#like he doesn't have any money and all his stuff is on the revenge

[areyoudoingthis]

all i get from the discussions about stede's masculinity and what he should and shouldn't do and should and shouldn't be in s2 is that none of you understood a lick of that show

[kujakumai]

On the subject of being good with children, which characters do you think WOULD be good babysitters?

YUGIOH CHARACTERS AS BABYSITTERS, RANKED

TOP PICKS:

Seto Kaiba runs an entire company dedicated exclusively to safely entertaining children, and unless his parks are getting continually sued I believe he knows how. Your kindergartner is not only safe with him but will probably leave knowing how to play chess and write in C++. He may allow them to play with knives, but only if they're 9 or over, plus he has all the emergency numbers on speed-dial.

Hiroto Honda babysits his niblings on the regular. Can warm a bottle and change a diaper. A level-headed and practical guy. He’ll be fine as long as his friends don't drag him into a horrible game-themed deathtrap. Don't ask why that caveat exists.

Rishid Ishtar is safe, experienced, has dad energy, however he will crumple like wet paper at the first sign of conflict re: ice cream for dinner / no bedtime / blood-soaked cross-country quest for revenge / an extra episode of cartoons over the screentime limit.

Ishizu Ishtar would make a great babysitter. I don't really have a quirky joke here she just would.

"MAYBE"S

Jonouchi used to watch his little sister and I think he'll do about as well as any other teenager you're paying minimum wage, and with a lot of earnest enthusiasm. Your child will be fine at the end of the night, though they will probably have eaten some junk food and played a T rated videogame.

I do not think Atem would know what to do with a baby, and may panic about it, though if you have an older child he will be happy to offer a rousing speech and some deep-voiced mentorlike advice while teaching them to play board games. Not a bad choice, just try not to leave him with anyone under seven.

Yugi knows zilch about kids and often appears a little annoyed by them. Same general rules as Atem--do not leave him with a baby, but he'll probably just teach an older kid to play shogi or something.

Mai Kujaku will put the kid in front of the television and order pizza while she paints her nails. Honestly, though, what more are you paying her for?

Listen, I love Anzu. I do. She’s smart, driven, and big-hearted, but she is also sort of short-tempered and impatient, and patience is like 90% of child-rearing. Please do not ask Anzu Mazaki to watch your children. She WILL say yes because she needs the money, and she WILL go into it with optimism and gumption, and yes, both she and your child will both be in one piece at the end of the night, but it will be clear from both of their frazzled expressions that she lost most of her sanity an hour in after the fifth "Why?"

DEFINITELY NOT

Ryou Bakura would in theory be a perfectly good, if kind of spacey, babysitter, but you cannot trust him to remain Ryou Bakura, and the other guy is definitely not someone you want anywhere near your children.

I don't think Marik Ishtar has ever interacted with a child for very long and the number of people he talks to that are even his own age is in the single digits. And he is definitely not getting spat on or dealing with any bathroom stuff. I'm not saying he can't figure it out but the learning curve is going to be steep.

I have to put Yami Bakura here in principle and yet for some reason I think it wouldn't go that bad? I mean he definitely doesn't care about the safety of your child. And he may enlist them to the armies of darkness. And he's not cleaning anything up. But he's like, a weird socially awkward over-the-top guy? And children love those? Honestly I think they would both have fun. For at least an hour until everything goes horribly wrong.

Please do not summon Zork Necrophades to babysit your child.

[tevantarlos]

Unpopular Opinion 911 - et all

I'm a bisexual woman and I've known that I'm bisexual since I was 11 years old. I legitimately am attracted to both men and women.

I've been watching 911 since 2 months after season 1 ended in 2018. I got into the show for Bathena and have loved them ever since.

I keep seeing people complaining on the official show pages about how Athena abuses her authority as a cop, and while they're not wrong, they're also blowing things way out of proportion. I'm pretty sure the people saying that have never watched the NBC show Chicago PD, because if you compare what Athena's done, to what Voight on Chicago PD has done, you'd know that the stuff she's done has been pretty tame.

On Chicago PD:

1. Voight has locked people up in a cage and literally tortured them for information.

2. He has killed people for revenge. He killed the guy who killed his son, Justin. He killed the guy or people who killed Al. There are probably even more occurrences than that, but these are the one's that mainly come to mind for me.

3. He literally threatened Matt Casey, Hallie Thomas, and Gabby Dawson, when his dumbass son, Justin, was on drugs and caused an accident which paralyzed someone, because they could report Justin to other police who would've actually locked Justin's stupid ass up. I get that Voight was trying to protect his kid, but that doesn't make this shit okay. Also, it's weird as hell that Antonio worked with Voight for 6 years. How the hell did Antonio not kill Voight for threatening his sister's life? That's garbage.

4. He literally stole money and drugs from criminals.

5. He has threatened his detective's lives on more than one occasion, and not in some way to make sure they are more careful and protect themselves, but as a legit threat.

Returning to my 911 thoughts.

Oliver Stark has claimed that he's been playing Buck as bisexual the entire time. No, he has not. He just wants the clicks and attention from pretending that this has been happening all along. Buck has had no interest in men until season 7 and the BuckTommy storyline happened.

The episode of Lone Star that's the crossover, doesn't prove Buck is bi. He wasn't flirting with TK, it was a misunderstanding on TK's part. Buck is literally confused when TK says that he's with someone, as he wasn't flirting with TK, he was only inviting TK to come to LA as a friend to hang out.

Buck says on the show that he's checked out hot guy's asses before. He hasn't done that in canon. It's one of many things that they claim is canon, but isn't because it happened off screen. He has literally been obsessed with women from the first time we see him, until Tommy returns in season 7.

Buck can't even say that he's bisexual on the show. He hasn't done any research, when he used to research everything. He hasn't spoken to people like Hen, Karen, or even Josh in depth about his feelings for men. There was one scene, right before the relationship ended, where he talked to Josh, which didn't even amount to anything and was just a waste of time since they made Tommy OOC and broke up with Buck. Hell, he (Buck) didn't even know after 6 months that Tommy was gay and not any other identity.

All this to say, 911, TM, OS, they don't genuinely give a shit about Buck, his supposed bisexuality, Tommy, or even the other main characters on the show. From one episode to the next, they have them say one thing and then retcon it right after.

The whole Buck is bi thing was a hoax. They just wanted to attract the gay and bisexual crowd back to the show since Henren and Josh haven't been getting that much screentime, and Buck and OS are like the golden child of the show. People think he's an idiot, but that he's a sweet idiot, who can do no wrong.

As I stated above, I started watching 911 before season 2 even aired. I don't like the way the show is handling their characters and storylines and I'm finally getting tired of the shitty writing. I love Bathena, I love Henren, I love Madney, I loved BuckTommy. However, if Tommy is thrown aside like yesterday's trash and Buck moves on, only to fuck a bunch of women and/or men with the excuse of exploring his sexuality, I will be checking out and dropping the show.

I like Buck's character, but he's not the reason I watch the show. He's also not enough to keep me watching. Henren are constantly being threatened to have their kids taken away. Bathena is constantly put in crazy life or death situations that end in some super unrealistic way: Kid landing a plane, remember? Madney don't have anything interesting going on. Literally, all they have going on, is that they're having another kid. Eddie has spent years obsessed with his dead wife, Josh hasn't had much of a plot in years, since the only boyfriend he's had on the show was some homophobic jackass who lied and said he was gay, so that he could beat Josh up.

May is gone, Harry is gone, Sue is gone, Carla is gone, Chris is gone. All the side characters that helped make the show a little interesting, is gone. The found family dynamic is lacking or entirely absent this season. Also, making the point to show Tommy sad and longing for a family, only for him to end up sad and alone, doesn't make me want to keep watching this show.

I think I'm finished bitching for now. I know that my thoughts are all over the place, but I've kept my mouth shut on how I feel about OS and Buck's bisexuality, this whole time, but now I'm finally going to fully speak up.

As always, I know many or even most people aren't going to agree with me and that's fine. This is just my feelings and opinion on the show.

[cannellee]

hey, pls cant you do Mikey, Izana, hanma, kakucho and koko (manila arc) with a s/n temperamental, impulsive, umpredictable Dear who as bipolarity and 0 empathy, insensitive with mbti intj? Bean years younger than them, like a teenager. Thanks!

TOKYO REVENGERS OMEGAVERSE ★

୨୧ alpha! Tokyo revengers x omega! Reader (pairing: mikey, izana, hanma, kakucho, kokonoi)

— their reactions to an unstable s/o

(that's a lot! I'm not very familiar with any of these - forgive me if it's not really representative - and I'm not sure if I quite wrote the reader you had in mind. I hope you still like it!!🫶🏼 I just realized i forgot kokonoi, I'll probably do it later if I'mmotivated sorry)

my masterlist : ☆

KAKUCHO

he is very attentive of every single details about you and completely supports you no matter what.

he always has the right words when you're feeling down and respects your boundaries.

he often hesitates to leave you some alone time or to actually listen to his instincts and stay by your side.

he's aware you value moments of calm and peace and doesn't want to interfere and stress you out.

he's so delicate with you and always there during your episodes. he started to take note of your triggers and symptoms early in the relationship to make sure he could offer you the best support.

if you have to take treatments or medications, he has it all planned, he knows exactly when you need to take them and make sure you do. he doesn't want to risk your health!

he's so patient with you:( when you get irritable easily he gives you time and space and silently envelopes you with his calming pheromones. and when your thoughts are racing and you're not able to talk clearly, he's making you slow down, he doesn't mind if you repeat yourself and stutter over your words : he's actively listening and nodding along to whatever you say.

