#if i'm just saying what is incredibly obvious or repeating what others have already said i'm sorry.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trigun Thoughts Vol. 1 Pt. 2

So now that I've finished with volume 1, I just wanted to write down a couple thoughts I've had and neat things to point out so far

When I was watching Stampede, I took note of a few kind of textbook avoidant behaviours Vash engages in, and lo and behold, here he is in the manga displaying even more of them. I'll list out a few here.

In order, we have:

Casually asking for a time limit on the interaction (ie. "How long do I have to keep this up before I can leave?")

Attempting to lose people in a crowd

Leaving without saying anything (and as a bonus, dreading being recognized in public)

Over-indulging or over-involving oneself in social events to create a viable excuse to leave suddenly (in this case, he uses alcohol as a reason to "pass out")

Sleeping to avoid unwanted conversation

Escaping to the bathroom to get away for a bit (and also to grumble about it haha)

Playing off sincere reactions by deliberately allowing them to be misinterpreted to avoid personal questions

It's really obvious, even this early in the manga, that Vash is intentionally avoiding prolonged interaction with people, and only involving himself in situations by necessity. He doesn't like attention on himself - the only reason he intentionally draws it is to divert it away from others.

The reason for this is a bit muddy though. It does seem that Vash doesn't particularly enjoy being caught up in drama, and it is also very likely he wishes to get in and out of places as quickly as possible to avoid them getting caught up in his drama too. It may even be that he finds prolonged socializing kind of tiring; that he needs a certain amount of time to himself.

But then there's also this bit, shortly after the celebration, where he pretends to pass out.

This brings in a bit of a guilt aspect to it. It likely has to do with July, or maybe it's due to something else (at this point, we can't say), but I think it's notable that Vash cuts things off shortly before they become intimate. He can play along to make others happy and to share in their joy for a bit, but the second things get too personal or focused on him, he will quietly slip away. Now this is specifically an instance of physical intimacy, but I think it'd probably hold for emotional intimacy as well, given the continuous avoidance and misdirection he does to prevent too many questions.

I made some commentary on Stampede Vash's self-punishing behaviours - specifically, the way he denies himself food. I don't want to get too into it because I don't know if everyone reading this has seen Stampede, but food is framed as something to be shared in the show - so, denying himself food is denying himself the right to share with others, which is denying himself belonging, which is denying himself any semblance of intimacy. (It means other things too, as food-sharing is associated with Rem, but I don't want to get too into it here.)

Vash in the manga doesn't seem to have the same issues with eating, but this is a similar premise - he's denying himself intimacy out of a sense of not being deserving of it.

So, then, there are probably many interwoven reasons for Vash's avoidance - he's sick of the chaos that follows him around, he doesn't want others getting hurt, he gets tired from having to "play it up" all the time, and he seems to also feel that he doesn't deserve that closeness. I'm intrigued to see how Vash's avoidance will be tackled going forward (I'm assuming it will?), and I suspect, more than there being one right reason for it, that all these reasons are actually true to an extent.

On a completely different note, this panel here is the biggest mood. I feel it in my bones.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I broke up with my girlfriend for not taking her meds?

My (24M) girlfriend (28F) has bipolar and BPD. We've been together coming up on 3 years now. For the last half a year we were together it was pretty rough and turbulent, she was unmedicated and was having suicidal breakdowns almost every day, ended up in hospital several times, threatened and got into physical altercations with other girls who spoke to me or she thought were flirting with me, and I was spending almost every single day of my life having to take hours to talk her down from suicide or self-harm. It was emotionally exhausting and as someone who's also had suicide attempts in the past it was also incredibly triggering and damaging to my own mental health.

For additional context as to why I feel the way I do, my last girlfriend also had diagnosed BPD and NPD and when she stopped taking her medication she became fully abusive both physically and verbally and it took me a year of being absolutely beaten down to finally snap and leave her.

(Obvious note: I'm not saying everyone with bipolar, BPD, or NPD is abusive or that these illnesses inherently make you abusive. They were an abuser who just happened to have those things, and that played into how they acted and thought/felt.)

Current girlfriend eventually got medication and has been doing much better for most of the time since then. When she's on her meds she's a wonderful and generally pretty healthy partner - she's supportive, understanding of my boundaries, checks in with me, she's a year clean from self-harm, hasn't displayed any kind of self-destructive behaviour. She's gotten a job and managed to hold it down (got fired from several jobs in the past because of her daily meltdowns meaning she wasn't attending work), she's started exercising and going to the gym, she's picked up new hobbies, made new friends, she's just been doing great in general.

For about the past month though, she started going days without taking her medication and when I reminded her she would say she didn't want to, that she hated taking it, that she doesn't like the way it makes her feel etc. This is something my last girlfriend said too, and I know it's really common for people with BPD (and maybe bipolar too?) to stop taking their medication because they feel emotionally flat in comparison to how they feel off of the meds. I pretty much said that I couldn't handle going back to how she acts when she's off of the medication again and that if she was going to stop taking them then I didn't think our relationship would last through that kind of period again because last time it completely destroyed my mental health, my sleep, my life and several of my relationships due to how much energy and time I was having to put into her vs. myself and everything else. I suggested asking her doctor/psychiatrist/etc. for another dosage change or meds switch again to see if that would work better (though up until recently they have seemed to be working great so I'm not sure how good of an idea switching it up again would be).

She agreed at the time but I was kind of concerned about whether she'd been keeping up with it or not because over the last few weeks I've already noticed things devolving again - her screaming at me out of nowhere and having mood swings, intense jealousy and possessiveness, impulsive behaviour, even a couple of breakdowns again and having to talk her out of self-harm for the first time in over a year. True enough, today I found out she's been pretending to take her medication and throwing them out. When I confronted her about it she admitted she hasn't taken her medication for weeks.

I pretty much withdrew after that and didn't say anything at that moment but after a while she asked me why I was being so quiet and I basically repeated what I'd said to her in the last conversation, that I was honestly rethinking whether or not the relationship would work because I can't handle that kind of emotional exhaustion and constant sacrifice all over again. I don't mind some emotional support and some labour of love in a relationship because of course I'm going to need to look out for her mental health and reassure and comfort sometimes, that's the reality of loving someone who struggles, but I can't do it 24/7 again. I can't once again put talking her down for hours every day and weathering screaming and violent lashing out all the time at the expense of even my own basic needs and my own mental health struggles (for example my c-PTSD from my last relationship).

When I said that she got very very upset and basically said I was forcing her to choose between me and freedom or being able to live a normal/unmedicated life (which I mean, I guess I can't argue with because in a way I am making her choose between me and stopping her meds), and that I couldn't control her like that. I told her I wasn't doing it to control her and that if she's really determined to go off of them she could, but that I would have to make my own personal choice to walk away as a result of it for my own sake.

She said she'd think about it but ever since that conversation I've been going back and forth in my head on how much of a dick move it would be to flat out just do a black-and-white "Either you stay on your meds and regulate your behaviour or I leave"

TL;DR Girlfriend wants to go off of her medication, but when she's off her meds she has almost daily suicidal breakdowns and lashes out at me physically and verbally. WIBTA if I broke up with her if she goes ahead with stopping?

What are these acronyms?

[nessacousland]

can i ask what was ur problem with treviso? i actually found treviso and the crows to be the most interesting faction out of all of them so maybe im just biased LOL

Okay, full disclosure: I was on vacation and didn’t get to play Veilguard until the 8th of November. Couldn’t take the potential spoilers everywhere, so I've been cramming these past few days to finish the game asap (I still did every side quest, had all factions at max strength and got the “best” ending etc. but didn’t do every chests/stats puzzle). By the time the Treviso questline concluded, I'd been fully marinating in the sauce of all the other criminally stupid quests, is what I’m trying to say, and Treviso was emblematic of every problem I already had with this game. It was my breaking point.

To start with, the questline is offensively generic and an actual insult to the players’ intellect. Painfully linear, cartoon villains abound and nothing of any substance was ever said during its run.

The moment Caterina told us about Lucanis’ non-death, I called Illario being the traitor. There were no clever misdirects, there were no other leads, nope, they showed us his hand *immediately*. Grandma First Talon of the murder guild has a clear favorite and didn’t tell the ‘spare’ heir about her suspicions? Yeah, okay. Repeat FAMILY as often as you want, you piss-poor Godfather knockoff of a questline, I ain't buying.

So, from the start, all tension is gone, I'm just sitting there waiting for the rest of these “capable” assassins who “rule Antiva from the shadows” to catch on to this incredibly obvious plot twist. Meanwhile, the quests had absolutely nothing interesting to say - about the Crows or Treviso. The first bad guy was, predictably, an evil evil Venatori, super more evil than the evil evil Venatori you've seen before, guys, she literally BATHES IN BLOOD. Omg, right? 🙄 (I found Tevinter infinitely more compelling when their entire ruling class were power-hungry tyrants out of self-interest instead of being hit over the head with the mustache-twirling villain/crazed cultist stick).

Mr. “totally not the traitor” kills Zara before she can tell us anything of substance, she dies,clearly shocked, calling him “Amatus”...AND NO ONE CATCHES ON. You can have Neve on the team, Bellara regularly reads Tevinter serials (the whole team has a fucking book club in the middle of an apocalypse), you can play a freaking Shadow Dragon Rook, but nah, nothing. We don’t even get to ask “Uh, what was that?”. Instead, we get to sit through more pointless missives/quests while the ever capable Crows are totally investigating the traitor.

Now, you could argue that the “Amatus” was a reward to tip off those of us who’ve played the previous games and know what the term means. But with a plot this threadbare and obvious…did the writers think they’re Agatha Christie here? Did they really think I was at the edge of my seat, desperate to find out “whodunit” and grateful for any crumbs thrown my way?

Well, anyway, we are told a million times over that super charming (where?) Illario is just “like that” every time he acts super freaking suspicious. (The funeral thing with Caterina's ashes was especially funny.)

You'd think those instances would start to add up and prompt someone - anyone - to start using their brains (don't we have a goddamn detective on our team?!), but NOPE. We have to corpse-whisper to progress this questline. One of the biggest ass-pulls they've introduced via this game in general, in my opinion (is this Forbidden Realms and we just unlocked the Speak with the Dead spell?) - and it acts as the deus ex machina here to finally give us a clue. Wow, thanks.

The entire sequence of Lucanis confronting Illario in front of the assembled mafia felt like something out of an Antivan play. So goddamn goofy. I thought that vibe was charming in Josephine's romance quest - Antivans live for the drama - but they wanted us to take this moment seriously. This is Lucanis confronting his “all he has left” (don't get me started on the Fade sequence - apparently we the players can’t grasp anyone's motivations without having them spelled out for us over and over again) for putting him through hell and changing his entire being forever. Should I be laughing right now?

To make matters worse,we're told that the Crows are the perfect killers who never leave a contract unfinished - and then Lucanis spares Illario because the humiliation is the biggest punishment??? Like, I'm fine with him faltering here, that’s human. But this should have had consequences. This is the murder guild we're talking about here. Lucanis’ parents were literally killed in a different house’s coup attempt. He was just made the head mobster, immediately showed weakness in front of the entire mafia and everything is just dandy fine??? Because FAMILY?

Another personal gripe with this is that - as always - Rook had zero agency. No matter what you do, Lucanis will forgive or spare Illario. Imagine if we had the option to convince him to kill him instead. Imagine the resulting resentment tainting our bond with him and having us actively engage with fixing or breaking it. Imagine us going along with his mercy but hashing out the painful consequences for his house with him. But that’s not the game Veilguard is.

Anyway, the quest then becomes even more ridiculous. We've long learned that a human traitor helped the Antaam claim Treviso overnight. Someone with great knowledge of the city and the necessary power to make it happen. Gee, I'm sure the human GOVERNOR regularly hanging out in the Crow headquarters or the market bitching about the Crows’ interference 24/7 - the ONLY town official we get to see - had nothing to do with it. Five scarves fluttered in shock out of five, great job, guys.

The Butcher thing was just…weird. Like, we get to hear and build him up as this totally different antaam leader, cruel but cunning and calculating, someone who will be difficult to dethrone. Only for him to show up out of nowhere and serve no other purpose than to move the main plot forward asap and die. Lol, thanks for your service, I guess.

Then Ivenci, for no fucking reason, decides that they, like any good cartoon villain, should reveal themselves to us just in order to gloat. Um, why don’t they simply order the Antaam to murder us dead right then and there? If Rook and their plucky team of friends are too powerful for that, why haven’t we taken Treviso by force already? But nah, lol, our plot armor doesn’t have any cracks yet, so they literally tell us to go away and try to disturb the gods’ plans, because those guys will totally kill us for them.

Now, we wait again. Excuse me, isn’t this a questline about assassins? Why aren’t we trying to, y'know, assassinate Ivenci? Cut off the snakes's head, how often have we heard this phrase otherwise? Nah, let's wait till we get another letter that shit is going down that the Crows totally didn’t anticipate and THEN let's confront them. (Ofc, the Crows’ investigation of the qamek stalled forever. Cause they’re incompetent.)

But the thing that really broke me…we KNOW Ivenci stole a bunch of special qamek. We run at them THROUGH A GREEN POISON CLOUD. And my Rooks's just like “Huhhh? Is something possibly messing with my mind right now?”. YOU STUPID POS.

