#first I have a couple screenshots I want to put together for the agenda

[12th-shavie]

[epilogue]

This is it...

But before the actual ending I've done some extra stuff !

I went to look for the final gramophone record ! My collection is now complete and sounds great

I caved in and looked up a list of the tavern party banter and I was only missing a couple so I just went around all the taverns until I unlocked them

I beat Yurinas in the arena with Hikari and learned a couple of cool skills

I used my entire stock of stat boosters and challenged the boss of the final side quest at the gates of ???. I died. I will not be grinding everyone beyond the early level 60~63 for a single optional boss.

Welp, it really is time to see the conclusion now, no way around it

Partitio, you sweet sweet boy, "there's still plenty of steps left in these legs" is not what this is about but I love you for that please don't change

Ochette you are so right for not wanting to say goodbye I've been putting this off too

Temenos going "How odd" made me chuckle, just admit you're attached to the party, it's fine

In spite of all, Ochette is the first to leave...

I can't believe even Hikari's parting words are about friends, I should have tracked every time he says this word over the course of the story I'm not going mad I swear

Wait a second, this order is familiar I think this is reverse recruitment order, Throné should be next it that's the case

Oh no Throné is terrible at saying goodbye because usually the people she has to part with are dead T^T

Temenos you little shit how dare leave on a cliffhanger (never change)

I almost thought Osvald was going to say "..." and leave but no he did say bye

Castti. Castti you're a sweetheart but you didn't give an address. How can anyone send you a letter ? Is there superhuman postal service I'm not aware of ??

I too have something in my eyes, Partitio, please don't leave I'm really going to cry if this keeps going

And so it goes... the credits roll... scenes flash briefly in the order I first saw them...

Crick in the credits I'll miss you forever and always

POST-CREDIT GAMEPLAY WE ARE SO BACK

Papp and Roque spotted in New Delsta ? What, are they on a date ? (I must maintain the agenda)

Pala's got a new hairstyle !! Cute !

Oh there's the guys who helped Castti out in Timberain

And Lady Clarissa and Elena ! Aww she's looking for a present for her dad (I wish I could've seen them interacting directly but I'll take it !)

Melia's here too, good to see she has some time off

Here are Benkei and Hikari ! Obviously he immediately calls Pala with "my friend". Of course. What did I expect. Right

Misha is here and worried about Alrond who has disappeared yet again, should I really have thought otherwise

Giselle, honey, I don't think you should try to recruit Juvah in your troupe, even if you can try to do so doesn't mean you should

Oh hello Ochette chilling with a snack

Found Alrond in the Partitio fan club meeting

Ort thinks Temenos isn't listening, seems like he's noticing things more

Oh Temenos how I've missed you in this credits-long span of time

The old men have been renamed to "Smiling" and "Cheerful" old men, good for you Mira

Found Pala's dad ! Right next to her girlfriend Mikka no less... (the agenda is holding strong)

Rai Mei why are on horseback. In the city. Are you so afraid to be late ?

Dolcinaea and Laila gathering a little crowd is adorable, not to mention Veronica with a tambourine. Epic, perfect, I'll take your entire stock of tambourine Veronicas

Zeto the Butcher and Alpione is not a duo I expected but I like it

Castti !! Standing around in the backstreets, right where I could easily find her, how kind

Yomi and Hermes should be friends. Maybe kiss on the lips. Just sayin' (new agenda ?)

Both bartenders in the tavern ! I wish my prediction about meeting more bartenders with 3-letter names starting with G and with declining vowels came true but oh well

"hot plans later" why are you like this Gil

Osvald going "... I hate crowds" is too good I could almost forgive that we don't see him interacting with Elena directly

Sure enough Throné was at her favourite spot, and she sounded really peaceful, good for her

Floyd and Regulus are nerding out about telescopes that's cute (do I smell agenda)

The legendary merchant Masoud ? In a shop ? Yeah go figure that makes sense (his daughter sounds so done it though)

I'm noticing the Agnea posters everywhere now !! Environmental storytelling !

And in the shop right across is Partitio ! And he's been waiting for everyone, so precious...

Time to go see Agnea now, the show must go on !

That was a good speech... and the final shot with everyone made me feel things...

The end was the final nail in the coffin, it is just too good !!!

I will never forget travelling with you... 🥹

Octopath Traveler II delayed playthrough blogging

[10 hours in]

Contains light spoilers of some early chapters I guess

I started the journey with Agnea because she looked like a sweetie (and she is) and she really has the most jrpg "leave of this small village to see the big wide world to make your dream come true" beginning

I got her to allure a villager that replenishes SP with every dancer skill she uses and she's been the cornerstone to most battles ever since

The second traveler I got was Partitio and he's a funny lad, I love his vibe, hat, jacket, and speech ! Also, the atmosphere of his storyline was a nice dramatic change of pace after the cozy first one I got

I headcanon that Roque's betrayal was in fact very much a divorce with Partitio's dad and I cannot wait to see how that applies to future chapters (I do hope it ages like fine wine rather than milk)

Partitio's combat performance was pretty solid despite a lack of AoE but the weapon variety for breaking was the early highlight

I ignored the fork in the road that lead to Hikari in favor of recruiting Castti because I wanted a healer and I feel slightly guilty (but also not at all)

Castti is literally so nice to people I can't wait to see if she really has an extremely shady past that will torment her for at least 1 chapter before she decides that she's going to be a good noddle in spite of all

Her concocting is pretty fun but I wish I had more diffusing serum (I can make do with latent power for now but it'd more fun to let her do some fun nuking)

Castti is also extremely tanky (she's the only one I have with over 1k HP so far) so she was a very welcome addition to the party

The next step in the journey was recruiting Osvald (I wanted to start with him but the 2 forced chapters made me decide to instead make him the reward for reaching the eastern continent) after I ignored the boat that lead to Ochette and wandered around until I stumbled upon a boat that lead really close to Osvald on the map and eventually found him face-down in the snow (which makes my decision to no start with him even better)

His first two chapters cemented him as one of my favorites beyond the visual vibes I got from the first selecting menu, and his skillset was a cherry on top

AoE magic nuking when I already have some buffing and BP donating in my party ? I'm sold. Free weakpoint reveals every battle ? Even better ! Osvaldo battle voicelines ? Yes please !

After that I found the scholar license and decided that Agnea should also learn to buff spell intensity to make my Osvaldo nuking engine even stronger (she's been doing great and I'm very proud of her)

Since it was on the way to Agnea's second chapter for which she was at the recommended level, I went on to recruit Temenos and he did not disappoint ! He really gave me an impression of being a seemingly upstanding fellow who is in fact not only shady but just the right blend of ambiguous tease with genuine words thrown in (props to his voice acting that really sells it)

His detective moment was also pretty cool, especially after seeing the duality of his abilities to get people to follow him without risk of failure and his (very shady) coercing to get more intel

I considered replacing Castti with him as my party healer but he is very squishy compared to her, and she also has weapon diversity and more consistent debuffing over him so for the time being he's just chilling at the tavern waiting for a party composition that makes him shine

On my way to the big city I found the inventor license and could simply not resist giving it to Partitio it simply fit him too well (and more weapons to break with is very nice), although I'm thinking of changing it later to try a Temenos build that would allow him to break even more and coerce better

Now onto the big city to recruit Throné and let Agnea's story unfold further !

[jimpagne]

the worst thing v gets is being called a leech and attention seeker which is what tkkers had been calling jm FOR YEARS. while disliking v because of shippers is petty it’s incredibly interesting how many jikookers had been defending v in the last few weeks while it’s complete silence within tkkers, youll never catch any of them defend jm

That's because a lot of Jikookers don't need to falsify reality in order to represent a certain agenda. Jikookers can be the bigger person if they need to be.

As someone who is truthfully OT7, I don't sit here hoping that hate trains form around someone that I see to be a "threat" to my ship. If I'm being completely honest, I think trying to consume Are You Sure?! from purely a shipping point of view is entirely counterproductive and not a good way to enjoy content. I think it's fun to gush over certain moments, but if you're only parked outside Disney+ or whatever streaming you're allegedly pirating it from just to see your ship in action... you're opening yourself to form biases and bitter feelings toward things that might not be directly encompassed within your ship's boundaries.

This is why I made a call out post whenever certain jikookers resorted to bullying Taehyung whenever they saw that he was going to be a guest on the show. Though I already hear people coming, saying "Oh, but taekookers are bullying Jimin to hell and back, so why can't we?"

Well maybe you shouldn't because it shows that you have the representative IQ of a toad. So let me get this straight, people who are NOT Taehyung bully Jimin... your first course of action is to... bully Taehyung? I think reciprocal hate is incredibly stupid and unwarranted. If I'm going to shit on the behavior of taekookers, guess who I'm gonna take it out on? That's right, I'm going to take it out on taekookers -- not Kim Taehyung.

Taehyung is currently serving in the military, so I doubt he's logging onto Twitter or Tumblr or whatever to say nasty things about his BEST FRIEND. I think people tend to forget that Jimin and Taehyung are tied at the hip and have an entire song where they wax poetry about how much they care about one another...

Anyways.

A lot of Taekookers live in another facet of reality, so in order to make half of their agenda true, Jungkook has to dislike Jimin, the company has to be forcing their fanservice, Jungkook's mother had to have been sent a script beforehand to ask about Jimin, Taehyung was lying about only seeing the trip details a few days before departure, Jungkook was holding Taehyung's waist in this screenshot (but don't look at the footage where it shows otherwise!), Jungkook only acts "cold" (if being humorously bratty is considered cold) toward him in certain scenes because the producers want Jikook to appear more real, HYBE has some joint contract with the South Korean military to put Jimin and Jungkook together in order to hide the real gay couple that is Taekook--

The more you dive into their rhetoric, the less it makes sense. Taekookers also argue with LITERAL KOREAN PEOPLE about translations in the show. Also it's super funny to see them shift from the narrative that she show is scripted to suddenly saying -- no, it's not scripted, to then saying this part is scripted, to then saying, no the whole thing is scripted again, to then saying, actually at this time stamp they went off the script and--

Fucking crazy.

I think what I noticed the most about a lot of taekooker's rhetoric is that in order for something to be true, they need to create a lie or insult the intelligence of both Taehyung and Jungkook.

So you're telling me that two grown men have to lie about who they're with and what they're doing in order to make your ship real? You're telling me that Jungkook and Taehyung are not intelligent enough to negotiate their contracts or what type of "fanservice" they have to engage with on the regular? You're telling me that Jungkook lied about who he saw on his birthday in order to protect Taehyung? You're telling me that after ten years of being in the same group, Jungkook is actually uncomfortable with Jimin but still decided to get a matching tattoo with him and all the other members? You're telling me that the homophobic country of South Korea is willing to hide a gay couple by endorsing a manufactured gay couple? In the military? Where gay people are famously treated well?

That's sarcasm, for anyone who might lack reading comprehension.

Taekookers are the literal embodiment of that one post where the person is like "source(s): trust me bro" because half of what they spit out makes no fucking sense and is actually insulting to Taehyung and Jungkook. Like y'all constantly insult their intelligence and their free will and make it seem like they're trapped behind bars and don't have enough money or power to negotiate what THEY want. I've even seen certain taekookers become Jungkook antis after Are You Sure?! came out because they think he's being mean to or bullying Taehyung.

