buxom blonde who was most definitely not like Katniss.

Then there were the guys. Must be brothers, she thought. Three ashy blonde guys all with the same build and smile. And that was the other thing. The smile. In every picture Peeta was grinning the same broad, pleased grin. Whether he was a toddler covered in flour or a man with a partner he was clearly happy.

A picture in centre stage particularly caught her eye. Peeta and a little boy, jubilation filled their faces, their cheeks pressed together so tight that it was like they were trying to merge their faces into one. When she looked around Katniss realised that the little boy was in an awful lot of photos. Crap, he has a kid. Not that it mattered. Not that it ever mattered.

*** When she went back to the living room Peeta was nowhere to be found. Her shoes were by the couch where she’d left them and she was wondering if she should just put them on and go when the noise came from the room next door. Wandering across the hall she walked into the kitchen just as Peeta turned around from the sink, drinking from a glass of water.

“Sorry,” he said once he’d finished. “I got thirsty.” He flashed her a smile. That smile.

Katniss shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Do you want some?” He held the glass that he’d just drunk from out to her and she took it from him.

“Thanks.” So what if she was drinking from the same glass he’d just been drinking from. The plan was to exchange more than saliva this evening. As she drank he settled himself down on a barstool opposite. No, no, no, she thought. Don’t get comfy. She wanted him back in his living room, on the couch, on top of her.

Still, when she’d finished gulping down the last of water she found herself talking. “Interesting decoration for your bathroom. Couldn’t afford wallpaper?” “Ah! My infamous wall of fame. You know you’ve made it when you feature.”

“When your face gets to have pride of place opposite the toilet?”

“Exactly,” he winked at her.

Despite herself she smiled at him. “You know you kind of look like a little girl in your kid pics. Like a pretty Goldilocks.”

Peeta groaned and put his face in his hands. “Well at least you think I’m pretty.” He peeked out at her from in between his fingers. “It’s embarrassing to admit but after two boys my mom really wanted a girl so she kept my hair long until she couldn’t get away with it anymore.”

Katniss laughed. “Ouch! Well you look cute.”

“Thank you.”

“I thought you had brothers, you look like them.”

“You noticed that too huh?” Peeta raised an eyebrow her.

She shrugged again. “Just observant I guess.”

“I’m the good looking one though.”

“Of course.”

His eyes twinkled. “It’s the Mellark genes. We’re all blonde haired, blue eyed cherubs. Obnoxious really.”

Mellark. That was his surname. And then, for some, unknown reason she found herself saying it. “Your son looks like you too. Must be those Mellark genes.”

Peeta frowned, confused. “My son?” He paused. “Oh, you mean Teddy?”

She guessed. Not that she would know. Or cared. She didn’t. She swore she didn’t.

There was a chuckle from Peeta. “Yeah, it must be those Mellark genes. I can see why you would think that. Teddy’s my nephew. He’s honestly the funniest kid I know.” Katniss watched as his eyes lit up as he spoke about the little boy, his hands waving around as he told some story. She didn’t pay much attention to the words but just thought how blue his eyes were. They weren’t that blue in the bar. Or where they?

She switched back in to hear the end of the story. “...and that’s why I’m not allowed to give him sugar anymore.” There was a pause and Peeta’s enthusiasm seemed to dip. “They moved to Capitol a few months ago though and I really miss them. It’s not the same.”

There was something about his demeanour. The way his shoulders seemed to slump a little that made Katniss, for what seemed like the millionth time that night, say something she wouldn’t normally say. “I have a niece.”

That seemed to interest him and she realised it was the most personal thing she’d said to him since they met aside from ‘I’m Katniss and I’m here with co-workers.’ “Yeah?”

“My sister’s daughter. She’s possibly my favourite person in the world. Apart from my sister.”

Peeta smiled his megawatt smile at her and though there was a part of her, such a large part of her, that wanted to grab him by his collar and drag him back to the living room there was another part of her that wanted to share with him how much it sucked that Prim and her husband were moving out of the district because of their work.  

She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. *** “No I’m telling you, you need to stop buying that stuff. How can you even justify it?”

Katniss threw her hands in the air. “Oh come on! We can’t all be bread baking extraordinaires! I have a busy life, I can’t be dealing with all that... that baked good nonsense.”

Peeta dramatically winced, leaning back the couch arm, clutching at his heart. “You wound me Everdeen. That ‘baked good nonsense’ you speak of is my life’s work.”

She shook her head at him, smiling. “An hour ago, your life’s work was art and I’m pretty sure an hour before that it was wrestling.”

“Yeah well, I gotta cram a lot of life’s work into this one life. Just promise me you’ll start buying granary.”

