#i just watched this ep and could not tell you a single piece of the plot (mostly bc it was just plot holes)

[tardxsblues]

Well, you know what, Doctor? This time, the human race is saving you.

[rafeandonlyrafe]

bodyguard

words: 2.1k

warnings: bodyguard!rafe, pop star!reader, gun mention, attempted kidnapping, brief violence, fluffy

you take a deep breath, clenching the microphone in your first. no matter how many times you perform, you still feel a rush of anxiety.

it all disappears when you step out onto the stage. you give the crowd a wave as the cheers erupt. you look around the packed stadium, reminiscing on what it was like to play smaller venues until your hit single and big break.

your in ear piece begins the countdown to your music as you lean down to reach out to a couple fans in the front row, looking past your personal bodyguard who insists on being in front of the stage despite the venue providing security.

you begin to sing the first song of your set, turning your attention to the entire crowd as your backup dancers come out, flooding the stage.

the show goes by so quickly you almost miss the feeling as you step behind the curtain, despite the exhaustion creeping into your bones.

“here.” your bodyguard hands you a water bottle, a straw already pushed inside, knowing you prefer it over drinking straight from the rim.

“what would i do without you rafe.” you chuckle. he was the first bodyguard you ever hired, having had your ass slapped one night and deciding you needed someone to watch your back.

“probably be kidnapped.” rafe shrugs, making you roll your eyes, used to the playful back and forth banter.

“and if it weren't for me, you'd still be in north carolina.”

“perk of the job.” rafe says, referencing the three continents you've visited with him in tow, soon to announce a world tour that will visit all major cities with enough time in between to actually enjoy the traveling.

“dressing room or straight to the bus?” rafe asks, following you as you begin to walk, stepping past the stagehands rushing to disassemble the set and get it on the move.

“dressing room. left my crocs in there.” it's routine, rafe entering the dressing room and doing a sweep before letting you in, even if it's just to grab your shoes and leave.

“wait, gonna change them before we go to the bus.” you tell rafe, the arches of your feet hurting from dancing in heels. rafe gives you his arm to hold as you bend down to undo the straps before slipping out of the glittery stilletos and into your comfortable, well worn, crocs.

rafe peeks out the back door. “there's some fans by the fence. we going right to the bus or stopping to sign?”

“stopping to sign.” you know it's not possible to show your appreciation to every single fan, but you're certainly going to try your best to greet every person who helped you become the pop sensation you are.

rafe pulls two sharpies out of his pocket, one black and one silver and hands them to you before swinging the door open.

the mini crowd erupts into screams as soon as they see you. you're sure these must be fans who didn't get a chance to attend as there's no way they could have cleared from the venue this quickly.

“hey everyone!” you wave as you walk to the chain link fence, knowing rafe is right at your back, just in case anyone gets handy. it wouldn't be the first time an excited fan reached through an opening and refused to let go of your wrist.

you begin to sign everything offered to you, even seeing a fan who brought your original ep you used to send to record labels.

“can i get a picture?”

“of course!” you smile, taking the phone that is passed through the slot and snapping a selfie with the happy fan.

you continue down the line, about halfway through when you shiver, the adrenaline wearing off and the cold of the night air seeping into your bones, especially since you're still in your stage outfit which doesn't give you much coverage.

you should have known rafes eagle eye would see, because he's soon shrugging off his jacket and placing it over your shoulders, of course the crowd awwing. 

rafe has gotten quite a bit of attention as your bodyguard, considering he follows you practically everywhere, he's photographed by fans constantly.

you were worried at first when you continued to skyrocket in fame that rafe would become uncomfortable or overwhelmed and you'd have to find someone new that you felt comfortable with, but hes stuck by your side the whole time.

“okay, sorry guys i gotta go!” you wave to everyone, having signed or taken a picture with everyone who gathered by the back exit fence.

you quickly rush to the tour bus, the corset of your outfit beginning to press in uncomfortably.

you don't have to use your words to tell rafe what you're about to do. as soon as he does a sweep through the bus, having you wait in the front next to the drivers seat so you could run out at any minute, you head to the back and take a shower, washing away your makeup and the pounds of hairspray added to your bangs.

you get changed into pajamas, knowing you're scheduled to hit the road tonight. it probably would be easier to fly private, or even just buy a jet, but you like the tour life of driving around and try to be environmentally conscious where you can.

you head back into the common area, rafe sitting in his usual spot on the couch, his gun that usually remains holstered to his hip now sitting on the counter. 

it scared you the first time you saw it. you knew you hired an armed bodyguard, but to have a gun just sitting there was not something you were used to.

“here.” rafe grabs a bag from the counter you didn't even notice.

“you got me fries?” you ask excitedly, taking the bag and quickly pulling a fry out, letting out a low moan when you take a bite and realize it's still hot.

“ill add personal assistant to my resume.” rafe smirks.

“resume? you leaving me?” you laugh, plopping down on the couch next to rafe. 

“never.” he vows. when rafe originally began to work in security, it was a way to get away from his dad, to have an excuse to leave at night, and now he can never imagine going back home to the life he once lived.

conversation shifts to upcoming plans as you finish off your fries and let out a yawn.

“alright, bed time.” you stand up and stretch, eyes closing as your back elongates. you completely miss the way rafe has to readjust his pants.

“goodnight.” rafe says as you give him a wave and head back into the bedroom, closing the door for some privacy as you flop onto the bed and delve beneath the covers, falling asleep easily knowing you're protected.

--

“aw, yes!” you hiss, looking out the window as the bus pulls into the rest stop. “back in the midwest baby, you know what that means.”

“what?” rafe questions, joining you to look out the window. he's dressed casually and not in all black like usual when he's working since today is just travel, and the light blue shirt he's wearing is making your heartbeat a little faster, even if you try to ignore it.

“tim hortons!” you exclaim. “we've got to get their sour cream glazed timbits. they're like crack.”

“and what would you know about crack?” rafe scoffs.

“alright, just because i didn't have a bad boy past like you doesn't mean-” you're cut off by rafe laughing. “okay, okay.” you hold your hands up. “i don't even know what it looks like.”

“that's what i thought.” rafe places a hand on your back as the bus comes to a stop. “now come on, let's get your timbits or whatever you said.”

you head out so happy and in such a rush that rafe doesn't remember to grab his gun, figuring nothing could happen at a rest stop early in the morning with practically no one around.

“hi!” you smile at the worker as you enter the building. she seems to half recognize you but doubt herself. “can we get a 10 pack of sour cream glazed timbits and another 10 pack that's a mix of the other flavors?”

the worker nods and begins putting it in the system as you turn to look at rafe. “just in case you don't like the same as me.”

“okay.” rafe laughs, stepping a bit closer to you as you pull your card out and pay.

you step to the side to wait, watching with excitement as the timbits are scooped in.

“thank you so much!” you take both of the cardboard containers and follow rafe back outside. the morning sun is shining brightly, causing you both to squint.

rafe turns quickly when a van suddenly squeels to a stop right behind you.

he watches in horror as the door swings open, his long stride causing him to be too far away to immediately grab you as he takes off into a sprint.

you feel the hands around your waist before you even contemplate what is happening. you scream out, looking to rafe and seeing the worry in his face as you're being pulled backwards into the back of the van.

“rafe! rafe!” you squeal, kicking your legs and trying to hit your attacker, throwing the box over your shoulder to try and get him to stop, but you're overpowered.

the man is just about to slam the door shut, trapping you in there with the stranger when rafes hand stops the metal and shoves it back open, his bicep rippling with strength.

“duck.” is all rafe says, but you understand instantly, trying to get as low as possible as his first surges forward, connecting the attackers face before pulling back and continuing to punch until his grip on you loosens.

rafe grabs you instead, and you move quickly, pressing yourself against his body, molding yourself against him as your arms and legs wrap around his torso. 

as soon as you're out, the van speeds away, knowing they've lost their one chance to get you. rafe moves quickly, running back towards the tour bus with you gripping onto him tightly.

you manage to hold in your tears until you're shut inside the safety of the bus. when the crying comes, it comes hard in sobs that make rafes chest physically hurt.

“i got you.” rafe sits down on the couch, keeping you in his lap as he tries to comfort you, hand rubbing up and down your back. “i got you baby.”

you cries are so loud rafe isn't sure you can hear him, especially when you start to hyperventilate.

“hey.” rafe takes your face in his hands, seeing the fear in your eyes as you struggle to actually take it any air. “take a breath for me, you're gonna pass out.”

you try, you really do, but you can't control your body as you continue to hyperventilate. rafe doesn't know what to do, he needs some sort of distraction or way to make you stop.

his face surges forward, his body working before his mind does as his lips press against yours, pressing a smashing kiss against your mouth.

you stop instantly, mind settling as your lips move against his, upset when you have to pull away to take in a gulping breath of fresh oxygen.

“it's okay.” rafes thumbs smooth over your cheeks. a mutual understanding comes over you both. this was bound to happen, and you don't need words to talk about what your relationship just became. “i got you. i got you.”

you nod, breathing deeply, finally able to control your body as you inhale and exhale until your lungs are full enough to lean forward and kiss rafe again. he doesn't hesitate for even a second before kissing back, his arms moving to wrap around you, pressing you further into him to deepen the kiss, only pulling away when the door shuts, your driver back in her spot.

“you okay?” rafe asks, his voice soft as he looks at you.

“i think after some more kisses i will be.” you giggle, cheeks blushing.

“and some timbits?”

“oh my god, those fuckers have them!” you gasp, your eyebrows scrunching together, making rafe laugh.

he presses a kiss against your lips, barely able to stop smiling to do so. “are you more mad they tried to take you or more mad they successfully took your donuts?”

you roll your eyes. “the timbits, duh.”

sfw tags: @winterrrnight @bejeweledreverie @ladyinbl00d @ethanthequeefqueen @drewsephrry @wearemadeofstardust0

[starryalpacasstuff]

The subversion of faen fatale in Last Twilight; and why I love it

Can I just talk for a moment how much I appreciate P'Aof dismantling faen fatale tropes, as well as the notion of 'guys and girls can't be close friends' that is so prevalent in Asian society? Because not only did he do a fabulous job with Ink in Bad Buddy, but he's going above and beyond with it in Last Twilight. We have Gee, who could have so easily been someone who was interested in Day, and come in between their relationship (I was praying for her to not turn out to be a faen fatale when she was introduced). But instead, she's a great friend to Day, and she helps him regain another piece of his life by pushing him to join her at the bar. And then we have Porjai. She's Mhok's ex girlfriend, and the narrative has presented chance after chance for her to regain feelings for Mhok, and present problem for Mhok and Day in so many different ways, but none of them were ever taken.

And part of this feels very intentional to me. Showing us two female characters that could have very easily become barriers to the relationship, they didn't. We see it in the preliminary interactions between Day and Gee, where there's some time where Gee's character could have easily gone one of two ways. And you will not believe how immensely relieved I was when the show made it abundantly clear that Gee is a friend to Day, and nothing more. Similarly, Porjai is introduced to us as Mhok's girlfriend, and later as his ex. It would have been so easy for her to 'catch feelings again', like when Mhok comes to her aid with her ex (forgot his name, won't bother reminding myself). I feel like the show is trying to put the point forward that guys and girls can be friends, and that the girl doesn't always have to be a homewrecker.

And let me tell you this, I absolutely adore that P'Aof is doing this. The trope of female homewreckers, (or faen fatale as we like to call them) is extremely prevalent not only in bls, but in asian media in general. I've seen it everywhere, from bollywood movies to add drama, to serials that have been running for half my lifetime, to keep the viewers watching. I've watched it enough times to have a genuine hatred of it. There's a number of issues with the trope that I'm not going to get into right now, but I'm sure you're all familiar with. But the greatest point is, that it often takes away from a good story. It's a tired trope that serves only to add drama and disinterest the viewers from the story. Last Twilight (and Bad Buddy too) has had a very concrete storyline from the start. The purpose and aim of this story have been clear from the beginning, and in the most recent episode, the show has started to dig a little deeper into Day and Mhok's stories, relationship, and shown us how they're growing together. A faen fatale would absolutely ruin the slow, delicate journey these two are on of growing together, which is where I come to August.

Honestly, I was a little afraid when I realized that Day liked August. Because Day and Mhok have been slowly, but surely growing closer, and they're slowly letting down walls built up due to grief, and loss. But August only serves to help us further understand Day. I'm struggling slightly to put this into words, but in the single episode we had with August, I've learned so much more about Day, and how he works. And, his introduction also highlighted Mhok's caregiving instinct once more, his tendency to always put Day first. There are rare instances when introducing a past crush does so much for a story (another being Bad Buddy, P'Aof the wonder that you are), and I'm absolutely eating this up.

The last scene absolutely crushed me in a way that only Ep 5 [4/4] bls by P'Aof can. Once again, the resubversion of the Faen Fatale trope. When I first saw August, my first reaction was expecting faen fatale, 'and now he's going to take away Day's attention and Mhok's going to leave the flower and we'll all be sad". Well, the last part happened but it was so much more heartbreaking the way it was done. Once again, proving how much better a story can be without the trope that with. I won't lie, I'm still scared about how the knowledge that Day likes August will impact Mhok's actions toward Day. But, it's more of a fear for the characters, and less of a fear for the narrative, as in I'm not afraid that it will take away from the story.

Bad Buddy holds a legacy for subverting an innumerable number of tropes, and I'm glad to see that Last Twilight is holding it's own in the department too. The purposeful subversion of faen fatale made my heart incredibly happy (have you noticed how much I hate this trope? You probably have. I'm sick of it. Most Indian kids are)

Side note- I've seen a number of posts ghostshipping Gee and Porjai, and while it may not be very plausible, we did get InkPa, so it's never impossible

[phxntomhives]

About the reaction of Gregory in the latest Kuro ep

Here are some theories about his scream and his reaction at the fire. I love that they don't have much background info so we can just say whatever we want. It's not like anyone can tell me I'm wrong ✨ so here is some angst xoxo

I genuinely hope not one of these is true

1) His house burned down

I mean it still happens today, accident happens. So yeah, his house could have burned down. It doesn't matter your age, that would be traumatizing. On top of that, if a fire suddenly spread out, it is possible that some people may have not survived, adding more fear of fire. Anyone, from the servants to his family could have died in a similar accident, maybe he himself barely survived. Of course he wouldn't want anyone to get close to that hell, and will react badly if they try to do it. And you won't really stop to elaborate, especially if you see possibly seeing flashbacks of the scenes you already saw once.

He feels hopeless while staring at the fire and I wouldn't be surprised to see a tiny Gregory looking at the same scene and just be normally scared, a fear that will remain with him for life. It's the other prefects that somehow snap him back to reality, hopefully freeing him from the bad memories.

2) alternative: a friend's house burned down

Basically the same as before, but his house is lucky enough to not be the victim here. Just like Lizzie saw the Phantomhive manor burning down, he could have seen the house of a friend being devoured by the flames. And unlike the previous version... There is no guarantee there was a survivor. In the worst case scenario, he may have seen the people inside being able to run out of the building, but with high degree burns so extended and dangerous that they weren't able to survive. Maybe he had to see his friend/relative/fiancé come out screaming in pain, burned to the point of being unrecognizable, and later watch them die before his eyes without being able to help. And he just doesn't want to go through all of that again. He isn't letting anyone of them go any closer to the fire and put their life at risk.

