#i'm just starting season 2 so no spoilers pls

[chambergambit]

so.... do Horse and Rider just... call each other that? did Rider not give her Horse a name? is "Rider" just Rider's name?

[lunarriviera]

yet another shen yi meta [uts2 spoilers]

hi hey hello everyone i continue to be tormented with obsessive thinkings about s2 Shen Yi so i must holler about them/him some more, feel free to stop reading if you have not watched through approximately episode 11 which is where i still am. it's taking me longer to watch because i keep pausing to rewind/screenshot and/or weep in anguish about Him and What He Is Going Through. and how NO ONE IS PAYING ATTENTION. or insufficient attention. cf. Ryan Gosling in the Papyrus sketch screaming WELL IT WASN'T!! ENOUGH!!

[more. much more. behind the cut]

let's start here, with shen yi's artwork. in this scene he competed with AI to paint a chosen image and, surprising exactly no one, he won, partly because he's brilliant but tbh mostly because AI art is garbage and always adds dolphins, rainbows, and hands with six fingers.

but here's the thing: is no one going to question this? does anyone think to themselves "ah yes, shen yi is absolutely the BEST person in the world to make a painting in 30 minutes that depicts, quote, a lonely man on a beach." so here is this miserably hunched, despairing figure, surrounded by murky howling early-picasso blue, LOOKING IN FACT QUITE A LOT LIKE SHEN YI HIMSELF—even dressed like him (in the snowy white and dainty pastels he seems to favor this season)—and not a single person thinks: huh, wonder if this guy's okay?

in fact s2 seems to be repeated evidence of the fact that shen yi is Very Much Not Okay, and yet no one is really paying attention. he supports everyone else emotionally and they all seem to assume he either a) has no emotional blowback to deal with, or b) can deal with it himself unaided somehow. (through painting, maybe? but have you seen what he's painting lately? e.g. monstrous abusive parent figures, in some kind of breathless fugue state during which he can psychically hear lines from someone else's traumatic childhood?) he goes to li han's house to help her, which is so like him, and he says:

oh! you might think. well, maybe he will self-disclose a little? tell li han about some of his own personal difficulties that he's had to overcome, just to bond with her, get her to open up? HAHAHA ARE YOU NEW HERE, of course he doesn't, he just listens to her while she sobs out her tragic backstory, gives her a tissue, relates her struggles to a vaguely terrifying metaphor of his own device about a sealed room filling up ineluctably with floodwater, then smiles and takes her out for pizza. (totally unrelated but wow the product placement is heavy-handed this season. xiaomi! pizza hut!)

since we're talking about the li han case, consider this moment, too, when he interprets someone's house-person-tree drawing. does no one ever think, "for someone who talks constantly about love and connection, how interesting that shen yi has no family, refuses to date in very pointed and deliberate way, and lives alone with a cat."

shen yi knows all about love! never shuts up about love! constantly dispensing bromides about what real love should be like! and wakes every day ALONE from horrific guilty nightmares ft. creepy small girl in blood-red dress, pls will no one help this man pls he's drowning.

couple more bits and then i swear to god i'll shut up i'm starting to feel really stupid. but first consider this little story, in three parts:

"an image of despair" um okay well…technically it's just a dead body, albeit after a fairly grisly stabbing, but sure go off i guess

2. du cheng: wow even for you that was unusually poetic and weird

3. also du cheng: back to investigating the murder i guess [wanders away]

this kind of thing happens again. and again. either no one notices assorted horrified/devastated expressions on shen yi's face (in the way of classic extradiegetic reaction shots, where the camera sees them—we see them—but none of the characters onscreen do) or, when du cheng does notice, he's immediately distracted by his actual job, and/or the fact that he doesn't really know how to help his partner, because lbr he has all the emotional intelligence of a pony.

one more mini-story in three parts, and then i really will put a sock in it:

shen yi: why, what did i do. why are you looking at me like that

2. du cheng: bc you just lied your whole entire face off with alarming unsettling proficiency, since when are you that good at being dishonest

3. shen yi: hehe

in an earlier episode we also saw shen yi shouting at a suspect in the interrogation room, so convincingly that afterwards du cheng admits, you scared me. lol! says shen yi in carefree manner, i learned that from you! haha! agrees everyone, and they go about their business.

but ghastly things keep happening to and near him. at least once per episode, shen yi makes a face like this, because people are jumping off cliffs in front of him or abruptly smashing things with hammers or just lashing out with all kinds of antisocial behaviors in his vicinity:

to be fair, he has other expressions. for instance he also repeatedly employs his patented creepy ruthless smile, of the "i am going to fuck you up" variety, an expression reserved especially for criminals:

as well, i'm also leaving out all the ridiculously adorable/domestic scenes with him and du cheng, in which they share candy, roast each other about assorted nonsense, briefly co-parent a child, and, you know. are just generally disgustingly married. but that's a different meta.

also, admittedly du cheng does SAY things. he says, "are you still having trouble sleeping," he says "do i not care about you?" and "don't push yourself so hard" and "if you run into troubles, don't try to take them on alone." (i am sparing you all these screenshots since this is a meta about shen yi but trust me i have carefully accumulated every single shred of evidence in which du cheng is protective.) but, as frequently as du cheng expresses concern, he also just keeps clapping shen yi on the shoulder in a brotastic way and then strolling out. which i fear is just not going to be adequate. ("i don’t think this is literally papyrus. maybe that was the starting point but they clearly modified it?" "well whatever they did, IT WASN'T!! ENOUGH!!")

i leave you with two final images of shen yi, seen here continuing to be very much Not Okay, and to quote the bernie meme, i am ONCE AGAIN ASKING YOU, drama, is anyone going to care enough about this man to stop him going over the edge of the cliff with Evil Art Critic Eugenicist Moriarty Weasel Man? because he will, he will do it. because he's lonely and he's misunderstood and he's—

[cane comes out and drags me offstage]

[swisslerr]

Professor X is coming to Fortnite [THEORY]

Before I get into this. This is just a THEORY and my delusions, so please don't take this so seriously. I made this for funsies. I'm gonna try my best to explain this!!

[CAUTION] SPOILERS FOR XMEN 97'

On March 20th 2024, Xmen 97' got released and later in the eps, we can see that Prof x came back. With the return of him, I believe that he would play some kind of important role in season 2. For this we might get a Professor X skin.

After 4 months->

We all know that Magneto got released in the fortnite battlepass on July 2nd 2024.

As a teasing for more Xmen skins and the Marvel season coming to Fortnite. In his game description "Master of Magnetism, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants and one time friend to CHARLES XAVIER." Which might indicate, that Professor X is coming to Fortnite.

Later at the end of July (27th July 2024) came the Deadpool and Wolverine bundle to Fortnite for the film Deadpool and Wolverine. August 10th came 2-3 Xmen bundle 1. (the newest one) which includes: Julibee, Cyclops, Colossus. With other xmen bundle. I think, there were 2 old xmen bundles that returned (As far as I can remember. I can't find a web where it shows fn shop history). Rogue and Gambit as a bundle and Domino, Cable and Psylocke as a bundle (both old bundles) and with the return of Jean Grey (telepath) in the shop. On the 15th of August, the 2nd season of Marvel got released. In the battle pass, Emma Frost (telepath) and Peelverine (wolverine) got added into fn.

Fortnite has a lot of xmen related skins on fortnite (if someone is missing then pls inform me!!):

X-23, Wolverine (new), Wolverine (battlepass), Peelverine

Emma frost, Dark Phoenix, Magneto, Jubilee, Cyclops, Colossus, Rogue, Gambit, Deadpool (and all his variants), Meowtooth (Sabretooth), Mystique, Storm, Cable, Domino, Psylocke

We have 3 telepaths in game (psylocke, Jean, Emma). Why shouldn't there be a Professor x skin? He's literally the OG xmen, the founder of xmen and a well known character in the Marvel/X-Men community. A lot of ppl grew up watching the xmen series/movies and definitely know about prof x.

Timeline & Prediction of his release

I do not know for sure, what Marvel will do in 2026 with xmen. But it's rumored, that a xmen film will be released.

His skin will probably release after the X-Men 97' S2.

"But how is fortnite gonna add him into the game??"

I'm pretty sure that fornite can figure it out themselves. They are literally a million dollar company.

I have a few ideas how they might add prof x in the game.

1. Krakoa Professor X

The obvious one being Krakoa Charles. This is literally perfection, an amazing skin for Professor X. If they were to add this version of Professor X, I think they would want to add Krakoa Magneto too, as a bundle together.

We have seen adaptation of this version in game. For an example: Contest of Champions and Future Fight (mobile game).

They can also add the cerebro sword as Charles's pickaxe in game.

They can also add for both of them the krakoan Flower pot and that one tea pot (idk what's it called again correct me if I'm wrong), which Magneto used in POX, as their backbling.

Problems that might appear:

"Magneto already has a skin in the game. Why would they add him again?"

I'm pretty sure that fornite has added variants of skins in game. For an example: Deadpool [Deadpool pen & ink, Cuddlepool, Fishpool, ...]

"Didn't the krakoan age come to an end? Why would they want to add the skins?"

Yes, it did. I'm pretty sure that fornite has added Marvel comic skins, on which the series already ended.

"They wouldn't make much money off it"

I think that they would make a lot of money. Since the release of the new movie Deadpool and Wolverine, a lot of ppl (including myself) starting to get into Xmen and are interested in the comics. Most ppl recommends the krakoan age for newer xmen fan, who's trying to get into xmen comics.

In 2019 Marvel has sold 185,630 copies of HOX/POX.

Mind you that it was only in 2019, we do not know for sure. How many copies they've sold at the moment and there are many ppl reading it on marvel unlimited or on some illegal web.

2. Young Charles

(When he first met Erik)

Or

This version (idk if he's young in this one or not and what version this is. Pls inform me if you do!!)

3. The OG Professor X

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS VERSION OF HIM IN FORTNITE💔💔

Fortnite is adding anything BUT Professor X. I FEEL ROBBED

Personally I don't want to see a skin of James Mcavoy as Charles Xavier. I can not imagine Charles with hair, I'm sorry😭😭 I would feel disappointed, if James Mcavoy as Charles get added into the game. I would still buy it regardless. 😓

Anyways that's all!!

[fwitolei]

The Dragon Prince Thoughts 6x08 - We All Fall Down

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Spoilers under the cut

Omgg i’m so scared—

AHH

And it starts

Omg sol regem banging into the towers and stuff too this is wild

OH NO THEY’RE TRAPPED

Shit—

OH SHIT

SOREN NO—

Plsbeokayplsbeokayplsbeokayplsbeokay—

HE’S ALIVE WHOO

Omg babeee ur bleeding—

Now he’s really gonna have a scar like corvus

“Get everyone out”

See he learned from the pyrrah incident in s2 he’s prioritizing the people now that he’s not in the whole “xadia is evil” mindset

Hey wait where’s he going—

“Take good care of Hat.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??

SOREN—honey—wHaT aRe YoU dOiNg—

WHAT

AARAVOS IS CONTROLLING PHAROS—

Is this cuz the dark magic infection thingy

Omg viren’s been in there for a long time lmao—

“You have your other way! Dark magic!”

Notice how soren said “your other way” as if he still doesn’t condone it, but he knows it’s the only way to save everyone

Dark magic is so nuanced in situations like these like yeah it’s last resort but if you’re someone who hates it with a passion and then you end up needing it what are you supposed to do

Do you give up your ideals for the greater good or stand your ground and risk disaster

That’s why i love this show so much there’s no clear bad guy

“Take my heart.”

SOREN N O

S T O P

NO

I mean what else is he supposed to do yeah but STILL—

N O O O O O O o o O omg pls—

No not soren

Omg i’m so scared not soren PLEASE—

I’m actually gonna cry if he dies please no—

OH MY GOSH IS VIREN USING HIS OWN HEART—

GAHHH I CAN’T TAKE IT

Just as i forgave him too—

GAHH NO it’s the way he’s ACTIVELY DYING while doing the spell to the point he can barely say the incantation 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“I am a… servant.”

This scene pretty much speaks for itself idrk what to say

This shit is sad like fuck—

“My dad! I need to find my dad!”

CLAUDIA NO

Oooomg she’s gonna lose it if she finds him

Full azula mode

“What happened to your beloved mate who disappeared?”

If he says he ate her imma pop off—

Who even is aithne solaire? Was she mentionedin something?

“In your fury, you buried her.. Alive.”

WHAT THE FUCK—

Like actually???

Not the way aaravos just dies laughing after dropping the darkest most depressing truth bomb ever—

OMG HE ATE PHAROS

“Choke on your own pride.”

HOW THE FUCK IS HE CHOKING ON A TINY LITTLE ELF

Oh my gosh—

This is just brutal

i'm terrified of choking too so it's that much worse

AND HE CATCHES ON FIRE—

“I don’t think you should see him like this.”

Ugh i love terry for being so considerate after everything she’s done

Like yes save the last of her sanity while she still has it

This episode is hard to watch—

The voice acting is impeccable tho like give claudia’s va a raise

OH SHIT SHE FOUND THE PEARL—

Lujanne giving no fucks about the crown is the funniest thing

But wtf is she talking about the diamond don’t tell me it’s fake—

“Her dad just died. Can’t she just take a moment to grieve?”

FINALLY Terry’s talking sense like shit aaravos at least give her a minute—

I KNEW IT

I FUCKIN KNEW IT

VIREN’S STAFF HAS A QUASAR DIAMOND

I literally said it like 2-3 episodes ago too

WAIT THAT MEANS—

“I can only save two of them.”

Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me—

Alright y’all it’s a wrap. Katolis is gone, viren is dead, aaravos is getting out, it’s a whole ass shit show. Ooooooomg i’m scaredddddd. Especially when callum finds out the real pearl was in katolis all along, i guarantee you he’s gonna spiral like he did in kosmo’s vision. This episode was really hard to watch, I was surprised, but in a good way. One more episode to go, then season sevennnnnnnnn whoooo

Time to cry :D

[mangogoop]

!!!DRAGON'S RISING S2 PART 2 SPOILERS!!!

