#in fact the fucking is also unimportant but i think it’s funny so it’s staying

[wishbonemotel]

nothing like having a ship idea but then when you actually write the characters interacting there is zero chemistry. like ok I guess I’ll die

[joysmercer]

☕️ + rank the villains and why (you choose if victor is really included in this gfnkf i'm thinking rufus, rufus/vera, denby/rfs, sofia etc.)

ooh in terms of Evilness (ie morality) from worst to best:

rufus. this guy tried to directly kill the kids more times than i can count, and also will not stay dead.

senkhara. same as above but she’s also pathetically reliant on the kids, even more so than rufus. actually i think i compared those two in an ask game ages ago and switched their rankings so maybe they’re tied for first rn

denby. ok listen out of all the villains, she’s really the one that was the most scary. like we all know someone like her, someone who appears nice until she’s not, someone who will twist and lie and manipulate everyone to get what they want, someone who will gaslight you so deeply you’ll fall for it despite knowing better. but in terms of motivation, i think she can use a traumatic past as an excuse (it’s clear her dad neglected her etc) and that bumps her down—maybe if she went to therapy or something she wouldn’t have tried to bring a vengeful goddess out from god-knows-where to destroy the earth idk

sophia. i know she’s not really a kid but the fact that she had to pose as one for decades and was literally never successful until tor just has me 💀

rfs. man just stole a bunch of shit and didn’t even feel sorry for himself or anything. s3 au where kt gives him a kick in the head at the end

vera. she’s Not Good but v much giving wannabe-mean girl and it’s funny to me. also tbh the fact that she lived just shows how unimportant she is to the world

victor. he’s not evil by any means but besides tor, there is one (1) time he shows the kids any sort of affection or even just plain-and-simple concern, and it isn’t when they’re crossing the crocodile bridge or trying not to get stung in the spiderweb task or getting branded for death by an dead queen out to get them or begging any adult to not go through with a ridiculous plan to wake up a dead man. no, it’s when the kids may actually be dead and thus put his job is on the line. victor is so selfish and focused on being immortal that it ruins any good traits he could potentially have idc idc BUT like denby, he’s very much a product of his environment and i do like to think pre-s1 was more just a gruff old man than anything else.

jasper. not a bad guy but really has a talent for making some horrendous choices. at least he didn’t directly try to hurt the kids??

in terms of how compelling of characters they are, from best to worst:

rufus/victor (backstory)

denby (like i said, she’s so humanly scary, you can’t tear your eyes away)

rfs/vera (why were/are they Like That)

sophia (she’s just meh to me)

senkhara (same, except she’s also annoying as fuck)

jasper (i kinda hate this man and how he knew everything and did nothing. pitiful. wonder how he explained fabian’s decision to never visit anymore to uncle ade later)

send me a ☕️ and a topic and i’ll give you my opinion!

[blackbird-brewster]

So sorry you have dual illnesses rn and I hope you feel better soon! What's your take on some of the fandom assuming that Emily outed Tara to the team? It seems like everyone except JJ already knew when Emily told her, leading me to think that we didn't see Tara telling the others.

Oh god, I have complained about this endlessly to my partner. YES, I understand that PERHAPS Tara told everyone else and JJ was simply the last to know.... BUT that still doesn't change the fact the viewers literally saw this...(we're going to look at this through a cishet lens because let's be honest, the show is mostly consumed by cishets who wouldn't understand queer nuances here.) 1) Emily sees Tara smiling at a woman and IMMEDEATLY 'clocks it'

Why I hate it: The fucking jokey line of 'Ohhh you two are SO a thing!' is just really annoying to me. CISHETS DO NOT DO THIS???? Like we all fucking laugh about 'they're just gals being pals!' Cishet people go out of their way to explain two women being close to each other, they don't INSTANTLY see two women just SMILING at each other and go 'Oh you're dating!?' "But Kit! It's because Emily is gay!" No. Emily is NOT canonically queer. As far as any of us know, Emily is canonically STRAIGHT, so this in itself was a type of forced-outing. This entire 'coming out' scene with Emily was unnecessary. Why did someone else have to 'clock it'??? Why couldn't they just have Tara say "Hey, Emily...if Rebecca is going to help us out, cards on the table. We're dating." << This makes the coming out part Tara's CHOICE. 2) "Oh we're so going to give you shit about this" - Emily

Why I hate it: It really read as "We're going to give you shit about DATING A WOMAN" and I fucking hateeeee it. They could have EASILY made the line more specific "Can't believe you've been dating and we didn't know!" Like??? Why do they need to make jokes about giving her shit???? Queer people get bullied and teased (and assaulted and murdered) just because they're queer. The whole "haha Tara's coming out is going to be a point of joking in the team!" is such garbage imo. It's really damaging in the implication that her dating a woman should be joked about AT ALL. I know people reading this will say "Oh, but the team always teases each other when they date people!" Sure, they tease STRAIGHT people about it. But the implications of teasing Tara (A BLACK QUEER WOMAN) AT ALL is completely unnecessary. 3) "Did you say...girlfriend?" - JJ

Why I hate it: YES I 100% felt like this was Emily just casually outing Tara. And I really hate how they used that as a 'punchline' moment. All the press releases talked about how JJ/Tara worked as the only two following up on ALL consults for a YEAR. That to me indicates out of any of the team who might have ALREADY know...it would be JJ???? "But Tara probably already told everyone else!" Okay, AGAIN... let's look at this through the lens of the main viewership (cishets).... they aren't going to get that nuance or come to that possibility. They're going to see this scene and be like "LOL this was a funny punchline!" or "Wow, outing people is a fun joke!" No, FUCK THAT. It would NOT have been that hard to INSTEAD, have Tara bring Rebecca into the round table room and preface it with 'This is Rebecca from the DOJ, who is also my girlfriend, but that's unimportant right now...." Personally, I think a lot of (queer) fans are desperately trying to look at Tara's coming out as a 'perfect' scene. But y'all do know that even if you enjoy a piece of media, even if you're hyped that Tara is canonically queer.... YOU CAN STILL REMAIN CRITICAL of how that was played out in canon!!!! I mean the very next episode they have Rebecca and Tara moving in together or the 'u-haul' stereotype. It is ESTABLISHED that Rebecca doesn't HAVE to move back to the city (if she stays with Tara in Virginia) so why not just have that?? Sure it's a commute, but she's going to have a commute either way???? If they had been dating longer than 'a couple of months' and were talking about moving in together, I'd probably be okay with that??? But I really felt like it was YET ANOTHER stereotype being played out and I just....I'm tired, y'all. I'm so tired of seeing most queer media play out in harmful stereotypes. I don't know why it's so impossible to just have queer characters who have regular, healthy, wholesome relationships?? (Probably because MOST showrunners/producers/writers are cishet and don't understand that these relationships exist....but that's a whole other rant post in itself) So, Anon.... I guess to answer your question: Yes, I feel like Emily outed Tara and I'm quite angry at how that's played out. (I haven't watched E3, but as far as I know....Tara never (on-camera) came out to anyone else???) >> [More Thoughts] [About Tara's] [Coming Out] << These are my opinions. You're allowed to have other points of view, but make your own post. Because I'm not here for discourse.

[baeshijima]

in fucking tears rn.

[spoilers for artems second anniv story UTC !!]

[also, heres the link to the tl !! once again ty jin for ur services that make me sob every time ;w;]

I JUST READ THE SECOND ANNIV CARD FOR ARTEM AGAIN AND IM SOBBING ITS SO EMOTIONALLY TOUCHING AND HHFSDGFJLSKDFGADKJFSLKFJ 

THE FACT HE SAID HE STARTED BECOMING OBSESSED BC OF THE LACK OF REASSURANCE THAT MC HAS OTHER OPTIONS WHILE HE WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY CHOOSE HER EVERY SINGLE TIME WITHOUT FAIL AND THE FACT HE ENGRAVED THE GERMAN WORD FOR YEARNING - SENHSUCHT - ON THE ENGAGEMENT RING IS JUST SO???? SO !!!!! SO <3333333

ALSO LOOK HOW FUCKING STUNNING CELESTINE IS LIKE BRO IM SO HAPPY FOR HER AND JEREMY WTF IM CRYING EVEN MORE AGAINDHFDS 😭😭

AND PLS I LOVE THEIR INTERACTIONS SM

AND HERE !!

I SOBBED SO LOUD WHEN THIS CG POPPED UP LIKE HYV MY G WHAT DO U THINK UR DOING WITH THIS HE LOOKS SO GOODOJFDBHS 😭

AND THEN THEY PULL THIS

SIR I WOULD SAY YES IN A HEARTBEAT I HATE U

AND THIS PART IS WHAT I MEANT WITH THE OBSESSION

Artem: “Y/N, I am deeply certain that I will not love anyone else other than you. But in the depths of my heart, I would still subconsciously think, that you will always have a choice, and yet forever, I… will only choose you.”

Artem: “As this thought progress along time, it caused my... sense of reassurance to gradually decrease, and led into an obsession.”

Artem: “People are always very greedy, and upon confirming each other’s feelings, I wanted to be on a more intimate terms with you… So I was obsessed with the change in identities, it’s as though the change of way of addressing each other can allow us to become even closer.”

mc, literally after tugging on his tie to pull artem closer to her in the elevator: “Artem, you said earlier that you wanted us to be on an even more “intimate terms”... Then is the intimacy you wanted is just something of this extent? By merely a switch of identities?”

artem, after regaining his fucking composure: “No… How could it possibly be just these… What I wanted, is no longer just these since long ago.”

Artem: “I’ve said this in the past, that you’re someone I could encounter but could never ask for, and I will always be waiting for you just one step away [Artem mutters as he sticks close to me, that his scorching breaths pours onto me, causing a turmoil in my heart.] But I regret it now, I realized that rather than waiting passively, I wanted to proactively make you mine.”

Artem: “Y/N, I yearn for everything of yours.”

MC:”……”

 MC: “There's no need to stay somewhere a step away anymore… If there’s something that you want, just ask from me all you want.”

THE WAY SHES ENABLING HIM SMDBFDKJSDFL

Artem: “Can I push my greed a little further?”

sHUT UP. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

u little shit.

artem, right after biting her fucking neck: “Promise me, to only gaze at me from now on… Don’t let unimportant people be in your mind, I’ll be sad. Don’t leave me forever, and remain by my side.”

INCHORRENT SCREECHING I HATE HIM SO MUCH

also this is him talking abt the ring and why he designed it the way he did and !!!

Artem: “I've purposely designed the shape of this moon, it forms into a meaning where the sun and moon are in each other's company. It means... we are just like the sun and moon that rotates on our own, but we are also uncontrollably attracted towards each other.”

literally shut up u cant just switch like that after the evolved card cg and say cute shit like that. why are u so cute gdi i hate u sm /affectionate, unfortunately ;w;

ALSO THIS

Artem: “The size of the ring is something I've secretly measured while you were asleep. There were quite a few times I was worried that you would wake up halfway, it's even more thrilling than my first time in court.”

