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helenadurazzo · 2 years ago

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Eye to Eye

Here is a new part to my story about Sebastian, Ominis, and Phineas! This will be the end to this series and soon a new one will be started, featuring new characters as they find a way to defeat Rookwood for good.

The trip back to Hogwarts felt like a long one even though Feldcroft was not terribly far from the school by broom. Walking through the corridors of the school of magic however, caused Phineas’ mind to replay images of the fight at Rookwood castle and the statue that turned Solomon Sallow into stone. Thanks to a crafty metamorphmagus, Anne believe Sebastian was guilty for what happened to their uncle. And now, the only person who could possibly convince her otherwise had to be somewhere within the school grounds by now, he just did not quite know where.

Phineas looked at his friend, Sebastian, who seemed in a particular rush to solve things before he found himself in a trial with the Wizengamot, “Do you think he went to the common room?”

“Possibly, but this is Ominis we are talking about.” Sebastian reminded him, “I am going to try the undercroft first.”

“Alright, I’ll follow your lead.” Phineas encouraged him as they both headed towards the secret entrance in the clock.

Phineas recalled how when things were much simpler, Ominis had discovered the hidden room and named it the Undercroft. He invited Sebastian, Anne, and Phineas to play gobstones when they did not have any classes to attend. Ominis always seemed nervous when talking about it, even in passing, perhaps not wanting to give up the secret location of a comforting place of solitude. It was nice though to know that whenever one of them got upset, it would not take too long for the others to find out they went to the undercroft to calm down in private, and, given enough time, the others would come to calm them and keep them company by listening to their struggles. He remembered how Sebastian taught him, Ominis, and Anne to practice Confringo after their professor refused to teach them, it was such a thrilling moment to cast the blasting curse.

They got into the room with no trouble as per usual. It was a few more steps down to dark and dreary hallway before Sebastian used a lever to lift up the gate to enter the larger room, lit by candles. And soon, the silhouette of Ominis came into view, his wand, guiding his steps toward them, seemingly noticing their presence in the empty room.

“Ominis! There you are!” Sebastian called out, “Me and Finn have been looking for you, are you alright.”

“I suppose so.” Ominis informed them, “Although I do not quite remember anything from the point shortly after I arrived to help you both out at the dreadfully haunted castle. I came back here and seemed to regain control of myself, however shortly after I received an owl from Anne.” He then turned to Sebastian and snapped, “She said that you petrified your uncle and needed me to come comfort her! How could you do such a thing! I was just about to head back when you crawled in here with Phineas. I thought you were better than this! I thought you had learned..”

“It’s a lie!” Sebastian exclaimed, “Another one of Rookwood’s schemes! I may not get along with him but I’d never hurt him, Anne needs him just as much as me.”

“And how can I tell this is not another one of yours?” Ominis suspected with a raised eyebrow.

“Because I was there.” Phineas reminded him, “After you left the scene a metamorphmagus took your form just as Anne was arriving to the castle. The metamorphmagus framed Sebastian for the actions of Rookwood’s gang, and now, if we cannot convince Anne before all of Feldcroft knows, Sebastian could be sent off to Azkaban unjustly.”

“Please Ominis.. believe us..” Sebastian insisted, “You and Finn can talk some sense into Anne a way I never could in a situation like this. I can’t leave Anne, now that our uncle is possibly gone forever, she needs me more than ever.”

Ominis was silent before he finally spoke, with a trembling voice at that, “What a mess, I can’t believe it. Based on her letter, she seems beside herself with grief, and I believed that Sebastian would do such a thing.” He then turned, “I apologize for accusing you.”

“I would not blame you.” Sebastian assured him, “I have done some bad things recently but I aim to change that. I have been in such a rush to get a cure for Anne and because of that, I put everyone in this mess.”

