#i get lulled into a sense of false security and then an episode like this happens

[hearts-hunger]

oh god the horrors are so bad tonight

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I see a lot of posts talking about Aabria lulling K/Erika into a false sense of security or like punishing them for the terrible roll in the "healing" scene or whatever and it is a lot of fun to see Aabria as a brutal GM but I do really want to point out that the follow-up to that scene was NOT her original intention.

In that episode's Adventuring Party, Aabria did say that she was just going to turn it into a bit before she remembered that she had added death mechanics to the game. Then she sat down the players after the episode ended (I think she said during their lunch break?) and asked if they would be okay with there being more severe consequences for that roll and they all agreed.

So Aabria was not planning on that at all, she just had an opportunity and, with the consent of everyone at the table, decided to go for it. You can even see how much her original plans got derailed by that episode considering she used a godlike being to magically teleport them exactly where they needed to be at the end of episode 3, since she probably had an entirely different plan for how the players would get there and needed to get them back on schedule.

[innerfare]

Random Shanks Headcanons 

Summary: A random collection of Shanks headcanons

CW: None // SFW

———

Has a fake arm that he uses for gags. Only he and Yasopp find it funny. Beckman once tossed the arm overboard after Shanks ‘lost’ the arm in a pot of Lucky Roux’s stew, only for Shanks to enter the mess hall the next morning with another attached to his body. 

Can do magic tricks, especially good with coins and cards. A very skilled sleight of hand artist. Also not above using these tricks to cheat while playing cards. (Inspired by the coin game w/ Luffy flashback). Cheating is the only way he can beat Beckman, who’s by far the best player on the crew. But he doesn’t even cheat to win, he just likes the thrill of getting away with it; also enjoys the thrill of getting caught. There was a rabbit loose aboard the Red Force for a solid month after the captain tried to learn how to pull it out of a hat.

The best beer pong player in the New World, probably the entire world. Would challenge all of his enemies to a game of beer pong to settle their disputes if he thought they would respect the results of the game. Good at drinking games in general (has a little too much experience).

Is an infamous gossip. If a member of the crew wants word to get out about something, they just mention it to their captain. 

Enjoys playing matchmaker. Always acts as a wingman for his crew when there’s a pretty bar maid. The only one he never tried to fix up with one of his crew mates was his darling Makino. 

Are soap operas a thing in the One Piece universe? Because if so, he has a favorite that he never misses an episode of (fights hardest on Thursdays so he can be home in time to catch the latest episode of Search for One Piece, a pirate drama based loosely on Roger’s life. He particularly enjoys the harlequin character). 

Loves meddling in any drama that comes up aboard the ship. Sometimes even starts drama just for entertainment, like the time he told Lucky Roux that he saw Limejuice sneaking steaks from the freezer, or when he robbed Beckman blind and left traces of a turkey leg at the scene of the crime. 

Thinks childish pranks are the funniest thing in the world. Pranks prospective crew members to see how they respond; screens them based on whether they find his jokes funny. Beckman insists this is not the best way to do things but Shanks persists. But Shanks isn't just being childish. He's making sure everyone who joins his crew has a good nature as that is, in his opinion, the most important thing. If you can't trust your crew, you're dead in the water.

Was definitely posing when the government snapped the photo for his wanted poster but pretends it was completely candid. Has a habit of comparing his wanted poster to the posters of his enemies.

He also uses his wanted poster to fish for compliments, especially from his crew. “That���s a pretty good picture, isn’t it?” “I don’t look half bad in that, do I?” “The real reason the marines are hunting me- the sight of my wanted poster makes their wives swoon.”  

Refers to himself as, “that handsome devil.” 

Smells like body odor and weed, but in a Matthew McConaughey kind of way (that is to say, it works for him). 

Animals and babies always like him. He insists the trick is to act uninterested. 

He is genuinely good-natured, but he definitely uses his sense of humor to disguise how terrifying he truly is. Is a pro at lulling people into a false sense of security. Definitely slouches on purpose to seem less intimidating.

Secretly paid off Luffy's "treasure tab" at Makino's bar. Didn't do it just to be kind to the poor kid but actually because he believed Luffy when he said he'd pay it back in full and did it to annoy Luffy a decade or two down the line. (When Luffy finally goes back to pay Makino and she informs him Shanks already did, Luffy blows a gasket.)

———

Hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, you can check out my masterlist here!

[syrena-del-mar]

The Nine Circles of Hell: Dead Friend Forever, Episode 7

First, a trigger warning: I'll be discussing themes of revenge porn, grooming, statutory rape, sexual coercion.

I'm going to discuss this episode with as much upmost care as I can, due to the sheer amount of sensitive material that came out of this week's episode I will also not being using any explicit scene screen captures from this episode. If there's anything you'd like to me to take out or want a more in depth conversation, feel free to use either of my message boxes.

Last week I said DFF had more to offer than just being a campy 90s slasher remake. While I first thought we were already in the depths of hell, thematically, with Non getting beaten by the mafia, I didn't expect this week's episode to somehow double that pain. But here we are. I was lulled into false security with the 5 minute montage of getting to know what Phee and Non's relationship was like. I should have remembered that I'm definitely watching the wrong genre when I expected more of those moments.

Non and Phee

This episode really continues and expands the idea that humans are not these clear-cut, unambiguous, good-or-bad beings that idea has now been depicted through Non and his relationship with Phee. Non has so much love to give and so much want for being loved, it's what leads to Phee in the first place, but it's also what leads to his downfall. Because Non loves so much and so hard, it's also why he wasn't ecstatic that Phee had to lie to his father and say that he was involved, just to get him out of trouble with the police. What started like a sweet date turns a bit bitter, because Non is seeing the consequences of his actions not only affect himself but also the others that he loves. It's also why he couldn't tell Phee about the sheer amount he owed Tee's uncle, because he was now well aware that if Phee found out, he would get himself involved.

Non lies and manipulates Phee, he tells him time and time again that nothing happened between him and Mr. Kreng. Non swears to Phee that he isn't lying to him and that he won't keep any secrets from him anymore. It pains him to do so, he's barely holding himself together by the end of a thread thread once he's Phee's arms and his face is hidden from Phee's view. Yet, he does. He keeps it a secret how big of a hole he has found himself in, because he doesn't want to drag Phee down with him. Non says it himself to Jin, he doesn't want to be burden, he'll figure it out himself. It's a direct parallel to the bigger issues that Non is finding himself in beyond just within the 'movie set'. He has the 300 million baht hanging over his head, his parents (in his point of view) regret having him and find that he does is bring embarrassment to the family, and now he has another adult willing to give him the 300 million baht with a fake sense of care. So he found, what he believes to be, a solution that would get rid of the 300 million baht debt and all it requires is giving up a piece of himself, but at least it won't come at a cost of burdening his parents or Phee.

In trying to protect Phee, his lies ends up costing him the one he loves the most, Phee. Now from this point on, this is all speculation, but when Phee accused Non of 'always doing this', I'm not in the camp that believes that Phee is accusing Non about being a serial cheater. I see why people are in that camp, but I initially jumped to that conclusion as well. Now, I'm more in the line that Phee is accusing of Non always feeding him lies, even after explicitly promising him that he wouldn't. After putting his neck out for him, after letting Non do things his way as long as he promised to tell him the truth, Non goes back to telling lies. Phee lashes out, and at the end of the day he's still a teenager, so he hits Non's weakest point. Just get lost and die. The very words that likely haunt Phee in the present-day, now as an adult. And Non's holds the broken bracelet, punishing himself, because he knew that there was no coming back from losing his lifeline.

Non and Mr. Kreng (Please keep my trigger warnings in mind, they will be heavily discussed in this section.)

Statutory Rape. Grooming. Coerced Sexual Relations. Nonconsensual Sex. Molestation. Sexual Assault. Sexual Abuse. Those are all words to describe the relationship that occurred between Non and Mr. Keng. Let's call exactly what it is. I think I'll lose my mind if I have to see someone another person call Non a cheater. There is no cheating when there is statutory rape.

Non is literally at the end of his rope, Mr. Keng clocked that immediately. He knew that Non was isolated, that he was completely othered by his classmates, he believes that Non has nobody else to turn to, and he knows that Non is in deep in a scam that target teens. In his eyes, he found the perfect victim.

Non is taken advantage of by a person in power, a person that he should be able to trust. Non isn't naïve, he clocked that Mr. Keng wanted something from him since the moment they first met. But he is vulnerable. He's being extorted by the mafia and he sees someone offering him the money that he needs to put an end to that. In his eyes, it was a way out, a means to an end that just cost him a piece of his soul. I truly think Non rationalized it to himself as prostituting himself, because he knew that money was never coming without a price. No matter how much Mr. Keng tried to sell it as 'brotherly' love.

But at the end of the day, it does not matter what Non believed or rationalized, because Mr. Keng was the adult in the situation. He had a duty, as a teacher, to protect Non and provide a safe classroom environment. Instead he target, manipulates, and coerces Non into having sexual relations with him. He knows the power imbalance he holds, first as a teacher and then with the 300 million baht he 'gave' him. Mr. Keng, knowing that Non's not close to his 'friends', physically isolates him. He takes him to his office that's half-lit, located in a long hallway with, seemingly, very little foot traffic. He prods at Non, asking what's been bothering him and has him visibly become emotional, before offering his care. He's a complete and utter predator, in every sense of the term.