“What’s wrong with white?”

“’What’s wrong with white?’ Do not make me go there!”

She laughed, clutching onto the third mug of hot chocolate he had made her. After an hour of conversation Peeta had deemed the barstools in his kitchen too uncomfortable to sit on for any longer so they ended up moving back into the living room. It wasn’t entirely what she pictured them using the room for, not when they had originally crashed into it in a tangle of lips and tongues.

Her skirt was off though, at around two in the morning she started shifting in her work outfit, the pencil skirt and shirt constricting her. When Peeta asked if she wanted to slip into something more comfortable she breathed a sigh of relief. Here she was, early hours of Saturday, holding a hot beverage, wearing an oversized college shirt and completely and utterly un-fucked.

Somehow this felt better.

***

The birds were waking and yet they were still up. Not for much longer though, Katniss tried to stifle a yawn and failed miserably. Somehow Peeta still managed to look fresh and awake.

“Shit,” he muttered. “I didn’t realise what the time was. It’s like six in the morning.”

“Oh god,” she rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to pass out.” Her stomach then uttered a protest mumble. “Or waste away.”

Peeta reached out and took the mug from her and she used the opportunity to stretch her legs out across the couch. “Tell you what...stay just a bit longer and I’ll make you breakfast. I’ll make it a really good breakfast.”

She smiled at him sleepily. “I think I’m too tired, I’ll probably just fall asleep afterwards.” She watched as his hand touched her ankle, stroking his thumb across the bare skin he found there. The soothing sensation was starting to lull her deeper into sleepiness.

“Ok, how about this? Stay longer, I’ll make you that really good breakfast and then you can nap. Here. I have a very comfy bed.”

Katniss looked up at him with half lidded eyes. A gentle smile touched his face.

“What do you say?”

[btsreactionsandtexts]

BTS REACTS TO: Their s/o wearing an ugly picture of them on a t-shirt

Anon Asked: Can you do a BTS Reaction to their s/o wearing an ugly selfie of them on a t-shirt in public? I ALWAYS wanted to do this with my boyfriend but he's too photogenic uGH

Okay, I’ve totally done this before. Showed up at a friend’s birthday party wearing an ugly snapchat pic they sent me on a sweatshirt lol.

- Admin Dayna

Seokjin

Jin is handsome. He knew it, his fans knew it, and obviously, so do you. But with great beauty, comes great responsibility, and it seems like your boyfriend abuses his good-looks. Jin oozes narcissism. At times it was funny, charming in fact, but there’s only so much of it one could take. Sometimes consequences need to be dealt out to the arrogant. With just enough persistence and creativity, you’ve came up with the perfect plan. You awaited his arrival at the airport, your hoodie zipped up hiding your brilliance. Jin and the boys’ plane had landed and now they were only a few feet away from you. When you were absolutely positive Jin was looking right at you - and you could tell he had by the way he suddenly picked up his pace to a brisk jog your direction - you unzipped your hoodie, revealed your t-shirt with a rather... unattractive picture of him that his Army has turned into a meme printed on the front. You lifted your arms up high, allowing Jin, the boys, and the lucky bystanders to bask in its glory. As Namjoon, Yoongi, Hobi, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook all erupted into laughter, Jin struggled to reprimand you between fits of giggles.

“Wha - jagiyaahh~! How could you betray me?!”

“What have I done to deserve this?!”

“Do you think this was right?! I demand respect!”

Suga

Some people date and become #RelationshipGoals, but between you and Yoongi, it was #CivilWar. Battle of the Brats: Petty vs. Savage. Yoongi loved to pick at you. As level-headed and wise as the boy seems to be, there were times where you questioned his maturity. As of lately, he’s been on a roll. Mocking the way you laughed, cheeky jabs and slick comments, talking back to you with just as extra dash of sass - it appears that Yoongi has forgotten he isn’t the only petty one in this relationship. Today he had a day off and promised to go out with you just to get some ice cream together. What he doesn’t know is that you’ve prepared a couple days ahead a little something to get back at him for all his latest antics. He rang the doorbell and called out your name from outside. You nonchalantly open the door and greet him, smoothing out the t-shirt you wore with an embarrassing selca of him printed right in the middle. He froze, staring at your shirt with mild disbelief,

“So wait... you’re wearing that out?”

“Yeah. What you don’t like it?”

“I mean well... can you not wear it out?”

“Can you never wear it?”