“At least you are learning that.” Ominis spoke in a relieved tone, “I don’t want to lose any of you.” He then looked more confident, “Alright, let’s go to Feldcroft, I know a shortcut. I will personally take the lead in talking with Anne if you two can help back me up with your accounts. Whatever lies ahead, we must face it together, that I know.”

~~~

Feldcroft had not changed much in appearance since Sebastian and Phineas rushed from the castle to Hogwarts. With the exception of the darkening sky as day started to turn to dusk and soon enough it would become night. However, the lingering effects of what happened at the abandoned castle seemed to still be present, yet the residents of the hamlet seemed oblivious as they went on with their day to day lives.

However, any comfort Feldcroft could have provided seemed to vanish as he walked with Ominis and Sebastian into the living area of the Sallow home. He saw Anne, with frantically messy hair as she tried to comfort herself by writing in a journal or read a book, Phineas could not quite tell which. The petrified form of Solomon Sallow was in the living area with her and away from the prying eyes of the residents of Feldcroft, giving off the same eerie feeling it did at the castle.

Suddenly, Anne looked up and at the sight of their arrival slammed her book shut and angrily stood up, the quickest Phineas had seen her move it seemed since she was cursed. “What is he doing here!” She angrily pointed her wand at her brother, “You know exactly what you did yet you come in here like you are innocent! Get out!”

“Anne calm down.” Ominis tried to console her as he stepped in front of Sebastian with Phineas following his lead, “It seems to be more complicated than that, just hear us out.”

“Fine but be quick.” Anne allowed as she dropped her wand on the chair arm, placing one hand on her side as it appeared another rush of pain coursing through her body, holding in a grunt.

“The Ominis you saw at the castle was an imposter.” Phineas explained, “It was a metamorphmagus that was a member of Rookwood’s gang. It was also the gang who activated the Gorgon statue.” Once again, Phineas decided not to go into the details of how they managed to activate the long dormant statue or question why it had been installed in the first place.

“If you think I was there to witness the petrification believe me when I say this” Ominis added, “I do not even recall witnessing the sounds of the petrification or sensing it with my wand.”

“You believe me..” Sebastian quietly asked, “Don’t you Anne?”

“I suppose if Ominis is confirming you are not guilty than I guess I do.” Anne admitted, “Still,” she said as she gazed at the statue of her uncle with remorse in her eyes, “I think I need more time.”

“Understandable.” Sebastian agreed, “Take all the time you need.”

“And we will all be here for you.” Ominis assured her with a smile, “Regardless of what happens next.”

“Speaking of that.” Phineas added, “How are we going to explain this to the citizens of Feldcroft.”

“Do not worry about that.” Anne comforted the three Slytherin boys. “The only person that knows about what happened to Uncle Solomon is the local healer I asked to examine him. However I did not tell him my initial belief that Sebastian was behind the petrification, only that I had found him like this when coming to meet you at the castle. Unfortunately, however the healer does not believe he is going to be able to find a way to reverse his condition, at least at this current time.. we could try Saint Mungos, but I was waiting for Ominis before I made that decision.”

“We can try there.” Sebastian agreed, “however if they can’t figure out something we might need to move on with our lives even though it’s hard. I have learned that lesson myself now, and sometimes, no matter how unfair things may seem, and no matter how hard you may try to resolve them, if you become obsessed with reversing a mistake or disaster, you will only cause ruination to yourself, I almost fell into that trap, and I would not want you to make the same mistakes that I did. As much as I want to find a cure for you, I now realize that the best thing is to try and give you as much comfort as I can.”

“Thank you.” Anne wearily smiled, “I appreciate you Seb, really I do and your efforts were admirable.”

“I suppose you will be staying with one of the other families at Feldcroft?” Ominis pondered cautiously.

“The healer offered I could stay with his family since my uncle is no longer here to care for me.” Anne explained, “Still it would be nice for a change of scenery as uncle rather took me anywhere outside of Feldcroft after I was cursed. I love Feldcroft with all of my heart but it has just been so dreary here lately.”

Phineas felt a solution come to his mind, “I would have to send a letter to my parents but if they agree, you could spend some time at the Hearst Hall, it is a wonderful place with a lake, and all sorts of natural life.”

“I’d appreciate that if I would not be a burden.” Anne agreed, “Thank you.”

“And we will figure out a way to stop Rookwood and his gang before anyone else gets hurt.” Sebastian assured his sister, “After all, we are not the only ones who have suffered because of them.”

“And how do you propose to stop them?” Anne asked her brother.

“I have some friends who have been looking into some of the crimes going in Hogsmeade.” Phineas explained to Anne, “I personally will catch up with them and see if they have any more information about Rookwood’s group and as much as I don’t want to collaborate with him, my brother is an influential auror and can get the people we need to arrest Rookwood and his gang members.”

“Hopefully after what happened at the Catacombs and the castle.” Ominis started, “Rookwood’s gang will move their missions of conquering and torment away from here and things will come to some sense of normalcy.”

“Well, I am not sure how much help I will be able to give you.” Anne informed the the three Slytherins. “However, assuming I will stay here at Feldcroft, I can keep an eye or ear out to the actions of Rookwood and his gang if they decide to return to the grounds of Feldcroft. And if you are alright, I can ask for some help from people around here if I am in too much pain to keep an eye out.”

“That would be excellent.” Sebastian exclaimed, “Thank you Anne, whatever assist you can provide here will be immensely helpful, just do not overdo it, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Alright.” Anne replied with a mischievous smile before grunting again as another blast of pain seemingly went through her body once again, although she recovered quite quickly in the end.

“If you do not need us anymore.” Ominis spoke, “We better be heading back to Hogwarts.”

“That sounds wise.” Anne agreed, “After your previous encounters with Rookwood a trip during the mysterious night might turn fatal if you encounter him again.”

“We will keep in touch, don’t worry,” Sebastian assured his sister before the three of them left.

Phineas realized that Anne did have a good point as he looked up at the sky once he exited the home. The sun was just beginning to set, it was certainly a beautiful sight. And hopefully, just like the sun, he hoped that Rookwood’s fall would be just as satisfying, yet unlike the sun, he hoped with all his heart that a dark force like this would never resurge.

“You never told us that some of our peers were also investigating Rookwood’s gang.” Sebastian exclaimed.

“Only because I just found out about it.” Phineas explained, “After Defense Against the Dark Arts Marie told me that-“

“Does every discussion have to lead to you talking about your girlfriend.” Ominis interrupted, quite hilariously.

“Not the point right now.” Phineas explained, “Anyways, according to her, Rookwood has been attacking in more areas than just here. Apparently, she, Zsuzsi, and Natsai discovered many Hogsmeade villagers who had been tormented by Rookwood, the three of them have been trying to restore balance, and apparently they are not alone in their efforts if the rumors are true.”

#Phineas Hearst #Sebastian Sallow #Ominis Gaunt #Anne Sallow #hphl #Hogwarts Legacy #Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy #Feldcroft #Hogwarts

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maleyanderecafe · 3 years ago

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Hi! I love your blog, have you ever read the beast must die? Kang moo seems to be a good Yandere. :D

This webcomic is about 80 chapters long so I hope for a bucket of teeth soon. To be honest I was never a fan of the old yaoi style, though I don't actually know why (I think it's because of the lips and the kind of horse face they usually have) and this webcomic's style is like that. I also found it kinda hard to tell the difference between characters a lot of the time because of the styles. In terms of story though, it was pretty enjoyable, though I got confused after around chapter 50 because the goal of the main character, Lee Gi-Rin was already fulfilled and I guess they had to shake off the police at some point? Anyways, I don't think Kang Moo is a yandere and I'll explain after the summary.

The story is about a guy named Lee Gi-Rin who is trying to get into an exclusive (but messed up) rich people club, however, the only way to get into the club is to become a partner of someone who is already in it. He's able to get a hold of one of the members, Kang Moo, and becomes his partner. During the initiation of the club, he has to be gang banged by all of the members, but instead, they are able to convince them to just have Kang Moo and Lee Gi-Rin have sex in front of everyone. We find out that Lee is trying to get into the club to find out who raped his sister. As it turns out, she was drugged by the members of this club and raped, and when she couldn't get them arrested because they're rich, she ended up committing suicide. After this act, the family started to break apart, so Lee took it upon himself to find the perpetrators and kill them for revenge. He goes to the party to find some more DNA samples to send to a police guy who is helping him (...he also sends semen from Kang Moo to see if he was one of the ones who raped his sister, which he isn't, but like I'd be pretty worried if I got semen samples for DNA tests instead of... you know, literally anything else) but ends up getting gang banged by the rest of the group. After sending some more semen for DNA testing (which now the police guy is worried, as he should be) we find out which of the members raped the sister. He soon gets roped into another part of the group's activities, something they call "hunting season" where in this case, Lee is the one being hunted and has to run around in his underwear in the middle of the woods and try not to get shot by these rich kids for two hours. During this commotion, he finds and injures the guy who raped his sister but doesn't have it in him to kill this man. Doesn't matter anyway, because someone else comes in to kill him with a knife, and it's pretty obvious Kang Moo because he uses a similar knife to cut down Lee from the tree later. We learn that Kang Moo is actually a high-functioning psychopath that has the lust for killing, however, as much as he tried to stop his bloodlust, it wasn't enough. Thus he tried to find a suitable reason that he would kill, and it just so happens that the revenge that Lee was going for would help him with this fact. He ends up framing some of the members, getting one of the members to shoot the other, and pushing the other off of a cliff, all while somehow continuing his romantic relationship with Lee. Lee, although not happy with all this killing, decides to go with it since he really, REALLY wants to have revenge for his sister.

The rest of the chapters are more or less trying to get the police off of their backs after the members of the club are killed. The two do end up succeeding and they end up running away together to live abroad. I think Kang Moo ends up being some sort of forensic student and sees a body of a girl who got strangled. He starts to regain some of his bloodlusts and the story ends with a sort of lingering feeling of Kang Moo might just snap if Lee isn't careful. It's sort of a cautious/bittersweet ending I guess.

In terms of the two relationships, Kang Moo kind of just tries to get Lee to fall in love with him using the suspension bridge effect. One of the reasons is because Kang Moo is somehow able to put aside his bloodlust when he has sex with Lee? I guess? The two do have a romantic relationship with each other, but a lot of the story is just sex, which honestly, was kind of annoying at some points because I just wanted to read the actual story and not the sex (this seems to be a problem with a lot of smut I read, honestly). Near the end, Lee kind of views himself as the "beast tamer" since he's the only one who can stop Kang Moo from going on a killing spree, for lack of a better term.

To why I don't believe Kang Moo is a yandere: a lot of the story revolves around Kang Moo's killings and Lee's revenge, and while they both help each other in this aspect (and are romantically in love), it kind of feels like they're just using each other to fulfill their goals (Lee using Kang Moo to kill the group members for revenge and Kang Moo using Lee's revenge as a way to kill). They seem to be bound to each other because of these actions, mostly because if either of them is caught or killed, the other is likely to get caught or killed as well (at least in my eyes) and also I guess because the power of yaoi somehow sex with each other stops Kang Moo from killing, at least a bit. I don't really view Kang Moo to be that possessive over Lee either, at least not in the romantic sense, and it feels more like they stay with each other because of the messed-up stuff they do. There's also the fact that Kang Moo is diagnosed with sociopathy (ASPD) within the story and does display a lot of its symptoms (attacking people, being generally charismatic, and being generally angry), and those with ASPD are usually regarded as people who cannot experience love, or at the very least, only truly love a few people. With the amount of sex these two seem to go through, it does kind of feel like the two are more or less using each other for pleasure at some points and not love. It's possible that Kang Moo does actually love Lee, but I don't think it's really much of a yandere love.

It's also possible that I might have skipped something important in the countless number of sex scenes I was trying to run through, but who knows.

#asks #recommendation

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jadelotusflower · 4 years ago

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Robin Hood Rewatch: 1x13 A Clue: No

“Previously on” recaps can be annoying, but there is an art to it and I love a good one. This is a very, very good one, summarising the last episode with ramping tension as the music builds, then cuts to a different take of the last scene as the theme song starts, and we’re into the opening credits.

This is a long one, so it’s going under the cut:

Guy estimates that the “inner circle” of Robin’s gang is “a dozen at the most” and I find it very funny that neither he nor Vaisey have twigged that it’s always the same five people around him. What’s more annoying than funny is that they don’t know how many are in the “outer circle” because that really should have been A Thing in the show (Forrest and Hanton should have come back to guest star! I will never let this go!) After all, we see Little John with more men in the first episode, there are other outlaws in the forest/across the shire that are either working with Robin, or pose a risk to them, and I wish this had been explored.

Djaq manhandling and holding her sword to Pitts’s throat - I love Djaq.

The first arrow Robin shoots is intended for Vaisey, but one of the guards inconveniently walks in front and gets it in the chest. The second arrow is intended for Vaisey as well but he ducks (”my tooth!”) so we can’t fault the writing for a credible attempt at Why Doesn’t Robin Just Kill The Sheriff, because in this scene at least, he tries.

Bye Pitts. You certainly were.

I actually really love this scene (which probably seemed odd given the high body count), but Robin drawing his sword and charging, with Much, Djaq, and John backing him up to avenge Marian’s apparent death/make a final stand, as the music shifts from the jaunty Rescue Theme to Marian’s Theme, just gets me every time.

Although thanks to the cast commentary, I can’t unsee Djaq flipping that guy over her head twice, but hey, it’s a badass move. Clearly they didn’t shoot enough coverage of this fight, because we get the same action from several different angles.

Other than the flashback in episode 8, I think this is the only time we see Robin in Crusader mode, and just how lethal he (and the gang) can be when unleashed and with nothing to lose. Even when the enemy retreats Robin remains kind of wild-eyed with rage unsated, and it takes a beat for him to snap out of it. It’s symbolism time - he sticks his sword in the ground and leaves it there, and we don’t see it again this episode (or much in season 2).

There’s some nice acting going on from everyone in this scene - just utter exhaustion, Allan and Will oblivious to why the rest are so distraught, Much taking it upon himself to tell them but can’t say the words, and Robin with the finality of “she’s dead.” Their faces!

Djaq is still holding two swords as she enters the cave, which is a nice character beat - no doubt the fight also brought back unpleasant memories/triggers for her, and she remains on edge, for the moment unwilling to give up her defences even when the threat is gone.

I really love this scene too (the gang mourning Marian) and I think it’s quite deftly written - Djaq’s immediate reaction being the importance of a quick burial (as per Islamic tradition), Robin trying to keep it together, attempting to ask John/Will to build a coffin but unable to, so deflecting to ask Djaq to prepare Marian’s body, before trying twice again; John soothing him and taking charge. Will’s single tear and speaking of Marian’s goodness. Much responding with “Good? Oh, she was... She was...” looking to Robin because of course his thoughts are for Robin’s grief before his own, and also that his own relationship with Marian was complex. Allan: “She was alright...yeah” that says so much, and of course John’s “Her, we liked.” Again, some fine acting, kudos everyone.

“I loved her and I never told her” is ironic because Robin still won’t tell her until halfway through the next season, and if he had in the aftermath of her apparent death he could have spared himself a lot of the angst of the rest of the episode. But of course he doesn’t tell her, doesn’t learn from this moment, because emotions are hard, and sometimes we make the same mistakes over and over again.

I really love that it’s Allan that notices that Marian is alive, and his little “told ya” flourish.

Score note: while Marian is “dead” her Theme is strings, when she opens her eyes, it’s back to the guitar.

Guy’s guilt in finding out his impending marriage to Marian is based on false pretenses - would he still have forced the marriage if he’d known that from the start?

Djaq still has her two swords as they take Marian back to Knighton.

Guy, if your first instinct when told Marian is not at home is that she’s run away rather than marry you...maybe take a hint? “She cannot run from me” is a big yikes, and this confuses me as to Guy’s motivation in this scene. Did he intend to tell Marian the truth, but then convince himself otherwise (because “the excitement of the wedding” =/= “the wedding excites her”), but then why so angry when he thinks shes run? The difference between getting someone go/being left, I suppose.

Illness is a perfectly plausible explanation for delaying the wedding that no one seems to think of.

Edward is actually pretty bang on in this scene with Robin from a father’s perspective, telling him to let Marian go if he cannot stop it, and do the right thing. On the other hand...

“I am sick of doing the right thing” is why Robin is such a compelling character for me - because it is hard to always be good, to be held to that higher standard, and make the unselfish choice. I enjoy narratives that explore that, and this show is surprisingly unflinching about it, exemplified by:

The next scene, which is one of the most emotionally brutal/hard to watch of the entire show, in which Robin lashes out and does everything to drive Much away, including calling him “a pox” and a “small man” until Much’s heart visibly breaks.

Now I don’t want to excuse Robin here, because he is objectively awful to someone who doesn’t deserve it, who is trying to give him support but also telling him some much needed hard truths (even if it is slightly self-serving, which is what what seems to set Robin off). But at the end of the day, if he loves Marian he needs to accept that it is her choice to marry Guy, to “do the right thing” to (she thinks) protect her father - and later of he does just that. For now Edward and Much are both right, it is more important for him to try and protect the king from Vaisey, because if he is ousted and Richard back on the throne so many lives would be improved, including the people of Locksley. But Robin has been pushed to breaking point all season, and has now snapped and can’t see reason, but is stuck in his own grief/rage.

But unlike previously, when Robin said regrettable things in the heat of the moment and then immediately took them back, this is a calculated attack designed to hurt Much the most, because he loves Robin so much that it takes A Lot to push him away. It’s a bold move to make your hero so unlikable in such a moment, because Robin really is unforgivably cruel here, and trust the audience to understand why. I mean, I don’t want to bang on about the PTSD, but it’s (partly) the PTSD, based on a triggering, precipitating event causing a self-destructive spiral. Robin needs some Ye Olde Therapy.

For all the talk about Robin getting his title and lands back, nothing is said about what happens to Gisborne once he does, other than that they can’t prove he was the one who tried to assassinate Richard. Because really, Richard probably would believe Robin even though the tattoo was burned away, and Guy’s certainly committed other crimes that could be testified to just like they’re intending for Vaisey - and let’s be real, it’s not like a king needs evidence to order someone’s death (hello, season 2 finale). Boom - Guy executed, marriage to Marian annulled, problem solved!

So, the scene between Marian and Guy, in which Marian is more concerned with whether or not Guy tried to kill the king than the fact that he stabbed her. But its understandable, because Marian thinks there’s no way out that doesn’t risk her father’s life, and it’s easier to convince herself that maybe Guy didn’t do it to make the best of things. I think she does have some kind of feelings for him, or is at least moved by his feelings for her, and believes if nothing else she can influence him/continue working from the inside; giving up the mantle of the Nightwatchman but doing the same work (in a different way) as Lady Gisborne.

And then it’s Robin/Marian angst, round 3, and it’s a far cry from their interaction in the cave milliseconds away from “I love yous” - in both tone and body language they’re back in defensive positions talking past one another. The tension, it be thick.

Marian is making her best rationalisation with “deprived of love” and Robin not at all buying the Woobification 101. Once she tells him her decision to marry Guy, he accepts it, but it’s Marian’s reaction that’s telling, she’s surprised that he doesn’t argue, deep down she wants him to fight for her, to say that the real reason she shouldn’t marry Guy is because he loves her. It’s quite a contrast from the previous scene where Guy was very open about how he feels about her, while Robin deflects, but while she was conflicted about Guy trying to kiss her, she’s frustrated, disappointed, and angry when Robin leaves.

But really, this is rather unfair of Marian, because Robin did already declare himself in the cave (”we should be together”) without her reciprocation, so expecting him to take the first step again without any encouragement is a bit much.

Would a depressed person sit slumped against a tree all night?

“But by taking Marian in holy wedlock, I will wash away those crimes. Her pure heart will cleanse mine.” Yeah...not going to touch that one. I appreciate that there’s a lot going on with Guy and many, many people find it compelling, but I’m afraid it’s not really a narrative that interests me.

Speaking of pure hearts: Much. Faced with the same choice he was counseling Robin on, but with the additional wrinkle of knowing the king’s an imposter, he still decides to stop the wedding. “Her heart belongs to another” is A Moment and I don’t know exactly why but I find his very soft pleas following this and calling her “my lady” very affecting.

She’s beauty and she’s grace, she punched Guy in the face.

“A trap. I knew it.” I haaaaate this line. NO YOU DIDN’T KNOW IT ROBIN YOU KNEW NOTHING OF THE KIND IF YOU HAD KNOWN YOU WOULD BE EVEN MORE OF A DICK FOR LEAVING UGGGHHHH.

“We can’t be seen together” Right in front of my salad two guards on front gate duty, who get front row tickets to the kiss. Look at them! They’re right there! This show drives me absolutely bonkers sometimes.

I do love this dress though.

“An audience with the king has been suspended!” Going out on one last pun.

Regardless, I really love this episode. Despite the lack of fallout from the emotional wringer they all went through, I can’t help but smile when the gang does their silly little jump for joy at the end.

#robin hood bbc #robin hood rewatch #1x13 a clue: no #long post

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heyheydidjaknow · 4 years ago

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I’m uploading this Friday at 12:10 am. Or, at least, that’s when I finished writing this. Yes, we’re still on the angst thing. It won’t last forever, but still.

Chapter 9

“How is she?”

Donatello sits down next to his brother on the couch. “Same as yesterday,” he sighs. “Comatose.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Raphael smirks. “That stupid bitch decided to total the fuckin—"

“Raphael,” he promises coolly, “I will personally make it my life’s goal to make sure you can never open your mouth again if you don’t shut up.”

He puts his hands up. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Will you two be quiet for a minute? I’m trying to listen.” Leonardo kneels in front of the television.

There is a new news story.

“They can’t arrest her, can they?” The tallest brother glances at the others.

“Nah.” Michelangelo is sprawled out on his portion of the couch, eyes dully focused on the screen. “They’ll side with her before someone from a street gang, ‘specially with those…” He trails off. “’ Sides,” he clears his throat, “any good public defense lawyer would call it self-defense, and there’s no way the police would convict a teenage girl of any degree of murder with the injuries she has; bad press.”