I hope he dies a long, painful death.

Non and Jin

First and foremost, whether or not Jin was ultimately the one that posted the video does not matter. Filming a classmate being sexually assaulted is still child porn at the very least and, possibly, revenge porn (if he disseminated the video) at the worst. I was on the same boat as @respectthepetty and their take that Jin had to be the worst of them all. Like they said in that post, Jin is a coward and he even admits to it. There's nothing more cowardly than hiding behind a door, filming you supposed 'friend' getting sexually abused by your teacher, and then even considering putting up on social media for revenge because your heart is broken.

Yes, Top framed Non. Yes, Por demanded (and bullied) money from Non. Yes, Tee brought Non to the mafia. Those are all very bad things, don't get me wrong. All the physical and mental abuse they put Non through was hell. Yet, Jin was the only one aware that Non had already been seeing someone, which seemingly had upset him already. Then he sees him with Mr. Keng and instead of reporting that his alleged friend was being assaulted, he gets angry and films Non at his most vulnerable point in life. Even Fluke didn't want any part of that.

Jin takes away Non's dignity. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether he uploaded it online or not, he was still the one to film, transfer that file onto his computer, and contemplate whether he was going to post it or not. At every point since he found that Non and Mr. Kreng were in that room, he rendered Non powerless. That video would have never been uploaded if it hadn't existed in the first place. With just a point of a camera and click of a button, he is revictimizing Non every. single. time. that video is opened and seen by another person.

There are no words to fully describe or explain that kind of trauma that he has subjected Non to.

Final Thoughts

This episode was nauseating. It honestly took me about two hours just to get to the end. Usually, I can watch through a show I enjoy really quickly, but this episode was so hard to digest. And that's simply due to how realistic they are approaching the subject of Non and Mr. Keng.

Barcode and Ta really are the stars of the show. I'm not saying that the other castmates aren't amazing in their roles, but man TaBarcode really know are hitting every single emotional beat. I was never a TaBarcode nor a MacauChay girlie, but man Be On Cloud has truly brought out their best this time around. Even though I fully know we are heading towards an incredibly heart wrenching ending for PheeNon, I can't help but want to hoard and scramble for moments of them together.

It's crazy how well, everyone was able to pull their weight this episode. There were so many moments that with less talented, less experienced actors, could have fallen flat, but they didn't. Ta and Barcode's PheeNon was so incredibly heart-beating, butterfly inducing before we were brought back into their reality outside of their relationship. 2J and Barcode's scenes were.... so disgustingly real, for lack of better words. I knew that storyline was never going to end well but it had been more than I ever expected Be On Cloud to release. They're tackling such real issues that weigh on teens with incredible tact, there's no romanticizing what happened. Even Phee's reaction was so understandable when you put yourself in the shoes of a teenager. I'll reiterate again and again, whatever you think about Be On Cloud as a management company, as a production company, they really are breaking boundaries and doing something right. Whatever happens in the second half, I think I'll be here, recovering, for a long time.

[chelledoggo]

okay, so... you know what i would LOVE to see?

a deconstruction of "conservative cartoons" like Mr. Birchum or The New Norm... BUT, it deceptively markets itself as a straightforward conservative cartoon.

like, here's what i'm thinking:

we got your white, old-fashioned, masculine husband protagonist, a centrist, openminded wife, and a couple of children. one of the kids would probably be a dudebro son who aligns more with their dad's beliefs, while the other would be your stereotypical "blue-haired nonbinary progressive activist."

you'd, of course, also have your token "non-woke minority friends" to the main character: the black conservative, the disabled veteran, the "not like the other gays" gay man, etc...

they all live in a suburban neighborhood. their kids attend a public school, where the teacher is your stereotypical "liberal soyboy wokie" (a la Mr. Karponzi from Mr. Birchum), and is presented as the "main antagonist."

episode one starts out straightforward, with no indication of it being a deconstruction or subversive, in order to lull the conservative audience into a false sense of security.

we get the introduction to these characters, their conflicts, etc... the husband complains about how "soft" and "woke" society is becoming and reminisces about "the good old days." the first major conflict would probably be CRT or pronouns in the classroom or something.

but starting from episode 2, we start seeing the MC deconstruct and question himself. the little hints of deconstruction would start out small and subtle, like he might just take pause at an opinion he had and think "hmmmm... this feels right to me, but... i wonder... was i too harsh?"

and then with each episode the MC starts to reflect on his upbringing with a strict authoritarian father and a meek, submissive mother who always seemed unhappy. he slowly starts to realize that he was manipulated and coerced into being "a real man" by his abusive father.

he starts to think to himself "okay, WHY do i dislike progressives? WHY do i have a problem with 'safe spaces?' don't vulnerable people deserve to feel safe, even though i never did? and WHY do i have a problem with trans and nonbinary people? yeah, it's a little odd to me, but they're not harming anyone."

as he reflects and deconstructs the outdated beliefs he had engrained in him, he finds himself growing a closer bond with his nonbinary kid, while also realizing he needs to start teaching his dudebro son to be a respectful and non-toxic man.

by the end of the season/series, he finally admits to those around him that he's not proud of who he'd been in the past, and although he still has a long way to go and will probably have to spend the rest of his life unlearning his old ways, he's going to try his best to do right by those around him.

someone should get on this. at the very least it would be funny as fuck to watch conservatives melt down, while at best it would be a beautiful narrative on how we need to examine our beliefs.

[captainnameless]

Just got off my 16 hour flight 💔 Sat next to an ADORABLE baby who was so well behaved for the first few hours but then became actually feral. Reminded me of how danny and lando (and alex?) flew to spa together (i think) and lando would so be feral. any ideas of lando being naughty on a flight, maybe he would be acting up for alex.

a 16 hour flight? where did you go?! goddamn bestie, that sounds miserable. when i went to New Zealand my flights were 12 and 14 hours and i thought that was bad 😭 also i do not blame the baby i too would go feral.

Lando’d for sure be having a rough time on a 16 hour flight. Daniel’s lulled into a false sense of security at first. Lando’s exhausted post race, freshly showered and all bundled up in some of Daniel’s enchanté merch. The joggers and the matching soft hoodie. Lando’s basically stumbling into the plane, there’s only a small bit of whining going on when he has to sit in his own seat for take off, but Daniel manages that by holding Lando’s hand and promising a cuddle as soon as the seat belt lights turn off.

He fulfills his promise and has a lap full of curly brunette seconds after the light switches off, cradling Lando into his chest and pressing a soft kiss in between his brows. Lando finds his thumb and is out within minutes.

“That was easy.” Alex comments and Daniel shoots him a look.

“Never say that at loud.”

- - -

Proof they jinxed it shows itself when Lando wakes up due to turbulence a little under 2 hours later, definitely not ready to wake up yet.

Daniel tries his best to lul him back to sleep but Lando notices the empty plates and is immediately upset they ate without him. Daniel reassures him they will heat up Lando’s food for him but it’s already put Lando in a mood.

Daniel tries to win him back with some of the snacks he packed but has to intervene when he offers Alex some too and Lando whines “Mine!”

“Lando,” Daniel chastises, holding the snack out of reach. “We share with our friends, Danny packed enough for all of us.”

“No, mine.” Lando whines, now back in his own seat but trying to reach over to prevent Daniel from giving the small packet to Alex. Instead, Daniel manages to snatch Lando’s own packet of animal crackers out of his hand.

Lando screeches.

“If you can’t share, you’re not being rewarded with a snack, buddy. No, Lando-.” Daniel sighs, holding the snacks out of reach as Lando tries to take them back.

“Hey, look at Danny. You can have them back if you can share.”

“Share.” Lando says miserably, making grabby hands towards the crackers and snatching one of them out of Daniel’s hand, shooting daggers at Alex when Daniel hands him the other one.

“Lando.” Daniel warns, grabbing the younger’s chin. “Stop it. I mean it, if you think Danny won’t discipline you because Alex is here you’re going to be in for a surprise. Understood?”

Lando pouts, soft flush on his cheeks. “Yea.” He curls into his seat after that.

Lando’s mood improves slightly when dinner is served for him, Daniel helps with bites when the plane gets wobbly and for a second he thinks the attitude might have just been Lando being hangry.

He’s proven wrong when the card game Alex brought only upsets Lando again when he doesn’t win, and Daniel intervenes again.

“Alright,” Daniel says, a little exasperated and Lando is worried for a split second before Daniel gets the iPad out, setting up the bluetooth headset. “You need a bit of quiet screen time.”

Daniel pulls up Netflix, goes into the downloaded episodes and plops the iPad in Lando’s lap. “Pick something you like, buddy.” With that he puts the headphones on Lando and lets the little guy be for a while.

It works for a bit, Lando’s interested in his Bluey episode until he notices Daniel and Alex have returned to their card game and feels the need to reach his foot out to nudge at the airplane table the cards are on.

Daniel catches his ankle, squeezes it and gives Lando a look.

Lando huffs, curls his leg back in on himself and goes back to his episode until Daniel’s distracted enough. He’s quicker this time, a quick kick, just to show his displeasure with them playing that stupid game except he doesn’t really have control now that he wants to be quick with it. Kicks the table harder than intended and sends some of the cards flying, but more unfortunately, Daniel’s coke.

It goes very quickly then, Daniel curses and quickly flips the can upright again but the damage is done. Alex snatches up some of the napkins that are left from Lando’s dinner and starts dabbing the table and the cards.