And then, ofc, we end the questline and Jacobus pops outta nowhere to spare Ivenci because a good pirate never steals and a good assassin never kills, I guess. Jacobus founds his new house to basically become a big mafia family for orphans like him which everyone is super proud of, because, if the previous installments of the game have taught us anything, it's that the Crows are deeply concerned with the well-being of orphans. Whoop dee doo, the end.

Okay, more notes. It’s been mentioned plenty already that this game has completely neutered the Crows and turned them into edgy found family freedom fighters. Personally, I'm not okay with the explanation that this is simply a different house than House Arainai. Because what the actual fuck, game. Why is Ivenci the bad guy when they're literally right about everything?! Where's my option to agree with them that a fucking murder mafia shouldn’t be the ruling force of a town, let alone the entire country? Why is the municipal government the enemy while my non-Crow Rook keeps shouting “Viva the Crows”??? Are you really telling me that the Crows are the good guy mafia and House Arainai was the bad outlier? Is that what this is?

Look, I'm fine with allying with the Crows if that’s what necessity dictates. We're trying to stop the SUPER BLIGHT here. But don’t sugarcoat that this is us joining forces with the mob. The way Veilguard presents them makes me cringe cause they're basically just leather-clad incompetent fools larping as birds. Show us the reality of this alliance. Get into the nitty-gritty. Make this world feel real. God.

I *wanted* to like this questline. Out of every country in Northern Thedas, I've always been most interested in Antiva. The whole medievalesque guilds system and merchant princes, the mediterranean romance and drama, pirates and Crows, the snazzy outfits and Spanish accents, god, normally, I'm eating that shit UP. I didn’t even think twice about which city to save. Partially because Minrathous was better fortified and Venatori seemed like the lesser evil vs. blighted water, of course, but mostly because Treviso is absolutely gorgeous and Zevran and Josephine instilled a lot of love for Antiva in me that I just don’t feel for Tevinter. I also thought that the setup was very interesting - professional assassins turned into freedom fighters of their occupied turf. And it *would* have been if they had let them remain, y'know, the actual murder mafia they always were.

But aside from my gripes about the Crows’ portrayal, the entire questline was just a total nothing burger. This is the first time ever that we're actually in Antiva, our introduction, so to speak, and what do we learn about the place? That there’s strife and betrayal among the Crows? Um, yeah, Zevran covered that fifteen years ago. There’s nothing new whatsoever. Imagine if our primary goal had actually been to help the Crows free Treviso. That we're working to loosen the Butcher's grasp on the town via strategic assassinations (i.e. actual Crow missions) that also introduce us to Treviso's people/Antivan culture (taking out someone during a theatre play, for example! The drama!), the internal politics of the Merchant princes and the municipal government's struggle to keep this occupied city from imploding. Imagine us getting caught up in this web of intrigue as we get closer and closer to the Butcher and then suddenly, we're being played. And only *then* do we start to suspect a traitor among the Crows’ ranks and the whole thing unravels. Spitballing even further, why repeat the Crow/Venatori romance in a random side quest with random people? Why not have Zara and Illario be actually in love, but he kills her for his ambition anyway? And instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he blames Lucanis for forcing his hand? Or maybe, they both thought they were playing the other and as another power hungry asshole, Zara almost respects Illario for the hussle as she dies? *Some* messiness and drama? (Cause Varric’s initial narration sequence made Zara seem like this blood-soaked femme fatale but the actual narrative gave zero fucks about that vibe. Discount Countess Bathory wannabe).

That might just be what I would have wanted and nobody else, but I still maintain that anything would have been better than this cookie-cutter, baby’s first mafia story that is beat for beat exactly what you'd expect and have seen before.

Well, this was a long rant. I don’t intend to make a habit of shitting on things others enjoy on here, but my emotions are still running high after finishing the game yesterday and you did ask. Sorry.

[ravenclod]

DISC: this 'essay' is NOT hating on madohomu, or hating on people for shipping them. nor is it hating on Homura, or implying that her actions should be changed. It is simply an opinion from someone who loves Homura's character who also ships Madohomu, and just wants to rant about things i feel are ignored by the fandom. Please read the full thing before reblogging or replying with your opinions so i dont need to repeat myself.

Maybe I'm just a hater, but I don't understand how people can look at Homura and just excuse everything she’s done, especially in regards to Madoka, because she "actually loved everyone!” and "Is traumatised" and "It’s just toxic yuri!". It feels like a complete ignorance of her character and disregards the complexity and depth of her writing.

Now, obviously, I don't mean when people make jokes about it, I get that, but it’s when people genuinely don't acknowledge how madohomu is unhealthy and homura is a bad person. That is quite literally the whole point.

I'm aware that she does care about the other girls, which is why she didn't try to kill Mami in rebellion, and just acted like the others didn't matter throughout the show because she was all out of hope and had to concentrate on the one thing keeping her sane, which was Madoka. But that is exactly my point. That obsessiveness, that reliance on one singular person [ who is also largely unaware of the reason for said reliance ] is incredibly unhealthy. It is unhealthy. It is toxic. I'm not saying homura is abusive, like some people have, because she absolutely is not, but she is obsessive to the point of being unable to see madoka in a negative way. Even when she criticises her it’s from a "you're so stupid you can’t tell that people love you/you’re so stupid for doing this you're gonna get hurt" point of view, rather than the view of "oh you are genuinely naïve and mess up like everyone". [1] This in turn harms both of them, as she is putting her on a pedestal which Madoka will feel guilty for being on and worry about upholding, and it ruins Homura as she will simply spiral further into this unhealthy mindset.

She takes her [ Madoka’s ] word to the extreme, the word of which has no form of context and is speaking from the equivalent of the naïve Madoka that we see in the first episode. Homura then uses that to justify what she goes on to do during Rebellion, which in turn harms Madoka. when she rips Madoka from herself, I understand it's to avoid the incubators getting to her, and it is very in character, but she still actively harmed Madoka, and went against her wish to save all magical girls [ from becoming witches ] at least, in part.

Her obsessiveness does then leech off and affect everyone else, because she is also friends with them and does care for them. They begin to lose respect and gain upset over Homura, as she is now a girl who has one goal and throws them to the side to achieve this, not attempting to make genuine connections and discarding those which she does have - namely Kyoko in the show. This behaviour affects the other girls in the obvious sense of they die quicker and more frequently as Homura is no longer attempting to intervene; affecting Madoka too, as she ends up getting stressed about her friends not getting along, before then having the trauma of seeing her friends die. [ This is not to put the blame on Homura as it happens regardless, but the point is for everyone else, it will seem like Homura could have helped, even if it was out-with her power.] This will harm Homura as a result, for it will plague her how she treats her friends like this, and will only cause her self-esteem to plummet further than it already has.

Additionally, there are points where she could be argued to be manipulative, which is up to personal judgement, but it is worth noting. Obviously, it would not be from her own awareness or intention, but it is still a plausible outcome of her actions - i.e., the way she speaks to Madoka in the show, almost threatening her before then sobbing over her and acting like she is the most important girl in the world, [2] which, keep in mind, will be weird for Madoka as she barely knows this girl. This isn't to say Homura's actions aren’t understandable, especially in the show, but that doesn't remove the negative impact that they have. Homumado may be cute, and it is cute, especially pre-timeloop, but the reality is, even now, it wouldn't work without years and years of couple therapy.

I also am going to mention kyosaya, as they are also unhealthy, and I know someone may try to bring up how I love them so much in spite of this fact. They are definitely not the most healthy relationship, literally trying to kill each other in a fight in the first episode they met. It is practically impossible to ship characters in this show and have a healthy relationship [ with maybe the exception of madosaya pre-timelooping ]. However, the difference between kyosaya and madohomu is my general issue altogether, which isn't that the ships are unhealthy, but rather the way the fandom treats them in regards to them being such.

Kyosaya is known for being enemies to lovers, its known for being unhealthy and its known for being liked in the theory of "oh this is what they could have been, had they been given more time to understand each other.". It is also an equal relationship, there are no forms of power dynamic between the two, both are equally vulnerable; both hate the other at the start, and respect and care for one another at the end - as seen in rebellion. Even when Kyoko is stronger than Sayaka, that's cancelled out by Sayaka's determination and healing properties.

Homumado, on the other hand, are known for being equally doomed, but in the sense of "Oh Homura will never save Madoka, Madoka will always die, they can never be together.". There is never that acknowledgement that they wouldn't work, even if by some miracle the looping ended. There is simply too much that has happened. The only possible scenario is arguably one in which Madoka stays as Madokami, and Homura stays as the devil, for at least both have equal memories of all that has transpired, but even that has huge issues due to Homura's abandonment issues and obsessiveness toward madoka. There is also, unlike in kyosaya, a large power imbalance, which goes both ways at different points.

In the main show, this is heavy on Homura, as she knows so much about Madoka, she's seen her at her best and worst, and she knows all that will happen. She is also stronger than her, as for the most part Madoka is not a magical girl, and is unable to do anything to prevent her friends’.

Flip that to when Madoka is god however, and she is now the topheavy one, as she is fully aware of everything that has transpired. and Homura is so obsessive. If madoka were anyone else, it could very quickly turn bad with Madoka manipulating Homura's infatuation - which obviously isn't an issue as madoka is so nice, but you get my point.

It is a point though that homura still has power over madoka, especially considering her removal of "Madoka" from "Madokami". She technically has a part madoka all for herself, and has relative power over that for the time being. No one is able to do anything. It’s almost like she’s controlling a doll, except the doll is a piece of madoka she’s refusing to let return to the rest of her.

This is what I mean when I say there is no form of permanent equity between the two, while kyosaya are a yin and yang of give and take, madohomu are simply always off balance. Which is why they're so unhealthy.

Again, that doesn't mean they're not a good ship. That doesn't mean they're not cute, and they don't deserve to be together. It could 10000% work out, just as kyosaya is also toxic but could still work out. My issue isn't with the ship, the writing, or the characters, but rather the disregard to the discussions surrounding it.

To paint Homura as a "cute girl who's a bit obsessed” is a disservice to the complexities of her actions and her humanity, as again, she is a heavily traumatised 14 year old girl. Her actions are realistic, her actions make sense. But her actions aren’t good. This is not a critique on Homura, but a critique of the denial that she has done these bad things. denying as such waters her down and mischaracterizes her. It defeats the point of her as a character.

After all, she is the devil. She’s not intended to be nice.

[1] - "How stupid can you possibly be" - episode 5

[2] - fountain scene, episode 8, where she breaks down in front of madoka

[dnalt-d2]

Christ alive can anyone get a break right now??

(Ahem)

Update time, once again!

Also once again, it is a mixed bag

So to start off with, as most everyone knows, Pomme and Dapper's admins have resigned from their positions. This is incredibly unfortunate, and I honestly don't know what it's gonna mean for the French Creators who said they wouldn't stay on QSMP if Pomme's Admin was fired. Since she technically left of her own volition, I really don't know what they're gonna do

(Edit: I talk about Quackity's stream here but I don't speak Spanish so I can't personally say what was said exactly. Thankfully, it looks like someone JUST POSTED an English Translation so I'm just gonna drop the link here for anyone who wants to read it)

On another note: Quackity has finally given a slight update. For obvious reasons, he can't say anything specific, and I wouldn't have expected him to. But according to the translations I've seen so far, basically said that he can't update because the leaks that happened are creating added complications in the restructuring process. I'm assuming his reason for that is that he simply doesn't want anymore information to be leaked out, but unfortunately, that's just counterproductive to the miscommunication problem

AND SPEAKING OF MISCOMMUNICATION???

So as you all know, I've been in support of the French Union getting involved with this. As I've stated a dozen times now, Unions are meant to be resources, people who inform employees of their rights and do what they can to help them get those rights. As far as I know, one of the main things they do is mediate between the employees and the employers. But APPARENTLY the Union has not attempted to reach out to Quackity outside of Twitter. Which REALLY isn't all that professional. Twitter is a NETWORKING site. Meant to START building connections. Afterwards, people typically move onto email or even discord, which are way better equipped for the long-form communication that's about to have to happen

So even if Quackity WAS active on Twitter, which he isn't. And even if the Union DIDN'T know that, which they do. This isn't the right route to communicate. They have stated that he "has their email" and has to "reach out to them." They are apparently working on the logic that SOMEONE would have had to pass on the information to him by this point, which isn't a fair assumption at all, considering that we know there were Admins ALREADY hiding information from him before all this

They're acting like Quackity is the CEO of a major corporation, with COUNTLESS RESOURCES on-hand. Yeah he's the CEO of this business, but he's also a 23-year-old Twitch Streamer who in all likelihood is learning a LOT about running a business for the first time AS WE SPEAK. I'll tell you right now, when I was 23, I didn't know jack-shit, and I'd still say I don't most of the time. And the only reason I LEARNED jack-shit was because someone would actually TELL me about it. When someone makes mistakes, it REALLY helps them learn when someone is able to not just point out the mistake, but also HOW to fix it. I don't know how they're expecting him to grow from his miscommunication mistakes when they aren't willing to give him the chance to

And yes, there are MANY problems that need to be fixed, as I've said before. But Quackity did outright confirm some of the other things I've said too. That things ARE happening, and we aren't hearing about it. That we aren't GOING to hear about it. Which is fine. It makes sense. We aren't the people who need to know every step of the process. But he is going to have to figure out a better system for talking to the Admins. It's a real problem when he's communicating with people like Aypierre that Pomme's Admin has her job still, but didn't tell the Admin herself

There's still lots of problems, and I know it sounds like I'm just repeating myself, saying to wait and see, but in reality, there isn't much else we CAN do besides that and voice our support

This might be the last time I make a post on this for a bit, because this has been a little draining on me. Which I would normally be able to handle SUPER easy, I'm pretty good at handling stuff like this well enough. But now I've also got real-life stuff reminding me that no matter how much better things SEEM to be getting for me, something's gonna come smack me in the back of the head to remind me that actually things suck, and I just should've known better! And unfortunately that stuff requires my focus more than this. I'll still be here, watching everything, maybe commenting on stuff, but I might not be quite as vocal as I have been

Once again, I remind you all, take care of yourselves first and foremost. Whether it's physical, emotional, or mental, or whatever else. You matter more than the events taking place here right now. My support goes out to all of you, as well as the Admins who VERY WELL COULD BE SEEING THIS APPARENTLY. So I guess this message goes out to them as well lol. You guys rock and I've enjoyed all the contributions you've made

Anyways, see you all later

[kits-ghosts-corner]

That's a problem of the ace community's own making. Gay means not interested in the opposite gender. Straight means not interested in the same gender.

