#implied off-screen

[edupunkn00b]

One Last Time Around

Photo CC 4.0

Written for the @extremetimedchallengeexchange. Prompt: Platonic Sides in a human AU. Found family, dystopia, happy moments in a not-so-happy situation a plus. No fluff, no crack, no romance.

WC: 2414 - Rated: T - CW: Major Character Death implied off-screen, dystopia & post-apocalyptic -

“Is that a bicycle?”

Patton’s sudden question pulled the group from their thoughts and they stopped their trek through the underbrush. Six pairs of eyes followed the boy’s excited pointing. Remus was closest and gave his shoulder a little squeeze. “Not quite, buddy,” he grinned. His cheeks ached at the movement and his voice was scratchy. How long had they been walking? “That’s an old ferris wheel.”

“Really?” Patton wiggled, jostling his hoodie and momentarily hiding the bright yellow warning light on the fever chip at the back of his neck. He turned to look back at Logan. “Like the one Fern rode at the county fair?”

Ever the teacher, Logan crouched down and smiled at the boy like he was a star pupil. “Yes, Pat. Precisely.” Fingers twitching on his shoulder straps, Remus just knew it took everything Logan had to not whip the book out of his pack right there.

The remnants of that morning’s rain still dripping from the trees was a powerful deterrent.

“Can we get closer?” he asked, eyes now trained on Virge.

He already had his tracker out. He frowned, pulling his hood lower and shielding the screen from glare as he peered down at the splashes of color. “There’s no-one around,” he said after tapping at the screen. “Some warm spots… way too small for people. Racoons, probably.” Virge looked up at Janus’ sharp inhale and shook his head, both sets of eyes snagging on Patton’s bandaged hand. “Triple checked. None of ‘em have fevers.”

When Virge’s scanner pinged, they’d dropped to the ground, hoods pulled down and masks up. Virge was the only one who’d moved, pulling out the scanner and muting the quiet alert, intent on the screen. He made a cutting motion with his hand and they stayed down, barely breathing. Waiting.

It had taken more than an hour for a sick baby’s wails to announce the family’s proximity. They’d stayed under cover as the family passed less than a hundred yards from their hiding spot.

Not everyone waited before shooting like Lucas and Janus did.

Thank fuck for the old weather beacons still in orbit. The damn things would outlast them all. And with nobody left in mission control, there was no-one to turn off Virge’s credentials—genuine or borrowed—and stop him from drinking up all the data those satellites still rained down with every pass.

Returning Janus’ curt nod, Virge shrugged and powered down the device before stowing it away in his pocket. “It’s clean. That infected family we saw yesterday didn’t come from here.”

Hope dancing in his eyes as he grinned at each of them in turn, Patton bounced on his toes. “So we can?”

Lucas’ thumb brushed over the safety on his M70 and looked to Janus.

Binoculars raised, Janus peered between the trees. “There’s a parking lot…” The team held their collective breathe. At best, a full parking lot meant the fair would be full of the dead. At worst…

“Deserted,” he said at last. “It looks like they hadn’t quite finished setting up. There’s stuff on pallets in the back lot. Maybe something useful, even.” After one more look, he lowered the binoculars, a glint in his eyes. “It’s safer than the City,” he said, seeking Ro’s gaze.

Ro was staring at the back of Patton’s neck and when he looked up, his eyes were wet. “Yeah,” he said, and cleared his throat, a smile plastered over his face. “Books are great,” he added with a bow to Logan. “But you should see it for yourself.”

~

The sun hadn’t yet breached the highest trees by the time they reached the edge of the fairgrounds. What was left of them, at least. Scraggly ragweed had grown up through the cracks in the asphalt, most of it not even taller than Patton. He was cautious before touching any, inspecting the flowers first to be sure it wasn’t hogweed.

His cries had been what had made them find him. It was early days, back when they thought the only ones left were the immune. Back before the mutations hit. There’d still been birdsong back then.

He and Ro had been the ones to find the little boy. Hands and mouth raw from trying to eat the flowers, he’d sat crying in the middle of a patch of the towering weeds. Older than he looked even back then, the “throwaway” monitoring chip they stuck on infants hung loose on his forehead. All the hospitals must have gone to shit before his parents could get him in to have it properly removed after his first birthday.