THIS WAS SO FUNNY TO ME I KEEP CRYING OVER THIS HES SODBFJDH ??!??!”£?£$”?£%

overall, 8-turned-ninety-degrees-so-its-infinity/10. i would pay for this card but unfortunately have to wait a year. revisiting youth temmie, ancient china temmie, android temmi and second anni temmie i will have u at any and all costs that dont require money bc i am broke hahahdghs <333

[fallindomino]

how i would have changed s2 of hsmtmts

obvious disclaimer but im not a screenwriter or anyth so im not claiming what i want is best, this is just for fun lololol

okay so first of all nini would still have dropped out of yac but she wouldn’t have gone back to east, she would have transferred to north bc she was too ashamed to tell anyone she left at first and maybe she still wants to explore who she is away from ricky and the others

nini could join north’s batb and this way maybe we could have some playful rivalry with lily and nini and more scenes with antoine shdhdjdj also it could have been a great opportunity to flesh out lily’s character so those scenes where she reaches out to ricky and her confession at the end of the season actually make sense lol

speaking of ricky ,,, i think he should have left the play at some point hear me out. he only joined in the first place because of nini and barely wanted to do it at all once he realized he wasn’t gonna be able to perform with her. he could have joined crew and been a manager with natalie or smth considering he rlly does see the theater gang as a second family. also this would leave so much room for ej and ricky development and bants since ej joined the av club and began to pursue film. they could have some convos where idk ricky asks ej how he figured out what he wanted to do after duke didn’t work out and ricky could actually develop some interests that arent the play or nini ,,, maybe fucking art club i mean he did p good on that centerpiece for carlos’ quinceañera.

with ricky not being the beast anymore i think seb should take his place that would be soooo good. and since seb isn’t chip anymore carlos won’t make those snide comments about chip being a small unimportant role and we can just cut that whole fight bc it was dumb and bad. we could still have seb being insecure that carlos is only dating him bc there aren’t really any other gay guys at school. in a heartbeat is great and i did like ricky being supportive in the background it was kinda funny too idk dhdjdjfj

ooh i almost forgot abt rini ahshdj okay so i still think they should break up. but in my version there’s no ricky pulling an ej 1.0 and deleting comments off of nini’s insta, cause with ricky in art club and nini at north trying to figure out what she wants i think one of them would realize that they’re going in different directions and only got back tgt because they made each other feel safe cause what they had was familiar. this could be triggered by ricky mentioning smth abt nini at yac and then nini breaks down and tells him that she dropped out and is at north and doesn’t know where she’s going. and then they can both realize they aren’t good for each other rn and have a less tragic mutual break up.

honestly i really liked the scene of nini taking charge after miss jenn freaked out cause with the character detail of nini giving every person in the cast of productions she’s in a thank you note she just seems really like someone who is suited to lifting others up. this could still be explored at north, maybe she could help lily through her issues that were briefly implied in ep 11 and nini realizes she wants to be a drama teacher and encourage kids to go off book and put themselves into their acting, something she couldn’t have at yac.

okay now ej ,,, so like i said in ricky’s section, more bants between them cause i feel like friendships kinda fell by the wayside due to all the relationships so more friendship !!!! also the scene where ej tells his dad he’s not going to duke shouldn’t have been an ending scene, it should have been fleshed out with his dad pushing back saying how he pulled all these strings to get him in and ej saying he doesn’t wanna go if his own hard work couldn’t get him there. and also more scenes of ej doing av club things !!! and realizing he rlly likes film and wants to do it OMG IT WOULD BE SO COOL IF HE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL AND ASKED THE DOCUMENTARY CREW ABT THE FILM INDUSTRY god i would love that. the only scene we rlly got of ej doing film things was at the quinceañera which made me kinda sad. uhhh also i just wanted to specifically mention how ej got mr mazzara that job at cal tech bc it really showed how he wanted to be there for people not just for gina, who he had a crush on, but for mr mazzara who supported him outside of romance, so i wanna keep that for sure.

gina !!! okay so i mostly liked her arc in this season, the only changes i would make would be to flesh it out a teeny bit (god this hypothetical s2 would have to be like 22 eps at least shdjdjdjfj) anyways besides ashlyn singing home to get gina to stay i think there should be a scene where they actually talk in her room abt how gina feels safer when shes on the run (second chance reference ilysm) hhhh and also a scene of her and carlos actually working out compromises for their choreo cause i liked that bit of development too and fleshing that out would make gina an even better foil for lily, who felt a need to hog the spotlight like gina used to. with gina’s own arc fleshed out her character would feel more whole independently from romance and portwell would be even more rewarding than it is in the current s2. the only thing i would really change abt portwell is that they would kiss !!! in the finale but thats bc im biased.

ashlyn should have gotten a more fleshed out storyline about being insecure about not being a good enough belle or the typical belle. there were some throwaway lines when north did their typical dramatics but the only two real scenes that showed it were when ash talked to big red about it and when she was telling nini she wanted to do a run in “home” bc lily did it. ashlyn should get more screen time where she has to grapple with the reasons she doesn’t feel good enough and big red can still support her but also gina too bc i would like more roommate besties interaction.

kourtney could still date howie, that harry potter shit was cute but there needs to be smth else for kourtney’s arc. idk she’s still into fashion so maybe she could be out here trying to create her own line or smth? this doesn’t have to be resolved in s2 like making a wholeass line takes time and she could work on it into a potential s3. kourtney just didnt get much outside of howie and the stuff at the beginning of the season where she said nini inspired her to be independent and that's why she got a job was just dropped?? so i think that fashion could fill that for her if she’s still dating howie cause like having her whole arc just be the pizza place kinda overlaps w big red’s mini arc abt how he wasn’t settling for hospitality, its what he wants to do with his life.

ik what ur thinking. anna, even if you added more episodes, where would u find the room to add all these plotlines?? well first we cut (most of) the seblos fight, so thats some time saved. honestly most of the time that we r going to gain is going to be from cutting ms jenn’s time. things like ms jenn’s and nini’s car ride would get cut, but mostly all of ms jenn’s romances would get cut down. considering she’s the teacher and isn’t actually a character with an arc how does she have THREE love interests this season?? like all of the weird tension between her and zack can be cut, like just some short scenes of them being competitive can stay. all of the stuff with ricky’s dad can go bye bye we don’t need it. i did like her w mr mazzara so most of that can stay i just didn’t like how he said he would give up cal tech for her, ew no that would be gone.

the MENKIES !!!! this is the last thing im gonna address cause in a perfect world every character would get a long fleshed out arc but then the season would be waaay too long and also im mostly trying to work within material the show gave so this is mostly made up of “realistic” deviations from what actually happened. lol idk what that even means it just makes sense to me. but anyways!! uhhh bro idk i thought them dropping the menkies was funny but it also made the finale really BAD lmao. in this finale, seb is the beast, east still had to deal w the fact that they’re underfunded compared to north but no one is injured, lily is less of a poorly written character and maybe ppl are even rooting for her, and wow i just realized i never actually said what role i think nini should have in north’s show. OOH she could be student director instead of lily cause lily both being in the play while also directing was weird considering omg i just checked and according to her wiki page shes a FRESHMAN?? and they let her be student director? lol hell nah. okay so with all that in mind ,,, the menkies should have been the season cliffhanger instead of portwell. east and north should both be nominated, both schools perform at the menkies, and then the award winner is about to be announced and THATS when it cuts to natalie and the end of the season.

one, this actually gives more tension for a summer s3 as we would be waiting to see the consequences of whichever school won. also i bet people would be wondering if nini’s gonna be transferring back to east or staying at north. people would also prob wonder if ej would be getting the scholarship if east won and what that would mean for his interest in film.

lmao that got longggg and idk if anyone’s even gonna read this but it was fun to do :D

[crystalkleure]

I have a Concept.

BeyBurst beyblades are supposed to burst. As in, it’s actually a necessity. In spite of the Exploding Beyblade mechanic potentially causing sharp little bits of spintop to go flying everywhere and hit people, what if it’s actually a safety feature?

If I recall correctly, all the way back in s1 territory [specifically in the manga though, can’t remember if we saw it in the anime or not], Valt and Shu just straight-up got their original beys from a store. And there are also all of those Unimportant Characters running around with different-coloured versions of preexisting beys. This indicates that beyblades are, in fact, mass-produced and sold in stores, and those are all built to be able to burst. In fact, I still haven’t seen the newest two seasons of the Burst anime yet, but I’m pretty sure super special fancy custom beys, that some important character explicitly made themself, that have some really creative [and strong] anti-burst features built into them, don’t ever show up as NPC recolour beys? In spite of the trend of “random background characters in new season use recoloured versions of Prominent Character beys from LAST season” to me seeming to indicate that those new recolour beys are either bootleg copycats, or those actual official shelf models have just suddenly started selling really well, due to someone having just recently done something cool with one in a tournament/on TV lol. [Anyway, correct me if I’m wrong on which beys get NPC recolours, I don’t exactly actually, uh, pay attention to all the random background scrubs. That point’s not particularly important anyway because I’m sure unofficial bootlegs are a thing that exists, mmmm delicious plagiarism. The point is the stores seem to sell beys with the normal level of burstability. And so I’m only caring about the everyday random NPCs with no names or anything, if another important character specifically goes and painstakingly recreates a bey similar or identical to another important character’s bey just because they idolize that other character, that doesn’t count. That’s not important here, implication-wise.] So...

What if it’s actually a really bad thing that people keep making their own custom beys now that are increasingly more and more ludicrously difficult -- or even near-impossible -- to burst?

What if the self-destruct mechanic is intended to be an emergency shutdown switch, and actually really needs to not be subverted? We’ve seen what an adept beyblader can do while running at full-throttle -- they’re dangerous, to themselves and their surroundings. Beys have the power to be obscenely destructive...while they’re spinning and battling, primarily. They are by far the most potent while actively in use. But if they hit things too hard like 3-4 times or so...they burst. Their locks disengage, they fall apart, and thus they are forced to abruptly stop. That makes them theoretically incapable of just rampaging indefinitely.

Picture this: One day, in the probably-decently-distant history of the BeyBurst world, a kid has a spintop. Probably made that spintop themself. This kid, it turns out, happens to be one of the Super Special Powerful Kids, who’s not only REALLY GOOD at using that spintop, they also possess that funny little supernatural ability to accidentally create an incredibly powerful incorporeal monster ghost creature thing with their brain. And because they love playing with their little spintop so much, that spintop becomes the vessel for this Terrifying Monster-Shaped Culmination Of Spiritual Elemental Energy or whatever that they’ve manifested. That’s...good, probably, because at least that means the Scary Monster Thing isn’t 1. just stuck in the kid’s brain with nowhere else to go, which would lead to possession that would decidedly be incredibly difficult to deal with without harming the kid, or 2. funneled into something more dangerous to control, like a car or a nuclear warhead or some shit. But then it turns out that the kid is ABSOLUTELY still able to wreak impressive havoc and cause Large Amounts Of Destruction, even accidentally...until the spintop stops spinning. The Power Level drops dramatically as soon as the demon top is still, and it takes a little while for it to build back up once it’s launched again. But what if a feature is implemented into the spintop that allows it to keep spinning for much, much longer? Or just The Supernatural Monster Power itself becomes capable of sustaining it, through wind manipulation or something?

