#god please help there is no reading comprehension in this fandom

[iceinwhb]

Me, and my opinion. Last post.

Ok, I am simply amazed that there are comments on whb. Ha. When they were complaining about Levi and his new card, I thought it was because of how childish and silly it had been. I didn't expect them to give him the real P solely because Mc was younger.

So, at some points, with some posts talking about it, I thought I was going to be really rude if I got into an argument, “over nothing”, but now that I'm justified...

1.- We are adults.

And as adults that we are, we don't get to invent, or assume. We resolve ourselves with facts, and with coldness. We do not launch stupid and unverifiable accusations. If we want to point out a fact, you must demonstrate that Leviathan, as a character, is a pedophile.

2.- Do I really have to explain it?

For the people who accuse Leviathan of being a pedophile, where the hell do they get that from? Are they guided only because they wear a uniform? Mc may very well be over the legal age of consent for sexual relations in any country, not only that, Mc's nationality is Korean. In South Korea, they enter college at between 18-19 and finish between 22-23. At no time was it specified that Mc went to high school, or anything like that. Another point, are they really going to discuss the age of Mc when Leviathan biblically exists since the beginning of creation? Really? I don't know if those people will feel better if Mc is at least five thousand years old.

If don't have enough…

Well, let's say Mc was 16-17. You, player, are between 19-30. Do you know what age the game is geared towards? +18 in case we forgot the LITTLE detail. What if they know that Mc is the player's representation? Idk what they want. Especially BECAUSE THEY ARE ADULTS who know how to tell the difference, separate fact from fiction, separate a game from real life. Leviathan is not out there on the loose, looking for 18-23 year old “babes”, my god. And no one who plays the game, is going after a minor just because Leviathan likes the Mc who is probably 20 YEARS OLD. And more, of course. The story is based ON A DREAM, MADE OF MAGIC. Where do they find sense for they to want to complain about it? At this point I am indeed laughing at how absurd it sounds, because that's what it is.

Last but not least.

Okay, let's ignore all of the above. If you don't like the game, because it has certain themes, stop playing, go to Play Store, and look for the thousands of Otome games you like so much. There are millions, even those that touch only a sexual plot. There are hundreds and hundreds of different games for all tastes, but don't ruin the experience for other players just because other people think Leviathan is a pedophile. The game is PB's, and they can do whatever they wants with it as they has always done.

Really is the last.

With this point, it is where we delve into the fact that PB never gently implies when they talk about abuse, nor do they leave it implicit. They never did, they never would, they know the topics they touch on, how they use them and they never romanticize them. We are all aware of when it happens, and we are consistent enough to know that it is wrong, and that we are not going to replicate it in our daily lives, nor idealize as if we were 13 years old.

So, person who thinks they saw the worst of the worst, and you expose it as if no one has three fingers in front to understand it, question it and know it's a game, you're not helping anyone. Those of us in fandom are not idiots to not know what we are consuming. We know what whb is, we are aware of the complicated issues, and no, we are not 14, much less 16, we can think for ourselves and know what is wrong. You don't have to stress what we already know, please. If you want to complain, don't make a pointless war out of the issue, show that you have reading comprehension and do it on a reasoned basis. (Although I don't promise that anyone is going to take any notice of you for it, because no matter what you say, I repeat, we know what we are consuming).

If someone has to send this to one of those who can't even research for a minute, do it. Because it is truly fucked up to be at the expense of a daily absurd complaint.

Clarification.

I am not implying that no one is complaining. In fact, we should understand, learn, and tolerate all opinions, but it's one thing to say that Leviathan is an unprecedented jerk, abuser, and manipulator (and I would totally agree with the point), and quite another to accuse him of seriousness, spread him thin, and have more people, who don't know about the subject, want to play along, to the point that they get to PB.

I knew that whb had the potential to grow

And reach the public, even the wrong audience. But for certain types of people to make such a big deal over a card, especially over something as trivial as the Leviathan card it's absurdly stupid.

My prediction of all this is that Pretty Busy is going to be criticized sooner or later. We accept it, but we know it's not going to come from fandom, because we're not teenagers with attention issues.

It looks like PB is going to have to post more warnings and cautions about its content and the kind of themes they can find in it even within the game itself. I, what I fear the most, is that they will end up censoring it. (Because it's not enough for X and Play to have it labeled as C content.)

[inkblackorchid]

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 3)

Trying my absolute damnedest to finish this one and part four sooner now that I've finally covered the Pearson backstory. *Ehem* Hello again! I hope you're ready for more yelling about a certain spiky-haired Blackbird aficionado, because I sure am.

To get some things out of the way first, though, here come the usual disclaimers:

This is part three of a series of posts about hpw Crow's character was handled during 5Ds' whole run. You can find part one here and part two here. Reading them technically isn't required, but things sure will make a whole lot more sense if you do. (Bring snacks, they're long.)

This post isn't meant as a Crow hate post, nor is it meant to convince people who didn't vibe with his character to change their mind. This is my very long winded-attempt to analyse the writing decisions surrounding his character as best I can, without too much bias. That said, full disclosure, I do personally like Crow, so there's a good chance that will shine through whether I want it to or not. But also, I'm trying to have fun here, so please cut me some slack.

In case you haven't read my previous Crow posts (no shade there) and/or still believe the many, many production rumours that have been haunting the 5Ds fandom since the show's original run, please let me burst your bubble(s) with some insanely comprehensive research by someone over on Reddit (thanks again to @mbg159, who's also here on tumblr): No, Crow was not meant to be a dark signer, or the final boss of season 1, and his spike in screentime has nothing to do with his cards. And also, No, Aki didn't get less presence in the narrative because her VA got pregnant. What if you don't have the time to read either of those long posts? In that case, please take away this simple, very easy rebuttal of why the above theories are bullshit: Their would-be "key points" don't line up with the 5Ds production timeline. At all. Not even vaguely. So please, ditch them, let them die, seeing them still talked about makes me feel like I'm gonna break out in hives. And for the love of god, don't use this post or in fact anything else I post to pit Aki and Crow against each other. Both characters have their strengths and their reasons to love them. I am not the least bit interested in starting any character discourse. So please, spare my sanity. Ok? Thank you.

And now, we can get to the good part at last. In my previous post in this series, I stopped my analysis at episode 95, a.k.a. part two of the Pearson backstory. In this post, I will thus be picking up right after, at the very start of the WRGP—with the Team Unicorn match. The goal for this post is to analyse Crow's part in this particular arc, then provide some food for thought/ideas on how things that rubbed some people the wrong way could have been improved.

More below the readmore, and I give you not just my usual warning, but an extra warning, too: The universe will not let me write short things, so tread with caution, stay hydrated, and expect a veritable dissertation below, because this post feels long even to me, who has long since lost her sense of length when it comes to text. (But I'm well aware this is the result of me refusing to split the WRGP part into two separate posts, so I take full responsibility for that.)

Since we left off right after I chewed through all the issues with Crow's rather belated backstory and especially Black-Winged Dragon last time, we jump right into the thick of things now, with episodes 96 and 97, which serve as the preamble to Team 5Ds' first WRGP duel against Team Unicorn. Crow only gets two major things to do during this short stretch of episodes, the first being that he's Team Unicorn's gateway into roping Yusei into a duel during practice, which helps them set up a ruse that baits the 5Ds gang into sending Jack as their first wheeler because they think Jack's deck is best suited to countering Andre's—which, as it later turns out, it is not.

(Arguably the screenshot where Crow gives off the strongest Youngest Sibling Vibes during the entire show. Look at him, all chastised.)

Crow's second role is an odd one that I argue only he out of the main three guys could fulfill at this point: He's the one to get injured right before the Team Unicorn match, rendering him unable to compete, which leads to Aki offering to take his place for that particular match.

(Pictured: Bird Boy regretting all his life choices up until that point simultaneously.)

Here's the first moment I have to talk about in greater detail. See, the thing is, I don't know what the fandom consensus on Crow getting injured here is, but I argue that this moment was a (rare) strategic decision made by the writers at this point. Crow's injury accomplished several things: 1. It sets up the mystery of why his back wheel locked up out of nowhere, which is later paid off through Team Catastrophe's shenanigans. 2. It organically allows Aki to take his spot without introducing any argument about which of them is "worthier" of having that third spot. 3. Through this, it also allows him to actually bounce off Aki for once (a point I will come back to below, during the Team Catastrophe section). And 4. It allows the show to (TECHNICALLY) pay off the setup they did in letting Aki get her turbo duelling license and train with the boys. (Generally, Crow's and Aki's character writing intersects a bit during the pre-Diablo incident WRGP section, something I'll touch on below.)

Moreover, I think this is also the only match where they could have done something like this, and the reason for it is very simple: Team Unicorn are one-off opponents whose presence in the narrative is only relevant as far as it concerns the WRGP, and they are also one of the first teams the 5Ds gang faces. If we think about the opponents Team 5Ds has after this, it becomes very obvious why Crow could only be injured during this duel: If they had tried pulling this stunt later, it would have forced the writers to pull Aki centre stage during a much more plot-relevant duel than this one (which they were apparently allergic to, but let's not go there), not to speak of the fact that it would have forced them to sideline someone they were definitely trying to sell as the third portion of their protagonist trifecta, which would have probably been awkward. (If not for the fact that they literally did this to Crow later in the show, but I'll get there. Yes, I know there's a lot already that I'll still be "getting to".)

The thing is, whether or not it feels like an awkward writing choice to make so early in the big tournament of this arc (you be the judge of that), Crow's injury finally allows him to have a few interesting character moments for once. For one, there is his immediate disappointment about being forced to stay on the sidelines. Aside from the fact that this is a human and relatable reaction to his injury, it stings even more for the character than it does for us as the audience, because Crow got a moment where the Satellite orphans he previously took care of cheer him on for the tournament literally within the same two Team Unicorn preamble episodes.

(Say what you will, this is just stupid cute.)

So when Aki eventually offers to take his place during the match, he's understandably apprehensive—and again, this is human. It may seem mean in the moment, but from a character writing standpoint, it's a natural response. Plus, it's certainly more interesting to watch the group have a bit of conflict among themselves, rather than everyone immediately jumping straight to acceptance. It introduces tension, and, for however brief a moment, raises the question of whether Crow might refuse to let Aki take his spot. This is also the point where Aki and Crow's character writing officially intertwines, at least for the stretch of episodes between the Team Unicorn duel and the Team Catastrophe duel. And you know what? Say what you will, but I think it does a world of good for both of them. The 5Ds cast, as lovely as it is, doesn't get a lot of room to bounce off one another where it concerns personal matters anymore, once the WRGP starts. Arguably, they get little time to bounce off one another outside of plot-related discussions at all once this portion of the show comes around. The characters are treated as "fully developed", and thus, the writing largely doesn't take the time to show us how the group naturally interacts with one another anymore, especially not with how many side characters (chiefly Bruno and Sherry), antagonists, and duels the show now has to juggle. So Aki and Crow getting even a smidgen of personal conflict here is honestly a breath of fresh air. The interaction kicked off by Crow's injury isn't completely plot-irrelevant, like most character interactions during the pre-WRGP were, but it's not something that feels like it's only there to explain the machinations of the antagonists to the audience, either.

Let me go through this in a little more detail to illustrate my point.

So, episode 97. Crow storms off after Aki offers to take his spot, while Aki heads out to prepare her runner, intent on helping her team. The personal motivations here are already very nice and reflective of these characters as we've gotten to know them up until this point: Crow's angry and disappointed (mostly at himself, which is noteworthy!) because he can't compete. And specifically, he's angry because not being able to compete in the first match means he can't show the kids his duelling like he wanted to. Then there's Aki, whose offer to take Crow's place is every bit as much of a strategic suggestion as it is a bid for acceptance from her. Acceptance, which is the thing she's been all about ever since she was introduced, basically. So she pleads with her friends to accept her, see her as an equal, and allow her to duel for the team, which they do. And Crow initially throws a fit, but then...

(Listen. You have no idea how much Crow and Aki getting to actually be friends means to me.)

He comes around to the idea and not only gives Aki his express permission to take his spot, he even coaches her a bit right before the match. Moreover, as his text states above, he literally entrusts her with the kids' hopes, as well as his own. This quickly brings both of them full circle: Crow, who already has a theme of legacy attached to him, passes the torch to Aki for this match, and in so doing, offers her the acceptance she asked her teammates for. (Frankly, stuff like this makes me wonder why on earth people were so eager to pit these two against each other, when their shared moments are actually some of the best-written during the often rocky WRGP arc.) So, though this injury pulls Crow out of the duel, it, funnily enough, ties him better into the story and to the other characters.

From there, we then dive into the Team Unicorn match proper. And well, being injured as he is, Crow doesn't exactly get a whole lot to do there. However, since we're in the portion where his and Aki's writing overlaps a bit, I do need to go on a quick tangent about what Aki's portion of this duel means for Crow.

(Sigh. Okay, buckle up for a quick and rough detour.)

First, something I need to get out of the way and off my chest: I have made no secret out of the fact that I hate Aki's portion of this duel, save for the moment where she summons Stardust. Hell, this duel segment is pretty much universally hated by anone who has even a smidgen of sympathy for Aki. It's regarded by many as the very moment the writers axed Aki's character, and for good reason: After all the buildup surrounding her getting her turbo duelling license, the supposed "payoff" of it all is that she gets to duel against Andre for a depressing four turns before being defeated immediately, which leads into Yusei's frustrating portion of this duel, which, to my knowledge, isn't regarded any more kindly by fans than Aki's segment. It's a massive let-down, simply put. But the thing is, it's not just a let-down for Aki. After all, the brief character conflict she had with Crow about taking his spot here can and should be regarded as part of the setup for this moment, and as such, it can also be considered to be wasted the second Aki leaves the track after barely making an impact whatsoever.

However, I do need to mention that I have a theory on why this segment was handled the way it was, mostly because I feel like Crow's later interaction with Aki, shortly after she's out of the duel, underlines it (mind that this is just my personal theory, though, after having watched the show perhaps more times than can be considered sane): I think there is a cultural aspect to this duel. See, the word ganbaru, which anime subtitles often like to translate with "do your best" or something along the lines, has a greater significance than the translation implies. Though it's not inaccurate per se, there's more than just the idea of doing your best behind ganbaru, because it's something like an umbrella term not just for doing your best and succeeding, it's also the idea that you have to keep trying, even if you don't succeed. It's related to tenacity, to persistence, even in the face of terrible odds. And make no mistake, I don't mean the Japanese equivalent of "if at first you don't succeed, try again" here. I genuinely do mean "you have to keep trying, even if you fail". There is no guarantee of success here. And for that reason, the idea behind ganbaru is also that it's not simply the success that has value, but the effort made in the attempt to attain it, regardless of the result. (Side note: I tried to scrounge up a resource I could link to that nicely explains this concept, but unfortunately, all the promising articles were paywalled and the ones I learned it from require institutional access to lecture materials.) And this is where I will posit the tentative theory that this is exactly what the 5Ds writers were going for with Aki's segment of the duel—it was very much meant to be the payoff for her turbo duelling license setup and her plea to take Crow's place, but it wasn't so much her success that was meant to be valued, as the effort she (and by extension, Crow) made for and during this duel. And this is where Crow's little pep-talk with Aki after she's out of the duel comes in, because it feels like it supports exactly this interpretation:

(This is essentially the whole sequence. Note how Crow, despite so fervently entrusting Aki with his and his kids' hopes prior, doesn't admonish her for making a bad showing in the slightest.)