Patton had sat there, just fucking bawling. Alone. But instead of recoiling from them, tall scruffy strangers, the little boy had reached for them, that now familiar hope in his big teary eyes.

Remus had kept just enough sense to check the back of the kid’s neck for a fever chip. Its bright green glow bounced off the faded note duct-taped to his dirty sweater.

His name is Patton. Please take care of him when I’m gone. Bless you. - Lynne

“Wow…” Patton stood beneath the ferris wheel, staring at the sunlight glinting of the top car. The wheel was huge, a good three or four hundred feet up in the air. It had been made of solid durasteel, too. Not a speck of rust anywhere on it and the rotors, sealed to keep out dust and shit had done a good job of keeping out the weeds.

Remus whistled. This county had had serious money. Back when magic numbers in a digital bank statement meant anything, anyway.

“We clear,” Virge reported, coming back from checking the perimeter with Lucas. “There’s no-one for miles.”

“And there’s a generator,” Lucas said, coming back from checking the perimeter. “Solar,” he added, unable or unwilling to suppress a grin. “Betcha last watch Lo and Virge can get it working.”

“That’s a loser’s bet,” Remus laughed, pointing to the tool belt already clipped to Virge’s belt. “You’ve already had a crack at it, haven’t you?”

“I will admit,” Logan murmured. “It would be gratifying to charge my tablet.”

Patton’s bright eyes followed the conversation, stitching together what else they might get to work with a little juice.

“Go for it. Ro, you take Pat around to explore.” Patton grinned and grabbed Ro’s hand and took off down the row of carnival games before he could say another word.

“I’ll go with them,” Lucas said before catching up.

“Okay, while you two see if you can get those generators going,” he nodded to Logan and Virge, “Me and Jay’ll see supplies there might be. Meet back in one hour.”

“Or sooner,” Logan said, eyes following Patton down the row of games.

“Or sooner,” he agreed. “Electric lights would be a good signal you did it.”

Janus waited until they’d disappeared on the other side of the trailers before finally voicing what they’d all seen that morning. “How long?”

Remus let his eyes close and swallowed back the growing lump in his throat before taking a deep breath. He let it out slowly, then opened them, heading toward the stacks of pallets wrapped in frayed plasti wrap. “Depends on the variant,” he said as they walked. “The kid dodged whatever got his mother, and he’s still below one-oh-two, but everyone I saw had been bad enough for the ER, it’s not necessarily—”

“How long, Dr. Prince?” Janus asked again.

Stopping, Remus sighed. “If he goes red…” He shook his head. “A day? Two?”

Janus’ jaw twitched, but he nodded. “Understood.”

~

The first two pallets turned out to hold nothing but folding chairs and more fencing. On the third, though, he and Jay hit the jackpot.

“Thank fuck for sodium benzoate!” Remus muttered, turning over a sealed package of ‘beef’ jerky.

Janus chuckled, shoving handfuls of powdered milk packets for some fancy ass ice cream maker into an empty duffle bag. Powdered Gatorade went next. “Wasn’t that stuff supposed to be bad for you, Doc?”

“Starvation’s worse,” he said, grabbing all four cases before tugging Janus’ sleeve. “Hey, look at the bottom layer.”

They stared together case after case of bottled water. “Plastic’s bad for a lotta stuff. It’s good for us right now, though.”

Before Janus could answer, warped music doppled out of a nearby speaker, quickly balancing out into a jaunty melody. They looked back at the fair. A merry-go-round had started up and LEDs in a rainbow of colors twinkled from every structure.

“Holy fuck, they did it!” Remus muttered, shaking his head. “C’mon, we’ll let the others load up, too, But first…” 

They both stilled when the faint sound of Patton’s excited cheers carried over the music. “But first him.”

“Yeah.”

~

They managed to get Patton to slow down long enough to have some Gatorade and a few bites of food before he was back on his feet, pulling Lucas and Janus toward the carnival games. “I’m not hungry,” he said, smiling up at them. “Please? I saw a game with big rifles just like yours! Let’s try it!”

Lucas ruffled his hair and nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Those games are rigged but I’ll teach you how to aim around it.”

