#i have to like skip that scene every time so i don't get mad

[thewardenisonthecase]

Met the inquisitor again, which brings me to thinking about how blighting the south makes no sense because like how are these darkspawn causing so much mayhem if their masters (the archdemons/evanuris) are not there

Let me explain.

The game says that the reason shit is bad in the south is because these are different darkspawn but I'm going to be a 100% with you, besides the exploding and spear throwing darkspawn, they are not so different than before. Oh now you have one type of darkspawn that's a bit bigger and armored, well Hawke of all people has fought a heavily armored darkspawn (on the Lgeacy DLC) and it wasn't a huge issue.

So anyways, what makes the darkspawn a force to be reckoned with, besides spreading a deadly disease, its that during a blight, they become a massive army, but the darkspawn only get thsi reunited because of the archdemon leading them.

So it is weird to me that all these darkspawn, with no leadership, are being able to cause this much continuous destruction. Remember, once the archdemon is gone, the darkspawn scatter like mice back to the deep roads, with Awakening being the exception. And the inquisitor never mentions the archdemon showing up in southern thedas nor do i think ghil or elgar would allow them to fly that far away from them.

also like these dudes are vulnerable to fire. FIRE. give a bunch of molotov cocktails to ferelden farmers and they'll get the job done.

[eriexplosion]

Yesterday everyone was posting their feelings on TBB. I'm glad I waited, because there's a lot swirling around. Cut for negativity again.

I was introduced to The Bad Batch in August 2022 and fell instantly in love. The characters, the story, the complex family dynamics, they all spoke to me. I wasn't even a Star Wars fan but I went through and devoured The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian, all of it. I threw myself into this world and adored every second of it. I must have rewatched season one over five times before season two even came out.

When season two premiered I loved it. Every Tuesday night I stayed up until the episode drop and devoured it immediately. I looked ahead at the schedule and took days off work for the double episodes, for the big Crosshair episodes - he was my favorite early on and season two only made that grow. But season two also really brought Tech into my radar even more. I had always liked him, but here he was shining. The Crossing really solidified it, as an autistic person. I'd never heard someone describe the difference in processing so succinctly before, so clearly, and it spoke to me like very little had. Here was a character that was like me. Here was a character that I needed when I was an undiagnosed child, someone that would have made me feel like I had at least some way of describing my differences.

Then, well. He died. It was an affecting scene, but it felt out of nowhere, it felt unfinished. Tech didn't even get the climax of the episode. He just fell into the clouds, the Batch grieved for a few minutes, and then the plot steamrolled right along.

I didn't believe it, not after the mad scientist presented his goggles and claimed not to salvage anything else. It seemed like such an obvious fake out. The longer I sat with it the less satisfying it felt. It felt so brushed over, so pointless, all for a mission that they accomplished nothing on. Then came the social media circus. Again and again his fall was shoved in our faces on Twitter, demanding we stream it. TikToks were made that were so out of touch they felt like parodies, the wound ripped open again and again, and I thought surely there had to be a purpose to it.

So I waited for season 3 as interviews were done that seemed to almost intentionally avoid calling him dead. As tweets were made promising we'd be so fulfilled if we could only see who was onscreen in the mid-season! (A tweet that immediately garnered dozens of people hoping it referred to Tech, all without a single comment to try and quell the speculation.) It felt already like we were being toyed with, but I thought it had to be for a reason or a purpose. More weirdly vague discussions went up about his Sacrifice, his Fall, his Anything But Death, even as everyone insists that it was so meaningful, the way he died on a mission that accomplished nothing. Jokes were made around Valentines Day.

He Fell For You, get it?

The first official use of killed went up on the databank right after the trailer, on Hunter's page of all places. The first time the interviews used dead was the Friday before the premier. It all felt too late, theories had already grown for months by that point.

Season 3 finally came and I waited up for every episode drop just like I did for season 2, hoping for him to come back or at least for him to be properly grieved, since we had barely a couple of minutes in Plan 99 before it was swept away for the next plot point. Surely Tech's impact deserved an episode of focus, if he were really gone.

The previously on plays his last words twice. But then we skip months into the future. We don't see Crosshair find out the news - even though Tech died on a mission to retrieve him. We don't watch Omega grieve. She barely seems to notice she's missing a brother. We got a brief allusion in episode two. It took three episodes to even mention his name in passing. Five episodes in everyone got their chance to look sad about him, but only for a few seconds and only when his skills were relevant. Compared to the gorgeous callback to Mayday in the same episode, it felt shallow. He had to have been more important than this didn't he?

Episodes 6 & 7 felt like maybe there was a reason. We see a new masked assassin that gets extra focus, who got put through a series of Tech-adjacent situations, whose beef with Crosshair was just a little too personal, who survived longer than all the rest but stayed masked. Rex talks about losing brothers, but Hunter says nothing about the brother they lost. I hoped it all meant something, that this was the reason that he felt so much like he was thrown away, so that he could come back in.

More one off mentions that only really come up when it's about how useful Tech would have been. More poking at the wound that still felt open and raw because we'd never gotten any closure. The closest we get is a single scene in episode eleven, so late in the season and so brief that I thought that couldn't possibly be it.

CX-2 comes back, and he talks like Tech. He's still not unmasked. I really need him to be something because otherwise what was it all for?

The most emotion comes in Juggernaut, from Phee. Its a highlight because it actually feels like it was about him, like he mattered as a person. It's episode twelve and we finally talk about him like a person. We never saw her get the news either.

Episodes thirteen and fourteen pass without any mentions at all. We're running out of time. Episode 15 hits and we get one raw one from Crosshair that Clone Force 99 died with Tech. It's the first time they directly say he's dead in so many words. It's the season finale. CX-2 is a nobody it turns out, and he dies faceless. Everyone gets a happy ending and after over a year of wondering if we'd ever get closure, it turns out Tech's just dead. But look how happy everyone else is!

Everyone gets to grow old. Except the autistic one of course. He's just dead and it hardly feels like it mattered at all. Did you know Wrecker and Hunter don't use his name once in season three? Omega and Echo mention him once each. Crosshair twice, only once with any emotion behind it. Phee tops the charts at three mentions, two by name and one by nickname. We see his goggles four times. I kept count.

There was never a bigger plan, this was just all he was worth. We spent two seasons on Crosshair's absence. We spent a whole episode dealing with it when Echo decided to go with Rex. Tech dies though and all his life amounted to was a handful of mentions when his skills would have been useful, some shots of his broken goggles, and endless cooing out of the text over how meaningful his sacrifice was. Too meaningful to take back, of course, even as Ventress is brought back from her own sacrifice.

I had really, really thought that this time autistic life would be worth more than autistic death. That a character that felt so carefully handled couldn't have just been thrown away for shock value, barely to even be mentioned again, his memory used to string us along to keep us watching. If you added up every mention and shot through season 3 it might actually clock in at less time than was spent on Mayday's send off.

I'm an adult. I'll survive, though the sting of seeing yet another character like me used as a stepping stone for everyone else's happy ending will take a while to fade. But I think about the child I used to be who needed a character like Tech. And I think about how it would have felt to actually get that only to watch him die a handful of episodes later as a side note to his family's story, barely even mentioned again. How badly it would have hurt, how deep it would have scarred.

I'm not that child anymore. But there are a lot of autistic kids out there that are the same as I used to be, and they're learning for the first time that people like us don't get happy endings. Instead they die so that everyone around them can rise up, and they might even get mentioned a few times. But don't worry. Everyone will tell you how meaningful and special it is and how delusional you were to ever hope for anything else.

The Bad Batch still means a lot to me. I think it always will. I love the characters. I love the family, and all the potential they had. But the sting of not belonging in this happy ending is there, and it's deep. It's been a long time since I trusted a show. It'll be a long time before I risk trusting another. And I hope that the autistic kids trying to learn how to close their hearts off behind new walls are doing okay.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hobie Brown Character AI is hypocritical.

I really be like 'ayo AI directly damages writers, voice actors and unions can you not use them, which in turn makes them better and more useful to the studios?' and people get MAD

People can say 'hey don't spend your money on Spiderpunk merch it directly contributes to corporations. That's not what he would've wanted'

And everybody cheers.

But if someone says 'hey please don't use Spiderpunk AI - it directly contributes to large movie studios using AI against the WGA. That's not what Hobie would've wanted'

And then SUDDENLY it's 'i just wanna write my little ai stories what's so wrong with that?'

You're directly going against the asks of a union that is actively striking.

That's not what Hobie would want.

Every time you roleplay with an AI or use a voice AI - You're helping develop the technology that puts people out of jobs

You want your Hobie AI stories to be realistic cause it's easier for you and more fun? GOOD.

THAT'S EXACTLY HOW THE STUDIOS FEEL TOO. They want their Hobie AI stories to be as realistic as possible too - because then they don't have to pay their writers.

The same AI that writes Hobie fics for you is the same technology that writes scripts for studios.

The more you feed an AI Hobie information - the easier it is for the AI to produce - say, an entire scene from a Hobie movie script. Without the consent or input of the people who created him in the first place.

When Studios use AI, they can make the characters do and say anything without the writers or voice actors input.

Imagine you're an voice actor - they want you to say a line that's really offense and you refuse.

They say "Okay, that's fine. Just skip the line."

You say okay. You finish the rest of the lines and go home.

You go see the movie. And you hear all your normal lines - then you hear yourself saying the extremely offensive line.

What happened? The studio used a Voice AI of you to fill in the offensive line you didn't wanna say. Don't want your voice used that way? Too bad. They own the AI. They can make you say anything now.

Your agent can't help you and neither can your PR. You just have to take it.

Is that something Hobie would want for people?

If you cap for HOBIE in specific -

And you still use to choice AI despite knowing it's getting weaponized against the working class -

That behavior is hypocritical. There I said it.

You can't wake up gushing about a black working class punk and then be like 'what do you mean working class solidarity with a union that doesn't involve me'

You can't be out here loving a character known for helping oppressed people break out of technology that is made to oppress and harm them - (Go-Home Machine, The red Anamoly cages)

AND THEN be the ones aiding in the creation of a technology make to oppress and harm people.

With Hobie in specific - it goes against the entire morals of the character.

ROLEPLAY AND VOICE CHARACTER AIs THREATENS WRITERS AND VOICE ACTORS. I am out of work right now because of a strike based solely on this discussion.

The WGA strike is still happening. The holidays are coming fast. We need our jobs back. The better AI studios have, the less likely that becomes.

The more realistic your Hobie roleplay becomes - the easier it is for a studio to take that same technology and write a script with.

Why would a studio PAY a voice actor when someone on Tiktok developed an entire Hobie Brown AI for them that can say anything? They wouldn't. They'd just use the AI for free instead. The same one you're using.

