#damn we have been doing that last thread for almost a year

[forgottencassandra]

Rainy Days | Cassandra & Aria

"Goodness, I wonder if this rain shall ever stop!"

"It mocks me," Cassandra lamented with a heavy sigh, as though this was the greatest trouble she had ever had to overcome. She might have well told you that it was, for it certainly felt that way in this particular moment.

Today was the first day that her father had finally allowed her some freedom from the castle. Under a heavy band of guards and the supervision of her mother, she had been permitted to leave the castle. It was a small social gathering hosted by the (rather dull) wife of one of her father's councilmen. She, at least, had had the foresight to invite some more interesting people to liven things up (including Lord Calleary).

Most of all, Cassandra had simply been dying for a change of scenery and any excuse to wear one of her new gowns.

But the storm that raged outside her window, had cancelled the entire affair after it was deemed that the storm may be too dangerous to do any sort of traveling in, and all of Cassandra's hopes for the day had vanished.

Cassandra did not catch that Genevieve (who had been her nursemaid since infancy and continued to look after her, even now) rolled her eyes at the princess's dramatics.

"And now there's nothing to be done about it." Cassandra added, leaving the window.

"You are a innovative woman, Your Imperial Highness," Evie replied, "I am certain you shall not allow for the weather to determine your mood."

It wasn't until that moment that Cassandra realized that, perhaps, Evie was correct in this: the loosening of her father's protections must certainly mean that she would be, at least, free to roam more of the castle than she had been, previously. She had not seen Aria Stafford since the riots and suddenly found herself desperate for her company.

It took her a good deal of time to find where, exactly, Aria Stafford was. Apparently she no longer was staying in her old rooms and the new ones happened to be on the otherside of the castle.

"Did you find this all as absolutely tedious as I did?" Cassandra asked, as soon as she strode through the doors. "There is only so many hours one can devote to reading and sewing before one develops a headache." Cassandra had never had much patience for either of those activities (unless the book happened to be a romantic novel) and her imagination would always take hold and hold her captive to her own distractions.

"I thought I might go mad. I am so sorry that I have not come to see you before. Father insisted that we stay in our chambers and no amount of pleading or flirting with the guards would do any good, at all, so I suppose he must have been truly serious about it." She found that she had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Cassandra felt that her father must have been a bit over-dramatic over the entire thing.

"Oh! But I did finish the book you lent me!" She had brought it back with her, now, and put it into Aria's hands. "I was nearly lost for words through most of it. Each tale was more beautifully written than the last. Although I confess that my favorite was the second tale -- the one which ended when the two lovers choose to be drowned together by the sea, rather than to return to land where they would have been so tragically torn apart? And -- " Cassandra finally took a breath and had the chance to examine her surroundings.

It wasn't until this moment that she noticed that she was cold and she quickly noted that this room not only lacked the luxurious comforts that the Staffords' old quarters were missing, but also, it seemed the basic ones, too.

There wasn't even a decent fire in the fireplace.

"Goodness -- what on earth are you doing here?" Cassandra asked, as though Aria had had any choice in the matter. "It's much too drafty and cold. This won't do at all."

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Re-skimmed through a bunch of Dune Messiah last night because why not and now I am having thoughts:

The thing that sticks with me most is the tone. It's melancholy, it's eerie, it's unsettled and weird. Cannot think of a more pitch-perfect director for it than Denis Villeneuve. He's gonna nail it.

There is...not that much...actual story? Denis has referred to it in interviews as "a small book" and I'm like my guy it is 350 pages. But there are actually not that many plot beats. It's just that every. single. scene. is WILDLY overwritten. The real challenge of adapting Dune is not the giant worms or the dense complicated worldbuilding or the fact that actors have to say the name "Duncan Idaho" repeatedly with a straight face. It's that there are pages and pages and PAGES of internal monologue that have to be externalized somehow for film.

After a re-skim my gut instinct for "how much story goes in a feature film" is that if you just wrote out the dialogue and action that happens in every scene in the book in screenplay format you'd end up with...maybe about an hour of material? Which is great, actually, because it means there is room to add stuff. Like a whole new independent plotline for Chani if they decide to do that.

It may seem insane to add things to an adaptation of what's notoriously one of the wordiest series in classic sci-fi but it's worth remembering that they added quite a bit to Dune Part Two. Most of the first hour of the movie--almost everything before the worm ride except for Jessica drinking the Water of Life--is stuff that isn't in the book. And it's the best part of the movie essential to making the movie work as well as it does. Yes, they also cut elements from both parts (the dinner scene, the whole plotline where Gurney thinks Jessica is a Harkonnen spy, Thufir Hawat's fate, Leto II the Elder, murder toddler Alia) but I understand why each of those elements was cut or changed in the service of cinematic storytelling.

There's an interview (can't remember which one) with Jon Spaihts, the other co-writer of the scripts along with Denis, where he talks about how Dune is like a stage play, with so many of what would be the big action set pieces happening off-page. I kept thinking about that comparison while reviewing Dune Messiah because in addition to the scenes that do exist being wordy and internal as fuck, an absolutely insane list of major events/reveals/emotionally significant moments happen off-page. The list of things that we don't actually see in the main action of the story, that we're only told about after they happen, includes:

Chani finding out Irulan has been secretly dosing her with birth control for YEARS

People trying to capture a sandworm and take it off planet

Chani and Paul finding out Chani is pregnant after 12 years of trying to conceive

Paul flying an ornithopter carrying his extremely-about-to-go-into-labor partner while blind

CHANI DYING (first time reading I did NOT know this was coming and damn near threw my Kindle across the room at the way the information was delivered)

Alia executing a bunch of people including a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother

Paul walking into the desert at the end

You could add all these moments into a scene-for-scene film adaptation of the book and probably still have room to add more material.

The other thing that jumps out is that Paul doesn't really...govern...much. Like there's this whole subgenre of post-Dune/Dune Messiah-era fic that's just some combination of Paul, Chani, Irulan and sometimes Feyd traipsing around the palace having feelings while vague politics happens in the background, but I forgot that Dune Messiah is actually kinda like that??

There is a whole thread of Paul feeling kind of abstractly bad about being Space Hitler but he does not, in fact, actually do anything about it. And like yes both bureaucracies and religious movements can grow to have a life of their own that seems beyond the control of any one person. But also my dude you are the Emperor of the Known Universe. Someone is signing those space checks for the Endless War budget. You are not powerless here.

The one thing that really, clearly drives Paul to actively do things in the plot is not feeling guilty about having unleashed catastrophic religious war on the universe. It is protecting his family. Chani, Alia, his unborn children, and you could probably throw in Duncan by the end. That is what motivates him to act at key moments, and to want to hold on to power. And hey, y'know, if I'd experienced almost everyone I'd ever known getting murdered in a single night, I would probably get a bit intense about that too! It makes sense from a character point of view!

I'm very curious to see how these threads interweave with each other in the film, because the Villeneuve films put a lot of emphasis on Paul's agency and the fact that he may be constrained by shitty circumstances thousands of years in the making, but he still makes choices within that context. I can't see the narrative allowing film!Paul to get away with the same Poor Little Dictator routine as in the book. There are a few ways they could play this but I think the most interesting one is kinda the way they started going at the end of Part Two. Which is that as soon as you start reaching for that kind of power, then power becomes its own end and you will end up doing increasingly horrific things to maintain it. I think it would be quite interesting if the film shows us Paul not just being like "woe is me" but actively choosing to make the world worse because his trauma-driven fear of losing the people he loves makes him cling ever more desperately to power for its own sake.

If they went this route I think it would make Paul's decision at the end hit even harder. FWIW I actually really like Paul walking off into the desert at the end of the book. I think it brings things full circle with his relationship to the Fremen and creates this beautiful arc going back to the duel with Jamis. He first won a place among the Fremen through respecting their customs even though he really did not want to fight and kill someone he had no beef with. And by respecting the Fremen custom of the blind walking off into the desert, he proves himself to be fully Fremen and protects his children not by making them heirs to the throne but by making them Fremen.

And yeah, to a modern audience here on Earth it can look like "Paul conveniently fucks off and doesn't have to raise his newly-motherless children." And we can have a whole discussion about the unexamined ableism of the idea of someone who's gone blind voluntarily choosing death so as to "not be a burden" on their community. But neither of those readings is really the point here. Within the logic of Fremen cultural values, where the survival of the group as a whole is more important than the life of any one individual ("your water belongs to the tribe" etc.) Paul's choice is a willing and intentional self-sacrifice (see also: fedaykin) that wins him huge respect. There's a line in the book about Paul that's like "He would be one of them forever now" and damn if that didn't give me shivers. Like!! The political-symbolic implications!!! Which maybe I'm particularly attuned to because I just wrote a whole fic about what does it mean for an outsider to become Fremen but hmm something something Paul's final* act not being an exercise of Imperial power but an expression of kinship with an oppressed group and that being the thing that's needed to keep his family safe even if he is not physically present with them...IT IS RICH SYMBOLIC TERRITORY.

(*Yes yes I know about events in the next book. Shush.)

This kind of stuff is why I tend to think Chani may start out in a very different place in the story but the end will still be pretty close to what's in the book. It's too thematically powerful and tragic to go any other way.

But also...if they change things around enough that she is still alive at the end of the movie...I won't be sad about it.

[crunchwrapsnoopy]

Second Chances [Touya Todoroki x Reader]

˙⋆✮ That's So True ✮⋆˙

"Looking into big blue eyes. Did it just to hurt me, make me cry Smiling through it all, yeah, that's my life."

even villains deserve a lil redemption

Dabi x F. Reader

𓂃ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ ༄˖°𓂃ﾟ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ.

WC: 1398

I'm sat on my thrifted couch by the window as rain softly beats against the glass. I press play on the voicemail for what feels like the millionth time, the words already burned into my memory, but still, I can’t help myself. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe hearing it again will change something.

"Y/N, please come back. What I did was wrong, it’s been months... I can’t lose you. The league misses you, too. Toga won't shut her damn mouth about you. Fuck, I’m so drunk right now... I love you. I know I didn’t say it often, but—"

The sound of Shigaraki’s raspy voice cuts through, sharp and impatient. "What are you yapping about?" he snarls. "We’ve got shit to do, wrap it up."

Dabi’s voice stumbles back in, slurred. "Bye, Y/N. I have to get a new burner soon- I’ll try calling again. Fuck, I know you won’t pick up. You haven’t the last dozen times but I’ll try." The message ends with a quiet beep.

It’s been three months since that call. And by then, I’d already been gone for seven. Seven months since the night I left him—the night I left all of them behind. His betrayal, his lies... it was too much. It’s been almost a year since I stepped away from the league, from the chaos, from the life that almost consumed me and swallowed me whole. A year since I walked out and didn’t look back.

I’m lucky, though. So stupidly lucky. My quiet, lowkey role in the league made slipping away easy, there were no repercussions or police coming after me every time I stepped foot outside. I’ve kept off the radar, built a new life for myself—a quiet life. I work at a flower shop now, which is insanely different than working as a villain for Shigaraki and the League of Villains, and it smells a lot better too. I’ve even gotten myself a little apartment on the edge of town, cozy, with a window that overlooks a quiet street, and roommate, which is actually just a little calico kitty that I named Cupcakes.

I’ve found peace here. Real peace. But the voicemail keeps pulling at me like a thread that came loose on a favorite sweater, both painful circumstances. And no matter how hard I try to ignore it, I know Dabi’s voice will haunt me forever if I don't talk to him at least one more time, and attempt to get better closure than some shitty drunk voicemail.

I text Giran, the broker that supplies the league with everything, including burner phones. Dabi stopped calling recently, so I assumed he lost my number with the last burner, because knowing him, he wouldn't stop calling just to give me space.

Me: Hi Giran! It's Y/N, I know we haven't talked in a while, but I was wondering if you know Dabi's current burner phone #? 😇

He gets back to me almost immediately.

Giran: Y/N!! So good to hear from you, kid, thought you fell off the planet lmao. And yea I can send the number. Giran: ###-###-####

He sends me the number, and I dial it immediately, my hands trembling. After a few rings, Dabi picks up, his voice sounding annoyed. "Who’s this? And how’d you get this number?"

"Hey, uhm... it’s me, Y/N."

"Y/N?" His tone softens, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Didn’t think I’d hear from you tonight. What’s up?"

I hesitate for a moment before speaking. "I just wanted to talk... are you busy?" I can hear a lot of voices in the background—probably everyone from the League. "If you’re tied up, it’s fine. It’s nothing important."

"Never too busy for you, doll." His voice shifts, and I hear him step away from the noise, the background chatter fading as he walks off.

The noise in the background slowly fades as he steps away, and I imagine him walking down a hallway, his boots hitting the floor with a slow, deliberate rhythm. The sounds of his breathing and the soft hum of his movements are the only things I can hear now. It’s strange, this feeling of distance and closeness at the same time.

“Alright, I’m all yours,” Dabi says, his voice rough but clear now, like he’s giving me his full attention. “What’s on your mind, Y/N?”

I swallow hard, staring at the rain outside, the droplets running down the glass, blurring everything in sight. My heart races in my chest, a million thoughts running through my head, none of them making sense. “I don’t know,” I admit, running a hand through my h/c hair. “I guess... I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Yeah, I figured that.” He lets out a soft chuckle, though it sounds a little strained. “You’ve been gone for a while. Thought you were never gonna reach out.”

“I didn’t think I would either,” I reply quietly. “But... I keep listening to that last voicemail you left. Over and over again. I just... I couldn’t stop myself.”

There’s another long pause, and I can almost hear the shift in his posture. Maybe he’s rubbing his face, or clenching his jaw. I wouldn’t be surprised. Dabi’s never been one for easy emotions. “Shit,” he mutters, sounding like he’s been through too much to deal with this. “I shouldn’t have left that message. I meant what I said but I wish I said it better, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

"It's okay. I liked it." I say softly.

"Really?" He asks, his voice almost in disbelief at me admitting that I enjoy his shitty drunk voicemail despite everything. 

“Yeah,” I answer quietly, feeling the weight of the words settle between us. “It wasn't like you at all- guess the liquid courage helped a lil, huh?" I laugh dryly, "It was real sweet its own way. I could tell you meant it, even if you were drunk n didn’t know how to say it.”

Dabi’s silence on the other end feels heavier now. I can almost picture him—frowning, leaning against a wall, trying to collect himself. "Fuck," he mutters after a moment, voice low. "I never thought I'd hear you say something like that. But... I'm glad you did."

“I’ve been avoiding it,” I admit, my fingers tightening around my phone. "Avoiding you, avoiding everything. But I can’t keep running forever."

Dabi lets out a long exhale, like a weight’s been lifted from his chest. "I get it. I know you had your reasons for leaving, and I don’t blame you for it. I fucked up." His voice drops a little. "But if I’m being honest... I’ve missed you, Y/N. More than I ever thought I would."

My heart skips a beat. It’s strange to hear him speak so plainly, without the usual sharpness in his voice. "I’ve missed you too," I whisper before I can stop myself. The confession catches me off guard, and I quickly add, "But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to just jump back into everything. Things are... complicated."

"I know," Dabi replies, quieter now, as if he’s absorbing my words. "I’m not asking you to. I’m just... saying that I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere. If you want me to prove it, I’ll prove it."

There’s something in his voice now that feels different, a promise without needing the words. A subtle shift in how he speaks to me, less like the cocky villain and more like a person who’s afraid of losing something he doesn’t deserve.

I stare out the window at the rain, a tightness in my chest as I let the quiet wash over me. I know I can’t go back to the way things were, but maybe—just maybe—I can start a new chapter with him, one where we’re both trying, even if we don’t have all the answers.