When they returned about an hour later, Patton walked a little slower and he didn’t fight Remus’ suggestion to take a break before leading Ro off to a Test Your Strength game. The others sat quietly and listened to his peals of laughter each time Ro’s hits sent the little ball up to the top.

The mirror maze was next, and Logan and Virge pointed out all the little tricks for finding his way through. The trio emerged, victorious, with Logan and Virge swinging Patton back and forth like they’d done back when he was tiny.

“Will you ride the Ferris Wheel with me?” he asked, holding out a hand to Remus.

“You two are the logical pairing,” Logan said, quieter than he usually was in Teacher mode.

Patton nodded, turning and pointing at the cars. “Logan explained how it has to stay balanced. We’re just right to be in the same car.” 

“Each of you will need to join them in alternating cars,” Logan said when they’d reached the loading area. “Ah, I will man the controls, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s okay to be scared of heights,” Patton said, reaching over to squeeze his hand.

Logan’s eyes widened before he smiled and cupped Patton’s cheek. “You notice everything, don’t you?”

With an answering giggle, he patted the back of his hand and nodded.

“Well, that means me and Jay in one car, right?” Virge said, looking around the group.

“Yes,” Logan nodded. “And Lucas and Roman will balance it all out.”

“Which color car do you want to ride in?” Remus asked, giving Patton’s hand a little squeeze.  

“The blue one!” he said, pointing. 

“Blue it is,” Logan replied and worked the controls. He opened the door to the first car to stop, nodding to Virge and Janus. 

They ruffled Patton’s hair as passed. “See you in a bit, Kid,” Virge murmured and climbed in.

Logan let a few empty cars slowly trail past before loading in Ro and Lucas. Lucas rubbed his head and Ro bent to hug him. “I’ve never been on a Ferris Wheel, either, you know.”

“Really?” Patton asked, eyes big.

“Really,” Ro whispered. His adam’s apple bobbed, but he kept his smile.

With a little laugh, Patton shooed him into a car.

Finally, the blue car stopped and Logan opened the door. “All aboard,” he said. “Tell me about everything you see up there.”

“I will!” Patton grinned and clambered inside.

Logan’s hand tightened on the handle and Remus’ boots stuttered on the platform. Blood roared in his ears and he swallowed hard, lips curled up into his best smile.

Half-obscured by the back of his hoodie, Patton’s fever chip glowed red.

“All aboard,” Logan said again, quieter.

Remus cleared his throat and pushed on a smile. “Hey, make room for me,” he laughed into the mostly empty car.

Giggling at his joke, Patton scooted a bit over on the bench. His choice had been lucky. Most of the cars had benches on either side, requiring two riders to sit face-to face. The blue car held a single swiveling bench so the riders could sit side-by-side.

As their car began the lift, a little laugh spilled from his lips. “I can see the river from here!” he said. “Oh! And look at all those flowers on the other side!”

They took in the sights, the music fading as they got closer to the wheel’s zenith. Patton pointed out every detail, smile bright, even as his voice faded and he shook his head. 

“Hey, Buddy, you okay?” Remus squeezed his hand. It was so hot.

“I’m okay,” he said, still grinning though he shivered. Remus pulled a blanket from his pack and wrapped it around Patton’s shoulders.

“Better?” Remus asked.

“Better. But you feel cold,” he said, touching Remus’ hand. “You sure you don’t need it?”

“I’m good, Buddy,” Remus said, passing Patton a canteen. “Drink a little, yeah?”

Dutifully, Patton sipped at the water, then handed it back when the wheel began to descend. “Everything’s so pretty up here!” he said before waving to Roman and Lucas when their car slipped into view. 

Slowly they came back down, but before Logan opened their car, Patton asked, loud enough for all to hear. “Can we go again?”

“Try and stop me!” Lucas called back. Ro and Virge gave thumbs up and Janus said something too quiet to hear. His smile was all the answer Patton needed.  

“The wheel is in good condition,” Logan responded, looking to Remus for his answer. "It is more than adequate for several more rounds."

“As many times as you want, Buddy,” he said, wrapping his arm around him. The boy curled into the hold, clapping his hands twice before letting them fall to his lap.

“Thank you, Logan!” Patton called back through the open windows as the wheel began to move again. Feet swaying with the movement of the car, he grinned and held Remus hand, sliding close again. “Thank you, Virge!” he called. “Thank you Jay and Lucas and Roman!” Finally, he turned his sweet little face up to Remus. Patton leaned heavily against shoulder, cheeks bright red with fever. “Thank you so much, Re. This is the best day ever!”

