#i'll always be a saga defender

[koumeowkami]

saga is so criminally underrated seriously. how the fuck did it not win the consolation match

[the-lazyyy-artist]

Pairing: Kunigami Rensuke x GN!Reader Synopsis: He left as a hero, and he returned cold and heartless. What adventures have made him like this? Would you still love him? Themes: angst, post-WC! Kunigami, set during Blue Lock's two-week break after their win against JP U-20 (chapters 150 - 153), reader is hopeful, Kunigami lost all humanity, established relationship, if you squint a little it's kinda like Epic's OdyPen lmao Author's Note: Epic The Ithaca Saga is ruining my brain chemistry. A mutual and fellow writer already created something like this but I wanna put my own twist on this hehe!

@thebestsetter ✨

Kunigami Rensuke was a hero before he became yours.

He always believed in goodness, helping everyone else, and acting like a big brother to those who needed his guidance. It's no wonder his morals bleed through his play on the field. To win each game fair and square while he showcases his skills. Watching how he turned into a knight in shining armor every time he stepped onto the field, defending his team from the enemy and scoring his goals was mesmerizing.

So, when he was invited to the Blue Lock Program, you weren't so surprised.

"How long will you be there?" you asked him once while you were on his bed, watching him go back and forth around his room, packing a small duffle bag of the things he might need in the facility. "That's something I can't answer right now, love," he replied, "it's something they never clarified in the letter. But let's say 2 or 3 months, give or take."

"Take care of yourself in there, okay? Show them the hero that you are," you reminded him, smiling up softly as he zipped the bag close. He was ready. Ready to face a new adventure, new challenges, and new foes and allies. You can feel the excitement radiating from him. "I will. Then when this is all over, I'm coming home to you with stories from my training."

"You're not leaving me behind, are you?" you teased, reaching for his hand. On his ring finger was a promise ring, the same one you wore. A symbol of his love for you and his promise to marry you. Your fingers gingerly held on to his ring, feeling the rough metal against your skin. "I will never. I'll always take you with me, remember? I'll be back before you know it."

3 days later, he left with a kiss, a promise, and a vision of him taking over the world with his aspirations.

A few weeks in, you received a call from him, happy and excited to talk to you. He told you about the things he's learned, the friends he's gained, and the foes he's made. He spoke about an Isagi, a Chigiri, and a Bachira, and how these people made him feel stronger with how they all blended on the field. You were proud to hear him grow and find friends.

"How did you get your phone anyway? I thought the letter said phones aren't allowed?" You asked him.

"We were given a star system where goals are exchanged for points that we can use for different privileges," Kunigami explained, "I exchanged my first goal for steak, and shared that with Isagi. Now, I exchanged two of my goals for my phone so I can talk to you."

Always so considerate. Your hero never changed despite the changes he's experienced in Blue Lock. With every point he earned, he'd always exchange it for phone time to call you and tell you about his adventures.

Suddenly, the calls stopped.

You're sure Kunigami wasn't the type to never make a goal. Was he getting into harder challenges in there? No matter how hard it was, you knew your hero would never back down.

Right?

It worried you. You kept looking at your phone, waiting for a call. You kept replaying your conversation weeks ago about a possible second selection and how it would play out, and you worried it was even more challenging than the team matches. Would he get out of it alive? Triumphant? Of course! Since when did you start doubting your hero?

You began to twist your ring, anxious about Kunigami as the days went by, each one feeling longer than the last. It's making you sick. He was never the type to just disappear without saying anything.

The announcement of an exhibition game with Japan U-20 made you feel hopeful again. Knowing your hero, he would be part of the starting 11. You saved enough for the tickets for you and your sibling to watch him play live. You were excited about what skill he gained in Blue Lock, and if he improved to be the best version of himself.

But why wasn't he there?

You know Isagi was there... Chigiri... Bachira... but where was he? Where's your hero?

The win was a blur. How can you even cheer for his team when he isn't there? It's impossible that he's benched too. Kunigami was never the type to warm the bench for the whole game. You wanted to ask Isagi... Maybe Chigiri because Kunigami has talked about him the most. Bachira might know too. But it's impossible to reach them, especially with how they disappeared into the building after the game.

"Where are you?" you whispered into the empty stadium.

Maybe it's time to let go. No. Kunigami made it clear that you would never let go. You'll wait for him to call. You'll wait for him to send you some kind of sign. Anything. Letting go is never the answer, he would say if he's beside you. So, with every passing day after the match, you never went anywhere without your phone, hoping soon he'd call.

How cruel must fate be that the only time you let your guard down was on the day he decided to show up?

Your mother opened the door for him, a gasp leaving her lips. She led him to your door and left him to talk to you. From the outside, Kunigami tensed as he wrapped his large hand around your doorknob, hearing your voice spilling out as he opened it slowly. And for a moment, Kunigami would like to believe nothing has changed. For a moment, all he could see was the light he held on to.

There you were, sitting on your desk as you studied with headphones on, singing one of the songs from the playlist he created for both of you to listen to. Clearly, in your little world, you didn't hear Kunigami enter and close your door behind him. Kunigami sighed, and then he opened his lips to say your name.

Oh, it felt like a lifetime since he spoke your name. Kunigami felt a piece of him remembering what it was like to say your name the first time he met you.

"Y/n."

No answer.

"Y/n," he said once more, a little louder. He saw you perk up a little.

You don't know if you're just imagining things or if Kunigami's voice sounded nearer than how you'd usually imagine it on the days you missed him. And then...

"Y/n."

You removed your headphones, standing up so quickly that your chair toppled over and fell to the floor with a thud. In front of you right now was your hero, the man you waited to return. You held your breath for a moment as you took a good look at him. He looks... he looks...

Tired. His build was bigger, but he looked tired. His hair was a thick mop of messy orange, his eyes...

"Rensuke?" You spoke with caution, "Is it you?"

Kunigami felt like he could fall to his knees the moment you spoke. But he wouldn’t allow himself to do so. You stepped away from your desk to walk to him, holding out your hands to touch him, that this wasn't a dream. He was cold, his cheeks, at least.

That was enough to break you. You embraced him, crying and grateful that your hero had returned. "You're back," you sobbed softly, "my Rensuke, you're back to me." You felt him lift his hands, but instead of embracing you, he gripped your shoulders and pulled you away from him. "Y/n," he spoke, his voice ragged but soft, "I'm not entirely back."

"W-what do you mean?" you asked, your teary eyes, wide and confused, looking up to meet his dull orange eyes. This was the first time you've seen him so lifeless. What the hell happened?

"I'm not the Rensuke you once knew. That version of me is gone."

"What?"

"I'm not the hero I promised you to be."

"What... I-I don't understand. What happened, my love?"

Rensuke looked at you with a slight hint of vulnerability. He must not show weakness. It was drilled into him that he'll be ruthless, he'll become irrational if it means becoming the best that the world will see. But with the sight of you, it felt impossible. "They... changed me. I'm not the hero we both envisioned to be. I... I had to become cruel and let go of my beliefs... The Rensuke you fell for because he believed in doing the right thing fair and square is dead.

"That's why I decided you can no longer love me, Y/n. Because I can't."

You're not hearing this, right? Yet, he sounded so sure. His voice was firm, the same one he would use on his teammates.

"Who are you to decide that?" you asked calmly, reaching for his hand again. Your gaze lowered to his hand, callused and tired, yet the ring was still there. A little worn out than the last time you saw it, but he's still wearing it. Your fingers worked on twisting the ring off his finger, causing him to tense up.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a hint of panic in his voice. You looked up at him with determined eyes. "You once told me when you got these rings for us that if we no longer love the other, we should remove our rings.

"I'm removing yours for you, Ren."

The ring was almost off his finger when he suddenly closed his hand. You looked up at him, and there he was, the Rensuke you fell in love with. "Don't, please..."

"But you said you can no longer love me," you reasoned, still holding his hand. Rensuke stared at you, his walls slowly breaking down at the reality of what he just told you. A stupid, stupid decision because he can't stop loving you.