3) Lost works

He is an artist. He made 4 different sketches (ok one was the labyrinth game BUT STILL) completely different one from each other, in something like 10 minutes? If that's is his average time to create a piece of art, just how many has he made in the years he has been living there? Thousands probably? Some may be silly or stuff that he doesn't like and he was just waiting to throw away, but others may be drawings he cared about, in which he put all of himself. Hell, maybe there are paintings that took him MONTHS or YEARS to make. And they are all vanishing in a single night. All the effort he puts in them, all the memories he saved as a picture, gone. Turned into ashes without him being able to do anything. Everything he has ever worked on burning in front of his eyes. He can't retrieve anything of those and is likely mourning them already. When the other students want to enter he wonders if they will put themselves in danger to maybe retrieve them. I think Edward trying to enter in particular triggered him, maybe the other students don't know him a lot but Edward has been with him for a while now, since he was Herman's fag/drudge. He can't NOT have noticed that Violet spend his time drawing and maybe he even saw some pieces that Violet was proud of. So he knows that the moment Edward steps in the building, he is likely to try to save anything that he can carry out, because it is important to someone out there. But getting any of those works may put him in danger. And therefore, Violet is scared. He is scared there can be other knightly heroes among the students, that will put themselves in danger to retrieve anything they can still save. "I can remake a drawing, but I can't bring you all back to life." and so he tries to stop them. He tries to do it as an introvert that is having a very bad internal crisis and mourning. But he tries, because while he cares of his art, he can't put it above other's people lives.

4) There are nudes

Hopefully I made you laugh with the title. What I mean is: it's their dorm, they have likely decorated it in the best way to suit their taste and expose themselves in the most true way they can. It's their place and they can be themselves in there. But they are aware they are considered the "weirdos" of the school. Some probably don't care but some may have decided to be truly themselves only inside the comfort of the house. This could also be true for Violet himself. So not only you are watching your home burning down, but now the same strangers that made fun of you, made you feel badly about themselves, want to enter? And potentially learn more secrets about the poeple that lived there? What they cherished and didn't want to share because they didn't feel comfortable to show? It would all be there in plain sight for anyone to see. And so Violet screams at them to not enter. The house can burn down for all he care, but he will let the precious secrets burn down with it so that none of them will have to risk their reputation at school (and later outside) because of him.

[waitmyturtles]

WELL???? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE THE REST OF MY DAY AFTER THAT????

I Feel You Linger in the Air, episode 11:

I didn't write about episode 10 last week due to life circumstances; I know my dear friends @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm took issue with the ways in which pieces of the narrative from episode 9 were left on the ground. I was feeling basic last week and enjoyed the soapy drama arcs, but I do agree with Shan and NBW that last week's episode was a touch watery and wanting.

NOT THIS ONE.

THIS EPISODE? Y'all know I've been mostly watching older series this year. Of NEW series that I've watched this year? With the caveat that I haven't watched La Pluie yet, this episode 11 of IFYLITA may be the single best episode of a new series I've seen this year. WHY?

Tee Bundit let this story tell itself. No interference. He let Nonkul and Bright take the lift, and tell the script TO US. THEY ARE CIPHERS. They let the emotion of this moment, the MOMENT THEY ARE HOLDING ON TO AS YAI AND JOM, TELL THIS STORY.

MY GOD. THE ROOM WE HAD TO EXPLORE ALL OF THE EMOTIONS.

Oh god! Every time they met together, the controlled intensity, the KNOWING of the time they had left, and still! Yai flirting with Jom in the bed as Jom is drawing his portrait! We coulda had tears! No, Yai just jumped him instead!

Jom sees Yai standing in the garden! Back hug, chin snuggle! These two are ENJOYING ALL OF THEIR EMOTIONS TOGETHER, knowing what little time they have left. They are not leaving ANYTHING on the table in terms of their interactions. They're not gonna sit in the corner and sob! THEY WILL LIVE AND LOVE THE REST OF THEIR DAYS TOGETHER.

That dance scene. The leaning in. The emotion of foreheads touching. The achievement of Jom to get a moment of equality for the house servants, to not work, to be friends all together in one room, to transcend caste and wealth, to be accepting of Yai and Jom's love, Jom coordinating for Yai a moment where Yai can be out and safe, as Jom was in his future life, around people that love them together.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Also, god. The Eaung Paeng storyline. As a mom, I am gritting my teeth and hoping for the DAMN best for EP, because she deserves the best. I do not want anything happening to EP. 1928 -- not necessarily a year I think of as a high point for women's healthcare. Carrying the baby of a man you hate? Probably the worst-case life scenario I could possibly think of.

Shit, y'all, this episode took me OUT. @slayerkitty! I don't easily cry at shows, but I SOBBED.

I'm just blubbering. Best work I've ever seen by Tee Bundit, and I've seen almost all of it this year. Episode 12 will be hard to top; if it doesn't top this episode, I can't exactly blame Tee, because this was an artistic HEIGHT.

P.S. @lurkingshan IS RIGHT. This will TAKE YOU OUT if you're an Eternal Yesterday/Eien no Kinou girlie like me.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Tuesday Fandom! If that's a thing lol Officially half way through s3. Insane. I love this episode. It’s one giant married moment. They are at the height of their banter and marriage flow in this one. This episode is one big continuous work flirt that doesn’t stop. Idk why people didn’t like this ep when it first premiered. It’s Chenford gold. I remember loving this kind of ep for Castle too. It was split for that fandom as well. I think they’re hilarious snippets I enjoy them a lot. The looks alone in this one are primo. This one is more me analyzing their commentary on the case since everyone is segregated in this one. But lets get started.

3x07 True Crime

We start our ep off with Tim and Lucy being the ones called to Corey’s house. There was signs of blood and they enter the house and find a ton of it. Thus starts their amazing run of snippets in this episode. They are being interviewed since they were apart of the investigation. Tim is instantly surly with the director LOL Shock surprise eh? Last thing he wants to do is be here. To him they could be out on the streets instead of this. Lucy is the natural antithesis to him about this. Legit beaming and he is miserable.

The epitome of grumpy x sunshine in every single way. These interview pieces showcase that so well. It makes me giddy and happy haha Tim wants to get out of this ASAP. While Lucy is so excited to be there answering any and all questions. Even cuts him off in her excitement. She is bursting at the seams with elation. Then apologizes to Tim but still can't contain her glee by saying ‘This is fun.‘ Tim judges her some more I’m dying. The look on his face at the end of the second gif above. LMAO

This next section I like to call. ‘How to show you’re in love with someone without saying a word.’ By Timothy Bradford. He is all heart eyes in this scene. First one he's settling in to listen. When his girl speaks he listens, second is him agreeing wholeheartedly with her assessment and lastly is heart eye/admiration city. Doesn't take his eyes off her most of this scene. They’re talking about Corey Harris’s acting class. How he used them to start a bling ring to steal from celebrities. Tim goes on to say how anyone they caught wouldn’t flip on Corey. So he got away with it.

Lucy adds in her own portion. Explaining how Corey promised his students everything. Money, fame. This in turn inserted him in their lives even further. Basically convincing his students he could control their destinies. Saying he did this because he probably didn’t have any control over his own. Tim is just nodding along with a proud look on his face. Just admiring her take on it. 100 percent loving her analysis of him. You know he loves how her brain works. He is just sitting back and enjoying her breakdown of Corey. As transparent as a glass of water sir.

What comes next always has me rolling when I watch this ep. Gotta love the way Lucy tells him like it is no matter the situation. Keeps him in check. Tim is so cocky in his deliverance of his teacher line. Smug really and Lucy shoots that down instantly. He’s all smiles (love this man's smile btw it does things to me. mmm) then realizes how much she’s got him on this. He is dead to rights and has no comeback. You watch in the gifs above he goes from smug and smiley to straight up defeated LOL

He exhales with a ‘You win’ sigh. It’s fantastic. He thought he had this clever quip against Corey. Survey says no. Wifey shut you down lmao Her face through out the whole scene is so funny. Like this is her idiot and she can’t help but poke fun at him for his comment. This moment will always make me laugh. He’s being so ridiculous and she doesn’t let him live it down in the slightest. Her reaction in the final gif is the best. Can't believe he's being such a goober. The work flirt begins and does not stop. Be more married you two please.

They end up finding a script at one of their crime scenes. The director thinks this is an odd thing to stumble upon. Apparently it is a completely normal thing in LA according to Tim. Just another day on the job in this city ha Their polar opposite replies are so indicative of them as characters. The way Lucy is like well yeah when they’re asked if they’ve written one. Tim's is an instant and hard 'God, No' LMAO. These two. Opposites truly do attract.

Her face in the first gif what makes me laugh so hard. That sheepish embarrassment. Eric and Melissa are just pure gold in this one. Their looks alone are some of the best parts besides the banter. Tim can read her like a damn book. All he has to do is look over at her and see her answer. At first he’s waiting for her to say she hasn’t either. Expecting her to follow suit.

She does not…his body language while he’s waiting for her verbal answer is so funny. Like a slow realization. Then it’s judgy city after that. The way she weakly defends why she has is too damn funny. He is none too pleased she has written one. We all know how Tim feels about screen writers. His face says everything. God I love these two sfm.

Their looks in this one have me rolling the entire episode. Eric is the master when it comes to this in the first place. He crushes it in this one they both do. His reaction to her excitement as they get closer to the climax of this case is hilarious. The judgy side eye and furrowed brow he gives her above is extremely amusing.

Tim truly doesn’t understand why she’s enjoying this so damn much. He’s trying to just get through it and be done. His grumpy old man is showing extra hard in this moment. Her sunshine demeanor despite him is amazing. She is of course the opposite and doesn’t know why he doesn’t enjoy this whole thing more LOL Lucy is having a friggin blast. Its coming off her in waves every time it comes back to them.

I feel like Lucy owns Tim’s ass for most of this ep. He literally doesn’t stand a chance against her witty comebacks. Every time he tries to be cocky or make a joke she shuts him down so hard. His crack about a woman scorned. Lucy puts him in check real quick with that one. His soft tone when he says he’s not trivializing it....(but you are my love)

He doesn’t want her to be mad at him for his stupid comment. Then she takes him to school even further with her logical stats. He has nothing to say except 'Most...'' No leg to stand on Timothy haha. Lucy is proud of her self for this one. No one puts Tim Bradford in check better than Lucy Chen. We all LOVE it. (He does too let's be honest...) This episode is pure gold for their banter. Married idiots in this one for all to see.

The director then comments on how Lucy was the one who broke the case wide open. Lucy is beaming from ear to ear. Lights up like a Christmas tree at hearing this. She is so excited to be recognized. Tim isn’t so fast to heap on that particular praise. Now Tim doesn’t give praise out easily to begin with. Add in she just schooled him in front of the director, he’s gonna be extra salty haha The director then asks well if he wouldn't describe it as such how would he?

Tim takes a shot at her social media addiction as his answer. Then Lucy looks like she wants to punch him so hard. Like how very dare he say about her. Ha She is so affronted telling the director 'That’s hurtful' LOL (but a little true...) Side note. I can totally see them in bed. Tim falling asleep to her endless scrolling. It becoming a comfort thing for him. Her going till she is ready to sleep. Shortly after him I imagine. Tis a nice thought to think about now that they're together. But let's get back to the present ep at hand before I daydream any further hehe

The cute looks in that final gif though. Be still my heart. She is so exasperated with him and he’s soaking it up. No regrets whatsoever taking her praise and boiling it down to luck. The absolute shameless flirting going on between these two. It’s like they don’t even know they're putting on a show for this director LMAO It's truly delightful.

Lucy scrambles to defend herself. It’s pretty comical. Saying she was on her phone doing ‘research’ Tim shaking his head but enjoying this none the less. Says that she got a notification and that’s what drew her eye to Corey's video showing he's alive. Lucy says she still has the video on her phone. So ready to take Tim down a peg. She pulls it up and it’s her on her own page doing some sort of dance. I’m laughing so hard.

I want to see this video in its entirety. Read the comments. All of it. I don't know what’s funnier Lucy being mortified that came up or Tim wanting a peak at the video. He’s confused as hell but wanting to see what she was showing the director. If you need a pick me up episode this is it. This one doesn’t disappoint on so many levels.

His confused face is everything after she quickly hides her phone. There are facets to her personality that allude him completely. This is one of them. Alas Timothy this is the woman you’ve chosen to love hahaha I love her being a dork sfm though. It’s that light hearted dork that brings the best out in him as we see in s5.

Their final scene doesn’t disappoint. Lucy’s face during his rant LOL. Tim going off saying what a waste of time this is, he should be doing stuff more important. Said this before but that line from Aaron in S5 fits perfectly for this rant. He's the old dude from 'Up' Such a good line because its so true for him. I love him so much for his grumpiness though. You know Lucy does too. Loves every piece of this man.

Her face is like the wife letting her husband rant even though she thinks he’s wrong. Tim gets humbled one last time. The director tells him about his last project. The way Lucy watches him the entire scene is adorable. She loves her idiot. The look they share after he says ‘Oh. Alrighty then.’ The smirk on Lucy's face. I can not. He has grown so much btw to not to be continuously defensive after he's corrected. Just rolls with it in this last scene. Like Oh... Oops.

Tim gets the last laugh though. Lucy is beaming slash word vomiting her love of true crime while Tim rolls his eyes LOL Thanking the director for letting her be in this. She is exuding sunshine and happily looking at him. When she finishes up Tim pops her happy bubble. Tells her about the thing in her hair. They’re constantly trying to one up the other. Take each other down a peg. Competitiveness even in an interview. Unreal. Lucy has his number this entire episode. So it’s only fair Tim gets his shot in last minute.

I do love in the second gif he stops himself from getting said thing out of her hair though. You watch him reach for it then stop his hand before it makes the full journey. Lucy is so affronted she doesn’t even notice. Her arm is already up and blocking any attempt to grab it anyways. I do love his almost attempt though. It's the little things.

