#i want these two to [REDACTED] my [REDACTED] [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] [REDACTED] until I [RE-]

[corvidreavenart]

And then they go on to watch Perfect Blue

[bi-hanslefttittie]

bluzebub19: I would be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY GRATEFUL if someone writes bi-han and reader angst where they have 2 kids. Bi-han being Bi-han, wants a worthy heir to be the grandmaster. Whiich turns into full dabi-endeavor style where the eldest got so obsessed of being grandmaster but their sibling gets picked instead. I've been having these thoughts for a year, I need it to be cured.

I'm not the person who said that, but I agree with her 👀

Hi bb sorry for the lateness I've been busy with a lot on my plate. I will do my best, although I modified some details just to write more comfortably and also to make a bit of an ✨allegory ✨

Ps: sorry if it is weirdly redacted I'm writing this very late. Lol

Warning: slight gore? Beheading.

Reflection.

Being married to a Grandmaster was definitely not an easy task when you took in consideration how much was expected from you. Someone wise and pleasant. It was a never ending task, really. You stayed up until late reading and re reading scrolls on the art of pedagogy, child bearing and philosophy. On top of that you felt the need to prepare yourself for heavier topics like politics, economy and warfare; After all you were raising a leader, not a follower.

Bi-Han and you had agreed that the best course of action was to raise someone with a strong sense of individuality and their own philosophy. Someone who would grow to surpass Bi-Han in every sense of the word.

Then the surprise came. Like two sides of a mirror, a set of twins. My, it was double the surprise, and double the respect earned from Bi-Han. Bringing into the world two healthy sons... It was more than he could ever ask...

Still...

He needed his eldest to succeed.

Which is why he seemed to over focus on the child's education, while being cautious of repeating his dad's behavior. Bi-Han tried to do his best to prepare his eldest: After all, it was the one chosen to bring glory to the Nation. To go farther than he ever will.

Your eldest child turned out to be a natural talent, which was pleasant for you, but not enough for Bi-Han; Who after a sparring session, had noticed the potential of the youngest. And wishing to dig further into this, he started investing the same time and efforts into both his children.

Your youngest was honored by this. Taking the weight of this newfound responsibility with humility, being sensible on his actions and studies. Still, he had ambitions.

The eldest exuded in pride that blinded him, overconfidence that often kept him from reality. He thought his logic was without fail, and that he could achieve just anything he put his mind into. After all, he was born first.

It was on a mission amongst the cold. A blizzard had caught up to them and their rations had gone minimal. The youngest ate a plate of lentils, as he had been wise enough to save some more of his food.

Yet, the eldest had eaten all of his ration some hours ago, not anticipating that they would run into some trouble.

"give me some" He demanded.

"I can't, this is my last ration" The youngest said, troubled. "If I give you this, I might not make it back"

Silence hung between them before the eldest insisted, this time with more authority. How dare he disobey the next Grandmaster. "Give me your plate".

"I can't. I already told you, is too valuable"

Some moments passed, the eldest pacing around, his stomach growling desperately, threatening to make him faint. He watched his younger brother, his eyes full of scorn and contempt. Then, a flicker of an idea. A lie. "If you give me the plate. I will give you my birthright"

At first, the youngest thought it was a joke, but seeing his brother's expression made him hesitate.

It was convenient. He had been studying, practicing and training for so long. While not an heir, he had to do double the work to be taken seriously and while his father had recognized his effort. There was no other way to compete with his brother and become Grandmaster. The youngest could see a dark period approaching the Lin Kuei if his brother's simple approach was their new philosophy.

But this chance...

He relented, giving him the plate.

The eldest didn't have any intention of actually giving him the rights. Why would he? It belonged to him, and he had the talent to do so. And most of all, he had the determination. Trained since birth, he had been perfected into a warrior you could only hear in legends. His brother? He did not have his vision.

Though, his younger brother was smarter than that. He knew his brother did not have any intention to fulfill his part of the deal. Which is why he came to you and explained the situation.

You stayed silent for a moment, listening to what your youngest had to say, and felt woe come to you. There was something bound to happen, you knew it from the start.

Kuai Liang and Bi-Han had their fights as well, which made you wonder if the story was bound to repeat itself.

Bi-Han, surprised at the arrangement, realized just how lightly the eldest had taken his position as an heir, something he couldn't afford to do. The position of Grandmaster was not something to be played with, less being valued the same as a simple plate of lentils. How could he expect his son to rule effectively if he didn't know the weight of his responsibility?

Needless to say, Bi-Han conceded and validated the agreement.

Their chores, their schedules, their clothing and ranking switched. And it was only then that your eldest realized what he had lost. To be regarded as a simple prince instead of a future leader, not even his plans were taken seriously. He stopped having a voice, and that... Frustrated him.

The youngest and Bi-Han discussed for hours in his office about war tactics and how to oppose the Shirai Ryu. Efforts that to your eldest's judgement, were slow and fruitless.

How was his younger brother supposed to govern when he wasn't capable of creating immediate solutions? He was unfit! The eldest bitterly observed from afar as he sensed the decadence of the clan

Fools

They lacked vision. They lacked ambition

Strategy was only keeping the warriors put. There was no campaigns, no explorations, no Konquest. And most important of all, there was no defeat of the Shirai Ryu... If the eldest had been in charge, things had been much different.

Which is why he decided he needed to prove himself to his father. To take back his rightful place as Heir of the Lin Kuei.

It was a dark night. Gelid. And the eldest's footsteps crunched under the snow, a prelude to what was to come. Red stains followed him, the trail of death and horror a medal in his uniform.

He knocked on the door of Bi-Han's bedchambers and waited. You answered.

Your mouth went agape at the sight.

Your eldest son, weary from battle, his clothes torn apart. His determined expression is one you would carry in your nightmares for years. And on his hand, the head of Harumi Shirai.

"w-what have you done?!" You stammer, but he simply moves past you.

At this point, Bi-Han had realized the presence of his son, and his eyes shifted to him. His stoic expression does not betray a hint of emotion.

Your eldest tossed the head into the floor, landing on Bi-Han's feet.

He remained serious, then gazed at his son. "what is the meaning of this?" Bi-Han demanded to know. And his eldest guffawed.

"the head of the master strategist in the Shirai Ryu. The strongest link of their clan" he said smugly, waiting for some sort of congratulations.

Bi-Han leaned down to inspect the head, then pinched his nose. "Do you realize the consequences of your actions?" He asked.

"I've destabilized our rival clan"

"you've set us back. We needed Harumi to be alive" Bi-Han furrowed his brows and barked. "She was necessary for our plan!"

"your plan was to take months, no, years!" He shrugged, then pointed at the head with his foot. "I've gifted the Lin Kuei with a chance to take over now that they're in shock!"

"you've recklessly aggravated our enemies!" Bi-Han shook his head. "Are you not aware of the fact that we are not ready to counteract at this time?!"

"The Lin Kuei are capable warriors. They can handle it"

"they can. But it will be wasting more lives than it is necessary. And it will eventually weaken us." Bi-Han paced around the room, his fists clenched before he ran a hand through his hair. "You don't know your place! It is not your call to make attacks. It is your duty to obey your brother, to obey me!"

"you are an ignorant old fool!" Your youngest faced Bi-Han, his chest inflating with pride. "your outdated strategies lack vision, and they have condemned us to pitiful idleness"

You paled. You knew that discourse very well, and you knew that Bi-Han knew it as well; And it was noticeable, since his jaw clenched and his expression deformed into something that seemed to be frustration, sadness, surprise and... Grief.

You had raised your son to be a free thinker, like Bi-Han. To surpass his father one day...

To surpass him.

Or to overthrow him.

The men rounded each other for a moment, your son's hand instinctively going to his blade.

"there's no future without modernization" your son explained. "Especially when we do not take action"

Bi-Han raised an eyebrow. "Have I not innovated on my politics and war fare ever since I've been given the position of Grandmaster?"

"it isn't enough" his son declared. making them tense. "Sometimes changes are necessary"

"from a leader that sells his birthright for a meal" Bi-Han furrowed his brows, lecturing his son. But your oldest didn't relent.

"I did what it had to be done to survive. But I plan to have my right back" He shifted into a fighting position. "Even if it means going through my brother. Even if it means going through you"

"do your oaths mean nothing?" Bi-Han spoke, almost in a deja Vu.

"not when it comes against Lin Kuei principles"

That is how the inner conflict in the Lin Kuei began. You were split between three men you adored. The party that supported your husband, the party that supported your eldest, and the party that supported your youngest.

It was going to be a long war. And you wept as you picked up the pieces of your destroyed family.

[frootiest-loopdee-doo]

Working on a fun cool FOP New Wish au ask blog! Lots of horror and fun silly stuff. There are two sides to the plot, A & B.

A plot is Peri, Dev and somehow Dale is here.

B plot is Hazel, Cosmo and Wanda.

This AU/Ask blog is going to be hosted on a separate blog, and have a recommended 16+ rating for dark horror content, slight suggestive content (With adult characters and no NSFW/Explicit content tho I promise!), triggering content and I’ll add warnings when needed. Any posts with darker content will have a warning banner and cut so that no one on the character tags sees it by accident. To be honest, my target audience is other adult horror likers who grew up with kid’s show inspired horror like in the MLP, Steven universe, Invader Zim fandoms etc- but I made it 16+ bc i think 18+ would imply this is something that this definitely isn’t.

Think darker 2019-2020 Steven Universe ask blogs kinda when it comes to what kind of content to expect. I’m not gonna hold back too much!

You can ask either Hazel, Cosmo, Dev or Peri questions, and if it’s a question directed at someone else they can relay that question to that character.

For example, you can ask Dev a question meant for Dale and he’ll answer it, or you could ask Hazel a question for Wanda and she could ask Wanda for an answer. You can ask questions directly targeted at any character, but Hazel, Cosmo, Dev and Peri will deliver your questions basically.

Hazel, Cosmo and Wanda, the B plot, are answering questions while trying to understand the consequences of [EVENT] and figuring out how this effects their magic.

Hazel got caught up in the same mess that Dale and Dev did, but didn’t get snatched up by Peri as she’s

A:Not his godkid and

B: Cosmo and Wanda protected her and got her to safety- though a little bit late (not as late as Dev tho- sob).

However, Hazel’s proximity to the [REDACTED] hasn’t left her without unusual symptoms. She just didn’t [REDACTED] like Dev. She’s definitely more in control on her end of the plot, unlike Dev and Dale who are pretty much following whatever Peri does at the moment.

Dale is literally only here because he was injured and dying and Dev freaked out so Peri just grabbed him. Lucky Dale? Maybe not. Peri is a little evil here, not really a villain- but definitely darker Peri here!

Anyways, back on earth, Hazel, Cosmo & Wanda have to navigate the effects of what happened after the battle. I’m being vague bc this all gets revealed through the ask blog and I don’t want to spoil anything before a I drop the plot.

Now here’s a little request for help, I’m watching some FOP lore vids and watching seasons 1 & 2 of FOP completely to refresh my memory, but I don’t have time to re-watch the series. If you know any good sources for FOP lore, and maybe something with a list of all the most important episodes to watch please let me know. I want this to line up with previous lore as much as possible, so I’m not dropping the AU until I’m confident that it’s pretty consistent!!!

Any help is appreciated!!!!

[forlorn-crows]

its time!

 For my fellow Mount lover, In what i've named “The Spreader Bar Chronicles”  I'm tasking you with, soft, sweet Mounty. Praising, worshiping, *loving* Shy Aether. Im going to be just a little picky about this, you dont have to use the exact line but something abouts “you take care of everyone so well, let me take care of *you* for once” very centered around aether just relaxing, letting go, not having to work for his enjoyment. The spreader bar, not to be a punishment, or restriction, but cautionary, so mount has all the room in the world to work. To leave Aether exposed, vulnerable. Naked But Safe. 

I am so very excited to see what comes of this, kiss kiss<3

uhh aether def starts out shy but i think he got a lil too horny in there. but he's being reallllyyy good for his mountain, dont worry.

trans aether this time. bc we all know how i feel about his short fat [redacted]

Aether digs his fingers into Mountain's thigh, gripping a little tighter as the earth ghoul's lithe fingers dip into his wet folds. Touching just for the sake of touching, indulging in the little whines he receives when the pads of the digits skim over Aether's fat length. 

"How's that?" Mountain asks softly, pressing a kiss to the quintessence ghoul's temple. 

He bites his lip, gives a short nod of the head. His legs twitch against the spreader bar at his ankles. It took a little coaxing to get Aether to let him tighten the leather straps there, situate the connected wooden bar so that his legs stayed spread, open. Vulnerable, Aether had said. But really, it's encouragement to relax, to take all that Mountain will lovingly give.