The whole time he was in the Wildcard Project, the only thing that made him hold on to the little humanity he had in him was the promise of forever in your arms when he returned. The ring on his finger comforted him on nights when he almost gave up because his dream of becoming the best came from you. He promised he'd bring you with him and that he'd come back to you. So, he persevered and came out triumphant... but at what cost?

"How could you even love a cold-hearted man, my love?" he asked, his voice now a mere whisper, slightly cracking, "I have nothing left in me but the drive to win. I am no longer the warm man you want to be with for the rest of my life. I did all I could inside that facility for us to reach our dream, but they drained me. How can you still love me if I have nothing to give you any more?"

"I would still love you because no matter what, you're mine. You're my Rensuke, the man who made me believe that love as pure as yours exists in this world," you replied, "I don't care how much you've lost in there. As long as you return in my arms, I know a part of you that loves me and believes in us is still in there. I know you're still in there, Ren."

And with that, Rensuke broke down in tears in your arms. The place he had always longed for in the days he felt so alone. The warmth that he always yearned for in the coldest and loneliest nights. He's home. He's here.

"If you didn't care about me, you should've removed your ring a long time ago," you added, "but the symbol of your love for me is still there. A little worn, but I know you still have love for me.

"I've waited for you to return. This is all that matters now."

"I love you," Rensuke said between his tired sobs, his orange eyes sparkling with a little bit of life. He's still in there, the hero you loved is still in there.

"And I love you."

[taxidermycanine]

5 WAYS TO HELP WITH SPECIES DYSPHORIA AS A THERIAN (with and without gear)

- please note that most of these are focused mainly on being a wolf therian, but i'll try my best to make it more inclusive to others.

1 •

my personal favorite, wolf quest! this one does cost money, so this isn't for those who don't have the money/don't already have the game. it really helps me feel more connected to who i am. you find a mate, raise pups, hunt prey, defend your den and pack from predators, and there's even a multiplayer option for you to play with your friends. :o)

(and yes, you can customize what your wolf looks like. all NPC wolves in the game have different personalities for immersion, including you, your pups, and your mate)

please note that the game is still in development! they plan to add a saga where you can live constantly with your pack and continue with new generations each year (and no, you don't HAVE to pass away). you can toggle whether your mate dies or not, if you play on easy you can avoid your pups getting sick by reloading saves if you're sensitive to that, there are constantly new updates being brought out that make the game feel more realistic each time and the development team are incredibly sweet. if you have the money i highly recommend this game, wolf therian or otherwise.

2 •

documentaries. a wonderful way to not only feel more connected to your theriotype(s), but to also learn more information about them! my favorite thing to do when i'm stressed is to wrap myself in warm blankets, turn off my lights and put on a documentary to calm myself down. bonus points if you DO have gear to wear during this, if not that's okay too.

i also like to have my plush friends join me so i can act like they're my pack :o) it's a nice way to feel less lonely as i watch. this also works if you're a domestic cat therian, have your plushies be your clouder! no matter what animal you are though, never feel less valid for wanting your stuffies with you during this. it doesn't matter if your theriotype isn't a social animal in the wild.

if you're an aquatic therian of some kind, i think a good idea would be taking your phone in the bathroom with you and setting it up outside of the tub to watch whilst you're in the water! (or shower if you don't have one, you can also use a kiddie pool outside in the warmer months). PLEASE remember to be safe during this though, if you worry about getting your phone wet then instead find some blue blankets and pretend it's the ocean!

3 •

going outside to where your theriotype resides in naturally. of course this won't be for everyone, since a lot of the time trips can end up being quite costly. something that i like to do is go to my local forest whenever i have the time to do so! i find it refreshing to sit by the stream and play in the water with my mate.

if you're a domestic dog therian, ask to go on a walk around the neighborhood with your friend! (or hell, go by yourself if it's safe enough, you're a free dog, you can do what you want). even as a wild animal i still enjoy this, so don't feel ashamed if you're ALSO a wild animal who wants to do things that domestic dogs do. it doesn't make you any less undomesticated.

if you're an animal that's used to deserts, i recommend going to where you can access sand (e.g. a sandbox at a playground, asking for a small sand tray to play in as a gift, a day out to the beach if you live near one). i also find that dried dirt that's very damaged can feel sort of similar to sand!

if you can't go outside for whatever reason, then there's always ways to make your bedroom feel similar to where you would be more comfortable. if your theriotype lives in dens like caves and underneath trees, make a blanket fort and pretend it's your home! if your theriotype rests in a burrow, make a tunnel with some blankets from the top of your bed all the way down to under it (if that doesn't work, pretend that anything below your bed is underground, and anything above your bed is the surface).

4 •

dressing in clothes that are the same color as your theriotype. i have this fluffy hat with ears that feels very affirming for my species dysphoria, paired with my favorite dark sweaters, warm pants and my tail. if you don't have any gear, don't worry! you don't need to have any to complete an outfit. sometimes clothing textures can also be affirming. for example if you have smooth skin like a whale, a bathing suit can feel similar to blubber. (if you have gender dysphoria, i recommend either full body bathing suits, or wearing pants on top of it and a jacket to help yourself feel more affirmed). i wear fluffy clothes because my fur is fluffy :o) it helps me, personally, but this might not be the same for everyone!

5 •

studying the behavior of your theriotype and trying your best to imitate it to the best of your abilities with the body you have. this can be as simple as copying how they act around each other as a family (for example wolves who are mates will rest their chins on each other to display affection), and as difficult as trying to vocalize what sounds your theriotype makes.

if you wanted to try the latter, i recommend looking at vocal exercises online before as a lot of creature sounds can and will strain your voice, i promise you that warming up your chords will not only help you sound clearer, it'll ensure that it won't take as much effort to do!

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I honestly don't really like how Odysseus defeated Poseidon. Maybe with explanations from Jay, time, and the last saga releasing I'll come around to it, but yeah. I feel like it would have been so much more logical to see Odysseus try to be as ruthless as possible, while being cunning, but ultimately failing because it's POSEIDON, and then Zeus comes in and is like "that's enough, let the Greek go" or something. Because he's not only the king, but it would redeem him from that mess in God Games.

Fans who dislike criticism, please stay away from this post because I will not hesitate to speak my mind.

I'm glad to see others still have faith in Epic, but I'm sorry to say that I don't hope as much anymore. I did try after God Games but it only let me down. And I don't think any amount of explaining and marinating time can make it any better.

Epic the Vengeance Saga not only nerf down Poseidon in the most ridiculous way possible when he was an undoubtedly powerful god-king who was revered as the Biggest Villain throughout the musical, it also broke its own establishment that the gods always have a power leverage over the humans. Odysseus was tip-toeing around all of them, even with the seemingly friendly ones like Aeolus and Hermes, because he's literally one wrong move away from getting killed by them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Odysseus needed a power boost from the moly just to corner Circe, he had no chance with Poseidon when he had nothing but a sword and a wind bag. No amount of pure rage and wife loving can help him charge at the King of the Sea (in his own domain even!) and leave unscathed, he'll be lucky Poseidon just drown him faster the second time. That cheap Gary Stu fight traded good storytelling for some dramatic effect and ruined it for me.

Any other route for the Odysseus VS Poseidon showdown would be significantly better. Like you said, Odysseus can try to fight or just defend himself against Poseidon for as long as he could, then Zeus and the other Olympians can intervene to save him. And yeah, Zeus deserve a redemption and an apology for ruining his image and establishment in the musical (his attack is also super OOC)

If there's an Epic adaptation on a different media, I seriously hope they'll rewrite Six Hundred Strike completely. Anything but that godawful mess.

[pandamintcats]

Light and dark mode side by side

The line between the light and the dark is so thin. Now, I am that line? I never asked but here I am. They say to become a Guardian you must show devotion, bravery, sacrifice and... Death... It's funny how I don't remember me, the life I had before this. I was chosen, but why?

I remember when I thought the light was my only guide. The enemies I once sought to destroy have become my greatest allies... Friends. The force that destroyed me has given me hope... [Laughs] I never knew the universe was a comedian.