But ace means... anything and nothing these days. Of course people don't take the identity specifically. "Aces can want sex, feel sexual attraction" okay then it means nothing when a character says they're ace. People can ship them and write them having sex because, well, ace can.

People even argue sex repulsed people can want sex.

Sorry, when your entire communtiy is about how words mean wahtever you want them to mean, people are going to make asexuality mean whatever they want.

Ace doesn't "mean anything and nothing these days". Being asexual is defined as experiencing little to no sexual attraction, and it has been that way for a while. That doesn't mean experiencing no libido or never wanting to have sex, because attraction doesn't equal action. We have enough accounts of that outside of the ace community, plenty of allo folks fuck people they don't find attractive just because they want to. Folks in the ace community can opt to use labels like "sex-repulsed", "sex-indifferent", etc. because it helps them communicate or categorise how they experience their asexuality. It has been this way for some time, and it's not a thing of "these days".

When characters are canonically portrayed as having absolutely no interest in sex - or active disgust towards it - it is uncomfortable (at least for me) to see others write them as engaging in it. Again, I'm going to point towards the example I used of everybody (quite rightfully, I think) getting up in arms if a character who was a gay man was written by someone as being incredibly attracted to a woman. It's an erasure of what tends to be an important part of a character (or, if not important, then at least an aspect of that character). It shows a lack of nuanced and critical thought, to be honest, and it's an indication of a shallow way of viewing a character if you throw out what can be a vital way of how they experience relationships (or lack thereof) just for the sake of like... idk a fic or something. I made the original post because I'm sick and tired of people not treating asexuality seriously, and this ask proves that people still don't.

It's fine if you don't understand asexual experiences, but you don't have to pin that on the ace community. I said the post isn't aimed towards ace and aro people because I can generally trust that what they write is done with these nuances in mind because they are our lived experiences - allo people can write the same things, of course they can, but it would be much better if actual experiences were taken into account rather than slapping on the label of "sex-favourable" and being done with it. (This will depend on POVs of the fics, but it's never difficult to add a little mention of it here and there. You don't need paragraph upon paragraph explaining the specifics, but just a simple thing would be very nice.)

The entire asexual community isn't about "how words mean whatever we want them to mean", it's about asexuality, and there are multiple ways to experience that. There's - and I'm sorry to keep repeating the word - nuance, and it is incredibly frustrating when people do not take that nuance into account when writing. And if you want to write a simple fic about sex, that's fine, but it's not hard to pick literally any other character.

My post was made very quickly and I hope I made it clear that it was a quick rant and not a full take on it all (maybe I need to edit the post to make it more obvious /g), and even this response here doesn't go into all the nooks and crannies of it because it would take a long time and a longer post than this already is. But it's weird to pin other people throwing away characters' sexualities and experiences on the entire asexual community because we have differing experiences amongst ourselves.

[angelthefirst1]

The Angel Gabrielle heralds the arrival of Christ but also the prior arrival of the antichrist.

What an incredible episode!

Yes, she's coming soon, and all the very detailed Beth and Daryl call-backs, of which there are too many to count, just show us that all the signs are there, as Daryl said!

I'm going to focus on what comes next in this post more than the obvious repeats of their story.

Having Father Gabrielle be the very first thing we see was symbolically huge.

So is the fact that Seth will be with Emily in France on resurrection Sunday at comic con, I'll go into that a bit later.

I'm going to break down the meaning of this introductory scene because it tells us what comes next.

We first see Gabrielle's face as he looks upward after hearing the sound of a helicopter flying overhead.

The helicopter 🚁 symbolism In this show is always a depiction of God or a celestial body from the spiritual realm.

Here it's depicting God giving the Angel Gabrielle, a message.

As Gabriel said in 509, we look at what is unseen because what is unseen is eternal. We don't actually see the helicopter, so it's a hint at its eternal nature.

To understand what they are showing us here, we need to know a little about the angel Gabrielle.

In the Bible, the angel Gabrielle is known as the messenger Angel.

Gabrielle is given a message by God to go tell Mary that she is going to have a baby and that baby would be the saviour of the world - Christ.

Gabriel is the one that brings or heralds the Good News (music box) of the coming Christ.

This very first scene of episode 105 - The ones who live - is depicting that message and Beth's arrival to come soon.

The good news music box is about to play again...

Gabriel then kills a walker, which represents the fall of mankind.

Christ's sacrifice will remove the fall and bring redemption for those who accept the cure, so this message Gabriel gets, is about defeating death, and that's symbolised by his message the double edge sword defeating this walker.

The tool used to defeat death is Christ's sacrifice, which is the word of God, or good news, and it's symbolic of a two edged sword.

The other thing that Angel Gabriel is known for is interpreting a vision for the prophet Daniel about the end times.

That vision is known as the vision of the Ram and the Goat from Daniel 8.

A Ram is a male sheep, and we definitely got some more in your face, Ram/sheep symbolism in this episode.

I've talked about the sheep and the goat judgements of the Millennial kingdom quite a lot recently.

Well, this vision plays into that same theme...

It's symbolic and important, so I highly suggest you read more about it first, and this will make more sense.

Read more on the sheep and goats info I've already covered here and here

This vision that Daniel has is interpreted by the angel Gabriel, and its meaning is about the coming 7 year antichrist Kingdom, which is followed by the Millennial kingdom of Christ.

To represent this vision, we see Gabriel hear the helicopter a second time 🚁

He is getting a second message from God, and this second message is about the coming antichrist kingdom and the millennial kingdom to follow...

It's no coincidence that as this second message gets delivered, Gabriel starts saying the Lords prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, THY KINGDOM COME, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This prayer is a prayer that asks God to come back and set up his Millennial kingdom on earth. So it's referencing the return of Christ, which by extension references the antichrist kingdom that comes first.

This vision of Daniel's that Gabriel interprets, shows what the antichrist will do when he is in power for 7 years.

As I've already talked about, the A's (non followers) are killed, while the followers of antichrist take the mark of the Beast, which will circle around to be what begins the Zombie outbreak to begin with.

The Pharmakon "cure" is the poison

The beginning is the end.

One other thing Daniel's vision portrays is that the antichrist will also commit what's called the abomination that causes desolation, this is an act that is linked to sacrificing a pig (which is considered unclean) in the temple of God, and while doing this, he declares himself to be god.

What's this got to do with the walking dead?

Well, we have already seen a depiction of this in season 4. Believe it or not, it's related to the pig called Violet.

Purple or violet is the colour of royalty, so the pig called violet that Rick sacrificed was a depiction of this vision.

We know that team Violet played a part in the beginning of the outbreak, and ultimately, playing god (violet) and making humans (the temple of God/made in his image) unclean (pig) will be the abomination that is the beginning of it all.

Carl calls the pig violet, and Rick tells him not to name them. They're food (a hint at the cannibalism aspect of the abomination)

We see Carl tell Lizzy almost the exact same thing about the walkers. Don't name them. They're not pets, and they're not people.

Violet seems unwell, and we get our first look at the first symptoms of what this mark of the beast does...

We see Rick feed the violet pigs to the walkers (cannibals), the duel symbolism of this abomination circles back on itself.

There are two kingdoms at play here, and both Christ and the antichrist are linked to the colour purple.

One is God, and the other wants to be god, so he declares himself god and creates a new species in his image.

That's why the pig in season 4 is called violet, and that's why team Violet had a hand in starting the outbreak to being with. They play god and cause human abominations that are no longer human, as Dr Jenner from the CDC says.

And that's where the A and the B, sheep and goat symbolism comes in again. 🐑 🐐

A's are labelled as such because they aren't followers of the Antichrist, don't take the violet unclean mark so they get killed.

B's are followers, so they live.

The same but opposite it true for the Millennial kingdom.

A's are labelled as such because they aren't followers of Christ. They took the unclean violet mark, so they aren't allowed into the Millennium kingdom.

B's are followers so they live.

The symbolism for both kingdoms is so similar that it's given to both the CRM and team family at the same time in this show.

The antichrist mimics Christ with a false light.

2 Corinthians 11.14

And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

While Beth and Rick have Christ symbolism, they also have antichrist symbolism.

One thing that happens to the Antichrist is that he receives a fatal wound to the head but is healed from it, and this miraculous healing will make the whole world follow him.

So you see, the two kingdoms are being mirrored at the same time in this show.

Now we suddenly have purple connected to Beth on Resurrection Sunday.

On that, I want to talk about light

John 12 Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

We know Beth has been described as light before, so I want to look at the light colour spectrum.

Purple is the Royal colour, but it's also the colour associated with the return of the King.

The quickest frequency of light is purple...

12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Emily at ComicCon in France, depicted with purple and on resurrection Sunday is huge, add to that she's with Gabriel, means Beth will take part in either a real cure or a fake cure.

Which one, we will have to wait and see...

[bugsbenefit]

do you have where the duffers said that there will be pre-time skip scenes? I thought it was all fan speculation

don't have that handy as a legit source rn sorry, i can only give you word of mouth that originally, right post s4 coming out, the Duffers mentioned in an interview that they would do a time skip again (to account for the actors ages and time lost with the pandemic filming delays) and that it would happen a few episodes into s5. they brought up the idea of it happening around episode 2. and that s5 would pick right back up where s4 ended. opposed to filming s4 and s5 back to back like what their original plan was. but they were also vague and things clearly weren't finalized yet

so the obvious conclusion at the time was that there would be pre time jump scenes (episode 1 and potentially 2) and that's all we had to go on for over a year and that's why a lot of people are so sure there will be a significant amount of time spent pre time skip

but that was all the way back in 2022 and wasn't repeated since

personally, i definitely think there's a possibility the time skip is going to happen right into s5. which would also help them avoid pacing nightmares like having to "re-start" the action/tension build up over an hour into the final season

but from where we are right now we just really don't know how they'll do the time skip. a lot of people are very adamantly sticking with what was said in that one initial interview, but, again, that was a single interview from autumn of 2022. so yk. what people also took to mean time spent pre time skip is the Duffers saying s5 will jump "right back into the action" since they don't need to establish motive for the characters anymore (actually Do have a link for one of those articles lmao). but the opening of s5 going fast could also easily be meant to be post time skip. there just won't be much introducing the characters or having them find the plot anymore, that's going to happen whether we pick back up where we left off or start up post time skip

but lacking confirmation by the Duffer's aside there is a few things suggesting they already filmed more than what we saw in s4, which would make sense as pre time skip scenes for s5 since the actors would still be the same age and they wouldn't have to rebook old locations, like:

bts of Rinkomania existing of things we never saw in the show. like Will wearing the outfit from the van trip and finale. despite the filming in that location happening in an incredibly short amount of time which would mean a packed filming schedule

bts existing of the cast sitting in the Sinclair's living room while in full costume (might add a link to that later but i don't have it handy right now)

also the script of the final episode we got by the official writers account not ending on the usual ending but on a literal "end season" cliffhanger, which a lot of people took as there potentially being more they filmed of that scene as an opening for the next season (that's purely speculative tho, not as solid as the other two things where we have image proof, i'm just mentioning it bc i've seen it discussed before, so just to cover Everything yk)

since we know so little, those could be scenes we see right away, but that could also be flashbacks we see later on, post time skip. so while there are things pointing to there being more 1986 scenes filmed that we haven't seen yet, that's not really indicative of when the time skip itself will happen

my Current personal guess is super early into e1 but that's not based on anything specific except what i think would make the most sense from a logistical and story telling pov (opinion up to change at any moment based on news we get tho)

[descendant-of-truth]

One thing that baffles me a little about Zi-o is how we're told that Sougo is given the power to control time as a child, but... given what we're shown, it makes a lot more sense to assume that he has power over language

And I'm not talking about the powers he has as Zi-o, to be clear, because forms like Zi-o II and whatnot very clearly have time-based powers. I'm talking about just, Sougo, as a person

Literally the first time his power manifests as anything is when he shouts "look out!" and it appears as physical words

(Yes time stopped afterwards but it's unclear if that was him or Swartz and it's not important to my overall point)

This isn't the first time we get to see that recurring theme of Sougo being associated with language, though; there's the obvious stuff like his mask literally having "Kamen Rider" written on it, but something very interesting happens when he gets Build's and Ex-Aid's powers.