(i don't want to spoil people who didn't watch the early release and want to wait until it officially comes out so don't read if no spoil)

Okay so I have many thoughts about the rest of this season but we are mainly going to focus on jay (cus i want to)

WHAT I LIKED (my opinion):

- how he joined Ra's and that he owes it to him since he 'saved him from the administration' amazing great love it chef kiss. Loved the reveal of it with jay turning around and the ninja responding with 😮

- Him losing to Nya in the fight. To be fair I would've loved it either way but i like it specifically because it gives Jay a reason for hating Nya (due to him failing Ra's) so potential for angst in the future

- Nya's 'i love you' to jay and then him responding 'and i hate you' hit me like a fricking brick love it

- Ra's saying to Jay 'i didn't save you to fail' (or something along those lines i don't remember BUT STILL) good line makes me feel bad for my boy. Because like Jay wanting to repay Ra's but failing making him feel weak and not useful and AH it hurts but we love the angst

- Jay being a menace. The shatter spin definitely adds to this cus I want the writers make me not like what this character is doing, hate his actions. And his attitude is a good place to start so hopefully he will start doing some messed up stuff in the future

WHAT COULD'VE BEEN BETTER (in my opinion):

- The portrayal of jay's power. I feel like him doing the shatter spin then immediately losing to Nya making him not really be portrayed as a threat at all (which makes me sad cus he's powerful pls he is). I'm not saying he shouldn't have lost to Nya but maybe make him show his strength in some other way (through another fight or training beforehand but he's not recognized by the ninja so the shock of it being jay is still there).

- How long he was on screen......we got like 5 minutes of jay AH. pls like i felt that through the posters for the rest of this season I got the impression he was going to play a huge role (aka be in more than 1 ep). That may just be me but i feel like they kinda just discarded jay and were like ya thats it he got sent somewhere else now lol. Like huh??? where he go???

- Again this may just be me but i'm not always the hugest fan of 'explains aloud during a fight where this character has been'. Like cus why would he do that, tbf it is Jay and he would explain in middle of a battle 'oh ya btw this is what i've been up to'.

WHAT IM HOPING FOR THE FUTURE (MAYBE):

- jaya angst (this is given shall i say more)

- more jay screen time. PLSPSLSPSSPSLSPSLSPLS

- Arin and Jay friendship. I can talk about my thoughts on Arin's journey in this season later because I rlly like the direction he's going so i'm hoping interactions with them are to come.

- Jay being actually portrayed as a threat. Have him win a fight please

- Maybe angst to come from how the other ninja speak of jay. for example earlier in the season (or season 1 i don't remember) when they described jay they kinda portrayed him as the worst/weakest ninja (i will need to find the clip of what they exactly say later but i believe that's what's implied). I believe that the ninja being like 'oh but we're your family we love you' and jay responding like 'bro nah y'all see me as weak wth you don't love me'. I think it could be fun

Overall, like any season there are parts I liked and parts I didn't, I'm just hoping we have more screen time for our boy jay in the future 🫡

[guess-ill-dye]

VINLAND SAGA POST PART 2

( part 1 here )

Spoilers for vinland saga (anime season 2 events and the rest of the manga)

After the whole guest situation (again pls do not read this if you haven't read part 1) Thorffin goes back to his wheat field and when they need a horse for the work they meet an old man who helps them (not very important for the analysis I'm doing but he will be later). They (Thorffin and Einar) then manage to plant wheat on a small part of the field, where they had already taken out the trees (it was a forest initially), and go to help the old man do his house tasks (he lends them a horse it return, so no slave work ig)

While Thorffin and Einar are fixing the old man's roof he says this

He says that without his hatred (what fueled him to stay alive) he has no other desires , and that he knew nothing else but war. He also no longer hates Askellad, bcs let's be very honest Askellad likes Thorffin and that flashback panel is Thorffin realising that (imo).

Then the old master asks then to fish for them and

The bottom panel is very, very important, I think. You can't pour water into a cup full of juice. You take out the juice, wash the cup and then pour water (this is a metaphor I am aware you can just keep pouring water and the juice will come out, but then again, which on is easier and wastes less water?).

Thorffin in this moment is an empty cup waiting near the dishwasher, about to be washed.

After that (the next day if I remember right) Thorffin and Einar are heading for their wheat field to check on it and find that it has been destroyed by the farmhands, who thought slaves didn't deserve to work the same as them. While Einar's reaction is rage and revenge, Thorffin suggests they instead talk to Patel (the person responsible for helping them) and when Einar trys to go regardless he talks to him

THIS SPEAKS LEVELS ABOUT THORFFIN'S EVOLUTIONS AS A PERSON. When he was first fueled by revenge, he now sees that "revenge will bring nothing good" and OMG, THAT IS WHAT HE NEEDED TO KNOW. Then they go talk to Patel, and he talks to the farm's master and when they are coming back, they meet the farmhands responsible for it, and Einat gets MAD and the farmhands story insulting them and then this

Oh my!! Einar is going to punch him!! They are going to be punished, after all, they are slaves attacking free men!! And then

THIS. (not what I am here to talk about but the art, the movement, and if you scroll back to the last image you can SEE Thorffin coming in front of Einar, which I only noticed now tbh AND IT US PURE ART PERIOD. )

Thorffin, who a while ago seemed so eager to peace and non violence punches the guy. Why? Why?? Because (imo, I can't say this is right bcs I myself have no very certain theories) he

1. knew Einar was going to do it anyway and wanted to take the blame and spare him

2. he was going to do it better (his jaw dislocated alr, that was a GOOD punch)

And after the punch it is this

His face. His eyes (look at them reaaaal close). Rage. Perhaps a sense of accomplishment. Also the fiery effect coming from him, that makes it very clear: he was ANGRY. Then he realises what he did, and the Japanese characters next to him are not translated but they spell "hata" (I've been learning Japanese so I didn't use a translator, so pls tell me if it's wrong bcs I am trusting my gut rn) which if you say that with the expression he has (go ahead say it ("ha" as in "ha-ha-ha" and "ta" as in "tartar)) you can realises that was a "oops" kind of thing, and was him realising that he did in fact punch that guy and that would have consequences. CONSEQUENCES. His violence had consequences. That's an important idea to, at least for me.

As the farmhands fight back, Einar starts, for short, to beat them up, and one of them knocks Thorffin out while he was trying to warn Einar to do nothing (reason no. 1 why he punched the guy), and as he is knocked out he sees this

THIS LADY is a woman he met in England while he was with Askellad, and she saw him wounded, took him in, fed and clothed him and combed his hair and then he had to carry on his work of giving a signal to the rest of the vikings to attack the village, not without telling her to run away. AND SHE DOESNT. SHE GOES AFTER HIM AND SEES HIM KILLING MEN WHO WERE AFTER HIM AND

They just... look at each other. It is that same face (artstyle changes excluded ofc, I'm talking abt the expression) that looks at him while he falls. A face of someone who lived him and treated him like a son. Someone who he cared for. Someone that, a few pages ahead, he seems not too bothered with, but that did bother him. She was NOT a faceless death (her death is hinted at the end of the chapter, with a broken comb). This is oh so important, and I know I say everything is important but it is. It is.

TO BE CONTINUED!!! I'll try to update this, it takes a lot of time!!

REBLOGS GREATLY APRECIATED

also please someone talk to me abt this

[rafesbabyg1rl]

Hey girl pls do me a favor and GIVE ME ALL THE SPOILERS. So weird but i refuse to watch past season 2 bc ik id get so obsessed w the obx universe so its not good but i need to know what happened w rafe n sofia and who and why jj died PLS I BEG

SPOILER ALERT!!!

OBX SEASON 4 (pt.1 &2)

First of all, thanks for being my first ask!!! You have no idea how greatly I appreciate the support and attention I've received within the past 24 hours! I wish you could've seen the smile on my face when I received this anon ask.

Babe, I wish I was as strong as you, I'd be SO much happier if I stopped watching at season 2. But I'm literally addicted and have to watch the new episodes the second they come out. Part 2 of season 4 was so chaotic and DEPRESSING!! Like I already know rewatching the show will NEVER be the same. I'm also curious how season 5 will go now that JJ is DEAD.

I'm not completely sure whether or not you wanted spoilers for the entirety of season 4, or just part 2. But, seeing as I already over-explain enough as it is, I'll just give you part two spoilers.

The following will contain outer bank spoilers for season 4 part one and two:

In episode 6, we learn more about JJ's past (his real parents). Basically, Chandler Groff (JJ's real father) gave JJ (real name Jackson) to Luke Maybank after or just before JJ's mother died. Because Luke worked for the Genrette's and was somewhat close to JJ's mother. Also, in this episode JJ only tells Kie about what happened because he doesn't want the others "even thinking he's a Genrette."

We get TWO Rafe scenes in this episode. AND LET ME JUST TELL YOU HOW SCRUMDIDILYUMPCIOUS HE LOOKS!!!!!!! He just looks so OLDDDD and so handsome, he's also giving majorrrrr dilf vibes and I'm so here for it.

In his first scene, he's meeting with Sarah. Since Kie tells Sarah that Rafe came by and offered to help (with what they though was the land situation) but, what he really wanted to talk about was money. Rafe wants to work with Sarah to get Wheezie back from Rose, since Rose wouldn't allow either of them to even SPEAK with their youngest sister. He proposes that after they get Wheezie back, they get their inheritance. After Ward "died" the first time, he left a quarter of his money to Rafe, and a quarter to Sarah. Neither of them had received their money since Rose clung onto it, keeping all the Merchant Gold money for herself. Rafe appears a bit distraught and emotional as he talks to his sister. Sarah of course gets emotional as well and leaves abruptly, only saying that she's sorry but she can't do this. I felt soooo bad for my baby after this, it was clear that he was trying to rebuild their family, but he was scared to truly show how much he cares, and Sarah crushed him within seconds.

The pogues have no other option now but to round up as many people from the cut to attend court with them and provide support as they try to keep poguelandia from being taken. When things don't go their way per usual, JJ flips out and starts a riot in the courthouse. All the pogues help him escape the cops. JJ starts absolutely destroying shit on figure 8. I think this is him clearly crashing out after finding out his piece of shit, abusive father isn't even his real father, and that his actual parents are a murderer and a dead lady. To help JJ, Pope punches a cop that's about to shoot JJ and gets arrested. Oh, and while at court, Luke made an appearance, something about him being the previous owner of the property and signing some paper that helped the kooks. Trading his signature for his freedom (since he's a literal fugitive and all).

Sofia has a small scene where she's at work but calls Hollis on the phone and demands to meet with her, feeling wrong about their arrangement.

The second scene with Rafe is when he goes and meets with Chandler Groff about the deal he made with Hollis in the last part. In this scene, he calls Sofia his girlfriend. Rafe mentions that his girlfriend thinks the deal is a big hoax and he contemplates canceling the wire money transfer. But he decided against it, agreeing to stay in the deal with Groff and Hollis. He tells Groff that if he screws him, he'll come after him. This was very season 3 of him. AND RAFE LOOKS SO OLD AND SCRUMDIDLYUMPTIOUS. HE GIVES OFF DILF VIBES SO STRONGLY IN THIS SCENE.

Episode 7 starts off with some more of JJ and Chandler Groff talking. JJ happens to go over to see Groff on Goat Island at the wrong time, and he ends up caught up in Groff's crap. Pope spends a night in jail, being released the next day with an ankle monitor and a trial date. Pope was told he must reside at home with his parents, and he's not allowed to see or talk to any of the pogues until after his trial. So pretty much in this episode all Cleo and Pope do is sneak around trying not to get caught talking to each other. And in this episode, Heyward introduces the idea that Pope must go into the military for a few months rather than go to jail.

The rest of the crew (Sarah, John B, and Kie) follow JJ's trail of destruction in order to try and find him. Meanwhile, Sarah splits off to take a PREGNANCY TEST. Of course it's positive, because the writers literally add every single fan theory they come across or something like that. Kie basically walks in on Sarah and sees the test, Kie has quite a few negative things to say. Sarah seems upset as she asks Kie if she has anything positive to say about the situation, in which Kie tells Sarah that she'll be an amazing mom and, John B loves her and will be an "all-right dad", the final thing Kie tells Sarah in this scene is that she has all of them to help. Sarah intends to tell John B, but the timing is horrible, so it stays between her and Kie for a bit.

Sofia finally meets with Hollis to discuss the agreement they had (Hollis getting Sofia to nudge Rafe towards making the deal on Goat Island). The scene is short and despite Hollis' reassurance that the deal is real, all this serves to do is make Sofia feel even worse about what she did.

JJ spends a lot of time with Groff in this episode, not by choice. And you can tell Groff is starting to tear down some of JJ's defensive walls. My thoughts are that since JJ had a shit father that gave him nothing but a shitty life, he's trying to take the recent news and make something good out of it, something real. And when confronted by JJ in the start of the episode, Groff declines being JJ's father only to admit that he is JJ's dad towards the middle of the episode. Groff only admits the truth so that JJ helps him because he can't get out of his bad situation he's involved in with the mercenaries without JJ's help. After both being kidnapped, Groff tries to frame JJ with the murder of one of the mercenaries instead of admitting to it himself. Luckily, they don't believe that it was JJ. This episode ends with Sarah, John B, and Kie using explosives and fire to help save JJ from Groff's problems.

NO RAFE IN THIS EPISODE!!!!

Episode 8 begins with the pogues--and Groff trying to figure out more about the map and the new treasure (The Blue Crown). Pope gets told he has to go off into the military a lot sooner than he expected...like, right now; which leads into the formation of Pope and Cleo's new club, the "No goodbyes club".

JJ and Groff go out on their own to obtain the 'lens' that will help translate the map from his mother's grave, spending some actual bonding time in the process. It's not as if JJ is purposely trying to get close with to/ bond with Groff, but it just sort of happens. I feel like Groff is doing it on purpose because he wants JJ's help so he can continue to play him. Meanwhile Sarah and John B run an 'errand' (go to the court house to i THINK get married officially after Sarah tells John B that she's pregnant. But, the courthouse is closed because of the damage JJ caused so they decide to try again another day. Kiara stays at poguelandia.

We get ONE TINYYY scene of Rafe in this episode. He's just in the sheriff's department yelling and demanding to talk to Shoupe. He explains how Groff and Hollis stole 400k from him, and Shoupe realizes the guy they've been looking for actually is Groff.

Groff makes JJ be the one to get the lens from his MOTHERS grave. I felt so bad because literally she wasn't even fully decomposed so the only memory JJ will have of his real mom is her rotting corpse. Groff tries to frame JJ again and he locks him in his mother's crypt. Groff goes back to poguelandia and steals the map from them, when Kiara catches onto him he pushes her and causes her to hit her head. When she's literally UNCONSIOUS he locks her body in the shop's cooler. Groff returns to JJ, letting him out of the crypt and acting all innocent and fatherly once again, as if he didn't just lock his son's girlfriend up in a freezer. They stop by Hollis Robinson's house, JJ stays in the car as Groff goes in to talk with Hollis. Hollis accuses Groff of lying and stealing 400k from Rafe, threating to turn him into Shoupe. Groff shoots her and leaves the body. He then takes JJ out on a boat, saying that he'll drop him off. Except of course he doesn't. Groff tries leaving the island with JJ, trying to convince him that they don't need his friends and that they should do this one alone. JJ wants to call his friends, but Groff "accidently" tosses his phone into the water.

