#it gets good around episode 230

[tech-obssessed-shark]

ALL ONE PIECE CHARACTERS ARE IDIOTS

that's why love them hehe

only for these silly dudes would I watch 1000 episodes

[wall-maria-around-ba-sing-se]

what if the next avatar show isn’t about the earth avatar after korra but some random avatar in an indeterminate time before any of the events of the shows or books- there’s like a thousand avatars in between wan and korra

[damn-stark]

Chapter 33 Haven’t I given enough?

Chapter 33 of Sugar

A/N- I’m trying to use like 3 chapters of the manga per chapter, but bro these domain expansions make that hard! But moving forward I’ll have a chance to use less manga chapters so we don’t have to move on so fast!

Warning- Swearing, ANGST ;), fluff, violence and blood, SPOILERS!! long chapter!

Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Episode and or chapters- chapters 226-230 (but only the beginning of 230) of the manga

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*A COUPLE DAYS AGO*

“Can I say something like, whenever I think about a father I never think about you, but you were kind of like one and a lot better than my actual father?” You say with a teasing smile even if just under the surface emotional tears threaten to burst out. And your emotions are especially more heightened at the moment because you’re dancing a dance that’s supposed to be with your father, but instead, it’s your brother.

“No,” Satoru shoots you down quickly and looks at you with a pointed look. “No sappy shit at all for the rest of the night. Even if I appreciate it,” he finishes with a grin.

“So,” you add with the same teasing grin. “I can’t say that even if I would have loved a sister I’m glad I got stuck with you?”

Satoru shakes his head and counters. “No, but again it’s appreciated.”

You laugh softly and drop your head to smile at the ground before you look back at your brother and catch him looking around the dance floor with wonder for a moment before he looks at you with an all too snarky grin. “Considering how much you could do for this wedding in a couple of days, I wonder now how your other wedding was. Was it over the top?” He dares to ask. “I remember Suguru would spoil you even if he said he shouldn’t.”

You glare at him and then whisper sharply. “I won’t talk about my other wedding to another man with you right now. It’s bad luck.”

Satoru scoffs. “Where did you hear that from?” He asks teasingly.

“I'm just assuming, I mean we would be talking about my previous marriage on my wedding day, that’s gotta be some kind of bad luck,” you mumble, making him laugh.

“Women and their superstition,” he says under his breath, mostly just to taunt you because he knew you heard him.

“This is why you’re single,” you remark.

“No I’m single because death for me could be around the corner, and even if it won’t catch me, it could get them, so I’m sparing someone actually,” he goes on to say without sounding lighthearted at all. He let himself be vulnerable.

“Death is around everyone’s corner, no one is immortal, not even Sukuna,” you tell him softly now that you have the space to have a heart-to-heart. Even if people are watching you two dance, they can’t hear you, and Satori won’t run over and interrupt either of you—“don’t deny yourself of a happiness you deserve just because you think you’re doing something good. You don’t actually know anything.”

Satoru scoffs but he doesn’t counter. He knows you’re right, but he does bring up one argument. “You almost died after Suguru died, why would I want to put someone through that?”

You sigh and avert your gaze to share your answer that you take no time to actually think about. You just know grief and loss well, you’re great friends. “Because as selfish as it sounds, at least you were happy. It’s about the memories you made. Sure after death those memories hurt, but after a while, you can look fondly at them and thank the stars that they were in your life, that you got to share your life with them and live together. After a while you’ll realize that they weren’t meant to be in your life forever, they were a chapter in your life you’ll always cherish.”

Satoru lets out a deep sigh, and you meet his gaze and make him laugh softly—but honestly, it sounds pretty forced.

“How poetic of you,” he whispers.

You smile at him and laugh softly.

“Well,” he says softly. “I'm happy you got to meet someone else that you get to write a chapter with. I hope you can share many chapters with this one. And I’m glad Suguru was such a great part of your story.”

You grin and nod before your lips flicker down to a frown and your eyes dull. “Can I tell you something?” You ask in a very low whisper so none of what you’re saying can be heard.

“Go ahead,” he encourages you.

You sigh and hold his gaze to share a secret. “Sometimes I wish I could go back to when I was a naive teenager who dreamed for most of her day and knew hardly anything about the world. It’s only when I’m really down, but I still sometimes want to go back.”

Satoru swallows thickly and sounds completely genuine. “Sometimes I wish the same,” he admits.

You both share a small smile and you can’t help but lay your head on his shoulder and sigh deeply. You stay quiet for a moment after, but before you can finish your dance you break your silence to say one more thing in private. “I want you to write a new chapter in your story after all this is over, Satoru. Let the kids take over and start something new.”

“After I win,” Satoru says softly and confidently. You don’t look at his face, but you know he’s expressing his ever-so-bright and smug confidence. “I will.”

——

*NOW*

A slash to the jugular also doesn’t mean immediate death. You know that too.

So please don’t let this slash on Satoru’s throat be deadly.

“Gojo!” Yuji yells out mere seconds after you with just as much panic as you currently feel riddling your heart.

“Come on,” you mumble and step closer to the screen in some hopeless delusion that you could be closer to your brother.

Nevertheless, seconds later steam rises off Satoru’s slash as he uses RCT to mend his flesh back together.

“He’s healing himself!” You exclaim because you forgot that it was a possibility in your panicked state.

“But as long as he remains within Sukuna’s domain, the slashes won’t stop coming!” Higuruma reminds everyone and makes your excitement dim.

Which is good, you can’t get overly excited.

“Sukuna’s domain has no enclosed barrier,” Choso interjects. “Shouldn’t it be easy to escape his range?”

You let out a deep breath and glance over at him past your shoulder before you drift your gaze to Hakari responding. “Even if we assume Malevolent Shrine’s effective range encompasses the area of razed Shibuya, with Gojo’s speed, he should be able to break out of it in a flash.”

“No,” you cut in to explain. “His teleportation is just an application of limitless where the space between his location and his destination is compressed.”

“But in this short window immediately after his domain was destroyed, Gojo cannot use his cursed technique,” Kusakabe doesn’t fail to add what you left out.

“Which means…” Miwa trails off to let Kusakabe answer.

“He’s in one hell of a pinch.”

You clasp your hands together and return to your seat in between Choso and Yuji to try and watch how your brother will go on about destroying Sukuna’s domain while the monster keeps hitting him with slashes he can’t deflect, and has to keep using RCT for to heal all those shallow cuts—that surprisingly doesn’t cut any material of his shirt, or his pants.

What kind of material is his clothes made from?

Regardless! In the blink of an eye, Sukuna hops off the roof and tries to swing his fist, but your brother quickly blocks him.

“You’d think I’d let you run?!” Sukuna exclaims, and you start to wonder why your brother isn’t running or actually fully healing any of his cuts.

“What is he doing?” You whisper out loud.

Choso catches your comment and probes while you watch Sukuna and Satoru exchange swings. “What do you mean?”

You sigh and shift your body towards him, but keep your eyes on the screen to not miss a thing. “His cuts are still very shallow, he can use this time that Sukuna isn’t throwing more slashes at him to finish healing. He can multitask. But he isn’t…” you trail off and start to think of an answer.

Is he going to use RCT to heal his cursed technique?

“He’s up to something,” you mumble to your husband and can’t help but let a small smile creep onto your face.

“That shrine,” Yuji interjects while Sukuna and Satoru face each other after a heated exchange. “What would happen if he destroyed it?” He asks.

“Usually, objects materialized within an innate domain don’t hold any special meaning or importance,” Kusakabe explains, proving to be quite a patient teacher. “You can think of them as if they didn’t exist at all.”

“If that shrine is simply a symbol of the domain, so to speak,” Mei-Mei says, “then you would not be able to destroy it and there would be no purpose in doing so.”

“So he can’t do anything?!” Kirara shouts, “isn’t that like, super super bad?!”

You glance at them and see that they’re grabbing their face and looking completely stunned at the screens.

“New Shadow Style,” Satoru announces, “simple domain.”

A bright barrier suddenly grows around your brother and those deep cuts now start to completely disappear.

“Simple domain!” Kusakabe exclaims and Yuji follows by yelling out in surprise too.

“I thought he said he couldn’t do that?!”

You scoff and retort. “Satoru can do anything he puts his mind to, it’s an annoying trait, but it’s true. He probably just can’t teach it because he also tends to get everything right in his first try.”

“Why the hell is someone like that in charge of the first years then?!” Yuji follows by asking and you can’t actually answer that, so you shrug. He doesn’t really seek an answer so he drifts the subject back to the fight. “He used simple domain to counter the sure-hit effect while simultaneously using reverse cursed technique to heal his body. How is he even able to manipulate cursed energy while he’s still using RCT?”

“Even still against a real domain,” Choso comments while he picks your travel cup off the ground and hands it to you as you leave it forgotten on the ground—“the only thing a simple domain will do is buy you some time.”

He could use the falling blossom emotion technique, it would be the perfect time so why isn’t he?

This is all hurting your head, so you take a long sip from the tea and slide your hand on top of Choso’s, feeling him instantly secure your hold in his hand by squeezing it tight. All the while Sukuna breaks into Satoru’s simple domain and starts swinging.

However, he does miss your brother because he reacts fast, but Satoru’s domain fades away by the second until there’s nothing left to protect him, causing the slashes to hit him once again.

“Told you,” Choso follows up on his previous comment.

You swallow thickly and notice your brother doing another Simple Domain, albeit this time he doesn’t use RCT either…

“Why the hell—Gojo stopped using reverse cursed technique to heal himself!” Kusakabe points out loudly in frustration and confusion.

You albeit look at the screen proudly as your theories are starting to become a fact.

“I told you he’s up to something,” you remark to Choso quietly so only he can hear.

“What?” Choso asks.

You meet his gaze and smirk at him. “Watch,” you don’t give out the surprise you assume Satoru wants to give. “I should’ve bet you.”

“I never doubted you.” He deadpans.

You hum and shrug. “I still should’ve. I could’ve won something like a kiss, or a second to gloat.”

The corner of his lips perk up to a smile and he lifts your hands to kiss your knuckles whilst you look back at the screen whilst Ino argues against someone, but you don’t catch who.

“…Like I said, that's under the assumption he’s using cursed energy normally! Right after using domain expansion, he started using RCT at max output, which consumes twice as much cursed energy! And that’s not even taking into account the fact that Sukuna’s still pouring on attacks!”

Is he forgetting that Satoru Gojo is fighting?! He’s not like everyone else.

Nevertheless, as you continue to watch the fight you notice that Satoru’s second simple domain breaks, and more cuts slash his face. It honestly seems like he’s close to reaching his end, but then in the blink of an eye, he zooms to Sukuna and catches him completely off guard when he jumps on him to wrap his body around Sukuna’s.

“Cursed technique reversal,” Satoru announces and proves you right; he leans back and points two fingers at Sukuna.

“Yes,” you mumble happily and suddenly stand up.

“Can he do that?” You hear Okkotsu shout, which is surprising, you’ve never heard him be so emotional. He looks so reserved.

“That’s why he didn’t heal himself,” you point out proudly.

“He was using his RCT to heal his exhausted cursed technique?” Okkotsu asks rhetorically to the group.

“Red,” Satoru mutters and blasts out a bright and powerful technique that sends Sukuna crashing through his shrine, and finally gets him badly wounded.

Will that affect him completely? No, but he’s still wounded.

“Jeez. What a pain in the ass,” Satoru sass’s Sukuna, making you hold your cup against your chest as you smile brightly.

“Using RCT to heal his exhausted cursed technique?” Okkotsu still can’t seem to grasp what just happened.

“Okkotsu!” Kusakabe yells out, but the boy goes on.

“I’d like to say it’s impossible but the fact is Gojo is doing just that! A cursed technique that’s been burnt out by using domain expansion is an entirely different matter than physical damage,” he explains. “Just like when a machine overheats, even if it isn’t broken, you have to let it cool or it won’t work.”

“So what you’re saying is that RCT can repair damage but can’t cool an overheated technique?” Maki asks.

“That’s why I always thought, but it looks like my understanding was incomplete.”

You sigh and sit back down again, but out of the kindness of your heart, you explain why he’s having such a hard time understanding what Satoru just did. “That’s Satoru Gojo for you. Don’t overwork yourself, man, he’s strong, stronger than everyone, what he can do will never compare to what we can do.”

“Yes,” Okkotsu mutters, “I'm understanding that.”

“You can expand your effective range, can’tcha?” You catch Satoru ask Sukuna smugly.

But as if answering, Sukuna does a hand sign and does exactly what your brother just asked, causing your smile to fall.

“Are you crazy…” Kusakabe’s words trail off in your ears as Satoru expanding his own domain expansion and leaving you all in the dark once again catches you by surprise.

“Does he just want the same thing to happen again?!” Ino exclaims.

“He isn’t that naive,” Shoko defends your brother.

“I see,” Mei-Mei muses.

“He switched the internal and external conditions for the barrier,” Higuruma points out, and Hakari adds on to that piece of information.

“Which means this barrier…”

He trails off and Yuji excitedly picks up where he left off. “…can guard itself against attacks from the outside!”

You clench your jaw and lean forward to watch every screen carefully to look for any crack or difference in the barrier since that’s all you can look at as of now.

“Seems a bit unfair that he can just change the conditions of his domain on the fly,” Kusakabe mumbles.

You’re really starting to hate all these domain expansions! They leave you completely in the dark, you can’t see what Satoru is thinking and planning, and what Sukuna might be scheming. You can’t see if Satoru might miss something or if he needs some kind of aid, you have to wait, not long, but at this very moment time isn’t kind, it’s determined to torture you by moving slowly.

But you also know you shouldn’t let yourself feel so tortured, it hasn’t been long at all since the fight started, and there’s hopefully still so much more time to go.

Satoru has gotten wounded but he hasn’t hit the brink with no return. Sukuna hasn’t even tried yet either, which means there’s still a lot more stress to go through, and you can’t let this affect you as much as it is.

“Do you need to step out?” Choso worries over you.

You meet his gaze and shake your head. “No, no. I just need to remind myself that he’ll be okay.”

Choso nods. “He is. He’s done great so far.”

You sigh deeply and let those words repeat in your mind so you can hold onto that hope and not push yourself to a dangerous edge of deep anguish.

“There isn’t just one way out of a domain,” he adds to try and calm your nerves. “Not for strong sorcerers like them.”

You knew that but you still need to hear it from someone else.

“Either of them can break it without meeting a catastrophic end, or your brother can be a smartass and have something up his sleeve…not like he has any.”

You can’t help but snort and crack a smile at his silly comment, making the corner of Choso’s lips tug on a faint smile because of the fact he could make you smile.

“They are taking longer,” you point out and glance back at the screen still displaying the black barrier.

“I don’t think it’ll last much longer,” he says.

You take his hand again and he interlaces his fingers with yours before he tucks them in his sleeve as he hides his hands in his large sleeves, and slouches down to rest his elbows on his legs.