Now, imagine you’re idk, the government or something, someone with Power and Influence over the masses, and you see THAT happen. Shit, that was just a random kid that did that! Looked like any other kid, acted like any other kid! There is no feasible way to tell a kid with Brain Monster potential apart from other kids who are NOT That Powerful, until a brain monster happens. So, if you can’t predict it, and thus can’t do anything to mitigate the potential destruction on a case-by-case basis...well, how about you convince ALL the little kiddies that spintops are just the greatest thing ever, everyone should play with spintops, AND you ensure those spintops are mass-manufactured specifically to not be able to Hold A Charge for too long because...they burst! You’ve designed them so that violence itself causes them to fall apart and stop to cool down! It’s perfect! That way, anytime an odd mutant child with Brain Monster powers comes along, the chance of them funneling their Brain Monster into their spintop is now Very High, meaning that all the Brain Monsters will hopefully end up inhabiting these little plastic toys that actively inhibit them instead of possessing children or nukes. It’s brilliant!

This does raise some questions, though:

1. What happens when someone’s spintop breaks, and they DON’T get it repaired, after they’ve already manifested a Brain Monster to live in it? Where would the Brain Monster go in that case? Uh oh, demon on the loose? Exactly what we were trying to avoid? Shu’s change between Legend Spriggan and Spriggan Requiem in God does seem to indicate that the Brain Monster probably 1. by default, does just camp out in its blader’s brain until a new Spintop Vessel is created for it, and 2. the Brain Monster itself is probably not actually completely strictly sealed into any bey, because it doesn’t disappear as soon as the bey is destroyed, and it doesn’t stay with an old/broken bey that’s been discarded when a new bey has been made for it. Legend Spriggan was discarded and left on the riverbed, and Spriggan Requiem was then made from scratch, seemingly using no recycled physical parts from Legend Spriggan, but Spriggan Requiem’s bitbeast looks only very slightly different from Legend Spriggan’s. All of Shu’s Spriggans are honestly probably still the same creature, just progressively evolved. I don’t think we’ve ever seen somebody make an entirely NEW Brain Monster that does not resemble their original one, it seems the original simply gets developed more and more. One person apparently only possesses the ability to make a single individual Brain Monster. You Get One (1), but you can upgrade it. But what about Hearts? His Dead Hades, which very much had a Brain Ghost in it, was not only destroyed, but assimilated into Phi’s Revive Phoenix, to make Dead Phoenix. What happened to that situation, over time? We haven’t gotten to see. Is Hearts’ Hades truly actually fused with Phi’s Phoenix, ceasing to be its own entity anymore, or does Phoenix simply very slightly resemble Hades now due to its bey being upgraded with physical bits of Hades’ bey? What if it’s not even POSSIBLE to truly fuse Brain Ghosts, especially without consent? In which case...is Hades itself just lingering around back in Hearts’ brain, waiting for a new bey to inhabit, and Hearts isn’t making one because he doesn’t realize Hades isn’t just Part Of Phoenix now? That sounds potentially dangerous, there’s no more outlet for your Brain Ghost, buddy. I want to see Phi and Hearts again, to know what eventually happened there.

2. Why do the tournaments not actually enforce a rule that says “Your bey HAS to be able to be reasonably burstable”? Chouzetsu Wings and the Mugen Lock System did not equal disqualifications. Has it maybe, over time, been forgotten exactly WHY we Need Beys To Burst? Well, that’s a ticking time bomb, then. How difficult a bey is to burst does seem to directly cause its Potential Destructiveness Levels to scale accordingly. [With somewhat of an exception of Pot and his Pegasus, but it should be noted that Pot was not exactly terribly serious about beyblade initially and yet was STILL considered one of the strongest ‘bladers in the world, GT3 iirc, AND he’s very into the whole “Love and light, chillax, be in-tune with yourself and all the energy in and around you, etc.” peaceful thing.] This HAS To Be A Problem. Why is nobody concerned.

3. ...What is causing the general public not to panic about this? Why are people okay with Brain Ghost and Mass Spintop Destruction happening, instead of terrified? This shit is broadcast on TV. The stands during tournaments are packed with spectators. It may be that perhaps not everybody can SEE the Brain Ghosts themselves [and I’m skeptical about that, because there have absolutely been MANY indications that other people know what someone’s bitbeast looks like], but the Big Bada Booms they cause are DAMN sure Highly Visible. Aiga’s father seems to be the only one truly properly concerned about the incredible mass-destructive potential of the spintops. Realistically, The Salem With Trials 2: Electric Boogaloo should be happening due to the Scary Spintop Kids being Fucking Scary, and sometimes quite clearly even out-of-control of themselves.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure this is not a direction canon will ever go in, or I think it would have already done it. I don’t think they’re going to explore this route. It’s a shame I don’t have the chops for writing long-haul fanfiction, because if I did I would absolutely be hardcore capitalizing on this idea. This has incredible Worldbuilding Lore Potential.

[thebadchoicemachine]

SBI HadesTown AU That Lives In My head Rent Free

(in fact I probably pay it to live there)

Links at the end under the cut.

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

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

Starring:

• Dream, George, and Sapnap as The Fates  • Philza as Hermes • Wilbur as Persephone  • Technoblade as Hades • Tommy as Eurydice

and

• Tubbo as Orpheus

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

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

Changes to the story - 

Instead of spouses, Wilbur and Techno are estranged brothers.

Instead of lovers, Tommy and Tubbo are best friends.

The focus is still on restoring balance to the world but through familiar and platonic love instead of romantic. Also, the reason the world is so bad is a more social crisis (some people work too much while others can’t work at all) instead of a natural one (the seasons being wack.) 

It takes place during a seething summer drought rather than a frozen cropless winter but its still the same tune of spring/fall disappearing because the the world being out of tune. 

Character Changes -

+ Philza is an old god. He’s not weaker nor stronger than Wilbur/Techno, just fills up a very different role. He’s god of history, of legends, of simple stories and narration. He’s very human compared to most gods, some theorize perhaps he straight up IS human in some way shape or form. He lives a human life to meet people and collect their lives and stories and appreciate them. He can’t really interfere as more than a mortal man but still just tries to give as many happy endings as he can.

+ Tommy’s a scrappy lost child. His problem is similar to Eurydice but a little inverted. Rather than learning to trust people he needs to learn to value them. He’s no issue with interacting with people and enjoying their help/company but he’s a tendency to use them. He doesn’t believe they’ll stick around so he doesn’t bother caring about them.

+ Tubbo is also an abandoned child. Unlike Tommy he grew up in one spot, although still homeless. Philza found him camping in a crate box behind his station and gave him a job and a bed. He’s pretty much exactly like Orpheus, optimistic, sees the world for what it could be instead of what it is, but maybe spends a little too much time looking forward and not around.

+ Technoblade is basically the god of work and motivation. His problem is generally the same as Hades’ in that he misses his family and is too busy working and building security for what he wants to get what he wants. He misses his brother so much he’s hardend himself to the reasons they’re apart so much in the first place.

+ Wilbur is basically the god of play and rest. In this AU, instead of Hades, Persephone’s role is the biggest reason the world is out of wack. His problem is that he doesn’t face his problems. As the god of such frivolous things as music, games, rest, etc. he is (feels) weak and useless. He’s jealous of Techno and how needed he is so Wilbur retreats away to somewhere he feels needed and wanted, entertaining miserable people. He’s stayed away for longer and longer amounts of time, not realizing his distracting them from their troubles (inadvertently preventing them from fixing them) is a reason they’re so miserable in the first place. All he can do is have a good time so he’s begun forcing it every second of every day and ignoring his brother in the meantime. He needs to learn that he CAN do good, people NEED breaks and fun, but recklessly enforcing it only enforces what he fears, that he’s a liability. 

So, the main problem is a cycle the brothers have spiraled into:

Techno does obviously important things (stirring progress and improvement) and Wilbur feels bad, unimportant, and like a burden.

Wilbur leaves Techno to go distract himself/play with the humans.

Wilbur becomes useless and detrimental without Technoblade there to balance him out.

Techno works even harder, becoming empty and cold without Wilbur there to balance him out, trying to get enough work done so Wilbur won’t have to worry and will come back.

Wilbur sees Techno working so hard and shies away even more so as not to disturb his brother’s important work.

Technoblade has to basically force Wilbur to stay with him now, making it more work.

Wilbur sees Technoblade as both too important for him and now generally unappealing as unnecessary effort. Besides, he’d probably just get in the way.

Technoblade now sees Wilbur as just another part of his endless job. Keep people working, keep things improving, keep the numbers going up, try to keep Wilbur here. Its become work for the sake of work instead of work to the sake of rest.

So even when they’re together neither is relaxed enough to balance the other, both are distant.

Wilbur’s become too carefree, he ignores Technoblade and drops anything that seems challenging, including reconciliation and self-examination. He’s still just playing, even when with Technoblade.

Technoblade’s become too obsessed, focusing more on how to get and keep his brother with him than on being with his brother. The work has become meaningless without the end goal that Wilbur provides. A self sustaining cycle of labor for more labor’s sake.

Now the humans are suffering because they find themselves trapped in an unbalanced cycle of being either incapable of work or incapable of play.

Thematic notes:

- The dancers in the station during the first half are Skeppy, Antfrost, Bad, Eret, and Puffy. 

- The workers (the dancers in the second half) consist of Niki, Fundy, Quackity, Ranboo, and Awsam.

- Tommy is implied to vaguely know/be brotherly to Techno and Wilbur, this is partially how Techno convinces him to leave and go work for him. 

- Likewise, Philza has a few lines about feeling sorry about how Techno and WIlbur have ended up (implying he took some part in raising them) and already knows Tommy when he enters (implying he’s been a dad to helped Tommy out before.

- Technoblade is less malicious than Hades, more just cold and apathetic. In a way, he thinks he’s helping by pulling Tommy away from Tubbo. He, like Wilbur, believes that work is good so more work must be better, even if you’ve nothing to really work towards. At the end he listens to the fates because needs to figure out how to let Tommy go without undoing either all of Wilbur’s power or all of his. 

- Tubbo’s song has a bigger impact on fauna than floral, specifically insects. His first song brings out bees, butterflies, and moths that Tommy goes all star eyed for because pretty bugs but more importantly, living things that don’t want to hurt him!

- Instead of a flower Tommy gets a big beautiful orange moth (named Clementine) that hides in the back of his coat neck whenever Technoblade is near. He remembers in ‘Flowers’ when he goes to wipe some sweat from his neck but its Clementine and she flies around him while he sings. (I thought that’d be much prettier than him just holding her like Eurydice holds the flower.) 

- During ‘Living it Up On Top’ Wilbur dances specifically with Philza (who greets him very much like a father might greet a son who’s been away for a long time) and Tommy (who he teases and ruffles his hair a lot).

- Wilbur does drugs instead of alcohol. He... he makes a lot of drugs so I thought this would be an appropriate swap. Also it’s really funny to me that he sings Our Lady Of The Underground (or, Brother To The Underground) just completely stoned; handing out weed and shit to the workers.