I don't think it gets any clearer than it is here. During this sequence, Aki is painfully aware of how poor her performance was against Andre, especially after she was so insistent on duelling at first, and despite having been entrusted with Stardust by Yusei, to boot. Yet, Crow doesn't have a single word of criticism to offer her. Instead, he even tells her she did well and that nobody's perfect. It very much reads as valuing Aki's effort over the result she achieved to me, and thus seems perfectly in line with the idea behind ganbaru.

However, if we assume I'm correct about the intentions behind this writing choice, we come back to why Aki's segment of the duel is so hotly debated and why it may have arguably been a disservice not just to her, but to Crow, too, character-wise. Because the majority of non-Japanese watchers of the show culturally don't have a 1:1 applicable concept like ganbaru, this writing choice was more likely to fall flat for them, because to someone who wasn't raised to understand the idea behind it, Aki's portion of the duel doesn't register as a payoff; it registers as a massive disappointment, because it feels like the writers, who had so much setup already done for her, let her fail on purpose, just to later let Yusei attain his arguably dumbest victory of the entire show. Thus, they also essentially waste the conflict she had with Crow about whether she would be allowed to take his spot in the first place, because with how little she achieved during the duel, she may as well not have gotten on the track. (Figuratively speaking. Please Do Not take this to mean I would prefer a version where Aki hadn't duelled at all. That would be worse. It would be infinitely worse.)

(Also, side note: If this post reaches anyone who's actually Japanese and still remembers this duel, I would genuinely love your input on whether my interpretation is feasible or just wishful thinking. Did you interpret Aki's part of the duel the way I did here? Or did it fall flat for you, too? If what I'm saying here feels like an absolute reach, please tell me. I'm honestly just trying my best to make things make sense here and remembered this concept from some classes I took in Japanese studies at uni.)

With all that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that some people were just as frustrated with the way Crow was barred from duelling here as they were with Aki's segment or Yusei's later victory. But it is what it is—the Unicorn duel concludes the way we all know it to, and with that, the show begins setting up the following duel with Team Catastrophe.

The only other, non duel-related, noteworthy thing that happens between the Unicorn and the Catastrophe match is a brief appearance at the Poppo Time by Sherry, who admonishes the signers for celebrating their victory early and warns them about Iliaster. Why do I bring this up? Because it's one of less than five times that Crow is in the same room with Sherry. Remember, Sherry. The girl he later, during the finale, talks out of working for the big bad evil guy because he suddenly seems to have such a deep understanding of her motivations and character that he can accurately deduce what argument will make her understand that working with Z-ONE won't give her what she's looking for. So, does Crow get a meaningful interaction with her during this scene, then? Nope. Not even in the slightest. Crow says exactly one sentence that is aimed at Sherry during her appearance, and that sentence is this:

(What a meaningful conversation!)

And yes, I will come back to Crow and Sherry's dynamic in particular. But we'll save that for the Ark Cradle arc post. For now, just keep it in mind as we move along to the other WRGP duels.

So. Team Catasrophe.

During the duel against this team, which was previously only hinted at ominously, the writing for Crow and Aki overlaps again, and this starts with the writers essentially doing a complete switcheroo of what came before: Instead of Crow getting injured and being unable to compete, it's Aki who crashes, ends up in the hospital, and is thus forced to give up her spot during the duel. (This also goes hand in hand with her suddenly losing her powers, which we are given absolutely zero explanation for, but let's not talk about that clusterfuck here. If you're interested in my opinions about that particular trainwreck, I have a rant for you.) Additionally, it's during this stretch of episodes (103-105, which is a whopping four episodes less than Team Unicorn got) that we find out that not only Aki's crash, but Crow's previous one, too, were both sabotage, caused by the rather unscrupulous Team Catastrophe by way of a special card that can cause real damage even when there is no psychic duellist present. (A card we also find out was given to them by Placido/Primo, but this is irrelevant for both Aki and Crow.) Crow's reaction to this piece of information, particularly once Aki gets injured due to the same thing, is where things get interesting for him again, because he gets pissed, to say the least.

(A moment I imagine firebirdshippers must have been positively delighted about.)

Here, I have to reiterate an earlier point: Think what you will of Team Catastrophe, of Aki's crash, and of the sequence where her powers suddenly don't work, but this moment here, where Crow gets angry on her behalf and swears to duel Team Catastrophe into submission—not because he wants his kids to cheer for him, or because he wants to prove himself, but as revenge for his friend—is one of sadly only a handful of moments the writers use to show the strengthened relationships between the individual members of Team 5Ds after the dark signers arc. It's one of the precious few scenes that actually shows, rather than tells us or lets us search for scraps in the subtext, that the signers, and the members of Team 5Ds as a whole, care for each other outside of revolving around Yusei like planets around the sun. Even if it's laughably small, it's at least a hint that there are individual friendships between the other signers, too, that they all stick around one another for reasons beyond gravitating towards Yusei for one reason or another. And for that alone, I'm grateful that they put this here, even if Team Catastrophe was otherwise so ridiculous and made such a bad showing at their actual match that they could barely be taken seriously as antagonists at all.

Speaking of which. The actual meat of the matter. The Team Catastrophe match. What does Crow do here? Well, he duels! Even though he wasn't supposed to, for injury-related reasons. What both his participation as well as the actual duel accomplish, though, are that they not only showcase previously established character traits of Crow's again, but they also make a (possibly unintended) callback to a previous, major duel Crow took part in: His dark signer duel against Bommer/Greiger. Where and how? Let's see.

Firstly, Crow's participation. The reactions of the other characters to this make it very evident that Team 5Ds did not plan for this, with Yusei and Jack even going as far as to say they "had no choice" but to let Crow duel, because he insisted. This is perfectly in line with the stubbornness we already know from him at this point—a stubbornness that was also a major reason for why he took Bommer on and later continued his duel with said man, despite Yusei showing up and telling him he shouldn't be duelling a dark signer.

Secondly, there's the manoeuvring thing, and here's where I can call attention to a fun tidbit: The WRGP isn't what introduces the concept of manual mode during turbo duels to the audience. It's Crow. During his duel with Bommer. Being crafty and a bit shrewd as he is, Crow, during said duel in the DS arc, purposefully switches to manual mode when he duels Bommer, because he figures that attacks that can deal real damage can probably be evaded if you actually have control over your runner and aren't stuck in autopilot.

(Don't believe me? Here it is. And frankly, it is somewhat hilarious, yet also very fitting that Crow is the only one who thinks to do this during a duel with a dark signer.)

The reason this particular bit is relevant during the Team Catastrophe duel is because Crow essentially repeats this trick here. Of course, it's a bit less impactful now, given that manual mode is standard for WRGP duels, but still: Due to Hook, the Hidden Knight, Crow is forced to pay attention to the track and manually evade the monster's attempts to make his back wheel lock up during the duel, mirroring how he thought to manually evade Bommer's attacks during the DS arc.

Thirdly, there's the revenge angle, and this one is a particularly juicy callback. Remember, Crow's major reason for taking on Team Catastrophe, despite being injured, is that he wants to get revenge for Aki. This directly parallels how his major reason for duelling Bommer during the DS arc was that he wanted revenge for his kids, whom he believed to be dead at that point in time. (It also, interestingly, establishes a bit of a connection to his deck, which boasts a fair amount of revenge effects, but I'll not get into that here, seeing as I've talked about Crow's cards a bit before.)

Keep in mind, despite all the things listed above that this duel accomplishes, it's also by far the shortest WRGP duel. It lasts a whole six turns, total, which is ludicrous compared to the likes of 27-turn Team Unicorn, 26-turn Team Taiyou, or 25-turn Team Ragnarok. And I don't think it's controversial to say that the Catastrophe guys are probably the most forgettable WRGP Team, too. Yet, somehow, despite all its shortcomings in terms of memorable antagonists and plot relevance, this is one of the best duels of the WRGP where Crow's character writing is concerned. Now, I'll be perfectly candid: Coming into this post, I did not expect the Team Catastrophe duel, of all things, to end up being as good at actually showcasing Crow's character and his ties to other characters (who aren't Yusei) as it was, but here we are. And we had better hold on to the good the Team Unicorn - Catastrophe segment did for Crow, because the next thing that's coming up is a harsh break from the WRGP, starting with the sudden appearance of Placido's home-engineered army of killer duel robots. And what does Crow get to do during this part?

Uh. Well.

(Pictured: Bird Boy being demoted to benchwarmer while the city's being ransacked by murder duel robots.)

Nothing. A whole lot of nothing, is what.

During the duel robot invasion, we only ever flash back to Crow to ascertain that he is, in fact, useless during this part of the show, something he shares in common with Ruka, Rua, and Aki here, because all of them get pretty much nothing to do while Yusei finally gets the hang of accel synchro. Granted, Aki gets to save a little girl at the hospital, but in comparison to Yusei's lengthy, plot-heavy duel with Placido, this feels like a consolation prize. And for once, Jack is only marginally better off, too, because sure, he gets to beat up a couple of robots, but that's it, really.

Where Crow is concerned, his plot relevance doesn't actually resume once the Placido duel finishes, though. (And neither does Rua's, Ruka's, or Aki's, while we're at it.) Because wouldn't you know it, the next big thing directly after the duel robot invasion are the Red Nova episodes, where three out of five signers (Crow, Aki, and Ruka, unsurprisingly) are removed from the screen almost in their entirety again while Jack gets his much-needed dragon upgrade so he can keep up with Yusei, in order to uphold his status as a classic, almost-evenly-matched yugioh rival.

Speaking of upgrades and dragons, let's make a quick detour while our protag and rival duo take their express vacation to the Nazca plains. It is, of course, no secret that no signer outside of Yusei and Jack ever got a dragon upgrade within the anime. (No, I'm not forgetting about Life Stream Dragon. But that one, unlike Shooting Star Dragon and Red Nova Dragon, was a.) teased all the way back in the DS arc and b.) didn't have a unique summoning method or some other gimmick that made it an "elevated" synchro. So I'm discounting Life Stream as a "proper" dragon upgrade on purpose.) Is this the point where I start arguing that Crow should have gotten one, then? Well, not quite. Not with the writing the show canonically gave us, at least—after all, with how late Black-Winged Dragon was introduced, it would have been bonkers to upgrade him here already, if even at all. However, I do argue that the way the show hands only Yusei and Jack upgrades seems a bit... off. Now, I know why only those two get upgrades, or at least I think I do. After all, they're the central protag/rival duo, and within the framework of the character archetypes the larger yugioh canon has created for itself, this would have always made them the first, if not the only candidates for dragon upgrades. What feels a bit off to me, though, is that specifically the 5Ds cast feels like it... chafes a bit against those character archetypes, for lack of a better word. The problem is this: The signers, as far as the first two arcs are concerned, are sold to us as equals who all have very powerful ace monsters. Yes, Jack and Yusei are still undoubtedly the best duellists among them, but not on account of having uber-powerful extra special monsters that were acquired through supernatural means that are categorically inaccessible to the other signers. However, with the appearance of Shooting Star and Red Nova, this changes. While Yusei and Jack were previously and would have always been the two guys who had a Special dynamic with a capital "S" on account of their character archetypes, their acquisition of the dragon upgrades—and even more so, the lack of upgrades their fellow signers receive—now decidedly puts them in a different power bracket and skews the balance between previous, supposedly "equal" characters. (Which, unfortunately, is yet another thing that makes everyone else easier to sideline.)

Why do I bring all this up in a post dedicated to Crow? Because this new power imbalance arguably impacts him more than the other signers—because he's Team 5Ds' second wheeler and doesn't miss another WRGP match from here on out. Thus, that power imbalance is felt in the upcoming duels, where Yusei and Jack bust out Shooting Star and Red Nova like it's nothing, while Crow is left manoeuvring with the somewhat underpowered Black-Winged Dragon and whatever else he can come up with. This is also why I claimed that the show did sideline Crow in some aspects further above. Because while some parts of his writing go to great pains to establish him as part of a protagonist trifecta that is now supposed to take centre stage before the other characters, he also permanently lives in Jack and Yusei's shadow, ultimately barred not just from reaching equal status as a signer (due to his late and rocky introduction and dragon acquisition), but also barred from becoming the equal of his foster brothers as a duellist. Frankly, I'm surprised the show didn't make this a plot point, because the first thing my mind jumps to when I think about this is whether Crow felt left behind after his brothers acquired such immensely powerful, special cards. But more on my personal writing ideas later. For now, let's just put a pin in the power-imbalance thing.

So, when is Crow back on screen in any meaningful role, then? (Note that I mean this as literally as possible. As per my discussion about "screentime" and my gripes about it in part two, I gloss over the parts where Crow is on screen, but could be traded for any other signer or even a lamppost without affecting the scene at all.)

Well, the next thing Crow gets to do isn't exactly glorious, but it sure is funny.

(I want you all to remember that he has to wear this costume and play this part in Team 5Ds' absurd plan to capture Yaeger/Lazar because he lost at rock-paper-scissors. This will never not be funny to me.)

Ignoring the hilarious outfit and Crow playing the bait at a fabricated cup ramen promo event meant to lure Yaeger in, bird boy does actually get something that's not just for funsies to do during the two episodes where Team 5Ds is trying to get more information about Iliaster: He gets to have a duel revanche against Yaeger, who, if we remember the DS arc, ditched him the last time they squared off. Much like the Team Catastrophe duel, this one, too, calls back to previous duels Crow has had: For one, it's the obvious conclusion to his unfinished, first duel with Yaeger. And for two, Crow repeats a "trick" (for lack of a better term) here that is also unique to him: losing on purpose, which we remember from his duel with Lyndon.

(Identical-looking clown family jumpscare be upon ye.)

And again, much like getting injured for the Team Unicorn duel, I argue that this story beat here is something that could also only have been accomplished with Crow. Because he's the only one who has previously duelled Yaeger, firstly, because not wanting to make a child cry by beating their dad in a duel makes sense for him as a character due to him being a family-oriented person who loves children, secondly, and because losing on purpose in this scenario is a tactic that would seem out of character from anyone else, thirdly. (We recall, the only times Jack and Yusei, respectively, ever consider/offer to lose on purpose is when the lives of people close to them are on the line, in the shape of Carly/Rally. As for the others, aside from not being present, Aki, Rua, and Ruka are so heavily sidelined at this point that they would have never been an option for this. And if his writing is anything to go by, Bruno is mostly purposefully forbidden from accomplishing Plot Things, especially through duels, while he's Bruno.) But hey, due to the way this episode is set up, losing on purpose works out for Crow, because it convinces Yaeger to stop hiding and actually share his knowledge about Iliaster. This, by the way, is the second scene where Crow gets to be in a room with Sherry for a longer stretch of time. And look, him joking that Sherry might kill Yaeger if he doesn't spill the beans about Iliaster soon is fun and all, but in light of the Ark Cradle duel later, I have to point out that he, again, doesn't get to have so much as a shred of a meaningful conversation with Sherry here. Again. But moving on. The scene with Yaeger at the Poppo Time then leads us first to the small sequence in the arcade where the gang has to win a simulated duel to get Yaeger's encoded intel, then to episode 116—the Moment Express episode, where, due to this being a Yusei, Sherry, and Bruno-focussed episode, Crow gets nothing to do again. (And also doesn't get to interact with Sherry again.)