The light, the dark, the gardener, the winnower... So different yet so same. I was fool, blind, naive... I was led by my eyes and not my heart. I think I see now but I am blinder than I ever was. I stand here, troubled but joyed that this war may finally be over. I am no fool that wars can never end, but I would die knowing I ended one so the youth may live.

I am no defender of the light or fighter of the dark. I am a defender of Humanity. I am a Guardian forged in light, given a power to survive and took a power to protect. I am not division between paracausuality. I am just human who has forgotten the bitter taste of death. Now it grips me but I will not fear.

The coming days draw nearer but I will not quiver. I have dove into the Dark below, dinned with the House of Wolves, taken the Taken King, risen like the Iron Lords, been forsaken by my greatest allies, walked between the shadows, leaped beyond the light, killed the Witch Queen, watched my light fall and now I will stop the Final Shape. I was chosen to protect and I will even if I breath my last breath.

I shall Become Legend.

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This is the light version of the poster. Enjoy!! Link to the dark version. I am currently not selling this piece as a poster of any sort. Anyone who sells this to you is most likely a scam. Please beware!

I finally did it. I did my first ever fan-art for a video game and for Destiny.

The Final Shape Trailer came out a few days ago and I ran almost immediately out of my mind. I didn't start the game early but I always knew about it and now I'm here God willing, watching it's first saga come to an end.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be among other guardians in this war. I really wanted to be but I currently can't until maybe later next year or if the game decides to be nice and go on sale during my next summer🤣. I can't be affording such right now so I might as well empower other guardians to fight for me. I'll be around Sol in the crucible or most likely Gambit helping however I can and with this poster art, I think I've done enough😂.

Destiny has come so far from when I first ever saw it. It's like watching a child grow. Ironically it's not even my favorite game but it has a special place in my heart. I don't want to rant anymore so I'll just cut to the chase. I wouldn't be posting any new art for some time... I'd be having exams soon. Well, that's all from me guys. I am extremely proud of myself and the game.

Eye's up guardians!

DARK

Deviantart | Pinterest

LIGHT

Deviantart | Pinterest

[cannibalistickitty]

Could you please write something to do with hazel x an autistic reader? (Sorry if this is a strange request)

HAZEL X AUTISTIC!READER

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warnings: nothing! fluff, idk if this is a warning but hazel is also a little autistic coded!

word count: 0.4k

notes: hii tysm for this request anon!! I'm autistic myself so I was already planning on doing this so ty for giving me an excuse to post it! I did this in the form of hc's! if you want a full fic tell me and I'll write it:)

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-so I think that hazel wouldn't know that much about autism, I think she didn't really think she would have to be informed about it

-but when you stared dating she would do sooo much research about it, like she had no idea what a "safe food" was when you told her. then the next day she bought all of your safe foods and just came knocking on your door.

-if your overstimulated in public she obviously has something in her tote bag that could help, whether it's a pair of headphones, a sensory toy or anything that could help she's got it

-she loves hearing about your special interest, like she'll listen to you talk about them for hoursss, like if your special interest is a saga of movies, she'll lay down with you and watch all of them or she'll watch them all by herself so then she can surprise you with information

-she'll bring you small little gifts related to your interest, like pins or necklaces maybe socks, just small cute stuff!!

-if you don't understand sarcasm she's fine with that because neither does she😭 the girl is clueless, a lot of times if you go out in a group and someone says smth sarcastic and neither of y'all get it and you just kinda look at each other confused on why they would say that

-if you only like certain fabrics and she happens to have clothes with that fabric, it's yours now!! whenever she buys you something she makes sure it's not any of your sensory issues, like scratchy shirts? she doesn't even look at them, or shirts that are to tight? she wouldn't even think of buying it for you

-if anyone made fun of you she's defending you hard, like either making them feel embarrassed or just yelling at them😭

-if your burnt out and don't wanna hang out she's giving you all the space you need!! like she'll just wait for you to text her when your feeling energized again

-okay so if you have a meltdown she would try her best to calm you down, if you just need to cry she'll hug you and just let you get it out, or if maybe breathing calms you down she'll do special breathing with you

-she will send you stuff like "you call it autism I call it having that dawg in me" she finds it sooo funny

-if you don't like physical touch she'll only give physical affection if it's like asked for😭 she would hate to make you uncomfortable so she tries to make you the most comfortable person ever, her ways of showing affection if of course gifts but also words of affection, she always tell you how much she loves or how much she's proud of you.

-overall she's the sweetest:')

[guardiandragon98]

I've been following and liking a lot of creators' content and realized, hey, I'm a creator too. Might as well share to the Tumblr-verse my big bag of stories. Click the link above to access my AO3 profile.

For those who want to browse my stories per category. Here's my...

MASTERLIST PART 1 - this focuses on all my fics that are part of a series.

How to Train Your Dragon... with The God of Mischief

Summary: After falling off the Bifrost, Loki finds himself not as a pawn of Thanos, but transformed into an ordinary mortal and sent to the island of Berk. Taking on the name "Erland", Loki makes his way in the world of dragons and Vikings alongside the village outcasts - Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Zenna Arrowhead Fiersome. And Loki soon discovers he may not be as powerless as he originally thought.

In Order

The Inventor, The Healer, and The Fallen Prince - Prologue, Complete

How to Train Your Dragon... With The God of Mischief - Follows the events of the 1st film, Complete

Legend of The Boneknapper Dragon with The God of Mischief - one-shot

Gifts of the Night Furies with The God of Mischief - one-shot

Riders and Defenders of Berk with The God of Mischief - Follows Riders and Defenders of Berk, Ongoing

Where Ever Your Road Leads, You Can Always Come Back Home to Me - one-shot crossover with Thor films

HTTYDWTGOM One-Shots - A collection of one-shots sometimes set during in-between moments of the films and series in no particular order and just some fun things I can cook up, Ongoing

Sonadow Boom

Summary: An AU of Sonic Boom where Shadow isn't a brooding edgelord, is Sonic's boyfriend, and Eggman doesn't realize he's hired a mole. This has fluff, a little bit of smut, and a whole lotta Sonadow cuteness. Enjoy!

For this list, I'm putting the ratings here as a heads-up. For those who are underage, steer clear of the rated M and Explicit stuff.

Words of Encouragement - General Audiences

Serenade - General Audiences

It Takes A Village to Defeat A Hedgehog - Teen and Up Audiences

I Will Never Give Up on You - Teen and Up Audiences

A Moment of Pure Bliss - Mature Audiences

A Night in the Most Non-Secluded Secluded Jungle Ever - General Audiences

Let Me Tip You with Kisses and A Little Something Extra - Mature Audiences

Eggman The Video Game AU - Teen and Up Audiences

Closure - Teen and Up Audiences

Follow Our Rainbow - Teen and Up Audiences

The Next Great Adventure - Possibly the Greatest Adventure of All

Summary: When a string of garbage can thefts strikes Seaside Island, Sonic and Shadow lead the gang on a search for the thief. What they didn't expect was to become parents to a scared little tenrec with electrokinesis and a troubled past.

Sonic Boom Season 3: The Faith Tenrec Saga - the one that started it all :) Complete

To My Darling Faith - one-shot

Sunflowers for Mommy - one-shot

Love That Lasts Longer Than Paper Hearts - Valentine's Day one-shot

You're My Heroes - Father's Day one-shot

The Tale of the Space Child and the Wind Child - one-shot

In Every Shape, Way, and Form - one-shot tie-in with Sonic x Shadow Generations

Faith's First Halloween - Halloween one-shot

Now All My Stories Have Been Told, Except for One - tribute one-shot to my Dad

The World is Big Enough for All Your Love - Ongoing

Welcome to the Greatest Storm - one-shot

These Are A Few of Faith's Favorite (Fluffy) Things - one-shot

His Purpose, His World - one-shot tie-in with Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings

We're A Pusheen Family - one-shot

I'll make another masterlist for the stories that don't have any series, though some of them are connected to my Sonic fic series in this list.