Y'know how Sento used to summon math equations around him every so often? Sougo does the same thing with the Build armor, except it's math notes instead, phrases he might write in a notebook. Or, perhaps more accurately, thoughts he's had about math? It's clearly not his forte, the poor guy

Ex-Aid is an especially interesting example here, because Sougo's not converting numbers to letters as much as he is translating between languages. All of Ex-Aid's "hit!" effects as well as his finisher logo are in English, but Sougo's version has them written in Japanese:

His Driver(?) also vocalizes the word "hit" sometimes when a blow connects, but the real kicker is that Sougo can see the logo and uses its words as a weapon

And as if that weren't enough, Kamen Rider Kikai in particular was created as an extension of Sougo's toy robot, and has a password built into him that takes directly after what Sougo wrote on said robot: "will be the king."

To be fair, all of the future Riders were created from Sougo's dreams, which is. a whole other thing, but my point is that the words written on that robot were very important to how Rento exists at all.

So like. think about the implications of this for a second. Sougo uses words as both literal weapons and as a means to affect the timeline, as shown with Rento. His dreams also play a role in this incredible power, though the extent of that remains a little vague.

Remind me again what dream Sougo is constantly having? What phrase he's been repeating for years?

Guys. The characters keep asking, "how could Sougo possibly become Oma Zi-o?"

And the answer is because he's speaking it into existence.

(Side note, his Ride Watch activates for the first time when he says that line with conviction. Nothing at all suspicious or magical about that)

Influencing the existence of events through the power of language... where have I seen that in this show before

I know that the series doesn't really correlate Sougo's power with White Woz's journal, but like. maybe it should have, y'know?? We never did get an explanation for how that book was made; maybe in the timeline where Sougo loses, they took his power and imbued it in the journal?

Anyway, I just think it would have been really cool if they emphasized this trend with words in the narrative more, because there's so much you can do with a power like that and it helps differentiate him from all the other characters with time-related powers.

It even fits well with his personality - Sougo can be surprisingly crafty underneath his bubbly, impulsive attitude, and a lot of that comes from how he phrases stuff (which I've already made a separate post about)

There could've even been an arc where Sougo realizes that this is how his power works, too, and maybe have him overcome some sort of fear of speaking due to its unpredictable, disastrous effects. We could have had it all, people!! It was right there!!

[inkedmyths]

S1: E9 "Home"

Alright its been almost a month time to stop procrastinating this

Ohhh ~crunchy~ video quality

Oh a classic monster in the closet situation

Surprised the lady didn't get like dragged in right then and there

Its wild bc obviously in real life there's never anything in the closet but this is Supernatural in which case ofc there's something

Its not rats! Its something worse!

THE CHAIR. ITS MOVING. RUN KID

WAIT WINCHESTERS

H U H

0oh Sam and his ~prophetic dreams~

Me when someone's trying to talk to me as I'm drawing

Sam I feel like you should just say you're having spooky dreams

THERE we go

Dean did not sign up for his little brother being a psychic

Dean shut up its road trip back home time. Bitch.

THE CAMERA. THE MUSIC. THE DRAMA. This is so funny SPN is a soap opera actually

[ Crepe says that no one can handle Sam's bs in a calm and controlled manner. My opinion is no one can handle any of the Winchester's bullshit in a calm and controlled manner. ]

Awkward but I mean ok

Waiting for the kid to say "There's something in the closet"

YEP

Bros just yelling at each other bc they are so normal about this

Dean is so so bad with his feelings huh

[ Kayla asks if I am just realizing this. I am not. I was merely repeating a statement of observation. It seemed relevant. ]

Walks away bc he didn't want Sam to see him showing an emotion

NOT THE FUCKING CYMBALS MONKEY

NOOOOO

NO DONT STICK YOUR HAND

Oh I am not watching the screen no thank you

[ Kayla finds this reaction funny because "We've all been there". This is fair. And I know the man is just trying to do his job. However, he is, unfortunately, in an episode of Supernatural. If you are a random background character in an episode of Supernatural, you should never stick your hand in a thing that has many sharp blades. ]

I know where this is going to go

YEP EURGH arm smoothie

DUMBASSES THEY'RE PRETENDING TO BE COPS INVESTIGATING THEIR OWN DISAPPEARANCE

I feel like they would get farther is they just walked up to people and said WE'RE SAM AND DEAN

[ Melon says that we should play a drinking game, in which every time Sam and Dean do something stupid, you take a sip of a drink. Forst of all, I am still a year away from being able to consume alcohol legally. Second of all, this sounds like a surefire way to get alcohol poisoning. ]

Oh ofc. Psychic time.

"Your wife if crazy about you!" Turns around "His wife is banging the gardener" Incredible

LMAO CALLING DEAN A GOOFY LOOKIN KID

Oh shes good. Interesting

Sam as she's yelling at Dean is just :D

This poor lady its not her fault that the guy got blended

Yes something is starting. A TV show

UH OH

Is it giving the kid juice. Whats the deal

Oh its shutting him in the FRIDGE

UH OH

THE FRIDGE

MA'AM BEHIND YOU THE FRIDGE

OPEN THE FRIDGE

Thank god

NOT THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED

She's so much smarter than either of the bros

I have a sneaking suspicion the firey spirit is their mom or something

[ It is at this point that Crepe has no concept of how not to spoil an Ep and says I'm right. I figured, the plot beats seemed obvious, but come ON. The less you spoil the funnier my reactions will be. Let me enjoy my incredible powers of prediction in due time. ]

Oop there goes the lamp

Uh oh there is attenpted murder via flying objects

WOAH

Flashy light

MISSOURI MA'AM ARE YOY OKAY

Oh good

Holy cow that was something

SORRY ABOUT YOUR HOUSE THE GHOST DID NOT LIKE US

GET THE MOP AND DONT CUSS AT ME

There's like 10 minutes left what's gonna happen next

SHAKING

Is Sam outside oh yep there's the bros

go go go

FLAMING FIGURE

Oh bye bye Sam

DOOR SHUT how drama

Oh hes just getting punted

OH HI

Ur not on fire anymore whats up

Ghost fight! Ghost fight!

Oh yeah tragic sacrifice all that Sam buddy she was already dead

Alright so Sam is on some kind of bizarre spooky journey

AHA. THE BASTARD

YOU. MOTHERFUCKER

OLD MAN WINCHESTER WHATS YOUR FUCKING ANGLE

[ Episode ends. Crepe said it would be funnier if I added in the other's commentary. Kayla agreed. I hope this appeases you both. ]

[les-mis-in-space]

⭐ 

I'm just letting you ramble because I'm incredibly indecisive have fun!

Okay instead of one BIG ramble I think I'm gonna do a bunch of little ones

None of the prisoners looked at the guards observing them, keeping their heads low as they worked to repair the ship. Two symphonies played a counterpoint duet— the instruments of nature being the gongs of thunder, the rattling of the rain, the clapping of the waves, with only the whistling of the wind to give melody to the excess of percussion; the music of the inmates being comprised of the falsetto hum of electrosaws, the clanging and clinking of hammers, the twisting wrenches groaning and screeching like kloo horns on fluctuating settings. Immediately to the left of Com Narcom, a Klatooinian gave lyrics to the cacophony in growled Huttese:

Stuka doompa, stuka doompa Hagwa stuka ta hoohah Stuka doompa, stuka doompa Unko uba nee choo,

And in lieu of a final syllable he would spit, quite forcefully, to approximate a rhyme, which would make his green leathery jowls quiver. At the third repetition of this verse, Narcom’s shaggy, sopping head whipped in the inmate’s direction with a snarled “Can you shut up?”

The singing Klatooinian locked eyes with Narcom and growled deep in his throat, like an akk dog ready to snap. A sentry probe zoomed over, its photoreceptor flashing red as a grating electronic bark warned them to leave each other alone and focus on their work.

Narcom’s eyes dropped. “I mean, can you shut up, please.”

If I could have done this with Master of the House I would have, but I could not get the Huttese lyrics to fit the meter. I was already kinda stretching here, meter-wise. I've always wondered how obvious the reference is to those who don't bother consulting a Huttese dictionary for the translation.

I’m sure there have been early mornings where your alarm has gone off and then, after a long session in the sanistream, you’ve sat on your bed wearing only a towel or your undergarments, procrastinating putting your clothes on for no real reason while you check the HoloNet on your datapad or think about how you’re going to get your protagonist out of the nest of gundarks you dropped her into in the last chapter— that or a particularly difficult math problem, whatever people who aren’t writers think about.

Passages you write before you're diagnosed with ADHD lol. Turns out this thing I thought was relatable probably only happens to a certain demographic on a regular basis. Still, I'm sure we've all had at least one experience like this. Com's basically in shock right now; he's a bit slow on the uptake while his brain tries to process the fact that someone is being nice to him.

“This thief says you gave them to him,” the officer sneered. “As a gift.”

Korma blinked. “But I did.”

The prisoner started.

The officer’s eyebrows shot skyward. “What?”

Korma leaned to peer over the officer’s shoulder. “Why is he in binders?" he demanded, throwing up his hand. "You will release him at once!”

"We'll release him at once," said the officer, waving two fingers toward the officers behind him. The policemen deactivated the cuffs. The prisoner rubbed his wrists, staring at the old Cerean with bewilderment.

“Return the knapsack,” Korma ordered. “Those belong to him.”

"These belong to him," said the officer, setting down the knapsack and stepping back.

“I thank you for taking the time to return my property,” said the bishop. “But no crime has been committed here. You can go about your business.”

The lead officer nodded, setting the knapsack on the ground and turning to the other officers. "We can go about our business."

This is not originally how the scene was written. Originally, there was no hand-wavery or repeating of sentences. Some time after I'd finished Part I, I was rereading this chapter and realized I'd missed an opportunity. Always good to add even more of a Star Wars touch. It also foreshadows the (admittedly obvious) reveal a couple paragraphs later.

Halmath picked up the imagecaster, holding the hologram of Kobjin’s head in his hand. He stared at it, as if it were the unearthed skull of someone he had once known. The familiarity was not reflected in the man’s hollow, empty eyes.

“Ah,” Halmath whispered. “Poor Com.”

Yes, this is a Hamlet reference. Thank you for noticing.

“Coming up now.” Adeg reached up and disengaged the hyperdrive. The vortex of lightspeed gave way to view of a round gray ball directly ahead with a thin ring of asteroids surrounding it.

Arkassos looked like a gas giant from space. It wasn’t a gas giant, of course, because it wasn’t gigantic— and its surface was terrestrial, a fact Lieutenant Adeg only knew because he’d been there before.

The young pilot glanced over his shoulder. “You’re going to want to strap in now, Minister,” he advised. “It’s going to get rough.”

Com frowned as the shuttle breached the stormy atmosphere. The rocking of the cockpit prompted him to take the pilot’s advice. He sat behind Adeg, closed his eyes, and tried to muster a meditative state despite the deafening thunder.

Suddenly, something smacked against the shuttle, sending it tipping starboard. Electric sparks arced through the cabin. The copilot swore while Able yelped. Com clutched his armrests as the ship wobbled. “What was that?”

“Shark, probably,” Adeg replied as he righted the craft. “They like to ram incoming ships. Must have slammed into our dorsal wing.”

“A shark… in the sky?” Com furrowed his brow.

“Yes sir,” nodded the pilot. “Arkassoan sharks swim in the air. They’ve got big wings like—”

“Like that,” McKrow pointed.

Com leaned to peer through the transparisteel. There, circling off to the side, was a shoal of creatures with long, slowly-flapping fins, and three dorsal fins each on their backs. They crackled with electricity as if their bodies were supercharged by the storm. Their bodies were ash-grey, except for the black ridge that stuck out over each one’s brow.

Com didn’t like them.

Sometimes, Star Wars locations have a unique feel to them that makes them instantly recognizable. My success in coming up with my own original planets varies in this regard. Trolorn is your run-of-the-mill water world, but the prison gives it an adequately distinctive signature. Dygni is pastoral with small towns— planets like that are a dime a dozen. Ditto with Monderon, although I tried to make Monderon stand out by being described as particularly boring and also containing occasional forests— had to have those woods for the scene where Leela meets Antilles. Montal is another water world— in coming up with a distinctive feel for the capital city, I decided to go with "Minas Tirith in the middle of the ocean." Pasir is not as urban as other Star Wars planets we've seen, but not at all as much of a backwater as most Outer Rim worlds either.

Anyway, all this to say, I seem to come up with my best gimmicks when the location is only briefly relevant. I thought, "Okay, what sets Arkassos apart?" and my brain came up with "giant flying lightning sharks." I laughed with my beta reader about how stupid random that idea was and then it turned out they really liked the sharks, so I *had* to go through with it.

The description of the sharks is intentional. Ash-gray, jutting black ridges over the brow... If you have a good memory, you should realize why Com doesn't care much for them.

As the convict went from house to house, he saw a pair of police officers. Their uniforms were like the guards’ uniforms on Trolorn, except that the guards had worn black caps and ash gray tunics, and the police officers’ caps and tunics were a matching shade of teal blue, with brass rank plaques and cap discs instead of silver.

Also note that the city below is enclosed in a giant cage. On a stormy planet. Surrounded by patrolling entities that will zap you if they catch you outside the walls. Com doesn't miss this parallel:

The shield gate began to open. “It’s ‘cause of the sharks,” the pilot explained as they passed through to land.