The pictures on the screens are at a standstill for a few more seconds before the barrier explodes, and Satoru finally shows up back to back with Sukuna.

“I should have bet you,” Choso remarks.

You glance at him and smirk before you lean over and press a peck on his cheek. Instead of pushing yourself back to your spot you stay pressed against him and watch the fight continue on screen.

“Take it from the top, eh?” Sukuna brings up something neither of you understand, and then hits Satoru with multiple slashes that harbor so much strength that your brother goes flying back.

Again, you can’t stress yourself over every wound your brother gets, and or every hit he receives, but you really can’t hold back from feeling anything but panic and stress. Just like when you watched Choso fight Kenjaku, only you weren’t expecting his babies then or married to the man.

You can’t even imagine being in your current state and having to watch a similar situation with Choso now. You’d probably die from a lack of air in your lungs, or die from a collapsed lung because of how heavy you feel it. Or your heart would explode. Either or.

“Why?!” Yuji bellows.

“Looks like Sukuna’s also changed the conditions of his domain somehow!” Kusakabe points out.

“Hey,” Kashimo cuts in with blunt honesty. “If he dies I'm going out there next.”

You clench your jaw and snap back. “Shut up.”

“You can’t try and stop me,” he thinks you’re trying to defend him, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth, even if you do consider him a friend.

“No,” you spat. “Stop talking like if this is the end. Satoru has proven he can take what’s thrown at him.”

“Hm, well he’s also gotten pretty close calls, I wouldn’t bet all my money on him, he’s proving to be a losing bet.”

You draw in a deep breath and get ready to argue, but Choso gives your hand a gentle squeeze and leans forward to shake his head.

You take that as a sign to let it go and only listen because your brother is still standing…And Choso is also right, Kashimo is not worth your time.

“I learned this one when I was a kid,” Satoru interjects and omits a technique you’ve used before, and one you wanted him to use; the Falling Blossom Emotion technique—“I haven’t used it much since I mastered my domain, but not bad right?”

You lean forward and manage to catch Kashimo’s gaze like you wanted and shoot him a smug smirk.

“Falling Blossom Emotion!” Kusakabe yells out and slightly startles you.

“What is that?” One of the students asks.

“Dunno.”

“Not sure.”

“No idea.”

“It’s weird how in the know you are Acchan.”

Yes, how does he know a secret art form?

“It’s a secret art of the big three sorcerer families,” Panda explains to the clueless ones before you had a chance to—“an anti-domain technique. Not so secret if you knew about it Kusakabe.”

You hum and continue to explain how it works while you still look at Kusakabe suspiciously. “It’s an application of cursed energy that automatically repels anything you touch. It won’t work against Satoru’s infinite void, but if you’re up against a simple technique like Sukuna’s slashes then it’s pretty damn useful. It saved my life against Kenjaku because it doesn’t tear apart like a simple domain either.”

“But you won’t come out unscathed,” Choso adds. “Remember, you only managed to get spared from getting hurt because Tengen broke Noritoshi—Kenjaku’s domain.”

You sigh and nod. “Right. Still, It’s useful.”

“Exactly,” Shoko agrees from across the room where she can smoke without letting any of the fumes hit you—“it’s enough and Gojo can heal his burnt-out cursed technique with RCT. At the very least he’ll buy enough time to heal.”

Or…not considering he proceeds to open yet another domain expansion.

“Damn,” you groan and feel a grip on your throat tighten.

Plus this time the domain grows a lot larger, as if he’s trying to capture Sukuna's entire domain range within it. But then he switches up his domain and it grows incredibly tiny, consuming all of Sukuna’s domain, and making that weight on your chest only get heavier.

And again you can’t push yourself to a brink, you’ll only freak out and that won’t be good, so instead of waiting again you get up and pass Choso a quick comment, “I'm going to get some air, I’ll be back.”

He stands up immediately, but you grab his bicep and assure him. “I’ll be okay, I just need to calm myself down.”

Choso seems hesitant and like he’ll ignore you and follow you, but he actually listens and lets you go outside by yourself.

And as much as you despise solitude you actually find a moment of peace where you don’t feel like your head will explode.

Maybe it’s the silence or the fact that you’re not overwhelmed with thousands of screens, or surrounded by multiple people. Which, you never mind being around so many people, but today with your stress everything’s a bit overwhelming.

However, when you look out at the city past the balcony, you can’t help but feel a bit…not scared, it’s not fear you feel upon looking at the secluded city, it’s disbelief.

The city used to be filled with people but now it’s all been evacuated due to the fight. It honestly makes it feel like it’s the end of the world. Which is chilling and brings forth a hint of loneliness, but also curiosity.

Is this how your world would be without non-sorcerers?

It’s kind of lovely…

Nevertheless, you turn to face the door and just look up at the white sky and get startled by your phone ringing. When you check who it is your breath hitches when you see Larue’s name on your screen.

“Hello?” You answer nervously as you think the worst. “Larue?”

“She’s fine,” he says right away since he hears the fear in your voice. “They all are.”

You let out a deep breath and now feel a bit puzzled as to why he’s calling. “Are you okay?” You ask. “Did the flight get delayed?”

“No, no, I’m just calling to let you know…” he pauses and exhales deeply before he continues. “I’m returning to Japan with Miguel. And before you ask, Manami, and Toshihisa stayed with Satori, and they will all be protected by the guards.”

You blink repeatedly in disbelief and can’t even answer right away because of how thrown back you are.

“They’ll all be fine, but now you have to fight harder to go back to Satori,” he says nonchalantly.

“You left Satori?” You ask because when you meant that you trusted your family to take care of your daughter you only meant Miguel and Larue, not Manami or Toshihisa.

Sure you know that they’ll probably be safe in Africa nonetheless, but Manami has little patience for kids, and Toshihisa doesn’t feel that much responsibility for taking care of kids, he acts like her brother, and they fight together!

“I know I’m sorry I told you something else, but I knew you’d protest otherwise, and you’d want to keep Satori here,” he explains. “Besides, Miguel wouldn't agree to fight without me. He says it’s better to fight with more friends.”

You rub the bridge of your nose and let out a worried sigh. “Of course, he’d say that,” you finally muster something else. “Just…I wish you would have told me before I sent my daughter away, but,” you groan and clench your fists. “There’s nothing I can do about it now,” you mutter to yourself.

“Why can’t either of you just talk to me?” You ask with annoyance. “First…” you trail off and let out a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, I know this doesn’t work in our favor, but think about this, who better to take care of your daughter in a time like this than family? She’ll be fine.” Larue speaks softly and kindly to try and comfort you. He tends to do that all the time.

“I told you she’d be mad,” you hear Miguel tell Larue. “You should have told her before.”

“Quiet.”

“Well,” you mutter and turn your fist to look at your nails. “It seems we'll fight together now.”

There’s nothing you can do now.

There’s nothing you can do now.

There’s nothing you can do now…

“If!” Miguel cuts in from the other side. “There's a chance Sukuna will be dealt with before it’s our turn to join, so, if we join, you’ll fight with us.”

You let out a deep sigh and nod. “Yes. If. Still…if I’m not there be careful, if I am—”

“We'll fight with all we have like we always have, for Suguru and for our family,” Larue inputs, making you lift your eyes and look at the white sky with a softened look.

“Yes for our family, Suguru, and Nanako, and Mimiko,” you repeat quietly. “They’ll be avenged today.”

“They will,” he says confidently at the same time the door opens behind you; and thinking it’s Choso coming to check on you, you peer back.

However, to your surprise it’s Kirara.

“Larue, I have to go,” you cut off your conversation and look back ahead. “I’ll see you.”

“Be careful, and I’m sorry again.”

Larue hangs up first letting you put your phone away to turn and face Kirara, noticing they have water bottles in their hand.

“Is everything okay? Are you feeling fine?” They immediately worry.

You smile brightly and nod. “I'm fine, I just needed to catch my breath.”

Kirara lets out a relieved breath and grabs at their chest. “Good,” they say breathlessly. “I saw you come outside and I got worried.”

You smile with appreciation and approach them to grab their shoulder and press your reassurances. “I'm fine Kira. There’s still so much that’s going to happen so I thought a break would somewhat calm me down.”

They hum and hand you water. As you take it they grin brightly.

“About what’s going on, I would have come sooner but I wanted to wait to give you some good news,” they add with growing excitement. “Satoru managed to break Sukuna’s shrine, and he wounded him! Which might be nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it’s process, don’t you think?”

Finally, Satoru managed to probably scrape Sukuna, and get rid of that ugly open domain!

“It’s something,” you agree with Kirara. “Thank you for that. I needed to hear it. Now how are you feeling? I need to ask before I don’t have the chance to.”

“Me?” They point at their chest. “Well, to be honest, worried for Kin, you, and the rest of my friends, but mainly Kin. And you. This is much bigger than Egypt or anything we’ve faced, Kin can die…I’m scared he’ll die.”

You sigh and watch the agonizing grief already take root behind their eyes. Nothing has happened to Hakari, but Kirara still fears for the life of the man they love. You can relate to that kind of fear.

“Yeah, I know what you’re feeling. I’ve had the bad luck of living through that fear more than once. I can’t say it’s easy. And it won’t go away until you see them breathing after the fight…and if something does happen…” you start to be honest so they know what they might face. So they can somewhat prepare for that blow to their soul.

“…You will die a little, it’ll be agonizing going on without them, you won’t know how to live, but…it won’t be the end,” you admit softly, seeing their face twist with horror because even if they like to hear you say the truth, hearing this truth is hard.

“You’ll relearn how to live,” you continue. “The color will return to every corner of the world, and your grief will be a scar. You’ll find that time will heal what was broken, and…” you pause and smile softly at them. “Those you least expect will help you realize that it isn’t the end.”

Kirara swallows thickly and looks down with a sad frown, but then they seem to realize who you’re referring to and smile. Yet you don’t see it so you quickly interject. “I’m not trying to be negative, I just…”

“I know,” they cut you off and finally show off that smile to you. “You just want to prepare us. I understand. I admire it.”

You smile softly and continue with the other matter to bring up something more positive. “Kinji is strong, he’s got luck on his side. He’ll be fine.”

They tighten their hold on their water bottle and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself.”

“I believe in the abilities you and Kinji possess, and your unbreakable spirits,” you add sweetly and cup their shoulder again. “You will preserve. He will too.”

Kirara pats your hand and offers you a soft smile. The door proceeds to open and this time Choso is the one that shows up and calls out your name with panic before he throws out his concerned filled question. “Are you okay?”

You meet his gaze and nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed some air.”

Choso still studies you to make sure, making Kirara grab your hand to put it down before they step back and excuse themself. “I’ll get back inside. If you take longer I’ll come back to update you master.”

“Great thanks!” You nod and watch them leave before you put all your attention on Choso. “You know when you fought Kenjaku, when I was watching you on that screen Tengen put up, I could barely breathe. I felt the exact same way I’m feeling now. Only ten times worse. That’s how I knew I loved you, how I knew I couldn’t live on without you being by my side.”

Choso’s face grows a deep red and his hardened expression falls, letting a happy gleam twinkle in his eyes.

“When I was watching you while I waited,” he shares his side of the story now. “I was going crazy. Besides being angry at Kenjaku and wanting to go kill him, seeing you there was driving me crazy.”

You smirk and approach him to close the gap left between you and cup the sides of his neck. “I hate watching this fight. Just like I hated watching you fight,” you say.

Choso grabs your cheeks and nods softly. “I know sweetheart. But hey, I’m with you. I was the one fighting the last time, but I’m here now.”

You let out a shaky breath and nod in comprehension before you slide your arms around his neck and muzzle your face in the crook of his neck to feel comforted by his warmth, and feel secure by his tight embrace before you have to go back and continue watching your brother fight.

“Can I tell you something?” Choso interjects seriously as he rubs your back.

“Hm.”

He sighs deeply and continues without breaking that serious demeanor. “My brother who has a stutter is in prison.”

Oh? Is he using your trick on you?

“It’s just heartbreaking knowing he’ll never finish his sentence,” he finishes and you hear the pride in his voice.

You pull back and see a faint proud smirk on his lips, which only makes what he said that much funnier, and makes your heart skip a beat before it flutters after hearing his pun that he most likely learned just to cheer you up.

And it worked, you smile widely before you drop your head on his shoulder and laugh.

“That’s just so messed up,” you murmur.

“It really is,” he agrees before he grabs your shoulders to step back and face you. When he sees your amused grin he can’t help but smile in awe.

“That one was the quickest one I actually understood. The other ones took longer,” he admits before he brushes his thumb over your lips that are pulled to a smile, and leans in to press a gentle kiss on them. “Do you feel like going back inside now? Or do you still need time?” He then asks.

“If I stay longer I'll be tempted to listen to another joke and just go on and tell you the ones I know, so let’s just go,” you say and take one of his hands to return inside.

Yet before you can walk past that door, you lean over and press a peck on his cheek. “Thank you,” you whisper in his ear. “That really made me feel better.”

Choso smiles bashfully and turns his head at the same time you do, letting your lips meet for a short kiss before you return inside.

——

*A COUPLE MONTHS AGO. EGYPT*

“I wonder what this says.”

Without looking at what the students are referring to, you share the story behind all the hieroglyphics carved on the walls. “To summarize, it's about a man loving his wife so much that he couldn’t fathom going on a second without her after her death, so he killed himself so they could be wrapped away in the same sarcophagus...” you trail off quietly and peer over at the sarcophagus of the man and woman.

How loyal and in love was that man with his wife that he chose death over continuing to live on because she would no longer roam the earth.

How stupid too, but how envious do you feel as well…they never spent a day apart after they married, and they never spent a day apart after death. Their love is endless now that it’s forever marked in this pyramid…

Your love for Suguru will always be marked within Satori, but that isn’t enough.

Are you a terrible person to admit that? To say that a child born out of love isn’t actually enough to commemorate your love for Suguru, because no matter what, he will always be gone now, and every time you look into her eyes you will remember who you couldn’t save.

“You know how to read hieroglyphs, master?!” Kirara snaps you from your stupor.

“No,” you deadpan and twist around to point your flashlight at their face. “I read up on the history of this pyramid after we were told we had to come here.”

Kirara flashes their light on you with their lips formed to an ‘o’ and whispers. “That makes a lot more sense.”

You can’t help but muster a gentle smile before you move down to admire more of the work carved on the walls. “Their children built this after their death,” you muse and hear stone scraping against the ground; and as if a sixth sense you interject right away as you sense trouble. “Put it down Hakari, we’re here on a mission not to be tactless grave robbers.”

“How does she even know?” You hear him whisper as he puts down what he has in his hand.

You smirk and choose to leave the question unanswered for a dramatic flare.

“Besides we have enough to deal with, we don’t want to get cursed now do we?” You tease and spare them both a glance before you walk along the wall to continue admiring the art.

“I’ll welcome whatever cheesy love-crazed curse they cling onto me,” Hakari remarks smugly and cracks his knuckles.