Happy reading ;)

[the-most-faithful]

The other day I published an edit what if Lily had chosen Snape without war, (you can find it here if you want to see it) which the two have a child. Now among the various comments the classic Marauder Stan who tries to throw mud at Snape has obviously popped up, let's analyze the points touched, because they could be interesting

Obviously we start from a classic, they try to pass off Snape as a homicidal madman who wanted all non-magic people to die, we know full well that it's not true. He joined the Death Eaters it's true but he didn't really want to kill all the non-wizards. Having established this, let's move on to the slur

If you've been following me for a while you know that I find it quite problematic to associate Death Eaters with Nazis, I understand the meaning but it's a delicate topic, so sorry if I'll use the term classists instead, but it seems more respectful to me.

Now the fact that Snape apologized for the only insult ever directed at Lily can't be denied, it's canon, so what do the Marauders Stan? Well they obviously gloss over "yes he apologized BUT THEN he joined the Death Eaters" and excuse the frankness, but thank fu*k, despite having apologized he was dumped by the only friend he had in the canon and the guys who should have represented the good have continued to bully him for years. It's not like Snape had many choices. Let's reiterate the obvious: Snape was wrong to join the Death Eaters, what he suffered is NOT an excuse, we are just repeating the reasons for his actions. Understanding is different from justifying.

Honestly I'm missing the logical leap here. How does the fact that I pointed out that the Marauders never apologized for their actions, unlike Snape, lead to the conclusion that James and Sirius' heavy bullying equals a classist group of Death Eaters? Really, it escapes me.

So I corrected, saying that bullying is always wrong, it doesn't matter if the victim is a bad person, it's still bullying. And I thought we had at least reached a meeting point, they are all wrong, James and Sirius are wrong like Snape. Well not really since Snape was the victim, but hey if it can't get any better I can accept it, let's pretend they're on the same level. But no, the Marauders Stan always try to make Snape look worse than he is, so he magically becomes worse because when he grows up (in the future) he will treat his students badly. Clear isn't it? Future faults are why the bullying was less severe, which really makes sense. (BIG Face Palm)

They were all bad people, can we accept this? Obviously not, because Marauders Stan always have to defend their pupils, even going so far as to invent things. It starts to get comical how they want to distort the canon. The Marauders have gone from arrogant bullies to, in their imagination, vigilantes who defend others and attack bad guys. It's a shame that the bad guys who attack the weakest are actually them. You also notice how inconsistent they are, they admit that they were bullies BUT they try to justify them. Snape joined the Death Eaters after school so the Marauders bullied him from first year. The sense? Do you see it? Is it under the carpet by any chance? But by the same "logic" of this person the fact that Snape will join the classist group in the future justifies the Marauders bullying Snape.

Of course, Snape was bad since he was a child because... well we don't know why, they never explaine this. So he was bad from an early age because they say so, then only when Lily was in danger did he do the right thing. Do you hear the bells too? He did the right thing. They admitted it, he did the right thing. "Yes, but only because Lily was in danger" Exactly, this is the exact definition of an antihero, he is not someone without blemish who saves people for no personal reason. Regardless, everyone in the saga has personal reasons. James, Sirius and Remus didn't join the war against Voldemort because they had nothing better to do. They couldn't stay out of it. Let's dispel this false idea. James was with Lily who was a target, could he have stayed out of the war? Obviously not. Remus was a werewolf, or he was with the Death Eaters who would have disgusted him or he was with Dumbledore who always protected him, did he really have a choice? I would say no. Sirius same thing, his family disowned him, he only had his friends and since they were in danger he joined the Order. So they all had a personal reason too, the fact that they did the right thing for this doesn't seem to create any problems to me, why does it for Snape? Usual double standard.

Here I meant future sins, but I think the meaning is understood.

In all of this, they managed to defend the Marauders by proving that they weren't bullies? Obviously not. They're just trying to attack Snape.

If there are any updates I will let you know

[kuramirocket]

Continued playing Brothership and I screamed. In one of the battles Mario got knocked out and Luigi screamed, 'Mario' before running over to him, picking him up and fought with one hammer when it was the enemy's turn to attack. As always my mother wss watching play and she too loudly was like, 'Awwww.' It was just so cute!!! I heard that the same thing happens in Superstar Saga where the bros defend each other if the other gets knocked out. I am so glad this also happens in Brothership!! 🥹❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚

I was also on that desert island, I think it was called, Allsand Island, with those level 40 shark enemies. So, by this point of the game, even if you have fought every single baddie that appears in the game like me, you'll still only be like level 20-21. So, one successful hit from those sharks and it's instant KO. Well, I wasn't about to get a gameover and wondered if the game would let me flee even with one bro knocked out (in this case Luigi). I chose to flee and yep, Mario quickly grabbed Luigi, swung him over his shoulder and ran. And ofc, this is me, and I'm just here like too cute!!!

Now, I need to see both these scenarios with Mario and Luigi just to see the animation. Though, I don't want to force a KO. Lol. Maybe after I pass the story I'll make it happen.

I know I've been wanting to see what happens if you fail the timing with jump attacks and such. Though, I did somehow mess up once with Mario's jump and it was so funny to see him flail sideways at the enemy 😅

Anyways, truly any M&L games is a gift soley for the interactions between the bros! Granted Brothership is the only M&L game I have played and haven't really seen gameplays or spoilers story wise for the other games, but as I thought, Brothership has not disappointed at all in the brotherly love department!! We truly are feasting so good!

[the-force-awakens]

Yeah, that's a pretty good analysis. I don't see Poe included hardly at all, in fandom or in canon to a degree, and I think it's safe to say he has one of the least number of fans who are specifically fans of him. Like I don't see many blogs/accounts that are specifically Poe centric.

Oh man, I actually got up to answer this on my computer rather than my phone, so we'll see how into it I'll get into this ask, but yes! It's vastly unfortunate that he often gets excluded or overlooked when he's the entire catalyst for the sequel trilogy. He is, archetypically and narratively within the story, the Leia of our generation: if it was not for Poe and BB-8 (who is really like an extension of Poe), then Finn wouldn't have been able to escape the Finalizer, and Rey would have never left Jakku.

While yes, it's true that Poe wasn't initially meant to survive The Force Awakens (and other nine word horror stories for me), Poe is still one part of the primary trio of the trilogy and has been since 2015. He is not only Leia's first protégé, but the eventual leader of the Resistance, and according to the Rise of Skywalker novel, the heir to the legacy of House Organa (cue me loudly proclaiming him a Disney Prince). Yet, somehow, at the same time......no one seems to ever want to include him as part of the saga, and an important one as that?

(@dameronalone points out ever so often how much they love the shot where everyone leaves Exegol for this reason, because we see Poe flying alongside the Falcon, which really hammers in that Poe is an important player in the history of the saga).

More thoughts below the cut, because I have more and this is already lengthy.

The worst thing is that Poe was extremely popular. Lucasfilm and Marvel pretty much immediately greenlit a comic series for him, and while that was definitely to flesh his story out, if my memory serves, it was so popular that I believe the first printing sold out? And it was originally only meant to last 25 issues (which personally I think it should have stayed at, because I don't super vibe with 26-onward and it feels off and tonally disconnected to the rest of the series and also the ending of TLJ, and the characterization for Poe also feels off, but that's!! a different rant!!!) but the title was so popular that Marvel decided to extend it for two more storylines!

The issue was the fandom backlash to TLJ.

You don't have to look too far into my blog to know that I adore Poe in TLJ, and that I like his arc in the movie, and that I avidly defend him for it, but the internet in 2017-2019 was an entirely different universe from that. You could not go anywhere - Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube, fucking hell, even most major media news outlets and clickbait websites - without hearing about how much everyone hated Poe Dameron.

Why? Because they walked away from his arc deciding that he was sexist and the movie's perfect example of toxic masculinity (although, lmfao, the First Order clowns are right there). It went further than that, with headlines about how everyone hated him, how he was personally responsible for everything that happens in the Resistance in the film, and how he was the worst character in Star Wars since Jar Jar Binks (because clearly the Star Wars fandom never learns from its previous toxicity, right?). It was to the point that, to my immense horror and frustration, even as far as into promoting TROS, a reporter described Poe as a "secret villain" in TLJ to Oscar (and man do I hope that man knows Poe is loved, actually).