Daniel stands then, a little crouched from the angle of the plane, grabs the headphones off of Lando and the iPad, puts them in he’s seat before he’s got both hands hooked under Lando’s armpits, hoisting him out of the seat and into the aisle before marching him towards the back of the plane.

Lando starts struggling the moment he realizes what’s happening, digging his socked feet into the floor but Daniel simply wraps his arms around Lando’s waist and carries him the last few steps into the sleeping compartment at the back of the plane, shoving the screen door closed.

“Nooo.” Lando whines, clawing at Daniel’s arms before he’s released, stood facing the wall but immediately turning back around. “Da-”

“Lando.” Daniel warns, a quick tap to his thigh. “Face it.”

There’s a miserable whine thats followed by tears, hands twisting into his own sleeves. He only has to do 2 minutes, Daniel taking mercy on a clearly very tired little but Lando swears it feels like 2 hours.

He gets a “that was a big no no” speech after and a good cuddle, before Daniel suggests that maybe they should try to catch some more sleep and Daniel promises to lay down with him.

He’s reminded that Lando has only eaten and leaves the little for a quick second to get him a juicebox, confirm with Alex they’re going to have a lie down who assures him it’s fine, and returns with a juice box that Lando downs immediately.

Lando swears he doesn’t need the bathroom, and so Daniel cuddles him close and thanks whatever God there is when Lando actually falls back asleep relatively easily, figuring he could use some shut eye himself.

[amethystina]

I am intrigued by all the wips honestly. Anything you give us will be amazing, I have no doubt.

I will ask about Thou Shalt Not Covet tho because it is completed.

And I LOVE the How To Build a Family for Dummies title lmao. If you feel that it fits the story, you don't have to change it imo 😆

Also, I have to ask about your health. I hope you're doing well these days and that you're getting better. If not, don't push yourself too hard. Take care of yourself either way 💜

No pressure x'D

Jokes aside: thank you 💜 I'm very flattered that a lot of you have such faith in me and my writing.

Thou Shalt Not Covet was something I wrote in a feverish haze about a week ago because I was high-key panicking over not having been able to draw or write in what felt like forever and my brain just latched on to that story. Which wasn't at all what I had planned but, apparently, what I needed at the time, so I try not to hold it against myself.

It's basically a fic about Ga On being a raging ball of jealousy for 10k straight.

... or gay, I guess?

So the title is a bit misleading since there is actually A LOT of coveting going on. Coveting of Yo Han, to be more specific.

Ga On you little sinner you.

And it's 10k before editing, I should say. Because since I wrote it with a fever, I'll probably have to add a bit as I edit. Understandably, I tend to miss a lot of details when I'm too feverish. The fic is set just before Kim Choong Sik's first trial, so around episode 10. Which means I'm going to have to add a couple of warnings because Yo Han does not play fair. Whenever I write Yo Han as he was during the drama I'm reminded of how far he's come in Who Holds the Devil because dear LORD is he a manipulative asshole in this one x'D

So yeah. Jealous!Ga On and a Yo Han who doesn't pull his punches. A recipe for disaster, in other words. But they work it out eventually.

Here's a snippet from the beginning of the story (though unedited so there might be changes before it's posted)

---

Ga On had never understood how utterly devastating jealousy could be until he felt it — truly felt it — for the first time.

If asked, he would have said he wasn't a jealous person. He may have felt a burst of it once or twice as he and Soo Hyun had grown up — whenever another boy had shown an interest in her — but it had faded just as quickly as it had flared up. Perhaps because, deep down, Ga On had known that Soo Hyun only had eyes for him.

There was no need for him to feel jealous since the odds of him losing Soo Hyun to another were slim.

And, in hindsight, that must have lulled Ga On into a false sense of security, giving him the impression that he wasn't the jealous type. That he was calm and rational enough not to get upset, and knew how to handle the surge of emotions that might occur. Not realizing that what he'd felt at the time wasn't jealousy — or at least not the true depth of what he was actually capable of feeling.

Ga On had underestimated his own possessiveness.

And it wasn't until he met Kang Yo Han that Ga On knew true jealousy.

His first clue that he'd misjudged himself should have been his inexplicable desire to remain within Yo Han's orbit despite having numerous reasons to stay away. All Ga On wanted was to keep pushing closer, to keep proving himself, to keep asking for that intoxicating attention that crackled like electricity down his spine. He may not want to name what he was experiencing — instinctively shying away from a revelation he knew would change his life beyond what he was ready to deal with, finding comfort in denial — but he still craved the rush it gave him. He couldn't help wanting more.

His second clue should have been his own reaction as he'd watched Jung Sun Ah fuss with Yo Han's tie during their photo shoot.

The anger Ga On had felt in that moment — curling black and vicious inside his chest — had been an overreaction of the kind that should have given him pause. But, somehow, it hadn't. Somehow, Ga On hadn't even registered it as something out of the ordinary. Some part of him had even felt justified in his anger.

As if he had a right to feel that possessive over his chief.

But the rational part of Ga On knew that he didn't. He may be sleeping in Yo Han's house and helping him with his mission to upend the world as they knew it, but they were still nothing more than coworkers.

Yo Han had never promised him anything.

---

Expect jealousy, anger, and a bit of angst. Because Ga On has abandonment issues and it actually hits pretty hard when he starts suspecting that he's not so special to Yo Han after all...

As for How to Build a Family For Dummies, the title doesn't fit the vibe AT ALL which is why I'm calling it a working title for now. It just sounds way too cute and cheerful for the actual theme and content of the story x'D But more about that in another reply since I got a specific ask about it!

Aaaaand when it comes to my health, things are really bad, unfortunately. The kind of bad I haven't had since January, with daily exhaustion fevers and lack of focus. And it's probably not going to get better anytime soon since the main cause is related to something outside of my control that will most likely take months to fix. So it's really just a matter of me trying to hold on as long as I can and, if I'm lucky, I won't break completely before I reach the other side. I guess we'll see?

Anyhow! Thank you so much for the concern and the lovely ask. You take care of yourself too 💜

WIP Tag Game

[burnwater13]

Image depicts a head shot of Migs Mayfeld in a black turtleneck and dark green shirt, the Mandalorian wearing an Imp Transport Pilot helmet while being scanned by a computer system security device, and Din Djarin's face, as he is being scanned by the same security device. Caption reads: Seems to me like your rules start to change when you get desperate. - Migs Mayfeld. Images from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 7, The Believer. Calendar by DateWorks.

Grogu blamed himself. He’d asked the question. He didn’t have to. It wasn’t critical information needed to safe guard his friends and family. It wasn’t even interesting information, as things turned out. It was just information. Boring, irrelevant, tedious information that did nothing but confirm that when it came to Migs Mayfeld, Grogu would gladly lump the talkative criminal in the same pile as Moff Gideon, or that guy who hired the Mandalorian to retrieve Grogu from Arvala-7. 

Grogu understood that he might be the only person who lumped that chatterbox in with Imp Warlords trying to reestablish the Empire, but he stood by his opinion. Mayfeld was inherently selfish and that just rubbed Grogu the wrong way. Every time he was mentioned. Even in passing.

He and his dad, the Mandalorian, were just sitting on the porch of their cabin on Nevarro. It was late afternoon and Grogu was tired from chasing frogs and Din Djarin had just told him that their next meal wouldn't be for a couple of hours at least. The Mandalorian was kind of idly fussing with one of his vambraces. The retractable cable wasn’t working quite perfectly perfect. 

Grogu chirped to his dad and once he had the Mandalorian’s attention he signed his question. How did they find the location of Moff Gideon’s ship? Grogu wasn’t sure why that was a question he had. It had kind of popped into his head and he couldn’t ignore it any more than he could ignore it when his stomach was growling from hunger. 

He thought the Mandalorian would be his normally terse self and say something short and to the point. ‘I got the coordinates from a secret Imp base on Morak.’  That’s how he’d answered any number of other questions about things he had done while Grogu was otherwise occupied. He’d described the whole event of taking over the Imp freighter on Trask as ‘I helped the other Mandos out with a problem.’ Accurate and practically free of any encumbering information or data. Grogu had gotten used to responses like that and was lulled into a false sense of security. 

Instead, for whatever reason, the Mandalorian blabbed in detail about how they first went to Nevarro to collect Cara Dune and then they went to Karthon, to their ‘chop fields’ to collect Migs Mayfeld. Then how they convinced Mayfeld to go with them to Morak and help them infiltrate that ‘secret’ Imp base because he had once been an Imp, where Din Djarin had to gain access to an Imp data base using a biometric scan of his face, because Mayfeld couldn’t do it. That’s right! The Mandalorian’s face! That face that he wouldn’t let Grogu even see until five minutes before they were parted for what seemed like forever!

As Grogu was about to launch into a whole lecture about betrayal, trust, family, and all of their allied subjects and sub-topics, the Mandalorian had related Mayfeld’s comment about the Creed that he’d made on their way to the base. 

“Seems to me like your rules start to change when you get desperate.”

Then Grogu felt his head explode. Just a little. But it was enough for him to throw Mayfeld into the Imp despot pile. Imagine him saying that to the Mandalorian? Him! The guy who admitted to being an Imp, like that was some sort of good thing. The guy who then turned to a life of crime. The guy who would never shut up about anything that struck him as incongruous. What did he even know about rules? It was clear to Grogu that Migs Mayfeld had never met a rule that he was willing to consider, let alone actually follow. That guy.