Please - out of respect for the writers who made him and put careful time into him and his representation and his story - PLEASE, So those people can keep their homes, and jobs, and food in their children's mouths -

DON'T USE CHARACTER AI

Hobie would want you to stand with the union 💙

signed - a Production Assistant.

[mgarmagedon]

Okay my Transformers Earthspark season 2B review!!!

There will be spoilers, skip it if you don't want any spoilers

I won't repeat myself about topics I already talked about like Hashtag, plot holes, graphics that give me nightmares, etc.

So... you can be surprised but most of the episodes weren't making me instantly mad! Ik, ik, it's shocking, but yeah, main cause of it is Prowl! Like every episode that he was in was entertaining enough to foucs me on what was happening and not make me think about all the fucking filler and waste of potential is happening in background XDD

But before we go to this part, let's start from the beginning! 3 first ep of this part of a season were just straight up fucking filler. Like those eps were so boring and unimportant that while i was writing a review of it on my instagram yesterday I needed to rewatch first episode, because I forgot what was happening there XDDD like omg every ep before Prowl showed up was so useless and waste of time!!! Like they could use it for like idk STARSCREAM DEVELOPMENT WHICH THEY STARTED IN SEASON 1, RUINED IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND AND DID NOTHING LATER WITH IT

But lets go to the fun part uwu which is ep where Prowl shows up, like he and Megatron are holding this fucking shit show on their shoulders every scene they are in XD

Like Prowl is such a funny racist bitch, I'm kinda sad that they forgot that Tarantulus exist and never do something with him and Prowl, like that would be so cool if Prowl was anti hero, not a villain... but him being funny racist learning that he should respect other ppl is ig cool???

I still fucking can't believe that his figure is repainted cyberverse Roddi

And second is Megan, which is serving (not in design way), every scene that she shows up in is just melting my heart, because he is such a cute grandpa for Twitch (he is not her fucking father figure, he is elder man which is taking care of youngling, which means he is grandpa for hair >:(((()

I can only put one video in the post so I only show you this, but like OMG he is stealing the fucking show, every fucking scene he calls her 'little bird' one child rids off the daddy issue

But let's come back to rest of the stuff, which means: too many fucking characters.

Like there is so much characters that they have almost 0 time do develop or even talk, like yet Grimlock showed up only in zombie ep for longer than 10 seconds in season overall, and doesn't even talk XDD

Or Starscream situation, like for sure focusing on terrans having troubles with Robby's alien date was more important than Screamer reliving the trauma of being left by everyone and getting crazy to the point he is talking to corpses... IT'S NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL

And I don't even wanna know what they will do with this giant bitch which they woke up in the end...

ANYWAY Season 2B is getting 5/10 score, which is the highest for Earthspark yet!

It's like buying from the Shein, you think it looks cute and cool, but turns to dust while you put it on your ass.

Ah and this one pic I made a while ago is still really valid

Ah and Izzy is bad villain like bad not in evil way just bad

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's Sake | Things You Didn't Notice #3 | Learning Korean with the boys

I have (barely) emotionally recovered after the ending of this series, and so I'm back with my usual translation notices and cultural specialties posts ^^ Long post ahead!

// Read previous posts with translations & comments I pointed out //

This time I'll look at the Episode 3 [Yeowoon's Affection level from 0 to -99]. Disclaimer: I'm not fluent in Korean but I've been learning it for years and I've lived and studied in Korea for a while. However, in particular Sangwon and Sia annoyed me so much this episode because their banter is so funny but I cannot decipher their wordplay 100% by ear without KR subs so I have to skip over their dialogues %)

Anyway, there's still some fun language stuff to point out!

- "You're late, Senior (hyung)" - "Senior? (Sunbae?)"

Fun fact: Sangwon, who's the same year as Yeowoon, addresses Myungha as "hyung". Meanwhile Yeowoon addresses Myungha only as "sunbae". Hyung is a term guys call their older male friends (if you're familiar with Thai BLs as well, it's same as "Pi"), meanwhile gender-neutral sunbae means senior, someone who's been longer than you in the industry or some institution (like school).

If I remember correctly, Yeowoon keeps calling Myungha 'sunbae/senior' until the very end of the show. Even when they are sleeping over in the same house after school hours, Yeowoon doesn't call Myungha hyung but sunbae only. In Korea, you use titles or formal full names to people older than you or acquaintances, and you usually use names with the people younger than you. That's why, if you think about it, there wasn't a moment in show when Yeowoon says Myungha's name :D Only sunbae. And that's normal. (this is also why Myungha never mentions Writer sunbae's name at all)

Also, we'll return to Myungha's usage of Yeowoon's name a bit later.

"Keep doing it if you want to die young, Sangwon-ah." "*gasp* You call me by my name when you're mad?"

But Sangwon is talking to Myungha in a very familiar way, using 'hyung' instead of 'senior' every time, making it feel like they are friends (and most of their interaction this episode revolves around Sangwon trying to make Myungha talk to him like a close friend as well xD).

Why is Sangwon so thrilled every time Myungha calls him by his name? Because there are many other Korean words you can use for people, especially if you're angry with them (ranging from the impolite 'this guy' to swearwords). But every time Myungha gives a casual warning to Sangwon who's annoying him, he still says "Sangwon-ah", which is how you'd call your younger friend who's just being a brat. No wonder Sangwon keeps pushing Myungha to get his attention and affection^^

On the topic of names and intonation: I noticed Myungha uses aegyo (acting cute) often when he talks to his grandma. However, with other school students, like I mentioned in my previous language posts, most of the time his speech feels like a patronizing talk of a 29-y.o. adult.

But! I found that one scene when Myungha is deliberately using aegyo with Yeowoon! The reason for it is that Yeowoon finally responded and wanted to meet up after avoiding him for so long, and Myungha is extremely excited.

"Yeowoon-ie, you're waiting for hyung?~" "Don't use that voice".

Two things: Myungha calls himself Yeowoon's "hyung" which feels closer than "sunbae", he wanted to take the next step and make their communication less formal. And instead of saying friendly "Yeowoon-ah" like he always does, he changed the pronunciation of his name to "Yeowoon-ie" — which is, together with the playful intonation in his voice, is so. fucking. cute. However, Yeowoon instantly rejected his aegyo and Myungha returned to the way he always spoke x) RIP.

I already pointed it out briefly in another post but – Myungha cooked a curry rice for dinner with Yeowoon. It might not seem like anything, but I thought it was an amazing detail to show later in the series that even when Yeowoon almost forgotten about Myungha who disappeared, he kept bulk buying rice with curry (yellow packages) for his dinner.

"You act like you're my parent (guardian)." "Well, you're not wrong."

I thought that Myungha telling Yeowoon he's not wrong about him being his "parent" was a bit weird, and indeed, the word they are using here is 보호자 (bohoja), which is "guardian". It can be said about parents but also about anyone who's protecting something or someone as well. Which is exactly what Myungha is striving to do in this world and in this game. To protect and take care of Yeowoon.

"My mom split (ran away) but my dad said she died." "I wish I could split (run away)... I kept running around the field because I felt frustrated. But how could I run away?"

Here I'll need some help from native English speakers, which I'm not, can 'split' be used in this dialogue with the same connotation? Because in Korean, Myungha clearly says "My mom ran away", to which Yeowoon responds "I wish I could run away" and immediately remembering about the reason why he became a runner. And I just loved the accent the show made on this word, which got lost in Gaga subs.

"Don't slack off because you think no one sees." "Maintain your image (Do some mental training)"

This one is surely a mistranslation. The coach says "Do Image Training", in Korea and in some other Asian countries, as far as I encountered this term, this basically means "mental training", or "meditation" and has nothing to do with maintaining one's reputation.

Think "breathe in, breathe out and think how well you'll do and imagine yourself running that race before it starts".

Yeah, probably no one cared about that dialogue or scene anyway, but I hope you're still enjoying my hyperfixation on this show xD Anyway, it's been a long post and I'm done for Episode 3 — but as a bonus, let me share bonus with one of the Sangwoon x Sia scenes.

+

I tried hard to figure out the word that Sia uses when Myungha pleads her to get rid of Sangwoon, and the closest I could get was 분력 (the power of Buddha), but one thing for sure — following Myungha's begging, Sia cross-sprayed Sangwoon with perfume like holy water and ordered him like "Begone, demon!". Lmao :D

[stillness-in-green]

Chapter Thoughts — Chapter 423: One For All vs. All For One

At the request of a few asks, have some chapter thoughts. I will warn everyone in advance that some portions of this post are extremely bitter. This is less salty than it is bile-flavored. It's also not quite as thorough as other posts have been, as my disillusionment with the material limits my willingness to comb the chapter for details to muse about beyond the ones that jump out at me.

None of which is to say that this post is short.

CONTENT WARNING: Confrontational rhetoric about irl prisons and the hypothetical of committing suicide to avoid them. I have strong personal feelings about some of the language I've been seeing from defenders of this chapter and I'm in no mood to prevaricate around them.

o Danger Sense continues to be some real bullshit.  My initial response to the leaks was that it was yet another dumb contrivance to make things arbitrarily harder for the villains than equivalent things would be for the Heroes, but reading the official release, I actually just think it's dumb that AFO thinks Danger Sense would have alerted him to his/Shigaraki's failing body at all.  Why would it?  Danger Sense nominally (nominally) activates based on hostility, and where's the hostility in super-regeneration failing?  If it were the remnants of Shigaraki/OFA attacking him from within his own body, that'd be one thing, but that doesn't seem to be what the first few pages are getting at. 

Rather, it's just that the power of OFA is being too much for his body, in the same way it was for Deku at the beginning.  As if, you know, Shigaraki hasn't already been surgically modified to handle both AFO and, presumably, OFA the whole time.  Ujiko only mentioned the former specifically, but given that the plan was always for AFO's new vessel to be able to steal OFA, why wouldn't that also be accounted for?  The best I can think is that AFO and Ujiko didn't know that OFA would put such strain on the body, but it's not like AFO couldn't have observed that the quirk's been growing stronger over the generations.  If he and Ujiko just failed to calibrate the body correctly, it's a failure of Ujiko's warped genius as a mad biologist and quirk scientist—which again takes us back to dumb contrivances that make things harder for the villains than they would be for the heroes.

    

o The Kurogiri scene would be very touching if it, you know, actually amounted to something.  If it didn't apparently end with Bakugou coming in to murder him.  Except we don't even quite get that level of commitment because Kurogiri was falling apart already, so you get the impression that he would have collapsed with or without Bakugou's intervention.