You look down at the worm cursed spirit wrapped around your neck and share a judgy look like if you're your best friend.

“Well,” you scoff and smirk. “We’ll be your smirking revenge then,” you murmur.

Hakari chuckles loudly after you didn’t think he’d catch it, and your cheeks grow slightly hot. But you’re filled with more pride than bashfulness because he laughed at something you said without having to be forced to do it.

He and Kirara usually tend to joke with you and appreciate more of your brash humor than your puns. Nanako and Mimiko have reached that stage in their lives where you aren’t that funny to them. Where they once used to find you hilarious now they can’t stand any of your jokes, it’ll pass, but hearing your students find you funny is…refreshing.

“We should keep going, the sooner we find the curses the sooner we get out…”

“And explore,” Kirara blurts exactly what you were thinking.

“Exactly,” you praise them and look over your shoulder to flash them a grin.

“You know, considering that you and Tsukumo are special grade, I never thought you’d be so laid back,” Kirara says, making Hakari scoff and retort.

“We know Satoru can be lazy when he’s not working, why does this surprise you, Kira?”

“Well Satoru is Satoru, and Tsukumo and our master are different. I just thought they’d be more serious on missions.”

You make no effort to walk out and instead walk over to where the sarcophagus is to admire the details still visible on the stone, whilst Hakari slowly makes his way to the entrance of the next passageway you’ll take.

“It’s because we’re special grade that we’re so laid back in missions,” you share honestly. “We’re risking our lives more than others, especially those who hire us, why can’t we enjoy ourselves while we’re out?”

“Hm…well that sounds smart,” Kirara says.

You turn and face them with a smile, realizing at that moment that Hakari was already out of the room so finally decide to do what you said and walk out, followed by Kirara.

And up until now you never knew how fast of a walker Hakari is when he wants to be because you can barely catch up, you have to basically jog to catch up to him.

“Hey, what’s—”

Kirara cuts themself off when Hakari puts his hand up to shush you both.

“What?” Kirara whispers out.

Hakari looks over his shoulder and you notice the seriousness in his gaze now so you lose all your awe and amusement and fall serious too. After you quickly focus on trying to catch if it’s cursed spirits he caught, you see just that, a terrifying amount of cursed energy up ahead just in the dark room past Hakari.

“I’ll follow your lead, you two,” you remind your students since you brought them along to train. “We could call Yuki and the twins, or plan something ourselves.”

Hakari and Kirara meet each other's gaze and brainstorm in silence for a moment, making you turn your flashlight off and just focus on the cursed energy the curse radiates.

But wait, there’s not one curse there’s multiple…Which shouldn’t be all that surprising, why wouldn’t a pyramid made for passionate lovers be cursed? They probably cursed it themselves without knowing.

And if there's multiple just past the passageway, how many are multiple exactly? And why are they ahead and why weren’t they where you just came from, hm?

“The way we came from must be the way out,” Kirara interjects exactly what was on your mind. “So the curses ahead will probably not be aware of us until they see or hear us, so we could surprise attack and gain the upper hand…”

“…but if we attack, does that mean somehow there’ll be more? We haven’t quote on quote triggered any alarms, they could be unaware and only be active when we trigger their defense system, so what if there’s more hidden in the shadows, and attacking these fuckers only triggers more to come out?”

You sigh and nod softly. “That could happen, and…” you swallow thickly and feel a grip around your heart. “We would expose Yuki and the twins…”

It’s not that you don’t trust Yuki, you trust her more than anything, but this place doesn’t have a fortified foundation anymore and it’s hundreds of feet tall and made of stone. This can all easily crumble down and bury you and everyone else with it. That’s what worries you.

But they are paying you to get rid of the curses that haunt this pyramid, so how can you do this without making a mess?

“Kin…master?” Kirara whispers out for your attention.

“Hm?” You probe and look over. And the moment your eyes land on them you see that two huge beetles have made their way on their arm and shoulder.

“Stand…” you gag at the sight of their creepy legs and bug-like bodies. “Stand still.”

You flick your fingers to flick off the one on their shoulder by manipulating a small whirlwind. Next, you aim your fingers to flick the one off her arm, but it starts to crawl up so your aiming is off and instead of swiping it off swiftly, the beetle bounces up and hits their mouth, causing them to squeal out.

Hakari quickly leans over and puts his hand over their mouth and pushes them against a wall, whilst you freeze and drag your eyes out to the danger, hoping they didn’t hear, but they did; snaps echo in the room and then instead of some kind of messed up figures you see glowing white cloudy eyes all staring at the three of you.

“Shit,” you hiss and slowly lift your hand to prepare to shoot fire.

However, suddenly they all start to sprint towards you, and since you’re in a narrow passageway they can easily overwhelm you. And even if there’s a lack of air and water inside, you still have a lot of stone and sand, so to buy you time, you stomp your foot on the ground and thrust a fist up to lift stone off the floor and make a wall to block them from reaching you so fast.

“We need to find enough empty space to face them, this will buy us time to run before they break out and come and find us. Come on,” you urge them and lead the way back to where you came from, finding yourself back in the tomb room, but since that space isn’t as spacious you plan to move on.

However, just before you can make it out, the people carved on the walls pop out from the walls and grow tall, and have the same cloudy white eyes, followed by rotting appearances that make them look like unwrapped mummies.

One of them catches you off guard and lunges at you, causing you to yelp and stumble back, and bump into the sarcophagus.

This makes the corpses suddenly stop what they’re doing and take a second before they all suddenly screech loudly, making Kirara and you cover your ears.

“What did they do?” Hakari asks with concern.

You don’t try and answer because you don’t know, instead, you push the students behind you and throw your hand out to engulf every single corpse in flames that is born from your cursed technique.

Yet even if your cursed technique exorcizes them all, that doesn’t stop the ground from starting to violently shake, which in turn causes the walls and ceilings to start crumbling and dropping dirt and small rocks.

“It’s coming down,” you murmur in disbelief as you snap your head in the opposite direction because you hear multiple distant footsteps approaching rapidly—“and the others are coming. We have to run and take care of them outside. Go!” You bellow and push them ahead of you first.

Hakari leads the way, and you don’t proceed to run into any obstacles in the way, but that’s because you're running through passages that aren’t marked with stories, or paintings of people. You’re running down an empty hall with a falling ceiling that you barely catch with the help of you manipulating the air within the room to keep the ceiling from collapsing on all of you.

“Go!” You shout sharply so they would understand. “There’s only so much air in this room, and soon there will be nothing. Go! I’ll catch up.”

Kirara shakes their head and they quickly argue back. “No! We can make it out together!”

The other curses are approaching fast, you can hear their footsteps get louder, and this ceiling is only getting heavier to keep up as more stone falls on it.

“If I drop this the entire room falls before either of you can make it out, but I can hold it up and walk out alone. I can’t move air through all your lungs, just mine, you’ll die. Go!”

Kirara steps back and this time Hakari hesitates to listen to you, after all, he hasn’t told you but you have changed his life. He felt believed in because of you, how could he let a mentor like you go?

“Kinji Hakari,” you scold. “I’ll catch up soon and we’ll fight together.”

He draws in a sharp breath and lets his eyes linger on you for a moment.

“Kinji,” you shout.

Said man turns sharply and runs away with Kirara, letting you use more air to hold up the falling stone.

However, you can’t say you won’t welcome death. Because you will.

Oh sweet death, how tempting is your offer because there in your realm is him, Suguru Geto.

He will welcome you with open arms and you can be with each other for the rest of eternity because it’s true, you can’t live on without him by your side.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble to the image of Satori, Nanako, and Mimiko as you get ready to drop the stone weighing you down to also drop it on the curses only feet away now.

However, like shining white lights of hope, Hakari and Kirara return to the hall with their breaths held since all the air in this room is either flowing through you or being used to hold up the stone.

“No, what are you two doing?!” You panic.

And since they can’t answer they simply ignore you, and they work together to use their cursed energy and punch through the floor, making it all suddenly crumble down and pulling you with it.

Since you lose your concentration when you’re falling, the stone you were holding up falls too, but unlike you, it stops when it hits the floor you were on. Some pieces fall with you, but thankfully not enough to crush you.

And thankfully you don’t fall to your deaths, you hit some solid ground not far below the previous floor. Your body does instantly hurt at impact, but you’re all alive. You’re alive, Hakari and Kirara went back for you. They didn’t have to, but they did.

They went back for you…

Why—no, you know why, you’re their mentor, but you didn’t think they cared so much as to risk their lives for you. You wanted to die, but they risked their lives and saved you…

“Master!” You hear Kirara yell before they get on their hands and knees and crawl over to you. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

You drift your eyes over to meet theirs and with lingering disbelief, you nod slowly.

“Why?” You can’t help but ask. “Why did you go back?”

“I know, I know it was stupid,” they defend themselves and Hakari. “But how could we let you take all the risk? You’re our mentor! We care about you! You’re special to us.”

You blink repeatedly and hold back tears even if your throat starts to sting.

“Yeah it’d be pretty stupid to let you die,” Hakari interjects. “Where could we find another mentor like you?”

You sit up and snap your eyes to him and offer him a faint smile.

And for the first time in a while, you feel a bit of your broken heart heal. Whereas before it was like you were left with scabs over your broken heart, now it’s actually mending as you realize that it doesn’t have to be the end.

——

*NOW*

“What’s going on?” You ask the group of attentive sorcerers as you return to your seats.

“Gojo’s nose is bleeding,” Yuji lets you know.

You look at the screen and in fact, do see a dribble of crimson blood running down his nose. Which means he’s probably exhausting his technique and his head.

And Sukuna hasn’t even used any of the ten shadows yet…damn.

“Domain expansion,” Satoru and Sukuna say simultaneously.

“Again,” you mutter.

And just as you came back too!

“They activated it at the same time!” Yuji points out.

“Which means Sukuna can restore his burn-out technique with RCT after all!” Angel interjects, making Kurusu speak after her.

“But has he been able to do that all along, or did he just figure it out?”

“How many times have we said the word cursed technique today?” Yuji muses, making you look over at him and laugh softly.

Yuji catches your reaction and can’t keep down his smile.

“Within the three minutes, it takes for Sukuna to destroy Gojo’s domain from the outside…Gojo needs to damage Sukuna to the point where he can no longer maintain his domain,” Kusakabe mentions really melancholy.

“Let’s not talk as if Gojo’s on the ropes,” Shoko argues. “If Sukuna is drawn into unlimited void for even a few seconds, he’ll be incapacitated.”

Your attention piques and you can’t help but chime in hopefully. “Exactly and if he’s able to destroy Malevolent shrine within three minutes Satoru will win.”

It’s really some high hopes, but you trust Satoru more than anything.

“You really think so?” Yuji asks with doubt laced with fear.

You draw out a deep breath and turn your head to meet his gaze and nod with a confident look to comfort his nerves. “I know it. It may not happen right now, but I know it’s possible. Not only because Satoru is strong, but Sukuna is overconfident. In a situation like this, overconfidence can lead to your demise with a simple mistake you make.”

Yuji’s eyes return to the screen to watch the black barrier floating in the sky. “Hm, I have noticed overconfidence leads to mistakes.”

“Not that it’s bad, it can be a good thing to be overconfident, you just can’t leave out any details, do you get what I’m saying?” You explain yourself and lean towards him. “Like you can’t doubt the weakest player, always think like they have something up their sleeve even if they don’t. Be aware.” You say and then lift your head to speak loud. “That’s why I beat Kusakabe in a card game, he doubted my skills!”

Yuji looks over and Choso’s eyes snap at the man you dragged in the conversation.

“You cheated!” Kusakabe shouts back, making you look at Yuji and shake your head.

“I milked him dry, he's just a sore loser. Get over it man it’s been two months!”

“You’re already rich, why did you need more money?” Kusakabe grumbles.

You shake your head and cross your arms over your chest. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the gloating I got to do afterward. And it’s about winning too.”

“I told you that you shouldn't have played against her,” Hakari interjects with a smirk.

You smirk now too and catch Kusakabe grumbling. This time you can’t counter because the domain breaks and both men are sliding back on their feet when they land. Only one has his face wounded and that’s Sukuna.

Way to go Satoru!

“Again simultaneously!!” Kusakabe shouts.

“Keeping us on the edge of our seats,” Mei-Mei says.

“I mean, this is just…” Choso trails off.

“Any more of these domains and one of them will give out,” you say and drop your hands to lean forward and slouch.

“Satoru needs to—” Choso cuts himself off as those two damn words are announced again.

“Domain expansion!”

You let out a frustrated huff and lean back to grab Choso’s hand since you’ll be left in the dark again.

“Just now!!” Okkotsu exclaims as the domain turns small again.

“Ah,” Higuruma utters.

“What's up?��� Hakari questions Okkotsu’s outburst.

“Maybe, just maybe Gojo expanded his domain an instant earlier?” Okkotsu says.

Hopefully. Just hopefully.

You sit up as you can’t handle your nerves and use your other hand to pick up the cup and try to drink your tea. However, you’re too worried so you just put it against your lips and watch, while Choso tightens his hold against yours to provide as much comfort as he can at the moment.

Nevertheless, only a couple of seconds later the domain breaks and your heart sinks a little when you see the Zenin’s pride and joy, Mahoraga looking down at your brother.

“No,” you gasp quietly.

“Cursed technique reversal,” you hear your brother try to counter, but Mahoraga seems to easily deflect that technique and swings down his mighty blade and breaks the ground Satoru jumped away from in time.

“What?!” Satoru exclaims.

“That’s Mahoraga!” Someone exclaims.

“So that’s the crown jewel of the Zen’in clan,” Mei-Mei muses with what you detect is awe.

Awe for a beast that can—

You don’t even want to think about it.

“It’s a shikigami with the ability to adapt to any attack,” Choso says.

“You’re saying it was even able to adapt to unlimited void?!” Yuji blurts his question.

“Of course, it can,” Mei-Mei responds, making you draw in a deep frustrated breath before you clench your jaw and your hands.

“He’ll get rid of it,” Choso tries to assure you. “I’m sure of it.”

You shake your head stiffly and contradict the hope you just shared mere minutes ago. “No, you don’t know that,” you snap back. “You don’t know anything.”

You slip your hand off Choso’s and stand up to continue watching the fight in your fuming irritation.

.

.

.

.

A/N- It feels like these past few weeks have flown by!!

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina

[pbandjesse]

I was so exhausted today. I ended up sleeping for almost the entire day. This was not the plan but I don't even feel bad about it. The only thing I'm really upset about is my grey shawl is still missing. I was hoping to find it today but still no luck.

I slept okay last night. My nose keeps closing up and I don't feel like I'm getting enough oxygen and so I feel very dizzy and weak. I don't remember James leaving for work. But when I woke up at 930 I had a text from them that there were flurries! I was really excited to see that. Nothing was sticking but it was still really pretty.

I would get up. And ran the shower to try and warm it up while I made the bed. But still it wasn't very warm and it wasn't a very good shower. At least my hair was clean.