“I don’t know how I feel yet,” I say finally, voice soft but steady. “But... maybe we can try again. Slowly.”

Dabi’s voice is quieter now, but there's an undeniable relief in it. "That’s all I need. A chance. We can take it slow."

I lean back against the couch, closing my eyes as I listen to the steady rain and his steady breathing on the other end of the line. For the first time in a long while, the knot in my chest begins to loosen. There’s no going back to what we were before, but maybe there’s still a chance for something else.

"Alright," I whisper, a faint smile tugging at my lips despite myself. "Let’s see where this goes."

𓂃ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ ༄˖°𓂃ﾟ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ.

[anonymityisfunwriter]

Question...? Act V - “On your mind with some dickhead guy…”

Pairing - Steve Rogers x Reader Summary - After years of back and forth, years of unknowns, a lifetime of questions, it's time for answers.

Question...? Mini Series List | Steve Rogers Masterlist

1 Year Earlier... 

“Can I ask you a question?” 

The question is so timid. It's just loud enough for him to hear you over the music that plays in the bar. It was strange. The way you speak to him. The way he speaks to you. How you hold yourself tense and guarded. Once upon a time, Steve was your safe space, the person you trusted more than anyone, but that couldn't be any further from the truth now. 

Sure, you'd reconciled since that ill-fated glorified make out session. Almost two years had come and gone. And still, you both knew that things were never quite the same.

Steve looks on for a moment. There's a palpable tension as he stares at his now warm bottle of beer. He nods, taking another long pull from the bottle, “Go for it.” 

You finish the last of your cocktail, turning to face him, “What do you think of him? Be honest.” 

He does his very best not to grit his teeth or roll his eyes. There was a reason he was here tonight. There was a reason you invited all of your friends here tonight. To meet you newest boyfriend. The newest in a string of boyfriends from the last two years.

Steve snorts, “I haven’t even talked to the guy yet.” 

You roll your eyes, flagging down the bartender, “Yeah, like that’s ever stopped you from passing judgment on any of my dates.” 

A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth, “You could do better.” 

You scoff, “You always say that.” 

It's Steve's turn to roll his eyes. A soft, playful laugh escapes his lips, “I do not always say that.” 

“You do!" you exclaim, a hint of a laugh threaded through your words. "You always say that!” 

“Why do you even care what I think?” 

“Because you’re my best friend.” 

“I’m surprised you didn’t revoke that title from me after I acted like such an asshole.” 

Steve instantly regrets bringing it up when he sees your smile momentarily slip. You shake your head, “That was almost two years ago, and we’re in such different places now. It’s water under the bridge.”

“I know. I just - I would understand if things couldn’t go back to the way they were. Like I said I was an asshole. I’m surprised you even care what I think, clearly I’m not very good at this whole dating thing.”

His shoulders tense at the reminder. Now, the shoe was on the other foot.

For two years, he watched as you dated countless losers and dickhead guys.

For two years, he watched, knowing he didn't have a right to do a damn thing about it. He'd lost that right two years ago.

You hesitantly rest your hand on his shoulder, “Listen, I know things were a little tense with us, but you’re still my best friend, Steve. Of course I care what you think.” 

He returns a smile that he only hopes looks more sincere than it feels. That's all he was to you these days. A friend. He knows the 'best' was only for old time's sake. For all intents and purposes, Bucky had taken that role from him. He couldn't even blame you for it, not in the slightest. You'd been more kind and generous than he deserved.

Even now, you were here talking to him, metaphorically reaching out to him again.

You always gave him so much more than he deserved.

Perhaps that's why he was so insistent and stubborn about the losers you dated. Deep down, he knows you deserve so much more than they could ever give you, so much more than he could ever give you.

“You’re my best friend too.”

“Can you just say that again on camera?” you joke, reaching for your phone. “I need to rub that in Bucky’s face.”

“Not a chance.”

“Come on, we should head to the table. They’ll be waiting for us.” 

He helps you with the round of drinks for the table, walking behind you as you walk towards a different man. He watches as you settle back next to your boyfriend. 

“Ahh… the famous Steve.” Your boyfriend reaches out to shake Steve’s hand. Steve already hates the man. He doesn't like the glaring smell of booze coming from his breath. The way he snakes an arm around you like he's staking a claim on you in front of Steve. “I gotta keep an eye on you.” 

“Excuse me?” Steve cocks an eyebrow, a tight grimace hardening on his face. 

Sam quickly chimes in with an awkward chuckle. “Just ignore Steve, he’s a little grumpy tonight.”

“Women troubles?” your boyfriend guesses. 

Steve does his very best to tamper his reaction. If only for your sake. He nods, graciously taking the life preserver that Sam threw his way. “Something like that.” 

“You can’t live with them, but you can’t live without them, am I right?” he jokes, tossing a heavy arm over your shoulder. 

It's clear to everyone at the table that your new boyfriend was more than a little far gone by that point. Bucky’s gaze finds yours, he quirks an eyebrow at you, silently asking you what the hell you were thinking. 

You shoot a glare at him while your boyfriend stares at Steve for another long moment. You turn to your boyfriend, smiling as you introduce your friends, “Anyway… this is Bucky, who lived down the street from me and Steve when we were kids. And this is Sam and his girlfriend, Natasha. Sam works with Steve at the VA.”

Your boyfriend tips his head at the group, “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“So how did you two meet?” Natasha asks. 

Before you can answer, he talks over you, “Mutual friend from work. I told him I wanted the most beautiful woman in the building, but she wasn’t available.”

A laugh bubbles out of his throat at his own joke at your expense. Even you find yourself at a loss for words, awkwardly chuckling at your boyfriend’s strange attempt at a joke. 

“Well,” Sam clears his throat, doing his best to remedy the increasingly awkward situation, “You, um, you two must be hitting it off pretty well if she’s introducing you to all of us at once.”

"I'd say so," your boyfriend snorts. “It’s an interesting group you’ve got here.” 

“Oh yeah,” Bucky agrees. “We’ve all known each other for years. I don’t know life without these idiots.” 

“Huh…” your boyfriend tsks. 

Your heart sinks as you realize what's about to start drunkenly pouring out of your boyfriend's mouth. You rest your hand on his chest, "Please don't start. Let's have a good time tonight."

He shakes off your hand, rolling his eyes. “No, it's fine! Come on, you said you're all friends, aren't you?” 

Bucky’s eyebrows furrow. “Yeah…”

He turns to Sam, “And you’re okay with that?”

Sam’s signature goofy grin falters for a moment. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Your boyfriend shrugs. “It’s just… weird.” 

You look at Steve, who remains stoically staring at your boyfriend with a look that could kill. Bucky’s gaze volleys to you, then to Steve, then back to you. “Why is that weird?”

“It’s just unnatural.”

Bucky bites back his sarcastic retort, shaking his head as he refuses to respond to that. Natasha pipes in, “Unnatural? Why is that ‘unnatural’?”

“Come on, babe,” he cajoles you. “Back me up here.”

The truth of the matter was that this night was supposed to assuage your boyfriend’s concerns about your friendship group. Mostly where Steve and Bucky were concerned. He simply couldn't fathom that your relationship was truly platonic. And while, that was only partially true where Steve was concerned, you weren't about to give him more reason to be jealous and petty.

And you never in your wildest dreams thought that he would bring it up in front of them.

You lean closer to him, your voice dropping, “Can we please talk about this in private?”

“Come on,” he scoffs, brushing you off. “I just think it’s a little weird for men and women to be as tight knit as you guys are.” 

“What the hell does that mean?” Steve sharply asks.

Other than just outright disagreeing with your new boyfriend's hot take, Steve can't help but wonder how could this guy not recognize that meeting your girlfriend's friends wasn't exactly an appropriate place for talking about gender roles and friendship dynamics?

Your eyes dart to Steve, silently imploring him to reel in his clear frustration. 

Your boyfriend tosses back yet another drink before leaning in and smirking at Steve. “Nothing, it’s just - how close are you guys really?” 

“Does the concept of friendship evade you or somethin’?” Steve bites back. "Or are you too drunk off your ass to think straight?"

“Whoa, whoa!" Your boyfriend raises his hand, feigning innocence. He condescendingly adds, "I’m just saying. I think it’s weird.”

“So if it bothers you, why the hell are you here tonight?” Steve snarls. 

“Steve,” you hiss. You lean over across the table, trying to implore him to behave, "That's enough." 

“I never said it bothered me." Your boyfriend settles back into his seat, finally removing his hands from you entirely. "I mean, maybe if I was more serious about her, it would bother me.”

Your eyes flicker to Steve with an apologetic expression. You take your boyfriend's hand, trying to pull him out of the booth. “He’s kidding.”

“Is he?” Steve challenges. 

Your boyfriend wrenches his hand out of your grip, only enraging Steve even further with his clear lack of consideration for you. 

“Oh please, like you haven’t thought about it?” His gaze volleys between Steve and Bucky. "Passing her around between the two of you?”

“Hey,” Bucky warns. 

Your cheeks flame, partially covering your face in embarrassment, “It’s fine, Bucky. He’s drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.” 

“I think I’m right on the money,” your boyfriend slurs. “I see how Stevie’s been looking at you. All night he’s been watching you.” 

“I’m warning you,” Steve rumbles. “Shut your mouth before I knock a few teeth out.”

“Steve!” you scold. “That’s enough!” 

Your boyfriend chuckles, tossing back the rest of your drink, “Don’t worry, when I’m done you can have my sloppy seconds.”

The moment the words leave your now ex-boyfriend’s mouth, Steve’s fist flies.

And just like he promised, it lands square in the face. You swear you can hear the impact with a sickening crunch of his nose. A shocked gasp flies out of your mouth as your boyfriend's hand clutches his nose.

He whines in pain, "You asshole!"

There's not much Steve can say or do as the bouncer reacts, hauling Steve out of the booth. Sam dashes over to the bar for a rag for your boyfriend's bloody nose. 

And in spite of your now ex-boyfriend's medical emergency, you storm after Steve. You throw the door to the bar open to find Steve taking deep breaths in the brisk, nighttime air. “What the hell, Steve?”

He stares out into the street like he also can't believe what he just did. “I’m - I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?" you repeat in disbelief. "What the hell were you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know? You just got into a pissing match with my boyfriend and you don’t know?” 

His hand rakes through his hair, “I’m drunk, alright? Things got out of hand.” 

“You aren’t drunk," you accuse. "And even if you were, it doesn’t justify you breaking someone’s nose!”

Steve whirls around with a harsh glare, “So you’ll excuse his actions, but not mine?” 

“I’m not excusing anything!" you shout back. "I was trying to de-escalate, but you seemed pretty hellbent on making things worse!” 

“I am not going to let anyone talk about you like that. Especially some sleazy, dickhead guy that doesn’t deserve you.” 

“You don’t get to tell me what I deserve!" You know you're fully yelling at this point, but you can't bring yourself to care. Your blood boils. "You don’t get to tell me that every guy I bring around is an asshole!”

"I know that!" he explodes. You freeze. He rakes his fingers through his hair. His chest heaves, his shoulders rising and falling like he can't breathe without you. "I know that. And it kills me! Can't you see that it's killing me?" 

You suck in a breath, your eyes blowing wide. "Steve..."

His eyes are pleading, “Doesn’t it feel like everything is just second best?”

"What?" 

"Nothing." He shakes his head repeatedly. "Like I said, I'm drunk." 

You know he's lying. That's clear to Steve. But when he looks at you, he sees those 3 months.

More specifically those three months after that ill fated night. It took you three months to even be in the same room as him, another month before you could even look him in the eye, and yet another month to even say more than a few words to him.

It took all that time and an intervention from Bucky to get even a whisper of you back in his life. 

He looks at you, and he sees the last two years. Two years without his best friend. He feels your absence all at once, hitting him like a ton of bricks. He recalls the feeling of you beneath his fingertips. He recalls the way his heart shattered just a little more every time you declined his calls, ignored his messages. 

His heart hammers against his ribcage with that realization.

Because when he looks at you, he sees the loss of his life.

A loss he's not sure he could bear. He's not strong enough. Not brave enough. So if this is all he can have, if all he gets are whispers of you, he'll take it. 

He'll do anything to keep you, even if it means he'll never get to have all of you. 

As you take a step forward, he takes two steps back. He shakes his head, "I'm sorry." 

And without another word, he leaves. 

Question...? Mini Series List Inspired By Taylor Swift Steve Rogers Masterlist

Taglist: @marianita195 @meli18gonzalez @ludicbouquetfromearth @matchat3a @famousbreadcherryblossomsstuff @valoraxx @blue786sworld @buckyandgeraltsupremacy @geminigengar @ansaturn @ecolle @lexhalstead3 @ybflkmj @mediocre-daydreams@shanye1112 @thegirlnextdoorssister @toomanyfanficsbruh @moonlightreader649 @breathtaking-cynthia @mirikusashes @beans-and-toast @niyahcoca @katiechikin @elxvrr @antiheroxsblog @infamouslyclumsy @krissydclayton93 @buckysbarne @deadheadwbedhead @qualitygiantshoepsychic @whitexwolfxx310 @getosprettyboy @matchat3a @weallhaveadestiny @mostlymarvelgirl @honeydew3064 @michealharrypotter @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 @withyoutilltheendoftheline @the-photo-hoe @rae-nna @sarachabeans1@double-shot-of-tequila @spookyparadisesheep @lunaalovesyouu @daisy-loves-bucky@roseproseposts @theoraekenslover@king814318 @maybesomedaytho @carlie-babes99 @sunshinechikin @as-white-as-snow-love @melala1030 @badasswlthafatass @armystay89 @multiversefanfics @cherrysscinema @breathlesspieceofdeath @ravenn-darkholme @bxckybxrnes24 @guiltyasreid @bellabarnes1378 @blithecapricorn @mrsnikstan

[lovemadethemdoit]

Hey!! A little prompt idea if you’re still doing them!

Jake shows up at Bradley’s door to apologize after the scene he caused in the briefing room. Bradley apologizes for breaking Jake’s heart years ago. And maybe there’s a hopeful ending?😁

Bradley’s just tapped out of Mav’s text telling them to meet at the beach the next day when his door bell rings. He freezes for a moment, frowns and listens.

He hopes it’s not Mav.

After his run-in with Hangman earlier, Bradley really doesn’t need another reason to lose his shit today. The day’s been long enough.

When a strong knock on his front door follows, he drops the phone on the couch and heaves himself up with a sigh.

He rips the door open and comes to face with eyes he knows well. It’s the last person he’d expect to be standing there, on his front step.

Hangman is clenching his jaw. He looks like it’s the last thing he expected to be doing, too.

“Hangman,” Bradley says when Jake doesn’t say anything.

That seems to do it. “Let’s cut this Hangman and Rooster bullshit for a moment, Bradley” he says, pushing his way inside.

“Well, come on in, Jake,” Rooster replies in the same attitude, already closing the door behind his visitor. He follows Jake to the living room. “What do you want?”

“Came here to say–” Jake swallows. “To say, that was a shit move. Bringing your dad into it.”

“Sure was.”

Jake nods once, like that’s done now. Bradley would roll his eyes if he didn’t understand the single threads Jake is made up of completely. "You gonna apologize?" he can‘t help but ask. He ticks up an eyebrow and crosses his arms, knowing how much Jake hates it.

Jake‘s jaw goes tight again, his eyes squinty. "Are you?"

Bradley frowns, ready to get angry again. He didn‘t do a damn thing wrong– but then he sees Jake lift his chin, and he knows what Jake is talking about.

They stare at each other and Bradley‘s breath catches when Jake‘s the first one to look away. Jake should never be the first to back down from him.