- Instead of a mine Hadestown (Technotown? Technoville?) is a farm in a giant glass case built way up high. Instead of going through the dark that challenge is Tubbo has to climb up its side to avoid the train. Its an unnatural and unwelcoming greenhouse. Everything grows in lines but they’re mismatched and overrun with thorny weeds. Everything is grey and tough and flavorless. There’s so much dust and dirt being kicked up it’s hard to breathe and see. The workers are using various gardening tools during the beats instead of swinging a pickaxe. Half will sharpen while the other half swings (tilling the ground/cutting weeds), it makes a real nice schwing/thunk mix sound. 

- During ‘Word To The Wise’ George sings (“if you tell them no you’re a heartless man”) Sapnap sings (“if you let ‘em go you’re a spineless king”) and Dream sings (”here’s a little tip”) and (“men are fools, men are frail”)

- Tubbo still looks back during ‘Doubt Comes In’ because he's scared of Techno and feels bad about himself (“Who am I? Who am I to think that he would follow me into the blazing heat again”). Techno, Wilbur, and Philza try their best to take care of them but it’s still a tragic ending. 

- Tommy and Tubbo may or may not become (very sad and minor) gods. Unofficially and not in the story, but still... maybe. If they WERE, hypothetically,  they’d be a very tragic pair. Tubbo would help mend relationships and guid people towards good advice while Tommy would help catch/ignore/cut out bad ones. Always working together, never together. 

Lyrical Changes 

> Pronouns are changed, obviously.

> Techno and Wilbur sing “brother” instead of “lover.”

> During ‘The Wedding Song’ (The Friendship Song, I do not care if it’s childish, Wedding is replaced with Friendship) They sing each other’s names instead of “lover.” (Tubbo, tell me if you can...////Tommy, when I sing my song...)

> Anytime they’re complaining about the cold winter replace it with a hot summer

> Tommy’s lines are much sharper. He never loses his edge with Tubbo. Instead of him remembering him and going “my best friend, Tubbo” he remembers and says something more along the lines of “that fucking idiot, Tubbo” but he’s say it with a quivering smile and bittersweet tears in his eyes. Harsh in words not in tone. 

> Wilbur still pours a glass for a toast during ‘Living It Up On Top’ but the rest of the time he’s smoking something instead of drinking. (Who gives breaks when the work is hard?//That's right, Wilbur Soot!//Who makes the music? Who’s your bard?//(Wilbur Soot!)//Thank you//Who makes a rough life fun again, in spite of a pig//(You do!)//Who’s the most awaited gig? Eh? Wilbur Soot, that’s who!)

> When Wilbur shows up during ‘Chant’ he complains about how cold and dark it is. (Colder than a tundra) Techno explains it away as having set up shades/coolers to counter the glare from the sun through greenhouse glass and how he did it to protect/comfort Wilbur. (Brother when you feel that chill, it’s my protection from the kill, its my protection that i’ve built for you.)

> In the Chant Reprise the workers are singing about why they’re working if they can never enjoy the security and safety they keep making. Technoblade, instead of telling him to buy Tommy’s love, tells him to make himself needed. He, instead of warning Tubbo about Tommy leaving, scolds Tubbo for being too light and fluffy and spinelessly letting Tommy go. He scolds him for trying to take Tommy away, back into uselessness and empty fluff, when he’s found a good purpose because clearly Tubbo wasn’t point enough. 

> Philza���s still the narrator, but diegetically his lyrics show more clearly that he knows everyone in the story already. I really like the idea of him giving Tubbo advice on making friends that gets shown in ‘Come Home With Me’

> When Tubbo sings about Techno, instead of singing about minework, he’ll sing things like ((from the second stanza of Epic II) “Technoblade, king//of power and pain//of a hard days work//that never ends//and for half of the year when Wilbur’s away//the strain and the stress just won’t give way//he thinks of his brother, light and carefree//and is taken in a rage of obligation and need//to ensure wants are met and safe//so there will be time for play//so his bother//his brother comes home) 

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

This post all started because I was thinking of Tubbo singing the “La lala laaa” that was originally Wilbur’s song. 

Also, I realize this entire AU is just one big punch in the gut to Philza, like, “HEY, ALL YOUR SONS ARE SCREWED UP, NOW SING ABOUT IT.”

[spencersstrawberryjello]

Inside Scoop (Chapter One)

Chapter One - The Greatest Regret of my Life

Previous Chapter < - > Next Chapter

Chapter Summary: Dahlia Silvers is on her way to work when she makes a horrifying discovery that will change her life... and lead to her getting tangled up with the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of corpse (violent death), police interactions (please let me know if I missed anything)

Word Count: 2417

A/N: Yay new story!! Ok, two quick things I need to mention before we get into it: one, I have absolutely no clue about the roads in DC and I merely listed two ones that I knew were on a corner. And two: I also have no clue where the Washington Post office is, and am not trying to make any claims about the company in any way, it’s just a reputable news place in DC so I wanted to use it for the story (please don’t sue me Jeff Bezos). Ok that’s all - hope you enjoy!! :)

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

It was raining.

I knew we were supposed to get a short shower this morning, but I still groaned as I walked out into the disgusting downpour bombarding the streets of DC.

The only positive thing about days like this was the lack of people on the sidewalk. Generally everyone was dashing to the subway before they could get too soaked, but I only lived a few blocks from work. So I elected to walk.

Usually, that was fine. I had my umbrella, and I got into the office in about fifteen minutes, give or take a few. After that I got my writing assignments for that day within ten, and I got to work.

Usually.

The smell hit me first. Initially, I thought it was just rotten fruit, or something similar that someone had thrown out, but the closer I got the more it smelled rancid, impossible to describe.

The next thing I noticed was the bag.

The woman’s purse had been thrown from her hand. Or maybe it had fallen, I had no way of knowing. All I knew was that I saw it sitting on the sidewalk at the mouth of the alleyway I was about to walk past.

One of the greatest regrets of my life was picking up that purse.

Because when I picked it up, I had to turn and see who it belonged to. And that’s when I saw her.

I wasn’t sure how long the blood had been pooled around her body, but it was dried on the concrete. Her head was twisted at an unnatural angle, revealing the deep slash wound across her throat. Her hands were bloodied, and I had no way of knowing if it was her blood or someone else’s. All I knew was that this woman was dead, and there was no way in hell it was due to natural causes.

The combination of the sight in front of me and the smell of decay permeating the air sent a wave of nausea through my body, and my eyes watered as I turned away, vomiting on the sidewalk not far from where the woman laid. I fumbled to pull my phone out of my pocket, my hands shaking as I dialed 911.

“911 what’s your emergency?”

“Someone’s dead. It’s a woman, she - I was on my way to work, and I just found her - holy shit…”

“Ok ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down please, everything will be ok. Can you tell us where you are right now?”

“Yeah, yes,” I forced myself to breathe, stepping out to the edge of the sidewalk in an attempt to read the street sign in front of me. “Right by the corner of 9th and G Street NW. There’s an alley a few feet away from the intersection. She’s…” I turned back to the woman’s body for a moment before forcing my eyes away again. “I don’t know what happened. It looks bad, I -”

“It’s ok ma’am. What is your name?”

“Dahlia. Dahlia Silvers.”

“Ok Dahlia. Is there anyone else with you? Or around you?”

I scanned my surroundings before responding shakily, “No.”

“Is the woman alive?”

“No.” I don’t know of anybody who could survive their throat being slashed.

“Ok. A team is on their way, but I need you to stay calm for me, ok?”

I nodded, despite the fact that she couldn’t see me. “Alright.”

“Good. Can you stay on the scene so that investigators can speak with you when they arrive?”

My first thought was that I was going to be late for work. It’s actually kind of funny, in retrospect, how unimportant that is compared to the discovery I just made. But the thought was still there.

“I think this would be a valid reason to call in sick.” I replied. The woman on the other end of the phone laughed lightly.

“Yes, I think it would. Would you like me to stay on the phone with you until the team arrives?”

“No, I’m just… I’m going to walk away a bit? Is that ok? I can’t… I mean, I’ve seen pictures and videos of stuff like this, but I didn’t think it would be so -”

“As long as you’re nearby, everything should be fine. It’s understandable that you would need to move away from the body.”

“Ok. Ok,” I took in another deep breath, “I’m ok.”

“A team should be there in a couple of minutes.”

The line went dead, and I sunk down against the wall of the building by the alley, far enough away that the smell of death couldn’t follow me. I felt like it was in my clothes, in my hair; for a second I thought I was going to throw up again, and I put my head in my hands, forcing myself to breathe until the investigators arrived on the scene. I had half a mind to realize that it wasn’t raining anymore, but I couldn’t be bothered to figure out where I’d dropped my umbrella. My clothes were sticking to my skin, and everything on my body felt viscerally wrong.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen images of dead people before; I was a young adult, and I liked movies. Obviously I was used to gore. But the stench… nothing could’ve prepared me for that.

I was surprised at the sheer number of people that showed up: I mean, there was a CSI van, which I expected, but a black car pulled up behind them, as well as two city police cars. Immediately, the CSI team got to work, and the rest of the people began piling out of their cars. The first person to take notice of me was one of the police officers, and he immediately made a beeline for where I was sitting on the sidewalk.

“Are you Dahlia Silvers? The woman who called in the body?” He asked. I nodded, and he held out his hand to me, helping me up on unsteady feet.

“Thank you.”

“‘Course. Now, I’d like to ask you a few questions if that’s ok?”

I nodded again, and he began a surprisingly long tirade of questions. Why was I passing by, where was I going, did I walk this street every day, what did I see first, did I touch anything on the scene, did I know the woman, had I seen anyone else - everything I should’ve expected but didn’t even think about in the wake of everything I’d just witnessed.

I answered accordingly: work, work, yes, the purse, the purse, no, no - I mentioned that the vomit was mine, and that I’d picked the purse up with the intent to return it to whoever dropped it. I mentioned that the first thing I picked up on was the smell, and that I had no idea what happened. Only that my day was perfectly normal, and then -

“Excuse me, officer?” A new voice cut into our conversation, a woman. I turned to look at her, noticing the FBI logo on her jacket immediately. “I’d like to speak with Ms. Silvers for a moment, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course Agent,” He nodded, rejoining the larger group that we were standing a bit away from. I knew he was still watching me, but I couldn’t be bothered to worry about my status on this case’s suspect list right now. I was still trying to process the fact that there was a fucking dead body about five feet away from me.

“Dahlia Silvers?” She asked, as if she didn’t already know. I nodded, and she smiled, introducing herself as well.

“I’m Special Agent Prentiss, I’m with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.”

Immediately my brow furrowed with confusion. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Well, we study -”

“No, I’m sorry, I should’ve been clearer: I know what the BAU does. What is the BAU doing here, in DC?”

“We’re investigating a string of recent murders, and we believe that this one is most likely connected to the case.”

“... If there have been enough murders here that your team needed to come down, why aren’t any of the news stations covering it? I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“We’ve put a block on most of the press until we can gain a better understanding of the situation. I understand why you might feel betrayed by the media -”

“It’s not like that at all,” I rushed to correct her, not realizing I’d cut her off again, “I’m a journalist. I work for The Washington Post. Our office is like three blocks away, that’s where I was headed when - when I saw her.”

The woman nodded, a sympathetic expression on her face. “I’m sorry that you had to see all of this.”