"You're so shy like this. It's alright, you know, to want to be taken care of." Mountain's fingers close around his clit and offer short, slow strokes. Indulgent. Intimate. Aether sighs, tipping his head back to thump against the earth ghoul's collarbone.

"I know. S' hard sometimes," he admits.

"You take care of everyone else constantly, darling. Let me take care of you for once, hm?" 

His hips buck against Mountain's hand. "So do you," he protests.

"Hush. You can take care of me later," he tuts. He snakes his other hand up to a pebbled nipple before he can offer another retort. Pinches the pink bud between two fingers. Aether keens, dick throbbing in Mountain's hand.

"That's it," he encourages. "There you go."

“Feels good,” he groans. “Can you do them both? Just for a little bit.” Mountain hums in agreement, giving his length another stroke before bringing his hand up to the other nipple. He hooks his chin over the quintessence ghoul’s shoulder, watching as he swirls one finger around the buds. 

“Fuck,” Aether breathes. His eyes slip closed, hands petting at Mountain’s thighs. The earth ghoul’s gentleness is accented with points of pleasure; a flick here, a pinch there. Playing with them until they turn a pretty mauve. He can feel Aether’s breath hitch when he moves to palm at his tits in earnest, perfectly sized to fit in the full span of Mountain’s hands. 

“This okay?” Mountain asks, kneading at the flesh. He nuzzles into Aether’s cheek.

“Yeah,” he says, almost a whisper. “Shit, Mountain, that makes me so hard, keep doing it.”

“Mm, I can see that,” he hums, eyes flicking down to his cock, standing fat and flushed from out of his folds now. It kicks a little under his gaze. Aether’s legs twitch again, rattling the little metal hardware on the bar straps. “Wet too, I bet.”

Aether makes a gut-punched noise, arching with it. He doesn’t answer. Instead, he grabs one of Mountain’s hands and guides it back down to his cunt, pushing his fingers against his entrance where it is, indeed, very slick. 

“You feel so good here,” Mountain praises. He pets his folds, coating his fingers. “Doing such a good job, letting me take care of you.” His fingers dip in just a little, pressing on his walls, just to feel. “Can I add a little something, pamper you some more?”

Aether nods, still lost in the feeling of his fingers. The earth ghoul reaches somewhere behind him, producing two small objects. He opens his hand to reveal a small bottle of lube and a small, clear silicone toy. 

“Oh,” Aether breathes. “Yes. Please, yes.” The toy in question is a cock stroker, perfectly sized for his smaller length. Mountain squishes it slightly, the ribbed texture inside rubbing against itself. 

“Allow me,” the earth ghoul rumbles. He squirts a few drops of lube inside, spreading it with his finger. He takes the excess and circles Aether’s dick with it, getting it even wetter. Aether watches and takes a shaky breath. 

Mountain swirls the end of the sleeve around the tip of his clit, dipping the head of it in and out, in and out in slow movements. When Aether starts grabbing at his thighs again, he slides it on. 

“Fuck. Mountain, please.” He twitches his hips into it. Struggles against the bar again, trying to clamp his thighs around Mountain’s hand. The outline of his length shows through the opaque material, the little head just poking out when Mountain squishes it all the way down. 

“There you go; feels good, doesn’t it?” He strokes at a medium pace, adding plenty of squeezes and rubs against the tip. 

“Uh huh,” Aether whines. He’s leaning fully into the earth ghoul now, helpless to the flick of his wrist and the drag of the stroker. 

“Look so good, darling,” Mountain says, a little breathless himself. “Want you to really get into it, show me how much you enjoy it.” Aether cants his hips again. Grinds into the silicone, into Mountain’s hand. Turns his head into his collarbone and moans. “That’s it, take what you need.”

“Gonna make me cum,” he gasps. “Fuck, you’re gonna make me fucking cum.” He clenches around nothing, more slick drooling out. His dick throbs inside the sleeve, kicking in tandem with each jump of his stomach, each spasm and jiggle of his thigh. 

“Cum for me, starlight.” And oh, does he. Legs straining against the bar, thumping it against the sheets with each little kick of his legs. Mountain watches his eyes roll back under fluttering lashes, heavy breaths falling from his parted lips. His fingers dig into the meat of the earth ghouls thighs as he tenses and shudders, yelping when Mountain flicks the sleeve off the head of his clit in such a way that makes him clench. One more twitch of his inner thighs and he’s making a choked-off noise as a single spurt of milky-white fluid shoots out onto the sheets. 

“Fuck,” he cries. Mountain holds him close, watching as the last of it dribbles down his folds and just out of view. Aether collapses back against him, chest heaving. “Satanas, you really made me cum. Unholy shit.”

Mountain grips at his hips. Restrains himself from groaning openly in his ear. “Do you want more?” he asks instead, hoping the answer is:

“Yes,” Aether groans. “Want your fingers, get them deep, Mount.”

The earth ghoul rolls his neck, suppressing another moan. “Anything,” he says, perhaps too eagerly. “Anything you want, starlight.” He doesn’t waste a second. One hand presses the flesh of his inner thigh back while the other cups his cunt. Two fingers dip down, sliding wetly inside. Both of them groan with it, Aether at the heightened sensation, Mountain at the silky feeling of his inner walls, the way he clenches immediately around his fingers. 

“Oh,” Aether moans. “Oh really fuck me with them, fill me up.” Mountain really can’t help the noise that comes out of his mouth then. He pulls the quintessence ghoul tighter to him, shifting him slightly to get the best angle before hilting his fingers as far as he can get them. Each thrust squelches with how wet he is, the only sound in the room besides Aether’s groans for a few heated moments. 

A particular brush of Mountain’s palm against his still throbbing clit makes him cry out. Aether’s hand flies up to the back of the earth ghoul’s neck, threading into his hair and straining to pull him closer. 

"Are you hard?" Aether gasps. "Please tell me you are." Mountain lets out a shaky laugh and ruts his cock against his ass as confirmation. “Seven hells please fuck me, Daddy, need you so fucking bad.”

Mountain groans selfishly at the word. “There’s my baby,” he purrs, leaning down to sloppily capture Aether’s mouth in a kiss. “Gonna take such good care of you, darling,” he mumbles against his lips. “You’ve done so well, telling me what you want. Enjoying yourself. So fucking beautiful and good for me.” He lays Aether down, peppering him with kisses as he does, cradling him like he’s the most precious thing in the world. Mountain slots himself on top of Aether, bodies melting together with twin gasps. The earth ghoul tucks his head into the crook of his neck, mouthing at the sensitive spot just under his ear.

“Mount, please. The bar, will you—”

“Hush,” he interrupts. He drags his mouth up to the shell of his pointed ear and licks a shiver-inducing stripe up the side. “It stays on,” he says, the rich baritone going straight to Aether’s gut. “So I can worship you like you deserve.”

[swtorpadawan]

Wanted

Author’s Notes: The following story takes place in my Halcyon Legacy and takes the form of an intelligence report summary sent by the lovely Lana Beniko. The chronology is about a year after the events of the Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion.

ALLIANCE REPORT SUMMARY – ACCESS RESTRICTED TO COUNCIL LEVEL

From: Lana Beniko, Chief-of-Staff, Eternal Alliance

To:      Corellan Halcyon, Alliance Commander, Eternal Alliance

CC:    Alliance Council [Theron Shan, Et Al.]

Re:     Subject Status Update – “Skadge”

Commander,

This report summary details the recent history of the Houk criminal known as “Skadge”, the recent reports concerning his assumed escape from the Galactic Republic security, the potential impact of these events on the Alliance and our interests and finally proposed avenues of resolution to the present situation.

[Note from Theron Shan: Lana, does your prose have to be so dry? You’re not writing for the Galactic Senate.]

[Response from Lana Beniko: Professionalism is what separates us from the beasts, Theron.]

The full report will be attached to this message.

As you are well aware, Skadge was originally taken into custody on Nar Shaddaa by then-Provost Marshal Fideltin Rusk and yourself. He was then turned over to Republic security, allowing Rusk and his “Dead Man’s Legion” auxiliary unit to join the Alliance and our efforts against the Eternal Empire.

Skadge – already wanted for numerous crimes against the Republic [Addendum: For the full list, which is several pages long, see Attached File #11b] and having previously been convicted of several of those criminal offenses years ago prior to his escape from the Republic prison on Belsavis – was then transported to Coruscant to provide information to the Strategic Information Service and the Coruscant Security Force in their efforts against the resurgent Black Sun criminal syndicate on the Republic capital.

After several months of non-cooperation from Skadge [Addendum: I blame Theron’s former associates.] [Note from Theron Shan: Keep your robe on, Beniko.], the Republic authorities eventually ordered him transported to their Omega Prison located on [NAME REDACTED: Eyes Only].

While en route to Omega, the Justice of the Republic, the freighter transporting Skadge and several other high-profile prisoners, was assaulted by parties unknown. All Republic officers and crew on the ship were killed in the fighting, along with all of the prisoners save for Skadge, who was reported missing. The ship itself was left adrift before eventually being discovered by a patrol three days later.

Republic SIS forensics teams have thoroughly examined the Justice of the Republic, but have been unable to conclusively determine the identity of the assailants. The ship’s computer banks were completely purged, along with all recording devices onboard. Most of the deceased were killed with blaster weapons commonly available on the underworld market. [Addendum: We theorize that the weapons were chosen based on the difficulty in tracing their origins.] Two of the guards show signs of having been savagely beaten to death, with analysis suggesting that they were killed by Skadge himself.

The only potential clue to the assailants identities was a security panel that had been blown out. The SIS analysis indicates the panel was destroyed via a lightsaber, suggesting the possibility of Sith involvement, or possibly a rogue Force-user from either the Jedi or the Knights of Zakuul. [Addendum: Our current analysis is that Empress Acina herself would not order such a provocative attack while the Sith Empire is still recovering from the war against Zakuul.] Even the Alliance has not been ruled out, given what the Republic sees as our “colorful” roster of operatives. [Addendum: For a government that so formally values diversity, the Galactic Republic can be surprisingly intolerant on such matters.]   

The Republic has classified the attack on the Justice of the Republic, at least until they identify the assailants. After the recent events on Iokath, the current Chancellor is eager to avoid provoking an incident with the Sith Empire without hard evidence. Certainly, it would feed the war-hawks in the Senate. The Alliance received most of this information from our informant [NAME REDACTED: Eyes Only].

Our preliminary determination, based on Skadge’s past encounters with yourself and his criminal dealings with Black Sun, is that he should be considered extremely dangerous, and a potential threat to Alliance personnel and operations. In addition, any faction with the resources and skill to extricate Skadge so discreetly without showing their hand is a cause for concern.

Potential suspects for the assault, which appears to have had the primary goal of rescuing Skadge, must begin with Black Sun, who Skadge worked extensively for off and on over the years. However, while Skadge might be a valuable operative for Black Sun, he also has a reputation as being dangerous and unpredictable. [Addendum: Quite frankly, they are probably better off without him.] Based on their recent setbacks and the resources necessary to conduct such an operation in the remote area of space the attack occurred in, Alliance Intelligence calculates less than a ten percent chance that they were the primary instigators of this incident.

Regardless, someone went to great lengths to rescue Skadge, and greater lengths still to conceal their identities. Given the Houk’s specific “skillset”, we must assume their intentions are unfriendly.

We have consulted with Xadya, Mako, Blizz and Gault concerning the potential whereabouts of Skadge. Their past association with the Houk make them some of the best-suited to aiding in his recapture. While none of them have thus far been able to offer any special insight on his plans, they certainly did not seem bothered by the prospect of working against him, ether. Xadya herself certainly seemed disappointed to learn that there were no active bounties on Skadge and asked me to inquire if you’d be willing to set a price.

For their own protection, we have informed all Alliance personnel who have a known ‘history’ with Skadge that he is free, beginning with Xadya and her crew and including Zale Barrows and Kayla Perlis from our Underworld Logistics section. We have also informed independent Alliance associates such as Linh and Juda.  

The only good news so far concerning Skadge’s whereabouts and activities seems to be that he is unlikely to find any sanctuary or assistance from the Hutt Cartel. If his recent Black Sun-related activities on Nar Shaddaa were not enough, Skadge is the same Houk who slew Nem’ro the Hutt and several dozen of his supporters in a massacre on Nal Hutta several years ago before the Zakuulan invasion.

As always, we will keep you informed of any further developments.

- Lana

Author’s Notes: More on Omega Prison another time. It is a concept of my own imagination.  

Zale Barrows later escaped from the Empire in my head-canon.

The slicer who wiped that ship’s computer was obviously very good. I wonder who that could be?  

Tagging! @raven-of-domain-kwaad @inyri @grandninjamasterren @berriku @taraum @pawsimses @theoasiswinds @defira85 @stars-ephemeral @jaxifye @plotbunny-bundle @theladynoir @velvetsunset @vexa-legacy @legacyofabsolutewalnuts @halibellecter @starknstarwars @a-master-procrastinator @anchanted-one @celith-wraine @greencrusader13

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

[Text: Tell me, what do you think of people actually liking the character development in season 4-5 and the show's treatment of mental health? [Redacted] thinks that and she's the mother of a teenager]

Re liking the show: I generally assume that they have poor taste and/or media literacy.