Lucy is so mad he let that be in her hair the entire time. He did it because well it’s Tim. I adore these two so very much. He sighs heavily as she berates him on the way out. So exasperated by her it’s so funny. This is such a fun flirty light hearted episode for them. We got their banter in spades with side helping of heart eyes and flirtation. One of my fav eps of the season for them. Much needed levity after the intensity of the last two.

~~~~

Side notes- non Chenford

Not much. Was good to find out what happened to Sterling. Gino just disappeared last year without a trace. So having ending to them was nice to have.

Harper was hilarious during the interviews to always love me some Nyla Harper. ❤️

Forever Thank you to all who read these reviews and like, comment and reblog means the world :) see you all in 3x08

[bish-plz-haha]

Bungo Stray Dogs: my thoughts

So I'm not caught up on the manga (I'm trying). But I caught up on the anime and

HOLY

SHIT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually screamed at the second to last ep.

*Spoilers ahead*

I COULDNT HANDLE CHUUYA - AS A "VAMPIRE" - SHOOTING DAZAI. OH MY GOD.

But everything is okay because that's not the case. But I also watched it in Dub (bc I was trying to cruise through it because its been a hot minute since I've caught up on anime) and DAZAI SAID FUCK AND IM LIVING FOR IT! Chuuya too. I was giggling like a maniac when I heard Chuuya say "You fucked up, detective agency!" Then continue to fuck up the Hunting Dogs.

PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME IS TACHIHARA OKAY?!?!? (I swear I'm reading the manga. This weekend I'm planning on reading it all the way.)

Also, I absolutely loved seeing how the agency was formed. What got me was Yosuno and her ties to the mafia. I literally doubletake-d and screamed "WhaT??" and my family thought I was nuts. Maybe I am. Its fine.

But s5 broke my heart and I'm like, over it. I need some Shin Soukoku fighting together again.

Also, can we talk about Ranpoe??? I absolutely love them, and I think they're now my third favourite ship in the series. Behind SSK and SSKK, of course. I dunno if I could see most of the ships. But, no hate to it if you do ship it because I believe we should ship what we want without judgement (FICTIONAL CHARACTERS MEN! FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!), I absolutely despise Fyozai. I just... no.

Though I do think Fyodor was a very cool character—a little boring—but interesting. Especially with his understanding of Dazai's intellect. Now I think the character with the most depth is Ranpo. Like, man's backstory - the little we know, is quite interesting. It makes me think about a lot.

Also, why is the story character based, not world based, when we know so much more about the world than we do the characters?? Like we know a little about a lot of the characters but know a lot about the world. It's insane. I love character based stories because I feel knowing the characters builds the world.

But the most we know is: Atsushi is an abused orphan; Dazai is an ex mafia member; Kenji is scary; Ranpo is an orphan too who is actually gifted with intellect instead of an ability - though it kind of is an ability; Fukuzawa is an ex assassin; Yosuno hates her ability because she was forced by Mori to keep soldiers alive during the gifted war when they just wanted to die; Kunikida is an ex maths teacher; Chuuya is a human that was experimented on so he's basically part yōkai/ayakashi (Thank you Noragami for introducing me to that delightful word—it's basically a word to describe supernatural beings/creatures and lord knows what Chuuya actually is); Tanizaki is... I don't remember anything specific about him and Naomi...; Tachihara is not a mafia member but rather a military officer sworn to get revenge on Yosuno (she didn't do anything except keep his brother alive - poor babies. She was forced to as well, which, in my opinion, makes it worse); Akutagawa is sick (I swear to god if the series ends without him...); Gin is Akutagawa's sister (HC Gin is enby); Mori was an underground doctor before he slit the previous bosses throat.

Like barely anything about a single character. Just bits and pieces for each. Those are just the main ones I remember.

Anyway~

Goodbye!

OH btdubs! I'm writing a skk au fic/one-shot based off s5 ending but also dead apple. Might post the link here. Idk yet. 🤷‍♂️

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x06 thoughts (and many feelings)

Well, as expected, this ep basically broke my heart into a million tiny pieces- but still, they really did give Arman the best send-off that they could given the circumstances, and I’m so, so grateful for it.

Breaking the recap up a bit differently this week because I have a lot to say about everyone lol

But of course, I have to start with my beloved boy Arman, and Armony. I always knew that this ep was going to break me, and man, they didn’t waste any time doing it… less than 4 mins in and the tears were already flowing from hearing him saying the Reloj line, because seriously, knowing that this was his one chance to pass on a message to the people in his life, and that he chose that??? God it was powerful seeing Nadia and the others incorrectly assuming the message simply meant that he was running out of time, vs seeing Thony's jaw clench on hearing it because she knew the truth, knew that it was meant for her alone. In some ways, it was a “I think my time is up and I'm the one leaving forever in the morning, and that's okay” kind of message, but it was also a “this is me telling you I love you, because I never got the chance before”, and a “no matter what they do to me, in my mind I'm there, dancing with you by the fire.” No wonder she reaches for a beer the moment she gets home, knowing that there’s the chance she will be able to hold him in her arms again in only a matter of hours, but not being able to do anything to make it happen except just sit and wait for news. Well, at least until the moment she sees the report and understands Dante’s involvement, and then there’s no holding back anymore, no more trusting others to save him. Her blind determination to go find him and bring him home is exactly like how she acted when Luca was dying or when Fi was deported; it’s the way she always responds when someone she loves desperately needs her, and I love that Arman is so clearly in that category. (Okay gotta break this up bc of Tumblr's character limit lol)

Anyway ugh the entire time she was at the apartments I could feel my heart in my throat, because god, she got so close. (Oh and the way she instantly recognised the jacket and then knew with a single sniff that it was his?? Help???). But anyway ugh when the kid pointed them to the apartment, and she saw him right there through the window, only for him to be stolen away again in the mere couple of minutes it took her to get back around to the apartment’s front door.... Ughhh these two have been star-crossed from the start, but it was so hard to watch the final acts of their tragedy unfolding. I'll never be over the fact that for days, he was kept in a haze of drugs and pain, and yet we (and Thony!) know from his message that he spent that time thinking of her, escaping his reality by living in the moments they’d shared. And her own drug-induced hallucination of him was equally heartbreaking… god, to see her be so honest and unreserved in the way she looked at him and held him and spoke to him ("I’m gonna take you home, I'm never gonna let you go again”)... like damn, in that moment we really got to see the unfiltered, uninhibited truth of her feelings for him, the truth she never got to tell him and that he never got to hear.

But still, I’d like to think that he knew it anyway, especially when he saw her there in that car– saw that she had come for him, that she was trying so hard to save him, even at risk to herself. (Naturally I wish that we could have had his real face for that heart-wrenching moment of goodbye, but it was close enough, and when it comes down to it, that moment was still truly Arman and Thony no matter what). And while I’m sure Arman would have wished that he could live, that he could have stayed and built a life with her, we also saw multiple indications in the past 2 seasons that Arman knew and accepted that an early death was likely for him, if not practically inevitable, just like it had been for Mateo and Carlos and Bosco. And so for him to get to go out on his own terms, and in the act of saving Thony? It was exactly the death that he would have wanted. (On first watch I was sobbing too hard to notice that he didn't just knock the gun away and cause chaos in the car, he actually also grabbed the wheel and deliberately drove them off the cliff, meaning he truly chose for himself how he met his death). Honestly, it was literally the exact kind of ending I'd been predicting for him ever since s1– both the culmination of his hero arc, and also the ultimate fulfillment of his vow to protect her.  I'm so, so thankful that he got to have that, got to go out fast and painlessly and like the hero he was, rather than dying in the hangar or alone in that grungy apartment, and I’m even more thankful that he got to see her one last time, got to have that final goodbye with her. He died knowing she loved him and never gave up on him, and knowing that his death would ensure she got to live on; and for him, that would have been everything. And as devastating as it was to see Thony on her knees on the cliff, staring up into the sky as everything faded into white and El Reloj began to play... it was also heartbreakingly beautiful- seeing them dancing together again truly felt like getting a glimpse into his heaven, like it was telling us 'This is where he is now. This is where he'll always be"- and though it'll still always hurt to have lost him, I can be at peace with that.

(Though ngl, this ep was full of 'if onlys' that are going to haunt both us and Thony forever... If only Chris hadn't blocked the toilet today of all days. If only Thony had called a different plumber. If only JD's friend hadn't gotten him the arrest report. If only Ramona hadn't put a tail on Thony that caused her and Fi to have to rely on Jeremy for a ride rather than going on their own. If only Thony had been able to trust that Jorge wasn't involved and had called him instead. If only Nadia hadn't sent her the address for the meet location. If only if only if only. The show has always centred around this theme (all the way back to 1x01 and ‘if only Thony hadn’t encouraged the underground fighter to make her own choices, then the fighter may have done what Theo ordered her to and deliberately lost the fight, and then Tarik wouldn’t have killed Theo and Thony wouldn't have witnessed it, and none of this would have happened’), and it's a vital aspect of both the storytelling (because if none of that had happened, then there's no story at all) and also of Thony's character development. But obviously in this instance we all know that the writers had no other choice, and that there was no way this ep could have gone differently anyway, not after the loss of Adan. We know that, but Thony doesn't, and so it's going to be devastating to see Thony blame herself for yet another death, especially the death of someone she loved so deeply.)

But alright let’s talk about who is actually responsible for Arman’s death, because while Thony inadvertently contributed to it, she absolutely wasn’t the one who directly led to them being in that situation! Let’s start with Dante: firstly, I knew it was very suss that he ‘accidentally’ killed that guy in the last ep! And then when I saw the BTS pics for 3x06 last week and saw that Thony and Fi were going to go to the same apartment buildings that Dante got arrested at, it was clear that he was definitely involved in Arman’s abduction somehow. So either it’s option 1, and that giant bastard knew just how deeply Ramona wanted Arman back in their lives and figured he could not only give her what she wanted, but could also use the opportunity to score a fuck-ton of money without Ramona ever knowing of his involvement; or it’s option 2, and he abducted Arman on Ramona’s orders so that she could a) get her hands on a bunch of Nadia's money, and b) receive Arman's gratitude for saving him, which would then lead to his return into the family. Personally I think that option 1/Dante working alone is much more likely, and I'd also prefer it to option 2, because if Ramona was involved it would completely ruin the enjoyment I’ve been getting out of her character and her sibling relationship with Jorge. So I'm really hoping that it was all just Dante’s plan, and that Ramona and Jorge believe Thony when she tells them about Dante’s role in Arman's kidnapping (and therefore his death) and then they fucking murder him for it. 

Speaking of murdering, that brings me to Jeremy Fucking Dolan. (Yes, I literally looked up his last name on IMDB purely bc I felt the need to put a curse word in it). It’s funny, but from the very first moment his character was announced and it was mentioned in his bio that he would befriend Thony while hiding a dark secret, I had an almost irrational level of hatred for him, even more than I had for Jorge’s character, which was definitely odd and inexplicable given that Jorge’s bio made him sound like he was purely meant to be an unwanted ‘Arman 2.0’/potential love interest, which I obviously did not want in the slightest. But if I’d been given the option to get rid of one of them before S3 even started, it would have been Jeremy with no hesitation. The moment he made his appearance, I called it that he was actually an undercover FBI agent who was using Thony to get to Arman, which was maddening enough because she just didn’t deserve to be manipulated in that way, or to be betrayed by someone whom she had been isolated and vulnerable enough to risk trusting. And then that undercover bastard not only uses her, but ends up being the very reason that the FBI shows up right at the worst moment– not only preventing the exchange, but also causing the chase that kills Arman??? I don't care if he was only doing his job and trying to catch criminals, goddammit, I still hate him so much, and it's going to destroy Thony (even more than she already has been destroyed after losing Arman) when she eventually puts it together and realises that her trusting Jeremy directly contributed to Arman’s death. Which is why I’m over here violently daydreaming of a moment sometime late in the season where Jorge and Ramona finally manage to capture Jeremy, and then they bring Thony in and let her pull the fucking trigger and end him. (I mean, is it at all likely that she would go that dark, even to avenge Arman? Well, no. But thinking about it certainly gives me great satisfaction so I’m sticking with it lol)

Anyway, moving onto something more positive– if you wanna find the MVP of this ep, you only have to look at Fi!!! I loved her for the kind and understanding way she addressed Thony's connection to Arman, and the way she almost got Thony to acknowledge her feelings for him. Though I guess in that moment she could see that Thony still wasn’t ready to talk about it, and so she tried to ease Thony's mental discomfort by shifting focus to jokes about Jeremy (gross). Still, throughout the ep she was just so completely ride or die for Thony, like she has always been, and honestly Thony needs that, needs her. And not just for her badass lock-picking skills haha (taught to her by Paolo maybe??). Basically, Thony is like the Frodo of this series, carrying a huge burden and going through unimaginable things, but Fi is like her Sam, and it’s only with Fi’s support that Thony is able to keep pushing forward through everything. Obviously the loss of Arman, the other vital person in her life (does that make him Gandalf??) is going to be absolutely crushing for her, and I think Fi is going to be even more incredible in the coming episodes as she supports Thony through her grief and devastation. Ngl, I already had a fic idea about Fi going and getting Arman's jacket back for Thony, and it makes me cry just thinking about it ugh

In addition to Fi and Thony, I did love the whole De La Rosa fam vibe early in the episode, with Chris and Jaz bickering, and Thony and Fi making a fuss of Luca, and then Chris gently telling them to ease off when Luca got overwhelmed– it felt so nice to have them all reunited again and just getting to be a ‘normal’ family getting ready for school in the morning, and for Fi and Thony to be dealing with problems like blocked toilets and wet clothes rather than threats of deportation or dangerous cartels or the FBI. Chris worrying over missing Camila’s call was super cute too; I’m glad we got to have another mention of her and I hope we get to see her again soon. As for Luca, I’m really happy he’s started school, mostly bc it frees up Thony’s schedule haha, but also because it’s an important step for both him and Thony in moving forward with their lives. Thony has lived in an endless loop of ~My Child Is Dying~ for 6 years, and finally (thanks to her and Fi and Arman, like she said in the ep) that cycle has finally been broken. Luca will always need careful monitoring of his health, of course, but Thony isn’t trapped by his illness anymore, and I’m excited to see what potential  paths that will open up for her. I will always wish that one of those paths could have been a relationship with Arman, and I'm sure she does too, but as long as she finds happiness and purpose, I'll be satisfied.