God, the lights are on but nobody is home.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

looking back, my experience in this fandom was mostly based on shipping jikook, reading conspiracy theory blogs, and mostly watching their moments, all of that was first for me, and BTS as a whole was secondary. I could say that jikook always kept me in this fandom, and I was waiting for concerts or other content with their "moments". I think that bts' popularity is partly based on the shipping community, just the fact that I knew bts members from wattpad fanfics long long before I joined the fandom

Yeah, that's something that just happens in kpop. 70% of the kpop experience is the content that's not related to music. There are so many groups that would sell only a couple of thousands albums if they were as inactive as Jimin... but I wholeheartedly believe that they sell that much because of their "close relationship" to fans.

The more time passes, the more of these groups exist. I genuinely can't believe anyone listens to stray kidz or NCT and enjoys it😭 but that's another topic. I'm sorry if anyone reading is a fan, but I just can't. They don't really perform well on charts, but still loyal fans will buy millions of their albums just to "support" them, and collect pretty pictures. It's not really about the music, and almost everything is about the fans liking the idols as people or entertainers, more than musicians.

Part of BTS popularity is definitely thanks to ships, and to the "ot7" agenda. The same as it is for literally every other kpop group on earth. After BTS blew up after winning their first bbma social award, they doubled down on the "we're a family we're so close" stuff. I'm not saying it was fake, but it was also a tool. The way two famous people dating will mean pr moves for both of them in spite of how genuine their love might be, BTS started putting their relationship as a group on the forefront of what being BTS meant, and it was also a pr move.

Bighit made a survey for fans in late 2017.

It was a study market but most of the questions weren't about music. There were a couple that were something like "what do you like about BTS" and relationship between members was one of the options.

I don't know if you were around, but here's a link where you can see the questions, since I can't find screenshots of the survey itself.

A moment that stuck with me was in 2018 when news said that Jungkook had bought his own apartment. Before that, there had been news about Jin, Yoongi, Hoseok and Taehyung buying their own places. Silence from the company. But when JK bought trimage, bighit immediately issued an statement denying it. Even though Jungkook did have his own place there 😭 but him being the youngest was sort of the glue that was supposed to keep the family together. Half of BTS lore is how Jungkook was raised by all the other six members. He couldn't possibly be independent.

A lot of that obviously goes under the radar because BTS music is actually good, or at least they had some outstanding stuff.

The 2020 - 2022 period was particularly "worse" in that sense... All there was to be enjoy was ships, and the members interactions or their "relationship" with fans. The music was bad, no tour, no performances in general, and the behind the scenes content was lacking too. The whole "we didn't want to do solo songs we wanted to sing all together 🫶" they pulled for their last concerts.. it was all about the same narrative of "being together". The LA and Las Vegas concerts were a whole other level of fanservice.

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

Submission

Hey there, long time no see!

I've been dipping in and out of Tumblr the last couple of weeks and have been keeping up with all your interesting discussions with anons (sorry, stalkerish I know, but I find it both insightful and entertaining.) I couldn't help but notice @just-a-poor-boy-queen posted about our good old friend on Instagram spouting her usual bullshit, only this time she apparently has proof that her claims are real from Lying Ass Jerkoff , sorry, Lesley Ann Jones' latest book. According to her, as you already know, she claims that Lesley denounces Jim and Freddie's relationship and Jim apparently confessed to her that he never loved Freddie, that he used him for fame, etc. etc.

Which is...very interesting. Because LAJ's biography, Bohemian Rhapsody, claims the exact opposite.

While I was out in town today, I visited my local bookstore and unintentionally stumbled across the book in the biography section. My first instinct was to ignore it - I know for a fact it's trash - but curiosity got the better of me and I ended up having a flip through.

First off, the amount of stuff she gets wrong is hilarious. Some of them were minute errors, others the average Queen fan could tell you is fake. I'm pretty sure she talked about Freddie taking Princess Diana out in drag and the party with the midgets carrying bowls of cocaine on their heads, which we know never happened. There was also a picture of Freddie and Mary (one where Freddie is leaning on Mary while she's smoking a cigarette,) that was captioned "the happy couple relaxing together," which made me laugh out loud because it was allegedly taken in 1975 when Freddie was dating David behind Mary's back. Relationship goals, ammirite?

And don't get me started on the Barbara stuff, I stg, LAJ seems low-key obsessed with her.

Anyway, I ended up skipping to the end where she talks about Jim; she does indeed claim that she stayed with him in Carlow (not sure what year,) and that she interviewed him while she was there. This is what she had to say:

On Jim's motivation for writing M&M: (Jones) "Jim Hutton later explained that it was anger, not money, that prompted him to write his memoir. He wanted the world to know the truth, and could see no other way."

(Jones) "There is no doubt that Jim, the bereft lover, embarked upon his selective 1994 biography with the intention of creating a tender tribute to an adored partner. This was blurred by a co-writer who dwelled more on sensational aspects of the relationship, as well as on intimate details of Freddie's final days."

(Jones) "Given Jim's Catholic background, and the fact that his mother was still alive when he published, it must have taken immense courage to write the book."

About the GL boys being erased by Jim Beach: (Jim) "I think Jim Beach was angry that my book ruined the myth of Freddie. All it did was return him to his original status of a human being. It told the truth. Beach wanted fans to believe that sweet Mary Austin was the love of Freddie's life, and what a great, tragic, romantic tale it all was."

(Jones) "Jim was consequently banished from the Queen camp." (She goes on to explain it's likely because everyone was grieving, but I don't buy it.)

(Jones) "Freddie's will raised countless questions, some of which would never be resolved." (I thought this was interesting, given that I've seen speculation that Freddie might have been influenced over what to put in his will before.)

On Dave Clark: (Jones) "The press reported that Dave Clark had said he was the only person in the bedroom when Freddie died. 'He was not the only person in the room,' Jim stated. 'But it was quoted all over the place.' The error must have been perturbed the sensitive and caring Clark, for on his birthday, Jim received a beautiful card from him. 'The inscription he wrote inside read "you were there.' " (Jim goes on to recount the exact same version of events written in Mercury & Me about Freddie's death. He speaks highly of Clark, saying he was brilliant when Freddie was ill and would sit with him for hours. Jim seems more angry at the press spreading lies than at Dave himself. I've seen people argue that Dave was the one spreading the rumours to the paper or he did nothing to refute them, but who knows, perhaps he was a victim of the tabloids too.)

Phoebe testifying to Jim's character: (Phoebe) "Those concerned have to live with themselves. Mary once said of Jim that he had 'a very vivid imagination.' I knew Jim a very long time, and never knew him to be anything other than totally honest. Jim's conscience, like mine, will always be clear." (Given how Phoebe now makes a point of saying that Jim "exaggerated" stuff in his book, I find this a tad hypocritical. Still, I appreciate him sticking up for Jim and saying that those who are trying to change Freddie's legacy will have to live with that on their conscience. Also, fuck you Mary, if you did say that about Jim.)

On Jim's love for Freddie: (Jones) "There are still times when I can be pottering around in the garden, and Freddie's facial expression when he died will come into my mind," he told me in Ireland, "I can blank out what happened consciously but not subconsciously. It is impossible to forget. I learned so much from him, not least a positive outlook. Freddie's attitude was always, 'But you can, don't you see? You can do it. Put your mind to it, you'll see what you can do' That was one of the loveliest things about him."

(Jones) "During the time I spent with Jim in picturesque County Carlow, there was no doubt that the love Jim claimed to have felt for Freddie was genuine. He was a warm and decent man who was content with his lot. He was eternally grateful, he told me, for having experienced the superstar lifestyle through Freddie."

(Jones) "Jim would never truly recover from the loss."

I took screenshots of all the quotes above, which I'm happy to submit if anyone is interested. I would love to have seen what else she said about Jim, but taking pictures of book pages in the middle of a shop isn't the best look, so I kept it brief. 

So, overall, Lesley seems to have a very high opinion of Jim, and believed the love between he and Freddie was genuine. Which is quite surprising, given that she downplays all of Freddie's other relationships with men in favour of promoting his fictional "romance" with Miss Valentin. Of course, this could all be complete bullshit and she never met Jim at all, but if she is telling the truth for once in her life, then she's one of few biographers who was very much supportive of Jimercury.

As one of the anons correctly stated, we have two possible scenarios.

A) If crazy lady is telling the truth, and Jones does make all these negative claims about Jim in her new book, then she was either lying in Bohemian Rhapsody or she's lying now in her latest cash cow. In this scenario, she's a liar either way. But tell us something we don't know.

B) Crazy Lady is pretending to have read the book, or read it and was angry there was nothing bad about Jim, and is fabricating quotes to suit her anti-Jim agenda, knowing her thick-as-bricks followers will just take her word for it and not bother looking for evidence. This is the most likely scenario. 

I know most people with a brain know not to trust the word of either of these women, but I thought it would be fun to dismantle some of Insta lady's claims regardless, in case there was anyone out there having doubts.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

-------------

Hi there! It's good to see you again.

This...is a lot to think about lol. Since LAJ is such a liar, it's hard to believe she really sat down with Jim, or that most of what she said was from primary sources. However, it is strange that she spoke so highly of Jim given...everything else she's ever said lol. The quotes above do fit with what other people have said about Jim and Garden Lodge as a whole, though. It's very strange because it's either she decided to be factual with this, or lie about getting these quotes but decide to stick up for Jim, anyway. Weird, weird, weird.

It's really hard to know who's lying in the new book, LAJ or the hater lady. They're both so unreliable. It does seem too convenient that what LAJ supposedly says lines up with the hater lady rhetoric, but idk. Apparently LAJ blocked the hater lady on twitter, too lmao. So maybe it's the hater lady who's lying? But I can believe LAJ suddenly changing her tune, too.

I don't know. Thank you for sharing this information. I have more questions than answers now lol but still

[eglantiney]

Okay so I want to write this down before the new chapter drops in case new hints appear on it. 

This started as a crack “what if” theory between @xanataku​ and me but then we actually started finding “evidence” of it. 

There are many unknowns and uncertain things so I’m afraid this might be a messy post; please bear with me!

TL;DR: Johann is the spider. Dante’s involvement in the spider’s business is considered but there’s nothing to prove it.

It all began as I was rethinking the “Ruthven is Dante’s father” theory. Moreau is connected to Ruthven, which is to say Moreau’s experiments to turn humans into vampires (and possibly the opposite as well) are something within Ruthven’s interests, and we don’t know for how long it has been like that. Isn’t it possible that Ruthven had a child with a human to study the outcome? But this is not what I’m here to discuss today, although it could explain this panel here:

If you think about it, if the spider was a Dham, they could be seeking to become a full vampire or a full human, as it has been implied before that Dhams have been rejected by both humans and vampires.

Going back a bit, where does the idea that the spider is Johann come from?

Initially I always thought these two figures looked familiar:

Slender and tall + shorter and sturdier. Just like Johann and Dante! But that isn’t enough. And yet, if you pay attention...