I didn't feel great though. James had left crepes for me in the microwave and that was nice. But I was so cold and just tired.

I texted James that I was going to prioritize rest today. And tried very very hard to not feel guilty about that. But not feeling very good helped force me to just lay in bed.

I would spend a little time downstairs. I put all the plushies I finished yesterday away. And I checked to see if the paper bags I got were the right size but no luck there. I'll have to get a more standard size at some point this week.

I would eventually got back upstairs. Laid in bed feeling very winded for a while. I thought maybe I needed more food for energy. Maybe that would fix me

I would make Mac and cheese and broccoli. I was excited to see that Crabcake was up and on top of his tea towel. I gave him so scritches and when the broccoli was done I gave him some of that too and he ate all of it! Made me feel good. I have been worried about him eating and drinking. I'm trying to do my best. We have been leaving him dry food but he mostly just eats the flowers. But we don't want to put produce out if he doesn't wake up and then we get more flies. Don't want that at all. It's a learning curve for sure.

I ate lunch on the couch. I let Sweetp lick all the cheese sauce off of the bowl when I was done. I started the dishwasher. And went back upstairs.

It was a little after 1. I saw a clip for some show about council housing in the UK and I looked up an episode on YouTube and fell asleep. I was out until around 230. When I woke up only to get a drink and take my tights off.

I was back to sleep until 430. I was just so tired. I didn't love that the sun was going down as I was waking up. I was happy when James got home but I didn't feel much better physically. I had gone downstairs and I'm had a little cereal. All I've done today is eat and sleep. But I think I'm starting to feel a little better.

I laid on the couch while James recorded their podcast. They were doing a short episode today. And while they did that I went to look for my grey shawl. But still no luck. I am positive it's going to show up somewhere so stupid and we're going to laugh about it. But for now I am pretty sad I can't find it. I checked a few different places but I got tired and got back in bed.

James is making dinner now. Just continuing on my trend of sleeping and eating. But the next two days are very busy so I just keep telling myself to enjoy it while I can.

Tomorrow is the last BMI market of the season. And then I have an event. I think it will be a really fun day, even if it's going to be very long. I really hope that my rest day gives me the energy to enjoy the day.

I hope you are having a good day. Take care of yourself. Wash your hands!! Goodnight everyone.

[empiredesimparte]

They spy live on the conversation between Madame Hortense and her boyfriend, Duke Oliver of Rothsey

Oliver: No…no not at all Hortense! Believe me when I say that it was not left there out of malice. My mother wants me to tell you that she tried to warn me Hortense (sad): Your mother is right. Because of that photo, everyone around is staring at me, Louis thinks I'm not myself anymore and our priest is considering a discussion with me. Have you even read what the magazines here say?

Oliver: I did…believe me, I did not think they would pit you and Louis against each other….you must know how sorry I am… Hortense: Louis thinks, and I agree, that what's done is done. We'll have to lay low again until the coronation (sighs) I don't want my brother to get into trouble because of us

Oliver: I…[sigh] I know you are right…I just…I hate that I will have to hide you while you will be here in Scotland…I'm sorry Mo Gaol, I just wanted to show how much I love you…I feel like these feelings are straining to burst forth from my heart… Hortense: I know you meant no harm, and I love you. Try to be patient, just wait until the coronation is over. In a few months. Please, Oliver Oliver: I will do my best Hortense…

Jean: Oliver of Rothsey seems sincere, I don't think he threatens the Crown in the future Napoléon V: I agree

Henri: That's a relief, the Scots can be stubborn. We should have a serious talk with the Duke

Jean: Perhaps it's best indeed, spying on the Scottish heir is perilous for our diplomatic relations Napoléon V: Yes, it's useless. Oliver is a good man and a friend… I didn't know that this phone was tapped

Jean: In fact, many devices are, Sire

Henri: Jean, this is neither the time nor the place Napoléon V: What do you mean?

Jean: Our Emperor had to find out one day

Napoléon V (suspicious): We will discuss this again in Paris, Jean. In the meantime, let's avoid this kind of meeting and attracting attention

⚜ Le Cabinet Noir | Compiègne, 15 Floréal An 230

Beginning ▬ Previous ▬ Next

This post refers to this episode in the story of Oliver and Hortense. Collaboration with @officalroyalsofpierreland

⚜ Traduction française

Ils espionnent en direct la conversation entre Hortense et son petit ami, le duc Oliver de Rothsey

Oliver : Non…non pas du tout Hortense ! Crois-moi, je n'ai pas voulu vous blesser. Ma mère a essayé de m'avertir, sache-le, mais je ne l'ai pas écoutée Hortense (triste) : Ta mère a raison. A cause de cette photo, tout le monde me regarde, Louis pense que je ne suis plus moi-même et notre curé envisage une discussion avec moi. As-tu seulement lu ce que disent les magazines d'ici ?

Oliver : Je sais… Je ne pensais pas que cela ferait du mal à ta relation avec ton frère. Tu ne sais pas à quel point je suis désolé… Hortense (soupire) : Louis pense, et je suis d'accord, que ce qui est fait est fait. Nous allons devoir faire profil bas jusqu'au couronnement. Je ne veux pas que mon frère ait des ennuis à cause de nous

Oliver : Je… [soupir] Je sais que tu as raison… C'est juste que… Quand tu seras ici en Ecosse, nous ne pourrons pas être aussi libres que je le souhaite et… Je suis désolé Mo Gaol, je voulais juste te montrer à quel point je t'aime… J'ai l'impression que ces sentiments s'efforcent de jaillir de mon cœur… Hortense : Je sais que tu ne voulais pas me faire de mal et je t'aime. Essaie d'être patient, attends que le couronnement soit terminé. Dans quelques mois. S'il te plaît, Oliver Oliver : Je ferai de mon mieux, Hortense…

Jean : Le duc de Rothsey semble sincère, je ne crois pas qu'il menace la Couronne à l'avenir Napoléon V : Je suis aussi de cet avis

Henri : C'est un soulagement, les écossais peuvent être têtus. Il nous faudrait avoir une conversation sérieuse avec le duc

Jean : C'est peut-être le mieux en effet, espionner l'héritier écossais est périlleux pour nos relations diplomatiques Napoléon V : Oui, c'est inutile. Oliver est un homme bon et un ami... J'ignorais que ce téléphone était sur écoute

Jean : A vrai dire, de nombreux appareils le sont, Sire

Henri : Jean, ce n'est ni le lieu ni le bon moment Napoléon V : Comment ça ?

Jean : L'Empereur devait bien l'apprendre un jour

Napoléon V (soupçonneux) : Nous en rediscuterons à Paris, Jean. En attendant, évitons ce genre de réunions et d'attirer l'attention

[thessalian]

Thess vs Finishing Shit Up

I finished up the Iron Rig DLC for Dregde yesterday. By which I mean, "completed all tasks and all storyline and got 100% completion even if it meant I had to turn off Passive Mode because I have been at 100% completion for that fucking game since before it even had passive mode and I was not ruining it now".

For those of you who haven't got that far yet, here's a couple of tips that I wish I'd known before all the messing about.

Don't throw away all of the black glop that ends up on your ship from time to time. Put some in your storage (even numbers). You will need it.

Do not feed all the fish you catch to the generator. Put some in your storage and let them rot all the way. You will need that too.

If you are lacking in black glop and have cleared every source of said black glop from the map, talk to the Foreman. Doing so will generate more black glop for you to clean up (and collect on your ship).

The reason you need all this stuff is to get the very last fish (number 230 in the encyclopaedia). A Thing will happen when you hand in all the new samples from all four base game zones. You will know it when you see it. When that Thing happens, you will be able to catch Fish 230 if you go under the rig and use the Aberrated Bait you can make with all that rot and black splotch. You will need a fair bit of it because it can take awhile.

Yes, I know the encyclopaedia entry and hover text description is blank for Fish 230. If you want to read it, generate some more glop and deliberately gather as much black splotch as you can, because it's the best way to get to red-level panic and that's when you can read the description. Don't worry - Fish 230 doesn't rot.

You also cannot sell it. If you want your inventory / storage space back, just throw it away.

(Oh, and if you want to do the black-splotch thing for red-level panic? Switch to passive mode. It's a good hack but it will generate a monster. But evading that monster is an achievement so maybe do that on normal mode at least once.)

Exotic bait is a must too, if you're going for full completion. You'll need five containers of it, minimum. Aberrated bait? Well, if you're struggling to catch aberrations, just make as much of it as humanly possible and have fun filling in those particularly irritating entries in the encyclopaedia.

There you go - everything I had to Google for. If you don't play Dredge ... well, maybe this will tempt you into it. And it should - the game's kind of awesome.

So that's one incomplete game down (and it barely counts because I did finish it but then there was DLC). Now all I've got are Horizon Forbidden West and BG3. No, I have not completed a full playthrough yet. Stuff kept getting in the way. Maybe if I'm lucky and I'll be finished the one that's currently somewhere mid act-2 before October rolls around. Because October? October is a month, lemme tell you. TLOVM S3 comes out in October, and that's going to eat chunks out of several weeks because of how Amazon releases episodes of that. The Silent Hill 2 remake comes out on the 8th, and then there's Veilguard on the 31st.

(I should at least try that one. For perfumery, if nothing else.)

Don't talk to me about November either. Arcane S2 comes out first week of November. I don't think I'll be so buried in Thedas that I miss that.

This honestly makes me glad that the Sandman S2 release date seems to have been put back to ... well, they're guessing 2025 sometime. Well, that and hearing Esme Creed-Miles be Cassandra de Rolo at approximately the same time as seeing her do Delirium of the Endless would probably be a bit of tonal whiplash for me.

You know, the people who give nerds shit for "not being mature enough" or some shit should take note. Like, one of the big things about adulthood is the ability to schedule, and to organise one's time. No one organises their time like a nerd looking down the barrel of several release dates for favoured things all coming in the same month.

[intertexts]

HI ROS !!!!!! coming into ur inbox this lovely afternoon with a random question bc i like your taste in things. I need a new work podcast bc im caught up with most of my other ones. I've got TWO saved because of you so I thought I'd get ur opinion: which one first. hello from the hallowoods or skyjacks :] ik u like them both (and I DO plan to get thru them both eventually but I need 2 do them one at a time or else I'll explode)

OH GOD. INSANELY HARD QUESTION!!!!!!!! FUCKED UP!!!!!!! umm. ok. ok. they're both still currently ongoing, hfth has 160 episodes so far & skyjacks has something like 230. hfth has a sort of anthology structure with many different key characters and protagonists and plot threads that all get woven together through vignettes, skyjacks is just one overarching narrative. that's the quick comparison.

-hfth: good if ur still the kind of guy who gets really emotional over casual trans & queer rep in the year of our lord 2024 despite it being "everywhere now" and "not a big deal." (me LMAO) it's not like, a podcast About That, & it's kind of reductive to say that as the first thing about it, but like. it is deeply and fundamentally and lovingly a gaytrans show. it's horror, but like, the horror equivalent of spiced tea before bedtime, more strange and warped and delightful surrealism than much else. doesn't leave u with the Residue (neutral!!! feeling awful after u finish a horror thing is like frequently part of the appeal!!) that heavier horror does. anthology with overarching plot & it's really really fun to figure out the way all the pieces fit together. there are very endearing terrifying eldritch gods and gay sad little demons and ghost boys and older butches and sentient skulls inside a weird tank body. many very resonant themes and motifs. tons of really great character work, i can think of off the top of my head at least five or so characters u will love, very fun show. makes me miss living in the woods!!!!

skyjacks: okay man. you KNOW this is my favorite ttrpg show of all time. c'mon. okay. yeah despite the insane way pd has taken over my brain (& it is a REALLY good n fun show i think) & the way im constantly talking about friends at the table as a seminal actual play show that does some of The best writing in any of the space & is easily the Best, etc. skyjacks is so fucking good. james d'amato is an incredible gm, the sound design is really lovely, the worldbuilding is. my favorite. sometimes i just sit and kick my feet around giggling and smiling and thinking about spéir. its so fucking sick it feels like folklore and fairy tales and historical romances. there are huge birds u can fly on instead of horses. the sea is angry and has spit you out. the gods are dead and the stars have fallen out of the sky. pirate story, also, btw. u will fall in love with the uhuru. maybe partially why i haven't started riptide bc skyjacks is already The pirate campaign to me. i also already know Exactly which pc u will latch onto. honestly the pcs & their dynamics are also all really compelling, nobody at the table fucking misses.

anyway. TERRIBLE answer to this question ummm i would listen 2 the pilot of both of them n then choose! they're both two of my all time faves!!! enjoy!!! :3333

[natlacentral]

Exclusive Interview: Yvonne Chapman Talks ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ Channeling the Avatar State in Her Craft, ‘Superman & Lois,’ and More

Yvonne Chapman, much like a skilled bender mastering the elements, excels in her craft. Whether she’s directing, writing, acting, or producing, her purpose and mission as an artist is to serve the stories she tells. She’s best known for transformative performances in projects including Kung Fu, The Stranger, and Family Law.

Currently, she can be seen starring as Avatar Kyoshi in Netflix’s critically-acclaimed hit new series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. A live-action reimagining of the beloved animated series following Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Yvonne to discuss Avatar: The Last Airbender, her preparation in bringing Avatar Kyoshi to life in this live-action adaptation, channeling the Avatar state in her craft, Superman & Lois, and her love for filmmaking.

PC: We find worlds colliding with your latest project, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Michael Goi, with whom you worked on Kung Fu, championing you for this role. Is there an added sense of pressure when someone is recommending you for such an iconic character? Yvonne: Yes! [laughs] Also because it’s somebody that I truly respect. Michael is fantastic. I really didn’t want to let him down. I didn’t want to let the fans down or anybody. Kyoshi is such a beloved character, as you said. It was a lot of pressure, but the team is so good. It’s everybody coming together, not just me. It’s everyone who brought this together. Thank goodness. I’m not alone in this, that’s for sure.

PC: Not only were you a fan of this franchise, but you also did so much research in your preparation to play Avatar Kyoshi. As you brought this beloved character onto the screen, what’s something you wanted to make sure was translated from the novels and animated series to this live-action adaptation? What’s something new you brought to her? Yvonne: I really wanted to strike that balance. I wanted to explore what she would be like as a mentor because that’s a new capacity that we’re seeing her in as opposed to the original source material. But I also wanted to honor what the fans saw and what I saw in the novels.

In this particular circumstance, there are so many ways that Kyoshi could have interacted with Aang, and a lot of them would have been true because, as we see in the novels, there are so many facets to this character and woman. But given the circumstances at the time when Kyoshi Village was under attack, literally as we were talking, tough love was needed. I feel like that’s very true to who she is, especially as we’ve seen her before. She’s a no-nonsense, get-to-business kind of woman. I really wanted to make sure that was part of the characterization of her.