Mayfeld only did things that benefited Mayfeld. Ever. As soon as he thought that he might be recognized by the Imps crawling through the secret base he knew all about, it was over for him. He was too selfish, too desperate, to do anything but save his own skin. Grogu was so annoyed he wanted to track Mayfeld down and kick his shin. A good, solid kick. The sort of thing that made you limp for a couple of hours and reconsider how you’d been living your life. But Grogu couldn’t do that. No matter how much he wanted to, he had a creed that he followed. It reminded him that everyone had faults and the solution to dealing with those faults was not violence, even if kicking someone in the shins wasn’t very violent. 

Nope. You had to consider that no one was the same as anyone else. Everyone had weaknesses and strengths and they differed from person to person. Migs Mayfeld could no more wish to be as brave and fearless as the Mandalorian had been, than Grogu could wish to be as tall as either of the humans. They all had limitations. 

But Grogu didn’t have to like those limitations. He didn’t have to celebrate them. He didn’t have to honor them. He definitely didn’t have to endorse them as a way of life. According to Mayfeld the Empire and the New Republic were just the same, but that was objectively untrue. The people causing problems on Karthon were the same selfish Imps that had messed things up to begin with. The fact that the New Republic hadn’t caught up to them yet had more to do with guys like Mayfeld pretending it was all the same so he could ignore the problem he wouldn’t solve because it might put him at some risk. 

“Grogu. Buddy. Calm down. I get it. But when push came to shove, Mayfeld still helped me get the information I needed to rescue you. All that talk of his is about himself. He’s the guy who changed when things got desperate. Lucky for both of us, it was a change for the better.”

Yeah. Lucky for Mayfeld’s shins.

Mig's Mayfeld, without his helmet on, wearing the body armor of an Imperial Transport Pilot, while driving the transport, speaking to the Mandalorian who is also wearing the body armor of Imperial Transport Pilot, including the helmet, on Karthon. Greenery can be seen out of the window on Mayfeld's side of the vehicle. Caption reads: I don't know. Seems to me like your rules state to change when you get desperate.

Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 7, The Believer.

[spacedryadkepler]

malevolent chapter 49 spoilers!

(the most rambling of thoughts)

-i went into this episode with some spoilers cause i couldn’t listen to the ep until late in the evening, and couldn’t help myself when it came to browsing tumblr

those were: oscar’s letter being illegible ( not too surprised about that one, given the constant rain, the mud, the blood loss, and the swimming/wading through bodies of water. i’d have been shocked if it survived)

arthur lester crashes out (again)

arthur and john reunited with the dearly beloved and missed cast member: “falling in holes”

and arthur uses All Of The Bullets

this turned the episode into a fun mystery game for me (on top of the in-episode murder mystery), trying to figure out when these things would occur

anyway onto the actual episode

- we saw it a lot last episode but i looooove seeing how much john is stepping up and pulling extra weight for arthur while he’s unwell. it’s sooo different from the dysfunctional dynamic they had when dealing with other people during season 4.

i’ll never get tired of seeing the contrast against past events of how far the boys have come and changed

-arthur sure is doing. Really! Bad! uh oh!

-despite that he still gets some great great spotlight of his people skills, dealing with the suspicious and unpredictable castle gang, and the one-on-one intimidation with the friar

-the friar in fact, did not do it, as i thought, but the lord everard reveal is way more interesting so i like this outcome

-something about benevolent christmas special referencing the falling in holes thing, and a new incident of Arthur and John Fall in a Hole being in an episode that released on christmas day is very funny to me, even though i know the part of the episode featuring Falling in a Hole most likely released a couple weeks ago

- arthur giving up because he doesn’t believe that on a fundamental, physical level he’s capable of pushing on and surviving is so heartbreaking to listen to.

despite knowing this is Malevolent, i somehow wasn’t expecting to get emotional this episode!

i got lulled into a false sense of security by the previous episodes (which were pretty chill, compared to the standard), even though i knew they were luring me into a false sense of security

- john reciting Invictus to arthur is so ougggh aggghh oof ouch my heart, i loved it. but also it makes me crazy and i can’t stop thinking about it because

when arthur has referenced pieces of Invictus in the past, john didn’t recognize it.

since john has picked up knowledge of human experiences and poetry from arthur, in some sort of bleed-over of knowledge due to their shared state of being, we can assume that Invictus is not among that selection that bled over.

when john asks about it, arthur specifically says it’s “not for you”, keeping a poem that’s so meaningful to him close to his chest.

it makes sense, this was during the prison pits, and the last thing that arthur shared that was important to him, was wielded against him, painfully.

arthur does recite Invictus to yellow, but he was drunk/poisoned, and given the way he brushes off questions the next day, i assume he wouldn’t have freely recited it had he had all of his faculties about him.

but now, after all that’s happened, how arthur and john’s relationship has changed so drastically from the way it was in the dreamlands.

now john has been able to pick up the poem, accumulated as part of the bleed-over knowledge. i don’t think there’s any conscious control on the part of either party when it comes to what knowledge is shared with john, but it feels significant that Now he has access to it, after all this time.

and what he does with it, is he uses it to raise arthur up. to support and try and encourage arthur to push on. head bloodied, but unbowed.

these two make me so crazy it’s insane!!!!!!!

- anyways, because i’m also crazy about kayne, when john mentioned the coin, and then a voice that i didn’t immediately realize was everard spoke, i did very briefly freak out going “omg kayne??? kayne??? kayne???” before coming to my senses.

- also it’s delightful that the boys found an ally here?? i really wasn’t expecting that honestly, after season four, given the circumstances they were placed into, i thought this season would be a return to form of the pair having no one they can safely trust, other than themselves. very neat to be proven wrong!

and it’s a very delightful way to twist it that ultimately they can’t rely upon/work with this ally in the end, because they’re stuck working for one of those very “dark forces” that everard is working against.

- YAY WAHOO for arthur getting healed from his sickness, but i am very curious about how the next episode will go, given that it’s “not simple” and “will take some time”.

it’s possible there will be a short time skip, but i feel like an episode about curing a magical sickness and ridding arthur of horrig’s influence, has potential to be another character development bottle episode of sorts, like The Nightmare.

also can alia detect john?? will she be able to detect john when healing arthur??

what if she deems john as some “dark force” that arthur needs healed from as well

or what if she deems john is Not a “dark force” (that one would make me cry)

i can’t wait for the next ep

[bengiyo]

Only Friends Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Atom lied to Cheum that Boston forced him to have sex with him repeatedly, and his friends iced him out completely. Boeing showed up to be an absolute menace and it was compelling. Top and Mew are still doing this dance, and Mew has decided to utilize Boeing to torment Top. Nick avoided advancing things with Dan, and then reconciled with Boston. Ray learned that Sand wasn't taking his dad's money (which is dumb) and decided to commit to rehab.

"Move on. Move in."

Plug, please don't drink after Sand. You do not know where that boy has been.

Look at them messing with Yo and Plug getting back together to lull me into a false sense of security.

Top and Mew are so annoying. Just please break up already.

I like that Nick is being honest with Dan without over sharing. He's also not giving Dan hope. "I like you, but I'm not ready to be anyone's boyfriend right now. Let's just focus on work," is actually good for both of them. Dan is disappointed, but he knows where he stands.

I'm glad Sand is avoiding Ray. He's been called a whore so many times.

I like Sand's mom.

I know they better give Sand that money after all he's been through. I do like that Sand doesn't think Ray needs to completely give up alcohol, but he does need to manage his dependency.

I feel like I've lost the thread on why Mew keeps hanging out with Boeing.

Look at nasty4nasty working again. We've added another boy to Mark's counter and furthered the mission to add complicated layers to digital surveillance and blackmail in modern queer life.

Now what was Boston thinking there when he glanced at Nick when he said he knows what it's like to have a one-sided love?

Things are going too well for Sand and Ray. Ray still got Sand to do the community service with him. Something is going to show up and disrupt them.

Every time I see Mew and Top I'm just like, "Potion Seller, enough of these games!"

I'm glad Sand is pathetic for every man he was in love with. Ray ain't special. Sand is just like this.

We have missed multiple opportunities for a Mama Sandwich and I am despondent.

I wish we'd gotten a better since of Top's emotional interior. Force is clearly playing Top as sincere, and I don't know how much of my distrust of Top is past experiences with guys like him or the reputation he has within the show.

I'm not a fan of Cheum's reaction here to Atom's admission. On his lie, they stormed Boston's house and accused him of assault. They kicked him out of their project. They stripped him of his community. We can support Atom learning something important about himself and still make sure we let him know that what he did was foul. I'm so not into Cheum at all. I was not expecting to have so many qualms with lesbians in this show.

I really loved that conversation between Boston and Nick. They continue to feel the most honest with each other about what they are to each other. I love Boston offering Nick this little time they have left and being clear that it does expire. I like that it's a request, and I like that Nick didn't exactly give him an answer. Nick has been burned, so he's being more cautious with Boston.

I actually kinda want Top and Mew to work out, because the back and forth with them is the kind of thing you need someone willing to spar with for it to work.

Ray saying he'll pay anything for Sand as his boyfriend might be more romantic if he didn't always call Sand a whore when he got mad.