MIKEY

mikey tries his best to be understanding but honestly he sometimes crosses the line.

he knows you have a short temper and gets angry easily, especially when you're tired. most of the time, he'll try to appear calmer to make up for your restlessness, but there are times where he'll purposely get on your nerves.

angry, you end up saying something hurtful to him to make him shut up and go inside your nest to get some rest. he's kinda used to you cursing at him so he doesn't really take it to heart. it kinda amuses him if you ask, he just thinks you're really cute. his adorable omega getting all worked up everytime he messes up with her is truly a sight to see for him.

he's very careful with you though, and that's something people don't usually notice. you tend to do things out of the blue without a second thought and that scares mikey. it's most of the time harmless stuff, but he can't help but worry and think of the worst.

he tries his best to make sure you feel at home and comfortable with him. he doesn't judge you or anything. if you don't want to do anything at all and rest all day, that's fine with him, he'll even help you build your nest!

the only thing he wants from you is to stay loyal to him and never leave him or for you to hurt yourself. he values your health, probably more than you and accepts any of your mood swings with teasing remarks and comforting hugs.

IZANA

he's so whipped he absolutely doesn't care about anything you can do or say to him.

you can suck the money out of his wallet and not even thank him and he'll accept it. you often demand things from him, order him around when you need to do your nest but you're too tired to do so, make him buy you the finest jewelry and lash out at him if you don't get what you want. izana does it all and feels proud to be able to fulfill all of his precious omega's needs.

you often surprise him with your antics. it's not rare for you during one of your manic episodes to engage in risky behaviours and being overconfident. lucky for you izana is always keeping you under his watch and is quick to bring you somewhere safer and eliminate any danger.

he's always impressed at how long you're able to sleep. he'll leave for work early and come back at night and find you at the exact same place. it warms his heart to see his sweet omega looking so peaceful he wants to join you right here right now!

he does his best to keep up with your change in appetite. he constantly buys you a lot of food, the most diverse he can find and lets you do your little selection each day. he does worry when you eat very little though. that's why he tries to buy sweets and snacks he knows you love best. he's able to adapt himself very quickly, that's why he identifies which food you like to have during each episode or depending of your symptoms.

When you reject what he offers you with a scowl on your face, he takes it to heart and actually feel like he somehow failed as your alpha. he listens to any of your requests in hopes to make up for his mistakes.

HANMA

good luck with him tbh.

he met you when you were studying at the library of your university, although you surely were the prettiest omega he had ever seen, you seemed to drive people away from you. you didn't engage in social interactions and answered him with short and cold responses when he tried to make a conversation with you.

he actually is very fond of your extreme mood and snarky remarks : you never hold back your words and he loves it.

he doesn't reciprocate because deep down he cares a lot about you, but he does tease you when you don't seem really sensitive.

hanma absolutely lives for your choices and decisions in life, it doesn't matter how crazy and dangerous they are. he'll follow you and discreetly make sure you don't jeopardize yourself.

he has a lot of money and he'll happily let you spend it. he only asks for a few kisses and affection from you because he knows you hate that. push him away and he'll come back even more in love.

although he supports everything about you, there are things he doesn't tolerate. when you once felt like trying drugs and alcohol together, he took them away from you and looked the most angry he ever had. you would have shaken in fear if you were just any omega : his pheromones were filled with worry and anger, it was a new scent for him who was always so confident.

actually convinces you to quit school to live with him. your episodes make it hard for you to be around others for long periods of times, especially since you're an omega and you're drained easier of your energy. he doesn't understand why you just don't accept being with him 24/7.

you sometimes question why you actually listened to him because he seems to love provoking you. you do threaten him but he doesn't care.

[powerpuffobsession]

First time writing an essay about Helluva Boss. Episode 2.10, Ghostfuckers

So, episode 2.10...

I have a lot to say about it considering all the previous episodes. First of all, I'm glad that the senior man managed to punch Millie through a wall. She deserved that for all the innocent humans she, Blitzo and her husband murdered in episode 1.3 (I remind you that this is a cartoon about imps who are serial murders, and DHORKS are not the villains but rather just looking for revenge, uguuu U_U)

I'm just disappointed that Blitzo didn't get punched (because he's a traumatized uwu baby in this one and that would break him in half, I guess)

Now, let's get to it, to the bad and a bit of good

Animators and voice actors are still killing it, they are the ones single-handedly saving this show (had it not looked so pretty compared to Family guy or RiIck and Morty, I'd never even given it the light of day with its writing, because my eyes would just bleed and I'd close the tab. I'm a sucker for beautiful animesque designs, what can I say)

The fighting scenes are much more fluid now, my head doesn't hurt from watching them too

But the writing... The best way to describe this is "Uncanny Valley"

Because Brandon Rogers basically made fanfic inside fanfic. The whole show is already full of loopholes, strange turnarounds and retcons, etc. And Ghostfuckers looks like a stand-off fantasy that first goes on about some fanon version of Millie Brandon would like to see if he was the one who came up with the idea of Helluva boss... And then it switches abruptly to canon Millie, because we have to remember that this is still an episode of Vivziepop's show

This is what we get when Vivziepop is too grossed out by having to develop her female character and dumps it wholly on another writer (for the second time in a row already)

The switch between that cold-blooded and unfriendly Millie and the current awkward happy-go-lucky Millie is just too unnatural. I don't see any hints in the previous episodes about her being such a stock "cool gurl" in the past. It feels like yet another idea that was mashed into the show out of nowhere with no planning (like Stolas and Blitzo meeting as kids or Stolas being a helpless soy-bean victim)

I hate how the show tries to go in the direction of posing Blitzo as a local savior-wannabe who supposedly made the lives of Moxxie and Millie better.

No, he didn't....

I have eyes and ears. I saw how he humiliated Moxxie and made fun of him, he made threats to him and Millie, stalked them outside of work and he still refuses to stop doing that, he DOESN'T EVEN PAY THEM, INSTEAD WASTING ALL THE MONEY ON RANDOM STUFF AND SHAMELESSLY TELLS THEM ABOUT IT DIRECTLY (especially in episode 2.10, do you know what it means not to be paid for a MONTH when you are depending on yourself and not living off your parents money, like Millie and Moxxie?)

In real life, Blitzo would have been told to go fuck himself and all his workers would have left him a long time ago. But in vivziepop's verse Blitzo is apparently the only employer in Wrath ring, I dunno...

I feel like Millie comforted and thanked Blitzo out of pity just so he would stop whining. I remember how she didn't show up to help him escape from the humans in the last short (Moxxie wasn't captured that time unlike in 1.6 episode, so she was unbothered). I tell you, the gurl is hiding her true disdain for Blitzo, since he's her boss. I know two-faced when I see one (and I don't blame her at all)

However, with what condition Blitzo is in in this episode, I have quite a few nasty words to say about Stolas

This is the second or third or maybe even fourth time we've heard how Blitzo ruins the lives of everyone in hell (literally, he gets a whole ass party dedicated to how bad he is, thrown by almost half of hell - writing overkill much?), how he should change, etc... My question is, when will the same be said to Stolas?

Stolas performed the same disgusting scheme a lot of toxic partners have always been using: he tamed Blitzo, he made Blitzo feel like he (Stolas) is important and irreplaceable, Stolas pretended to be kind to Blitzo (when in reality all he wanted from the imp was sex, otherwise he would have requested something else in exchange for the book, it was not that hard to do you know)... And then Stolas got all offended completely out of the blue (just because Blitzo hesitated before accepting his gift, seriously?) and ditched Blitzo while sincerely partaking in an insulting song dedicated to Blitzo at the "Fuck you Blitzo party)...