PC: You also get to narrate and kick off this series in Episode 1. How did they reveal that news to you? How different is that filming experience when it’s just your voice as compared to Episode 2 that has all of those intricate fight sequences? Yvonne: It’s very different. First, the ask came from Michael and Albert [Kim], who again, have been such wonderful caretakers of the series. They used the original source material as their Bible. The original had Katara’s voice. They still wanted to keep it female, but Kyoshi is someone who has been around for 230 years. She would be somebody who would know what’s going on, and they thought the narration would suit her well. That’s why they asked me to jump in on that.

It’s very different because when you’re acting or doing action sequences, you’re in the embodiment of the scene. You’re working off somebody else. You’re in a different environment that lends to a more reactive response whereas this, we did tons of iterations of the voiceover and tried different things. It’s the sound technicians who brought it all together. So kudos to them. But it was fun. It was a different experience being in the sound booth and trying out different ways of saying that intro.

PC: Kyoshi and Aang have a conversation about the Avatar state, and how it’s the place where they can access the energy of past lives and thousands of Avatars. What is the creative equivalent to that? What was a scene that you filmed throughout your career where you were in a similar state and felt that magic? Yvonne: That’s such a good question. In general, in acting, we always talk about a toolkit of different things that you need to use on set. Sometimes one thing doesn’t work, and another thing will work another time, but it’s a mixed bag of everything. If I had to compare it to the Avatar state of being able to use all elements and channeling all your lives and everything, it would be that. It’s the part of the work where you’ve got to try whatever works at the time because you’ve got to get the job done.

PC: Kyoshi really drives home to Aang what it means to be an Avatar. Gordon [Cormier] is someone who’s getting his big break with this project. Did you share any words of wisdom with him as he traverses this industry and what it means to be an artist and storyteller? What was that point in your own career when you defined what this craft and its responsibility means to you because you’ve always brought such an empathetic quality to the roles that you’ve played? Yvonne: Thank you so much. I feel like I learned something from him. Honestly, Gordon is wonderful. He’s so giving, kind, and professional, especially at the age that he is. I don’t need to tell him anything. The support system he has is fantastic. His father was with him on set all the time. They’re such a wonderful presence through and through. As we’ve all seen, he’s played Aang beautifully and perfectly. I am so thrilled that they’re getting Season 2 and 3.

As far as traversing this thing, at the end of the day, I’m so happy that I get to do what I love. Each and every project that I get, I am so grateful for because being an actor, it’s more rejections than acceptances. There are more times that you’re not working than when you’re working. So whenever I get the chance to work, that’s always at the forefront. Each and every job is so difficult to get that when I’m there, I want to show up and do the best that I can. I’m so grateful that I get to work.

PC: Something that you did so brilliantly with this role is the ways in which you were able to infuse hints at Kyoshi’s past because there’s only so much that you can fill into a show. There’s a moment when she shares a bit of tough love with Aang, which for those familiar with the source material, feels as if she’s projecting her own shortcomings in her journey. Was that contrast something that was written in the episode or was it something that you brought to it having done that prep work? Yvonne: It was definitely written in there with that intention in mind. Then, having those discussions and performing it, it’s definitely something that I wanted to bring to her as well because it is a projection. She had such a hard time finding out that she was an Avatar for those who read the book.

She has a very tumultuous childhood and upbringing, and then figuring out that she was the Avatar on top of all that with the very few people that she trusted, betraying her, all of those things she had to learn the hard way. Her saying that to Aang in that moment is definitely a projection. Because right after she says, “I was like you once.” This is where that’s coming from. You hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly what that was.

PC: The series is so well done, and it’s so cinematic. It feels like you’re watching eight films. What was it like getting to see that final product and collaborating with everyone to bring Kyoshi to life on the screen? Yvonne: I was so happy at the premiere because we all got to celebrate with each other. That hasn’t been a thing for a few years because of COVID and everything. To be able to meet people that I didn’t get to meet on set was so special. Every single time someone new appeared on screen, we cheered. It was so wonderful to do that with the whole team.

The hair, makeup, and wardrobe were everything. You can’t not feel like Kyoshi in that hair, makeup, and costume. It completes everything. Like I’ve said before with any project, when you step into the hair, makeup, and wardrobe, it’s like putting on a different skin. It’s putting on the skin of that character. It completes the whole deal.

PC: It’s transformative. You’re a multifaceted talent who has such a strong affinity for writing and directing. What are the types of stories that you’re most interested in telling through those disciplines? Yvonne: I’m a sucker for those kinds of stories that really delve into the quiet moments in life. Because there’s so much to be said about those little quiet moments that we have when interacting with one another or even with ourselves that sometimes don’t get enough airtime to be shown. I love that kind of style, but I also really love the epic stuff too.

If I could do that in a sci-fi, I’d be totally down for it. A huge comedy as well. For me, at the end of the day, what it really comes down to is sharing the human experience and seeing those full colors on screen. If I can participate in that in any way, whether it’s through writing or acting, I’m on board.

PC: Your 2024 is off to the strongest of starts with Avatar, and then it was recently announced that you’re joining Superman & Lois. Amanda has a very small role in the comics, but through the screen adaptation, you’re going to get to write a new chapter for her. How different was that character development and preparation process compared to Kyoshi, where you have this wealth of source material? Yvonne: It’s quite different. Because, as you said, with Kyoshi, there’s a wealth of source material. I can pull from so many different things. With Amanda, what I had to go by were the scripts for Superman & Lois and my discussions with the showrunners who were wonderful. Anyone who is a fan of Superman & Lois, oh my gosh, you’re not going to be disappointed with this final season. It’s so good. There was more than enough, honestly, reading the scripts. It’s so clear to me who she is, and the showrunners are so great at breaking it down for me in that sense. In their description to me and what was released of the role, it made perfect sense with the world-building of it and the final season of it with Lex Luthor. It was very different but still enough to work off of.

PC: Similar to many of the characters you’ve portrayed, there’s also a significant contrast in the types of projects you’ve worked on, from bigger budgets like Avatar and Kung Fu to indies like The Stranger and Dragon Fruit. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you as a creative and a storyteller? Can you share some of the indie projects you have in the works? Yvonne: With the indie projects, I love doing them because I’m usually working with really good friends. Dragon Fruit was done with Jeremy Brown, who wrote, directed, and produced the short film. He is such a force, and oh my gosh, the amount of work that goes into an indie project because you’re wearing a thousand different hats all at once. I wasn’t part of that project for the full four years, but it took him four years to finish the project from inception to the final product.

On The Stranger, it was a friend of mine, Curtis Lum. I worked with him on one of the first things I ever booked as an actor. We kept in touch. He was like, “I’m producing this short film and I’m acting in it too. You’d be really good for it.” When it’s your friends and it’s a passion project, I love those sets because you get to work with the people around you. We always hope for that.

I send so many auditions to my friends and I’m like, “You should go out for this. You should go out for that because we’re just hoping to be on set together one day.” So when projects like that come and you can support somebody that you know and really care about, it’s a win-win.

To keep up with Yvonne, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix today.

[teenz-stories]

Teen-Z: Forever Young #1: I Don’t Wanna Be Your Ex (Part 5)

Meanwhile Wiccy and Cody are inside the studio. Nerd girl now talks with the person who's seller of it. Finally Wiccy goes out.

Cody: And?

Wiccy: Three thousand Zeedollars if we want to borrow it for a month.

Cody’s eyes goes wide in shock

Wiccy: I have only 250 Zeedollars. Still I didn’t gotten my paycheck from my boss from that programing job I have.

Cody: I will check my donates but I don’t think I earned that much neither.

Wiccy: Donates? She raises her eyebrow up confused Wait. You’re a streamer?! Since when?

Cody: I thought that smoothie stand was earning kinda meh cash. So I started to do some game streams. Peoples pay me because they love seeing me getting mad over losing in the game. He checks his website 340 Zeedollars from four streams I did this month.

Wiccy: 590 Zeedollars. She smacks her lips It’s not enough. We gotta ask team. Or. She looks at Cody How much did you earned this month from that stand of yours?

Cody: looks at his pockets as he starts counting money Around 90 Zeedollars this week.

Wiccy: hisses between her teeth What about for whole month?!

Cody: shrugs laughing nervously

Wiccy: You spended all your money for the games,didn’t you?

Cody: I wanted to do content! Without any games my channel on ShiverTV wouldn’t make any sense!

Wiccy: starts calculating This makes 680 Zeedollars. We still need 2320. She pulls out her phone as she proceeds to call whole crew

After long moment of waiting whole crew appears.

Wiccy: How much did you all earned from your weekend jobs?

Mermaid steps out first showing her pastel pink wallet.

Mermaid: Well. From whole month working during weekends in the spa I earned 650 Zeedollars. It’s pretty good start,isn’t it? You need financial help from us to pay for the studio?

Wiccy: shyly nods

Mermaid: No worries. She gives Wiccy her money I have still money on my credit card.

Wiccy: again calculates This makes now 1330  Zeedollars. 1670 more. Who wanna help now?

Charlie steps out showing his dark-blue wallet.

Charlie: I work in tattoo studio.

Belze-Bob: nods showing everyone burning wheel tattoo on his shoulder He did awesome job last week on mine.

Charlie: I earned for this month 570 Zeedollars. He gives Nerd his money For the studio to give my girlfriend perfect music video.

Wiccy: Good. 1100 more. Who wanna share now?

Luvboy sighs coming to the front with his phone.

Alvin: I am amateur animator. And recently I opened on ICoffee my page where I post commission prices. The longer animation is,the more customer needs to pay. So for short clips I receive 20 Zeedollars. For 3 minutes long music videos you need to pay me 60 Zeedollars. However if you want to produce small episode of anything you like and it has over 10 minutes. Price goes already to 130 Zeedollars and more if you ask for details. So. For short clips during this whole month I gotten 120 Zeedollars. For music videos I gotten 300 Zeedollars. And from longer animation I gotten just 130 Zeedollars. One person only had guts to commission from me something longer. He then smiles weakly 550 for this whole month.

Wiccy: And by this we already get to 550 Zeedollars left. Who wanna help now?

Belze-Bob steps out to the front now showing his deep purple wallet.

Belze-Bob: I am grafitti artist in my free time. Government gave permission to me and Greeny to use walls in certain streets. I get from time to time requests. And I received for three arts just 160 Zeedollars. He sighs I'm sorry if this is too little.

Greeny: And I also earned same price for street art.

Belze-Bob and Greeny: Sorry if this is too small.

Both sighs in sadness as they both gives to Wiccy 320 Zeedollars.

Wiccy: Not everyone earns good cash from their weekend jobs. However congratulations. Only 230 Zeedollars left.

Light steps out next as he has in his hands his sombreo hat.

Light: I am street dancer. He laughs nervously You can check how much did I earned for this week.

Nerd counts the money as she takes in her pocket 140 more Zeedollars. She then takes from Creepy 90 Zeedollars.

Wiccy: confused Where did you get so much money?

Ninelle: shyly smiling Dark paid me for that Glitter High doll when I sold him.

Wiccy: Makes sense.

Seconds later she comes to the worker as she pays for the studio. Then she comes back with a huge grin.

Wiccy: Guess what. That previous guy wanted too much money.

Pinky: in fear And what? He demands more?

Wiccy: No. Don’t worry. Normally turns out this studio would cost just 900 Zeedollars. But by paying three thousand this studio now belongs to us!

Upbeat music plays as crew hugs themselves and do happy dance while Wiccy,Mermaid and Pinky stands at the back of the entrance to the studio smiling widely. Then Wiccy interrupts happy atmosphere.

Wiccy: This has a catch though. That guy said we can have it for good. But we need to pay them at least half of the price for Pinky’s songs.

Charlie: So he’s our sponsor?

Wiccy: You can say that.

Pinky: steps now to the front with confident stare Now,now! Break’s over! We have whole weekend to at least start something step by step!

Scene changes into already Monday. School’s bell rings for the break. On corridoors Pinky notices Alvin sketching final scene. Pinky bumps his arm gently.

Alvin: smiles gently Finished. I needed to drink coffee since drawing took me whole weekend. But it’s done.

He gives his sketchbook to Pinky. She gasps seeing results. Each drawing has detailed description at what happens on what time. Her admiring distracts Luvboy looking with sadness at her.

Alvin: Again I apologize for that mess I did on that Fashion Week few weeks ago.

Pinky: smiles gently Oh,Alvin. I’m not mad.

Alvin: I was this jealous that you didn’t spended with me time anymore. So I thought you don’t like me.

Pinky: hugs Luvboy I like you still. But now as friend. I got Charlie and... she tuts looking if he isn’t around He wouldn’t be happy if I would leave him.

Alvin: smiles through tears Still it’s good that you managed to even accept my apologies. Even if it was almost month after.

Pinky: lets Luvboy go So. Friends?

Alvin: takes Pinky’s hand Friends.

[badhockeymom]

I posted 4,424 times in 2022

561 posts created (13%)

3,863 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@coffeeandgunpowder

@badhockeymom

@sethjarvy

@andreisvechnikov

@swish-swish-nyoom-nyoom

I tagged 3,989 of my posts in 2022

Only 10% of my posts had no tags

#canes - 1,013 posts

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#artturi lehkonen - 100 posts

#mikko rantanen - 98 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i'm going to ignore them playing my team at finnish prime time this weekend i'll block my ears and bake korvapuusti or go to sauna or watch

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

62 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

#4

Has Pekka ever had a bad day?

"Not many. Sometimes, after a bad game, when we haven't played well, he has occasionally thrown the goalie mask around, and it's funny how it changes the vibe in the locker room. Everyone just freezes, they don't even dare to move, they're so shocked."

(Juuse Saros, Total NHL Forever podcast, December 28, 2021)

64 notes - Posted January 4, 2022

#3

Roope Hintz: on skating, style and growing up

So, the episode of the Finnish podcast Total NHL Forever with Roope Hintz was full of so much pure gold that I want to share some of it here. The episode came out on Tuesday 15 February, 2022.

This is a big chunk of text, sorry for that, but if you're interested - here you are:

Roope is from Nokia, the neighbouring town of Tampere. He started his actual hockey career in Tampere, playing for Ilves. (Yes, Nokia is also the home of the rubber products (boots and tyres) factory that later became an international tech giant and is now the name sponsor of the new hockey arena in the bigger Tampere.)

He got a big boost for his skating when he played in Florida for a team called Tampa Bay Juniors in EMJHL in 2012-2013, after junior high school (yläaste), at approx. 16 years of age.

"I wasn't a great skater when I was a kid, but I went to Florida to play hockey, and we had a Russian lady who coached some of us in skating 3 or 4 times a week, teaching us skating technique. The level of the game in the league wasn't too high, I don't know what Finnish league to compare it with, but it was good to get out there, see the world a little, learn the language, and the skating coach helped me develop a lot. I shared an apartment with a couple of players and attended online classes, and I had an English tutor a couple of times a week."

Ilves Tampere was his junior team growing up, and he played a little over one season for them in the men's Liiga team before moving to Helsinki to play for HIFK in 2015, after his NHL draft.