    

o This in turn makes Bakugou's intervention really silly and pointless.  My god, I don't care.  I do not care!  I do not care about Bakugou pushing Deku two steps forward past a barrier that was already failing.  I do not care about Bakugou getting one last stupid victory lap when he's already dramatically endured a severe beating and emotional assault, stood back up from the stupidest heart surgery in the history of fiction, and faced down everything AFO could unleash on him, far outstripping that same villain's climactic efforts fighting All Might in Kamino in what remains AFO's only semi-emotionally resonant battle in the whole manga.  As it is, this is just one more ludicrous handwaved magical cross-country teleport like every other one the Heroes have been enjoying through this whole fight.

    

o Yoichi paying attention to AFO now?  Man, imagine if we could have just skipped a bunch of bullshit and gotten this way back in Chapter 368, when Yoichi first told AFO that it was over.  Imagine if Vestige Yoichi had something like this when his actual for-real flesh-and-blood brother died, rather than having zero reaction to it whatsoever, not even looking over Deku's psychic shoulder and making a sad face about it.

o It actually kind of offends me that Horikoshi thinks he can get away with taking a stab in the direction of making AFO "sympathetic" now.  Now, after he's spent the entire endgame portraying AFO as a two-dimensional Demon Lord who was literally Evil In Utero.  And, you know, I'd buy AFO as being Evil In Utero but also capable of loneliness, sure. And I'm even more than on board with interpreting AFO as a man who's spent the last century working 24:7 to convince himself that he's heartlessly evil to deal with the loss of the only family he ever had. But the fact that this statement has been put in the mouth of Deku, who has never indicated the faintest trace of sympathy or understanding, much less compassion for AFO?  Fuck off.

    

o All that Yoichi hyping up Deku's incredible finesse in attacking Shigaraki with the stored-up OFA quirks makes me think is, "Welcome to My Hero Academia, where the stakes are made up and the past doesn't matter!"  I am so abominably weary of the endgame's—and the series in general's—willing to just baldly lie to the audience's face about what is actually happening at any given point in the story.

That was the moment when we should have had a response from Yoichi, what with Shigaraki having apparently torn AFO's vestige limb from psychic limb and Bakugou overseeing as the real man rewound out of existence.  That Yoichi didn't respond back then just made him seem like he'd written off his brother generations ago; it makes his sorrowful-yet-grateful act in this chapter incredibly unearned.  Of course, the actual reason we didn't get a beat like this back then wasn't for any reason consistent with Yoichi's feelings about his brother, nor because Yoichi was too far away to know that the brother he has a psychic bond with was dying.  No, it was because Horikoshi was already writing towards this beat instead, so he didn't need to bother.  The last time Yoichi looks the real AFO’s way was the chapter-ending Bakugou blast of 409, when it takes the first eight pages of 410 for AFO’s Rewinding death to finalize itself.  The Hawks vestige talked more to All For One in his last moments than AFO’s own brother did.

    

Internal monologue is placed where internal monologue cannot possibly exist.  Characters' plans are backdated to points in the story which are completely irreconcilable with how those characters were behaving at the time.  Surprise and dismay are pantomimed from characters who are revealed to have anticipated and planned for the very eventuality they're acting so shocked about.

The main character, a kid who was once characterized by his tendency to mutter his thoughts out loud, who had a running gag of tightly packed, densely worded speech/thought balloons, has been reduced to an empty marionette, devoid of internal monologue, scoured of thoughts more complex than the multiplication tables of his quirk combinations.  The story can retroactively say that Deku did—intentionally and willfully!—anything it wants and not have to worry about belying its phony stakes and made-for-Twitter cliffhangers because it has deprived Deku of his own capacity to reflect.  He can't spoil twist reveals of his own true intentions if the narrative completely locks us out of his head!  Nevermind how much of his final battle has occurred inside a shared goddamn psychic space.

All of this has made it totally impossible for me to read the story as a story.  Not only do I see the strings, the strings have become all I can see.

Of course the vestiges are back one last time for a dramatic punch, despite multiple chapters swearing up and down to us that we were seeing a big emotional sacrifice play.  Last chapter we witnessed the word vomit that was Horikoshi trying to justify Star's pilots surviving their planes blowing up, because that's how determined Horikoshi is that no one on Team Hero actually die.  Of course the vestiges came back.

Who cares?  Truly, who the fuck cares?  I don't care about them; I don't care about whether they'll be back again in the epilogue; I don't care about why Vestige Might and Shinomori are missing from the punch; I don't care about the story finally trying to pretend that anyone in its pages has ever given a single starving river rat's ass about All For One's humanity.

—NOW ENTERING FULL-FLEDGED RANT ZONE—

I care about the only characters who have ever been facing actual stakes in this war: Shigaraki and his followers.

    

o Even though I care, I don't have it in me to weigh in much about Shigaraki's seeming death here, and especially not his last words.  I'm far too jaded about Horikoshi's cliffhangers to think that anything I say now about Shigaraki dying and what it means for both Hero Society and the people Shigaraki leaves behind can be assumed to still be accurate two weeks from now.

I hope it's a fakeout.  I hope a chunk of Shigaraki's body fell through Kurogiri's last portal and the hyper-regen can kick back in once he's no longer being assaulted on all sides by the allies of the kid who was trying to “save” him.  I hope Horikoshi has one last stupid asspull up his sleeve.  I hope for a complete Karma Houdini ending for Shigaraki and the rest of the League.

If we don't get that, it's gonna suck, and it's gonna turn Deku into a fraud and a liar.  I don't care if the story wants me to think Shigaraki was saved; I don't care if Deku is satisfied with having saved "that crying boy."

I have not forgotten that "that crying boy" gently refused to accept Deku's "save" when the bell rang to go home. He wanted to go back to his friends, instead; he reiterated his desire to be a Hero for the Villains.  The crying child returned to the form of Shigaraki Tomura and then AFO devoured him.  Deku didn't save the child then, and he hasn't saved him now.

Remember how Eri didn't count as truly saved from Overhaul until the first time she could smile fully and freely?  Guess what stops you from doing that?  Right—being fucking dead.

And those touching last words of Shigaraki's won't do Spinner much good on account of him still being brain-damaged from a bunch of extra quirks no one can remove, because the only people who could are, again, fucking dead.

Unless, of course, the theorists are right and Deku is going to be not only not quirkless in the epilogue (meaning all that drama and emotion about sacrificing OFA is going to be another fucking lie), he's going to have the "unified" OFA+AFO quirk via Shigaraki's fistbump.  Meaning Deku can remove the extra quirks, presumably just before telling Spinner that Deku saved-via-killing the love of Spinner's life.

Solidarity among outcasts is false and toxic.  Everyone should just rely on Heroes more, no matter how much Heroes have failed them in the past.

o One last thing I want to address, less about the canon and more about the reactions I've been seeing elsewhere to the prospect of Shigaraki (and any combination of Dabi, Toga and Spinner) being dead: the idea that being dead is the best possible outcome for them because if they don't die they'll only have to spend the rest of their lives "rotting in jail."

Great job, team; nice message to take home.  Everyone pack it in.

    

Firstly, and to get this out of the way, that is a false binary that totally ignores the long history of Shounen Jump villains getting absurd Karma Houdini endings where they walk off into the sunset free as birds because they've changed their minds and resolved to be better, or at least have decided mass murder is no longer worth their time and effort.  (Vegeta wasn't the first mass murderer a Shounen Jump story rewarded with freedom and friendship, nor was he the last.)

But more importantly, that false binary is one that could only be presented by someone who truly does see prison as a fate worse than death.  No rehabilitation is possible.  No supervised release or house arrests in the care of assigned guardians who want better for them.  No lenience can be granted in recognition of the League's mental states; they can be admitted to no mental hospitals focused on therapy.

The "better death than prison" line is the product of a perspective that has never had to seriously consider the prospect of living behind bars.  It's a childish imagination of prison as a nebulous Bad Place where Bad People go to be Punished For Being Bad, or a self-righteous fantasy of a cold hell where sinners are sentenced to suffering eternal.

People can tell that the League have suffered too much to sentence them to Forever Bad Times, so they comfort themselves with the idea that at least they died happy, instead of living forever in a pop-culture-informed crayon doodle of concrete and solitude.

I’m not here to tell these readers that there aren't people in the world who would rather die than live under watch for the rest of their lives.  I won’t deny that Japanese prisons are bleak and there’s every chance that the prisons in Horikoshi’s fictionalized Japan are even worse.  But I am asking people espousing the view that death would be better than incarceration to seriously consider all the angles on what that sentiment means.

If it were you facing the life sentence, are you so sure you would prefer to take your own life?  If it were someone you loved who would rather die than face imprisonment, would you help them—hand your older brother the gun, or your younger sister the knife?

Or would you want to hope that they could get some help instead, have an opportunity to connect to something meaningful—find religion, take up reading classic literature, connect with someone inside or via letters?  Would you want them to accept the lawful punishment for what they'd done rather than evade it by ending their lives?  Would you want them to hold on in case their case could be reassessed someday, that they might eventually finish serving their sentence or be moved to someplace that would focus on helping them rather than punishing them?

Would you want a glorified cop in a cape making that decision for them—or you—based on that cop's ability to "forgive"?

If you think prison is a fate worse than death, why is it okay that people like Gentle Criminal or the Shie Hassaikai Trash Trio have to endure it, while mass murderers, serial killers and insurrectionists like the League get to escape through death?  Think of every purse snatcher who gets paraded in front of cameras with their arms bound and their face muzzled; think of Twice at sixteen; think of Mr. Compress now.  Do these people deserve to suffer in the kind of torment you're imagining prison must entail?  Would it be better for them to die rather than endure it?

If prisons in BNHA's Japan are so terrible as all that, isn't that something the kids should try to fix?  Shouldn't that be a part of the mass societal improvement project people are swearing up and down the kids will have nicely sewn up in the epilogue?  If the kids aren't going to fix these prisons—these places that take suicide risks like Ending and spit them out worse than ever; these places like Tartarus where the wardens call the people in their charge monsters and animals—then why should I believe the kids are going to fix literally anything else?

Or is it simply the case that it's perfectly fine that prisons should be this way; shitty prison conditions are only bad when it's the villains whose sympathetic backstories we know who're facing them?

"It's a shame, but the League has to pay for their crimes."  But why does that “have to be”?  Isn’t it because no one involved—not the characters, not the author, not the people who accept this ending—can envision a world where the “has to be” could be otherwise?

That's the problem with, "Killing someone can be a way of saving them," and, "They would have just spent the rest of their lives in prison anyway."  It's a stunted mentality that leaves no room for the radical reforms and systemic improvements that are necessary to stop this whole cycle from repeating.  Worse, as I very much suspect we're going to see in the epilogue, it's a mentality that says the system is actually fine as it is—the only real problems were caused by a tiny handful of bad actors, and now that they've been removed, everything else will self-correct, and things will go back to normal.