"I am sorry," Bradley says quietly, earnestly, waiting for Jake to meet his eyes again.

"For what?“

"You know what for–"

Jake groans, rolls his eyes to the ceiling as he interrupts him. "You always do this, Bradley." He throws up his hands, scoffs. "Never once did you–"

"For being a shitty boyfriend!" Bradley yells, because they never could let each other finish their sentences when they were fighting. "For breaking your heart," he adds, almost in a whisper.

But Jake‘s heard him. He‘s frozen in place, mouth open, like he can‘t believe Bradley actually said it.

"Why did you?" Jake asks, finding his words again.

Bradley shrugs. "I wasn’t ready. You deserved better."

Jake huffs out a laugh, shakes his head a little. "I was fine with what we had."

"Rose-colored glasses, babe." The nickname slips out. Bradley watches Jake‘s jaw tremble at that.

Jake shakes his head, looks around the room. His eyes find the picture Bradley‘s put up. The one he‘s been staring at for years, happy at the memory and regretful at the same time. It‘s not of them. No one would know its meaning, but Jake knows the view. It was one of their better days.

"What you said…“ Jake says, still looking at the framed photo. "That was in past tense."

"It was."

Jake closes his eyes. Bradley watches his chest expand, slowly, deliberately.

"When you‘re not dropping literal bombs, you have such shitty timing, Bradley," Jake sighs, frustrated, but his shoulder’s drop a little. „But…"

"But?"

"If we make it through this – and it‘s a big if, darlin' – I might…" He trails off. Bradley‘s heart sings, hearing the pet name fall off Jake‘s lips, realizing what Jake’s implying. Even in the midst of what he‘s referring to, his heart flutters with hope. "Yeah?"

Jake shrugs. "Just because you stopped loving me, doesn’t mean I ever did."

Bradley shakes his head, wonders how they got here. His breath just got punched out of his chest with Jake‘s casual way of offering up his doubt of Bradley‘s love for him. "It was never that, Jake," Bradley says vehemently, taking a step closer.

Jake mirrors him. Eyes him, like he‘s considering how much of a truth it is.

Bradley lets Jake watch him. Is thrilled that Jake‘s willing to.

"I‘m sorry," Jake says after a moment, almost absentmindedly. Then he blinks and straightens up. "For bringing up your dad."

Bradley nods. "Thank you for saying that."

"Well," Jake says after another pause of them just staring into each other’s eyes. "If you fly a little faster, we may just get to pick up that other thread of conversation.“

Bradley smiles slowly, hopefully. "I‘ll take that into consideration."

"You better." Jake takes another long look, before he slips past him, making his way to the door. Bradley considers reaching out for a moment, pulling Jake against his chest and tasting those lips that always seem to get him into trouble again.

But it‘s not the right time. They need their heads in the game, one-hundred percent.

He lets himself fall back down on the couch, his eyes drifting to their picture. "Promise you, sweetheart," he tells the quiet room.

He has a conversation to have.

After.

[rainbow-nerdss]

The Abby of it all

(figured I should get what I've got of this posted before tonight... Just in case 👀)

Buck shouldn't be upset about this. It's been years, the mention of Abby should not send him into a spiral. He's happy right now! He's in a good place, with Tommy, and with his life in general. The only thing missing is Chris, and… he's hopeful there, too.

But, he supposes, this wasn't just a mention of her.

They'd been having the exes talk, him and Tommy. Kind of intense, kind of emotional, but necessary and a little bit cathartic, too. It started when the news came on, Taylor's face filling the screen. Buck groaned.

"Ugh, can we change the channel?"

"What? You don't like news reports about corporate espionage?" Tommy asks.

"No, uh... We used to date." He nods at the screen, grimacing.

"Huh." Tommy squints for a moment, and hits the power button on the TV remote. "Gotta be awkward, seeing your ex on TV?"

"You have no idea." Buck starts talking about his first date with Natalia, then Taylor, and after a while Tommy picks up the thread, talking about the last guy he dated. They bounce back and forth, no particular direction to the conversation, until Buck realises something.

"You haven't mentioned... What about before? Did you ever, you know, date women before you came out?"

Tommy sucks his teeth for a second, then nods. "Yeah. I don't talk about that much—I'm not the proudest of it, but I actually had a pretty serious relationship with a woman while I was still with the 118."

"Really?" Buck asks, voice neutral while Tommy gathers his thoughts.

"Yeah. It was... Good, I thought. Until I met her brother, and thought: damn, he's hot."

Buck throws his head back and laughs. "You did not sleep with her brother!"

Tommy snorts a little. "No! God, no. He was happily married to a woman, had a kid on the way and all. Nah, it was just a moment of: shit, I really can't keep pretending this isn't a fact about me. You know?"

Buck nods. After a pause, he asks the question. "What did you do?"

Tommy sighs. "That's the part I'm not proud of—I didn't really do anything. I kept dating her. She was going through a lot—family stuff, her mom was sick, and I just... Didn't wanna do that to her."

Buck hums, tracing patterns over Tommy's arm while he stared into space, remembering. 

"How did it end?" Buck asks.

"Badly. She knew something was off, always so perceptive. She confronted me, and I just... I couldn't keep it in anymore. I told her. We ended it. She ended it.”

"Damn."

"Yeah. She's fine, though. After the initial hurt,  she rebounded with some hot young probie she met on a call, and now she's married with step-kids. We still send Christmas cards to each other." Tommy laughs. Buck… doesn’t.

"On a call?" Buck asks. "She was a firefighter?"

"Oh! No, not a firefighter. She worked at dispatch, actually."

Buck's entire body convulses, blood turning chilled. "Dispatch?" He asks. 

He runs back over everything Tommy said about her. He remembers a voice, frail and confused, calling him by the wrong name.

"You... You're Abby's Tommy," he realises. 

Tommy blinks in surprise. "How do you...? Oh. Oh.”

Buck takes a breath, long and shaky. Tommy's words reverberate in his head. Rebounded. 

Hot young probie.

Is that all he was to her?

"I… I didn't know I was a rebound," Buck admits, voice small. Tommy reaches for him, but he flinches away. "She... Abby was everything to me. She was the first person I ever let myself imagine a future with. Her leaving... it kind of... broke something in me, Tommy. Something that it took months—actually, years—to find again. And she never even..."

"Evan, I... I had no idea."

Another thought occurs to Buck, then. A darker, worse thought. He almost doesn't want to ask, but he knows he'll drive himself crazy with wondering if he doesn't.

"Did... You said you were with her while you were with the 118?" 

Tommy nods. "I was."

"Did you ever... Did she ever come by the station?"

Tommy squints, like he's trying to remember. "I don't know. I know she met Sal. Gerrard kept asking if she'd come cook for everyone, like a ‘good wife.’" He rolls his eyes. "I don't think she ever did, though."

"So she... She never met Chim, or-or Hen,or Bobby, then? They didn't—"

Tommy shakes his head. "I'm sure they would have told you if they'd known."

Buck swallows. He feels sick. 

Rebound.

The final straw hits a moment later. She told Tommy about him. She's told Tommy about her husband, her step-kids.

She couldn't even tell him what country she was in while they were dating. 

Buck stands abruptly.

"Are you okay?" Tommy asks.

"I need... I need to go."

Buck grabs his keys, puts his feet in his shoes, and walks out the door.

"Evan! Evan, come on! Let's talk about this?"

Buck's halfway to his jeep already, but he turns. "We will. I promise, we'll talk, but I just... I don't think I can talk about this yet. I'll... I'll call you, okay?"

And here he is now, in his jeep, driving without aim through LA. He doesn't know where to go. He doesn't want to be near Tommy right now, though he did nothing wrong, and he doesn't want to be alone.

He drives past Abby's—his—old building, and has to fight a scream which tries to tear itself out of his throat.

Who asks a rebound to move in with them? Had she actually used that word, or was Tommy just inferring?

He knows who he has to talk to. 

He hopes Tommy was wrong. He hopes Abby was genuine. Because if she wasn't, Buck's really not sure what he will do. His relationship with Abby set the bar he compared every other relationship to—how can he trust his instincts, if that was all a lie?

He fights for the memory of when Abby told him about Tommy—what had she said about him?

She didn't talk about him much, he thinks. She hadn't even mentioned the fact that he was a firefighter—Buck would have remembered that.

“He wasn't ready for all of this.” Buck hears the echo of her words, remembers interpreting it to mean her mom, her situation. He remembers worrying that he might not be ready for it, but really wanting to be.

Looking back, he absolutely hadn't been ready. 

Had that been her way of not outing Tommy? Had she been trying to cover up the real reason for their breakup? Or is it Tommy who's telling a twisted version of the story?

There's only one person who can give him an honest account of it all—one person who may not have been there for it all, but who knows the situation better than Buck.

Carla.

With Chris in Texas, though, Buck doesn't know where she's working, or what hours. He just hopes she answers his calls.

[brucebocchi]

Winter 2024 anime roundup, Pt. 1: Ongoing/returning shows and the trash heap

hey y'all, this is also up on my ko-fi! it's free to read both here and there, but i'm struggling financially rn so i could appreciate if you'd throw a few bucks my way if you liked it!

I wasn't expecting to watch nearly this much anime in just the past three months, but life completely failed at getting in the way. So here's everything I either watched or tried​ to watch for the Winter 2024 season, and a short review for each.

I'm not going to bother with trying to rank them, so instead they're sorted by category, as follows:

Continuing series from Fall 2023

Returning series

What I dropped

Mixed reactions

On hold

New series that are actually good

With this first entry, I'll be covering the first three, with the back half arriving in another couple of days. As with the 2023 rankings, the OP for each show is linked in the corresponding title.

Here we go.

Ongoing shows:

The Apothecary Diaries

Looking back at my 2023 rankings, I think my placement of The Apothecary Diaries’ first cour at #11 may have belied how much I love this show and believe it to truly be one of last year’s greats. If anything, it was hampered by its status as an ongoing show making it incomplete by nature, and I worried myself over the possibility of recency bias taking over my top ten (Frieren is in the same boat, so its top overall ranking should really highlight how damn good it is). Make no mistake, though: The Apothecary Diaries fucking rocks, and it continues to fucking rock. 

It’s largely more of the same, and that’s what you would want from another cour of this show. At the same time, though, more and more is uncovered about Maomao’s background and Jinshi’s status as the proverbial camera continues to pull back and the mysteries adorning the edges of the frame become clearer. I got a sense at the end of the Fall 2023 cour that the show was moving on from its episodic nature into something more serial and plot-driven, and I was mostly right: While several episodes of the Winter cour still revolve around various mysteries of the week, they all start to converge before you even realize it. It’s the same flywheel-effect approach to plot development that Kaguya-sama did so well: While so many of the events seem like one-off curiosities in the moment, these almost-imperceptible movements eventually barrel forward into an unexpected but perfectly logical momentum. The show teases out several plot threads that may not seem relevant at first, and it trusts you to be patient enough to see them play out.

I’m not at all exaggerating when I say that, along with the next entry on this list, The Apothecary Diaries is one of the best anime of the past five years. I had a feeling that this could end up being the case as 2023 came to a close, but I’m sure of it now. Watch this show.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Last year’s best anime continues apace into 2024 as we get an honest-to-goodness story arc: Frieren, who has been around too long to bother taking any magical governing bodies seriously, needs a certified mage in her party order to continue on the journey north. She decides to take the necessary exam to be certified as a First-Class Mage, a rarefied status in this world, and has Fern tag along to do the same in order to double their chances. 

And it’s still incredible! Great action, brilliant animation, wonderful character moments, and a beautiful score. It is still the top-rated anime ever on MyAnimeList, and by a significant margin. I’m not sure I agree, necessarily, but I can say with all sincerity that this has been a perfect season of television and my Fridays now feel empty without it. 

That’s all I’ve got on this one. What else do you want from me? I’ve already written nearly 2000 words about this show alone since it premiered. You’re asking me for more? I’ll kill you.

Shangri-La Frontier

If the low placement on my 2023 list was any indication, I was pretty fed up with Shangri-La Frontier by the end of its first cour, and the first couple episodes of 2024 being little more than plot set-up had me teetering on the edge of dropping it entirely. But I’ll be damned if it didn’t reel me back in once shit actually started happening and the plot really began to move forward.

Well, for a bit, at least. The height of the series so far has been the Wethermon arc, in which Sunraku teams up with his fellow shit-gamers, Pencilgon and Katzo, as they vie to be the first to take down a notoriously difficult unique boss. As the fight plays out, we get to see the feeling-out process of a tough action-RPG boss, rife with attack pattern memorization, skill timing, and buff stacking as the margin for error grows ever thinner. As always, the animation is on point, the soundtrack rules, and the action sequences are exhilarating.

But my major gripe with the series remains: There’s hardly any actual story here, even after 25 episodes. There are broad gestures towards a larger plot (“the truth of this world,” as the NPCs call it), but they are too vague to even resemble anything enticing. Everything in between the major fights is just set dressing, and there’s a lot of in between. There’s decent stuff in there, to be fair; the adorable rabbit NPCs are always a delight, and I love the commitment to depicting our top-level gamers as smug, preening shitheels. These are long walks for short drinks of water, though, and much of the main cast isn’t likable enough to make the downtime tolerable, to the point where watching the many set-up episodes feels like more of a grind than the actual grinding in the show. Even in the best fight sequences I still had moments where I found myself yelling “STOP TALKING ALREADY” at the screen. Internal monologues are a constant in battle shonen, I know, but if there’s any demographic whose internal monologues I want to hear the least, it’s gamers.

I kept watching this show despite myself, and six months later I’m still not sure how much I actually enjoy it. I haven’t seen any of the lousy VRMMO anime that people favorably compare it to, so at least it isn’t Sword Art Online. Yay, I guess? Yet here I am, still plugging away at a show I can’t strongly recommend to a lot of people. Shangri-La Frontier has turned me into a Steam reviewer.

Undead Unluck

The stakes continue to rise exponentially in one of last year’s more underrated shonen hits (or it would’ve been a hit if Disney gave a fuck about marketing the anime on its own platforms). The Union neutralizes a threat, gains a new Roundtable member, and then shit hits the fan.

The scope of this series goes into absolutely buckwild directions, and all I will say is that “Kimi no Todoke predicting the future” was not a piece of worldbuilding I would have ever expected. But at the same time, it never loses focus on the human element, which only gets more poignant as it goes on. There’s a really beautiful message in the last arc about how people can live on through the memories of others, well past their bodies dying, which hits nice and hard considering this season aired at the same time as Frieren.

This is a show that I tended to watch sporadically (because I just plain forget to open Hulu just to watch one show every week), and I would say that it was the ideal way to watch it, except the pacing issues from the first cour only got worse during a monumentally consequential sequence in the middle of the second. There was an episode that had, I shit you not, 90 seconds of new content in the first seven minutes of runtime, and at the exact point in the series where you’re salivating for something, anything new. In a season where so much goes on in just 24 episodes, I’m baffled that they felt the need to pad the runtime so much.

That’s the worst of it, though, and the momentum fortunately builds up from there and barrels downhill until the end. The story becomes incredibly meta, which was a very ballsy move for a Shonen Jump series that was still relatively early into its run. The gamble pays off, though, and the debut season ends on several incredibly strong episodes, and now I want more. I’ll be hopping on the manga soon.

It also struck me towards the end of the season just how goddamn cute everyone looks. For all of the spraying blood and grim marching towards Armageddon, it says a lot that I still wanna pinch everyone’s fat little cheeks.