Okay, so Jorge showing up at the school was pretty great honestly; like he says, it kind of is their thing to just show up uninvited into each other's spaces, and plus I think he actually truly did want to help make the moment a little easier on her by being there and distracting her/reassuring her as a fellow parent. I also loved the sweatshirt mention lol, it was a good throwback and I enjoy that he’s comfortable enough with her to tease her. Just shows how much their relationship has changed in the week or so since he first tossed that sweatshirt at her in a different school parking lot!! And he definitely won points with me here by going out of his way to get the info for her about the legal/CPS stuff without being asked, and though he explained it away as basically just him buying her influence over Arman in regards to the Sin Cara business, again I think he just genuinely wanted to help. Like Arman, he doesn’t get the opportunity to do many things that are purely good and noble, and so the feeling of getting to help her and Luca clearly has somewhat of an intoxicating effect on both men haha. Even with the loss of Arman (and so the loss of his supposed reason for helping Thony with the CPS stuff) I don’t doubt that Jorge will still help her with it once he’s satisfied that she had nothing to do with Arman’s death. But ugh speaking of Arman, the way Jorge questioned her about her connection to Arman… he already knows that Thony’s husband only died a few months ago, and as far as he knows from Nadia's behaviour, her and Arman’s marriage was solid, so it’s understandable that the intensity of Thony’s loyalty to/concern about Arman is a bit confusing to him. And because he doesn’t understand it, he’s always going to view her with at least a trace of suspicion until he learns the truth. Which may even be as soon as next ep– it looks like Jorge and Ramona are going to be demanding answers from Thony about how Arman died/ whether she betrayed him to the Feds/ how she was even there in the first place etc etc, and honestly I'm desperately hoping we'll get some kind of "I would never betray Arman! I LOVED him!" outburst from her that makes both Jorge and Ramona stop in their tracks because of how clearly heartfelt and honest it is. And ngl, while we’ve seen Thony indirectly state or demonstrate her love for Arman multiple times now, it would really mean a lot to me to hear her just say it openly without holding back. Not to mention that I think it would also really help pave the way for her to be accepted into the Sin Cara/Sanchez family, which would make for interesting viewing for the rest of the season.  

Speaking of the Sanchez family, I enjoyed the flashback and getting the backstory about the caddy, and seeing more of the Eduardo/Ramona/Jorge dynamic. (I’m trying so hard not to be nitpicky about the fact that young Arman's hair was straight and young Jorge's was curly, when it should have been the opposite, lol). But I’ve been thinking a lot about what Eduardo says to young Arman in that moment about how the only way to be a good man is to work hard and make an honest living, and I think that before we meet him in S1 Arman had really internalised that, and didn’t see himself as being a good man even though he wanted to be, which is why it hurt him so much to have Thony reinforce that belief during their argument at the wedding in 1x03. But then through helping her and forming a connection with her, he sees that even though she’s witnessed him at his worst, she genuinely does believe he is a good man, and it allows him to start believing it of himself for the first time. The flashback also definitely gave us more of a sense of Arman’s relationship with Ramona and Jorge, and really added another layer to him not selling off his caddy despite the direness of his debt to RK. What Nadia said to Ramona about the caddy being Arman’s dream car seemed to prove to Ramona that Arman still loved her and Jorge, and never truly turned his back on them… and so hopefully her sense of family and honour will mean that she will now consider Nadia and Thony– Arman’s family– to be her family as well. I also really enjoyed the scene of Jorge and Ramona sitting together in the caddy, discussing their business choices/differences in their life plans, and also talking about Arman and his good heart… they’ve definitely both grown on me, partly because they’re well written, but mostly because they've helped Thony and they genuinely care about my boy Arman. I’m sad we'll never get to see an Arman and Jorge brotherly reunion, because that could have been truly great. But tbh what I’m really wondering is what will happen to my beloved caddy now that Arman's gone... will Nadia want to get rid of it because seeing it is too painful?? Will Jorge offer to take it? Will I get my dream of Thony being the one to keep it lol? Doubtful, but one can always hope.... (and I guess there’s always that fic I’ve been planning to write about it for like 3 weeks lol)

Sigh, poor Nadia gave me a lot of feels in this ep. She is working so hard to get Arman back, and handling herself amazingly well under incredibly stressful circumstances. She dealt calmly with the kidnappers (which Ramona was clearly very impressed by... a potential protege there, perhaps?). Nadia also politely yet firmly declined Ramona’s plan for Arman to be basically kept in their home, despite knowing how powerful Ramona is and how risky it would be to piss her off.  She also insisted on being at the exchange to get him back despite the risk to herself (and possibly partly because she still doesn’t trust Ramona’s intentions). She trusted Thony with the meet location, despite their complex history, despite knowing that it meant that she would have to share her reunion with her husband with the other woman he loves. Even if she only gave Thony the address because it meant getting to have a highly-trained doctor there who could be trusted completely with Arman’s life, it still means she put Arman’s wellbeing above her own wants. Honestly I respect the hell out of Nadia, and literally the only consolation I have about losing Arman is that at least I'll never have to watch her go through the heartbreak of Arman still choosing Thony over her despite all their history and everything she’d done for him. Of course, we still have to watch her going through an absolutely horrific heartbreak of a different kind, but at least instead of being alone in it, she has Thony to share that pain with. (Or at least, she will, when she gets past her initial anger and blame towards Thony). It's almost a certainty that Thony and Nadia's connection will continue and even strengthen throughout the rest of the season, and I strongly believe that Thony is going to do everything she can to support and protect Nadia now, not only because she genuinely does care about her, but also because it’s the only thing she can do now to honour Arman and give thanks for all he did for her.

Okay, last couple of things: I loved that even despite her desperate search for Arman and the ticking clock that was hanging over their heads, Thony still stopped and helped the kid’s grandfather. It was very true to who she is, and how she can’t not help the people in front of her that need her. And tbh in terms of TV medicine, this instance actually wasn’t too bad haha, even if her Epley manoeuvre was a bit off. The fact that the man turning to look at the clock helped her diagnose the vertigo was also a cool reference to the ep’s title/theme as well. But anyway the reference that I can’t quite figure out yet is the word Thony saw written in the dust on that mirrored platter thing; I’m assuming Arman wrote it as a clue in case someone found the apartment? It seems to say something like ‘Marin’ which means nothing to me rn, but they very intentionally included a shot of Thony seeing it, so I guess its meaning will become clear in the next ep or two? 

Anyway, this has been many many words and feelings, so I’m just gonna end it with this, the prayer that Thony spoke as Arman walked out of prison in 2x02, because it feels even more tragically fitting now:

Now he is freed Through your blood on the cross Through the blows to your face And through the crown of your thorns that pierced your head Deliver him from all evil From the rigor of injustice From the torment of conscience And from all darkness Welcome him into Paradise Where there will be no more sorrow No more weeping or pain Give him the blessings of the life to come As he enters into the kingdom of peace and light.

[nnnn99999]

Since summer night is ending soon, I decided that this is the perfect time to start watching mafia the series. Because I can't not have a constant injection of jd content in my life. I mean I could totally rewatch simm or ha, but since I am almost done watching a solo Dunk show, I kinda want to watch a solo Joong show now. I decided not to binge it so that I have something to keep me busy for a while. Life is stressful and I need something good to look forward to everyday. Anyway, this show is really good. Yes, I only watched ep 1. Yes, I am very confident that the whole series is good after watching only one ep. Because my do I have THOUGHTS!!!

First of all why oh why is this series so obscure? I doubt I would have known of its existence had I not been so jd obsessed. Or is it that the style of this show does not suit everyone? I'm just confused because I think it's great.

The cast so far seems to be great. I am so intrigued by everyone and how their characters are going to play out. They are so interesting. And all of them are so different, which makes the dynamics between them so much fun to watch. Particularly, I am very interested to see how the AnnaIntenso dynamics is going to play out. I love frenemies. Also I can already tell the characters have a lot of depth to them.

I love the style of this show. It is a mafia show, but it gives me more of a western + fantasy vibes. The opening scene was a fight between two mafia gangs, but because of the music and the way it was shot and edited, it felt more like an epic fantasy war. But it also gives me anime vibes for some reason. Anyway, I am loving the overall vibes so far.

Also I have to mention the choice of weapons for the main cast. It is interesting. This mafia show is giving me a sword, daggers(I have no idea what Intenso's weapon is actually called so I'm settling for daggers even though I clearly know those are not daggers. I don't want to accidentally spoil myself by researching so yeah) and a red gun. Awesome.

Fun fact about me nobody asked for: I am a huge fan of One Piece. I have a very strong emotional attachment to it. I will not even start on how much I love it and why. My overflowing love for One Piece is relevant because one of my favorite characters is Zoro. And Sven from this show reminds me of Zoro. It's not just because Sven is a swordsman, their fighting styles are very very different after all. It's because Sven is the cold, calm, loyal, strong protector like Zoro. If Sven turns out to be an idiot too, I will probably scream and terrify anyone who is unfortunate enough to be in the same house as me.

Moving on, the story seems really interesting so far. I have literally no idea where this is going to go since I jumped into this without knowing a single thing about it, apart from the fact that Joong is in it. But I am seated and ready for whatever this show decides to give me.

This next section is going to be me gushing over Joong basically.

So obviously I knew Joong is a really good actor. But I didn't know he was this good. The highlight of this ep, and maybe even the whole series, was Beam crying after finding out about his father's death. It was not the teardrops falling silently kind of crying I have seen Joong do before. No, it was the gut wrenching screaming ugly crying to the point you start to throw up because your world has fallen apart right in front of you. It was such a good scene. I felt every bit of Beam's pain and loss. I had no idea Joong could do that. Actually the scene at his father's funeral was done so well too. Joong was crying here too, but the feeling was completely different. Also I love that when Sven came to the funeral, Nut was the one who noticed and recognized him. Beam however was so distraught that he didn't notice Sven at all. Even the part where Beam gets lost in Baifern is so good. Like you can really tell that he is completely enraptured by her. Also the part where Beam looks at Baifern before getting into his father's car in front of the pub. So so good.

To summarize, Joong is a wonderful actor and I love him. This show is great.

Thanks to @airenyah for helping me find this show because if I was not going through your tags, I probably wouldn't have found out about the existence of this show until much later.

[colossus-of-clout]

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Sloppy Seconds Ain't My Style - S1E06

This was one of my favorite episodes! There was so much character development that I didn't mind the lack of musical numbers.

CYNTHIA: Loved watching the Cynthia/Lydia story develop. The realization of their feelings for each other... Watching Cynthia try to pull away from Lydia to suppress what she was feeling was a story that was all too familiar.. You could feel the tension. The scene right before the play in the music room, when they default to their original acting exercise, was the best part of the entire show. When they're saying "your hair is brown" / "my hair is brown" you can see the desire in their eyes... They're saying "Hey, I understand because I feel it too. You're not alone." Transitioning from the hair discussion to the "I'm scared" admission was immaculate. You could see how confused and terrified and vulnerable they felt in that moment and I LOVED how Lydia leaned into it by admitting how scared she was by her feelings... In that moment, we saw a peak of her character that we've never seen before. This wasn't about another theatre production, because she's so confident in her abilities as an actress... This was about her saying "I'll hold your hand and jump off of the cliff with you, even though I'm fearful of the fallout."

JANE: In this ep, there’s so much to Jane’s character. We got to take a deeper dive into Susan and see why she operates the way that she does. I love that Jane didn't exploit that moment of weakness and allowed Susan to see the good in people. I also enjoyed that this moment showed Jane that she doesn't need to he president in order to make a difference at Rydell. Big fan of her realization that she doesn't want to help Buddy out, but she wants to impact change from where she is and only with her girls. In that moment, we see a parallel to her relationship with Richie in the last episode when she refused his jacket because she has her own.

NANCY: Though Nance had a smaller part in this episode, she really used that opportunity to shine. We got to see the amount of care she puts into each of her pieces (just imagine how long it took to make each of the girls their own jacket from scratch.....eeek!) we saw her switch from a more commanding and bossy attitude to that of relying on someone else (Hazel) and submitting herself enough to ask for help on something she's so passionate about...and then crediting Hazel for the vision, despite Nancy creating the designs. We also see how committed she is to the girls when Cynthia runs away. Her first priority was to find her and supporther through whatever was bothering her. This really struck me because Nancy is so proud of her designs, but rather than sticking around to watch her art come to life, she sprinted away to find her girls to go support Cynthia.

OLIVIA: My favorite character for last ofc. I loved seeing how passionate she was about making sure that the election results weren't rigged. She believes in Jane and the Pink Ladies so much and I love watching her fight to keep the group unified... You can tell that she felt so alone before the four of them became friends. She feels like she belongs now and she's so happy when she's around the girls. I hate how Mr. Daniels continues to have such a hold on her... All of the guys at Rydell would die for a chance with her, especially Gil....but I'm still holding out hope for Jane and Olivia. I love Richie but the sparkle in Olivia’s eyes and the smile plastered on her face when Jane is nearby....come on.

GIRL GANG: I also loved the shift in the group dynamic from "We're coming together because we want to change things" to “Hey, we actually really care about each other regardless of whether or not we have a single unifying factor!" The last few shots of the girls at Cynthia's was incredible. It reminded me of the Winnie the Pooh quote about not trying to cheer someone up, but just existing with them as they process everything. Also, I loved the ode to Jan when all of the girls sang along to the ipana song. I'm definitely excited/interested to see how Cynthia and Lydia's relationship will impact the group dynamic. I feel like the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies already have an idea that she isn't attracted to men, well except for Shy Guy lmao, so it won’t be a big deal to the gangs but I hope no one outs her or gives them trouble.

[stargatesg-1obsessed]

Did I just finish re-watching Stargate SG-1? Yes. Have I had the biggest urge to start another re-watch all day yesterday? Yes. Yes I have.

I’d been thinking about it all day, then my mum called me on her way back from my grandparents telling me how she thinks we’ve watched too much Stargate, because she saw a piece of string on the floor, and her first thought was that it was gonna infect/infest (whatever I can’t think of her exact words right now) her. Then she realised that this is the real world and it was a piece of string 😂 I’d been feeling sad like all day(had some bad news) and that just really cheered me up.

Then I couldn’t stop thinking about wanting to re-watch it, and I told her and she was like, “well we could restart it,” and I was like, “that’s true.” We didn’t end up watching it yesterday, but I really want to. Though we just finished it, so I dunno..

I feel like Stargate is such a pick me upper show, because I know what’s going to happen, if there’s an episode we don’t like, we skip it, and I can just enjoy it. Stargate is the only show that actually ever has my full attention. Normally when we watch shows I’m on my phone at the same time because I have the attention span of a wet rock, but s1-s8 of Stargate SG-1 has my full attention. Not s9 and 10’s biggest fan. It’s better than I remember, but it’s still not that interesting. Plus, Jack isn’t in every single episode and it’s just not good enough. I miss Jack 😔

Also I feel like the nostalgia I’m gonna get from the first ep is gonna be strongggg. I’ll just be sat there thinking, “oh you’re all such babies, and you have no idea what’s coming for you :D”.

Anyways, almost 2am rant over. Gonna try and hint my way into a re-watch tomorrow.

[genlossneg]

thank you for this blog im boutta post a lot of my suffering in here enjoy the essay

I’m not a ranboo fan at all, i just heard about a cool horror project from a name i’m familiar with and i was excitedly waiting for perhaps a new kid on the block with cool content and the resources to do so. I’ve seen what people with three coins and a piece of lint can do out of passion, and so i expected that someone that has far more resources out of the gate would be able to really take it out of the park if they were equally as passionate. I’ll just grab a couple of points and elaborate.

Intentionally bad.

This is the poorest excuse for low quality content I’ve heard. Not a single self-respecting creative that actually cares about their project would make something ACTUALLY bad. Anytime you see something that’s intentionally bad and yet somehow beloved, look DEEPER. Because behind that veil of “bad” is actually often a HUGE amount of effort and care put into something a creator cared about. 