The others find Kie and she tells him about Groff, they track the last place JJ's phone was before it lost connection. When JJ calls Groff out for his bullshit, Groff injures JJ and throws him into the ocean. JJ is left alone, only able to back float when the others find and rescue him.

In episode 9, Groff frames JJ for the murder of Hollis Robinson. When the cops find where the pogues have been hiding, they have no choice but to go on the run. They all agree that they have nothing to lose and decide to go to Morocco in search of the Blue Crown. While looking for a boat to steal that can get them to Morrocco, they're spotted by the cops and are forced to run yet again. We get a TINY scene with Rafe while he eavesdrops on the pogues and overhears them talking about needing to find a way to get down to Morocco. Pretty much you see him for 2 seconds and all he does is look good, since he doesn't even make a single sound in this scene.

The next scene of Rafe is with BARRY!!! I WAS PRAYING BARRY RETURNED FOR AT LEAST ONE SCENE THIS SEASON, I missed his fruity ass flirting with Rafe. (Literally this was the one GOOD thing to happen in part 2). But anyway Rafe asks Barry to trade boats, Barry's big ass tuna fishing boat that he apparently has now for Rafe's smaller, flashy, half a million-dollar boat. Barry doesn't want to at first but Rafe tells him that if he doesn't get his piece of shit boat back, he can keep Rafe's boat. And because Barry is like in love with Rafe, he agrees and they end the scene being all silly and flirty like always. Also, Idk if it's just me, but in this scene the way Rafe talks is so off. Why does he sound like that?? And part of it is clearly a voice over but why is he talking so weird? It's like the first scene of him in part 1 of season 4.

That scene jumps right into another scene of baeeeee. It goes from a Rafe and Barry scene straight into a Rafe and Sofia scene. I felt so spoiled lmao. Anyways, Rafe and Sofia are talking outside on a beach (I think it's the same spot he took her in s4 ep5 to talk). Rafe tells Sofia that Groff killed Hollis and took off with his money, he explains that he's gonna track Groff down and get his money back. He stays very vague about where he's going though. Rafe tells Sofia that he wants to tell her something before he leaves (I got all excited watching this thinking he's gonna say he loves her)...BUT THEN HE GOES AND GETS DOWN ONTO ONE FUCKING KNEE IN FRONTOF HER????????????? Rafe fucking Cameron PROPOSING? WHAT?? Sofia tries to say that she has something to tell him too (likely about the arrangement she had with Hollis) but Rafe interrupts her by pulling out a ring, "It was my mom's". ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? Rafe tells Sofia he wants her to have the ring before he left so she knows that they're real. Sofia keeps trying to say that she did something bad, and that it's about Hollis, but Rafe tells her he doesn't care. Rafe admits that there's a lot she doesn't know about him that's far worse than anything she could've done. He says he doesn't care to know what she did and that he wants to be with her. Rafe very clearly is intentionally not saying the real words like husband/wife, married, etc. and I think that's very in character for him. He does say, "If you say "yes", there's no more scraping the barrel, old Pogue bullshit. Okay? I want you...I want you to quit your job, and I want you to...to move in with me. Okay?" And Sofia is crying because, real well and also the overwhelming guilt eating at her from the inside out for what she did to him. This is where RAFE SLIPS THE RING ON HER FINGER!!! Then he quickly gets onto his feet and pulls her up to him and they KISSSSSS for a good, hot second actually. When he pulls away he's all happy and giggly as he gives her keys to his house, putting them in her hands and then wrapping his hands over hers. "I'll be back in a few weeks, all right? Stay at my...stay at our place." OUR PLACE? THIS MAN PAUSED TO CORRECT HIMSELF AND SAY ITS THEIRRR PLACE? Then he literally puts his hand on her cheek and whispers, "All right?" as she sobs. She nods and he says "I love you". I REPEAT, RAFE CAMERON SAID I LOVE YOU TO HIS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! Then they kiss two more times, he mumbles a 'bye' before walking off, only turning to look back for a second when Sofia says, "I love you too". HELLLOOOOOOO????????????????? Babes I was literally in SHOCK. After being deprived of Rafe for nearly two episodes and then getting a Rarry scene and THIS back-to-back?? Shit gave me whiplash fr.

Going back to the pogues, their stolen police boat deflates due to being shot and Shoupe catches up to them. They have no choice but to talk to him. Shoupe mentions the warrant he has for JJ's arrest for killing Hollis. Except this time Shoupe actually uses his brain and knows that JJ did not kill Hollis. He also speaks to Pope since Pope cut off his ankle monitor when he escaped from going off to the military. Shoupe says he has a good idea on what JJ did and didn't do, but he says he has a warrant for both Pope and JJ and need to take them in. This is when Rafe comes out of literal fucking nowhere and says he's just there to save everyone's asses. He tells Shoupe that Groff was scamming with Hollis the whole time and it was most likely Groff that killed her, not JJ. Rafe says Groff probably killed Genrette too and the body that they found (that Shoupe already realized was murdered by Groff). He says that Shoupe could bring in the pogues for some vandalism 'bullshit', or he can get the "big fish", as in Groff. Rafe explains to Shoupe that the pogues know where Groff is and that Rafe can get them there, but "they can't do shit if they're all locked up". Rafe explains to Shoupe that the smart thing for him to do is to let them go that he can solve the crime of the century and keep his job. Rafe throws in an 'added bonus', saying that when they get back and Shoupe's got Groff locked up, Rafe will tell him "what happened last summer on the runway", when Shoupe had found Rafe out on the tarmac. He says he'll tell Shoupe the real story of what happened, because he knows Shoupe wants to know. In which Shoupe replies, "You wanna know what I want to know? I wanna know about another little runway accident from a while back. How bout' that?" Eventually, Rafe convinces Shoupe to let them go and get Groff. Meanwhile all the pogues stand around in confusion at what the fuck is happening.

Rafe takes the pogues onto the boat he borrowed from Barry. But, the pogues say they don't trust him and they tie Rafe up and lock him up in his own ship. Rafe spends practically the entire trip to Morocco tied up and locked away, not getting to have much interaction with anyone. But, when a huge storm approaches, the ship starts to go down. The pogues almost forget about Rafe until they hear him banging on shit and yelling for help, the room he was in starting to fill with water. Pope and others immediately say not to let him out, but Kie being Kie, says "no, he's gonna drown, we have to." And she's the ONLY one that gets up and finds a knife to cut Rafe free.

JJ spends his time on the boat to Morocco in a spiral and constantly drinking, so he's not doing shit when all this goes down. On the boat, John B even tells JJ about Sarah being pregnant in hopes to cheer him up. At first JJ seemed happy but he suddenly and without warning switched back to being negative and says a bunch of crap like how John B won't be a good dad. During the storm John B drives the ship and for some reason Sarah goes to find him, and she gets hit with a wave, and taken into the water. JJ sees this and calls out for her, without thinking (when does JJ ever think) he jumps in after her. John B watches it all play out, watches as his PREGNANT wife AND best friend disappear into the raging ocean. Kiara finds John B and asks where Sarah is, in which John B responds by hugging Kie as she asks where JJ was as well. Rafe comes out and takes in the situation at hand, he shouts for his sister.

The next scene is of John B, Kiara, Pope, Cleo...and Rafe emerging out of the ocean. The crashed tuna boat visible behind them. HOLY FUCK WAS RAFE HOT AS FUCK GETTING OUTTA THAT WATER...THE WAY HE SPIT LIKE HELLO??? Spit in my mouth next please! Despite their efforts, nobody can find Sarah and JJ. The group of 5 well, group of 4 and Rafe (he's literally 4 feet away from everyone else at all times, like he just sits there in silence), wait around for what I believe is like a day before they finally spot JJ and Sarah.

And FINALLY episode 10 begins with all the pogues reconnecting and talking about random stuff while Rafe just like sits to the side.... JJ mentions, (I'm including this bc I feel like it's def foreshadowing) that a good name for a baby would be JJ, because it can go either way. And because only Kie, JJ, and John B know about Sarah, Pope is like "wait what baby?" And then John B and Sarah tell the group, Rafe just kinda looks at Sarah. I'm mad that he didn't say anything or talk to her about it because I KNOW this man is happy to be an uncle. I know he's happy for Sarah and I KNOW he wants to say something SO BAD.

The group make their journey through Morocco, only stopping when Sarah starts to feel unwell. They ralize she probably just needs to eat so everyone except for Rafe splits off and tries to steal food for her. But they get caught and chased, only getting Sarah a little food. After they just get moving again, the cops find them and try to arrest Rafe. When Rafe has to split up from the others, he figures something out, having to call Sofia to help him with something. The pogues and Rafe all get new clothes and try to blend in.

As Rafe is off on his own mission, he comes across Groff, saving him from being killed by others by taking him hostage himself. Groff tells Rafe about the treasure he's after and how much it costs, since Rafe is only worried about getting his money back after Groff screwed him over. Rafe tells Groff that because he screwed him, and then lost his money to the mercenaries, he is now gonna be Rafe's bitch. "And, if you're lucky, I'll give you a little taste on the back end, all right?" And Rafe gets all up close and quiet, "If I let you live." HE DOES THE SEXIEST LITTLE SMILE/SMIRK/GIGGLE HERE??? I love him. I wish he'd give me a little taste on the back end. Groff shows Rafe how to read the map with the lens, so he can get to the blue crown. As Rafe looks at the map, Groff yaps as usual, but when he mentions a 'girl', Rafe AIN'T FUCKING PLAYINGGG. "What girl?" He asked immediately. Groff told Rafe what Sofia did and this just sets Rafe off. He's not sure whether to believe Groff or not. Groff attacks Rafe with a knife, stabbing him in the hand, but Rafe easily gets ahead in the fight. Groff makes it too fucking easy when he stands right in front of a well, which Rafe of course pushes him into and then scream-laughs into. "Checkmate, bitch!" BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL U HE LOOKED SEXY ASF HERE! Then Rafe like whines and groans in pain and I just literally wanna do anything and everything to make bae feel better. Rafe takes the map and the lens, putting it in his motorbike and wrapping his hand up, quickly driving off and leaving Groff behind.

Rafe calls Sofia and she answers all cute like, "hey babe, what's up?". While he's all pissed off and just says, "Is it true, what Groff just told me?" Sofia says nothing. "Is it?" He asks again, nodding when he still gets silence in response. "All right, pack your shit. Get out of my house. God, after everything I did for you? We're done. Done." and he hangs up. BRO I WAS SOBBING. He sounded and looked so hurt I felt so bad. Like UGHHH. But also like literally he said he didn't care to know when she tried to tell him. So like would he have ended things if she said it before he left? Or was it just like a heat of the moment thing? Especially because he didn't hear it from Sofia, and he had to find out from Groff of all people.

The pogues find Groff in the hole and of course he tries to manipulate JJ into throwing him a rope. JJ gets to make the decision on what to do with him, and he just tosses a big jug off water into the well and leaves. As they leave, Groff shouts "JJ! JJ get back here or I'll tear your throat out!" But they don't listen, why would they be scared of a man stuck way down deep at the bottom of a well? As Rafe tries to follow the map and find the crown, the mercenaries find him. They demand the map from him and he submits with his hands in the air. The listens to what they say in defeat. The pogues watch from a far. Cleo says, "They gonna kill him." To which Pope says, "do we care?". JJ adds, "yeah, that's a good question, Pope.". As Sarah clearly struggles with some internal conflict about her brother, the others keep talking regularly. Cleo speaking again, "Yeah, but then they'd take the scroll." Nobody shows any care or remorse for Rafe as they watch him be held at gunpoint. As the mercenaries approach Rafe and threaten to shoot him, the pogues argue about how they're gonna get the map and lens back. While they all pitch their ideas and shut down others, Sarah takes the gun from JJ, causing them all to look at her. "What are you doing? Hey. Woah." Questions JJ. Sarah doesn't respond as she holds the gun up and cocks it, "that's my brother." She says seconds before shooting one of the mercenaries' vehicles, causing it to blow up and be the distraction Rafe needed to get away.

Rafe and the pogues run off into a building as they're chased by several of highly armed individuals. Pope and Cleo stay to guard the door in case they get in as the others run off. Pope has the gun and gets ready to shoot. Since he's never shot anyone before he's nervous, so when he has the chance, he purposely misses his target as he fires 'warning' shots. Cleo and Pope run as they get shot at.

Meanwhile, Rafe continues to run with the scroll and the lens, but John B tries to stop him. Rafe feels cornered and holds a knife out to John B in self-defense. "It's ours", says Sarah, referring to the scroll Rafe clung on to. "It was. I look the shit." He responds. "I bought it for 400k, actually. Okay?" He's clearly panicked as his gaze frantically switches between John B and Sarah. Sarah reminds Rafe that she just saved his life, and he spins to face her, lowering his knife as he talks to his sister. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You did it so you could steal it from me. There was something in it for you. All right? Not to actually help me. I know that." Rafe pants. John B speaks "Rafe we don't have time." Then Sarah speaks again, "We can read that, you can't." Rafe responds to his sister, his voice getting louder, "Why would I help you? Huh? I don't trust you." Raises the knife back up, pointing it at his own sister. "I don't trust any of you. Do you understand?" At this point it's very clear he's panicking from emotion and because he feels trapped. His voice is uneven, threatening to break with emotion, "Dad trusted you. You remember what happened to him?! Do you remember?!" He yells at Sarah. She yells back in response, "Dad died saving my life." Sarah steps cloer to her brother, her voice becoming more raw with emotion. "And you're so eager to blame me for everything, you won't even listen to what happened. Singh's men had me at gunpoint. I was gonna die." She's fighting back tears now, " Dad took those bullets for me. And if he was still around, he'd want us to work together. I know you know that." (GET READY FOR RAFE'S NEXT LINE, CUZ I CERTAINLY WASN'T!!!) His eyes are watery as he looks at his sister, his voice betraying him as it shakes with his words, "No, you're just gonna screw me like everyone else in my life. You...I know you will." Sarah's crying as she interrupts him, "No, no, because I'm all you've got. And you're the only family I have left." (OH MY GOD RAFE IS LITERALLY POUTING RIGHT HERE AS TEARS THREATEN TO FALL DOWN HIS FACE). John B joins in, "She's telling the truth." Rafe sighs as Sarah breathes shakily, his eyes leave her to look around so he can gather himself enough to speak. His voice is soft now as he gives in, "All right. If we uh...if we work together, I...I still get my cut? So." Sarah nods, "yeah." Rafe asks again, "I get my cut?" And this time John B responds, "yeah". Rafe holds the map out to Sarah and you can very clearly see how much Rafe is shaking. Sarah raises her hand to grab the map, but instead it lowers and both of her arms wrap around Rafe. He just stands there for a moment, confused as he takes in the moment. Rafe cries as Sarah holds him tight. The moment of course is interrupted and they split up again.