Returning shows:

The Dangers in My Heart, season 2

The first season was absent in my 2023 rankings but I decided to pick it up while the second was still airing, and I’m so glad I did: The Dangers in My Heart is an almost-too-precious middle school romance that is endlessly endearing and bluntly honest (if a little exploitative) about what middle schoolers are actually like, warts and all. Insecurities are amplified, they struggle to figure out their identities, and mental and physical development run on different schedules from one kid to the next. And amidst all this raging hormonal nonsense, we have ourselves a lovely little romance story.

Kyotaro has (mostly) kicked his chuuni tendencies and realized that he’s madly in love with the beautiful, cheery Anna. He’s as aware as anyone of what a mismatched couple they’d be, though, and continues to self-sabotage any progress in the name of maintaining her good social standing. To pile onto his loner’s perspective of middle school politics, Kyotaro also gets a front-row seat to Anna’s part-time work as a model-slash-actress and he wonders if an underdeveloped shrimp like him should be seen anywhere near someone so obviously more mature. At the same time, though, he’s a growing boy, and we see lovely moments of progress as Kyotaro takes initiative both for her sake and to achieve what he wants. To both ameliorate and complicate these situations, Anna reciprocates his feelings towards her, and we creep ever closer towards what we want to see, in increasingly awkward and precious fashion.

So much of this anime is just gorgeous. Even setting aside the visuals and music (which are on point at all times), there are really lovely themes in here about insecurity, teenage perceptions of maturity, and self acceptance. On top of all of that, though, this is just a delightful slice-of-life romance story. You can probably guess where we’ve ended up by the end of the second season, but it’s the getting there that makes it all worth it. The manga is still running (and I plan to pick it up), so there’s clearly plenty more of the story to tell, but if this is where the anime ends, it ended perfectly.

Holy shit, though, did the first season really air at the same time as Skip and Loafer and Insomniacs After School? Dentists must have made a mint that season because every single one of these shows is so unrelentingly sweet that my teeth start to itch. Not that I’m complaining.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, season 2

I honestly think I might’ve been too hard on Mashle in my 2023 rankings. I gave up on it a few episodes in when it’d initially aired, but I eventually came back to finish out the season and ended up having a pretty good time. I’ll cop to having forgotten that latter part when I mapped out those rankings, but that enjoyment quickly came back to me when I picked up season 2... even if the season begins with a ton of table setting.

Plenty of battle shonen take time to find their voice, both in manga and anime, and Mashle really seemed to hit its stride fairly quickly into the second season. Mash Burnedead’s lack of magical quality is no longer a secret, and now magical society has to find a way to deal with it, so the series’ initial stakes are raised and Mash HAS to become a top-level sorcerer lest he lose his life. Also, the bad guys are back. Unfortunately, just as I started to genuinely appreciate the ensemble cast, most of Mash’s friends took a backseat to the larger plot (Lemon is nowhere to be seen almost all season) as the villains raise the stakes with increasingly JoJo-esque magic abilities. There’s still plenty to like, though, and some of the new characters help. Props for having an openly nonbinary character play a major role.

The music is a real highlight here; a surprising amount of hip-hop paints the backdrops during dialogue, and any show with an OP by Creepy Nuts will immediately grab my attention. "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" actually turned into a bona fide hit single, much like Oshi no Ko's "Idol" and Jujutsu Kaisen's "SPECIALZ," and I'd say it's well earned (seriously, it fucks, please click the link above). The animation has also started to really pick up where it felt like it kept falling short in the first season as well, and I found myself looking forward to action sequences more as the season went on.

And hey, it might’ve taken 21 episodes to get there, but I finally laughed at a cream puff gag!

Urusei Yatsura (2022), season 2

I really don’t have much to say other than it’s more Urusei Yatsura, and that’s just swell. We continue the modern adaptation of the classic gag manga as the OG anime babe and her piece-of-shit “darling” get caught up in yet more bizarre hijinks. Despite the 48-episode run being touted as an “Urusei Yatsura all-stars” cherry-pick from Rumiko Takahashi’s 34-volume opus, not all of the segments hit on the same level, but the stories that last entire or even multiple episodes have been killer. Lum and Ataru, despite their myriad flaws, genuinely do care for one another, and this series is at its best when those feelings get to shine through. Takahashi remains a legend for her expert balancing of comedy and heart, and while this particular adaptation doesn’t have the built-in benefit of 300+ chapters of familiarity, those moments still feel earned.

It’s Urusei Yatsura. It’s a classic for a reason. Watch it.

Dropped:

Gushing Over Magical Girls (dropped after one episode)

For the TL;DR version, consult the image above.

All I’d heard about this show going in was that the manga it’s based on was good and that there would be boobs. I wish I’d known more than that before watching, though, because if I’d known that said boobs would belong to middle schoolers, I wouldn’t have bothered with even the one episode I did end up watching.

I was drawn in by the initial premise, too: The protagonist, the conspicuously-named Utena (who looks enough like Bernadetta from Fire Emblem that I was immediately endeared to her), is an enormous fan of the magical girls who keep her city safe, so when an adorable maho shoujo mascot approaches her with an offer, she immediately takes him up on it. As her sinister-looking (and unnecessarily revealing) costume suggests, though, Utena doesn’t get to live out her magical girl dreams; she actually got roped into—and blackmailed into keeping—a role as a villainess. The magical girl team she idolizes quickly finds her, and to stave off their assault, Utena is forced to summon a monster to bind them. As they continue to struggle and squeal, Utena goes further with it by ripping their clothes and spanking their bare bottoms red, because it turns out that she’s actually into this stuff, sexually. The title, it turns out, is a double entendre.

Credit where it’s due for a clever concept: On paper, this is really goddamn funny! My issue is with the execution: I don’t really care to see someone’s sexual awakening if it involves repeated violations of consent, and much less so if I have to see nudity of ostensible middle schoolers (Japanese middle schools are the equivalent of seventh through ninth grade, meaning these girls are 15 at most). After 100 Girlfriends, I thought I could handle whatever trashy bullshit any anime could throw my way, but the longer I chewed on Gushing’s premiere, the worse it sat with me. I have no intentions of playing morality police here, but I can’t bring myself to watch any more of this than I already have. 

Early teenage sexuality is a very difficult subject matter to handle delicately, especially in a comedy milieu, and I can levy plenty of criticisms on that matter towards series I otherwise enjoyed, like Call of the Night and the aforementioned Dangers in My Heart. And although there appear to be some coming-of-age elements here, Gushing doesn’t seem interested in handling it without being exploitative. Maybe it gets better, but I don’t plan to find out for myself. 

I just feel like it’s a shame that in a season with some actual halfway decent LGBT representation, the breakout yuri hit is about middle schoolers performing dubiously-consensual BDSM on each other. And maybe that speaks to something for some sapphic viewers, and I have no intention of speaking over them, but I do know that this isn’t for me. I would’ve gone fucking feral over this show when I was like 13, but I haven’t been a 13-year-old boy for a long, long time. 

I may not have a leg to stand on here as someone who watches Mushoku Tensei (and frankly, that one’s on strike two with me), but I have to put my foot down somewhere. For me, that “somewhere” is borderline pornography involving 13-15 year olds. I try to meet media where it is, even the squicky stuff, but I cannot put myself at the level Gushing Over Magical Girls sets for itself. 

Sasaki and Peeps (dropped after eight episodes)

This show is frustrating to even process postmortem. After a mildly intriguing hour-long premiere that introduced a whole lot of concurrent concepts, Sasaki and Peeps somehow managed to not only continue heaping new ideas onto the pile, but also fumble every single one of them in a way that wasn’t even entertaining to watch.

Sasaki, a lonely 40-something salaryman of modest means, decides that instead of living vicariously through adorable animal photos on social media, he should pull the trigger and get a pet of his own. He settles on a reasonably-priced and suitably adorable fat little Java sparrow, who as it turns out speaks human language and is actually named Piercarlo the Starsage (Sasaki settles on calling him Pii-chan, or Peeps in English). The bird was reincarnated from another world, where he is able to take Sasaki at will, and the man realizes he can use the other world’s relative dearth of technology to his advantage and sets up an interdimensional trade full time so he can make coin on his own watch and help Peeps try the delicious beef he heard is the best food in Sasaki’s world. To the latter end, he also invests in a restaurant. Peeps also helps teach him magic, which Sasaki is forced to use in a pinch in the real world. He is quickly found out and gets roped into a secret government bureau of psychics, because the agent who caught him using ice magic decides he’d be a perfect complement to her water powers (think Kanne and Lawine from Frieren, but stupider). Sasaki now has to balance these multiple lives, which hardly ever interact with one another, as the stakes rise in Peeps’ world in the form of palace intrigue and in Sasaki’s world in the form of a growing threat of evil psychics or something. Also, there’s magical girls, because why the fuck not at this point.

If you actually managed to process all that and went “wow, that’s a lot, I wonder how they can tie all that together,” it brings me no pleasure to report that Sasaki and Peeps completely fails at that task. This is a work of fiction with entirely too many ideas, to the point where it feels like it has no ideas. There’s a saying in football that a team with two quarterbacks is a team with no quarterback, and Sasaki and Peeps has, like, six on its depth chart. You ever hear a band that managed to cram multiple genres in the same song and you get whiplash every time it switches up? Those are bands with a lot of influences, but no identity or vision to call their own, and that is Sasaki and Peeps to me: It is the Twenty One Pilots of anime. A lot of shit got thrown at the wall, and none of it stuck: This show, conceptually, is shit-stained drywall with a pile of turds adorning the moulding. 

For a show about a 40-year-old man, it gave me serious pause that there was not a single named adult woman in any of the episodes I watched, and I grew even more frustrated waiting for one to show up. Sasaki’s partner, Hoshizaki, seems to be a driven, professional young woman, but it turns out she’s a 16 year old high school student, for some reason. The daughter of the viscount doing business with Sasaki is a young girl who likes to tag along with him, and Sasaki’s neighbor is a latchkey high school girl who may or may not have a yandere-ish fixation on him. The magical girl we meet is also definitely a kid. The female psychics they face off against don’t appear to be older than teenagers, though the one who appears to grow fond of him turns out to be several hundred years old, which especially gave me pause because we all know that unfortunate trope and the type of person who hides behind it. Before progressing any further, I found out that the light novel series upon which this show is based was written by someone with the pen name “Buncololi,” which told me the rest of what I needed to know.

That part made me increasingly uncomfortable, and I became less and less convinced that this show was capable of sticking the landing as it continued to pile on new, contrived ideas. This was a waste of an excellent voice cast, but more than that, a waste of time.

Tales of Wedding Rings (dropped after nine episodes)

I can’t believe how much goddamn isekai I ended up watching this season. That Tales of Wedding Rings wasn’t the worst one (see above) was a minor miracle, because boy howdy was this one a dud.

Satou is just a normal high school boy, blah blah blah, his childhood friend he’s in love with is actually a princess from another world and she has to go back to fulfill a political marriage, he follows her into the portal to pull a Benjamin Braddock. But then, gasp, the palace is under attack, so the princess (her native name is Krystal, but growing up in Japan she was known as Hime, which means… princess) instead decides to marry Satou, bestowing upon him her kingdom’s ring, which gives him powers that he uses to fight back the demons. It turns out that her ring enables him to use one elemental affinity out of five, so of course now Satou has to collect the rings held by the other four kingdoms in order to become the Ring King and save the world, and to do so he has to also marry each corresponding princess.

This is basically Tolkien’s Rings of Power but as a harem isekai with bonus nudity. What I saw of the season was basically a MacGuffin hunt that had waifus of various fantasy races attached. Fine character designs for each, to be fair, but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested.  It’s funny on paper that (to paraphrase Geoff Thew) our protagonist’s power level scales with the size of his harem, but Tales didn’t do enough to make me actually care what was happening. And I wanted to! There were elf titties and I didn’t care. That’s criminal.

What makes Tales especially difficult to watch is that this show is fuck ugly. The color palette is muddy and unappealing, everyone looks uncannily shiny, and there’s a smudgy Vaseline filter over everything. The action sequences are uninspiring, the animation is lousy, and every character looks terribly off-model unless they’re naked. Watch the OP I linked if you don't believe me; that's the best of it. The aural element isn’t much better; ecchi scenes are punctuated by a Cinemax-caliber smooth jazz score that I pray was chosen ironically, and most of the show’s humor consists of “an old guy is screeching.” And if you’re wasting Shigeru Chiba’s talents on that one lousy joke, you’ve fucked up catastrophically.

What completely pushed me out of wanting to see any more of this show, though, was how hard it doubled down on the worst elements of harem anime by having Protag-kun be a wishy-washy little ninny even though he’s openly declared his love for and is literally married to Hime/Krystal. And I wanted to care about her; the narrative made me want to care about her, and her jealousy of the other princesses is warranted, but alas, the harem demands bodies. To his credit, Satou recognizes her mixed emotions and makes extra time for her to make it clear that she’s forever number one in his heart, but every single time their shared romance and emotions actually push them towards consummating their (all caps for emphasis) MARRIAGE, the show goes Rent-a-Girlfriend on us and finds a cheap excuse to ruin the moment. No thanks, I’m out. Nothing else about this show is good enough to make me wade through that shit.

Honestly, the only thing that had me coming back after my Persona 3-induced hiatus was that I wanted to see the dragon girl, and that alone was almost worth it, but there really isn’t much of a draw otherwise. There were better isekai, better romances, better fantasy settings, and even better uncensored harem shenanigans this season. I might pick this back up as the second season approaches, but I’m not in any hurry.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - New & Old Tropes Galore

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized sorta by favs in each category.

Sept 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 7 of 12 - occasionally I forget that Yai is like 20 and this is his first love affaire. That poem bit gave me very Goethe vibes. Lots of doomed lesbians in this ep. Doomed love in general. Frankly? I was hoping for more oil less sad. Also, these two are making some v stupid mistakes. Also: MORE boys dancing.

Finally... who was it wanted a rain kiss? You got your rain kissing here, okay? No umbrellas to be had, apparently.

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 7 of 12 - I love them so much. They are so darn adorable. I like how forthright Kang is. Boy has no game and is such a dork but at least he's enthusiastic. I love the “my boyfriend smells good” trope that BL is into these days. I’m into it, too. The bff enemies drunken bathroom shenanigans was v funny. Also @heretherebedork your boys are couple dancing all over the damn place this week.

I guess we get the boyfriends ep next week?

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 12fin - The conflict really kind of wasn’t in this last ep. But I guess it was a fine, if not a particularly strong, ending. I wish we’d had the family conflict threaded throughout the series. It would have felt like a deeper more honest drama and the actors could have handled it. They’re ready. How pretty were Joong’s single picturesque crystal tears? Honestly, it's been lovely, boys. Not at all memorable, but lovely.

Quick pitch Hidden Agenda: 

A relatively simple and harmless old-fashioned style university Thai BL, that started out Cyrano de Bergerac style but then drifted away into forgetfulness. It felt like it could have fit into the En of Love universe, except that it was high quality GMMTV with very pretty makeup. I enjoyed it for what it was, it's just that wasn’t much. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 5 of 8 - Am I mostly watching this for Est and annoyed he doesn’t have a pair? Yes. (Am I writing a whole revenge plot in my head: "seduced to the good side by my enemy's hot bodyguard" with him and the Tem character? Yes. Yes I am. But that’s way too KinnPorsche for this show.) That said, MaxNat really are a great pair. Nice that Dio is figuring out how evil his own family is. Weirdly, I kind of like this speculation that if gay marriage were legal rich families would use it for arranged-marriage power plays. Can you imagine what China would do with this concept if they had access to it? 