“Mikey,” Leo asks, “how come you know that and not how to multiply numbers by seven?”

“Because seven is a stupid number that was created just to make us all feel stupid.”

“Leo—”

“He’s right,” Raph agrees. “They won’t put her away for something like that.” He chuckles darkly. “Besides, there’s no more evidence.”

“After what happened with the neurologist?”

“Donnie,” Leo turns to look at him. “She’s going to be fine.”

He opens his mouth to argue, closes it.

” The perpetrator,” the news anchor reads, ” was found this morning after a panicked nine-one-one caller had seen the hand of the assailant hanging over a ledge. The corpse had, presumably, been flung away from the scene of the incident as a consequence of the explosion, miraculously landing on the roof of a nearby restaurant. The body has been identified as Fong Zhao, who was arrested on multiple charges of armed battery earlier this year. The police have refrained from offering Channel Six detailed information, but we have an anonymous source who claims that he and the gang he is supposedly involved in, locally referred to as the Purple Dragons, was also involved in the hijacking of a truck carrying a substance believed to be tear gas. The driver of the truck testified in favor of this statement earlier this evening. An investigation is currently ongoing regarding the involvement of the men in question, and we at Channel Six implore our viewers to come forward with any information you may have on the case or the supposed ringleader, the recently escaped Xever Montes. More on that later tonight. Up next, a local—”

Leonardo shuts off the television. “Well, there you go.” He stands up. “See? Didn’t even mention her name.”

Donatello breathes out a sigh of relief. “Good,” he nods after a moment. “That’s... good.” He cradles his head in his hand, his concerns hardly pacified by the report.

This, he cannot excuse. This is entirely a matter of his own negligence.

‘I should’ve noticed sooner, insisted to come with.’ He zones out, his brother starting a conversation about something he cannot bring himself to pay attention to. ‘How could she be that reckless? It’s Shredder for fuck’s sake; I should’ve at least noticed the body or something, anything.’ His fingers lace together as he stares a hole into the ground. ‘Even if I couldn’t have stopped her, I should’ve been there, if only after the fact.’ He runs his tongue along his teeth absentmindedly. ‘Some ninja I am. Some friend. Some—’

“So, I broke Y/N’s arms, right?”

His head snaps up. “You what?”

“There he is,” Raph chuckles. “Knew that’d get his attention.”

“Don’t make me go over there,” he glares. His face flushes in embarrassment.

Leonardo rolls his eyes at his brother’s antics. “As I was saying, it’s been pretty quiet, hasn’t it? Since the incident?”

“Now that you mention it,” Raph points out, “since the whole Leatherhead fiasco, I don’t think anything’s really happened. Ya know, besides the Kraang thing.” He crosses his arms behind his head, leaning back into the couch. “It’s been getting’ kinda boring If I’m bein’ honest.”

“It’s that desire to fight that’s going to get you killed,” Donatello informs him, staring at the television screen. “Saw what happened to her, right? Weren’t you just saying how stupid she was being?”

“Yeah, but that’s different.” He smiles sharply. “She’s got exactly no training. As much as you guys seem to have a thing for humility all of a sudden,” he waves his hand contemptuously, “the only reason she got hurt is that she was being stupid, so we’re pretty much undefeated, no thanks to Leo.”

He stands up, deciding against fighting him. “If you need me,” he says curtly, “I’ll be in my lab.”

“Watch it, Raph,” the eldest brother snaps.

“Why should I?” He throws his hands up. “Am I wrong?”

Mikey quietly grabs his comic off the floor, retreating to his room, presumably.

Donatello slides the door in between him and his brothers as he sits down at his desk.

You have been stuck in the hospital for about two weeks now.

‘Technically,’ he corrects himself as he pulls his laptop open, ‘it’s been three hundred fifty-seven hours, meaning it’s closer to fifteen days than two weeks. Why do I know that?’ He pulls up an image, uncapping a permanent marker and working on one of the more mindless parts of his latest project: reviving an incredibly battered map. He already has a frame for it once he is finished, but, knowing his brothers, the fading colors would likely be a point of contention if he did not at least make an effort to make it easier to read. Fortunately for him, it is not laminated. Unfortunately—depending on how you look at it— a lot of the finer details—the integral streets names in particular—are all irreparably smudged and, therefore, will have to be all rewritten by hand, turning a once twenty-minute job into at least a two-hour investment.

He tries to tune out the incessant arguing of his two older brothers as he focuses on making his minute handwriting legible despite the infuriatingly fat marker nib.

“You should have taken her offer for a pen when you had the chance,” he mumbles to himself.

His hand stops.

‘Would it be weird to go check on her again? Just to make sure she’s still alright? I mean,’ he goes back to work, ‘even if it were, how would she know?’

He shakes his head to clear it. ‘Stop that. You’re being a creep again.’

Over those two weeks, his distractedness has become more of a problem than it has in the past in reference to his work. He is hardly a stranger to having a thousand thoughts bouncing around his head at once, but where once a rapid stream of information was there is now an aggravatingly slow sludge. The origin of said mind sludge is not at all a mystery to him, which makes the whole thing infinitely more frustrating. ‘Frustrating? Depressing? Does it even matter?’

He rubs his eye absentmindedly with the heel of his palm as he strains to see what he is doing. The smell of the marker is corrosive in his nostrils. His hand shakes. He sets it down, wringing his hands as if to force them back into submission as he stares holes into the map. ‘This is not supposed to be challenging.’ He closes his eyes, the image of you lying on the ground, a bloody, skeletal figure shaking and begging for your life carved into the backs of his eyelids, a hideous scar.

He can not stop thinking about what you said the night before the incident. Something about being able to care for yourself.

What would you say to him now? He imagines that it would be something to remind him of how the accident is your fault, how he should not beat himself up over it, but all that does is convince him that he should have been faster to act or to respond or something. There had to have been something he, in his infinite wisdom, could have done. What else can he reason? That he is powerless? That he had no say in what happened that night of nights?

‘How come I can plan and build a combat vehicle out of alien technology and an old subway car and I can’t—’

He jumps at a loud banging at the door.

“Donnie!” He can hear Raphael’s wicked grin from behind the door. “Bank robbery! Let’s go!”

He sighs, capping the marker. His breakdown will have to wait.

“Comin’!”

The ringing in your ears is already annoying.

You have been awake for about five minutes. You have elected against moving for a plethora of reasons, but the ringing is a relatively large determining factor in your decision. You are, admittedly, not sure where you are until you hear the tell-tale incessant beeping you remember from your childhood. You do not open your eyes yet. You are incredibly drowsy for some reason.

‘Hospital?’

You sit up carefully, wincing as a numb pain permeates through your arms. You run your fingers over your face curiously, feeling for any perceived disfigurement as your eyes scan your surroundings. The small room you have been placed in seems standard; there are a couple of chairs under a window that makes up half of the wall, a television screen in a corner of the room, an inoffensive painting, and a small vase filled with some sort of white flowers.

You feel a protruding scar on the right side of your face. It traces from the bridge of your nose to about halfway across your cheekbone. As you bring your hands down to pull the hospital gown away from your body, you catch sight of your hands. Long, jagged cuts run vertically along the front of your hands, and as your eyes travel up your arms, you notice fewer, shorter scars along the insides of your forearms. You swallow, pulling the cloth away from your body to see long scratches running from your thighs to under your ribcage. You pull the blanket off to find that one of your legs is encased in a white cast.

You blink. ‘What stupid thing did I do?’

You lay back down, fingers absentmindedly tracing the scars. ‘I must have been out for a bit.’ You push the hair out of your face, noting how oddly shaky your hands are as you try to focus on what had happened. ‘Why wouldn’t my folks be here? They wouldn’t ditch me in a hospital, would they?’ You hold them out in front of you, palms to the ceiling. ‘I don’t look old or anything. My nails aren’t much longer than they were before, so I can’t have been out for that long.’

Your eyebrows furrow. ‘Parents…’ You swallow. ‘Oh, right. The fire.’ Your eyes go out of focus. ‘Dead. I was, too, until recently.’ You put your arms down. ‘I’m hungry. Where am I?’ You close your eyes. ‘New York. East coast. How far is the East Coast from the West Coast? I should call her so she knows I’m—no, she’s dead.’

“All dead and gone,” you mumble the tune to yourself.

You cover your face. ‘Focus. What happened?’ You recall what you think is a church. ‘Turtles. Turtle. Oh, TMNT. Where are people? Focus.’ You yank at a piece of your hair, mumbling to yourself as you try to run through the memory again.

The image of that man’s body takes your breath away.

You shut your eyes tighter. ‘Right. Car. Glass. Glass would be a good candy. Could you make glass out of sugar? Isn’t that what a lollipop is?’ You hug yourself tightly, careful of the IV as you roll onto your side towards it. ‘I killed someone. Someones. That’s not a word. Gasoline smells bad.’ You feel tears prick at your eyes. ‘I deserve to die for that. There has to have been an easier way to do that. I deserve to burn again. That explosion was so prettily animated in that episode. I can’t breathe.’

You curl your legs up towards you, using the arm not connected to the IV to hook behind your knees. You bury your head in your shoulder as you force your breathing to slow. ‘I miss her. Where is he? They’re dead and you killed them, you heartless bitch.’

You feel a sob rise in your throat. You swallow it back. ‘Stop being a pussy.’ You hear yourself start to count softly. ‘They’re all dead and gone. You’re on your own here, so get a grip.’ You grip the blanket. ‘After all, who are you going to turn to? The guys who already risk their lives every day? Or maybe Splinter, who will probably tell you some bullshit about letting your pain go?’

‘That’s not fair,’ you argue with yourself. ‘You can turn to Murakami. Casey might be willing to help.’

‘Because Casey’s known for his reliability and Murakami would want to deal with your stupid emotional problems.’

“Twenty-three,” you whisper, keeping your voice even. “Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six…’

You pull yourself back up, bringing your knee to your chest as you wipe any tears that may have leaked out with the back of your hand.

You do not have to wait long until someone comes in to check on you, a taller gentleman with sharp features and sunken eyes behind curly black hair. He introduces himself as Nurse McGrath, gives you a run down of the dizzying number of injuries you had suffered in the accident, what they had done to fix the problem, and starts to discuss what would become of you now.

“The doctor predicts that you’ll be able to remove your cast in approximately six weeks, and that you will regain your fine-motor skills fully in eight.” He is obviously half asleep, but you can hardly blame him; the clock on the wall reads that it is about three in the morning. “The symptoms from the whiplash should completely fade in about three months. If you would be open, there are medications we can prescribe to help with the pain.”

You smile. “Thank you, sir, but I’d rather not.” You are sincerely concerned what might happen if you start taking any sort of medication right now, considering your mental health.

“I should probably warn you in advance that the police might ask you to come in to identify the guys who kidnapped you.”

You blink, confused. “How do they know I was kidnapped?”

“Anonymous tip, according to the news.” He scratches something into some form or another. “I dunno the specifics, but nobody thinks they’re gonna charge you with anything, ‘specially since the driver was from that street gang.”

You nod. “Gotcha.” You purse your lips. “What day is it?”

“Twenty-fourth, now.”

You sigh. “Well,” you shrug, ignoring the pain it causes, “at least I’m not dead.”

“At least.” He caps his pen. “Technically, you’re free to leave, but the doc thinks it’s a good idea to stay overnight. Your insurance provider has your medical bills covered, so you’re good for it.”

“Honestly? I’m surprised I don’t feel weaker.” You smile. “I’m more than happy to head home tonight, if that makes most sense.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t stay.” He starts heading out of your room. “Your cellphone is locked up. I’m guessing you want it?”

You nod eagerly, realizing quickly that makes the ringing worse.

“I’ll bring it right back, then.”

You refrain from touching it until he leaves.

It looks as if it was put in a blender, but you find it does still turn on. A problem quickly arises: your hands cannot hold the phone. You set it down on the mattress, each movement taking a ridiculous amount of time to coordinate as you type like someone who has never used a phone before. ‘Fine motor skills. Right.’ You type out a message after approximately too long that tells Donnie that you are out of the hospital and heading home.

You check out of the hospital at approximately four-thirteen. The trip home is a straight line of a walk that takes you approximately twenty minutes. Getting in through the door with a walker is a bit of a challenge, but it works out well enough.

You lock the door and windows when you get home, shutting your phone off as you crawl into bed.

You let out a low groan as your head punishes you for your heinous crime of moving. You had realized ten minutes into your walk that you were not at all physically strong enough to walk that long, and you already hate yourself for it, among other reasons. As you crawl into bed, ignoring your body’s protest, you still stand by your decision to not take any medication, especially now.

You feel as though you are being suffocated as you cling onto your pillow, pressing your face into it as you cry silently, the ringing in your ears only getting louder in the silence of your apartment.

‘I feel sick.’

You remember your first night here. You remember the feeling it had caused you, the numb ache of loss as you submitted to the situation you had found yourself in. It feels like an eternity ago, now. You know, logically, it cannot have been more than two months since you got here.

You had decided against taking a cab back home. You had the cash, and you still do, in your bloodstained pocket. You saw many as you walked home, and you had turned a blind eye to them all.

You feel yourself trembling again. You remember the first night you had slept on your own here, the nightmares you swore were the product of a mind much more sadistic than yours ever was. You remember, too, the nightmares you had after Bradford, the way that, for the first time in your life since you were five years old you woke up drenched in sweat and crying for your mother.

What possible dream could come from this?

You reach a hand to the nightstand, hovering over your cellphone as you consider your next action.

Slowly, you retract it, letting it rest next to you. ‘It’s four. He’s not awake.’ You do not have the energy to get up to grab the bottle of sleeping pills from your bathroom.

‘I don’t want to sleep. I can’t take another nightmare.’ You rest your cheek on the pillow, forcing your eyes shut. ‘Mare. Why is it called a nightmare? Are mares truly that terrifying?’

“One,” you whisper. “Two. Three.”

Table of Contents

Chapter 8

Chapter 10

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retrocontinuity · 4 years ago

Text

rev, rev, fight the power: thoughts on the first half of chainsaw man

Spoilers through the end of the Bomb Girl Arc.

Devil Hunting in the Age of Fascism

As one of the cohosts of a podcast on Gundam Wing in 2020/2021, I've been thinking a lot about how authoritarian regimes and the concept of societal control is treated in anime. Which is to say: usually in a very limited sense, and based on the actions of a few bad actors, as demonstrated with its effects on a few unfortunate protagonists. It's not that creators don't care about the issue, but rather a sign that the genre (and yes, I do consider manga/anime to be a genre more than just a medium, but that's for another time) and its conventions are not particularly well-suited to showing you those effects.

So, Chainsaw Man. On an individual character level, Fujimoto has some stuff to say about the choice between death and life, and I do want to talk about that and what it says about the characters and what life means in CSM. But it's hard to tell whether or not he meant to create a world with some really fucked up institutions too.

For instance, the civilian, non-public sector Devil Hunters. These appear to be explicitly authorized by the Japanese government, to the point where it is a crime for the Public Safety division's hunters to kill a devil that a civilian is in the process of capturing. They don't have guns (this is Japan!) and I imagine they are only allowed to kill Devils, but just, like, think about this. What if you kill someone else in the process of trying to kill a Devil? What if you suspect someone is a Fiend but actually they're just acting weird? What if you kill someone, then claim later it's because you thought they were a Devil?

This is likely the American in me talking, but I can’t help thinking about how badly this would be abused and how horrible an idea that would be. And I can’t help but think about how the Devils allow the world of CSM to separate fears from human nature. By which I mean, in the world of CSM, evil is otherized in a very specific way; they’re represented by very individual, very distinct, and very monstrous representations. Here is the fear of scissors, the fear of sharks, the fear of the future, and so on. But in the real world, we know it isn’t just fear itself that is the problem; it’s people, well-meaning or otherwise, animated by those fears that create the most evil, or people harnessing those fears to gain power. This may be unfair—I don’t know what Fujimoto has planned for Makima, whose mythos and power seems very much wrapped up in the idea of using Devils to her own advantage. But there’s an assumption here that all actions taken towards eradication of the Devils, or maybe just one Gun Devil, is a de facto good. And in 2021, that’s a very unnerving position to take.

Death in Chainsaw Man is a sacrifice. In these early arcs of the series, death is a "contract," an expending of activation energy to achieve something else. So Pochita gives Denji life (which is really a contract repaid, for when Denji gave him life), so the Devil Hunters "trade" something in a contract with a Devil for power (like Aki giving away literal years of his life to his curse sword), so Denji dying to the Eternity Devil would have freed the rest of the team. But there are plenty of deaths in the series where nothing is traded, nothing is given. These tend to be nameless victims or, in one harrowing scene, convicted felons who die at the hands of Makima as she chases down Katana Devil.

What did they gain? What was the contract formed by the deaths of these 雑魚?

Makima says at some point when she's attacking the gangs that are affiliated with the Katana Devil that "the truly necessary evils are always kept collared and controlled by the state." Which I think is at its face about the fiends and Devils kept “collared” by the Public Safety Bureau. But maybe it’s also about the idea of sacrifice, about giving yourself over to the state, in order to control a world thrown into chaos. The contracts formed by the deaths of those ordinary citizens is meant to bring about an eradication of fear. It gives birth to the Public Safety Devil Hunters, to Devil Hunters in general, to the use of whatever means necessary to achieve an end. But whatever those consequences are, we only see them in the fates of Denji, Chainsaw Man, and the impossible characters around him.

A state under threat, a state that feels like it must collar evil in order to survive, will have ruinous consequences. I just hope we get to see what those are.

Just A Teenage Dirtbag, (Bomb) Baby

I read some reviews about Denji being the anti-shounen shounen manga hero which I can presume were written by people whose only frame of reference is Bleach, Naruto, or One Piece. Sure, the Big Three were, in their most simplistic forms, feel-good series, and CSM's first half is basically a feel-bad series, but that hardly makes it unusual. It's really not dissimilar from other manga like Homunculus, Freesia, and Oyasumi Punpun. Of course, only old fogies like me, who still remember getting scanlations of these series off of IRC, and query, of course, whether or not those series are shounen at all, or more like seinen. If it were up to me to name the genre, and of course it is not, I would call it “simply another line of stories about fucked up things happen to fucked up people.”

Many fucked up things have happened to Denji. I’d call it traumatic, but I don’t think “trauma” covers what this poor man has been through. The effect, though, has been to make Denji less than human, even in his human form.

Denji and Power's nonchalance towards the fate of their human coworkers who die to Katana Devil and Sawatari is framed by the manga through Denji as a potential sign of callousness. Kishibe notes it as a sign that they are "insane," in other words, "not like other humans," and thus capable of bringing down something like the Gun Devil, which would otherwise drive "normal humans" insane.

But like, huh? Denji and Power's reactions are, on the contrary, extremely human, because there’s no reason for them to extend feeling towards other humans. Simply put, they’ve never been human to the humans around them. They seem to be bonded most closely to each other, and in fact almost all the Fiends are, because the wider Public Safety employees treat them so poorly. Remember how the Infinity Devil Arc starts? Basically, they're told to be the advance guard, and threatened to be killed if they ever act out. Denji is kept on a short leash, and is so proud (in front of Reze) that he's allowed to go places on his own now.

Which, I'm not saying that that's wrong. Denji is incredibly dumb, holds monstrous power that could easily be tricked into using for horrible purposes, and appears to be the target of a number of Gun Devil's allies. Power is... well. I wouldn't let her out of sight either. But what Makima does that makes Denji feel so loyal, so utterly tied to her, is simply treating him as a human. She convinces him he has a heart, just like any other human. She tells him about all the love experiences he'll have in the future, because he's just a human teenager. And just like Makima, Reze is able to bond with Denji by treating him like an ordinary 16-year-old horny boy. Is it because as a Devil she knows what he wants the most? What he is craving, and never had? It doesn't matter that Denji had been just an ordinary human before fusing with Pochita or before he began his life as a Devil Hunter; as an orphan growing up on the street, unwanted and unloved, he was no more human than a Devil.

The ending of the Bomb Girl Arc—with Denji asking Reze to run away with him, only to be stood up—reminded me so very much of Aku no Hana. There's the classroom scenes between Reze and Denji, of course, but mostly I think about how Denji—betrayed, injured, manipulated Denji—still asks Reze to run away with him. I'd written about Aku no Hana before, how one of the saddest things about Nakamura is that she cannot imagine a world beyond her current circumstance (and, in fact, the manga ends up dooming her to stagnation). Denji and Reze are Nakamura and Kasuga's perverse mirror. It is because Denji doesn't have the capacity to imagine a larger world beyond his immediate now, three meals a day and a job and this woman who taught him how to swim, that he asks her to do this impossible thing, to run away with him knowing that to do would mean both of them betraying their masters. It is because Reze knows that it is impossible that she does not meet Denji at the cafe. Reze is more human than Denji, because she is capable of dreams, and because she is capable of dreaming, she knows she cannot afford their luxury. She knows too much about the world and its cruelty. And, so, she walks straight into its open maw, and straight into her death.

I don't think we can take Reze at her word that she wanted to be a town mouse, or rather we should say instead that Reze proves that the division between the town mouse and the country mouse is immaterial. The issue is that both, in the end, are only mice, dreaming of a safety they can never achieve. Safety, in the world of CSM, is neither town mouse nor country mouse. It is to not be mice at all. It is to be the dog that digs them out from the cold winter dirt.

It is, in fact, to be Makima, the person who orders the dogs to kill the mice.

Denji, aim for the top! Transcend the town mouse/country mouse divide! Or else you will constantly be hunted and used!

(Side note: CSM goes at a break-neck pace, and I think the speed through which Fujimoto rushes through these early storylines has made it very difficult for me to actually connect with the characters. Reze and Denji’s relationship is one of the victims to this pacing. Do I believe that Denji could fall for a girl and be willing to risk it all for her after about 3 chapters worth of interaction? Sure, he’s that kind of guy. But does it work for me? Not particularly. We’ve hardly had time to linger with Reze before she swears she’ll protect Denji forever, as long as he’ll run away with her. Though the reader at that point knows there’s something off about Reze, it’s still just not believable. Reze’s actions seem like someone trying to bulldoze her way into Denji’s affections, and though she herself is a bittersweet character, I just really feel like CSM could have spent less time with Bomb Devil vs Chainsaw Man and more time with Reze and Denji.)

No Ethical Women Under Capitalism