Re the mental health rep: I generally assume that they're incredibly privileged and/or ignorant.

I'm posting this as an image and not an ask response specifically because I will not participate in fandom drama or shaming. This blog exists specifically so that people can actively choose to engage in my content and so that I can post critical thoughts without dragging their source into some petty fight. So I'm not going to talk about the named individual. Instead, I'll replace them with the show's head writer and talk about him in a similar context.*

He's pretty famously denied that Chloe suffered any abuse, ignoring her obvious neglect, which came from both parents, just in different forms. When you pair that with how the show handles people like Gabe and Jagged Stone, we see a clear pattern of the show ignoring the devastating effects that abandonment and neglect can have on a person, especially if they're a child.

Now you could look at that and say, "The head writer condones abuse! He's a monster!" But I prefer to go the more likely route and assume that he's a privileged middle-class cis white man who has never had to deal with those issues or support someone who has, so he has no idea how to handle them properly or that they even need to be properly handled. There's every chance that he's a loving, kind man and a fantastic father who just happens to not be very good at writing a complex topic that he clearly has no understanding of or desire to learn about. I apply similar logic to fans who share his opinions. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence or ignorance.

And all of the above is assuming that we're talking about someone who thinks that the show is objectively good or that the mental health rep is good, which are big assumptions. It's fully possible to enjoy a piece of media that you know is objectively bad or even "problematic" in some way.

Personal confession time: is Loonatics Unleashed an objectively terrible show that you should never, ever watch? Absolutely. 100%. Are Rev Runner and Tech E. Coyote two of my favorite characters who will live rent free in my head until the day I die? Yep! I pulled up a YouTube highlight real as I was writing this and those dorks still make me smile even though the show is terrible on multiple levels and I know that I'm not alone in that sentiment. Those two clicked with a lot of people for some reason.

A piece of fiction need not be good for you to love it and you don't need to justify your love for a piece of fiction if you're not claiming that it's good. Similarly, people hating that piece of fiction or pointing out flaws in it is not a reflection on you in any way shape or form. You can even agree with their criticism and still love the piece of fiction. This approach to media - loving a thing in spite of its flaws - is normal and healthy and I'd really love to see it make a comeback in younger fandoms.

Like, I cannot emphasize this enough, most fandoms consider it perfectly normal to have lots of fans who are critical of the source or who have even lost interest in the source for one reason or another, but they still like some element of the source enough to want to create/consume fan content for it. These more critical fans arguably make some of the best fan content because looking at canon and saying "That's nice, let me show you how I'd do it" often leads to some of the most complex stories that you'll see in fandom spaces. Stories that can often blow canon out of the water for TV shows and movies since fanfic isn't limited by budgets or studio policies or marketability concerns. Fans who think that the source is perfect tend to just write fluff or romcom type fics, which is not a dig! I love bother of those genres! But woman does not live on fluff alone.

Obviously there's some complexity here because who decides if a show is bad? Saying "it's okay that you like a terrible thing" can certainly sound like an insult and prompt a feeling of needing to defend the thing, which is why I don't fight with fans who like the show. There's really no need to convince them that the thing they like is bad. Do I think it is? Yes. Does it matter if they disagree? No, not really. At worst, they create stories with similar issues and, well, they're not the only ones and fighting with them isn't going to stop them. You're much better off focusing on creating your own good media and trying to get that popular. Heck, even if you made the head writer see all of Miracuous' flaws, it wouldn't change anything. The show is already made.

So, yeah, I don't really assume anything bad about people who think that miraculous is good. I know lots of wonderful people who have terrible taste in media and I'm still friends with them. I just don't take recommendations from them.

It's important to remember that, when you're online in a fandom space, a person is condensed down to a very tiny snapshot of who they are and judging a person solely off of their thoughts regarding a poorly written kids show is a dangerous path to tread. Like, looking at this blog, you might assume that I spend all of my time thinking about miraculous and obsessing over its flaws, which is very much not the case. I actually have this blog specifically so that I don't obsess over miraculous' flaws because I've found that, when something is bothering me, writing it down or talking to someone about it is the best way to stop thinking about it. Even then, most of my posts are reblogs of stuff I come across while browsing my tumblr feed, which is not solely miraculous content. I mostly interact with the show by creating non-salty fanfic that I honestly enjoy writing and find to be a relaxing, positive outlet.

It's human nature to judge and it's totally normal to think that a person's an idiot because of something they post online, but be careful to not lean into those thoughts too hard. At the end of the day, Miraculous is just a stupid kids show that will fade from the popular consciousness a few years after it stops airing. If it and/or the fandom are negatively affecting your mental health, then it's okay to step away for a while or use the block button. It really is your best friend. I enjoy being critical about Miraculous specifically because it's not that important. While I do think that kids deserve better media, I don't think Miraculous is some terrible evil harming the youth. I'm not horrified when a kid watches it, it's just not a show that I'd encourage them to watch and, if the kids was close to me, we'd spend a lot of time talking about the bad things that the show showcases from time to time. There are lots of episodes that are fine and I can think of way worse kids shows. Shows that tell their horrifying morals really well, making a kid far more likely to pick up on them and internalize them.

*Note that I only feel comfortable talking about the head writer like this because he's a public figure with an active social media presence AND because I'm not @ing him. If he was a private person or if he was not a professional creator, then I would not talk about him like this and even in that context I try to avoid it whenever I can. You can think that he's a terrible writer, but he's still a human being and, as far as I'm aware, nothing he's done deserves people harassing him.

I absolutely understand how devastating it can be to see a story you love get ruined by the creative team. The first time that happened to me, the life lesson I came away with was, "I will no longer put my happiness in the hands of another creator. I will enjoy stories, but I will temper my expectations and remember that they're just another human being and it's completely possible that their vision for this seemingly awesome story may end up being terrible."

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

WIP Wednesday

Which stands for Work is Published today because these two chapters are live!!!

Thank you for the tag, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @heartstringsduet 💝

This is from the second of the two chapters of my TK and Sophie fic I just posted - it was hard to find a snippet that isn't super spoilery, so I went for one after The Big Thing happened where we're just talking about it (also because I realized I've been writing this fic for so long I can now reference things that happened in earlier chapters - YAY!!)

2011 -

“Hey, Dad?” TK said.

“Yes, TK?” Owen said.

“I’m… I’m sorry”. TK said in a small voice. “I mean, for this. Obviously. But… for what I said to you. That day. [redacted] I didn’t… I didn’t mean that”.

“I kind of figured that, Bubba,” Owen said, even though he was relieved to hear it. “And I appreciate that”.

“So,” TK looked up at his dad hopefully. “Look, I know I screwed up big. And I won’t complain if you and Mom ground me and don’t let me out until I’m old. Like your age. But… do I have to [redacted]? I mean, can’t we just chalk this up to a bad day?”

“We can’t, TK,” Owen said, gently squeezing the back of his son’s neck. “Because we have to do what’s best for you”.

“But you don’t know that”. TK pouted. “You don’t know [redacted] is the best thing for me”.

“We know you need help,” another voice said. Owen and TK both turned and saw that Gwyn had re-entered the room.

“Mom—” TK started, but Gwyn cut him off.

“Sweetheart,” she said as she joined them on the bed, “do you remember when you and your sister were little, and we had to take her to the hospital because she got food poisoning?”

“Yeah”. TK nodded. “That was the time she bit the IV”.

“That’s right”. Gwyn nodded. “You were in the room with her when that happened. Do you remember what you said, when I asked you later what she said right before she did that?”

TK shook his head. He was having trouble remembering anything past he had become one with a hospital bed.

Read what happened on ao3 -

No pressure tagging - I tag @sznofthesticks @anewkindofme @carlos-in-glasses @nancygillianmvp

@carlos-tk @lemonlyman-dotcom @herefortarlos @thisbuildinghasfeelings

@liminalmemories21 @chicgeekgirl89 @bonheur-cafe @honeybee-taskforce

@chaotictarlos @celeritas2997 @welcometololaland @actualalligator

@sugdenlovesdingle @lightningboltreader @snowviolettwhite

@firstprince-history-huh @reyestrandd @lochnesswriter @safeaswrites

@mikibwrites @kiwichaeng @goodways @theghostofashton

@eclectic-sassycoweyes @doublel27 @birdclowns @ladytessa74

@paperstorm @happilylovingchaos @freneticfloetry @orchidscript

@alrightbuckaroo @nisbanisba @fallout-mars @vineofroses

@literateowl @inkweedandlizards @alltheprettyplaces @tailoredshirt

@thebumblecee @kiloskywalker and anyone else who wants to do it - open tag 🫶

[sierranovembr]

Sierra's Marvel Favs 2023

I won't be doing a full Rec-mas list this year, but I wanted to share my favorite Avengers fics I read (or re-read) this year. Happy reading!

Cuddle Close and Lean In by iam93percentstardust (@iam93percentstardust) Stuckony // T // 1,759 words Snowed in at a cabin, Bucky tries to ignore Steve and Tony until he can't anymore.

Time Is on My Side (Yes It Is) by Faustess Winteriron // T // 37,598 words Tony Stark had plans for the rest of his day that hadn't involved being sent somewhere in time by redacted Reed Richards. Sergeant Bucky Barnes had enough to do keeping Steve "let's punch it 'til the problem's gone" Rogers alive. He just needed to reconnect with the Howlies and they'd move onto their next mission. Neither man's life is quite going to plan when they meet one night during an enemy bombing raid. Will they be able to keep their fledgling romance alive despite all the wartime secrets and separations? Does changing the past also change the future? With these two, nothing ever comes easily.

Fangbait by FestiveFerret (@festiveferret) Stony // E // 5,396 words There's only one reason Tony would go to a bar like this, dressed the way he is: fangbait.

Turns Out, I Have a Rose Garden by betheflame (@betheflame) Stony // T // 52,750 words President Steven Grant Rogers was gearing up to run for president again and he had yet to deliver on his major campaign promise from the first term: reverse the effects of climate change by at least 40%. Luckily for him, billionaire genius inventor Tony Stark had just the technology to do it. Less luckily for Steve, he was totally into Tony, who had no idea Steve was gay because essentially no one knew Steve was gay. If Steve has to choose between a second crack at the office or a first crack at true love, which one wins?

[lucksdraw]

heyy all ♥ name's lola, here presenting 1/2 of the #601 unit, kim minhyun — probably the worst person to be against when you're playing dodgeball because you will lose, but also someone with an extremely... well. non-flashy, boring power. i haven't been present for the original run of astonish but i've heard only good stuff about it so i am beyond excited to be here. you can read his profile here and a general background here, under the cut i will present more of trivia ♥

his power... basically this whole video. "luck is not a superpower" and doesn't really get you on the front-line of superism rankings, so he's just minding his business trying to survive in a world of heroes and villains. at least when the city is falling apart a-la avengers style, he's gonna come out unscathed? but overall, couldn't really give less about it all, or the glitz and glamour that comes with being a hero. sometimes will even cheer on a villain :/ also aeternal training academies are LAME!

a bit bitter, when you take all things into consideration. like, he could have been spitting fire or having a pair of wings he can fly with, but he's stuck with just being lucky? some people don't even believe him when he says it.... damn... also a bit guilt ridden but that's level 10 friendship unlock x

despite his lucky powers, his whole life is unlucky. as seen in the background preview, not the best upbringing, rough childhood, mild #mommy_issues

on other hand, thanks to his lucky powers, he's very chilled out, laid back, carefree, doesn't care, etcetera; he knows that things will work out for him one way or another. says he doesn't care about others either and is flying solo, but as much as he says he doesn't care, he will end up helping, regardless of how messy of a situation you've got yourself in? you two just met but you need a place to stay at for whatever reason? well. come over ig...

not opposed to doing some illegal stuff. the depth of this will remain redacted for his own good

like sure, he's never gotten the best grades or anything... but if he wanted to, he could take his chance at the slot machine and hit the #jackpot. but it would probably get #cancelled, since he is a registered metahuman after all

works as a snacks attendant @ gg. spends time after shift gaming until his eyes are red. plays league like, #religiously, has an edgy u/n; something like... HER VOICE RESIDES (who gets the reference? mwah..) and plays smth edgy like kayn or zed. GM rank... the whole world is falling apart outside but he's still gaming and climbing the ranks #grind_never_stops

also... does not know anything about any thefts at all. will know if you lend him some money though wink wink!

he's consented to be prodded and to sharing his biomedical data <3 everything for cheaper rent

most of the complaints about him are regarding loud music (he makes up for like 60% of simon dominic's streams) , noises past midnight, or breaking into the building (because he forgot his keys!!), or he's asked someone for some coins so he can wash his clothes @ the laundromat for like the tenth time in row. also, if he's not at work you can almost always see him moping around the building complex and he's recognized by wearing his iconic "fish love me women fear me", "my tummy hurts", "human by chance alpha by choice" and shirts alike. no, he will not reveal where he gets them. it's his personal gold mine

probably biggest fan of minions alive. would adopt a minion if they were real. like, holy shit he loves minions.

depending on who asks, down for some sprinkle sprinkle brownies x

for plot bunnies... given minhyun's character, literally anything goes. he's a bit of a #loser so not too much on romantic aspect... but friends, enemies (different opinions re: aeternals/the academy/blockers), someone who's caught him breaking into a store and is blackmailing!!, fellow gamers, they're party animals together or partners in crime,,. literally anything goes lets brainstorm in ims!!!

anyway. minhyun tweets!!!