Com knew the pilot meant, to keep the sharks out. But between their stern black ridges and fins that crackled like electrobatons, he felt as if rather the sharks were there to keep them inside the cage.

As if to confirm his thought, Adeg added, “You thought it was rough back there, wait until we’re trying to leave.”

Wow. So far I've spent the most time rambling about the lightning shark planet.

Mrs. Bewl continued her testimony. “I’ll never forget that man. Drab clothes, scruffier than a Wookiee, and he smelled absolutely terrible. And he had this hungry look in his eyes, it gave me the creeps.”

Things that make Mrs. Bewl assume a man is dangerous include [checks notes] needing food

A moment later, a dark-skinned young man in a black uniform appeared in the refresher, with a protocol droid right behind him. “I saw what you did,” said Adeg breathlessly. “I’ve never seen anyone do something as brave as you just now, Minister. I sent off the troopers. Let’s get to the ship before they come back.”

“Hold on,” said Kobjin. “You’re an Imperial. Why are you helping us?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” said Adeg firmly. “You need a pilot.”

This is an intentional reference to Poe's rescue in The Force Awakens. Adeg only appears in this chapter and the next, but I can tell you that after escaping from the Arkassos fiasco (say that out loud, it's fun) he joined up with the Rebellion as an A-Wing pilot, married one of his squadmates, and had a child after the war who was kidnapped by the First Order at a young age. He and his partner were some of the first Resistance members.

“We’ve got to deal with them or we’ll never get out of here alive!” Adeg insisted. “Alright, Minister! Start firing!”

Com looked at the gun controls as TIE lasers bounced off the viewport. “Where’s the stun setting on this thing?”

“Are you kidding me?!” Adeg exclaimed. “Just shoot them!”

...

Com swerved as soon as they penetrated the clouds, veering away from their pursuers in the opaque mist. The thunder was deafening now. The cabin lights flickered. Com weaved between thunderclouds as lightning beat the forward deflector shields. Adeg looked over at Com as he navigated through the maze. “Are your eyes closed right now?!”

“Trying to concentrate,” Com grunted.

“Wait, they’re what?” Kobjin shook the back of the pilot’s chair. “Keep your eyes open! We’re flying through an atmospheric maelstrom right now!”

“I know,” Com snapped. “Let me focus.”

“Can’t you pray and look where you’re going at the same time?” demanded Adeg.

I don't have much to say here except these are my favorite bits of comedy in the whole chapter. Never fly with a Force-wielding pacifist if you value your sanity. Also—

“Back?” Adeg sputtered. “Back to Arkassos?”

"Why does everyone want to go back to Arkassos?" XD

I think I'm going to ramble about Book II in a reblog!

[miitarashi]

Note: the classic 3:37AM ideas,this aways get me and i posted one fic not too long ago,and i have one more fic that i'm writing in my native language with my oc. There was supposed to be a part of April but Tumblr buged and i lost it ;-;

Note²: i already said how i hate myself for making a bunch of fics at the same time don't having the time to finish them? Well,yes. Good reading.

[name] = your name (reader is neutral)

Warnings: a lot of swearing, misspelling words,some dysphoria topics and that's it.

Prompt: how the boys would flirt with you.

✨Headcanons✨

This boy is the most obvious between them and yall probably already know what i'm talking about.

But, bear with me here.

He really would actually flirt,of course,this probably became a normal interection between you two. At first. Cuz come on,this boy is slow about this specific thing.

Leo wouldn't notice his crush on you,everyone. I repeat. Every. One. In the lair realize it, except him.

When our precious blue boy realize it

Not just because someone (donnie) told him cause Leo talked,thinked,dreamed and all that stuff about you and rubbed in his face how much he was in love with you.

The cheesy one-lines gona stop for a while.

Because he's embarrassed?

That too,but mostly because he's searching for good ones.

And yes,in the middle of this research,he found that one particularly fact about red-eared slider when they rub their face in the other turtle to flirt.

And yes,he really tried it.

You didn't get it.

Making him upset and embarrassed cuz he was sure that would work lol.

I believe that Leo would try all those romantic cliche things like a test to see if it work or cuz he don't really know what to do for real.

Since then,when the one-lines come back,expect been all praising you.

Not even a single one is not telling you how pretty and incredible person you are.

But now, if you respond to his flirt.

Leo's brain stopped woriking.exe

It's almost like you can see the smoke coming from his ears like in Cartoon (i mean,they is one but, y'all undestand)

Ok ok,but the confess?

You would be surprised.

Remenber when i said that he was testing the romantic cliche stuff? He was studying it and with a little help from his brothers...

He set up everything,the place with a good view to the city,your favorite spot. The table all romanticized with candles and petals,even the food was him who did it (with mikey's help, really much help) and then,you arrived.

Leo said that was something quite special so you dress real pretty caught him off guard when his eyes lean on you blushing like crazy. To mantein his posture,he cleared his throat reaching out to guide you to the table, playing the gentleman by pulling out a chair for you to sit down.

"Leo, this is really pretty but-"

"not much than you,señorita~" - he sit down too looking,still a little flushed,at you who's blushing by the compliment.

"w-well...thank you handsome,now,are you gonna explain what all this is about?"

"you are more clueless than me and yes,i'm very handsome thank you but" - he laugh a little grabing your hand that was leaning on the table - "i make all this,with my brothers help too" - he whispered looking to the side - "because i...i really like you,more than a friend like y'know? And,i was making all that stuff to figure how to ask you out so...it worked?"

You stared at him for a good few seconds, your face reddening as his words replayed in your mind. Leo started to get nervous by your silence, giving a slightly uncomfortable smile.

"i think that is...a no?"

"wha- i- no! You just... caught off guard" - you laugh trying to calm down feeling he squeezing your hand, smiling more happy and hopeful - "i love you too, Leo,deeply. Like,you live rent free 24/7 in my mind,y'knew that?"

"oh well,what can i say? I'm irresistible! It's hard to get me out off the head" - he pulled back his bandana strips as if it were hair doing one of his classic poses with his usual smug grin - "and... you've also been living for free in my mind, I've even dreamed of you"

"aww, that's so cute" - looking to the side avoind contact with you,he blush more for what he said.

"so,huh...we...dating now?"

"i suppose so"

"really??"

"of course,or you don't-"

"i want it,couse i want!" - you giggle from his desperate reaction moving your hand to his red cheek.

"i really can't with you, you big goofy"

"yours. Big goofy"

You two smile happly and finally eat what he prepared talking about random stuff. When you too finished, Leo take your hand guiding you to the edge of the roof to admire the glittering and noisy city below.

You call him who just give a "hum?" looking at you and then,you rubbed your face in his.

"now i know what that means"

This boy changed from green to red in a matter of seconds laughing with embarrassment hiding his face in your neck.

"glad you finally undestood [name]"

"your welcome Leo"

Oh yes,the most precious and dangerous of them.

He is pretty obvious too.

Expect nothing less a bunch of gifts hand-maid.

Almost like Leo,i think he wouldn't notice his crush at first but after some conversation with his big sis Raphaela (yes,she is trans fem in my fics) he figure it out.

And like i said,gifts.

A lot.

Drawings about you making cute things like,picking flowers, smiling as if to take a picture, you and him in a self portrait.

Make your favorite food/snack/sweet when you come to the lair.

Some crafts shaped like something that reminds you to him.

Quality time,that's too.

Just in silence when his making some art and you are there with him,helping or not.

The confess - make a surprise cake writing "i ♥️ u flour-ever baby! (Leo's idea). Wanna be my S/O for life?"

Like you aways do in a friday night,you texted mikey asking if he wanted to hung out not taking long to accept the proposal saying that he had a delicious surprise for you.

Hopping happly you arrived calling for him who running at you givin a tigh embrance lifting you up a little.

"[name]! I'm so happy you make it to the lair!"

"course i make,i was dying to see you so i came as fast i can"

"really???" - he put you down smiling happy like a child - "this is awesome and perfect for the surprise!"

"oh yeah,you make something right?"

"yes, it's in the kitchen! Come on come on!"

He drag you to the other room,in the table,only one cake hidden by a big napkin. He let go off your hand pulling out the chair for you to sit givin a few steps away,deep breathing and turn back to you.

"first of all [name],i really enjoy hung out with you,it's the best part of my days whenever you with me is so good and fun and...huh..." - he starts tapping his fingertips in touching each other looking sideways nervous and starting to blush - "and i...really like the time we spend together,more than a...well..."

You stand up walking towards him grabing his hands caressing the back with your thumbs.

"don't be nervous mikey,i think that undestanding what you trying to say..." - this time was your turn to blush.

"for real? So..." - he free one of his hands and take the napkin from above the cake - "whatcha say?"

You look to the cake seeing "i ♥️ u flour-ever baby! Wanna be my S/O for life?" on the top. You giggle a bit by the pun knowing who's idea it probably was turn back to one anxious mikey givin him a hug by the neck.

"of course!"

"yes!! It worked!" - he hugs you back jumping up and down with happiness, pulling away only to cover your face with kisses.

"the 'flour-ever', Leo?"

"yep,he said that would make you laugh and fell for me in the same moment"

"well,he wasn't so wrong after all"

"ha! I knew it! My pun worked! In. Your. Faces!"

Leo appears along with the other two rubbing his "victory" in their faces as he approaches you both.

"now this Champion here deserve some sweet cake-"

"it's for [name] Leo,don't you dare touch it!"

"not even us?" - the oldest sister ask.

"mikey that's ok,it's enough cake for all of us,let's eat!"

"sure thing sunshine!"

My beautiful girl. Yall know for sure that she is a poor romantic.

Like,she probably know the stuff,just don't know how to put in action the way she wanted.

But,even so,she wouldn't just do nothing of course,it's just...not so romantic lol.

Rapha probably would ask if you want to train with her, it's not a real flirt,is more like she show the affection by acts (like she's love language)

Teach you self defense.

Aways make sure that you eat properly three meals per day.

Drinking enough water and not bein a sleepy deprived like her brothers.

At some point,she looks after you like a real sister and you as well because of how you two interect.

But some day,when she was needing some reassuring for her dysphoria,the moment was perfect in a way that you both couldn't undestand really well.

It's was just you two in her room,the brothers went quiet for some miracle and just bein there for each other make she gain confidence enough.

To kiss you.

It's almost 21:00PM,you finally was in your room after a long shift from work. Exausted,you take a good shower cleaning both body and soul letting everything drain away with the water. Putting some comfy clothes you throw yourself in the bed drowing in the fluffy mattress and sheets making yourself comfortable.

Grabing your phone,you text Raphaela to talk about yours days like aways and she responde right away.

- hey! Finally back home huh? Your way back was safe? Ya had to kick someone's butt?

- ahoy princess! Yes,i make my way home without problems and, unfortunaly,no one ass was kicked 🥹

- princess...😳

- but of course,you really are beautiful!

- ...i don't think so.

First sign. You quickly got it.

- well...why not? I mean,for me,it's the most truth of the truth!

- it's just... y'know what? Drop it,it's better ☺️

Second sign. Shit. You soon get up changing your clothes kinda clumsy but maneged to still respond.

- no ma'am,i think it's not for the better.

- it's okay [name],seriously. Let's just talk as aways!

Third sign. Dysphoria. You finished changing already grabing your keys and making your way to the lair.

- give me 5m ok? I'be back 😊

- okey dokey!

Putting your phone away and accelerating your pace, you arrive in the sewers and in a few minutes almost running to get there as quickly as possible, you were finally at the entrance of the lair receiving confused looks from the twins.

"[name]? What are you doin in here?"

"your sister,were she is?"

"not even a 'hello donnie'? You need some maners" - spoke the purple one with his coffee in hands - "she's in her room,now,could you-"

You just rushed, hearing some "hey's" from them not really paying attention until you reach the room knocking on the wall. She get up going to the entrance and when see you there with a little smile,she frowns the invisible eyebrows in confusion.

"[name]?"

"yes ma'am! Me and only! Can i...go in?" - smiling a bit for your ask,she step aside for you to pass by her entering the room sitting in somewhere.

"even though i'm happy to see you,you don't suppose to be there at this hour,why did you come?"

"cause i know you enough to see the little sign that you give from text" - you say proud showing your phone to her, pulling away looking to the big girl in front of you with a little and undestanding smile - "dysphoria again?"

She stood there,frooze by your ask. Yes,she really wanted to talk about it with you but feeling guilty to bring this up when you were exausted from a hard day at work,she tried to change the subject but well,as she can see,she failed.

"i...i huh..."

"hey,it's ok" - you stand up, grabing her by hands making she sit with you - "i'm here because i wanted to help you as soon as a notice. If you don't wanna talk,i completly undestand i would never push you trow this without your concent".

Your words were more then enough to make her heart melt,consequently her eyes starts to watering until real tears fall all the way down through her cheeks. You embrance her,making she feel safe enough to cry without problems caressing her head softly.

"i just- it's this stupid body! It's huge and dangerous because of my spikes i- i wished to not be born like this..." - she say between sobs and hiccups.

It's hurt you to see her like this,in your eyes,never see someone has beautiful than she.

"Raphaela,can you look at me for a moment?" - she sniffled a little, raising her head to look at you. Taking this change,you cupped her face cleaning some tears lifting a little her red mask to see her whole face.