The Eternity Devil arc, for all its mini-boss game feel (it wouldn’t be out of place as one of the floors in Tower of God), struck a nerve with me, if only because it felt, however unintentionally, to be a story about working under modern capitalism. A floor you can never leave, that loops endless, where the only way to escape is to destroy it, literally, from the inside, by making it so painful, an eternal feedback loop of destroying ourselves and destroying it, before it opens its heart to us. The Capitalism Devil threatens us, tries to tear us apart. Asks us to sacrifice the strongest, the weakest, anybody among us, as if by climbing over the bodies of our friends and coworkers, we can come out ahead. It makes us suspicious of each other, ready to tear into any weakness for an advantage.

No wonder this is the chapter where Kobeni lays bare her reasons for joining the Public Safety bureau. She needed to work, to make money. Her options were to be a sex worker or a Devil Hunter. Either way, she was selling her body to the system. Kobeni is a victim of capitalism, which forces her to do what she hates, for goal that are not hers, and then gaslights us into thinking that she’s wrong for being crazy, she’s wrong for losing her shit, for not being able to handle it.

But... that's an asspull for me, even if it's my ass and I'm the one pulling. I'm truly not sure how to feel about Kobeni. Like, what is her deal?! I’m not sure what to make of her appearance in Chapter 20 in her sister’s hand-me-down. Are we supposed to pity her? See ourselves in her? Even in what I think was intended to be a mic-drop-ish line (at least for her), telling Aki that she didn’t quit because she was waiting on her bonus, landed flat for me, too deadpan to be pathetic and not sharp enough to be actually funny. Part of it may be because she is a character very much shaped by her circumstances as opposed to her personality or any interaction/action she does onscreen, but we don’t actually see her family situation in these chapters. We’re left with a painfully shy and cowardly woman who can’t seem to form any human connections with any of the other characters, who in multiple scenes is shown caving to the slightest pressure or threat.

Do the rest of the women fare any better? I’m not sure. Kobeni is unique in that she does not use her gender/sex appeal to manipulate the men around her and/or Denji (even Power lets Denji cop a feel to get her cat back!). Himeno, Makima, and Reze all hide their intentions for Denji behind the veil of his attraction to them (weak or strong) and are either unable or unwilling to be forthright in their desires and ambitions (Himeno to care for Aki; Reze, to accomplish whatever mission Gun Devil had her set out to do; and Makima, for fuck do I know at this point, but she’s up to something!!). Meanwhile, the men are straightforward to a fault. Did Fujimoto intend this? Is this just a subconscious reveal of his own conceptions of gender and Bitches Be Weird?

I’m not a person who needs to have a strong female narrative in a story, but when you start a story with a protagonist whose life ambition for many chapters was just to feel a boob, you better be careful, you know? CSM doesn’t lack for women; Makima and Power are both formidable characters in their own rights, self-assured and unbeholden to anyone but themselves. But so far almost every arc has featured a woman offering herself to Denji sexually in order to get him to do what they want. It’s getting real old real fast.

#chainsaw man #reading too deeply into the text

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curls-cat · 4 years ago

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OTP AU challenge!! geralt/jaskier/yennefer

Oooh yes please geraskefer

Coffee shop AU: Who is the barista, and who frequents the coffee shop? Yennefer frequents the coffee shop, for certain. She’s a big important lawyer or ceo or something, and she comes in every day for her coffee because she needs her fix. (this might be influenced by the lovely fic “Our Colors so Bright and Brillant” but I love the idea of struggling musician Jaskier. So like. Episode 2 Jaskier. He hasn’t hit his stride yet. He’s working at a coffee shop to make ends meet, and he’s trying to convince the owner to let him do like, open mic nights or something.) And Geralt... if he works at the coffee shop, it’s just so that on the weekends he can go live his horse girl dreams at one of those therapy ranches. If he DOESN’T work at the coffee shop, he works full time at the therapy ranch. He doesn’t interact with the riders much, just the rescue horses. Does this AU exist? Jaskier flirting SO HARD with two of his most regular clients?

Highschool/College AU: Who is the straight-A student, and who’s the backrow slacker? Yennefer gets straight As and has to work her ass off for it. Jaskier gets As in nearly everything without working at all, and the minute he has a class he’s not naturally good at he gets very pouty about it because he never learned how to apply himself. Geralt is good at three subjects because they’re his special interests and he just. cannot bring himself to care about the other subjects. Probably if this is a high school AU the Wolves are all being fostered by Vesemir but everyone thinks they’re like, in a gang? Because they wear matching clothes and they hang out all the time.

Rivals to loves AU: Who takes their rivalry seriously, and who is half in it just to push the other’s buttons? Ooh okay so like. With the Yenskier part of this obviously we have the canon Yennefer who is just here to have fun, who is better than Jaskier and KNOWS it, and Jaskier who is super invested and wants to, some day, just once, one-up her. With Geralt/Yennefer in a rivalry AU, tho? You know that scene in the opening of the Incredibles where Helen tells Bob he needs to be more flexible? That. Their rivalry is JUST sexual tension. (ooh now I want a superhero/incredibles type modern au) I liked what you said about a Geralt/Jaskier rivalry where Jaskier is just in it for the lolz. And Geralt is so tired. So, so tired. And annoyed. But he will not let Jaskier know. But Jaskier already knows.

Enemies to lovers AU: Which one switches sides? Not Geralt. Ooh, double agent Jaskier who’s feeding info to both sides and only in it to save his own skin until he falls in love with both of them and now he’s trying to save THEIR skins, and then Yen switches sides because she never really believed in her cause anyway, and who cares about Geralt’s cause, either, there are no Right Sides in a war, but Geralt cares SO MUCH and has this MORAL COMPASS, and it makes Yen and Jaskier both want to be BETTER so they join him.

Soulmate AU: Who is eager to meet their soulmate? Who absolutely does not want to meet their soulmate? Jaskier is the only one who wants to meet his soul mate. The other two have so much baggage. Geralt doesn’t want to tie anyone else to him, and Yennefer doesn’t want to NEED anyone. Jaskier, though, is like, “someone who’ll stay with my annoying bastard ass? TWO someones?”

Single parent AU: Which one is the single parent? (Alt. if they’re both single parents: Which one is open to starting a new relationship from the start? Which one is never planning on finding love again… Until they meet the other and are instantly smitten?) Jaskier and Ciri are trying to parent trap Yennefer and Geralt back together. This would be easier if Ciri had a twin. So instead... Yennefer has been dating casually, but she’s not interested in monogamy or anything serious. She and Jaskier go out sometimes. Geralt does NOT want to see anyone else since his last relationship crashed and burned. But there’s Jaskier, and he and Ciri get along so well... and Geralt is lost. Cue shenanigans in which Jaskier and Ciri scheme for all three of them to see each other

Doctor AU: Which one is the longsuffering doctor? Which one is the patient? The only doctor AU I have ever experienced is the tv show House so bear with me this one will be less detailed. Doctor Yen. Geralt who keeps getting hurt and telling increasingly unbelievable lies about it. Bright young resident Jaskier who genuinely wants to help and has the SLICKEST bedside manner. Yen knows he’s actually an asshole tho.

Bodyguard AU: Who is the bodyguard? Who are they protecting? Which one is secretly pining for the other? Bodyguard Geralt, ofc! And Yen can either be a big important person or another bodyguard who works for a DIFFERENT company and sometimes their charges will be in the same place and they can have clandestine meetings... Except Geralt’s latest responsibility is A Handful of a viscount’s son who won’t stop screwing married people so Geralt can’t get a moment to himself because he doesn’t trust Jaskier not to get MURDERED. And then this happens: Jaskier: You’re extra grumpy today. Why? Geralt: I have a friend in town. Jaskier: Go see them! Geralt: I can’t. I have to stick with you. Jaskier: I could... come with you? And then they all fall in love.

Pirate AU: Who is the pirate? Who is the member of the royal family who did not sign up for this? Yen the pirate, queen of the seas. Geralt her sometimes-lover who lives on land mostly and disagrees with her piracy but agrees that the people she’s stealing from are, for the most part, dickheads. Jaskier the captive who is really more trouble than he’s worth.

Childhood best friends AU: Which one was super obviously in love with the other the whole time? Who was oblivious until they were older? Jaskier. Jaskier who falls in love with everyone with a pulse flirted with both of them the WHOLE time. But Geralt didn’t take him seriously because how was he supposed to know what was real flirting and what was just Jaskier? And Yen KNEW but she thought maybe if she ignored the problem it would go away. Thanks, this was FUN! And now I want to write ALL these aus T-T Ask me about AUs for more ships!

#greyduckgreygoose #geraskefer

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rainbowserenity · 5 years ago

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Fragments After

I finally got through it! Here’s some random tidbits I like from the book, guaranteed to give massive feels the next time the game’s played hahaha it’s fine

Here are the posts for Episode Zero and Fragments Before

- Caius comes and takes all the Yeuls away when they learn to speak, so a seeress’s mother will raise her in silence to prevent her from talking as long as possible :(

- the 3AF Yeul’s very first vision was of Lightning getting taken to Valhalla

- Lightning describes Pulse’s blue sky as “the color of hope” ;D

- after getting pulled into Valhalla, her first concern after Serah is wondering if Hope is safe

- she literally refuses the idea she could be dead, what a boss

- Lightning sees herself in her armor riding Odin as she’s trying to get to Etro and immediately believes she’s lost her mind

- she describes Etro as “if a smile could have a presence”

- Lightning isn’t very confident in her defensive magic because she always left that to Hope~

- Mog turns into the bow to help Lightning defeat Bahamut

- she believes that helping Mog was ~fate~ and then immediately compares meeting him to meeting Hope...

- “She’d seen him as a burden at first, but he had eventually become a trusted ally.”

- we never see Etro in game because “powerless human eyes” cannot see a goddess???

- Bhunivelze is a huge ass, what a surprise

- I’m 99% sure this is mentioned in-game, but Yeul was the first human and created in Etro’s image

- Mog’s “determination in such a tiny body” reminds Lightning of Hope

- she regrets being so inconsiderate to Hope when they first met and thinks meeting Mog is a kind of do-over

- MOOGLE FOREHEAD FLICK~ Light once used the same technique on a boy bullying Serah lmao

- Lightning believes the deaths of those she killed as a l’cie will torture her with guilt for the rest of her life :(

- 200AF Yeul calls Noel and Serah “a strange pairing” lol

- she also thinks Noel is cute

- wind and rain are more common in Cocoon after the weather fal’cie goes dormant

- Snow smuggles the Cactuar fal’cie to Cocoon in a bag

- Cactuar shows Snow visions that become clearer the more they hang out. He figures that clearer visions are based on mutual understanding, which I think explains why the vision the gang got from Anima was so blurry

- the fall of the Fifth Ark caused a dimensional tear??

- this tear leads Snow into the Historia Crux and dumps him in the Coliseum lol

- everybody knows Lebreau wears the pants in NORA

- Snow can’t picture Serah being a “great a fighter as Lightning”

- Snow gets shown a bunch of scenes in Bresha and some soldiers mention Serah. Then they say “those two” disappeared after beating Atlas

- when Snow realizes Serah had a companion, he thinks it was Hope

- “So Hope would’ve been the one to tell her Lightning was alive.”

- Snow believes that Hope would rather keep Serah safe than put her danger.... “Not unless Lightning herself had asked him to take Serah.”

- Snow sees a boutique display in 400AF with tons of accessories and says Serah could pull it off, but Lightning wouldn’t want to “jingle”

- Snow sees Cocoon fall and immediately screams for Vanille and Fang :(

- he then sees Serah fighting a black Bahamut (Caius?) and she’s killed from it?!

- this and a vision of New Bodhum in 700AF is what convinces him to become a l’cie

- Lightning’s armor reminds Snow of “lady warrior out of a fairy tale”

- she’s pissed at Snow for becoming a l’cie and grumbles that he never listens lmao

- Snow jumps around time periods because he activated an incomplete gate, lovable dumbass he is

- the giant flan smacked the Cactuar fal’cie off into the distance right before Serah and Noel showed up in 300AF

- after Snow fades, he ends up in the Coliseum and it sounds like he fights Gilgamesh

- 400AF Yeul was the one who liked to sing. Her mother taught her :’)

- Yeul can hear Fang and Vanille in the pillar, though it’s more a song than words

- she sees Hope standing in front of the pillar and notices he looks lonely, but “his eyes shone with strength”

- Noel’s determination reminds her of Hope and it’s why she approves of his journey

- Hope can silence people with a ~look~ lol

- Hope carries his boomerang around for good luck (which is why he randomly had it in 500AF)

- he knows how to hack computers

- he officially entered the Academy in 2AF, I guess when he was 16...gotta love that big sexy brain

- Alyssa went to a boarding school

- an Alyssa duplicate tries to shoot Hope

- he mentions the enemy “using illusions of people he cared about to upset him”.............................

- Alyssa’s roomie in boarding school was Elida...Hope’s childhood friend

- she says Hope is a “most likely to succeed” type lol

- Alyssa meets Caius while sleeping in the time capsule, like how Lightning visits people in their dreams. It’s how she gets that fake artefact >:(

- Alyssa calls Serah and Noel “simple” and then goes “Man, they really are Hope’s friends.” #fuckoffalyssa

- Hope basically knew all along that she’s a huge bitch, but kept her on his team because she’s so talented

- he visits that gravesite in Bresha 500AF where she’s buried, but doesn’t really know why he’s there, just that he “should” see it (this is when the paradox is corrected and nobody remembers Alyssa anymore)

- 500AF Yeul hated humans, partially because her mother didn’t want her :(

- she has a vision of Noel after the fall and realizes humanity will go extinct, freeing Yeuls from the curse

- she asks Caius to make sure that last Yeul lives a happy life....

- Caius shows up when 700AF Yeul is 13 days old haha

- Noel assumes Caius is “braggy” about his battle skills and hates him for that

- Noel’s grandmother knew Yeul would probably be the last seeress

- Noel had a friend named Yanny in their village and they’d take turns being the one to hold bby Yeul’s hand for the day awww

- Noel felt the kids in New Bodhum were “immature” because they were so carefree. by the time he was six, he had more responsibilities than most adults do, so he couldn’t even imagine a time where kids didn’t have to work so hard

- bby Noel pesters Caius for ages to get him to teach him to use a sword

- Yanny was that one kid who always piggybacked, getting all the credit and doing none of the work - but he put his full effort into hunting, making Noel resent him a bit

- Yanny was the one who first suggested a hunt for Yeul’s birthday feast. Noel refused to go & Yanny was killed (this was when they were younger, 16 I believe)

- Noel talks to his grandma about Yanny’s death, & she says the only way to resist death is to live to the fullest

- Yanny had a cousin, Rigo, who was just like Snow and died running into an Adamantoise STEELGUARD

- the stuff Noel says to Snow in Sunleth is stuff he wanted to say to Rigo

- Yeul had a vision of the gate of the goddess. She assumes it’s because Caius was going to Valhalla (but I think it references Noel getting taken there)

- Serah assures Noel that he and his Yeul will meet again, and he gets a sense of foreboding...

And with that sense of doom, now we wait to see if they’ll ever release an official translation of Tracer of Memories 8))

#final fantasy xiii #final fantasy xiii2 #final fantasy xiii-2 #ffxiii #ff13 #long post #very long #i got really into the chapter about hope and alyssa #any info about hope is always good to me mwhahaha #and hey it only took me like two months to get through this!!!#idk why i've read like 20 books in between #oh well #also there was nothing about mog and lightning's rock paper scissors game???#idk if it was lost in translation or what #and replaced with the forehead flick #so rude

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idontwanttowhy · 4 years ago

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Review: Kill Me, Heal Me (2015)

First time in this pandemic that I have actually felt something.

Synopsis

Cha Do Hyun has lived in the United States for over a decade without returning to his chaebol family in South Korea once. The circumstances surrounding his absence are vague, but when he shows back up and demands a high-ranking position in the conglomerate, the family begins to investigate the reason behind his extended stay. The problem? It wasn’t Cha Do Hyun who wanted to come back, but one of the seven personalities that lives within him: Shin Se Gi, a bad-boy with a killer temper and a mission to take his families’ group down from within. Trying to find a cure for his Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D) was why Cha Do Hyun was in the U.S. in the first place, and now he has to find a way to manage his personalities before anyone finds out this secret. Enter Oh Ri Jin, a first year psychiatrist working with the doctor that treated Do Hyun in the U.S.. She is extremely talented, but has never dealt with D.I.D before. She has no reason to be his doctor, except that Shin Se Gi claims he knows Oh Ri Jin from childhood, and seeks her out every time he appears. Brought together by fate, Oh Ri Jin and and Cha Do Hyun work together to manage his personalities and solidify his place in the family’s company, with tons of love, laughs, and drama along the way.

Overall: 11/10, would watch again, and again, and again, and...

I don’t often find myself overwhelmed with emotion because of a drama, but this one truly runs the gamut from comedy to romance to action to melodrama. Weird family relationships? Teddy bears? A drugs bust? A mystery writer with an unknown identity? Tear-jerking reveals? Yes to all and more!! I can’t believe I was so hesitant to watch it, but it definitely was everything I wanted and more. If you liked What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? (2018) you will love this show. If you are new to k-dramas, I might revisit this show after you’ve seen a few others just because I think this one gets unnecessarily confusing at times. But definitely come back to it!

Everyone just watch this show... Just watch it!!!

Review (minor spoilers)

CW: brief mention of possible incest

I cannot stress enough how much this show really played on my heartstrings from start to finish. There are very few shows where I have liked the ending as much as the beginning, but this is one of them. From their very first meeting, you get the sense that the lives of Oh Ri Jin, Oh Ri On (Ri Jin’s older twin brother), and Cha Do Hyun are deeply intertwined, for better or worse. With some shows that use the ‘we knew each other when we were little’ trope, I tend to be disappointed with their use of it, like it is just something that also happened on top of other fate-related stuff. This is one of those shows where I absolutely didn’t have to worry about it, which was good.

Also, Cha Do Hyun’s personalities are AMAZING. Perry Park is, by far, my favorite personality, and I lowkey would not have been mad if he was made the dominant personality (sorry Do Hyun!). But there is alot to love about each of them and they are all a part of Cha Do Hyun, so at the end of the day loving them means loving him (which was already easy to do). Shin Se Gi was my least favorite, but there’s really not much I can say about it since he is the entire reason this show was able to happen. I think that Cha Do Hyun and the gang have a really interesting relationship that isn’t necessarily just “get out of my head” (I mean it mainly is but.... there’s some other moments) which makes for some interesting scenes. I really could have watched it just for them.

I would say the only thing that really kind of took away from the experience was how confusing (and troubling) the family elements were, not just on the chaebol side. They point out many times early on that Ri On might have something other than brotherly feelings towards Ri Jin. What they don’t clarify is their biological relationship; even when they do its not 100% straightforward for a while (or it could have been the case that with that info ‘if you blink you miss it’, but I was paying pretty good attention I think). This was not ok for me! I really wanted to just love Ri On and Ri Jin’s relationship, because there are some great moments that they have. But... I just couldn’t. I don’t want to get to much more into it because it does kind of get resolved, but it was still a weird experience and if even the suggestion of it leaves you uneasy then you might want to pass. While that was a pretty confusing part for a not-insignificant amount of time, it didn’t play a large enough role for it to take away from the overall drama. There is too much to love about it otherwise, since it focuses on the main couple and not so much on side drama/love triangles.

Ultimately, I would highly recommend this drama, just maybe not to start with. I would watch this over and over (and I probably will). Its funny to think about now, but I really avoided this show for a while. I started watching k-dramas “seriously” (whatever that means) in the summer of 2018, and somewhere at the beginning of that I watched Hyde, Jekyll, Me (2015), which also features a lead with D.I.D. I felt lukewarm about that show at BEST, to the point where I was convinced that all shows with this as a plot were going to be similar in how they treat the other personalities etc. Quite the judgment to make after one show, I know, but I’m good at finding tropes I like and sticking to them so.... yeah. This was definitely, happily not like that.

#kdrama #k-drama #kdramareview #kdrama recommendations #killmehealme

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blancheludis · 5 years ago

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Tagging: @tokky231

Fandom: Marvel, Avengers Characters: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Bruce Barton, Steve Rogers Chapters: 26/?, Words: 144.831

Summary: Tony meets his soulmate under the worst possible circumstances. It is not just a kidnapping gone wrong. It turns out Steve and his gang picked him on purpose and they want some personal revenge. If only he had managed to say the words written on his soulmate’s arm before they threw him back out into the streets.

—

Bruce returns to the base much sooner than expected. Perhaps he felt it was unsafe to be out in the open with the police and FBI sniffing around, but his expression is pinched in a certain way that means someone has done something stupid and he could not keep them from it.

He comes in right when they are having breakfast and does not look pleased with seeing them all gathered. They have questions, of course, and while Steve understands that Bruce might want to avoid answering them for a while longer, they are going to insist on it anyway.

“How is Thor?” Steve asks by way of greeting. No matter what else they need to discuss, that is the most important thing. That, and how Tony is doing, but he is not sure he would get a favourable answer to that, so he swallows it down. Even asking about Thor is a gamble, considering how terrible he behaved.

“Back on his feet,” Bruce replies, displeasure ringing in his tone. Unwise medical decisions always irritate him. That this is about his soulmate only makes things worse.

“So, when were you going to tell us you had a soulmate?” Clint speaks up. His voice is already confrontational.

Steve understands where he is coming from. The Avengers are their family. None of them has much beyond that. Lately, it has felt like they are falling apart and finding out that two of their members have people outside of this circle who could draw them away is only increasing the feeling of losing control.

Still, Clint could try to sound less angry about it – which, of course, is a hopeless endeavour. Out of all of them, Clint is probably the most emotional, the most likely to lose his cool.

Bruce gets himself a mug and fills it with coffee but never makes a move to sit down. He looks like he ponders the question – not how to answer it but how to shut Clint down quickly. “Never, probably,” he then says, a warning in his voice to get them to back off. “Because it is none of your business.”

“Oh, you don’t think it is?” Clint counters immediately, drawing out the words to the point where they become an obvious accusation. “Because we all know Thor, more or less. We’ve worked with him before. And then Steve recommended him as Stark’s bodyguard, which could have easily led to him being forced to testify against us if Stark decided to –”

“Tony has never given any sign that he would report you to the police,” Bruce cuts in, almost sounding like he would not be that kind in Tony’s position.

Clint reels back as if slapped. “It’s already you and not we anymore?” He sounds hurt of all things, causing Bruce’s features to soften for a moment.

“Is that what you take away from this?” he asks, shaking his head. “Tony won’t give us up, and Thor wouldn’t help him with it if he did.”

Clint pulls a grimace, ugly and accusing. “Why, we wouldn’t know because you kept your soulmate from us.”

“Does Tony know?” Natasha pipes up, sounding strangely neutral compared to Clint’s bristling.

“Yes,” Bruce answers firmly and without hesitation, as if there has never been any question whether Tony could know this secret while he kept it from his teammates.

That only serves to enrage Clint even more, and even Steve feels a stab of something at being kept out of the loop for years while Tony has been informed almost immediately.

“I don’t owe you anything,” Bruce says icily before any of them can raise another argument. His entire body is so still that he looks ready to throw himself at them. “Least of all Thor’s name.”