Well well well, are we finally going to get that threesome??

A fire in the last episode what the hell. Who is burning down Top's hotel?? Who isn't Boeing going to try to fuck??

I'm so amused at Ray being possessive of Sand and asking him to draw a boundary with Boeing as if he ever managed to draw one with Ray. Top and Mew remain so uncertain for me, and I'm a bit disappointed that Top will remain an enigma to me. Boston and Nick are the only ones moving towards something that feels sustainable. Atom can leave and never come back. I'm over Cheum.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Tuesday evening :) This is such a good one. Jealousy thy name is Lucy Chen is what this ep should be called. The Green eyed monster coming out real hard for her in this one. But then Lucy has no feelings for him right….

3x11 New Blood

Our ep starts out with our trio scoping the new rookies. Lucy talks to Katie first. Asking who her T.O. Is going to be? We find out Tim is her new teacher. Lucy is tying not to gush too much about him. Saying she will learn so much but trails off. Katie catches on that Lucy is burying the lead a little. Lucy fesses up Tim can be a little intense. HA You got him at his most intense dear Lucy. He was a radioactive trap ready to gobble her up at first. Then after that was mostly based on his intense need to make sure she succeeded.

Katie doesn't seem intimidated by this info but very appreciative of it. Lucy tells Barnes to reach out to her if she ever goes into a self doubt spiral. So sweet. Also she has a feeling that this new rookie will have one. It's Tim no way she wouldn't right? Gotta love her trying to help the new girl out though. Pre-warn her of what's to come. We all know how ‘Intense’ Lucy’s first shift was with Tim. So it’s very thoughtful of her to reach out and offer help if she needs it.

The jealously begins at the food trucks. Tamara is there with Jackson and Lucy. They’re talking about getting her set up in her new housing. Tim’s new rookie catches Tamara’s eye. She asks who Officer Zaddy is with? LMAO I remember having to look up what that meant the first time haha but it’s accurate to Tim. In case you need a refresher it means ‘Sexually attractive older man, who is charming and self confident’. That’s our Tim haha Yum.

Tamara asks how it feels to be replaced? Lucy shrugs it off saying she's glad Tim is torturing someone else. Ok honey we believe you..... That mindset lasts all of two seconds before Jackson points out he’s paying for her coffee. Lucy’s jealously begins here and doesn’t stop for the majority of this episode. She is intently watching and sees he’s letting her drive too. She is absolutely incensed by this whole thing. He’s also smiling while he’s paying for her coffee. Lucy is none too pleased about this. Her face says it all as they walk way. Jealously and resentment party of one.

Lucy can't actually fathom him being nice on day one like this. So she then she comes up with a plan to explain it all. Because it’ll help with her jealously if she does. Saying how Tim is only doing it to lull her into false sense of security. She’ll be wearing that coffee before too long. Lucy is all smiles till Jackson calls her out on it. Oof. Telling her how messed up it is she is enjoying this. Her bubble bursting rapidly even Tamara can’t look at her LOL Oh my girl you are as transparent as glass. The jealously is seeping out of her. Melissa kills this scene with her facial expressions. The whole episode really.

Tim and Katie catch a call about a robbery. I do love watching Tim with her because they’re so like minded. Except Tim knows how to be a cop vs a soldier. Fascinating to watch tbh. Lucy and Jackson show up as their backup when they start to take fire. Katie has injured one of them and is rendering first aid. Something that seems foreign to her. In the military you aren't doing that for your enemies.

Tim see's Katie is struggling with this concept. So he put his hand on her shoulder as a sign of support. Lucy immediately notices this and voices her jealously once again. Jackson doesn’t even notice what they’re doing. He asks her 'What?' Thinking it’s something egregious. Nope just Tim putting his hand on Katie’s shoulder….The green eyed monster is fuming at this moment. Telling Jackson she didn’t even get a fist bump when she saved his life day one...

Lucy is so aggravated and jealous. I saw a post once saying 'She's a ten but terrible at hiding her feelings.' Ha It's true Lucy wears them on her sleeve normally. This is another level though. Not even trying a little bit to hide it. He’s bought her coffee, been nice to her, let her drive and now she’s getting an empathetic touch all on day one. Driving Lucy nuts. She had to fight and claw for every inch with Tim. So this whole situation is seeming very unfair to her.

That Barnes is getting it handed to her on a silver platter in Lucy’s eyes. The thing is Lucy changed Tim so much for the better in many ways. Another part of her is jealous because Katie is getting an emotionally healthier version of Tim. Where she got a dumpster fire ready to implode at a moments notice. Took her time to breakthrough. The kicker is Tim is in the place he is now because of Lucy. But she can't see that atm. Jealously doesn’t tend to allow one to see logic LOL She is legit pouting above as they load their suspect up.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this next part with Tim and Katie. Anytime we get to delve into Tim past i’m a happy girl. Not only that but his military past. Trying to teach her how to live in the world she's currently in now. Not the one she was in before the LAPD. He’s trying to help reset her brain. I love him taking her to this peaceful park to accomplish this. The little bit of funny sass when he says 'No it's adorable.' HA Who are you and what have you done with Tim Bradford?

He can tell Katie is still unsettled from their encounter earlier. So he's trying to redirect her focus. i.e. the lady bug. You know Tim had to do something similar when he returned. I’m sure he struggled coming out of that mindset into a less controlled one. Where you’re not told what to do and when. Everything happens in a split second based off your decisions. The way he easily connects to what they’re doing. His insightful words of wisdom for her. He was Katie when he returned home. Thinking he’s still in country, everyone is either hostile or friendly. The way he speaks is from deep experience.

Tim tells her to take a deep breath, feel the sun on her face, close her eyes. He would cover her when she closed them. This scene gets me all emotional. I know what it's like to have PTSD. How it can control your entire life. To be in a consistent state of fight or flight. Because you've forgotten what it's like to have a safe space. What it's like to have your guard down. Tim is creating that safe space for her right now. By telling Katie he has her covered. To let herself just be in the moment. This scene showcases a couple things. One it show's Tim's good heart. How badly he wants to help her. I love this man so very much.

Two just shows how damn good he is at his job. Taking his past pain and experience and using it to help transition Katie. To help her transition better than I'm sure he did. Because he knows how sideways this can go if she doesn't get ahold of this. That if she continues down this path it’s not going to go well. Telling her to live in the moment. It’s hard but it’s the only way he got past the war. To move forward again. This soft side of Tim doing things to me. Already love this man but this just increases it ten fold. The soft way he speaks to her the entire scene. Phew lord. Getting weak in the knees.

Tamara calls Lucy asking if she can come get her. That her cousin is drunk and won’t let her get her stuff. Lucy grabs her off duty weapon and is on her way. I love how confidently she walks up and yells at Tamara's cousin to get her stuff. Get ‘em Lucy! Her stance is amazing. He listens like a smart man. Doesn't test Lucy. Tim would be so proud of her. Love me some confident BAMF Lucy. He gets her stuff tells her not to come back. What a jackass. Lucy asks what happened? Tamara tells Lucy her new place has black mold. It’ll be couple months before she can get in there.

We find out she asked her cousin if she could extend her stay. He lost it on her. Apparently his GF can't stand her staying there. Hence Tamara calling her for help. Says she will figure something out… Lucy refuses to let her drown. Tells her she can stay with her till the new place is ready. That she’s family ❤️ They really are found sisters and I love it sfm. They say family isn’t always blood. It isn't the same last name or bloodline. It's the people that constantly show up for you. Lucy has done this with Tamara and she's finally accepting it. Truly believing and trusting Lucy's word now. Her relief above is so sweet. I love their relationship so much.

We've now reached Lucy's boiling point of the episode. She legit implodes with jealously when she see Tim doing Katie's paperwork. She can’t take it any longer. Has to say something. Starts by making a snide comment about him doing paperwork day 2.... The way he looks up at her in the second gif LOL Tim is smart enough to know he’s in a fight with Lucy he’s just not sure why…He asks her if she has something to say? Knowing damn well she has a lot to say. Lucy is trembling with anger and jealously. Asking why he’s being so nice to her? The hurt in her tone is evident af. Her body language matching that tone.

Tim has opened the flood gates by asking her if she has something to say. Lucy doesn't hesitate and goes OFF on him. Her body language really betrays her so much in this scene. She is so damn revved up. Listing all the ways he tormented her in the early days. Mentioning when he stole her duty belt when she had to pee. The way he reminisces about that moment above has me rolling so much. Like ah yes I was so very mean to you LMAO Thinking damn that was a good one. Lucy telling him he called her boot so much she has PTSD from the word itself.

Now when Lucy says this it prompts Tim to say Katie has other issues. Lucy is so angrily blind in her jealously she goes off more. Saying like what? Then goes on a very insecure and specific rant about her. Oh Lucy when you start listing physical attributes like that it’s screaming you’re so VERY jealous. Her emotions betraying her wholly in this scene. Listing all the things Lucy feels like Tim doesn’t see in her. Which is a damn lie but she isn’t seeing straight right now. All she can see is her jealously and unfairness of his kindness.

Her insecurities are coming out in spades right now. Not only does this woman get soft Tim she’s also beautiful and smart. Lucy feels threatened on so many levels. This scene is screaming that. Tim follows up her rant with 'She won’t wear any perfume.' Lucy is so caught up in her emotions she forgot he’s answering her question from before. She’s confused and asks what that has to do with anything? Getting more irritated. Tim realizes she needs his full attention for this. Puts his pen in his pocket and turns toward her.