Congrats! We've survived the WRGP break. This leaves us with three more WRGP duels before shit hits the fan and the Ark Cradle arc commences. And full disclosure, I'll be doing a bit of a quick-fire round of those three duels. Why? Because despite them all having their merits in their own rights (they're the better liked duels of the WRGP for a reason), there honestly isn't that much focus on Crow during them. He duels, yes, and I've seen people point this out over and over again as the supposed smoking gun that shows how Crow had so much more relevance and screentime than Aki and yadda, yadda. We've been there. And it's not that I can't see where this argument is coming from—I'll be the first to tell you that it's a travesty that Aki never got to duel in the WRGP again outside of the Unicorn match. But I want to use the final three matches to dig into how the way these matches—and especially the opponents to go with them—were set up made it nearly impossible for Aki to replace Crow again during any point of the WRGP finals.

First, episode 118. This is the only preamble episode we get for the first two WRGP finals teams, and here, our group is split in two: Yusei, Bruno, and Rua introduce us to Team Taiyou, while Jack, Aki, and Crow introduce us to Team Ragnarok. There isn't much to say here, because the only thing this episode does for Crow is a shallow repeat of what the Team Catastrophe duel did: By putting him in a group with Aki and Jack, and letting them decide among themselves, independently, to check out the exhibition match, it implies that he voluntarily spends time with signers who aren't Yusei. Thumbs up. Gold star. You made an effort (I guess). Then, the real fun starts.

Round one. Team Taiyou.

(Pictured: The sweetest country bumpkins to ever grace this earth. Yes, I'm biased.)

So here's the deal with Team Taiyou, from a narrative standpoint, as best as I can grasp it: They are a callback to Team 5Ds' roots. Specifically, to the boys' Satellite roots. The Taiyou boys come from humble origins, have only one, mostly home-engineered duel runner, and play using old cards that are widely considered shitty, as 5Ds canon tells us. They are essentially the non-signer, countryside version of what Jack, Crow, and Yusei once were, which is why this is the first duel where the duellist constellation on Team 5Ds' end couldn't possibly have been altered. Team Taiyou is there to remind us where our boys started, so it has to be our boys duelling them. This also goes for Crow, even though this duel otherwise doesn't accomplish much for him, character-wise. Instead, it's more of a narrative wink at the audience, as well as providing a breather between otherwise extremely tense, plot-focussed duels. But yeah, Crow's part in this match isn't much to write home about; he doesn't get any verbal interactions that are very meaningful to his character, can't get so much as a scratch in on Zushin, even with Black-Winged Dragon, and is defeated so Yusei can take out the legendary giant.

Round two. Team Ragnarok.

(Behold the pizzazz of at least two contenders for Haircuts With The Most Spikes in the show.)

Though this duel is framed as being even more so aimed towards bolstering Jack's character writing than Crow's, given the inclusion of Dragan's personal history with Jack, Team Ragnarok gets significantly more interesting for Crow again than Team Taiyou did. This is, of course, mainly because of Brave/Broder. Where Team Taiyou were a callback to the 5Ds boys' roots, Team Ragnarok are their narrative foils. Dragan is the duellist who lost his pride to contrast Jack, who's brimming with pride at all times, and Harald/Halldor is essentially the rich, "destiny isn't bullshit, actually" version of Yusei. Meanwhile, unlike the first two, who highlight our 5Ds boys' characteristics by contrasting them, Brave acts as Crow's mirror. Through Team Ragnarok's flashbacks, we see that he gets almost exactly the same, lovable-rogue-type backstory that Crow did during the DS arc, just in a different setting. The only, major difference between them is that while Crow is more down-to-earth, Brave likes to be pretty flashy.

(Keep in mind that he's doing this on a runner. Is there such a thing as courses on how to do acrobatics on your runner? Like there are courses for vaulting on horseback irl? I'm overthinking this again.)

Unsurprisingly, the duel thus ends up addressing the similarities between Crow and Brave, mostly through two things: One, the duel essentially becomes a contest of who can out-trickster who, culminating in the famous, ridiculous-in-the-good-way sequence where Crow activates a trap from his graveyard, to the shock of pretty much everyone present. And two, despite being on opposite sides, the two bond over their concern for the children they took care of and their concern for children in general, which is expressed most clearly in the scene where Crow's kids, in an attempt to hold the poster they made for him higher, very nearly fall over the barricade in the WRGP stands. Despite the hefty length of the full duel, these are pretty much the only things actually related to Crow's character that come up, though. They're good, don't get me wrong, but in a duel that is otherwise this dense with plot, Aesir shenanigans, and Iliaster foreshadowing, it's no surprise that the duel doesn't add that much to Crow's character, outside of giving him someone he can bounce off very well and relate to. Again, though, we are faced with the same situation as with Team Taiyou: Due to the way the members of Team Ragnarok are written, meant to contrast/parallel one male duellist each from Team 5Ds, nobody other than Crow could have taken the third spot here, either. It would have felt awkward from a narrative standpoint (as much as I would have loved to see Aki duel more).

Now, finally. Round three. Team New World.

(Welp. Here come the robots.)

I had to check to make sure I wasn't misremembering this, but due to the way this duel was set up so José/Jakob could bust out Meklord Emperor Granel with a ridiculous amount of attack points, Crow gets a resounding four turns total in this duel. (Gee, I wonder which other character got this treatment during a WRGP duel.) During those four turns, there are only two things he accomplishes: One, leaving behind two combo pieces Yusei later uses, and two, showcasing the shrewd tactics that earned him the label of "trickster" during the Ragnarok duel by bringing out a non-synchro monster that can take advantage of a synchro monster's attack points and effects—Aurora the Northern Lights. And arguably, this is a very smart play, moreover, it's the only time anyone in the show has the bright idea to not use synchro monsters against the known and feared synchro-killer Meklords. Unfortunately, as smart as it is, the narrative doesn't reward Crow for this play—José all but shrugs what could have been a turning point in the duel off, then proceeds to steamroll Crow the next turn, leaving Yusei to score the win, as usual. To get back to the "Crow got so much more screentime than Aki during the WRGP" thing for a second, of all the duels in the WRGP finals, this is arguably the one where Aki could still most easily have taken Crow's spot again, because here, it doesn't matter whether it's him or someone else, as this duel isn't tied to his character in any way. Unfortunately, due to the Granel-steamroller-strategy, this is also the duel where letting Aki take his spot again would have been the biggest shot in the foot, because unless they had changed Team New World's strategy, Aki would have gotten brutally guillotined here, same as Crow—something I can't imagine anyone, not even people who hate Crow, being happy about.

With that, though, we've finally made it through the WRGP. So, what's the bottom line here? Frankly, speaking from my own interpretation, Crow occupies an... odd spot during this tournament, to say the least. Though he does get to duel the majority of the time, few of the duels actually cater to his character in any way. Moreover, he only gets to be the star of the show in a WRGP duel once, during the by far most forgettable match against Team Catastrophe. And mind that I use the term "star of the show" very loosely here, because the problem the WRGP arc as a whole has, in my opinion, is that the rather lame Team Catastrophe duel is the only one in the whole tournament that isn't won by Yusei, which categorically means that any of the other character's big moments are usually undermined by the fact that they ultimately still need him to save the day. Thus, moments like Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Crow using an anti-synchro-killer strategy that for once actually forgoes synchros are somewhat cheapened by the fact that they're not actually the turning-point moments they're initially painted as, because ultimately, Yusei always has to be the one to save the day. What's worse is that this almost feels like a bit of a non-issue that could have easily been fixed—given that the show tells us that teams can shuffle around their line-up for a match any time. But unfortunately, the writing never interacts with this as a possible strategic element, nor does it ever seem to consider letting Yusei lose, or forcing him to give up his spot for a match. I feel the need to say that I don't put the blame at Yusei's feet here, though: This strongly feels like an oversight by the writers, and perhaps a disproportionate need to have a nigh-infallible protagonist (on the duelling side of things) that their audience would never run the risk of calling "lame". For Crow, though, this chiefly means one thing: In any duel other than the Catastrophe one, it was always clear that even if he partook, he would never finish the match. And yes, this is technically an issue Jack has, too. But this is where the character writing outside of the duels comes into play, too.

Unlike Jack, who actually gets to do something during the Diablo invasion (albeit very little), who gets his very own dragon upgrade and who gets a very personal, pre-duel plot with Dragan, the show's writing doesn't bother giving Crow a lot of plot- or character-relevant things to do, once the WRGP starts. This is also why I was so surprised at how much the Unicorn and Catastrophe duels embrace his interactions with Aki—compared to the later duels in the finals, this portion still makes Crow feel genuinely relevant and interwoven with the other characters. Meanwhile, out of the three final duels, only the Ragnarok one actually tries to establish a connection to his characterisation, through Brave. The Taiyou duel only sets itself up in such a way that Aki partaking instead of him would have been awkward. Meanwhile, the New World duel just has him being treated like a floormat in a sad parallel to Aki during the Unicorn duel, seeing as they both get a nice moment where it looks like they might turn the duel around (Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon onto the field at the same time; Crow summoning Aurora the Northern Lights, which couldn't be absorbed by the Meklords), only to have their hopes dashed as they're mercilessly cleared off the track. Outside of the duels, many scenes sadly give the impression that they may as well not have included Crow, though—he often gets so little to contribute to a moment or even to say at all that substituting him with a cardboard box seems like it would not have impacted the scene in any way. And that's without addressing his non-existent connection to Sherry, which feels extra glaring, given his later interactions with her on the Ark Cradle.

All in all, the WRGP feels like a very mixed bag, where Crow's character writing is concerned. His belated backstory, which I talked about in part two, is front-loaded and asks as many questions as it answers. Then the tournament commences, gives him some actually decent character interplay with Aki for once (at the cost of letting her succeed in the tournament, it seems), only for him to be basically irrelevant during the WRGP pause again. And once the whole thing resumes, it becomes this hot-and-cold thing where some duel aspects seem tailored to him, while others treat him as completely expendable. The end result is an arc where I'm left wondering why exactly the writers felt the need to make it seem like Crow made up one portion of a protagonist trifecta, if they never actually bothered treating him as equal to the other two. (The answer, I believe, lies somewhere between the fumbled setup they did for him during the Fortune Cup and DS arc, and the way yugioh in general treats its character archetypes. But that's just speculation on my part.) The one, saving grace the WRGP (outside of the Pearson backstory) has for Crow is that it at least doesn't introduce any new character- and/or timeline inconsistencies. In fact, his character stays remarkably true to form once the tournament begins.

Okay, onto the final bit, then. As I've done in both previous posts, let me delve into completely subjective territory and offer some ideas on how this arc could have been handled to make it seem a little less all over the place with Crow. And since his writing here canonically intersects with Aki's several times, let me try to do it while offering the best of both worlds to both characters, if I can.

As far as Crow's backstory is concerned, I've already offered my solutions to that in part two. Now, to stay consistent with my own suggestions, I'll try to branch off what I wrote in the last post. This means that, as per my previous two analyses, we're dealing with two scenarios again: One, Crow stays a signer and we try to touch canon as little as possible. Two, Crow isn't a signer and we adjust canon in whatever way we need to to make him feel interesting and necessary despite/because of that.

First, though, let's get two adjustments I personally would have made in both versions out of the way:

The way the WRGP is structured puts every character that isn't Yusei at a massive disadvantage, where character moments in duels are concerned. Thus, I propose an overhaul. Among the changes I think could have benefitted the characters (yes, all of them) are: One - Aki actually getting to accomplish something during the Unicorn duel (she can and should still have her moments with Crow, but maybe let her portion of the duel end in her thanking him for coaching her, creating a more upbeat scene that strengthens their friendship, which could double as good setup for their later double-duel against Sherry). Two - letting the Team Catastrophe duel actually play out properly (as in, they become more meaningful as opponents by having a better strategy, for example, and Crow could stick it out longer against them, in order to make this more so his win than Jack's. Also, why not let Aki actually see him get back at Team Catastrophe for her?). Three - giving Crow an actual character moment during the Taiyou duel (what if one of the country boys had played a card or two of the ones he learned to read from? It could have helped drive the parallel between the two teams home.) Four - letting Crow's anti-Meklord strategy get at least a little payoff, if only for two turns (show us at least proof of concept, damn it!). Yes, the Ragnarok duel is the only one I wouldn't rewrite (unless special circumstances are introduced, see below). Additionally, let Team 5Ds alter their line-up more than once, damn it. Let them actually strategise about the duels, let them take into consideration who should go first when and whose deck might be better suited to which scenario. Also, remove Yusei from at least one duel. Doesn't matter how, just let him not partake once. Perfect setup to let Aki duel again, and would also allow for spicy character interactions. (Arguably the best duels where this could have been done would have been any of the final duels, though it would have also required rewriting the antagonists somewhat in any case.)

For the love of god, give Sherry and Crow some setup. Let them actually interact, let them introduce their philosophies to one another, just do something, anything to make Crow understanding and talking sense into her during the finale seem earned. A few chance meetings, or maybe even a tiny side-plot could have done so much here. And if you can't let them interact outright, at least let Aki and Crow talk about Sherry! Double whammy! The two characters who end up duelling against her are made to seem even more like a team, and Crow actually gets to find out what Sherry's deal is on-screen. Just. Set. it. up. I beg you.

There we go. Now, onto the two branches.

Option A: Crow stays a signer and obtained Black-Winged Dragon.

Seeing as Crow's signer status, funnily enough, isn't all that relevant during the tournament itself (save for two notable exceptions), there aren't that many fixes to be made here. Crow can still get injured, miss out on the Unicorn duel and be the star of the Catastrophe duel. But giving him something to do during the duel robot invasion that isn't standing around and hoping Yusei will fix everything would also be nice. It's fine if he can't drive out there and duel, but why not let him do something else? He's a crafty guy, why not let him find, say, a way to fry the Diablos' runners, taking a few of them out even from a semi-stationary position without duelling them? He could at least get as much of a consolation prize scene as Aki got with her saving that child. Then there's Team Taiyou, which, save for what I proposed above, is a duel that doesn't feel like it needs changes. Crow does his thing here. That's it. The same goes for Team Ragnarok, especially given that they're specifically written to oppose an all-signers Team 5Ds. Finally, there's Team New World, which, if I'm being completely candid, I would personally overhaul to change the cyborgs' strategy entirely in order to actually let all three members of Team 5Ds shine. But this is the version where I touch canon as little as possible, so... Aside from what I wrote above, no changes needed. Just make Crow seem a little more relevant, make his strategy have at least a little payoff, even if Granel's back out and menacing literally two turns later.

Option B: Crow, as per my previous posts, isn't a signer and doesn't have Black-Winged Dragon.