Fandom wasn't much different. Fanon Poe prior to TLJ was....a lot different. In some ways, a lot of fics hit the nail on the head on who Poe was, but there was a definite unifying idea of who Poe was: a pure cinnamon roll who never, ever swore, and always listened to Leia and never argued with her - let alone disobeyed her orders or put a toe out of line (this is even illustrated in canon, with the first Poe Dameron annual, where the author has Poe declare that Leia is "always right" and instantly caving in an argument).

And TLJ Poe is about....as far removed from that vision of Poe as you can possibly get - although nothing about him in TLJ is ooc. We see the bare bones of it in The Force Awakens, and Before the Awakening and the comics further flesh out Poe in a way that perfectly leads into the Last Jedi. But the cinnamon roll fanon was made so common and leaked so far into fandom consciousness, that there was this strange concept that Poe was never, ever angry even in expanded material, which...he does. He gets pissed off plenty of times in the comics, and with the Defense Fleet while arguing with Deso.

So, canon Poe did the unthinkable and, y'know, didn't fall in line with how fanon saw him, which resulted in a huge backlash over the fact that he was a character with agency and a personality (that is NOT sexist thank you), which resulted in us getting books like Resistance Reborn, by authors who can't stand him or describe him as anything besides "supremely arrogant" and spends three hundred pages emotionally torturing him, claiming he needs to die, physically assaulting him, and you know...having the person who attacked him and the other person who claimed he needed to die flirt with him, because it also spends an ungodly amount of time sexualizing him to an uncomfortable degree, because the one thing fanon could agree on outside of the fact that he had been "ruined" or that he was a jackass or a "fuckboi" (yeah that went around too), was that Oscar Isaac is really goddamned fine in the Last Jedi (he is, I'll give them that, there's something about tlj!Poe, scientists remain baffled).

And on top of all of that, a particular fraction of the fandom developed an interesting habit of taking new pieces of canon and spreading them around online out of context, claiming that the writers were now intentionally writing him as sexist and as a jackass, and ruining his character further. I don't know for certain if this had any effect overall on the fandom's perception of him, but I know that it did almost break my spin in him for a while because I thought people were being very genuine, and it wasn't until 2020 that I got curious and started doing my own research into the panels/paragraphs being shared online, and sure enough, discovered that the angle had been falsified to paint Poe into a worse light (which, if anyone is curious, is why I did my deep dive into everything that he was in, because I didn't want to be fooled again. You can't trick me if I know everything lmfao).

So essentially, his popularity nosedived after the Last Jedi. It seemed to bump up a little bit, or at least there definitely seemed to be more people interested in him/writing for him in 2020 coming off the lockdown, but obviously that has very much dwindled. But I've definitely not seen any blogs dedicated to Poe as a character since 2017, and you don't ordinarily see him in miscellaneous Star Wars gifsets that go around either, let alone solo Poe gifsets (I know because I lose my shit anytime there's a new one that's not by me), and Poe creations that have nothing to do with a ship is.........even less likely to be found.

I definitely think canon is at least trying to keep him in our minds though. He was the second character to lead one of the Lego Specials, and that Rey short story ("Through the Turbulence") was focused on her friendship with him. Whether or not that's because of the possibility of Oscar returning for the Rey movie (which feels fairly tangible, considering he's been kind of shady about it after mentioning he'd come back for a good story, and doing that Halcyon video), or if it's just because of Lucasfilm maybe warming up to him as a character again*, I don't know, but I hope it means we get good-faith content for him again soon.

*Because I'm tired of the story group constantly being a little bitch about him, and the same goes for the Topps Trading Card App. Maybe people wouldn't think he was a villain if you stopped describing him like a terrible person? Just a thought.

[acaffeinateduniverse]

@socksracoon10 - I think this will be the easiest way to do it?

Let's start at the beginning - after Charles attacked Russell for the lead and damaged his mediums too much, he was the one who said he'll let Sainz by.

Then he pitted for the hards on lap 10.

Since the mediums were truly horrible and there was a lot of graining, Sainz had to pit on lap 11. (I'll skip the pit calls, they weren't dramatic.)

Charles was one of the fastest drivers on track and even though Sainz was ahead of him, he quickly closed the gap so they met together on lap 26. The order was: Sainz, Charles, Hamilton.

Charles spent a few laps defending from Hamilton - it was always close, but Ferrari had a really good top speed, so Hamilton wasn't able to overtake even with DRS.

Then Sainz gets the call to let Charles by.

Two things to notice here: Sainz wants to pit, but Adami says they need one more lap to not run into Yuki. The second one, Sainz is the one picking the place of the swap, but he still doesn't do it.

This is how it looked like from Charles' perspective:

(the extra comments are not from me, I'm just using smeone else's transcript)

The whole swap saga started on lap 26 and ended on lap 28. Then the whole mess with pitting happened.

I have no idea what happened there. The crew was in the pit lane, looked ready, and I haven't seen any explanation from Ferrari or anyone else about it either.

Sainz pits on lap 29.

Charles pits on lap 32.

Then the mess happened. Leaving the pits, Charles gets this message from Bozzi.

Sainz overtakes Charles. Charles says the "maybe try in Spanish" when he sees Sainz breezing by him. He didn't defend, didn't do anything - because he thought he was safe there.

After this Charles asks about what they are doing next.

Another part of the drama happened a few laps later. The order was: Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Charles.

Sainz overtakes Verstappen on the start of lap 42. Crucially, Verstappen is hanging on his DRS (there is a theory that Sainz does it on purpose, to help Verstappen defend from Charles).

Then Sainz gets this message from Adami.

After Sainz speeds up and breaks the DRS (on lap 46) Charles overtakes Verstappen on the last straight, same lap.

They finish the race in that order.

Now, the race pace you asked for.

Here's the global race pace - as you see, there's little between Sainz and Charles, but:

Charles had to defend from Hamilton for a few laps on the second stint (from lap 18 to the swap on lap 28)

Charles wasted time on the swap on laps 26-28

Sainz wasted time on that botched pit stop call

Charles wasted time in the mini DRS train Sainz created with Verstappen

Now, free air race pace

And like it says in the header, these are laps only in clean air with a correction for fuel and tyres, so it's not exactly representative - it shows more "what could have been" than "what really happened".

Charles was also the fastest driver in the last stint (not by much).

Here's also data from particular sectors:

And a different race pace analysis:

Exact data and metodology is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gfv2HW6Vr8BZXO2c2PlOI0s_MrmdNnyZ/edit?pli=1&gid=794615515#gid=794615515

Let me know if you need anything else, I thought this was the best way to handle this.

[leahclearwaterdefensesquad]

I love that post that's going around that's pointing out the inconsistencies in the writing of Rosalie's character, and I like how it inspires us to explore more of the dissonance in her behavior. Naturally, this all leads back to the context of who wrote her. I've said this before in a past, long buried post that I can't find in my search, but I'll repeat it because it at least influences why Rosalie was written to be a fierce protector of Bella's choice to have Nessie (as long as it went with her agenda, of course). Conservative women, who are overwhelmingly pro-life and pro-birth-regardless-of-circumstance, actually propogandize their anti-abortion agenda by framing themselves as the defenders of women who want to have children (and the unborn ofc) against the liberal pro-choice crazed feminists who supposedly want to force these aspiring mothers to undergo abortions and destroy the Godly nuclear family. To people not raised in a conservative environment, I'm aware this must sound nuts, but it is the way these people think. Notice how they themselves flip the labels on their head, so that they seem to embody the right of choice (revealing that they think it is the duty but also the desire of all women to want to be moms) even when they are in fact taking away any choice in choosing to terminate a pregnancy.