Steve is not sure when they decided to let Clint lead this conversation since Clint has a habit of taking things too far, always trying to get the worst over and done with. By now, Steve does not think it would do them any good to interrupt. Clint is afraid of things changing to the point where he is sent drifting through a world he does not recognize. If nothing else, Steve understands that fear.

“If not for us,” Clint intones slowly, “you’d be nothing but a smear in Ross’ basement right now.”

Bruce’s expression shifts from annoyed to utterly blank. His eyes, however, are burning. If not for moments like these, where Bruce is unmoving but ready to cut them all down where they stand, Steve would never believe that Bruce could be capable of what Ross accuses him of.

Blowing up an entire building, a few unlucky co-workers included just because he did not like the research they were doing or his chances of getting out? The soft, mild-mannered Bruce they usually deal with does not seem the type for such drastic measures. They have all seen a different side of him, though. His very short fuse, his tendency to go overboard once he has decided to act, his utter ruthlessness at times – he hides it well, but Bruce is as much of a fighter as all of them.

“And I’ve made that up to you over the years, a dozen times over,” Bruce says, daring them to argue.

He has. Many things have come out of Bruce’s lab that have made their lives easier. More than that, of course, Bruce himself is invaluable, always willing to apply his mind to an argument or to ignore the fact he is not a medical doctor and patch them up whenever they needed.

Bruce is a member of their team, part of their family. Clint does not mean to argue that, Steve is sure, but he has a habit of not being able to stop once he started down a road.

“It’s still –” Clint tries to say, but before Steve can open his mouth to put an end to this, Bruce himself snaps.

“Tell me why I would trust any of you with my soulmate when you are all so stunted in that regard yourself?” Bruce asks, his voice dangerously low as he leans forward, eyeing them all in turn to make sure they know he is not excluding anyone from that. “That’s just asking for disaster.”

“We’re not stunted,” Clint all but yells. “None of us has even met their soulmates.”

Bruce’s expression shifts to something coldly amused. “Steve has, and he’s bodged that up in every way possible, even ignoring the fact that he let you beat up Tony,” he says, too calmly to not make it land like a blow. “And then, of course, there are Bucky and Natasha, who are too blind to even realize that they are soulmates.”

Silence falls, as complete as it is disbelieving. Bruce looks equal parts satisfied and like he regrets letting that slip. Even while Steve’s mind is still reeling with the words, he knows that it has just become impossible that this morning will end on anything but a sour note.

“What did you just say?” Bucky speaks up, quiet and dazed as if he is not quite sure how he got to be part of this conversation so suddenly.

Next to him, Natasha stares at Bruce with a look that would have sent lesser men running. It does not escape Steve that she leans slightly away from Bucky. It is probably not a conscious thing but gives some weight to Bruce’s words.

Bucky and Natasha, though. Steve cannot fathom why Bruce would say something like that. They are friends. Close friends. Family. They trust each other the way they all trust here, like he and Bucky do, or he and Sam. That is like saying that Clint and Natasha are soulmates just because they are so close.

“Don’t look at me like that, Bucky,” Bruce says shortly, apparently deciding not to take his words back. This is as good a way as anything to distract everyone from himself and Thor. “What’s the first thing Natasha ever said to you?”

Steve gears up to protest because Bucky has been through enough and the last thing he needs is for someone to wreck his friendship with Natasha, considering how hard it is for him to let people close.

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Natasha intercedes, beating Steve to it. She sounds strangely forceful for an illogical argument about whether or not she and Bucky are soulmates.

Bucky, however, does not lift his eyes off Bruce. “Don’t get shot,” he says, sounding slightly out of it like he is picturing the scene before he returns to the present with a jerk. “A lot of people have told me that.”

That is certainly true. Steve cannot even quite remember when they met Natasha and Clint for the first time. It was on some mission when Steve and Bucky where still doing their own thing after the war, when Steve was desperately trying to convince Bucky that life still has meaning.

In a way, Natasha simply appeared in their lives at some point, inserting herself seamlessly and bringing Clint with her. Steve could not pinpoint a distinct moment when they turned from strangers to allies to friends.

“And you can name every one of these people?” Bruce asks before waving his hand to signal he does not actually want an answer. “Look, this isn’t about the words, and I’m not volunteering as your therapist because I really don’t want to get involved, but you should perhaps look a little closer to home before you blame other people for how they deal with the topic of soulmates.”

With that, Bruce turns away from them. He is too calm. His steps, when he goes towards the door, are too measured. Inside, he is angry. Angry at them prying into his personal business. Perhaps even angry about their alleged incapability to deal with their own emotional baggage first before blaming others for theirs.

“Don’t walk away,” Bucky calls, sounding slightly panicked at being left with this new piece of information, no matter how convinced he might be that it is wrong. “We’re not –”

Bruce whirls around again and cuts Bucky off. “Natasha was awfully quick to trust you, right?” he asks. That was strange, Steve has to admit that. He himself felt like Natasha was walking circles around them for ages, never trusting anything Steve told her without checking for herself. “And you let her in despite being in a place where you pushed everybody away, even Steve. You work together on an instinctual level. You hover.” Bruce looks just a wrong word away from throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. “Look, I don’t have proof, and even if I had, this is your mess. Just stop pointing fingers.”

He leaves and nobody stops him, reeling with what was clearly just meant to be a distraction. Surely, Bucky and Natasha would know if they were soulmates. Even with Bucky’s arm missing and Natasha’s words burned away, the bond would settle.

Steve might feel the bond most clearly in his arm, a constant pulsing and burning, but there is an ache sitting right in his core too. Without the arm, there is still that.

He turns towards Bucky, searching for something to say, but Bucky gets up and walks towards the door without another word.

“Bucky,” Steve tries. Bucky should not be alone with this.

“Leave it,” Bucky says, never even looking back.

And Steve does. He realizes that, no matter whether Bruce was right, he is not fit to talk to anybody about soulmates. Not with how much of a trainwreck his own bond is. Not with how little he is adjusting to it.

“Nat,” he says, but she shuts him up with a glare and follows Bucky out of the room.

Steve nurses the small hope that they might get together and talk this through. Whether or not Bruce is right, this is going to hang between them, and they have enough issues as it is.

With a sigh, he buries his face in his hands, pressing against his eyelids until he sees nothing but swirling colours in the darkness.

“When did we turn into such a mess?” Clint asks, sounding so dejected all of a sudden that one might think he never almost shouted at Bruce for keeping secrets.

Steve looks up, ignoring the way his vision is still blurry, and glares at Clint. “You didn’t help, attacking Bruce like that.”

Not bothering to deny that, Clint shrugs, although he appears slightly uncomfortable at least. “He kept vital information from us,” he says sullenly, likely knowing that does not absolve him from behaving abysmally.

Steve takes a deep breath and swallows his first, angry response. It would not do them any good to keep arguing. Cautiously, he says, “That’s not what you care about.”

Chances are high that Clint is going to shut him down. He might get up too and leave Steve behind with the remnants of their half-eaten breakfast. They are not successful as a group because they are practised in talking about feelings but because they act.

To his surprise, Clint looks at him, his lips pursed with displeasure, and says, “You know what? No, it isn’t. Because Bruce finding his soulmate at least did not tear us all apart.” That is an obvious dig against Steve and the mistakes he made with Tony, but it lacks any sharpness. For once, Clint is simply speaking his mind without turning it into an attack. “But what do you think will happen now? Thor and Stark seem to get along quite well, and Bruce would just love to get out of here, right? And you’ll still try to make things work with Stark, which won’t happen if we all return to DC to stay out of his way.”

Clint is afraid, Steve realizes with an abrupt, acute ache. For the past weeks, Steve has been mourning the fact that they all seem to turn on each other to a degree, that they are chipping away at what the Avengers are supposed to be. And Clint feels exactly the same. They have come to a turning point, and while they cannot quite say what is going to happen, things will change.

It is cold comfort to know that Steve is not the only one struggling with this. At least he knows why Clint is always angry these days. They all react differently to fear and grief. Considering how Bucky has been after they returned home from the war, Steve is no stranger to people lashing out blindly.

“And Stark’s not going to want me around, not even half the city away,” Clint adds, almost a challenge as if he wants Steve to rise to it so he can fight a little while longer. Everything is better than to deal with the emotions simmering beneath that.

“Can you blame him for that?” Steve asks calmly, showing nothing but mild interest. He is too busy thinking about whether Clint might be on to something, whether it is possible that Bruce will stay behind – whether he still has a chance to do the same, to make this work.

“No,” Clint admits. “But –” He trails off, almost like he was only arguing for the sake of it without actually having a point to prove. Clint usually knows when he has gone too far, he just seldom admits it.

Despite his own fears and constantly feeling insecure, Steve says, “We’re not going to dissolve the Avengers.”

No matter what else happens, the Avengers are his family. They have done a lot of good over the years. This group has helped them heal. He cannot just walk away from that. Not on the off-chance that his soulmate might want to see him again.

“It damn well feels like we’re already in the process of it,” Clint mutters, avoiding to look at Steve. A half-eaten pancake is still lying on his plate, which he stares at but does not touch. They have all lost their appetites.

“And you’re not helping,” Steve says. He might have a lot of sympathy for Clint feeling like they are losing something good here, but Clint is not handling any of this in the right way. The constant arguing and lashing out does only more harm.

Clint smiles, although it is a mangled thing, lacking all of his usual confidence. “Better get it over with than to drag it out needlessly, right?”

He looks so lost for a moment that Steve wants to reach out to anchor him in the present, but then Clint nods to himself and wipes the uncertainty from his face. Pushing away from the table, he gets to his feet.

“Clint –” Steve starts, not wanting to leave things like this. More so, he does not want to be left behind by all of them this morning.

“No, Steve,” Clint refuses. “I’ll go find Nat.”

Steve should probably find Bucky too, even though he has nothing to offer than to listen and to be sympathetic. As far as he knows, there is no way to find out whether Bruce is right and they are soulmates. Now that this is standing between them, they have to make a decision themselves.

He almost laughs at that thought. He is not actually good at making decisions himself.

“Perhaps you should let them talk,” he suggests, despite doubting that Bucky and Natasha will allow themselves to even be in the same room together for the next time, much less actually talk.

“They are not going to talk,” Clint echoes Steve’s thoughts with a scoff. “Neither of them. Not just like that. Bucky’s going to hole up in his room, and Natasha is going to beat the shit out of some punching bags.” He shrugs. “Might as well give her a moving target.”

Steve nods, resigning himself to doing damage control too. He watches Clint leave but then speaks up again. “I’m sorry, Clint.” This is long overdue. They have all made mistakes, and instead of arguing with each other, they should seek to make things better.

“For what?” Clint asks, sounding somewhat suspicious.

“For how things went down,” Steve answers, still wishing he could go back and change all that happened these past weeks. Not just with Tony but the entire team too. “For not sticking together as much as we should.”

Rooted in place, Clint looks at him for a long moment. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too.”

Then he is gone, leaving Steve with the remnants of their breakfast, feeling tired and nauseous, knocked once again off track. He wonders whether that will ever stop. Or, if it does not, whether he will ever get used to it.

---

Tony holds his phone in his hands, trying to work up the courage to call Steve. It should not be hard. They have business to discuss. Yet, he cannot get his fingers to move to initiate the call.

The night before, he had been holding Steve’s hand, clinging to it while he was drifting in and out of thoughts. It felt natural at that moment. Steve had come to his rescue and brought him home. There had not been a single doubt in his mind that Steve was safe, and Tony really did not want to be left alone.

Now he has that memory inside his head. Steve’s skin against his, Steve’s warmth close enough for Tony to curl up in, Steve’s reassuring presence.

In a way, Tony feels betrayed by his own senses. Steve did protect him, and he might have his best interests at heart, but that does not erase their history. As soon as Tony was vulnerable, though, he latched onto Steve without any thoughts about the possible consequences. Like wanting to do it again. Like wondering why he should keep fighting their connection now that they have obviously come to a consensus.

Tony is not going to hide, he just does not know whether he can already handle talking to Steve again. For once, the fault lies entirely with him, too. Steve handled the night before more than correctly. He had indulged Tony without indulging himself, kept offering comfort without pushing for more. Also, he had never once mentioned a possible future for the both of them.

With a sigh, Tony puts down his phone. It is ridiculous to make this so hard on himself, but everything is still out of control. Obadiah is gone, but not in a way that leaves Tony any peace. Nobody is trying to kill him anymore, but Tony has never felt any less safe inside his own skin. His soulmate appears to be a decent person after all, but Tony found it easier to talk to him when he was hating his guts.

“Do you want me to call Mr. Rogers for you, sir?” JARVIS speaks up, refraining from making a comment about Tony’s indecision, even though his opinion about it appears clear.

“No?” Tony asks more than says, although it would have the advantage of him not being able to disconnect the call the moment the dial tone fills his ear. He is not sure when he turned into a coward.

With something like a sigh, JARVIS ignores his wish. “Calling Mr. Rogers right now.”

“J,” Tony warns, but then the dial tone sounds and Tony cannot do anything about it. Before he can prepare himself, the call connects.

“Tony.” Steve’s voice is warm if a little breathless. “How are you?”

Tony wonders whether Steve is as nervous as he is. Which, considering their history, is a pretty stupid thing to be. They have already crossed over into the territory of everything being wrong between them. What else could happen?

“I’m fine,” Tony replies and almost asks the same of Steve. This is not a courtesy call, however. “I just had a long conversation with Agent Coulson from the FBI.”

Silence answers him, too abrupt to be natural. It has Tony regretting that he did not ask about Steve’s well-being first. About the team. By constantly pushing Steve away, he might just make things unnecessarily harder on himself.

“Is everything all right?” Steve then says. He sounds like someone has already slipped a noose over his head and the rope is beginning to cut off his air. “Did he find out something that he shouldn’t?”

“Stay calm,” Tony counters immediately surprising himself with it. He does not like the distress in Steve’s voice. In his experience, nothing good comes from putting the Avengers into an emotionally stressful situation. “Please don’t murder a federal agent without listening to me first.”

Perhaps he should have eased Steve into this conversation a bit. They owe each other some consideration at this point. It is unfair to simply throw Steve into this, almost accusingly at that, after they have worked together on taking down Obadiah.

“We were not going to –” Steve protests unsurprisingly, but Tony cuts him off.

“I know.” Kind of, at least. Steve’s We don’t kill policy has some serious holes, considering they came in guns blazing when Tony was in danger. Not that he is exactly mad about that. “Just tell Barton to stop shooting arrows at people.”

Tony is not sure how to feel about Barton. He still does not want to be left alone in a room with him, but what happened last night in that warehouse has put a different spin on his relationship with all the people present. Barton did not show any hesitation when he came to Tony’s rescue. He killed the two men and kept his distance from Tony, looking vaguely regretful but otherwise kept his head up. None of the old hate was noticeable between them, and Tony is just so tired of everything being painful.

“Did that come up in the police report?” Steve asks, sounding somewhat distracted as if he is already thinking about how to solve the problem.

Irritation flickers in Tony’s chest. “Of course, it came up,” he snaps, wondering how the Avengers ever managed to operate for the past years if they have always been this careless. “Have you considered that it will rouse suspicion when a crime scene is full of corpses that were riddled with arrows? You might have taken them all out, but the wounds look distinctly different from bullet wounds.”

Even now, Tony cannot wrap his head around the fact that Barton showed up with an actual bow – or that he wielded it so effectively. When he closes his eyes, he can still see the arrow hit the man’s throat, the blood spraying out of the wound, the life fading.

Tony used to think of weapons as elegant things. To him, they consisted of formulas and sleek edges, of continually more promising performance reports. For years, he managed to ignore the uglier sides of it. The death counts. The mess the lovingly calculated force behind them makes of a human body. The pain and shock he could so clearly see in people’s eyes the night before.

He has given a large part of his life over to destruction and murder, and never even thought to doubt his way because that was what Starks did. He remembers the dreams he had when he went to MIT, studying mechanical and robotic engineering, and how quickly he let go of these dreams when his father, unsurprisingly, protested all of them.

Steve’s voice brings Tony back to the present, out of his unflattering thoughts about the person he had allowed himself to become. “I’ll have to –”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Tony interrupts him quickly, afraid that Steve will hang up without hearing him out and go off to do something unadvised.

For now, the situation is under control even if Tony does not exactly know why. It should make him suspicious that Coulson offered such an easy solution to their problem because he knows that things are never as simple as they seem, and people much less so. He does not want anything else to go wrong, though. It is high time he got a break.

“What did you do?” Steve asks, a hint of wariness in his tone. “You don’t have to clean up our messes.”

A laugh bursts over Tony’s lips. As far as he is concerned, the Avengers are a single, giant mess, revealing more cracks from each new angle.

“And I wouldn’t know where to start,” Tony replies honestly but, for once, does not mean it accusingly. “So, I didn’t. Tell Natasha that Coulson says hi.”

It should be more satisfying that Tony was right about the fact that something was off with Coulson, that he knows more than he should. On the other hand, it does not exactly inspire a lot of trust to know that their law enforcement willingly works together with vigilantes.

“The FBI knows about us?” Steve asks, a frown audible in his voice.

A note of panic is underlying the words, but Tony cannot savour it. He might have, a few weeks ago, when the Avengers were nothing but a threat, another facet of the enemy that was rising all around Tony. Now, however, Tony has the urge to reassure Steve.

“For years,” Tony says, not bothering to hide his own disbelief about that. “He’s not going to give you trouble.”

Not, at least, in a way that ends up with the Avengers behind bars. That does not mean there will not be any repercussions, any later demands.

“Why?” Steve asks, sounding not at all convinced, and Tony cannot blame him for that. This is about the safety of his team, his family, so he cannot just accept Tony’s word.

“I’m just the messenger,” Tony replies, just short of throwing his arms into the air. He is undeniably glad that Coulson’s interest appears mostly directed at the Avengers instead of himself. “You should ask Natasha and Barton about that.”

Steve does not speak for a long moment, almost as if he is gearing up to protest that notion, but Tony does not ask. He thinks it is wise not to ingratiate himself too much in the team’s business.

“Thank you for telling me,” Steve finally says, vaguely regretful, before falling silent again.

This is it, Tony realizes. This could be their goodbye. Obadiah is dead, Tony is safe, the mission is over. They could make a cut here and go their separate ways. Steve does not want this, Tony knows, clinging to the bond more desperately than he probably should. The thing is, Tony does not want to either. It has not been a conscious decision but crept up on him over the past weeks. He is not even sure when he went from fearing Steve to being furious with him to being strangely accepting of his continued presence.

Their situation is still far from ideal and nothing is well between them, but it does not deserve an abrupt end either.

“Thank you for last night,” Tony says and bites his lip right afterwards. That was not supposed to come out like this, leaving him vulnerable while almost holding a challenge at the same time. “You didn’t have to bring me home.”

What he means is Steve did not have to hold his hands and listen to his ramblings. He did not have to sneak around his home to avoid Rhodey’s wrath. He did not have to care for Tony after Tony told him to leave just about every time they talked before.

“Any time,” Steve says, his tone gentle, a promise in itself. He hesitates briefly before adding, “Tony, don’t – don’t do that again.”

Everybody seems to be of the opinion they know better what Tony is allowed to do with his own life. Tony doubts Steve is going to have any new arguments.

“What?” Tony counters, considerably less amused than he was with Pepper. “Trust the wrong person and get almost killed by them?”

He can feel Steve flinching in response. It is as if all the muscles in Tony’s arm tense for a short moment before the sensation turns into an ache that continually echoes between them.

“Give yourself up,” Steve corrects him quietly, chewing on the words like he still cannot believe the danger is over. “I was so afraid, and the bond – it felt like my arm was burning. I thought –”

“This isn’t about you,” Tony says sharply, cutting Steve off. Anger coils inside him, spreading like a wildfire. He thought they were beyond that, beyond Steve caring about nothing but his own wishes.

“No,” Steve says, decisive enough that Tony actually stops pushing himself further down this rabbit hole. “This is about you almost dying. And even if we’re – even if nothing’s ever going to happen between us, I don’t think I could bear it.”

A sort of raw honesty accompanies the words that has Tony momentarily breathless, erasing his readiness to fight as if it never rose in him.

“Noted,” Tony says and bites his lip. This is not the time to question what this means for them. Then again, perhaps there is no better time than now, when they are both unsettled and touched by grief.

“Tony,” Steve says, almost a question. More than that, a plea.

Tony sighs, slumping back into his chair. “I’m not going to make any promises,” he says. Life is unpredictable as it is and Tony has enough guilt weighing him down. “I hope I’m all out of people wanting to kill me, but if I’m not, I’m always going to look out for my friends.”

If anyone should understand that, it is Steve. He is loyal to the point of becoming blind to everything else. Somehow, illogically, Tony has become part of the people Steve is loyal to.

“Could you tell Thor I’m sorry for yelling at him?” Steve then says, showing his willingness to let one topic rest only by opening another can of worms.

Thor has not mentioned getting yelled at by Steve, but Tony can imagine what that was about. Beyond his loyalty, Steve has the uncanny talent to throw away any goodwill he gathered moments after receiving it.

“You should tell him yourself,” Tony counters, knowing he will not mediate other people’s relationships while he is still busy deciding whether to fix his own. A small part of him also knows he would side with Thor in this argument and he does not want another thing pitching him against Steve. They have enough baggage already.

Steve is quiet for a long moment as if he already knows his next words will be unwelcome again. He says them anyway. “He doesn’t pick up his phone.”

Tony buries his face in his hand, putting pressure against his burning eyes. How has this become his life?

“Then you should perhaps take a clue,” he says, too tired to make it an accusation. “Sometimes people don’t want to talk to you, especially if you don’t leave them alone.”

He is not sure whether that still applies to him. In a way, he is fortunate Steve did not leave him alone. The FBI would have come and gotten him out of that warehouse. They would have taken Obadiah into custody and Tony would not have his blood on his hands now. But.

Without the Avengers, it would have taken Tony longer to find out Obadiah was behind the weapons trading. He might have died before he ever knew. And Steve did not just come to his rescue, but he brought him home, making him feel safe after the worst night of his life.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says, and Tony thinks they all are. “I’m just tired of things breaking and being unable to fix them.”