[haunted-xander]

If you skip a meal Senshi will materialize next to you w/ food at the ready

[clementartz]

death note au where everything is the same except shadow the hedgehog is there for some reason

[paxdracona]

Mav, getting asked about his latest death-defying stunt off screen: Yeah, crazy lucky to escape that unscathed! I'll be on my knees thanking my guardian angel tonight for sure 😇😌

Ice, sweating, intensely grateful he's very good at masking his 'heavenly attributes' because mav knows exactly how to rile him up:

[oh-no-its-bird]

My wife

[chellodello]

“I don’t feel the way they programmed me to feel today.”

Been thinking about how weird it is to be part machine and part organic and constantly oscillating between two competing drives, never feeling whole. Or something.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[thatfailedpokemontrainer]

BEYOND NOW

[Off screen post. Heed the tags.]

Sprite wasn’t an idiot. He knew this was coming. He felt the rot spreading underneath his skin. For weeks. For months. Death would be a mercy.

He had watched his skin loosen around his face which had turned a greyish colour. He sat idly by as he spent fewer hours awake each day. As his energy dwindled, as the burning in his lungs only grew, so did the constant headaches. And yet it now it all felt surreal.

Death would be a mercy.

It was unclear when his vision blurred into darkness. He’d been doing something, talking to someone.

It didn’t really matter anymore.

The usual pain jolted through his body, unfathomable, unbearable. It was supposed to make him writhe, to yell out, to cough up the ink, but this time he couldn’t manage to move, his body seemed foreign to him. His heart beating pounded in its ears, screaming for him to get up, to do something.

Still- he attempted to breathe- the inability to do so was awful, but it didn’t last long.

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

It felt good after a while. Warm. Fuzzy. Everything that ever was blurring together and yet, for the first time in months, he felt amazing. There was no screaming in his ears or fluid in his lungs. Nothing hurt anymore.

He found himself, moving, walking again down a narrow hallway, this time with a body that was light, flawless. Darkness surrounded him, and he could barely differentiate himself from it.

It couldn’t tell you what compelled it to walk, to move, but a sense of calm washed through him. This didn’t matter. Nothing hurt. There was no need for aids like crutches or wheelchairs. He could run if he wanted to, what a thought.

The hallway soon ended. The room looked. Familiar. He stopped in his tracks, almost afraid to enter.

But he did. It was going to be okay.

It looked like a kitchen, though in the low light it was hard to tell. It seemed, real. Alive.

Moonlight shone through the windows onto the bench cluttered with objects. A note stood out to Sprite, and just as he reached a arm out to bring it closer a noise behind him caused it to turn.

A kid with shoulder length messy red hair stood in the moonlight, wearing an oversized backpack, and too small singlet with a cyndaquil on it.

Charlotte Fletching. The girl he thought he buried.

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

“What are you doing in here?”

She sounded scared. As Sprite would, if a stranger broke into his house in the middle of the night while he was actively packing to run away.

He took a step back, uneasy but not afraid. It was all going to be okay.

“I’m you.”

His voice sounded deeper than he remembered it. A nice touch.

She just stared.

“From the future that is. This- is just a memory, ‘don’t know why ‘m telling you this…”

The kid fidgets, staring down at the ground for a second, before looking back up at him, a shine in her eyes.

“Do we- do it? Beat the champion?”

“No.”

She barely waits a second before continuing, her face not faltering.

“Was it worth it?”

A silence fills the room. Sprite stares down at her, all senses of nostalgia wiped clear. A bitter laugh escapes.

“Was it worth it-? No. Of course not. What do you think?”

She goes to speak but he cuts her off, only getting louder.

“We nearly kill Mari’s pokemon. She doesn’t want to be our friend anymore, no one does, we’re fucking unbearable. No one want’s us -NO ONE-“

Flashes come to his mind, Polaris, Kittsu, Beedrill, Paris.

“They’ll GET OVER IT.”

“…”

“We’re unbearable. You know that right. They fucking hate us.”

As it speaks, it walks towards Charlotte, before shoving her to the ground against the bench. She covers her face with her arms, visibly shaking.