“Thank you,” I gave her a small smile. I did appreciate it, but honestly, I’d recovered from the sight pretty quickly. I’d started working in crime journalism recently, and that came with it’s fair share of gruesome images and stories of tragedy flooding my computer. Hence the reason why my lack of knowledge on these murders was a concern. “I’m just confused as to why I didn’t hear about the murders, while working for a news site. It would make sense for a few stories to slip through, or for our CEO to announce something to us writers - how the hell did you manage a full media block?”

She laughed a bit at my bluntness, but said, “We got here very shortly after the first murder. We were able to restrict almost all stories about the event immediately.”

“Almost all? No, you guys got all of them - I have a keyword filter set up on Google to email me whenever a seemingly newsworthy event happens in the surrounding area, and I feel like ‘local murder’ would definitely count as newsworthy.”

“That’s… surprising, but it makes sense. Never underestimate the power of Jennifer Jareau - that’s our press liaison, she handles -”

“Oh yeah, I know her! I’ve spoken with her a few times when you guys have had cases in DC.”

“Right! Yeah, she’s great…” She got a sort of far-off look in her eye for a moment before she cleared her throat, “But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about. I know that you spoke with the local police already, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to return to the station with us so we could interview you a bit further - you’re not under arrest, you’d be free to go at any time, we just have a couple more questions.”

I was hesitant, but at the same time, there was an itch in the back of my mind. An itch to know more. If this was a chance for me to find out what’s been going on, no way in hell I’m saying no to that.

Plus, if I did say no, that would be incredibly suspicious.

So I nodded, allowing Agent Prentiss to lead me back to the black vehicle that arrived with the slew of police cars. She opened the passenger door for me before shouting to someone who I’m assuming was one of her coworkers.

“Reid! Stay here and investigate the scene - I’m going to escort Ms. Silvers back to the station, and I’ll be back to pick you up.”

I heard a faint response before she shut the passenger door, climbing around to the other side and allowing me a glimpse of whoever she was talking to.

He was standing on the pavement, still looking at the car, nodding as I’m assuming Agent Prentiss said something else to him. The blue sweater he had on over his button up presented an interesting contrast between the pantsuit I’d seen Prentiss wearing, and the ridiculous query of the nature of the BAU’s uniforms crossed my mind before I turned my attention back to the matter at hand.

The matter at hand being, of course, discreetly staring at the man in front of me.

His curly hair rested almost at his shoulders, and I was mesmerized as I watched him speak, one hand flying and the other holding onto a thin wooden cane. Finally, he nodded definitively before turning back to the crime scene, and my eyes snapped to the driver’s side door as I heard Agent Prentiss slide into the seat next to me.

“Oh please, don’t let me interrupt your staring at Dr. Reid,” She held up her hands in mock defense, trying to keep herself from laughing, “I’m merely the driver.”

“Sta - what, I wasn’t staring, I -” I immediately started to defend myself (even if I totally was staring at Dr. Reid), but Agent Prentiss laughed again.

“Relax, Ms. Silvers. I’m only teasing. He is quite a good-looking man, isn’t he? Not my type, but I’m not blind.”

I blushed, acknowledging her statement with a nod as she put the car in drive, pulling away from the curb. As we started down the road, the full weight of the events that just occurred finally hit me.

I found a corpse.

I was on my way to a police station.

I might be the main suspect in an ongoing murder case. I hadn’t actually asked about that yet.

It was almost as if Prentiss had noticed the shift in my mood - honestly, there’s a chance she actually had, she was a profiler - because she broke the silence with a question.

“Ms. Silvers? How are you feeling?” She asked. I just shook my head.

“Please, call me Dahlia. And honestly, I have no idea how I’m feeling. I… well, I’m sure I don’t need to say that nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

“I’d be surprised to hear you say it had,” She laughed. I laughed a bit too, though I couldn’t ignore the anxiety eating at me.

“I’m pretty sure I haven’t processed it yet,” I said honestly.

“You’ve gone through a lot in the last hour,” She agreed, “And I hate to say it, but you’re going to have to go through a little bit more. We’re here.”

We pulled into the police station, and she put the car in park, hoping out. I followed suit, and we both headed up the walkway to the front doors.

I was practically trembling with nerves, but at the same time, excitement coursed through my veins at what I might learn.

The BAU might’ve put a blockade on the media from the outside, but I was getting the inside scoop.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep5

This week on Higurashi Sotsu, we witness the most irredeemable of all crimes:

A little girl pushes over someone’s pot of curry.

Thoughts under the cut.

On the one hand, the actual answers for this arc have ended up being way more straightforward than I expected after how unclear a lot of it felt back in the question arcs, but on the other hand it’s probably a good thing that they’re not doing anything convoluted with this when they’re already doing this a lot faster than they probably should, lol.

I’ve said it a lot of times before, but the fact that they’re spending so much time on stuff that comes across as unnecessary and predictable still feels like proof that they actually meant it when they said that this is meant to be accessible to new fans. I think the execution is kinda clunky and they probably should have committed entirely to it being a sequel, but they’re clearly trying to spend time on stuff that wouldn’t necessarily be obvious to people who haven’t read the VN.

Although even then, this episode kinda highlights how the new series hasn’t really gone into Shion’s entire backstory or character arc at all, which isn’t necessarily gonna stop new fans from understanding what’s going on here, but it does make her feel a lot more unimportant as a character, and the narrative themes and parallels set up in this episode don’t come across to the new fans who don’t know how Watanagashi and Meakashi went the first time around.

Anyway, the gist of this answer arc is basically that Mion was indeed the culprit this time, and killed basically everyone. It’s not very surprising at this point, but it’s really neat to actually see what it looks like for Mion to succumb to the syndrome. It feels very different to how basically everyone else handles it, since she’s way more cold and calculated about things, and has more self-awareness of her actions. The dramatic irony of how she didn’t even want to kill Shion and just got carried away in a moment of anger was cool, and on a related note it’s kinda funny in a morbid way to imagine that she probably killed Oryo with the taser without realizing it as well. I think something similar happened in the VN where Oryo dies before Shion can actually torture her for information.

Which reminds me that this is all making it really clear how foggy my memories of the original Watanagashi and Meakashi arcs are, lol. I was hoping to reread the VN when Gou started so I could compare them properly, but that got derailed by my laziness and real-life stuff coming up, so now I don’t really remember enough to confidently compare how this went to those arcs. From what I do remember, though, this feels like a bit of a reversal of how those arcs went, where this time Mion wins her confrontation with Shion and goes on to kill everyone else.

There’s still one more episode left, but the next episode is probably going to show that Mion killed Kimiyoshi after Oryo, then probably killed Rika after watching her rant at Keiichi, then Satoko will go off to confront Mion at the mansion and they’ll both end up dead. I’m still not entirely confident about why Satoko would bother going there in the first place, but my best guess is that she wanted to confirm what Mion had done, especially if she ends up not being sure about whether or not Rika’s dead if she didn’t witness Mion killing her.

Speaking of Satoko, we also got to see how even after the injection [or however she managed to drug Mion], she had to keep monitoring her and pushing her buttons to try and get her on the track to paranoia, since at least at first she seemed to be completely normal. Mion still ended up going L5 anyway, but it makes me hope that the next arc will go even further with having Satoko’s plans mess up.

Also, from what I’ve seen people say, the curry competition scene was actually very similar to the VN, except Satoko used more indirect methods of messing with everyone’s curry. I think this was actually pretty in line with how ruthless the club members can get, and how tolerant they are of blatant cheating, but it’s kinda funny seeing people get way more mad about it now than they ever would have before, lol. There’s also something funny about Satoko clearly just not giving a shit about subtlety anymore and just knocking stuff over and messing with their curry right in their faces. I think in her own way, Satoko’s getting kinda tired of all the looping [like in the last episode where she seemed bored of the card game], and her restraint is slipping.

In a lot of ways they seem to be setting up this idea of Satoko being careless and risky with her actions, and it makes me wonder if that’ll play into the next arc or two, and how Rika might end up ‘winning’ against her. But we’ll see.

It’ll be a little while before we actually get to the next arc, but it’s probably still the one I’m most excited for. For one thing it’s gonna be five episodes long so even if it also covers Nekodamashi I don’t think it’ll feel quite as fast-paced as these first two arcs have, and I feel like seeing Tataridamashi from Satoko’s perspective would feel much more different to what’s been going on in these arcs. There’s also be less competition between ‘the Satoko stuff’ and ‘the answer arc culprit POV stuff’ in the next arc since Satoko herself is basically the culprit of Tataridamashi. 

I at least hope that the next arc is where Satoko’s plans really start messing up, and she starts doubting herself. For one thing it’d be a little boring to have all the answer arcs go in the same sorta way with her doing exactly what she sets out to do, but if they’re setting up for any sort of redemption for her, something along those lines is going to have to happen eventually.

Maybe I’m just giving her too much credit, but I like the idea that maybe her resolve wavered and she ended up wanting to stay in that fragment, but Ooishi went L5 all on his own and fucked things up. Probably because of something like him getting into contact with Teppei and realizing that [in that arc] he hadn’t actually done anything to Satoko, which would fuel his paranoia about the village engaging in witch hunts. I think it’s at least safe to assume that Teppei really did attack Keiichi at the end of the arc, after how the fight between Keiichi and Rena ended up not having any tricks or misdirection to it, so Teppei probably became convinced that the village was just out to get him.

But anyway we’ll get to that when we get to that, lol.

[sand-worms]

risotto, formaggio and prosciutto? >:3c

My beloveds <33

Risotto

Favorite thing about him is how he cares sm about his team despite the fact that he seems like he can be very outwardly cold! Also really like that his stand is like hosted within his own body and normally not seen because it’s so unique within the series and I feel like it gives him this sorta mysterious vibe and I think it makes him sort of even more terrifying as a hitman if that makes sense! Yeah.

Least favorite thing about him is the fact that the anime took away his purple hair like the white looks nice but purple hair risotto is everything 2 me

Fanon pet peeve tbh is how he gets labeled as la Squadra’s dad sometimes because I see them as like a weird fucked up found family in a way of like they all care about each other even if they’re assholes and yeah Risotto’s the leader but I see them all as sort of peers and equals rather than risotto having some sorta parental status like you can kinda attribute to Bruno.

Formaggio

Favorite thing about him is literally that he’s SO fucking smart but he’s also the dumbest man alive. Like he’s able to deduce that Bruno’s gang deserves some looking into because they were absent from Polpo’s funeral, he’s able to deduce that they must have Trish based on the shit Narancia’s buying on his shopping trip, and he’s able to figure out how Aerosmith’s radar works on his own. Not to mention the fact that he utilizes his own relatively mundane stand ability in some really creative and deadly ways. But he also uses none of his brain cells during his fight against Narancia.

Least favorite thing about him is his anime colors. Someone call the circus they lost a fucking clown.

Canon pet peeve for me is how so many people like ignore him or reduce him to being just like haha funny comic relief guy. Also really personally irked by the fanon interpretation that he smells or has bad hygiene or whatever.