Going back to Cleo and Pope who are being chased through the buildings. They stop and check their ammo, Pope reveals that he has one bullet left. The mercenaries continue to chase and shoot at them, eventually, Cleo gets shot in the shoulder.

Kiara and JJ team up to try and distract and take down the mercenaries. Rafe staying with John B and Sarah, giving them the map and lens to figure out. And they figure out where the crown is located just as a sand storm rolls in.

Theres a brief clip shown of Groff climbing out of the well.

Rafe tries to climb to get the crown, but he can't with his injured hand. So JJ decides to be the one to climb and get it.

While Cleo and Pope are held up due to Cleo being shot. Cleo tries to grab the gun so she can shoot the man that killed Terance in part one. But she can't even lift her arm. She wants Pope to leave her so she can shoot the man with the last bullet. But Pope being the great guy he is and knowing how important this is to Cleo he takes the gun from her. Pope decided that hell do it, he'll kill someone for Cleo. And he does, he shoots the guy right in the head.

Sarah and John B fight off some of the mercenaries. Kiara and Rafe watch as JJ climbs the large structure in the sand storm to get the Blue Crown. They're running out of time as the mercenaries creep up on them. But, Rafe tells Kie, "You stay here. I'll go down and buy us some time." In which she responds, "What? No, Rafe! Are you crazy? They'll kill you!" Rafe shouts back, "Hey! I'm a killer too! I've got nothing to lose!" And he walks off. In the disguise of the sandstorm, Rafe fights off several men.

JJ finally finds the Blue Crown. Of course he's shouting in excitement, "Long live Poguelandia!" JJ is happy, this means he'll get to save his home. But, he still has to hurry. JJ carefully climbs down the tall structure, immediately meeting Kie and showing off his discovery. Their cute moment is short lived as JJ spots a gun pointed at them. They run again as they're being shot at. And OF COURSE none other than that annoying motherfucker Groff comes out of nowhere and captures Kie, holding a knife against her throat. JJ comes to the rescue, trading the crown for Kie without any hesitation. Groff yaps like usual "You could've stuck with me JJ. Think about what you could've had. But now, you...you get nothing. Nothing." But JJ disagrees, "Nah, I already have everything. And I have everything I've ever wanted. Things that you'll never have. You want the crown? Sure, take it. Take it. I don't want it. Just...let her go." Groff tells JJ to hold the crown out, which he does as they switch, Kiara for the crown. When Kie is back in JJ's arms he reassures her, "I've got you.", as they hug. "It's okay." Kiara mumbles a response, "thank you." As Groff watches the two, he's clearly in distress, "JJ", he speaks. JJ lets go of Kie, keeping her behind him as he turns to face his 'father'. "It's...it's a shame. You and me." JJ has no time to respond as Groff shoves the knife right into JJ's gut. You can hear his flesh squelching and Kiara gasp while JJ groans, looking down at the knife as Groff twists it around inside of him. JJ looks up at Groff as he speaks, "you should have given me...the rope." Groff tugs the knife out, Kiara immediately catching JJ as he falls back.

Groff runs off with the crown as JJ and Kie fall to the ground. All she can say is "it's okay. It's okay." JJ groans and coughs, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, look at me. Look at me." JJ looks in her eyes as she speaks frantically. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay. Let me see it." Blood spreads through the fabric of his clothes quickly. Kiara sits there in front of him, shaking and scared, unsure of what to do or say. "Oh..." She cries, looking at JJ with a knowing look in her eyes. "Don't...don't move." She mumbles. JJ speaks, "Kie." But Kiara continues to mumble, "no...no. It's okay, it's gonna be okay. JJ, please, it has to be." She cries. JJ chokes out a few words, "Hey. Hey. I never told you my wish." (referring to something earlier in the season, he didn't tell Kie his wish because then it wouldn't come true) "What?" She cries. "No, JJ. JJ. It's okay." JJ groans, "I already got it." He smirks as he speaks, knowing these are his last moments alive. Kiara cries as he speaks again, "I already got my wish. Everything I wanted." JJ uses his last words to help reassure Kiara. "No. No, please..." She sobs, shaking her head. "Okay, okay." JJ groans in pain. Kiara beg, "Stay with me, please." JJ looks her in the eye for a moment before speaking softly, "Take care of the others, okay?" But Kiara shakes her head again, refusing to accept that this is really happening. "No, no. It's not what this is." She sobs as JJ speaks his final words, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I love you, Kie." "I love you too." JJ's eyes flutter shut and his head falls back. Kiara shakes his body "no, no, no, no. Please, no. JJ, please. John B! Pope!" She screams. "no...no. no." John B starts to narrate here and it's so fucking sad. There's a whole flashback on memories of JJ and a bunch of sad talk. I can't even describe everyone's reactions. Even Rafe was in shock. They buried him out in the desert, he didn't even get to be buried in his home. And basically it ends with Kiara saying JJ wouldn't sit and do nothing if it had been one of them, he'd get revenge. So 100% season five will be Kie's season.

Anyway, I spent WAY to long and put WAY too much detail into this summary...hope it answers your questions...thank you!! Sorry that this is so long, I can't summarize to save my life.

[mightyfloofy]

Talking a little on the recent mangas I've started reading this week😗✨📚(two of them are new to me, for the others, I've picked up on the manga after finishing their current anime seasons) 💚THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS💚

1) Tomodachi Game:

So i think I've only read up to around 12 chapters or so and it's so good????

The roller-coaster of emotions it's making me have though- like i started loving Tenji with my whole heart and soul then he...disappointed me. Then he earned my trust again- a whole twist.

Yuuichi is a pretty good MC so far. Bro is a cutie.

Sawaragi pisses me off a little. Idk how to explain it though.

Yuutori my girl 💜

Shibe um... 💀💀💀 Yeah. And no i don't dislike him for what he tried to do in chapter 2 or so. I just... He's too dumb.

Also the art?????? Muah

I watched some scenes of the anime in the beginning after i read a couple of chapters and it's...disappointing. Even the animation is wonky.

But just- the art style has me in luvvvv

Manabu-kun keeps on gaslighting, gatekeeping and girlbossing every chapter.

Also, I'm praying for my boy Yuuichi's sanity. At first i was like "Sawaragi, i get hes cute but WHAT do u see in him??" and i see now. My girl has some amazing taste, at least for that.

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2) Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

I've only read 4 chapters but this shit has me ROLLINGGGG

It's so funny pls

The art is also pretty good too. I'm not really a fan of Slice of Life, but this one hits.

Also, pretty boi alert:

My favorite character so far is this guy though:

He's so babygirl ✨✨✨✨

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3) Demon Slayer

So I started reading it right after the events of season 3, of course.

Giyuu's backstory lowkey hit home-

He needs a hug. I won't say more.

Tanjiro is precious, as always, just like Nezukooo (a loud 'Nezuko-chan' came in my and after i typed that)

Oh yeah, Zenitsu:

Me to Shinobu, "Doctor, hes out again"

Nah because he didn't have to chomp Tanjiro's sky wide forehead like that???? 😭😭😭

So i have two volumes of Demon Slayer at home and i gotta say, the art improved and it's nice to have seen it grow. I know it's like this for most mangakas, but here i didnt see a whole art style change or whatever but something becoming finer while keeping that style very present.

The story is at its peak right now, i reached up to the point where Muzan decided to heehee himself in the no-no place for him. (idk how to say this without spoiling)

I'm luving it so far

Also, my husband:

I miss his gorgeous face LAWDDDDD HAVE MERCYYY

Though i already loved him before seeing his face.

I've finally memorised the master's name: Ubuyashiki

It's an achievement.

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4) Blue Lock

Ok i can't add pics anymore but I'm confident most people know what it is without having watched it.

I wanted to share some nice Rin pics but guess it'll be for another time. (yall will be missing out on my man)

So, i picked up from where the first season stops and-

I miss Kunigami. A lot. He was one of my favs 😭😪

Shidou is special (him telling Isagi he'd love to see him explode again got me praying for him fr)

The story has taken a nice turn with the U-20 team rushing things up. I love it but i want to see Sae play already so I'm being an impatient little bug.

The art is MUAH as always. I love the lines added for light shading, ill probably inspire myself off it for future drawings.

Hiori needs to be friends with Chigiri so they can talk about hair products (Hiori is like a short-haired Chigiri with cyan hair. My boy has naturally long lashes (Rin's remain better 💅)

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That's all, folks!

I hope to read even more in the upcoming days and hopefully I'll get to talk about them like i just did above.

Expect headcanons from each of these mangas 💜💜💜

And you can even send me recommendations 😙✨

It's midnight where I am like damn-

Bye byeeeee

[phantomoftheorpheum]

Okay, I got a chance to watch the School Spirits season finale (1x08) and I have so many thoughts and feelings! As usual, I'll be placing them below a cut to shorten the post & to hide spoilers.

Okay. Okay. I literally just finished watching so this is me processing in real time. idk how I feel. Because there are some things I like a lot, but others that I just... I'm not sure. I haven't been convinced.

Let's start with this- I don't love that the entire money/blackmailing scheme seemingly means nothing?? I thought it would at least factor in a little, since we spent so much time on it. The only way it ties in now is that Janet is using the money Nicole stole to get away. I think it's a bit unsatisfying that we get to uncover all these clues & 90% of them just go completely out of the window.

I also don't love that Maddie's "death" ties entirely back to Mr. Martin & Janet. While, obviously, there are still some questions there as to precisely what is happening, I think I would have liked this plot point a lot more if an actual living person "killed" Maddie for a real world reason, but it didn't actually kill her, but the vulnerability of the moment/being injured is what allowed Janet & Maddie to essentially switch places. Then what happened to Maddie has ties to both life & death. And there's still a person out there who did attack/attempt to kill her (and also adds a dimension of them only having some of the info & not understanding what's going on), but there's also this whole supernatural situation going on.

I'm super conflicted about the Janet situation as a whole. While it definitely opens up some interesting possibilities for season 2 (pls, I need it), I am always nervous about anything that potentially makes death less permanent. I've said before that I don't want Maddie to be alive & even with this revelation, I'm not sold on a potential conclusion that would end with her alive/back in control of her body. Obviously this would be a distinct possibility, since it's unclear exactly how/what happened with Janet/Maddie and presumably it could be reversed. I know everyone will feel differently about this, but I personally tend to feel emotionally cheated when I'm asked to invest in a character's death and then it's walked back. So much of this season has revolved around emotionally plucking at our heartstrings, either by having characters hope that Maddie's alive when the audience has been told she's dead (like with her mom & Nicole), or with a character like Simon who is processing knowing she's "dead" & grieving her loss, that I wouldn't want to feel like those scenes exist to get an emotional response from the audience, not because they have weight long term in the story. Like I said, everyone has a different tolerance level for this, and I know mine is pretty low. That being said, I am staying cautiously optimistic that this could go in a really interesting/satisfying direction, if handled delicately.

Ngl, I wish we'd gotten more ghosts in the most recent episode. I just love the ghost characters & would have liked a little more time with them. I also now feel like I need to rewatch & try to figure out exactly when Rhonda became suspicious/found the info on Mr. Martin. I know we saw her in the fallout shelter earlier, but I'm wondering if her "I wanna cross over" thing was entirely an act, or if she only found out later.

Mr. Martin. Okay, what exactly is he trying to accomplish & what abilities does he have? He somehow managed to lock Charley, Wally, & Rhonda up. He's able to make notes and collect objects, even when he isn't interacting with them. Maddie saw him before anything happened to her. It doesn't seem like he and Janet planned what happened to Maddie (at least not in this way) because he yells at Janet not to move when they are interrupted by Maddie and Janet had been yelling for help. Why are there no notes on Janet? What does the "thinning" note that Wally found mean? Thin the ghosts or thin the veil? How is he trying to use this?So many questions here.

I think, given a little time, Simon has to come back around on the idea that Maddie can't just be a hallucination pretty quickly because she gave him info/led him places, etc. that he would never have been able to puzzle out without her help. One of many examples- if Maddie isn't "real" he wouldn't have known Mr. Anderson's phone code. He got that info from Maddie who got it from Dawn.

I actually found myself warming up to Xavier (as a character, not ever again as a love interest for Maddie, to be clear) more than anticipated in this episode. He has made some shitty mistakes, but he does seem to be trying and I have to give him credit for that. Plus, the scene of him, Nicole, & Claire in the truck arguing was genuinely pretty fun.

Loose threads: I know I've brought it up before, but wtf is going on with the social media thing? Was it really accidentally Mrs. Nears? Was it Janet? But how could it be Janet, she didn't have Maddie's phone (I guess she could know people's log ins like Dawn, but why would she do that?), and Janet doesn't actually gain anything by making people think Maddie is alive if she's staying hidden & trying to run away in Maddie's body. I assume the reason she didn't leave town sooner was because she didn't have the means? It's hard to speculate too much about Janet, since we don't know anything about her personality/wants/involvement with Mr. Martin/moral compass/etc.

I'm not surprised that possession became a plot point (Dawn talking about it just seemed too important for it to not), but I wasn't sure if they were going to dive into that with this season or if that was set up for season 2. Obviously it came into play for season 1. Like I said, still processing that.

I do really hope we get a season 2. While there are some elements (particularly the stuff surrounding how permanent death is) that make me a little nervous about things going off the rails, there are so many interesting things (and characters) they could explore & I want to see where they take things. There's a lot of set up for season 2, but also a lot of the mystery/whodunnit elements are currently wrapped up (since we see the scene of Maddie's.... I'm gonna keep calling it "death" because I don't know what else to call it), it feels like we might need another external mystery for season 2.

Anyway, definitely still processing things. More thoughts to come in a bit! Also I still adore Wally & need him to be happy.

[thehusbandoden]

ok hear me out-

mulan!dabi x shan yu!fem!reader

its were dabi was one if the armies greatest fighters but on one battle the enemy manages to take of dabi’s helmet (the rest of the imperial army hasnt seen dabis face before) so after the battle the imperial army kicked dabi out (like how mulan was kicked out) because they thought he was a monstrosity/spy for the hun’s so after he git kicked out he goes to reader for help because they used to be childhood friends but the reader ran away because of the pressure of being a female

ok thats all just pls make it end with them killing the imperial army

and make them get married

and also when dabi and reader meet pls dont make her break down into tears just make her chuckle and comfort dabi when he starts crying

and pls make this a long oneshot

im having mulan brainrot

and no im not a minor i just love mulan

shes my favorite

and i just watched the live action film

A/n: I'm so sorry this took so long 💀

I hope it's worth it though!! I loved this request sm! You're quite creative <33

The Endlessly Cracking Dam -Dabi x Fem!Reader (Mulan Au)

A/n (2): I'm not sure if you wanted a quirkless au or not, but to fit the story better there aren't any quirks. If you don't like that, or there are any other problems feel free to reach out to me and I'll fix them right away!!