    

That precious, perfect status quo that Deku swore to return: this is the way he brings it back, it and everything that comes with it.

    

o In summary: if this ending sticks, then what we have in My Hero Academia is thus:

A world that played at being grounded, but which turned out to run on arbitrary rules, magic thinking and Evil Babies.

Characters that were presented as radically kind, but whose endgame resolutions represented a cruel underlining of the status quo, in which only those who suffer in silence deserve not to have to.

A story that wanted to be staunchly idealistic but which ultimately entrenched to hollow, meaningless platitudes.

o P.S. So like, Nana’s vestige saved Shigaraki off-screen, right?  So even after all her fear that Shigaraki would have to die, even after all the efforts she and Deku made to help Deku break him down, at the very last moment, she wanted to save him.  And she did so in the only reason she could, as one psychic scrap to another: she held his soul together when he was shattering apart.  But when Deku comes to the very last moment, when Shigaraki’s body is shattering apart, does he do anything to try to hold Shigaraki together?  Try to tell Shigaraki how to use Black Whip to hold his body together, call for Sero and his tape, Aizawa’s Erasure, anything like that?

If it doesn't stick?  That I'm less sure of.  But I'm pretty sure Deku's fucked as the Symbol of Hope no matter what.  There’s no way, at this point, to fix his portrayal as the kid who has a drive to save that eclipses all common understanding.  Every part of the story, before and after that declaration of Yoichi’s in Chapter 287, has served to undermine that claim.  This is just the last nail in the sky coffin.

    

Nah.  Instead, he just administers one last punch to finish the job.  The boy with the drive to save that eclipses all common understanding, everyone.

[fountainpenguin]

??? Rewatching Cleo's Ep 3 of Double Life and I have to share these rapid highlights I did not remember:

- Scene cuts, so I don't know the immediate previous context, but Scott had just posted in chat "You two sound like you could use a Relationship Ranch" - Etho discussing the Relationship Ranch and saying he thinks it's only for couples. - Bdubs muttering that Impulse is "gonna be mad" he's taking the risk of venturing to Dig Party - Etho then asking Bdubs and Cleo if they're a couple. Which is hilarious considering Crastle Duo's main interactions this season were Cleo yelling at Bdubs that "she knows they're divorced and he's with Impulse now, but he doesn't get to lie to her" and then later trying to mug him (alongside Martyn) - Cleo responds to the "You're not a couple, are you?" question with "No, but we can pretend" - Crossing a dangerously thin bridge above the ravine and Bdubs (walking ahead) whispers "Cleo, don't." - Cleo laughs and asks if "he needs her to chastise him again" - Bdubs begs her not to, then gets to the other side (where he won't fall) and tells Cleo she can hit him now

Hilarious. (Source)

Consider: Double Life Etho has memories of Bdubs and Cleo being married and thought they were still together two seasons later despite Cleo moving out and Bdubs marrying Impulse??

Alternatively, DL!Etho under the impression that Bdubs and Cleo broke up, but Cleo has gotten back with him, possibly to get Martyn to leave her alone?? Or else that Martyn and Cleo in a poly relationship with Bdubs and Impulse because of the agreement that Martyn gets to eat their cows? Discuss.

Bonus-shout out to Etho because I switched to his Double Life Ep 3 POV to see if I could get more context, and he skips the above conversation and goes straight to Dig Party, where he's telling Scar that he should take all the sugarcane for himself so Grian has to depend on him in the relationship, and I forgot how much I love Character Etho's weird approach to relationships. Like jumping off cliffs to punish Joel every time Joel takes damage.

Etho, your mental image of healthy, balanced relationships seems kinda skewed and I'm starting to see what was going on with you trying to rebuild your relationship with Cleo in Limited Life despite being divorced in the roleplay canon and repeatedly chased out or killed when you come home; are you okay?

I know this wasn't the point of the post, but speaking of Etho's unhealthy relationships... Secret Life Etho fawning over Joel and telling him "I love you" and that he misses Double Life, "back when Joel still cared about him," and getting all up in his grill while Joel assures him that he still cares about Etho, but he's with the Mounders now, my beloved...

They are all so silly.

[yourlowkeyidiot3]

Salty rant v2

This is basically me angrily screaming about Ford again (wow what a surprise) to a wall (myself, my rotten brain and my blog) so feel free to skip this

Fuck it I'll bite

Gf fans when you tell them Ford had every right to be mad at Stan for ruining his Project (he saw it as the only chance to prove himself and get accepted in his dream school, and even tho WE know it was an accident, Ford doesn't he thinks it was a purpose sabotage and it really doesn't help that Stan didn't told him which resulted in him making a fool of himself Infront of ppl he wanted to impress and then Stan tried to pass it off as something that didn't matter even tho it mattered so much to Ford, like of course he'd be mad everyone would be mad in his position)

Gf fans when you tell them it's not Ford's fault that Stan got kicked out it's all Filbricks fault (seriously guys, blame the fucking abusive father, not the 17 year old living in an abusive household)

Gf fans when you tell them standing up against an abusive person (especially if they're your parent) is hard to do for yourself let alone for someone else

Gf fans when you tell them Ford wasn't the "golden/favourite child" Filbrick dgaf about him and only wanted to use his intelligence for money and both Ford and Stan were abused just in different ways (seriously find a different dynamic to describe an abusive household than "golden child" and "scapegoat" I say as I put a gun in your head)

Gf fans when you tell them Ford wanting to go to college isn't egotistical

Gf fans when you tell them Ford wanting to make a name for himself doesn't make him egotistical (he literally grew up in an abusive household, and was bullied and treated like an outcast for most of his life, him seeking out validation is a trauma response not egotism)

Gf fans when you tell them if Ford is petty for correcting Stan's grammar then Stan is equally as petty for refusing to hold his hand over a thank you literally seconds ago (of course he had the right to want him to thank him and be mad, but it was the END OF THE WORLD, they are both responsible in that scene)

Gf fans when you tell them Ford isn't ignorant for being manipulated by Bill cuz 1) Bill is a master manipulator who's managed to manipulate and terrorise humanity since forever using lies/flattery/fear 2) despite having a high IQ he has a low EQ and therefore isn't able to tell if someone has ill intentions due to being....an outcast and therefore doesn't have the social skills to be able to tell others true intentions/manipulations which made him an easy victim for Bill (do u guys even know what manipulation means)

Gf fand when you tell them the reason why Ford didn't try to reach out to Stan was because he thought he was doing fine since he had seen an ad of his on tv (he had no way of knowing Stan was still homeless anymore, and you don't usually see homeless people's ads on tv), not because he didn't care

Gf fans when you tell them Ford didn't force Fiddleford to do shit for him, and that he was against the use of the memory gun and wanted him to get rid of it but Fiddleford literally erased his memories of it so he could continue using it. And that therefore Ford isn't to blame for everything that happened with the memory gun just cuz Fiddleford had bad coping mechanisms. (Seriously you all are acting as if he pointed the memory gun on his head and forced him to abandon his family and build him the portal. No!! Fiddleford made those decisions himself he could had left Gravity Falls at any moment and return to his family but no he didn't, he chosed to stay and start a fucking cult. That is on him. Not on Ford)

Gf fans when you tell them the way Ford acted during the time where he was literally being abused, manipulated and isolated by a demon is way more complex and naused than "ego! ego!".. because he was literally being abused and manipulated...

Gf fans when you tell them the reason why Ford called Stan to hide his journals wasn't because he only wanted to use him as a way to fix his mistakes but because he was literally really desperate and feared for the safety of the world and he didn't have anyone else he could trust and that he was hella traumatized due to being literally tortured both physically and phycological and sleep deprived and on the bring of insanity (of fucking course he wasn't gonna act logically and say mean shit he didn't actually mean, he was losing his mind! Stan had also said mean shit to him because he was angry but nobody talks about that)

Gf fans when you tell them Ford being mad at Stan for opening the portal is understandable, because 1) he literally ignored all the warnings that the portal could potentially destroy the whole world and 2) he was literally about to FINALLY killing Bill after 30 years of fighting for his life in the multiverse to try and find a way to

Gf fans when you tell them Ford's trust issues are completely understandable because he was literally betrayed, manipulated and abused by the "person" he trusted the most (Bill). And the other two people he trusted did something that hurt his trust on him (Fiddleford erasing his memories, Stan ruining his project)

Gf fans when you tell them Ford's and Bill's relationship isn't "toxic yaoi/messy divorce!" And that it was incredible abusive and that FORD was a victim ( average gf fan claims they "don't romantize/support the toxic ((call it abusive guys, that's literally what it is)) elements of this ship I just like to explore unhealthy dynamics in fiction:) *proceeds to make 10 posts of "he fucked the triangle!" jokes and gets mad at you if you actually point out the abuse and makes 100 aus where they get back together/stay together*

Gf fans when I tell them that I really don't care about what Alex has said about Ford being "egotistical" or "ignorant" because that's also the same guy who said he didn't intended for Pacifica to come off as a victim of abuse because controlling your child with a bell is total normal parent behaviour guys (/s). (I stopped listening to most of the stuff he said after that, not gonna lie, cuz most of the stuff he says about Ford's "ego" and "ignorance" are flat out victim blaming) ((I mean come on guys, he literally says he based Ford's and Bill's relationship off REAL LIFE toxic relationships he's seen and then he goes and says shit like how it's Ford's own "ego and ignorance" fault that he's ended up in that situation. Don't you guys think that's a bit weird))

[balkanradfem]

I watched the movie 'Heretic', because Alyssa Grenfell was talking about it and I have to come here to rant about it because I was so mad. I was so mad!

The movie itself is a great horror, it properly spooked and terrified me; the concept is two 21yo Mormon missionary women are invited to this old m*n's house to try and convert him, but he knows they're coming, traps them in there, and intents to brainwash and imprison them. The movie itself is presented as a metaphor for religion; they're drawn in there with hopes and success in mind, and when they try to leave they only get pulled in deeper until they're locked in the basement confronted with subordination or violence. They get gaslit at every step of the way and even challenged on believing the lies they're being told.

So that's all well and good, but the guy who traps them, wants to play some sort of game where he disproves every religion, wants them to give up their beliefs, talks down to them about everything they know about god and culture, and then tries to gaslight them into believing that he himself knows the great truth and can bring forth miracles and whatnot. And the entire time I was in full on rage. I didn't care if he was right or wrong or whatever, he talked down to women! A guy has no business talking down to women regardless of context of circumstances, and he's a fucking loser and a coward!