*Naturally, when I go to try to look that post up, I can't find it, so if anyone sees it again, feel free to send it over and I'll add a hyperlink.*

The post mentioned also talks about more aspects of her character than just what happened in Breaking Dawn - I cherry picked a specific detail above - but I really do like how it reveals Stephenie's own bias and warring purposes for her characters. Rosalie is meant to be the Mean Girl Bombshell Blonde type, so naturally she has to chafe with Bella and be against her life choices (but also be jealous of her) which manifests as Rosalie wanting Bella to stay human and acting cold to her most of the time. Rosalie is also being punished (twilight saga expert panlight has discussed many a time how SMeyer unconsciously punishes the characters who stand in the way of Edward and Bella's happily ever after within the narrative), so she can't have what all women SHOULD want in the eyes of women like Stephenie - children. A traditional, nuclear family. When Bella gets pregnant, Rosalie's emphasis on choice becomes her redemption - sure her motives are selfish - because now she's on the same side as what Bella desires, so she's going to get what she wants, which is a child in her life. Renesmee.

Rosalie is well known for preaching about the importance of choice, but that doesn't mean that she supports whatever others - in this case, Bella - decide. Rose defending Bella's decision in keeping the fetus and protecting her from a forced abortion (there's so much to be talked about with Bella's whole "I don't want just any baby, I want this baby" thought process but that's for another day), while also pushing Bella to stay human ("You have a choice. I didn't. None of us did. But you're choosing wrong.") showcases this.

That post was right, all in all. There is a LOT of cognitive dissonance with regards to the way Rose is written on Stephenie's side of things. People and their personal ideals don't always align with the behavior that they exhibit, but Rose is a character written by a not-all-that-self-aware author. Rosalie wasn't meant to be that complex of a character, she just had a role to fill. Her complexity was accidental, and now she illustrates a dissonant character that brings more enrichment to the story than the main character herself.

Anyways, I just wanted to ramble a bit about a great post that got me thinking. Send it to me if anyone happens on it again, please!

[kathbunny]

Maxim's Studies (why Maxim became interested in biology instead)

CW: bullying

Around 8 years had passed since Maxim's dream about the mermaid, and he hadn't stopped being curious about mermaids since. The teacher had stepped out of the classroom to talk to the principal in their office, assuming her students mature enough to work quietly, so he was taking the opportunity to read after finishing his work.

One of his classmates leaned over his desk suddenly, looking at the book in his hands. "Aren't you a little too old to be reading about mermaids?" He asked, poking at the cover. Annoying.

"Perhaps." Maxim said, knowing arguing or silence would both just result in things getting worse like always.

The book was pulled right out of his hands, his classmate turning it around the look at the page. "What is this?" He asked, sounding actually confused for a moment.

Maybe it wasn't malicious today. "A translation of some medieval Germanic literature, more specifically-" Maxim began, getting cut off by a second classmate.

"Aw, Maxim is reading fairytales!" She said, laughing a bit.

They weren't fairytales. Maxim didn't say that though, just stewing in the misclassification of something he liked, irritation slowly building. It was a saga! A saga!

The first classmate dropped Maxim's book onto the floor, laughing. "Aw, you're right, he was!"

"...that book belonged to the school library." Maxim said, staring at its spot on the ground. "You'll get in trouble if you damage it."

"Nah, they wouldn't believe you." He said. "It's your job to protect the books you borrow." He taunted, kicking the book so it went skidding under some desks.

Maxim doesn't think the librarian would blame him for a damaged book, they always helped him pick out new ones...

Maxim stood up, going to retrieve it from under the desks, only for it to get promptly quicked out of his reach once he kneeled. He grabbed the leg of his classmate and just yanked it up into the air, sending them toppling backwards onto the tile floor as they lost balance.

The door to the classroom opened, the teacher walking in on the scene. "...what in the world are you two doing?" She sighed, the second classmate jumping out of their seat and running over to the teacher with fake tears and some story to defend their friend.

-

After Maxim's brief suspension for getting into a fight, he was pulled aside by the science teacher after class. "Hey, Maxim, you doing alright?" He asked. "It was mentioned to me you're banned from borrowing library books now?"

Maxim didn't feel the worst about the school library banning him, he could always just go visit the city library over the weekend, getting in trouble for self defense though, bothered him a lot. "I'm fine." Maxim said, very simply.

The science teacher just sighed at that. "If you want, you can come read the books I keep in the classroom during lunch?" He offered. "It's certainly no folklore or mythology, but I've got a few things on marine biology. That might be up your alley."

Maxim thought about it for a moment, and the teacher just waited through the silence, always patient with him. It'd be nice to learn something else new, and he couldn't get in trouble if he was being watched by a teacher, and he might understand the stories better if he knew more about the ocean. "...sure." Maxim answered.

The science teacher seemed fine with that response, nodding. "I'll set a good one to start with aside for you then."

"Thank you."

"Of course!"

[k-martins]

Words: + 2K Prompt: Pocky Game Warning: We don't have many spoilers here, except that this takes place after episode 6 of season two. Maybe alert to swear words and Megumi's bad mood. A/N: I can say that I became obsessed with pockys after I saw them in that Yuji bag, and then I discovered this game and my hands itched to write something, although I don't know if I'll do a part two of this. If you don't know the game, it's more or less this: "The Pocky game is a party game played with Pocky, a Japanese chocolate- or candy-coated biscuit snack. Two participants place the Pocky between them “Lady and the Tramp” style, and try to be the last to hold onto the biscuit, often resulting in a kiss." So yes, someone needed to write this with ITFS!

“Did you spend all your money on sweets?” Kugisaki clicked her tongue as she looked inside the paper bag, looking irritated, but Megumi knew she had a wicked smile on her face. "What's wrong with you? Five years?"

“ Hey ! I need to be fueled up for the movie!” Itadori defended himself, throwing himself awkwardly next to Megumi, causing the table to shake. “They are promising that this will be the most exciting film in the saga. I have to be ready to face any anguish!”

As serious as Itadori's tone was, as if he truly believed this, Megumi had His doubts. There is little chance that a generic American horror film – which had as its main theme people with mutant loveworm genes, by the way – would be so exciting to the point that Itadori would buy a bag full of various sugary freaks. Honestly, this was much worse than the purchases Gojo made for home when he took care of Megumi, and the man with white hair and eccentric taste in facial accessories had soda flowing instead of blood through his veins.

 Kugisaki shook his head lightly. She cast her sharp, questioning gaze at Megumi.

“Since you read about this thing and aren't a lunatic fan, respond. That is true?"

Megumi sighed audibly, ignoring for the sake of his sanity the delighted look Itadori had on his face. Instead of thinking about how the boy next to him seemed overjoyed with the information, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened the cinema's official website, turning the screen to show Kugisaki the information about the films currently showing . If the girl was surprised that he had found her so quickly, she didn't show it beyond a mischievous smile. It's not like Megumi has visited the site several times since Itadori mentioned how excited he was for the film, reading the synopsis and wandering through reviews of the previous films to find herself in the middle of the low-budget Hollywood mess. Of course he didn't do that. He just coincidentally had the site saved in his bookmarks bar.

“In an audience of thirty, twelve people gave a score equal to or above six.” He read it with a frown. Thirty people watched this? He expected a little less...

“Oh, that’s actually good!” Kugisaki praised, punctuating his words with a slap on Itadori's arm, which Megumi only escaped being hit by cowering closer to the wall. “Looks like your Worm Man movie isn’t that bad.”

“It’s a Human EarthWorm, Kugisaki.” Itadori whined, taking a pink rectangular box out of his – apparently inseparable – paper bag, with simple drawings of strawberries decorating the packaging.

“Oh, whatever.” Suddenly, the girl's chocolate brown eyes lit up in what Megumi could tell was pure ecstasy. He shrank further between Itadori and the wall. Somehow, that look was much more worrying than Kugisaki 's evil smile . “Oh, is that strawberry pocky ?! Give me one!” She jumped across the table, snatching the package from a very confused Itadori's hands, taking out one of the artificial strawberry flavored sticks. Her face was flushed with excitement. “Man, I was so excited to buy them! I've always wanted to try it ever since Saori mentioned the game, but my grandmother never let me. Something about 'being modest' or something.”

Kugisaki 's flawed and agitated logic . What did strawberry pockys have to do with games and her grandmother?

Beside him, Itadori laughed brightly as he pulled out a toothpick from the box, placing it between his lips like a cigarette.

“Ah, I know this game.”

"You?"