Prosciutto

Favorite thing about him is literally everything 😍 no but actually I really love that he’s a fucking bitch but he genuinely cares about his teammates and is able to notice the potential in them and their strengths and encourage them even if he can be a little critical or harsh about things. It’s so easy to see him having this sort of mentor role within the group in general. ALSO Geateful Dead is my favorite stand design in the whole series he’s so creepy and good congrats on your eldritch monstrosity king! Also this is so unimportant but I really love that he wears yellow because it’s my favorite color 🥰

Least favorite thing about him is how he died because I think he has one of if not the worst death in the group just because of how brutal it is and how long he actually stayed alive after the initial impact with the train :(

Fanon pet peeve is similar to Risotto I really don’t like how he’s even jokingly called la squadra’s “mom” for the same reasons as Risotto but also because it just feels like some of you guys don’t know how to not be weird about it when a man is caring or nurturing and god forbid a little bit feminine. (This also goes for calling Bruno mom) Also a little bit annoyed personally by RisPro because of this mom/dad dynamic but also because a lot of the time it really genuinely feels to me like they get shipped together just because they’re the prettiest guys in the group.

[burlesque-articulation]

Alright, I pulled out my corkboard and red string again, this time in hopes of dissecting the MAG timeline to see if there is anything there to support my fan theory of:

~Could Jurgen Leitner be Martin’s Dad~

And so far, signs point to a solid "it could be possible”. So in lieu of this, I will be presenting all my evidence with exceptional bias so it better illustrates my desired outcome. Okay? Okay! Let’s get into it.

Let’s begin with 1985, when Jurgen Leitner supposedly begins renting an office in Pall Mall, central London. Presumably this is just where he sets up an office, and not the actual location of the Library, which isn’t something we get-- anyways, getting sidetracked, uhhh.

Right, we know, vaguely, that Martin was born in 1987, two years after Leitner would have set up shop in Central London; and interestingly enough, in that same year of Martin’s birth, Leitner attempted to hire some people to dig a big ol’ hole in the floor of his office to lead into the tunnels built beneath the building. And this could just be wishful thinking, but I believe it is implied that these tunnels connect to the other tunnels of Millbank Prison. Interconnected, and with many exits leading to various parts of the city. Basically, a needlessly intricate means of escape (I guess balconies and back doors just didn’t exist yet, you know) should shit get real. Anyways, the point I’m trying to make, is that it would make sense for Leitner to suddenly be very interested in having direct access to these tunnels from his main office after receiving news that he’s a father, or whatever. Or maybe it’s just because he’s always been a loser that loves vibing in tunnels.

[Obligatory readmore, because this shit gets long, and even more ramble-y. Also I’m not sorry, because y’all are more than welcome to continue scrolling past this mess]

Alright, now fast-forward to 1994, the destruction of the Library. At this point in time, Martin would have been 7. Now hold up! According to the Magnus Archives Wiki, Martin’s father abandoned the family when he was 8 or 9; so isn’t that a whole in the theory right there? No. It’s not. Because the only thing that is implied about Leitner around 1994, is that he went into hiding after the destruction of the Library. At no point is it implied that he even left the country (or even London, but like, I refuse to believe he’s that stupid; even if that alternative is hilarious). To set up my point, I’m going to shift the focus onto Martin now, and what his life might have been like when he was younger.

So, by present events (present actually referring to like, pre-season 4, actually), Martin’s mother is in a care home in Devon. Could be because care homes are cheaper there, or something, I have no idea. Honestly people in my family don’t live long enough to ever even consider this option, so I don’t know how assisted living works at all lmao. But let’s say, for simplicities sake, that Martin actually just grew up around Devon; and I’m throwing a dart at a map and declaring Plymouth as the city he grew up in. Anyways, why does this matter? Because I do in fact believe that Leitner is stupid enough to think that changing which county he lives in counts as being in hiding. And he gets maybe one (1) good summer with his family before the weight of his sins bare down on him, and he realizes that staying in one place really isn’t an option. So maybe he tries travelling around a bit; but inevitably he always ends up coming back to Plymouth. It takes him a year, maybe two, to finally realize that this won’t work forever. His habits are too predictable, and what’s this? The mother of his child is getting sick; and her condition only seems to worsen over time (you know, like how it usually works when someone is taken ill.); and Leitner gets it into his head that he could be the cause of it; so what is the safest course of action, but to completely abandon his family? Surely things will turn out for the better for them all if he were to just... disappear. To cut ties entirely, so as to make sure no one ever comes after them in an attempt to get to him.

And that worked out fucking great, didn’t it.

Bunch of unimportant stuff happens, and eventually Martin ends up dropping out of school, presumably only a year early from graduation (weird but fine); and it’s safe to assume he eventually ends up traveling to London in hopes of better job opportunities. Plus, if he’s gonna be lying on his CV, probably better to head out of county to some place where no one knows him from anywhere to begin with, right? That makes sense, and none of you can say otherwise.

And where does he find himself sliding into a new job position? Oh, that’s right; at the Magnus Institute. In the Library. I’m just saying. I am just saying, that’s a little interesting. I mean, he lied about having a degree in parapsychology on his CV; so if Bouchard really wanted to play along like he thought the CV was entirely legit, it actually would’ve made more sense to put him in Research, or even in Artefact Storage with a degree like that. But nope, Bouchard put him in the Library. Though, I guess we don’t know exactly what all might’ve been on Martin’s faked CV. But I swear to god, if we get bonus content that’s just Martin’s faked CV and it even hints at him working at a “family library/bookshop” I will spontaneously combust.

Regardless, in 2009, supposedly (according to the wiki), Martin began working at the Institute. Personally, I always thought he started working there in 2010, but that doesn’t matter. I actually like 2009 better, because then a year later, Leitner apparently begins working with Gertrude Robinson. Which I find interesting. I mean, really there’s no reason for them not to work together, I just find the timing of it interesting. Of course, Leitner (in MAG80) alludes to the fact that Gertrude was likely only working with him because there was a lack of anyone else around. But that really only explains Gertrude’s interest in Leitner. What attracted Leitner to the Magnus Institute in the first place, I wonder? Aside from the fact that it’s essentially the Library of Alexandria of research on the Entities. 

But Leitner had managed to stay out of public eye for about 16 years, why would he chose right around then to start playing peekaboo with the Beholding? Rhetorical question, of course. Y’all should already know exactly where I’m going with this line of questioning. Martin. Martin is what lead Leitner to the Institute, and to Gertrude. Dude just wanted to check up on his son, and now he’s just as trapped as everyone who works for the damn Institute because of all these weird rituals and shit. Plus maybe there was another reason why Leitner went through so much effort to help Gertrude, even putting himself on the line for it; and I think we can all agree that Leitner is a pretty selfish dude who’s only real character trait is being like a fucking cockroach. Straight up, the only way to kill a cockroach is to beat those suckers until they pop like a fucking pimple-- sorry, I’m actually getting ahead of myself, I don’t want to talk about that yet, um.

Leitner’s biggest character trait, and on some level, character flaw, is his Self-Preservation instinct. When the going gets tough, his own health and safety comes first. But maybe he gets a bit sentimental in his old age, and maybe he struck a deal with Gertrude; if he helps her stop the Unknowing, (or actually I think it would’ve been the Dark’s ritual first), she will bring his son down to the tunnels so Leitner can see how he’s grown, and maybe even talk to him. I just think that would be interesting character motivation; because at the end of the day, it’s still a pretty selfish motivation. But at this point, Gertrude’s only other option for help is a teenaged Shadow the Hedgehog wannabe; so she’d likely agree to just about anything for the extra pair of hands. And given what later happens in regards to the Dark’s ritual, which then results in Gertrude’s death; Leitner gets scared back into his hole in the ground.

But hey, I guess things actually kind of worked out for ol’ Jurgen. Because like a year later, his son* (*allegedly, according to apparently no one but me) starts living in the Archives. It’s like he’s living in his son’s basement, he can just pop up for tea and say hi whenever. Maybe complain about all the bugs that keep crawling around. Or not, because Jürgen Leitner is a coward. But I 100% would not put it past him to shuffle his old bones up into the Archives to stand creepily at the edge of wherever Martin was sleeping and angst quietly at the sight of his son. It’s creepy, funny, and sad. Basically a peak TMA scenario right there.

Then Leitner gets brutally piped by Bouchard. Actually, can I say it like that? “Piped” isn’t some kind of... new-age slang for something, is it? God, I hope not. Anyways; Leitner isn’t just beat upside the head with a length of pipe, but literally pulped by Bouchard (or at the very least implied so), in a way that makes identifying the guy difficult enough that he remains a John Doe straight up until Elias confesses to the murder. Now, obviously there are plenty of reasons for this; given that both Daisy and Basira are familiar with the name Leitner, so presumably other sectioned officers would be as well; so there was at least a slim chance that whatever officer got sent to the Institute upon the discovery of the body might just recognize Leitner immediately. But, and sorry to sidetrack here, but there was just one thing that really stood out to me about Martin. One thing that always stuck with me, that for some reason was the main thing that made me thing Leitner could’ve been his dad.

Martin looks like his father, whoever that may or may not be. It is explicitly canon, that Martin looks like whoever his dad is. So wouldn’t it be better safe than sorry for Bouchard to beat Leitner to a pulp wherein no one could easily discern any major features of him once he was found. After all, it would make things rather messy and a bit too complicated if everyone who saw the body was like, “wow! That looks just like you, Martin.” So really, it’s for the best that not only did Bouchard kill Leitner, but he thoroughly did so. 

And so, I will end this already way to long of a ramble with the one thing that solidified me on this theory, and Spoilers for Season 5 of MAG, but... In MAG181 Salesa says, “Now you mention it, you actually remind me of Jurgen a bit. In his younger days of course.” to Martin. Of course, Martin did just shoot out a snappy one-liner about books, but... it’s the clarification of Jurgen “in his younger days”, that gets me. Mikaele could just have easily said something about Martin just “sounding” like Leitner. But the way this reads, and how it’s spoken, even, it seems more like someone that might’ve been looking at Martin for awhile, squinting at him as if he’s seen that face somewhere before, and then right when Martin mentions books, it finally clicks. After all, it would’ve been almost 20 years, or possibly more, since Salesa would have left Leitner’s employ.

So yeah, I admit this theory has a much weaker backbone then my Banks/Folger post, but... I just think it’s neat. And it’s another one of those things that actually doesn’t have any affect on the major plot whatsoever. I dunno, maybe it was meant to be some sort of subplot early on that got ditched or something? Point is, that’s all for now, and with any luck, I will never post another crack theory again, and the TMA tag can be safe from my ramblings once more.

[kageyamas-love]

Hi friend! Can i request an Aot match up-preferably one of the scouts if at all possible... i don’t know the warriors very well? I hope that’s not to limiting but anyone from paradise basically. I know Reiner! But i just don’t know that much about Porco or pieke. Oh! Colt seems really sweet though! I appreciate him! Male preferably but I’m always open to other options! Whatever you feel is the best option for me i shall take with open arms and trust your judgment!

I’m a female, 18. My favorite color is blue! Or if not that... maybe a light lavender purple. It’s ironic seeing as I’m... deathly allergic to lavender... and many many other things... like everything. I have severe allergy problems. But that’s unimportant. Maybe i could list that as the thing i don’t like about myself. Also... I’m kinda disorganized... it’s the ADHD. My brain runs 1000 miles a minute... constantly. How could i possibly remember where i put something when i only know how to chase the dopamine? Also because of this, i get VERY excited when i talk and i have been known to ramble. I do my best. I just get over invested in things. Hyper fixations and shit- i just... stay on the same shit for weeks. Attack on titan has been my comfort hyper fixation for almost four-five years. I need. Help.