During the bal masqué the spider recives a kick from Noé. Next time he shows up in a panel, he is holding his left arm (sorry about the low quality screenshot ahah), and from then on he doesn’t use it or move it at all. In every panel, his left arm is hanging as if it was broken.

After this incident, Noé and Vanitas have their meeting with Ruthven, are kicked out from Altus and return to their hotel. And one week later...

Johann’s left arm is broken. This is where it becomes hard to say if the person in the plague doctor mask is Dante or not. There is no one to confirm if Johann’s story (that he got his wounds after being kidnapped by Moreau’s men) is true, but Riche does confirm Dante’s story. It could be that she is covering up for him, though. 

At this point we were asking ourselves: if Johann and possibly Dante are working with Ruthven, why point Vanitas and Noé to Moureau’s laboratory, which led to its destruction? That seems counter productive. We considered a couple of possibilities:

The more plausible: Dante was ordered to by Marquis Machina.

For some reason, Machina wants Vanitas to be involved in these incidents. It could be that Machina and Ruthven work together, so maybe they wanted to bring Vanitas to Dr. Moureau to get a hold of the book. 

It could also be that Machina and Ruthven don’t work together, and in that case I doubt Dante would be the man in the plague doctor mask. If Ruthven and Machina, and therefore Johann and Dante, have different agendas, it would make sense for the Dhams to provide info to Vanitas and Noé without Johann objecting to it (he wouldn’t be able to reveal himself as the spider).

The least plausible: All they knew is that the Chasseurs had been kidnapping vampires, so it could be that they wanted to make Noé and Vanitas clash with them for a personal reason: 

If Johann is the spider... the scumbag would be Noé.

The next time we see the spider is in Dr. Moureau’s laboratory and, suspiciously, instead of punching like he did in the bal masqué, this time he uses kicks, only uses his right arm to grab Moureau and has his left arm covered by a cloak all the time:

There is something else that has been bugging me for a while too... the spiders outfit. Until yesterday I thought it was a chasseur outfit, but it definitely isn’t.

I’m only putting a picture of Roland here, but I’ve checked the outfits of all the other chasseurs and they all look the same. The priest collar, the buttons all the way to the bottom, the sash. The spider doesn’t have any of those things. The one thing he does have is the cross around his neck, and it makes me wonder if it’s in an attempt to mislead other people.

Moving on, the next time we see Johann is in the way to Gevaudan. During this arc we’ve seen a side of him that isn’t as sweet as the one we are used to. 

One of the things that kept making me doubt this theory is that the spider’s personality when he was with Ruthven never matched Johann’s, but this here does seem closer to how the spider acts.

Then, when Naenia appears for the first time. Vanitas attempts to use the book to get rid of her, and someboy throws a dagger breaking the book of Vanitas’s chain. 

Right before this happens, during Charlatan’s parade, we can say for certain where everyone is: A few pages before we see Johann and Dante together, back to back. Jeanne is with Vanitas who just saved her from Astolfo. Astolfo and Marco are together, and Noé is with Naénia. Vanitas takes out his book, the chain is cut, triggering a massive reaction, and then...

Johann is gone. The fact that he isn’t with Dante anymore makes me think that they aren’t working together in this. They meet again later in the cabin in the forest, but during the current chapters Johann is once again nowhere to be found. Where is he and what is he doing?

All in all, Dante’s attitude in general makes me doubt he is involved in Ruthven’s business at all. He seems to get along too well with Vanitas to be siding with a group interested in getting rid (or something similar) of him. It does seem like they’ve known each other for quite a long time, too. Johann, on the other hand... I get the feeling he would do anything for his family, but doesn’t care about anybody else. I can see him collaborating with Ruthven for their sake.

If I’m not forgetting anything, that should be all ahah. I would love to hear what others think or make of this. I don’t think any of this really is solid evidence against Johann and Dante, but it’s definitely very very suspicious, and I’m certainly not going to take my eyes off them for the remainder of this arc!

PS: Oh and let’s not forget that Dante just stole a few drugs from a chasseur for a still unknown purpose. It might be good to remember it.

[etlunainmorte]

✒ P.S. I Love You ✒

***

XI

***

"Okay, so, listen up!" Nico announced later that afternoon as she faced all the occupants in the dining room, including herself ( who was at the head of the table ), V ( who was standing next to the fireplace away from the others, arms crossed over his chest, and Shadow lying on the floor next to his feet ), Avery ( who was sitting next to Nico on her right ), Roman ( who was sitting very close to his fiancée, feeling nervous and frightened ), and Griffon ( who was perched on Roman's chair and making the man much more nervous ). "The wedding is in five days, and we need everyone to participate in this. Ya don't want any frickin' ghosts photobombin' on yer wedding pictures and worse, yeah?"

"We'll gladly help." Avery asked as she took Roman's hand in hers and began squeezing it.

Roman, who bravely nodded and placed a hand on top of hers, spoke, his voice sounding admirably resolute. "How can we help you?"

Nico looked at V's direction and nodded at him, gesturing for him to come forward, and a few seconds later, (Y/N)'s journal, the old wooden box of photographs, and the radio containing all the voice recordings were scattered on the table for everyone to see.

"During our investigation, we managed to find these items that, we think, are vital clues to what's really happenin' here." Nico explained, then opened the wooden box to let the couple see the various photographs in it, especially the ones where (Y/N) and Victor were involved.

With furrowed eyebrows, Avery took some photographs and stared at them in disbelief. "Hey, this is great gran! I didn't know I still have these!"

"This man looks like V!" Roman added as he pointed at Victor in the pictures. "Why is he with her? I thought she's married to Doctor Lancaster in 1898!"

"That's exactly what we have to find out." V answered as he opened the journal and showed them the writings in it, which baffled the couple. "Apparently, Ms. Avery, your great grandmother was in love with someone else. She's in love with a man by the name of Victor Blake."

"Shut the fucking door up!" Avery exclaimed as she took the journal and read (Y/N)'s entries in it, herself. She, then, looked up at V and gave him a scrutinizing gaze as if he was telling them lies. "So, you're telling me that this man, this Victor Blake, is a third wheel, or something?"

"We're not yet sure. That's why we have to investigate further into this matter. Because," V said as he pointed at the strange image in one of the photographs showing (Y/N) and Victor's wedding. " ... something else was at play there."

"And because of that, we believe that we finally have a suspect." Nico added as she threw another photograph at the table. It wasn't an old photo, though. It was a printed screenshot of the strange man in white who materialized last night. And when Avery and Roman looked at it, the two felt shivers run up and down their spine.

"Oh, my God!" Avery exclaimed.

"It's the same man from the pictures!" Roman observed.

"And we're not done!" Nico said as she took her radio and played the recording in it, which made Roman's skin go pale. She turned it off before it could make the poor man faint.

"That strange man, these hauntings, and great gran's connection to this Victor." Avery hummed as she pondered for a while with all the available clues in front of them. "Something doesn't connect! It doesn't make any sense, at all!"

"We have our own,... suspicions. However, it would stay as that - suspicion. Unless we do something to uncover the truth. Only then,... can we put an end to these,... hauntings." V replied.

"So, here's what we need to do." Nico relayed, her tone as gravely serious as it can possibly be. "We need to split up into three teams. V, of course, would investigate on his own. Each team would have a radio and a spy cam, just like that one that the little chicken is wearing. The plan is simple, we just need to find more clues such as these. Along the way, we should also record every single thing with these gadgets. We might find the recordings useful later on."

"Saying that we need to split into groups, do you mean to say that we also have to check what's on the upper floors?" Avery questioned as she took one radio for herself.

"Exactly."

"Okay. I would go upstairs with V, then. I have access to the other rooms, after all." Avery offered as she stood up, determined to help with the investigation.

"No."

All the occupants in the room stared at Roman as he held his fiancée’s arm. He stood up and took one radio for himself. And with a brief nod and a sigh, he said, "I'll do it. I'll investigate the upper floors."

"But, sweetie!" Avery complained.

"Sshh, sshh. It's okay. It's time for me to prove I'm not always this poor scaredy - cat man you knew. I'll do it. You investigate here."

"Oh, sweetie!"

Nico and V awkwardly looked away as the lovers began smooching in front of them. And if it weren't for the tattooed woman clearing her throat, the two won't stop showering each other with kisses.

"I'll go with you, then - " Nico began but, she was interrupted as Roman's hand went up. Really showing off now, aren't we?

"I'll take the bird with me." The man announced, which made Griffon's eyes widen in shock and his beak drop in awe. "If you would allow me, Mr. V?"

The poet saw the horrified look on his familiar's face as the poor bird shook his head over and over again, probably in a gesture to not allow Roman to take him along.

Unfortunately for Griffon, though, V was moved by Roman's decision to finally man up and actually face his own fears.

"Of course." V answered, making Griffon almost fall off Roman's chair.

"Alright then. You go with me, Ms. Avery." Nico decided as she also stood up.

"Umm,..." Avery began. "Can we take the big black cat, V?"

V looked down at Shadow and nodded at her. The familiar understood this and went over to the ladies.

"So, good luck to all of us, then." Avery said as she took her own camera.

Nico turned to V as she playfully punched him on the arm, just like that one time before all the hauntings messed up their life. And with a sweet smile that V hasn't seen from her in a while, she said, "See ya later, V."

*

Strangely enough, Nico's words seemed to leave behind an impression on V. Over the last two days, he realized how reliable she was and how friendly she actually was compared to Dante, who just bossed him around. While he did survive the Qliphoth incident, he's still learning to live as a free man without having to worry about dying, or being judged by others due to his physical appearance and his unique personality. And Nico was actually the first person who welcomed him as a new member of the Devil May Cry squad. Not Dante, and not even Nero. It was her. She even went to such lengths to help with this mission of his, albeit with personal agenda of delving more into something paranormal and not demonic for a change.

But, still. Nico extending some extra effort with this,...

She deserved a token of appreciation. After all, they're kind of like friends now. When they see each other in the morning again, he would tell her that he agreed on splitting the pay in half. And maybe surprise her with a little gift after the mission. A new toolbox, maybe? Or a new hammer? Would she like that?

These things were still in V's mind as he made his way to (Y/N)'s room, and as he was about to enter the room ( there's no door now since Griffon destroyed it last night ), he heard a very pleasant noise that was coming from the first floor.

It was,... a piano? And a trumpet?

V turned and noticed that he was, once again, plunged into the past with the sudden change in the atmosphere. And as he searched for the source of the music, he noticed that there were few people in the place unlike the last time he went for a visit. He made his way to the library / music room and found a small group of people gathered there as they listened to some musicians performing some sweet and soothing music.

He turned to his right and actually noticed Victor Blake standing alone in one corner of the room, leaning on his cane, and looking intently at something in the distance. V followed his gaze and saw (Y/N) sitting in one of the plush maroon sofas. The beautiful evening gown she's wearing and the way her hair was styled suited her perfectly, and she was holding a fan just like the rest of the distinguished females in the room.

Yes, everyone else looked beautiful. But, to V, (Y/N) simply stood out among others. And Victor seemed to think of the same, as well, as he slowly made his way towards her. The girl noticed this and looked shyly away as she covered her blushing cheeks with her fan. And when the poet arrived and kneeled before her once more, she finally gave in and held out a gloved hand, which he proudly took and kissed. It was the actual scene from the first photograph of them he ever saw.