That is a feeling Tony knows only too well. He does not want to argue. That is not going to do anything but hurt them more.

Tony waits for Steve to keep talking. For some offer to help or a request to meet again. Questions about what is going to happen to them. Instead, Steve seemingly leaves the decision up to Tony.

That is a hard thing to accept. For weeks now, Tony had only been able to react to what was happening around him. Every decision he made was somewhat forced, his interactions with Steve included.

Up until now, Tony’s wishes were clear. He wanted to be left alone, to be safe from the soulmate that hurt him. Things have changed. The Avengers came to his rescue. Steve makes him feel safe.

It would be wrong to end things now, Tony reasons with himself, unsure whether there even is a part of him that needs convincing. He likes to think his brain is wired to tackle all problems in a rational way, but he gets always hung up on emotions.

“Are you going back to DC?” The question falls from Tony’s lips too hurriedly, a desperate note clinging to the words. This is just short of Tony asking Are you leaving me?

“Not yet,” Steve answers, although he sounds unsure about it, like he knows what he has to do but cannot yet commit to it. “We’re waiting for Bruce to decide what he will do, and he doesn’t want to leave Thor while he is still walking around with stitches in his abdomen. And we’ll have to clean out the base, make sure the rats won’t take over while we’re away.”

That sounds like Steve is searching for excuses to stay. How long could it possibly take to get the base ready for their absence? What would keep them from letting Bruce wrap up his business and following them when he is done? Tony decides to interpret that as Steve not wanting to go at all.

“Good,” Tony hears himself saying but does not mind it very much. In fact, he is not even surprised at his own relief. They have to make a decision regarding their future now or this is always going to stand between them.

“Good?” Steve echoes, a sliver of hope in his tone.

Tony is not sure how to answer without giving any concessions. He is not ready for that, and he doubts that Steve is, either.

“I thought – I have a lot to deal with still, with the company and –” Getting over his godfather’s actions. Tony cannot bear to say it out loud, though, not without remembering Obadiah’s end at the same time. “I thought I would call so we could talk sometime.”

He expects Steve to protest, to say he is not going to sit around, waiting for a call that might very well never come. Tony is not sure whether he wants him to, on some level, to be pushed into a decision instead of having to make it consciously.

Instead, Steve says, “I would like that.” His tone is so soft that Tony almost does not manage to reconcile it with the man he first met. The night before, though, Steve was exactly that. Gentle and safe, turning Tony’s emotions upside-down again.

“All right,” Tony says, not knowing how to continue. He did not think this would be so awkward. Arguing has always been easy, almost enough so that he is not sure how to stop. “Take care until then.”

He does not want to hang up and, judging on the burning in his arm, Tony thinks Steve does not either.

Nonetheless, Steve says, “You too, Tony.”

When the call disconnects, Tony closes his eyes. He feels out of breath as if he has done something more strenuous than having a phone call where both parties swallowed most of what they actually wanted to get off their chests.

This has not brought him any closer to making a decision about his soulmate. The bond is suspiciously quiet too. The day before, there was no escaping Steve’s feelings, the horrible mess of fear and worry and anger, the protectiveness. Even now, Tony is not sure how much of that had come from him, or whether Steve had really felt all of that at the prospect of losing Tony.

He wants to see Steve again, to find out whether he would feel that warmth again, like being wrapped into a safe cocoon, just from being close to Steve. He just does not want to have to decide whether it is all right for him to feel that way.

Getting to his feet, Tony swallows a groan at the pain flashing through his various bruises.

“J,” he asks, looking for a distraction. “Where is Rhodey?”

“He is currently in the kitchen preparing lunch,” JARVIS answers. If not for the innocence of the exchange, Tony would swear there is a trace of sympathy in his AI’s voice. “He has asked for your presence before you, and I will quote him here, hide away in your workshop instead of dealing with your emotions like an adult.”

Tony laughs. Rhodey knows him too well. The thought of burying himself in some project is overwhelmingly enticing. Numbers and the way his hands are able to shape things have always made more sense than people. This is not something he can run from, however. Perhaps he can spare them all some grief by not even trying to do so.

“Tell Rhodey I’m on my way.”

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blackasteriia · 5 years ago

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OKAY I have watched the entirety of Re:Mind this morning, and I have some thoughts. I’ll summarize and think about some blog headcanons, theories, whatever.

Spoilers under the cut, obviously, proceed at your own risk.

You have been warned.

GO!!!

Exposition city, holy cow. In which Nomura goes back and justifies his writing decisions from a year ago. Some of it is much needed tbh and looking back it is baffling that was left out of the original game. (Why IS Luxord looking for the box?)

Luxord basically just said "i do what i want" and started to look for the box. Xigbar told Xemnas about the box and Xemnas told everyone to look for the box, Luxord then asked Xemnas about where he heard about the box. Xemnas then told Luxord. This was shocking to Xigbar. Also, Xigbar either didn’t know about where the box was or sent the Organization on a snipe hunt. Both are likely, given his character. Given that no one found the box, I assume it’s the later.

Xigbar: how do you know that

Luxord: I asked

Xigbar: surprised pikachu

MoM’s name is [R E D A C T E D]

we get a big long conversation between MoM and Xehanort from like 75 years prior

MoM is in, relatively, the modern era.

He’s the best character in the series, he’s fun, his voice acting is good, mysterious, and also like, actually expressive.

He moves in the cutscenes wow

I’m not going to try to like dissect the philosophy of Xehanort, but apparently he’s upset that humans are flawed and also believes in a loose ‘strong dominate the weak’ framework. He’s definitely the twit in your ethics class, you know the one.

So, Sora decides to break space-time in order to find Kairi. Cool. She is, not directly stated to be but heavily implied, dead. It’s okay, death was already a cheap commodity in this series. Might as we deflate prices further. The entirety of this plot, told through different perspectives with slight variations of timey-wimey shit, is a Save Kairi Plot. Nomura is incapable of writing anything else, I am convinced.

Saïx introduced the idea of Xion for the 13th vessel, reconstructed from Vexen’s notes. No one, including Xemnas, remembers her. This throws a wrench in the, ‘Saïx returned to the Organization to save Xion/ Roxas,’ because he can’t remember their relationship. Also Xemnas can’t remember her, which throws a loop in later conversation.

Anyway this directly my headcanons that Xehanort-adjacent peeps can remember Xion due to timey-wimey balls, so like, this is still subjective person-to-person.

Nomura has answered every single question I didn’t have about Xion.

Xemnas asking her: "changing sides, again?" is completely nonsensical because he said, ten minutes earlier that he has no memory of her.

This is the main game but with occasional interludes to look into people’s hearts. Annoyed that, despite having the main thrust of several scenes, Xion’s heart is never shown. She is only ever attached to Roxas. Blah, blah, blah, Sea Salt reunion I hate it, because even though there’s a lot of exposition about Xion she still doesn’t get lines.

Namine never reunited with Kairi’s heart and has been floating in the heart void for the past two odd years. Did I read that right? hello? Anyway at the end of the game, it’s revealed that Sora was just off camera unlocking Namine from Kairi’s heart nonetheless, so, I must’ve missed something.

Xehanort.... checks notes.... crystalized Kairi’s heart and hid the pieces in Scala Ad Caelum so Sora could go on a scavenger’s hunt..... for....shuffles papers.... reasons? So, Kairi ain’t dead and gets restored but Sora does get a slap on the wrist for breaking the space-time continuum.

A lot of big fights. Sora goes into Kingdom Hearts, the Guardians hold their arms up for a really long time and get that tingly feeling in their fingers-- And then, they have a big sky battle with Xehanort replicas. Um, Mickey has an anime moment, Sora fights Xehanort. Breaks the space-time continuum again, defeats Xehanort, fixes some stuff from the epilogue, and then vanishes. The end folks.

ONE YEAR TIME SKIP WTF

You read that right folks. We have a time skip. Xion is now a whopping 4 years old, I will decide if we get a verse or not. Everyone has apparently been looking for Sora. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua are going to go back into the realm of darkness. Kairi has been asleep for that entire time for.... reasons possibly related to Nomura’s fear of her independence. And the twilight gang have been ‘investigating’ Xion and Roxas’ memories.

Cool.

Anyway, Riku talks with the Final Fantasy folks in Radiant Garden’s to set up the data fights.

I’m interested in the data fights. Specifically, Xion’s data fight, which is 2nd to last unlocked, and also one of the hardest, supposedly, according to Nomura. I wanna see it but I don’t think any of the players have reached that point yet, as far as I can see. This is his last chance to redeem himself and make a competent, dangerous female character, I expect to be disappointed.

Overall, some scenes were an improvement, some were moot points. I imagine playing it is more fun than watching it. Re:Mind is very exposition heavy and not presented in a particullary interesting way. The graphics were pretty though. It’s become annoyingly clear to me that Nomura cannot write more than one female personality.

Once I see Xion’s data fight I’ll write about it more.

#✰*✦ This is the idiot speaking ⎧OOC⎫#Re:Mind Spoilers #Spoilers

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years ago

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The Abyss Gazes Also

WATCHMEN #6 FEBRUARY 1987 BY ALAN MOORE, DAVE GIBBONS AND JOHN HIGGINS

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

On October 25th, Clinical psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Long, examines Rorschach, whose public identity is Walter Kovacs, at Sing-Sing. Dr. Long hopes that he has the chance of helping Walter and as well finding out why he is so alienated and emotionally withdrawn.

Revealed through flashbacks and Dr. Long's notes, Walter was born in 1940 to Sylvia Kovacs. His father is unknown. His mother was a prostitute who resented his interference in her business, and abused him viciously. At age 10, Walter attacked two bullies that had cruelly abused him, partially blinding one with the bully's own lit cigarette. This incident lead the authorities to investigate Walter's home life and removed him from his mother's custody. Walter became a ward of the state and his life improved with excellence in schoolwork, although he is usually a quiet child.

On October 26th, Dr. Long continues his session with Walter and ask him to talk about his alter ego Rorschach. Walter suddenly tells Dr. Long that he doesn't like him for not understanding "pain" but agrees to tell about Rorschach. In 1956, Walter left the Children's home and became an unskilled laborer at a garment industry. Working in this capacity, in 1962 he grew fascinated by a new fabric made possible through technologies developed by Doctor Manhattan. Two viscous liquids, one black and one white, between two layers of latex, continually shifted in response to heat and pressure, forming symmetrical patterns like a Rorschach inkblot test while never mixing to produce a grey colour. Walter learned of the fabric when a young woman chose not to buy a dress which she had ordered made from it; subsequently Walter took the dress home and experimented with the fabric. He learned to cut the fabric and maintain the seal using heated scissors. By March 1964, Walter learned about the murder of Kitty Genovese in which she was raped and killed in front of a building full of tenants who didn't bother to help her. The murder convinced Walter to finally being ashamed of humanity.

Dr. Long tries to conclude that the Genovese murder made Walter to think that humanity is rotten and tries to reason that there are good people like himself. But Walter dismisses Dr. Long's claims and asking why he bother to spending time with him rather than the other violent inmates. When Dr. Long tries to explain that he wants to help Walter, but Walter believe otherwise and sees that Dr. Long wants to diagnose a more famous person to get to be known in the journals and know what makes him sick. Before being taken back to his cell, Walter enigmatically tells Dr. Long that he will soon find out what makes him sick. On the same day, Walter escaped an attempt on his life in the cafeteria by calmly and wordlessly grabbing a pot full of boiling cooking grease and hurling it into the assailant's face. Walter was hauled to solitary confinement and the assailant suffered from his burns. As he was being dragged away, Walter spoke to the other inmates: "None of your understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked up in here with me."

The next day, Dr. Long picks up where Walter left off on becoming Rorschach. Dr. Long assumes that the Genovese murder inspired Walter to becoming Rorschach, but Walter replies that he wasn't Rorschach then. In his words, he was "Kovacs pretending to be Rorschach." At that time he was considered "soft" because he left criminals to live prior to 1975. In 1965, Rorschach was acquainted with Nite Owl II and became partners in bringing down street gangs and important criminal figures such as The Big Figure. But Walter considered Nite Owl and other costumed crime fighters to be soft and that none of them lasted long, except for the Comedian whom Walter considered him to truly understood how the world work. By the end of the interview, Walter states people like Rorschach and the Comedian do it "because [they] have to. We do it because we are compelled."

Dr. Long now knows that Walter wasn't compelled to become Rorschach not because of his childhood or the Genovese murder that caused him to overreact the injustice in the world, but something else. All the while his evaluation with Walter becomes an obsession for him and consequently causing damage to his marriage.

On October 28th, Dr. Long tries some more blot tests with Walter, as Dr. Long knows that his patient has been holding back on what he actually sees. Walter looks at one and answers that he sees a dog's head split in half. Walter then reveals to Dr. Long about the 1975 kidnapping case of six-year-old Blaire Roche in which he investigated. Rorschach found the captor's vacant hideout and learned to his horror that the girl had been murdered, butchered, and fed to two German Shepherd dogs. He killed the dogs with a meat cleaver and waited for the kidnapper. Once the man arrived, Rorschach wordlessly chained him to a pipe, ignoring his claims of innocence, then placed a hacksaw near him and set the house on fire. Finally speaking, he told the terrified man that he would not have time to cut through his restraints before the fire killed him (implying that he would have to sever his own arm to escape). Walter calmly watched the structure burn from across the street; the suspected kidnapper did not emerge. At this moment Rorschach ceased to be Walter Kovacs and became Rorschach. After finishing his story, Walter is taken back to his cell while Dr. Long is left shocked.

Dr. Long returns to his home with his previous optimistic outlook on life completely shattered. During a dinner party with guests invited by his wife Gloria, the guests start to tease Dr. Long about his interview with Walter. Unamused, Long tells them in detail about the murder of Claire Roche. The dinner soon ended with the guests quietly leaving. Gloria is furious and left Malcolm. Dr. Long sits on his bed looking over a Rorschach blot and trying to pretend it looked like a spreading tree, but it didn't. Instead, it reminds him of a dead cat he once found.

REVIEW

This was a really captivating issue. You cannot help but feel drawn to its narration. This issue puts a lot of books to shame.

There is a recurring theme in this chapter about shapes and the meaning we give to them, mostly around the “Hiroshima couple” graffiti that appears all over the book in different shapes. Ink and coffee spots are usually symmetrical, to play with the Rorschach theme.

I do not enjoy dogs getting killed in fiction, and I am able to put that aside in this particular situation. The whole scene is horrifying, so a couple of dead dogs is just another horrible thing in that chain of events.

The police and psychological report at the end is full of typos and errors, and those are on purpose (it is clear when you see many). It helps to make those part of the world, otherwise it would look like an editor adding “secret files”.

I have to admit, Dave Gibbons draws very realistic god teeth.

To be continued...

#alan moore #dave gibbons #john higgins #dc comics #comics #review #1987 #modern age #watchmen #rorschach #bystander effect #vertigo comics

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mst3kproject · 6 years ago

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The Choppers

It’s teenage crime spree time! With Arch Hall Sr. writing and producing, Arch Hall Jr. starring, and Bruno VeSoto supporting, the result is sure to be MST3K-worthy. All it’s missing is Ray Dennis Steckler, but I guess one can’t have everything.

America’s youth is its greatest resource, and those youth are in danger of growing up into criminals. Witness our antagonists here: Cruiser, Torch, Ben, Flip, and Snooper. They drive around in a truck full of chickens, taking apart random cars and selling the pieces to Moose, a grouchy and unscrupulous junkyard owner. The cops are baffled, but sooner or later the young thugs are bound to make a fatal mistake – and theirs comes when they girl they decide to sexually harass turns out to be the secretary of an insurance investigator. At around the same time, Moose gets tired of their attitude and decides to turn them in. Looks like the Choppers have chopped their last, uh… chop, I guess.

I’m sure you all want to know whether Arch Hall Jr. sings in this movie. He does, but not until forty-five minutes in when I really had begun to hope I’d escaped him. The piece is actually kind of catchy although not particularly memorable, but I may be in a forgiving mood because the first musical number in the movie was so much worse. It’s performed by an elderly guy who works at Moose’s junkyard, and not only is he a bad singer, but what starts out sounding like a boy scout campfire ditty turns out to be a mournful country song about his divorce. It made me long for the comparatively sweet strains of I Love You Vickie.

The photography here is notably terrible. Almost the entire movie takes place outdoors in harsh desert sunshine because I think they didn’t actually have any lights. Indoor scenes are kind of dim and night scenes are completely indecipherable – although I think somebody didn’t believe a practically pitch-black screen was enough to convince us it was night, because there are also lots of loud cricket noises. There’s a bit where the Choppers vandalize a guy’s car because he took their parking spot and it’s almost impossible to see anyone’s faces or tell who’s talking.

The acting is sort of indifferently bad. Arch Hall Jr. is Arch Hall Jr., where everything he says sounds kind of stagey and dumb, and nobody else is much better. The twenty-somethings playing the young criminals use hip slang in a way that suggests they have no idea what these words actually mean. Arch Hall Sr. continues to believe he can build his son into a teen heartthrob, and so he shows us things like Cruiser’s pasty chest and belly as he lounges by a pool.

You say you didn’t need that screencap? Well, I didn’t need the shot it came from.

Most of the screen time in the movie is spent on the Choppers as they take apart cars, play or listen to bad music, argue with each other, and harass women. The supposed heroes aren’t on screen nearly so much, but that’s okay because they are stunningly un-likeable. There are a couple of bland cops, but the ones who are really our protagonists are inept insurance investigator Tom Hart and his nagging girlfriend Liz. Tom comes across as an oblivious dope, while Liz constantly whines that she’s tired of fighting crime and wants to go home and eat.

Tom never redeems himself, but Liz gets a couple of moments. She’s the one who notices that feathers keep turning up at the crime scenes, and when she recognizes Cruiser’s car at a drive-in she is able to keep him staring at her boobs long enough for her to memorize the license plate number. Naturally at the climax, she is not present and Tom, who did pretty much nothing all movie, gets all the credit for catching the gang. The movie doesn’t make anything out of this because it doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

Which of course brings us to the fact that The Choppers hates women something fierce. There are only two we can actually be said to meet: Cruiser’s empty-headed girlfriend Gypsy (I know a bot who would be righteously angry at this name choice) is there to hang around in a bathing suit and be dumb. The movie can’t decide how much she does or doesn’t know about his criminal hobbies – she seems to help vandalize the car in the parking lot, but then becomes the damsel in distress at the final shootout. Liz nags, mocks, and generally treats Tom terribly, and at the end her competence is treated as his accomplishment.

Several of the five boys have backstories that depend on absent fathers – Cruiser’s was killed in WWII, Torch’s is an alcoholic, and Snooper has had a series of uninterested stepfathers. The implication is that a single mother cannot possibly raise a boy. He needs a father to turn him into a man (this is as near as stated aloud when a reporter attempts to interview Torch’s drunken father on the radio). The only moment involving a woman that doesn’t reek of misogyny is when the boys harass a waitress and she blows them off.

If we’re gonna talk about fathers and sons… this is another movie Arch Hall Sr. made to try to build up his son’s career, and another movie in which the two of them are at odds. They never actually meet in The Choppers, but the reporter played by Hall Sr. comments on how intelligent and talented the boys are and how much they could have accomplished if they’d only had the chance to live up to their potential. Once again, it’s really, really tempting to try to do some psychoanalysis here, as if Arch Hall Sr. was using his films to tell the world how disappointed he was with his son. I don’t know these people, of course, but that’s definitely the impression I get.

The main theme in The Choppers is one I’ve already dealt with, the idea that a boy without a father will become a criminal, stuck forever in the stage of life where rule-breaking is fun and consequences are things that happen to other people. There seems to be a level on which the boys have adopted Moose as a sort of substitute father – he has encouraged and taught them in their criminal endeavours, and while he and they argue and threaten each other, they are honestly shocked by his eventual betrayal. In the end, Moose abandons them just as their biological fathers have done.

There also seems to be some attempt to talk about class. All the Choppers seem to come from underprivileged backgrounds except for Cruiser, who has a backyard pool and a fancy car. This puts him in the same category as Paula from The Violent Years, in that we’re given no good reason why he does this besides what his says to the reporter at the end: “we had a ball.” Like Paula, Cruiser is the leader of the gang, but unlike her, he does not participate in the actual crimes. Instead, Cruiser and his fancy car serve as lookouts – his upper-class origin allows him to be in charge without having to get his hands dirty, and there are signs that the rest of the boys resent this. When they are all cornered at the end, it’s Cruiser who suggests giving up while Torch prefers to go down fighting. Unlike the others, he’s not sufficiently invested in this to die for it.

What the movie is trying to say here is that money is not a substitute for good parenting, and privileged boys can still fall into crime if their fathers aren’t there for them. What it manages to imply is that even in crime being rich gives you a head start and can make you a leader regardless of actual leadership qualities.

So this movie is really, really bad, and doesn’t deal very well with its thematic material – but that’s not to say there’s no entertainment value to be found here. It’s never funny when it tries to be, of course. There’s an attempt at a running joke with Snooper wondering if he’d be more attractive to women if he wore contact lenses, which will make you shudder if you know what contact lenses were like in the 50’s and early 60’s. The humour that works in The Choppers is naturally the unintentional kind, to be found in the bad acting and the unwieldy chicken truck.

My favourite moment is when Cruiser, talking on a candy-striped walkie-talkie the size of a dachshund, tells his cronies to give the police “the farmer routine”. Flip and Snooper immediately pull a couple of cowboy hats out of fucking nowhere and put them on, and I almost did a real-life spit take. This feels like the kind of thing that would have fascinated the Best Brains. I can imagine Joel, Crow, and Tom whipping their own Stetsons out from under the theatre seats to wear for the rest of the scene (Servo would have needed help with his) and every subsequent appearance of a cop being greeted with, “quick, put on your cowboy hats!” It would definitely be the stinger.

Talking about having a favourite Arch Hall Jr. movie is like talking about having a favourite kind of turd to eat, but insofar as the statement means anything, The Choppers is my second-favourite of his movies I’ve seen so far. It’s less misogynistic than Eegah! (not a high bar) and doesn’t have nearly as much crappy music as Wild Guitar (accomplished by simply having less music). My favourite Arch Hall Jr. movie is The Sadist, which I actually don’t consider bad enough for this blog. In The Sadist Hall Jr. played a serial killer, and he was pretty terrifying. If he’d had more roles like that (with directors who were not his father and could actually coach good performances out of him) he might have been a decent character actor.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the choppers #sorry about my face #60s