This is the version that would categorically require heavier changes, though they honestly don't arrive until the break in the tournament. Unicorn and Catastrophe stay the same, I would still propose that Crow gets to be a little more useful during the Diablo invasion. But! In this version, seeing as he never acquired BWD, the break in the WRGP would be an excellent spot to let Crow acquire an upgrade for his beefy Blackwing ace monster of choice. Give him a little side-plot, too, something to do, something where he proves himself. Maybe let him run into Iliaster here, or maybe call back to Pearson again and introduce the new Blackwing upgrade as a treasure Pearson stashed away before he died (maybe this could have even been the card Bolger was actually after; the world is our oyster here). Then he's beefed up, too, and actually feels a little more on the same level as Jack and Yusei. The tournament recommences and again, the Taiyou duel could stay mostly the same, I think. Ragnarok and New World are where it gets really interesting, though. The way I see it, Ragnarok could go two ways with Crow not being a signer: Either he partakes as he did in canon and his non-signer status is called out as a peculiarity by our Swedish boys who happen to be obsessed with fate (which would make his performance against Brave seem all the more impressive), or, due to this being a duel all about destiny and celestial pissing contests, Crow's spot is given to Aki again for this duel due to her signer status (this would, obviously, require rewriting Brave, perhaps even switching him out for a Ragnarok lady instead). As for Team New World, this duel would honestly be a lot more juicy with a non-signer Crow, because much like he was for the dark signers, a non-signer Crow would essentially be an unknown in their plan for the cyborgs. He would be the guy who's Not Supposed To Be Here. Granted, he would still be beaten, but he could still get an excellent moment where his out-of-left-field anti-Meklord strategy genuinely seems to turn the tables for a bit, angering José and providing even stronger setup for Yusei to win later.

Aaaaand that's that. Somehow, I get the feeling the WRGP had the least things that needed fixing because it also had the least actual character writing. But that might just be me. It's late and I have been writing for A While. But hey, I got out part three faster than part two! I consider that an achievement.

Now, while I get my talking points in order for part four, I hope you'll have fun chewing on this one. See you in the grand finale to my Bird Boy dissertation.

[tomboyyyaoi]

i LOVE vashwood but bc its the Fandom Fav tm its absolutely everywhere n i dont feel like im getting enough vashmeryl which is My Fav tm n i feel like barely anyone ships them bc barely anyone GETS them and how theyr just as deep as vashwood like i promise theyr not just a shoehorned het romance and i could babble on about how if u genuinely see them that way then u either severely lack reading comprehension or have some sort of internalised misogyny (coz it nearly allllllllways falls on some reason that reads as 'i just dont think meryl is a very deep character' like yes she is u just stopped caring when a woman was on the page) i really feel like i could go on and on and on and on and on and on if i was in more of a mood to but like

oh my god its not even like their connection is always so subtle that u have to squint like the amount they care about eachother is so clear meryl just isnt the kind of character to verbally say it bc shes emotionally closed off (WHICH SHE KNOWS AND GETS UPSET ABOUT IN THE EARLY MANGA) but u can tell she WANTS to say something and she does, just internally, they see right fucking thru eachother bc they relate to eachother despite how wildly different their lives and experiences are and god theyr both PINING for eachother they just want to HELP and PROTECT eachother but shes emotionally stunted (cough cough autism headcanon here) and hes deliberately closed off bc if he were to open up about anything it would just be one big incomprehensible traumadump he doesnt wanna put on anyone but they See It in eachother and they care no matrer what they decide to say or not say, oh my god im gnna fucking blow up

please dont tell me ppl just swore off vashmeryl and refused to see it bc they just mentally registered it as Yet Another Forced Het Romance For No Reason please tell me people dont think meryl was just meant to be a love interest and ignored her bc of it, pls tell me ppl dont just ship her w milly bc they ship vashwood and 'well she needs to be with SOMEONE' please dont tell me people genuinely dont see vashmeryl as anything deeper than The M/F Leads Ur Meant 2 Ship please dont tell me that please please please please please please please please

[samantitheos]

Weekly Tag Wednesday

AND IT'S STILL WEDNESDAY (a first). Thank you @blue-disco-lights and @wehangout for the tag. <3

Name and A03 handle: sam / ms_gallavich [cringe]

Current Location: living room couch in my new apartment. the upgrade from my last apartment is actually insane. i'm quite pleased.

Favourite picrew: any one in which i am channelling my lord and saviour, mickey milkovich. par exemple:

What's one thing you want in a picrew? uhh...good piercing options?

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom? as cringe as it is now several years removed, i was at one time one half of a very elaborate long-form mickey/ian rp on instagram that we regularly maintained throughout most of the "dark years" (2017-2019) when we thought s07e11 was the last time we'd ever see gallavich on screen. i feel like it brought a wide swath of the fandom together at that time, and it was a lot of fun.

less cringe, i like these two embroideries lol.

Why is it your favourite? gallavich embroidery got me through the pandemic lockdowns tbh. i taught myself stitches watching youtube videos and would work on pieces while binge watching different shows. (remember tiger king and squid games? lol. wild. feels like a lifetime ago.) made me feel at least semi-productive. also i love skeletons, so obvi that one is dear to me lol.

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? i am straight garbage at doing the lettering. i also rip out and restitch sections a lot.

Last ao3 fic you commented on? definitely left an unhinged comment on @suzy-queued's A Song Only You Can Hear fairly recently.

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? Grayola's Things Beyond Mistake was a punch to the tit, i won't lie. and i walked into anomalously's Promised Land with eyes wide open, knowing it was abandoned, and yet... 🥲i'm still subscribed to about 20 others i am still holding out hope for... 🥲🥲

Favourite trope or head cannon you like included in a fanfic? it would probably be easier to name the tropes i don't like lol. love a good soulmate fic. and got to love "only one bed" hehe. slow burn and friends to lovers/mutual pinning too. just inject that straight into my veins.

Least favourite? i wouldn't say it's a trope, but i strongly dislike fics where they sleep with other people. don't care for mpreg either. or mcd (unless its something supernatural wherein they are only dead temporarily -- then i love it).

Secret or surprising kink or trope? most surprising would be abo (minus the mpreg), since i had never even heard of it until about a year after i started reading fic. thank god for that comprehensive abo primer on a03 lol.

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new? "i'm deleting this 30 seconds after i post unless someone likes it"

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line: i'm a lone wolf these days.

It's been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____? start rereading something old written by one of my og favs.

(e.g., @loftec, @wehangout, @goodkwuestion, @gallavichy, @palepinkgoat,

@beckyharvey29, @the-rat-wins, @biblionerd07, @crimson-bebop, @captainjowl,

andchaos, mellow_yellow, MintSauce, Violet_Jones, lilbatfacedgirl, romanticalgirl, anomalously, horror_business, 09cityskylight, so many more that i missing that i now have anxiety lmaoooo)

Tagging a few people and extending the invite to anyone who would like to play. <3 @jademickian @transsexual-dandelions @ms-moonlight-inn @mickeym4ndy @sweetbee78

[coruscantguard]

coruscantguard's Fic Rec List (01)

This list contains some of my favorite fics from my time in the Star Wars fandom! It is by no means a comprehensive list of all my favorite fics, just the ones I could find the very easiest— I'm absolutely planning on making more of these in the future. I hope you enjoy! (No, I'm not procrastinating working on anything rn, shushhhhhh)

[[MORE]]

we stand here, together by @nightdotlight

21k, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Rex & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Neyo/Mace Windu

Summary:

Master Depa Billaba and Padawan Caleb Dume. Windu worries for them, out in the wider galaxy. Waging war, while he and Anakin sit here, waiting. But he trained Billaba, and Billaba is training Dume. Anakin once took lessons from her, when he himself was a Padawan, and he knows she is skilled enough by far, to ensure that both she and her student make it back to Coruscant safely. It’s ironic, that when cut off from the Force he can understand other people better than he has in years.

Nat, will you ever shut up about we stand here, together? No, no I will not. It's been three years since this fic was posted, and it still destroys me emotionally every time I read it in the best way possible. You want a fic to make you cry about the Jedi? I've got a fic that will make you cry about the Jedi in the best way possible. This story is wonderful and amazing and I'll probably be recommending it until the end of time.

Reputations. by @outpastthemoat

36k, Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi

Summary:

Defeating a Sith Lord before losing your Padawan braid, that’s a difficult reputation to live up to.

SUCH a wonderful look into Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, this fic completely blew me away. The metaphors here are beautiful, the imagery is stunning, and I love how outpastthemoat portrays the Jedi. An all around treat to read, and a fic I've reread many times, and plan to reread many more.

observer's effect by @bytebun

6k, Cody & Obi-Wan, Cody & Rex

Summary:

The fall of the Jedi was a fixed point, and there had to be a hand on the gun. It might as well be Cody’s.

(The story of your life is a tragedy, but you still get to make your choices.)

This fic contains one of my favorite lines of all time regarding the clones and their names, oh my god. I love the differing approaches it takes to Order 66, I love how the relationship between the 212th and Obi-Wan is portrayed, and the prose just blows me away. I enjoy reading this one SO MUCH.

the falling man by @cabezadeperro

35k, Fox/Quinlan Vos, Fox/Echo

Summary:

It's been three years since the end of the war. Fox works nights as a bouncer in an Underworld nightclub and does what he can to help in the fight against the Empire. He wasn't expecting Echo.

I sobbed when reading chapters of this, y'all. As in, full out ugly crying sobbed. I remember it very clearly, because I was actually on vacation at the time, and I was hiding in my Grandmother's basement so I didn't have to explain to my family why I was sobbing. Post Order 66 stories just get to me in a way that few other stories do, and this one did so perfectly. The despair and the hope mixed together, the way that they just kept going, the SW cyberpunk setting— it just works PERFECTLY.

Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero

33k, Fox & Leia Organa

Summary:

SUBJECT: Regarding Senate Guard Objectives For Today This is a polite reminder to all guardsmen that patrol schedules for the Senate vote ratifying dictatorships are posted in the breakroom. I am also issuing a warning to linear time that days should follow sequentially and are not intended to repeat. Please cease repeating. I am getting a headache. Additionally, I'd like to remind all guardsmen that it is illegal to harbor invisible women in the Senate. If you see a ghost claiming to be Leia Organa, please remove her from the premises. She will be making a scene. Thank you for your cooperation in preserving the peace of the Republic, and all hail the Empire. FOX

This fic? This fic blew me away. Holy shit. This is one of those stories that simply altered me as a human being, you know? Every part of this story is expertly done, and I love how it all came together at the end. This story also contains some of my favorite lines of all time regarding the clones, and god, Leia's portrayal here is PERFECT. Feeling so many emotions about Alderrann again.

may you inherit his light by @notbecauseofvictories

2k, Leia Organa & Bail Organa, Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker

Summary:

When your father dies, say the Coruscanti, you are left clutching a star map for a different galaxy.

In this, as in many things, Leia is her fathers' daughter.

Speaking of feeling emotions about Alderrann, here's another fic that does that! Leia and Bail will always make me emotional, and this fic does so perfectly. I love their relationship, I love how Leia's grief is portrayed, I love every moment of her life we see and the visual imagery here simply blows me away.

So Call It Grace by @blackkatmagic

10k, Cody/Quinlan Vos, Quinlan Vos & Lando Calrissian

Summary:

The only thing Quinlan wants is to keep his head down and avoid the Empire. Lando dragging one trouble and then another into his life isn't helping matters much.

This fic owns my entire heart and then some. Oh my god. Quinlan & Lando are such a great duo, and Cody!!! Cody!!!! I have no words, just sounds of joy about Cody. This story just took residence in my mind, and has refused to leave, which I am absolutely more than happy with, because I love this story SO MUCH. Quinlan is one of my favorite characters of all time, to the surprise of no one, and I adore how Kat writes him.

Carrion by callmelyss

2k, Merrin/Trilla Sunduri

Summary:

Understanding thrills through the Second Sister—what Cal Kestis has awoken here by chance, what’s slumbered among the unquiet dead, waiting. A survivor. The taste of metal floods her mouth; her gloves creak as her hands clench. Laughter escapes her, flat and humorless and long, ricocheting along the close walls. “No,” she swears, allowing the venom into her voice, the hate to curdle in the air, met and devoured, as it always is, by the Dark. “Not a Jedi. Look closer.” The Second Sister goes to Dathomir in search of Cal Kestis. She finds something entirely unexpected.

These two? These two are AMAZING together. I love the writing here, the visual imagery blows me away, and the way these two relate to each other is AMAZING. The parallels here amaze me, and this is a frequent reread for me, it's just so good. This story makes me want to write about these two SO BADLY.

dead dog (bye-bye baby blue) by @patchmates

15k, WIP, Fox & Cody, Fox & Thorn, Fox & Quinlan Vos, Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi

Summary:

The way it happens is simple: at some point during your service in the Guard, you’ll lose time. The thing wiping the Guards’ memories gets sloppy and Fox remembers the order not to let Fives leave the surface alive. It changes everything and nothing at all.

I am intrigued by this fic, y'all, I am so intrigued. This is a story that I can tell is going to absolutely crack my heart in two, but goddamn am I excited for it to do so. I'm always a huge fan of when people take a more cyberpunk approach to SW, and I am simply fascinated by patchmates' portrayals of the clones. I foresee this fic doing great emotional damage to me, but like, in the best way possible, and recommend it VERY highly.

[a-forger-and-a-point-man]

which eyewitness account. what news outlets. correct about what exactly. because all the articles and eyewitness accounts i am seeing is everyone from a random to the dutch prime minister condemning the attacks. and all you did is yell at me about israel being a savior to their people, insult my basic comprehension abilities, and link some dude's op ed of an article locked behind a paywall, the collective diatribe i could not even read because i do not and refuse to have an x account-- and then lock replies. but go off i guess.

with all due respect i don't think i feel inclined to accept your view about what is or is not antisemetic if your adjacent views on indiscriminate violence is apparently justified if it's jews (not zionists, not "soldiers", but anyone who looked like a jew or helped a jew). and I'll reblog or not reblog whatever i want, thanks. you have the distinct pleasure of clicking a block button if you'd prefer.

always open to genuine discussion of a very complex current events. not so much in whatever has transpired here thus far. it's been real. i sincerely wish you the very best.

the fact that you rely on what political leaders say tells me all I need to know, especially given their fears about their donors and backers, and the pressure they are under from the Zionist lobby. and look, no, I didn’t approach you in the most gracious way, and it’s not my style to lash out before approaching someone privately first, but this issue is a red line.

I suggest you work on your media literacy. It’s not taught in schools and it’s a universal problem. your reblog wasn’t just offensive and incorrect— it was an incitement to violence against anyone that dares to fight back and protect themselves, especially against a Zionist who attacked them first. and especially if it’s black or brown folks.

call me whatever names you like including an antisemite (false and defamatory), report me on tumblr, banish me from fandom, do whatever you like. this isn’t about me but about the fact that you are not even asking basic questions about the incident. I slept on your ask and thought… you know what, no, after the past 13 months (and decades before of anti-occupation advocacy and grassroots work on my part) I don’t need to educate you. you cannot possibly be this ignorant of the circumstances. don’t you read news articles and subsequent analyses? aren’t you tapped into social media discussions by historians and academics? have you the slightest idea what soccer hooliganism entails and Maccabi’s yearslong role in that?