Then, the music slowly changed as the atmosphere around him seemed to morph, as well. And a few moments later, V found the two sitting in front of the piano. Victor played the instrument as (Y/N)'s angelic voice filled the room.

The atmosphere morphed once more and V saw them sitting together in one of the maroon sofas. Victor was now reading something to her, and as she listened with a look of wonder in those beautiful eyes, the poet looked at her with much more. It was deep, and, in a way, possessive. Like his eyes refused to leave her for even a second. Again, this was one of the scenes from those old photographs.

The surroundings around V changed and morphed several more times, showing him how Victor and (Y/N) grew close with each other, until it led him to the part where they were surrounded by other people, by very close and loving friends, who were trying to push them together to stand on a makeshift platform made of pillows. Daniella placed a veil on (Y/N)'s head and her maidservant gave her a single stem of a deep red rose. A man, who was standing in front of them, cleared his throat and began reading something from what looked like an encyclopedia. He fished out something from his pocket, making the others laugh, and produced two rings. He gave one to each lover and went on reading his book.

V smiled to himself as he watched the couple speak their vows and how they slid the ring on the other's finger. And when the people began cheering for them, Victor cupped (Y/N)'s cheeks and gave her a very sweet and gentle kiss that lasted for at least a minute.

The atmosphere changed once more and V saw (Y/N) dragging Victor upstairs towards her bedroom. He followed closely behind them and noticed the girl taking a folded stationery from her pocket and giving it to Victor. She, then, pressed a kiss against two of her fingers and pressed them on the note on Victor's hand. She smiled, stood on her toes, and gave the man a chaste peck on the cheek. She waved good night and opened her door, went in, and gave him another smile before finally closing it.

Victor didn't wait a moment longer and unfolded the note, and what he read there made his eyes widen. He abruptly knocked on the door, and when (Y/N) opened it, he hastily engulfed her in a tight embrace.

V felt his heart swell as the lovers shared a very passionate kiss.

Hands caressing and exploring. Lips moving in a rhythmic pattern. For a moment, V saw himself as Victor.

For a brief moment, he saw himself passionately kissing and caressing (Y/N).

The girl stepped backwards, leading Victor inside but never breaking the sweet kiss. After a while, V's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he saw Victor's, his, metal cane flying from the room to the hallway, along with his cravat and one of (Y/N)'s shoes. Victor came out a few seconds later, looking so in love and excited, to retrieve the items. Then, he entered the room and closed the door.

Then, everything went quiet. V was about to turn and leave when he saw (Y/N) dragging Victor once more to her room. They kissed. They embraced. The cane flew once more. Victor retrieved the cane. They laughed.

Then, the same thing happened for several more times. Of them kissing. Of them embracing. Of the cane flying.

And after a few moments, everything went silent.

However, V didn't see the two of them again.

All of a sudden, a hand swiftly went down to V's shoulders. He turned around to see Maria, Avery's old housekeeper, looking worriedly at him.

"Young master, you've stayed too long! We must go!" She told him, took his arm, and dragged him away from the room. "Your friend needs you! You must hurry!"

"My friend?!" V felt like he was suddenly punched in the stomach upon hearing the words from Maria and immediately went down to see for himself.

No, no, no,...

This can't be! It can't happen! It can't -

V's shoulders dropped as he saw Avery, Roman, and Griffon looking down at something on the floor with pained looks on their faces.

"She was attacked, V." Avery told him. "I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything,..."

V ran to where they were and saw, in his utter shock, Nico's unconscious form on the floor. There were slashes all over her body but, what stood out the most was the wound on her right palm, looking as though it was intentionally put there. He took a closer look at it, and finally saw what it was.

The wound,...

... was in the form of three digits.

749

***

✒ @la-vita , @micaelagua , @v-vic , and @birdgirl69 .✒

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✒✒✒

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[the-knees-of-the-bees]

Sync [Ignis Scientia X FemReader] - Chapter 1/3

This was a little gift to myself for my birthday in an attempt to break me out of my discouragement on my other fic.  It was actually nice to just write freely and not spend so much time on research and editing (so please take this fic with a grain of salt, i only made two passes at it with editing lol).  This also isn’t an original idea, I’ve seen a couple different amazing versions of this similar concept so this is just my take on it.  Enjoy!

Could anything else possibly go wrong in your life?  Work, family, friends, your relationship; everything was pushing you to your limits.  You desperately needed a change of scenery but when a weekend of self-care suddenly goes awry, you wonder if your new found situation is not so bad after all...

Chapter themes/warnings:  Explicit language, depression, fluff, angst, suggestive themes, SFW Word Count:  6,221 AO3 Link - Sync Screenshot permission and credit to @dizzymoogle

You slammed your apartment door shut as you kicked off your shoes, turning to click the lock with a ferocity in your fingertips. You shrugged your bag off your shoulder, letting it flop neglectfully on the ground by the door as you stomped through the hallway towards the kitchen.  It had been such a terrible month at work and today proved to be no different.  Your coworkers were driving you insane in the past few days, constantly putting off essential tasks as if you wouldn’t notice their laziness.  You were beginning to feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted, finding yourself working overtime and barely being compensated or appreciated for it.  Today had really pushed you to your limits and you nearly snapped; regrettably being short with one of your colleagues that you normally enjoyed working with on a daily basis.  

 You released an exasperated breath, feeling equally angry and guilty for your behavior, but you wanted to make a point to them and to allow it to continue would only drive you to the brink of resignation.  You shook your head and slid your jacket off, hanging it over the back of the barstool at the kitchen island.  You unclipped your necklace as you marched towards your bedroom, tossing it on your jewelry stand.  A plain gray t-shirt and loose shorts waited for you on the edge of your bed, you reached for the pair as you shifted out of your work clothes, discarding them in the hamper.

 You were beginning to wonder how much more you could possibly take; work was testing your limits, you had been distant with some of your friends as of late, and you haven’t talked to your mom in a few days ever since your fight with her over the past weekend.  Not to mention your mind was still lingering on the fact that you felt lonely and unloved after breaking up with your boyfriend a couple of months back.  You didn’t want to admit that you were depressed even though your attitude showed it; you haven't been to a psychologist or even a primary care doctor in over two years so you could only imagine the damage your mind and body had sustained in that time.  

 A long drawn out sigh escaped your lips and you worked your way back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.  You searched languidly through the refrigerator, not feeling the energy to eat but you knew it was necessary, anything would suffice at this point, you could honestly care less.  Thank god it was Friday, as cliche as it sounded, but it was true, you needed the time to yourself this weekend.  You thought about all the things you could do in those two days: that art project that was half finished, putting up those shelves and decor along your bare wall, finally organizing the wreck inside of your closet…

 No.  As much as all of those projects needed to be completed you knew you wouldn’t have the drive to do any of them.  Maybe I’ll go out this weekend instead…  A change of scenery was what you really needed so you finalized the idea in your head. I just need to break up this boring routine in my life…. I just need something new.  A smile crept up your face and for once you felt a sense of vigor pulse through your veins.  

 You gave yourself one final look over in the body mirror.  Twirling around in a cream colored floral wrap dress you had bought months ago but felt too timid to wear.  You had been feeling particularly self-conscious ever since you had split with your ex-boyfriend, some days refusing to apply your make-up as it would mean nothing to anyone who crossed your path.  But today you were determined to shake the negative feelings that hovered over you for so long.  You went all out, accenting your eyes with that new expensive shadow palette and contouring your lips with that bold lipstick that sat in pristine condition. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, you felt beautiful and you were ready to show it.

 Grabbing your purse and keys, you slipped on your comfy shoes.  A stroll through one of the local parks to enjoy the gorgeous spring day was the first thing on your agenda.  You locked your apartment door behind you as you strode confidently down the hall towards the parking garage.

 You settled on a park you had recently seen boasted about on the news.  It was further outside of the city but you figured it was worth the drive to see something different.  As you pulled up to the park’s entrance, you noticed small groupings of parents and their children enjoying the gorgeous green fields.  Kites whirled around in the air as soccerballs flew across the grass, it was truly the sight of a typical family weekend.

 You stepped out of your car, grabbing your things as you surveyed where to go.  Wandering aimlessly seemed to be a great start as you were content to get lost in the fresh air of the outdoors.  A bridge overlooking a small lake came into view as flocks of ducks swarmed the small body of water.  It was an odd sensation to feel relaxed, you made the mental note to continue this pattern more often.  You took your time as you strode along the paved walkways that winded through the park before finally stopping at the apex of the wooden bridge.

 A couple strolled behind you, discussing a movie that they had just seen in elaborate detail and analysis.  You smiled to yourself, remembering those days with your ex.  But your smile quickly faded as you were grossly reminded that you were single now. You shook the thought off and began wandering again.  You came upon a park bench and sat down, looking over at the reflection of clouds that glided over the surface of the lake.  

 Determined to not habitually glance at your phone, you set your purse to your side and leaned back into the seat.  You wanted to enjoy today, you wanted to enjoy your life, and you wanted to feel renewed.  

 Another couple walked in front of you as they shared loving glances at one another.   A new couple no doubt, you could see that they were clearly in the awkward first stages of romance.  You pursed your lips and tore your gaze away from them, the same sinking feeling hitting you again.  You huffed a sigh and tried to desperately ignore the sudden awareness you had for every couple in the park.  How they walked around playfully shoving one another, stealing quick pecks on each other's lips, swinging their arms as they locked their hands together.  

 Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all… you dropped your head to stare at your lap, trying to devise a new game plan for the day.  You didn’t want to waste such a perfect opportunity to do something different but you were quickly realizing it was failing to pan out the way you had envisioned. You knew the park was just going to continue to remind you of your loneliness despite how beautiful and refreshing the scene was today.  You stood up and headed towards your car.  

 You closed the driver side door and placed your hands on the steering wheel, resting your forehead against it.  The outdoor mall was a possibility, but there was nothing in particular that you needed, not to mention you could easily drop way too much money in an attempt to fill your void.  You thought about going to the movies but there was nothing of interest that you wanted to see.  Ultimately, you decided to head home, maybe a glass of wine and catching up on one of your tv series would cheer you up.  You sat on the idea for a moment before throwing your car into reverse… fuck it, whatever.  

  You flopped on to your couch, placing your glass of wine on the coffee table, grabbing the remote to flick the television on. Every channel appeared unworthy of your attention as you flipped through them one by one.  The local news flashed on the screen.  You hoped that the weather report would be next so you could re-attempt your failed outting tomorrow.  

 “Teams are still investigating the cause of a deadly accident earlier this evening on the east side.  Reports are coming in that the driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle and collided with a utility pole, resulting in a downed transformer. Residents in the area have reported sudden temporary power outtages and are encouraged to contact their local service providers for up to date information.  In other news —”

 You changed the channel, not wanting to wait all night for the weather report.  After flipping through the guide for a second time, you realized there was nothing of interest so you grabbed your PS4 controller, powering up the device.  The soft material of your dress draped around your body as you reclined across the crouch, debating whether to change into your pajamas but it was surprisingly comfortable enough to lounge in.  You leaned into the arm rest while the main menu illuminated the screen.