Stops what he’s doing and tells her how he teaches his trainee's. Saying he teaches his recruits according to what they need. You can see Lucy is riled up still but listening to him. He starts with a continuation to his previous statement. Saying she won’t wear perfume because she’s still worried it’ll give away her position. Telling Lucy a part of her is still in Afghanistan waging a war that is over for her. He continues on to say if she’s ever going to be a cop that instinct has to go.

Before Lucy can say a word he compliments her. Calling her a kind and insightful person. How she sees the good in people. Now I love this because he is doing build, break, build here. Building her up before breaking her back down by letting her know WHY he trained her the way he did. Vs what he's doing with Katie. Man has a reason for pretty much everything he does with this job especially teaching.

Trying to show Lucy that she and Katie view the world very differently. So his approach with her has to be the polar opposite. Lucy looks mortified by the time he’s done. Like she’s embarrassed she showed her hand emotionally and was wrong. Also it being over something she would've supported had she known the facts. Lucy immediately asks Tim if she’s going to be ok? That empathy of her's kicking right into gear now that Tim has calmed her down.

Tim says in time she will be ok. Which had she given him the chance to do this she would've been. He then ends the conversation with the best compliment she could’ve received from him. Tim basically saying she’s an incredible cop. That one day Barnes might even be as good as she is now. That shuts Lucy up effectively haha He does some heart eyes and does a mic drop of a walk away. Knowing there isn't more to say. That he needed to quell her insecurities and he did just that. It's the way he softens in that second gif as he compliments her. Gah I love them so much. He's so proud of his girl and lets her know it.

Lucy's reaction is the best part. She’s so full of giddiness it’s adorable. Her person just complimented her in the best way possible. Validating she’s amazing at her job. The little smirk and twirl is so cute I can not. It’s like when the guy you like says he likes you back. Lucy can’t contain her glee. He just made her whole damn year. His opinion of her is everything so she is on cloud 9 right now.

Love that Tim doesn’t make her feel bad for being jealous or questioning why he’s being nice to Katie. Just breaks it down and does what he does best with her. Says the right thing in the perfect way so she doesn’t spiral any further. The fact that he did that and complimented her not once but twice. Sigh How far we have come everyone how far we have come. ❤️

Side notes- Non Chenford

It is a bummer Katie doesn’t stick around. I get why she doesn’t. Transferring from one stressful environment to another is a lot when you still have ptsd issues. Telling Tim when he let her have her guard down, feel the sun on her face was the first time she felt at peace in a long time. He so desperately wants to help her transition. Because he’s been there done that. She declines and resigns.

Then Tim does something that makes me love him even more if thats even possible. That even though he’s disappointed she’s leaving he lets her know he’s going to check in on her. *heart clutch* Tells her she has 3 years before her POST certification expires. That she will always have a home here if she needs it. Oh Timothy be still my heart sir.

I love Tim having to be the neutral third party for Wopez and Wes’s mom for the wedding plans. It’s fantastic. He is a negotiator for them it’s so funny.

Harper/James flirty flirts for self defense class. Silas being his wing man to help him secure a date with Nyla. Too damn cute.

[kalirarecs]

Angel's Feather (anime)

This one will be spoilery.

. . .such as it is, since the plot is a bit of a giant ???

Also kind of long? But without much reflection on the plot, because, as stated, it was a giant ???

I watched this anime (two short OVAs) with @mad-madam-m on a 'let's have fun and watch a couple of short, bonkers BL anime' night. Bonkers anime night was a definite success. XD

I actually thought this one was more likely to be good/enjoyable than the other one we watched that night (Sex Pistols; I'll eventually write a post about that one as well) but man was I wrong!

This anime is. . .

Fuck. It is very difficult to encapsulate, because it is so very batshit. As I said to M as the end credits were rolling, ‟well, that sure was an anime” and ‟that did not make sense at all, even once, even by accident”. (She laughed, but she did not disagree.)

The description I have seen for this OVA just about everywhere features the tidbit that:

A mysterious earthquake drags Hamura Shou, newly-enrolled in Yuusei Academy, and two other students, into another world, where an attack by a monster causes Shou to unfurl great, white wings.

That scene does indeed happen, but it has no bearing on the plot, it is basically a side-note very early on, before the plot actually begins. Which is not something I would have anticipated of falling into another world and fighting a monster, let alone discovering that one must be royalty of another world.

Because that is what the wings signify - The Winfield Chronicles (never defined) tells us that in the Kingdom of Winfield, the males of the royal family all have great, white wings.

(Me @ M: if all the men of the royal family have giant white wings, I am going to headcanon that the women have bat wings. There's nothing behind this, I just do. I’ve decided.)

It is a total of 1 hour long - two half-hour OVAs. However, watch it, and you will get the distinct feeling that it was supposed to be a full 13-episode anime (with a season 2 of at least the same length to follow). It lulls one into a false sense of security, as we get most of episode one . . . and then 2-10 minutes from episodes two through thirteen, at a guess.

Not ‘should have been a full anime, was rewritten to be shorter’, no no nooo, it was as though we got selected scenes from those never-existed episodes. A scene changes and you get the feeling you have missed 1-3 episodes worth of plot. With no context as to what it might have been.

Friendships and relationships appear to have developed, changed, evolved without any notice; situations happen or disappear without notice; characters appear and are treated as though they're part of the core group even though we have never seen them before.

At one point while watching this happened: he’s new, right? he’s new? red hair? we didn’t have a red hair, did we? where did red hair come from? holy shit red hair has a gun???)

That moment happened immediately after a scene change from the group in the headmaster's office being assigned to hunt down ghost rumours (no context did not make that make any more sense; they’d never been cordial with the headmaster or hunted ghosts, rumours, or mysteries) to them somewhere in a ruin (?) fighting giant werewolf things (not ghosts???).

Oh also? The headmaster? We called him Headmaster Commander Evil Bishie; his assistant was Homeroom Teacher Bad Touch Bishie. (He legitimately stuck his hand down our MC’s shirt at one point, stroking his chest/side, to pluck out his necklace/amulet, then put it back down inside his shirt and lingered, leaning close, to pet his neck.)

The headmaster’s office was the most obviously, blatantly bad guy base it could possibly be. The corridor was tiled in white and green marble, with white walls - and then there was a turn off it where the flooring is dark, with a red runner, the entire length of the short hallway was in dramatic, deep shadow, leading to very dark, looming double doors.

Our other characters included Baby Bard Bishie, The One Not-Bishie, Blue Hair A, Blue Hair B. . .

There’s implied pre-twincest featuring our MC and his long-lost brother? Only . . . not really/quite. Whether that ‘not really’ is that they’re twins or that they want to bang is up for debate. >.> (Regardless of the railing against it by one of the boys? Definitely twins. Their backstory is, of course, never explained.) They are not the pair with blue hair, incidentally.

They would definitely have started banging in S2 . . . but the one of them who vehemently denied he was adopted or could have a brother did immediately start fantasising about being kissed and petted; why are you stepping into my heart? approximately 45 seconds after their reunion *coughs* meeting.

(Also somehow despite almost everyone looking the same, the twins were the easiest to tell apart.)

There was nothing shown how our group even formed or started working together . . . or on what they were supposedly working, I guess; including two teachers (if we count the mysteriously appearing red hair, at best guess) and several students, some of whom are romantically involved, sometimes in unpredictable manners. (But not the twins. Yet.)

Sadly, that full-length anime does not exist, because M and I agreed we would, actually, watch that if it did.

(Maybe it would have had a plot . . . or more with the wings . . . or an explanation of ‘magic royalty’, or Winfield, or the parallel worlds, or what Headmaster Commander Evil Bishie and his right hand were doing, in this world or with/against our protagonists, or. . .)

. . .yeah.

[polygonal-trees]

overall I think the pacing in Bravern is very good, the creators seem to have a good grasp of how to tell a fairly complex story in a relatively short amount of time and the bizarre tonal shifts work well with how wacky and OTT the show is

but I wish it had just maybe two more episodes so it could expand on some things.

like we never got to see Lewis and Lulu properly copilot together, and I think that's a massive shame because it could have further foreshadowed Lulu piloting Superbia and Lewis becoming Bravern. It also would've been just fun to watch, maybe adding a bit more comedy to lull us into a false sense of security right before Lewis's death

and we barely got a glimpse of the alternative future timeline! I would've loved to see what life is like for all the surviving characters, and what the world is like in the wake of the Deathdrive invasion. Show us what Isami's and Bravern's sacrifice actually accomplished! It would've made the emotions hit harder imo

To be clear, I'm not blaming the show runners, they didn't get to decide the series length. But I do think there were some missed opportunities - things that were skipped out of necessity but would have enhanced the story.

tldr: fourteen episode animes when.

[morally-grey-variant]

love is a dagger [loki x oc] [part one]

loki x oc

part one

[master post here]

Pairing: Loki x Original Character (she/they)

Setting: Canon goes out the window as Loki joins the Avengers Compound. He's not exactly "one of the gang" but, in a tentative truce with Thor, is allowed to live and train with the Avengers and other SHIELD agents living and working on the Compound.