General info:

Genre: angst to comfort/fluff // wc: 5,700+ // female reader // requested

Summary: the man called "Dabi" was one of the Imperial Army's best men. Everyone loved him- or did they? Fake smiles and suspicions kept Dabi on his toes, always hiding his face and past. Well, until that darned Hun knocked off his helmet. Zhu Bo, Dabi's all time tormenter, claimed that he was "cursed" and urged their captain to kick him out. But- Dabi just won that battle! Everyone loves him! They wouldn't kick him out... would they? But atlas people are cruel and heartless. Just because of Dabi's patched up face he was kicked out, leaving him and his horse; Mazu, to find there way to the one and only person Dabi could confine in; y/n l/n.

Warnings!: season 6 spoilers, Dabi's background, Endeavor, betrayal, feelings of abandonment, mentions of violence, hint of revenge (aka murder), blood, and animal slaughter (self defense), If any of these are triggering for you anon please reach out to me! <33

The Imperial Army is known to have many strong soldiers. Every soldier has earned trust from him fellow comrades. Battle after battle fighting side by side formed a strong brotherly bond between each, some getting along better than others. And then there was him.

Dabi, son of no one. He was a monstrosity in battle, setting fear in his opponents hearts, and even his own comrades on occasion. Even though he rarely spoke, and kept to himself when the other men laughed and played around, they all respected him, and usually left him alone, as he preferred. He protected their backs in battle, and has saved almost as many lives as he has taken.

He was truly respected and trusted by all.. except for Zhu Bo, their captain's counselor. Ever since "Dabi" showed up, he was immediately suspicious. This man not only had a helmet covering his face, but he refused to give them his actual name, only offering the name "Dabi" telling him to take it or leave it.

He was truly about to tell him to hit the road and come back later with a real name and his face. But, before he could their captain accepted his offer and welcomed him with a huge smile and gleaming eyes. Ever since Zhu has been looking for any reason to get "Dabi" kicked to the curb.

Zhu would sneak around and look for anything ranging between hidden women in Dabi's tent, letters sent or delivered, cheating during training, and he even attempted to take a peak at his face. Not to mention that he reached out to multiple villages miles and miles away, asking for any information on the mysterious soldier. He was desperate.

Well he found nothing.

Women?

The man didn't even indulge in the chattering about a future wife or being in a relationship.

Secret letters?

The only papers in his tent were notes on certain lessons, going over every miniscule detail of his captain's instruction.

Cheating during training?

This man had the audacity to not only do what the captain said, but went ahead and did extra.

Carrying more weight, training for longer, wearing wrist and ankle weights while battle training, woke up early, and stayed up late to train.

A face reveal?

Yeah no, it's impossible. When he's bathing? Always out of sight, usually late at night and away from the usual lake. Eating? He does so far away from everyone else, after everyone else. Sleeping?! If you're lucky enough to catch this "Dabi" sleeping, you'd not only have to stay up into the hours of early morning, but you'd have to be so quiet or else you'll wake the man up and he wouldn't go back to sleep. At all. But, if you do catch him sleeping, he not only has a full coverage face mask, but the only thing poking out is black, fluffy hair, and a part of his hands and feet.

And even in the hundreds of villages Zhu contacted, he found nothing.

Giving up, Zhu decided to resort to trying to convince the captain that he was overly suspicious. And he was starting to make progress! Their captain was watching Dabi a lot more, and even contributed to questioning villages. Zhu Bo will find something, and he doesn't care how long it takes.

~~~

(Dabi's p.o.v; 4:13 a.m.)

The chill of the morning air seeped through Dabi, causing the man to frown as he hurried to get dressed. After tugging on his boots Dabi swiftly attached his sword to his belt, finishing off the look. He always had a full suit of armor on, if any of the soldiers saw his scars.. well they'd think of him as some kind of monster.

The scars that he bore were not humane, and he didn't like seeing them, so who else would? At that thought his mind turned to y/n, his childhood best friend. Oh sweet y/n, she was always there for him. Whenever he needed a break from the horrors of his household she was there, giggling as she brought him to a place to rest, and drown out the world. Sadly, Dabi hasn't heard from, nor seen y/n since he left for war. Dabi just hoped that the Huns hadn't attacked their village, or that she didn't get married. At that thought Dabi let out a growl, ready to fight anyone who tried to take his away y/n from him.

After packing up all of his supplies and his tent Dabi saddled his mare, settling on her back to start making the 10 minute trot to the other tents. Once he got there, there were only a few sleepy-eyed soldiers slowly getting dressed, yawning every minute or so. After nodding solemnly to those who waved, Dabi made his way to one of the wagons.

There were only a few men with horses outside of the captain and Zhu Bo, and those who did had to lend their horse to pull wagons of supplies. Dabi's wagon was to be filled with food supplies, and so he started filling it, keeping in mind that he had to make sure that it wasn't too heavy for Mazu.

Dabi wasn't the kind of guy to have a lot of close ones, or to make a lot of special connections. All Dabi had was his mother, y/n, Mazu, and Nainai.

His mother, who he didn't even speak to anymore was always a support for him growing up. Even though he didn't treat her well she still loved him and tried to help. He will always love and appreciate her, even if she doesn't know it.

You, the girl that he has loved since childhood, and the one and only girl that he would even consider marrying.

Mazu, his companion and friend through thick and thin. His beautiful bay Jielin mare. Mazu has been with him since his Nainai gifted him and y/n her, telling them to be good and to take very good care of her. And that they did.

Dabi took care of her whenever he could get away, and y/n took care of her when Dabi couldn't. She was well cared for and very loved. When Dabi left for war they both agreed that he would take her, but he made a promise to look out for her like he would a comrade, and so far she's been completely safe.

And finally his Nainai. No, the woman was not his actual grandma, but all of his best childhood memories came from sitting in her garden, helping her weed alongside y/n, just talking, or even just listening to her stories. When the old woman asked them to call her Nainai they both willingly agreed, and the rest was history.

Dabi was pulled from his thoughts by the captain making his way over to him, black eyes focused on studying Dabi's wagon.

"Is this all you can fit?"

"If I add anymore it will either be not safely secured, or too heavy for Mazu to pull efficiently." Dabi replied, lowering his head lightly as a gesture of respect.

"Okay. Hook up your mare to the wagon and then get something to eat. You'll need your strength."

"Do you think today could be the day?"

"I do."

Dabi nodded, moving to tie up Mazu as his captain went off to check up on the other soldiers. After quickly eating Dabi moved to spend time with Mazu, lying on her back and he thought back to y/n, the woman who held his every waking thought. Yes, he went to war because he was forced to, but instead of being bitter about it he related it to protecting the people he loved back home.

As he continued to think about his dear friend a frown made its way to his lips. Y/n had promised to write to him, just as he promised to come back to her.

So why hasn't she? She wouldn't have forgotten about him, nor their promise, so that wasn't it. She rarely had problems with her parent/guardian(s), so that wasn't likely either. The only possibilities the Dabi could think of is that either their village was attacked or she got.. married. But she didn't seem to have any interest in marrying anyone when he was there, so what is happening?

"SOLDIERS! WE ARE PREPARING TO LEAVE! HURRY UP, GET READY, EAT, AND GET YOUR BUTTS OVER TO THE CAPTAIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES!"

Dabi hissed at the loudness ringing in his ears as he moved to sit right. Urging the mare forward, Mazu smoothly made her way toward the forming crowd. After settling to the side, Dabi fiddled with Mazu's reins, making sure that they were tight and would fit comfortably in his hands, it would be a long ride after all.

As Dabi kept his eyes straight ahead, he was pleased to see that everyone was energetic today, ranting about their future wife and what qualities she would have. After a while of their ranting Dabi spaced out, mind wandering to his special someone. As he thought back to his y/n the soldiers noticed his huge grin and came over to question him.

"So.. do you have a girl worth fighting for?"

"What does that matter? I'm here to defeat the Huns, not to bathe in the wonder of having a woman 'worth fighting for'."

"Yes yes we all know that you're battle hungry- but come on! You have to have someone! Like when you're exhausted and about to give up but then you think about her, it's important!"

"Unlike you weaklings I actually stay focussed on the battle instead of my silly daydreams."

"Gosh what a killjoy. I guess all those rumors about you are true. Have fun by yourself, loser."

Dabi just rolled his eyes, focussing back on the path in front of them.

~~~

Exhaustion seared through Dabi as his chest heaved, breathing heavily. The sounds of battle echoed in his ears as he looked around, dead bodies surrounding him, blood splattered everywhere. After scanning his surroundings, he rushed to help out a trio of young soldiers, pure fear evident in their eyes as they faced two enemies, the ragged hair and crazed eyes causing them to almost whimper.

Rushing towards them, Dabi swiftly cut down one of the two enemies, much to his comrades relief. Quickly moving toward the last enemy, Dabi dodged a hit last minute, which barely nudged his helmet instead of slashing at his neck. Moving to counter, he missed the fact that his helmet flew off, landing somewhere in the heat of battle. After splashing the Hun down Dabi turned to scold the young soldiers.

"Men! That was cowardly, get yourselves together and get back into battle!" Dabi seethed, not failing to notice how the men whimpered at his scolding, sinking into themselves.

Dabi just scoffed, noticing that one of them was the same man that insulted him earlier. Clicking his tounge, Dabi turned back to battle, pinpointing a fairly injured soilder fighting off four enemies at a time before rushing in, saving the man swiftly.

~~~

Hours later Dabi stood near the middle of the battle field, blood splattered acrossed his torn up armor, yet nothing but a small amount was his. After checking the surrounding area for more enemies, Dabi's shoulders dropped at the sight of none. They won. The Huns were gone.

Staggering toward the crowd of comrades, Dabi couldn't help but grin, focussing on their victory rather than their immense losses. They did it. They really did it.

The men cheered as they pushed each other around, reveling in their victory as many tears fell. Though, it all came to a stop as Zhu Bo stepped forward, black eyes pinning Dabi down with a wicked grin stuck on his face.

"Captain! Captain! Come take a look at this!" Zhu called, grin fading as the captain came into view.

"What is it, Zhu?"

"Look at him! He must have been cursed! Look at that face, he's a monster!"

As the captain pushed past the gathering crowd, his face paled at Dabi's appearance.

"Uh- excuse me? I am no moste-"

"SILENCE!" Zhu spat, glaring at Dabi with dark eyes.

"We'll talk in private, Zhu. Dabi, get yourself cleaned up, are you seriously injured?"

"No Sir."

"Okay, good job out there."

"Thank you, Sir."

After the captain led Zhu away Dabi clicked his tongue, moving to find Mazu before cleaning up.

~

After ensuring Mazu's safety Dabi cleaned up the blood and ate, watching as the other soldier avoided him as if he had the plague.

Typical.

Of course they are, this is exactly what he wanted to avoid.

Everyone always assumed the worst. After the fire incident everyone avoided him, calling him cruel names and telling him that he was cursed. The only one who knew the truth was y/n.

Dabi had told her all about how his father had trained him viciously, going as far as to burn him to the point of these wicked scars. And yet everyone thought that the man was inoccent. But, he really couldn't blaim them.

His father fought in many wars and saved the people multiple times. And yet he was a monster inside. He wed his wife for her family's reputation, and had children for one purpose: war. He always went too far in training and made his children suffer, all for more glory.

Dabi just couldn't take it anymore, and so he dyed his hair and changed his name, before running from home. He stayed with Nainai until the soldiers came.

Dabi was pulled from his thoughts by the captain, Zhu Bo, and an unfamiliar man gliding towards him, faces grim -except for Zhu's grin of course-.

"Dabi, you are being dispelled from the Imperial Army." The unfamiliar man commanded, cold eyes holding nothing but distaste.

"Ca-captain?" Dabi stutterer, hurt and betrayal pulsing through him.

"Dabi, you fought well, and you did us and the people a good service, but.."

"B-but what?"

"We can't risk it. Dabi.. You could be cursed. And I'd rather not take that risk." The captain said, usually warm eyes hardened with a bitter chill.

"I- I saved your butts back there! If it weren't for me you wouldn't have won!"

"Dabi.. just give it a rest."

"But-"

"OBEY YOUR CAPTAIN YOU MONSTER!" Zhu Bo screeched, eyes holding a victorious glint.

"I thought he was no longer my captain." Dabi sneered.

"That's-"

"Silence, Zhu. Dabi, you have an hour to pack up your things and leave."

"You're sick." Dabi sprat, turquoise eyes hardened with anger.

As Dabi turned to leave he couldn't fight off the urge to flip the trio off, causing Zhu to curse him out as he walked towards Mazu.

~~

After gathering both his belongings and enough rations to last him around three weeks, Dabi made his way out of camp and towards his village.

No, he didn't want to be around all of those gossipy villagers, or his family, but he needed y/n. His world was crashing and he just hoped that the dam wouldn't break before he found her.

~~

The next six weeks were spent horse back riding, hunting, and sleeping.

Dabi made sure to keep his eyes on the prize, refusing to even acknowledge the immense hurt that was brewing at the bottom of his chest.

He needed to get to y/n, and he could only hope she wasn't killed nor married, or he would be left alone in this cruel world.

~~

Two weeks later Dabi made it to the village, exhausted, hungry, dehydrated, and smelling absolutely horrible.

Immediately going to y/n's house he doesn't even have a thought about his.. strange appearance and rushes to the l/n resistance.

Swiftly knocking on the door, Dabi's breath caught in his throat as the door swung open.

Looking up at your parent/guardian, Dabi opened his mouth to ask the question he's been dying to ask.

"C-can I see y/n?" He stuttered, inwardly cursing at the rawness of his unused voice.

"Y/n.. I- I'm sorry but she ran away some months back.. and who are you again?"

Dabi's heart dropped.

You.. ran away?

"J-just a friend."

Clutching at his chest he forced himself to exchange a semi humane parting before stumbling back to Mazu.

"C'mon girl.. we.. we need to get out of here."

Treading through the village Dabi felt the dam holding back his emotions crack.

What if he couldn't find you?

What is you were.. gone?

His thoughts were interrupted by a far too familiar face. Panicking, Dabi pressed himself against Mazu, and hopefully out of sight of the villager.

After a few tense moments Dabi sighed. Sitting back onto Mazu, Dabi couldn't help but watch as Natsuo walked away, completely unaware of his older brother behind him.

Dabi chuckled pitifully as he felt another crack form.

He had to find y/n.

~~

(A few hours later; 5:23 p.m.)

After a while of looking and asking around, Dabi found himself in front of Nainai's door.

It was funny, really. He didn't mean to come here. His body has just engraved the habit of going to Nainai for help with anything and everything he needed.

Knocking on the door, Dabi desperately tried to stop the dam from cracking.

He needed y/n when it broke, there was no way he was going to let someone else see him so vulnerable. Not even Nainai.

"Touya? It's so good to see you! What's wrong?"

"C-can I come in for a bit?"

"Of course! Come in, come in! I just made some cookies!"

"Thanks Nainai."

"Anytime Touya, anytime."

~~

For the next hour and a half Nainai took care of Dabi. She found him some clothes that her deceased son used to wear, told him to take a long bath, cooked his childhood favorite food, prepared more rations, and even spoiled Mazu.

When Dabi was done with his soak he had lots of good food to eat, and Nainai did most of the talking, making sure that he wouldn't have to deal with awkward silence or hesitation to reach out to her.

Dabi and Nainai eventually got to the subject of y/n, and Dabi was glad to hear that she had come to stay with Nainai before running off. Nai Nai even had a clue to where she would be- much to Dabi's relief.

"I love talking to you, Nainai, but I really need to get to y/n asap."

"Oh it's alright Dear, I understand. I'll go get you a letter from her."

"A-a letter?!"

"Yes, she gave me one for you, and told me not to open it until you came searching for her. I have kept to my promise, Touya. This letter will be for your eyes, and your eyes only."

Nodding, Dabi's hands shook as he waited for Nai Nai to return.

Y/n.. she was still thinking about him? S-she's safe?

Dabi cursed as he felt the dam of emotions crack yet again.

He really did need y/n.

"Alright Touya. Here's the letter, all I know is that she will be reachable on horseback, and that she's about eight days away."

Nodding, Dabi shakingly took the letter out of Nai Nai's hands, looking at the small envelope in awe.

"Shall we say goodbye here? I expect you'd like some privacy."

"W-why?"

"Love works in that kind of way, I suppose."

"L-love?!"

"Ah yes, the unending denial." Nai Nai smiled bitterly, looking down at her ringed finger in pain. "Now, come give your Nainai a hug and then you can be off!"

After a long, warm, and very comforting hug, Dabi was left alone in his Nai Nai's cozy living room; envelope in hand.

Mentally bracing himself, Dabi tore open the envelope with little care, too anxious to see what was inside to worry about the pretty way you sealed the stupid envelope.

Unfolding a piece of paper, Dabi's eyes skimmed over the writing hungrily, needing your location to stay sane.

My dearest Touya, if you are reading this letter you must be home from war, and I must be gone. I know that you're hurt, and that you're confused at my silence. But trust me, my dearest companion, I tried and tried to reach you, but my letters were always sent back to me. I never received any of your letters, if you sent any. I am safe, and if you'd like to find me you are very welcome to, but I do have one condition. if you are to visit me, you are to always stay with me, locked away where the world can't hurt us anymore. things got too painful without you here, Touya. so if you can, come to me? I will show you a life worth living! If so, follow the instructions on the back of this paper, that is where I lay; and hopefully- where you will too.

Your Dearest friend,

Y/n/n. Or as you like to call me, Doll

Dabi cursed yet again as another crack formed in his teetering dam.

Of course y/n wouldn't leave him like that. She was truly the best.

Hurrying out to the stables, Dabi mentally calculated where he and Mazu needed to go before saddling Mazu and their belongings, and then riding off.