That bird bitch knows exactly what he's doing. He knew Blitzo would get used to the idea that Stolas only wants sex and doubt Stolas' attempt at selflessness (with the Asmodeus' crystal). Stolas can't be so clueless if he's 30-something years old, I can't stand how Vivziepop infantilizes her characters right at the times when they should realize their wrongdoings and self-improve

If Stolas is not going to understand the damage he did to Blitzo and apologize to him, AND if they are going to still be the end game after all... That'd be a pure romanticization of Stockholm syndrome

You can't have Blitzo as this scapegoat who is somewhat held responsible for his actions (he is at least feeling guilty sometimes and trying to do.... something??? to fix things) and then show someone who's emotionally abusing him as this innocent suffering being. I hate black-and-white writing where the author is playing favourites when it comes to conflicts between characters

Now the small things:

Moxxie wears a bra apparently. Transmale Moxxie headcanon confirmed? (I know his horns are black and white, but he could have dyed them)

I find it funny how the characters keep conversing smugly while fighting and jumping all over the place. Can you stop for one minute and breathe? You're all gonna end up with pink eye one day I swear

The fight scenes are still a repetitive mass of random noise and movement. And that's why in my opinion they last for longer than they should. Helluva Boss is trying to be Samurai Jack with its suspense and various styles/pacing of action, but fails

I loved the scene where Blitzo was tortured by the hallucinations of his past. Helluva boss does a decent job at creepy stuff for a stupid comedy-drama cartoon. The scene where a fantom of his mother shows up and burns in his arms is especially cinematically strong. Blitzo really got stabbed where it hurt the most

Blitzo is more vulnerable than Millie in this episode in general. His past is screwed up big time for a lot of reasons, so he's got a lot of trauma buttons one can push to easily drive Blitzo into a helpless snotty-teary state. Millie, in contrast, is living her best life in hellish terms - she's got loving parents, strong body and personality, no guilt on her shoulders, literally nothing to be ashamed or guilty of. The villain tries to tell her that she's miserable, and she's just laughing in his face because she KNOWS it's not so. That's why Millie keeps protecting Blitzo in 2.10 episode. It's an interesting chemistry and I'm glad it got explored

Though I still don't get how Millie meeting her husband is Blitzo's merit. Not like he actively helped them get together, to of the goodness of his heart too, I sincerely doubt it, given how egoistical, abusive and immature Blitzo is

I hate how Blitzo keeps talking about sex only at some times. It's like a psychosis or something. "Adult cartoon should feature sex talk, because that's how it happens in real life, grow up". In real life anyone would get dirty looks if they spoke in "sex fuck FUCK SEX FUCKING FUCK I want to get it up my ass I WANT SEX" only at the most inappropriate times, so piss off, it's cringe. I get it how Vivziepop and her crew find the mere word "sex" funny, as well as swear words (someone did not grow out of their middle school phase), but can we have other jokes please? The "read the chains" one was kinda funny as well as the high five scene from the 1.3 episode. I want more comedy stuff like that, though it takes effort to come up with that

Speaking of which, I hated the part where a disfigured person who can't even blink is made fun of. Especially how Blitzo and Millie demonstratively express disgust upon seeing her. Unhealthy people are not a joke!

The villain was bland. He's basically just a tool to make Millie and Blitzo get character development. No charisma, no memorable lines or scenes (his transformation to his true form was sort of spicy but lacked something still), no clear motivation. He didn't pass the sexy tumblrman test, I have no memories of him

No s*icidal Millie in this episode. I'm glad about that because that conflict just doesn't suit her (I also think that her reflections about feeling unimportant in 2.5 episode were bullshit, she has no reason for that). If anything it would have been logical to give Moxxie the s*icidal tendencies and the problem of feeling unimportant - he's weak, sensitive, gets mocked and bullied a lot, has a troublesome and dark past with an abusive father.... It'll be a missed potential if until the very end his suffering is going to be taken as just a joke instead of being explored as a serious issue (though we all know vivziepop is going to leave it as that)

Thankfully Luna didn't murder Moxxie at his most neurotic and vulnerable state and didn't ignore his attempt at burning himself with all the papers (I get you, man... Paperwork sucks majorly sometimes). She even gave him an ice cream! When Millie asked Luna to watch over Moxxie, I actually was worried she and Blitzo would return to see Moxxie dismembered and pissed at all over or something. Because this is the same Luna who abused Blitzo (someone who literally allows her to live carefree at his expense), and bullies Moxxie on a daily basis... Blitzo didn't even die when making her do the unnecessary work of burning the owl taxidermy. Is she on antidepressants or something in this episode?

I rate this episode as 7/10

[follows-the-bees]

Stede Bonnet character study in 2x7.

What the audience sees and what Stede sees/feels/thinks are different, and I think that's a really important perspective to consider, especially with everything that happens in Man on Fire.

When Ed went to the party in 1x5, he was having the time of his life at first: dancing, making up stories, winning them over. And then when they turned, he had Stede. Stede came through using the "upper crust use cutting remarks" method.

In a direct parallel, in 2x6, this time Stede is getting recognition. His entire life he's been bullied, beaten down, laughed at and - just like Ed - he is having fun being the center of attention. This has never fully happened to him, even his crew - especially at the beginning - didn't fully respect him.

So, let's talk about Stede's perspective of Ed and his crew vs our audience perspective.

We know the crew loves Stede, he is their captain - for better or worse - but they continually choose to stay with him and use the methods he taught them to get through: the act of grace, Jim telling Fang the story of the wooden boy to make him feel better, the marooned crew continually to stick with him at Spanish Jackie's and saving money to buy a new vessel, using the safe space talk when the two new crews come together and the trauma makes them paranoid of each other. And of course, arts and crafts time to bring them together again as a crew but also to present Izzy the unicorn leg and welcome him unconditionally.

Out of all these instances, Stede only sees the act of grace and them sticking together and getting back to the Revenge.

Stede has been prioritizing his crew a lot more this season - even over his self interests (mainly, there is some stuff we can talk about how he immediately leaves after Ed is voted off the ship and then spends all day with him and brings him back.) But he kicks Calico Jack off, he saves the marooned crew from the island, and then for the Pirate Queen's ship, holding back his grief of Ed's death, only going to him after the crew is safe. And after he realized how much the curse was affecting him, he does ultimately give up the suit.

Now Ed. We of course see how much Ed loves him. I wrote a lot about Stede's perspective of Ed coming to his room after he kills Ed and how much that is a substantial moment for them. Not just because of the sex but because in the past Ed shuts down and leaves when Stede stands up (when he kicked Calico Jack off - Ed leaves, he doesn't do anything when Izzy challenges Stede to a duel, etc)! So Stede is afraid Ed will leave, but Ed doesn't, he shows up. He's there for Stede. Read that meta here.

But we also know what's going on with Ed's head, his insecurities coming back, his wanting to not be a pirate and seeing Stede become the biggest one right now. But Stede doesn't get it.

So everything spirals so quickly in 2x7, Man on Fire. As I mentioned previously, Stede is enjoying being the center of attention after a life of not having any respect from anyone.

And in his mind, him and Ed are partners. "But we're a partnership" it's already set in his mind, probably further cemented by them sleeping together and taking that next step. So he goes to Ed, realizing he's not by his side and Ed tells him he's leaving, already made up his mind, randomly mentions the fish - which Stede doesn't understand the meaning of - and then tells him that last night was a mistake. This has to be a mindfuck for Stede. Ed chooses to come to him and then immediately saying he regrets it - we know it's not the sex but the moving too fast - and is leaving, something that he was already afraid of happening and he thinks has happened in the past when Ed shut down. He tried to salvage it "well, you know, this can be whatever we want it to be."

So now, his boyfriend broke up with him and he's spiralling even more, and like Ed does when he is spiralling (hides under a blanket or in a blanket fort, or Stede's robe, getting comfortable and warm) Stede surrounds himself with people. His own warm blanket of loose acceptance.

But then he sees his crew getting supposedly poached. (I'm not sure if he actually knows anything about Olu and The Queen). And now everything comes crashing down again. Ed left him, his crew is leaving him, he doesn't think he's good enough. All those insecurities, things falling apart. And his self esteem issues are raging.

And then Steak Knife dies (I assume he is supposed to be dead) for him. Another person to haunt Stede's dreams.

Yes, you can read Stede challenging The Queen only as an ego trip, but in no way do I think that's all of what's happening. It is more of a frightened traumatized man at his wits end trying to save his family. "We've been through hell together."

Everyone is leaving him, he's got tears in his eyes, and he's doing something, anything to keep his family together. Even if it's something against an opponent he can't win against. Cause isn't it better to at least show his crew he's there for them again, than have to see everything he has built, he has loved, walk away from him?

[ihni]

Imagine, a charity auction - you know, those ones from the movies where people bid on another person and it's like a "date" or a picknick or whatever. I'm not sure about the setting or the story behind it (school? basketball fundraiser? country club stuff?), but Steve goes there (is dragged there, perhaps) and he's Over It already and thinks it's stupd, but he's got money and it's for charity so whatever, he figures he'll do his duty and bid on someone and maybe have a meal and exhange awkward small talk with whoever, and then go home.

Anyway, to his great surprise, Billy Hargrove is one of the people who have agreed to be auctioned off for charity (unknown to Steve is that the charity is for abused kids or animals, and Billy feels Strongly about that, okay?). And like, he's wearing a good shirt, unbuttoned to his chest, and tight jeans and he's smiling with white teeth and his hair is perfect and Steve hates him suddenly, is filled with rage about this guy, his bully, standing there and smiling and thinking he's gonna bring in a lot of money and probably, like, score with whoever buys him.

And the announcer must know that Billy will bring in the most money, because she saves him for last, and when she presents him she wags her eyebrows and says that whoever buys Billy will have him all to herself, for the whole evening, and that he's up for almost anything and like, Steve wants to throw up a little.

But then an idea hits him and he thinks, what better way for payback than to bid on Billy? If he wins, Billy will be his for the whole evening; he can make Billy do whatever he wants - like rearrange the garage or clean the upstairs bathroom with a toothbrush. Or maybe, just maybe, he can demand an apology for that time when the guy gave him a concussion - he doubts that it'll be sincere, but just the possibility of watching Billy Hargrove growl out an apology, however insincere, is enough to have Steve's heart speed up.