[dirtbra1n]

WAIT I FORGOT ABOUT KRISNIX VS WRIGHTWORTH

HI SUNNFISH it’s been eight days and I’m not getting any work done right now anyway. Ha ha ha ha. I’m gonna go dig up some of my nutjob krisnix hashtag #Posts

okay that done I’m actually gonna talk about wrightworth first. baby’s first yaoi probably It makes sense and it compels me.

really really beautiful thing about wrightworth is how many people go into the first ace attorney thinking that the prevalence of attorney yaoi is a result of typical fandom behavior and get blasted with the concentrated blast of shu takumi’s vision of how chronically strange normal guy phoenix wright decided to completely change the trajectory of his life for one of his boy best friends from the 4th grade. unnecessary feelings and its ramifications. miles edgeworth choosing death gate. the ugly ways phoenix does not cope with this, on account of his many issues. redacted hospital scene. sundry textual instances of phoenix’s well-adjustment re: edgeworth shot at the player point blank. miles edgworth That man… gate. wrightworth is so fucking much you guys……..

I do not see either of these two biting the bullet to establish a formally romantic relationship in any capacity until they are well into their thirties. they need to be extraordinarily strange at and about one another for decades on end and then elope on a thursday afternoon, which will not ease up the strangeness but will grant them various legal benefits. love wins! Longer post would talk about how and why they’re weird. but I need to talk ab

sunnfish when I tried the media tab first for collected krisnix miscellany I passed this and it made me cry laugh

I need to talk about krisnix

trying to pin down my deepest rooted beliefs is like pulling teeth. You know there was a time where apparently I saw nothing interesting about kristoph. I’ve become a better and weirder person in the meantime. it makes sense. it compels me. ha ha ha ha.

^ 2dirt2brain krisnix breakdown of december ’23. of which we’re all very aware I’m sure. kristoph wants control of the world around him and is as incapable of fulfilling that desire as any mortal man. phoenix has a lot more free time nowadays. regular dinners together. seven years. play hooky, get hooked. unkillable phoenix wright. you can’t fake an affection that long—seven years. come on, now. get back to the office after they take him in and slump a little. you ought to say, now or never, that you kinda like the guy.

you’ve (🫵 not him) got to know that phoenix wright is a hard as hell guy to know We’ve compared him to tashiro before sunnfish I know this. he doesn’t open up. clam shut tight of course I think we should give kristoph a paring knife to try and crack him open. just can’t trust him with knives bigger than that one.

like of course the psychosexual warfare is the main thing. but seven years together and zero reason to believe that the guy who cost you your attorneys badge would murder anyone means seven years of some of the heartiest insane appealing-directly-to-me Situation the world has ever, ever seen. some of this is psychosexual warfare. everything else is a secret worse thing.

I think flawed attorney and devastatingly loyal man phoenix wright should try to save kristoph’s life. bet you never thought you’d care this much about capital punishment, huh, phoenix?

also kristoph should be time looped

now considering the VS. statistically I trust more people with wrightworth because the sheer numbers go crazy. I trust myself and my friends with krisnix more however because krisnix is fundamentally custom built for me to chew on and bite into. two cakes. we should put edgeworth and kristoph in a cage match. I think they just WOULD NOT get along, separate from phoenix entirely. tear each other’s dicks off!!!!!

as a bonus here is a short list of things that remind me of krisnix

boris by lo-fang

that myth about a dog locking its jaws as it bites into you

magnet poem I spent actual hours laboriously stitching together whilst listening to kristoph’s solitary confinement theme

Also munchausen by proxy have I said that already

and of course the second bonus:

[princehendir]

Play by play on the Easter hunt this is like I've been watching filler episodes and this is the big finale of your work™️ posts

PREVIOUSLY ON:

we do movies at my theatre sometimes because we have a screen. This showing of [REDACTED RABBIT THEMED FILM] has been planned since the beginning of the season, but in February it was decided that since the movies haven't been selling so great we wanted to add an extra event to help draw people in. Several ideas were pitched (by me) but what we (they) landed on was an Easter egg hunt before the movie.

I hated this idea, but was out voted. 

The plan was this: at 1:00pm, we will open the house (eggs will be hidden in the house) and let everyone in. And then the movie will start at 2:00 and everyone will sit down.

I hated this plan, mostly because it's not actually a plan. “Let’s just have kids look for eggs and then the movie will start” is just like, an idea. Its not a plan, there’s no structure. A plan would be something like, between 12:30 & 1:00 kids are free to search for eggs, at 1:00 everyone will be asked to leave the house so they can go see the easter bunny over by concessions! (wink wink) The children can then be entertained by the easter bunny until 1:30, when we will re-open the house for seating, or their parents have the option of leaving and coming back at that time, whatever works best for them. In that half-hour gap the house can be cleaned up and reset for a business-as-usual film screening. 

That is the plan I put forward at our first event planning meeting. It was shot down, very rudely and aggressively, by my coworker Katrina. She insisted that i was “maing this too difficult” and over thinking this” and “we don’t need any of that”. She interrupted me, loudly, multiple times to say these things. And then my boss went with this non-plan that she presented over mine, even though she’s from marketing and doesn’t ever interact with customers and I’m literally the house manager a.k.a the person who is in charge of the house & the lobby whenever it is in use? Because she’s been here longer and can speak more words faster and louder than I can, I guess? I was too flabbergasted to that this woman who is not my boss and not in my department and who I’ve met in person exactly once before was talking to me like this (and that no one else, including my boss, felt the need to intervene).

I tried several more times over the next two months to add structure to this event but was shut down and told to relax by either Katrina (who again, is from marketing so why does she have any say here?) or my boss, who would always side with her. Eventually, because i was demoralized (and because my boss literally told me she was sick of talking about this with me and not to bring it up again) I just gave up.

SATURDAY THE FIRST (24 HOURS REMAIN)

2pm. I & several other coworkers (but not Katrina…🤔) + our boss arrive to hide 700 eggs in the house

 it's kinda hard because there's not really a lot of places to hide anything? Because it's just rows & rows of theatre chairs? I warned them about this btw.

 also an issue! The floor is sloped. Because it is a theatre :) So eggs just kind of keep, rolling towards the orchestra pit. And it's really loud the whole way down. I literally told them this would happen  but I guess we all just have to pretend this is a surprise.

at finish, none of the eggs are like, at all hidden. They are all 100% visible from all angles. Also something about them all being in there suddenly makes it really clear how many forbidden dangerous areas, delicate historical features, finger-crunching mechanisms, and weird little trip-fall-break-your-leg-and-sue-us ledges & stairs there are in this room.

my coworker April (heavily involved in the planning, but only because the poor thing can't say no, she is a victim here too imo) privately admits to me that she's dreading this event and just wants it to be over. 

previously it was agreed, MULTIPLE TIMES, that we were going to set a limit on number of eggs per kid, and exclusively allow only the bags we provide (small) to be used. But when I brought it up my boss (Kelly) said "oh no we won't need a limit that's not necessary :) and people can bring their own bags who cares"

whatever. 

SUNDAY.

arrive at 11:30.

April is already there. This is way earlier than she said she was coming. She admits that she was too anxious to stay at home.

also, the gal who was going to wear the Easter Bunny costume sprained her ankle. So now April is doing it. Good lord. Anyways

Also now we’re apparently going to have the Bunny in the main lobby? Greeting kids? Instead of else where so that bored kids could Go and do something else/split the crowd so as to ease congestion in our small historic lobby? Which has been the plan the entire time until just now????

whatever.

further backstory: I couldn't get any fucking volunteers to staff this stupid thing. So my mom finally took pity, volunteered herself & my father and bribed two family friends with lambshanks into coming and helping also.

further further backstory: our good popcorn machine is broken. Started out that it was just tripping the breaker every single time it got plugged in, but now it's throwing sparks when plugged in also lollllll. So we're using the small, older, back-up machine. This will become relevant soon.

Katrina arrives, two of her grandchildren in tow. She lets them into the lobby even though we aren't open yet. They are EXTREMELY badly behaved. Loud. Throwing things, hitting each other. She's not managing them very well and I feel uncomfortable intervening. Eventually she takes them outside (confusing, is she working today or here as a patron?)

volunteers arrive. Parents + friends + the one other volunteer I could get. I explain to them the "plan". They are confused. Why isn't there a distinct end time for the egg hunt & start time seating? What about people who show up for just the film? Do they have to sit with an egg hunt happening around them? Are we really letting people bring their own bags? This room seems like a terrible place to let children run around in? I tell them that I brought up literally all of these issues, AND had clear solutions for all of them, and was rejected every time :) oh well!

there's a lot of people lining up out front. Way more than expected. You can hear crowd noises through the glass. It's kind of intense.

some big 12-year-old literally charges the doors, Jurassic Park velociraptor style. Building is 95 years old so it's loud AF and everything on the whole wall shakes.

its Katrina's grandson. Because fucking of course it is.

one last check on the concessions stand before we open. The credit card machine has no power. Oh shit, I think, is this machine tripping the breaker too now? no, breaker is fine. It's just somehow this one wall plug has stopped working. Suddenly. Whatever. I plug the machine into a different socket and decide to fix the other issue later because the doors need to be open in 5 minutes 

i get the lobby doors open at exactly 1:00. Check with tech to make sure we're good to open all the way up, get the ok. We start taking tickets and letting people in to hunt at about 1:01.

A mother approaches me to tell me that her kid got no eggs, and there are no more eggs to be found. It is 1:07.

Multiple complaints now that there are no eggs left. It's been less than ten minutes. 

check in with my mom, she confirms that the first couple of kids to get let in had shopping bags, and since the eggs were not actually hidden they were just kinda laying there those kids just basically..... Cleared the room.

extra gift bags full of the leftover eggs are quickly made up by my boss. Easter Bunny passes out a lot of those.

meanwhile, a line is forming at concessions. The popcorn machine is not quite keeping up. It's not an.... emergency yet. Though.

meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, my mother has corrected this one boy for his bad behavior three separate times. On the third time, the adult with him got really nasty with her. When I come by again mom reports this interaction to me in case there's a complaint. After she describes the boy and adult to me, I inform her that that was Katrina & her grandson.

"Katrina... Is she that cunt who cc'd you in that really nasty email you showed me?"

yeah mom. That very same cunt.

because there are no eggs left, most people have just taken a seat. It's still only 1:20. There's 40 minutes until the movie starts. The children are restless and tense because there is nothing for them to do. Eggs gone. They already saw the Easter Bunny. They are bored now. I predicted this btw.

several parents talk to the volunteers to confirm that there really is nothing else to do but sit until the movie starts. "I don't know if I can keep my kids focused  and still that long, plus the movie runtime" “you really expect people to sit and do nothing for 40 minutes?”

I'm sure you're sick of hearing me say this but I literally predicted this issue. And I tried to prevent it! But I was told I was "making this way too complicated" and "overreacting 🙄"

fuck them.

April, despite being in a mascot suit, is still very visibly miserable.

the line at concessions is now the length of the entire hallway between the lobby and the concessions area. This is like two car lengths. There's a separate line that's just people who have already paid and are waiting for popcorn. I literally don't know anything about what happened in the house after this point because I spent every single moment until the movie started helping them try to get through this. They ran out of water bottles and I had to raid the bar fridge of every single bottle there and we went through those too. People are ordering like 3-6 popcorns per group and the machine can really only kick out about 5 per batch. The coffee machine ran out of water which has never happened before? We ran out of napkins and I had to go raid the upstairs bar for those?

my off-duty coworker who showed up as a customer with her kids (very polite, unlike some people's) literally jumped in to help me because she could see how crazy it was.