Hoseok

Hobi is a great boyfriend, you weren’t complaining. He treated you well, and showered you with compliments, love and affection. The one thing that you just couldn’t stand about your boyfriend was how much he loved to show the boys all the ugly selfies you sent him through snapchat. The whole purpose of you sending it to him was for it to be seen by only him! If you wanted the boys to see, you would’ve damn well done it yourself! It’s not like you showed all your friends ugly selfies of him he sent you! But at the rate Hoseok was going, it was about time you had your fun too. The second J-Hope sent you an ugly snapchat selfie, you screenshot the sucker, and ordered a customized t-shirt with the selca on it with big black letters on top that said, “My Hope”. You wasted no time when it finally had been delivered. You ripped the package open, slipped the t-shirt on, and took a selfie in it - and made sure you looked damn cute, too. Within the next 5 minutes, Hobi had spammed your SNS and Text Messages with Laughing and Crying Emojis.

“[y/n]~! What is this?!”

“I look so awful in that! Did you wear it out?!”

“You’re awful, jagi!”

Namjoon

This is revenge. Absolutely justified, of course. You let Namjoon scroll through your playlist on your Spotify, and - not surprisingly - the kid slipped up and forgot gravity existed. He dropped your phone, and the screen shattered. You watched your cell fly through the air, land on the concrete sidewalk, and skid a few feet more in slow motion. And your boyfriend just watched it with horror on his face. As much as he apologized for it between nervous laughter, you still haven’t found it in your heart to forgive him. Why? Well, because this was his third time breaking your phone’s screen. On that day you told him to remember these words: “Karma is a bitch”. Today, he can call you Karma. Jin was making the boys one of your favorite dishes, and knowing this, Namjoon invited you over to the dorms to eat some. This was the perfect moment. You knocked on the door three times, and shuffled on your feet impatient for him to open the door and see you. It was Jungkook who had welcomed you, staring down at the t-shirt and instantly drawing attention to you with how loudly he laughed. The boys hurried over confused, Namjoon taking the lead. It took a few seconds for him to finally process that it was him on your shirt, and to that he couldn’t help but laugh himself

“Why, [y/n]?! Why?!”

“Remember when you broke my phone, asshole?”

“Ugh... why are you so petty?”

“I already bought you a new one!”

Jimin

ChimChim was so fluffy it hurts. His smiling eyes were cute, his laugh was cute, the way he combed his hair back with his fingers was cute, even when he got flustered and fell weak to nervous giggles was cute! You simply couldn’t help how much you wanted to show off how precious your boyfriend was. It was only natural for one to do so, right? You saw somewhere on twitter a picture of a couple wearing each other’s selfies on a shirt and took inspiration from it. It was a great idea, but you wanted something a little more... personalized. Something that’ll express to the world how much you really loved your Jiminie. Searching deep within the depths of selcas and pictures of your boyfriend in your camera roll, you finally found the perfect one. Even when Jimin made ugly faces, he was cute! You got the shirt customized, printed, and shipped within a matter of 3 days flat, and was quick to put it on and hurry to the boy’s dorms to show off the shirt. Jimin opened the door, already excited to see you through the peep hole. Once he got a glimpse of your shirt, his cheeks grew hot, and as expected, your ChimChim began to laugh out of absolute embarrassment.

“You had to pick that picture?”

“Did you come here just to bully me, Jagi?”

“I shouldn’t even let you in!”

Taehyung

Truth be told, the relationship between you and TaeTae was quite simply shits and giggles. Of course there came serious moments, but it was silly, goofy, childish ones that always stuck out the most. Before Tae had gone off on tour, as the tradition goes, the two of you came up with ways and items to keep each other close despite the distance. Your boyfriend had gotten a blown up print of a snapchat pic you sent him using a silly filter and making a just as silly face. He told you he planned on carrying that poster with him whereever he went, and framing it when he got back to the Seoul Dorms. Hearing that, you decided to make use of the handful of crazy selcas Tae had sent you himself. You printed out the best one on a t-shirt, and took a picture of yourself wearing it. Seeing the picture put a big boxy grin on his face.

“Ahh! Jagiyaah~! That’s better than my poster!”

“I want the t-shirt too!”

“Absolutely not! You wear an ugly picture of me on your shirt and pictures of you wearing it will spread on the fansites so fa -”

“No, no, [y/n], I want to wear a t-shirt with myself on it.”

Jungkook

The problem with Jungkook is he talks too much. The two of you facetime late nights while he’s abroad during tour. You tell each other how much you love and miss one another, and end the call bittersweet. Sometimes, he makes silly recommendations on how to get by the day with him away. It’s expected that not all of his recommendations are too great, but every once in a while, he proves himself more genius than he gives himself credit for. One night you had told him, “Jungkookie, I miss your ugly face.” and he’d say in response, “if you print it on a shirt, every time you walk past a mirror you’ll see it.” Brilliant right? Guess he hadn’t taken into consideration the depths of how truly iconic the idea was. The next day, you had went out and done exactly that, sporting his face on your shirt for days. He called you one night during facetime as you were wearing it. To say the least, he was quite shook.