Okay, so the most likely thing to happen is that Billy will laugh in his face and refuse to do anything Steve tells him to do, but at least if Steve wins, Billy won't be going home with any of the women here. Won't get laid, if that's what he's counting on. And honestly, even if Steve won't get to live out his petty revenge fantasies, it'll be worth it just to ruin the guy's plans for the night.

So Steve checks his wallet, and then waits until the bids are trailing off - they're already higher than for anyone else, and perhaps not so strangely, it's mostly adult women who have been bidding - and then he clears his throat and doubles the latest bid.

Everyone turn to look at him, but Steve only has eyes for Billy. His eyes are very blue in the light of the spotlight where he's standing, and wide as if startled. The smile has fallen off his face, but he quickly puts it back when people's attention drift back to him for his reaction.

The gavel falls, and Steve has just won Billy Hargrove for the rest of the day.

Now. What happens next? It could be a kind of pick-your-own-adventure kind of thing.

Romantic/fluffy: They are awkward at first, but they eat their food and Billy really IS kinda different like this, when it's just the two of them, and maybe Steve asks about why he even did this, and Billy lets slip that he really DID do it for the charity, that he doesn't care about the ladies but the CAUSE, and maybe he thanks Steve for the bid. Says that it will help a lot of kids/animals. And that thank you startles Steve, because who knew that Billy could be polite, huh? Human, almost. So he doesn't go through with his plans of making Billy work for it, but instead they just hang out for the rest of the night and like, they CLICK, you know? And in the end Steve confesses that he was GOING to make Billy do menial work as payback, and when Billy laughs and asks why he didn't, he just shrugs. "I don't know," he says. "This was ... better, I guess." And Billy looks down and then back up and licks his lips and nods, too. "It was good. Thanks. For not making me scrub your bathroom with a toothbrush." And they laugh, and then maybe they drink a little more and i don't know HOW but once they're both a little tipsy and interested and such, they kiss, too.

Angsty af: Billy 100% definitely expects the worst. He heard what the announcer said, too, and he's seen the leering way these women looks at him and he KNOWS it's a meat market, barely veiled prostitution, okay, so he knows what's expected of him by whoever wins. He's been psyching himself up for it - he's gonna sleep with whoever wins him, and he'll make it worth their while because while he won't enjoy it, it's what's expected of him and besides it's for a good cause and it means that he can somehow help kids/animals who are being abused so he'll just ... do it. But then STEVE is the winner, and Billy is so confused. Because he knows that Steve hates him, he's never made a secret out of that ... so why did he bid on Billy, when he has to know what kind of auction this is? (Spoiler alert, it's not REALLY that kind of auction, but of course Billy believes it is) Obviously it's payback, right? Right. So Billy squares his shoulders and figures he's gonna take this, too - if he can sleep with some old lady, then he can definitely stomach Steve and whatever the guy has in store for him (because at least Steve is a GUY, and also maybe possibly Billy might have had a tiiiiny crush on Steve since he rolled into town. Okay it's not so tiny. Okay it's still ongoing. Fuck). It's not gonna be like in his fantasies, maybe - Steve still hates him, after all - but he'll take what he can get. And so when they get somewhere alone and Steve starts making awkward smalltalk, maybe Billy is so set on what he's sure going to happen, that he decides to take the first step. Get it over with. Rip the bandaid off. So he turns so he's facing Steve and is like "Okay, so how do you wanna do this?" Steve looks confused and is like, "What?" Billy continues, powering through, "How do you want me? On my knees, or ...?" or maybe he just drops to his knees, to show that he's not gonna back out, he's not a pussy ... Cue a very confused and appalled Steve, but not for the reasons Billy probably thinks. Bad continuation; Steve goes with it, because hell, how many chances are he going to get to shut Billy up this way? Less bad continuation; Steve is horrified and pulls him to his feet again and they talk and clear the air. Billy being like "... but I thought you bid on me for payback" and Steve's like "Yeah, I was gonna make you clean my bathroom, you idiot!" (and Billy's like "... I'd rather suck your dick.")

Somewhere in between the two: Steve DOES go through with making Billy do menial work at his house as a means of payback. And Billy knows that he doesn't have to do it, that he can just up and leave, but he figures a) he kinda owes it to the guy for breaking his face that one time and also b) it's for charity and Steve DID shell out a lot for his payback so Billy will play along. So he rearranges Steve's garage, with dusty heavy boxes and stuff. He cleans the bathroom ... with a goddamn toothbrush, because apparently Steve is mentally eight years old. Steve, in turn, didn't expect Billy do ANY of the things he came up with, and is confused as to why Billy hasn't punched him in the face and left, yet. So he comes up with worse and worse things for Billy to do; hand-wash his dirty socks. Crawl in under the crawlspace under the house to remove old building material. Clean the drain under the sink. The whole time, he's expecting Billy to snap and just, stop. But he doesn't. So when Steve tells him to climb onto the roof and remove the bird's nest in the chimney and Billy's only reply is to ask for a ladder, Steve snaps (because that's dangerous, okay? he could DIE). "What the hell, Hargrove, why are you doing this??" "Doing what?" "Everything I say!" and then they shout a bit and it all ends with Billy saying that it's his way of saying sorry for what happned at the Byers' house, and Steve is stunned because he did NOT actually expect an pology. And of course Billy is embarrassed for not understanding that Steve didn't actually expect him to do all that stuff, and Steve feels like shit for making him do all that stuff when apparently the only reason why he did it was as a way of an apology. And by then it's pretty late so Steve offers for Billy to have a shower at his place and he'll get a late dinner started (they never even got to the eating part, since Steve didn't think Billy would even stay around for the FIRST task). And they have a late dinner together. And talk, like two civil people. And actually learn a bit about each other, after that.

(I'm sure there are like 20x more events that could happen, too. I just like the charity auction plot and I want like ALL the variations.)

Thoughts?

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

A bag of choice (tm)

Mal - she continuously causes Evie heart attacks by refusing to use any and all designer bags and even just the decent looking ones she gives her and using the same tattered old tote bag she found and improved when she was thirteen.

Evie - you know she has at least one from any occasion, and we love that for her.

Jay - pockets. Does he lose half the groceries he was supposed to buy? No, absolutely not, these items were never written down in the first place.

Carlos - I feel like his cousins suceeded in getting him reasonable bags. Criticism will NOT be accepted by any of the de Vils and also that thing somehow fits an entire toolbag.

Ben - ...auradon royal family merch :( he hates it :( (Mal quickly improved it for him. He loves that version to bits and his parents despise it just as much.)

Audrey - a small shiny clutch that fits barely a phone, a credit card, and lipgloss. Y'know, the essentials.

Chad - nope. No. He doesn't even bother to use his pockets, he loses his stuff all the time. Just. Puts it down and that's it.

Jane - very cute and very practical backpack with a little ribbon <3 and lot of cute added charms <3 we love our practical girlie <3

Lonnie - hmm. Probably a sports bag or backpack of choice. Secret compartments for reasons that are definitely NOT "war-induced generational paranoia".

Btw ALL VK bags have secret compartments, just so you know.

Uma - first of all, Uma rarely ever carries her own shit. Harry and Gil are being gentlemans and the rest of the crew is lowkey afraid for their own life if Harry saw that they let the Captain carry heavy things . Second of all, she got the crew tote bags with Lost Revenge logo.

Harry - ...yeah he forgets that bag all the time. That's fine tho, he has like not normal amount of pockets.

Gil - the crew logo bag but Claudine embroidered more decorations on it for him.

Claudine - she doesn't have vibes for a bag, okay? She can carry everything she needs without it. (...yeah, she doesn't carry ANY of the stuff most people do. Phone? Devil's machine. Keys? There's always people to let her in. Money? Ivy has those. Or Uma, or Harriet, or Gil. Someone will pay for her.)

Ivy - either a designer bag that SOMEHOW fits an entire bottle of whiskey, or she goes out without any means to carry anything, including pockets, cos designers hate women. She has cigarettes behind her ears, phone, money, and emotional support lipstick in her bra, keys strung on dress strap, and she keeps playing with the lighter. Flickering it on in a completely non-threatening way.

Diego - okay, all de Vil cousins deserve designer handbags. His prefered one is dark leather.

Anthony - he has a collection of bags he got as gifts. Dark leather one from Diego, crocheted one that Dulcia made when bedbound and refused to use, a bunch of bags decorated by his little cousins withvarious amount of sucess and glitter.

Dulcia - she also has a collection. Some designer ones that Audrey got bored of and passed to her through Anthony (displeased at having to play messenger), and lot of bags decorated by her little family members. Also a... Contraption gifted to her by the Hearts kids, she slightly afraid to touch it.

Dizzy - you know that thing is bedazzled enought to blind someone (affectionate)

Celia - you know, this little shadow witch manages without a bag just fine, it's like magic.

Freddie - not sure, either a cute hand-decorated tote, or whatever shiny thing CJ stole for her.

CJ - nope. She has slightly better record of losing shit than Chad, because she has shit ton of pockets in her coat, no reservations about sticking shit into her bra if she needs to, and slightly exasperated Freddie picking the stuff of value that she dropoed after her.