He's going off like 'I spent my whole life researching all religions and reading all holy books only to discover they're all fake and the same' and I'm like GOOD JOB LOSER I was done with that in my 20s are you fucking stupid that it took you so long. And even with that level of inferiority and idiocy he thinks, for a fucking second, that he can condescend two young women about it?? That he can patronize two indoctrinated individuals about what they've been born and raised into? Why not take it with the fucking religious leaders you coward. Why not trap the pope in your basement. Why not take it up with the leaders of the mormon church if you're so smart and special. Scared of powerful people are we? Scared of grown ass m*n who are wrong about religion? Don't wanna challenge them or tell them how you think you're smarter and better than them? But you'll trap these young women who can't fight you and have them terrified while you overwhelm them with your stupid nonsense? Gods are in this room and its them not you.

I was screaming 'LET ME AT HIM' and 'I WILL KILL THIS M*N' for half of the entire movie, how fucking dares he.

The women were absolutely amazing. Even as they were so young, they managed to see trough his deception to an astounding level, they showed both superior intelligence and information than he was able to display and knew exactly what was going on; that they were being misled and gaslit and lied to, the only problem was they couldn't leave and were in danger of being murdered. I imagined myself in that situation and I don't believe I would have been as quick-witted, insightful, or able to think that critically about the situation I'm in; I would have been too scared to argue or maybe just too mad to see trough every level of deception.

My criticism of the movie is that women get hurt in it, and I hate when women get hurt and I skipped every scene where I could see something bad was going to happen to a woman. I don't want it to be emulated in film! Women get hurt enough and nobody except m*n wants to see women getting hurt! I was absolutely devastated about the state of the villain's prisoners and my mind went to darkest places imagining what had happened to them, even though it's all just a movie illusion it's still fucked up that anyone was able to imagine that or depict it in a movie! We don't need to have women hurt in movies anymore, we have enough of that! You could make a horror skipping all of the violence and it would have been a better movie. We have all seen a woman be hurt in every possible way and it's enough.

Anyway the guy was stupid and wrong and as much as I detest religion he was not debunking anything, he was just building his own cult and participating in the power-hungry religious control of vulnerable individuals and I despise him for it.

I also felt grief that women didn't cooperate to attack him as soon as it was clear to them that he was a death threat, they played along maybe for the coerced politeness, or for a hope it would help them escape, but kept getting manipulated deeper into the trap. They would have been right to start tearing the house down, stabbing him in every possible way and lighting fires as soon as they realized the door was locked.

At the end of the movie, religion wasn't even depicted as wrong, and had a little positive spin when the woman who believed the strongest, got some signs that she might have been right, that there was something in there – but only for a moment. It wasn't enough to save lives, to prevent tragedies, to stop torture and murders, to enable freedom and life. I wonder if people watching can tell that it's not enough if a little moment of imagined hope and comfort is all religion can bring to you, while life is still horrible – and for a lot of people (women), horrible specifically because of religion.

So the movie was both infuriating, interesting, fun as a horror, wrong for hurting women, made me feel lots of things really! I enjoyed how because of Alyssa I knew everything they were talking about in regards to Mormonism; made me feel smart. I'm not sure whether I'd recommend a movie where violence happens to women but if you skip a bunch of scenes and don't mind going trough fits of rage I guess it's watchable.

[deconstructthesoup]

BOBBY DAWN????

STUPID IDIOT MOTHERFUCKING BOBBY DAWN GOD DAMN FOOL SOL WORSHIPPING CORN EATING RAT OLD BASTARD SHITHEAD IDIOT CLERIC OF THE WHORE BIGGEST CLOWN IN THE CIRCUS LAUGHED OUT OF TOWN COWBOY MOTHERFUCKING BOBBY DAWN

STOP PINNING ME WHEN I TALK ABOUT BOBBY DAWN I HATE HIM SO MUCH WHY DOES HE HAVE SO MANY FUCKED UP RULES JUST LET KRISTEN PASS IS HE DEAD IS HE A BASTARD MAN HAS SUCH A VISCERAL EFFECT ON ME ONLY SEEN HIS FACE IN THE ART AND I KNOW HE HAS THE WORLD'S SHITTIEST BEARD GET AWAY FROM ME

If I wanted to get into Heaven and Helio said that Bobby Dawn's waiting inside I would piss on Helio's feet for the sole purpose of getting sent back down

If I have to deal with Bobby Dawn speaking one more word in person on voice in the episode not only will I close the tab I will delete my bookmark out of spite and have to rewatch the entire series again for the experience of being able to skip all of the times when he is mentioned or alive

I don't even know why I hate him so much. He's just a cleric of Sol but I am just mad because I am angy

He better have some fucked up backstory to explain this because if it turns out he's just a self-righteous shithead who likes Sol so he can be a total control freak I'll go ham

BETTER have heard Sol make him kill a man cuz if he didn't I'm gonna make him

paypal.com/IfuckinghateBobbyDawn

Episode's barely even about him. Brief scene where he failed Kristen and acted like a total dick and I lost it

Where the fuck is Bobby Dawn if he's still alive I'm going to so deeply wish he wasn't

Crusty old man

I'll punch Bobby and his sad frail old man twig bones will simply flake apart under my epic huge meat fist and he will disintegrate until all that's left is one final sermon he kept with him at all times simply entitled "Now You Fucked Up" in ancient Solicean

I'm not breathing I'm hyperventilating at this point

I hope there's a date given for when Bobby Dawn died or will die so I can make a reminder on my phone

Every day once a year I will see it and do anything but pay respects to the man who had so many fucked up if true beliefs

(I'm sorry I had to)

[stellamalonesolaria]

BTS Jeon Jungkook x Reader X Kim Taehyung FF | Standing Next To You | mini series

pairing: husband’s brother! jungkook wife!reader husband! taehyung

warning: mild swearing, minor nsfw scenes, minor dni.

synopsis : when the time comes, will you choose your husband or your husband’s brother?

genre: rom-com, action thriller (you’ll know why eventually), love triangle au.

—————————————————————————

Episode 1:

Y/N's pov:

"it's been two years and we have no new lead whatsoever in this case. i'm as distraught as ever.", my firm partner and associate Alex turns to me and says this. I sigh as there's nothing I could do either. "the evidence was completely tampered with leaving no substantial proof", Alex fumes, "you go home Y/N, your husband must be waiting for your arrival, we will investigate this further tomorrow, goodnight", I nod and say "Goodnight Alex."

I get into a cab to commute to my apartment where my husband and i reside together.

I've lost the spark. I was once known as the devil's advocate but as of now I can't even properly review this. if only someone could just find the missing puzzle to this mystery.

time skip

narrator's pov

you reach your apartment. You remove your shoes and place them in the shoe rack situated right near your apartment gate. You get in the house only to be greeted by the aroma of a delicious supper. You immediately furrow your eyebrows because your husband doesn't know how to cook and you don't have a housekeeper or a cook. You usually do the cooking.

"Taehyung, have you finally learnt how to cook?"

You teasingly ask your husband

"Babe he'll never learn how to cook in this lifetime and even if he does it's probably when the pigs fly"

You roll your eyes identifying the voice immediately

"Who gave you the right to insult my husband, Jungkook", you poke as you enter the kitchen to see the muscular man with alarmingly ferocious and eye grazing looks wearing an apron with bunnies embroidered on it

"And of course, you're wearing this apron", you laugh

Jungkook suddenly looks at you intently with a spatula in his hand.

"so instead of replying back, you're gonna physically assault me now? Jungkook you know i'm a lawy–"

you were cut short by this man looking you up and down and then whispering under his breath "still as ugly as ever"

You get mad and say, "still an asshole"

Jungkook rolls his eyes and then takes out a spoon, dips it in one of the dishes he's preparing and inserts it in your mouth

"how is it?", Jungkook asks

"can't believe this scrumptious meal is made by a dick like you" you reply

"scrumptious huh" Jungkook raises his eyebrows

"made by a dick" you remind him that you didn't compliment him

"i know you like my dick" Jungkook retorts

"I don't like microscopic things" you feel your cheek flushing with a shade of pink

"Exactly why you like my di-" Jungkook is interrupted by Taehyung's entry in the kitchen.

Taehyung's eyes are glued to your figure

"di-ctionary, right brother in law?" you stifle a laugh as you say that

"i meant to say dick but okay" Jungkook whines as Taehyung looks at the both of you perplexed. You notice that and chuckle silently.

"Dear husband, go to the dining room, I'll fetch your dinner apparatus" you then look at Jungkook, "Babe, go follow your brother as well, I'll manage the rest, thanks for this though", you wink at them as they both exit the cooking area.

in the dining hall

Taehyung's pov

Y/N sets up the table so meticulously as I watch her, she's beautiful, I keep admiring her features till my eyes set on my brother, gross, didn't even let me feast my eyes with the view.

"Hyung and Y/N, you both haven't even asked my purpose for this sudden visit." Jungkook states, clearly offended.

"Brother, you're here like every month, you practically live here", I respond to him thinking how much that disturbs my alone time with her

"Well that is because I miss you guys too much but the reason of my visit here is work related this time, unfortunately." Jungkook says, satirically of course.

Jungkook and Sarcasm are soulmates; he can't go on without sneering, it's like his life is empty without the touch of mockery in it.

"That means you won't be home much, good for us" I state coldly

"NO THAT IS NOT GOOD AT ALL, I'LL HAVE TO COOK FOR THREE PEOPLE, ATLEAST JUNGKOOK AT HOME HELPED OUT WITH CHORES AND COOKING BUT NOW I'D HAVE TO DO IT ALL ALONE", Y/N exclaims

both of us laugh at her words, she's just perfect.

Y/N's Pov

I sit down for dinner after i finish serving food to the brothers but as I'm just done sitting on the chair in tranquility, I hear my phone ring.

I get up from my seat to take the call. It's from Alex. It must be about the case, this is important.

"Y/N, I have received an anonymous tip related to this affair." Alex states, cryptically.

"Is it an integral piece of evidence?", I ask demanding for him to not beat around the bush.

"it's definitely a mind blowing one." he replies

"what is it, Alex?" I ask

"The witness protection program authorities just informed me that the witness has been officially released from their center recently" Alex goes off

"How recent, Alex", I ask

"Let me complete Y/N, the spectator has been discharged from the institute today—that opens up many possibilities—" Alex says

"—Like the eyewitness may be associated with the culprit or the witness was a ploy to deceive us and distract us from the real perpetrator" I finish his sentence.

"Yes and what's even more shocking is that the whereabouts of the person is near your vicinity" Alex continues

"Huh—that means I'll have to examine this case properly and go on a lookout for the witness, you're telling me I have to work as a private investigator on top of being a criminal lawyer?" I ask in disbelief

"Y/N you're more than capable for this—plus I've hired a secret agent to assist you with this mission." Alex states

I scoff

"Professionalism can go to hell right? this violates work ethics, you cant just hire a private investigator." I deadpan tell him this

"Y/N, we need to do whatever it takes to find the one behind this—you do not understand the severity of the situation" Alex says sternly

I have to comply with him either ways.