I need you to understand that this is only 35 minutes in.

boss will not make eye contact with me. General guilty puppy vibes. I fucking told you bro

finally, eventually, the line dies down enough that I feel like I can leave the concessions volunteers alone for a bit. (Sidenote: they are almost completely out of candy at this point.) I go to the bathroom for the first time in like an hour. I'm coated in sweat from running back and forth. I scream into my hands for a couple of seconds to decompress. And then I get right back out there.

unbeknownst to me: my mom has pulled aside the technical director (they know each other sorta) because he seems irritated, asks him what he thinks of all this. He repeats literally every complaint I have. Mom says "yeah, Ashland predicted all of this in a meeting two months ago and she says that no one listened". He laughs for 20 straight seconds.

some adults came to just see the film. They came close to the start time hoping to not be bothered by the egg hunt, but because there was no real cut off/end time, and no reset of the room, it was still kinda sorta maybe not really happening around them, and they were annoyed. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I TOLD MY BOSS WOULD HAPPEN.

several volunteers now have now independently reported to me that they've had to intervene with this same ill-behaved boy. He tried to go backstage, tried to pull the fire extinguisher off the wall, running even though we keep saying not to, climbing things, pulling on curtains. I'm tired of being nice and inform every one of them, bitchily, that yeah, that's my coworker's grandson. Crazy huh. Yeah really inappropriate and unprofessional I agree. Yeah :)

THE MOVIE FINALLY STARTS. Ten minutes late for some reason. A lot of people end up leaving about 20 minutes in because their kids are under/over stimulated and can't sit still any longer. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT- * I am pulled off stage with a shepherd's crook*

anyways, funny detail! Two weeks ago I went to my boss and said look, I'm really stressed out about this Easter thing, I genuinely think it's going to go badly if it's done the way you're asking me to do it, please just let me use the schedule of events I wrote up in our first meeting it will go so much better. And she said no :) and said "Ashland I think it will go fine if we do it the way me & Katrina are planning. And if it doesn't I will eat crow" and I said do you promise. And she said "of course :)" and I said okay I'm holding you to that :) And we both laughed. But I wasn't joking.

 ANYWAYYYYYS I spent like an hour and a half in the lobby with my boss while the movie was going, covered in sweat because I’m the one who was Actually Working, and she awkwardly made small talk and avoided all eye contact the whole time. I think she's really hoping I drop it. I won't though.

Katrina is nowhere to be seen for some time now. Again, I'm really confused as to whether she was supposed to be working or not, as she did nothing 

after its all over and all the volunteers (tired and annoyed) are getting their coats. Family Friend A invites us all over to her and Family Friend B's place for drinks because "what the fuck was that. I mean you warned us it was going to be bad but what the hell was that".

the day wrapped up pretty well at least. I got to drink soooo much alcohol at A & B's house and it was so fun to bitch and complain for three hours and then my mom bought my drunk ass fast food :) love is real btw.

tune in to the season premiere this Tuesday to see the thrilling conclusion (my staff meeting is on Tuesday) (I have four pages of notes) (and I fully intend to take up the whole meeting talking about what a shit show this was) (lol + rofl + neener neener + told you so + get fucked)

[arigatonamuse]

continuing with my A3! re-read, this week it was time for

Act 3 - Bad Boy Portrait (pt1)

this re-read really solidified their arc as my fave, i apologise in advance for how long this is gonna be

warnings: i will vaguely discuss violence this time around, as well as call Banri names (i show my love for him that way)

Chapter 1

aight here we go two words in and i’m already overwhelmed with feelings

i am normal about Banri Settsu i swear

can’t bring myself to press play because i am having so many feelings already

deep breaths deep breaths

this is totally not stirring any emotion inside me wdym

i don’t think i’d paid that much attention to his voice back when i first read this but whew he sounds so… dead inside when he’s narrating all this? like there’s no emotion to it but there’s some sort of… heaviness in it? that we don’t normally hear in Banri now that i know the context behind the portraits, i am trying to pay attention to (and understand) the tone because Banri’s acting this monologue out, the voice and every word are intentional so he’s most likely portraying how he felt about all this with his voice and i’m feeling things (don’t take this at face value, i’m not good at understanding tone)

ah these lines [comment redacted bc i still have got some self respect tyvm]

oh this bitch is so depressed

the way that a mention of Juza Hyodo is what changed Banri’s life but also what immediately made me perk up and smile

the way Banri makes a point to say that he’s not “buddy-buddy” with… basically anyone pre-Mankai is really telling about his own loneliness but also about his not wanting to change that loneliness

he really sounds so dead inside, more so when he’s acting out his lines of dialogue, i can’t 

“a quick hunt” is such an interesting choice of words it reveals so much about his expectations of this fight (it was gonna be quick and ofc easy) and about how he was so sure he was gonna be the winner, but also about how he’s the one seeking this whole thing out in a completely one-sided way and how this “hunt” continued into Mankai and still seeped into Banri and Juza’s early relationship

ah yes, the exchange that started my own obsession with this fucker i’d say more about this but i’d just be quoting myself here so uhhhh yeah

okay i did NOT point this out in my essay but now i’m thinking about it and his explicit use of the word alone (i’m pretty sure i heard a hitori there) is making me feel like that’s important something something the fact that he’s alone with the incapacity of understanding himself and how that means it’s harder for him to process… himself? Maybe? i don’t wanna get ahead of myself but i’m kinda connecting this to my “‘til this moment i never knew myself” pseudo essay on the impact of Juza’s portrait in Banri, he NEEDS the company and coaxing of Izumi and to see Juza’s portrait, to see his foil as he is, until Banri can finally start to figure himself out or maybe i’m just reading too much into a single word but hey, who am i if not the person who reads too much into anything and everything Banri?

the smug ass smile i just gave with Banri’s loss 

not me getting all smiley and giggly at just hearing Juza

I SHOULD NOT BE ACTING THIS SMUG AT A COUPLE LINES BUT JUST READING ABOUT HIS DEFEAT AND THOUGHTS ABOUT IT MAKES ME FEEL SO EXCITED BECAUSE THIS BITCH HAS NO IDEA OF WHAT’S ABOUT TO COME

yeah well what’d you expect dude? for him to keep fighting you despite not being able to move? or what else were you hoping for? the fight’s done lmao

there’s a first time for everything also no one can’t tell me that the taste of defeat is not important to Banri, not just because it led him to Mankai and blablabla we all know the rest, but because it showed to him that there was more to life, more to experience and more to live in general

yeah his obsession with beating Juza kinda proves my point… the two weeks it took him to heal he finally had something to look forward to, fucked up as it was

the way Juza’s dismissal of Banri wanting a rematch is so important and so telling for them both

god, Juza could see right through him from the start, he saw the empty, no ambitions Banri and called it as it was right away i can only imagine how much that stung Banri back then

something something, the same thing that made Banri actually feel something for once getting absolutely no reaction from Juza

they’re so narrative foils i swear

eheheheh it’s coming

Banri your obsession may be getting out of hand

thank you, Matsukawa, for forcing him in, he needed that push 

Chapter 2

oh i’d forgotten Taichi was the first one to arrive to the audition considering that he’s the only one who we don’t know how he got there (yet) should’ve been suspicious the first time around huh?

OMIMI’S HERE 

yes and it’s one of my fave nicknames in all of Mankai (<- likes repetition)

i’d forgotten how lost he acted with Kazu at first but tbh? same, Omi, i feel you

something something the wanwan duo hitting it off through their personas while not knowing the other’s putting up a front

Taichi’s reaction to Yuki roasting him is SO funny i’d forgotten how he’d immediately gone into simp mode 

it can still happen, Taichi! don’t close yourself to the possibilities lol

I AM IN SO MUCH PAIN ABOUT OMI’S EXPLANATION he sounds so unsure with the “i guess” you can tell this man still has a lot of shit to process and i’m gonna cry just at thinking about it

Izumi, Omi’s not gonna traumadump about his dead best friend during his audition

JUZA MY BELOVED HE’S HERE NOW AND I CAN’T STOP SMILING

heheh Muku recognising his cousin :3

aaaaaaah the start of Juza pushing Muku away (for what he considers to be the best) and i’m emo already ough his words sting so hard ;-; i’m so sorry Mukkun

KAZU NOTICING AND GOING TO COMFORT MUKU RIGHT AWAY

THE WAY BANRI LITERALLY HAD TO BE PUSHED IN SDKBVHDFBV boy needs a push in more than one way for him to get into this tho

Banri really had a one track mind with fighting Juza lol, all his bitching to Matsukawa stopped the second he saw him and he went right to confront him instead lol

i’m so sorry Izumi… you’re not gonna go back to not being Fight Club for a while now

that’s a way to put it, Omimi

yes, Sumi, you’re right, Juza has the prettiest triangle eyes <3

i was gonna comment on Juza and Banri fighting but if i start doing that, we’re gonna be here for like a month so i’ll only mention it when i consider it Important

Chapter 3

Misumi’s too cute

okay i said i was gonna talk about it but the fact that Juza could’ve easily just pushed Banri away but he didn’t because that’s how hard he’s avoiding fights with him, he won’t “throw the first punch” even though this asshole’s been harassing him for a while now, he could beat him just as easily as he did in the past but he doesn’t want to be that person anymore so he won’t even try and aaaaaaaaaaah

kdjsbvhsdvbd that’s a way to put it

SAKYO IS HERE

Also i love how Izumi has come to care so much about Sakyo’s love for the theatre, so much that she wouldn’t start the audition without him ;w;

god i love akigumi so much they’re MY punks

hm do you think Taichi was maybe rethinking what he had to do just by seeing who his potential troupemates were? bc i think he has reasons to be scared for real here instead of just acting inoffensive

OMI MY BELOVED he sure knows what he’s talking about, isn’t he?

hell yeah Izumi, expose Sakyo for how caring he is

awwww is the tsun feeling a bit too seen?

Omi’s tone is so neutral in the audition, one must wonder how much time and effort he’s invested in keeping his tone (and all of him) under control after… y’know so it makes sense he doesn’t really know how to use his tone to act yet, his whole act for the past couple years has been suppression 

heheh i love how easily Izumi sees through Taichi, even if she can’t put her finger to it yet

something something while Omi’s struggle comes from not putting himself out there, Taichi is now starting to try to hide the actor part of himself and struggling with keeping it hidden

Chapter 4

oh Banri really just wants to be a nuisance here, huh? he had no reason for saying he’d go first for the audition other than not letting Juza go? i’m once again reminded of the anime, where we see Banri volunteering as the leader as soon as he sees Juza hesitate to volunteer himself

i hate him so much i hate him i hate him i hate him why is he like this (i would’ve acted out the dialogue with the same intonation, pauses and additions like laughter)

why, thank you, Izumi

huh this line right here… i’m now thinking about Fallen Blood and how Banri’s acting is explored and approached there

oh Juza… my beloved daikon Juza… i’m so emo hearing his acting here, he’s come so far and worked so hard and aaaaaaaaah ;w;

Banri fuck off

and there’s the passion and determination that make Juza the heart of akigumi

Juza’s so fucking lovely, he’s so earnest in his plea tbh that alone makes him one of the best candidates to be part of the troupe

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING! THANK YOU IZUMI!

Sakyo saying exactly what was on my mind

i’m so sorry, Izumi

Sakyo sounds SO SOFT during his audition reading thingie ;w; i’m now thinking about how this is how he’d probs talk to his real mum and aaaaaah

Yuki, need i remind you that one of your troupemates literally broke into and squatted at your dorm AND has stolen government property?

i think one of the reasons that i am not as annoyed with Banri as i was with Tenma is that Juza can and does dish back and he can hold his own while, say, Muku just crumbles

thank you, da- i mean Sakyo

Chapter 5

i’m sorry, i know that he’s an annoying little shit at this point but i can’t help but laugh at how utterly obsessed Banri is with Juza at this point

huh i just realised we never really got a followup or a call to the parents for Banri, Juza or Taichi’s stay at the dorms it kinda makes sense with Banri given… y’know, how his family is, but now i feel robbed of hearing and reading a call with Mama Hyodo

yeah i’m not even gonna stop myself at this point, Sakyo’s such a dad, and he cares for the theatre so much and wants to help so bad he’s too cute

Omi eldest daughter syndrome?

good on you, Omi, you shouldn’t spend all your life looking after others (and yes this means at Mankai too)

Sakyo writing history right here

i’m sorry i keep smiling to myself at all the Juza-Banri bickering bc reading these makes me so nostalgic ;w;

Omimi so respectful (but also this makes me double down on him having eldest daughter syndrome)

heheh Sakyo is too cute

AAAAAAAAAAAAANIIIIIIIIIIIIKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sakoda my beloved

i love him so much he’s so puppy

ngl i know Omi and Taichi rooming together was a “by default thing” but with how much that arrangement’s done for the two of them it kinda feels like it was meant to be

Chapter 6

heheh the start of Omi being the cook at Mankai Omi my dear, just last chapter you were talking about how he didn’t want his family to need his looking after them all the time and now you’re adding to your responsibilities in this new place

huh i’d forgotten that Juza was the one to initiate their conversation at room 104

honestly Juza’s approach to this makes it noticeable how much he respects theatre as an art, even before he ever stepped foot on the stage as an actor himself he’s annoyed at Banri following him around, yeah, but that much he can manage and ignore but joining the troupe with no interest? that’s where he finally confronts Banri