“... what’s on your shirt?”

“It’s you!”

“Okay but... but why?”

“It was your idea...?”

“I wasn’t being serious!”

“Did you wear it out? No - actually, don’t wear it out.”

“[y/n] DON’T WEAR IT OUTSIDE.”

[i-may-have-a-point]

Review of 13x19 “What’s Inside?”

When I first watched the episode, my initial reaction was that it was so awful I didn’t need to write a review. But then I thought that maybe the fact that it was so awful was something I needed to write about. There is a lot to be said about the choices the show isn’t making, so this review really focuses on that.  

I get the opening scene completely. As I said in my 13x18 review, this episode is about Maggie accepting her mother’s death, so opening with her visiting her mother's grave makes sense. Now I don’t think this story should have been the one driving the episode, but here we are anyway. As much as I expected a scene with Maggie at her mom’s grave, I was distracted during most of it. I had to watch it twice just to tell you what Mer and Amelia were saying to each other. And the thing that distracted me has been distracting me for a while – Mer’s clothes. For the most part, I think the wardrobe department is fantastic, especially with the women. Each woman has a specific style to their clothing outside of the hospital that reflects their personality well. Even in this scene, Amelia’s leather jacket is a great call back to her edgier Private Practice days. It was a great clothing choice. But it makes the poor clothing choice for Mer even more obvious. Mer’s style is slowing becoming, “Well it looks clean, so I guess I’ll wear it.” And that would maybe be understandable if she was sporting the tired mom look, but since her kids have been in the basement since season eleven, it’s strange. And on top of that this is the second episode of the last three where someone has called Mer hot, so they clearly want to send a message about her appearance to the audience. It’s all very strange.

Eliza, Arizona, and Riggs – For a character that was the catalyst for one of the only story lines the show chose to focus on this season, Minnick has been curiously absent from our screens. I have to think the show got the hint that the fans were not going to be told who to like and decided to pull back a bit. The audience screaming “No!” at Paleyfest when Arizona and Eliza were mentioned had to have grabbed their attention at least a little. Arizona says to Riggs, “It’s just that people are so full of opinions about Eliza…” and I don’t think that was completely about the characters.  It feels like Arizona is justifying to the audience why it’s okay for her to be with Eliza. “I’m recently divorced.” (Recent? Define recent because people have had babies and completed cancer trials since your “recent” divorce. Is this another Grey’s timeline black hole?)

Owen and Amelia – Oh look, Owen’s Army friends are happily married and expecting a baby. Good. We haven’t dangled Owen’s dreams in his face in a couple of minutes. Let’s do that again.

April, Steph, Cross – I am so happy to see April back. April/Sarah really does bring a much needed light to the show. It’s not the same without her. I get that this story was supposed to bring the comedy to balance the seriousness of Maggie’s surgery, but it ended up stealing the show. These three do comedy so well. Too bad we won’t see it more often.

Mer and Alex – I just can’t. I need Alex to do something other than prop up Meredith. Even if they want to ignore Jolex, give him anything else to do but that. Please. And this Mer and Riggs will they/won’t they go on a date is not suspenseful. You had sex with him in your car in the parking lot at work, Mer. I think you can eat a meal with him. The audience isn’t feeling a build-up. If anything, we are losing interest and hoping Riggs runs in the other direction.

Bailey and Webber – I almost forgot they were in the episode. When Shonda said this season would focus on the originals I expected great storylines for Bailey and Webber. Instead we got the equivalent of them fighting over Bailey choosing a new friend to do her school project with. They deserved better, but that could be said for most of the characters, so I will just be happy with the fact that it seems the Minnick/Webber storyline may be over.

Cross, Steph, Deluca – Jo Adler (Cross) is such an untapped talent. I get serious early George vibes from him and I love it. So we probably won’t see him again until next season.“I have Obamacare. I have a year left, and I…” You know an episode is bad when I say out loud, “I want to see more of Cross.”

Owen, Jackson, Amelia, Mer – I love that Jackson is always eating. I would stress eat if I worked there, too. As frustrating as it is that we have no Japril scenes, we do get an April mention from Jackson, which I think is significant. This happened in 13x05 as well when she had her first day back to work.  They had no scenes together, but he asked about her.  So, at least she's on his mind? Sigh.  And Jackson telling Mer it’s not normal she operated through a miscarriage was a great moment.  Funny.  Especially since Owen is the one she operated on, and he is sitting right there.