Harriet - it goes about like so: *already paying at the counter, realising she cannot carry all that shit with sheer power of will and hubris:* „...hey, Sam? Do you have a bag?“ (they always do)

Ginny - lol, a crocheted one from Dulcia that she complains about all the time but won't ditch. (She has sewed-on compartments for the actually important stuff on her clothes also)

[jewishcissiekj]

hi let's talk about her

Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it

-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)

-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad

-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho

-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon

-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you

-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)

-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there

-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:

-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?

-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?

-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?

-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?

-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?

-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).

[soft-pine]

spn20rewatch: 1.20 dead man's blood // cn: brief discussion of the finale and SA

okay oh boy here we go.

unfortunately, i cannot watch this episode without thinking about the finale. from the title to "once a vampire has your scent, it's for life" to jenny (here credited simply as "woman" (also she and dean literally do not interact at all. in 15.20 why does she say she has "dibs" on dean? sam is the one who wakes her up after she's been turned??)) and to the devastating added layers to

DEAN: Well what the hell do we do now? JOHN: You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what.

right so that's all terrible and gutting and i already talked about dean and vampires and john and 1.20 in my finale post and if you think about it for too long, you'll claw your eyes out. so let's think about other stuff.

we can talk about one of my favorite visual themes of john's character... being introduced as a thing in the dark watching sam and dean, only later revealed to be "reassuringly" their father.

this also occurs in 1.16 when john's waiting in their room. (the shot of john appearing and scaring dean is one of the most unhinged scenes to me)

we can talk about john being visibly shaken by elkins' death, similar to how he will react to caleb and pastor jim's deaths and we can remember that he never checked in on dean after 1.06 or 1.09 or 1.12.

we can talk about dean's face when john opens the fancy tool chest he had custom installed in his truck.

the "wow." the lips forming words he doesn't say aloud. keep in mind dean has been excited about free money and food all season. keep in mind john is about to tell sam that he spent both his and dean's college funds on ammo.

we can talk about how when john's pissed at sam for keeping demanding answers and pushing back, he takes it out on dean. who has been faithfully following orders without complaint mind you.

JOHN: (looks at Sam) Any more questions? SAM looks away and stays silent. JOHN: All right, let's get out of here, we're losing daylight. Hey, Dean why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it.

we can talk about luther saying "revenge isn't worth much if you end up dead."

we can talk about how dean is john's errand boy. both here and in 1.21, john sends dean off to get something while he and sam stay behind.

in 1.20, the conversation sam and john have is a tearful reconciliation, which john apologizing to sam for being more like a "drill sergeant" than a father, AND saying about sam going off to school, "all I could think about, my only thought was, that you were gonna be alone. vulnerable." (me queuing the part of 14.12 that's always playing on loop in my head: "dad would send me away when I really pissed him off")

we could talk about how when dean gets back with the dead man's blood he was sent fore, john doesn't even react to dean's silly little, "whew man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys," but just says, "get it?" (please god laugh. my babygirl is funny. he's FUNNY and SILLY! all he's ever known is hunting and stress and life or death situations and he's just trying to lighten it up a bit. please laugh, god, please!)

we could talk about, "you know what to do." and the wide-eyed hitchhiker routine layer. and the "you thinking what i'm thinking" layer. and and and

we could talk about kate assaulting jenny. and then assaulting dean the same way.

the dean and vampires and sexual assault theme that carries us literally to the end of the show will always make me want to chew glass.

so yeah we can talk about a bunch of really upsetting things with upsetting implications, parallels, and consequences.

but we can also talk about some truly lovely things!!

like dean telling the people the vampires had caged up that he was coming back to save them. and then doing it! "i told you I'd come back." oh my good boy!!

and we can talk about the cracks in dean and john's relationship that have been widening all season. and will continue to do so right up to and through 2.01.

in this episode that manifests as dean saying, "that means you too" when breaking up sam and john's fight. (that means you too that means you too that means you too GOD!)

and here:

JOHN: You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe. DEAN: Dad, all due respect but, uh, that's a bunch of crap. JOHN: Excuse me? DEAN: You know what Sammy and I have been hunting. Hell you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe.

I AM SO FULL OF LOVE I COULD EXPLODE!

dean's face is almost certainly still sore from kate's finger's here. his face probably still hurts from where she slapped him to the ground. he can probably still taste her breath. he can probably still feel the prickles on the back of his neck from when he had to hunch over the car's engine and keep his back to the woods and the noise even as he knew something was hunting him. he probably still remembers wondering, each moment that kate toyed with him, what was taking john so long to shoot her.

"you can't be that worried about keeping us safe."

[duhragonball]

Thanks for answering my ask, well, about the sparkling zero thing is that the game will feature some what if stories and scenarios that looked like fan fiction which might be rather interesting to hear you talk about, I am getting the game today to form my opinions but in case you do look at those I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them

I finished all of the Story Modes that were available to me, and I have to say, I'm not impressed with the What If scenarios. But then again, I wasn't expecting to be in the first place.

Most of the Budokai and Sparking games had What-If content of some sort, but it's usually pretty thin. Budokai 3 had some grand plans to give every character a story mode, but by the time the actual game released, all most of the characters got was a bunch of sound files from the scrapped stories. You unlocked these as "Memories of [X]" capsules in the game. Either they cost a lot of money, or you had to wish for them with Dragon Balls, I forget which.

I remember the Android 16 one had audio of him having some sort of climactic match with Goku, and there's audio of Goku conceding defeat and accepting that 16 will kill him, but I think he spares him. So it's a what-if scenario in my book. So was that Uub story mode that actually made it into the game, where Uub has to save the world from Omega Shenron. That was pretty cool, but the "Memories of..." capsules pointed to a much bigger project that never materialized.

Other than that, the most memorable what-if content was probably that "Fateful Brothers" think in BT3, where Raditz turns good and Goku takes him in. They have to stop Piccolo from killing him, and he warns him about Vegeta and Nappa. I think it ends with Raditz meeting Bardock in hell.

But a lot of it is pretty flimsy stuff. Not bad, just nothing earth-shaking. It's usually just some cutscenes to set up an unusual match that you could just as easily arrange yourself in vs. mode.

And that's kind of the gripe I have with Sparking Zero's what-ifs, because they're really just minor tweaks to the original story. There's one where Frieza and his goons invade Earth instead of the Z-Fighters facing him on Namek. And it's fine, but it's basically the same series of battles you'd fight in the "correct" version of events. There's one where Vegeta and Trunks actually cooperate in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and they end up getting the big win over Cell, which sounds awesome, but it's not all that different from going through the Cell Saga normally with Vegeta, Gohan, and Goku.

I haven't unlocked much of this stuff myself, mainly because I'm still getting the hang of the game, and a lot of these branching paths require a lot more skill to activate the right win condition. But I've been watching Kirran and Grant play the game on Goodtimes Zone, and I've found myself enjoying their live reactions more than the stuff they're reacting to. And they like the what if stuff we're getting, but I keep noticing a hint of disappointment, like they were expecting a bit more. More branching paths, and bigger divergences from the canon story.

For example, they were hoping Cooler would show up in the middle of any Frieza-related branches, and yeah, that seems obvious, doesn't it? Hell, King Cold is in the game too, isn't he? Do a thing where he shows up on Namek, or maybe have Cooler wipe out the Androids because he's here to get his own revenge on Goku.

Instead we got... well, I'll cut for spoilers if anyone's interested...

We got Gohan Black. Now this might sound pretty impressive at first, but it kind of doesn't work. So the what-if scenario is that Gohan actually beats Frieza in Res-F before Goku arrives to help, and then Gohan starts training more seriously, so he joins the U7 team for the Destroyer Invitational and defeats Hit to win the whole thing. (Oddly, you don't get to play Gohan vs. Hit, which seems like an oversight in a what-if scenario, but whatever.)

So when the Zamasu arc starts, it turns out that Zamasu steals Gohan's body instead of Goku's in this version, because Gohan was stronger at the time. And that's fine, but it doesn't actually change very much. The real Gohan joins Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks in the battle, but it's the same Zamasu and Black. The only difference is that Kyle Herbert is playing Black in this version instead of Sean Schemmel. Actually I guess in Japanese it might not be that different at all, since Masako Nozawa plays Gohan and Goku.

Gohan Black doesn't even look that different from Goku Black. He just kind of looks like the original Goku Black with a different haircut. He fuses with Zamasu in the end, and they actually changed the Fused Zamasu model to reflect this, but they didn't have to change it very much.

And you have the real Gohan in the story, which is something new, but here's the problem: You already play the Zamasu arc in four other story modes: Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, and Goku Black. And it plays out the same way every time.

Good guys vs. Black

Good guys vs. Black and Zamasu

Good guys vs. Black and Zamasu again

Good guys vs. fused Zamasu

Good guys vs. fused Zamasu (corrupted)

I was already sick of it before I bought the game, because I hate the Zamasu arc. But for some reason the game devs thought we should play it five times. And yeah, Gohan remembers the damn jar for the Mafuba in his version, but so what? I still have to look at that ugly-ass stage the whole time, and I still have to listen to Zamasu preach during the fight.

As I understand it, there's a what-if where Trunks joins the U7 team for the Tournament of Power, and that also sounds like a decent idea, except it's kind of the same problem. We see the Tournament of Power in five story modes already: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Frieza, and Jiren. I hope Trunks has something fresh to do when he runs through it a sixth time, but I'm not optimistic.