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funkzpiel · 6 years ago

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so what are your thoughts of FB2 after reading the screenplay?? i'm curious!!

Ooooh goodness – the short version of it is that I feel that the writing was messy and lazy, and that the characterizations and development was either non-existent or didn’t make sense most of the time. All in all, a hot mess that I found little to no entertainment out of – though it’s worth saying that I am sure the acting, music and visual effects of the actual movie would likely help at least make the story somewhat enjoyable.

For the long, savage version, look below the cut:

Honestly, where to fucking start…

NEWT SCAMANDER

Personally I thought Newt Scamander was incredibly out of character. Now I say this from a motivational stand point rather than acting, because I adore Eddie and I’m sure that if nothing else, he probably did a phenomenal job. However, I’m still hella caught on the following:

Newt won’t go to Paris for Credence. When the Ministry of Magic meets with him and basically tells him “Either you work for us or we’re going to send this lunatic to go kill him”, I honestly can’t believe that Newt said no. Now I get that he said no because he obviously doesn’t want to kill Credence, but you cannot convince me that Newt wouldn’t have a.) seen the opportunity to have his travel visa back and b.) seen the opportunity to use his position to safely fake Credence’s death or something and help him disappear. This is the boy he tried to save, who he thought dead, who “died” of the same thing that left him obviously emotionally traumatized in the first film after he couldn’t help save the girl in Sudan. And JK wants me to believe he was like naw, I’m cool, that guy can go kill him, peace. NO.

Newt won’t go to Paris for Dumbledore. Less of a stretch, considering what he could lose: his life, his freedom, the safety of his beasts. In fact, this makes sense. What pisses me off about this is that he said no to Dumbledore, but he instead GOES TO PARIS TO BONE TINA. So now, onto my third point…

NEWT FINALLY DECIDES TO RISK HIS FREEDOM AND THE SAFETY OF HIS FUCKING BEASTS, WHO WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY SUFFER IF THEY WERE CONFISCATED BY THE MINISTRY, JUST SO THAT HE COULD SEE TINA, WHICH WHEN HE SEES HER, HE IS THEN MYSTIFIED ABOUT WHY SHE’S UPSET EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW HE INSULTED HER IN A LETTER AND QUEENIE TOLD HIM THAT SHE HAD READ A TABLOID – WHICH DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE FACT THAT TINA, CLEVER TINA, FELL FOR A FUCKING TABLOID AND THEN NEVER EVEN BOTHERED TO LIKE CLARIFY WITH NEWT – AND ALL OF THIS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPT TAKES PLACE A YEAR AFTER THE EVENTS IN THE FIRST FILM. DURING THIS TIME THEY’VE WRITTEN LETTERS BUT NOT DATED, SO THIS MAN IS SOMEHOW SO FUCKING HUNG UP ON HER HE’D RISK HIS LIFE AND HIS CREATURES TO THEN BARELY DO ANYTHING TO RECTIFY ANYTHING WHEN HE FINALLY FOUND HER. HE COULD HAVE DONE THAT AT ANY POINT MIND YOU. IF THAT’S HIS FUCKING MOTIVATION, HE COULD HAVE JUST BROKE THE LAW WHENEVER TO SEE HER. OR YOU KNOW, TALK VIA FIRE. LETTERS. GOD ANY FUCKING COMMUNICATION THAT DOESN’T LEAD TO DEATH. NOT TO MENTION THAT ‘MISCOMMUNICATION’ IS THE SLOPPIEST MOTIVATION FOR STORYTELLING, DEAR GOD. BUT NO – HE DIDN’T GO TO PARIS FOR CREDENCE. HE DIDN’T RISK HIS LIFE FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT REASON. HE WENT SO HE COULD BONE TINA. AND TELL HER THAT SHE HAD FUCKING SALAMANDER EYES.

Further more with the mischaracterization of Newt, in the script the Zouwu was described to have burst from a box that was on fire, incredibly malnourish, scarred and abused. You want me to believe that a.) an abused animal would have fucking done a 180 on the terrified scale for a fucking bird toy and b.) NEWT WOULDN’T HAVE REACTED AT ALL TO THE FACT THAT THIS WAS AN ABUSED ANIMAL THAT NEEDED CAREFUL HANDLING?! Qed pointed out that the neglect wasn’t obvious in the film, so I’ll give it that – but this is the way it’s written and it’s so fucking sloppy. Like the scene when he saves this cat could have been amazing. It could have showcased that Newt does something truly special and unique. Could have shown us HOW he calms beasts rather than turned it into comedic relief (which would have been fine if it wasn’t an abuse case), AND it could have been a moment for Tina to be reminded of why she is attracted to Newt instead of us being forced to believe these two stupid assholes have been pining for no real reason for each other for a year. NOT TO MENTION that this could have then led into an actual motivation for Newt to fight or be involved in Paris because you can’t tell me that Newt fucking Scamander wouldn’t want to find the asshole who abused that cat, save any other involved creatures and kill that man.

Also he trained the Niffler. His motto in the first film is that he doesn’t keep his creatures. Now at Zoos there’s a level of training wild animals to safely get them here and there, and interact with them. Newt trained the Niffler extensively. That isn’t the behavior of a man rehabilitating an animal for the wild.

And then there’s the scene with Theseus chasing down Newt and Tina and they’re mad that he’s chasing them? And say he’s over reacting? OK BUT HAVE YOU TOLD HIM ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING?! NO. All he knows is that his brother just broke the fucking law on a critical degree and to make matters more stinging, is using his own fucking face to do it. The scene is written so you’re rooting for Tina and Newt (specifically Newt) and if it weren’t for the fact that Newt is only there to bone Tina, maybe I would, but damn if I wasn’t livid and rooting for Theseus tbh.

QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN

What. The ever living fuck. Did she do. To. Queenie. This film had a prime opportunity to continue on the foundation of the first film and really build Queenie into something great. In the first film we see Queenie as a young woman who doesn’t think much of herself. She kind of infers that she knows she’s really only useful for looking pretty and fetching coffee when she tells Newt and Jacob that “Teenie’s the working gal”. But by the end of the film, Queenie has saved the gang once or twice, managed to bust through the security of the office of the Director of Magical Security, thought quick on her feet, leveraged people and in general just be a subtle badass. And she learned to love and to let go – and then when to fight for what she believes in when she came back for Jacob.

But the second film has turned her identity into “I NEED TO BE MARRIED”. That’s not a healthy relationship for one. She and Jacob have talked about this. Jacob never said they needed to split. But he did say he was afraid of pursuing marriage for her safety – for both their safety, honestly – because what fucking good is a fucking piece of paper that honestly means nothing but “says” they’re married if they’re fucking dead? But what did Queenie do? SHE USED MAGIC TO MAKE HIM ACT AGAINST HIS WILL. That’s just – I can’t even begin to talk about the level of fucked up that. And god, how disparaging to that character too, Queenie is so much more than that! She could be so much more than that! Instead she’s made to look crazy. She could have gone into politics to fight for Muggle/Wizard relationships – but no. Honestly there’s so many more interesting avenues to explore with this character. Or if you wanted to send her to Grindelwald, more interesting ways to do it! Maybe Grindelwald is the only one (in her mind) who knows how to undo an obliviation because it’s in fact dark magic to manipulate the mind on the level it would take to undo it! Maybe she’s in Paris trying to figure that out and Grindelwald lies and says he knows how to do it. I’d be more interested in Queenie working to restore Jacob rather than control him. And she’s obsessed! Her entire character has been so heavily warped into “I WANT TO BE MARRIED” that she disregards all the fucking destruction she first hand knows Grindelwald has done and in the script is literally says that “she is his, heart and soul”. THAT LEVEL OF DEDICATION. For no more that a fucking fluttering second of “Muggles are basically live stock, but I know some of you love them, we don’t have to kill them all.” SHE JUST IGNORES LIKE ALL THE REST OF IT. I just… she’s such a fucking hollow, messy sham of a character and it’s truly sad, because she could have been perfect example of “woman who thought she was only what society told her she was – pretty, someone who needed to get married, etc. – and realized she’s so much more than that. She’s a PERSON. Someone who is powerful and can truly make a difference. And that she can love, but she can also be QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN who happens to be in love rather than QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN WHO IS ONLY AS GOOD AS WHO SHE LOVES AND IF SHE MARRIES THEM.

TINA GOLDSTEIN

Tina doesn’t act angry around Newt at all in the beginning. She’s described to be walking with an “inner sadness” (because bright, clever AUROR TRAINED Tina fell for a tabloid). And yet half way through the film we find out she and Newt had a falling out via letter. And she only at that moment reacts to it. I want Tina giving Newt the cold fucking shoulder about that. Not to mention that the whole “you’re engaged” thing is stupid and shouldn’t even be included because literally all she needed to do was investigate a little or send a letter with the article included like “Congrats!” and he’d be like “Oh, no, I’m the best man, papers are dumb”. Give me Tina who’s actually upset about what Newt said about Aurors. Give me a Tina who slowly warms back up to Newt. Give me a relationship that makes sense and actually needs work and repair and communication damn it.

JACOB

They fucking reduced him to one motivation: “When can I eat next?” I cannot tell you how many times he’s literally used as comedic relief as the “fat guy” and just blurts out “I’m looking for food” in any tense or awkward situation. He is a war vet. He is a man in love with a society forbidden to his kind. He is potentially in the middle of a war and he sees visions of a war to come. He is more than his weight or his appetite. He also should be a little more savvy at this point. And he just magically remembers because he only had good memories??? Fine, but weak as fuck.

GELLERT GRINDELWALD

JK wants me to believe that the man who couldn’t dodge a fucking glorified stick-hand-throw-toy creature was able to apparate onto a moving vehicle in bad weather above water. A magical move that is supposed to be hard even on stable, non-moving terrain. A magical move that can splinch and maim. HE COULDN’T DODGE NEWT, BUT HE CAN APPARATE ONTO A MOVING, UNSTEADY VEHICLE AT NIGHT. He’s supposed to be powerful – fuck yeah, I’m onboard – but damn, you certainly didn’t MAKE HIM POWERFUL IN THE FIRST FILM WHEN HE WASN’T BEING TORTURED FOR A YEAR BY MACUSA. I would have been more impressed and more keen to believe him escaping from inside the carriage that doing that OP move. The fight scene in 1 is so anti-climatic and here he is at the top of 2, exhausted hobo-mage doing an epic, unbelievably unrealistic fight scene.

Also fuck Abernathy. Fucking why. Blah.

And then he throws that gremlin thing out the window. For no reason. What, to show us he’s cruel even though they’re building a morally grey narrative for him? Certainly doesn’t help endear me to him when the whole point of the film is he is charismatic and endearing and able to convince people that the world is grey and that the forces of good are not actually good for the people at all. Of which – so heavy handed about abuse of power. They cut his TONGUE out. Lovely. “AMERICA IS FULL OF BARBARIANS”, cool thanks got it. They have like magic to silence him, but they cut out his tongue. Wizards don’t believe in punching, but they cut out his tongue.

“He’s the hero of his own story, he’s morally grey, he’s doing it for the greater good, he’s charismatic and charming!”

Grindelwald: kills a family for their home, including their child (who honestly, based off his dialogue, I thought he was going to enslave and then he killed him. Has a whole bit about how they’re livestock and don’t need to all die, and then he kills all of them).

“He’s charismatic and easy to follow and has a point I swear!”

He just… He’s so boring. He could have been so interesting, so layered, and instead he’s contradictory and nonsensical and honestly I didn’t find him charismatic either – like what the fuck, I wanted so much more.

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Actually he’s precisely the dick I expected based off the books. So not much to say about him, tbh, I think he was nailed down right. He’s manipulative to a disgusting degree and it shows. I’ve always had a love, hate relationship with Dumbledore and that definitely continued in this – so I don’t have much to say about him here. He was well done.

CREDENCE

What. The. Fuck. Now here’s what I’m pissed about with Credence. When we first see him, he’s basically BUSTING OUT OF PRISON (the Carnival). AWESOME. I AM ON BOARD. Where the fuck is this character development?! It feels like we were flung into the ending of another fucking movie. I’m so proud of him for stepping up, for making a relationship with another person, and for fighting for his safety and to escape. But JESUS YOU NEED TO SHOW ME HOW WE WENT FROM THE SNIVELING, TERRIFIED BOY WHO COULDN’T CONTROL HIMSELF TO THE HARD YOUNG MAN WHO FUCKING BROKE HIMSELF AND ANOTHER PERSON OUT OF A BAD, ABUSIVE SITUATION. How the fuck did he even get there? How did he and Nagini build a relationship so strong that once free she FOLLOWED HIM?! Like this is a powerful result of character building that we NEVER SEE FOR NO FUCKING REASON.

Also you expect me to believe that he – without once fucking bringing it up – fucking trusts and believes and willingly goes with Grindelwald? The man who stole another man’s identity, led him on a ruse, manipulated his emotions and then BURNED THAT RELATIONSHIP TO THE GROUND?! I get that he has information, but in my mind I think Credence could’ve have focused on a lot of different avenues before he ever came close to willingly going to Grindelwald. If Grindelwald were like snuffing multiple attempts at information at every turn (rather than just one attempt) - sure. But like… this man… AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID… I need MORE to make me believe Credence would have gone with him. God, I would have believed Credence fighting and pursuing him to find Mr. Graves. OR Grindelwald using Rossier to provide information through a face Credence could ‘trust’ and reveal at the end it was him all along. Perhaps Rossier gives him the information and then says, “I know someone who can help you avenge the life that was stolen from you. I know someone who can help you change the world, Credence. No more abuse. No more looked over children. No more pain. He’s speaking tonight in the cemetery. You should come with me.” And Credence goes and it’s Grindelwald – and his speech is a balm he didn’t know he needed, and finally he draws Credence up and says, “Look how I’ve paved the way for you, the lengths I’ve gone to, all for you. I want to rectify my mistakes, Credence. I want to help you. Let me help you.” There were just MORE BELIEVABLE WAYS, JESUS.

LETA

…why the fuck did she walk into the fire? I know why she did, but on a writing stand point it was just to make the scene flashy, tbh. There were other fucking options. I just fucking can’t. I will say, I like the development in Leta. I like seeing the beast of burden on her shoulders. She still felt a bit hollow and like… unnecessary, tbh, and I hate that her and Theseus being together was only for drama that never gets talked about or fucking resolved. I feel a lot was missing for her – and for her relationships. Honestly I don’t care for her or Credence being involved. I’d much rather see Newt, Tina and the gang struggling to figure out how to battle discontent, fear and propaganda. This feels needlessly convoluted on an M.Night scale. She’s just there (narratively) to hurt Newt and Theseus. She didn’t have her own purpose for existence.

PLOT HOLES

Film 1: NOTHING CAN SAVE A CHILD WITH AN OBSCURUS.

Film 2: THE LOVE OF A SIBLING CAN SAVE CREDENCE, PROBABLY, EVEN THOUGH HE’S HONESTLY DOING JUST FINE.

What a clean, one dialogue line fix to what was a HUGE PROBLEM in the last film across not only Credence’s timeline, but Newt’s with the girl from Sudan.

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC IN FRANCE IS CALLED THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF MAGIC, WHAT THE FUCK. Like the FRENCH WOMAN who was working reception called it that. They don’t have their own unique name for their government. They were like “oh, guess we’ll just be the French version of the Ministry of Magic.” I’d get it if she’d been like, hello, welcome to [enter very beautiful french name here] and tina was like “what now?” and the woman rolled her eyes and said, “The French Ministry of Magic” like ‘let me spell it out for you, jesus’. But no. THEY MULTIPLE TIMES JUST REFER TO IT THAT WAY. I will never believe it wouldn’t have it’s own unique name. What the fuck. Like MACUSA isn’t the “American Ministry of Magic”.

Harry Potter Books: THE KILLING CURSE IS A POWERFUL, DARK AND ILLEGAL THING. YOU HAVE TO WANT TO KILL. IT’S SIGNIFICANT AND RARE.

Fantastic Beasts 2: Killing Curses everywhere. Just willy knilly. Everyone, even Aurors, casting killing curses.

Queenie stuck at Grindelwald’s hideout because Rossier wants her to meet Grindelwald is quickly followed by Grindelwald basically saying “Join me” and then “You’re an innocent, leave this place.” The whole thing makes no damn sense, but cool, cool.

Also can we talk about JK just fucking regurgitating themes like a broken fucking record? TWO FATED BABIES, BOTH WHO END UP ORPHANS (well in this case one died) but like, TRAGIC SONS. Young boy who is abused in his foster care system but is SPECIAL ™. YER A WIZARD, CREDENCE. A FATED, TRAGIC BOY AND YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KILL X PERSON.

It’s just a hot fucking sloppy mess of a story on a writing perspective, and I expected more.

#spoilers #also to be brief it's hot garbage and i'm disappointed #the crimes of jk rowling #the crimes of grindelwald

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uglifish · 6 years ago

Text

HALLOWEEN STORY!

Title: Body-Swap! -- A 6,000 word short, written by TEN people, (yes, 10 writers, 10 friends, 10 fandom authors) in the spirit of Halloween!

—————————— YLJE

“Lightning struck, and for a moment the room was lit, and he saw a woman in the room, and she whispered ‘yooouuuu kiiillleeeed meeee!’”

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Yugi shivered. That wasn’t a true story, was it? It couldn’t be.

“And, it’s a true story,” Jounouchi said with a grin, still holding the flashlight under his chin to cast long shadows across his face.

“Oh, you’re so full of shit! No way that’s real.” Honda lightly punched Jou’s arm, and caught off guard, he dropped the flashlight, which clattered to the floor and went dead.

The room was dark and silent, the occasional roar of thunder the only sound.

“This reminds me of—” Ryou hesitated before he continued, “the...ring. The world in the ring.” The last part was a barely audible whimper.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore, it’s safely locked away,” Yugi said with a gentle smile.

At the mention of the ring, Yami appeared by Yugi’s side. He hadn’t been interested in the so-called ghost story, but the Millennium Ring was a real danger.

What are you talking about, Aibou?

“A-ah, I just told Bakura-kun not to worry about the ring-spirit anymore.”

He should. There is power in the Millennium Items we cannot possibly comprehend.

Yami’s grave tone left Yugi feeling unsettled, and though the others had not heard the silent conversation, an uneasy tension hung over them all.

”Oh, I just remembered! I have some candy in my bag, anyone want some?”

Yugi didn’t wait for an answer as he hurried over to his backpack, desperate to lighten the mood.

‘I wonder…’ Yugi thought as he reached into his bag, ‘...how it was for Bakura-kun…’ his hand brushed against the leather cover of a book, ‘...in there…’

A blinding flash of light erupted in the room, and Yugi felt like he was being torn in half. His ears were ringing, he couldn’t see, and he blindly grabbed for the puzzle around his neck, trying to find some comfort.

What he found, however, was something soft and round.

He blinked a couple of times, his vision slowly returning, and looked down at himself.

Breasts.

Breasts?!

He heard Anzu yelp, and looked around frantically to find her.

“Anzu, are you okay?” A comforting hand on his shoulder. Yugi looked up to find Yami standing over him with a concerned expression. Yami, in his own body!

Yugi was about to speak, but his tongue didn’t obey.

“Don’t touch me, Pharaoh!” Anzu spat, and slapped Yami’s hand away.

Confused, Yami took a step back. Something was wrong. Something felt wrong. His mind was too quiet. “Anzu?”

“Stupid Pharaoh, I’m not that little friendship bitch.”

The grin on Anzu’s face made Yami’s blood run cold. He knew that maniacal grin.

“Bakura,” Yami growled. He took a threatening step forward, and was about to take another, when there was a knock at the door.

—————————— SEPPO

The knock was quiet, but it was enough to catch Yami’s attention.

Was that Kaiba? Yami wondered distractedly. No, probably Mokuba.

While Kaiba had been somehow convinced to let the gang use one of the many spare rooms in the mansion, he had turned up his nose at the mere idea of hanging out with those dorks, no matter how much Mokuba had pleaded.

Yami swore. Shit. At least Kaiba stood half a chance against the spirit through force of will alone. He wasn’t as sure about Mokuba.

The lapse in attention had been enough for Yami’s grip to slacken, and Bakura squirmed out of his grip and sprinted toward the door.

Clearly unaccustomed to his newly-possessed body, he stumbled and staggered his way across the floor without even one ounce of Anzu’s grace, running into the door before Yami could even make a move to stop him.

“Give Anzu back!” Yami shouted. He chased after Bakura and began to close the distance between them.

“And ruin this chance? You wish! Have fun with this mess!”

Bakura pushed Yami away, giving himself enough time to open the door and sprint down the hall, making a quick escape.

Left in Bakura’s wake was a very confused Kaiba.

He held his hand up, still poised to knock on the door. His jaw was slack with surprise and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He looked at Yami, then over his shoulder at the direction that Bakura had left, then did a double-take.

Then Kaiba’s voice made a very un-Kaiba like sound.

“Waah? What happened? Who managed to scare Anzu?” He froze in horror, before fearfully raising a hand to his throat, patting down the column on his neck with unsteady fingers. “Heeeeeh?”

—————————— KAILYN

Yami stared at Kaiba in confusion, letting himself forget for a moment that Bakura had just stolen Anzu's body and run away with it.

He wasn't the only one having a hard time processing their situation.

Kaiba began touching his own body, running his fingers through his hair and patting down his torso. Shock crossed over his face and his jaw dropped again, which made Yami raise a brow in surprise. It was as if Kaiba had never ever taken a proper look at his perfect hands, his brown silky hair, his muscular chest…

Kaiba prodded at his face, his lips twitching a bit when he felt soft skin, a strong jaw. Then, his long fingers ghosted across his well-defined stomach. At the same time, he muttered curses between his teeth, curses like shit shit shit, what the fuck is happening—curses that were definitely weird and unusual in the mouth of the young billionaire…

“You and all your magical nonsense!” Jounouchi snarled behind Yami's back. “I should've never let Mokuba talk me into letting you guys borrow a room for your little Halloween party!"

Jounouchi shoved Yami aside roughly, almost pushing him into the wall, but Yami was still too dumbfounded to shout his indignation. He watched his friend make a dash for Kaiba, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and violently jerking him forward, before releasing him and pushing him back with a look of utter disgust on his face.

"If anything happens to Mokuba, I swear..."

Yami did not listen to the end of Kaiba’s sentence.

Kaiba…was in Jounouchi’s body…which meant that Jounouchi was…

As comprehension slowly dawned on him, he turned around, looking at his bewildered friends, who were still sitting together in the middle of the room.

Ryou, eyes wide open, buried his hands in his mane of white hair as if he was about to have a mental breakdown.

Just in front of him sat Marik, who was busy inspecting at his own tanned hands. One would have thought the Egyptian had never taken a proper look at himself before.

"No, no, no! Tell me it's a nightmare!" he wailed, tears of disbelief filling his violet eyes.

"A nightmare?" Ryou asked indignantly, voice lilted with a soft British accent. "At least you have my body!"

——————————LAFEAE

“And how’s that meant to make this any better?” Marik retorted, his trembling voice softening. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, curling in on himself protectively, as he surveyed the room.

“Whether it’s your body or anyone else’s...the fact remains that none of us are where we should be...” he mumbled, trying to blink away the tears. The spoken realization, the same connection that Yami pieced together as the pair spoke, was drowned out by the argument that exploded between Jounouchi and Kaiba. “It ain’t like we were planning for this t’ happen,” Kaiba spat, planting his hands on his hips. Jounouchi’s lip curled. “I’m meant to believe that?” “It was a just party, Kaib’!” “And yet here I stand, staring at my own body,” said Jounouchi, swinging an arm toward Kaiba. “Which, by the way, mutt, almost makes you sound intelligent.” Kaiba jeered. “Heh. So ya jus’ like the sound of your own voice. What a fuckin’ surprise!”

As he spoke, his hands slowly slipped from the curve of his hips and traced inward, along the crease of his thighs. “I wonder...” he drawled, a wicked grin appearing. “...if your dick’s as big as your ego.” “Don’t you dare put your filthy hands—“ “Your hands,” Kaiba corrected, smirking.

Jounouchi seethed, reaching out to grasp at Kaiba’s collar, this time with less hesitation.