Intentionally bad content is still made with the intention to be fun to watch, to be entertaining. There is very little entertainment found in any of the genloss bad content.

Lack of horror content

The main excuses i’ve seen is that they were scared of Twitch TOS, to which I say lolwhat. You had two whole years to contact twitch and talk it out with them and figure out what part of your project and show would fly and what wouldn’t, and instead you opted to really cut out any horror aspect at all for fear of being banned on twitch? And even then, content more gorey and disturbing than this is allowed on twitch. If Until Dawn flies on twitch, I think gen loss could have gone wilder.

And if they REALLY didn’t want to risk it, for the love of god at least be creative with your attempts to circumvent it? The goofy poor editing of the red in ep2 during the surgery sequence took me out of it entirely and confused me so much. You know what they could’ve done? TURNED THE LIGHTING A STARK RED. THAT’S IT. THE MOST BASIC THING, TO AT LEAST REALLY GET ACROSS THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG.

The acting

I was a theatre kid in highschool and let me tell you even the 13 year olds acted with more passion and devotion to the role than 95% of the cast in gen loss. Even during improv. You can tell that there is basically no script to gen loss and that its purely “X will happen then Y will happen and we need to fill it with conversation and improv” with zero direction on tone or anything. It was so painful seeing how little effort had gone into the acting. Ranboo can’t act for shit and should have gone through some acting classes before taking on a live show. The only ones that were visibly trying were charlie and jerma and the people who were frozen robots during ep3 (because as someone who had to stay frozen in pose hours on end for a play while on-stage, that shit is HARD)

Hetch’s acting was even more laughable, and his fakeout death was… something. An incredibly cartoonish “uguguhh” exiting his mouth- really? Also It was so frustrating to have his voice come from seemingly nowhere. There was no source to his voice.

It sucked so much seeing ranboo actually TRY to be better in his acting in episode 3 because when he suddenly started being intense it felt WRONG and out of character, because there was no natural leadup to him being like that. ep 1 and 2 were so bad that even when ep 3 was better it felt disappointing.

Lighting

Its already been mentioned by film student anon that the lighting is such a huge amateur mistake but I want to touch upon the creative aspect of the lighting a little more.

There was such an utter lack of using colored lighting to really set tones in scenes and it SUCKED. Like, already with the lack of outright horror blood and gore, they NEEDED creative lighting to at least intensify scenes! Add some damn flickering lights! Green lighting? Something- anything. Again, TEENAGERS have been more creative with lighting in a performance and all they had was four colors to work with and nothing fancy.

Camerawork

I wish they would have actually done good camera work. Set up some cameras in locations and acted in front of them instead of having someone follow ranboo around and having some “lore” explanation for it that makes little sense. Having moving cameras that are shaky and constantly cutting people frame-wise is just not pleasant to watch and does not add anything useful. On top of the camera quality jarringly changing between shots constantly it just… ruined the flow. 

in ep3, we had an explanation for why there’s a camera following ranboo, and we got some REALLY COOL ESTABLISHING SHOTS THAT…. made no sense in lore. Why would the “drone” following ranboo take establishing shots? It’s supposed to follow ranboo- but then later it gets dismissed and we suddenly have sharp camera cuts to what im guessing was a prerecorded scene due to the camera quality change and it just felt. So sudden and jarring? Like okay you just dismissed the camera and now we suddenly get a different non-canon camera because they remembered we actually need to still see whats happening.

Lore/Story

The lore and story we have gotten so far is so scatterbrained and nonsensical. + knowing that this project isn’t actually what gen loss was supposed to be (which: Why are you advertising it as gen loss then, ranboo? You’re just staining the name of your passion project). So much of genloss is in the “I guess” category of why things happened. But the consistensy also felt so off. From what I understand, Charlie is the slime demon, and was the guy on the gurney, and was also in ep 3 as  himself. And all those other versions WERE the ep3 charlie. How? Charlie died? twice? According to what has happened? But he’s alive anyway at the end until he gets killed again by a cheap backrooms monster? But supposedly everyone else did actually die? 

I just. Genuinely do not understand what the story here was. What the point was of everything. I’m not gonna ask who the characters were because the characters were just the streamers and nothing special or new. If you know the streamer, thats the “character”. It’s just godawful writing.

Viewer interaction

Viewer interaction was pointless and didn’t matter. Either every choice the viewers made was gonna happen anyway, or ranboo decided to ignore it lol. It felt like there was no impact to viewers doing anything to influence the show and the show probably would have been largely better had viewer interaction not been a thing at all.

also idk maybe making ranboo’s “character” aware of the audience from the get go would have been more fun as they could’ve been trying to get the audience to do anything while we’re just watching quietly. And they could’ve gotten more and more desperate with the audience as things went on. But then again that requires actual acting skills that ranboo barely has.

Just as some final words, this really feels like a case of someone who has never done anything like this thinking they can do this because they’re famous and well-liked online. I know ranboo makes a lot of money, so they certainly had enough money to make something good. Take some film classes or acting classes. Instead they became overambitious and made just a generally unpleasant show that is not going to make me want to watch any future gen loss content in good faith.

The entire show depends on going “MY STREAMER!!! THATS MY STREAMER!!!” and would not survive on its own merit. The hype towards gen loss was misleading on what it’d be, and the fans made amazing fanart that does not live up to the reality of what they got and i feel genuinely sad for them. The fanbase made a better interpretation of what gen loss is WITHOUT EVEN NEEDING GEN LOSS TO BE OFFICIALLY RELEASED.

also a final thing about the merch but why is the merch so bad lol. Its such boring design. The gen loss logo appears barely anywhere in the show itself. The fans could’ve had some sort of cool merch, like masks based off of ranboo’s mask and the showfall robot masks. Shirts and merch based off of the slime demon and warehouse master. 

Anyway sorry for the huge wall of text I have just been going insane abt this to my friend in dms enjoy

————————————————–

i could probably spend hours responding to all of this! thank you for the mini essay, you make a ton of great points. i really sympathize with the “not a ranboo fan” stance because my friends are way more fans of him than i am, and were way invested.

i personally haven’t heard any “it’s supposed to be bad!” defenses but i can totally believe there are people like that out there lol. i definitely in the “there’s no entertainment when it’s bad”. you’re entirely right about the lack of horror! i was so confused after the first stream and everyone was like “it’s not supposed to be horror yet! you don’t understand!” and then it took until the 3rd stream for anything significant to even happen, and even then it was weak.

charlie and jerma did so much for gen loss man, ranboo’s acting was just.. not that great and when it was, it felt so jarring. more interesting lighting would’ve been so fun! so much could’ve been done with that, and that’s especially clear when they switch cameras because they had the ability to film this incredibly and just.. didn’t. i feel like we didn’t get so much lore that we should have, especially with how long the streams were. i hope we get something clearer later on.

the idea of him being aware of chat the whole time would be cool, but idk if it would’ve worked with the “brainwashed” thing he was doing. overall i agree - gen loss was super hyped up and in this form, it didn’t live up to it as well as it could have. once again, ty for the mini-essay, it was a great read!

[chrisodonline]

I didn't "liveblog" the last ep because...it didn't feel livebloggable. I mean, it did. But it would have just been nothing but grousing, and I'm sure that would've gotten redundant.

The whole ep should've hit more emotionally, but the dialogue was painful in spots. And people were overselling it, making the hokiness so much more obvious. I get these were newer writers, but I also know enough about TV writers' rooms to know there is collaboration in every single episode. I...whatever. The Sam/Kam scenes were THE most (only) solid bits.

And I do not know who the hell was at the wedding planner because I don't know the two people that I saw, especially the one so obsessed with security and not wanting this stranger to call him by his first name yet totally throws caution to the wind and is comfortable making out in a public place. Near the windows.

The only thing I can figure is that Anna was being really weird, and Callen -- already notably on edge and still in work mode -- clocks this and is too weirded out to play along. You could tell he was starting to try, and then Anna was just SO extra he just wanted to poke holes in the persona she was putting on because he didn't get why she was being like this. And I didn't either.

Continuing on the "only thing I can figure" with Anna, is the fact that she's mentioned before about wanting to go full on "normal life." Or what she thinks is "normal" -- seen in magazines, Instagram, etc. She can't completely get out of it as we've seen; she still wants to do something adjacent. But she hangs onto the "normal" because she could only dream about it as an adult. She feels like she missed out on getting to be one of those little girls who dreams about your wedding day and grown up house because she was too busy being Black Widowed, er, Noble Maiden-ed. And the "normalness" she's seeking is so opposite of what she's done or had in the past for that very reason. Yes, the drama and spy jobs were how she met Callen. But it was also consistently what kept them apart time after time. After "Down the Rabbit Hole," I think she really, really was like, "I could lose him" and was so grateful she didn't. She wants to touch the normal that doesn't involve this kind of thing that could keep them apart...permanently.

And Fatima accidentally hits on this. She's frustrated with Callen, and hey, he got to come and have family dinner. She wanted to repay the favor, or so she thought, by helping Anna out with the wedding to give her a decent partner. But Fatima is all Beverly Hills. She's Hollywood. She's the Instagram wedding type. She makes the mistake of selling all this as normal to Anna, and talking about how this is that one special day when you get to just go full-on fancy -- and that's what everyone does! So Anna starts to adopt all of these behaviors, and she wants to play this part. She would NEVER truly allow Arkady to officiate (even if we, the audience, bribed her heavily). But doesn't it sound super sweet and touching to tell the froufrou wedding planner that her father wants to officiate? And the wedding planner reacts just as she thought she would.

Callen's facial reactions the whole time (and well done, COD on this) were such a mix of confusion that gradually started to turn into annoyance. He was not told they were playing this game, a game he really doesn't want to play. And I think he's trying to mess with her so she can see how ridiculous this all is -- at least for her to try to be this person.

So when he starts joking about this entire thing he thinks is a joke, a sitcom that he's watching, and grabs the piece of paper from her she at first replies like a high school girl. And then the minute she lets the aggressive part comes out that has been annoyed for separate reasons with him and trying to be perfectly pleasant in front of the wedding planner, a.k.a. Harbinger of Normalcy, it's the real Anna at the surface. The feisty one that Callen knows is the real her. And once the facade was broken, it was REALLY broken. And Callen was just so relieved that she was "back," he was like, "I guess she's on top of me now, so we might as well make out if this stops us from having to do that dumbass quiz." And then they have to run home. And this whole dumb d-story better not have been done because they needed a way to set up Anna getting accidentally pregnant because they were a little too impulsive that day.

Anyway, this comes after what we got of their relationship in the early part of the season, super healthy conversations that made them seem like the couple the writers always intended them to be -- and not what we had really seen. So, yes, extra frustrating.

But who cares, right?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not me. Clearly. That's for sure.

[trashjuicesmidrewrite]

Episode 9 •3• (MID Rewrite)

Okay so just so no ones confused I renamed Lady Bish to Lady Ki so I could take her character more seriously and I renamed Rhal to Hitoma so I wouldn’t go through the earth shattering, mind numbing amount of embarrassment that’d come with misspelling his name, autocorrect changing it to Rhys, and then not noticing it before I post the ep. (Basically it’s just a bunch of quality of life stuff for me lmao) That’s all I wanted to say I shall not yap for 10000 lines like I did last ep lol. OMG LAST MINUTE NOTE TUMBLR FREAKED OUT ON ME AND SHOWED ME A BLANK DRAFT AND FOR A SECOND I THOUGHT I LOST ALL MY PROGRESS ���� (luckily tumblr was just being goofy)

Episode 9: Qualities of a King

Hitoma adjusted the collar of his new royal garments. He’s wanted something like this for ages, to wear a title such as king proudly and be able to flaunt it with nothing but a few pieces of clothing.

He was wearing a black silk jacket buttoned up with tiny bits of gold on the side. It was adorned with designs of rising red flames growing scarce as they went higher up on his torso and arms.

His pants were similar, except they were missing the red flames. A crimson red sash went across Hitoma’s torso, spelling out Chikara in their native tongue in golden letters. Perfect. It was all absolutely perfect

Except it wasn’t, and Hitoma couldn’t ignore it any longer. The elephant in the room was right next to him, flaunting its new garments the exact same way he was. It deserved it less. He knew it did.

This person was Lady Ki, or as it was now, Queen Ki. Hitoma vowed to never call her that.

She smoothed some wrinkles that were in her black silk dress. It was loose and slightly baggy in order to promote the modesty that came with being queen in Chikara. It was adorned with the same pattern that was in Hitoma’s clothes, but a bit more flowy.

Due to Lady Ki’s…body type…it happened to fit on her more than it should. She didn’t seem to care though, at least not as much as some guards Hitoma has consistently gotten on to.

Lady Ki looked over to the man with disapproval. “Your hair, you should fix it.” She stated.

Hitoma’s hair was styled as professional as it could be in a shaggy haircut. He’s wanted to cut it, but all the work and public appearances one has to make when king has stopped him

“I…more than likely would’ve had time if you had told me we were going to see Mothando today.” Said Hitoma passive aggressively.

Lady Ki hadn’t told Hitoma anything of what she was doing. He believed that she should at least be transparent about simple things, yet she wasn’t. It made him mad, but being pissy about it wasn’t going to do anything.

Lady Ki glared over at Hitoma. “You could always tell me what makes you so angry. Asking me about things is always an option as well.” She sassed.

“What’s the point?!” Snapped Hitoma. He took a deep breath to calm down. “No matter what, it feels like you’re lying to me. If I ever have to-“

“Kill me so you can hog all this power? You truly are an exact copy of your father.” Interrupted Lady Ki with a sly look in her eyes.

Hitoma looked at the woman shocked, mouth agape. He didn’t dare try to speak, fearing that he’ll stutter. He looked at his own reflection in the mirror.

A well kept secret between him and his father of what he saw that night. How did Lady Ki know? When did she find out?

“He told me a bit ago before he died.” She answered, seemingly reading Hitoma’s mind. “I trust that you know better than to simply use me.”

The new king wasn’t paying attention to Lady Ki at all, choosing to remember that night.

Watching Yakedo rip apart his mother out of anger. Seeing the blood that coated almost the entire room. His mother had struggled. She fought, but was no match.

He remembers cowering in fear after his father met his eyes, his whole body covered in his mother’s blood. “Hitoma. Come here.” He said, not making a single move.

At the time, he couldn’t do anything but listen to his father. Yakedo hugged him tightly. It felt real, and he didn’t want anything else other than to feel his father hug him like this again.

Despite this, Hitoma knew it was to hold him still. “Don’t tell anyone of this. Not even your brother.”

Hitoma had abided by that order for over a decade. Asch still thinks their mother was killed while protecting them from intruders.

“…I apologize.” Said Lady Ki.

Hitoma was so surprised by the sudden words he jumped a bit. He looked at the woman who for once looked remorseful.

“It was out of line for me to say such a thing. I shall be more truthful to you.” She continued, looking straight into Hitoma’s eyes.

The king hadn’t noticed how “catching” Lady Ki’s eyes were. It honestly made his chest feel tight, but he tucked that feeling away.

Hitoma cleared his throat. “Shall we get going?” He asked. Lady Ki nodded, and they were on their way to Umnotho.

A guard escorted the two to a carriage made specifically for Chikarian royalty. Wood painted black to make it blend in and look menacing. War horses that are nothing but slightly injured, reduced to leading this.