It just feels kind of weak. Maybe they're saving cooler what-if scenarios for DLC, but that seems like a poor strategy when the base game has such weak what-if scenarios. It leaves me skeptical that they even know how to write a cool one. I mean, you've got a bunch of GT and movie guys on the roster. This should be easy. Middle schoolers do this stuff. Here's some ideas I thought of off the cuff.

Goku invites Cell to compete in the Tournament of Power instead of Frieza.

Kefla defeats Goku and now she has to defeat Jiren and Goku's teammates to win the tournament. Vegeta and Gohan fuse into Vegehan in a last-ditch effort.

Golden Frieza Black.

Cell wins the Cell Games and accidentally releases Buu from his ball while terrorizing the Earth, and now he has to team up with the Z-fighters to stop him.

Dabura convinces Babidi to seal Buu up again, and they do evil stuff with Majin Vegeta on their team.

Vegito kills Super Buu, so now Dragon Ball Super plays out with Vegito.

Piccolo survives Nappa's blast and fuses with Kami to sweep the next several dozen episodes' worth of bad guys.

Ginyu Force-Kamikaze Fireballs War.

Turles shows up on Namek and kicks Frieza's ass with fruit power.

Gero sics Android 13 on the Z-fighters during the Saiyan invasion, so Vegeta and Nappa have to do a truce to stop him.

I could probably think of better ideas with some more time, but the point is that none of this would require a lot of extra assets that aren't already in the base game. But they would involve a lot of different battles and settings that you wouldn't see in the other story paths. I don't understand why they didn't get more creative with things. They had all the stuff they needed. All they had to do was think outside the box a little.

[six-of-cringe]

I think that one of the reasons why people misinterpret Wylan's character and arc, among others, is because they misinterpret the relationship between him and Kaz. This post has kind of mitosised off from the BFWP (Big Fucking Wylan Post) I'm writing because it's a bit of a different focus and constitutes its own post.

A lot of people talk about Wylan's character and development as though it's meant to match Kaz's - starting out as a nice kid who the city forces to become amoral, indifferent to violence, and well-versed in crime. These qualities are usually talked about with a weird reverence as an irrefutable symbol of "badassery", as though it's always a positive development for any character regardless of the story's narrative, which annoys me but is not the topic of this post. That's part of the BFWP's job.

Following Kaz's exact development is not the point of Wylan's character. The point is that Kaz and Wylan narrative foils - very similar in many ways, but with a fundamental difference that creates the "broken mirror" effect/shows how they could have turned out if they'd chosen differently. I think that difference is how they respond when they climb out of the harbor after their respective betrayals. Narratively, Ketterdam represents a very harsh system that presents the people struggling there with very few options. You can either choose to ditch decency, play by the Barrel's rules, and live, or you can hold on to decency and die.

When Kaz returns to the streets after Jordie's death, he chooses the first option. He copes with what happened through ideas of revenge, and to survive long enough to see it he quickly turns to thievery and violence. He thinks to himself after he robs a kid for money and food that it was much easier to survive when you've left decency behind. He survived through violence, creating the Dirtyhands persona around himself for protection.

When Wylan has to fend for himself, he choses the second option. He finds "honest work" at the tannery, where they exploit workers and expose them to toxins. He wonders if he'll live long enough to use his savings to leave the city, or if the chemicals would kill him first. He was smart enough to steal and survive, but he chose decency, and with it, he chose death. There are a number of reasons why he chose differently than Kaz despite their similarities - his older age and thus more developed moral code, having no one to avenge but himself when he believed himself worthless, his more privileged upbringing, and his relatively low drive to live. Alone, he would have died.

Then Kaz steps in. Kaz's role in all the crow's lives is that, intentionally or not, his ruthless rule of the Barrel creates a sort of haven that allows them to survive where they would have died had they stayed alone. Wylan is a really clear example of this, and though Kaz's intentions were at least partly self-serving, his involvement both kept Wylan from dying of exposure or street violence as well as prevented him from needing to do the more terrible things that it takes to survive in the Barrel. Throughout the books, we see Kaz kind of taking the brunt of enacting violence in Wylan's place - traumatizing Smeet's daughter, killing the clerk on the lighthouse. Wylan could get by making explosives in the workshop rather than having to shoot or stab or beat the life out of people. And at the end of the series, Kaz sees to it that he never will have to. Of course Wylan did bad stuff to survive when working with the Dregs, it's the Barrel. But the extent is greatly lessened because of Kaz's involvement.

Wylan's arc was never about becoming comfortable with violence, or becoming just like Kaz - the way people characterize him as some sort of ruthless murder mastermind is inaccurate and redundant with Kaz's character. He isn't nonchalant or celebratory about crime or death or violence by the end of the book. He doesn't HAVE to become like Kaz, because Kaz himself gave him the space to continue being decent, intentionally or otherwise. Understanding that dynamic is important to understanding what Wylan is like as a character and as a person. If you assume Wylan's trajectory is to become "Kaz 2.0", then you're going to mischaracterize him. I've seen posts about how Kaz was the Jordie that he didn't have to Wylan, and I think that makes a lot more sense. Because Kaz is willing to do the horrible things in his stead, Wylan has the third option otherwise impossible in the Barrel - maintaining his decency and surviving.

[natriae]

WEDDING REVENGE. MIYA ATSUMU

timeskip! Miya Atsumu x Fem! Reader

a/n: This is extremely self indulging with some stuff i've been dealing with lately and i just want comfort

C/W: MINORS DNI, VERY VERY HEAVY, mentions of sh (not in detail) , suicidal thoughts, panic attack, sexualish content, reader is from a country that doesn't speak japanese

You're not mad at Miya Atsumu. You're disappointed that's for sure. Now you have to get on the plane by yourself and try not to break down at this wedding all alone. Always alone, huh. They were right you will always be alone.

You left that place to prove yourself. Prove to them that you could survive the harsh world alone. You would grow and you didn't need them. You left them because it was good for you. But now you're going back. You wanted to come back stronger, and more successful then any of them.

You were successful that's for sure. You had your dream job. Athletic trainer for MSBY in osaka, Japan. You chased your dream and you didn't stop till you made it, but you were alone. You left "home" for a place thousands of miles away right after college. You only knew enough Japanese to get around, but you were determined to learn and live there, but now you are going back. Yes, it was just for a few days but you wished you never had too.

The memories held there were to much to bear. The people you will see, the voices you will hear, and the scents. Not only will you be battling the trauma you experienced but you will have to experience all of the people that were apart of it first hand.

please dont talk to me. please don't notice im there now that im alone.

Atsumu was kind. When he over heard you were going to a wedding ( you never actually said if you were going or not) he had asked if you were going alone. He could see your hesitancy. You repeated once again that you weren't sure if you were going, but if you were you would be alone. "i'll go with ya" He had said with a smile. You never got to say no, but you found comfort in his response. Glad he would be there with you. You wouldn't be alone anymore.

You bought the plane tickets and he sent you money for his. You felt happy that he was gonna go with you. You felt more secure knowing that he was gonna be with you. Someone who was like you. From the few times you guys hung out he accepted you for you. He listened to your interests and never made you feel invisible.

Now it felt like the times you would go home to an empty apartment. That didn't change till recently when every weekend Atsumu would come knocking at your door just to walk in and spend several hours on your couch bothering you.

-----------------------------‐--------------------

The actual service was over and now it was the reception. You saw them. The ones that hurt you. They were still together and they still seemed happy. They had each other. You on the other hand still felt out of touch. Like you weren't welcome here or accepted here.

Walking in to the reception their words from highschool were eating at you. It took so many years to get better. So many years spent grieving. So many years spent telling yourself that you were worth being alive. So many god damn years spent being comfortable by yourself and now all of it came crashing down.

They never had to feel the pain you did and it wasn't fair. Why didn't you just do it all those years ago. The pain would have ended. They would have understood how much pain they caused you. The confidence was gone. You felt like the same weak 16 year old. Nothing has changed.

Little did you know a 6'1 asshole with a slightly better blonde dye job was walking through the door to the resception asking everyone he incountered, in broken (your native language) if they had seen you. Thank god he knew who not to talk too.

One time after work he took you to Onigiri Miya and spent the whole night trying to break you to get you to tell him about your past. Not once did he look away from you as you spoke. It honestly was probably the longest Miya Atsumu has been quiet.

Once he saw you his signature grin appeared on his face and he lifted his hand up in the air and began to wave at you. You couldn't help but smile watching him. He was always so confident. Out of the corner of your eye you could see them watching. They had made a face. They must have been confused to see you with a friend let alone one they have never seen before. He ran over to your table and said "surprise!...are ya okay?". He genuinely seemed worried. That was new. Normally people don't care what you feel. Normally they try and steer the conversation away or not even look at you. Yet once again Miya Atsumu was watching you. Really watching you. "if yer not okay we can get outta 'ere"

"i'm okay. I promise," You faked a smile at him.

"okay stop sittin and lets dance," His grin appeared on his face again and he grabbed your hand. Somehow he walked to the dance floor like he's been here all night. Like he knew everyone here and was ready to have a good time.