“Ooh, I’m so scared. What are ya gonna do? Punch yourself in the face? Go on,” he said, his hands pulling away from his groin to tap gently against his cheek, “I’ll take the pain for a sec. Ain’t like I’m the one wearing the bruise...” “That is enough!” Yami said, pulling away from the wall and orienting himself between both parties. “Marik...or Ryou is correct. We are not where we should be, and fighting will not solve it. We need to figure this out.” He pointed toward Kaiba and Jounouchi. “Calmly. Rationally.” The weight of the sudden shift in atmosphere, from jovial to terrified, became palpable once silence fell over everyone.

In the midst of it, uneven footsteps, fighting for momentum, clattered in the distance. “Yeah....” Honda’s frightened voice agreed. He sat on his knees, not far from the circle, eyes wide and hands balled tight at his chest. “My...my body ran off! We have to get it back, like, now I...” he shivered, looking down at himself before squeezing his eyes closed. “I don’t want to be like this forever....” —————————— SETOKAIBAES

“Hey, you don’t gotta worry. We’re gonna fix this, ‘kay?”

Joey’s comforting words sounded strange and unsettling from Kaiba’s mouth. He drew Honda into a friendly, one-armed embrace, reassuringly squeezing his wide shoulders, while Jounouchi watched with a sullen expression.

Yami ignored the touching scene, trying to tap into the mental connection he shared with Yugi.

Partner, if you can hear me, I need your help, he thought desperately, and closed his eyes to concentrate, tentatively searching for any indication that the mental link between himself and Yugi hadn’t been severed.

He was met with static silence.

Yami swallowed down his rising fear and exhaled slowly, mind racing with far too many thoughts, a flurry of potential solutions to a problem he didn’t even know how to approach.

“What are we going to do?” Marik asked quietly, violet eyes flashing with concern. He raised a hand to his shoulders, reaching for a strand of hair to twirl around his index finger out of nervous habit, before he appeared to remember that his blond hair was now eight inches shorter.

Marik frowned, crossing his arms tightly across his chest, and when he spoke again, his voice was distinctly annoyed. “Whatever it is, we have to act quickly. I don’t like this.”

“You’re telling me,” Ryou muttered, pushing his hair out of his face and twisting the long waves that spilled over his shoulders into a knot at the nape of his neck. “Haven’t you ever heard of a haircut? It’s so dead.”

“While you losers talk about personal grooming, I’ll actually do something about this,” Jounouchi growled, stomping forward two paces, before Yami stepped between him and the door, effectively barricading it. “Get out of the way.”

Yami didn’t budge. Jounouchi glared. “Are you just going to stand there like a feral little man? I said, get out of my way!”

“We have to stick together,” Yami insisted, raising a hand to Jounouchi’s chest, distinctly aware that he would never dare to touch Kaiba this way. He ignored the violent shudder beneath his palm and harmlessly let his hand fall away, fingers innocently brushing down the flat plane of Jounouchi’s firm stomach.

“Don’t be stupid,” Jounouchi snapped, grabbing his arm to push him to the side. His fingers wrapped around that lean bicep and squeezed. His intentions were threatening, but he automatically registered the sensation of the sinewy muscle hidden beneath his silky soft skin. “The mansion is enormous. We’ll get this thing over with quickly if we split up and search the rooms individually.”

He was still holding Yami’s wrist.

Recoiling, Jounouchi pushed him away. “Whatever. You geeks can do what you want. I’m getting my body back.”

“Kaiba! You can’t go out there alone!” Yami shouted, forcefully enough to make Jounouchi freeze mid-step. “I agree that we should split up, but not alone.”

He pointed at different people around the room. “Marik and Ryou, you two stick together. Téa, I’m sorry, but you should stay here in case Yugi somehow finds his way back here… Kaiba, you and I will go with Jounouchi.”

Kaiba immediately scrunched his face and raised his voice in protest. “But Yams, I don’t wanna go with him!”

“Do you think I want to be paired with you? Get a grip.”

“Hey, your attitude is not making this any easier, Kaiba!”

Yami stepped between them, stretching onto the tips of his toes, straining more than usual, to cup Kaiba’s face in his hands. It felt strange and different, but right, and he swiped his thumbs over the high apples of Kaiba’s cheekbones.

“It won’t be long now. Try to be patient.”

Kaiba sighed and nodded glumly, and Atem released him.

“Good. The three of us will work together.”

“We checked this room already.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I think I’d recognize the rooms in my own damn house, Wheeler.”

Kaiba came to an abrupt stop and spun on his heel, violently jabbing a finger into Jounouchi’s chest.

“What’s your fuckin’ beef, Kaiba?”

“My beef?”

“You’re bein’ more of a dick than usual, so what’s the problem?”

Jounouchi glared at him. “Are you really that stupid? We have many problems and you’re asking me to pick one?”

Kaiba took a step forward, looming over Jounouchi by a solid few inches. It was satisfying to see the flash of surprise and fear in his own honey eyes, and to know that the real Seto Kaiba finally saw him as a real threat.

Or himself, at any rate.

“Stop complainin’ or I’ll give you something to complain about!”

“Is that a threat, Wheeler?”

“Nah, just consider it an invitation to square the fuck up, Kaiba!”

“Enough!” Yami barked, stalking between the two and forcibly pushing them apart from one another. “We’re never going to accomplish anything unless you two learn to behave!”

“If you want Wheeler to behave, you’ll have to sign the mutt up for training classes,” Jounouchi sneered, and not even Yami could stand between them when Kaiba lunged all six-feet-and-spare-inches of his gangly body at Jounouchi.

The endless corridors in the Kaiba mansion were fearsome in the dark. Ryou clung to Marik’s arm tightly, sinking his jagged fingernails into his own skin deep enough to leave white, sore crescents into the smooth brown flesh.

Marik tried not to wince. He didn’t comment on Ryou’s shallow breathing and his wide, panicked eyes— an instinctive and near-primal reaction to the oppressive darkness that had tormented him nearly his entire life.

“Hey, Marik?”

“What?”

He ignored the sharp tone. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”

Ryou froze, and a strange, suspicious expression crossed over his face. “Did you?”

Marik stared at him quietly.

—————————— INUKISAMA

A distant scream made Ryou and Marik freeze in their tracks. They tried to guess where the screaming had come from, eyes flitting back and forth and looking all over the room.

Ryou gripped Marik’s arm tightly — his own arm, he thought distantly, and he would have laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all if he wasn’t so afraid.

“What was that?” Marik asked, feeling the lump of fear traveling up his throat. The scream had sounded feminine, and that meant…

“Anzu?”

Yami couldn’t think, just couldn’t focus with so many grunts, complaints and constant arguments which only ended up wearing out his patience. Couldn’t Kaiba and Jounouchi just shut up for once? He needed to think and find out what had caused this sudden change of bodies. He was also terribly worried about Yugi, who had to share Anzu’s body with Bakura.

This thought made him shudder — his friends were in danger, and nobody seemed to want to cooperate.

Yami rubbed his face in frustration and to calm down, but a distant scream made him freeze in his tracks. It sounded like Anzu — no, Yugi!

“What is it now?” Jounouchi’s voice interrupted his thoughts in Kaiba’s typically impatient tone.

—————————— CRIMSONDREAMS

“Didn’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Kaiba asked, worried.

Of course they hadn’t heard it — they had been too busy arguing and arguing with each other.

“Anzu! She was screaming!”

“Anzu?” Kaiba blinked in confusion.

Yami raked his fingers through his hair desperately.

“Anzu, Yugi, whatever! He’s in danger! Let’s go!” he said impatiently and began to run without exactly knowing where to go. The shout had been faint, but there was no doubt that it was real.

“Yami!” Kaiba shouted, trying to stop him from running and make him go back. But Yami was too fast, so he was left with no option rather than following him from behind with those long legs he was unaccustomed to.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Jounouchi growled, furious.

On one hand, he would be finally alone, without having to deal with that filthy mutt and his annoying owner. But on the other hand, he didn’t want any more trouble happening in his mansion, with an idiot using his body and running through the dark while chasing his rival. It made sense to follow them.

For some reason, Kaiba felt upset when seeing those two together, so close to one another.

Sometimes he thought that the further they were from him, the better. But it was in moments like these that he wanted Yami to stay away from that filthy dog, even though he couldn’t begin to explain why.

There was also fearful pressure weighing down on his chest and he felt suffocated by his own worries. One question continued to buzz inside his head—

Was Mokuba okay?

——————————AJ

At the time of Anzu’s escape, in another part of the mansion, Mokuba yawned as he switched off his video game console.

It was only when he caught a glimpse of the window that he realized just how late it was. The sun had been high in the sky when he had crept into his room to play his video game, and now the sky was dark, only lit by the moon and a few bright stars.

Mokuba yawned again and registered that his whole body ached from sitting in the same position for hours. He stood up and stretched, raising his arms above his head to try to relieve some of the stiffness in his muscles.

His stomach growled, and he realized that he was starving! Why hadn’t anyone called for supper?

Oh well, I’ll just go and raid the pantry.

It was only when Mokuba reached for the doorknob that he remembered Isono and Seto had made themselves scarce because Yugi and his friends were having a party in the mansion.

The party that I left, Mokuba thought to himself, remembering how out of place he had felt when the party had started. Why do I have to be so much younger than the rest?! It’s not fair. They all look at me as if I’m a baby...well, I’ll show them!

Rather than heading down to the kitchen, he decided to rejoin the party. After all, where there was a party, there was food! Plus, he figured, it might be more fun hanging out with Yugi and the others instead of sulking and playing on his game for another hour or two.

Mokuba reached for the doorknob, excitement bubbling up inside of him at the prospect of joining the Halloween festivities. As he opened the door, someone flew past him, ungracefully disappearing around the corner at the end of the corridor.

It took him a moment to recognize that it was Anzu.

What’s she running from? Mokuba wondered, concern rising.

“Anzu!” he cried and ran after her to find out.

Meanwhile, Anzu’s body (with Bakura at the helm) clumsily turned yet another corner. This mansion was like a maze!

“Finally!” Bakura exclaimed.

He finally found the grand staircase that led straight to the front door.

Oh no, Yugi thought as he looked on while Bakura led Anzu’s body down the stairs. Yugi felt powerless to stop him. Bakura’s presence was too strong for him to overpower.

They were near the front door now. Yugi felt the nausea curl in his stomach just picturing the destruction Bakura could cause if he managed to escape.

“I won’t let you leave!” Yugi shouted, fighting Bakura with all his strength to regain control of Anzu’s body.

Bakura could feel his own control slipping as Yugi’s presence gained strength in their shared body.

“This can’t be happening!” he growled. He was so close!

Snarling, Bakura attempted to squash Yugi’s presence completely, but to his dismay, he realized Yugi had more control than he first thought.

He was beginning to lose control of Anzu’s legs. Every step was slow and heavy, as if he was wading through thick mud that reached his knees.

He stopped only a few paces from freedom.

Bakura heard the dull thud of footsteps behind them, and he turned around to glare at the idiot who had foolishly followed them, expecting it to be the Pharaoh.

It wasn’t.

Glee rose within Bakura as he watched Mokuba slide to a stop in front of him and try to catch his breath.

He doesn’t know about the swap! Bakura realized. This will be easy.

“What’s going on?! Why are you running?!” Mokuba panted out, gasping for breath.

“Something happened, something I can’t explain. But I have to get out. Now!” Bakura replied, trying hard to imitate Anzu to quell any suspicion that Mokuba might have.

It worked.

“Let me help!”

Mokuba approached Anzu and reached out to put a comforting arm around her. Bakura took his chance. He grabbed the young boy’s arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing Mokuba to his knees.

Mokuba grunted in surprise and pain shot through his arm and knees. He was too shocked to make any other noise.

Yugi, however, started shouting and pleading with Bakura. Let him go! He’s just a child, please!

Bakura knew Yugi well enough to know that he would do anything to keep his friends from being hurt.

“Give up any control you have over this pathetic body, and then I shall consider it,” Bakura replied out loud, tightening his grip on a very confused Mokuba.

While Bakura and Yugi fought for control, Mokuba ignored Anzu’s strange behavior and tried to make out the noise coming from the second story. He didn’t understand what was going on, but when he noticed that Anzu was distracted, he twisted his head around and bit Anzu’s forearm.

Hard.

She screamed and let go.

Taking his chance to escape, Mokuba clambered to his feet and raced up the stairs. He had to find Seto! Full of adrenaline, Mokuba ran, not watching where he was going. As he turned a corner, he slammed directly into something, sending him flying backwards.

Before he could crash onto the ground, strong hands flew out to grip him. He looked up to see light brown hair, falling in front of clear, blue eyes that were full of surprise, and concern.

“Seto!” Mokuba exclaimed, relief flooding him as he threw his arms around his big brother.

——————————FICTIONAL SADIST

Jonouchi received the younger Kaiba swiftly and hugged him back instinctively, his brotherly reflexes kicking in faster than his brains. A low growl behind him, however, reminded him what was going on.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, gripping it so forcefully that he heard his shoulder give way with a quiet crack! from the pressure.

Katsuya noticed his own body, now inhabited by the pompous prick, was strong, and right now, facing Kaiba’s murderous gaze, he also realized that size did not count for everything.

“Just what do you think you’re do-” Seto began irritably, just as Yami zoomed past them, blowing off the end of his sentence. This made the elder Kaiba pause a fraction, though he soon recovered.

“Anyway, paws off, mutt, now,” the elder Kaiba demanded. Jonouchi scoffed, blue eyes flashing challengingly, and did not deign to answer.

If looks could kill, there would be a pair of dismembered, bloody bodies on the floor right now. Silence built up a tension so thick that even the ruckus downstairs could not pierce through.

Meanwhile, the Pharaoh went straight toward the mess that Anzu had become, jumping down a flight of stairs and tackling her at full speed. He hit her with the force of a bulldozer and sent them both rolling on the magnificent tiled floors. His knees protested when they hit the hard, cold surface, and he winced inwardly when he saw his opponent felt the same kind of pain.

“Sorry, Anzu,” he apologized quickly, thinking of the bruises he would have to explain later.

It was as if a wild beast had taken over his friend. Anzu’s usually friendly face had contorted into a strained sneer, while her eyes burned with rage and deadly threats.

Yugi was there as well, somewhere, and fighting for dear life, but at the moment Yami could only see the thief glaring at him.

The next moment, a strangled cry escaped the girl’s lips and she thrashed frantically to throw him off.

In what he thought to be Seto’s arms, Mokuba let out a shaky breath and looked up.

“Big brother, what’s happening?”

Said brother glanced back at him, hesitating, his gaze both soft and clouded with something akin to panic, and alarms blared in the boy’s head.

In the corner of his vision, he noticed Jonouchi was stiff as a board, his mouth a tight line and his left eye twitching in barely contained anger. The blond was quite open with his emotions and his short temper often showed, though something was definitely wrong here. His normally fiery pupils held an icy, merciless glint. Never had Jounouchi shown such an attitude, glaring as if Seto was an obstacle he could disintegrate with his gaze alone.

It appeared that Anzu was not the only one acting out of character. Had the entire manor gone mad?

“Some help, maybe?” Yami shouted, effectively drawing everyone’s attention back to the urgent matters at hand. The trio forgot their feud temporarily and hurried down.

The Pharaoh was desperately trying to control Anzu. She was clawing at his arms and kicking as if the devil was possessing her, which, in a way, he was. Even in this body foreign to him, Bakura was fighting with impressive strength.

Noticing his friends coming to him, Yami groaned in relief. Really, they had taken their merry time. That had been a perfectly chosen time for Kaiba and Jonouchi to tear into one another while he was busy struggling for their friend’s soul. Not.

If he did not already have his hands full, he would have gladly smacked both morons - his blond airhead of a friend and the other, er, friend, rich ass, something-more-maybe? - into next week. He was tired of them and their stupidity.

But as things stood, he was busy wrestling against one hell of a harpy-like demon that was trying to kick his balls off and punch his teeth in. He had never considered that he and Anzu would clarify their unexpressed feelings this way.

While Yami was distracted, Bakura managed to flip their positions.

Jounouchi pushed a confused Mokuba to where his brother was trying to glare holes in his own body and leapt on top of the struggling pair.

The impact smashed Yami’s face into Anzu’s. Their lips connected briefly before Yami found himself hauled back. He was about to shout at whoever was holding him when he found himself looking down into his own eyes.

“Oh crap…” Yami gasped in Anzu’s voice as saw his and Yugi’s body staring right back at him.

“Yami?! Is that you?” Yugi squeaked.

The rest of occupants of the room froze when Bakura’s dark chuckle echoed around them.

Bakura lifted the puzzle and pressed it to his lips.

“Thank you for this lovely gift pharaoh,” he purred, before turning and making a dash for the door. He grabbed the door handle but when he pulled, nothing happened.

Mokuba showed Seto an app on his cellphone. “I don’t leave my room without it. It can trigger the security system my brother programed which locks the doors.”

Jounouchi put Anzu down and charged at Bakura, slamming him into the firmly locked doors. Yugi and Yami both winced as they heard their skull crack against the door, then watch their body slide to the floor.

“Good job, little brother,” Kaiba whispered fondly and ruffled Mokuba’s hair.

Mokuba blinked. “Is somebody gonna tell me what is going on? Why was Anzu going psycho? Why did Yugi tackle her? Why did he go psycho?”

“More importantly, how did Yami and Bakura switch bodies?” Kaiba asked.

“Wait-what? Somebody please explain to me what the hell is happening?!” Mokuba demanded.

“Unexplained magical shenanigans and now everyone is in different bodies. You know, the usual.” Yugi explained with a roll of his eyes. “I’m Yugi. That was Bakura...who was in Anzu’s body with me...but now he’s in mine and Yami is with me...but how did that happen?”

“I’m not sure, Aibou,” Yami muttered. “It happened when Jounouchi got involved in the struggle my head hit Anzu’s.”

He felt their face heating up. “...What?”

“You...um...may have accidentally kissed her— us…” Yugi admitted.

Jounouchi began laughing, muttering something about how of course that was what Yugi noticed.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, then cringed. “Well...as much as I don’t want to test this, it might be worth the taste of wet dog.”

Mokuba watched Seto, (or Jounouchi, or whatever) march over to Jounouchi and grab him by the front of his shirt to pull him forward and to plant their lips firmly together.

The room went quiet.

Jounouchi turned three shades of green before shoving Kaiba back. Both men wiped their mouths before checking that they were in the proper place.

Kaiba immediately ducked a puch from Jounouchi before turning and heading over to Yami and Yugi, while Jounouchi fell on his face.

Seto pulled Yami and Yugi to their feet, only to pull their bodies flush.

“To get rid of the taste,” he told them before sealing their lips together.

That was the only reason, he thought privately. Not because he was jealous that Yami had kissed Anzu.

Yami felt Yugi’s soul faint in embarrassment before he opened his eyes, now staring down at Anzu’s face, which mirrored Yugi’s confusion.

“What the hell?” Yami asked. He could feel Seto’s soul there with him. “How in the name of the gods did you do that, Kaiba?” Yami asked incredulously with Kaiba’s voice, only to feel their shoulders shrug in response.

——————————UGLI

Yami tentatively wiggled his fingers.

His fingers moved, but the most unnerving thing was the image of Kaiba’s fingers moving at his side in response.

He could feel Kaiba’s anxiety rising the longer they shared his body.

It was very similar to the way Yugi’s soul felt when he was struggling during a particularly hard duel, so Yami let himself to take comfort in this before speaking again, trying not to let his surprise show, because he was speaking with Kaiba’s voice.

“Yugi?” he asked carefully, directing his question toward Yugi’s body, but he saw Anzu nod stiffly in the corner of his eye, and he turned to face her instead. “Are you alright, Aibou?”

Yugi nodded again and shivered, hugging himself tightly, feeling another cold draft passing by, causing goosebumps to rise along his arms.

He spied an odd movement across the room in the semi-darkness, and he found himself staring at Honda, but he was entirely transparent, and his legs had faded into the dark wall behind him. Shocked, Yugi pointed frantically at Honda and stammered nervously, “You’re a ghost! What happened to you?!”

He turned to stare at the solid version of Honda standing behind him, who had his arms wrapped protectively in front of his chest. Anzu frowned sourly at Yugi and shrugged the muscular shoulders of Honda’s body, hating how stiff everything felt. She had had enough and wanted to be back into her own body. The longer Yugi spent occupying her body, the more embarrassing it would be for them later on.

“Dude! Yugi, I’ve been trying to get someone to look at me for the past hour!” Honda cried, whipping his head around to stare at all the strange expressions on everyone’s faces. “Am I...dead?”

“Are you dead?” Yugi echoed uncertainly, and the Honda behind him spoke up, sounding very much like Anzu. “Yugi…? W-Who are you talking to?”

“Me!” Honda exclaimed loudly, dancing comically on the spot, making faces in Jounouchi’s direction but receiving no reaction from his friend. “And I haven’t moved from this spot, funnily enough. It seems like I can’t!”

Yugi frowned, feeling all eyes in the room on him, and he fixed his gaze on his backpack, lying neglected on the floor against the wall, right behind Mokuba...right where Honda’s body was sticking strangely out of the wall.

He moved instinctively toward it and bent down to rifle through it, remembering he had brought a fun book he had found in Grandpa’s stash of artifacts, but had completely forgotten to mention it.

He was certain that this had to be the cause of the odd body switching that had been going on in the past hour.

Mokuba watched Yugi pull out a thick, dusty book and fanned the pages open carefully. He crossed his arms, eyeing the door, losing interest quickly. This party had started out exciting, but now it was beginning to suck.

“I hate reading. I’m leaving,” Mokuba announced brattily, marching toward the door.

“Wait! We might need your help since you’re the only one who is unaffected!” Yugi cried shrilly in Anzu’s voice, and Mokuba nearly choked as he found himself caught around the collar by his older brother.

“Mokuba…” Kaiba started, opening and closing his mouth oddly, feeling Yami’s presence hovering obtrusively on the tip of his tongue, clearly also trying to speak, but he had spoken first, so…this meant he was in control...for now….

“Lemme go!” Mokuba squirmed against his brother’s one-armed hug, and Yugi held the book up triumphantly, looking relieved. “This is how we fix it!

“What in the— is that…the Millennium Tome?” Bakura asked quietly, and Yugi nodded anxiously, staring at his own body across the room, wondering if he always looked that small from afar.

“The what?” Mokuba asked obnoxiously, roughly re-adjusting his shirt and composing himself proudly. “Another Millennium item?”

“Great! I’ve become Yami!” Honda added unhelpfully, and Yugi began to protest, but before he could speak, a crescendo of loud footsteps came echoing up from the hallway.

Marik and Ryou burst into the room, breathless with excitement and glee.

“Look what we found!” Ryou sang playfully, swinging the millennium Ring in front of his face steadily for everyone to see. “Say, Kaiba, why is this h—”

Ryou paused mid-sentence as the ring began to pulse with a strange glow, brightening and fading every few seconds like a rapidly beating heart, while the book and the puzzle also began to blink and pulse in sync with the ring, until the entire room was filled with the odd flickering lights emitting from all three Millennium Items.

“Now are we dead?” Honda yelled anxiously, and no one but Yugi heard him as a familiar blinding light flooded the room, causing everyone’s eyes to sting and their bodies to sweat.

A strange, hollow tone rang in everyone’s ears before it all grew quiet, and they found themselves staring at each other, safely back in their own bodies and standing right where they had been before, but with one key difference: a second Yugi.

A Yugi with wilder hair and narrow violet eyes was standing apprehensively beside another Yugi, with a round, friendly face.

“Aibou, it worked,” Yami said warmly, completely unaware that the entire room was gaping at them shocked into silence. “You’re back in your own body!”

Kaiba blinked rapidly, thoroughly amazed, and fighting a series of conflicting emotions.

True indeed.

Everyone was back in their own bodies...but somehow, the Other Yugi had managed to obtain a body too!

This man, who looked exactly like Yugi, standing beside Yugi, walking and talking like Yugi, was real, right? This was him, right?

This was...the Other Yugi!

—————————— END ——————————

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

#yugioh fanfiction #writing #accomplishment #yugioh #ygo #10 writers writing together

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