"i don't really know if my words has some value but from me,i see a girl. A girl that love her family so much to the point to do everything for them. A girl who is tough just outside. Inside have a big heart,is kind, gently and cute like a teddybear,treat who she loves with so much care. For me,that girl is the most perfect thing that a i have ever seen in my life,that girl Raphaela,is you".

Now you two were crying,this words coming from the bottom of your heart make clear what you felt for her and the feeling was reciprocat. Grabing your face gingerly,she lean down to you,gaze shifting to the lips from your eyes in a quiet ask for permission. With a weak nod.

She kissed you.

Without realize what was going on until you two parted with your forehead resting in hers.

"i love you [name]. I love you" - almost like a whisper for herself,you lean on her hands in your face with a happy smile.

"me too Raphaela. I love you too" - she quickly lift her head to look into your eyes searching for some hint of a liar but theres nothing but love making her cry a bit.

"thank you. Truly thank you"

"your welcome my pretty princess"

I hard believe that donnie relate to mikey about the gifts and quality time like Raphaela.

But the flirt?

He's a bad boy 😎

I mean,his persona is,but the real donnie really would bend more for the little gifts and try to impress you.

Do things that make your day easier like it's nothing (remenber,he's a bad boy).

Make excuses to have you in his lab to "hung out". In quotes cuz it's more him rumbling about his new inventions to impress you.

But what he likes the most is the quiet moments when he just keep working knowing about your presence there completly comfortable in the silence.

At first,like Leo,he really didn't knew about the crush,mostly because he's not good with emotions, probably he denied it in the begin refusing to let his emotions go over his reason.

But well,he can't focus totally in his invention without you there,you live in his head and he can't hide the little jealousy when you spend more time with the others than him.

The confession? Well...

Donnie texted you saying that he finally finished one of his best invention of all the times and wanted to show for you first. Then,you were in the lair now seeing one excited donnie coming at you.

"my dear friend,you finally arrived! Follow me for the most brillant thing that will make you question about everything and nothing at the same time!"

"hope my mind don't explode with it" - you joke following him.

"i have made preparations to prevent such a thing from happening. Now,behold [name]!" - inside of his lab,he rush to his desk grabing a type of circular "box"? it resembled an alexia but a little bigger - "the entire universe in my hands!"

He points to the "box" with a big proud grin. You smile a little not really knowing how to react.

"you maneged to put the whole universe in a...box? This looks like a Alexia to be honest"

"oh my little friend,your mind is really small isn't it?" - you give a annoyed look - "not in a bad way of course,there" - he grab your hand putting you by his side,put the device on the floor and turn the lights off - "observe and prepare to be amazed!"

Pressing one button on his tech bracelet,the device activates and suddenly,the whole room is filled with stars,galaxies and planets. Just as he had said, the whole universe in a single container. Your eyes sparkled when you saw that and almost instinctively your hands reach to try to touch the planets which strangely you seemed to be able to. Walking around the room was like being in space. All this was breathtaking.

"like i said. The entire. Universe" - you look back at him with a happy smile. For a moment,he admired you,noticing how beautiful you looked in this scenario don't daring to turn his head away.

"this is more then incredible Don, it's like a dream. Thank you for showing this to me,it's beautiful"

Not more than you. He though and immediately look to the side hidding the little blush,but that's the moment,he was working on this for a week to be perfect and it was. Have just one thing lefting to do.

"[name] huh..." - he cleared his throat - "i must say,i really enjoy your company. I don't need to worry about bein emotionless sometimes because i know you undestand. Even if we are not talking,just being there in the same place. Is good having you with me,so i realize that i...huh...like...you. i mean,in a certain way that may be a little more huh..."

He struggle with some words but you undestand. Like aways. Givin a few steps closer you shush him with your finger,one hand in his shoulder to ask a quiet permission for more touch,he nob a little don't moving his eyes from yours. Yours arms embrance his neck, getting closer to donnie's face little by little making sure that his comfortable with your moves until,in your tip toes, you reach his lips in a small kiss. His hands go weakly to your waist pulling you Impossible closer.

When you pull away,one hand cupping his cheek, you smile happly.

"i love you too. Don't need to force yourself to say the same,I'll wait for you to feel comfortable enough for this"

"be amazed again [name]. I love you,my dove"

[gettingbyy]

6/24/2024 - 6/25/2024

this post is for mouse, but you can read it, too, if you want.

a triple shot espresso drink was involved when i started this and it shows.

i was just reading through my older posts - i must be some kind of fortune-telling witch, cos i mentioned the water heater going bad soon in february (which it did, in april) and i worried about void baby and ori's contentious relationship only getting worse, which it did and continues to do. maybe i'm a disaster witch.

since we've talking more regularly i don't have as much for general life updates, but i do have a few things i need to muse on. you can skip this one if you want, it might get a little wild. will send you a name abbreviation guide in discord with the post link. /|\ ^._.^ /|\

i just created a channel for our blog and video links if you're interested. it may not be necessary so let me know your thoughts xD i just figured this way they wouldn't get lost in our general chat. but also you email me video links so... i dunno xD

first,

i discovered i can control my phone's spotify through my work laptop now. i think i was always supposed to be able to do that, but it always broke everything before. this is good.

second,

this one is risky cos he might be reading this but yolo i want to get it out there. i think i told you i blocked C? a little while ago, maybe a month. it's been...like honestly relieving in a lot of ways. i'll tell you more about the history when A and i first got together, and right after we broke up, but suffice to say for more recent times, i got tired of the sex pest-y vibes and unwanted horniness. it was a classic case of manic pixie dream girl, too, and repeated misgendering. the misgendering part is kinda funny cos it started out very "respectful" when i first told him i'm enby, and then slowly over time he stopped checking in and started using wrong pronouns and super gendered language. after the 3rd or 4th she/her i stopped correcting and just got tired. this one has been an interesting look into the human psyche in some ways for me, and toxic ally behaviors. (i hate the word behaviors, it feels so corporate and pseudo-psychological now. i can expand on that if you want. i'd love to research how corporations are using therapy-speak and psychological terms to manipulate their employees, but also that might make me angry. i could write a dissertation on JA alone. ANYWAYS.) i even tried indulging C for awhile when he kept pressuring me to talk about sex, but i think that just emboldened him instead of ameliorating the issue. give an inch, they'll take a mile, as the saying goes. it just got so exhausting to constantly find new ways to say no.

as far as the manic pixie dream girl thing goes, this was really hammered home for me when i sent him a link to a story i was revisiting and reworking/editing. it just became so incredibly obvious that he literally did not care about me as a person other than what he thought/assumed i brought to the table, both in terms of sex and otherise. i'd talked to C before about wanting to start writing again and needing encouragement, feeling like an imposter, etc. but then when i was rereading my story, i found it to be more solid than i originally thought and got inspired to work on it again. i sent him a link to the story and said basically exactly that, and warned it needed more editing. he said he'd look at it "in a bit," and then a full 24+ hours later was like "oh hey i read it btw." his only feedback was "yeah i really like it! it's in dire need of an editing pass but the characters are solid." and i'm like great, thanks....... then four-ish days later he randomly goes "proud of you babe" in the middle of an already weird nonsensical conversation, so i asked what for, and he said "revisiting old works with a critical eye" which was literally the opposite of what i was doing lol. i was actually actively trying not to be too critical so i didn't burn myself out immediately, which i then told him. he never responded. i dunno, it's wild to me that after like 10 or 11 years of knowing each other he still has such a fixed idea of who i am and doesn't update that idea with new information. i'm basically a notepad file in his brain that hasn't been changed since 2013. it feels super manic pixie dream girl because i'm on this pedastal that he's created for me out of his own imagined impressions of/desires for me, and he responds based on that depiction instead of what's actually in front of him. also what makes him think he can use nicknames like that with me? the audacity, honestly.

having had him blocked for a month, i definitely know i made the right choice. talking to someone like that who has such a fixed idea of who you are despite evidence to the contrary really fucks you up in some subtle ways. there were times when i was questioning my communication skills because he had ideas about me so blatantly wrong, or took conversations in such a weird direction from what i was saying. it felt most often like he was talking sideways at me based on the first couple words i would say, instead of actually processing my full sentence(s). like he was just constantly 1000% distracted and couldn't be bothered to put any attention towards interacting with me, unless he was horny. you know when you're trying to talk to someone and they're looking at/doing something on their phone and they're responding with a couple words or like not really responding much at all? it felt like that, except constantly and always.

third,

i think between C and K i've definitely learned that just because someone was in/has been in my life for a long time, it doesn't necessarily mean they're doing any self-reflection or growing as a person. it's like a weird optimistic pitfall where you assume someone is a better person now because they've had so many opportunities to become one, and you used to be good friends with them so surely they've gone in a similar self-improvement journey. i don't know if i told you what went down with K, but he's a massive creep and hasn't improved literally at all since high school. one of the dating apps that's been more successful for me than the rest is no longer a viable option for me because of him. now that i think about it, i'd argue he's worse than he was back then; at least he regretted harassing/being weird towards other K and stopped/apologized. i should've known better all along probably, he aggressively grabbed my boob out of nowhere and without permission when we were waiting in the car after wind symphony in high school. he apologized and claimed he "misinterpreted signals," but it was still weird and uncomfortable and i never looked at him quite the same way again after that. also to be clear there were no signals to misinterpret. it's just wild to me that someone like K can be so shitty after nearly 15 years. another reminder to me that just because a path starts similarly doesn't mean it'll end similarly.

fourth,

this person's initial i'm going to change to S - it's actually D but i don't want to type things like "i've been ruminating on D a lot lately" lmao

i think i mentioned that i've been talking/interacting with S a little lately, through mutual friends/mutual gaming, and it's got me reflecting on 11 years ago and the turmoil he put me through. i was explaining everything that happened to A, she didn't know the full story because she was uncomfortable hearing about past flames when we first got together (also from trauma), and she was pretty floored at what/how/why he did what he did. i'll never forget that one line he used - "i'd like to pass on my genes, and given your family history i agree you probably shouldn't have children." obvi i don't want them anyway, but the eugenics vibes were strong and also that's pretty fucked up, especially considering what my dad was actively going through at the time. (aside: if his only concern is passing on genes, go to a sperm bank you gross fuck.)

a big part of why this is still semi-plaguing me (when i'm reminded of it) is the total lack of closure. i was never able to talk to S about what happened and how it affected me, nor was i able to get his thoughts on the situation. it's a mildly festering scrape i've had since it happened, and i have no idea how to resolve that. therapy, i guess. in the immediate aftermath, there was a month or so where we didn't talk much, then he reached out again and we were talking as constantly/closely as we had been. he was even a big support for me in the late hours of the evening after my mugging when the panic was setting in and i didn't have words to describe it. things didn't really end until sometime that summer - he just sort of stopped talking to me. we went from meaningful and lengthy conversations to one-word answers and pulling teeth for any reaction. i can only assume he had finally found "his people" in seattle and dropped me like i'm in toy story.

the wildest part is that S seems totally detached from it all, like he's forgotten it happened, or it mattered so little to him he may as well have forgotten it. we've hardly spoken in the intervening years (a rarity for me, most everyone else i've kept in touch with for at least a little while after the situationship broke off) and while he definitely still recognizes me as someone he knows (lmao can u imagine if he didn't), he's never made any remark/reference to our """"past""" or tried to talk about/apologize for/allude to it. i mentioned to P off-hand (he doesn't know what happened) that S gives me sociopath vibes sometimes with how disconnected he is from all of us, and P sort of agreed with me. "chaotic neutral" i think was the way he put it. maybe what i'm struggling with the most in fully processing it is that S seems to care so freaking little. even when i tried to talk to him a bit more about what we could maybe check out in the city, he just stopped responding after a couple messages. it's been fully years since he's ever sent me a message first or spoken to me without prompting, and i doubt that's going to change like...ever. i dunno. it's interesting how someone can be so impactful to you but they seem to feel completely the opposite. we didn't ""officially"" date, but damn if we didn't spend a shit-ton of time together and have a pretty big mutual meaning. it's the juxtaposition of knowing that, and seeing it completely unacknowledged and brushed under the rug that really gets to me. it feels akin to gaslighting, in some ways, in the most oblique/indirect way possible; i know it happened, and i know that he knows it happened, but we're just supposed to continue on like it's nothing and we were nothing. i'm not looking for some kind of declaration of lost love or profound regret, but just a little something as a treat would be nice.

Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know was released in 2011. this situation happened in 2013, and fuck if that song isn't so painfully poignant about this.

fifth,

this will be a short one. i want to take more photos again. i haven't had a roll of film developed for months, and i've barely taken out my new-to-me (and very spendy lol) digital camera. i wish someone here would go with me. i get nervous in the city and being out alone, especially around this time of year (like clockwork, a monthish before and for a couple months after my muggingversary it flares up). i'll go when i really work up the courage, but the photos i make when i do show my anxiety somehow; i don't know how to describe it but you can just feel it. like when i was embroiled in terrible depression and anxiety being at QC and my photos were bleak and my insta was grey and dark and sad. i'm really excited about our trip, getting to see you and burn through some film rolls and really try out my newish camera. it's gonna be good.

conclusion,

sorry for the incredibly long post lmao love you bbg and miss you can't wait to see you soon i hope you're doing okay today and having a middling to good day <3

[escarlatafox]

@amazingdudesblog sure. so the film that's widely agreed among the general fanbase to be the best installment is the second one. My own personal favourite of all of them is the first, but that's my personal preference. I recognise that the second one is really good and can see why it would be peoples' favourite. Even if that was already obvious/you already knew that I just wanted to quickly clarify that upfront just in case. So now-

Basically, what many fans have pointed out before me, and I think I only really Notice it thanks to them - is that the movies that have followed after the second film seem very intent on ignoring movie 2/its tone, what it brings to the table, etc. Kung Fu Panda 2 got quite dark/serious with e.g. the revelation of the panda genocide. So, movie 2 seemed to be taking the first movie, and veering the franchise more into very emotionally hard-hitting stuff and serious themes (while still remaining family friendly, of course).