"It is clear!" The boy exclaimed, looking particularly offended by Kugisaki 's skeptical look . “I played this with my classmates in elementary school all the time. It was like a ritual throughout the party.”

Megumi is starting to feel uncomfortable with this conversation. Not that it was the first time he couldn't keep up with Itadori and Kugisaki 's energy and high spirits . Normally he would be content to just listen to the exchange and offer a shrug if asked about anything. Only this time, it really seems like these two are speaking another language.

As if he had read Megumi's thoughts, Kugisaki pointed the pocky at him, the broken tip over the separation between the strawberry topping and the chocolate rod.

“What about you, Fushiguro? Did you also play pocky when you were a delinquent ?”

“Can you not call me that?” He snapped, hoping he could hide his two friends' blushes behind his uniform collar. His times in elementary school beating up bullies weren't shameful after all, he never regretted it, but ever since Kugisaki and Itadori found out they both became insufferable about it. With a sharp frown due to the direction that strange conversation was taking, he questioned back: “And what the hell is this pocky game you guys are talking about?

Both Kugisaki and Itadori – after all, they were definitely sharing the same neuron before they even met – looked at each other in a silent conversation before gasping in surprise and dramatic scandal, with their hands on their chests like Victorian virgins and wide eyes. They learned that from Gojo , obviously.

“Fushiguro, how come you don’t know the pocky game?!” Itadori asked, loud enough to make Megumi's ears feel hot. “This is the most popular game among us normal teenagers.”

Normal teenagers? Megumi could retort against that.

“You, as a popular delinquent at school should know!” Kugisaki followed, nodding as if he couldn't believe what he heard, feigning Oscar-worthy desolation. "Deplorable. When I thought you were a little fun….”

With that, Megumi was one wrong word away from ripping off those damn pink pockys from Kugisaki and punching Itadori in the head to get that mocking smile out of him, but after noticing the looks of two eavesdropping couples, he was content with just crossing your arms over your chest and sulking. He's not going to give these two any more reasons to publicly embarrass him. That ridiculous scene of hugs and needy whining whenever he talks to some random girl is enough .

“Are you going to continue acting like children or are you going to explain to me what you’re talking about?”

If he noticed the bite and harshness in Megumi's tone, Itadori didn't show it. In fact, he boldly laughed as he rested his face in one hand, a chopstick between his fingers.

“It's just a silly joke. You put a pocky between your lips and try to eat it with small bites.”

Megumi waited longer – something really interesting and worth noting – but apparently Itadori had already finished the explanation, diverting his attention to the spinning movements he was making with the pocky between his fingers. Megumi wasn't the type to notice other people's abilities outside of battle, but there was a certain beauty in the way Itadori could handle the fragile stick without breaking it.

His attention was distracted by Kugisaki who was extending the pink box towards him.

“Live a little, big boy! Get one and try it.”

Something is wrong. A little voice in Megumi's mind whispered.

Kugisaki 's almost genuinely docile smile – and when it says 'almost', it means that Megumi doesn't believe in the softness of the girl in front of him at all –, or maybe it was Itadori himself sitting next to his with an amused and kind of curious, seeming really interested in his next move, which made the hairs on the back of Megumi's neck stand up like those of a skittish cat.

Something is very wrong.

Hesitant and perhaps too suspicious, Megumi took one of the pockys and placed it cautiously between his lips, feeling the sweetness of the glass on the tip of his tongue. The taste was predictably sweet and artificial. The strawberries were lost in the exaggerated amount of sugar, but the memory of them was still there, a note just for memory. Maybe it was a little greasy and easily too cloying for his taste, but it was a bearable sweet treat. It would hardly become his favorite snack, but the vanilla and dark chocolate cookies were delicious.

Kugaisaki 's smile grew, now revealing white teeth, cheeks pushed up.

That's when he realized his mistake.

Honestly, Megumi was waiting for something terrible to happen. He waited for the taste of pepper, or Kugisaki 's loud laugh as she revealed that there was no game of pocky , that she only invented it to see Megumi eat the sweet stick like a rabbit devouring a carrot. Anything like that. However, he was caught off guard by Itadori's palm manipulating the back of his neck so that he was looking at his face from just a few centimeters away.

The dirty glassy lips opened to bite the other end of the pocky , inching just a millimeter towards Megumi's own lips. It was a very close call that their noses didn't touch, but Megumi could still feel the ghost of Itadori's breath mixing with his own, even hear the clicking sound as the boy's teeth closed the distance and devoured the toothpick between them. Two more bites and Itadori would touch his lips. One more and then Megumi would taste the taste of strawberry glass directly from Itadori's sugary lips.

The world seemed to catch fire around them.

Maybe it was, because when Megumi jumped back, his mouth open in shock and shame, his entire face seemed to have been licked by flames, putting embers in his ears. Even though there was now quite a distance between Itadori and him, the vivid memory of honey-colored eyes sparkling with amusement and flirtation still echoed in Megumi's vision, painting his face the same shade as the strawberries drawn on the pocky box . His heart beat wildly inside his chest and cold sweat ran down his back.

What the fuck was that?

As if that wasn't enough, Megumi's breath caught as he watched Itadori, who hadn't looked away from him, finish the pocky , greedily devouring the part where Megumi's lips, teeth and tongue had touched. The pink-haired boy finished by wiping his lips with his thumb. He had a satisfied smile.

“Mm…” Itadori hummed. “Looks like I won.”

“Huh , what?” Megumi stammered uselessly, having a faint awareness of how pathetic he looked with his face red and his mouth open like a fish out of water. Damn Yuji Itadori !

A click and a flash were what took him out of that limbo.

"There is! Just look at your face!” Kugisaki cackled, turning the phone screen to Megumi. In the small illuminated rectangle was displayed for all to see the red, pathetic mess he had become, a reflection of his state of mind. Humiliating. “I'm going to send this to Maki-san ! Let’s put it in our graduation video!” Before Megumi could give any response to that – what, he doesn't know, but he would think of something at the moment – Kugisaki slammed both hands on the table and stood up. “It’s our time! If we don't want to miss the worm man movie...”

“Human EarthWorm, Kugisaki !”

“Alright, you crazy fanboy , let’s go!”

Megumi barely registered what was happening. He couldn't have imagined what had just happened. Or can you? He was so tired after that mission and being dragged by Kugisaki to meet that girl – Ozawa I-don't-know-what – who could very well have hallucinated with Itadori's face so close to his, their noses almost touching, their lips mere centimeters away?

Maybe Megumi should go home.

Take a long nap and think about anything other than the way Itadori's lips look shiny with glass . Would it taste as sweet as it looked?

Then, as the world hated Megumi and his entire family generation, the said boy with strawberry pocky hair and bright smile, turned to him with the most delighted and amused expression he had ever seen. Much happier than any memory that a past crush could generate – not that Megumi was being petty about it.

“Aren’t you coming, Fushiguro?”

Oh yes. They were going to see a movie.

Megumi needed to get his head on track.

“ Su-sure .” He stuttered, hoping that his quick movement in standing up had hidden his still red face.

It didn't work, as Kugisaki elbowed him, his feline smile even wider.

“ Wow . You didn't really know the game. She looks like a schoolgirl.”

“Shut up, Kugisaki .”

The response he received was just a loud laugh before she went off to buy popcorn, probably intimidating the attendant looking for a discount on the themed buckets .

As soon as Kugisaki was out of earshot, Itadori leaned into Megumi's space, his voice low and warm near his shoulder, while his caramel-colored eyes still continued to stare at him with amusement.

“You don’t need to be shy, Fushiguro.”

“I’m not shy.” Megumi retorted, perhaps too quickly and defensively.

That's when Itadori let out a bright laugh that certainly didn't make his heart skip a few beats.

Of course!

It's just the heart attack taking him early.

“Ah, fuck .” He grumbled, turning towards the exit.

That was it. Megumi was leaving.

Fuck Yuji with his movie and Nobara with the pockys .

“ Hey ! Wait!"

Itadori grabbed Megumi's wrist, his grip firm yet surprisingly gentle.