It’s probably gonna be a lot harder to list things i like about myself... damn. I like my hair! It’s reddish blond and it makes me look like Ariel when i go underwater- which is fun because i love to swim! And i like my jokes. I make them constantly and sometimes I’m the only one that laughs but i think they’re funny so what fucking ever.

For hobbies- I’m a writer! I love to write and draw. I make graphic novels. 100% obsessed with all of my oc’s. I’m always bullshitting about them or some new animatic I’m working on. Constantly.... it’s like... the only thing i ever think about if I’m not fantasizing about attack on titan. Thank god I’m actually working to make a career out of it though. I’m an Art major, though i do not wish to disclose to university for privacy reasons and shit.... so i basically get to draw all day and be quirky... except for when i have my biology class... which is always less fun and i fucking suck at it.

I consider myself to be a really forgiving and sweet person. It always takes me a really really long time to get mad at someone enough to blow up on them, and even then i typically always apologize for it afterwards, even if i said something as tame as

“I don’t like that and you hurt my feelings.”

I love taking care of my friends. It’s my love language, along with physical touch and quality time. I just.... Wanna... cuddle. I’m very cuddly... probably need someone who’s not super averse to touch as i like to give lots of random hugs and kisses.

I shall give many back rubs and head scratches and soft kisses and in return i only ask for the cuddles- and i love when people play with my hair so i grew it out super long!!

I feel like i need someone who’s a good listener... because i ramble about stuff a lot. Especially stuff I’m passionate about. I feel like if somebody isn’t listening to me it makes me feel unheard and like what I’m talking about is stupid and i shut down.

And a few random fun facts.

*If i were a member of the Levi squad post timeskip i would be the shortest member, standing at 5’1

* I am deathly afraid of pineapples for no reason at all. I did a project for school where i just drew a still life of nothing but pineapples and pineapple themed objects and titled it ‘terror’. Only i and a few close friends will ever understand it’s true meaning.

* i fall down the stairs or eat the floor in some other horrible fashion it least twice a day

* i drink more than i eat (not alcohol) and spend like all of my money on iced coffee and sodas until i realize i haven’t eaten in two days but by god have i had a Baha blast.

* sometimes i just fucking drive in circles for hours. I sing really loud in my car and dance and it’s therapeutic.

* I’m one of those people that starts laughing insanely when i get really upset or pissed off... it makes me look terrifying.

* I HAVE A PET LIZARD AND SHE’S FUCKING ROTUND. SHES LIKE A FAT FUCKING LITTLE MEATLOAF I HATE HER. (I’m lying i absolutely adore her.) her name is Maple because she is flat and pancakes are flat and maple syrup goes on pancakes. All she knows how to do is eat berries and shit in my floor.

I know you only asked for a little bit of information but I’ve heard before that the more you tell someone the easier it is for them to match you up. I figured I’d make it as absolutely easy for you as possible by throwing my entire life into a page for you.

a/n omg you seem so fun and crazy we’d get along great😐✋🏻

i match you with armin!

i think the two of you would get along so well! first off, he’s best friends with eren, so he won’t have a problem with your craziness.

he’s also very open minded and a very good listener! he’d never get annoyed with you and he’s very patient, so if you’ve ever forgotten something, he’ll understand.

just in general, your love languages would compliment his.

also, he would love your lizard. he’s interested in the smallest things so imagine him seeing your lizard? he’s going to be so excited like ‘i’ve read about those! i’ve always wanted to see one in real life!”

[darksber]

idk

I was really hoping to just use the fact that work is keeping me too busy to explain why I feel so sad and tired and dejected and alone and invisible all the time but like work has been fine actually?? I feel like I'm mostly just going through yet another identity crisis and existentialism so much I feel so detached from my body like I can't even FEEL being where I am. every time I realize who I am and what I do and what my place is in this world--or what my place isn't--it just makes me feel like I'm living in another skin or like I need to leave myself bUT I FUCKING CANT!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to blame it on this pandemic for forcing me to live with myself more but also like on the other hand it’s a good thing that it happened because I DO know who I am more but at the same time it comes with the doubled edged sword part of realizing that who I am is so f u c k e d  i n  t h e  h e a d.

why do my irl/online friends put up with me??? like I just don't get it anymore. I hate myself so much because I literally don't do anything worth remembering or celebrating or its not special like I just can't see it. I'm always gonna see myself pitted against the world or other ppl and it just feels literally so impossible to convince myself otherwise that I'm????? special????? idk

I can't bring myself to gif anymore without it feeling like a chore. t and if I do gif its bc I can't escape some sense of obligation to my followers/ppl to make sure they don't hate me for not creating/creating bad stuff. its stupid I know but imagine how much I hate feeling like it for being a creative person. the notes/recognition/imposter syndrome is bigger than itself now too. it’s everything that comes with being a creative person, and then some. I could just quit my job already bc I know I'm just gonna fuck something up eventually. i don't like talking to anyone in person/online anymore bc it just triggers my social anxiety and that itself makes me feel small and unimportant and invisible. like I have to say something funny or memorable for ppl to like me enough to want to stay. feels like every insecurity I've had since high school is just coming back to haunt me. like anything that comes out of my fucking mouth is pointless and it just makes me think of all the times I hung out with my (irl) friends and like why do I even bother being there. like what's the point. like what's the point of me being there. . I'm talking to this really too sweet/nice of a guy on this dating app I met and like every time he says something nice I feel like fucking crying and ghosting him bc like eventually he’ll just find out how fucked up I am and I literally can't do that to him it’s so unfair. I drink almost every night now, even during when I work. 

I know some of you have seen some of my more concerning posts and just wanted to say I've read the messages ppl have sent me and I just wanna keep them in my inbox for rainy days cuz they're just too kind like I'm so bad at taking compliments so I know I sound like a broken record to those of u who’ve reached out to me. 

it’s like the more ppl try to convince me to see the way they see things, the more I just want to disappear just to prove them wrong. my real question is how do you not exist anymore without ppl remembering you did. I don't know what went wrong with me. feel like I'm on autopilot 

[ibijau]

85. “children shouldn’t play with guns.” “who said I was playing?" For XXC and WWX! Because WWX is the older one. 😁

Of course the one time Wei Wuxian decides to go somewhere without any backup, he gets robbed.

Well, it’s an attempt at it, anyway. Wei Wuxian has seen better. The three men who cornered him have very shoddy swords, the kind he could easily bend in two even without a golden core. They’re also shaking as if they’re (rightfully) more afraid of him than he is of them, which might be because they’re starting to realise he’s not just some idle count’s son, but a fully realised cultivator.

Well, kind of. He’s got all the signs of a cultivator, even if he doesn’t exactly have the powers anymore.

Which is where Wei Wuxian’s current problem lies. On the one hand, it would be overkill to use demonic cultivation against civilians, and create the exact sort of trouble that Jiang Cheng is almost begging him daily to stay out of. On the other hand, without it, he’s a little unsure how well he’ll manage against three men who will think they’re fighting for their lives and won’t restrain their blows because, well, cultivators have to be hit hard to feel anything, right?

This situation is a mess, and Wei Wuxian knows he’ll have to count on his suave charm and diplomacy to get him out of this without scratches.

Which is to say, he’s not getting out of this without a few scratches.

“Excuse me?”

Wei Wuxian and the three robbers startle at hearing a young, gentle voice coming from above them. They look up, only to discover a boy who can’t be more than twelve or thirteen, sitting on a roof and peering down at them curiously.

“Scram!” one of the robbers shouts at him. “Or we’ll deal with you after!”

The boy doesn’t even blink, but he tilts his head slightly, just like a bird.

“Why are you threatening this man?” he asks. “Did he wrong you?”

The robbers exchange glances at the stupid question. Wei Wuxian almost wants to laugh that a kid that age could be so naive as to misread the situation this badly. He doesn’t, because unlike the three men menacing him, he has noticed the very fancy sword at the boy’s side, one that clashes with his clean but humble clothes.

“Listen kid, this isn’t your business!” One of the men says, the one Wei Wuxian has guessed must be the leader. “Fuck off and don’t mess with us again.”

The boy’s eyes narrow and fall on Wei Wuxian who shrugs.

“Kid, they’re trying to rob me,” he explains. “It’s fine. They’re not as tough as they look.”

“Oh. So they really are the villains here,” the boy says with a nod. “I thought so, but I preferred to make sure. I didn’t want to make a mistake.”

Without a second of hesitation, he jumps down from the roof, landing lightly between Wei Wuxian and his would-be aggressors, confirming that he’s trained in cultivation. He even seems to have a pretty high level already for his age. When he unsheathes his sword in one smooth movement, even Wei Wuxian has to admit that this kid looks a little cool, enough to make him somewhat envious.

“Children shouldn’t play with swords,” he can’t resist mocking.

“Who said I was playing?” the boy calmly replies, turning briefly to smile at him. “Don’t worry, sir. I will apprehend those ruffians, they won’t be able to harm you.”

Wei Wuxian would laugh at that kid’s quiet assurance, but one of the men launches himself at the boy who easily parries and hits his hand with the flat of his sword, making him drop his shitty weapon. The other two men are just as quickly and easily disposed of. Before Wei Wuxian can even figure out what’s happening, the three robbers are on the ground, groaning in pain while the kid takes out some rope to tie their hands.

“It’s fine now sir,” he tells Wei Wuxian with that calm smile that’s starting to feel unsettling. “You are safe. Although, might I trouble you by asking you to come with me and these men to the local magistrate’s mansion? These men are already wanted for their crimes, but I’m sure it would not hurt if there could be one more testimony against them.”

“I’m actually kind of busy,” Wei Wuxian replies. “I was on my way to meet someone when they decided to waste my time. But thanks for the help, uh…”

“I am Xiao Xingchen,” the boy announces. “I understand. This ordeal must have already been a great inconvenience to you, sir. I won’t keep you any longer.”

It’s a funny name, but that seems to be a funny kid anyway, so Wei Wuxian doesn’t question it. He’s really about to be late to meet some rogue cultivators who have written about joining Yunmeng Jiang anyway, so he just thanks the boy one more time and dashes away.

It’s only later, when he reaches the inn where he’s supposed to meet those cultivators, that Wei Wuxian realises he has no idea which sect Xiao Xingchen might belong to. His swordsmanship was impeccable, especially for someone so young, but it’s not a style that Wei Wuxian recognises even though he’s always been very proud of being good at guessing that. And Xiao Xingchen must come from a sect of some sort, there’s a certain something to his posture that rogue cultivators don’t often have, an air of belonging.

Ah, well. It’s probably nothing important.

It’s so unimportant, in fact, that by the time his conversation with the rogue cultivators gets really going, Wei Wuxian has already half forgotten this odd kid with the pretty sword.

[neptrabbit]

So. Here are some of my personal thoughts on ith movie. since this post is LONG, most of the thoughts are leaning towards criticism & ofc it contains spoilers so imma put my bad takes under cut. they’re my personal, subjective opinion, so it’d be normal if you agree/disagree. anyways, you’ve been warned.