Mer, Amelia, Maggie – I like Maggie. I do. I mean, I generally like everyone, so I don’t know if that means much. But I’m not invested enough in her character to want to watch three episodes in row basically focusing on her. The show really, really wants me to be, but it hasn’t happened yet. Audience connection to characters has to be organic. It can’t be forced, and it’s just not there with Maggie for me.

Maggie operates – And she is absolutely fine. Sigh. I mean I definitely didn’t want anything bad to happen to the baby or mother, but this story was anti-climactic and so many other stories are just sitting, waiting to be told.  If those stories are getting bumped for this one, at least make it amazing.

April, Steph, Deluca, and Cross – Sarah and Jerrika really have a great dynamic onscreen together. I mean Stephanie being Jackson’s rebound sort of cancelled any chance of friendship, but their scenes always catch my attention. I love anytime April is shown as a capable and in control surgeon, so her annoyance at Steph and Deluca was great. Again, these scenes were the best of the show for me.

Mer, Amelia, Maggie - The dance it out scene was inappropriate to me. Shonda puts scenes in like this or a few of them eating lunch together and then tweets, "Oh, it's just like old Grey's!" like that will make us forget this season has been a mess.  And dancing it out was a thing reserved for cheating boyfriends or bad days at work, not dead mothers.  Dead mothers deserve a scene where they act like adults who are capable of dealing with their emotions and have a conversation.  But, of course, we don't get conversations.

Maggie and Jackson - So, I don't see why people are freaking out.  I just don't. I've tried.  I've watched and rewatched and squinted at my screen.  I see nothing.  I mean, yes, they have had more scenes together, but absolutely nothing in those scenes has hinted they would be romantic.  If anything, Jackson literally called her family.  I think what this really is about is the fact that we have had no resolution from Montana so it is easier to see this as a possible reason than to just admit that the continuity and writing have been way off this season.  I really think that since JTS was filmed in November, the show wasn't sure where it was going in the line up (they have moved two centrics recently) and they just didn't film anything that would be out of order for Japril.  And let's be real.  The show knows what they have with Japril.  Just look at the publicity and money that was spent on JTS.  The other centrics have not gotten that kind of treatment.  Jesse and Sarah filmed on location for days with another crew.  That location had to be rented.  They had to pay the Grey's crew and the other crew at the same time.  And the press?  I read at least ten articles about JTS from entertainment sites.  Jesse and Sarah were sent to the TCAs to promote it.  They did the SAG-AFTRA screening, which is a big deal for the Screen Actors Guild to do something like that.  Jesse was sent to New York to promote the episode on like five shows.  I can't think of any other time the show has spent the time and money on a single episode like they did for this one.  They aren't going to throw that away.  And those pics Debbie Allen posted hinting that their last scene of the season is a good one?  That was intentional.  They know that Japril is the biggest couple on the show right now.  If they were to trade that to test a relationship between step-siblings, the audience would run.  Sure there are about five people who would be fine with it (and I am deeply concerned for them...) but overall I think a large portion of their audience would be done.  And that is not to say the show hinges on Japril.  I'm not saying that.  I just think that would be the tipping point where Grey's has obviously stopped caring about telling good stories and is only trying to be shocking.  As an audience we can only take so much of being ignored.  

Speaking of being ignored, my heart goes out to hardcore Jolex shippers. Their story, or lack of, has been one of the main reasons this season has been such a let down. 12x24 set the stage for a great Jolex story, and then nothing. And I get that Camilla is pregnant, and obviously her health and the baby's health are more important, but they could say something.  Don't just ignore the fans.  They set up this season to be a look into domestic violence and Jo's past, and then we get nothing.  If it's about her pregnancy, just say "Camilla is focusing on her private life right now, so we are pushing the DV story to next season."  Or something!  It could be done without putting her business out there but still respecting the fans.  

I am an optimist, so I still have hope that the last four episodes will bring back the Grey's we love.  If you made it this far, thanks for reading.  This was a long one.  

[toyswithtude]

I originally wrote this review when these Dawn of Justice figures were first released, so if some of this seems disjointed, that’s my excuse. Even as I start this retrospect, I can hear the chants of “But it’s Mafex, what do you expect?” I have probably flip flopped on my opinion regarding the other two figures released from this line so far (Batman and Superman) a lot. On one hand, the Batman is lacking in flexibility, while Superman practically flops around like a marionette. “Their quality control is lacking!”

Maybe, but then I also look at the figures from a pure aesthetic standpoint, and despite Mafex having no idea what color the flesh is on an actual human, the figures are VERY nice.