Loki's trying to be better. Really, he is. But atoning for his crimes in the Battle of New York -- and processing more trauma than he has begun to comprehend -- hasn't been easy: Thor stuck his neck out to get him here and won't let him forget it. The other Avengers watch him like they expect him to spontaneously combust.

A particularly annoying SHIELD agent approaches him again and again during his solo workout sessions, insistent upon learning hand-to-hand combat and close-quarters weapons skills. Six months in, he's impressed by how far they've come, and falling for them... hard.

Summary: Six months into Agent Grey Forrest's precarious "are we more than friends?" alliance with the God of Mischief, he accidentally stabs her during a training exercise. (wc 2.6k)

(Grey Forrest - femme/nb, presenting androgynous femme, uses she/they pronouns interchangeably.)

Warnings: Later episodes become more explicit -- Minors DNI. Blood, hospital/surgery/sedatives/stitches, general angst, mild swearing, inferences of past trauma. (if I've missed something please let me know!)

(a cheesy title *and* an OC in my first ever Loki fic? we're going all in, agent. this one has floated around in a doc for a few weeks now and she's dying to see the light of day. future eps will include TWs for dark themes but right now she's a slow burn queen that might make you hate me a little. things will get smuttier, I promise.) inspired by the prompt, "loki accidentally stabs you while training."

My wrist pins Loki's arm against the concrete wall. 

“Checkmate.” 

Panting and grinning, I flick my ponytail back over my shoulder. My torso edges against his, the slick athletic material of my uniform sliding against his worn leather armor. Loki pants, his parted lips spilling hot breath across my face. The knife in my hand glints in the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spilling over the blue plastic mat floor of the sparring room.

Loki's bright green eyes flash a half-second before he bodily shoves me aside, spinning us around. He pivots, and my wrist – still clutching my knife – is now locked into his grip. He twists it behind my back and tugs me into his chest. 

Loki's gold dagger finds my throat.

“Checkmate,” he growls playfully. 

Adrenaline spiking, my chest heaves. Damn him. Stupid mistakes like this will get me killed in the field. 

I raise my empty hand, reluctantly signaling surrender. I can practically hear the smug grin of success on his lips as he releases my other wrist, gently pushing me away.

My fingers spread in a gesture of mercy. As if I intend to let him have this one; he's bested me yet again. His answering grin, flashing a glimpse of perfect pearly whites, is infuriatingly confident. Cheeky. A fire blooms in my chest, even as my heart hammers with exhaustion.

He lowers his dagger, his own chest rising and falling beneath his heavily scratched black leather armor. Lulled into a false sense of security by his favorite sparring companion's unwavering surrender.

I lunge forward, taking advantage of that trust in my surrender. My knife strikes out towards his armored torso; my aim wavers, glinting off the worn brassy-gold panel at his waist. 

Loki snatches my arm, flicking it away effortlessly. “Cheating the Trickster?” he jabs, then vanishes in a blink of black smoke. We’ve both broken our rules of combat now: perfidy and sorcery.

“Little traitor.” He reappears to my left. My head spins, disoriented, as he lunges, and I parry backwards – 

His gold blade sinks into the slip of unarmored flesh at my side. Time slows around us as my gaze flutters from the blade to Loki’s face. His confidence melts into horror.

We gasp in unison as steel meets skin. My body recoils instinctively as blade strikes bone, glinting off my ribcage; the scratch against my rib resounds through my entire body. 

“Fuck,” I gasp. All the wind rushes out of my lungs. Loki's hand falters and his blade clatters to the floor. I clutch my ribcage as the room starts spinning around me.

“Grey, I'm so sorry,” Loki pants. He hesitates before stepping toward me, hands hovering over me, paralyzed by fear and indecision. Blood trickles between my fingers.

“Fuck,” I echo. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” My voice is soft in my throat and I can't stop repeating the curse. All my training flies out of my head as my stab wound leaks onto my uniform and drips onto the blue mat beneath my feet. Apply pressure. Get help. 

“Are you alright?”

“Of course I'm not alright,” I spit, finally gathering my bearings. “You fucking stabbed me!” He flinches away, but I’m too rattled to feel particularly guilty. I’m shaking all over, trying to grip the hem of my athletic shirt with my other hand. I tug, but the fabric doesn't give; I can't get a good grasp with my trembling fingers, but I need a cloth to apply pressure and soak up the blood, I need to get down to the medical wing and –

“Stop that,” Loki says. “Come here.” He conjures a white rag in a flash of green light and takes another step towards me.

Before I can so much as blink, he's lifting my bloodied hand from my torso and replacing it with his own. The cloth beneath his palm presses into my chest. One arm slopes across my shoulders, curling me towards him. 

I finally look up at him.

He hovers over me, brows pinched. His chest is still rapidly rising and falling beneath his scarred armor, huffing through his flared nostrils, lips pressed into a flat line. His dark curls spill over his forehead; through them, and his eyes flash up at me, now darkened by swollen pupils.

He looks every inch a kicked dog.

I lay my hand over his. “I've got it,” I murmur. My heart pounds again; unhelpful. Quickening my heart rate will only increase the blood flow.

“Right,” he answers in a soft voice, nodding once and releasing his palm, transferring the pressure back to my hand. “Grey, I never meant to hurt you,” he continues quickly. “My hand slipped. I’m sorry.”

“I need to get to the medical wing.” My vision blurs and shifts; there isn’t enough room in my head for apologies. Dark red quickly soaks through Loki's white cloth. I take a single step forward, but my leg shakes unsteadily. 

Loki stops me. “You're in no fit state to walk. Let me help you.” There's an urgency in his voice. Fear laces the edge of his words.

My breath hitches and shudders. “I can walk.”

“Damn it all, Grey,” he barks, gripping my arm. “Let me help you.” 

I jerk my head up, eyes wide. 

It's been a long time since I've been afraid of Loki. 

He clenches every muscle in his jaw, the sharp cut of his chin barely containing the multitude of biting comments forming there. But there's no fury in his eyes. Frustration, yes; but no anger.

It's fear. 

Black fear sours his expression. Loki, who perpetually radiates cocksure swagger and irritating arrogance, is reduced to a frightened, trembling hesitation.

“Please.” A gentler tone, firm but tender. The vice-like grip of his long fingers loosens. I nod. My head swims and I clutch my forehead with my free hand.

Loki scoops me into his arms. My world flips upside-down; I squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of dizziness. Every step rattles my body, forcing me to bite back a groan of pain.

“I'm getting blood on your armor,” I say, tipping my head onto his shoulder. Anything to abate this dizziness; if I throw up on his armor, I’ll probably die of embarrassment – if the stab wound doesn’t get me first. The hand clutching my side, now pressed into his torso, feels sticky and wet. “Why am I losing so much blood?”

“Hush now,” he croons softly. My stomach churns.

I can't decide if it's from the stab wound, or from Loki. His arms curl around my body with strength and gentleness that might tear me apart. 

I can't stop picturing that fear in his eyes. Like a kicked dog. A dog who's been kicked over and over for the crime of loving. Who can't stop running back to whatever – or whomever – hurt him. 

I've never kicked this dog. Why is he afraid of me?

“I'm gonna be fine, Loki,” I murmur, my cheek pressed into a metal buckle of his training armor. I shift my head, tucking it into his chest. I'm getting tired. “Fine.” But my hand shifts against the wound and I can tell the cloth is soaked through.

Loki's chest rumbles, but I can't make out what he's saying. It's a frustrated noise, I know that much. He makes enough little noises of discontent that I've learned to differentiate between the sounds. 

Other voices fill the space around us. I think he’s telling someone what happened, though much of his voice is still a low rumble in his chest. My leaden head sinks into him.

Suddenly, he’s relinquishing me, laying me down on a hard, flat surface. It's my turn to grumble discontented noises. My arms stretch out back towards the safety of his, but other hands start prodding and grabbing at me. My eyes fly open, heart pounding again, I’m gasping for air–

“You're all right,” Loki murmurs in a low voice somewhere beside me. “They’re going to help you now.”

Medical staff swarm as the stretcher jolts forward. I squeeze my eyes shut again. Lights flash behind my eyelids at regular intervals. 

“Sir, were going to have to ask you to wait–”

“I'll stay right here, thank you.” 

The stretcher jerks to a halt. Fingers and needles pinch against my arm, unpleasantly shocking my brain in and out of the heavy sluggish fog. My athletic shirt tugs downward with a metallic snick of scissors– 

I blink my eyes open again, hands slapping against the hands and shears cutting through my clothes – no, stop, and I think the words gasp out of my throat but I can't be sure if I’m actually saying them out loud.

“Agent, we have to access the wound,” a voice snaps through the warbled haze. Someone pulls my hands away. My stomach flips – I can't freak out, if I freak out I'll lose control, I can't freak out, but now I'm totally freaking out – 

But then there's a gentle hand on my temple. “Let them help you.” Loki's voice is almost unfamiliar in its tenderness. A surge of bright electricity erupts in my heart, flooding through every vein and nerve ending; the blip, blip, blip of some machine in the room keeps pace. “You're safe here, Grey. Agent.” He tacks on the last word like a formality. An afterthought.

Although his gentleness sets my heart racing, his words have their intended effect. I don't fight back as the nurse cuts clean through my blood-soaked top, exposing my torso. Glancing down, I wish I hadn't when I see how my chest is smeared with blood. The nurse blessedly doesn't cut through my sports bra, since the wound seems to lie a few inches below the elastic band. 