"I wanted to challenge myself in a bigger organization, and a lot of players have moved on to the NHL from there. Also, I got to live on my own, move away from home. HIFK has the reputation that you grow from boy to man on that team, and I thought that it is a challenge that I want to take. The finances [Ilves was near-bankrupt at that point in time] had nothing to do with it. I made the decision based on where I thought I would personally develop best and what would be the best next step for me. I had great mentors there, Juhamatti Aaltonen and Siim Liivik for example. Liivik took me under his wing, he was kind of a big brother for me, and we have remained good friends."

About WJC 2016:

"The team spirit was great from the start. We all knew each other, we had been on the same path [the youth NT development program] from very young, and it all peaked in the home tournament, and we got the brightest medal, it was amazing. The fan thing after that was so huge, we'd be asked for pics and autographs everywhere after that, got recognized on the streets even though we were only the junior team. But you learned interacting with fans there, it's just a thing that you do, take the pics, sign the autograph, and go on to do the thing you're there to do."

"I have some kind of contact with everyone from that team basically, and of course with some the contact is more frequent. When we play each other, we'll at least meet up after the game. Lately we haven't had the chance to go to dinner because of the corona situation, but that's what we usually do."

The closest friend(s) from the WCJ team:

"I have pretty many. Pulju, Pate, Sepe, Mikko, Kassu. [Jesse Puljujärvi, Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Kasperi Kapanen] I'm very close with all of them."

About the NHL:

"My mindset was that I'll play that one season in the AHL but I want to be ready to play in the NHL after that. I went back and forth on the next season, and I was never told what I should specifically focus on improving, the message was just that they want me to get more minutes."

"Little by little I got more responsibility and playing time on the Dallas Stars. In this and the previous season, we have found a good line and learned to play well together."

On playing with Robertson and Pavelski:

"We see the game similarly. We all are like, when you pass to the other guy, you know there's a chance you'll get the puck back. I try to use my speed to our advance, and Pavelski is a magical goalscorer, he is one of the best close to the goal in the whole league. And Robertson, he's not necessarily the fastest guy on the ice, but when the computer he has starts to run, his game IQ is just ridiculous. When I know that he has the puck, and find the space for us, I know that he will find his way there.

Pavelski is special.

"He's easily the best golfer on our team, and his hand-eye coordination is amazing with the puck. He practices his shots every morning. I have noticed that his will to win is outstanding. When the stakes are high, there is a big game or a clutch moment, he has the ability to play his best game right at that moment. He can do things that not everyone can. He's not too over-the-top pump you up hype guy, but he will say "we're doing fine, let's just keep going." I'd say he's the biggest leader of our team, in the locker room and on the ice.

Who leads the Finnish Mafia?

"Miro on the ice, in the locker room we Finns are not the loudest. When we're just Finns? I don't know, maybe Esa, he's been here the longest, but we stand our ground against him pretty well when we need to. It's unique to have 5 finns on the team. When I was in the AHL team, I was the only Finn. It's great to be able to communicate on your own language, and we are all alike and like the same things, we like hanging out together. We all except Esa live in the same building, Esa has his house a little further away."

The hardest D-men to play against: Makar, Hedman, Josi. The hardest Finns to play against: Last year it was Hakanpää.

The most stylish player in the NHL [when it comes to their game I think]: Patrick Kane and Panarin.

"Panarin is always a threat when he has the puck. He can pace and control the game, and he's pretty skilled too."

About style and fashion off the ice:

"Style is important to me. I like to wear clothes that not everyone has, I pay attention to that kind of stuff. I have been like that ever since a kid, I have always paid attention to my outfits. We have to wear suits on game days. The dress code was looser last season but now it's suits again. I think it should be the same as in the NBA, you can choose what to wear. I liked last year, you could choose more freely and express yourself with your clothes a bit."

"You've got to love how Pate (Patrik Laine) comes to the arena in his yellow glasses and different hats. Pate is who he is, he's himself, he doesn't ask what other people think."

"Older players like it too, that younger players dress differently and show personality. Out of older players, Radulov is really stylish. When he puts his teeth back in his mouth after the game, he's a totally different looking guy."

See the full post

80 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

#2

Sepe's Backyard Spa

Sepe denies the cameras his athletic body* because he doesn't like to go to sauna or the hot tub before game days (*their words not mine)

Seth was very punctual, If Sebastian said they'd leave at 9 am he'd be ready and waiting for the ride at the bottom of the stairs 8:59

Seth was a little wary about the sauna the first time, "He crouched down when I and Teuvo kept throwing water on the heater, is this normal, but he got a hang of it soon and started suggesting it himself, would it be a sauna night this evening."

"He became a half Finn, I wouldn't be surprised if he moved to Finland after he retires."

Says that there is a lot of leadership in the team, many guys are hard workers but cool and fun off the ice

Doesn't remember what he says to opposing players on the ice, "some curse words can be exchanged in a heated game"

The stuff stays on the ice, the hothead guys aren't the same outside the game. "Tom Wilson is a good example, he plays rough and sometimes testing the rules, but we were teammates at the All-Star game and he was an awesome guy."

See the full post

107 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

294 notes - Posted March 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[ciaossu-imagines]

Finally responding to your messages. Sorry that they’re so late, just wasn’t able to gather the energy until now. Yes to you loving wikis because I do as well. Like it’s amazing that those people can always nicely summarise the chapters or episodes of the series since summaries are something I’ll always struggle with and they’re really handy when it comes down to needing a bit of info for my stories as well. And that makes sense. Thanks for saying that 😊 Yeah. Like it makes no sense and it will forever wonder why they decided to make that arc since yeah, like I said, the other ones are pretty decent. There is one mini-arc though, before The Key of The Starry Heavens arc, that I also didn’t rewatch because it’s for me just a bit too weird but yeah, the characters that appeared in that arc appear in the Starry Heavens one as well so if you also don’t want to watch those episodes, I definitely recommend reading those summaries so you’ve got all the context. But it is nice to hear that you’ve found some good fan fics that do succeed at doing it 😊 No problem 😄 Yeah. I have all these ideas of how many messages it might be and it’ll be nice to see which idea’s the closest 😅 I see. I don’t blame you. And that does sound so horrible and indeed out of character since all of their actions always just seem so real so it wouldn’t make sense. I’m currently at chapter 230 and nothing to do with what you said has happened so if it is true, it’ll probably also be quite late into the story with no good / long build up. But yeah, I’m seriously hoping that it isn’t because I don’t want that for Jyugo or any of the other characters involved (as in, for their characterisation).

I’m also going to answer your other admin chatter message here if that’s okay so they’re nicely together and I don’t have to send too separate ones. And of course it’s alright that it’s super-late since yeah, this message is really late and I never mind waiting. I see, that does suck. Though here’s to praising wiki editor yet again since every Haikyuu!! episodes has a manga-anime differences section that’s definitely useful. I really do hope that one of your websites / apps does get it because it’s really something that I’d love for you to read  at some point. It’s still a bit more than a hundred chapters and slightly over 400 if you want to read from the beginning but yeah, I hope that one day you’ll get the chance the read it because the arc after nationals is so good when it comes down to Hinata, but also nationals is so great when it comes down to Bokuto. Also I’ll forever love what he said before the match because it’s so funny in the way that he just confused everyone around and was so proud with what he said 😭 Can I send those images to you? He’s just adorable. But yeah well, after the Battle at the Garbage Dump of course and yeah, there’s another match besides Fukurōdani’s one that’s also really important so I’ll forever hope that you can read it for yourself one day. And yeah, I think you’ve been writing them pretty in character since I could always imagine the characters you wrote about in those scenarios.

C

Please, don’t feel at all bad for taking your time to reply! I’m the queen of super-late replies, as you well know and I fully accept that not only do people have lives outside of tumblr, but people can just have low energy, both mentally and physically, and just not feel up to responding right away and that is perfectly okay 😊 I really do think it’s really amazing how dedicated fans put in so, so much work into creating these wikis, doing the formatting, finding and making sure the information is correct and everything else that goes into creating a wiki. Which makes it a real shame when bots go in and destroy what used to be good wikis (*cough* KHR *cough*). I suck at summaries myself, but only because I bloat when writing. I couldn’t keep a summary short and concise, I know myself well enough to admit that. Of course! And yeah, most of the filler arcs in shows make no sense to me. I know it’s commonly done as a way to avoid catching up completely to a manga or to extend seasons of what they want to be big-name, super popular series, but in most cases, the filler arcs are generic, badly done, and nonsensical. That’s great to know, so thank you for giving me the heads up. If I get around to watching the Fairy Tail anime all the way through after reading it, I’ll try the mini-arc and if I don’t like it, I will probably just read the summaries. Honestly, there’s so much really amazing fanfic out there. I don’t think it’s really talked about or appreciated as much as it should be – that we have thousands and thousands of these amazing stories that fans have created for us, of so many different types and styles and genres, and it’s so incredibly easy, as of current day, to find a fic that scratches whatever itch you have. I have so much appreciation for the big name fandom writers, for the small little fandom writers who create these little hidden gems, for really all fanfic writers. I am proud to say I am finally caught up and have replied to everyone, including you. Now it’s just getting down to the task of clearing the inbox and building that queue that I need to get done and, as of writing this, that’s what I’m working hard on, when I’m not at my job! I’m really glad to hear that, as of the point you are at, nothing like that has happened. It makes me much less scared when it comes to doing the reread. Currently reading Iruma and One Piece now, then moving on to Saiyuki after I finish these last 50 chapters of Iruma (I read fast, thankfully), but Nanbaka is the next one after that.

I have no trouble at all with you grouping the messages together! It makes complete sense to me, honestly. And thank you for saying that, though I assure you that your message was not what I would consider late at all! I am with you in that hope, though like I said, once I finish all the series I can get for free, I might have to bit the bullet and pay the like, $10 a month for a month or two and use Shonen Jump’s manga reader to read Haikyuu!! and Demon Slayer both. It just sucks because, again, it limits me to only 100 chapters a day and if I’m seriously sitting down to read, I can easily do that and more. Of course you can send me those images and geek out about the scene! I like it when anyone does that with shared fandoms 😊 Thank you so much for saying that! That really means a lot to me and makes me very happy! I always worry and just want to do all these amazing characters justice!

[workwithgrace]

Peace Talk Episode 230: How do I stop when satisfied? (About ANYTHING)

When we're going to get something that we need, there's a movement towards it that's very natural.

  We need water, we make our way towards the source of water (the kitchen sink, the water cooler).

  It's natural.

  What's happening when we move towards something that doesn't wind up feeling good, that actually hurts us in some way, where discouragement is the consequence even though we've done or taken or gotten the thing?

  A great question: how do I stop when satisfied? Is there a method, a series of steps, a way we can work with this "something" we want so we can have the feeling of satisfaction?

  The good news is, something is already at peace right here within, in every moment. Something is already OK with not hunting for satisfaction out there, elsewhere. 

  Can we be with the one who is not satisfied? Yes, like a compassionate parent with a little child. Nothing is guaranteed to be a "good" outcome, and still, the mother/father can be with the one who is disappointed, afraid, upset. 

The Work of Byron Katie is a practice of self-inquiry allowing us to work with stresses appearing in the mind, and to relax with our experience of life. 

Grace Bell, facilitator of The Work, assists people to identify and question their stressful ways of looking at life. 

She offers Year of Inquiry, a vibrant membership community of inquirers Sept-June each year. 

Grace also has a special love for those suffering from self-sabotage and eating issues including disordered eating (disordered thinking) of all kinds--having suffered from this behavior and thought/feeling process herself and finding an unshakable peace within around eating, food, health and behaviors with eating. 

Grace works with all kinds of compulsions, habits and addictions as they are all the same thing: a pull to some behavior, substance or activity in order to help us with our stressful feelings and thoughts.

To watch a mini-workshop about healing self-sabotage with self-inquiry, visit this link here: https://workwithgrace.lpages.co/self-sabotage-mini-workshop/

As Byron Katie offers us (founder of The Work); when we believe what we think, it creates unnecessary suffering. When we question what we think, we feel lighter and less serious about what is. We even begin to laugh. We notice who we really are is peaceful already, a human being living life as best we can--learning, growing, loving. 

In the public sessions on this youtube channel, we have all-group inquiry sessions called First Friday Inquiry, we have interviews with practitioners of The Work, we have Eating Peace videos (on the eating peace playlist) and we have individual sessions in The Work by courageous people willing to be recorded for Peace Talk podcast and this channel. Thanks to everyone involved in what is shared here on this channel, as it is great service to others in the world who find their way here and who are curious about life without "believing" thought all the time.  

In all-group sessions and solo sessions, we begin with a judgment...and move into the four questions and turnarounds. Willingness to be real and honest with your thinking is the first powerful step in The Work. 

No one ever has to share when attending Friday Inquiry, and thank you when you do.  

For the Work With Grace programs and more information, and to get on the Grace Notes mailing list for updates and sharing of all kinds around The Work, please visit www.workwithgrace.com

To receive notice of Eating Peace programs, videos and vlog posts, visit www.workwithgrace.com/eating-peace and join the mailing list.

To join the Grace Notes family of readers right now, Grace's popular blog on using The Work of Byron Katie to grow a peaceful life, get the thorough START HERE guide to letting The Work, work right here: https://workwithgrace.leadpages.co/start-here-guidebook/

Where to find me: workwithgrace.com grace notes from the past at workingwithgrace.com https://www.facebook.com/WorkWithGrace/ https://twitter.com/ByronKatieCoach https://www.linkedin.com/in/workwithgrace/ https://www.instagram.com/byronkatiecoach/

Peace Talk with Grace

[artemis-pendragon]

I posted 1,174 times in 2021

357 posts created (30%)

817 posts reblogged (70%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 2.3 posts.

I added 1,833 tags in 2021

#spn - 332 posts

#supernatural - 318 posts

#destiel - 230 posts

#critical role - 176 posts

#hannibal - 156 posts

#cr - 143 posts

#hannigram - 138 posts

#nbc hannibal - 135 posts

#good omens - 109 posts

#critical role spoilers - 96 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#so its bad to abort fetuses but okay to put real live fully developed human children at risk of being put in the icu or dying of covid???

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

It will always be enormously funny to me how embarrassing it is for Hannibal and Will to be in love. Like. It's embarrassing for Hannibal because Will is the exact opposite of a pretentious high-society gentleman and it's embarrassing for Will because his whole life revolves around catching serial killers and Hannibal is in fact the most notorious serial killer ever. Like good job empath boy!! You caught him!! But at what cost?

1719 notes • Posted 2021-01-17 18:14:00 GMT

#4

Thinking about how Hannibal compared Will to Patroclus, who died after being stabbed in the stomach, and then stabbed Will in the stomach in the very next episode

1967 notes • Posted 2021-01-07 22:57:05 GMT

#3

Thinking about them...