Perhaps I am judging my Mafex figures and their articulation (or lack thereof) based on the same standards I hold my Figuarts figures. Ultimately, that isn’t fair, because they tend to cost anywhere from $30 more to double the cost of a Mafex for a web exclusive.

So no, a Mafex figure isn’t a Figuarts figure, but it also isn’t a Marvel Legend or a *gasp* Multiverse figure.

Here we are, with the brand spanking new (ok, not so much now) Mafex Armored Batman from Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. The box is what we have come to expect from most companies these days. Clear plastic showing off the figure and accessories. Pictures of the figure all over the box in various poses and a lot of Japanese writing on it that could very well be insulting my family. I don’t know. I don’t speak Japanese (still) and I always assume the worst.

My first impression after taking him out of the box, was “wow.” This is just a gorgeous figure. The detail on the armor, the weathering, it just looks great.

Mmmmm Affleck butt…

The Accessories –

Not nearly as much as the non-armored version, but again, more than you would get with your average Legends figure. I believe that with the upcoming Mafex Knightmare Batman (this was back when we thought the Knightmare batman would be released within a reasonable time period), we will get a busted helmet and kryptonite spear for this figure and I’m pretty excited about both additional accessories (I was right to be excited, they are awesome). He has three sets of hands which consists of fists, open (or neutral) and a “holding” hand which holds his only other accessory, which comes to us in the form of the grappling hook he used during the fight with Big Blue. The detail on the hands and the grappling device is amazingly intricate. Take a look at the pics!

  The kryptonite staff and busted helmet sculpt included with the Knightmare Batman.

The Articulation –

If you have the Mafex Batman and Superman from DoJ, the articulation is very similar. If you don’t, you get roughly 20 points of articulation. Double jointed elbows and knees, wrist pivot and spin, ankle pivot, hips and torso, etc. Nothing unexpected. I’m always at odds with the multiple exposed pegs that allow this kind of movement but I’ve learned to overlook them. The hands can be tricky (like most imports, it seems) as it’s probably easy to snap off the peg when you’re swapping out hands. They (the pegs) tend to run away from you during the change-out.

The head has VERY minimal up and down range of motion, so don’t put your Supes too high up or ol’ Brucie boy will be looking at Clark’s feet.

Height-

The figure stands at roughly 6.3 inches tall and looks appropriate next to regular Batman and our angsty friend from Krypton. Here are a couple shots next to the Multiverse Carrie Kelley Robin, the Matty-Collector new 52 Batman as well as the new reissue Figuarts Iron Man mark 42, Black Widow and DC Icon Deadman. While the DC Icon line looks tiny next to Legends figures, I found they are really in scale with the Mafex line. All of this is, of course, relative. How my mind thinks this fictional character should look next to this other fictional character. That being said, I am a bit of a scale obsessed weenie so maybe you can use some of my OCD to help size up your display.

  Negatives –

The only real downside I could find is that the joints are really loose. Not as loose as Superman’s joints, and certainly nothing that prevented me from getting him into some cool poses, but I just wanted you to be aware of the issue if it’s a deal breaker for you. There are plenty of options to tighten those up if you use the Google. Again, only if that bothers you.

Conclusion –

This is a great figure. From a display point, the Mafex figures look really good. Let’s face it, I’m not a 12 year old anymore (granted, my girlfriend and kids would disagree, but they’re not the boss of me) so I don’t spend a lot of time “playing” with the figures. I do restage them quite often and honestly, I’ve had zero issues with any of them. Even the orangeish (is that a word? It is now…) flesh isn’t that noticeable when it’s sitting in a lit display case. I guess if I was the type of guy who spent days harassing Wendy’s Facebook page about their new fries, I’d probably dedicate blogs to how much the skin tone bothered me.

Wait, I did do that to Wendy’s Facebook page until they blocked me. In my defense, their new fries are not dissimilar to eating salted ear wax. Yet the skin tone isn’t a deal breaker for me. Maybe I’m growing up?

Said the guy writing action figure reviews.

But I digress, this figure looks like a work of art. I had initially bought the original three Multiverse figures from Dawn of Justice at Target, but took them back the next day as I didn’t see the point in having them AND the Mafex ones that I had already preordered. I’ve seen customizers make the Multiverse Armored Batman look great. I don’t have the time or inclination to do so but I admire their work. Even with that work, I imagine the joints are still limited and you get almost no accessories with them.

I also can’t justify doubling this price and getting the Mezco. Not that I don’t like the Mezco line, but this Mafex Bats does everything I want an action figure to do except light up and again, I can’t justify the cost for light up eyes in this instance.

