#like I dunno maybe your ~EVIL SIDE~ isn't actually evil as much as someone who has not decided if they want to obey you or not

[ganymedesclock]

Out of curiosity, any thoughts on the anime Bleach?

I consumed a fairly good chunk of it when I was younger. It's since faded in my passions. I think Rolling Star by Yui is by far my favorite of the openings but a lot of them are very good.

I think the visuals are fairly stylish but it suffers the shonen problem- granted, I think a lot of this is in the format of how long running shonens are produced- of starting out with a bold exciting concept and then sort of petering out in weird directions the longer it goes on. In Bleach's case, I really loved the design and concept of the early hollows, but from the Soul Society arc onward, this entire fascinating afterlife concept boils down to Fashion Sword Boys Fightin' It Out.

Most of my residual fondness for it has me eyeing @gallusrostromegalus's An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy, because it seems to be taking a lot of the later series and injecting that sense of weird monsters and afterlife ramifications back into it.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

EPISODE 6

N-no Alastor again......

......

.....OK, so....this episode needs multiple viewings for me to.....fully absorb everything that just happened......but......uh......I-I don't wanna just not say anything about it, so....here goes.....

-OK, fandom, you got me. You called it. Vaggie was an angel. Wasn't exactly the most surprising twist imaginable when everyone and their mother called it, but it was cool to actually see it. Th-the fact that she got her name because a misogynist named her was probably the biggest twist for me here, cuz HOLY CRAP, it makes so much sense. XD I remember when people used to haaaaaate Vaggie's name.....I-I honestly used to raise my eyebrows at it before I got used to it. That's neat.....

....But if there was one thing I DIDN'T call, it's Charlie not knowing. I legit thought she already knew. They were so close, and they've been a couple for years before the show, so I thought that already happened. B-but I....I LIKE this direction? I-I love Chaggie already, don't get me wrong, they're like the M&M of this show for me.....b-but their relationship has always kinda been....swallowed by the....EVERYTHING ELSE in the show around them. I-I'd love to see them get center stage! Will that happen, or will it just get brushed over? Dunno....but....either way, this cliffhanger KILLS ME just cuz I wanna know what happens next for them!

-NO ONE IN HEAVEN BUT SERA AND THE EXORCISTS KNOW ABOUT THE EXTERMINATIONS. PLEASE leave all your "Heaven is evil, what's the point of the hotel" complaints at the FLIPPING DOOR! We got a breakthrough! Yup, I never bought it for a second. The Exorcists are only ONE type of angel! There was no way they represented ALL of Heaven! The whole point of the story was that it's not a black-and-white conflict! If the whole story was just "Hell good, Heaven evil", what would be the point of that? You think the writers are THAT dumb?

Sera....seems to be the one in charge of making the decisions, but she's not evil, she's just doing what she thinks is right for Heaven. I'm pretty sure her mind can be changed. And Emily is so so so much like Charlie that them singing together was satisfying as heck! Adam and Lute are the clear bad guys here....

I love the confusion of "How isn't Angel rising to Heaven?" and how it kinda parallels to how Adam, who was once human, is still IN Heaven. Just cuz they're dead, doesn't mean they can't change. Vaggie had her wings torn off and fell. That could be Adam by the end of the show. But, what about someone in Hell rising to Heaven? Not even the angels have the answer. Because they're not evil. I LOVE that.

-Speaking of Emily and Charlie being alike, yeah, that second song was INCREDIBLE! Do I like it more than "Hell Is Forever" (which I've been listening too soooooo much over the week)? That's a high bar, so I dunno....but I love how this song is a follow-up to it, and it's very climactic.

-AUSTRALIAN CHERRI HECK YEEEEEAAAAA!!! Angel standing up to Val in....in only their....second episode together? Uhhhhh, aren't we moving too fast- I mean HECK YEEEEAAAA!! Drunk Niffty HECK YEEEAAAAA!!! More Huskerdust on the side HECK YEEEEAAA!!!

.....The running gag with Sir Pentious killed me. XD His obvious crush is so cute. Definitely a highlight for me. Better luck next time, dude.

-But yeah....my favorite thing about the episode (besides learning that Heaven isn't evil) is the Vaggie thing. I'm REALLY on the edge of my seat to see how this goes! Oooooo.....I-I'm so nervous! Obviously Charlie's not gonna be MAD, but....OK, maybe she'll be mad? But she won't STAY mad....I-I can't believe I'm looking forward to drama between those two....They've been so wholesome.....but I dunno, I wanna see a story about them, I guess....

[multishipper-baby]

heyyyss !! dont know if youve talked about this before but i know you have an interest in eakoweddy and/or eakowededdy and i was wondering...

what is your vision of freddeak? (i dunno what theyre called.. sorry) i mean. i can imagine fredeak and eakwynn dynamics but i have some trouble thinking of a dynamic for freddy and eak so i wonder what YOU think of them. im really curious !!