This is not to say that the first film did not have dark/serious themes, etc, because it did! There's plenty of really powerful and emotionally hard-hitting stuff in the first movie. But the second movie had a lot it brought to the table and had going on, with its flashbacks and showdown etc. Contrasting to the first movie, the Tai Lung vs Shifu fight is very intense, serious, powerful, emotional etc. When Po shows up to face off against Tai Lung, it then tilts into being a bit more zany/wacky in terms of how their fight goes down (and there's nothing wrong with that btw. It's incredibly fun and I adore it to bits. As I already said, the first movie is my favourite - it's what I'm biased towards!). But with the second movie, the dark/emotionally hard-hitting backstory is centered around Po himself. Po had his struggles in the first film about not fitting in, struggles with self-acceptance etc which he overcame, but in movie 2 he's grappling with traumatic flashbacks, learning about the other pandas having had a genocide committed against them, and ultimately facing off against the character who perpetrated that genocide (!!). The final showdown scene remains very sombre and serious, not really having the same levels of a more lighthearted/zany touch that Po vs Tai Lung did.

Something being darker and more serious does not inherently make it "better" than stuff being more lighthearted and zany by any means. It's a neutral observation to point out that movie 2 had quite a serious tone/themes attached to it. And then, of course, it had the cliffhanger reveal of the surviving panda village at the end, which then leads us into kfp3.

kfp3 a) has numerous callbacks to the first movie. b) seems to kiiind of ignore the more serious tone/themes set by the second movie for the most part. kfp3 is more reflective of the first movie in its tone. the panda village and characters are kinda just comedy and cuteness fodder for the most part. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this in isolation, but in a Grand Scheme of things it means you kind of have the first movie -> second movie leaning even deeper into dark themes/serious tone -> third movie immediately swinging back out of that tone-wise and, in some respects, arguably tilting even more away from hard-hitting emotional stuff/seriousness than the first movie.

The main thing connecting movies 2 & 3 is the existence & then resolution of the second movie's cliffhanger. There's the brief repeated flashback scene in 3 acknowledging the genocide that took place but it doesn't really go there outside of that.

And now we can talk about kfp4 (kfp4 spoilers)

kfp4 was described by ppl who made it as a "love letter to the first movie", gets even more zany/lighthearted/etc whatever than movies 1 & 3, contains callbacks to movies 1 & 3/relies on and "builds upon" both those films (choosing a dragon warrior, relevance/prominence of the spirit realm that was only introduced in 3, the staff Oogway gave Po at the end of 3, the fact that Po was chosen as the "true successor" to Oogway in 3), meanwhile seems to have little to no connection/relation to the second movie - and certainly not in tone/focus. They slapped Shen in there as a last minute addition as a cameo who basically did nothing. Li Shan's presence/characterisation leaves no hints at what he's lived through/his past and backstory, and I'm not saying 4 needed to touch on that, I'm just pointing out neutrally that on a surface level you'd never guess at the stuff actually revealed/touched on in 2, so what movie 2 brings to the table gets ignored. They had Shen be present there but were completely uninterested in grappling with the realities of his character or the reality of what the second movie was like, what happened in it, the tone of the movie, etc.

The "prioritisation" of Tai Lung (in terms of how at the very least, he gets more focus/screentime than the other movies' villains who got brought back) also speaks to this pseudo-elevation of the first movie over e.g. the importance of the second one. And like, the first movie is what started it all, so it IS important, so I kinda get that instinct to prioritise it, but hopefully you can see here how the second movie seems to be consistently passed over/overlooked. Other people have pointed out how Shen is THE Po villain, he's Po's personal villain. Tai Lung's connection was to Shifu, Kai's connection was to Oogway - and Shen's connection was to Po. (And Chameleon's connection is to Zhen). But this movie features NO interaction between Shen and Po, NO interaction between Tai Lung and Shifu, BUT - there is interaction between Tai Lung and Po. And it's not mandatory to have those interactions, but it also wasn't mandatory to bring those villains back in the first place? So like, sure, Tai Lung and Po interact, because Po DID face off against Tai Lung and defeat him in the first movie, and the first movie is getting pedestalled here. But this movie wants the boon of having Shen here without dealing with what that means, and it insults/undercuts movie 2 to do it.

So when you take a zoomed-out view of all the movies as a whole put together, kung fu panda 2 almost starts seeming "out of place" compared to the rest tonewise and content-wise. But the funny/ironic thing is, as explained above, people seem to generally agree that the second movie is the best one??? So, if a franchise wants to celebrate itself and be a love letter to itself, you'd think it would at least try to honour/pay attention to what people really clamoured around. You'd think a franchise would want to make the most of the parts its audience really appreciated/celebrated.

The way this franchise seems to be completely allergic to what is widely agreed to be its best installment... Very unfortunate

[daisies-and-domming]

Movie Night for Two (Can I Call it a Date?) (SFW)

Summary: Steve can't make movie night - normally you’d be sad but alone time with the girl of your dreams is just what you're looking for.

Warnings: swearing, confessions, vague hints at past homophobia, fem!reader

Let me know if you think I missed anything!!

All characters are over 18 :)

Steve Harrington is a good wingman ;) Considering making a second part where Robin and reader get it on… lmk if that’s an interest :P

– – –

Honestly, you were kind of pissed at Steve. After the embarrassment he was when applying to Family Video alongside you and Robin, you had organized a weekly movie night to “inject some culture into his veins” (Robin’s words, not yours). Now you're here, alone with the girl you've been crushing on for ages, and the only warning you get from Steve is a phone call saying he “can't make it”. No explanation, no reason, no nothing. If this was Steve’s way of telling you to make a move you swear you're going to stab him through the next time you see him.

Despite all the angry feelings you were currently harboring for Steve, a little part of you couldn't help but be grateful. Alone time!! With Robin!!! it was screaming like you weren't already hyper aware of the scenario you've gotten yourself into.

“-lo? Helloooo, y/n, you in there?? Yoo hoo, this is Robin, calling from planet Ear-”

You flail at her, face flushing. 

“Hello, commander Robin,” you say, making a face at her, “How can I help you?”

Trying her best to hold back a smile, she responds, “Well, cadet, I was asking a certain someone if they wanted to watch the movie, but for some reason they seemed to have found their way out of the atmosphere and into lala land.”

You blink back at her, a little shocked you missed it. “Yeah, I'd love to. Sorry I'm space-y, I'm just pissed that Steve ditched last minute.”

An unreadable look crossed her face before she stuck her bottom lip out, faking a pout. “How dare he. Doesn't he want to spend the night with two gorgeous ladies and watch an incredible movie?”

You both snort, and she motions you towards the couch, where a plethora of snacks are already strewn about. You plop on the couch next to her and let out a little sigh, reveling in the way her face scrunched up when she was focused. 

Cheering when the movie finally slid in, Robin sank into the couch next to you. Children of Paradise was one of Robin’s favorite movies (you had watched it with her about a thousand times) but you couldn't bring yourself to stare at anything but her. Even in her dumb pajama set and no makeup, Robin was stunning. You felt a little guilty not watching the screen - Robin loved this movie, and sharing it was clearly important to her, even if she had already made you watch it on repeat - but the light from the TV practically made her glow, and you didn’t realize she had noticed until she started making faces at you.

“I swear if you just missed the best scene in the movie because you’re staring at me-”

“I’m not staring!!” you retort, continuing to stare. “I’m just… admiring, is all.”

She snorted, but the flush that overtook the rise of her cheekbones indicated that she didn’t seem to mind. “Whatever, dorkus. That just means you have to watch it again next week when we tie Steve up so he can’t ditch us again.”

“Of course, of course,” you said, sending her a grin. “As you wish, m’lady.”

She gasped, throwing a hand to her chest. “M’lady? What am I, some sort of dashing young damsel?”

“Uh, duh,” you say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I wouldn’t fall in love with just anyone, y’know.”

She whipped her head in your direction, blinking rapidly. Shit, that was not supposed to come out of your mouth. “You’re just my best friend and I love you very much- like platonically!! And sometimes words come out wrong, and I can’t control my brain - like right now - and I’ll accidentally say something that offends the other person and I’m so sorry and-”

“Would you say that to Steve, ‘accidentally?’” Robin said, staring you dead in the eyes. “Or would you mean it when you said it to him?”

It was your turn to blink at her. “If you think I have any intention of hitting on Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington I’d like to remind you that our relationship is platonic, like platonic-”

“-with a capital P, I know,” she said, looking away. “‘m sorry, I got carried away, let’s just finish the movie.”

Her eyes flicked back to the screen, but even you could tell she wasn’t paying any attention. You fidget, unsure. Steve had been telling you for weeks to confess to her and get it out.

“If she says no at least you’ll know,” he’d said, like it was the easiest thing to confess to someone of the same sex who could potentially never talk to you ever again. You’d moved cities to escape rumors and hatred, you had reminded him at the time. Asking a lady out also meant coming out, and you were starting to like your Hawkins friend group, thank you very much.

Your eyes flicker back to Robin, who looked just as uncomfortable as you felt. Fuck it, you thought, I came out to Steve motherfucking Harrington, this is nothing.

Except it was something. Because, sure, coming out to the stereotype of ‘straight white boy’ wasn’t a walk in the park, but this was your dream girl for fuck’s sake. 

“Hey, Robin?” you whisper, testing the waters. “Yeah?” she whispered back, uncharacteristically quiet.

“I meant it,” you said, a little more confidently. “I meant what I said earlier.”

She stiffened, and you felt panic bubble in your stomach, but you refused to let that stop you. “I don’t understand-”

“Yes, you do,” you said, staring her right in the eyes. “Robin Buckley, I’m in love with you. And I know it’s not ‘normal,’ or whatever, to like girls, but I can’t help it, and if you never want to talk to me ever again, I understand, and honestly I can’t believe I told Steve before I told you-”

“Steve knows?” she shrieked, like that was the most appalling part of your whole monologue. “Steve knows and he didn’t even try to tell me you liked me back?? That two-timer! That ungrateful sack of shit! I dropped all those Nancy hints for him and he didn’t even give me a hint!!”

Time stopped. She gawked at you, flushing under your gaze. “...back?”

“Uhm, yeah, haha, I super-like girls too, y’know, just a big ol’ lady lover-”

You reach across the couch and pull her closer to you and she stops, staring up at you. You run a thumb over her lips, and she nods like her life depends on it, letting you lead her into a kiss. While it didn’t feel like fireworks like the movies pretend it does, kissing Robin was like coming home after months of being away. It felt safe. Like nothing else mattered. Like there wasn’t a kid with superpowers and giant demon-like creatures out to get her. Like maybe your life might actually be going somewhere.

She pulled back, a cunning grin on her face. “Me thinks Stevie-poo owes Dustin twenty dollars.”

You snort, knowing exactly where this was heading. “They were betting on us and you knew about it??”

“Correction,” she said, booping your nose. “They were betting on you confessing to this ‘mystery person who you totally know Robin but we can’t tell you’- wait, does that mean that Dustin knew before me too??”

“He’s always with Steve!!” you say, face bright red. “And I mean I’ve been part of this psycho babysitter club thing we have going forever, he’s like a little brother to me.”

“Oh my god,” she murmured, giggling. “We’re so stupid.” “The dumbest,” you agreed. “Want to make up for lost time?”

“Are you kidding?” she said, grinning. “Hell yeah I do.”

Word Count: 1289

[somebody-909]

Stalkyoo - Black and White Formal Romantic Subtext Analysis

The beginning of I Love Yoo up until the Black and White Formal shows the development of Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's relationship from strangers to reluctant acquaintances and eventually to friends.

Their relationship's development up until the present comic, in my opinion, reaches a peak during the formal arc, where we see both the completed development of their friendship (neither are reluctant) but we also see the fast emergence of new possible romantic feelings. The arc is pivotal in defining and developing their relationship and we continue to see its effects afterwards. So, in order to better understand the two characters' relationship, let's take a look at the key moments in the arc that explore their friendship and romantic tension.

Ep. 49 | Makeup - A Friendly Face and Romantic Tension

Shin-Ae is forced to attend the black and white formal to take care of her father. She is in an incredibly difficult position, with college exams the next day, her father ill, and now having to deal with this incredibly unfamiliar situation and this horrible dress.

When she sees Yeong-gi however, it’s great to see a comforting and familiar presence. We get a chance to see their friendship in this uncomfortable setting when Yeong-gi shows concern for Shin-Ae.

That is not all, however. The makeup panel (which was removed by Quimchee later on, but is included in the mid-season recap), introduces us to the first instance of genuine romantic tension between the two in the arc (and the whole comic up until here, really).

The two are very close together and look at each other softly. Shin-Ae seems to be blushing, as well. This moment is intimate and romantically tense.