What they say about him was true. He knew exactly how to stop time and make you feel like the most important person in the world. It was so god damn hard. How easily he was able to breakdown your walls, and have you fall into his arms at any given moment. The last thing you wanted was for all of this to be a joke. For him to just to be pretending so you give him attention and then leave you and have you question if you ever really knew him. Because you thought you knew a lot of people, but all of them hurt you and left.

"hey, the people behind me right now. They're the ones that hurt you right," He lightly moved his head back while still dancing to the music.

"yeah," you sighed out in response not exactly wanting to talk about them after trying to ignore them all night.

"i fuckin' hate her smug face back there. I saw it when I walked in 'an i knew that it was 'er." he said like she directly offended him. You let out a little giggle at that lookin at the ground. A little quieter and a little closer to you he lifted up your head with his fingers and told you "thats why i made such a scene when i came in. I wanted her and all of 'em to see that you have such a tall, sexy, muscular man on your side," He smirked at that and you couldn't help but let out a bigger laugh at that. Throwing you head back and immediately putting it back into place and covering your mouth. It's been a while since someone has made you felt this comfortable. He laughed at your wide eyes and shocked face holding his stomach. If people weren't looking at you guys before they definitely were now. You grabbed his arms and told him to shush while still giggling over the situation. Because he kept moving the two of you in circles when you looked up you made directed eye contact with her.

Your laughing stopped and your smile dropped just like you heart. All the memories came flooding back. The nights filled with with pain in more then one way. Filled with so many questions questions of why? And the fact that they just kept coming back to torture you more. They found every way to remind you that they were doing fine with out you. That they had no remorse for the pain they caused you. That they would always side with her no matter the amount of proof you had.

You didn't even realize his laughter had died down and he was now looking at you like he was trying to finish a puzzle, but that very last piece couldn't be found. "hey. Hey look at me. Let's go outside, yeah," he jerked his head towards the door and began to move your body towards them. He kept looking towards the door and back to you.

Once outside he sat you down at a bench and kept his hand on yours that was resting on your thigh and thats when you felt it. The heavy feeling on your chest and the racing thoughts. Thoughts about the fact that they are all talking about you. That you are still weak running away from your problems. Your stuck in the constant loop. She still had so much power over you. That if you just learned to keep your mouth shut none of this would have happened. Before you realized it was hard to breath, see, and even to hear. It's been a long time since you've had an attack like this. And it's so so embarrassing. You could hear small 'hey's said and his hands never left your body. He held them on your shoulders to keep you rooted to you seat. You could see him in your line of sight but everything was blurry. Like he was a ghost you made up to comfort you. He couldn't really be here. You didn't snap back into reality till you heard his calm voice tell you to breathe and him lifting you up to place you on his lap. He took of his suit jacket and placed it so it covered both of your faces. It layed on both of your heads and probably looked really stupid, but that didn't matter. All you could see was him.

"breathe with me," is what you heard him say. He exaggeratly breathed in and began to count. He did the same to breathe out. It was hard and you were doing those stupid little inhale hiccups trying to catch your breath. "ya are safe with me, okay." He held you close to him and held you tight. This is all you've ever wanted. He stayed and held you through it.

He didn't take his jacket off your heads still you stopped crying. A few tears would slip here and there but he was quick to wipe them. "when your ready were gonna go back there an kick some ass," you let out a little giggle at that again. He really knew you. He knew exactly what to do to brighten your day.

Before you could look over he watch the group of them leave the building. They were definitely looking for you because they were obsessed. That's all he could think. He thought they were sad human beings that had nothing better to then tear others down because they didn't feel good about themselves. You looked up at him and behind him you could see them looking around. Once they spotted you they began to converse with one another like they weren't searching for you.

Then the fire started in your gut. You could feeling nothing more then the years worth on anger bubbling inside you. You got up and began walking over there. You knew that Atsumu would hold you back when he needed to but right now he was to excited to see the drama unfold.

Before you knew it your fist collided with her nose. She fell back and then rest of them grabbed her and began asking if she was okay and calling you names. "alright little one it's time for you to go back to you hotel," Atsumu said as he rushed over to where you stood. He's never seen you this angry, and he knew that if he didn't stop you now it would end really badly. He asked you where your rental car was and took you back to it so you guys could leave the party.

You guys sat in your car in a comfortable silence as the sun went down and your tears slowly came to an end. "God knows how long i've waited to do that," you giggled. You felt crazy, but so much more free. Surpised that Atsumu didn't say anything you looked over.

He was just watching you. Love stuck puppy eyes on his face. You began to worry. He looked as though he was think a lot, and that was never a good sign. You felt stronger about yourself at this moment so you took the leap and decided to ask him what was up. "what are ya thinkin about," .

It took him so time to spit it out like he was worried you would punch him in the face too. "that was just- that was really hot,". Not in a million years did you imagine the Miya Atsumu would be calling you hot. He still looked at you like you put the stars in the sky but all you did was punch a girl from high school. "i-i've liked you for some time now, and i know that I sound stupid and you probably aren't ready for a relationship but god," he let got a breath that was similar to a giggle. He threw his head back and said "god what have ya done to me," He let out a longer laugh at that. After taking a deep breath in he looked directly into you eyes. "god i wanna kiss ya so badly. I wanna kiss you till all ya can think about is me" He said all while shaking his head slowly like he was fighting the words in his head.

"do it," is all you could say quietly with a breathy air to it. You kept looking between his eyes and his mouth. This was all so much but he just knew you. He knew what could get you to fall into him, and some how he knew your boundries.

He slammed his lips into yours and kissed you like he would never be able to again. If this is what Heaven is like you want to bask in its sunlight till you fry up and can't move. He leaned so far over the console just to chase your lips, and it seems as though he was holding himself back from crawling right over it and directly into you seat. You pushed him back a bit and got up on your knees. This time you were reaching over the console just to chase the lips you had to tell be quiet all the time. With the amount of filthy words that left his mouth all the time his lips were surpisingly sweet. He knew exactly when to bite, kiss, and lick. Could there possible be anything he wasn't good at. You felt his lips curve up into their signature smirk as you kissed and it made it all the hotter. Your sure the windows were fogged up at this point and it was so hard to not climb onto his lap and start unzipping your dress and unbutton his white button up.

He was right just from a kiss all you could think about was him. You wanted to see his abs in all their glory. You wanted to see his V-line more then just the teasing you saw when he stretched. You wanted to see where it lead and the rest of his happy trail. You wanted to see his thighs and bite and suck on them till he couldn't hide the hickeys. You wanted to hold on to his muscular back. Leaving long sratches down it so that ever time he moved he would remember the night you guys had together.

Once again it was hard to breathe, but this loss of breath felt much better. "please come stay at my hotel room" you asked. You hadn't realized the face you were making to him. Pupils blown out and lips swollen with need. You needed him, and he would never deny you of that.

"yes yes of course i will," At that you moved back to sitting in your seat and put your seatbelt on. Taking a deep breath you began to reverse out of the parking spot. Wow, today was eventful.

i wanna make a part 2 but ive never written smut before so its probably gonna be bad :,(

[wanderingmind867]

Listening to Christmas music today, remembering my mom's birthday was on christmas, and thinking of my own issues led me to end up writing a 10 page outline for a Mr. Freeze miniseries involving a lot of personal connections to stuff i feel like i've gone through (also, the phantom stranger ends up playing an important role). So here's what I wrote:

In reference to the Twelve Days of Christmas, we'd have a 12 (possibly 14, if I do a prologue and epilogue) Issue Mini-Series about Mister Freeze on Christmas. It's a story all about him, in fact. While Batman's away from Gotham, Victor Fries escapes from Arkham only to find that someone stole Nora away from him, and left him a note: If Victor doesn't find her within 12 days, she'll die.

This story would explain everything about Victor Fries: His childhood, how he met Nora, how she got Cancer, how he became Mr. Freeze, etc. We'd also address some big unanswered questions, like: did Victor and Nora have any siblings or living parents? What happened to them? What was Nora's childhood like? All of these questions would be answered. The story is a story of Victor Fries in the present, but it's just as much a big biography of the lives of Victor and Nora Fries.

The story would be arranged in 14 parts; a prologue, an epilogue and 12 chapters in between. On his quest, Victor Fries ends up helping people, reconnecting with his and nora's family, and rediscovering the joy of christmas. Grief counseling through trauma, in a way. But the story would feature as many characters as I can fit in it: The Phantom Stranger, The Spectre, Superman, Captain Cold, Captain Marvel/Shazam, Batman's Rogues Gallery (pretty much all of them), etc. It's a big story, with long chapters.

But since I know I'll probably forget it if I don't write it down now, let me reveal the real villain of this story. The one responsible for kidnapping Nora and blackmailing Victor is… Ferris Boyle, with an assist from Nora's vindictive mother. Ferris Boyle lost all of his money after Victor's story made it to the presses. Gothcorp went bankrupt, and Ferris lost everything. His brain couldn't cope with that, and he swore revenge on Victor. He then found an eager accomplice in Nora's mother, a vindictive and judgemental woman who always felt hated her daughter (yet who also felt Nora was too good for Victor). She blamed him for Nora developing Cancer, and she eagerly agreed to team up with Ferris Boyle.