Former US State Dept officials will tell you that Israel’s entire defense mechanism is to keep playing up its victimhood, its need for money and weapons, and its “right to defend itself.” But if Israel did away with that front, its attempt to unify the western world behind it crumbles. Everything would be exposed.

Israel’s surrogates toe that line. Those surrogates are Maccabi hooligans.

I am actually so confident that your reblog was full of lies that I will sit back and wait for you to find out. Wait for you to see how Sky News panicked and deleted its original report about Israelis attacking people on the streets of Amsterdam. Wait for you to see how some Dutch journos are demanding their videos from the scene stop being exploited for a pro Israel agenda. Wait for you to see that funny enough, Dutch authorities aren’t stepping up security and protecting synagogues and issuing safety measures for the Jewish community— because it wasn’t about them and they weren’t being attacked.

In due time you’ll realize you are wrong. Cannot believe you reblogged content saying it was a pogrom. My God, we just throw words around now… utterly heinous. The Netherlands of all places knows what an actual pogrom is like. But no, please, by all means let’s have US-based pro-genocide commentators call any violence against an Israeli a “pogrom.”

[cherrigarden]

✧ PETUNIA . y!Kintoru

✧ SYMBOLIZING.. The petunia symbolizes resentment and anger. It may have a striking appearance yet the meaning isn't quiet as nicely striking.

✧ POST SUMMARY.. escaping from your insane girlfriend is hard, it's even harder if she's an ancient beast who forced you into a relationship.

✧ PAIRING.. Y!Kintoru x GN!Reader (no pronouns mentioned)

✧ WARNINGS, BEWARE OF.. general yandere themes , helplessness , sadism , toxic relationships , implied kidnapping , unconsentual touching (non-sexual) , hunter-prey dynamic (non-sexual) .

✧ OVER HERE! .. Please do not read this if you are sensitive to any of the things listed above. Don't like yandere content? Keep scrolling, dont ruin others enjoyment.

✧ IMPORTANT.. None of the pictures used are mine, do not translate, copy, nor re-write any of my works without my permission.

✧ SIDE NOTES.. this fandom is tiny but that won't stop me from writing about it, anywayss good evening to the 10 people in the mimic fandom <33

Truly, the only thing you ever felt towards her was resentment. The way pure wrath would seep into your bones at the slightest mention of her, the way you'd shiver whenever you even saw or heard something that reminded you of her. Two months, it had been two months since this nightmare of yours began.

You weren't sure what idiot had decided that freeing an ancient beast and allowing it to roam free would be a good idea, but surely it was someone who was beyond clueless. You had been a target of hers, someone that she could use as a pawn, an easy one at that.

You were certain that in her eyes, you were but another lowly being to help her reach whatever twisted goal she had. A failed puppet she was in your eyes, yet you wished it was true. You wished for her downfall, for you knew her sins would catch right up to her someday. Someday, however that day wasn't the one which you decided to leave.

You were sick of her twisted games, you didn't want to be merely a piece of her collection. You had dreams, and hopes for the future, yet none of those contained her. You had planned it out so well, so perfectly! However, it was clear than luck was siding with that beast.

You wouldn't have even noticed her if it wasn't for her claws digging into your neck. You had no idea how she even found you, you were certain she was preoccupied, so was this another one of her tricks? Did she seriously like playing predator so much?

Sick and twisted, you labeled her in your head. And you were sure it fit her perfectly, the title was practically made for her. Yet whatever could you do other than simply make it go her way when she's choking the life out of you and the amount of oxygen your getting is rapidly decreasing?

Just make it go her way, that's what you've been having to do lately. But, with her having the ability to drain the life out of you in a second, is there anything else you can do to survive? Sure, turning into a completely helpless little prey would keep her satisfied for a while but this was never for her.

The entire point of your plan was to escape from whatever place she had dragged you off to with your soul still within you. Because if you didn't try, you were sure you'd turn into one of the many many butterflies trapped within her spiderweb.

And yet, you never stopped questioning if you were already trapped within her spiderweb, if you were already a part of her wide collection, were you? Even when you were almost at deaths doorstep, the question never got answered. Not like you were expecting an answer from her, you were certain she was too preoccupied with laughing at your pain.

If there was anything you loathed more than her, herself, it would be her voice. The haunting tunes she'd hum while cleaning off the remaining blood from your body after her little sadistic "craving,, even thinking about that made your uncountable scars hurt.

You resented her, beyond comprehension, for now you could only pray to whatever god is out there to send her karma faster, yet whyever would a god listen to but another one of her pawns? It would be a waste of time knowing they all went down the same, unspeakable path.

✧ ENDING NOTES.. pretty rushed but yeah, more works coming soon prolly

cherrigarden ! 24/12/22

[zenaidamacrouras1]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

@somanywords Helloooooo friend always lovely to be tagged in these games!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

18!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

554,942

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Marvel, mainly Stucky

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(all Stucky) Plastered (59,379 words) Monoclonius (62,000 words) Unpredictable Synchronicity (114,239 words) A Climb of Passion (32,666 words) Tension and Tonic (78,978 words)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I'm chatty so it's easy for me, most of the time. Sometimes I just do little emojis. I know it stresses some writers out which is fair, but I like it, so I do it.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do angsty endings, but I guess Manpain Spiral of Solitude, which in fairness I do think the title warns properly that there might be angst. :)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They are all doopy and happy but Backhoe maybe? Honestly, they are all so cheesy. Sometimes I am hard on myself like, "This fanfiction I'm writing is not esoteric or high brow or relentlessly grim at all" and then have to slap myself around. There's nothing wrong with happiness.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really, though I have a few where the characters make particularly unimpressive decisions and those get some borderline negative comments, but most of my stuff is like, aggressively pleasing and my comments range from polite and supportive to deliriously charming.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh yes. The cheesy schmoopy kind full of yearning and feelings and lots of consent. I do like a sex scene where someone is a bit insecure or inexperienced, and their partner is like, "But I like you for you" and they communicate about their feelings and wants and then they are all more confident at their sex stuff, because, look, I'm a simple person with simple pleasures.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I keep threatening to do a Lord of the Rings / MCU-All the Avengers Live in the Tower Crossover and somewhere I have some notes about it. Bucky is VERY jealous of Aragorn, who keeps throwing looks at Steve, even more so when he realizes how jealous it makes Bucky. Natasha and Gimli get along very well and then Legolas is jealous of Natasha, so Legolas and Bucky end up sulking in the corner.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Dunno!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Podficced! But not translated

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, though I love collaborating with people via beta-ing each other's fics

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I mean, yanno. Stucky.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't want to say never. My Magic AU is going to be a long term thing. I don't want to give up on it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, and jokes, I think. I like writing kids.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably like, clarity of thought, consistency of voice. I re-read my shit and dear god, my adhd is so bad y'all. Particularly my one fic Tension and Tonic which is the only one I didn't have an outside beta spend literally hours making me sound comprehensible and it's really kind of embarrassing. I spend a lot of time trimming down and re-arranging to try and make it comprehensible, and then after like 6 edits, someone else looks at it and immediately points out 9500 places for improvement and then I have like 3 more people look at it. I think it's a double edged sword because the adhd helps me quickly come up with ideas but then a lot of the ideas need to be removed or re-arranged. I don't necessarily mind editing and re-editing, but it's a thing. Also my fight scenes could be better, and I am working on getting better at plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I enjoy it. I tend to look at reddit or other forums where native speakers are coming up with phrases they use to try for authenticity. I love dropping in what I hope will be little Easter Egg hugs for people of whatever background. Recently I worked with a graphic designer to add in some super wonky dialog and I hope it makes another graphic designer out there somewhere smile and feel seen.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Well, if we're going in the way-back time machine, I really liked Star Wars, in particular, the novels, in particular, the witch planet where all the babe-witches rode rancors. I wrote some fanfiction in early high school about them. Also Mara Jade, binches, fucking MARA JADE. She was like my first Bucky. So tragic, so sexy, so brainwashed, so competent.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh it always changes. I'm actually pretty into the shrinkiclinks I'm working on right now which is kind of a spy thriller but also very cutesy and mundane. Monoclonius I think is my happiest, easiest to read fic? So maybe that one.

I'm leaving your tags @somanywords because I love peer pressure.

No pressure tags for any writers who see this, and also @turtle-steverogers @hipsterdiva @tessabennet @voylitscope @greyhavensking @t4tstevebucky and anyone else who writes and wants to share!

[satorugojjo]

I’m just gonna say it, but I think current kids younger than 15 are almost incapable of dissecting anything with critical nuance. Because there is a HUGE difference to the 15 year olds BEFORE lockdown, and after. I’ve seen Gen Z teenagers on tiktok and tumblr have the most empathic, kind, amazingly supportive and intelligent opinions in 2020 who have now grown up and are in college absolutely killing it - they’ve gone into lockdown already having developed their emotional skills and come out of it with a lot more depth and growth. But YOU guys were 12 and younger when the pandemic started, you spent YEARS of it online without interacting with a wide variety of people and learning to read between the lines as you HAVE to in order to navigate the real world and peoples speech patterns and behaviours. You grew up alone in your house behind your screen, without being able to bond with classmates or friends, and most importantly, without anyone to temper your thoughts, or have rational and calm discussions in person. Half the teens I see on tiktok and tumblr NOW are so full of hate, so quick to put down and dismiss peoples choices, so quick to troll and voice really bizarrely conservative and ignorant opinions as if they’re entitled to do so, and so anti-empowerment and anti-ENJOYMENT in general. And I’m gonna be real with you and say it’s because of lockdown. It’s not entirely your fault bc y’all are still kids.

Your literature programs would have been cut, you’re just reading for the assignment, you’re not engaging in seminars and debates and classroom exercises the way you would in class, and all the while you’re just being increasingly exposed to sensationalist media that boils down complex and nuanced topics to a black and white, yes or no, 7 second hook. And it’s made you incapable of approaching anything with logic and empathy, because you just didn’t HAVE that the way everyone else did during their formative middle school puberty years. So now the moment you have a singular negative opinion of something, it’s all encompassing. There is no give, no flex, everyone is guilty until innocent. And why wouldn’t you think that? That’s what people have been doing online during the whole pandemic, cancelling people for 1 comment taken out of context, or being so quick to say something negative first instead of positive. You got comfortable behind your screen instead of being taught the consequences of saying shit things, and now when it comes to exploring all angles to a situation like you should be taught how to the way EVERYONE is, you take it at the most basic, surface, face value.

And when it now comes to fandom spaces where you have older fans in the same space as younger fans, there’s so many more instances where something will get an inordinate and undeserved amount of hate or hype based on a very surface level of understanding. Inherently, this isn’t a good or bad thing, it’s just a thing. What IS bad is when people come under someone’s obviously thought out and nuanced opinion to be like “you’re wrong for liking this bc (insert a completely unrelated logical fallacy of a reason)”. “If you like this book that happens to be a straight romance, you’re homophobic” IT DOESNT WORK THAT WAY AND IM SICK AND TIRED OF ARGUING WITH PEOPLE WHO NEVER BOTHERED TO DEVELOP READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS EVEN AFTER FINDING OUT THEY DON’T HAVE ANY.

Please for the love of GOD I am begging you guys to learn how to analyze literature. Like in an enforced curriculum at a high school level way. Please. YOU will be better off for it, and in turn the rest of us. This isn’t the new wave of boomer-esque hate against the kids. Gen Z is the goddamn future!!! This is a very specific, very VALID gripe, about a very small subset of kids who spent their formative years chronically online. And please! I am BEGGING teachers to recognize this and help their kids out to fix this. There is already a lot of hate in this world and we don’t need a new wave of people spewing hate under the guise of pseudointellectual liberalism because they don’t know how to see any deeper. This is one of the main reasons puritanism in the younger generation is exponentially on the rise! We’ve taken away the ability for them to form a fully informed opinion, and it’s now a self serving spiral. BREAK OUT OF IT, I AM PLEADING.

[unowneyenon]

Translating Layla’s Manuscript Animation!

It’s been literal MONTHS since I last posted anything on this site but I’ve been playing Genshin more, got Layla, and once I figured out that there was a legitimate writing system for Sumeru, I wanted to translate what she wrote down in her idle! (NOTE: I don’t know how to speak or read any of these languages so if anyone who does know how would like to assist in translation errors, please help!)

According to the Genshin fandom wiki, the writing script of Sumeru (seen above) appears to take inspiration from Teyvat’s main writing system (mainly seen in Mondstadt) and the irl writing script of Devanagari! That style doesn’t contain any sort of punctuation so it made the transition a bit harder. As for Layla’s idle, her scroll/manuscript thing appears as

and after doing a rough translation, I received;

“Alh abakat alsamawiya wajawami ilmal nujum”

I used google translate to do translations as I don’t know any other space that does translate, but I got a variety of languages depending on what I wrote in the translation box: Sundanese, Arabic, Swahili, etc.

Now, to break down everything!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The most comprehensible language for translating “alh abakat” was Arabic to which it read:

morbid, but out of everything, this is the one that made the most sense.

Now for “alsamawiya!” Thought this one was supposed to say “Akademiya” at first bc yk Sumeru Akademiya, but once I put it in using Arabic once again it gave the response of

Considering how the last translation spoke of gods, this makes sense!

As for “wajawami,” that one was strange. This time the first result was in Swahili, meaning “the saviors.” Still following the god/heavenly theme at least

And now for “ilmal nujum!” The first word that appeared as I wrote it in was “astrology” and Google translate said that it was Sundanese. The fact that it was “astrology” makes perfect sense in this case for Layla, as that’s what she studies, but I did some digging of my own to confirm this.

I found this very useful site (https://jothishi.com/ilm-al-nujum-islamic-astrology/) explaining in large detail that astrology and astronomy had many roots and connections to Islam, and how “ilm-al-nujum” is roughly translated to mean “the science of the stars!” From other sites and translations, it‘s a term meaning “the study of both disciplines.” This site (https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/students/97to98/exhibits/pg_astro.htm) states that;

“The Qu'ran suggests that there are signs in nature for man to read, and in the history of Islam the study of astronomy and astrology were at one time regarded as having a higher spiritual purpose in thinking about the universe.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astrological predictors and predictions (aka exactly what Layla studies and does) were held to such a high degree due to their connections with the celestial bodies and the heavens! All of this lines up perfectly with the past translations!

As for what it all says and how Layla wrote it practically asleep, it’s unclear. But it has to do with the heavenly gods and her line of study involving astrology and the heavens! This was all practically for fun on my part as Layla’s becoming a new favorite character for me, but I think it’s just really cool how they put all of this into just her idle animation! If this has any deeper meaning, help’s appreciated, and I haven’t seen any other people trying to translate this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[saintmurd0ck]

Hi! I didn’t want to spam up your comment section, but yes, recommendations would be great/appreciated at any time!

hi love! so firstly i would recommend checking out @hellskitchenswhore as she has a very comprehensive library of fics!

secondly i use this tag for anything i read which might be helpful depending on what you're after... but let me point you in the direction of some incredible, incredible writers <333 i'm so sorry if i forget anyone but i'm tryna cram this all in my lunch break!!!!!