If you were a fan of the movie, if you’re a fan of Bat-Fleck at all, if you just like the character, you need this figure. You can get him at the usual haunts:

Amazon

eBay

If you picked him up, what did you think? If you didn’t, what held you back?

One of the best parts of BvS:DoJ, in 1:12 scale! I originally wrote this review when these Dawn of Justice figures were first released, so if some of this seems disjointed, that's my excuse.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/04/07/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-4717/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 4/7/17

  So, last night I became the last person in America to see Get Out. As I joked on Twitter, I’m totally getting a divorce now. No, I kid, I kid. Like everyone said, it’s really good, though it may be a tad overrated. Just a tad. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Get Out is the story of Black man Chris Williams who joins his White girlfriend Rose Armitage on a visit to her parents’ home for the weekend. And then crazy shit starts to happen. I can see what the appeal of the film is. I really can. But I’ve got to level with you: this movie hit a little too close to home. Yeah, I know that one Black reader I have is like “That’s what you get for datin’ them White girls!” No, seriously, I probably would’ve ended up just like Chris. First of all, I have a thing for Allison Williams. Even as bitchy, self-centered Marnie on Girls, I still have a thing for her. When her father fell from grace, I just wanted to tell her everything would be all right. So I would’ve taken the bait. In addition to that, I’ve dated that kind of family. Yes, in those cases, you’re dating the whole family. They had the same socioeconomic status as the Armitages, their friends were the same way, with the same weird questions. Sometimes you don’t realize how Black you are until that’s ALL you are to some folks. What some folks saw as just fun entertainment is something that I kinda lived. They’d do weird shit, where I felt like they were testing me. I remember the first time I went to stay for the weekend, they put me in a room with, like, three Rolexes just laying about like they were nothing. No, I don’t think they would’ve killed me, but I can totally see how something like this could happen. Meanwhile, I’m here thinking that I need to get me a friend as good as TSA Rod. I’ve got a lot to unpack from that movie right now. I’d love to have a conversation with Jordan Peele, ’cause that movie came from a place of experience. I wonder if I’d ever see it again, or if it’s like Bamboozled, where it’s just gonna make me hate White people for a while. Naw, I can’t hate y’all. You’re the only ones who read my site!

In movie news, it was reported that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are set to produce a film based on the Image comic Invincible. I used to read the series back when I worked at Diamond and got the hardcovers for free, and I really loved it. It follows Mark Grayson, who’s half human and half Viltrumite. His father, who’s full Vultrimite, is the hero known as Omni-Man, and Mark seems to have inherited a lot of his powers. Mark becomes the hero Invincible and a bunch of other stuff happens. Hey, what do you want from me? I only read the first 48 issues, and that was, like, 7 years ago. The thing I like about the series is that Mark is allowed to grow and change. People die and stay dead. In comics, there’s always the approach where they give the semblance of change without actual change, but that’s not how Invincible works. I mean, he’s currently married with a kid, and they haven’t resorted to having the Devil erase it all, unlike some heroes… Anyway, I like the idea of a movie, but I don’t know if Rogen and Goldberg are the guys to do it. After all, they’re the team behind AMC’s Preacher – a show that I’ve yet to really hear anything good about. Mainly, I heard season one was just boring. So, I guess we’ll just have to see what they bring to the table.

In other movie news, Scarlett Johansson’s live action Ghost In The Shell adaptation bombed, and the congregation rejoiced. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the film because it was felt that the main character, played by Johansson, was whitewashed. They felt she should’ve been portrayed by an Asian actress, and even the studio is now saying the movie failed to meet expectations due to the whitewashing controversy. I’m really not educated enough to weigh in on this one. I mean, I’d always heard that Japanese identity politics went a little deeper than we might think, which is why their cartoon characters always have blue hair and shit, but never really look Asian. But again, before I say something uninformed, I’m gonna bow out of this one. For a better understanding of the controversy, check out my friend Jenn’s post on the film.

Speaking of outrage, there was a Pepsi commercial that ruffled some feathers this week. I’d post the video, but Pepsi is trying to scrub all reference to the thing. In it, Kendall Jenner breaks away from a fashion shoot to join a peaceful protest, capping it off by offering a stern looking cop a Pepsi. He accepts, takes a swig, and everyone rejoices. The problem, however, is that the ad was kind of tone deaf. It seemed to trivialize the act of protesting, and to add insult to injury, it installed a pretty White girl as the face of the protest. Now, I saw the thing, and it was hamfisted, but I’m not sure it was worth all the threaded tweets and thinkpieces that it generated. Like, I get why folks didn’t like it, but I’m not sure I’m “woke” enough to see the whole matter. Anyone wanna weigh in on this one?