For 12 days, they lead Victor on a wild goose chase across the country, until he finally manages to confront them back where it all began: in the wreckage of the old house where him and Nora lived together. Seeing what Ferris Boyle is trying to do to him (and that Nora's mother is still trying to take her daughter away from him, when he knows how she treated her), Victor snaps.

In the chaos of the fight in the wreckage, Nora's cryo-chamber breaks. The shrapnel shoots into all three of them. Ferris Boyle is impaled on a chunk of glass shortly after talking about how love is fleeting, while money is everything. Victor's suit breaks, meaning his life is now in danger. And Nora's mom got a chunk of metal caught in her leg. Victor cradles Nora's body, and he just cries, knowing it's hopeless. He has no time to build a new cryo-chamber and save her. It's all over…

And that's when the miracle of Christmas comes into play. The Phantom Stranger appears, and he promises to get Nora safely to a hospital. Victor gently passes her over, and the Stranger begins his walk to a hospital. Meanwhile, Victor has to deal with the injured form of Nora's mother, and the dead body of Ferris Boyle. Knowing that Nora's mom doesn't deserve to die in agony (even if she is a horrible person), he bandages her injuries and trudges off in the snow towards The Phantom Stranger. But the twist: Boyle isn't dead yet; he's merely dying of blood loss. But he trails them too.

At the hospital, Victor and The Phantom Stranger succesfully get Nora back into a cryo-chamber, and then get her mother into a hospital bed. The Stranger vows to look after them, while Victor goes for a walk. Victor goes to sit in the snow outside and think, and that's when a dying Ferris Boyle ambushes him. Pulling the shrapnel out of his chest, he uses it like a knife and tries to stab Victor. He misses, but he keeps trying to fight. He mumbles incoherently about how Victor took everything from him, only for Victor to snap and punch him in the face. And that punch was the finishing touch. Ferris Boyle finally dies, his broken body falling into the snowbank…

And now, for a somewhat happy ending to this story (and something that just feels religious enough to work in a christmas story): Victor hears crying near Ferris's body. Trudging over to it, he finds a baby in the snow, clearly abandoned by his mother. Seeing this as a sign (him and nora could never have kids, and christmas day was nora's birthday), victor takes the child in as his own. And then our epilogue would show Victor finally reconciling with as many of his and nora's family as he can, and then him having a big christmas gathering with all the people who helped him during this twelve day quest.

Then, when he's finally alone, he cradles the baby in his arms and tenderly talks to a photo of Nora. He'll never stop working on a cure for her, but these twelve nights have felt like a sign. A sign he needs to try and stop living in his past, in isolation and loneliness. And he's going to try to fix this, for Nora's sake. She'd want him to do it, for himself if nothing else. And as he cradles the child and rocks them to sleep, The Phantom Stranger watches over it all from the shadows…

[blatantprinterpropaganda]

alright this is just the mad ramble of a brain fresh off of episode 8 but currently what i WANT to see happen in the final four episodes is. kan is working towards revenge and either the mysterious guy she's working with (who is presumably someone from the community of her old neighborhood) actually is a little evil but kan still has good intentions OR (preferably) he only seemed vaguely evil because of the way we were introduced to him now, but it's intentional, because it seems like the show is trying to trick us into taking the rich family's side and sympathizing with them at every turn at the moment. they're getting all this hate, they're such sweet people, they don't know what they're doing wrong. this is true for home, who is generally clueless and doesn't understand where his wealth comes from, but uncle somkid definitely Knows (and... i'm not convinced he's happy home survived? this got lost in the muddle a little but i'm pretty sure that response to the news on the phone was not a yay <3 one), and of course so does the lawyer (mr. big), but we all knew the lawyer was bad news from the start. then there's granddad, who i'm pretty sure is also a bad guy knowingly, but he thinks he's doing it For The Family (and his grandson, etc) so of course he doesn't see himself that way, and this Family Curse he's talking about essentially seems to be "nobody likes us, oh boohoo, we're so misunderstood" when what they seem to have done is flatten a neighborhood where people were living to gentrify it/build some construction project that made the family a lot of money. so now home, who knows his grandfather as this nice loving silly guy with a lot of jokes, is on the task to lift his family's Curse and restore their reputation - but what does that mean? fighting the bad guys, who are the people who had their neighborhood razed to the ground? so. what i WANT is for home-peach-pangpang to work on this task of home's for an episode or two while actively trying to oppose kan, who they think has gone to the dark side, until they realize she is the one fighting the good fight even if she's going into it very hard - and either she makes amends for that itty bitty murder attempt (though i don't think she meant to hit home with that at any point), OR we'll learn it was never her work in the first place and this was another misdirection, which i honestly think makes more sense perhaps. i could fully imagine the next episode giving us another twist that tells us it was uncle somkid behind the accident, because again, we know he's doing bad stuff, he's been too kind and cool, and he didn't seem particularly happy to know home survived - AND he was the one trying to get home to drink alcohol before telling him to get into a car. either way though. parts of this episode seemed dangerously set up to be a plot that goes "these rich people aren't so bad, they don't deserve this hate" but dear god, i hope i'm reading this right and that's not where we're headed, because not only would that make less sense, it would also be unhinged (and very sad) if they went for that note with this series. i think we're good though. i do think we'll probably be okay.

[ovwechoes]

vampire junkrat x vampire hunter roadhog sfw and nsfw :)

RoadRat / Roadhog x Junkrat Headcanons (Vampire AU) Hiya! Thank you for the ask - I enjoy writing Vampyr AU stuff a lot so I'm more than happy to write for these two. I think any nsfw headcanons for them would be pretty much the same as these ones, but I'll make a separate post for them anyways. I hope you enjoy them! NSFW can be found here c: (there's no questions with this post)

Mako's been a hunter as long as he's known - he's a nomad and lost his home to Vampires so it was inevitable for him to become a hunter. He doesn't want revenge, he simply wants to use his pain to get him something beneficial in the end - use your trauma to your advantage sort of thing. Mako's an infamous hunter, wanting to exude how much prowess he has to prevent anyone coming close to him.

Jamison, on the other hand, wasn't born a vampire and chose to convert himself - it was his way of gaining immortality, wanting to keep his mind young and steady to keep creating new weapons to protect the people of his town (and also for, yaknow, the money). Apprentices had failed his expectations, and he couldn't bring himself to trust anyone with his knowledge of weaponry so immortality was the best thing to him. He's always been interested in knowing what that life is like, and had always wondered what he could do with vampiric abilities.

However, when his friend Jamison, had a late night call from Mako and left him exposed to the hunter, revealing his identity as a vampire, it changed everything for him. The last person he had expected to be a vampire was Jamison, based on how close their bond had grown as Mako had begun to rely on him for weapons to fight them.

Once talking and working through the clear differences between them, with Mako holding a stake to Jamison's chest against a wall, they learned that they both have the same goals in mind, just different ways of achieving it. Jamison never meant to hide it, but he knew that Mako's first reaction would be hostility.

Mako would take a lot of time to learn to trust Jamison again, after finding out they're a vampire, and it would affect their previous friendship heavily until Jamison showed his true intentions. He was terrified of trusting him, and then learning he had plans to cause harm to others entirely for the purpose of serving himself. Mako didn't want a repeat of the past and to see Jamison's hometown, Junkertown, become dead and drained of life by the hands of vampires with too much power.

Jamison would've earned his trust through letting Mako take part in his weaponry development, watching his moves and becoming a bodyguard against him (in a way). Mako would make sure that anyone coming to Jamison for help wouldn't fall victim to his desires, and would ensure that Jamison was paid fairly for his work. Otherwise, Jamison wouldn't be able to pay him, after all.

As Jamison travelled for work, so did Mako and now his job felt completely different. It was strange at first, but as their friendship developed and they grew more comfortable with one another, they learned to lean into it completely and things developed from there.

Jamison would've confessed whilst working on something new, staying in a Tavern whilst on their travels. It would've caused a lot of confusion for Mako, with him struggling with the idea of sleeping with the enemy, but ultimately he'd give in, realising that Jamison had proven himself and that deep down, regardless of his conversion, he was still the same man he relied on before and trusted.

They definitely keep their relationship a secret - Jamison has a reputation to uphold to as being impartial, not associated with hunters and for the people, whereas Mako doesn't want to seem like he's been watered down by his relationship strength or prowess wise.

Money is always something they argue over, with them becoming greedy and finding themselves in tight binds. Mako especially struggles and feels as though he isn't properly earning his keep, using his skills that he developed from his young adulthood for something to benefit Jamison. He, on the other hand, doesn't want Mako to hunt for vampires in the name of money - firstly, it's hard enough for Jamison to survive as a vampire, but imagine how hard it would be if Mako put a bigger target on his back. Secondly, he doesn't want Mako to risk his life for money when there's better, other ways to go about it. Usually he's unphased by it, but something about your partner killing your own kind makes Jamison feel uneasy.

They work through it though, and their bond is stronger than ever before even with their clear differences. It's something they're constantly struggling with in the public eye, but privately they're like two peas in a pod and often forget about their differences in life and experience. Their romantic life is thriving behind closed doors, and that's enough for them as long as they get something out of their working relationship too.