@pedrito-friskito -- the resident pedro pascal girly who also writes for matt murdock & frank castle. her series '12 months with the devil' is a personal fave!

@murdocksluvrr -- who writes for michael too!!! she's also written for matt and tristan thorn and her works are always *chefs kiss*

@marvelswh0re -- who has recently started writing for michael (i am wholly responsible for this and i love it), my favourite is her fic 'for luck'

@murdock-and-the-sea -- a poet and very gifted writer at heart. 'neogenesis' which she recently released is just... AH. i can go on about it for days. also, vidra writes for michael too, and 'chase your love' iS FANTASTIC

@mindidjarin -- mindi's fics are always, always incredible, and i recently reread 'feast' which is an ode to matt's ass and i just-- i have no words except read this please 😭

@phoebe-danvers -- okay you HAVE to check out her 'sealed with a kiss verse' fics (amongst everything else she's written) because the way she has crafted earth 65 (AM I RIGHT IS IT EARTH 65?!) matt murdock is fucking incredible

@e-dubbc11 -- our resident billy russo expert, but her matt fics are wonderful. she also has a series of thoughts on various charlie characters and the michael one is spot on

@briefcasejuice -- OKAY SO. gabs' character understanding of matt murdock and michael kinsella is simply put, mouth watering. everything she writes is gold. but to witness her passion for and knowledge of these characters is something i always look forward to

@mattmurdocksscars -- OOF amanda writes some GOOD shit. she has one or two mikey prompt drabbles and again, just incredible.

@rcughroad -- for anything frank castle/karen page. period.

@freshabogados -- has a myriad of matt murdock fics that always bring me to my knees. 'michelangelo's matthew' is my personal favourite

@eatommo -- another very gifted matt murdock writer, and a wonderful human!

@peterman-spideyparker -- 'embellishments' made me fucking cry reading it. GOD. i will go on about this forever kristen. FOREVER.

@mattmurdockspainkink -- 'i'll be in good company' is a fic i will be reading for the end of time. and most recently ren released 'matthew 6:9-13' which is a religion kink fic (not sure if you're into that, but i can highly recommend this)

@psychedelic-ink -- sil primarily writes for pedro pascal characters now, but she has a couple michael fics that i read upon joining the kin fandom and they've stuck with me this whole time!

@stress--relief -- if you haven't read 'baby cut the tension' what are you waiting for!!!!!

@shedaresthedevil -- 'my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it'. that's it. SEND fucking tweet.

@redahlia-writes -- a sweetheart who utilises mythology and classics knowledge to imprint her fics with an aura of melancholy so wonderful that you can reread these over and over again

@fluffyprettykitty -- resident marvel all-rounder, and anything she writes of matt is always something i'd recommend

@murdocks-devil -- another literary poet. 'quintessentia' is a monumental fic of theirs, and lives in my brain rent free always

@frankcastlescumslut -- who has a priest!matt series, as well as an ongoing frank series 'on the sea'. it is so well thought out and put together.

@father4giveme -- i could write a thesis on the series 'hallowed by thy name' but i will spare everyone right this second. it is a beautiful series, so well done

@courtforshort15 -- tooth rotting fluff. comfort fic central.

@idrinkcoffeeandobsess -- who only recently joined but is a wonderful new addition with an incredible back breaking RELIGIOUS KINK SMUT?

@itwasthereaminuteago -- 'strawberry surprise' which is a poly matt x frank x reader fic has me in a permanent chokehold. also anything aNYTHING shibari? you have found the author

@yourbucky084 -- shannon's account unfortunately got deleted a while back, so any love thrown her way for her incredible fics ('temptation' was the first of hers i'd read) would be so appreciated <33

@grippingbeskar -- who for the most part writes for frank but just released an amazing matt fic i am SO excited to read!

[woodrokiro]

Do It For the Band, Part Seven (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing: IchiRuki

Summary: When Tatsuki said she wanted their sophomore album to be the next Rumours, this is NOT what she meant. Band AU. Read Part One, Two, Three, Four, and Five. 

The shit goes down in Osaka, infamously coded by the group in years to come as “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (Osaka).”

But Tatsuki’s getting ahead of herself.

Really: it started with a photoshoot.

—

They’re barely managing to slap together a sophomore album when Urahara tells them he booked a photoshoot for the album’s cover in Kyoto.

Everyone stares.

“What? It’ll be fun.” Uraha titters behind his fan, tapping it lightly against his chin. “You’ll be over in Osaka an hour away anyway, and I’ve got a photographer friend that will give me a good price over there. We’ll kill two birds with one stone!”

“Do we need to pose for the cover?” Ichigo scoffs, but Tatsuki can see a light blush dusting his cheeks. She knows the loser hates taking pictures for anything. “What was wrong with just having a simple illustration cover, like we did for Soul Vibes?”

“While the cover for Soul Vibes was… Nice, I think it’s time everyone sees your faces in more than just the shows. A simple white circle on a black background just doesn’t help the team’s marketability. You’re getting bigger, hopefully fans will start recognizing you when, say, you’re grabbing a coffee. People connect more when they see you, become bigger fans, buy more albums: repeat. Besides, Kurosaki: you’re telling me you don’t potentially want to be a sex symbol—”

“That is the opposite of what I want.”

Tatsuki raises her hand. “I, in fact, would like to be a sex symbol.”

“Tatsuki, please. Look, I’m just saying that’s… I don’t know. I like that we’re sort of underground, and I don’t really think that’s our vibe.”

“Wasn’t it you, Ichigo, that was advocating for a change in this album in the first place?” Rukia has piped up from the quiet of her corner, and Ichigo’s head whips so fast he nearly has a neck injury. “I mean… Wasn’t it you that said our last was ‘static’?”

“Well yeah, but that was more a reflection of the music—”

“Of course. But if we’re trying to go for a comprehensive new and dynamic album… Doesn’t the cover — the first thing audiences will see when buying it at the store, or playing it in Spotify — go along with that?”

“... I guess, but I just think having our picture on there is so…”

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of having your picture taken?”

“I’m not scared of having my picture taken.”

“Then it’s settled. Urahara: call up your friend, see what kind of ideas they have for looks, inspiration, etcetera.”

Ichigo’s got a hardened jaw for the rest of the afternoon, but Tatsuki saw just a glimmer of a spark in Rukia’s eye having won and she thinks: Maybe this means it’s getting back to normal.

—

It doesn’t get back to normal.

A week later they’re at a bus stop in front of some traditional Kyoto ryokans with a weirdo photographer named Shinji Hirako, sweating bullets in the summer humidity, and it’s become very clear Urahara is Capitalizing On The Situation.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit.”

“Too bad you’re not the one decidin’.” Shinji lazily brings his hands to his face, making a mock-camera shot at Ichigo with his fingers. “Hmm, yeah. Let’s try that.”

“Not to agree with Ichigo… But I do. Why are he and I so close together while Tatsuki and Chad are off to the side?”

“Doesn’t look good, having the four of you bunched together like a preschool picture. And if you’re all equidistant, it looks like you’re an early 2000’s boy band. Besides,” Shinji points at the pair doing everything but looking at each other. “Aren’t you two the frontman and frontwoman?”

“That’s not… That doesn’t mean our team isn’t important—”

“Oh my god.” Tatsuki snaps from the allocated short distance away. “Neither of you have asked what Chad and I want during this entire shoot, so don’t even play that card. You know what we want, at this point? Air conditioning. It’s our last shot and he’s not budging. Get over it so we can go back to our hotel.”

Ichigo grumbles as he settles himself onto the bus bench next to Rukia, where the pianist is nervously playing with the hem of her dress. It’s a white sundress with dainty, tied bow straps at the shoulders - so Rukia it hurts, and the way the sunlight hits the cloth leaves Tatsuki knowing that earlier shots in the day probably turned out breathtaking. Ichigo’s dressed just as simply, in dark jeans and a black t-shirt - but the two strangely compliment one another.

As much as they’re putting up a fuss: Tatsuki can see why Shinji wants a shot of them side by side.  

The problem is Shinji wants them to look at each other.

“Could ya please quit being big babies? What’re we, middle schoolers?” Shinji mutters under his breath. The two are side-eyeing each other nervously through a couple of shots, and the photographer sighs.

“Okay, let’s do this. Look straight ahead at the camera for a couple shots — but on the count of three, fully look at each other. Deal? Arright. One, two… Three.”

Tatsuki doesn’t see the shots until later, but even from behind Rukia: she doesn’t need to.

It’s amazing, how many expressions she watches her best friend morph through in a matter of mere milliseconds: nervous trepidation, embarrassed stubbornness, alarm (at which point she thinks Rukia’s eyes met his), and then… Where has she seen that face he’s making before…?

When he first saw her perform for them, that day at the coffee shop.

… Shit. The poor idiot is in deeper than she realized.

Everything is in slow motion as the camera clicks, even though Tatsuki’s barely in the shot and she doesn’t know how she suddenly has hypersensitive hearing but she swears she hears Rukia’s shaky exhale. Ichigo’s mouth parts, and he’s about to say something and Tatsuki swears she’s watching a movie and he starts to make a soft “Ru-” sound when—

Someone else from across the street yells her name first.

The spell is broken, and Ichigo shifts away with an unreadable expression as Rukia gets up, dusting her skirt off with one hand as she waves at a red-haired stranger with the other.

“Renji!” Rukia turns to everyone, smiling jovially but failing miserably at hiding her fluster. The man begins to cross the street toward them. “Ah, sorry everyone — Renji is a good friend of mine. I told him we’d finish early so we could catch a meal together… Went a little later than I realized. Shinji-san, are we finished here?”

“Very presumptuous of you, Rukia-chan… But yeah, I think so.” Shinji flips through his camera, appearing as bored as ever. “Great job, team. A pleasure workin’ with ya.”

Rukia’s gone by the time he even finishes, and Ichigo is up and going…

Tatsuki’s not sure exactly where, but it’s the exact opposite direction of wherever the pianist and her friend are headed.

—

None of the stars seemed to be aligned for that show in Osaka.

Not to say that it was really a change from the schedule, but for one: Tatsuki is hungover. So is Orihime, as a matter of fact — which is a slight abnormality, considering her girlfriend’s superhuman ability to absorb alcohol like a sponge. Chad, for once, is running late. Urahara is flitting from one place to another as usual, but wearing an unusually somber expression.

If it were all of these factors alone, the drummer would chalk it up to a weird night. Blame it on some retrograde, laugh and shrug it off later with the gang, tell everyone to sleep it off so they can get back to work. Onwards and upwards.

The only difference is, when she walks into the backstage lounge, 1. Ichigo is deadly calm tuning his guitar on one of the sofas, and 2. Rukia is standing over him seething.

Granted, Tatsuki has seen Rukia exhibit a whole spectrum of negative emotions when it comes to Ichigo. By now, she has seen her irked, hurt, exasperated, annoyed, aggravated, heartbroken, miffed, disgruntled — just to name a few. She’s even sure that she’s seen her angry in the past few weeks but not… Not like this. If Ichigo looked up and met her gaze, Tatsuki’s sure the rage boiling in her eyes could very well kill him.

The two are silent and still as a portrait, and it becomes abundantly clear that the reason they’ve halted their conversation is because the drummer walked in.

“I don’t know what the fuck is happening,” Tatsuki holds her hands up, “but if you’re gonna fight or whatever it is you’re doing, I’m giving you ten minutes to settle it. When I’m back this will not be carried into the show.”

(Spoiler alert: it definitely carries into the show, but really. How was Tatsuki supposed to know that?)

Rukia nods curtly, her glare never leaving Ichigo.

Whatever.

Tatsuki walks off to find Urahara talking with Orihime about the venue’s soundboard.

“Yo. What’s the deal with the two nutheads this time?”

Urahara sighs. “Unfortunately I don’t know anything, Tatsuki-chan.”

“That’s a first.”

“Ha-ha. Neither have said anything to me. I’m getting the same silent treatment you probably are.”

She rolls her eyes, turns to leave and attempts to shrug it off when Urahara suddenly pipes up: “Might have something to do with Rukia’s male friend visiting backstage to drop off some flowers, but I can’t be sure.”

The way that her manager stresses the word “male” is not lost on her, and she curses.

Great. Just great.

—

The thing you gotta know about this night in Osaka: it’s not a bad show by any means. It may even just be their best yet.

That’s not why it’s so infamous, though.

Truth be told, Ichigo and Rukia are barely able to pull themselves together before the start. Rukia is silently steaming putting on makeup until the last second, drawing on a rare red lip and cat eyeliner with a deadly precision. Ichigo’s stomping about, huffing and puffing at everyone when he can’t find something he needs and it is, in fact, right behind him. The two are clearly steering clear of each other for the sake of the group, but their rage keeps drawing them both closer and closer together.

If it wasn’t for the fact that smoking makes her performance shoddy, Tatsuki would’ve finished a huge bowl right now.

Still, she tries to focus. Pecks Orihime on the lips before rolling her wrists and shoulders, as ready as ever to rock out. Winks at Chad. Tries to ignore her other two idiot bandmates.

And then they’re on.

The first few songs are good. Not really the best part of their performance, but they’re not supposed to be. They’re all in the groove with each other, so in sync per usual that she grins over at Chad like see? We’re fine, everything’s fine— Until the last song: Sun and Moon.

They usually close on it, considering it’s their most popular — and it’s certainly the one Ichigo and Rukia perform best on. It really gets the electric energy out there, and during these weird times it’s the one chance she sees Ichigo and Rukia really enjoying themselves: like all is well, like there’s nothing at all wron—

And then Ichigo comes in too soon on his guitar. On Rukia’s verse.

For the non-technical ear: no one even notices it. She’s not exactly sure whether it was intentional. From the wild-eyed look Ichigo shoots Rukia: evidently not. But then from the corner of her eye she sees Rukia look back, evident betrayal written all over her face.

How could you? It asks.

And Ichigo — proud, stupid, heartbroken Ichigo — shifts his look of embarrassment to a stubborn clench of his jaw quicker than anything she’s ever seen. What’re you going to do about it? It gloats back.  

Rukia, to her credit, gets through the snafu flawlessly. She sings louder, more abrasive in a way that compliments the song like a true musician. Tatsuki hopes no one can see the pianist’s tears trying their best to keep at bay, but even if they can — it matches the vibe of the song, and the crowd’s going apeshit.

The band thought they wanted to lay their hearts bare on the stage, but really at what cost?

The song is over before they know it, the venue is crazy with applause, and they all exit the stage as swiftly as they can.

—

Tatsuki takes some deep breaths before nodding at Chad in a here I go manner and moving toward the dressing room where she knows bloodshed is happening. When she enters, she doesn’t even flinch at the shouts upon opening the door.

“ —can’t believe you did that to me, that was so unprofessional Ichigo—”

“It wouldn’t have happened had we practiced more!”

“What are you talking about? I was there for every rehearsal!”

“Yeah but it all revolved on your schedule, right? Couldn’t be bothered to schedule anything without Rukia’s okay.” Ichigo’s changing his shirt like it stung him, but Rukia doesn’t blink.

“Look who’s talking! You’re the one who considers himself king of the group.”