 “A Final Fantasy for Fans and First Timers…”

 The night wore on as you found yourself, once again, dragged into an endless evening of side quests and bounty hunts. You cursed at the screen as you bailed out of another Naga fight, completely drained of your curatives. Hours flew by and you felt your eyes begin to flutter as you clicked to fast travel the boys back to Hammerhead. You watched the loading bar slowly creep along the edge of the screen, reading over the little paragraph of info while you waited.  Your eyes felt even heavier now as you propped your elbow on the armrest and laid your head on your hand.  Just one more side quest and I’ll call it a night. The controller teetered on your fingers as it rocked unbalanced within your limp palm.  A romantic tune filled your apartment as the delicate piano arrangement coerced you with its gentle lullaby as you drifted off to sleep…

  Your face twitched as you felt your shoulder rub against something rough and gritty.  A hard textured surface pressed against your forehead causing you to shift with irritation and annoyance; your skin felt hot and prickly as an unbearable heat surrounded every inch of your body. Since when did I leave the heater on?  You willed your tired eyes open, aggravated with yourself that you had left all the lights on in your apartment.  

 Wait, I only… had the lamp on last night…

 You were startled to find that you were lying along the side of a road.  The piercing rays of the sun reflected harshly off the surface forcing you to squint. You pushed yourself up slowly with your forearms until you were perched up on your knees.  What.. the hell.. ?

 Your eyes darted around the foreign scenery as you stumbled to your feet, your breathing steadily increasing as your heart began to pound in your chest.  It was a stretch of desert highway, barren and devoid of any signs of life.  You looked down and gripped your clothing, it was the dress you wore last night, dusty and wrinkled.  Oh my god… have I been kidnapped?!  You patted your arms and neck, checking for any signs of struggle or tenderness from injury.  Thankfully, your body felt fine and painless.  When you were finally convinced that you were physically unharmed, you began to search yourself and the ground for your cell phone.  Your eyes darted around the sandy terrain as you foraged your body for something; your wallet, cash, ID, a credit card, anything.  Your hands sunk to your side as you realized you were alone on a giant expanse of highway with absolutely nothing and no idea of where you could possibly be.

 The heat radiated off of the road causing a mirage of water to reflect off the surface.   You continued to search the horizon, looking for any buildings or passing cars that you could flag down but all you could hear was the grinding of the sand beneath your shoes as you pivoted on your heel.

 If you were truly kidnapped, or the product of a crazy human trafficking scheme, your captors were bound to be back so you thought it best to get moving.  You looked back and forth down the road, debating which way to go.  The sun sat high in the sky which meant it was roughly about noon. I guess it doesn’t matter, hopefully someone is bound to drive down this way..  You started walking, praying that a gas station was not far away.  

  Your feet were beginning to feel unbearably sore, having walked nearly an hour now in the blazing heat.  Beads of sweat began to fall down your temple as your mouth felt dry, your lips split and cracked.  Your purposeful stride had turned into an exhaustive shuffle as your skin became tender from the sun’s unwanted embrace.

 You stopped, searching the land again for anything that could help you in your desperate situation, but only cacti and brittle tumbleweeds filled the landscape for miles.  A flicker of light flashed in your periphery.  You stared fervently at it for a moment.   It shined again.  A sudden excitement overwhelmed you and you sprinted towards it, hoping it could be something of use.  You searched the ground desperately as you saw it shine again with a gleaming blue spark, but your brows crinkled in disappointment.  You picked up the item, a pure black exoskeleton that looked much like a scorpion stinger.  You turned the fractured tail in your palm, why would this be shining?  You let out a defeated sigh but luckily your dress had a hidden pocket so you placed it inside, hoping that if your captors returned for you, the least you could do was stab them with the tiny stinger.

 Praying for some kind of miracle, you looked down the road through the transparent layer of heat that wove off of the hot asphalt. A fuzzy dark object sat on the horizon; you squinted and gasped excitedly, it was a building.  You lightly jogged, not wanting to waste too much of your energy in case it was nothing more than another mirage, but as you came closer the details of the building became clearer.  It was a diner, an inhabited diner.  Two cars were parked outside of another building across the street as a handful of people ambled within the small town.  You began sprinting towards it, ignoring the pain in your legs and the dry hot air that your lungs inhaled.  As you entered the outskirts of the little outpost you noticed a motel sign situated atop of another establishment.  Thank god, you would be able to rest while you waited for the cops to pick you up.  

 But as you reached the edge of the diner, you paused.  Something about the scene looked… very familiar.  Maybe your alleged captors dumped you closer to home than you had previously thought but you struggled to place a finger on it.  You shook the feeling off, right now you needed to find a phone and call the authorities immediately.  Ignoring all the signs and advertisements plastered up along the windows of the restaurant, you stepped inside and made your way to the counter. The attendant was in the middle of a transaction with another customer so you waited patiently behind them. There was no need to make a giant scene in front of everyone, you were not injured so you didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself.  Once the police arrive, you could figure out the details of your abduction once you got home.  

 The waiter chit chatted with the patron, joking about something you didn’t care to listen to but as you stood there you couldn’t help but allow your eyes to finally wander the interior of the diner. Why does this all seem so familiar?  What is it, seriously…

 “Ahem,” the man repeated.

 You shook out of your distraction, embarrassed that you had not realized the customer before you had already left.

 “Oh I’m sorry,” you answered, stepping up to the counter, “This is going to sound completely insane, but long story short I think I’ve been kidnapped and I really to need to use your phone.”

 The attendant stared at you for a moment before his eyes widened a bit, “Are.. are you hurt?”

 “No, thankfully not but I don’t have anything on me. My cell, my wallet, everything.  I just need to use your phone so I can call the police.”

 “The… poh-lees?” he asked with a baffled voice.

 “Yeah,” you looked down the counter and spotted a rotary phone at the end, “Can I please use it?”

 “Uh… sure,” he gestured with his hand towards it, “let me know if you need anything else.”

 You smiled gratefully at him, “thank you so much, I will.”

 You jogged to the end of the counter, grabbing the phone frantically as you punched the emergency digits, waiting with bated breath.  Dial tone.

 What?  You hung up the phone, believing you had dialed in error as easy of a number as it was, you typed the numbers again, slowly this time.

 Dial tone.

 What the hell?  You hung it up again with your hand still gripping the handle of the phone. Let me call mom.  You punched her number.

 Dial tone.

 You hung the phone up once again, looking down at the attendant who was busy now with another customer.  You picked up the phone, punching your best friend’s number.

 Dial tone.

 You hung up the phone for the final time.  Just my fucking luck, their phones are down. You huffed a defeated sigh and walked back over to the waiter.  You patiently waited your turn when you overheard something odd.

 “Total is 500 gil today.”

 You snapped your head towards the register.  Did I just hear him right?  No, there’s no way.  I’m just dehydrated and exhausted, my mind is all over the place right now. The customer turned to walk away as the waiter acknowledged you with a nod.

 “Everything alright?”

 “Uhh… not really.  I can’t get a hold of anyone.  Are your phones down?”

 The side of his face pinched with confusion, “Not that I know of.  It’s been ringin’ fine all day.”

 “Oh… well can you at least tell me where I am? Everything here seems so familiar. I’m wondering if I’m closer to home than I thought.”

 “Well this is Longwythe, its on the western side of Leide.  You from Lestallum or the crown city by chance?”

 Lestallum??  Crown city?? You stared at the man blankly.

 He noticed the color had suddenly drained from your face.  “Ma’am, you alright?”

 “I… I…” you stammered.  This has to be a joke.  THIS HAS TO BE.

 You backed up slowly until you bumped into an anchored bar stool, nearly knocking down a napkin dispenser with your flailing arm. There’s no way… there’s just no way.  You turned towards the door, shoving it open as you stumbled out of the restaurant.

 “Ma’am! Ma’am!”

 You ignored the attendant’s pleas as you whipped yourself around to look at the diner’s name.  ‘Crow’s Nest Diner.’

 Fearing for what you would see, you slowly turned to survey the rest of the outpost.  ‘The Three Z’s Motel’, ‘Rent-a-Chocobo.’   What kind of fucked up joke is this!?

 You paced down the street but everything seemed to match perfectly to what you played… in the Final Fantasy video game.

 Panic struck you like a moving train.   Who on earth would devise such an elaborate prank to play, you exclaimed inwardly.  Whoever it was, they had way too much time on their hands and quite frankly it wasn’t entertaining.  You searched for hidden cameras of the deranged tv show your ‘captors’ had volunteered you for, anger quickly replacing your panicked state.  Enough is enough.

 “HA HA HA, very funny you guys!  But it’s a pretty fucked up thing to do to make someone think they’ve been kidnapped!!” You shouted aloud to the invisible camera men. Two women turned their attention towards you before whispering quietly to one another.  You shot them an angry look, pissed that they had agreed to play along with this tortuous prank.

 “These son of a bitches..” you mumbled to yourself. “Alright, I’m done with this.” The heat on your face was hotter than the sun that fried your skin.  You stomped down the street, escaping the fake town to find someone with a cell phone so you could call a Lyft.

 The level of irritation was enough to fuel you a few miles down the desert highway.  You continued to mumble obscenities to yourself as your weekend had taken a drastic and annoying turn.  

 As you walked furiously along the edge of the road, you heard a rustling of dried shrubs in the field.  You stopped to look at it, convinced it was the camera crew following your reaction to their expensive joke.  But the commotion ceased and you returned to your path.

 You walked a few more meters and the disturbance continued.  

 “I really don’t find this funny AT ALL,” you shouted at your stalkers.

 A strange clicking noise began resonating from its direction.  Your heart rate increased, “STOP.  You’re lucky if I don’t end up suing every one of you!”

 A sudden movement began darting through the thick bushes, heading directly at you causing you to instinctively sprint down the road.  The noise still managed to keep up as you quickly glanced over your shoulder.  A large black curl shaped object emerged from the brush.  What the hell is that?!?  Before you could even form another thought, the object leapt into the air, landing in front of you as a cloud of dust kicked up like a curtained unveiling.  

 It was an enormous scorpion.

 You halted in place, shock overcoming your entire being.  It snapped its giant claws as it curled its deadly stinger high above its head.  Your body froze as your mind failed to comprehend what was going on before you.  

 A high-pitched screech erupted from the massive scorpion as it lunged its stinger towards you.  You screamed, rolling into the sand to dodge its attack.  You stumbled to your feet as another piercing screech echoed through the valley.  A pincer suddenly swung at you.  You ducked just in time, feeling a few strands of your hair yanked from your scalp.  Tears began to spill from your face as you scurried along the ground, hiding behind a large cactus.  The thorns pricked your hands as you pressed them against the green base, your eyes never leaving the monstrous insect.  It spotted you again as it swiped its other claw at you, snipping the cactus in half as you screamed aloud.  You sprinted towards the road, falling to your knees in sobs.  You shakily climbed to your feet, backing up to watch the scorpion eye you with a look of hunger in its piercing black eyes. This was it, there was no way out of this nightmarish hell, this is how it ends for you.

 A loud honk suddenly stunned you from your right. You whipped your head to see a vehicle driving straight at you.  You gasped as you thrust your body towards the opposite side of the road, rolling on to the cracked shoulder.  