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 8 - The morning after was sweet, I do like it when we get these scenes in BL. FYI no one misgendered Bojji except the caption writer. The screaming "discovery" scene was adorable. And I am very much falling in love with all of the side characters. I also love how aggressive Yang is, like he stepped out of a 2016 Chinese BL into Thailand. And I adore the main brother relationship.

I have to say, this is going to be a difficult BL for me to review. I didn’t like the first 4 episodes but it seems like I’m going to love the final 3. I’m actually really looking forward to the finale next week. Boy, do I feel strange about this. In other news, is it just me or is it weird to get a gay kiss from Ngern almost 10 years later? How late is too late for smooching a boy? 

Never too late...

Absolute Zero (Thai Weds iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally brings us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance based on the novel of the same name. I think we can expect this to be sad (so it will likely slide down my list as I become more confident about this). Mix is a great actor, so I’m not worried about that aspect, but I am warning you this won’t be your classic fluffy Thai BL. It’s a bit slow moving for me so far. Meanwhile, a revelation:

Thai high school BL is all about the hands. I blame Love Sick.

FYI the outdoor movie they watch is Love of Siam Thailand’s first real queer movie, also featured in My Only 12%.

I'm in trouble, Ongsa is such a sunshine cutie and Sansoon is so lost and sad. Pretty sure I won’t have the patience for 12 episodes of this, but I’ll stick with it for now because a pair like this is yaoi-induced catnip for me.

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 8 of 10 - Ah, Ray, baby, you can’t get what you want if you want the wrong thing. Also, corruption charges much? Is Ray turning into Ton or is that just me? I still hold that Jenny’s is the only story I actually wanted. Although, I did enjoy the two bi boys bonding over Freddie. GMMTV sure is making good use of Title now that they got him away from Wabi Sabi and I’m NOT mad about it (4 shows & counting). Under ordinary circumstances, I probably would have dropped this show by now. But something keeps dragging me back.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Right Time Right You ep 6 - This couplet ended up feeling like an amateurish short. It was interesting in that way shorts can sometimes push into unusual territory, but very slow. My favorite so far, but that’s not saying much since we've only had 3. Kinda amorphous ending. 5/10 watch it if you have nothing better to do. Next week's looks pretty but silly: You Are My Soulmate.

Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 5 of 10 eps - I don’t understand the bit with the girl, car & eyebrows. Was that all just ad copy? This show is so bad I’m mostly fast forwarding now. I mean the leads are cute and earnest but that’s it. NO SINGING! And... nothing happened this ep. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 7-8 of 13(?) - Buckle up I got A LOT to say. Ep 7 was the boyfriends ep! Look there’s a a lot of problematic going on here by western standards: age gap (FYI age of consent in Taiwan is 16) + teacher+student, but if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you should know that Taiwan likes both high heat and taboo content (and so do I) plus (unlike Mame) they just lean lube into those kinks. And I, for one, am delighted. I talk about taboo in terms of age gap here and stepbrothers here. I’ve never done teacher/ student because we don’t get it often enough (insert sad face). These are not things that I’m going to complain about or rehash, so, moving on...

I found a lot to love about ep 7: tie grabs, smiley kisses, communication, being held down, younger aggressor, AND preliminary research= all good things. They even brought in morning aftercare, and shared trauma! I love a show that’s both unexpected yet entirely classic Taiwanese BL. I love that the family appeared as a plot device and then disappeared again. It’s all highly amusing.

Gaga dropped ep 8 a week early, I’m assuming this was a mistake since they skip next week. But hey! 

Ep 8: def uhaul lesbians. Also cute queer fam moment. Ring finger biting = v hawt. Then of course it all goes south. Tres romantic means of taking the rap, gotta say. No one does gay sappy quite like Taiwan. Also, now we know why he loses his memory and Ai Di has to go in after him. Honestly, I’m not pleased to see yet another amnesia trope raise its ugly… head (why so many this year?). But it seems to be this year's trend. 

And I know there is more trauma coming, but in classic Taiwan fashion it’s all gonna be fine in the end even if that HEA is chaotic and entirely unearned. Don't worry, all. We good.

You Are Mine (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 4 of 10 - Oh noes, sunshine has a cold. And not from the rain... just, like, a normal cold. Amazing. But then when baby gets kidnapped, daddy gets v mad. Honestly, I am charmed by the show. It is very old-fashioned "domineering CEO puts little lady up against the wall" and it’s Taiwan, and thus I am not mad about it. This is what we would be getting from Mainland China if China we’re still making pulp BL. I am disposed to simply enjoy the utter "80s bodice ripper but gay"-ness of it all.

Bon Appetit (Korea Weds iQIYI) 1-2 of 8 - from 2022. If you have premium icky VIP you can binge it all now. I don’t, so instead I’m watching it 2 new episodes every Weds. Struggling heartbroken loser-ish office worker who lives off junk food + sunshine neighbor who loves to cook (from his past with a long-held crush). Also there is a "love class" element. Why does Korea like this conceit so much? Do their universities really engage in socialization training? Gotta say I’m getting whiffs of stalker... but only whiffs. Basically, this show is going poster child “way to a man’s heart is through his stomach“. Bit too much flashback, but I like that our chef is open about liking a boy, and I like that they remember things differently and in alignment with their own egos. And I like that we got a confession already. Ah KBL, it is nice to watch something that MUST move plot quickly. 

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 6 of 8 - Jealous weatherman is ridiculous. Japan = queen of “why don’t you guys just talk?” 

Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 2 - Ba Vinh & Minh Thao reprising their roles as Dung & Khoa what do we think? 8 eps? 10? We got the stepbrothers (or whatever they are) backstory. Also My Prettiest Cat-boy does certifiable nutcake v well. Psychopath looks hot on him.  

It's Airing But...

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - The sound. No. DNF 

I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan Tues Netflix-Japan & ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be.

Unfortunately I Cannot Reach You, in classic JBL fashion, could not be reached. 

In case you missed it?

Viki dropped Our Dating Sim the movie. I didn’t notice any extra footage and they took out all the in game/high school flashback stingers. At first, I didn’t really miss them but by the end of the movie I really did. So this is going to be one of those rare KBL instances where I recommend sticking to the original series over the repackaged movie.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming October BL

10/1 Can I Buy Your Love From A Vending Machine? AKA Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? (Japan cinema release in-country only) - This one is a movie from Japan so in customary fashion who tf knows when (or if) it will get international distribution. Salaryman Ayumu Koiwai just can't tear his eyes away from the strong, muscular man as he checks on the stocks of the vending machine in his office.

10/5 If It’s With You AKA Even If I Fall In Love With You AKA Kimi to nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo’ (Japan Gaga) - from MBS a live action adaptation of Kubota Maru’s manga ‘君となら恋をしてみても. Amane has stopped loving people due to trauma until he meets Ryuji. At first Amane just wants to play with Ryuji but… feelings. I am assuming 8 eps and rumored to be taking Weatherman's spot so that date is likely wrong.

10/6 What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 4th installment in this series (1st series, 1 special, 1 movie prior) about a lawyer who lives with his boyfriend, a hairdresser, and cooks for him. Season 2 will follow the couple as they enter their 50’s. Slice-of-life drama adapted from a beloved manga series of the same name.

10/6 My Beautiful Man: Eternal AKA Utsukushii Kare Eternal (Japan movie Viki & Gaga) - This is the 3rd and final installment the series. The 2nd season didn’t blow me away the way the 1st did, but I still liked it. I'm looking forward to the finale. I hope we get character growth for a change.

10/31 SHADOW (Thai VIU ????) - this is a horror BL featuring ghosts and other paranormal elements in a high school setting. I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all, but if it must be done in BL let Japan do it). It features Singto (who did paranormal BL He's Coming to Me) opposite Fluke N (who's done a couple horror's before). Also Fiat. Dan suffers from sleep paralysis, and in his dreams he sees a shadow that suffocates him. It gets worse when he transfers schools.

October? Bump Up Project AKA Bump Up Business (Korea ????) - BL staring OnlyOneOf that released(??) as a movie in July but is now being recut and reissued as a series. Stars NineMill and from Idol Romance bulled as a love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency (based on a webtoon). OnlyOneOf have been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV work in this post. Idol Romance will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You) but I don't think we will get any in this. After that OmegaX Shoulder bullshizz buisness I am very wary of this show.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

There was a ton of truly great stuff in this week's Kiseki, but this was hands down my favorite. (Pun intended.)

Oh and the neck kisses of course.

I LOVE HIM your honor.

GMMTV's ongoing love affair with the scent trope.

Calling out out new couple's dance trope. (Both Dangerous Romance)

(Last week) 

[fieldofdaisiies]

Azriel x Reader | Gone for Too Long

type: angst warning(s): mature language, verbal fighting word count: 2.2k words

request: Hey can you write a fix where the reader is basically tired of loving az from far away cuz he is always off on missions? Like one day he comes home from a mission when she didn't expect it and she gives him dinner and he says smth like why don't you cook anymore and she says i do ur just never here to taste it. She is tired of seeing him only 60 out of 365 days a year and those 60 days she has with him is spent in sharing him with the inner circle and now she is just tired? Make it like really really angsty. THANK YOU SO MUCH <3

- all rights reserved -

The glass splinters when it hits the bottom of the empty sink. It slipped out of your hand just like the thread of hope to repair this relationship you still have been holding onto.

Scarred hands touch your shoulders a moment later. Azriel is behind you, holding your trembling figure. “I am sorry. It was just a question,” he breathes and it is the last push you need. The last straw that breaks the camel’s back. 

Tears fill your eyes, your throat burning with a scream. Your heartbeat increases, the organ starting to rapidly beat against your ribcage. “Do you really think this is all about this stupid question? Honestly, if you were here in the past weeks–months actually– you would have known how often I cooked dinner. But your were never here. Not once. Not even when you promised,” you spit, cringing at the loud volume of your voice. 

A shudder courses through the body of the shadowsinger behind you, his hands shaking slightly on your shoulders. His body goes rigid, his demeanour icy cold when awareness dawns on him. And gods, he really hasn’t been here a lot lately. 

Just too much is going on. With Koschei. With the upcoming war. Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, needs him at every chance possibly. Azriel, the loyal and eager spymaster he is, obviously agrees to every mission Rhysand sent him on in the past months–the past year. Azriel has thought about what it means to leave you behind, of course, but being so wrapped up in his work and the stress it brought along he hasn’t noticed what it really did to you. 

He hears your silent sob and it breaks his heart. Carefully curling his scarred fingers around your shoulder’s Azriel turns you to him, your teary gaze only meeting his briefly. 

You trembling lips part and Azriel prepares himself for another reprimand for not being here, maybe even a small angry insult. But what he is not at all prepared for is what really leaves your mouth. Those words, those words that cut so damn deep, that crack his heart open and that will decide over a future together or —the Gods forbid– forever apart. 

"I cannot do this anymore…"

Azriel’s lower lip trembles, his head slowly starting shake. His fingers curl tighter around your shoulders, like he is holding on for dear life. Like he is holding onto you for dear life, never wanting to let you go, not wanting you to continue with what you started. Still he asks the questions. He needs to hear the answer from you. 

"What?" he questions, voice barely above a whisper. The shadows calm around him, ascending their owner, smoothing around him. Dim clouds appear in Azriel’s empty eyes, his normally so tanned skin looking paler all of a sudden.

"I cannot love a person who is never here.”

Azriel’s thumb brushes your collar bone, but you don’t want this. You don’t want him to touch you in this moment. You feel like you’re being suffocated, having swallowed the pain and the anger for so long. Now it threatens to drown you in it. You carefully yet sternly move his hand away and take a step back, not moving to far as the counter behind you stops you. 

“Y/N,” Azriel mumbles, his voice almost pleading.

“I didn’t mean to upset you. I can talk to Rhys. I can—“

“It is too damn late for that. And you did not…you did not upset me. You disappointed me. You made me angry. When is the last time we have actually spent time together. Like really?”

“Two weeks ago when I returned—“ “We fucked, Azriel. That is it. You fucked me and then you slept. The next morning we had to be up early to have breakfast with your family and you left again.”

You wording has been too crude and vulgar. You didn’t want to use such wording, you didn’t want you say that to him.

You cringe when you watch Azriel flinch, stumbling backwards slightly. Azriel has never ever stumbled, he has always looked stern, calm, in full control of his body. That has changed now. He looks shaken, caught in horror and stupor. 

“It is never just fucking when we…when we make love.”

You swallow the lump in your throat, biting down on your lip before your force yourself to lift your gaze to meet his. “I know. I am sorry for my wording. But it still does not change how is has been that night. We haven’t gone out for dinner in ages. Last Solstice, you got me tickets for the theater and we still haven’t been there. We haven’t even been on walk together in months. Nothing. When we spend time together it is mostly woth your family. I am so tired of this.”

Brushing the back of your hand over your cheek, you wipe away some of the dampness. It is useless anyways as more and more tears start to roll out of your eyes. “I just cannot be with someone who is never here. It breaks my heart. It breaks me, Azriel.”

A croaky, hoarse sound leaves the shadowsinger and he takes a step forward. 

“You cannot do this to us,” Azriel argues, body trembling when awareness fills every fiber of his body. He has messed up. He is about to lose the one person that matters most to him. Nothing would ever make up for that. Nothing would ever repair his heart if that should be the case. 

“Us?!” you exclaim, throwing your hands up in despair. Azriel tries to reach for you, tries to grab your hands. But you lean back, shaking your head. 

“It once used to be us. But I don’t feel like us is no longer. It is me, always me. Always just me. I am always just by myself…”

You wipe a finger under your nose, gathering the salty tears. Sniffing, you clamp your mouth shut, trying to reach for a tissue on the counter. Azriel hands it to you, his is your mate after all and has a seventh sense to know what you need. Apperently, he hasn’t had that in the past months…

“I am so sorry. If I had—“

You hold up a hand, fury burning in your veins. Your lips purse when you met his stare, glaring. “Don’t you continue that. If you had known? Really? Were you so oblivious and blind to not see what it did to me?”

Bile creeps up your throat, a cold shiver running down your spine.

Azriel is your mate, but does he really know you so little. You start questioning the bond, you start questioning your decision, how much of yourself you have given him. It burns your heart, your soul aching. The bond all of a sudden is dim, no longer brightly glowing. It has stopped glowing months ago, the flame of desire was blown out at the same time. There is nothing left but this dull, cool feeling of indifference.

Do you still love him? Or have you just been holding onto love? 

Is there a chance that the bond could start glowing again? Is there a chance to revive the love between the two of you? Some mates are not made for each other for a lifetime. You have spent a great amount of time together, maybe it was just about to end? Maybe it was never how it should be. 

Azriel and being mates with him has shaped your life immensely, has helped you grow and find happiness. But maybe this is all about to come to an end. You maybe have to move on. Grow on your own. Find happiness on your own.

“You are right.” Azriel’s fetches you back to the moment in the kitchen. You leave your thoughts and curl your arms around your body. It is so cold all of a sudden, so empty of life, of happiness. 

“I—“ “Yes. It is my fault. Yes, I should have seen it. Yes, I should have been there. Yes, I should not have asked this idiotic questions. But please, you cannot put an end to this.”

Tears stream down the spymaster’s face when shadows gather behind his shoulders. His large wings hang lifelessly behind his back, dragging over the floor. Not once has he ever done that in his life. For an Illyrian their wings are holy. He has always cared about them. Until now. Now he cares about nothing but you. Only you. As it should have been those past months. You should have been his priority always. Why the hell was he so stupid? Azriel asks himself. 

“But I cannot continue likes this.” You blow your nose and then tab the tissue under your eyes. “I cannot be with you when you are never here. I wanted a bond with you because I wanted to be with you. And I understand that you work a lot and that you cannot be here always. But I cannot love someone who is never here.”