“Being a leader is different from thinking you’re still totally separate from us. Messaging Urahara songs without talking to us, leaving photoshoots when you feel like it, bringing your boyfriend backstage whenever you want—”

“He is not my boyfriend—”

“Well whatever he is—”

“And need I remind you that you messaged songs to Urahara too? That you were the one that asked Inoue-san out in front of all of us?!”

Tatsuki tries to cut in. “All right guys, you had your screaming match, break it up—”

“Oh, like that really even mattered to you? Just fucking stop, Rukia. You’ve made it clear you don’t give a shit about me!”

The room goes silent, save for Rukia’s sharp inhale. No one moves. Tatsuki 1000% wishes she wasn’t there.

Ichigo’s face, reddened with fury, drains only a little at the realization of his slip up.

He clears his throat. “The band. It’s clear you don’t care about the band.”

The pianist’s hands ball up in fists. “You think I don’t care about…?”

“Could’ve fooled me otherwise.”

Tatsuki steps forward when Rukia drops her head, hair in her face. “Ichigo, that’s enough—”

“Helloooo team~”

Urahara’s voice comes on over the crackling two way intercom, making everyone nearly jump out of their skin. Ichigo mutters a “Jesus Christ” as he rubs his face, and Rukia silently moves to the corner of the room, presumably to wipe off her makeup. Tatsuki presses the monitor button that allows them to communicate with their manager from backstage.

“Urahara, now’s not really a good time,” she tries to keep her voice level while looking at the two who seem to be pretending the other doesn’t exist. “Maybe tonight you can spare us the closing pep talk—”

“They’re asking for an encore.”

Tatsuki’s full attention shifts back to the intercom, and she feels rather than sees the other two do the same.

“... Um. Okay?”

“What do you guys have ready?”

“Shit. Shit shit shit uh—”

“We don’t have anything for them, you know that.” Ichigo’s next to Tatsuki in a heartbeat, and she can’t lie: she’s a bit relieved that he’s not choosing this moment to play big dumb hero. “We just got done with the second album, but it’s not like we’ve practiced them enough.”

“That’s definitely something you all should’ve made a priority, but I don’t have time to scold you about it now. You don’t have anything? What about a cover or —”

“I have something, then.” Rukia announces quietly from her corner. Her face is wiped completely of its makeup, clean and pretty. “It’s not… It’s a cover I’ve been practicing by myself.”

Ichigo huffs, ready to snowball back into his earlier argument. “Cool. You didn’t think to tell us or—”

“Ichigo, shut the fuck up. Rukia, you think you could play it tonight?”

“Yes. It’s rather..” The pianist sighs. “I don’t know Urahara, it’s not really a mood lifter, if you know what I mean. Kind of just a solo piece I’ve been working on for fun.”

There’s a pause of static from the other end, and Tatsuki’s sure he’s going to say no until —

“Anything’s fine at this point. Actually, a ballad or something might be kind of magical. It just started raining.”

—

Tatsuki’s more surprised than anything that Ichigo agrees on Rukia performing for encore, but then again: she really isn’t.

Whatever is going on, however much Ichigo claims that Rukia’s been acting shady or this or that or whatever happened after that party — she knows that he knows Rukia won’t do anything to screw over the team, that anything she commits herself to she does so wholly and beautifully.

Especially on her instrument.

They all watch from the side as Rukia delicately pads across the stage, waving shyly at the crowd going wild with her entrance. Venue management barely allowed her back amidst the rain, claiming liability if she tripped and fell. They only let her on if she agreed to go barefoot — something about there being less slippage than if she wore shoes — but it kind of… works. She glides toward her piano centered on the stage in her little dress and the moon is out amidst the rain clouds and Tatsuki thinks if there’s any occasion that Ichigo’s mouth should go dry at the sight of Rukia Kuchiki, it’s this one.

“Hello, everyone.” She laughs nervously into the covered microphone, and the crowd screams back in response.

“Thank you for staying out here in the rain, it means so much to us. The band gave me the kindness of playing one more song by myself, and I’m afraid I’m a little rusty… Please forgive me. I’m going to play a cover, if that’s alright with you?”

A few whoops from the audience, but they’ve mostly settled. Tatsuki prays it’s them relaxing into the vibe and not growing bored.

“This song was — well, it was supposed to be a surprise for someone… On my team. He mentioned this album to me once. Just once — but he said it was one of his favorites. One of the ones that meant most to him. And I… I really pride myself on knowing all the good female singer/songwriters, right? All the inspirations. I really thought I knew all about them, from Joan Baez to Taylor Swift. But I hadn’t listened to this album, and it turns out… It’s really, really good. As in: one of — if not the most — famous woman-written albums of all time. Imagine that.”

She laughs softly before she plays a few notes, and it seems this solidifies her song choice. A few audience members scream in recognition. Tatsuki herself feels it sounds… Familiar, but can’t quite identify it yet.

“And that’s… That’s the perfect metaphor for how spending time with this person is. I was so sure I knew absolutely everything, and then here he goes and — and shows me something that’s been under my nose the whole time. Makes me see it in this warm, glowing light. It was so obvious! But instead of making fun of me or belittling me for it, like I thought he would — because look, this guy is not above that, he can really be so infuriating — anyway,  he just… Told me I should listen to it. And I did. And I couldn’t stop. And I loved it, too.”

Her fingers start laying heavier on the keys. “Anyway, this song makes me think most of him. Here’s A Case of You by Joni Mitchell.”

The audience starts to scream all over again, and Tatsuki turns ask Ichigo what this is all about (because who else could that story be about) —

But she stops because from the look on the guitarist’s face, she can tell a bomb could go off next to him and he still wouldn’t take his eyes off the stage.

Ichigo Kurosaki can’t be reached right now, dial 0 to leave a message.

Rukia’s voice is soft and lovely as she sings about northern stars and Canada (??), and a lover tasting so bitter and so sweet and wanting to drink a case of them. She sings of painters and at one point her voice breaks at a line “‘Love is touching souls’/Surely you touched mine” and the rain is making her hair and her dress stick to her skin and Tatsuki just — fine she’ll admit it, she tears up okay?

Not for the first time, she thinks about how far Rukia’s talent will go in this world, and the answer is: pretty damn far.

All too soon, Rukia finishes a last, beautiful hum with the final chords of her keys… And the crowd goes wild.

Tatsuki’s about to yell in Ichigo’s face to go congratulate her, but when she turns to the spot he was, she finds him nowhere to be found.

—

The phone is ringing in her hotel room several hours later.

She grabs at it haphazardly from her place in bed, jabbing the “answer” button with a deliberate rage.

“You know Urahara, the one damn night Orihime and I are trying to go to bed at a decent time —”

“Rukia-chan just informed me she’s leaving the band.”

The drummer sits up with a jolt, causing Orihime to stir sleepily. Squeezing her shoulder, Tatsuki gets up and pads out to the hallway, leaving the room door cracked behind her.

“Sorry — what?”

“I’m not kidding Tatsuki-chan. She just gave me a letter of resignation.”

“That’s — not how quitting a band really works, right?”

“No. But it sounds like her doesn’t it?”

“Infuriatingly so.” She rubs the remaining sleep out of her eyes. “Did she… I mean. Did she say why, or what happened?”

“I think it’s pretty clear what happened.”

There’s silence on the line, and Tatsuki waits.

“... So what happened?”

“I’m not sure, that’s what I’d like you to find out.”

She’ll kill him. “Oh my god, then don’t say it like you —”

“The point is, my dear, I’m telling you this first because I feel like you have a certain… Influence to repair things between her and another specific bandmate. You’re my second in command, remember?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“My most trusted client, then.”

“...Whatever. Fine, I’ll go talk to him now.”

“Thank you.”

She’s about to hang up when she hears his voice again. “Oh, and Tatsuki-chan?”

“What now, asshole?”

“... You were right.” He chuckles quietly through the line. “There. Does that make you happy to hear?”

“Not as happy as the pay raise you’re gonna give me for this.” She ends the call quickly, storming halfway down the hall.

—

Ichigo opens the door, beer in hand and barely able to hold back a yelp as his childhood best friend barrels her way into his hotel room.

“Jesus Tatsuki, what the—”

“You busy right now?” She flops into an armchair, arms crossed and studying at him pointedly.

“I mean… Yeah kinda—”

“Shut up. No you’re not. Listen, here’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna put the beer down. You’re gonna tell me exactly what happened between you and Rukia. Whatever dumb shit you did to her, you’re gonna walk out of here, to her room door and when she answers: you’re going to apologize. Got that?”

Halfway through her lecture, Ichigo had caught on to what she was leading up to and shook his head, shifting his attention back to whatever cable television show was on.

“Tatsuki, I already told you I don’t want to talk about it—”

“She’s leaving the band. You know that?”

He visibly stiffens, but doesn’t turn his attention away.

“I mean.. She can do that. If she wants to.”

“You’re right, she can. If she wants to. But we both know after that performance tonight, she doesn’t. Am I wrong?”

“...I—”

“Am I?”

“I don’t know!” He snaps, swinging his attention back to her. “I don’t fucking know okay?! This is the thing with her. I thought — I was so sure we were on the same page, and then — and then suddenly I see him, and yeah I’m really hurt about it, and we’re arguing again, and she hates me, but I can’t? Get her? Out of my head?? And I kind of hate her for that, and I hate him and I don’t even know him, and then she does that thing tonight with my mom’s song and I’m — I don’t — like Tatsuki, what the fuck?”

The man in front of her breathes heavily, and Tatsuki just gapes back in shock.

“... Jesus Christ, Tiger. You got it bad, huh?”

He shakes his head. “The point is, whatever her reason… I don’t know. Maybe I’m the reason, and I just have to live with that.”

“All right. Well. That’s the most un-Ichigo thing I’ve ever heard.” She slaps her thighs, frustrated. “I mean. My guy. You? Just accepting something you don’t like? C’mon.  You haven’t even told me what happened… So. Like. Can you do that? So that I can rightly decide it’s your fault myself?”

Ichigo huffs, looking away and staring blankly at the generic art framed above his bed.

“... It’s a joke, Kurosaki.”

“Yeah, Arisawa, I got that.” He sighs, folding his arms and sinking slowly to the edge of the bed to sit.

Tatsuki settles in, knowing she’s got him to crack.

“... Fine. Basically it started that night we closed that tour...”

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I'm am completely tired of people crapping on villians and not trying to understand their perspectives I am really sick of the fandom doing all this

Me too, anon, me too. That's exactly why I create this blog.

I've said it before, but if someone decides to ignore the villains and their narratives through the manga, that person is not going to be able to read correctly the main arc.

In bnha / mha, the villains are not simple side characters. Shigaraki Tomura has the same relevance as Midoriya Izuku, for example. They are direct parallels and together they work as the representations of the theme. If my speculations and metas are correct, you have all the main characters directly interacting with the villains to reach the climax of the series.

Besides, it really frustraste me that people are unable to appreciate a character and how that character is written just because that said character is not "good". It completely takes the depth of the characters and the complexity of their buildings and create a shallow storyline. Even the characters in kids TV shows have different degrees of good and bad traits, because we are in an era of writing where we're exploring how real a character can get.

People can say "I like shallow, simple characters with very explicit plots that don't challenge my comprehension or my mind" and that would be perfectly fine, there's no shame in liking simple stuff. Instead, they invent every type of excuses to hate characters? And I mean, you can hate a character for your own personal reasons, but instigating a crusade against that character and the fans?

Also, many fans are unable to understand that there are not universal rules to judge characters WITHOUT the context. Lately I've seen so many people bringing things out of context and directly violating the original material not in rational ways (admitting something is fan modified, fan made, personal takes, etc) but in harmful serious ways, by telling others that what they see is the only possible point of view on the matter.

For example, I'm totally able to say that I hate Overhaul in the canon for what he did but I'm pretty much interested in the implications of his writing. I can write many aus about Overhaul without liking the character in a sentimental way, just because I as a writer want to explore the possibilities within this character. I can totally say Boku No Hero Academia is not the best written manga and still entirely love and rant about the worldbuilding daily.

When it comes to the villains, it is simply annoying to me how people refuse to acknowledge that they are some of the best written characters in the manga. Toga is one of the best written female characters in mha / bnha, Dabi has an intricate personal arc that involves the values of the hero system itself and Shigaraki Tomura is— I don't even have words for the amount of dedication Horikoshi put in Tomura. He's been driving the plot along with Izuku this whole time. I can even argue that Shigaraki is better written than Izuku, because he is way more deep in terms of motivations, psychological traits and way of acting.

People is free to hate the villains, but to refuse to see the greatness of their writing? And even then, it's incredible the amount of issues I've seen within the fans regarding the villains.

For example: Spinner as a character represents the racism within the bnha / mha world. He is an incredible character, he narrates the MVA arc, he's been there for the almost every arc of the villains... And yet he lacks popularity. Why? I know studio bones tends to take him out of the anime, but this also has a reason. Why studio bones thinks Spinner is not as relevant or popular as the others? It's safe to assume a group of fans don't care about him only because he "doesn't have the look".

Sometimes when I point out that the League is right about MANY issues within the hero system, some fans go great lengths to defend the heroes and shut down my arguments. I don't personally understand how people likes to ignore the fact that pro-heroes in bnha / mha are a mixture of the police-the army with the celebrity world. In the real world, we're right now living a whole situation regarding the values behind the police existence and the negative side of putting celebrities like they are gods. You can clearly see it reflected on the bnha / mha universe, the villains clearly point out the privileges of the pro-heroes and why the system promoting and manipulating such privileges has created the catastrophe they're going through. But apparently fans don't want to read that? Because heroes are supposed to be good and villains are supposed to be bad, I guess. They don't understand the hero-villain narrative has been dehumanizing the characters and the main arc of bnha / mha is working on it to show that more than heroes and villains and citizens, there are complex humans who don't fall into an absolute.

I'm sorry for ranting about this anon, but every time I read "villain fan" as in derrogatory, I laugh because I'm baffled. Most stories need a good antagonist for it to work. There are MANY types of antagonists and MANY types of villains and they just– they just ignore it? Like it is nothing? And then they pretend to judge the villains by only taking tiny parts of their personalities and stories and they pretend to say that is accurate?

I don't know what to say to that. I can only write meta to help people understand the villains better and show them why they are so important and impressive. If they don't want to acknowledge it, that's their problem.

I love to talk and discuss people with different points of view as long as we're able to keep things respectful, but the minute they start attacking me without even listening to my arguments, good bye.

I thank God for the block button every single day of my life.

Well, I hope you're having a great day, anon. Please remember to drink water, take your meds, eat enough, sleep enough and don't forget to breath deep and use the block button and the content and tag filters as much as you want.

[heartbreakgrill]

Finally; Monty Green (The 100)

a/n: i can’t stick to one fandom. i write for whatever my hyperfixations are based on. this month, it’s the 100.

description: friends to lovers, giving each other things you like idk

You sighed at the warm breeze wafting through the open door to the supply room. The Rovers had left a while ago, out on some mission surveying the land. You were going through the boxes of books Gina was slowly collecting for you from Mount Weather. You were a teacher’s apprentice on the ship before you were imprisoned for stealing medicine. Now that safety and immunity was granted in the form of Arkadia, you were back under the wing of Matthew Gunner. There weren’t many kids left, but they still needed taught.