“There is- nothing- You hear me- NOTHING BEYOND THIS.”

“We aren’t a person- we can’t make up our mind on anything, so we’re stuck as a hollow shell of what we’re supposed to be and what those people think we are.”

Tears start to form in Charlottes eyes, but he can’t stop. It feels great to vent, now that it was all over.

“In every universe this happens- I am the last version of ‘me’ left. Every time I leave this fucking house I die. And I end up back here. This is the fucking last stop."

"And I am just waiting for THIS MEMORY TO BE OVER SO I CAN REACH OBLIVION-“

At that very moment the note falls off the bench, having been haphazardly set down there before.

Without thinking, sprite crouches down, squinting at it. Arc, the writing on it was awful.

“Dear Mom I am leaving to go become a trainer tonight. I haven’t taken any money from you, or stolen anything. I am taking my pokemon, but I know you do not like him, so I don’t think that’s stealing. I know I am not as good as Casey at languages or school or behavouir, but when I become the champion I am going to share the money with you and it will help make things easier. I will not be gone forever, I just want to do this for you. I am sorry for being ungrateful too. I don’t know how to say thank you sometimes. Please look after Jerry. He is good and Casey still needs him so please don’t get rid of him while I’m gone. Love, Your daughter, Charlotte Xoxoxo “

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

Silence filled the room again.

Everything was crushing down on him. He couldn’t breathe.

After several minutes he managed to speak once more,

“It was.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Worth it, I mean. It was worth it.”

Again, no response, until-

“I need to leave… Before Mom and Dad wake up”

“Ah. Yeah.”

“Are you going to come?”

Sprite frowned. There was a door.

It looked around, and up at the dark ceiling. The room seemed plain all of a sudden.

“There aren’t any stars. I thought there would be stars.”

“There are outside.”

“Whenever we go outside terrible things happen to us. I’m so tired. “

“But there are stars. And you said it was worth it.”

There are stars. Huh.

“… Right.”

It couldn’t’ve done it on his own, but when she reached her hand out he didn’t pull away.

“Thank you.”

She just smiled.

They walked through the door together, and Sprite barely got a glance at the nights sky before he could hear the screaming again, the aching, the hurt.  

But arceus above was it worth it

[blimbo-buddy]

You can tear at the stitches, but you will always bear the scars

[frankiebirds]

[waterflowing-under-ground]

I've seen some posts from people in the Witcher fandom (usually who are into both the Netflix show and the books) being confused as to why book fans think Geralt being mean to Dandelion (Jaskier) is a canon divergence in the TV show, when in the books, there are times when Geralt can be very cutting and even a bit mean to Dandelion.

My takeaway from their relationship in the books is that this conflict has the purpose of developing both of their characters (and serving as allegory because we KNOW Mr. Sapkowski loves allegory, and we love him for it! Or at least I do), and there's context around why they can be this way with each other. There's a rich history in this friendship, a comfort and casualness with one another that one wouldn't have with someone they weren't that close with, which in a lot of relationships comes with a safety to BE cutting and blunt with each other at times and know that having these conflicts is not going to mean an end to their relationship. They tend to move on from their arguments and all is forgiven (sometimes after a period of distance, but that's also normal after a hard conversation I feel - both parties sometimes need to process and lick their wounds, or wounded egos), and it's implied (at least to me) that their friendship is an "always" thing, even when they do blow up at each other, and even when the things they say are harsh.

Furthermore, there's so much "off screen" (off-page?) time between them that we don't get to see. But their closeness is implied by others and themselves throughout the entire saga and the short stories. And the things they say to other people indicate how important they are to one another as well.

I do want to point out that my personal take on their relationship is tempered by me being in my 40's and having more than one long term relationship (namely my closest and longest-running friendship which is going on 25 years now, and my marriage which is almost 15 years old this year) where there IS that familiarity and "safety" to sometimes have cutting conversations, or at least "brutally honest" conversations, telling each other things we might not want to hear, but perhaps need to.

My best friend, for example, saw me through a 6-year relationship that was actually abusive. She felt that she had to tell me some truths that I needed to hear, and while some things she told me were hard to hear during that period, I'm so glad she felt safe and comfortable enough with me to be honest about what she saw happening.