Azriel swallows a shuddering sob, his knees wobbly and then…

Then his legs give in. His whole body weight comes crashing down when he falls to his knees in front of you, big, scarred hands braced on the ground right next to your feet.

And gods, your heart cracks open fully. Azriel, he…he looks like a fallen warrior. “Az,” you breathe when you slowly lower yourself to the ground as well.

You carefully, gently place your palms on his cheek, making him look at you. “Az…” “I am sorry. I apologise a million times for the pain I caused you. For my absence. For all this stupid shit I did. I should have been here, I know. But you leaving me…I don’t know how to survive this. You are the most important person in my life. My priority and I have no idea why I was so foolish to forget this in the past months. It should have been you first, always.” 

Azriel’s scarred hands close over yours. He leans forward and you do, too. Your forehead presses against his, you breathe in the same air. Your eyes close, you draw in a deep breath. 

“Never again. Azriel, never leave again for so long. You have spies that work for you. They can go on missions as well. And Rhys is your brother, you can talk to him.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, his chin dips slowly. Azriel inhales a ragged breath, squeezing your hands tightly in his. “Forgive me? Can…can you forgive me? One last time?” he rasps, his eyes slowly opening. All life has vanished from his eyes, leaving a dull, brown, grey-ish, tone behind. 

“If I mess it all up again, send me to hell, but please give me one last time.”

He leans into your touch, turning his head slightly and softly brushing his lips over your palm.

One last chance. Because, even if you thought about moving on and trying to grow on your own, Azriel is your mate. You need him just as much as he needs you. You have the mating bond and now, in this very moment, you think that Azriel truly means it this time. Maybe he has really been oblivious and blind. 

A shadow leaves his body, moving over to you and softly caresses your skin. A small smile blooms on your lips when you bow your head. You need Azriel in your life and in this very moment you know it. He would be here more often from now on. He understands how much you need him here and what it did to you that he was gone for so long.

“One last chance,” you whisper against his lips.

“One last chance.” Azriel lips softly peck yours, his body relaxing just the slightest bit. 

You would still need to talk about it again, make plans on how exactly the future should look like, but for now, he has a chance. A chance to make up. To make things better. 

tags (crossed-out I couldn't tag): @juulle987 @marimorena06 @danikasthings @younxii @nightcourtwritings @mrofontaine @lunalilyf @whor-3-crux @tired-all-the-time @anni-was-here @ummmmmwat @azbracadabra @j-pendragonx @hollyismentallyillhelp @famousbasementpainter @bsenpai @lena-davina @red-highlady @thesugatoyourtae @azrielsbitxh @cityofidek @moony-thoughts @wrensical003 @cherryjain17 @moonfawnx @crushedcloudsx @devilsfoodcake22  @valeriedarkness @azrielscertifiedslut @mulansaucey @cynicalpotato95 @hanasakr @high-bi-andreadytocry @eerievixen @feyretopia @moonlightazriel @randomness-it-is @brekkershadowsinger @eliieee23 @girasoli-e-sorrisi @illyrianvalkyriecarynthian  @kennedy-brooke @highladyofillyria @theworthlessqueen

[rei-ismyname]

X-Men #3 (From The Ashes)

At last, this book is starting to cook and show us where these people are at. Scott Summers enjoyers are eating well today, always good to see. Full coverage under the cut, and spoilers of course. TW discussion of violence, anxiety/PTSD mention.

Jed McKay hits the ground running with a bunch of goons called Shrikes having inserted into the Factory, the Alaskan X-Men's base. Shrike is Latin for 'butcher' and the eponymous bird is known for impaling stuff, so we can assume that they're not nice dudes. They caught a ride from the Vanisher (a 60s X-Men foe who has popped up here and there as a mercenary teleporter/unwilling X-Force asset. His aesthetic is much better these days) who's like 'damn y'all live like this' but objects to them using the term 'mutie.' Bro, you're dropping black ops goons into their house for an unnamed quid pro quo, you think their allies?

Implications...

- The Shrikes want to be inflicting casualties but they're deferring to Lundqvist, who doesn't. Not yet at least. We don't know if they're contractors or part of O*N*E (Office for National Emergency), a government agency I'm surprised still exists, given its abject failures in containing, protecting, or killing mutant schoolchildren.

- These jerks are Team One, clearly part of a larger group or organisation.

- They're professionals with quite advanced technology, and while one slur doesn't necessarily make them frothing racists, they're seemingly ideologically aligned with this mission.

Meanwhile, Scott ain't home right now. We don't get enough of his conversation with Rogue to see where their relationship is at, but we learn the Uncanny X-Men team are moving on Graymalkin and will not wait to synchronize plans or discuss it further.

- They're moving on Graymalkin? That name has been used quite a bit, so we can't be 100% sure if it's Cable's spaceship (unlikely), Xavier's 200 year old ancestor who was buried beneath the mansion for centuries (also unlikely), Graymalkin Industries, or a little house on Graymalkin Lane.

- Considering Scott's estimation that it'll escalate everything, I have to assume it's the X-Mansion. Rescuing Chuck? I don't see Logan wanting to do that. Killing him? That'd be a no from Rogue. Shutting down the torture prison that Chuck's in? Maybe. There's a lot of threads in the X-books and if the 'strays' came from there it'd tie a bunch together while inciting conflict. I guess we'll see.

- Of course Scott has plans. No clues here as to what they are.

- I've said it before, but I don't buy why these teams are separate or even in conflict with each other. It's going to feel inorganic for as long as we don't get an explanation. In UXM 1, Logan was acting like Schism Logan, which didn't even make sense back then. He's been living with Scott and Jean in a polycule for the last X years, and Scott/Rogue were on a Krakoan team together. These people trust and love each other, they've been family for decades. Everyone considers it a dark time for mutants and they have every reason to both want and need to work together. Show us why they're not! I beg you.

- The aforementioned Lundqvist has showed up with heavies to the diner, which the cop doesn't love. He says it's payback for embarrassing him, but considering what team one are doing that's almost certainly not the full reason.

- Looks like their relationship is adversarial. What's holding him back, though?

- Interesting. It was a government-owned Sentinel factory, and it was part of a settlement. I really want more information on Scott Summers v The United States. She-Hulk was his counsel too, I wonder if she was his trial lawyer on this. I'm assuming settlement has at least 3 meanings there, which is clever.

- I wonder if Scott got to choose. He likes Alaska, I could see him demanding it strategically. If the US chose it, ooof. A sentinel factory about as far as you can get from the Marvel hotspots while still being in the US. The whole 'implication' is ugly as hell too.

Is Scott Summers taking this shit?

As Colossus would say, nyet Tovarich, he is not taking it. Good to see he's not fucking around, though in that list of damages I'm very aware 'being forcibly deported from our nation' is not on it. Krakoa comes up, but it's being deprioritised and erased. It's a fist pump moment, but it still makes me sad.

- Shit yeah, get angry dude. You should be.

- Lundqvist is hard to read but he seems to be put in his place.

- Love the BLT power move.

Hahaha! Look at him chowing down with his mouth full. I just ordered a BLT, sometimes you forget how much you enjoy something until you read or hear about it, you know? Anyway, what does this dickhead want Scott to do about it? You know, aside from what he already is - trying to handle it. If he wasn't stalling for his goon squad I'd dismiss it completely.

- The ongoing mystery of the manifesting mutants gets a nod as national news. I can imagine Tucker Carlson or JK Rowling being the worst with this. The Truthseekers name feels very true to life. Right wing kooks are all about weaponising what is true and what is not.

- Scott not knowing what a thermobaric bomb is has some significance, but I think it tells us more about Lundqvist that he does. They're a fuel only type of explosive mostly associated with atrocities. Research indicates they're a very painful and comparatively slow way to die, bc the brain is still active while the body is torn apart or worse. Fuck this guy.

- I did wonder what those drone looking things were last issue. Seems the Truthseekers have some good technology, and may be looking to deny the X-Men theirs (if they're working with the government, which, come on. They always are.)

HAHAHA. EAT A DICK LUNDQVIST. Okay he's getting to the point. The X-Men make him look bad because they're doing his job and not covering it up.

- Either he doesn't know Scott very well or he's running out of shit to say. I really dig what's happening with body language here.

- X-factor are a joke in and out of universe. Sorry not sorry but Alex is too. I do wonder who has better intel on x-factor. Scott has always valued intelligence, though I wonder if he's more likely to get it from Warren or Alex. Warren is reliable AF, always has been. I can totally see him enduring that embarrassment to be the man on the inside. Alex could go either way tbh. He is not reliable at all. Most recently he moved to Limbo to be with Maddie and it was not a healthy relationship. It was codependent and Alex, at least was delusional. He also spent a while as a demon zombie.

- That's been brushed aside and for some reason he and Lorna seem to have regressed 15 years. They argued and the impression I got was Lorna was team mutant, Alex was team government/human? That kid's a mess so it's hard to tell. They could be running a long con - we'll see.

- But yeah, Scott's not having it. At all. Carrot or stick - choose! I do like the Brotherhood mention but I swear to god this better not be used to villainise Scott and fuel infighting with the Uncanny team.

Meanwhile... Shrike Team One are well prepared for the mission. They can't be sensed psychically or with any technology. Beast gets knocked out like a chump, but Ilyana can see souls.

See what I mean about technology denial? The last Cerebro unit too.

- Obviously it would be a loss but Beast could build another, right?

- Tumblr image limits being what they are I'm not including the action panels. I'll just say they're okay. Nothing amazing.

- Temper/Idie takes them out and laughs at their thermite (really not messing around, that stuff is wild) while getting off a few badass one liners.

- Magneto doesn't join the fray for some reason (He'd solve it instantly) and chats with Temper. Krakoa is mentioned, as is her imprisonment, but I'm not touching that further right now. When they actually show us where Magneto is I'll have lots to say, for now he's just sitting and saying lightweight stuff. Temper doesn't like or respect Mags though.

Wrapping up, the goons failed and the X-Men minus Mags and Beast drop them off.

- The official position is 'yes, we will fight America if you insist. Stop making threats and breaking into my house. Also, my wife is a God. You know that right? Now gtfoh.'

- It's really cool, though we've kinda been here before.

Something is wrong with Scott? It looks like an anxiety attack to me, tbh. Can't blame him, though I have a feeling it's more than that. Full on anxiety disorder/PTSD Cyclops would be new, I wonder if they'd do it. I guess we'll find out.

And to end on some... news... Trevor Fitzroy is back. yay 😮‍💨. Alive somehow, and resurrecting a ludicrous group from the 2000s. I wonder if Shinobi Shaw and Cortez will be there too. He's also killing mutants for ratings, something that's been done as recently as Krakoa. Not looking forward to it. MAKE UP NEW STUFF FFS.

At the end of the day I enjoyed the issue, mostly by virtue of something happening. Cyclops and Agent Lundqvist chatting in a diner carried it with moments that I'm sure we'll be seeing for years to come as 'fuck yeah' posts on Reddit. The art is competent, nothing really stands out for me besides the body language I mentioned. The art style and choices are probably a whole separate post, like why Cyclops looks 25.

Thanks for reading.

[ayahimes]

𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

hi friends ! i know i'm a bit late with my post but i still wanted to post something regardless . 2023 had been one of the hardest years of my life thus far outside of the rpc , and even in it to be honest . i lost some good friends but gained some too . i've gotten to know so many of you on a deeper level and bonded with a lot of you over shared interests . so many of you have been patient with me on this blog because of school and for that i am immensely thankful ; i know you all followed because of your interest to write and i do apologize for not being able to fully deliver that due to my busy schedule . however , i do want to allot some time this year to be better about my time management . i honestly can't wait to see what this year brings !

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

@diaboelic : courtney . one of my best friends . i know i can write essays on why i am so happy to have you in my life but i promise i'll condense it . it's so crazy to me that we've been friends for almost two full years . it's wild because it honestly feels much longer . i know we're both busy making big moves and even if we don't talk every day i am always rooting for you . you're so down to earth and somehow understand how i'm feeling without me having to say it . please keep sending me fanart and spamming me with ig reels . i take forever to look at them sometimes but i love them !! also , im sorry you lost your streak in duolingo but i still think you're ahead of me by like 4 days everytime i do it . COURTNEY - SAN WA WATASHINO SUKINA HITORIDE ( i think this was right but probably not lmfao ) . i can't wait to hopefully explore japan with you . fingers crossed it's this year haha

@visionhcld : b , i will always write nice things about you no matter what . you've been my friend for like .... what .... this would be 6 years ?!!! GOD . you've seen the best and the worst . crazy to think that we made it !!!!! i love you so damn much and i am so lucky to have you in my life . i know we don't write a million active threads atm or talk every day like we used to , but i assure you it doesn't change our friendship . i love being able to pick up where we left off like nothing ever happened tbh . some people don't have that and tbh , i'm so fortunate to have found that with you . we have a ridiculous amount of inside jokes and years of history to pick apart but i leave you with one . jejota !!!

@fairesky : shado . we found each other through the funniest circumstances but i am so happy we did . you have been one of my closest friends these last two years and through you i met some other amazingly wonderful people ( cough leon cough ) . your kindness is immeasurable and i have truly learned so much from you because of it . you've taught me how to be nicer , how to be a better friend , how to care for others in a way i'd like to be treated , and just overall improved my life the last year with your presence . i love you so much and i'm really happy to have gotten to know you better over the course of 2023 . who else will i be an absolute simp with if not you haha

@iirath: essek , i know you're already aware but i am so damn happy to have gotten to know you better over the last year , even more so the last few months . i enjoy talking to you about life and getting to learn about who you are beyond the surface level . you're honestly SO tilt proof ( lmaoooo ) and surely never get mad when we play league . SURELY . thanks for speed running stardew valley with me and letting me run around not knowing what to do while you carry our farm to its greatest potential . you really have become one of my good friends and please know i always look forward to your good morning message in the server with the tired cat emoji haha

@shokutsus : LEON !!!!!!! ayaki will always reign supreme and have the best ship name . i will fight anyone who says otherwise . okay but let me just say i fucking love you dude . i know we haven't had a chance to have our tea talks on fortnite the last few months but i admit , those were some of my favorites . you've helped me through some really tough times and been there for me as a friend when i needed someone the most . i really enjoy thinking of the wildest plot lines for our characters while sleep deprived and playing fortnite ( tbh crackabella and anakin lore was big brained of us ) or discussing with kaine and courtney which part of the centipede we'd be . weird shit but i laugh typing it out lol . okay but fr i want this year to be the best one yet for you !! ps . send more pixel photos

@rosahope : fae , thank you for becoming one of my good friends this year . i'm so blessed to have met someone as grounded as you and i don't tell you enough . i know i'm too much sometimes and impulsive af , but you are my voice of reason and i appreciate it so damn much . you've helped me think outside the box and take things one step at a time . you're one of the realest people and i always welcome your honesty even if it's not something i may initially agree with . tbh i think that's what makes you such a good friends because you're transparent with me . i really am so happy for your big moves with your new job and i am always rooting for you no matter what !! you'll always be my chibiusa and my jessie <3

@prettyguardian : niniiiiiii . firstly , thank you for coming into my life and being such an amazing friend . i admire your tenacity , your creativity , your openness , your vulnerability . the list goes on . you've been there for me when i sought some direction in my life and for that i want to thank you . i know we have yet to write more aerti things but please know i will always gladly write them with you . you've helped me heal with ff . i know that sentence may sound silly at some level but it is a big thing . really !! your friendship has only added improvement within my life and i can't wait to see where it goes this year . sending you all the good vibes for 2024 !!