They had entered the back of the carriage, and the coachman removed the privacy guard temporarily.

“It’s an honor to be carrying you two to Umnotho today.” He said. “I must ask though, where exactly will I be dropping you off?”

Hitoma waited for Lady Ki to answer, but she never did. He looked over to her, and she seemed frustrated with something.

“I’m afraid Mothando did not tell me.” She finally said, “Taking us to Umnotho territory to get there shouldn’t be harmful.”

The coachman nodded and raised back up the privacy guard. The royalty could feel the slow start up of the carriage before they were on the move.

Hitoma looked over to Lady Ki. “I don’t know much about Mothando, but from what I’ve heard from Yakedo, she’s not one to forget something like that.”

Lady Ki looked away. “I forgot.” She simply said.

She seemed genuinely embarrassed at this, and Hitoma really wanted to laugh. He didn’t want to make Lady Ki feel bad about this though.

Then again, a part of him thought it was humorous that if he did the exact same thing he’d be getting an earful.

It was quite a while before they started riding on Umnotho land. Hitoma remembers all of the arguments and close calls his father had with Mothando. He always thought it was foolish, but he wouldn’t even be here if he voiced his concerns.

“Hitoma, you’ll be talking to Amahle. That’s the princess.” Stated Lady Ki.

The king looked at her with surprise. “Shouldn’t I be talking to Mothando? This should be a team effort, shouldn’t it?” He asked.

Lady Ki sighed, “We’ll have to make outings like this frequently. Amahle will be showing you around the palace whilst talking to you about Umnotho culture.”

Hitoma had a concerned look in his eyes that Lady Ki couldn’t help but notice.

She cupped his cheek, “I promise everything will be fine between me and Mothando. I have everything covered.” She reassured.

Hitoma hesitantly accepted the plan. He pulled away from Lady Ki’s hand and looked out the window of the carriage.

He could tell they were almost to the point where they had to sail for a bit in order to get to the palace. It was the only thing separating the two kingdoms, which his father had always complained about.

The coachman stopped the carriage and opened the door to lead the two royalty out. “I pray you two are safe when you return. Chikara shall rise.”

Both Lady Ki and Hitoma repeated Chikara shall rise and headed to the boat with an Umnotho sailor in waiting by the ramp.

She bowed before the two. “It’s nice to finally meet you two. Hitoma, is it? I promise you’ll love Umnotho!” She said cheerfully.

Hitoma simply nodded and walked ahead of Lady Ki when the sailor signaled for them to enter.

Just like he imagined, for a small boat, it was rather luxurious. Two chairs filled with goose feathers with a gold table between them sat in the bottom of the back of the boat.

On the table was a tea pot sat beside two already filled cups of tea.

“Mothando has asked you two stay here, so you can’t enjoy the view unfortunately.” Said the sailor. “Disappointing, I know, but you never can be too careful.”

The sailor gave them a wide smile and left them to their own devices.

The two chose not to talk to each other, making an awkward atmosphere. Hitoma did take the time to enjoy the tea that was provided, but surprisingly Lady Ki chose to skip over this.

They both sat in silence with the occasional slurping from Hitoma drinking his tea.

Mothando sat in her bedroom anxiously awaiting Hitoma and Ki’s arrival. She knew Ki was going to ask something about Yakedo, and she felt a sense of dread in the moment.

Garmon had accepted the ex-king’s request to visit him, but had set it at a date that happened to be today. It was madness, and Mothando was angered by the fact that she told him Ki was visiting, and yet he still set it today.

There was no changing Garmon’s mind about this, so she just had to plan accordingly.

The Queen heard a knock at her door. “Umama? Is everything alright? You have some visitors soon, lungisa?” Worried a voice outside the door.

“Don’t worry Amahle, I’ve already dressed.” Said Mothando getting up from her chair. “I’ll be there in a bit, but please greet them if I’m not there in time.”

Outside of the door, Amahle made a sound of acknowledgment and went towards the entrance of the palace, going down a flight of stairs.

Hitoma looked in awe at the sights and sounds Umnotho had to offer. Everywhere he looked people were dancing and smiling gleefully. Children played tag in reserved spaces, monitored by parents laughing joyfully to each other’s jokes.

Even when Daemos was dark most times, it felt as if everything glowed here. He thought it looked marvelous, but Lady Ki seemed to think the opposite.

“They’re acting like there isn’t a crisis going on.” She said with venom in her voice.

She was right, if not for everything else outside their kingdom, you’d think magic has never been better. Hitoma wanted to say something to combat her line of thinking, but even he thought it was foolish to act like magic isn’t dangerously close to running out.

The carriage they were riding in went through the golden gates that led to the palace, leaving behind the joyful Daemons.

“Lesi isitobhi sethu, ngithemba ukuthi konke kuhamba kahle!” said the Umnotho coachman.

“O-Of course…Ngiyabonga.” Faltered Hitoma, using the little Umnothu he knew.

Him and Lady Ki were led inside the palace by a guardsman. Before they reached the top of the stairs leading to it, the large golden door opened to reveal an uncertain looking girl.

Her pecan skin seemed to have glowed thanks to her yellow and dark purple clothes. It looked to be a makeshift yellow tank-top, as the sleeves looked ripped off. The girl’s hair was in a high Afro puff, held up by an unseeable band. Her pants were held up by a dark purple belt, the same color as Daemon blood.

She seemed to have had heterochromia, with one eye being a bright golden color, and her other eye again being the same as blood. Her horns even had the same issue.

Hitoma guessed she was the general and walked up to the girl. “We’re very sorry if you’re meeting with Queen Mothando, but we must see her and her daughter.” He bowed, “have you seen them?”

The girl snickered, then giggled, and full-blown shrieked with laughter. The guard behind Hitoma seemed to have exhaled out of their nose as a laugh.

Through her happy tears, she started clapping for Hitoma. “Ah, yes! You are such a good man already!” She said, “I am not a guard, I am the princess!”

Hitoma eyes widened out of embarrassment and quickly straightened up. He looked away from the girl who, now that he was closer, turned out to be way taller than him.

“No, no, Umuntu! You’re alright, it is my fault for not wearing my usual clothes!” She opened the doors wider. “Come in, come in! You are such a joy already!”

She practically ran ahead of Lady Ki and Hitoma. They did follow behind, but stayed far enough that the girl couldn’t hear their conversation.

“I always thought it was odd that the universal language isn’t as well known here.” Said Lady Ki leaning towards Hitoma so he could hear.

Hitoma shrugged, “it is their kingdom. Besides, it keeps the culture strong.” He looked towards Lady Ki, meeting her eyes. “Perhaps we should consider funding a class in the academy for learning Chika.”

Lady Ki’s expression grew softer, and she nodded while quickly looking away. Hitoma was a bit confused by the reaction, but thought nothing of it.

The girl stopped at a fork in the hallway and waited for the Chikarians to catch up.

“Queen Ki, go down this hallway and enter a door to the right! Uma- uhm, Mothando said you may partake in the sweets in there and sit where you’d like.” She said, referring to the hall on her right.

Lady Ki nodded and did as she was told, leaving Hitoma and the girl to themselves. She seemed to be questioning something, and Hitoma stood awkwardly so she could figure out what it was.

It looked like she finally solved her mini puzzle when her face grew brighter and she snapped her fingers. “I never told you my name, did I?”

Hitoma stuttered for a while before the girl interrupted him again. “I’m Amahle! Yini igama lakho?” She asked.

The king begged his brain to remember what that phrase meant, but it ultimately failed him. He didn’t want to admit he couldn’t remember such a simple thing though, at least out loud.

Fortunately, Amahle seemed to have perfectly read Hitoma. “Ah, sorry. I have a habit of going back and forth from Umnothu…what’s your name?” She said, with a thick Umnotho accent.

“It is Hitoma, I apologize for not knowing much of your language.” He said while bowing.

Amahle giggled, “It is okay, my friend! I myself do not know much of Chika!” She held out her hand. “Let me show you around! That is the main reason you are here, lun- right?”

Hitoma nodded, and Amahle immediately grabbed his hand and ran through the halls.

The king found himself almost tripping multiple times because of how fast Amahle was going. Eventually they ended up in a library of sorts.

It looked beautiful. The shelves filled to the brim with books painted with a beautiful dark brown. The wooden floors giving one a break from the white and gold that covered the hallways. An old gold colored carpet took up a good amount of the room.

“This is our library! I may not look it, but I love a good book from time to time.” Amahle said softly.

Hitoma hummed in acknowledgment, choosing to look over some of the books. Something was plaguing his mind about Amahle’s appearance though. He’s only seen something like it once before, so it was an anomaly to him.

Amahle looked over to him. “I thought Chikarians thought staring was rude. Was that a myth?” She questioned while cocking an eyebrow.

Hitoma once again faltered with his speech for a bit before Amahle broke into a hardy laugh. “It is jokes, my friend! Amahlaya!” She said while grabbing a book from the shelves.

The princess handed over to him while she sat into a comfy looking wooden chair. “Hitoma, it is nice you are so upfront about this!” She said while signaling for him to sit across from her.

Hitoma sat like he was supposed to and looked through the book. It looked like it was info on Daemon birth defects and different disabilities.

He stopped on one that seemed to depict a Daemon with the exact same condition as Amahle. It looked to be more severe, with even their skin being a dark purple.

Actually reading the page, the condition was called hypercoagulability-Y. To him, it just sounded like some sort of spell he and Asch used to make up when playing with each other as children.

“Ah, I see the question in your eyes, my friend!” Said Amahle. “Basically it is an issue where your blood is thicker and faster in some parts! Luckily, mine isn’t severe, but others do not have lady luck’s blessing.” She kissed her teeth.

Amahle moved to a more comfortable position, resting her feet on the table while the chair tilted. She seemed tired, but content.

Hitoma read more of the pages, learning about all sorts of different diseases and issues the Daemon body may have.

There was one specific to Chikarians, where your fight or flight response is triggered easily. Anger is part of the process of which the body automatically tries to react. It’s manipulated in a way where a Chikarian is more than likely to choose anger than every other reaction.

It proceeds to show a lot of past Chikarian rulers, including his father. Amahle seemed to have noticed Hitoma’s reaction to this.

“Aw, my friend, don’t mind the propaganda.” She said while almost falling off of her chair. “It is sad our tensions have been maintained all these years.”

Hitoma said a quick thank you, but did genuinely wonder if this issue was real. He questioned if he had it.

There were many times where his body would just act out a certain way. Whenever he and Asch fought, it’d always result in Asch having significant cuts and bruises. It’d result in him talking down to his brother, stating the usual “useless” and “Weak, pathetic” speech.

Then again, these weren’t unhappy moments for him. He reveled in the praise he’d be given by his father and guards who were monitoring them in case he got too close to killing Asch.

He felt satisfied whenever he would leave Asch to his own filth, whenever he could see his father cuss him out because of his tattletales.

Of course, Asch would do the same strategy of telling father the littlest of things that he knew would make him punish Hitoma. He couldn’t act like there was a balance between them, Hitoma most definitely got more privileges as he grew.

He remembers being frustrated with Asch coming up more when the topic of king came up. He remembers his grandmother having a conversation with his father about how Asch could be less cruel, if only a little.

He remembers being livid about this. In truth, he cried little tears when Lady Ki told him she died of old age. It was odd a funeral was not held, yet a tiny piece inside of him knew he wouldn’t visit it.

“Ingabe uyaphila? Hitoma, answer me! Khuluma uma ukwazi!” Worried a panicking Amahle.

Hitoma was quickly snapped out of his daydreaming and looked around frantically, startled.

He met eyes Amahle, and she looked as if she was close to crying.

“Ugh! Awuhlekisi! You had me as scared as a Mir soldier with its tail tucked between its legs! You looked brain dead! Isikhwebu esingcwele…” she kissed her teeth while hitting Hitoma on top of his head.

Hitoma wanted to be angry at this, but he couldn’t bring himself to. The action was almost motherly.

Amahle shook her head. “I have lost track of time…I’m supposed to be teaching you about Umnotho! Not telling you about my life!”

Amahle grabbed Hitoma’s hand once again, and led him through the halls. They were going in the direction where Lady Ki was told to go, until the princess passed it.

Instead they went into a porch of sorts. It was decorated with beautiful bird houses and flowers. Amahle opened a window to reveal some type of zip line.

“You do know how to use something like this, lungi- hawu…correct?” Asked the princess while mounting the ride.

Hitoma lied and nodded his head, which signaled Amahle to zip down the attraction. Hitoma watched as she skillfully landed on her feet and waved over to him.

He looked over to his left to see a basket full of the things the girl just used to get down to ground level. There was a handle on either side and a dip of sorts in the middle. As much as it looked frail, it did seem to be pretty strong.

Hitoma placed the middle of the bar on the line. He stepped over the window, shaking a lot out of nerves.

“Hitoma! My friend, you’ve got this! Let yourself flow like water!” She hesitated a bit before saying “And hold tightly to it! You won’t live from that drop!”

Hitoma started to shake even more, but did as he was told. He gripped onto the handle tightly and jumped off the window sill.

The king shut his eyes so he wouldn’t be tempted to look down. Before he knew it, he crashed into the poor princess. He swiftly got off of her and said his apologies.

“You are too kind, my friend. I am the Isilima for not dodging!” Said Amahle while getting up to dust herself off.

They walked through the luscious forest for a while. It reminded Hitoma of when he and his brother climbed up the mountain to fight each other.

The two eventually found a shack that Amahle excitedly opened and led Hitoma inside of.

It was filled with many different instruments and drums. A lot of them seemed to be made of wood and animal hair and bones. It wasn’t much like the luxurious gold and silver the king had come to expect from this place.

“My Uma- Onkulunkulu bami…Mothando said to not go outside where all the people are. I still wanted to take you outside, so I filled this shack with Umnotho culture! Can you guess what it is?” Amahle said excitedly.

Hitoma faked thinking hard about it to humor Amahle. He playfully snapped his fingers like he finally figured it out. “It’s music, isn’t it?”

Amahle did a wide smile. “Hitoma, I love your humor! Haha!”

The princess took out a tall drum that was tucked between some string instruments. She slammed it in front of Hitoma and got them both a stool.

“I’ll teach you something easier to learn.” She said while stylishly performing a polyrhythm on the drum.

Hitoma looked puzzled for a bit, so Amahle explained more. “It is only hard if you think about it too hard, Hitoma! One hand does a different number of beats than the others!”

She started to hit the drum a set number of times. “It is easier once you think of a saying to go along with it! Like…please pass the salt and pepper!” She said rhythmically.

This seemed a lot less complicated than what Amahle had done before. Hitoma attempted it using the strategy Amahle suggested. He looked up at her, noticing her eyes were wide with surprise.

“Wow! Hitoma, you are a natural!” She jumped up with excitement and grabbed another drum to slam next to Hitoma. “Let us jam together, my friend! A call and response! How does that sound?”

This was something Hitoma was used to. Whenever a new year rolled around, Chikarians would dress up as mythical fire breathing beasts and parade through the streets. His father never really liked it, but he and Asch loved to see to common Daemons participate in such traditions.

The Daemons dressed up as these creatures would speak in deep, booming voices in Chika. Those who were on the sidewalks or leading those in character would act like the beast’s minions, singing praises to it.

The parade would always end right in front of the palace, and finally conclude with a prayer to Sonné, the god who cared for these creatures.

He remembers how his mother would tell him and Asch to also pray to Irene, for a hopeful and peaceful year. He’s never cared to do his research on the gods, but he knew Irene was supposed to keep you protected and at peace.

He’s always assumed this goddess in particular hated him. For whatever reason.

Hitoma could feel himself starting to drag along Amahle’s fast paced beat, so he threw his thinking in the trash to keep up with her.

The two queens stared at each other with disgust. They knew things about each other that made them want to slit each other’s throats, but they kept everything to themselves.

“I suppose I shall stop with the staring and get on with my questions.” Said Lady Ki, keeping her eyes on Mothando.

The Umnotho queen readjusted in her seat. “Of course, go ahead.” She said, “if I had such a bad built butch bitch of an attitude and body I’d have to work up the confidence to talk to me too.” She snarked to herself, just loud enough for Lady Ki to hear.

The Chikarian queen hummed in response and took a sip of her tea. She held the liquid in her mouth, and proceeded to do a spit take right in Mothando’s face.