 You momentarily blacked out as you heard the car swerve and the tires screeched to a halt.  Several doors are opened and slammed as a frenzied commotion suddenly unleashed in the background.  Stern voices shout aloud as gunshots and clangs of metal ripped through the air. A thunderous noise filled your years as a small tremor shook the ground below, causing you to stir.  Then silence.

 “Hey! Miss! Are you okay!?” a chirpy young voice blurted out.

 You laid motionless for a moment, still in shock and pain from the horrifying ordeal.

 “Oh man, do you think we’re too late?  Is she—” another soft voice asked.

 You grumbled from the ache in your body, slowly lifting your head.  

 “Oh thank the Astrals!  She’s alive, I seriously thought I killed her,” the first male exclaimed.

 You rolled onto your side, looking up at four figures that leaned over you as your bleary eyes attempted to focus on them. You lifted your arm to block the harsh sun light that washed out the details of their faces.

 One of them stood up, turning to what you assumed was the young, yet familiar voice, “This is EXACTLY what happens when your attentions are elsewhere.  A moving vehicle is just as deadly as any lethal blade, if you continue to demonstrate this behavior than you will refrain from taking seat behind the wheel.”

 That voice… I know it.  But it can’t… it can’t seriously be…

 A gruff man added, “We should get her out of the sun, that Saphyrtail nearly had her for dinner.”

 Before you could even comment, a pair of hands found their way to your upper arms, carefully raising you to your feet.  You stared down at the ground, heavily debating if you should raise your head to meet your rescuers but the internal turmoil of seeing who you expected was beginning to terrify you.

 “Hey miss, are you okay?” A gentle hand touched your shoulder.

 You finally gathered the courage to look up and it was exactly as you had feared.

 It was THEM.  The four stars of the video game, in the flesh and blood, staring directly at you.  Your jaw went slack as your head began to spin again.  Your knees began to collapse beneath you, dragging your faint body down.

 “Whoa whoa whoa!!” Prompto shouted, grabbing your arms to pull you up.  “Okay yeah let’s get her to the car.”

 You felt a firm set of arms gather your frame, as you were hoisted effortlessly into the air.  You looked through fuzzy eyes to see freshly inked skin and toned pectoral muscles, coated with a glistening layer of sweat, cradle you tenderly. Cool leather unexpectedly grazed your skin, sending a brief chill up your spine as you faded from consciousness for the third time today.

  “Poor thang, she looks all kinds of beat up. You say she was just standin’ on the side of the road?” A sweet accented voice inquired.

 You groaned, rolling your head side to side, slowly peeling your eyes open to see a bright round light above, the sun? You gripped a soft material beneath your palms, realizing that you were lying on a bed.  

 “Wait, she’s awake!” Prompto cheered.

 You pressed your hand to your head, feeling the pressure that throbbed on your temple.  “Where.. where am I?”

 The curly blonde female spoke, “Well you’re in Hammerhead, girly.  And it looks like you took a fine lickin’ back there.  What on Eos happened to you?”

 “Wha..?”

 Prompto answered for you, “Iiiiiii might have accidentally almost ran her over.” Tapping his fingertips together nervously.

 You pushed yourself up, your hand still on your head as you blinked your eyes a few times to clear your vision.  You looked up, and once again, you stared in disbelief at the sight before you.

 The four men, now with Cindy, were scattered around the interior of an RV, discussing your situation.  You could feel your heartbeat in your ears; it was only logical that someone had drugged you and this surreal hallucination was the result.  You rose to your feet, trembling as you studied everyone’s features.  Not a single detail was missed, from their mannerisms to clothing, they were truly the living and breathing characters.  

 All eyes were suddenly on you but the only thing you could think of was getting to a phone and getting the hell out of there before you had a psychotic episode.  The door to the camper was propped open, you took a shaky step before sprinting towards it, tripping ungracefully through it.

 You looked up to see the sky had turned a brilliant pink and purple, night was upon you.  You remembered the layout of Hammerhead so you turned immediately to your left to see the diner in view.  But before you could take another step, a firm hand grabbed you by the wrist.

 “Madam, you are injured and disoriented.  I must insist that you rest,” Ignis stated as he held you in place.

 You blinked at him with both a fear and anger in your exhausted face.  In your world, you were completely enamored by the advisor but seeing him now in this twisted and warped reality, you wanted nothing more than to wake up from this cruel joke.

 You didn’t resist his grasp as you snapped at him, “this has really gotten out of control.  Whoever is doing this to me needs to stop.  It's not funny.  It will never be funny.  And it’s a pretty asshole move to play with my head like this.”

 Ignis loosened his hold, staring directly into your eyes, “… ma’am, please.  We truly had no role to play in the injustice that has befallen you.  I apologize if we made you feel this way.  We are merely trying to assist you.”  He released your wrist gently.

 Emotion had completely over come you, “None of this.. none of this makes any sense.  How can you.. how can you be real!?” you brought your hands up to cover your face, pinching your eyes shut.

 He placed both hands on your shoulders, “I promise we will do everything we can to help you.  But please, come inside first.”

 As an avid fan of the game, it was fortunate that you adored the advisor so much, hearing his voice was surprisingly soothing despite your failed attempts to convince yourself that he was merely a figment of your imagination.  You nodded, lowering your hands as you paced pathetically back towards the RV.  The group crowded the doorway, watching the events unfold.  You climbed up the stairs as they parted way to let you through.  You slumped on to the bed, staring down at your shoes as you wiped a tear away from your jaw.

 Noct crouched down to your level, “It… looks like you’ve been through a lot,” he fumbled with his hands, “So…. maybe we’ll just start with something easy.  What’s your name?”

 You lifted your head just slight enough to see him through your lidded eyes, “…[Y/N].”

 “Ah, well, [Y/N].  It was nice to meet you.  And sorry for almost… uhh, killing you.”

 You managed to huff a genuine laugh for the first time all day.  “That’s okay. I didn’t thank you for saving me from that giant scorpion.  So I guess we’re even.”

 Gladio added, “You’re pretty banged up, we have a first aid kit, you can stay here tonight with us if you want.”

 Noct agreed, “Yeah, if you’re hungry, Ignis is a pro in the kitchen, you can take the bed here if you like.”

 “Well fellas, this pretty little thing ain’t gonna feel at home with you all buzzin’ over her like a flock of Daggerquill!  Let the girl get some rest.  Nothing like a hot shower to renew some life in a gal!” she chimed happily at you.

 You returned a weak smile.  You felt guilty that Cindy had annoyed you so much in the game, she was proving to be a genuine sweetheart after all.  

 Gladio waved his hand towards the others, “Like the lady says, give [Y/N] some space,” as he gestured for the rest to leave.

 “Yeah, if you don’t mind, I’d like to clean up a little..” you uttered in a low voice.

 Gladio smirked as he shoved Prompto out of the RV, a blush forming on the blonde’s cheeks.  The rest followed suit as the door closed behind them.  

 You finally gave in to your situation; you were too tired and defeated to do anything else at this point, so you decided to take up their offer of hospitality.  You paced around the narrow mobile home, searching for the bathroom as you opened several doors before finally spotting the shower.  You sighed with relief, just like Cindy said, a shower is all a girl needs to feel like a new person.  You reached for the knot that sat on your waist of your gown before a realization struck you.  This dress was the only thing you had on you, literally.

 You let out a loud groan.  Various options began flitting through your mind.  I could stand in the shower with my dress on, that way my dress would get washed too? Or, I can shower and wear my dirty dress to sleep?  OR I can shower and wash my dress separate and sport a towel around all night. The last thought was instantly ruled out.  You sighed, shower in my dress it is.

 You scratched your head with frustration as you walked back to the main room to search for a bottle of shampoo and soap when a soft knock came from the door.  Cracking it open, a glint from a pair of glasses came into view.

 “Ah, my apologies, [Y/N].  It has just occurred to me that you most likely have none of your personal belongings on you.”

 You were impressed by his level of consideration and foresight, “Uhh, yeah, I actually just… figured I would shower with my dress on and kill two birds with one stone.”

 He chuckled, “That’s quite the metaphor. But if you wouldn’t mind…” he waited for your permission to let him in.  You opened up the door as he stepped inside.  He immediately turned down the hallway, disappearing behind one of the dividers.  A faint bout of shuffling could be heard and he returned a few minutes later with a pair of neatly folded clothes in his hands.

 “Forgive me, they will be excessively large on you, but if you can bear it for one evening, we can purchase a few necessities for you in the morning.”

 You desperately wished you could fight back the blush that burned on your cheeks.  You shakily reached your hands out and took the clothes from him.  Ignis Scientia’s clothes.  

 “We will not disturb you, so take all the time you need.  I have not prepared dinner yet, so if you are hungry you are welcome to join us.”

 You caught yourself staring at him before shaking off your hypnotic gaze, “Yeah, that’d be great, thanks again,” lifting the clothes up to gesture your gratitude.  

 He smiled, “Not a problem at all.  Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” He turned and exited the camper.

 Once the door clicked shut, you couldn’t help but bury your face indulgently into the pile.  It was exactly as you had hoped, the smell of clean linen and remnants of his cologne were still laced between the fibers.  You exhaled a dreamy sigh, praying he had not forgotten something and returning to find you creepishly fawning over his belongings.

 You headed back to the shower, shimmying out of your dress and draping it on the counter.  You stepped inside and cranked the hot water on, feeling your semi-terrible day wash off of your body.  The relaxing steam coiled around you as you slid your hands down your face.  Everything feels so real… but how can it be?  So many questions but so little answers.  

 After you had scrubbed yourself clean of the dirt and grime, you toweled your body and hair, pausing when your eyes met the neat pile of Ignis’ clothing.  You couldn’t help but a feel a bit excited to wear the advisor’s attire.  You carefully grabbed the first article, a navy long-sleeved shirt of the softest cotton material.   You pulled it easily over your head, he truly was much larger than you as the v-neck collar dared to slip over your exposed shoulder.  You reached for the next piece, a black pair of sleeping pants with a gathered tie along the waist.  You slipped it on, Jesus he’s tall, as nearly a foot of pant leg drooped off your feet.  It was amazingly comfortable, you gathered what pant material you could and lifted them up so that you wouldn’t trip as you sauntered through the camper.  The blush returned to your face as the material rubbed tantalizingly over your bare skin.  Alright brain keep it together!

 You approached the bed and flopped down on to it as you curled up into a cozy ball.  You were a bit hungry but your exhaustion was too great so you decided that sleep was more important.  Who knows, maybe this was the most vivid dream you had ever experienced in your entire life.  Maybe you needed a CAT scan as soon as you woke up.  Part of you had hoped that when the morning comes you would wake to find yourself exactly where you were, laying on your couch in front of the tv.

 But the other part of you had secretly hoped not. That maybe this was real… and maybe, somehow, you were here for a reason.

[ikari-cat]

In the new anime? Sakura and her friend talk about how she hasn’t even seen Sasuke in forever and her friend wonders why Sakura hasn’t left him because Sakura says he doesn’t care about her.

Ah yes, episode 17 of Boredo (which kicks off the gaiden arc) 

At least this is what you’re referring to, I remember seeing that post around and honestly just say you don’t like the characters/series ya know?