~~~

It had been nine days of riding, resting, eating, riding, and resting again.

Dabi looked like death yet again, and Mazu was pushing her limits.

Due to Dabi's exhaustion, he paid less and less attention to their surroundings, which resulted in unwanted, hungry eyes to find their perfect target.

~~

Dabi glared at the pack of wolves in front of him, eyes full of crazed hatred.

"Wanna dance, muts? Let's dance." Dabi grinned, katana held readily.

Dabi's turquoise eyes never left the vicious pack of wolves as he studied the starving creatures. He might of let them slip into his campsite, but there was no way he was going to let them get past him to Mazu.

Instantly tearing himself from his thoughts, Dabi slashed at the wolf that lunged itself at the solider, leaving a fatal gash on it's stomach. A loud whine set off the rest of the pack, causing three of the seven remaining wolves to leap at him at once.

Slashing the beasts with ease, Dabi held his ground.

A grin splayed across his lips, his exhaustion horrendously miscalculated the wolves damage. Pain shot through Dabi's shoulder as a fallen wolf leaped onto him, landing a fairly decent blow.

Cursing, Dabi stabbed the wolf in the chest, killing the animal.

Turning to the others, Dabi chuckled bitterly.

~~~

(Your p.o.v; 12:22 a.m.)

You sighed as you finished writing another letter.

It has been months since you've last seen Touya.. where could he be? Is he still in war, or did he make it home? Did he decide to stay, or did he find a nice young lady to marry and move to her village? Could he possibly be coming to you now?

The thoughts swirled in your head, souring your mood further.

Touya was not the kind of person to get married to some pretty little nobody. He cares for love, which was most likely due to his trauma with his parents relationship.

If he were to marry someone, he would have to love her deeply.

The thought made you sigh as you made your way to your bed, the thought of some rest helping ease some of the worries within you.

It will all work out in the end. If he truly didn't want to be out here with you, then that was his choice. You couldn't force him to, that would just be cruel, no matter how tempting.

~~

You awoke to a pounding on your door.

Groaning, you grumpily make your way to the noise, opening the door grudgingly.

"What the heck do you wa-"

You were interrupted by a pair of arms wrapping around you.

Baffled, you were about to push the person off before you recognized the purple scars.

"Touya? What's wrong To?"

Touya simply shook his head, pushing himself as close as possible to your warmer form.

"Why don't you come in? It's warmer in here."

Touya squeezed you once before skidding into your cabin. After you closed the door he was back in your arms, pressing himself close to your back, head buried in your hair. Returning his embrace as best as possible, you stayed there with him for as long as he needed.

A few minutes later he pulled away before softly spinning you around to face him.

Chuckling, you move to wipe the blood streaming down his cheeks. "Shh it's okay Touya. I'm here now."

Bursting into sobs, Touya buried his head into your neck, arms wrapping around your waist.

"They- I- you-"

"Shh it's okay. It's all okay now. You're safe."

After a while Touya calmed down a lot, and the two of you had moved to your small wooden loveseat.

"Mazu.."

"Mazu? Oh- is she out there?"

Touya simply nodded, eyes hooded as he stared at you.

Squeezing his hand reassuringly, you make your way outside.

Mazu was grazing obediently next to a fence, her reign poorly tied. "Mazu!" You greet, petting the mare's neck lovingly. Neighing softly, Mazu nuzzled her head against yours.

After spending a little time with Mazu, taking care of her, and putting her away in a stall, you hurry back to Touya's side.

Walking in, you smile at the sight of Touya dozing on the love seat, hand buried in your German Shepherd Jin's fur. Smiling, you gesture for Jin to stay before getting ready for bed yourself.

~~

(The next morning; 8:23 a.m.)

Loud footsteps stirred you from your slumber. Rubbing your eyes, you tense at the sounds of another person in your cabin.

Why hadn't Jin alerted you?!

Why would he let a stranger in?!

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of soft, familiar curses. Touya? Why would Touya be in your-

And then the memories came flooding back.

Smiling, you hurry to greet your best friend properly. "Good morning Tou-"

Your heart stopped at the sight of the man in front of Your beloved Touya was overed in.. blood.

"Touya what happened?!" You demand, rushing to inspect the damage.

"A pack of wolves attacked me and Mazu. Don't worry about it. Most of it isn't mine."

Scoffing, you grab a wash tub to start filling.

"Ah don't be like that Doll."

You simply snort, filling the tub with hot, soapy water.

"Get in, wash up." You command, glaring at the man in front of you.

"With you in the room- I didn't know you were so-"

"No! I'm gonna leave, idiot!"

At your angered tone Touya's mood noticeably dropped, causing you to curse.

"Y-you're not mad at me.. are you?" Touya asked, voice small with worry. Everyone else but you and Nainai had rejected or neglected him. He couldn't bare to lose you too.

"Oh Touya no. I'm not mad at you. I'm just cross with you for being so nonchalant about getting hurt."

"But-"

"No buts. I care about you, I don't want to see you care so little about yourself. Put yourself in my shoes."

"W-what? I don't think they'd fit."

Smiling, you shake your head affectionately.

Ah yes. 'Dabi' was still your Touya, a confused and hurt teenager at heart really. He didn't understand metaphors much.

"I mean- look at it from my perspective. What if I got hurt, and acted like it was okay. Wouldn't you be a little upset?"

"I'd kick your butt and pin you down to make sure you're all patched up." Touya huffed, eyes holding a slight glint- warning you to not test him.

"See- that's what I'm dealing with. I care about a lot, I don't want to see you get hurt."

Slowly nodding, Touya's eyes were focused on your face.

MmYou blushed as he stared, noticing how he kept shifting from your eyes to your lips. You'd call him creepy- if you weren't doing the exact same thing.

"Y/n.. have I told you how much I've missed you?" Touya whispered, bringing his face slightly closer to yours.

"No, I don't think so." You smile, following his lead in advancement.

"Well then.. why don't I-"

You both were interrupted by Jin jumping on top of you, smothering your face in his wet and xsloberyx kisses.

"Jin, Off!" You command, causing the large dog to back off of you and sit between you and your love- crush? Friend? You don't even know anymore.

Clearing your throat, you keep your eyes held low as you studied Jin's fur, combing your fingers through his dark fur.

"Umm, I'm going to go care for Mazu. Why don't you wash up?" You blush, sinking closer to your pet.

"Y-yeah that's a good idea.." Touya replied, voice strained from some kind of emotion- embarrassment; you guessed.

Standing up, you gesture for Jin to follow you as you make your way out of the cabin.

"Oh- Touya?" You call, shyly glancing at the male.

"Y-yeah?"

"Your room is in the loft.. there's a ladder in the stable, and a towel will be on the shelf behind you. You have some personal clothes and belongings from the village.."

"Thank you y/n.." Touya whispered, blood pooling under his eyes.

"I'd hug you but uh- you're kinda soaked in blood sooo.."

"Just go you baby!" Touya laughed, making you smile.

~~~

(Two weeks later; 11:38 p.m.)

A sigh escaped your lips as you traced the scars on Touya's arms, desperately wishing to be able to lay kisses on the patched skin.

In the two weeks that Touya's been here, neither of you have talked about the almost kiss; though it was most definitely on both of your minds.

It was driving you insane- you loved Touya with all of your heart, so why couldn't you just voice those feelings?! Why was love so.. so complicated?!

Sighing again, you caught Touya's attention.

"What's wrong, Doll?"

"Oh I'm just.. thinking."

"About?"

"I really don't think you'd be interested.." you murmur, eyes never leaving the gorgeous skin of your childhood best friend.

"Tell me, I want to know what's bothering you." Touya insisted, placing a hand underneath your chin before bringing your gaze to his turquoise eyes.

"Umm.. what do you think about the- the kiss?" You stutter, wetting your lips at the wonder of Touya's eyes.

They were so... gorgeous.

"The kiss? Well.. I'm not really sure. I'm not really used to these kinds of things you know."

"Me neither." You huff, e/c eyes tracing every feature of Touya's.

"But, I do know that I want to try it again.." Touya continued, hand sliding up to cup your cheek. "If you'd let me, that is."

Your breath caught in your throat as you stared up at Touya.

Was this really what you wanted- did you love him?

Your heart beating against your chest screamed yes- causing your cheeks to burn.

"I- this isn't some kind of game to you?" You stutter, mind panicking at his closeness.

"I promise you that it isn't." Touya whispered, thumb caressing below your eye.

"T-then kiss me- please."

A warm chuckle emitted from Touya before he seized your lips with his.

The surprising contrast of his soft upper lip and his rough, almost leathery bottom one caused you to gasp. Taking the opportunity to deepen the kiss, Touya brought his other hand to hold your other cheek. Moving one hand to his neck and the other to his hair, you kissed him back with just as much emotion.

After a few, intense moments you pulled away, gasping for air.

"That- was- amazing-" Touya gasped, stroking your cheek with renewed gentleness.

You giggled as you smiled up at your childhood friend.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long~ time." You tease, practically purring as Touya pulled you closer to his warmth.

"And I've been waiting for longer!" Touya playfully growled, moving his hands to tickle your sides.

"S-stop that!" You laugh, moving your hands to carefully tickle his arms, avoiding the burnt areas with care.

After a few minutes of giggles, you both slowed down before you were simply just staring at one another, entranced in each other's gaze.

"I- I think I love you." Touya whispered, breathe fanning over your lips.

"And I know I love you." You giggle, pressing a kiss to Touya's lips, smiling into the kiss.

After a few, incredibaly soft and dreamy kisses Touya rest his forehead on yours, looking down at you. "Marry me."

"Wh-what?"

"Marry me. We can build our own family here, away from the world. They'll find us eventually.. and an unmarried woman like yourself would be forced to marry some snobby noble."

"You're just making excuses to make me yours." You tease, bumping your nose against his.

"Maybe I am. Would that be so bad?"

"Mmm not really."

"Oh ho? Is that a yes?" Touya smirked, pulling you into his lap.

"Depends. I require lots of attention. Plus foot massages when I'm pregnant."

"P-pregnant?"

"You mentioned a family, did you not?"

"Y-yeah.. I did."

"But on a more serious note, what are we going to do about the Imperial Army? They'll find us eventually- like you said, and then they'll expect our son or sons to go to war. And our daughters to get married-"

"Shhh, it's okay, Doll." Touya soothed, pressing a finger to your lips- receiving a kiss to the warm flesh.

"How about we.. get some revenge and protect our future angels?"

"That sound perfect, actually." You grin, knowing where this was going.

"But, marry me first. And then we'll go traveling around for our honeymoon.. we wouldn't be searching for the army's camp ground or anything.."

"I love you so freaking much."

"Not as much as I love you, Doll."

~~~~

A/n 3: I'm not too sure about the ending, but I hope this wasn't too long + suited your taste anon!! Also, I have zero experience kissing, so I hope it did an okay job lol 💀😅

~

Feedback and Reblogs are very appreciated <33

Dabi's masterlist | Masterlist | Navigation | You can tip me here <3

~~~~~

Do not copy, repost, nor plagiarize my work. Ask before you translate or use my work in any way -minus reblogging.