“Hm.” She said in response, blinking only a few times with the tea dripping down her face. “Such a childish response means you agree with me, right?”

Lady Ki Held in a growl. If she had actually snarled her teeth, she knew Mothando would’ve had something to say about that too.

The two were going at it with the insults for a while now. If she was being honest, Lady Ki simply wanted to blow a bit of steam off before asking Mothando her questions, but after she fired back, there was no way she could end on a loss.

“It’s odd…I wouldn’t think you’d know much about children.” Jeered Lady Ki.

Mothando wiped some of the tea off her face. “Hmph. There is such thing as knowing too much about them though isn’t there?”

Lady Ki showed her teeth. “We are five years apart! I’m only 28 not-“

“Damn.”

Lady Ki held out her hands to strangle Mothando, but quickly restrained herself once she saw the guard’s face.

“You are nearly twice my age Mothando, I feel you have little to say on the matter.” She said while still calming herself.

The Umnotho queen laughed to herself. “I’m aware, uju. It’s just that you look like…that?”

“You’re just trying to get me angry at this point. There’s no way in hell you think that.” Said Lady Ki while furrowing her brows.

Mothando straightened her posture to keep her Afro from getting flattened in the back. “It’s surprising it took you this long to figure out I was trying to get a rise out of you. Could you stop this madness and tell me what you need to.”

Lady Ki grumbled to herself, but got comfortable in her chair while refilling her cup of tea. She drank some and held it in her mouth, darting her eyes towards Mothando. She could see that the Umnotho queen flinched, if only just a little, and felt satisfied with herself.

“I’d like to ask about Yakedo. I know your little secret.” Lady Ki smirked.

She felt a lot of enjoyment from watching Mothando shift around in her seat while tensing up. She wanted to strike another nerve, but who knows if that’ll send her to the same fate as the man.

“Ki, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but clearly it’s out of delirium.” Said Mothando while standing up. “Now I believe you’ve been here long enough.”

“I don’t need him to come back. I need him dead. Kill him and I’ll make sure Hitoma never finds out.” Said Lady Ki trying her best to meet Mothando’s height.

The Umnotho queen’s expression turned into nothing but hatred. “I don’t care about what you want or need. If you don’t get out of Umnotho territory in the next ten minutes I’ll make sure Chikara falls.”

Lady Ki started to laugh in Mothando’s face, provoking her even more. She slightly shoved her in the process.

“All of these empty threats…do it then. I dare you.”

Mothando pushed Lady Ki away and put her hand up in a finger gun. The Chikarian chuckled at this for a while.

“Ilanga.” Said Mothando before a beam of light shot out of her fingers, barely missing Lady Ki.

The newer queen immediately halted her chortling, feeling over her face to see if it had been cut. Sure enough, she looked at her hand to see the tiniest bit of blood.

She turned to look at the wall and saw a hole spanning multiple rooms was made. The Chikarian looked back at Mothando and bowed. “We’ll be leaving right this minute. I couldn’t be more sorry.”

Lady Ki ran out of the room leaving Mothando to count the minutes.

After Hitoma’s response, Amahle did a section longer than usual, signaling to the Chikarian he should end with a big finish.

He definitely delivered, deciding to preform the complicated polyrhythm Amahle had shown him before. The timing of everything about it seemed to amaze Amahle, which is what he really wanted.

When Hitoma was finished, the princess rewarded him with applause and loads of praise.“Kuyamangaza! You have had to have done this before, my friend! That was amazing.”

Hitoma scratched the back of his while doing a tight smile. He had to admit, this was fun, but what he really wanted to do was find out what Lady Ki was up to.

He liked hanging with Amahle, he really did, it made him revisit some memories he thought he’d never come across again. It was just that something about Umnotho, more specifically the palace, made him feel uneasy.

There was something with Amahle too. She wanted to tell him something, but he couldn’t tell if it was just something simple or life changing. It drove him crazy, but couldn’t show he was feeling this way.

Looking over at her, Hitoma could see the princess’s expression darken slightly. Amahle quickly shook her head and plastered her smile back on.

“It’s been a while, don’t you think? We should get back to the castle.” She clasped her hands.

Now she was speaking Hitoma’s language. Again, fun, but he really wanted to go back to Chikara.

As he got up out of his stool, Amahle rushed to block the door. Hitoma could feel his panic settling in way too early. His posture and face tightened into straight line to make it known that the girl shouldn’t try anything funny.

“C-Calm down you Ikhanda elishisayo. I need to give you something. Hold out your hand.”

Hitoma hesitantly did as he was told, and Amahle put an envelope in it.

It was surprisingly heavy. At least heavier than what’d you expect something like this to be. There was something in here, and Hitoma desperately wanted to know what was inside.

“Aye you isilima! I don’t want you to open it now.” Amahle looked out the window of the shack. She turned back to Hitoma, “open it when you are back at Chikara. Alone.”

This only piqued the king’s curiosity even more, but he obeyed and put the envelope in the inside pocket of his jacket. Amahle smiled at him, but Hitoma still had the feeling she was hiding something.

The two exited the shack and walked through the forest. It was hot and humid, making Hitoma’s hair limp.

This wasn’t a rare occurrence, Chikara was the hottest out of all the kingdoms, but getting this sweaty in his outing clothes did not feel good.

Everything stuck to him like glue, and it made his clothes feel heavier. Amahle asked him multiple times if he was okay, but he lied and said everything was fine.

It was weird. He didn’t remember it being this hot earlier. There was no way the excitement of going down a zip line distracted him from how hot it was for how long they walked.

Actually, it felt as if they were walking for even longer. He could’ve sworn Amahle had moved way more branches out of the way for him when they came here originally.

The princess stopped suddenly and groaned into her hands. “Onkulunkulu bami…I swear this is the same way we went earlier…” she whispered to herself.

“Are you saying you got us lost?” Hitoma snapped, feeling his anger rise quickly.

Amahle licked her finger and put it in the air. Hitoma felt as if he could explode with anger and sweat.

“Hitoma, my friend, calm yourself. I can feel your fumes from here.” Said Amahle while looking around.

This made Hitoma even more furious with the princess, but he at least made an effort to hide it.

Amahle started to have a look of slight fear in her eyes. Hitoma thought that it scarily didn’t suit her, and if whatever she’s scared of is out here in this forest, they needed to get out immediately.

“Hitoma…I…I cannot tell if this is aura or magic, but…someone has got us trapped.” Stated Amahle in a tone more serious than ever before.

A sound of rustling emitted from behind the duo, making them both jump. Amahle formed her weapons, two mambeles, and inched closer to the sound.

As she got closer, the rustling became more frantic, and an odd giggling sound started to come from the shadow. Amahle suddenly stopped in her tracks, and her look of fear was replaced by frustration.

“Nadia! Yeka isihogo?! Using your aura like this is not funny!” Shouted Amahle while putting away her weapons.

The figure emerged from the shadows, revealing it to be a small strange looking girl. She was as pale as a ghost, and her eyebrows were the thinnest things Hitoma’s ever seen.

Her hair was straight and pale blonde, and her eyes were like staring into two dark green voids. It was odd how much of the eye her pupils covered.

Her horns were mint green and they spiraled outwards. It was an uncommon for Daemons to have this type of horn shape, unless they were Mir of course.

It then dawned on Hitoma. It’d be weird for a unique looking Mir girl to just wander into Umnotho territory, unless they were important enough to have business there. This had to be the Princess of Mir.

“Ama? Did you like the prank..?” Asked Nadia while cocking her head to the side.

Amahle rolled her eyes. “I suppose your pranking skills have been getting better…” she exasperated while looking the smaller up and down. “Are you in your casual clothing? I thought Umama and Garmon’s meeting was supposed to be important.”

Hitoma decided to examine the odd girl’s clothing as well. She was wearing a knitted green cardigan over a white shirt. She also wore a dark green skirt with mint green flowers embroidered all over.

“My Папа said that I should wear something that I could play with you in. I chose this.” Nadia said plainly.

Amahle sighed, “I can never be against spending time with you Nadia…I do have to get back to the castle though. Got to get this…how do you say…” the Umnotho princess whispered something to the short girl.

Nadia giggled to herself. “It’s Горячая голова.”

Amahle did a hardy laugh. “Yes! This Горячая голова! I have got to get him back to the palace, so lessen your aura.”

Nadia held out her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. The trees around them started to faze out revealing them to be right in front of the castle. Hitoma’s eyes widened with surprise. He didn’t know something like this could be done without magic.

The short princess laughed to herself when she saw Hitoma’s face, but didn’t seem to want to answer his questions. She walked in front of both him and Amahle.

The king looked over towards the Umnotho princess, and she did a wide grin. “Nadia is a strong little one. She is just…unique. She was a sheltered child, I would not expect her to be a master at socializing.”

Amahle went to catch up with Nadia. Hitoma still had questions, but he could ask another time. After all, Lady Ki wanted to see Garmon next.

The three entered the palace, hearing the sound of quick footsteps. They sounded like the clicking of heels, which let Hitoma know it was most likely Lady Ki.

Sure enough, the Chikarian Queen turned the corner sprinting. She had a look of panic on her face while looking straight at the king.

“Hitoma! Let’s get out of here! Preferably quickly, and within the next two minutes!” Said Lady Ki, obviously out of breath.

Just as he was about to protest, Lady Ki grabbed Hitoma by the collar and practically dragged him back out the door.

Amahle looked slightly surprised but waved at him. “I guess you are leaving now! I hope to see you again, my friend!”

Nadia waved at Hitoma as well with a tinge of emotion in her face. The king waved back at them, but was mainly focused on how Lady Ki was stretching the collar of his clothes.

This was the first day he got to wear something like this, and it was being ruined because of carelessness. It especially wasn’t helping that his shoes were creasing and got absolutely covered in mud when he was following Amahle in the forest.

He could feel his temper rising as Lady Ki pushed him into the carriage. She yelled something incoherent at the coachman who looked rather distressed.

“Angiqondi!” He cried while looking at Hitoma for some type of help.

Hitoma could do nothing but shrug and let Lady Ki continue her babbling.

“Get us to the boat! Are you deaf?!” She finally yelled while banging on the protector separating her and the cowering coachman.

“Kulungile! Kulungile! Ngicela wehlise umoya!” He panicked while putting up the privacy guard.

The carriage started going at a very unsafe speed, with it sending both Hitoma and Lady Ki to both sides of the seats.

“This coachman is going way too fast! I’m gonna tell him to slow down.” Shouted Hitoma while going to knock on the privacy guard.

Lady Ki grabbed his hand arm tightly practically piercing his soul with her glare. “If you tell that man a thing, I swear on my life you won’t make it to Chikara alive.”

Hitoma stared back at Lady Ki with something other than fear. It was shock. he wouldn’t expect her to make such a bold threat, but he listened to her and sat back in his seat.

Throughout the whole ride back to the boat, the king continued to stare down Lady Ki. She hadn’t seemed to notice due to her own panic, but Hitoma had turned the other way to get a glimpse at the envelope Amahle gave him.

Originally, he was going to tell Lady Ki about it. Due to his self admitted pettiness though, he decided against it. He slyly put the letter back into his inner pocket and looked out the window.

“It’s nice to see you Mothando, I do hope you’ve had a great day so far.” Said Garmon while walking with the queen to the prisons.

She kept quiet while still following the Umnotho soldier through the forest. Mothando was still greatly peeved by the Mir king’s disregard for her schedule.

It was childish and she knew it, but there was no way her mind would let her let go of it. Once she was feeling a certain way, it clawed into her psyche like an animal. She hated this aspect of herself, and it was impossible to hide.

“You’re being awfully quiet…is everything okay?” Worried Garmon while quickening his pace a bit to be beside her.

Mothando sighed, “It’s an insignificant issue. It’s just…” the queen hesitated, “you know how much it irks me when you don’t consider how I work.” She finally said.

Garmon looked slightly surprised, yet still remorseful. “Oh…my apologies Mothando. I would’ve rescheduled, but my sweet Nadia requires a lot of attention, so…not a lot of dates work for me.”

The two walked behind the soldier quietly. Neither of them truly wanted to talk to each other at the moment, as both of them had grievances with one another. Of course it wasn’t life changing amounts of hate, but neither of them wanted to unpack anything.

They finally reached the entrance of the prison, and the guard pushed the doors open, revealing it to be a flight of stairs.

The Umnotho prison was an underground building kept far away from the main city. It’s only guarded by the most talented and trusted Umnotho men and women, and has some of the worst criminals from different kingdoms.

The reason for this is that this prison can actually reform someone. Mostly due to Mothando and Garmon’s teamwork.

The animals and soldiers that are kept there have the ability to beat someone down till they’re too scared to even walk. These newly frightened Daemons are then sent to Mir to start the journey of becoming better.

Most times they do end up taking their own lives, but there are Daemons who genuinely end up changing for the better.

Garmon has always thought a place like this was too harsh for Yakedo, but Mothando was dead set on sending him here. He’s actually wanted to stand his ground lately, and order her to send him over to the Mir prisons.

In fact, once he’s done talking to Yakedo with whatever he needs, he will be speaking his mind.

“You know the way Garmon. Please make it quick.” Said Mothando while standing beside the soldier as they opened the door to Yakedo’s cell.

The Mir king nodded and went into the darkness that led to the Chikarian’s imprisonment. It was a long walk before he saw the man.

In all honesty, he looked terrible. He seemed to be asleep, but he looked as if it took every ounce of his energy to not let his heart go out. It sickened Garmon to find him like this.

He walked over to the ex-king and crouched down at his level. He fit his hand through the bars to run his fingers through Yakedo’s hair.

Garmon turned his head to the animal controlling the ex-king’s ailment. “Открыть” he commanded.

The bird-like animal headed Garmon’s words and crowed loudly. Yakedo’s body language immediately lightened, and his eyes slightly opened.

“You…came..?” He said listlessly, clearly not in the right headspace for anything.

The Mir king started to have tears prick at his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. “My gods…this is all my fault Yakedo. If I hadn’t been too hasty, you wouldn’t be like this. I’m sorry…”

The Chikarian’s furrowed his brows. “Garmon…I do not want or need your pity. Stop your crying.” He chided.

Yakedo sat up which looked to take up a large amount of his energy. He looked straight at Garmon, practically freezing him out of fear.

“I wanted you here because I need you to get me out.” Said Yakedo while grabbing Garmon’s hand. “I can’t live like this any longer. I can’t live like a peasant. I’d rather starve myself than have to eat nothing but bread and subpar meat for another week.”

Garmon stared at how Yakedo squeezed his hand, but he quickly took his mind off it. “As much as I’d like to get you out of here, there’s just no way Mothando would ever let me-“

“Then make her let you. Threaten her, do something. You have the power to control beasts that can eradicate all of Daemos. Stop being a weak waste of space and be a king.” Insisted Yakedo, squeezing Garmon’s hand tighter.

The Mir king could tell Yakedo was desperate. He could tell his only way he thought he could get out of here was convince Garmon he liked him. He told himself it wasn’t going to work. Not again. Not ever.

The more Garmon saw the look in his eyes though, the more sympathetic he became. If he was being honest, Yakedo was right too.

He’s always been a doormat, he’s always went with what others did. Mothando was the only person aside from his late wife who didn’t take advantage of this weakness, and slowly she’s starting to disregard him.

Everything about the situation made Garmon sick to his stomach until he could feel himself agreeing with Yakedo. He stood up and looked back towards the creature.

“Следуйте за.” He said to it, and it started flapping its wings to gain height.

Garmon walked back down the long hallway. Resentment started to find its way through his body, and he slowly started to get angrier and angrier.

He stopped a few steps to the door as Mothando noticed him. “Oh. That took a lot less time than I was expecting.” She cleared her throat, “I understand if it’s private, but I’d like to hear about the conversation you two had.”

Garmon glared at the queen, attempting to pierce her confidence. Mothando looked confused by this, but kept her stance.

“Garmon? Are you alright?” She said wearily while backing away.

“Mothando, I…I’d like you to apologize to me.” Mumbled Garmon while taking a step towards her. “If you don’t, I’ll have to resort to serious measures to make you.”