4138 notes • Posted 2021-07-30 23:54:53 GMT

#2

My favorite comments under the Signs You Read Too Much Fanfic video by coleydoesthing on YouTube

6664 notes • Posted 2021-01-16 18:00:14 GMT

#1

This felt so galaxy brain at 4am while going through a manic episode

7134 notes • Posted 2021-03-01 00:18:52 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[curioussubjects]

Y’all ngl I haven’t gotten around to watching Sacrifice yet because I simply lack the emotional structure for all that pilots tomfoolery (also as as a Kara stan it’s straight up not a good time, especially once s3 kicks in).

So, instead of watching, I did THIS: a timeline! it’s mostly WILD SPECULATION because of the timeline discontinuity issue with season 2, but I think it overall makes sense? Kinda helps put stuff in perspective, at least.

Many thanks to the wiki for having its own timeline compiled, so all I really had to do was try to fill in the gaps for science. 

THAT SAID: I didn’t add much pre-mini stuff because by all accounts it doesn’t make sense, especially how familiar Kara and Lee are with each other if they’d only had spent a weekend together or so (as the story bible establishes) -- how is it familiar that Lee finds her in the brig during the mini? we-just-don’t-know.gif. 

Dates and episode titles between brackets indicate that the information is purely speculative and based on extrapolation. 

Second thing: this timeline is centered on pilots generally because I wanted a better sense of the time frame I was working with for fix-it fic purposes. As such, this timeline also doesn’t go past the events of Maelstrom. 

Under cut for length.

Mini & Season 1

Zak’s funeral: -2 years (last time Kara and Lee see each other before Mini) Kara is reassigned to Galactica: -2 years Mini: 0-2 Colonial Day party: 49 Kara jumps to Caprica: 51

Season 2

Kara & Sam meet: 53 The Farm: 61-62 Astral Queen reunion: 62 Flight of the Phoenix:

Start: 84

End: [~160]

Pegasus & The Resurrection Ship: 

Start: [170]

End: 176-177 (Lee’s spacewalk)

Black Market:

[Start: ~178 

End: 210?]

(start date would make sense for flashbacks with Shevon based on Lee’s mental state and relationship with Dee)

Epiphanies: 189

Scar:

[Start: ~190

End: ~218]

(28 days of a mining operation, present day starts during day 28, assumed to star soon after Epiphanies because why not)

Sacrifice:

[Start: 225

End: 226]

(probably close after Scar based on the progression of Lee and Dee’s relationship) 

The Captain’s Hand: [~230] 

(likely that the Pegasus wouldn’t be without a commander too long after the events of Black Market, and Baltar’s population trends calculation timeframe -- see The Captain’s Hand entry)

Razor:

[Start: 231

End: ~250]

(start date based on when Lee assumes command of Pegasus, and end date is a rough estimate on when it would make sense for Kara to be transferred back to Galactica and plan the resistance rescue mission) 

Resistance Rescue Mission Brief: 269 Kara & co. jump to Caprica: 270 (New Caprica planet found) Kara & co. jump to Galactica: 282

Season 3

New Caprica settlement start:  ~300 Unfinished Business flashbacks: 420/421 Cylon Invasion: 660 (fleet jumps away) Kara’s kidnapping: [678] (counting back 4 months from when exodus starts) Contact with fleet established: 795 Kara and Kacey meet: 796 Galactica returns to New Caprica: 797 Exodus from New Caprica: 798-80

Torn: 850 Unfinished Business: 950

[Lee and Kara’s affair start: choose your own adventure]

[Food stores contaminated: ~960?] (based on how low food stores are when algae planet is found)

The Passage: [1020] (based on how low food stores are when algae planet is found)

The Eye of Jupiter & Rapture: 

Start: [1023- algae harvest start] (operation set up estimate)

End: 1038 (Mandala shows back up in Temple of Five)

(note: 49 days between Rapture and A Day in the Life)

Taking a Break from All Your Worries: [at least 1059]  (no earlier than ~3wks, so Kara’s burns heal fully, unlikely much longer than that because of how long it would take for Kara to confront Lee over his avoidance of her)

The Woman King: [~1080 ]  (likely not long after TaBfAYW or before ADitL due to Baltar’s trial proceedings)

A Day in the Life: 1087  (49 days after Rapture)

Dirty Hands: [1108]  (several weeks after Baltar gets a lawyer, so ~3weeks?)

Maelstrom: 

[Start: 1115

End:  1118]

(day 4 of refueling operations, fuel complications during Dirty Hands, ~1 week? + date range would roughly mark ~6 months since the boxing match in Unfinished Business and that’s nice) ------

Some much to think about (approximate) time lapses:

Mini - Maelstrom: 3 years and 3 weeks

Mini - Home: 2 months and 2 days

KLG - Home: 11 days

Home - Scar: 5 months and 5 days

Unfinished Business - The Eye of Jupiter: 3 months

Scar - UB flashbacks: 6 months and 23 days

UB flashbacks - Cylon Invasion: 8 months

TaBfAYW - (end of) Maelstrom:  2 months

[stillness-in-green]

MVA In Memoriam (3/5)

The Comprehensive Account of the Butchering of My Villain Academia

(Introduction and Part One, Episode 108: My Villain Academia) (Part Two, Episode 109: Revival Party)

Part Three, Episode 110: Sad Man's Parade

Chapter 229 – All It Takes Is One Bad Day

• The full first page, of Jin getting mobbed by Puppet!Jins, them tearing his mask off, and flinging it and then him away. Saved them a bit of budget, I suppose, but it’s a shame to lose the drama and the violence of Twice having his mask pulled away, since it’s decent foreshadowing (indeed, possibly intentionally so, on Skeptic’s part) for the violent bewilderment he’ll be subject to shortly.

• Re-Destro’s line, “Not when he’s using his meta-ability to puppeteer, unless you want another nagging lecture.” They didn’t keep the first nagging lecture, so of course they wouldn’t keep this. I’m still annoyed, both on general principle and at the loss of RD’s implication that these nagging lectures are a regular occurrence, especially if one tries to bother Skeptic when he’s using his meta-ability. Has RD himself been on the receiving end of one? Possibly so! But you’d be less likely to think so just from the anime.

• Re-Destro’s line, “This allowed our warriors to momentarily hold back and stay out of danger.” Because why would the audience need to know that Skeptic planned for and Re-Destro cares enough to observe something like that lol?? Obviously the MLA is perfectly content to just throw their peoples�� lives away because, whatever, more where that came from! Dammit, anime, the fandom believes this enough as it is without confirmation bias from your cuts!

• Skeptic’s “fufufu” laugh, because the anime is allergic to the MLA having fun.

• The police officer’s line, “Sure, but in a case like this, you’re still to blame.” The rest of the exchange hints at it, of course, but there’s a horrifying callousness to a police officer just saying straight to the face of a teenaged orphan facing his first offense, “Yes, you were obeying the law perfectly and this guy just ran out in front of you, but it’s going on your criminal record anyway, whatever.” A weight the anime lost, and another that makes me very suspicious of the patterns behind what, precisely, was put on the chopping block.[1]

• Jin’s narration, “That police officer couldn’t have known. Me neither.” Demonstrates that Jin doesn’t really hold his fall against the one policeman. It’s a consistent thread with Jin’s character that, while he’s very jaded, he’s not actually vengeful, nor is he looking to enact systemic change. While he’s very defensive of his friends, people who hurt Jin himself are never in any real danger of him coming to collect his pound of flesh in return; he just rolls with it as part of how the world works, in the way of someone who was never given reason to believe any different. This line is a good example of that.

• From Jin’s old employer’s angry rant, deletes the note that the client that called is angry, and that the client said, “That young punk of yours did this!” It’s nothing that wasn’t obvious from the rest of the conversation, but I do I think cutting it loses a sense that this guy is just unloading all of his frustration and fear on Jin. The length of the screed, the extra details—it clearly communicates that Jin’s boss is so angry and upset he’s not paying any real mind to filtering, but just recounting every point of contention the moment they come into his mind.

• In modern society, when you’re someone without roots… Well, not a lot of people can relate to that.” It isn’t just the police that failed Jin; it’s a whole society that’s distrustful of people who don’t have a place in the fabric, and thus are unwilling to try and bring them into it. Like Tenko, there are a thousand little places where someone could have reached out a hand, but no one ever did. The audience can intuit this, but I feel it’s better to be clear about it—it’s not just the legal system that screwed Jin over; it’s every other person that never tried to help him because they were afraid of his eyes or distrusted a guy who had no connections. When Shigaraki comes, he’s not going to be coming for heroes alone; he’ll be coming for this entire tapestry of indifference and timidity.

• Skeptic’s lines, “Hrm? Fighting back? I was sure he’d either flee or cower in place... We didn’t anticipate such unity between them.” This gets at two things. Firstly, and once again, that the MLA did their research; that they came into this with educated expectations and a definite plan. Secondly, an in-character observation of what the arc has been showing the audience all along: that the League isn’t just a disparate gang of hoodlums anymore; that they’re developing real bonds. Those bonds mark them as unusual—Re-Destro comments on it in 223, as did Overhaul in 147; even Mr. Compress remarks disapprovingly on Twice’s “habit” of getting overly attached to people. It’s striking that, even though the MLA knew from Giran’s records that the League was uncommonly well-bonded, Twice’s devotion still fell outside Skeptic’s parameters.[2]

• Again Skeptic’s line, “Now his legs.” The drones don’t actually get this far (though you can see them gearing up for it on the next page), so it’s a reasonable enough cut, but it does emphasize the ludicrous, over-the-top extremes Skeptic in particular is willing to go to in securing what he wants. If, you know, “Kidnap the doubler so we have a method to make copies of the Grand Commander at our leisure,” wasn’t bonkers enough.

• Twice’s line, “Even against Gigantomachia!” It really highlights just how much mental energy Twice has been dedicating to avoiding injury, that he was able to keep it in mind even fighting a foe as overwhelming, and for as extended a period, as Machia. And like, the anime blitzed over the Machia fight so quickly, and with so little visible wear and tear to the League, that it really could have used all the reminders it could find room for about how intense those six weeks were.

• Twice’s line, “I won’t watch a friend die!” Such an important line that the composer named an entire track for it, not that the anime gave us that track in the moment it was clearly scored for. They added in a new line later in the scene which mostly gets the important sentiments back in, but loses out in being slightly less fitting to his breakthrough. See the Additions portion of the write-up on Chapter 230, following.

Framing Shifts

• The policeman in Jin’s flashback looked up at him in the anime, where in the manga, his eyes stay down on his paperwork the entire time. I realize that anime can’t just still-frame every panel of a manga and call it an adaptation,[3] so characters will do things like move and look around in different directions just in the course of inhabiting a room, Still, in this case, it has the effect of making the officer look more alert and engaged than he was in the manga, and given that this whole chunk of backstory is about Jin slipping through the social safety net, it feels appropriate to me that the officer should be completely checked out.

Additions

• A new shot of Jin(s) in his pre-massacre doppelganger army days. Didn’t tell us anything we don’t already know—it’s little more than a new angle of the gang in the truck—but it was nice to see.

Bonus Note

• They left Re-Destro’s phrase, “My company,” alone when he was talking about the micro-transceivers Skeptic was using. That’s accurate to the manga, but I’d like to remind everyone that, at that point in the anime, viewers whose only reference is the anime itself have no idea that Re-Destro is a businessman. The show skipped the commercial, RD’s intro, the dinner scene where his company comes up, and Giran’s association of RD with Detnerat; it will further go on to skip Shigaraki recognizing him from the commercial. The news report mentioning Detnerat was ten full episodes prior to Episode 110, and was followed up on in not the faintest degree. For heaven’s sake, would it have been so hard to have Hirata Hiroaki say, “My Detnerat’s,” instead of just, “My company’s”?

Chapter 230 – Sad Man’s Parade

• Deleted the MLA members that are attacking Compress as they get pushed off by the Twice wave. Not the first time, and not the last, that the anime didn’t animate the random MLA people on the street. It’s hard to take the threat of their numbers seriously when the anime kept deleting them from what are supposed to be crowd scenes, you know?

• Mr. C thinking worriedly about Dabi as he’s mulling over Geten’s strength and disregard for catching his own people in the collateral damage. It’s just a, “Dabi—!” but it’s yet another tiny cut that shaves away at the manga’s clear depiction of Leagues’ concern for one another—even Mr. Compress, who claims that such things aren’t very villainous.

Framing Shifts

• Changed the random MLA’s exhortation to kill all the Twices to a generic, “Damn—!” I know American censors have often taken issue with the words “Kill” and “Die” in kids’ cartoons, but I was never of the impression that that was the case in Japan. And it’s not like the show made any bones about Curious planning to kill Toga. A rephrase to save a second and a half on dialogue, maybe?

• Had Skeptic give his lines about failure on the way over to the elevator instead of stalking over in silence, and then dumping the whole monologue all at once. The manga’s extended silence over three identically sized panels is much funnier and more characterful. I grow ever more confident in my assessment of Skeptic as the second-most ill-treated MLA character in this adaptation.

• The return of the Doom Choirs for the Twice Parade. I really wish the anime would lay off slathering Doom Choirs all over everything, especially a moment like this: a triumph for Twice, and, true to form for Twice, also crammed to the gills with visual and verbal gags. The Doom Choir is out of keeping with both the victory and the comedy—Mine Woman, later on, served the Parade much better.

Additions

• Gave Twice a new line, “I will protect my comrades!” It was nice to make up for his, “I won’t watch a friend die!” but the latter is more characterful, especially since a more literal translation is, “I won’t kill my friends!” Which is, you know, relevant to the fact that Twice has problems telling himself apart from things that just look like him, and he just had to intervene to stop some of those look-alikes from killing one of said friends. At least it got his use of nakama back in.[4]

• A new little cut of animation as the action went back to Geten and Dabi. I suppose the Dabi fans liked it, and it was nice to see more of Geten’s ice dragon, but I’d have much preferred they could keep the scenes we already have before adding new ones.

Chapter 231 – Path

The scene of Hawks wondering why he hasn’t heard from Dabi and his subsequent flashback to the last time they spoke were relocated to the beginning of Episode 102, the first thing the audience saw after the prior episode ended with Shouto inviting Bakugou and Deku to come intern with him at Endeavor’s. In the manga, of course, it’s not “a few weeks ago in Kyushu,” it’s “meanwhile in Osaka.” Also, the order of the scenes was flipped—the episode led with the flashback, then returned to the modern day. It really makes the timeline needlessly confusing—the viewer has no real context for what we’re seeing and when, especially since the anime neglected to specify how much time passed between the two scenes. You have to assume it was enough time for an outcry to be raised over Jeanist’s disappearance, but the random shot of a bird flying over was not at all helpful there.

          Alterations included (as usual, outright removed material is in bold text):

          1. Cut Hawks’ thought, “That’s why you keep calling,” and his line, “What’s the job?” I know I should give a breakdown here about Hawks’ mentality and training, but I’m afraid I don’t have it in me to complain about any lines Takami Keigo loses. God knows the anime gives him plenty enough bonus material.