She is not a fuzzy-wuzzy cuddly person. But she is MY person. She has been my rock for nearly a quarter century. I would actually trust this woman with my life. I would donate a kidney to this woman if I were a match and she needed one. We are not cutesy fuzzy with each other (although most of the time we're warm, generous, and supportive like a certain witcher and minstrel duo). She's not the type to say "I love you" out loud, so we don't do that because I know that would make her uncomfortable (she's even like this with her partner of several years - some people just aren't as demonstrative with saying the WORDS, but it doesn't mean they don't FEEL it). But we LOVE each other dearly. We don't have to actually say "I love you" to say I love you to one another.

Because we're all human, we can even at times slip up and not be as tactful and sensitive with each other as we should be, or even in a moment of vulnerability get angry and snap (which is completely Geralt in Baptism of Fire). Some of the conflicts I've had with my best friend and my spouse can look a lot like what we encounter in the books between Geralt and Dandelion when they do get into a heated discussion or argument. But these relationships are, to me, "safe" and "always" in my mind and heart. I know we'd have to do something truly *despicable* and abusive to one another for those relationships to end entirely.

What I think people are saying, when they say, "Book Geralt would never *be mean* to Dandelion," isn't that Geralt could never *literally* be mean. It's that the portrayal of their friendship and the conflicts they could have were lacking any kind of context whatsoever. Furthermore, the Netflix show didn't make us believe they were ever MUTUAL friends who loved each other (mutually) in the first place, didn't do enough to build up their relationship and show its history and why they're so bonded to each other, why they're proud of each other, show us HOW the "opposites attract" thing actually works in their relationship, how they add value to each other's lives by having different but complementary personalities, why they had such a strong connection in the first place, why they loved each other, why they enjoyed and valued each other's company and place in their lives.

Instead they made it seem like Geralt was simply tolerating this silly little guy who gets him into trouble all the time, and then out of nowhere you get a tirade of verbal abuse that goes on about how this silly little guy ruined his entire life, and basically a "get out of my life" tirade which is extremely hurtful and broke the show character's heart (understandably enough). Geralt also punches Dandelion in the show, and while they have their share of verbal arguments in the books, Geralt never lays a hand on Dandelion, and even goes out of his way to protect him and save him from violence and physical danger multiple times throughout the entire saga.

Geralt's attempts to push the Hanza away in Baptism of Fire are often cited as the example of Geralt being mean, by Netflix viewers who are confused by book fans saying Geralt being mean isn't canon.

But I think book fans pretty universally agree that Geralt's "meanness" in Baptism of Fire actually stems partially from him wanting to protect the other members of the Hanza from danger, and partially from feeling like he's messed everything up so badly he doesn't *deserve* help or support, or that he can't *truly atone* for Ciri's separation and unhappiness unless he completes the mission entirely alone.

He tries to emotionally push everyone away by being, well, a jerk (which if one is looking to push people away, that can definitely be an effective way of doing so). But his friends see right through this defense mechanism, seem to intuitively know where it's coming from, and seem to understand what he's going through, and are not afraid to call him out on it!

They rightfully roast him for it, but in a way that to me comes across as loving, albeit tough love. To me it's in the vein of, "We see right through your nonsense, we know why you're being like this, because you think you're leading us right into harm's way and you don't want to do that, plus you're losing your mind because you're in a lot of pain and you've lost your daughter and de facto wife who you were JUST beginning to mend fences with before she and your daughter were ripped away from you, so you're freaking out and not being rational. This isn't going to work on us, we're not going to leave you, so just sit down, chop these veggies, and eat this fish soup with us, and shut up you silly man." My favorite moment is when Milva makes the remark about how wolves don't actually hunt alone. Wolves are, after all, pack animals who work as a team to survive.

Modern toxic masculinity harkens a lot to his idea of "alpha males" and "lone wolves" which is total fallacy and nonsense and runs completely counter to what real life is actually like. People, like wolves, are communal animals. We literally need one another to survive. Interdependence, not independence, is the optimal way of being human. Having love, comeraderie, and support are not just frivolities, they're necessities!