"Okay Alex, goodnight." I say

Alex reciprocates the wish and we end the call.

I go back to the dining room to see Taehyung and Jungkook seated at the table looking like they were waiting for me?

"You're back Y/N", Taehyung says acknowledging my arrival

I smile as Jungkook remarks "No, you're hallucinating Taehyung". Taehyung rolls his eyes of course Jungkook has said that.

I take my seat and we have our dinner

Narrator's pov

dinner :

"I watched this romantic movie recently, it was amazing" you state trying to start a conversation

"What was it about" Jungkook asks

"Idiot, first tell us the name of the movie no" Taehyung adds to Jungkook's statement

"Okay okay, it was about two brothers and their love for the same girl and the extent they were willing to go to pursue the girl and articulate their admiration for her via actions and do you wanna know who the girl picks at the end—" you are suddenly cut off by Taehyung

"Save the spoilers, I'd like to find it out on my own" Taehyung says sternly

Jungkook adds on to Taehyung's statement "of course the main lead would pick the brother most apt for her"

You just slouch your shoulders mockingly indicating that you won't be telling them anything regarding the movie now.

"All i know is it takes courage to be able to go to any lengths for your one true love—that's why I liked the movie honestly" you remark

Jungkook's pov:

love? that's bullshit. i can't ever see myself falling head over heels for someone to an extent where i can do anything for them—including sacrificing my life for them because i know i can't love anyone more than myself

Taehyung's pov:

i mean i do like Y/N but i'm not sure whether i love her and even if i do allow myself to fall in love with her—i don't know if i'd love her enough to go to any lengths to do anything for her

Taehyung's and Jungkook's pov: (in unison)

“i guess only time will tell”

Narrator's pov: at that very instant Y/N gets up to put her plate away into the sink but she ends up slipping and falling backwards.

Y/N's pov:

I fear I'd injure myself badly. I just know my head will severely get hurt. I close my eyes as I prepare myself for the painful fall— I feel a hand—wait no two hands—two very different hands—on my back.

I open my eyes slowly just to see Jungkook and Taehyung holding me by my waist.

—————————————————————————

to be continued

[avatar-anna]

What is the styles family up to on Halloween night? I have a gut feeling that Julian would be too scared and just cling to Harry the WHOLE TIME. ❤️

Trick-or-treating! The Styles family are all dressed up and hitting the streets to acquire as much candy as possible.

Simone is dressed up as Wednesday Addams, but specifically from that one scene from the school dance with the ruffle dress; Collette chose to be a scarecrow, complete with detailed makeup done by Y/n and assistance from Simone; Julian and Maeve usually go as a duo costume, but Maeve wanted to be a clown and Julian wasn't having it, so he goes as Prince Eric; Geneva is a little bat and little Natalia is dressed as a chick.

Harry and Y/n don't normally go all out for Halloween, mostly because they're hard at work trying to wrangle six different costumes together, some of which change because someone decides they want to be someone/something else. But this year Simone and Collette insist on her parents dressing up. They go as Romeo and Juliet from the '96 version of the film. Julian insists that they don't wear anything too scary, of course.

They stick to their neighborhood, where everyone kind of knows who they are and aren't as inclined to bother them on their night out as a family. That doesn't stop Simone from running ahead when she sees a friend and joining them for a few houses while Harry and Y/n watch from a few paces back, though. Maeve keeps doing little dances as she walks to each house, convinced that's how clowns walk. She's pretty independent for her age and doesn't have a problem skipping up to a house with the rest of her siblings and other kids, but when a particularly scary house freaks JuJu out, she holds his hand the whole time.

Jules isn't as eager to walk up to a stranger for candy, but he warms up more and more as the night goes on. He pretty much has Harry's hand in a death grip the first few houses, overwhelmed by the kids in creepy costumes and the realistic Halloween decorations on people's front lawns. Harry takes it in stride, promising his son that it's all pretend.

The kids are still pretty young, so their trick-or-treating ends pretty early. Maybe Harry stays out a little later with Simone and Collette while Y/n heads home with the rest, an already asleep Natalia cuddled up in her arms.

And once everyone is home and fast asleep due to coming down from sugar highs, it's just Harry and Y/n. Y/n gets ready for bed while Harry watches TV with a pile of candy in front of him. When she sees all the wrappers surrounding him, she's like, "Really? Again?" because he does this every year, and every year one of their kids gets upset because their Halloween haul is lighter than they thought. But Harry's just like, "What? I took a little from everyone this year so no one would get mad."

Y/n is exasperated but not surprised because Halloween is really the only time her husband indulges in eating candy bars. But she can't help but indulge in some fun of her own because tonight is usually a night where the kids stay asleep and don't crawl into their bed.

So she drops the robe she's been in, revealing a little lingerie underneath, and Harry is quick to shove all the little chocolate wrappers away, his eyes taking all of his wife in and is just like, "This all for me, Mama?"

And because she can't help but be a little silly, she adds some ears to the top of her head and when Harry looks at her confused she says, "I'm a mouse, duh." And he just throws his head back and laughs and pulls her over to him.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 142 thoughts!

HEADS UP: In this review I discuss fictional depictions of sibling incest as well as a brief reference to both fictional and a real life suicide. As usual, feel free to skip if you're not in the right zone and I'll see you next time.

thank you for the kind words from everyone when i was still in the Slime Era of feeling sick lol. i'm like 80% back to full power now!

I'm gonna be totally up front and say I really think this is one of the worst chapters we've gotten in a while but here's the twist: it's not for the reasons you probably think!

We're following up basically right off the back of last chapter and immediately I am kind of mad at how shitty the series is continuing to do Miyako with regards to the movie arc. She was a total non-factor in the RBKN conflict and now that Aqua and Ruby are being pressured into doing something they have both verbalized that they don't want to do she's just like well gosh i feel complicated but what can i do :(. Having the setup almost 20 full chapters ago of Miyako expressing that she wants to step up and do more for Aqua and Ruby as their mother and then having her completely failing to intervene on their behalf here is just wild.

In general, the way everything is being set up to force this kiss feels so… well, forced. Even if Kaburagi (as the story says) insisted there be a kiss scene, there are a million ways to fake a kiss that doesn't involve actors actually kissing. Body doubles! Camera angles! Putting your thumbs in the way! Unless Kaburagi said "I want 20 full seconds of Kamiki sticking his tongue down Ai's throat center frame", there is absolutely no reason "a kiss scene" needs to mean "these two blood related twin sibling actors actually kiss". The whole thing is just so incredibly contrived.

And honestly? The fact that both Ruby and Aqua have expressed a 'no' and are being forced to do this anyway is the part of this chapter making me the most actively insane. It is absolutely mind boggling to have spent half of last chapter on a Miyako monologue about how immoral and unethical it is when people's ability to give informed and sincere consent is compromised by the entertainment industry and to then follow it with a whole chapter of basically every character we're supposed to like flaunting a total lack of respect for Aqua's comfort and consent in this regard, up to and including the completely insane scene of two adult women lecturing Aqua about how he isn't allowed to have boundaries. What the fuck is going on here!!!

This is especially frustrating because I actually really like a lot of things about the scene with Yoriko and Abiko… even if there's some stuff that really kind of broke me lol. Like uh, wasn't it a really huge plot point in Tokyo Blade that a mangaka couldn't be expected to turn out an entertaining theater script because those are two entirely different kinds of storytelling…??? But whatever.

Off the bat, I have really mixed-leaning-negative feelings about the reveal that the KamiAi romance scenes we'd gotten were entirely fictional. On the one hand, I actually feel pretty validated - I had guessed that the full-immersion-flashback presentation was a hint that we were being presented with a falsehood and it implicitly confirms something I've been saying from the start that 15 Year Lie's version of events has to be taken with a grain of salt, both because it contradicts known events and facts and because so many other people have interfered with it. Having that made textual and being able to confidently say it helps a lot in discussing what this means for the story.

But like… that means we wasted a whole bunch of time on shit that was made up and didn't matter! Like, thematically speaking, I think this is potentially interesting but I just keep getting stuck on the fact that we were given a super interesting scene finally fleshing out and giving us info about both a character and a relationship we've been absolutely starved for details about, only for the story to turn around not two chapters later and go "and my source? i made it the fuck up". It just totally dashes all the enthusiasm I was feeling and it also makes it way less rewarding to try and dig into what 15YL is doing when at any time, all of this potentially interesting character work could be revealed to be total piss in the wind.

Stepping back from that… in total isolation from everything else, I do think this talk with Abiko and Yoriko about what it means to write stories is interesting from a lot of angles. While I don't think these two are the 1-to-1 author avatars for Aka and Mengo fandom treats them as, they nevertheless clearly serve as reflections of the two's experiences and viewpoints about the manga industry and specific and the art of storytelling in general, allowing the story to play around in the quasi-metafictional space it does sometimes, where it uses in-universe fiction as a method of commenting on itself.

In that sense, I think Yoriko can be understood as speaking for Akasaka here and discussing some of his feelings as a storyteller of Oshi no Ko specifically. OnK has never made a secret of the fact that it's drawing on Akasaka's real experiences in the entertainment industry but perhaps less obvious to overseas fans is the inspiration it takes from real life issues in contemporary Japanese pop culture, too. Infamously, Akane's arc very transparent drew inspiration - if it wasn't reconstructed entirely - from the suicide of Hana Kimura, not even six full months after Kimura's death. When the anime aired, Kimura's surviving mother (imo, rightfully and deservedly) lambasted the series for using her daughter's death as the fodder for entertainment without consulting her surviving family. It wasn't even that she disagreed with what the series was saying - she just wanted someone to have some consideration.

This is what Yoriko means when she talks about the responsibility a writer has to their stories. When you write a piece of fiction as highly visible as Oshi no Ko currently is, it is your responsibility to consider the impact your words will have on the world. No, fiction does not directly impact the real world in a physical, tangible way but if we are careless with our stories, we can regurgitate and perpetuate dominant cultural narratives that very much do cause real, tangible harm to marginalized people. Hikaru Kamiki isn't a real person, but there are undoubtedly people in OnK's readerbase who see their experiences mirrored in him. Airi Himekawa isn't real, but people like her exist. Akane Kurokawa isn't real but Hana Kimura was.