          2. Spliced in the flashback scene of Hawks reporting to the Commission from Chapter 243, but subtly changed it to suggest that it took place after the phonecall in which Dabi demanded Hawks kill a non-Endeavor top hero, rather than it taking place right after Hawks and Dabi’s first contact, which is what the manga implies.

          3. Deleted several key shots in the Jeanist apartment scene, with the effect of making Hawks way less creepy. We got an anime-original shot of his eyes, narrow and serious, but not either of the shots of his big, off-putting grin and widened eyes as he pulls a feather-blade on Jeanist. We also lost a shot of Jeanist turning to face him, framed between extended primaries of Hawks’ Fierce Wings. It’s not like the anime dropped the fake!Dead Jeanist plot, so I’m not sure why the shift, unless it’s just that they wanted to keep Hawks likable for the merch-buying crowd, not creepy and unsettling. And while I personally never believed that Hawks really killed Jeanist, a lot of people thought it was plausible, no doubt based on how off-kilter he comes across in this scene. It loses a real frisson, to just play it straight.

• Shigaraki decaying a missile in mid-air. So Dabi can get those little animation flourishes but Tomura can’t, huh, anime? I see how it is. I. See. How. It. Is.

• Spinner’s little side comment about all the ice everywhere. A nice demonstration that Geten and Dabi’s fight really is affecting huge swathes of the city; that’s certainly apparent already in a bunch of the wide shots showing exactly that, but it’s helpful to have the more zoomed-in moments, too. Also, I do enjoy those little side quips wherever we get them, and the anime often removes them.

• Thinned out the crowd guarding the route to the tower somewhat (it’s particularly noticeable on the mid-distance rooftops) and, as best I can tell, removed Shigaraki and Spinner from the shot. Why keep all the lines harping on the 110,000 number when a) it’s not even accurate to the MLA’s forces, just the League’s assumptions, and b) the studio doesn’t even have the resources to adequately convey the numbers the manga does portray?

• Somebody in the crowd being defiant about Twice’s multiplication and vigorously declaring that the League are all just sacrifices for the MLA’s Revival Party anyway. The background nobodies? Allowed to express even bog-standard over-confidence? Well I never. How dare those people think their lives count enough for them to get dialogue.

• Spinner’s, “This keeps happening!” Of course he couldn’t have that line in the anime, since the anime cut the other big place Trumpet clearly used his power to rile up his followers. What other times were you even talking about when you said, “Every time he talks,” Anime!Spinner? That scene was the first time we even saw Trumpet since he welcomed you guys to town.

• Twice calling Re-Destro a cult leader. He just called him a damn moron (bakayarou) in the anime; he uses the considerably more specific baka kyouso (Google Translate gives “guru”; jisho gives “founder of a religious sect”). He uses the same term again immediately afterward—Viz’s translation gives, “More like chrome dome cult!”—which the anime also deleted.

          So here’s another example of the anime doing everything it could to erase the presence of cults in the HeroAca world. The easy assumption to make is that this was tied to broadcast standards about the depiction of what Japan refers to as “new religious movements,” which—and pardon the brief swerve into real life historical horrors here—have been very unpopular in Japan since Aum Shinrikyo and the sarin gas attacks in 1995. But were these elements removed because the anime didn’t want to represent anything that smacks of new religious movements at all, or because the depiction of both the MLA and particularly the CRC are explicitly villainous and calling religious movements, even made-up ones, evil on TV leads to a lot of angry phone calls?

• Re-Destro’s line, “Unlike my good Miyashita, there’s nothing charming about you.” Of course they’d cut this, having cut the Miyashita scene, but I hate it anyway. As I said earlier, RD’s invocation of Miyashita in front of two people who are going to have not the slightest clue who that is tells me that Re-Destro really does miss and feel bad about killing the guy. Cutting the reminder that RD still feels that sting makes it much too easy to assume that Shigaraki’s right about RD hiding up in his tower, uncaring of the blood shed on his behalf, when if you read Re-Destro with even the slightest of attempts at good faith, it’s clear that those losses weigh very heavily on him.

          Incidentally, and not to harp on the art again, but in the manga, Stress is still visibly spread down from RD’s temple to the ridge of his brow over his eye socket. The anime returned it back to its normal resting state, again suggesting that the death toll mounting in the streets below (as well as, possibly, the new stress of confronting a quirk as powerful as Double) left RD completely unmoved. The spread was back in the following shot, so it was probably just an art error, but it would be nice to have had fewer of those, especially when they impact characterization as much as what RD’s Stress blots are doing at any given time.

Framing Shifts

• Had Machia doing this weird cannonball skim just over the ground, when in the manga, he’s still half-buried, spraying earth and stone everywhere. The manga never namedrops Machia’s Mole quirk during the story itself, but it’s important to know for later that Machia can not only tear through obstacles, he can tear through obstacles extremely quickly.

Additions

• Gave Hawks a few new lines about how too many unexpected things happened for their last arrangement, and that Dabi should have given him more warning. Largely seemed to be there to give the anime an excuse to flashback to the High End fight, in case the viewers had completely forgotten about Hawks and Dabi having a clandestine meeting and sniping at each other in the aftermath of that event. An understandable addition, but deeply frustrating in the context of all the lines that got cut.

Chapter 232 – Meta Abilities and Quirks

• Dropped a third instance of Twice calling Re-Destro a cult leader. I don’t know what the S&P restriction is on this, but given that the movie was allowed to create and villainize an entire international terrorist cult, it is really incomprehensible that the MLA doesn’t get to keep their designation as such. Why?? Because the movie involves going out and defeating its cult, but the series is going to engage in a more sympathetic treatment?[5] Because the self-selecting movie crowd is less likely to complain than the TV audience? Did they just not want to draw attention to how much the movie was ripping off the MLA’s whole shtick? What??

• Missed that RD’s swole arm swipe wipes out the puppets Skeptic left behind; they just vanished from the scene entirely after Twice’s arrival. It’s hard to blame the anime for this; the manga also seems to lose track of the fact that they’re right there in between RD and the elevator—they’re nowhere to be seen anywhere between the end of Chapter 231 and the aforementioned arm swipe, where you can see them getting obliterated. Both versions could have stood to be more attentive to this; indeed, the anime could have fixed it, small error though it is.

• A sort of twitchy sparking around Shigaraki’s hand right after he decays the tower. This is foreshadowing that Shigaraki’s big AOE decay attacks are hard on his body, which will become extremely apparent after he unleashes it on the city at large during the climax, and factors into his decision to accept the mysterious power Ujiko offers. The damage Shigaraki sustains there doesn’t come out of nowhere; Horikoshi is, on the whole, extremely good at layering in foreshadowing many chapters before the foreshadowed elements come fully to light. It makes the writing look much messier than it actually is—more convenient, more pat—to delete this stuff.

• Shigaraki recognizing RD from the Detnerat commercials. Well, they ditched the Detnerat commercial, so of course they ditched this. Still, it lost one of the indicators that Shigaraki is, despite not receiving a formal education, actually quite up to speed on current events—even, apparently, when those current events are happening while he’s been fighting Machia in an isolated stretch of mountains for six weeks! I already suffer enough through fanon characterizations of Shigaraki in which he’s a basement-dwelling feral manchild glued to his gaming console whom AFO bans from accessing information about the outside world, anime! I don’t need you dropping the scenes that most clearly demonstrate otherwise!!

• In the anime, Baby!Chikara’s face was unmarked, just a normal infant face—you’d never even know the kid had a meta-ability just to look at him. In the manga, the skin of his face is clearly darker, contrasted against the paleness of his mother’s hand. It’s obvious that he’s not “normal” looking, and thus equally obviously would have attracted negative attention in his era.[6] Also had his mother smiling; her face in the manga is too shadowed and vague to make out an expression, befitting the murky tragedy of her story and the fear she must have been living with.

Framing Shifts

Additions

• A little thing: they had Twice echo, “Cushion?” when Clone!Shigaraki told him to get ready to cushion Giran’s fall. If anything, Re-Destro and his little thought-bubbled question mark is probably the one who should have had this reaction line.

• Added a visual for Clone-araki catching himself on the window. A perfectly reasonable way to fill screen time while a dialogue beat was ongoing.

• Added a panning still over a reaction shot from a bunch of Twice clones when the tower came down. It had a few good faces in it.

                                                           ---

So, generally, this episode was better. I definitely still had issues with it, but compared to what came before, when they were trying to cram 5+ chapters into the episodes, there were far fewer cuts, and what cuts and tweaks there were, were relatively minor. Definitely nothing that made me want to throw chairs Jerry Springer-style the way 108 and 109 did.

Sadly, I can't say the same for the remaining two episodes. Come back next time for Part Four, Episode 111: Shimura Tenko, Origin.

FOOTNOTES

[1] After witnessing the massacre that was Episode 108, I was convinced they were going to cut the policeman scene entirely, and just go right to Jin getting fired for hitting someone with his bike, letting the audience think it was his fault completely rather than cast aspersions on police and the justness of the law. I was pleased they kept it at all, but less pleased with the steps taken to soften the sharpness of its accusation.

[2] Of course, it’s not like the MLA themselves don’t understand the willingness to give everything for the people who matter. They just label those feelings Devotion To The Cause, and don’t think the League is capable of such resolution.

[3] Netflix’s Way of the House Husband, be told.

[4] Nakama is, of course, a shonen standby, but, to the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly limited; I don’t follow a lot of shounen series), it’s pretty rare to hear the word coming out of a villain’s mouth! Jin calling the League his nakama ties into how the League are both sympathetic villains in the larger story and also the protagonists of the current arc, thereby operating under a lot of protag tropes for the duration—foreshadowed by Spinner’s earlier talk of Shigaraki and his boyish, dream-chasing eyes.

[5] Sometime after the mass arrests, one hopes.

[6] This could well be a coloring error in the manga, but if so, you’d think they’d have corrected it for the volume release. Especially given that, again, the color is in a different shade/screentone than the shadow that covers most of his mother’s face, and her hand stroking Chikara’s chin isn’t shadowed at all.

[theuniversitychallengereview]

UC 51.28/29 - Edi vs Trinity & King’s vs B’ham

There is always so much stuff to do. I got a new desk on Friday, got halfway through putting it up on Saturday only to realise that one of the screws didn’t fit properly (turned out there was a rogue bit of metal on the end of the thread which I had to jimmy off with a screwdriver). So I had only just finished putting it up when I became immensely hungry because I hadn’t eaten anything since midday, meaning I had to go and eat some dinner, which then led onto my being distracted by the TV show my housemates were watching on Netflix, which in turn meant that I only had eight minutes in which to write both my review of last week’s episode and my introduction to this week’s. It was at that point I realised my Internet wasn’t working because I had unplugged the booster when I was moving things around to put my desk up, so I am now three minutes into this week’s episode with none of my preparation done, besides from this waffly nonsense…

The first of the two episodes covered in this post was Edinburgh vs Trinity, Cam - the last of the first set of quarter-finals. Both sides had been impressive in their opening two matches, but it was Edinburgh who romped to a comfortable victory in this match-up. 

Taking the first five starter questions gave them a massive cushion right from the off (the kind of cushion which is sort of oppressive, and dominates the sofa to the extent that you start to wonder if it should really be placed on the sofa at all and doesn’t deserve to be its own pseudo-seat placed directly on the floor). When Trinity finally win a buzzer race Paxman hits them with a wry ‘Oh, you’re awake. Good’

Trinity do have a go at trying to beat the cushion down to a more respectable size, but every time it looks as though they might get a foothold in the game, Edinburgh returned fire with some excellent buzzing, fluffing it right back up. By the time the gong sounded the gap was 135, only twenty more than it had been after the first five questions, showing that Trinity weren’t altogether outmatched, they were just a little late for the class trip to Dunelm.

Final Score: Edinburgh 230 - 95 Trinity, Cam

King’s, London vs Birmingham

The second episode of tonight’s double feature was between King’s College, London and the University of Birmingham, who had both lost their opening quarter finals. Heavily, in the case of King’s, and narrowly in the case of Birmingham. This, and their previous results might have indicated that the Midland side were the favourites, but you can never be certain of anything in the Challenge.

Beard opens the scoring for King’s with ‘pulse’, but they are unable to capitalise on a fun set of bonuses about places sharing parts of their names with Star Trek captains, giving, perhaps unfortunately, Picard instead of Picardy when the question had asked for the latter. Birmingham negged the next starter, allowing Rashid, dressed more for cricket than University Challenge, to make up for his mishearing blunder with ‘gossip’.

King’s aren’t doing too well on the bonuses, but another neg from Birmingham, this time a very flustered one, lets Bedwin in to bring up their half century. The picture starter is an incredibly easy family tree, one about The Godfather, and again this goes to Rashid, who is able to recognise The Buendias from One Hundred Years of Solitude to take one of the bonuses.

Finally, Birmingham get off the mark, with a starter from McParlan. This brings them back to their starting score of zero, and a couple of bonuses brought them for the first time into the positives. Sathyanath then gives Birmingham a taste of their own medicine with an incorrect interruption, but their Midland rivals are unable to take advantage of this, and King’s get back in with the very next starter. The teams now share one hundred points, ninety of which belong to the Londoners.

On the music starter, Sathyanath thinks that De La Soul are the Beastie Boys, while Robinson knows that its De La Soul. The first bonus is the Beastie Boys, however, so Sathyanath hadn’t been that wrong, despite the initially scathing tone of the above sentence when I first wrote it. Next up is Public Enemy, which they get, and Run DMC, which they don’t. 

This lights a fire under Birmingham though, and they go on a bit of a run themselves, closing to within ten points. Rashid got the next starter to spoil the fun, but the teams now shared two hundred points, ninety of which belonged to the Brummies. A viciously early buzz from Bartelle gave Birmingham the chance to draw level with only a few minutes left, which they duly did, with a full set of bonuses on British politics.

Last week, I had been planning on weaving an analogy involving the stupendous comeback made by Rafa Nadal in the final of the Australian Open. But unfortunately, its taken me the whole week to get round to writing the review of that episode, and Edinburgh won so comfortably as to render the comparison unmakeable. It is also unfortunate that I cannot use that analogy about this week's episode, because although Bimingham battled valiantly back from the brink, and indeed tied the game, it was King’s Rashid, on this occasion, who was able to win the final starter. Game, set, match (and in the case of King’s, another match, because they have to play and win again if they are to progress beyond the quarter-final stage) 

Final Score: King’s 140 - 115 Birmingham

I’d like to end this post with a word on Bamber Gascoigne, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87. I wasn’t around to see him on University Challenge in his pomp, but recently I’ve been watching a lot of archived episodes on YouTube, and his energy and enthusiasm for the show is infectious. He’s clearly having a great time presenting, and the contestants feed off of this. 

By all accounts he was a charming man, and he had a massive cultural impact as a result of his twenty five years hosting the program. He also shared his exact birthday with my Nan, so he must have been great. Let’s keep his legacy going, with another starter for ten…