To close this, I think the heart of why book fans take issue with this portrayal of their friendship is that Dandelion and Geralt are the longest running thread through the series, each other's "always" person (which in a long lifetime often IS someone's closest platonic relationship, whether that be a chosen best friend or a close sibling for example), and they're so instrumental to each other's character development, that to bludgeon that in the show just runs so counter to what I feel as a fan of this series is one of its central themes, which is that nobody actually CAN do everything alone and without support, that being isolated and alone really leads down a dark path for us as human beings. By stripping away this piece of the story (Dandelion and Geralt's friendship in its true nature, not a contrived one) it fails to adapt the story on that level.

Keep in mind that these are just my opinions. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[mushtoons]

take some low quality band au doodles cuz I'm about to lose my shit

with a bonus colored doodle

[boosify]

A premature visit

[badgerhuan]

Mitsurugi took the bear and went to find Itonokogiri, and they investigated the origins of the bear together.

In Saraba, Gyakuten (Farewell, My Turnabout), Itonokogiri helps Naruhodou and Harumi figure out that Fujimino's hotel room had been planted with a spy camera. And then, he decided to help by investigating the origins of the camera, to see if they can figure out who bought it. It might take all night, but he's determined to do it, and promises Naruhodou that he'll have the answer by morning.

After he leaves the room, fired up about his new task, the following happens:

Harumi: But. Keiji-san, is such a nice person. Harumi: For Mayoi-sama's sake, pushing himself that hard... ???: ...though the way he's going about it is completely reckless. Naruhodou: (...that voice...!) Mitsurugi: Excuse me. ...I overheard you talking. Naruhodou: ...Mi-Mitsurugi...!

Mitsurugi appears, cutting in at just the right time to comment on Itonokogiri's behavior, with a smile on his face.

After he informs Naruhodou that a taskforce has been assemble to find Mayoi, Mitsurugi then goes to check on the bear, commenting that it's a rare, high-class brand that only a few gets imported to Japan. He checks the time, commenting that it's not too late. He then takes the bear from Naruhodou and leaves.

Naruhodou and Harumi leave as well, furthering their own investigation into Fujimino's murder. It's not until much later that Naruhodou suddenly gets a phonecall from Itonokogiri.

Itonokogiri: It's not good! Itonokogiri: I'll...I'll be back at the office soon! Naruhodou: Wh-what happened- Itonokogiri: Something unbelievable has happened! Itonokogiri: Mitsurugi-kenji was, uh... Naruhodou: (Mitsurugi...?) Itonokogiri: Anyway, hurry and come back! Itonokogiri: I, don't know what's what anymore! It's bad! It's finished! I am- Phone: ...beep... Naruhodou: ...huh, he got cut off.

Itonokogiri's call gets cut short in the middle of his panicked ramble. It's as if someone had hung up the phone for him before he could spiral too far. Also, he lets slip Mitsurugi's name before seemingly catching himself.

When Naruhodou and Harumi get back to the office, this is what Itonokogiri greets them with:

Itonokogiri: You're too late! Mitsurugi-kenji already left!

We know from the start of the phone call that when he made the call, he wasn't at the office yet, and there seemed to be someone else with him. And now, he's talking as if Naruhodou would've been able to also meet Mitsurugi if he had come back to to the office sooner. This would imply that up until Itonokogiri got back to the office, the person who had been with him the entire time is Mitsurugi.

And, most decisively, Itonokogiri is not only carrying the camera and transmitter he took from the hotel room, but also the bear and all the items related to its investigation. When Naruhodou asks him about the bear, he says:

Itonokogiri: I met with the clerk of the department store. Itonokogiri: This is the credit card receipt. Itonokogiri: ...38000 yen. That's exactly the cost of that bear. Naruhodou: ...receipt...? Itonokogiri: Of course, it's not just the receipt. I also got the clerk's testimony. Itonokogiri: "I'm sure I sold it to Outorou"...that's what they testified. Itonokogiri: On top of that, it seems that the clerk also got a signature. Itonokogiri: The one who bought the bear, is definitely Outorou!

Not only does Itonokogiri say that he met the clerk, he was also able to quote the clerk directly. This proves that he definitely has met the clerk in person.

After this, Itonokogiri gives Naruhodou back all three pieces of evidence he had on him: the camera, the transmitter....and, the bear, which he had somehow came in possession of.