Banri’s reasoning is so funny ngl like my dude if you don’t give a shit at theatre what satisfaction are you gonna get from winning at it? is your ego really that delicate that a random win at something you don’t care about will heal having been defeated in a fight? come on

also the way Banri deflected the questions and made them about insulting Juza? this boy is a mess who’s scared of being vulnerable in any way and, once again, it shows that not even he knows what he’s thinking

oh the localisation team sure knew what they were doing here

i love Juza so much everything he says and does makes me smile like a fool bestest boy

Omi’s smile-sweat expression hurts me when he sees Banri and Juza fighting and i don’t think i understand why, not entirely at least

the way Omi just walks in and restrains Juza like it’s no big deal I’m curious about this because yeah, he was with the Wolves and all but they disbanded years ago so can he do this while being rusty? or did he somehow keep himself fighting / training?

also i find it super interesting that he restrains Juza out of the two did he somehow know that Juza was the strongest out of the two / the one who could cause more damage? or maybe he’s seen their interactions enough to know that Banri just does shit to rile Juza up so if he restrains Juza then Banri won’t be that interested in fighting at the moment? idk but i think about it often

also the fact that… yeah Banri did not have any interest in fighting Juza while restrained He did try to fight Omi for restraining Juza but not Juza himself, which is honestly so interesting to me he wants to beat Juza, yeah, but he wants it to be a real victory because that’s what his bruised ego needs (and also, maybe subconsciously, the emotions/excitement he’s been craving) which brings me back to the point of him beating Juza at theatre not being that meaningful, not yet anyway, what he craves is something that he will not get if things remain as they are

Taichi trying to drag Banri away is so cute and funny

THE ATTITUDES AFTER THE FIGHT ARE SO DIFFERENT I WANNA SCREAM

Juza is so ashamed for doing what he did while Banri craves more fight

this is SUCH a gesture of trust and now i’m having so many Juza thoughts

the way Juza can trust Omi when they’ve known each other for so little shows how ready Juza is to commit to his troupe, and also how he tends to see the good in people despite having been ostracised and hurt… basically through all of his life also him ASKING for help shows how humble he is and how he knows where he isn’t doing that well and wants to work towards improving in those areas, he’s not afraid of showing said vulnerability to someone he met a couple hours ago and who literally just restrained his wrists and aaaaaaah something something Omi proving that he could’ve hurt Juza yet Juza trusting him with this but also trusting him not to hurt him and aaaaaaaah

and here we see Omi starting to see Nachi in Juza ;w;

oughhhh the fact that Izumi assumes that Sakyo knows more about her father than herself hurts so bad

Chapter 7

oh okay we’re here already… cool just let me get some tissues real quick

i’m too scared to press play i know this is gonna hurt like a bitch

deep breaths (is 8 words into the portrait)

his opening words are brilliant and i don’t think i appreciated it enough on the first read this is a self portrait, he’s showing who he is to the audience, but he starts what’s meant to be a self introduction by saying he wishes he wasn’t himself, and that already says so much about who he IS, about his self-loathing and about the work he’s put into the portrait itself and into himself as an actor yeah, he wishes he was someone else, but he’s now starting to accept himself as he is, enough to admit these things out loud

something something we are taught to hate ourselves for our differences

the world has been so unkind to Juza and THAT’S why he wishes he was someone else, not because he didn’t like who he was (at the start at least), but because others didn’t and that led him to the fighting that now make him resent himself

i need Juza to read Frankenstein so bad i know it’d resonate with him in his soul

also i’m gonna fight his teachers like wtf what problem did they have

Juza’s story is so heartbreaking he was literally just a kid trying to exist and people had a problem with it? and began picking fights with him? and while i’d like to say that that’s an odd thing to do… is that not what every single school bully does? picks up when someone is different and then makes their life hell for it and i think its closeness to reality is one of the things that makes it so heartbreaking Juza’s just a bullied kid who fought back and got a(n even worse) reputation from it

Juza seeing theatre as salvation from… being himself will always hurt, bc what he needed to do was accept himself (and THAT’S what he learns when putting himself out on stage but y’know, not yet)

honestly i hate Juza’s teachers

i’m so glad he didn’t give up on theatre after what happened in middle school tho

oh i had NOT taken in this line in completely the first time around, but it sure does support my point Muku didn’t become someone else, he just grew more confident in himself as a person and as an actor, he’s enjoying himself with friends who know and accept him as he is and that’s why he’s “completely at ease with himself” maybe Juza knows in some degree that that’s what he wants too, bc i don’t see why he’d use those words otherwise

okay yeah at this point he DOES know that he doesn’t want to be someone else, not really

and then, after this, we go back to the self loathing sobs

I love that we see the pieces for his character development there, but they haven’t yet clicked together, there’s still work to do and it’s something that takes him a lot of time, and i love how real that feels

he says he wants to come out of his shell but he also says he wants to be someone else, anyone else and i think that’s such a complex and interesting struggle

i’m so emo about Juza Hyodo

also i have more thoughts but i don’t wanna be redundant so i’m just gonna link y’all to a lil something i’d already written about Juza’s portrait (in the anime):

screaming Juza really works so hard

Muku trying to approach Juza again ;w; and Juza not knowing how to react to that ;w;

i’m not ready for what comes next

I AM IN SO MUCH PAIN

even when i know this scene by heart it hurts me so much and both of them having it as fuel for their own self loathing makes it so much worse

sobbing sobbing so much

JUZA LOVES HIS FAMILY SO MUCH AND HE JUST WANTS THE BEST FOR THEM BUT HE DOESN’T CONSIDER HIS PRESENCE IN THEIR LIVES TO BE PART OF “THE BEST” AND I’M SO EMO

Juza my beloved, you’re ALREADY someone people should be proud of, and i’m so sorry that you can’t see it yet

Chapter 8

Banri trying to pick a fight over him and Juza choosing where to sit is so funny to me

Omi and Taichi taking separating Banri and Juza as their personal task is also so funny

huh Taichi could’ve just… not helped… he could’ve pretended to be scared or something and not helped, which would make things worse overall for the troupe which… was his goal yet he helped and now that has a whole other meaning for me

heheheh i love this part so much

Sakoda is so proud of both Sakyo’s idea and his work, it’s too cute

hmm

evhbhbcksd Matsukawa why are you like this

eheheheheh Syu-san hi~

Sakyo cares so much about this troupe, really, he has thought so much about… well everything

huh so Yukio disappeared either when Izumi was in middle school or in her first year of high school?

Chapter 9

KAMEBUNS

ksdbvhbdf Sakyo’s reaction is hilarious

kdbevhfdbvfd Kamekichi you drama queen

JUZA BELOVED i’m smiling so wide he’s so cute

Banri you have absolutely no right to say this

ngl i’m kinda curious about how exactly those taste but also i know myself and i know i wouldn’t be able to stand the sweetness

Juza’s so unbothered by everything going on around him and just enjoying his kamebuns, it’s cute

Juza you don’t have to lie about you liking sweets ;-; 

oh Omi’s such a little shit for this i love it

huh Banri could see through Juza here interesting

SAKYO YOU’RE 30 YOU STILL HAVE SO MUCH OF YOUR LIFE AHEAD OF YOU 

OH FUCK JUZA’S HESITATION IN THE ANIME IS ALSO HERE? JUST NOT AS EXPLICIT?

Banri’s such a nuisance

AND IZUMI CONSIDERED JUZA TOO SHE SAID HE WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE EVEN AFTER BANRI STEPPED UP 

huh even when Izumi looks at him to give him the chance, he doesn’t take it i’d forgotten about this, this makes Banri becoming leader a bit less infuriating (i am not actually infuriated)

also ngl while he is the heart of akigumi, Juza’s self doubt would have been a problem for his leading, at this point of the story he’s not ready to lead a team, so despite everything… Banri WAS the better choice, huh?

see, i wanna bitch about Banri’s behaviour because it IS annoying and he’s a brat but anything i write ends up sounding / feeling insinceres so just know i’m annoyed at him

i love how Sakyo sensed Izumi’s hesitation and explained his reasoning to her heh

oh Izumi you have no idea just how much

Chapter 10

sobbing about Juza turning down the offers from Taichi and Tenma just because he doesn’t want those two to have their reputations affected by his own

i’d say something about Banri skipping but honestly i can’t fault him for it, being in classes where you already understand everything is boring and unnecessary as hell, might as well spend that time in better things (i had a rant here about the school system but that’s a rant for another day)

i’m sigh-laughing and shaking my head with a smile on my face at Banri’s explanations

OH THE TARUCHI NEO REVEAL WAS HERE?

it’s been done before and it’ll be done again, Izumi, it’s really not that big of a deal

sorry Izumi, but i’m with Banri in this one

still, i AM looking forward for the verbal beating Sakyo’s about to give him

hell yeah you tell him Sakyo

i have talked about this somewhere (maybe in my Banri Essay? But i’m not sure) but it’s so telling how Banri doesn’t say anything back to Sakyo because he KNOWS he’s right, he can’t say anything because there’s nothing he can say in his defence and it’s only after Sakyo leaves that he bitches about it but still doesn’t contradict him or anything 

honestly if i was Banri i’d just walk out the door and then go somewhere else to chill lmao (totally not talking from experience or anything wdym)

you hit the nail, Izumi

Chapter 11

sighing at Banri

heheh i love that Izumi gives Juza some special treatment, it’s what he deserves <3 she sees his passion and determination and she will recognise that as it should be

periodic reminder that Tsuzuru writes RPF

GAMER BOYS! i love that they include Citron in this scene, he deserves to be recognised as part of the gamer group ;w;

Omi taking care of the food for the first time holy shit

also something something Sakyo saying he will eat whatever because he doesn’t wanna be a burden, neither financially nor in terms of doing things for him

aww Sakyo so mean! you just said you’d eat whatever! why not curry!

Omi and Juza being the first ones to be on alert and worry about Tsuzuru older siblings behaviour

now that i’m saying it… isn’t all of (act 1) autumn troupe older brothers except for Banri?

“just passed out” guys come on, this is not normal 

as a Spanish golder century lit nerd, i will forever be upset about the localisation taking away the word “picaresque” from the title

huh i’d forgotten that Itaru offered to carry Tsuzuru to his room first he’s got to have some strength for that

why is Citron so cute ;w;

A3!EN Iconic line right here

TSUZURU’S POWERS DRIVE ME CRAZY SERIOUSLY

what was that again, Banri? something’s a “tall order” for you? huh

heheheh handcuffs incoming 

sdkbvhdfbv i love how cryptic they are about the handcuffs in the dialogue

Chapter 12

this is the second chapter in this ep names after a song (that i know) and now i’m curious

i love this CG so much i’ve been just staring at it for a couple minutes now

i’m obsessed with this chapter you guys don’t understand i know the dialogue by heart

Sumi and Kazu just commenting on the handcuff situation is so funny

Kazu so helpful <3 do you think he offered to help (at least in part) because he's scared of conflict and he saw one incoming and decided to try to avoid that?

Sumi baby… that’s not how that works he’s so cute and he’s just following Kazu’s example but it’s so funny

CHASE SCENE

i can’t stop smiling i love this chapter

Juza just jumping into action to help at any moment is so important to me

heheh they’re working together now~

i actually hadn’t paid attention to the details in this part but for once, Banri’s leading and communicating his plans, and Juza follows along because he knows they both have the same goal in mind and he is actually trusting Banri to take them there and idk that’s actually so cool to me? it’s not just that they bonded over beating that rando up, they were already working together since before they did

heheh i’m so excited for what’s coming

Banri’s so smug his smile is contagious

Banri’s so happy he finally gets to fight

honestly knowing how he is (was) with fights, this must be the most excitement he’s been feeling in a while and the fact that he has someone to share that moment with may make it better for him, given how lonely he usually is so what i’m saying is that now he has two instances in which Banri’s feeling something that’s possibly new and exciting, and both are tied to Juza fucking Hyodo

okay so they didn’t quite kill that guy, cool, i’d forgotten about that

also i think this is the first time that Juza gets praised and thanked for… this part of himself, and maybe the first time where he sees it being good for those around him right away and i’m emo now

“ONE OF MY OWN” i am feeling so very normal about this line, i’m not crying about Juza being an extremely group oriented and protective guy, i’m not crying about Juza finally having a place for himself and him protecting it however he can

and then he gets so shy and flustered at Izumi acknowledging his words i love him

i love how in sync Banri and Juza are when it comes to playfully lying about what they did to the dude it’s so funny

Sakyo so protective and caring too

[feekins]

YAAAAAAAS ON TO TRIGUN MAXIMUM!!!!!