This discussion also serves as an interesting warning to Aqua himself, though maybe not quite in the sense Yoriko intended. Aqua's revenge has always been something treated, in-universe, as a sort of fiction in of itself; Aqua calls it his 'revenge play' and his primary method of pursuing it is to become an actor. It's a retribution narrative about real people and Aqua is its author. But as Yoriko reminds him… stories can kill. Especially ones featuring real people. Aqua has been telling himself a comfortable lie for years that only he will be hurt by his own inevitable self destruction but Yoriko reminds him that he isn't the only person involved here and that he is inevitably going to cause great pain to the people he loves if her continues down this path.

That's why this chapter is so frustrating. This is all good, meaty character work with some great thematic overtones… and it's all in service of contriving this scenario where Aqua has no choice but to tongue his sister on camera and for some reason, nobody is pointing out the million and one alternatives to this deranged scenario.

But anyway. Enough beating around the bush: let's talk about That Scene. And despite what everything I've said this post might lead you to believe… I actually really like it.

I don't know exactly what activated to make her go sicko mode but Mengo has been really on fucking fire with her art on the series lately. It really jumped out to me in 137 but she's honestly been cooking since the very start of the movie arc. It stands out especially strongly in Aqua and Ruby's talk on the balcony in ways I really vibed with. The whole scene feels like Ruby's shoujo brainrot and the cold reality of what she's tiptoeing around suggesting to Aqua are battling out for dominance over the framing. Ruby's stubbornness is such a force to be reckoned with that it almost wins entirely but there are moments where the lens cracks and we see things as they are. Aqua's discomfort practically radiates off the page this entire conversation.

Not only that but… jesus christ, Ruby. Just look at how she's framed when she first enters the scene.

That oppressive silhouette, her shaded eyes and that sinister smile… I probably don't need to tell you that's NOT how you typically frame a romantic heroine. She honestly almost looks more like a villain.

But Ruby quickly reasserts control over the framing. Or rather, what she's suggesting is such a sugary shoujo fantasy, the framing has no other option but to comply. At last, Ruby steps out of the shallow channel of plausible deniability and puts into concrete words what she has been thinking and longing for these last twenty chapters: for her to retake her role as Sarina Tendoji and for Aqua, in turn, to play Gorou for her once again. More than that - she pushes him for a concrete response to her love at last, not as Ruby but as Sarina; not only does the paneling repeatedly cover the eye with her star but in the final panel where she unambiguously propositions Aqua, the star is completely gone. This is what Ruby is offering: to completely sever her connection to Ai and the new life she has built on that foundation and to return to being Sarina, if that is what the doctor she loves wants.

This is SUCH an incredibly effective scene. It's excellently done and the art is fantastic. It finally draws out and makes explicit the underlying disconcerting subtext that has been swimming under the twins' relationship since 123. It works fantastically well… in isolation. But when taken into the context of the rest of the story it just feels so… unearned.

For the last 20 chapters, we have had absolutely no serious insight into Ruby's feelings re: the reveal of Gorou's new identity as Aqua. We didn't see her grapple with it or have to adjust to it at all. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and she was suddenly a 2010s fanservice imouto splooging about her oniichan. Her interiority in this regard is completely absent. Whenever the subject is addressed at all, it is made into a joke with Ruby as the punchline. There has been no serious build up to this moment or any meaningful time spent on Ruby's feelings about Aqua and as such, being asked to take it seriously now feels so incredibly jarring.

I've said this over and over in other places but I'll make this clear here: the handling of Ruby's feelings is not bad because Incest Is Morally Bad or whatever. At the end of the day, OnK is fiction and fiction is a space that allows us to explore ideas and scenarios that would be unpleasant, dangerous or even downright immoral to try and interrogate in real life with real people. Not only that, but AQRB's situation is so far removed from anything any real person could experience there's very little risk of it acting as a harmful reflection of a real person's life. But because OnK had the space to do just about anything with this idea, I'm so incredibly baffled that it chose to do all of nothing. This is a plot point that has been cooking since the literal first chapter of the entire series and now, just under four years and over 140 chapters past our starting point… and this is the best Akasaka can do? Dated brocon humor that reduces Ruby to a shallow gag character, denying her the opportunity to have deeper, more complex and ugly feelings and denying her the respect of examining those feelings with honesty?

It sucks. This whole thing really sucks. As someone who loves Ruby so, so much… this really just feels like an insulting way to have handled what should have been one of the most interesting and engaging parts of her series long arc.

I do think this chapter is the beginning of the end of AquRuby's time in the endgame couple race, if it was ever seriously in the running to begin with. Ruby embracing Aqua with a proposition in those final two panels echoes Akane doing the same in chapter 72 and the fact that this cliffhanger ends on the proposition and not a kiss implies to me, structurally speaking, that we are heading for a rejection. On top of that, we're pretty far away from the manga's ending still and Kana's romantic resolution with Aqua hasn't gotten its time to shine. All those factors together makes me feel pretty certain that this is the final nail in the coffin and we're just waiting to see how Aka sticks the landing.

After all - Ruby is asking for his response as Sarina. And if this is Sarina asking for his love one last time… we already know how Gorou's going to respond.

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 49 – SMUT PT. 2

Torque and Friction by BewareTheIdes15

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 4,332 Tags: Costume Kink, Identity Porn, Wall Sex

Summary: The armor is his religion. And, c'mon, does anyone really expect that Tony Stark wouldn't want to have sex with his religion? He's just never found anybody before who could handle it.

Reasons why I love it: Steve having the hots for the armor is one of my favorite things, and in my opinion this fic is one of the best explorations of that concept. I love how quickly Tony figures out Steve's kink and how much he plays into it – it's hot as hell how turned on Steve is in the moment. I love it so much, and I hope you give it a shot for yourself!

Get Me Off This Ride by ozuma

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 7,860 Tags: No Powers AU, A/B/O Trapped in Elevator

Summary: An omega and an alpha walk into an elevator. Wait, stop me if you've heard this one before...

Reasons why I love it: Holy hell, this fic is scorchingly hot. I'm always a sucker for an 'Oh no, I'm in heat – oh hey there, Mr. Handsome Alpha' fic, and this one is both gloriously smutty and very sweet. The dialogue is perfect, and I really love how Tony seeks Steve out even after everything is over. It's wonderful, and you should definitely read it!

Fever, Breathe Your Love on Me by blue_jack

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 4,176 Tags: Medical Kink, A/B/O, Humiliation Kink

Summary: Steve hates his bi-annual checkup. “Mr. Rogers?” Nurse Grace calls, and he inhales sharply before standing up to follow her into the back. He answers the standard “how are you doing today?” and “is there anything you want to mention to the doctor?” questions, and he tries not to fidget, but it’s hard to keep still. He’s just getting so wet.

Reasons why I love it: I credit solely this one fic for giving me a med kink. Poor Steve is struggling so much, and Tony's reaction is absolutely perfect. Plus, the fact that there's more in this universe, including Steve and Tony's first date after this incident, makes me so happy. Definitely check this one out, it's incredible!

Good Vibrations by isozyme

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 7,248 Tags: Fucking Machine, Size Kink, Overstimulation

Summary: Steve had sounded like he really genuinely wanted to see Tony and hear about the new robot-heart and Stark Solutions, so Tony decided that a weekend trip was worth it to see his friend in person. His friend, Tony had reminded himself. Not anything else. It wasn’t fair to Steve if Tony spent their entire visit thinking un-friend-like thoughts about him, and his muscles, and his sweet smile and his careful, firm hugs. However, Tony had a plan. All he needed to do was to tire his dick out on the way over, and he’d be fine. Fortuitously, the Mark 20 had a few brand-new bells and whistles that would help him blow off some steam before meeting up with Steve. Tony built a fucking machine inside the armor. It would be a shame if it malfunctioned in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time, in front of the worst possible person.

Reasons why I love it: This fic is so goddamn hot, holy shit. The whole scene with Tony on his own is already fire, but Steve getting so goddamn turned on when he finds out what happened is just – I don't even have words. You have to read this one, it's so good!

On Camera by FestiveFerret

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 5,644 Tags: Camboy Steve, Orgasm Control, Exhibitionism

Summary: Steve's heart skipped a beat. It was beyond ridiculous to get attached to one of his regular clients but somehow, over the last six months, he had. StarkNakedGenius wasn't logged on for every show, far from it, but he was on for a lot of them, and whenever he was, he tipped like mad.

Reasons why I love it: That private scene between Tony and Steve is so good, I love it! The whole concept of Steve as a camboy is intriguing in and of itself, but I especially enjoyed how much Tony revels in the control he has over Steve in the scene, it's super hot. Definitely check this one out, I bet you'll love it just as much as I do!

[animentality]

Can I just bitch about Baldur's Gate 3 for a second-

JK, I'm not fucking asking.

So Ketheric Thorm...got an entire fucking act basically DEDICATED TO HIM.

The Shadow Cursed Lands suck because of him. Everything in that zone is fucked because of his nonsense. Every enemy you fight is either related to the shadows or the Absolute plot, which, as far as you know at that point, is tied directly back to him, and him alone.

And every fucking person you meet, rounds him out in some way.

Thisobald, Gerringothe, Malus, these are all unique looking and fun bosses. And they all round out Ketheric Thorm, showing us his fucked up family, and how terrible their impact has been.

Balthazar, Z'rell, even Aylin and Isobel- all thematically and narratively tied to our Shar/Myrkul worshipping bitch.

Even Halsin and Thaniel, Minthara and Shadowheart...all of them have ties to Ketheric.

And that's great and all. That's probably why I, unlike many others, actually enjoy Act 2 a fair bit.

But then. We get to the dreaded Act 3.

Which is a bloated, disorganized, incoherent mess.

But worse than that is... Gortash and Orin are our next big bads, yeah? And they have a kind of fun intro, that makes you think ooh, the next big bads...

And then.

And then what happens?

You can kill Gortash immediately, pretty much at the beginning of Act 3. No build up. You can just do that. Sure, you can do the Steel Watch or the Ironhand Throne quests...but tell me.

Could you just go up to Ketheric Thorm and kill him at Moonrise? The answer is no. Even if you skip a lot of content, you still have to go through a million other tasks before you can face him, AND the big boss battle at the end is entirely him and Myrkul. It's EARNED.

But Gortash? Well, fuck, he's fucking dead before you can even face the final big boss.

And Orin? Sure, you have to collect a bag of hands to get into the Temple...but so what? That's maybe two or three quests, but you can circumvent them. Besides, as soon as you kill her, she vanishes from the narrative and doesn't matter. She's a somewhat easy boss battle, but the actual build up isn't intricately tied into the narrative of Act 3...because there is no inherent narrative to Ac 3.

Act 2 was about an insane man's descent into villainy after losing the people he loved most.

It was tragic, but at least thematically consistent.

The fuck is happening in Act 3?

Gortash is committing war crimes because he's tyrannical, and Orin is murdering indiscriminately and just for funsies.

at least Ketheric's entire thing is about defying the gods, using them for his own gains, and similarly, being used by them.