@cybrvce : light !!!! i'm so fortunate to have gotten to know you more over the last year and actually write with you . your characterization is truly amazing and i'm always impressed with everything you write . yes im slow as molasses but i promise it doesn't mean it's because i don't care !! i just want to write for you when i'm at my best because i want to give you quality writing !! thank you for being patient with me though . you're so kind <3 i'm genuinely so excited to start this year with your friendship !!

@deadn30n : LOOK HERE ALEXANDRA . YOU MADE IT ON THIS LIST BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST A GEM . i know we only recently became friends but in that short amount of time we bonded by playing league for like 5 hours straight lmfao . thank you for feeling comfortable enough to ask me for advice and direction though . it means a lot to me more than you know !! also i am here to write yone and kai'sa mutually fangirling/fanboying over each other . that thread is so cute and i am excited to see where it goes . ALSO I'M A NOOB AT XIV SO YOU'VE BEEN WARNED . heck im just bad at all video games lmao . but i look forward to playing them with you !!!!

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

i can't write about everyone , but i can sure as hell tag you all . please know that even if we haven't actively written it doesn't mean i don't want to . i still support you as a writer and creator and enjoy seeing you on my dash !! i have hopes that maybe we can write some day ! but i know we're all busy or overwhelmed with things outside of the rpc so there's obviously no rush . and if we have written or talked then please know that you have truly made my experience here something amazing . i was always a bit scared to come back to such a big fandom , but so many of you have welcomed me in writing ayaka and given me the opportunity to explore her more . so thank you <3

@zaihuos , @autymns , @wcvensouls , @enjomo , @todestochter , @yizao , @ungest , @raikuro , @tealsteel , @sourcewater , @dcndrohime , @rikyos , @nekasu , @meropidas , @scarletooyoroi , @viaetor , @abyssin , @crownlcsking , @raytm , @iedolon , @noctumsilenced , @noctuafought , @capravulpes , @liightbringr , @chiheru , @foliarlight , @mercyburned , @apocryphis , @anostos , @theoneandonii , @gonguji , @sinspast , @mellodiies , @pietys , @knghted , @dualisume , @artificeheart , @erabundus , @momijiba, @supportingfire , @cloudhymn , and honestly all of you .

[bengiyo]

I Feel You Linger in the Air Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

Last time, Jom, his friends, and their allies teamed up to expose Dech and Robert and their cruelest abuses. We then spent most of the episode wrapping up a lot of plot threads. Most everyone has either moved on or is okay for now. Maey is back with Euangphueng, Ming is fine, the mom is rebelling in her own way, etc. Yai is going to France and expects Jom to stay here and wait for him, which made me immediately dissociate. Also, Jom's starting to disappear in images and mirrors and we don't know why.

I like that Yai is skeptical, but can comprehend some of what Jom is saying about himself. Yai may not be good at practical things, but he's a thinker.

Nonkul is really good, and you can feel the complex emotions coming off of Jom as he can finally talk about what he's been experiencing openly.

Okay, Bright has cake.

This is the same team that had a woman give birth, with her jeans on, in the back of a truck earlier this year. I hope they handle this pregnancy plot better.

Why does the subber keep adding Khun to Euangphueng's name when Maey doesn't say it, but doesn't add it to Yai's name when Jom usually says it?

Okay, I really like them articulating the long-term pain and suffering Euangphueng is dreading.

That Fong Kaew scene with Khamsaen was so good. She's worrying about EP and he's convinced himself that Robert didn't touch her, but we know the implications of him making her bleed when he does himself on her.

Bright and Nonkul are so good together. There was no dialogue in this soft montage of Jom redoing the drawings, but you could feel the wistfulness that Jom might disappear at any moment. It's not easy for some pairs to do the 'being together' part really well, but these two are hitting that beautifully. Now that the stresses have been removed, they are clearly in love and a team.

I really love the relationship that has formed between Fong Kaew and Euangphueng. EP is making a very difficult decision and I like the way Fong Kaew's supporting her. It's also interesting to see Maey worry about the karma of getting an abortion as a reason to raise the child.

Yai is reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells!!!

Not that the monk is wrong about them having no control over this phenomenon, but they could also maybe keep track of the rate at which Jom's reflection is vanishing and see if they could predict the number of days.

There is a melancholy hanging over this that works so well, because Jom basically has a terminal condition that will strike at any moment and permanently end this relationship.

Poor Ming. He's losing all of his friends.

Wow, this farewell party reminds me of the stories shared with me about someone getting an AIDS diagnosis before we had anything resembling effective treatment. Throwing a party before their health plummets to say goodbye.

And now they're dancing as everyone reminisces. I'm just gonna cry thanks.

Jom isn't going to be in this photo and we're all gonna be sad.

Okay, the letter broke me. How many queer lives have been lost to time because we couldn't preserve their stories. I am so invested in this letter now.

If Jom vanishes after he reads this letter I will be crushed.

They ended the episode on the almost faded photo!!!!!

I feel so heavy after that episode. Nonkul and Bright really did the damn thing this week. You can feel the ache the entire time. That party was one of the most beautiful things I've experienced in genre in a while. This show is really special.

[selmasemlan]

A Fight for Humanity

Summary: The war has started and every shot matters

Pairing: Todoroki Shoto x Luna Aizawa (OFC)

Author note: I love and hate this part of the story

Warning: mention of war, spoilers of season 7

Word count: 1373

Series masterlist

A Fight for Humanity

The war plan had been precise and methodical, designed to keep Shigaraki from wreaking havoc. Monoma Neito had copied Kurogiri’s quirk, providing a crucial edge. The goal was simple: isolate Shigaraki and ensure Midoriya faced him alone, where One For All could make a difference. But, as plans often do, this one had gone awry. At the last second, Midoriya had been sucked into the wrong portal, leaving Bakugo, Luna, Suneater, Nejire, Mirko, Edgeshot, and Best Jeanist to keep Shigaraki at bay in the flying fortress.

Luna positioned herself high above the chaos in a sniper’s perch, hidden in the debris of the floating structures. Her heart was steady despite the carnage below. Her secret weapon—10 specialized bullets, a tool she had only hinted at in previous battles—was ready. Each one was meticulously crafted for a single target: Shigaraki. But he wasn’t alone. Aizawa and Monoma stood just outside the battlefield, their eyes locked on the monster before them, relentlessly canceling Shigaraki’s quirks.

The strain was palpable. Shigaraki’s body was far from ordinary—a horrifying mixture of flesh and power, twisted and altered by experiments to create the perfect vessel for All For One’s will. His quirk suppression was only temporary; his body was adapting, the quirks trying to push past the binds placed on them by Aizawa and Monoma. Neither dared blink, knowing that a moment of hesitation could lead to complete devastation.

"Don't let up!" Aizawa barked, his voice hoarse but sharp with urgency. His hair hung in wild strands, and his normally stoic composure was beginning to crack. Sweat beaded down his face, and his eyes were bloodshot from holding Shigaraki's quirk at bay. Every fiber of his being was focused on suppressing the onslaught of power within Shigaraki, but there was more on his mind than just the battle. His sister, Luna, was out there, risking everything.

From his vantage point, Aizawa caught glimpses of Luna moving like a ghost through the wreckage, her sniper rifle glinting in the fragmented light of the fortress. She was silent and focused. His heart clenched. He had always been protective of her, even after their paths had diverged into different branches of hero work. Now, as her adoptive brother, he felt the crushing weight of fear gnawing at him—a fear he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in years.

Meanwhile, Bakugo was a maelstrom of explosions below, each blast of his palms sending shockwaves through the already crumbling fortress. His eyes darted up to where Luna was perched, the fear for her safety barely contained beneath his usual scowl. She was like a sister to him—a constant, unwavering presence throughout their time together. He trusted her and respected her like no one else, but the thought of losing her twisted a knot in his gut.

“Damn it, Luna!” Bakugo’s voice crackled through the earpiece, his rage palpable. “What the hell are you waiting for? Take the shot!”

“I’m working on it, Kacchan,” Luna replied, her voice calm, though her heart was pounding. She adjusted her aim, searching for that fleeting moment of vulnerability.

“Keep it together, everyone,” Aizawa's gravelly voice broke in through the comms, though there was an undercurrent of tension in his tone. "We have to wear him down. Stay focused."

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Luna saw her chance. Best Jeanist had caught Shigaraki with his threads, binding his arms and holding him in place for a split second. Luna’s eyes narrowed, her finger squeezing the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet cut through the air, a perfect shot aimed at Shigaraki’s chest. But just as it was about to hit, Shigaraki twisted his body in an almost impossible way, his raw strength tearing through the threads. The bullet missed by mere inches, embedding itself into the debris behind him.

“Shit!” Luna cursed, quickly reloading. She couldn’t afford to miss another shot—there were only nine left.

From the battlefield below, Shigaraki’s crimson eyes locked onto Luna’s position. His twisted smile grew wider as he raised his hand toward the building where she was perched.

From her vantage point, Luna locked her sights on Shigaraki. Her finger rested gently on the trigger, waiting for the perfect moment. The battlefield was chaotic, but she was patient. She had trained for this—no distractions, no hesitation. Her first bullet missed its mark, glancing off a piece of debris as Shigaraki’s erratic movements threw off her aim. Cursing softly, Luna adjusted her position. She had nine shots left.

Below, Shigaraki's body jerked, spasming under the suppression. His lips curled into a grotesque grin. "You think this will last?" His voice was distorted, almost inhuman, as he lashed out with a surge of raw power, his body shifting unnaturally. Aizawa and Monoma flinched, their combined efforts struggling to contain the quirk’s resurgence.

"Luna, now!" Aizawa’s voice cracked, a rare break in his composure. His shout echoed across the battlefield, a mixture of desperation and command.

Luna heard him and steadied her breath. She lined up her shot once more, this time aiming for the split second when Shigaraki’s movements would be predictable. The trigger pressed beneath her finger.

But before the bullet could reach its mark, the building around her groaned under the strain of the ongoing battle. Without warning, it collapsed, sending her and the sniper perch plummeting down in a cascade of debris. For a horrifying moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Bakugo's heart stopped. He saw the crumbling structure before anyone else, his mind racing. “LUNA!” His voice ripped through the air as he charged toward the wreckage, explosions erupting in his wake. His anger flared brighter, fueled not by the battle but by fear—fear that he had lost her. He unleashed a torrent of energy, his fury palpable as he confronted Shigaraki with reckless abandon.

Bakugo’s rage reached a crescendo as he pushed through, launching himself directly at Shigaraki, who was still thrashing under the suppression. Luna couldn’t be gone. Not like this.

Shigaraki's laugh broke the moment as his body convulsed again, struggling to overcome the suppression.

Aizawa’s eyes burned, but his grip on Shigaraki’s power tightened, the flicker of fear for his sister now channeled into sheer resolve. He couldn’t protect her physically, but he would make sure Shigaraki never laid a hand on her.

"Don’t stop, Luna," Aizawa muttered under his breath, his voice too quiet for anyone but himself to hear. "I’m still here."

“I’ll blast you to pieces, you bastard!”

But even as Bakugo pushed himself beyond his limits, Shigaraki’s twisted grin never faltered. The villain easily dodged Bakugo’s attacks, his Decay eating away at the ground around him.

Amid the chaos, a voice crackled over Bakugo’s earpiece. Faint but unmistakable.

“Kacchan... calm down.”

Bakugo’s breath hitched, his body freezing mid-attack. His wild eyes darted to the collapsed building. There, emerging from the dust, was Luna. She was bruised, her uniform torn, but alive. Her sniper rifle was slung across her back, her expression focused despite the pain in her limbs.

Luna, forcing herself to stand, wiped the blood from her face and gripped her rifle once more. Seven bullets left. The fight wasn’t over.

“You idiot!” Bakugo shouted, relief mixing with his anger. “I thought you were—”

“No time for that,” Luna interrupted, wiping dirt from her face as she ran to reposition herself. “I’m not done yet. We’ve still got a job to do.”

Bakugo watched as Luna limped toward her new perch, his heart pounding with a mix of emotions—relief, anger, and a fierce determination to protect her no matter what.

“Luna,” he muttered, quieter this time, “don’t you dare pull a stunt like that again.”

Luna gave him a small, weary smile through the scope of her rifle. “I’ll try not to. Now, let’s finish this.”

With renewed resolve, Luna took aim once more. This time, she wouldn’t miss. She lined up the shot, watching as Shigaraki’s guard dropped ever so slightly as he engaged with the others. This was her moment.

“Bakugo, keep him distracted,” Luna instructed, her voice steady despite the pounding of her heart.

“On it,” Bakugo replied, launching himself back into the fray.

Luna’s finger tightened on the trigger. This shot had to count.

[scarymaddy]

Mark Hoffman

Pairing: Mark/female

Content: Fluff

Warnings: No

The gloomy warehouse was lit by a dim light, the room you were in with Mark was cold with a green hue. You were going over the blueprints while Mark was busy perfecting the various traps.

You had been Jigsaw's most recent acquisition, after your test which you passed with flying colors, John saw potential in you, almost the same as Amanda's, after one last test, this time of loyalty, you officially joined his entourage of apprentices.

You sympathized with Amanda, however she was closed to any kind of vulnerability towards you. On the other hand, Mark Hoffman, the corrupt detective who in his spare time spends his free time setting up traps that he will then help decipher with other detectives, was the hardest to talk to.

He didn't talk unless it was necessary or he was in the mood to annoy you. Be that as it may, something magnetic, magical made you feel an attraction to him; a tall, strong, burly, lethal man.

- Are you going to make any changes to the plans, or is your brain not up to it," Hoffman mocked as he took the plans from you. He looked at them for a few moments, studying them carefully. - Certainly not bad..." he muttered, putting down the plans and looking at you.

His expressionless face looked at you, his eyes pierced your nerves, though you hated to admit it, Mark's presence was imposing and he always had a way of intimidating. Normally you always had something witty to say, but for the last few days your brain hasn't been helping, and you feared that it would be.

While Mark made short comments about improvements in the trap you were working on, your eyes wandered from his face to his hands, you looked at his suit, you never saw him with different clothes although he didn't complain, the suits always looked good on him.

-I'm going to trust you understood what I said- he said looking at you, you looked at him nodding and took the plans. - You've been very quiet lately... I'm not complaining, but I'm curious.

-Nothing to worry about, detective," you muttered with a grimace. You rose from your chair with the plans in hand ready to build the trap.

You didn't have much interaction after that, as things seemed to go downhill. After John and Amanda died, you and Mark were the only ones, you didn't know if that was a good thing or not. John's will had left a box to Jill, he gave them five envelopes, with the information of the new participants of the game. We went through it together, as bad as you felt, John and Amanda's death brought you closer together, although at first he tried to get you out of everything to do with Jigsaw, as a way of protecting you...In his own way, rough but with good intentions.

This was where it all started to go wrong, the police were hot on their heels. Mark had been put on trial, but managed to escape, Jill ran to take refuge with the police.

You were with Mark in the warehouse, the TV was on with the news.

-Fuck..." you muttered, looking at the wound on Mark's cheek.

-It doesn't look good.- he laughed reluctantly, his brow was still furrowed, this was the first time you didn't see him without his suit, he was casual, he looked good anyway.

You took a needle and thread, disinfected everything while you looked for a comfortable position to start sewing. Standing was not an option, if you knelt down you would be too far below his cheek, there was simply no comfortable position.

Mark snorted and rolled his eyes.

- Damn it, just sit down," he growled taking your waist and sitting you on one of his legs. You were about to protest but realized you were now at the perfect height to start sewing.

You moved a little to get comfortable and moved closer to his face. -I should tell you that I only took half a year at the medical academy.