In television news, Disney Channel officially ordered Raven’s Home to series. Serving as the sequel to That’s So Raven, it features Raven Symone reprising her role as Raven Baxter, only now she’s the divorced mom of twin tweens. She also lives with her best friend, Chelsea, who’s ALSO a divorced single mom. Things start to get crazy, though, when Raven’s kids start to exhibit her psychic powers. See, that was always my thing with that show. Sure, I was too old for it when it was a hit, but I love a good tween TV show. That said, I feel like Raven and her friends could’ve had zany adventures without the whole psychic powers gimmick. I mean, the kids of iCarly didn’t need superpowers in order to be entertaining. The psychic stuff made it too much like a mystical tween Three’s Company which, on paper, sounds perfect, but isn’t that great in execution. Anyway, I just typed all this to justify posting a pic of costar Anneliese Van Der Pol. This whole thing just sounds like Fuller House with powers. I’ve got no nostalgia for the original show, so I doubt I’ll be checking this out.

In other TV news, Freeform has ordered New Warriors to series, featuring fan favorite character Squirrel Girl. I’ve got to admit that I know next to nothing about that character except that she was the nanny to Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s daughter, Dani. I know she was a Great Lakes Avenger, but she was never a New Warrior. Still, they’ve been trying to find a vehicle for that character FOREVER, so I guess they finally figured it out. Based on how WB/DC has handled Powerless, I’m not too eager to see another comedy set in a comic book universe. The one bright spot in the whole thing is that Kevin Biegel is rumored to be the showrunner. Not only does he follow me on Twitter, but he’s the creator of the Fox series Enlisted (which I loved), and he co-created Cougar Town. Knowing that, I think the show is in good hands. I still feel weird about being a 35 year old man watching Freeform. It’s like you’re paying for The CW. The news, however, makes me sad that The Middle is still going. If you didn’t know, a few years ago, when it looked like the writing was on that wall for that show, Eden Sher had a meeting with Marvel. While we don’t really know what was discussed, her name was thrown around in the same discussions of Squirrel Girl. With The Middle already renewed for next season, though, that takes her out of the running. Sucks because I think Sher’s perky, Sue Heck personality would be perfect for Squirrel Girl.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Barry Manilow came out as gay, which makes me realize that he’s actually been singing about Man D all these years…

Speaking of gay, on Doctor Who it was revealed that The Doctor’s latest female companion, Bill, is gay. I mean, her name is “Bill”, so, surprise?

NBC ordered 2 additional episodes of the Will & Grace revival, bringing the total up to 12.

Also in the Department of Things We Don’t Need, there are apparently outlines for 14 more Transformers movies

I’ve written about my love of The Undertaker a few times here on the site. Basically, he’s a relic of a bygone era in professional wrestling – an era of kayfabe, when enemies wouldn’t fly on the same planes together, or be seen hanging out together at IHOP. He’s from a time when people had flashy names and in-ring gimmicks to set them apart. The industry has changed a lot since then, but you could always depend on Taker. If I were to be a professional wrestler tomorrow, my in-ring name would be Bruce Williamson. That’s how they do it now. Other business ventures came along, like Total Divas, which even further blurred the lines between real and fake, but you could always depend on Taker.

In recent years, he’s basically been a part-timer. Ever since The Streak was broken, there wasn’t really much need for him to be around. The mystique was kind of gone by that point. But, like clockwork, he still showed up to Wrestlemania and did his job. In my heart, I knew the end was near. I’d always said that, given some advance warning, I’d even try to attend his final show. He means that much to me. Well, I didn’t even get to watch his final appearance, which was last Sunday at Wrestlemania 33. The card looked weak, and I felt I had better shit to do. Little did I realize I’d be missing history in the making. The Undertaker jobbed to Roman Reigns, narrowly missing out on his 100th pay per view victory. While the rumors of retirement had been floating for years, no one was ready for what would happen next. He donned his signature coat, gloves, and hat, and took one last look at the crowd. Then, he removed them, placed them in a pile in the center of the ring, and walked away. He kissed his wife, pretty much breaking character, and proceeded to walk up the ramp, where he was lowered until he disappeared. As the crew dismantled the ring, they refused to move his belongings – a gesture of respect to the man who brought us all nearly 30 years of entertainment. I hate that I wasn’t there, but I especially hate that I didn’t even watch it. Sure, in this technological age we can always find what we’re looking for, but I feel like I let him down. He doesn’t know me, doesn’t give a shit about me, but I know him, and I thank him. So, with that in mind, Mark Calaway, AKA The Undertaker had the West Week Ever.