...omg, I just opened my copy, and I forgot this was the point where my teen self started writing "Property of <redacted>" on the inside cover of all my Triguns 🥹

ANYWAY!!! let's get right into it - my thoughts and things and translation weirdness I'm finding as I re-read ch 1 of Trigun Maximum vol 1!!!

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

so we've got a bit of interesting translation discrepancies right from the get-go! most of Dark Horse's wording is fine, but they weirdly changed the last block of text on the first page. and the Overhaul's translation reads so much nicer, much more good-ol'-story-like~

so anyway. here's what Dark Horse has for that first page:

From the firmament above, a blood-red eye looks down upon us.

Reminding us of the man's name...

The man's legend...

As time goes on, the tale that must be told becomes mere wagon tracks trailing into the future...

meanwhile, the Overhaul says:

Look up! Look to the firmament above! A blood-red eye looks down upon us.

And remember! Remember his name.

Remember his legend.

A tale that must be told until the end of time. The last trace of him that will live on into the future.

then, a couple pages in - when Wolfwood and the barkeep are talking about Vash - the translation discrepancies are more consequential.

Dark Horse has:

"The demon that reduced two of the seven cities to ash...

...then disappeared at Fifth Moon two years ago.

He had a $$60-million bounty on his head...the first man to be declared a natural disaster.

And the damage from that incident totaled over $$20 trillion."

the Overhaul tells a slightly different story:

"The demon that reduced two of the seven cities to ash.

They offered a bounty of $$60 billion for his head before he was declared humanity's first act of God.

He's a localized disaster with over two hundred incidents totaling over $$70 trillion in damages.

Then after the Fifth Moon incident two years ago, he disappeared from the frontier."

yyyyyeah idk why those differences are a thing, but ty Overhaul for the clarity and extra info you continue to provide!

oh, and one weird difference when Lina goes up to the bar! Dark Horse has her saying "Hey barkeep, I need a shot!" whereas the Overhaul has the more vague (and perhaps more age-appropriate) "Hey, barkeep! I need the usual!" 😆

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

thanks to the Overhaul, that last panel makes a lot more sense to me =u=

(I would also like to note that on my first read-through at 14yo, I had no gotdamn clue what a lolicon was, and Dark Horse's note didn't change that;;;;;; )

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

yeah, I like Overhaul Wolfwood more here. in this house, we don't tolerate creeps!

...Overhaul Vash is better, too. not lookin very good over there, Dark Horse, what with the way you're handling this topic... 😒

more Overhaul clarity! and I'm just. baffled. as to why Dark Horse physically altered those bottom left speech bubbles.

this will never not be one of my top fav silly Vashs - his fking foot!!!!! 🤣

this is. literally just a scream in the Overhaul. oh Dark Horse, u so silly~

another instance of context-altering translation discrepancies. the Overhaul's translation strikes me as more heart-felt, with more emotion - which is central! Trigun is a very emotional story! I want to be angry about the diluted Dark Horse translation I grew up with...but I'd rather keep singing praises to the Overhaul. I'm getting to experience a more complete story this read-through... 🥺

more subtle difference here - but, once again, the Overhaul makes more sense imo

...and it was at about this point, on just this read-through, it hit me:

Vash and Wolfwood have known each other for all of ONE BUS RIDE and ONE HOSPITAL CONVERSATION...and already, they're falling into step side-by-side to take down some baddies.

✨️das chemistry, babey✨️

and lastly, we have some more speech bubble confusion the Overhaul cleared up for me! now I understand why Wolfwood's losing his shit over there... 🤣

[atopvisenyashill]

[title redacted for legal reasons]

i actually am most interested in maegor/rhaena but i’ve never found a fic i liked for them (except this noncon one here, it’s mostly porn with some slight character introspection with maegor) and also i’m obsessed with rhaenyra/viserys but ditto there, there’s not even good porn of those two. there’s also not any cat/robb which imo is a travesty considering i am convinced that michelle fairly and richard madden fucked nasty on set. i find ramsay/theon interesting aesthetically but i need some sort of emotional buy in from both parties and i just don’t read ramsay as being obsessively in love with theon so it’s not super interesting to me to read about. which leaves the one that people actually write fic about and coincidentally is the one i’m most interested in.

BUT. the problem i have here is that most aligon fic tends to go the route of aegon ordering alicent into ~something fucked up after he’s crowned, which isn’t to say this can’t be done in a way i really enjoy, like this one here that i think is just amazing, seriously it’s actually the one i think about the most, aegon’s dialogue just rings in my head. but most of these involve alicent actively fighting aegon (which is like, probably the point tbf) but on an emotional level i’m more interested in aegon attempting to seduce her than just forcing himself on her.

that’s part of why i really like this series, because it’s very much a back and forth dynamic where they are re-enacting their traumas on each other but like, willingly repeating the cycles over again against each other until they’re so disgusted they can’t go on (don’t read it unless you want your day ruined tho lmao).

there’s this one that basically does exactly what i’m bitching about tho - aegon forcing himself on alicent right as he’s being made king - but this one has it focus more on the moment she doesn’t tell him she loves him and then doesn’t just turn immediately into noncon porn, it really digs into the two of them and the structural issues surrounding consent, which is why i like it. i realize it’s maybe a big ask for well written incestuous sexy character pieces, but that’s why i’m pointing out the ones i like lmaooo because this one does a thing that’s also very common - aegon getting fixated on alicent’s seven pointed star necklace - and it’s also really sex heavy while still saying something about the characters (besides “i think tom and olivia are hot” i mean). i think the more forceful behavior from aegon works here because he is trying to seduce her, and also trying to punish her for hurting him. i’m also a sucker for fics that try to work within canon, taking something this fucked up and complex and pretending it’s happening just offscreen. idk, i think that’s fun!

there’s also this one, mostly it’s sex but it’s fucked up interesting sex and also from aegon’s pov which is rare tbh most of them focus on alicent, but i liked seeing the play of anger, sexual violence, and intimacy in his head here.

most of the rest of it that i’ve found is much more on the noncon side and like,,,,,, that’s just not the appeal to me for this one, it’s about them deciding to drown together, it is important and integral to the dynamic that alicent is at least a little into it and being forced to confront both her own revulsion towards targaryen incest practices as well as her own complicity in that cycle continuing to harm her own children, and aegon can’t just be the aggressor to alicent’s madonna here, he needs to be purposefully trying to pull her in because he’s conflated sex and violence and family and romance, and wants her to want him back. alicent has gotta be eroticizing her own disgust and reenacting her time as a teenage mother otherwise what are we even doing here!!!!

cersei/taena doesn’t count as dead dove that’s just regular fucked up lesbian shenanigans it’s fine. i see the appeal of otto/alicent but rhys doesn’t do anything for me i think he has negative charisma i’m sorry. i don’t think i’m interested in any others tbh, the main draws are maegor/rhaena and alicent/aegon.

[cttrajan1206]

When you get this, answer one of the questions (or all if you really want!) then pass it on to 5 writer friends! 🥰 If you have more than one WIP, pick at random! We want you to talk about your works, and celebrate with you! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

ok lmao so i had to go and ask you for the questions but i'll answer them now <3

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Who is your favourite character in this WIP and why?

Ok so unfortunately for everyone involved i am not a novel writer-

WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED MY SHORT STORY!! DIGRESSION REDACTED. Literally. i actually had an explaantion typed out but you'll never see it now bc tumblr is a fuckwad <3

I'm gonna tag my writer friends to continue this because it's easier sdfogushdfg but thank you matt!!!

To follow the challenge (with fanfic or original):

@tsukiomoon @lovinglystrawberrycrepe @bea-writes-sometimes @genderlessfish @asadnerdtm @jawbone-xylophone @a-little-chai @blacksoul333 @hiddenarina @monoshii-wasu

(I kinda went crazy tagging a bunch of peolpe here because i'm genuienly curious for what you've all been up to and what you're writing!)

ok ahem ahem

Sheltered

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

The ending. As a writer who loves to build up to specific moments and gestures, this story requires SO MUCH planning and care to achieve the effect I want which will hopefully be a mindblowing one. And also a very sad realisation I hope. I want the reader to be SHOCKED. i need them GASPING. i need them HORRIFIED. but i can't do that until i write everything else first </3 but god yeah i really really really want to skip to teh ending

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Initially in the daydream stage, I modelled this as a short film script! But I don't write scripts often so I scrapped it and made it a short story instead. Additionally, as I wrote it I realised extra motifs and secrets to add! For instance, Kanto tells you something and will always draw back to that point but as I wrote this in, I realised it would add to the plot twist to have Nafiz never acknowledge this explicitly until the very end! Little things liek that which will require extra planning but contribute so greatly to the payoff.

OH YEAH AND LIKE. ITS CHANGED A LOT FROM ITS FIRST DRAFT. MOSTLY BC THE FIRST DRAFT WAS 9 PAGES OF HANDWRITTEN STORY WHICH I THEN. LOST IN BANGLADESH </3 But honestly i really love the rewrite more so tbh alhamdulillah that happened. Taught me to save my work properly too sdfogushdfg

Who is your favourite character in this WIP and why?

So few people even know about the wip but even fewer know that the two main characters, Kanto and Nafiz, are just my Twisted-Wonderland self-inserts re-contextualised to be humans of different ages to their ogs. This is a little on purpose though since the story is very close to my heart ;D

But in that regard, my favourite character is actually Kanto!! She's a really young girl in Sheltered but her dialogue, mannerisms and actions are so fun to write and most importantly of all, she is integral to the plot twist. I love how much depth I need to pour into her and she's the expositional character!

Who doesn't love their beloved tutorial?

[missysotomeworld]

Collar x Malice Review (Non-Spoilers)

After a year of playing this game and after hearing so many things about it, I finally managed to play the game. Buying ten Otome games on the switch to get me started, since up until now all I’ve played were mobile games which I still play but I wanted to expand my horizons. I knew Collar x Malice is a “Big” Otome game which is a lot of people’s first Otome and I thought; let’s start with this classic game. Let’s see what I thought about this game.  

Plot  

Set-in modern-day Shinjuku, which once was a bustling city known for its nightlife, but that’s not the case anymore because of a terrorist group calling themselves Adonis. This group deeming themselves the true fighters of justice have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of its sorrows and for people that are suffering every second. So they've taken it upon themselves to kill those that are the very reason before they can cause the people's sorrows. Now it's December and the "Rebirth" of Japan is supposed to happen. On January 1st the day Adonis deems to be X-Day has caused Shinjuku to be under lockdown and no one can leave or enter the city and under strict protocols the police set up everyone on a curfew, those 18 and under must have a chaperon with them when going to school and home. The government redacted laws that had banned anyone from carrying a weapon, so now everyone over the age of 20 can carry a gun as a means to protect themselves. Now it’s December, the police are panicking as they try to crack down on these crimes and are having no luck. Sitting in the middle of all this chaos is 21-year-old rookie police officer Ichika Hoshino. One night Ichika is heading home when she gets a call from her superior that there's a disturbance and is told she needs to put a stop to it until he can come as backup.  She goes to Shinjuku Garden and gets knocked out and wakes up in a church with a poisonous collar attached to her neck and a voice comes from within the collar. Turns out the very organization that the police are trying to catch (Adonis) have given this collar as a way to experiment on her for them to see her "justice" and find out the truth of the crimes. She is told she must never tell anyone about the collar, especially not the police. Thankfully Adonis had the common decency to send assistance in the form of three ex-cops to rescue her. These men were tipped off when a letter from Adonis letting them know a "sympathizer" of theirs is at the church and to go get her. So now Ichika must work with these men along with two more allies.  

Company  

Collar x Malice is created by Idea Factory under the Otomate brand and is localized by Aksys games. It's rated M for its dark themes because we've got ourselves very detailed death scenes, violence, drug references, strong language, and mild sexual content. The game was originally released on the PS Vita in Japan in 2016 and later to the West in 2017 and became re-released for the switch in 2020 followed by its 2018 fandisk "Collar x Malice: Unlimited" only on the switch. I played on the switch and from what I understand there were a lot of grammar errors in the initial release that seems to be fixed for the  Switch re-release but then again, I'm not a huge stickler for these types of problems unless it's broken English and that is where I draw the line. 

Mechanics  

It's pretty rare for an Otome game to have gameplay mechanics so it's refreshing to take a reading break and do activities related to the task at hand and makes you feel like you are a real cop on the case.  There's three different mechanics in the game that will come up sometimes.  

Investigations: This happens when Ichika is investigating a crime scene to find clues to whatever month of Adonis' crimes, she ends up pursuing. You just click around the room when the red and black arrow turns into a target symbol and if you ponder too long Ichika will nudge you to move on.  

[Go to] Elevator: This happens when Ichika is traveling through the police station in the elevator to different departments to talk to someone on that floor.  