I will just start and say that it’s up for you to make your own view on something by actually digging into it, by this ask only it seems you haven’t tackled on the series and just speculated what has been spreaded around (thanks sp) but then again if you’re just curious what is up then by all means continue reading this lol

But if you don’t care for a full view, then I guess the shortest I can put it is this: Sasuke will be deemed a ‘deadbeat father/husband’ due to the fact he’s on a mission, Sakura will be deemed many things but in the case of what you’re asking it’d be a ‘doormat wife who is a single mom at this point’ yet is just being a supportive partner and continues being a doctor while raising their daughter - by themselves alone they are just hated lol

Your ask just reeks the fandom the general, and again I blame the one sided ‘b/w’ thinking people have - which isn’t good for a series like this 

I’m going to have to do a read more since it’s a lot to begin with, just 2 episodes and it counters what the manga had (and this scene you’re referring to is all their doing at this point - I literally read the manga first before getting into a anime because of this studio) 

So let the headache begin :) 

So episode 17 of Boredo has Sakura leaving on a trip and Ino is to accompany her (or at least see her off) thus this scene happens:

Now in the case of both the anime and manga this is something that is kept right: Sasuke has maintain keeping no contact to his family. Now keep in mind these are my views and consider why with Gaiden I don’t have issues with it like what other ss supporters do: then again I got back into the series near the end too. 

Sasuke is sacrificing his life to keep everyone protected, and really this is a lot already for a guy who was deemed a criminal for the series. As the name ‘the Shadow Hokage’ has been placed on him, he’s basically out there in search to stop this ‘threat’ he knows is dangerous. He keeps the hokage informed of anything needed to say - but why can’t he tell his family something. 

In my view, he knows his family is safe, he is out there doing what is needed to keep them safe, so when his daughter (who they haven’t seen each other in years) confronts him about this whole fiasco:

‘What is going on at home’ ah yes Sasuke, your daughter wasn’t going to wonder what’s happening with her dad away (but again, from his view he sees his family being okay) I added this much earlier already but it’s enough to get you thinking. 

(Also as someone who loves kishi’s style they honest to god can’t animate his style, they don’t even know how to draw breasts at this point unless they really want to get their ‘flatchested’ mom agenda still) 

(Ah yes if only Sakura knew what was going on, it’s not like he just left on this mission with no discussions with his partner :)))) 

(Ah yes, if only she knew, like in the manga, what is at stake :))

And then Ino is like ‘oh okay hey remember how you guys had a date here!’ which cause to Sakura just ‘??? I guess? It was like 2 min girl’ and she just left her there on the bench to remember the date lmao (more gloating on the poor wife!?1 how can we make this more sad?11! :))))))) 

Ah yes, Sasuke sure is one to forget things, sure he is - that boy Sasuke :) 

This shouldn’t be included to what you’re asking but it’s clear to me at this point that the writers just don’t get them, it’s like they looked at part 1 of the series (not even part 1 like the first couple chapters for sakura and then sasuke going revenge like is who he is lmao) and just ‘yeah that’s them the whole rest of the series’

So we have: 

1) Sakura being left in the loop of things and just doing what she wants to believe (*insert bandwagon insult*)

2) Sasuke is a cold hearted asshole as usual (cause that was who he was the whole series am I right) 

3) They decided to add this date for????????? Oh right they’re a couple, totally gotta add something that’s them :0 

But see how this, one scene, is enough to invoke people to claim these things? There’s so much more, but this just hits home since gaiden kicks off after; and boy does it counter it badly. 

Boredo is very clear not Kishi’s work, if you already having to rework a timeline to fit into your anime timeline then really who am I gonna believe? 

The ‘no contact’ thing was a issue with both works yes, but the manga made it clear on why Sasuke is on this mission and who knows about it; yet here we are.  

So let’s go off: Why is Sasuke away exactly? Why isn’t he contacting his family? Why does it matter, why are we having fans showing the manga to the studio writers and telling them what happen - and why are the writers being entitled to say that that’s kishimoto’s point of view of his own damn series.  

Here we have Sasuke presenting to the kages (along with Sakura) a possible threat that could be even more dangerous than Kaguya - and that is scary. 

So judging by this possibility, it’s clear Sasuke is the only one who can do it, and seeing how he’s made amends with everyone at this point it’s clear he’s now in a stable lifestyle in Kohona. But the possiblity of a threat to go against this - your family, your home, ‘a bright future’ - you are not going to push this threat away. Especially if you’re the only one to do be able to do this. 

Now here’s the thing: this is, at the time, a mere hypothesis; it was up to him to reject it or not. As he suggested, keeping the mission in secret, was the best choice. The mere thought of it would cause the public to be anxious, and the ‘peace’ they have now built will be broken - the public will want answers and with a hypothesis like this there was no way it was going to be given. 

Add the fact, what if this wasn’t as serious as he thought, which leads to believe there was no estimated time to say how long he’d be gone. Leaving it a private case would cause no havoc in the end since it wasn’t as serious as he assumed: but of course it was and in the end it’s estimated he left when Sarada was at least 4 years old (the whole one night stand/doesn’t love her bullshit is just like That is not Sasuke nor Sakura - and a whole new post in general) 

Now Sakura being present pretty much settles everything, she knows why he’s out there, she knows what’s at stake, and as her reaction shows, she’s shocked to imagine a threat like this is possibly out there; she was there after all. 

To come home to see their young daughter, the ‘bright’ future of the Uchiha Clan, that is at stake. Considering how Sasuke is the head now, there will come a day were he will have to tell Sarada the whole history of the Clan; his past is already too much to begin with. But let’s see what the anime did with this meeting :) The reason Naruto feels at fault after all for this case as well. 

‘We will have another episode containing the kages and Sak-’ But for what reason? They have this meeting to discuss all together what Sasuke believes is out there - you can’t counter the series for the anime timeline like jesus

So you mean to tell me Sasuke still feels after around a decade that he stills need to travel to see ‘a new light’? The kages being not there just wants to shove this idea down more because yes I get that he won’t be accepted by everyone - but like they already agree with him on taking this mission already so really - Sasuke still needs to go off and find himself? Really. R E A L L Y

Sure wish we saw them :) 

Obviously not screenshoted but yes they decided to add Naruto telling him to stop by his house before going but he refuses; which bascially proves they left out Sakura so she’d have no clue why he left for this mission and thus have her ‘believe’ what is going on - god they really need to see why fans would be furious. 

And it j u s t s 

Secrets indeed.

.

Like yes it’s wrong to assume on my part that the couple dicussed what could be said or not to their daugther - but it’s just logical to assume. And as I mentioned way before, Sasuke will be the one to tell Sarada the clan’s history; his past is a lot to handle already. Let’s add m o re: 

They know what they thought was best at the time was not going to work 100% through, but they like - all parents  - aren’t perfect. 

And really just the pair themselves face enough already, but it’s mainly due to the fact people have such a ‘b/w’ ideology to a ninja series and like this studio - can’t even realize that these two did grow up and change as characters do. 

I’ma have to stop now since you get what I’m going at as well as it’s starting glitch up now but final thoughts: 

I can easily say Kishimoto shouldn’t had made Sasuke be on this mission, I could be like the studio and claim what’s right etc. At the end of the day however I’m just bitter at the fact people look at these two and claim things about them that the manga goes against it; the studio has made it clear they have no interest in these two and will somehow find a way to ‘drag’ them for who they really are. 

But again, it’s your view, if you find me liking these two is a wtf complex in general you can just unfollow me; it’s clear these two are my faves in the series. By all means I hope I didn’t mean to offend you in any way, it’s just you can tell I’m just tired of this fandom my dude. 

I honestly don’t think I fully explained things for you, but i could of easily said ‘nah it ain’t true’ and ended it there too so here we are lol

In a nutshell: don’t believe everything ya hear without checking it out ya self, ya gotta form your own views my dude :^) 

[truthshallprevailworld-blog]

Ethnorelativism Refuted (or “If You Give a Mouse A German Passport”)

When I was in high school, I did an exercise in my “English” class that was basically re-analyzing the idea of whether race is real or not. I noticed that at the beginning of the exercise, there was a line that said something like “We all know a Czech and a Chinese are different, but are these differences racial?” In other words, the line seemed to be saying that, yes, a Czech and a Chinese are biologically different, but they don’t fall into racial categories like white, black, Asian, etc. I distinctly remember thinking, after I read this line, “In a couple of years, they won’t even be saying that. In a couple of years, they’re gonna dismiss ethnic differences as a “construct” too.” Lo and behold, I was right.

Before I go into the refutation, I must define what I mean by “ethnorelativism” (or “ethno-relativism”). Ethnorelativism is the belief that ethnicity and ethnic differences between people are an entirely social fact, one which is entirely relative to what customs you, as an individual, practice (hence the “relativism” part) - and there is NO biological component to ethnic divides whatsoever.

(I should also note that I am not referring to a concept of “race” or general categories here, but rather to specific ethnicities. Anyways, onward.)

Now that we have defined ethnorelativism, we can look at why this is an absurd idea. What makes it especially absurd, are the proponents of this idea, what they believe, and how they try to shoehorn it into their general worldview. There is a specific example I will be focusing on more so than others.

The three types of proponents of this idea are:

1.) Global-minded Utopians people who hold strongly to a utopian ideal of a “united planet”, where all the world can “come together” under one authority and achieve lasting world peace (or some other lofty promise of that general nature).

2.) Naïve Beginners basically me, but when I was 11-13 - one who is really still learning, and therefore looks at things through a simplistic lens, which inspires them to ask questions like “why can’t the world come together?” These people will talk about lofty ideals such as “lasting world peace”, but will have little to no plan at all as to how this will actually be achieved, only “feel-good” sounding platitudes.

3.) “Anti-Identitarians”, for lack of a better term. These people are westerners, living in the west, and usually -but not always- are of full or partial western-European descent. They are, to give an example, the liberal Londoner who will go to a British Generation Identitaire rally and say to one of the ralliers: “Why do you want Britain to remain Anglo-Celtic? What does it matter? We share 98 per cent of genes with each other, we’re really just all the same.” It is worth noting that these people, however, apply their ethnorelativism selectively. This category is the one I will mainly focus on.

With that out of the way, we will move on to the meat and potatoes: responding to the Ethnorelativist’s objection.

We share 98-99 per cent of DNA with each other, meaning we’re basically all the same. What does it matter?

To start with, this is technically true. Human beings do share ~99 per cent of DNA with each other. So you might be thinking “well that solves it.” Why does it matter whether people coming into Germany are ethnically German or not? Is there even really such a thing as “ethnically German” (that is, in a biological sense)?

Here’s where the problem comes in/ If “sharing almost all of one’s DNA” with another makes two “the same,” then... well here, let me put it this way. Do you know how much of our DNA humans share with mice? I’m going to request that you pause here and take a guess.

.

.

.

.

Is it 15%? 25%? 40%? 

Maybe 50%?

.

You may be surprised to know that mice and men actually share 92 per cent of all DNA.  Crazy, right? Well, it’s true. Those little furry guys you’ve maybe seen running around your house? You, a human, have over 90 per cent of the same genetic makeup that they do.