But Orin? She has one sympathetic scene, and then she dies immediately after.

Gortash you can just kill and then he doesn't matter, or you can side with him, and then he just dies, and doesn't matter.

It's utterly baffling and mildly infuriating.

I know Act 3 was hit with the cut content rush and all, but I feel like you could've spent your time actually bothering to build them up the way you built up Ketheric. You could've given us political quests or world building quests with Gortash, especially given how manipulative he is, or given us more madness and shadows and underground labyrinths and spooky monsters with fucking Orin.

Instead of garbage quests like the Wavemother, Mystic Carrion, Stop the Presses, and Lady Jannath's Torture House, you could've given Karlach a quest related to fixing her heart, which would've tied into Gortash's plots, or given Gale more to do than simply go to Sorcerous Sundries, or tied Cazador to some kind of patriars plot, or had Wyll's father do more than be kidnapped and then later saved.

You could've given Halsin literally any fucking quest, instead of bringing in Jaheira or Minsc. But most importantly.

I just don't get it. Gortash runs Baldur's Gate. You could've easily tied him to a lot more quests, and made him far more threatening or hard to take down. You could've also made Orin feel like an actual threat, and not just a mild nuisance.

It's just kind of...it irks me.

Not just as a Gortash stan, but as a writer, because it's so odd, to have 3 perfectly decent villains...and only flesh out one.

The other two might as well be optional mini bosses.

[otherone12]

Comics And "Something"

Gerard Way x Brazilian!Reader 

-> Masterlist

A/N: Hey!! Well... days ago my intrusive thoughts just won and i wrote a Gerard Way imagine (because why not)... and then I received this request... I've been bored, so maybe i'll post some emo imagines (mcr, p!atd, fob, paramore...) frequently?? Idk. If have requests, I will certainly make them... and i will post a part2 of the “I Can Help You With That” :)

~ "Could you do another imagine with Gerard and a Brazilian reader? (Perhaps the reader is Gabriel Bá's sister) ...I don't know if it's an interesting request :("

Summary - Your brother worked with Gerard for a while, but you've never really met him until now 'cause you live in another country (Brazil). Fortunately, Gerard is gonna stay at your brother's home for a week, to work on a new project. You both don't know what happens when you've seen each other, but it was CLEARLY something.

- Word Count: 1.570

- Warnings: Age gap? (not smut!)

- Ps1: I'll not use y/n…

- Ps2: I'm brazilian, so english is not my first language ... sorry if i wrote something wrong.

Damn... sorry for the superlong intro *-*

___________________________________________

Reader's 1st Person POV

I woke up 3 am and looked at my phone just to see three missed calls and an absurd amount of texts from my brother. I can't believe that this man is like forty-something years old and can't even wait till the morning to tell me whatever he wanted to tell me.

Even though I'm tired, I read every single one of the messages. None of them has a real meaning, was like "are you awake?", "i need to talk to you", "it's important!"

Why the fuck he did'nt just tell me what is going on insted of doing this?? 

I called him back and he dropped the news: Gerard Way will spend a whole week in my brother's house!

- Realy?! - I shout at phone

- Yep... he's gonna stay here for a while... don't act like a stoned, please. - i heard a bit of a desperate tone in his voice, like he wasn't kidding.

- What do you mean? - I said, trying not sound offended, even if i was.

- I know you for 25 years, dear... you can't keep MCR lyrics references out of your mouth for too long. - He chuckles.

He's right... i can't, the same way i can't swim, can't dance and i don't know karate.

- I don't know why you think I'm gonna be weird or something... it's not like I'm a fangirl. Not anymore. - I argued.

- Sure... - his sarcasm always makes me mad - By the way, we'll be busy working, so i will need your help here... can you stay with us in my place?

- Yeah, but why do you need me? Don't you think I'm gonna "act like a stoned"?

- Honestly? I KNOW you're gonna be creepy, but I can't cook, and i refuse to buy shitty North American food for Gerard when he's here. 

- OH, FINE! - I couldn't help but take it as a challenge, I'm gonna be there and act normal, because that's what i am, right? A normal person - I get it. So no cheeseburgers and stuff? 

- NO! You can cook something nice, right?

- I can try... 

- Awesome! See ya tomorrow at 8pm in the airport to pick Gerard up. Good night. 

-  Bye! 

Yeah, sure, how the hell does he expect me to sleep? I mean, when I was a teenager, Gerard was my hero. I'm not that kind of fan anymore, but still, I like him so much. 

Gabriel never introduced us appropriately, probably 'cause I was ‘that’ creepy fan, or the long distance between the countries made it impossible for me to travel. Anyways… just didn't happen yet.

*** time skip ***

I don't know why, but I just imagined the scene of Gerard going out of the airplane and thousands of paparazzis just screaming and taking pictures of him… I was surprised that didn't happen, I know the people here and we can be really crazy sometimes. By the way, Gabriel and I was waiting for him.

Soon, along with several other passengers, We could see him, who was looking for the familiar face of my brother in the crowd. The smile emerged on his face in the moment they made eye contact. 

Damn this man is so good looking… Suddenly I remembered why I had that crush on him.

-Hey, How long, man?! - Gabriel said with a smile as he opened his arms to hug Gerard.

- Hell yeah! How have you been? - That pretty smile still in his face.

- Great! Better now that i know we'll gonna work together again!

I just couldn't stop looking at him… I think he noticed, ‘cause he looked back at me.

-Lemme guess… Your sister, right? - The lovely look on his eyes as he extended his hand to greet me made my face burn. - He talks alot about you, I was excited to finally meet you!

- So as I! - I shaked his hand and smile back at him, trying not to overdo it.

- She's A huge fan! 

The death look I gave Gabriel made Gerard laugh a bit, but not enough to make me feel more embarrassed than I already was.  

-Well, that's true, but why don't we go home? - i said - You need help with that? 

I pointed to the two suitcases he was carrying.

-That's fine. I can handle two of them. Thanks! - i swear, his eyes was glowing… im not that crazy! 

We put Gerard's things in the trunk of my brother's car and we went back home. 

During the way, all I could think about were those hazel eyes and how I felt a connection... it was inexplicable, maybe it's just nonsense in my head. But there's always a ‘maybe not’, right?

Gerard's 1st person POV

I don't know what that was. But THAT was fucking something! The way she look? Maybe, but not just that. don't know! 

I haven't even talked with her, but I hope we have time to get to know each other well. Because that was something.

At home, Gabriel showed me the office and the room i'll stay in.

He has such a pretty house, and all the pencils, markers, and art stuff get me even more excited to start work. But his sister is still in my mind... The best I can do now is go to sleep, cause all the way in the airplane just stressed me out.

Reader's 1st person POV

First things first, i woke up early to do exactly the thing my brother wants me to do: cook. 

I was distracted preparing coffee, and heard a familiar voice from the back of the kitchen.

-Morning… - Even though his voice was dragging because he had just woken up, he still sounded so good. 

Gerard sat at the table while I finished preparing breakfast.

- Morning! How was your night? Did you sleep well? - I asked, trying to start a conversation.

- Yeah, really well, and the feeling of waking up with this smell is just amazing! - He smiled, rubbing his eyes.

- I'm glad you like it. - the feeling of relief and joy took over me, I think being normal will be easier than I imagined…

*** time skip ***

The next two days was normal, just small talks, because the purpose of him coming was not to talk to me, but to work, right? Still, it would be nice to take an hour or two just to talk.

Or not, i keep thinking about the feeling in the airport, i want to feel that again. 

Gabriel left early this morning to look for who knows what, which ended up making room for a break from work. 

I was sitting on the couch, watching a rerun of my favorite movie when Gee appeared in the living room and sat next to me.

-Finally a break, hun? - he said, with his usual smile, which by the way I always thought was beautiful - Don't get me wrong, I love to do that, but sometimes Gabe just goes too deep.

- Yeah, I know… he is intense. Family thing, I guess… - I chuckled and turn the TV off, so we could talk. - Same eyes and same craziness.

We laughed for a moment, but he seemed to concentrate on confirming the similarity between my eyes and my brother's eyes. A shiver went down my spine when the look stopped being critical and became appreciative. It's incredible how artists can vary between technique and feeling.

The situation made me want to kiss him, but I think this is out of the limits, considering his relationship with my brother. I respect that and never gonna do something that could ruin it. 

-  Transcendently impressive… - The way he spoke made it seem like he was in some kind of trance. - Your eyes. 

I gasped in shock. I didn’t know what to say. I just stood still, while my breath was panting.

-Thanks! - I pulled from somewhere within me the confidence to thank and return the compliment. - I can say the same about yours, maybe even more.

- I think you're exaggerating, but thank you - I thought the situation would be awkward, but Gee seemed increasingly comfortable with my company. - May I ask you something?

- Sure! - My curiosity barely let him finish the sentence. - Anything.

- Did you feel that at the airport? - He sighed as if taking a huge weight off his chest. - Because i did. Sorry if it sounds weird or...

- Thank God! I thought i was freak out. So there WAS something. - I quickly got up from the couch and practically jumped for joy. - The last days i couldn't barely sleep thinking of you! Well, not YOU but the whole situation and-

It happened so quickly that I couldn't register in my mind when he stood up, even less could I believe that he cut me off with a kiss. 

-I thought about you too, sugar… 

Before I could do anything, he kissed me again, that feeling it was becoming clearer and clearer, with every second my lips remained close to his.

The next few days were a bit different… not like we just makeout a lot of times, but some quick looks, kisses and conversations. We discovered that we have more in common than we imagined…

Now, taking advantage of Gerard's last moments here, I decided that I would help him pack his bags, so that we could make, whatever our relationship is, last longer. While we were talking, I couldn't help but notice the t-shirt he was putting on his suitcase. 

-Oh my god, i didn't notice… you brought THE shirt! 

- What do you mean? - He was confused, but then he looked at the shirt and noticed why.

- “Pool Boy At The Vampire Mansion” shirt… it's like THE shirt!  

- Ya know? Keep it.

- WHAT? I don't think-

- You heard me. - He smiled, in the cutest way a human being can smile.- I want you to keep it. I don't know when we're gonna seen each other again, so… 

Gerard dropped the shirt in the bed and got closer to me, placing his hands on my waist and, getting even closer, he pressed his lips to mine gently. The kiss became deep as we let ourselves be carried away by the heat of the moment. 

-This week was perfect. - He said, placing his hand on my cheek and looking into my eyes. - I wish it didn't end now. You know, sugar, I think we could work out… be something. 

- I'm sure that we can make it happend- I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss even more intense than the last. The feeling of hope made it seem like time would stop at that moment. 

~ That's it. Hope u enjoyed :)