The queen nodded slowly while raising her hand. “Of course…” she pointed at the soldier and he quickly tried to strike Garmon.

“Атака” he stated, and the creature behind him went to rip at the soldiers face.

They fell down and writhed in agony as the beast picked at their ribs and teared at their skin. Mothando watched in horror as she saw Garmon walk towards her.

“Apologize to me. Now.” He demanded while stomping on the soldiers neck, making them choke out a scream.

The queen looked between the soldier and Garmon. She’s never seen him act like this, not even towards creatures who disobeyed him. If she tried to stand her ground, she’ll surely die here. Even if it’d be terrible for him in the long run, it’s clearly what Garmon wanted.

“I’m…I’m sorry. Please call off that thing.” She fretted.

The Mir king seemed to be studying her. He got off the soldier’s neck, but didn’t tell the creature to fall back.

“Mothando…” he hesitated, “Beg.”

“Wh-What?”

“Beg for my mercy. Tell me you’re sorry and that you’ll never take advantage of me again.”

Mothando slowly kneeled down, looking up at Garmon with subtle anger. She then bowed, “I’m deeply sorry Garmon. I beg of you to call off your pet, and I’ll be more considerate of how you feel.”

The king smiled, “Привал.” The creature immediately turned towards Garmon and flew to rest on his shoulder. The soldier gasped for air as they bled out on the floor.

Mothando continued to glare at the king. “Did he make you do this?” She asked while reaching her hand out to care for the soldier.

Garmon sighed, “he simply said something that I agree with.” He looked as Mothando ripped off parts of her dress to cover the soldier’s wounds.

“I’d like to transfer Yakedo over to the Mir prison.” He stated, not looking to argue any further.

Unfortunately Mothando didn’t catch the hint. “Garmon please…I’m so close to him telling me where he is I…” she trailed off as she tried her best to stop the soldier from bleeding.

“I don’t want to demean, but…have you never stopped to think that he may be-“

“Garmon please. You’re not acting like yourself what happened..?” Said Mothando, trying her best to fight off tears.

The king was going to tell the creature to attack her, but something stopped him. Something was watching him. They were watching everything take place and waiting for him to make one more move.

He looked around to prove himself, but saw nothing. Slowly, everything he’s done so far started to affect him. This wasn’t like him, he didn’t even know why he was so angry.

Tears started to fall down his face and he collapsed onto the ground. His whole body started to ache as he sobbed into his hands.

“Mothando I…I’m so sorry I don’t know what happened…” Garmon wept softly.

They sat in silence that was interrupted by the quiet gasps that escaped the soldier’s mouth. The Mir king wanted to apologize, but he could tell Mothando didn’t want to hear anything until she was done tending to the injuries.

“Garmon, I’ll transfer Yakedo over to you as soon as he tells me where my son is. I swear on my life that I’m so close to making a breakthrough.” She finally said.

The king could do nothing but nod. “I shall put the ailment back on him.” He said as he walked back through the hallway, leaving Mothando alone.

Hitoma stayed awake waiting for Lady Ki to fall asleep. He’s been doing this for weeks ever since she said it’d be more professional to sleep in the same bed. Obviously, he thought it was weird, so he’s been sneaking away to his old room at night, and sneaking back in the morning.

He’s honestly been meaning to ask Lady Ki about it, but there was never a good time. Then again, there’s always never a good time to ask her anything.

He slowly sat up and got off the bed. He thought it was rather lucky that it was so big that even if he jumped on it, it’d only tilt Lady Ki’s side slightly. Maybe that was why she even thought sleeping together would be a good idea.

Hitoma tiptoed throughout the room and exited quietly through the door. He left it cracked slightly only because closing it would be too much sound.

He walked through the long hallways of the palace that led to his old room. When he went to turn the knob, he noticed something horrible. The door was sealed shut.

Hitoma started to panic. When did someone do this? How did someone do this? Why would someone do this?

He immediately thought of Lady Ki. It had to have been her. She must’ve seen him sneaking out one night, and if that’s the case, she’s probably wide awake sitting up on the bed waiting for him to do a walk of shame back into the room.

Part of him wanted to accept defeat, but the other part really wanted to read the letter Amahle gave him. There was no way he could have any privacy to see what was in it without Lady Ki snooping in his business.

He had to think of some other place to have his privacy. There was the restroom, but Lady Ki might ask why he’s taking so long.

He could go to a balcony, but any guard could walk in on him while they’re patrolling. The more he thought about it, the more impossible it was to find any type of security.

His thinking was rudely ambushed by a guard tapping his shoulder. He slightly jumped and quickly hid the letter in the pocket of his sleep garments.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, my king.” The guard bowed. “I just wanted to know why you aren’t in your bedroom.”

Hitoma was still surprised, but cleared his throat to speak in a professional manner. “I simply couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry for any worry.”

The guard nodded, but seemed to have been looking at something behind the king.

They then looked straight into Hitoma’s eyes. “I promise to you I did not tell her, my king.”

Hitoma’s surprise started to show on his face. It wasn’t Lady Ki who found out?

Despite the guard meaning to reassure the king, it only made him more anxious. People who served for Chikara obviously had personal lives and opinions, but to have such disdain for him to rat him out to Lady Ki honestly had him scared.

To think that there was possible gossip like this. Except, maybe he was being irrational. Hitoma’s no stranger to overthinking like this, but something in him made him think he was right.

“My king? Are you alright?” The guard asked, immediately kicking Hitoma out of his mind palace.

“O-Of course…” he sighed, and hesitated. “I don’t want to sleep there is all. This room is the only time I can be alone…I shouldn’t be venting to you. I’ll go back to bed.”

Hitoma went to return to his bedroom with shame. He’ll have to find a way to read the letter another time, and also find a better place to sleep.

The guard quickly went to grab Hitoma’s hand, making him jump. “My king, I…my sleeping quarters are near the palace if you don’t mind walking for a bit.”

The king was about to tell off the guard, but they continued. “I have a night shift, so I won’t be there until early morning. Around the time you’d have to go back to your room.”

Hitoma softened his expression. If this guard was telling the truth, he could finally be far away from Lady Ki and be with his own thoughts.

“…I’ll take you up on this offer. Thank you, truly.” He shook the hand of the guard. “By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?”

The guard smiled. “It’s Zex, my king…here let me show you where the room is.”

AND WE’RE DONE! Really hope you guys like this episode even though it’s more Daemos focused lol. Also I’m gonna be real there are so many sayings in different languages that I can’t pack all the translations into here so I’m just gonna recommend Lingvanex for all of the Zulu and DeepL for any other language I use. Those are the translators I used to write the dialogue and they seem pretty accurate. (At least DeepL does I trust it way more than the other one but unfortunately it didn’t have a Zulu option) other than that I hope you enjoyed!

[chrisrin]

YEAAAAH! oh man i have SO many thoughts. so here's my favorite straw hats from most liked -> neutral (i love literally all the straw hats i do not dislike a single guy)

luffy, being the GOAT he is, just has to stay on top. it's crazy because i am not usually a "protagonist is my favorite" kind of guy, in fact usually the protag is my least favorite of the main trio. however. luffy. yeah he's just the best, i love him so dearly.

i am, unfortunately, a sanji stan. i've been through the TRENCHES however i have come out the other end strong. god gives his greatest warriors his toughest characters to love. i have so many thoughts about sanji specifically it makes me deranged. 844 and 851 are two of my favorite chapters.

i'm also obsessed with jinbe an insane amount. i wish he joined the crew earlier just so i could see him more. i need to hang out with him all the time.

and zoro is just, so fucking awesome. again i have so many thoughts between his fight in baratie, nothing happened, and his stuff in wano that i'm nuts about but . Yeah . zoro <3

everyone else below top 4 switches around a lot, i think usopp is probably one of, if not, the most developed character in the straw hats. nami has slowly won me over after being my least favorite. robin has done similarly, esp recently with some of her stuff in egghead. chopper is adorable, i love brook, and franky needs more screentime. he's had time to shine in egghead but i would like more of him pretty please (specifically him and jinbe would be ideal but i will take anything)

outside of straw hats, my favorite other characters are: Law, Coby, Kawamatsu, Mihawk, Crocodile, Tama, Shanks, Shirahoshi, and Yamato.

as far as the island i'd live on, i do have the inklings of a one piece sona forming and he's a shipwright living on water seven! i'd like to mess around with the backstory and stuff more now that i've gotten a better sense of the world, but he uses armament haki instead of hammers or "traditional tools" because it's just easier for him.

thoughts on egghead! spoiler warning (though i'll talk vaguely--but still proceed with caution), but yeah egghead is actually insane. i'm so glad i caught up when i have because i feel like we're in the thick of it and i'm incredibly tense and excited to see where it all goes. the Big Thing (you know the one) was something i WAS mildly spoiled on, however that didn't stop the impact from really hitting. outside that, and a spoiler around marineford (iykyk) that i was aware of going in, i avoided pretty much most other big spoilers. i did know gear 5 existed (from fanart), but i didn't know what it was and was completely surprised by it.

i have watched some of the anime! i actually watched a decent chunk of enies lobby, skypiea, and some of the really early arcs and eps. i also watched The Big Episode in wano and like the last 5 episodes in egghead because the animation has been insanely cracked. i did watch pretty much everything on One Pace outside the post-timeskip stuff because i was trying to avoid filler, but i'll probably go back at some point and just binge the anime for fun. i'll defo end up re-reading chunks of the manga anyways so!

the live action is fun so far! i'm actually watching it with my family, because they're not really animation fans and this was the only way i could convince them to get into it. we've gotten through 2 eps, but i've seen up until episode 4 (watched with some friends). excited for season 2! i think some of the characterization choices they make to luffy and shanks feel a little Weird (shanks would NEVER tell luffy to "be good" and luffy wouldn't make moral distinctions between pirates) but i get they have to . make luffy a more "normal" protagonist, but i think that takes away some of his charm. the way they've managed to squeeze the pacing down is pretty impressive and while i wished we'd get more of the impactful moments, i get why things had to be cut. overall solid and i'm excited to continue watching it!

hi guys. in the past 36 days i have read all 1119 chapters of one piece, catching up to the manga. i read an average of 30.2 chapters a day every day straight.

i do not apologize for the influx of one piece art you will be forced to bear. go read one piece. thank you.

here's my tier list of my favorite arcs (sorted in order within the tiers as well). feel free to ask me about my opinions. i have So many.

[llycaons]

ep 25 (pt 3): MOM HOLY FUCK

I didn't want to screencap every single thing jyl said during her epic takedown, but I couldn't help myself. I think I missed like, three lines. but it was so thrilling I was back and rewatched the entire scene again. after episodes of watching wwx be disrespected, and knowing his history with myu, and knowing later how important being publicly supported is to him, this scene...wow. take it away, queen

IT BEGINS

oh and there's sect leader yao nosing in to give HIS unwanted opinion. look at her face lmao. and does he only have one set of robes? is he wearing the same thing to the night hunt as to the victory banquet? wow, embarassing. anyway, back to jyl murdering jzx in broad daylight

HE DID!!! AND IT WAS HARD!!

cut to wwx, clearly deeply impacted by this affirmation of their bond

RESPECT MY BROTHER OR SO HELP ME

HE'S WITH US!!! WE'RE HIS FAMILY AND HIS HOME!! AND IF YOU'RE RUDE TIO HIM YOU OFFEND ME AND ALL OF THE JIANGS!!!

and fuck, isn't this kind of acceptance and belonging something wwx has wanted for so long? isn't this one of the things that hurt him so badly to lose, and something he craves when he comes back? having a home, a community, belonging somewhere, having people ready to stick up for him and affirm their connection with each other in no uncertain terms. in the face of cruelty and disrespect, given the ife he's lives, of course that means a lot to him. it means everything, especially now

and madam jin still trying to keep this quiet, be a good girl and move along miss jiang, let the men go about their business and don't interfere. and jyl says absolutely not, this is important to me and I care about my brother and I will have an apology

this isn't something jc could have done for him, for many reasons, and it's one of the reasons that their relationship just doesn't have the same affection or stability as jyl and wwx's does, or lwj and wwx's does postcanon. in fact, I'd argue that jyl and wwx have a much stronger (and definitely healthier and more mutual loving) relationship than jc and wwx. because…idk, jyl was able to love wwx absolutely unconditionally, she wasn't hampered as much by a terrifying mother, a negligent father, and the pressures of leading the sect, and she never let her insecurities or her pain spill over into physical or even emotional attacks. she never made her problems wwx's problems, and she never blamed him for existing and being more liked/more skilled than she was. he definitely wasn't honest with her about everything,' but he was able to be more open and vulnerable with her than he could have been with jc. I can't imagine wwx going to jc to ask tearfully if LP was his fault…and jc would probably say it was. after all, he tried to strangle him about it and holds it over his head DECADES later. I wish jyl had the been the one to survive but ig that would have been a significantly less fraught story

I just think being safe around someone and being able to express your fear and pain and vulnerability is a really important part of having any kind of functional and healthy relationship, and it's really sad that circumstance and personality made that impossible for jc and wwx

omg poor jgy comes in like :) what's wrong, honored guests? and madam jin is such a bitch to him!

THIS WASN'T HIS FAULT. he has committed many crimes but he wasn't to blame for ANY of this. and how could he tell what was going on immediately by coming in? it was a really specific set of events that just went down involving people whose interpersonal dynamics he probably barely knows

you know you're acting like a real piece of shit when sect leader yao has to tell you to calm down

wwx and jyl are not seen as siblings by the rest of the cultivation world, probably because jfm never formally adopted him. (WHY???? bc of myu??), regardless jyl stands firm even in the face of accusations that he's dangerous and will bring trouble. something her mother always said, too. but jyl loves her little brother and she's not about to abandon him like everyone else. and she doesn't not even at the very end, she loved him so much she sacrificed her LIFE for him god I feel ill

a lot of conversation around whether jc and wwx see each other as brothers, which is probably not the case in the book based on some meta posts I've read about it. it's a little hazier here but I def see them as brothers and I'm still really skeeved out by ppl who ship them. there's way too much gray area and oh yeah, they have the same sister

back to jzx being a complete loser. madam jin trying to ger jyl to come along and her deferring politely until madam jin snaps at her son and he YELLS THIS in front of a massive crowd of sect leaders and disciples and then he runs away in shame I'm DYING god he's so fucking funny

and this scene! wwx is so polite to madam jin and she just ignores him! I refuse to believed jyl would have married jzx if he was still shitty to her brother (and/or homophobic) but there is no saving the rest of his family. girl why'd you marry in 😭

but I read a fic once (the simplest step forward or whatever the shit it was called) where jzx was this drunken, crass, homophobic lout and I was DYING because even if jyl had married a guy who was aggressively homophobic to her brother (she wouldn't) THAT'S STILL NOT HIS PERSONALITY AT ALLLL he's an awkward and well-meaning rich kid who extended genuine kindness to his illegitimate half-brother, uses formality to cover his true feelings, personally dug a lotus pond so the girl he liked would be less homesick if they got married, and died trying to prevent his cousin and future brother-in-law from killing each other. he had a shitty phase as a teenager but he's a good dude as an adult! and he does have dad energy, I agree with that one post

uh oh! wwx removing jc's hand from his arm! hopefully this isn't a heavily symbolic gesture the last time they truly see each other as allies

jc getting SO mad here because his pride is injured...wwx being so good at things is never something he'll be able to swallow easily, but he's letting his feelings get in the way of the fact that this makes the jiang clan stronger and if he supports and embraces wwx's abilities...idk, maybe nothing would have changed. but jgy did have a point all those years later. if wwx had stayed with the jiangs, perhaps the jins would invent an excuse to attack. I don't have a ton of faith in the nies and lans to go against them. regardless, he could have responded to this better. those anger issues...