-Anyway, it's better than bleeding to death," he murmured, his voice deeper because of the closeness, you tried not to think about it as you put your hands on his cheeks and started sewing.

Unconsciously, he kept his hand on your waist, tightening his grip as you inserted the needle. You mumbled several "I'm sorry" as you finished. You wiped away the blood and looked at your work, it wasn't the best, but it was decent.

You took his hand, it was also injured, probably with several injuries, or worse, broken bones. You were still sitting on his leg, you took a piece of gauze with hydrogen peroxide and cleaned the blood. You grimaced, not knowing quite what to do.

-Just bandage it up, then I'll have it checked," you nodded and took the bandages. You wrapped it carefully while Mark's gaze was fixed on your features.

Now, Mark was not a man for emotions, much less letting them show. Something about you made him feel warm, you were just as irritating as Amanda, but at the same time you were sweet.

He ignored the feelings, hid his appreciation with insults and looks of irritation, but having you like this, with you on his lap, one hand on your waist, made his mind fly. Feeling cared for like this was something he hadn't felt in a long time, not since his sister's death. He closed himself off to all possibility when she was gone, gave himself over to hatred and revenge.

-That's it..." you warned, leaving his hand gently on your knee. -What now?

-I'm going to find Jill," he didn't hesitate, the aggression in his voice almost palpable. You looked at him, trying to decipher it.

Mark looked back at you, his eyes lost in yours, against his will, he lowered his eyes to your nose, to your cheeks, to your lips. He swallowed hard, you felt his hand come down to your hip with a slight pressure, heard his breathing subtly quicken.

-I want you to stay away...from this," he murmured, you came to and looked at him confused. -Stay home, forget about this...At least until I sort this out.

-Mark, I'm not going.

You tried to refute but Mark abruptly interrupted you.

-No arguments. You'll do as I say and that's it.

And again, Mark's superiority shut you up and you nodded biting your lip. He lowered his gaze and resisted.

- Good girl," he murmured, patting your hip.

Yes, the nickname and his action thrilled you, but you were still upset with him for pushing you away.

You did as he asked, you stayed home, it didn't last long. Jill had turned you in to the police, ratting you out as Mark's main accomplice. And since he was in hiding, it was easy for the police to find you.

Now you were in an interrogation room, however, you never said a word, but your ability to annoy everyone and your loose tongue got you several beatings.

Mark noticed your disappearance, and when you appeared on TV, he knew who had ratted you out. He didn't wait any longer, as good as he was at making plans on the spur of the moment. He was at the police station, lashing out left and right. Anger blinded his mind, he didn't care if they were innocent or not, anyone who got in the way was an easy target.

When he found Jill, he vented all his anger at her. Betraying him was one thing, but messing with you drove him crazy. It let him know that he shouldn't have messed with him, let alone you.

He had killed half the precinct just to get to you, when he found your cell he shot the lock, the noise startled you and you csminaste towards the cell door.

-Mark..." you whispered, he looked at you, your eye was black and the corner of your lip was hurt. He clenched his jaw feeling the anger come back to him. The bad thing about killing them all, he could only do it once.

He grabbed your wrist and pulled you out of the cell, he decided to ignore your blows, now you had to get out of there. As you walked through the police station, you passed a room, you thought you recognized Jill, you didn't know it, her whole face was disfigured, but from the trap she had on her head, and the blonde locks, you knew it was her. You opened your eyes in fright but didn't stop.

You and Mark went back to the warehouse, he burned all his cards. He turned to you and looked at you.

—Are you okay?-He was referring to your bruises, you touched your cheekbone and nodded.

-Yeah...not too bad...what are we going to do?

Mark looked at the bag next to him, it was full of money, it wasn't in his plans to take you with him but seeing you like this, he knew he wanted and had to protect you, you were probably the only good thing that would never happen to him again. He thought for several seconds, he wasn't insecure, but he didn't know if you wanted that too, or if you wanted him.

He looked at you, walked towards you, looked down to see you, his hand touched yours on your cheekbone and murmured.

-I want to take you with me," you opened your mouth to answer but nothing came out so you closed it thinking about what to say. -I can give you anything you want, I have money, we can go anywhere you want. Tell me what you want and I will do it.

-Is this some kind of statement or something?" you asked with a smirk. Mark looked at you seriously and then let out a little chuckle.

- Yeah, you could say that," you smiled at him, fiddling with your fingers nervously as your eyes wandered.

-"Well...If you're going to keep me then I accept." You joked, Mark smiled and took your hand, he brought it to his lips and left a soft kiss on the back of your hand.

-It is a promise.

[yowyowyaoi]

Zetsu’s Daily Texts from the Akatsuki

From Nagato

You can’t keep eating them without checking to see if we’re using them first.

300 miles? Is that really the closest?!

I can put you with Tobi or Hidan. Take your pick.

Put the letters where they can find them, then stay somewhere hidden to see their reactions.

Keep an eye on them please. No explosions, no sacrifices. Nothing to draw attention.

I’ve been practicing every day. Legs feel stronger.

I’d only risk it if you also want to risk being placed in a gengetsu.

I’m sure I’ll be gone before her. All I ask is she be well taken care of. It’s all that matters.

No. Under no circumstances. I need them all ALIVE and able to work, please.

You can ask but she’ll probably hit you hard enough to REALLY split you in half.

From Kakuzu

Yes well your appetite is proving quite costly.

Find where he’s hiding and I’ll give you a third of his bounty.

I’m not so sure that “intelligence” is a quality I’d associate with any of them.

Actually if you could naturally produce that we could sell bottles and make some money 🤔

Much, much too expensive.

I don’t care if you eat him but wait until I get his heart out first.

I’d rather you ate me; my body won’t be on display for him to entertain Deidara with.

It’s complicated. And by complicated I mean I let a one time physical urge turn into a years-long relationship. 

It’s the 1st. Rent and utilities are due. 

If I didn’t we wouldn’t have *anything*. Be grateful.

I’m not sure if my threads would hold for plant-skin.

Stop losing them for God’s sake each one costs $50 in materials to make!!

I’ll take your word for it. That voice creeps me out.

From Konan

Please don’t ever do that again. Nagato almost had a heart attack. 😡

It’s funny in a shouldn’t be funny way.

Wait you’ve seen him without the mask 👀

No I don’t care if they’re annoying we don’t have the time to replace them now!!

Ask Sasori to take a look. He enjoys a challenge.

I don’t care how easy it was to get, I’m NOT cooking with that kind of “meat” 🤢

No offense but do you even have nails 🤔

I’d rather we didn’t need to pick up and move again unless absolutely necessary.

Since we were children 🥰

I’d kill anyone who tried. With my bare hands.

Kisame may be able to but the rest will need it cooked.

You’re THAT old?! 😵‍💫

Stick to guys. I will remain the only woman in this group.

Can’t you eat them? Aren’t you part Venus fly trap??

From Hidan

Freak.

Then stop watching, weirdo!

Because if you take the body before my praying is finished then the entire ritual is void!!

Not to be gay but yeah I see what he sees. 

Then steal him some damn glasses next time!

But do plants even have dicks? Like is it green? Does it smell like grass? 🤔

He’s such a liar he wanted me since the day we met 😂

I saw you eyeing that cat and so did Itachi.

How do you say “Fuck you” in plant-speak?

They’re not “pink” they’re “rose”, heathen.

Ribs without sauce is like fucking without lube. Like what’s even the point?

If I could convert even one of those fucks I’d become a High Priest for Jashin.

Can’t. Kakuzu’s “withholding my paycheck” until I pay off that bounty of his that I killed. 🙄

So come with us. Everyone’s weird you’ll fit right in.

From Sasori

Elderberry, nightshade, and primrose. For now.

A mouse learns to fear other mice before it even thinks about predators.

Please stop that you gave him nightmares last time and I couldn’t work on my puppets for a whole week 😒

I don’t care as long as it has a big enough space for a lab.

Damn blue eyes trapped me for eternity.

An interesting experiment, certainly.

I have vague memories but that’s all.

You appear to be “friends” so talk to him and tell him to back off. 

Who do you think I am? That freak Orochimaru?!

I don’t buy that stupid act for a second.

If I suggested aloe vera would you find that insulting?

You and I are the least bothersome in terms of eating. I don’t, and you hunt.

I’ll contribute when the expense is relative to me.

From Kisame

So far only Itachi knows about it but the water there is clear and beautiful.

Your way of thinking is truly fascinating.

Of course you’re welcome to join us but you’ve voiced objections before to both tea and sweets.

No, I’ll BURY him myself before I let you eat him.

Crab and shrimp. Especially crab.

I’m aware. His smell is getting weaker and his chakra is shaky.

I admire your patience for it but I don’t do so well in the sun for so long.

Again? Why?? Who attracted attention this time? 😒

I don’t but Samehada seems to.

The battlefield is empty. Care to join me at the buffet? 😋

Between the prayer rituals and the constant bombing I just can’t handle either of them.

Salt is for the weak. Pure fear flavors the meat better than any seasoning. 

From Deidara

You can’t prove that was me, that could have been anyone!

If I’m successful there won’t BE anything left of me to eat so 🤷🏼

Idk you just look gray. Maybe stand in the sun for a while?

Ok we may eat more BUT his food costs more!

Wait is it real hair or like plant stuff 🤔

I didn’t this time he was dancing and he tripped on his cloak like an idiot.

Honestly not until I met Sasori lol 

Omg where?! Riverbanks are always a goldmine of natural clay! 🤩

I get that but I’m just not interested, eternity is so boring.

Low key he goes into this voice sometimes that scares the piss out of me.

Bc it’s weird man it’d be like watching my mother shower or something 😖

Like usual he couldn’t shut up and almost got us killed on the spot 😡

Not unless you want to pick the lice out of my hair afterwards.

From Itachi

Not sure of the exact dynamics but I think it’s second or third cousins.

Maybe it’s best we all just live with our own partners. Too many in one area and eventually someone figures it out.

No he’s as gentle as possible. I just have sensitive skin.

Yes but cabbage is so versatile.

You saw him? Did he look well? 👀

The glasses help some but most everything is still a massive blur.

I tried. Nagato tried. He refuses to give up on the idea.

There is no “before” and there’s no “after0. There’s just NOW.

No I know he ate it because he had the jam smeared all over his collar.

22 doesn’t really interest me.

From Obito

The right arm still twitches if I try to lift too much.

Come on weren’t YOU happy when he died?!

He can’t turn me down forever. Just picture him with the Uchiha fan on his back 😍

Yeah well he’s still my little cousin and I still worry.

I think it scares him a little, he almost walked into a tree that first time I did it on accident.

It’s not excessive; the sugar is literally the only thing pushing me forward right now.

I would bet money that he’s the worst Sensei ever to those kids. No wonder Sasuke was so weak.

The constant money woes are so tedious.

Blind or not his reflexes are unmatched and he could still take me out in one move.

We should have put more emphasis on intelligent and less on “skills”.

You’ve gotta admit the explosions DO liven things up 🤷🏻

What if you ate him and he could still talk from inside of your stomach though? Is that a chance you want to take?

Bonus: From Madara

He stopped responding two years ago he acts like I’m dead.

What? That little shit. 😡

If the blonde is giving him too much of a distraction, dispose of him.

You don’t need to pre-chew my food I’m not a baby bird.

Have you seen my good blanket?

What happened to my slippers?

🍆 I want this. I’m craving this so bad. Please bring it to me.

Tell that boy to come back I need a good bath and a haircut.

Perhaps if you hadn’t recruited so many *brats* you wouldn’t be having such an issue.

Whatever you do, do NOT let them breed.

Did you remember where I stashed my last painting of Hashirama?

If I was younger I could have eliminated the entire group within seconds. They’d never even know what hit them.

Please procure a backscratcher and industrial grade toenail clippers.

Wait until he sleeps and move several large rocks into his room. I guarantee he’ll cry.

First that young lass, then the Hatake boy, now the blonde. He never learns his lesson does he?

What do you mean he cut it?? An Uchiha’s hair is his crown! Tell him to get back here NOW.

I should have chosen Fugaku’s son instead. Likely a lot less crying.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

If Only There Were a Word to Describe the Enormity

Big doesn't quite cut it. So things went a different route, but walking a line along what our less recent arrivals did. This is a big, huge (no that isn't it) chapter for the Nika mythos. Sets the stage for a divine presence to cap off the end of another's story. I definitely feel that vibe with Bonney's role in all this, what a turning point and one that definitely reminds me a lot of little Otama. We've been here before with trying to predict Egghead. Opting for repetition of core themes, doubling down on what we had and making it bigger in scope over moving towards resolution. Interesting crossroads. This could swiftly turn towards that surface-level resolution but honestly I wouldn't be surprised at this point if we spin our wheels for a little more then go into that third cutaway, ending up with an arc around WCI-length.

The hook is an idea we're familiar with. Keep your eye on Luffy. Never see his eyes, how he just kinda leaps back in leaving this little gap about being fed and ending up downstairs unresolved. Mostly though, he's full-blown teeheemaxxing in a dire moment. Which is on brand for Nika but our whole idea is there's an undertone based on the notion the drawback to G5 is losing control. It all goes back to that observation our finale could be constructed a little more like a YuYu Hakusho type series than other shonen; you've gotten your ultimate power a little early because our ending will be more about learning to control it.

Oh hey, these guys. Seriously...nice. The Giants are very important to my fandom. Y'all know how much I love Miss Goldenweek and by extension Little Garden. Oimo & Kashi are where I caught up the first time. I remember being about two weeks away from starting freshman year of high school at the tail end of a summer binging the hell out of so many anime thanks to this newfangled DSL high speed internet. The way that came up again blew my mind, and seeing Dorry & Brogy almost twenty years later is so damn cool it makes me forget all about the not being the Grand Fleet aspect.

I mean, that was always just a specific and early guess. They still have sprinkled into these cutaway segments though. This pair just saw the paper and hurried over. Maybe they were expecting Luffy to head to Elbaf next after his time in Wano? Which is a very interesting concept when we've talked about Egghead being a somewhat "lateral" move with no clear goal set to advance our main progress through the Grand Line.

It's also pretty interesting to blend two long-running threads through this Nika lore. How do Bonney/Kuma & the giants intersect? Does it reinforce the need to pop the mystique of the spectacle? Does Luffy jump from one legendary story to another? The Fleet was the way to end it here. The giants tease it out more. At least as long as Shanks isn't following. But there's one last little element that makes me interested in the undertone like always, as we started off pointing out how that's still very much an element if you watch for it:

Robonosuke! Interesting how he's finally coming back around. It does look like he's reacting to the heartbeat but I'd point out we did let most of the chapter roll before showing this when Luffy went G5 at the start. The idea was always asking if that's a potential blip of something weird. The kicker with the Giants to me is how Dorry and Brogy seem to both be coming for Luffy and for the Sun God. We'll talk a lot more about them tomorrow and especially a titanic (oooh, yeah that's the stuff) wrinkle all around our beloved Strawhat Sniper Usopp I feel silly for not thinking of already. It's justified through what we learn of Elbaf in the Big Mom flashback.

Oddly enough, gets me right back to where I felt about Bonney right around the time this arc started. Remember? We're puzzled about Kiku's odd ending to Wano and all of a sudden Bonney picks up those threads in a big way. Now moving into more of that alternate protag space a lot like Yamato. Never forget, we know there was a rewrite behind that hiatus for a reason. So now...even if it's not the Fleet I can't help but notice how Dorry and Brogy specifically amplify the same ideas.

Either way, Robonosuke is coming online. We still have a little weirdness in the gaps. I'm curious as hell were it's all leading so bring on the big bois.