Jasper, who wasn’t allowed out on missions yet, lazily worked beside you. You had forced him to help you, seeing as he had nothing else to do but drink all day. Music played from the speaker they had found in Mount Weather, at a soft volume after you forced him to turn it down. He needed a lot of forcing these days.

Jasper had had a soft spot in his heart for you since you were introduced to him and Monty when the drop ship first landed three months ago. The three of you got along well and you had been roped into their’s and Clarke’s reckless gang. After recovering from your sustained injuries in Arkadia, you decided against being involved in those antics. You finally safety and you didn’t want to experience near-death experiences willingly.

Jasper, humming and flipping through a picture book, was sat beside your seat at the steel table. You set another book on the shelf and went back to said-seat.

“How long you gonna make me do this today?” Jasper handed you a book.

“You have legs, Jasper,” you hissed and stood to put it on the shelf. You decided to just stand from now on. “And, I’ll make you stay here until you tell me one thing that made you happy yesterday.”

Jasper threw his head back and a guttural groan resounded from his hollow cheeks, “God, stop talking to Monty about my feelings.”

“Your feelings need to be talked about,” you insisted. “Plus, gratitude exercises are good for healing trauma.”

Jasper sassed, “Trauma? Oh, you mean when Monty and Clarke murdered my girlfriend and her people?”

You had never played into his pity party, always biting back with an equal level of sass. “Yeah, that trauma.”

Jasper opened his mouth to respond when the humming sound of a Rover cut him off. You both watched as Monty, Bellamy, Raven, and Miller stepped out of the parked vehicle. Octavia tied her horse up outside before strutting past everyone, probably on her way to find Lincoln.

Raven limped over to you, a wide smile on her face. “Anything interesting?”

The others, except for Miller, slowly followed her. You shook your head, “It’s been mostly textbooks because they started itching at the classrooms.”

You shuffled through the pile you created of books you thought your friends might like. “Oh! Yes, Bellamy, I found a copy of Greek tragedies.”

You handed him the thick novel and his face lit up. He rounded the table to give you a tight hug, “Thank you so much. I just finished the Iliad and was hoping you had something new.”

“Of course,” you grinned up at him. He stalked off to find his girlfriend as Jasper snuck away, thinking he was off duty. Monty sat in Jasper’s empty seat and Raven took yours.

“Raven, here’s a textbook with a bunch of computer coding bullcrap that I genuinely don’t understand. Thought you might like to get into that more,” you used both hands to give her this heavy book.

She, much like Bellamy, lit up. She opened her arms, wide, and you came around to hug her. “I’m gonna go get changed and crack this bad boy open. See you guys at dinner.”

You turned to Monty, who you were closer to now. Both, literally and figuratively. Back in Mount Weather, the two of you had grown a bond that tightened whenever he saved you from getting killed by the bone marrow extractions. You were weak and hurt and he comforted you.

“Anything for me?” He rested his chin in his palm, watching you as your hands reached for the thinning pile.

You nodded and slid into the seat beside him. Your knees touched his as you turned towards him. “This ones about Aerospace engineering. You probably already know a lot about it, but the pictures are pretty.”

You thumbed through it and found a glossy photo of the galaxy. Monty was looking at you, but you didn’t notice, when he said, “It’s beautiful.”

“And then there’s this,” you closed the book and set a smaller one on top. The book was a sage green with leaves all over it. The title read, in big, white letters, “It’s 4:20 Somewhere.”

Monty mumbled the title beneath his breath and gasped. “You’re awful.”

“Hey, I’m not the stoner,” you teased, leaning in to catch his eyes.

Monty smiled, nose scrunching up as he tried to insult an angry expression. He reached for your waist, giving a gentle shove to your side. You slid across your seat slightly before respositioning yourself. You leaned into his hand, which was still hanging in the air, but the inexperienced flirter pulled away.

You frowned at his shyness, but shook off the yearning for more than gentle touches and shushed smiles. A beat of silence paused the conversation, then Monty jumped up with a gentle, “Oh! I just remmebered. I got you something, too.”

You turned in your seat and watched him jog back over to the Rover. He opened the side door and reached in, pulling out his bag. You met him at the Rover and he set his bag onto the hood. You leaned against the side, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

“What could you have possibly found out there in the wilderness,” you laughed at your own words.

Monty, who was digging in his bag, chuckled. “Just wait and- see!”

With his final, exclaimed word, he presented a rusted, golden necklace with the letter ‘M’ dangling from the chain. You turned deep red, your hands becoming clammy and heart jumped through your ribs.

“Monty, is-“ you cut yourself off, unable to form a comprehensive sentence. “That’s...”

Monty gently dropped the necklace into your hands. You eyes flickered up to him and then back down to the gift you were fingering. He was watching you intently, waiting for you to say something.

“Where did you get it?” You asked.

He shrugged, “We stopped at a trading post ask for directions and I saw the Grounder wearing it. Traded my rations and a belt for it.”

Your hand automatically slapped his arm, “Monty! You must be starving.”

He grabbed your hand before you could pull it away from his arm. “It was worth it. Here, let me put it on you.”

He turned you around by tugging on your arm. You handed him the necklace, gathered your hair into a make-shift ponytail, and waited. His nimble fingers brushed against your skin as he clasped the jewerly around your throat. The cold metal settled onto your chest and you turned back around.

You looked up at him, “See, there’s an M on this necklace. My name starts with a [idfk what your name starts with, fill in the blank].”

Your brow quirked at him and he turned sheepish. Monty glanced at his shoes, hands wringing against one another. “What ever could that mean?”

You smiled and touched his hand. He let go of himself and let your fingers move between his. Both of you looked up at the same time and your eyes bore into one another. You pressed forward and he stayed where he was. Your chest hit his and his free hand finally landed on your waist. You carefully grabbed the back of his neck, intertwining your hand into his hair.

“Please kiss me.”

“Yeah, okay, I probably should do that now,” he rambled on. He shut his mouth firmly, then caught your lips.

You heard a cheer resounding through the room and pulled your lips off of him. Monty and yourself looked over to the noise, watching as Jasper bounced up and down, a glass in his left hand. His other was shaking in the air, a wide grin on his face.

And he was looking at you.

“Finally!”

You blushed and shoved your head into Monty’s neck. He hugged you completely, chucking into your hair.

Finally.

[shoezuki]

Preamble that I feel bad for the guy tbh but how he's dealing w/ it is on him. End a the day he's a whole stranger and he's not like two, he can handle himself (presumably) and if he can't it ain't our business. Also necessary preamble that there are many Ranboo enjoyers who aren't cringe. A lot of them actually. To the point where I don't really like to bring stuff like this up in specific bc it Does magnify problems via exposure

However. Disclaimer that this is a complaint about the worst aspects of my time in a fandom and that this is not all of it aside

TWT RANBOO STANS *DESPISE* LISTENING TO "OUR" STREAMER LIKE NO ONE FUCKING ELSE. THEY FUCKIN' HATE IT. EVERY WORD THAT IS SAID ONSTREAM OR ON ANY OF HIS MEDIA ACCTS IS NOTHING TO THEM. Ranboo is literally not even a streamer to them the way they act. The man will beg, literally fucking BEG over and over to not mention him in people's chats, to not *yell at people in chat to not spam,* to please not use him as a profpic if they're getting into drama, and then concede ground to please not use him as a profpic if you're sending threats, please do not fucking send threats, please, he has said this so many times, and Yet my comrades' twt blocklists are full of Ranboo profpics that send death threats with 0 shame. 0 shame, what so fucking ever. Chat too! Chat the fuck too! Chat is way better than twt bc at least it's not violent but I swear to Christ they are literally deaf! Begging for answers to questions that are answered in his bios and over and over onstream already and in the FAQ that is RIGHT THERE if you scroll down a HALF FUCKING CENTIMETER! Spamming stupid shit, and then spamming "CHAT STOP" even as streamer exhaustedly says "chaaat putting 'chat stop' just makes more spam".

Literally not a single Ranboo stan has basic damn listening or reading comprehension. It shows in how people fail to comprehend basic fucking facts abt his RP character (everyone knew this was coming) and it shows in how no matter how much he fucking pleads people to stop sending fucking death threats with his face attached or says he's uncomfortable giving out certain information people will just trample on those boundaries as if they ain't fucking there. Being in the Ranboo stan twtbase is literally training to blatantly ignore boundaries and dehumanize streamers and it shows in every aspect of how they treat not just "our" streamer but every single person, character, and social media personality they goddamned come across as text to speech machines, dressup dolls, and punching bags

It honestly blows my fucking mind. Like. Ostensibly, you enjoy this streamer and his content, right? Which I would think means you watch his content? But apparently fucking not!

It is honestly fucking disgusting it is unbelievable. I don't like to dwell on it for aforementioned reasons and like, dwelling is also smth streamer has mentioned correctly as Not Good, but genuinely the situation in certain small vocal pockets of the Ranboo stanbase is horrific and I hope these people get so much help and also maybe better material than increasingly unreadable censorship for "die." Actual productive debate is really fun, guys, come have a redemption arc and argue about the effects New L'Manberg had on c!Ranboo with me, please, why can't we all be nice, god, why,

Anyway that's my piece. Thank you for hearing me out I believe this is the first time I've gotten the chance to try to flex the new lack of charalimit for asks and I must say I enjoy it

YEAAAAAA FUCK IT UUUPPPPP FUCK YESSSSSSSSSSS JESUS FUCK YAAAAA

tbhtbh I USED to watch ranboo but i jus like. Cant anymore from donations n the unfortunate fact that So Many People whove gotten At me on twitter have ranboo pfps and how a lot of them treat him is genuinely Gross to me. Even jus w like. Seeing shit bout him and tubbo being 'roommates' rn like i HATE that shit. Ppl objectify him n ignore his boundaries n jus do such horrible shit w his name all over their accts n its despicable. I feel so harshly for the dude like that shit Sucks. But also he does tend to 'give in' to twitter shit sometimes like when he was saying not to trend stuff bout his meetup because he didnt want to 'overshadow' current events (altho ppl on twitter couldnt even listen to him for THAT)

Its jus a Shame cuz like. The dude Is genuinely cool. N he cares a lot. I feel his 'fans' of this calibre take advantage of his leniency/desire to please people and his Anxieties around messing up in any minor way n they jus. Walk on him in that regard. Cant even respect their own streamer

I think a bit ago i said somethin on it like. How sometimes i think these twitter ppl dont even LIKE ranboo or actually Watch Him. They jus want to feel some sort of moral superiority of stanning an 'unproblematic' cc and have some sense of control over a cc considering how he was made to apologize on his alt for those largrly harmless 'i dress like a lesbian' jokes he made. Like truly this weirdass gross community they made under his name is such a fucking shame n it sucks. No doubt its turned other ppl away from his streams Like Me

[unslicited]

roasting the shit out of you based off your aot ships

but it's actually not all aot ships because i'm lazy. also if you're easily offended and would cry yourself to sleep, scroll past. i don't want to see you complain in the comments, you baby

eremika

━⠀you either don't contribute/participate a lot to the fandom or you defend the shit out of your ship. either way, you're so basic, get well soon xx

━⠀there's a 99% chance that the reason you like the ship is because your favorite character is eren and you don't give a single fuck about mikasa which is also a disease. get well soon xx (2)

━⠀you either treat armin like garbage or he's your scrunkly son, there's no in-betweens

━⠀if you're a cishet male and this is your favorite ship, please stay at least 50 miles away from me. you fucking suck

━⠀if you have twitter account dedicated to them also stay 50 miles away from me. i just know the purpose of you creating those account is to shit on another people's ship which is so fucking embarrassing. get help bae

aruani

━⠀oh my god. you're the most basic human to ever exist that you're so boring

━⠀mmm another 99% chance that you're white or straight. or even worse; both. get well soon xx

━⠀you cannot see two people of different genders looking at each other or you would ship them even though they have no chemistry, also a disease

━⠀i literally don't know what to say anymore, that's how bland you are

erehisu

━⠀what does it feels like to be the stupidest person with the worst reading comprehension ever?

━⠀yeagerist. /neg

━⠀you are a walking red flag. please don't interact with a real human, you would send them to a mental institution just by talking to you

━⠀you hate the ending which is fine BUT you're the mf who makes cringe alternate endings with the whole “historia is pregnant with eren's kid!” ordeal. which is a bad thing btw

━⠀historia is not pregnant with eren's kid and she's a lesbian. get over it, you redditor

ereri & rivamika

━⠀oh what's this? why did i put the two of these shippers together, you ask? because they have something in similar! mental illness.

━⠀you are the one of the worst person to ever exist in the aot fandom. you make the fandom a worse place. stay unsafe, i'm hunting you down

━⠀“b—but, fiction doesn't affect reality! 🥺” it sure as hell doesn't, but you're just straight up being a fucking weirdo. please never speak to another human being, they would absolutely hate you

━⠀you are a cringe levi fangirl, but this time, with even more mental illness!

━⠀genuinely, get help you weirdo. incest and pedophilia is not sexy, you sad and pathetic excuse of a monster

levihan

━⠀if you see hange as a nonbinary then i have nothing bad to say to you, you're okay & you don't have to read this <3. but if you see them as a “female”, you're the worst kind of human to ever walk on this planet and that's the nicest way i could word it

━⠀you're a cringe 13 years old straight levi fangirl... i don't know what could be worse than that

━⠀your ideal partner is someone who genuinely hates you and would beat the shit out of you, but you take that behavior as a “tsundere uwu” shit...

━⠀your understanding of erwin's character is totally off and you purposely think that way because you're in denial that erwin is the most important person to levi, not hange. get over it

━⠀looking for drama with eruri shippers is your hobby, you are a horrible person

eruri

━⠀you are the saddest person to ever roam the earth. are you okay? do you need my therapist's number?

━⠀delete those shit tons of sad playlist, it makes you look like a loser

━⠀you make liking eruri your whole personality which is a horrible thing btw. get over it, erwin is dead, they will never be canon

━⠀you overanalyze every fucking thing to the point you just become paranoid over small things. you should just become an english literature teacher at this point

━⠀there's a 70% chance that you're a lesbian who watched aot because you wanted to see the lesbians, but end up getting obsessed wih erwin. you relate to him in a certain level, but you don't know how to word it. btw relating to erwin is /neg

━⠀your ideal relationship is something really tragic and sad, you want to have some kind of impact to your partner for the rest of their life. you are not right in the head

yumihisu

━⠀okay 99.9% chance you are a sapphic yearning for love

━⠀you either have never been in a relationship or is a fucking whore—you've been in so many relationships, you lost count of your exes. btw, that's because you hold way too high expectations for your partner. get well soon xx

━⠀you either didn't expect aot to have lesbians or you watched aot BECAUSE the lesbians. there are no in-betweens

━⠀you're tired of the fandom's bullshit and just want to enjoy some cottagecore lesbians content of yumihisu. and honestly, i can't blame you

━⠀okay this wasn't really a roast since most of yumihisu shippers are the most wholesome people in the fandom so. yeah. you're safe, bae <3

are you offended now?

no? good.

yes? even better.