The pink boy looked genuinely sorry as Megumi looked at him, his tanned face contorting into a kicked-puppy expression that would have been adorable, if Megumi hadn't been fuming with embarrassment, anger, and distrust.

Nothing good came when Itadori looked at him like that.

As if noticing Megumi's emotions, Itadori smiled tenderly.

“Sorry about that. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.”

“You didn’t do a good job.”

“Okay, I think I deserve this.” Itadori scratched the back of his head, before his countenance radiated with a dangerous glow. “Hey! If you want, I can teach you how to play later. That way you don’t have to run away like a scared cat every time you play.”

“Do you want to get punched, Itadori?” Megumi huffs, impatience beginning to throb. He pulls his wrist from Itadori's grip, who wisely steps back with his hands raised defensively. “I will not participate in your silly games with Kugisaki. Forget it."

"Okay, okay. It was just an idea.” Itadori hummed, crossing his arms over his head. His gaze didn't leave Megumi's face for a second as he added, more carefully: "But, if you want, the invitation is extended."

Megumi sneered.

Why would he accept this invitation? He didn't mind Kugisaki and Itadori's childish pranks as long as they didn't harm him. Playing pocky will be no different. Plus, it's not like they have many parties to go to or opportunities to play these types of games. It wouldn't make any difference. Kugisaki and Itadori can stay with their games while Megumi stays with his books, completely at peace, without thinking about how Itadori's lips looked unbearably seductive when tilted towards him, nose almost touching his, brown eyes burning with a different fervor. and totally chilling. No, he wasn't thinking about that, much less about how easy it was for Itadori to handle him easily, firm despite the tenderness of the touch, his calloused palm holding Megumi's neck as their faces got closer and their breaths mixed.

No, Megumi definitely wasn't thinking about that.

In fact, he was starting to find Itadori's worm man poster very interesting, completely forgetting that brief moment when Itadori wiped his lip, insatiated after devouring the indirect kiss with the taste of strawberry pocky .

Yes, he totally forgot about that...

[obsidiennes]

Tatsuki has Associated Akuma References

So, Tatsuki has always been a bit... extreme... as her relationship advice to Orihime in chapter 4 tells us:

But it goes even further than that. She's a fighting game boss. Specifically, she has several references to Akuma (Gouki) from Street Fighter II Turbo and beyond.

This becomes apparent starting in chapter 15:

Akuma is known for his use of the Satsui no Hado, or Surge of Killing Intent. That is exactly what Tatsuki puts on display here. She then mimics one of one of Akuma's most famous poses:

It's notable that in the Viz translation, Keigo and Mizuiro's thoughts instead class her as a devil. The specific character used in the original Japanese is 鬼. Akuma's original name of Gouki is 豪鬼, which as you can see uses that exact same 鬼. These remarks are reaffirmed by the school principle, and you can see he uses the same character:

Much later, in chapter 411, this will be returned to by Don Kanonji, who in Japanese uses the same 鬼 as well:

Back in chapter 42, while defending Orihime, we get Tatsuki giving boss dialogue:

In Japanese, while laughing maniacally she specifically says, もラと強いの出てこいやア, which means something to the effect of "Please send me a strong one." This is not unlike a lot of Akuma's quotes, especially: "Weaklings! Is there no one worth fighting?"

What is especially interesting is that Akuma came into existence at least in part because of a hoax of a character named Sheng Long. You might know that name from Dragon Ball, and Shenlong is a mythical Chinese dragon. This is pertinent as the "tatsu" part of Tatsuki's name, 竜, specifically means "Chinese dragon", and is often rendered "ryū". While there is obviously also a character of that name, Ryu, who is also an enemy of Akuma and also struggles with the Satsui no Hado in the form of Evil Ryu, Tatsuki's continued association with the "devil" and her other symbolic linkages with dragons make Akuma the more appropriate connection, in my opinion. (This is doubly amusing as she physically resembles Sakura.)

What is most interesting about this connection though, is her mention of Tekken in chapter 424:

This is one of the only named product references in Bleach, if not the only one. But it gets stranger.

We know for a fact that the Xcution/Lost Agent arc is happening in April of 2003. Tekken 4 was released on PS2 in Japan on March 28, 2002. Tekken 5 would not be released until March 31, 2005. Although there is apparently an error in the translation here (it's more like, "The next one's coming out, so if you don't return it soon, I'll have a problem"), there is no actual conceivable reason for her to need it back as the next game wouldn't come out for almost two years.

Maybe this is just another error by Kubo. However, there's another possibility.

This chapter came out on November 8, 2010, after a brief hiatus following the end of the Aizen Saga. Earlier that year, on July 24, Tekken X Street Fighter and Street Fighter X Tekken were announced. And who has continued to appear in Tekken since then (most recently in Tekken 7) and refused to stay in his own universe?

Akuma.

I submit to you that Tatsuki's mention of Tekken, so soon after the real life announcement of a Tekken and Street Fighter crossover, yet so far from the release of a Tekken game in the manga's internal chronology, is a fourth wall-breaking reference to real life events made to draw attention to the jokes associating Tatsuki with Akuma, and not supposed to make us think the Tekken series had a completely different development and release schedule in Bleach's reality.

You are supposed to think of Tatsuki as a fighting game boss. And of course you are, as chapter 68 told us:

The imagined version of her opponent has a similar hairstyle to Karin, rival of Sakura, but a much more monstrous physique. That Tatsuki can compete at all, or do any of this at a meager official weight of 41 kg and such a thin build, let alone a broken arm, comes back to her implicit Satsui no Hado. This then goes a long way toward explaining her durability, as I've covered before.

While you can assuredly plainly see that she is something of a compilation of Street Fighter references, I think that Akuma is the strongest of these for the reasons I've laid out. (Another way of saying this might be that she looks like Sakura, and dresses like Ryu, but is truly most like Akuma.)

[pandamintcats]

FINALITY - The End of A Beginning

The line between the light and the dark is so thin. Now, I am that line? I never asked but here I am. They say to become a Guardian you must show devotion, bravery, sacrifice and... Death... It's funny how I don't remember me, the life I had before this. I was chosen, but why?

I remember when I thought the light was my only guide. The enemies I once sought to destroy have become my greatest allies... Friends. The force that destroyed me has given me hope... [Laughs] I never knew the universe was a comedian.

The light, the dark, the gardener, the winnower... So different yet so same. I was fool, blind, naive... I was led by my eyes and not my heart. I think I see now but I am blinder than I ever was. I stand here, troubled but joyed that this war may finally be over. I am no fool that wars can never end, but I would die knowing I ended one so the youth may live.

I am no defender of the light or fighter of the dark. I am a defender of Humanity. I am a Guardian forged in light, given a power to survive and took a power to protect. I am not division between paracausuality. I am just human who has forgotten the bitter taste of death. Now it grips me but I will not fear.

The coming days draw nearer but I will not quiver. I have dove into the Dark below, dinned with the House of Wolves, taken the Taken King, risen like the Iron Lords, been forsaken by my greatest allies, walked between the shadows, leaped beyond the light, killed the Witch Queen, watched my light fall and now I will stop the Final Shape. I was chosen to protect and I will even if I breath my last breath.

I shall Become Legend.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finally did it. I did my first ever fan-art for a video game and for Destiny.

The Final Shape Trailer came out a few days ago and I ran almost immediately out of my mind. I didn't start the game early but I always knew about it and now I'm here God willing, watching it's first saga come to an end.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be among other guardians in this war. I really wanted to be but I currently can't until maybe later next year or if the game decides to be nice and go on sale during my next summer🤣. I can't be affording such right now so I might as well empower other guardians to fight for me. I'll be around Sol in the crucible or most likely Gambit helping however I can and with this poster art, I think I've done enough😂.

Destiny has come so far from when I first ever saw it. It's like watching a child grow. Ironically it's not even my favorite game but it has a special place in my heart. I don't want to rant anymore so I'll just cut to the chase. I wouldn't be posting any new art for some time... I'd be having exams soon but I would post the light version of this before the Final shape release. Well, that's all from me guys. I am extremely proud of myself and the game.

Eye's up guardians!

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