The opening song

stage performance & movies are two VERY different media, so unavoidably they had to make many changes to adapt the musical to big screen. One thing they were trying to adapt was the breaking the fourth wall narration in the opening song. they changed the setting of a lot of these lines to Usnavi telling a bunch of kids in an unknown future timeline abt Washington Heights. I personally am not a fan of this decision. the cut between the two different timelines in that 8 min release got me pretty confused & taken out & that feeling did not change much when i was watching the movie either. in the course of the movie, suddenly cutting to future timeline breaks the flow & consistency of the narrative for me, esp since the future scenes rlly aren’t that long. Ik it's for the reveal in the end. I still don't like it.

Choreography

the choreography & cinematography by themselves are hella fantasitc. there’re VERY pretty scenes and choreography, esp during songs. from top of my head i can name a few: the reflection of dancing in the opening song, the running scene in It Won’t Be Long Now, the pool scene (with Vanessa floating on a life saver in the middle) in 96000, THE FUCKING ENTIRETY OF PACIENCIA Y FE, the dancing in The Club, the horizontal dancing scene in When The Sun Goes Down, etc. But a lot of the scenes, esp those that involve group dancing, seems a bit out of place when they seem to take place in the real world rather than on stage. This is prolly another demonstration of the difference in the media of stage performance & movies. I had a hard time to suspend my disbelief, and the movie trying to place some of the dancing in the actual narrative rlly didn’t make it better for me.

(at first I thought for some reason the pool scene in 96000 was everyone’s imagination coming together & was looking forward to it. I did not expect it to actually take place in a pool in the movie & they even used a whole sequence of them going to the pool to show them going to the pool to set it up. So is the dancing in the intro. i did not expect an overhead shot to reveal that it actually happened. Moments like these gave me serious pauses & made me unable to rlly appreciate the fantastic cinematography & choreography.)

bc of the reason i stated & the fact the movie is so centered around these songs & the plot gets cut by the narration from the future, this movie kinda strikes me as a series of well-made music videos connected by loose plots & themes rather than an actual movie.

Plot change

as we all are aware, they made several choices regarding the plot. 

changing nina’s reason to leave Stanford from unable to take care of school & jobs to provide for her living at the same time to experience of racism. i’m personally not a fan of this change - i am not implying that racism is not an issue that poc experience daily. It’s just, I expected a more nuanced discussion on racism & identity in a movie centered around a socially & financially marginalized minority group than a few lines of “my roommate lost her shit so her & RA searched me”, “the school board thought i was a waitress at diversity dinner”, “the waiters looked at me in the looks that question if i am with them”, and “i felt lonely and without a community there”. They are pretty superficial considering their impact in the story. tbh the line “when i was younger i’d imagined what would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico” did a much better job to capture the identity crisis that first gen immigrant children go thru and gave me more emotional impacts than all the horrible things stanford did to nina. 

deleting Hundreds of Stories and putting Paciencia y Fe right before abuela’s death. i understand it’s a narrative choice bc they decided to reveal that abuela won the lottery later & make it that Usnavi had saved to move to DR in the beginning. in the changed lyrics of Paciencia y Fe we also had a peak of abuela’s struggle of deciding whether to leave or stay in Washington Heights. which is nice. but putting that song right before abuela dies rlly makes her conflicting feelings unimportant to the story... maybe the leave or stay refers to her dying, but she doesn’t rlly have much of a choice either way, does it. she’s just.. kinda like some characters in anime.. whose tragic backstory is narrated right before they die to get the readers emotional... but in a pretty song sequence... the choreography & lighting is very pretty tho. gotta give credit where it’s due.

Sonny’s subplot. i rewatched the movie and realized that there was some foreshadowing of his illegal status in the beginning when Daddy Sonny was talking to Usnavi, but tbh it was quite easy to miss.. so i was a bit surprised when they brought up Sonny’s subplot when there was only 45 min left of the movie. that was not enough time to fully develop this plot, esp given that time is used for other subplots too. we know Sonny is very aware of the politics & is sorta an activist, but him wanting to be like Nina & wanting to get into college wasn’t established earlier, so that part following the protest scene feels a bit flat.

Other things

I’ve seen the discussion of the film’s lack of rep of Afro-Latinos, but I am not the most qualified person to talk abt the experience of Afro-Latino community. I’m keeping my ears open and learning on this subject. 

I liked that they made Daniela & Carla a couple and was excited when i heard the news. The movie itself was not rlly explicit on their relationship tho - there were scenes of Carla pulling Daniela outta bed in the beginning & their dancing. but tbh the fact that they added a third Salon lady, Cuca, who’s always hanging around, makes D&C relationship harder to notice. Im not gonna say blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s pretty easy to miss. obv their relationship has nothing to do w the main plot, but eh. wished it was more explicit.

Tl;dr: i think they have a lot of interesting ideas that they didn’t explore fully so the movie feels a bit all over the place. this goes for Vanessa’s hope to become a fashion designer, Nina’s experience of racism & identity crisis, Sonny’s illegal status. Loved Daniela and the songs tho. Piragua song’s funny as hell. A bit sad they didn’t paint abuela in the finale :(

i am familiar w the source material & liked it a TON but i don’t like it enough to feel nostalgia.. so i can’t go in there with a fresh mind & see it without comparing it to the original, and neither do i hold so much affection for it that i can happily ignore the defects. so honestly i’m probably in the group that has the worst experience watching it

also: pls lmm i beg u pls don’t make a live action adaption of hamilton, pls

[nuricurry]

Saint Seiya | Ikki/Hyoga; PG-13 “i’m only pretty sure that i can’t take it anymore”

He lies when Seiya asks when things ended. After that fight in Spain, he tells him, because it’s vague, it’s a time frame that falls between two other points of reference, it seems hazy and blurred and unimportant. He makes it sound like he doesn’t remember the exact day, the exact time when they stopped being ‘them’, and when he closed that chapter of his life, one that felt like it had been much shorter than it was supposed to be.

He lies to Shun about what his breaking point was, because he couldn’t very well spell out every flaw Ikki had, because while Shun was his friend, Ikki was his brother, and it felt shitty to make him feel like he had to pick sides. So he just told him what he told everyone else that asked, told him that they were just different people now. They grew up, and grew apart. That’s what happens sometimes, and it isn’t because he doesn’t care (because God does he care) it’s just that they aren’t good together anymore. He wants to believe his own lies, but he can’t. Because it didn’t end in Spain, it didn’t stop because they changed. It ended before that, it ended because they were still the same two people they were when they were sixteen and that just wasn’t viable anymore. 

When they get called to Sanctuary for Shun’s inauguration, they stay on opposite sides of the room. It’s a dance they’ve mastered, a perfect synchronized routine of avoiding each other, of avoiding the looks and the comments and the anger. Because for as mature as they pretend to be around their friends, they’re both so fucking angry. Ikki is pissed that he ‘gave up’, and he’s pissed that Ikki stopped trying. Maybe they’re mad at each other for the same thing, just different names, different perspectives. 

Ikki has an excuse to make his appearance brief. He never sticks around for long, Sanctuary isn’t home to him, his place has always been on the fringes of their group rather than woven into the center. He gets to decide when he’s had enough, and Hyoga doesn’t, because he’s the one who has to be the supportive, attentive friend, the one that suggests that they have toasts and speeches and who tells everyone about how he couldn’t imagine anyone else more suited for the title of Pope other than Shun, who has been the voice of reason for their group since long before they saved the world countless times. Ikki’s Shun’s goddamn brother, and he gets to walk away when he feels trapped and awkward, and Hyoga has to pretend he doesn’t see him go, that it doesn’t burn him up inside to know that he can’t even stand to be in the same room as him anymore. 

So he drinks, because that’s what he’s allowed to do. He drinks and he laughs, and he doesn’t look at the door. He hugs Shun, he hugs Seiya, he hugs Shiryu, and he tells Saori that everything is going to be great. They’re growing up, the world is settling, and sooner rather than later they’re due to have that peace they’ve been working toward since they were kids. It’s enough for him. It has to be enough. And it is, for a while. Until he’s twenty-nine, and the world falls to shit again. It doesn’t take him long to realize that he’d gotten complacent; it was so easy to actually think that he moved on when he just kept telling himself that there was nothing else for him to do. 

At Ryuho’s first birthday, he had stayed in the room with the cake and the presents, while Ikki talked to Shiryu outside. That didn’t stop him from hearing him though, because while Shiryu’s house was full of noise and love, it was still small, and voices didn’t have very far to carry. “Yeah, well, I felt like I should come see you,” he heard Ikki say, gruff as always, but not so rude, his voice a bit softer. Maybe it was his age. Maybe he was just tired; Hyoga certainly was. “It’s been awhile. I didn’t need you all bitching about how you were worried about me.” Shiryu laughed, because he knew how Ikki was. Hyoga felt sick, the hot burn of bile and bitterness collecting into a knot in his throat. 

When did you start caring about making other people worry? he wanted to say. As if that hadn’t been the straw that broke the camel’s back, as if that wasn’t exactly what Hyoga had screamed at him about, over and over again, when they were nineteen and he was so scared of losing someone else. 

That birthday party was seven years ago, and there had been others since then. Ones that they, without speaking, agreed to attend in shifts. Ones that had either Ikki present, or Hyoga, but never both. Because while they had grown up, had grown apart, they hadn’t really changed that much. They still stumbled over each other without meaning to. They still tried to make sure they never gave up first. A fucking game of chicken that had been going on since they were kids, a staring contest where if the loser blinked, it meant that they cared too much, they surrendered too much, and neither of them wanted to be the one who crumbled. Stubbornness for the sake of a fragile teenage male ego they both should have shed long ago. 

Now Hyoga was staring down the barrel of the age of thirty, and he remembered what it was like to be afraid of love, to be caught up in it and so, so lost for what to do.

“We need to work together,” Ikki says, as if Hyoga isn’t aware of that. As if he’s the reasonable one. As if that wasn’t all Hyoga had ever fucking asked of him, in all their years, as if Hyoga had been selfish and secretive and with his head so far up his ass he could turn himself inside out. 

“Yeah, I know that.” He does. He knows it so well. He knows that if they don’t work together, they’re going to end up dead. But he also knows that working together is going to kill him anyway. “It’s not a big deal. It’s not like we’re stupid teengers; we’re not in love with each other anymore.” 

“Is that what that was?” Ikki practically eats the filter of the cigarette he’s smoking, “I would have never guessed.” He laughs, because it’s funny, to think that after all this time, Ikki would bother being any more honest than he was. It’s so stupid to think they’d change, because not changing was what brought them to this point in the first place. He remembers drinking vodka at seventeen, riding Ikki’s bike in the rain, borrowing his jacket when the nights would get cold, and Ikki refused to share his warmth, despite the fact that he always burned so hot. He remembers kissing when they thought they were going to die, and then having sex when they didn’t. He remembers Ikki saying those words to him, just once, when he had to beg, because he needed something from him, and they thought that maybe that would fix them. “Well, whatever it was, it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Ikki doesn’t answer. He tells himself that he’s glad he didn’t.

He just keeps lying.