[owtenen]

LIMITED LIFE EPISODE 1: The Basics

Where I put all the info we know about the mechanics, team-ups, base locations, etc into one location

(below cut is spoilers to LIMITED LIFE, which is series 4 of the life series. Pls don’t get mad if you read it and don’t want spoilers)

I. Participants

No ren :( I'm sad :(

Skizz is back :D

Nothing really big about this part, just that all of the soul pairs except Box Boys are here for potential refs and angst (there has already been a lot)

NOTE: I have only fully watched 6 out of the 14 possible POVs, so info regarding people I haven't watched might be limited to what the comments tell me when I make a mistake This info comes from watching these POVs and snippets of the other ones.

POVs I watched (in this order): Joel, Tango, Jimmy, Etho, Skizz, Cleo

POVs I skimmed (in this order): Martyn, Impulse, Scar

^ I will be consistently watching these POVs + Bdubs every week, however I'll probably watch others when I'm bored or if something big happens lol.

II. Teams/Alliances (from what I can gather from Episode 1)

EDIT: I originally said that Martyn and Scott were individual teams when that was wrong, it looks like they are teamed together and are called the Coral Kids. This change has been made below

Team T.I.E.S: Tango, Impulse, Etho, Skizz

Bad Boys: Grian, Jimmy, Joel

Coral Kids LBGSeas BadBouies : Martyn and Scott

Nosy Neighbors: Pearl and BigB ( + Froggy the Jellie cat)

Cwackers Cockers Clockers: Cleo, Scar, Bdubs

NOTE: Not all of these are NOW official names WAHOO

It seems like everyone is teaming with pretty much their usual crowd (ie, Jimmy/Joel/Grian , Cleo/Bdubs , Skizz/Imp/Tango/Etho) except for the notable exception of BigB and Pearl, which I don't think have teamed up together in a series before?

I could totally see Etho and Martyn teaming up after this episode, especially later in the season when TIES eventually break up.

III. Base Locations (based off of limited info from episode 1)

Team T.I.E.S seems to be basing on the edge of the main land mass underground. I can't tell if they have cows after Martyn's TNT but they have wheat and chickens, as well as sugarcane. NOTE: Etho seems to be basing close to but not WITH Tango, Impulse, and Skizz. Idk what this means but it's interesting to see what happens

Scott and Martyn are basing right next to TIES on a floating island in the ocean. I didn't watch their episodes but from Etho's it looks like they have both sugarcane and a zombie villager in a boat.

Bad Boys are basing .... *checks notes*.... on top of the woodland mansion .... made of wood .... wait? so Jimmy "our Ranch is burning down!" Solidarity and Joel "If the ship burns everything burns!" Smallishbeans are going to base on the top of the most flammable structure known to Minecraft? Okay cool.... this won't go horribly wro- oh and Cleo’s already burned the whole thing down great that lasted about 2 seconds

Cockers Clockers are based literally just at spawn. There entire thing is going to be building a stadium so they can laugh at people when they die.... I hate them (/lie)

Pearl and BigB are based between spawn and the woodland mansion on the edge of the stone cliff. I hope they slay and thrive there

IV. Mechanics

Okay so, there seems to be a lot more rules to this one than the other ones, so here's what I've gathered.

Everyone has a timer that counts down from 24 hours, this timer started when the series started

When the clock reaches 0 for the player, they are eliminated

There seems to be 2 ways to lose time: Being killed or dying. If you are killed by the boogeyman, it subtracts two hours from your time. If you are killed by natural gameplay (ie creeper, fall damage, etc.) you only lose 1 hour of time. (NOTE: it's not said how many hours are taken away if you're killed from non-boogeyman PVP, but I'm assuming it will still be 2 hours)

There is only 1 way to ADD time to your clock: kill players. When you are the boogeyman, you can kill whoever you want, and when you do you are given 30 minutes to your timer. EDIT: thanks to a comment I now have this info: If you are the boogeyman and you fail to kill a player within the 3 hours (that's how long they record for), you are dropped down to the next color life. For example, if you are a green name boogeyman and fail to kill, your time will go down to 16 hours and you will become yellow. This is the same for the yellow to red drop. (NOTE: Some ccs have said in their videos that it's + 1 hour, however Grian's intro says + 30 minutes which is what i'm going off of. Not sure if the + 30 minutes applies to non-boogeyman PVP kills, however I suspect it does)

Everyone starts as a green name, and the players turns yellow when they have less than 16 hours left on their timer. A player turns red when they have less than 8 hour on the clock

Most of the same rules apply to PVP as before: greens cannot kill anyone, yellow names can now kill green names even if they aren't provoked , and red names can kill everyone. Boogeyman kills can happen to anyone regardless of color. I suspect these rules will not be strictly followed like they have been for every season but yaknow we'll see.

V. Episode 1 Specifically

This series seems actually super cool! Here's some of the thoughts as a writer of traffic series fics and just a general enjoyer of episode 1. I like writing my opinions and these were written in real time while I was watching each POV.

🚧 NOTE: Some (like 4) of these points talk about shipping in fics.. I'll label the bullets with the caution tape emoji but I'd just recommend skipping this entire section if you get really pissed or triggered about it. Reminder that I do not ship real people, just the characters.

the Bad Boys are literally just that one (1) 100 hours hardcore episode.

Joel and Jimmy being idiots and dying is so funny, what a couple of idiots (I love them)

🚧 Boat Boys and Ranchers broke up to be with each others soulmates

it didn’t take even 20 minutes for Team Rancher and Boat Boys to break up. A real love loses moment.

I'm convinced Tango decides his friend groups based only on if there names make good acronyms. Like for sure he didn't invite Martyn to join TIES because it would have ruined the name.

Passive boogeyman Scott has left the chat. Man’s a beast.

^ Bdubs boogey first episode once again, this man can't escape the betrayer narrative

The mechanic has so much angst potential. I’m thinking a curse that slowly eats away at your body until you die. As the timer counts down, people will become more desperate to survive and that’s where alliances will fall. This season has probably the best potential for angst out of all of them, especially when people started running out of time.

just imagine with me: Tango and Etho are in a cave, Tango realizes he only has a minute left on his clock while Etho has maybe an hour and a half. Tango can't kill Etho cause it will just kill his friend immediately, so they both have to just... sit there while Tango's timer ticks by and he eventually gets eliminated by the mechanics of the game. HOW HORRIFYING IS THAT PEOPLE !!!!! I love it >:)

BEST? nah it’s team TIES now (rip Bdubs I guess)

Jimmy might escape the narrative just because of Skizz dying so much lol

I actually hate Grian for this. The fic that could be written about it is…. so much

okay but if Clockers dynamic this season is gonna be single mom with two annoying ass twins i’m all for it. I love them for this

🚧 ETHO TURNING DOWN THE ROLL OF DAD FOR BDUBS AND SCAR THANK GOD !!!! While I would love a Clethubs teamup, a nice straight happy family is not the way I wanted it to be done

Poor Skizz man. Dude was so excited to be back just to be killed twice by boogey and then die again by creeper death. Maybe HE can't escape the narrative

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of this series, and my opinion with probably change as more episodes come out, but I feel like it will be much easier to predict who will win this season than others because of the timer. like there is already a very strong likelihood that skizz will die first, just because if every kill only gives you 30 minutes, he would have to kill 10 people to even get back to normal, where as Bdubs and Scott have already killed 1 person and hasn’t died once, which means they are ahead. Basically, I think we’ll be able to see who will die first/not win very easily, which maybe will take away some of the suspense? I hope not, but that’s my thought rn.

🚧 we were SO CLOSE to a Martyn and Etho team up…. imagine the sus activity that could have happened here. I was so prepared to start writing Martho fics

SKIZZ'S COMPLIMENT TO ETHO WAS LITERALLY SO SWEET? Like it was 100% true and props to Etho for taking it like a champ. Etho really is the most likable guy in the Minecraft space, and he shines like a diamond in these kinds of thing with his friends. I'm glad Skizz took the time to recognize it and say it to his face. He deserves all the love.

🚧 if Bdubs is (maybe canonically) related to both his team members, there is little opportunities for sus mlm activity from him, and he will have to find bitches elsewhere, which might be difficult

TIES are four grown ass men and have three of the BEST redstoners minecraft has to offer and they still can't keep cows alive for more than like 5 minutes. What a bunch of losers

Okay now that I’m thinking about it, Etho might not be completely committed to TIES as it seems. I mean why would he make a base close BUT completely seperate from them? I sense some uh….. drama in the future mayhaps

I love Martyn's editing style it's great

VI. My Bingo Card (🚧)

Uh... so I did a bingo card before the series started and it's already got some good ticks off so here it is after episode 1

🚧 this bingo card contains some shipping/romance spaces, please plan your viewing accordingly

NOTE: I could have probably argued for a lot more of these, but it's no fun to check them all of in ep 1. Also, I didn't watch all the POVS (I think I watched 6/14) so there could have been some of these that happened in the other videos but I'm not watching all the POVS today so there's no point.

Wow sure glad I didn't put any Ren stuff in here (Fr I was originally gonna put a "Ren Win" space on here but thank god I didn't)

that skizz one better happen especially after today

play along if you wish! an unmarked one of these can be found if you stalk my Tumblr page far enough

VII. Conclusion

Um.... this was a really long post.... I'm sorry? I just wanted to make it because I had all this info in my head and it was spinning around in there and it needed to get it out. And maybe someone will find the first part useful! Who knows.

In real conclusion, Etho deserves the win. I don't care what you think should happen, this is what the universe wants. Yes, this is coming from an Ethogirl, and yes, I know I'm also the self proclaimed #1 smallishbeans enjoyer, but i just feel like Etho should be this seasons champ.

Even if I'm looking at it from a completely objective POV, Etho IS one of the top candidates for this specific mechanic/season. He barely dies in these games and he's generally good at boogeykills/PVP so I could see him losing very little time in terms of deaths but gaining a lot with kills. Also, no one really dares to kill him with the boogey (if we can take anything away from last life) so that too is a bonus.

[straw-beret]

what's up with the pacman machine in the link click opening?

well friends, I'm about to cobble together some information that is so irrelevant to the main plot!!

(also: i came up with this theory prior to episode 11 coming out, but when it did, it only really solidified it for me).

more under the cut :) and spoilers for the most recent episode of link click (episode 11 season 2)

if you know me from my most recent link click post, you'll know i am unnaturally obsessed with the claw machines of the season 2 opening.

But wait, what's that third machine in the middle? The yellow-ish one that's sort of dimly lit?

it's a fucking pacman arcade machine.

a pacman arcade machine that doesn't appear in the show itself.

being me, i had to go on the most unnecessary deep dive into what the hell the relevancy of this pacman machine could be. it's jammed between two of the claw machines in the intro but mysteriously absent in the episode itself. and while i don't have an explanation for THAT (if anyone has an idea, pls lmk!!), i do have some info on the game.

when you start up a game of pacman, this is the general visual you're going to get:

In my opinion, the most important thing to note is the colours of the ghosts. Notice we've got three in that box: blue, pink, and orange. And outside we have red. Do these colours happen to remind you of anything— or rather, anyone?

that's right. the link clickers are the ghosts in Pacman.

All jokes aside, I do think there's at least a bit of merit in this observation. Because red— i.e. qiao ling, is isolated from the power users.

(pink could be either of the Li twins, for convenience's sake i'm just going to assume it's Tianxi for one bit of speculation i'll explain later).

Why isolate one of the three original mains from the other two, and instead have a new character take her place?

Because, as I speculated before in my claw machine theory, qiao ling is not safe!!! in both the claw machines and Pacman, the symbol/motif associated with Qiao Ling has been positioned on the outside of the box.

Now, a character being in the box doesn't guarantee safety, you'll know this especially if you've seen the most recent ep (s2e11) and the trailer for ep12. However, it does provide something of a line of defence— i.e. the box is sort of a symbol for the fact that CXS, LG and LTX are power users.

Qiao Ling was the very first person to get possessed by red eyes, she is the most 'vulnerable' of the OG 3 in that sense. aside from her martial arts realness, she can't defend herself on a supernatural level. she no way of teleporting out of a fight like CXS or seeing into the future to predict her opponent's moves like LG could.

qiao ling, as a normie, is isolated from the power users and thus more at risk to being harmed by the enemy. For the ghosts, it's Pacman, and for the link clickers, it's this motherfucker:

crustlord of the century Qian Jin.

I think pacman is supposed to symbolise him on account of 1. the yellow eyes and 2. the fact that he's out to get basically every single one of the ghosts:

QL

CXS

LG

LTX

Hence why this theory works a lot better with LTX as the pink ghost instead of LTC— Tianxi betrayed QJ, and the one thing he hates most is betrayal.

I feel as though the AI patterns of the Pacman ghosts sort of align with this too:

"Each of the four ghosts has their own unique artificial intelligence (A.I.), or "personality": Blinky (Red) gives direct chase to Pac-Man; Pinky (pink) and Inky (blue) try to position themselves in front of Pac-Man, usually by cornering him; and Clyde (orange) will switch between chasing Pac-Man and fleeing from him"

"Each ghost's name gives a hint to its strategy for tracking down Pac-Man: Blinky always chases Pac-Man, Pinky tries to get ahead of him, Inky uses a more complicated strategy to zero in on him, and Clyde alternates between chasing him and running away."

^^ those two quotes are from the Pacman wikipedia page, a robust source indeed. in the first quote I put the colours of the ghosts in bold and by their proper names for reference.

If we assume Pacman is QJ and Red ghost is QL, and we remember how she bitch slapped QJ in episode 3 season 2:

I'd say that at the very least the AI behaviour + QL's actions are somewhat correlated. And i'd say that the AI behaviour of the other ghosts lines up with their respective characters, LG being strategic and CXS being a bit more chaotic in his approach. As for Xixi, well, we kind of haven't seen enough of her to say.

but "via," i hear you say, "Li Tianxi got fucking murk'd in episode 11, AND she's the one with red eyes! why isn't she the red ghost, and not qiao ling?"

I see you and I hear you. Both QL and LTX have associations with both red and pink, and in fact upon first coming up with this theory i thought LTX was the red ghost as well. But considering the placement of the Pacman machine (between the claw machines+around the rabbits, see my previous post for details on the stuffed rabbits and their relevancy) as well as official art and in-show costuming, I figured that it made more narrative sense (and theory sense) for QL to be the red ghost. Plus she's just more heavily associated with red than either of the Li twins, who are costumed in more light pastels

for reference, I put TC both in and out of drag above^^ and in his xixi cosplay, he wears almost entirely pink.

back to the theory. Qiao Ling's ghost is on the outside; and the stuffed rabbits that I'm almost positive symbolise her are piled on the outside of the claw machines. Surely this isn't a coincidence, right?

this all comes back to my theory that Qiao Ling, as the outsider of the group, the only one without powers, and the last to be informed of all the supernatural happenings, is going to meet a certain fate either by the end of s2 or around the start of s3. And I think the show has tried to set it up from the start.