In conclusion, what we can infer happened:

Mitsurugi overheard the entire conversation about the spy camera and the transmitter in the bear, and saw Itonokogiri rush out of the hotel room, razor focused on his new task: finding out who bought the camera.

Mitsurugi knew, instantly, that as much as Itonokogiri's determination was in the right place, that that search would be a fruitless one. So he went into the room, commented with a smile that Itonokogiri was being reckless, and immediately went to confirm that the bear was as rare as he thought it was.

Once he was sure, Mitsurugi hauled the giant ass bear with him, and went and found Itonokogiri, somehow. He could've left Itonokogiri running around the city looking into the camera all night...but he didn't. Instead, he looked for him, found him, and gave him the bear and told him to look into it, steering him in the right direction.

Together, they headed to the department store and found out who bought the bear. Upon learning the disturbing truth, Itonokogiri called Naruhodou in a panic, and before he could spiral too far, Mitsurugi intervened and hung up the phone for him.

Then, together, they made it back to Naruhodou Law Office, with the bear and the receipt. After making sure everything was in order, Mitsurugi left before Naruhodou came back.

Even when they're not working together anymore, even when Itonokogiri had been fired, even when Mitsurugi has no obligation to Itonokogiri anymore, they still went and found each other. Still worked together. They fall in step with each other so naturally. I doubt either one of them even thought twice about it.

bonus, when Mitsurugi says that looking into the camera would be fruitless, he says:

"The camera that the hasty keiji-kun took with him is no clue."

I need everyone who hasn't played the game in Japanese to understand, that Mitsurugi only ever uses "-kun" for people younger than him. And the only other person he's used the "occupation+kun" combination to refer to is Naruhodou, as bengoshi-kun, in the courtroom, whenever he thinks Naruhodou is being naive. This is the only time he's ever referred to Itonokogiri as such, and 1) at this point, Itonokogiri isn't a keiji anymore, and 2) he doesn't say this within Itonokogiri's earshot.

He's unable to stop thinking of Itonokogiri as a keiji (which is, in Japanese, very specifically a police detective), and he doesn't let Itonokogiri hear this half-affectionate nickname that he knows Itonokogiri would understand as an insult.

bonus 2, before Mitsurugi leaves the hotel room with the bear, Naruhodou stops him:

Naruhodou: Why...? What on earth are you planning! Mitsurugi: ............ Mitsurugi: I'm not interested in explaining myself to someone who can't understand.

He doesn't explain anything to Naruhodou, knowing he wouldn't understand. This would imply that whoever he does tell about the bear and what to do with it is someone he knows can understand him.

Itonokogiri has always been able to understand him.

And he personally saw to it that Itonokogiri is the one to figure this out and deliver Naruhodou the news.

[ko-garashi]

William went on his first date in his life and of course Albert was there to look after him and help if anything happened (I will not stop loving them, no no ✋)

(actually this is a new cover for Twitter. This is a redraw of the video "Red Flags" by Tom Cardy. If you want, I will develop this theme all the way to an animatic (because I like to think that on the first date William was terribly nervous and embarrassed by Annette.. Although of course she wouldn’t suggest that he watch “The Human Centipede”)).

[existentiol]

something that pisses me off in RA is that Flanagan will occasionally hype up Pauline as this super important and prominent figure in Will’s life, even treat her as a proxy for the mother he never knew, and yet will just refuse to show it beyond the like. two or three (personal) conversations that they have in canon. I get that he was attempting to make her an important person in Will’s life but why not do that by actually making her an important person in Will’s life

[philtstone]

augh but im not done what kills me (affectionate) about shawn and juliets development is that there are so many moments that they could have gotten together sooner had shawn been less than the man juliet deserved. if he'd pushed a little harder in the early seasons or ditched abigail when juliet asked him out or given in to his impulse to be there in person for juliet when yin took her, they may have gotten together sooner but he would not have been the man juliet deserved. which is why its sooooo insane and delicious that after passing all of those tests he still technically fails her so completely -- but you cant hate him, bc hes kind of earned the right to be called a good man, hasnt he? hasnt he????? (ask the writers and shawn of you the viewer and juliet. and you have to make up your mind for yourself!!!) (of course he has. because it's fake fiction land and he is willing to go to jail to earn back her trust like 2 episodes later. but WHAT a question!!)