Another warm, thick sensation spreads down my left arm, spilling down my fingers and out across my torso. My eyes drift closed again – everything feels better now. I can ignore the stinging of alcohol and iodine swabs around the wound, prodding fingers and soft gauze that catch against raw flesh. “It's a clean cut,” someone pronounces. Loki's hand stiffens against my temple. “Less than an inch deep, about two inches long.” A keyboard crackles as someone takes notes. 

“Agent Forrest,” someone asks, “we’re going to stitch up the wound now. All right?” 

“Mmm,” I hum, rolling my head so the elastic of my ponytail doesn't dig into my skull. Loki's thumb strokes against my temple. The needle and surgical thread tug against the tender skin over my ribcage, pulling and tightening and piercing over and over again.

Voices echo from down the hall. The warm, brain-addling sedative conjures up familiar characters for a dream half-rooted in reality. Shouting voices, and the tenor of someone familiar, authoritative, and very pissed right outside the door.

“You're fucking kidding me. You let him in there with her?” 

“Mr. Stark, the doctor is right in the middle of the procedure,” a female voice insists. 

“And I pay the doctor's salary,” Tony shouts as if he's right at my feet. I force my eyes open – I hate this dream. I don't want Tony in my dream. 

Oh. Red-faced and seething, what I can only assume is a very real Tony Stark looms over the end of my bed. Shame, and something like fear burn in my chest, tugging me to the surface of the drug-induced fog.

“Mr. Stark, I must insist, the patient's wound–” the doctor insists, turning his head but remaining hunched over my torso.

“Nurse, call security,” Tony barks. “Scratch that. I'll escort the threat out myself.”

“Tony, it's not what it looks like–” Loki says. His hand never leaves my head, cradling it tenderly even as he raises his voice. The doctor shakes his head and finishes up the last stitches.

“You fucking stabbed Agent Forrest?” Tony growls, lifting his arm – his finger trails along the metal cuff at his wrist, preparing to summon one of his suits. 

“Not in the hospital!” The nurse shouts, jumping to her feet. Her voice is weighted with enough authority that even Tony pauses. “Take it outside. We have seriously sick people here.”

“You let her attacker into the room with her,” Tony counters, thrusting a finger towards Loki. “He could slaughter all of you before you could scream for help.”

“He brought her here, Mr. Stark,” the doctor says, tying off the last stitch. “If he wanted to kill any of us, he's had plenty of time.”

“Tony…” I grumble. My tongue is thick and heavy in my mouth. Loki's hand slips away from my temple. I shift my head as the cradle of his fingers disappears. My leaden skull feels like it’s swollen twice its size. “Too much morphine.” I blink hard, my brow creased in concentration. Why am I so loopy? “If Loki wanted t’kill me, I’d’ve killed him. I'm fine. 's an accident.” 

“We’ll take you off the IV,” the nurse explained, coming closer to pinch and prod at my arm. “The wound is fairly shallow.”

“See?” I raise my arm, gesturing to the nurse. “Fine.”

“You got lucky, Forrest. This man has stabbed more Avengers than not,” Tony counters, ignoring my morphine-drunk threat. “You have ten seconds before I throw you out that window, space man.”

“Stupid, Tony,” I grumble, growing frustrated. Bracing my forearms against the bed, I push myself up. Loki stops me before the nurses can so much as flinch.

“Lie down,” he says, finally stepping into my line of sight. 

“Oh my god, Loki,” I gasp, blinking hard. He's completely drenched in blood – my blood. My hand flies up to brush against the front of his armor.

He lowers a hand to brace against my chest before quickly reconsidering and pushing down on my shoulder. Soft green light flashes in my periphery and a pillow cushions the back of my head as he lowers me back onto the stretcher. “Don’t hurt yourself,” he continues urgently. 

I resign myself to a more horizontal position, but I still reach out towards him. IV tubes tug against my arm, but my hand rests flat against the blood-smeared leather protecting his torso. “Fuck… bled all over you.”

Loki smirks. His hand wraps around mine, lowering it back to my side. “An excuse to requisition something new from the armory,” he answers. His hands are coated in my blood, too. “Something with a bit more gold, perhaps?”

“Black and gold,” I hum. “Green’s more your color.”

“Are we done here?” Tony snaps, and my tunneled vision explodes back out into the room. I'd forgotten the room was full of people.

“Tony…” I murmur. My head is starting to clear somewhat. “Loki wasn't trying to kill me. It was an accident. My fault.”

“Mr. Stark, the patient needs to rest,” the nurse interjects, clipboard chart clutched in her hand. “I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”

Tony storms out. In the hall, I can hear him demanding to have a word with someone about hospital security.

Loki smirks down at me, though his face is still pale. Paler than usual.

“You too, Mr. Laufeyson,” the nurse adds. She wedges herself between us, forcing him to step to the side.

“No,” I groan. “Let him stay. Loki, stay with me. I hate it here.”

Loki's hand strokes my temple again. The nurse frowns down at me as she changes the IV. A new bag, heavy with dark blood, sags from the silver pole behind her.

“We finally got your blood type from your file,” she explains. “Your… friend can stay while you receive the infusion.”

Loki pushes back hair that clings to my forehead, still damp with drying sweat. “Don't leave, Loki.” I wince against the pinching sensations and beads of blood welling up as she removes the first line and places another for the blood.

“I'm not going anywhere.”

[continue reading in part two]

[planetaryaether]

A second cameo has hit yogtowers (JF2)!

Idk if this is at all going to be representative of the rest of the series but the frequency of the last two is really interesting and I am wondering what all they have planned for the future, especially with them pulling in old references like Sips buying Honeydew Inc. Big lore plans or not, it is a lot of fun to see all the references to past series and new additions to the lore!

Thoughts on the Episode Under the Cut:

On that note, Sips' comments about having cloning technology and not being sure if the others have the same access to that technology while JF2!Xephos has expressed concerns that he (who usually is in control of the cloning chaos) is a clone is really interesting. Is Prime!Xephos (or just Yoglabs!Xephos depending on your opinions of the fate of Prime!Xephos) pulling the strings even behind Sips? Letting him know about the cloning, but letting him think that he is one of the select few who knows about/has access to it is a really good way to take advantage of C!Sips' ego and make him feel in control while being able to use that feeling of safety/being in power against him (giving him the weapon also helps lull him into a false sense of security).

His being cagey about his other investments is also really interesting because C!Sips is always one to take an opportunity to make a joke when given such an easy opportunity, so in not doing that and refusing to talk about the subject even as a joke potentially hints that he has more information about the situation than he is letting on. At the same time, if you take his comments about inheriting the company in the same way as Jack not knowing where the magic beans came from (when it came to not knowing anything about the overseer realm) then it is even more likely that someone, likely (but not necessarily) a version of Xephos has plans going on in the background.

Further, the plan would likely take one of two general forms 1) something where it is important that Honeydew is not the head of the company on paper (and in this case Honeydew selling the company to Sips was part of the plan) or 2) something oriented towards getting the company back into Honeydew's ownership (potentially further tanking the value or reputation of the company, forcing its sale where Honeydew/Xephos/Yoglabs can then acquire it again). In this second case, the initial sale of the company would have been truly an accident/mistake by Honeydew and the rest of this is just an attempt to fix it.

(that is, of course, if the very limited information we currently have is accurate and/or that the overall plot makes sense which for a comedy series, is not strictly necessary lol)

[ragingstillness]

Gonna put all my “The Boys” thoughts in one spot so I don’t have to tag a million posts

Ok so either Hughie’s mom is a pickpocket or she got her own hands on V and considering she works for Vought this 100% feels like a set up to something dark. For a part of the episode I actually thought maybe she’s part of the Homelander project team but higher up the food chain. Idk but something is going down there.

Did Butcher rip Ezekiel apart or did he straight up eat him? Feels weird to say but there weren’t enough body parts in the trailer to make just beating him up the case.

Thought for a second that Colin actually knew it was Frenchie all along and was sleeping with him to lull him into a false sense of security to kill him. Guess not. The reveal went pretty much as I predicted it would. Maybe finally they’ll let Frenchie and Kimiko get together.

Firecracker is such a bitch. I don’t use that word lightly but airing Starlight’s abortion? So far over the line you can’t see the line in the distance anymore. Ngl, while Annie’s stock may have dropped with bible thumpers I bet she’s about to get a wave of liberal support. If no superpowers were involved I think anyone would have jumped someone who aired their private medical information like that. And she didn’t even kill her! Just kicked her around a bit! Absolutely deserved. When Sage gave Firecracker the document I thought it was a video of starlight spreading that nasty rumor about her but this is way worse.

I am so glad Hughie was cool about the abortion I was about to get so mad if he was a dick about it. Not to get gross but did the clinic manage to put Annie under for the procedure? Doesn’t that require like bioweapons to knock out a supe? Did she have to be conscious for it? Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

I was sad we were gonna lose Simon Pegg but now I’m just pumped as all get out to see what powers he gets. Hope they finally make good use of his acting talent.

Speaking of acting talent every scene with Homelander this episode felt like watching an acting masterclass. Like holy fuck Anthony Starr can do anything! The laughing the switch from calm to furious the looks the tone of voice just amazing.

I felt like there was a bit of mischief crackling in the air between A-Train and Ashley, I hope they trashed the hell out of Homelander’s weird apartment.

No Ryan this episode, interesting.