Trigger Mode: There’ll be times where Ichika will draw her gun, and this will make or break if you get a bad ending, if you make the shot or not. You cannot save during these events either save when you kind of see lines like "Ichika touches her gun" or if you don't make it you can rewind the conversation. The objective is to aim for the first inner circle of the bigger circle. If you are unsure, that's normal at first.  (Believe me I was confused sometimes if I did it right. I was told if you see a red outline, it means you did it if it's gray you missed or look at the log and it'll say so) If you aren't confident in your skills, you can always go to the shooting range in the police station, and it will show you how to do it without the tension.  

Extras  

There are two collectables you get within the game: there's the Dictionary explaining the police terms and other topics related to the characters and the Materials that you collect the evidence of the X-Day cases within the routes.  

After each Good Ending for each of the LIs you get a short story after the events of the route and once you collect all the CGs you get an extra CG of the guy. And at the end when everything is completed you get to read Episode 0 which tells how the members of Adonis were selected. 

Ichika Hoshino 

I liked Ichika. She's definitely one-of-a-kind type of Mc. She's one of those rare Mc who can think for herself. She's really not the type of Mc you can self-insert like other Mcs, more or less that you can simply put yourself in their shoes because they are more like a Lego piece and you can put yourself into the story, but the Mc usually doesn't have much personality. Ichika is her own character sure you are making the decisions, but they feel like her own thoughts rather than your input. She sticks with her justice and will stubbornly stand by it. She's a skilled marksman and is a smart lady. Of course, she isn't perfect (none of us are) and she's aware of her shortcomings. She's very realistic and when she's in a scary situation she knows much more is at stake, so she stays as calm as possible. That is a strength I don't think a lot of us could pull; most of us would be freaking out if we had a poisonous collar and we were told to follow whatever it says or our lives would end. She's also aware she's a rookie and naturally her department she works in the Special Regions Crime Prevention Office (SRCPO) isn't really in the field like the rest of the police station. The SRCPO handles the public's complaints and checks out disturbances they are called to. So naturally Ichika doesn't have the skills as one may have hoped for since her conclusions, she draws at are probably anyone else could come up with in the grand scheme of things if you want to ponder it. But that doesn't matter much to me since the game kind of makes you think as you play along and it's cool to think (even if I had a walkthrough but I did wonder about stuff). I will say it's thanks to her job she can communicate when the need arises and can gain some information that could be important. Though there's also a nitpick that kind of bothers me and that lies with her younger brother Kazuki, and her communication/listening skills go out the window when it comes to him. Like we get it Ichika it's a scary world out there right now but lecturing him isn't going anywhere and it'd help to just ask him and LISTEN to what he has to say. Now it's not just her fault Kazuki doesn't make it easier for her either like dude its a blessing you get to stay with her you could show some appreciation. Like she cooks for him, pays the rent, and he gets his own room, and he gives her attitude because he's in his "Teenage Rebellion" phase that's not an excuse! Kazuki's behavior depends on the route he's fine. In some other times he's just too cruel to Ichika. I mean eventually they come to some kind of understanding at the end. But these are just minor flaws. I had to sit back and think, and it didn't deter me from liking Ichika. I'd befriend her in real life. She's a breath of fresh air as someone who has her fair share of normal Mcs. Do I call her my favorite Mc? I don't think so, I feel like there'll be better Mcs better than her the more I get my feet wet in my journey of my switch journey. I feel she kind of blends into the crowd especially with the generic appearance, heck she and I could be twins because I have brown hair and hazel eyes as well.  

The Love Interests  

So how the routes split off is that Ichika will team up with one of the guys and investigate one or two cases with them. This game has an affection meter feature that is broken into two parts: Trust and Affection.  It makes sense for it to be like this since Ichika and LI are complete strangers and they need to learn how to work together. The first part is Trust which Ichika needs to build trust with her partner in a way that they can work as a unit. After the Trust meter is full it will restart and start the second part the Affection where the love grows between them. Fill the Affection all the way up you got yourself the Good Ending! There is a recommended order for this game since this game builds overtime and gets spoiler heavy the more you read it so it's nice slowly chipping away at this iceberg of a game in a way that has a natural flow to it. The route order I did was: Mineo Enomoto, Takeru Sasazuka, Kei Okazaki,  Kageyuki Shiraishi, and Aiji Yanagi. Mineo, Takeru, and Kei are the only three unlockable in the beginning. Shiraishi's route is locked until you play at least one of those three and Yanagi unlocks when all the other four boys have been completed since he's the "true" route that reveals all. I don't regret my order choices. I felt it built up nicely over time! But you can kind of choose however you like between the first three and that can probably be done in any order. With that said let's talk about my thoughts on our boys!

  

Mineo Enomoto (23): Mineo was a great first route to me since when I was deciding which way to play since the walkthroughs around said different route orders for the first three, but I ultimately saw someone say choose between him or Takeru. So I went with Mineo since he seemed nice enough since Takeru intimidated me a little. To me, Mineo's route seemed less about Adonis as a whole and more about his problems surrounding the particular case we were investigating because it was a personal thing for him. The whole route was basically him overcoming his problems with Ichika helping him through it. I did like his cute moments, and I chuckled at the banter with Ichika, and I feel because they were relatively close in age, they just got each other. I'm a big history buff myself so him liking Masamune Date (going as far as having an eye patch despite not needing it, now if that's not dedication I don't know what is) Though I've always been a Nobunaga Oda kind of girl (especially in Otome games some people have deemed me Lady Oda for my undying faithfulness to the Demon Lord regardless of game).  

Takeru Sasazuka (24): I feel like Takeru's route is a good explanation of Adonis' actions throughout the month of December since most of the crimes they do relate to the case Takeru and Ichika are investigating. We do get to learn a pretty decent sized spoiler in this route sure I was shocked but that didn't deter me at all but if someone is really sensitive then doing Kei's route is probably a good idea to do since I think Takeru and Kei's route are the most interchangeable out of the three. I did okay with Takeru himself who’s such a smartass and knows it (it helped to get used to the prickly genius because before I played this route, I was playing another character with a similar personality even down to the hair color and loving sweets). I feel he and Ichika really didn't fit well together since he never saw her as an equal and the whole Kazuki stuff was the worst here and Takeru didn't help things which probably made it worse. I know Ichika really did her hardest on this case, but he kept calling her a stupid cat, that doesn't sound encouraging. Like dude cut her some slack it's not her fault she works in a department where these skills are limited and so what if her thought processes are basic at least she is thinking and taking this seriously. I like tsunderes but there's a line that just shouldn't be crossed, like I don't get how they fell for each other. I guess if you buy him enough doughnuts, he'll fall for you. If this game were a visual novel it holds up pretty solid like his background and motives of why he wants to solve this particular case, make sense. But as a romance route I have to say no it's probably one of the weakest out of the routes here in terms of that it felt so thrown in for the sake of this needs to be an Otome game so romance needs to occur even between people that don't go well together. Like Ichika I feel wasn't at her finest like defend yourself I know you are capable of this as seen in other routes then this one. Once your mind is set you don't back down where was this in this route!?  

Kei Okazaki (25): The last of the initial trio definitely has some heavy weight compared to the other two which is why I thought Kei worked best for a third route for me. But I do see Takeru and Kei being interchangeable like I said before. Kei is the odd duck out of the love interests not just his airhead, liking weird snacks personality he displays but he actually works at the police station as an SP officer that's normally tasked with protecting VIPs at events but for some reason, he is tasked with watching Yanagi and the others to "protect" them. They don't know why as previously mentioned SP officers don't protect civilians like Yanagi and Co. so it's odd and it's dangerous since one of Adonis' demands was that police cannot know about the collar or her involvement in this investigation. And with Kei always showing up at random times to check on them it's frustrating and gets on their nerves especially Yanagi in particular. It's also hard since Ichika is a working police officer herself. It looks odd she always goes to the Detective Agency to consult with them on her findings. So, knowing this you may be asking yourselves how a romance would brew between these two and it's definitely an interesting one. Again, the same events that happened in Takeru's route, but they are just shown and kind of thrown away because it really didn't go anywhere for Kei's route. Maybe apart from one event but it was a minor part of the story. As for how I felt about Kei as a character, he really didn't appeal to my tastes. I'm aware he has quite the fanbase. His backstory had really given us some brain food for later when we started putting stuff together but once we figured out his motives throughout the route as to why he sticks by Ichika's side it really got so annoying. I was with Ichika through this. I just wish it was addressed earlier but at least she gave him a good grilling when she put together what he wanted to do. He's an amazing fighter, like he could whip my ass to the ground in a second. He may act like an airhead but that's such a trap that's how he gets you to reveal your secrets because he's way smarter than he appears to be. I guess he's cute with the liking weird snacks or sleeping wherever. But he just isn't my cup of tea. I was too busy frustrated at his antics, but other than those gripes it's an interesting route since it did give us something to chew on for the next two routes.  

Kageyuki Shiraishi (29): I beg of you please do this guy fourth before Yanagi is unlocked! You are free to choose whoever you want for the first three routes but PLEASE for the love of God DO NOT PLAY his route as soon as he unlocks. His route is spoiler heavy central! Everything you see in this route will change your outlook on everything you thought you knew about this game. This route is the perfect lead up to Yanagi's route after he's unlocked after this route! I won't say what this very important information is because it's best to find out for yourselves and just watch your jaws drop to the floor in shock once you learn what this key information is hehe. I absolutely loved this man and his route like Day 1 playing this game. As soon as his first scene happened, I was laughing and going "I'm in trouble". He had me at the teasing like ‘yes sign me up!’ As you can tell I love guys that tease! I love the fox, cunning type of character; the Kitsune in Ayakashi games are my favorite character/Ayakashi always! So, did he meet my expectations? YES! Oh my God Yes! It was pretty much a story of how their relationship changes over time, which I'm a sucker for (one thing to know about me is I love character development in my routes). Kotoho Sakuragawa and Eriko Mukai are Ichika's friends in all the routes and omg they were so funny in this route since they both hate this man with every fiber of their being! Ichika is at her finest in this route and it's exactly what someone like Shiraishi needs in a partner. This had my favorite case as well and sure I had my trusty walkthrough on hand, but I was actively trying to think of where the case was going to go with all its twists and turns! He is hands down my favorite route in the game and my husbando of the game without a shadow of a doubt! Love you my cat loving man hehe!

  

Aiji Yanagi (28): Ah the dad of the crew (though he won't admit it hehe) but he's literally husband/dad material he can clean, cook, and is a sweet guy. As for his role as the truth route we finally answer the undying question "What is the truth behind Adonis' actions?" Does it hold up as a route? Yeah, it does the job okay, but did I feel satisfied with it? No not really, I feel the writing lost momentum at the midway point and just rolled downhill from there. The plot twist they put to throw conflict for the sake of conflict because Yanagi is too damn perfect. Let's add this piece of information that came out of nowhere and make his only real weakness being a chain smoker. If you wanted this plot twist in this route it should have been implemented in passing in all routes it would have had a better effect of why Ichika and Yanagi are an OTP pairing not that they needed a reason they got along with each other from the get-go. The other downer was the ending showdown between the leader of Adonis and the good of the police to decide the fate of Japan! Who is going to win in the end? It was anticlimactic to say the least like it ended like that? I was expecting something more like we came all this way and we got this?  Other than those critiques I liked the relationship between these two like if this wasn't a final route, I may have liked it more. I teared up at the end of the good ending mostly because the music was swelling and the realization of my journey with this game is coming to an end! This route did a good job pulling together everything we learned including the other boys' pasts coming together beautifully! As for how I feel about Yanagi as a character he's just a nice/safe guy that is great to have around but that's just it he's kind of too plain for my tastes. Hehe he's the perfect guy for Ichika!  

Final Thoughts  

Overall I enjoyed my time with this classic Otome game and can proudly call it my first console game!  The story was compelling from beginning to end, always keeping you wondering what twists this game  will take you on. This game felt real looking at what’s been going on around me the past couple of years  like I feel if I played this game closer to its original release I don't think it'd hit as hard or make you think  like is Adonis wrong here? Their methods of showing the wrongs and killing those people isn't right but  what they say regarding the issues the game tackles is one for discussion. What's interesting is that this  game makes you question your own morals like who is really right here and which side should we be  siding with? And to rank the LI overall are: Shiraishi, Yanagi, Mineo, Kei, and Takeru. Out of five stars I  give CxM a 4.5/5. This game is flawless and the reason it's not a five is how the Good vs Evil showdown was a bit of a let down. This game is easily recommendable to anyone of any gender since there's  something about it that can draw anyone’s interests. The romance is low key and you kind of forget it's an Otome because of its level of crime drama aesthetics. So if you like crime dramas, strong female heroine, don't mind low key/slow burn romances, and like serious action packed, this is the game for  you! Thank you for reading this review! Maura out!