Although Qiao Ling didn't become incredibly plot significant until I'd say about halfway through S1, we saw a few glimpses of her that were framed to highlight her vulnerability. Off the top of my head, I can definitely think of the horror-movie esque way s1e3 opened, where a strange man, later revealed to be Chen Xiao, approaches her from behind after appearing in a dark alley. Plus there is of course, her possession by LTC in s1e11. So from the get-go, she is framed as the odd one out of the main 3, and the most at risk.

then we get to the intro of s2, with the stuffed rabbits and the pacman machine, and it starts to come together, as stupid as that may sound. the writers are foreshadowing that something is gonna happen to Qiao Ling, and given the way everything connects, I'm of the opinion it could be death, or possibly grave injury.

that's all i've really got to say! curious as to what others might think of this, because it's all founded on the colours of a fckin Pacman game lol.

_

having seen the e12 trailer for s2 and qiao ling looking like she was gaining a power, I wonder how the finale is going to play out and if it will fit with the visuals and symbolism in the intro. oh well, we'll see!

also good LORD these posts take a long time to make!! let me know what you think, and also if you've got any clue as to why the Pacman machine appears in the intro but not the episode. Maybe IP reasons, although i don't see why they'd end up including it at all in the intro if copyright or IP was a concern. anyways, that's all!

[eshtaresht]

oh damn oh jees I'm so normal sooo sooooo normal rn ahaha! emotionally, I'm feeling sorta ZGBZFDHZV HV ZDH DZVVZDS ZD ZZV LZV. like, it's trigun, I expected it to hit hard BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO HIT SO HARD spoilers for ep 10 under the cut as usual

tbh I'm mostly shaking about the next ep and impending season finale, but this one was still pretty brutal

firstly, the goofs. vash fucking SNEESING and getting ruthlessly bullied by wolfwood is pretty much in spirit of their relationship in 98' anime and I'd love to see more of it (pls I hope there'll be a season 2)

scar reveal! I was afraid they're gonna give him a glow up and yeah, some scars are barely visible, but the other ones look awful. so, everything I hoped for, good to see he's in pain /j. also nico tried so hard not to stare at shirtless vash... he's looking away respectfully

vash is such a wet cat pathetic paperbag of a guy... just let that guy take a shot, barely flinched, took the bullet 'cause he thinks he deserved it. didn't even think of attending the wound until wolfwood said so. and, mind you, vash doesn't have any superhuman abilities so that must've hurt like hell

nico's job is so funny because to keep vash safe he has to get into mega epic fights, but also remind that idiot to eat and take care of wounds. again, vashwood duo feels more like the original now, after the sandsteamer. I think nico actualy started caring about vash since he saved the orphanage, it's great to see him conflicted with his mission

also policemen from ep 1 and the guy who shot vash are like... second best side characters in stampede and this is not a compliment. the best ones are nomads who ate worms btw

oh meryl, she's gonna girlboss so hard now... woe to all the haters and naysayers, she's getting character development and faces the same conflict as vash and nico thus gaining more narrative significance!! don't get me wrong, manga and 98' anime meryl was a crucial character, but she's getting much more freedom in stampede to develop and get into action

the moment where she gets up during wolfwood voiceover is when we start to see the "iron lady" and I'm so here for it! now we just have to wait for her designated therapy dog girlfriend to appear and when I can be at peace

tbh I don't really care about roberto. no hate, just neutral, rip drunckle grumps

everybody just dumped zazie... so rude, meryl didn't even answer their question >:(

elendira is..... not bad, but disappointing in comparison to the manga's gorgeously evil and hilariour girlboss who was also explicitly trans! oh look, she's a child experiment plant hybrid now, yay... meh

TESLA CONFIRMED omg I'm SOO exited for the next episode we're gonna be in SO MUCH PAIN

knives yeeting vash into the pit got a giggle out of me, but also... damn he actually was preparing all these years, crafting a perfect trap. and all the plants... he couldn't fix them and boy oh boy, I'm pretty sure he gathered them not for safekeeping... HE'S GONNA DO A LAST RUN ON THEM TO "FIX" VASH!! that was probably what elendira was refering to when she started crying

I am the normallest about this. these twins are such hyppocrites I wanna study and dissect them. knives doing the most cruel thing to his sisters so he can get rid of everything that makes vash human in hopes that if they were on the same footage they would finally stay together.......

and the words that he says to vash hurt so much more because it's true. he does love humans, but the main thing driving him is guilt. in stampede, more than ever, vash blames himself for pretty much all human suffering, because he helped the great fall happen. no wonder he's so depressed and not nearly as goofy! homeboy doesn't just protect the lives rem saved, his pacifistic quest is penance for all the people he (thinks he) killed

july is going to destroy him.

[darkmatilda]

Finally finished the bolter, so here are my comments (yes, I'm always going to do this as a numbered list now it's the only way to categorise my thoughts)

1. I love the bolter (the song) very, very much, and I think the way you tied the lyrics into the plot was really clever. Your description of the feeling she gets when leaving was perfect, and I loved how you tied in the story with the ice

2. Glasses spencer is in my top 3 reid eras (controversially, it ranks higher than boyband reid), and he's just perfect for this fic it makes so much sense

3. I'm an early season criminal minds girl and having elle and Gideon in a fic makes me very happy. I love elle so much she was perfect

4. I'm beginning to think you just like ending fics in a way that leaves people desperate for a part 2? If your planning a part 2 please do and here are my tiny little requests:

○"Splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless, Excellent fun 'til you get to know her" are possibly some of the best taylor swift lines ever and they're from the bolter which is something to take into consideration...

○if you're looking to make a sad part two where they decide to be friends again and he has to watch her go be with other people from a distance 'not strong enough' and 'waiting room' are songs that could be taken into consideration (or phoebe bridgers whole discography)

In summary I loved it, make more song inspired fics and glasses spencer is elite

finally replying to this message bc i had to think through how to answer MAINLY BC YOU GAVE ME SUCH A GENIUS IDEA

i’ll start making annotations to your comments so i don’t miss any of those precious thoughts of yours ❣️

1. while writing this i’ve listened to "the bolter" so many times that if someone woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to sing it, i’d do it effortlessly. I JUST LOVE TAYLOR'S SONGWRITING IN TTPD (i’m a huge fan of taylor’s painful and sad songs bc our mother just knows how to capture those feelings so perfectly, i bow down to loml, the black dog, the prophecy, how did it end...maybe i should write something inspired by those...)

2. glasses spencer and post-prison are my fav tbh 😵‍💫 not a big fan of the boyband era, don’t hate me now pls

3. first season forever in my heart, though i remember wanting to skip ahead bc the later ones seemed more interesting and the fandom was only talking about them...seasons 1&2 don’t get enough credit!

4. i generally have a problem with endings bc I HATE SWEET AND SUGARY ONES, there needs to be at least a hint of pain for the fanfic to stay in your heart longer :> i also love interpreting open endings. even though with the light off was supposed to have an open ending, i caved and wrote (to soothe my and your broken hearts), but this time i don’t plan on doing that, i mean continuing the story from the same point where i ended it (in hotch’s office).

the continuation will be after a time skip where it’s explained that spencer and reader agreed it’d be better to stay friends like they were before AND THIS IS WHERE MY PROBLEM COMES IN

bc i had an idea for the continuation and even started writing (which i’ll explain soon without spoilers ofc) BUT THEN YOU CAME ALONG WITH MUCH BETTER IDEAS

spencer watching her meet others in the same way she met him and realizing he’s not special to her...though ofc it’s not true but he doesn’t know that....god not strong enough would fit SO WELL there

but i don’t really want to end the story on a sad note...i don’t want to end it at all actually bc i had more of an idea for a fanfic series with the same reader that would be connected but in a way where you wouldn’t need to read the previous ones in order

i started writing a fanfic called "alaska nights" where the story takes place some time later (up to a few months, maybe a year) and bau goes to alaska to solve a case and then something starts pulling them together again, eventually they can’t resist and agree that as long as they’re in alaska, they can sleep together, but after that, their relationship will go back to where it was, and bc of that agreement they decide they have to make the most of this pact and visit each other every night 🤗 keeping it a secret from the rest of the team to avoid awkward questions (but queen elle figures it out anyway)

and not to toot my own horn but i really like this idea, but on the other hand, your idea moved me just as much, so here’s my proposal: at the start of december, "alaska nights" will drop (a very light and funny story to let the readers breathe from all the angst...) and then something from spencer’s perspective??? set directly after, showing his pain over their relationship resetting AGAIN, probabably inspired by "not strong enough" but i’m super open to suggestions, i personally love phoebe bridgers too <33

i know i’m repeating myself girl but your engagement seriously moves me, like when i post something, i wait impatiently for a notification from you 😭

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Okay pls im just getting into tgcf and the names are soo confusing 😭

Could you pls list tge names of all the important characters with like a short nite on who they are?

Pls?

I don't know more than the white one and the red one plsss

I know the names are confusing! I actually highly recommend you buy at least the first volume of the novel if you're able. It's readily available in English (even the tiny chain bookstore in my small town mall has it stocked). And it has all this information in a glossary in the back. Some of the alternate names for characters are major spoilers, and there's just like...a lot of characters, so I'm not gonna list them all, but I'll do a few:

In short, most characters have a name, a title, and then whatever assorted nicknames other characters give them. And sometimes alternate names for secret identities. I'm assuming here that you're watching the donghua, so I'm mostly talking about characters who have appeared there so far.

Xie Lian - the guy in white. Also called Xianle in heaven (mostly by Jun Wu.) Xianle was the kingdom that Xie Lian was once prince of, and to quote the glossary:

His title Xianle is a multi-layered nickname. "Xianle" is Xie Lian's official heavenly title and also the name of his kingdom. "Xianle" itself can translate to "Heaven's Delight," which ties into Xie Lian's "Four Famous Tales" moniker, "The Prince Who Pleased God." Jun Wu referring to Xie Lian as "Xianle" sounds professional and businesslike on the surface (as Jun Wu generally refers to gods by their heavenly titles only), but it deliberately and not-so-subtly comes across as an affectionate term of endearment.

Basically Jun Wu is calling him his little Meow Meow. 😂

Hua Cheng/San Lang/Crimson Rain Sought Flower - the red guy lmao.

Spoilers below this point!

Feng Xin/General Nan Yang/Nan Feng

and

Mu Qing/General Xuan Zhan/Fu Yao - These are those two guys who follow Xie Lian around complaining in the first season while going by the names Nan Feng and Fu Yao. They're pretending to be sent by the generals, but they actually are the generals in disguise. They're also the guys who Xie Lian dropped a bell on and destroyed the palace of when he reascended at the start of the first season. There's a whole bunch of backstory about the three of them.

Jun Wu/Emperor of Heaven. What it says on the tin. Top dog god.

Ling Wen - tired library lady who surprisingly turns out to be part of a trinity of douchey frat bros alongside Pei Ming and Shi Wudu.

Pei Ming/General Ming Guang - playboy guy who broke that lady's heart in season one and then she turned into a crazy ghost. He's the one who is interrogating Xie Lian about his boyfriend stabbing Pei Ming's great-great-great-great-great-great grandsomething at the start of season 2

Pei Xiu/Little Pei. The aforementioned great-great-great-great-great-great grandsomething

Shi Qingxuan - our beloved gender-bending Wind Master.

Lang Qianqiu/General Tai Hua - that kid sleeping in the meeting at the start of season 2. He's about to get real important. He was also a crown prince before ascending, which is why his servant calls him Taizi Dianxia (big fancy Your Royal Highness kinda title) and makes Xie Lian do that whole sad thing where he looks up and then remembers no one calls him that anymore. 🥺

I mostly get repeatedly confused by Feng Xin and Mu Quing's alternate titles. They're frequently mentioned together and I keep mixing up which general is which and which disguise is which, even though their actual identities are easy to separate lol.

[celenequinn]

Acolyte Final Thoughts

Now that Acolyte is finished I thought I would do a round-up of my thoughts on the series for my own sake :)

Plu, Acolyte has come onto my screen during a very tumultuous time in my life and I am overall just thankful to have good story as a distraction! The fact I get to not think about anything except lightsabers is a welcome change and one I'm very greatful for.

Spoilers!

Things I love:

The fights: HELLLO? Oh man I love a good battle and I love a good explosion. There was so many gorgeous lightsabers. I loved the super cool stuff like Jecki double wielding against the The Stanger, every time Sol did anything with a blade, and definitely Jacinto's arms I mean wielding sorry. There was just so much talent that went into each battle making even the corniest slow-mo cool.

Many Jacinto, Amandla Stenberg x2, and Lee Jung-jae: The acting of these 3 in particular blew me away. Stenberg ATE with their lines for both Mae and Osha. And the emotional journey JJ went on was so raw. I'm now tempted to watch everything he have ever been in. And then Jacinto just ended up being a scene stealer everytime he was on. Nothing but respect for the casting team.

The Lighting: I could see EVERYTHING! What a novel idea! Also the lightsabers gave off such gorgeous light in the perfect moments.

Jecki: She's for the girlies I don't make the rules. She filled the Omgea sized whole in my heart.

Costumes: Textures? Yes pls. Also everything was tailored so well I could'nt help but notice.

The Coven: I love when SWs is spooky and they gave us spooky with this coven. I was werid and dark and I loved it.

The Stranger/Qimir/Darth Teeth: My biggest suprise for the season. I honostly have'nt had a villian I have been scared of in a long time, but I got majorly scared when he showed up and started rampaging. And then switch to like, "ok he's sexy now?" and "ok he's evil but has feelings?" was so much fun.

Things I did'nt love:

Vernestra: I'm a books fan so I knew Vern before this all and I wish I just got somthing *more* from her. She's so cool on paper and I wish either more emphasis was placed on her side plot or, she was given more instresing character or things to do. She had more screen time than charaters like Jecki or Yord and I know them so much better than Vern.

Jumping Planet to Planet: This is just a pet-peeve of mine. I wished they either moved around all the time or stayed in one place. I hate this in between they got going on. It was mostly in the later half of the season tho

Pacing/Episode Length: This is not a new complaint but still it just did'nt really flow well for me. I feel like they should've started with the 1st flashback, did the 2nd mid-season. And them end where they did. Just my 2 cents.

Overall: I'm a lesbian execpt for Sith-Manny-Jacinto. I'm adpoting Jecki. And Sol, honey, you were doomed by your own choices.

See you in hell, Jedi!