This first scene does a great job at introducing the two major dynamics in their relationship that are explored in this arc: their established friendship and new romantic tension. These dynamics lead up to what occurs on the hospital balcony.

Ep. 49-51 | Hands - Distance and Desires

When Yeong-gi gets up to get Shin-Ae food, she reaches for him and grabs onto his sleeve. This panel introduces Shin-Ae's desire to stick with Yeong-gi throughout the night. We understand how comforting she finds it to be near him.

She extends her hand — showing how she is now also "reaching" for him and his companionship.

In Ep. 50, when Yeong-gi is scolded by his father and leaves to wait outside for Alyssa, Shin-Ae notices he seems down from across the floor. And for the first time, she tries to reach him. Up until now, she has been wary of Yeong-gi and his intentions, but now we see that their relationship has truly progressed to real friends. Shin-ae genuinely cares for Yeong-gi. But before she can reach him, she is interrupted by Sang-chul.

In the next episode, we see Yeong-gi respond to her call, reflecting what Shin-Ae did in Ep. 49, and extending his hand back towards her. Both characters' reciprocal desire to connect with each other is shown through their hands.

This scene, where they reach for each other but don't connect, introduces the arc's recurrent motif/theme of DISTANCE. Shin-ae and Yeong-gi want to connect, as they care for each other and find comfort in one another, but because of the circumstances at the party they are torn apart repeatedly.

And despite (literally and figuratively) reaching for each other, neither their hands nor their good intentions (like Shin-ae’s desire to be there for Yeong-gi) actually do reach each other. This repeats a few times in the arc, causing significant tension; due to the obstacles of the events around them, they can’t reach each other despite how much they may want to. As such, readers also feel relief whenever the two characters do manage to get together.

Ep. 55 | The Dance - A Kousuke and Yeong-gi Parallel

Kousuke, while having good intentions, struggles to understand what Shin-Ae wants, and instead goes for what makes sense to him. Yeong-gi, on the other hand, consistently shows an understanding of what would truly help Shin-Ae.

It is certainly true that Kousuke’s method was pragmatic. If the problem is that Shin-Ae feels humiliated and that he is embarrassed by her, what better way to show that he isn’t than by dancing with her in front of everyone? It’s a well-meant gesture that would show that he cares more for her than what others think and regardless of what they think. However, although his intentions were sweet, the outcomes were less so.

Shin-Ae DOES NOT want to dance. A scene that may have been beautiful, is tainted by Shin-Ae's true feelings of discomfort.

The truth is, Shin-Ae doesn’t want to go back in front of them. She doesn’t want to prove something to them. She doesn’t want to dance. But she feels like she has to. She can’t say no. The dance is actually… sad to see. She doesn’t want to be there.

But as she dances and feels terrible, Yeong-gi shows up. She is immediately excited and put at ease but is also worried about him since she hasn't seen him since he left to go outside.

But then Yeong-gi acts a goof. He understands that Shin-Ae doesn’t want to be there, but she has to. Because he understands the feeling of putting on a performance, despite being miserable… he immediately recognizes Shin-Ae's going through that too. So being the lovely friend he is, Yeong-gi goofs around. What better way to make Shin-Ae feel less tense in this too formal environment by reminding her of a friendly presence and doing something hilariously inappropriate? And of course, he knows how to help alleviate some of her discomfort, because they’re friends, after all, right? Yeong-gi shows a deep level of empathy for Shin-Ae.

The scene also develops a contrast between Kousuke and Yeong-gi — and the differences in how they affect Shin-Ae — that is paralleled many times later in the series.

Yeong-gi is the one who gets Shin-Ae to smile. He's the one who turns this scene from something uncomfortable to wholesome. And yet, he's not the one dancing with her. He stays to the side, in the shadows of the crowd, with distance between him and Shin-Ae, and with his head down. It fits his overarching character arc — staying hidden and away, and unable to chase for what he wants because of a quiet sense of shame and low self-worth.

The significance of him not interrupting and staying off to the side is purposefully emphasized in Ep. 57, when Kousuke says:

"I'm surprised you didn't interrupt my dance with Ms. Yoo."

Yeong-gi doesn't respond and simply looks away and slightly frowns. This emphasizes that there is a reason Yeong-gi stays away, and it's likely because his low self-esteem issues cause him to think, "Who am I to interfere?"

Overall, this dance panel achieves a similar effect to the earlier scene when their hands reach for each other, adding to the tension caused by distance — it feels like Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi should be together, but because of the circumstances, they can’t. They are reaching for each other, emotionally, but just can’t close the gap.

Ep. 55 | “We’re (just) friends... right?” - More Romantic Build-up

Although Yeong-gi knew exactly how to cheer up Shin-Ae, what he didn’t expect was her laugh… or rather the way he feels when she does.

Look at Yeong-gi’s expression — his eyes are widened. He has a look of awe and he seems shocked. He felt something unexpected. Maybe his heart skipped a beat... Could it be possible…?

He also has a resigned smile after, choosing to look at their dance from afar.

After the dance, Yeong-gi asks Shin-Ae to confirm their friendship.

But the panel and his tense smile seems… eerie. Faked. Like Yeong-gi might not be asking this question for obvious reasons. Even Shin-Ae notes that he seems uneasy, with a confused look and a nervous sweat drop.

We’ve already seen their completely established friendship. But as soon the two explicitly acknowledge this out-loud, we seem to have something new to deal with. Why does Yeong-gi suddenly want confirmation of their friendship, and in a manner that seems quite… sad? Why does his smile seem faked? We can look just a few panels prior to have a better understanding of what’s occurring internally for Yeong-gi.

Yeong-gi's shocked expression and widened eyes are similar to other moments of romantic tension, namely the hospital balcony scene and the earphones scene (albeit in a more muted manner). This is the second moment in this arc after the makeup scene that adds to the romantic tension leading up to the hospital balcony scene.

I believe Yeong-gi seems sad when he asks, “We’re friends right?” because when Shin-Ae laughs, he subconsciously feels the pangs of possible budding romantic feelings (it isn’t quite there yet, it is slight, but he is feeling something new) and he immediately subconsciously tries to deny those feelings by having Shin-Ae assert their friendship.

He feels dissonance between two facts:

“Shin-Ae is my friend”

“I felt something when she laughed”

This dissonance is uncomfortable, so he seeks to deny what is implied by the second part (that he may feel more for her). Additionally, we understand Yeong-gi struggles with self-worth. With the added pressure of those around him, as well as Shin-ae who has consistently accused him of being too pushy and a player, it is no struggle to understand why he immediately tries to avoid this feeling at even the first slightest hint of it.

But by looking for an affirmation of friendship to refute what he felt when she laughed, he unwittingly makes a link between what he felt to something beyond friendship.

Ep. 57-8 | The Bar - Brief Respite and a Kousuke/Yeong-gi Parallel

Due to the aforementioned tension, moments like the bar where Yeong-gi and Shin-ae are able to interact and joke around (about boobs in this case) feel incredibly refreshing — everything else is uncomfortable, but being with each other is comforting.

Once the others join them, we also get another slight Kousuke and Yeong-gi parallel. When Alyssa mentions Yeong-gi could dance with Shin-Ae, Yeong-gi refuses, likely due to pressure from Kousuke to be faithful to Alyssa. (We don’t quite know what he would’ve said otherwise). Shin-Ae responds to him refusing the dance, thinking:

“It would’ve been awkward anyways like my dance with Kousuke.”

The phrase "it would've been [negative adjective] anyways" usually implies a sense of settling for an outcome and sometimes slight displeasure.

I will admit that is hard to firmly state she’s disappointed that he said no. But the phase most certainly implies that she would’ve gone along with it if he said yes. (If this is hard to understand, Shin-Ae doesn’t think something like, “Good. I didn’t want to dance anyways.”) Her thought is relatively indifferent, especially in contrast to Kousuke whom she explicitly didn’t want to dance with.

Ep. 61 | Yeong-gi Takes a Stand - Relationship-driven Growth

When Yeong-gi learns that Shin-Ae is in trouble, but is yelled at by his father for his behaviour and not being with Alyssa, he is absolutely terrified at first (poor boy).

Randulph: "What are you doing? Fooling around again? It hasn't even been that long since I last reprimanded you!"

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph: "How many times am I going to have to scold you tonight??? How hard is that head of of yours that nothing I say gets through to you! And Alyssa isn't even with you!"

Yeong-gi: *meekly* "Well — my friend was —"

Randulph: "I'm not through talking!

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph continues scolding him, then says, "Forget about your friends."

To which Yeong-gi replies, "No... Castigate me, humiliate me. Do that all you want after I've ensured her safety!"

Upon thinking about the possible danger Shin-Ae is in, we see him, for the first time, advocate for himself and stand up to his father. Yeong-gi's concern for Shin-Ae allows him to stand up to the man who terrifies him. Shin-Ae takes easy precedent over the politics of his family and it shows how far their relationship has come and how it drives Yeong-gi's growth.

Ep. 62-3 | Sang-chul — Anger on behalf of Shin-Ae & a Shin-Ae and Alyssa Comparison

When Yeong-gi sees Sang-chul with Shin-Ae's jacket, he confronts him.

Sang-chul: "Back off bro. I don't want to start any trouble here."

Yeong-gi: "Too late for it now, innit? You asked for trouble as soon as you tried to take advantage of Shin-Ae."

Yeong-gi gets personally angry on behalf of Shin-Ae. It's another example that emphasizes their friendship.

We also see a contrast developed between Shin-Ae and Alyssa by Sang-chul:

"What is this Shin-Ae person to you anyway? You didn't react this way when I mentioned kissing your girlfriend... Where is she anyway? I still need my selfie and my kiss since you're fine with it."

Sang-chul assumes Yeong-gi must be romantically and sexually involved with Shin-Ae partly because he's a disgusting, sexist dirtbag, but also because, frankly, Yeong-gi seems to just generally like Shin-Ae more than his actual girlfriend.

I also want to draw attention to the fact that Sang-chul has mentioned kissing Alyssa three times: once before when they first met, and twice now. All three times, Yeong-gi didn't react.

In Ep. 63, Yeong-gi begins to move away from Sang-chul to get to Shin-Ae.

Sang-chul: "Heh. That's right. Wuss. Go run to your b*tch."

*Yeong-gi stops*

Sang-chul: "I'll go keep Alyssa company while you're at it! I still haven't gotten my kiss! Should be easy. She must be dumb as hell if she's dating you."

*Yeong-gi turns around, glares at him, kisses him, then punches him* "There's your damn kiss, you gobshite!"

Yeong-gi: "Don't you dare call Shin-Ae a b*tch ever again. And stay away from Alyssa."

Why is it, that now, he suddenly becomes agitated after already ignoring three taunts by Sang-chul to kiss Alyssa? Especially when he was in the middle of getting to Shin-Ae? I'm going to argue that Yeong-gi actually decides to punch him as soon as he first stops after Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae. Additionally, after the punch, Yeong-gi's first demand is to never insult Shin-Ae again, placing emphasis on this. It is also said more forcefully then the second: "Don't you dare... ever again" vs "And stay away". Alyssa is added almost like an afterthought.

There is a purposeful comparison here between the way Yeong-gi treats the disrespect towards the two women. Yeong-gi immediately gets angry enough to get violent when Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae, but barely responds at first when he calls Alyssa dumb and threatens to kiss her. He cares more for Shin-Ae than he does for his romantic partner, Alyssa.

Naturally, since the comparison is between his girlfriend and Shin-Ae, it also paints his feelings for Shin-Ae in a romantic light.

Ep. 63 | Yeong-gi Saves Shin-Ae

When Shin-Ae falls in the pool, it is Yeong-gi who saves her. Kousuke does not. This is another narrative parallel meant to contrast the two's relation to Shin-Ae. They both fall into the pool (parallel) but Yeong-gi, not Kousuke, saves Shin-Ae (contrast).

The episode also focuses almost solely on Yeong-gi's response to Shin-Ae's injury. He is absolutely terrified and feels terrible guilt, thinking he did this to her. But he is the one who saved her. He is the one shown to panic, yell for her, and scream for help. (We can also get into the authorial choice to focus on Yeong-gi's reaction and not Kousuke's... At the very least, it emphasizes that this moment is especially significant for Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi.)

Conclusions

The black and white formal arc serves as a climax for development between Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi — we see how in the face of adversity, the two value each other deeply as friends, and are given romantically tense moments.

There are also multiple narrative parallels, where Kousuke and Yeong-gi are put in similar situations, but the way they impact Shin-Ae are contrasted. Despite having multiple moments with Kousuke, Yeong-gi is who impacts her positively and who she wants to spend time with. This is continued in the hospital finale, when despite literally “reaching” Kousuke (he is with her and holds her hands), it is only after chasing Yeong-gi and being with him that she finds cathartic emotional support and finally cries. (Although these parallels jab at YooTip, I want to focus more on how it emphasizes that Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's bond is beyond that she has with another person she has known for the same amount of time. It shows the difference between the more basic-level bond she has with Kousuke, vs. her bond with Yeong-gi that is surprisingly strong for people who have only known each other for a few weeks.)

Overall, this arc builds a base for when Yeong-gi first feels true romantic feelings for Shin-Ae: when she holds onto him and cries on the hospital balcony (you can see that analysis here). In this scene at the end of this arc, the two who so desperately tried to connect during the gala, finally do (although their hands still do not touch).