So surely then, a mouse wearing lederhosen and carrying a German passport is just as true a German as any!

And here’s the best part: it just gets more absurd and strange from here.

If sharing overwhelming amounts of genes makes some “the exact same” as others, and “one with them”, surely then Germany does not need migrants to fill the low-skill jobs that the low-fertility German population is not filling. No, they can just open the Chimpanzee cages at the local zoos and give them German Passports! No further foreign immigration required!

“Abraham, that’s absurd” you say “Chimpanzees can’t become German.”

Stop being such a bigot. Chimpanzees share 98 per cent of their DNA with us!  They’re just the same as we are!

Another refutation to the ethno-relativists is this: If ethnicity is merely a “social fact,” with no biological basis whatsoever, how come you can get, well, DNA tested to find out what your ethnicity and origins were? If we’re “all the same”, then there should be no biological basis to where one comes from, as there would be no biological differences in the first place - it only makes sense. Yet, clearly, we see people getting DNA tested to find out their ethnic origins. This backs the ethno-relativist into a corner. 

If there is no biological ethnicity, how could it have been that they were able to look at Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test and prove that she was less than 1/64th Cherokee? You’d think if this was merely a “social fact” they wouldn’t have been able to tell at all! Answer me this, ethnorelativists: why does the Cherokee Nation’s Official Website say that you need DNA to prove you’re Cherokee? I thought it was a social distinction only!

Something that I noted just earlier about many of these ethnorelativists that I will again make note of here is this. With many of them, that is to say, those in the third category - their ethno-relativism really only goes in one direction. See here:

I’m sure you can see it there, but the author lists three memories she has from her kindergarten. If you look towards the bottom, you will see the third:  “My friend Talia, who really, really, really wanted to be Chinese.”

Now, while some only will read the headline and the first few sentences, I decided to go in and read the whole article. (Bear in mind, this is from HuffPost, a rather “liberal” publication, so they would prob fall into the third category listed above.) There was one passage in particular that stood out from the rest.

“Eventually, we figured out that no matter how much we talked about it and wished for it, Talia could never become Chinese. And she learned to be OK with that, though no less my friend.”

Hey, wait just one second. I thought we were “all the same” because we “shared 99 per cent of genes.” I thought ethnicity had “no biological basis” and was “a social fact only relative to the cultural customs one practices.” I thought this was established by liberal ethnorelativists probably not dissimilar in this view to the lead staff at HuffPo. If this is the case, then this begs one simple question.

“Why can’t Talia become Chinese?”

No, really! According to ethnorelativism, if Talia wears traditional Chinese clothing, eats traditional Chinese cuisine, learns the language fluently, and learns the customs, then she is just as Chinese as anyone. In short, if there is no blood/biological basis to ethnicity, then Talia’s claim to being Chinese is just as valid as the author’s. This proves what I have been saying about many ethnorelativists for a long time -  their ethnorelativism is dishonest, as it only goes in one direction - towards European people(s).

Now, contrast the above headline screenshot with this tweet here.

Somethin’ ain’t right here.

You’re telling me that this “Asian” woman of Indian Subcontinental (judging by her pic Indo-Aryan) descent can call herself Scottish, and anyone who disagrees is a foolish/backward “racist”, yet this “white” girl Talia can never be Chinese no matter what? On what token? Again, this just proves that these people are totally dishonest when it comes to applying this, and that this is not fact-driven, but agenda/ideology-driven. (I believe driven by implicit anti-European racism, though they won’t admit to that easily.)

To look at more dishonesty, look no further than the fact that the liberal “white” English Londoner, who will tell an English identitarian that his quest is pointless and even wrong because “there is no such thing as Ethnic English bc we’re all the same”, yet this same English Londoner will freak out about “CULTURAL APPROPRIATION” when he/she so much as sees a “white” person in a Dashiki.

This posits another issue, by the way. If you are an ethno-relativist, you can not believe in this idea of “cultural appropriation.” If you believe that ethnicity is not biological, rather it is only social/relative to customs, then that means that I, a pale, pasty, thin-lipped, blue-eyed young man of Gaelic descent, not even born in West Africa, have just as much claim to the Dashiki as anyone. 

In fact, you know what? To heck with it. I have an announcement to make.

I am an African-American.

That’s right. This is my “new” ethnicity, and now I am entitled to opportunities such as Affirmative Action. If you object to this, you are embracing the old, backwards idea of biological ethnicity.

In all seriousness, I’m not one of these “race realists” or anything of the sort, I have some scientific gripes with them as well, actually. That being said, pretending we are “all the same, 100%” is a ridiculous lie, often used dishonestly to do things like coax unsuspecting populations into abandoning what their kin built by saying it just as much belongs to those who didn’t build it.

To clarify, I simply believe this: biological ethnic groups are real and they create cultures and societies. If you made the Polish disappear from Poland and replaced them with Scots, it would become Scotland. Likewise, if you did the same but vice-versa, then Scotland would become Poland.

So next time someone says we’re “all the same” bc of our DNA, ask them if they’d hire a Chimpanzee.

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

Appearing before the Dramacourt: Man to Man Eps 11 and 12.

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the Lovers Tactic was pretty cute.

Whether the Obvious Spy NIS Agent has the worst job ever.

Whether getting shot is what you need to move away from “fake” romance to “real” romance.

Whether slush funds are usually massive mountains of cash hidden in secret underground lairs with priceless art.

The Rule(s):

Yea it was pretty cute. *cue Park Hae Jin in a cute monkey suit*

Absolutely. This guy is asking to be a “I Hate My Job” meme.

Possibly. At least in the case of Sul Woo and Do Ha, it totally makes sense.

Not really. Aren’t they usually in the form of some secret code to a Swiss Bank account?

Analysis:

RedRosette J: I’ve decided to switch to the combo episodes format going forward because a) real life is catching up to me and I don’t have the time to write two posts and b) nothing really happens in one episode to warrant a single post. The things that really stood out to me in episode 11 was how Sul Woo and Do Ha were using the Lovers Tactic as a excuse to “date” and I’m not going to lie, even though I am not the biggest fan of their romance, it was pretty cute. There were also some revelations and escalations in episode 11 that moved the plot forward. There was the Father who shed some light on Agent Y’s situation and it comes to light the Spy Boss Jang is perhaps not the most honest and perfectly upstanding NIS agent. Donghyun becomes the subject of suspicion as the story progresses, although I find that hard to believe. In episode 11, the Russian mogul makes a comeback making a deal for Sul Woo’s head. While I believe that Spy Boss Jang is not the perfect individual we thought him to be, there is a bigger agenda at play and him shooting Sul Woo had something to do with that.

Making deals with the Devil like…

When your friend continues to do stupid stuff

When you know stuff is going your way

Retired Ghost Agents be like…

Dun dun dun

When your boss literally shoots you…

Tryna be casual like…

Episode 12 brings us more of Sul Woo and Do Ha being all lovey dovey (nothing like an illness/getting shot to bring lovers together). My favourite part was Sul Woo scrambling to explain to Donghyun why Do Ha was at his secret spy lair and Donghyun’s priceless “you ain’t selling this story brah” expression. These two are absolutely hilarious. There was also a lot of the political stuff happening in episode 12. They found the slush fund, which then in a weird turn of events, got “donated” to society. There were also incriminating tapes of public officials accepting bribes from the former Songsan CEO that Donghyun and Spy Boss Jang were busy discovering and arresting people over. It also turns out that Spy Boss Jang wasn’t a total evil meanie and that he was merely making a deal with the devil as Plan B because they were all caught in a tight spot. What was really surprising was Mi Eun stepping up to get Seung Jae out of his pickle and quickly proving to everyone that she is easily the smartest person in the room. Prosecutors included. I really really want to know what her agenda is!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

When you can’t believe your friend betrays you

Spying on your friend like…

“I’m arresting you!”

Seriously cool aesthetics

When you’re in trouble but you know you���re going to get out of it…

The real brains of the outfit

Wtf man?

Oh shit….

Guys you’re being so obvious….

Riiiighhtt……

Congratulating yourself on the perfect plan!

Do bad shit and then hold a press conference. It’s all good.

Tbh, I found it really hard to get through these episodes and it took me the whole weekend to watch them. It might have had to do with the fact that the plot is predictable and extremely draggy. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like most of the episode is the same stuff repeating over and over again?

Shmexy shmexy

Chilling on the throne like…

Issue 1: Whether the Lovers Tactic was pretty cute.

RedRosette J: Okay so I have to admit, the Lovers Tactic was pretty cute. Sure it may have been “fake” half the time but they were super cringey and adorable like most couples in the honeymoon phase. I did enjoy how they were both so happy to partake in this Tactic and even though they were desperately trying to convince everyone and themselves that it was just part of the mission, it was so so obvious that they were doing it because they just wanted to be with each other. It was kinda cute. I could even look past Do Ha’s cringey lines and attitude. Here’s a bunch of screenshots of them being cute:

Going on a “non-date” like…

When your crush does cute stuff like…

Getting the wrong idea like…

Being cringey like…

Those late night phone calls like…

Working an undercover mission like…

*swag*

When he gives you a ring like…

Issue 2: Whether the Obvious Spy NIS Agent has the worst job ever.

RedRosette J: Okay how great was this guy? Honestly this was the best part of the episode for me. He was absolutely hilarious as the guy being forced to tail Sul Woo and having to deal with their cringey PDA and having to stand outside in the cold. His “I Hate My Job” face is the best thing ever. He made me laugh so much. He definitely had the worst job ever. Check out his worst job ever faces:

Issue 3: Whether getting shot is what you need to move away from “fake” romance to “real” romance. 

RedRosette J: For Sul Woo and Do Ha, this was the best situation to really force them to accept their “real romance”. After having been faking it, a real life or death situation puts a lot of things into context and makes it easier for them to accept that they’re in love and that there’s no point in kidding anyone anymore. Plus, I think everyone knows except them! So for these two, getting shot is definitely what they needed!

“It’s all good, I just got shot honey”

When you can’t believe the shit that’s been happening lately…

When you’ve been shot and everyone is fussing

Ooohh la la

This actually seemed like a real kiss

Watching dramas together like…

Angling for a kiss like…

Issue 4: Whether slush funds are usually massive mountains of cash hidden in secret underground lairs with priceless art.

RedRosette J: This is not usually how slush funds work. At least not in most spy movies I’ve seen. Slush funds are usually in random Swiss Bank accounts with complicated passwords and such and are not generally huge mountains of cash sitting in temperature controlled underground rooms. I feel like that’s more of a convenience issue rather than anything else. Just imagine, its so much harder to move your slush fund if it is actually taking up physical space! You’d need people to move it and that’s a bad idea. I guess it totally makes sense why slush funds would not be so concrete so to speak. It was interesting however, to see what a trillion won looked like and its about the size of a giant shipping pallet. Interesting.

This just seems pointlessly costly

A Swiss Bank account probably would have been cheaper

RedRosette J Aside: And today I give you….Donghyun the Janitor!

Dopest janitor ever!

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 3 = MM. Okay. Fine (Mostly because I tolerated the cute stuff in episode 10)

File No: Man-to-Man-EPs-11-and-12 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Man to Man Eps 11 and 12. ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***