-Vibrates- YES I can absolutely tell you about my freddeak dynamic! I have a lot of thoughts about them, both as a duo and as part of my OT3/4 madness, so I’ll try to explain all that a little. Warning: this is very long and rambly. I'm sorry if you wanted a short answer lmao.

How the ship happens

With this ship, we have a few interesting narrative points we can explore:

Eak is currently working with Owynn in his quest to find shadows, so he’s an antagonistic figure in Freddy’s life.

Eak doesn’t know Freddy has a shadow yet, and Freddy doesn’t know anything about the villains' plans, which means neither of them are aware of their antagonistic relationship yet.

Eak doesn’t actually want to work for Owynn or hurt anyone, but instead is doing it out of a desire to help Cami. This means he’s very likely to betray Owynn if given the opportunity.

So, what can we do with all this? I think it would be very interesting to explore the possibility of Freddy ultimately being the reason Eak decides to leave Owynn’s side, outing the whole plan and leading up to a victory for our heroes. It would be very poetic, I think, for Owynn to lose because someone from his team chose Freddy over him.

But how would we get there? It’s simple- like I’ve mentioned before, we know that Owynn is looking for shadows. Cami is the one who has the magic violin and her ability to control people, but in Ep. 4 Season 2, Owynn asks Eak how the search is going, which leads me to believe that he’s supposed to be doing something offscreen related to finding the shadows. As far as we know, though, Eak doesn’t have any special abilities, so… What is he doing? I like to think he’s the one keeping an eye out for rumors, trying to figure out who could have a shadow through the grapevine- looking for people who talk to themselves, or have odd mood changes, or seem to act differently depending on the day. And because of all this, it’d be easy for him to figure out something could be going on with Freddy, and decide to take a closer look. Especially if he knows Owynn has a special interest in him. So, now we have a reason for the two of them to interact. How would their dynamic work?

I think it would make sense for them to form a very casual friendship, at first- nothing exceptional, just classroom friends. Someone you hang out with at school and like alright, but aren’t close enough to actually invite to your house on the weekends or something. Eak wants to figure out what’s going on with Freddy, but he’s obviously going to look suspicious if he immediately jumps into trying to be best friends after not talking to the guy during most of their school year(s). And with their time together, there’s a chance for things to slowly take a turn.

Eak isn’t evil. He’s willing to do some evil things for the sake of the plan, but it’s clear that he isn't having fun with it the way Owynn is. The only reason he’s even helping with the plan is because he cares so much about Cami, and later, because he’s worried that things going wrong will lead to Towntrap getting hurt. He’s obviously a very loyal guy and, if he even got close to Freddy, I can imagine his loyalty would start getting in the way. So he’d be the perfect character to finally get the animatronics on the loop of what’s actually going on, hoping that they’ll be able to help him (and Cami, and Towntrap) get away from Owynn. I don’t even think Freddy would feel betrayed (although maybe he’d be a bit hurt) by Eak lying to him at first, given how understandable his situation is. I mean, who wouldn’t lie if it’s to save their friends from death? So, they can work together to defeat Owynn and have their little happily ever after.

The dynamic

Okay cool, we have a way for the characters to get close. But how would they actually interact? What kind of relationship would they have?

For starters, I think they would have a good start in the relationship, given the fact that Eak would probably know about Fred from the start- and wouldn't find that all too surprising. Eak is already informed of the shadow world, and of magic in general, so I think he'd be able to help Freddy navigate that part of himself more easily than someone who isn't as aware of it like the animatronics. Not to mention that Eak already knowing who Fred is and what he is means that there's no need for Freddy to hide or feel nervous about him, so that would be a pretty big weight off his shoulders (especially since I think Fred and Eak would get along. I ship them too, after all).

Plus I feel like Freddy deserves someone who's a little too devoted, someone fully ride or die. The animatronics are good and I like all their friendships, but Freddy is always getting dragged into weird shadow stuff and has a villain gunning for him- he needs the guy who would risk his life just to help a friend.

On Eak's side of the whole thing, I think he'd be glad to have someone a little more on his wavelength. Cami and Towntrap are polar opposites in every way- one who's very serious and another that never seems to fully grasp the seriousness of the situation. One who's cold and unfeeling and another who feels things too much. One that's smart and cunning and another who somehow fucks everything up. He loves them, but they're kind of A Lot. Having a partner who's more relaxed, more down to earth could do wonders for him. Someone needs to keep him from going insane, and Owynn definitely isn't going to do that lol.

A thing worth mentioning is how much Freddy teases Fred in Season 2, once their relationship is more friendly, and how much Eak does the same to Towntrap. They would love poking fun at each other and you can't convince me otherwise. They can be a little mean, as a treat <3

Also I have the headcanon that Freddy is touch starved and Eak is canonically very touchy. Freddy who's too shy to say he wants affection x Eak who is so comfortable holding his hand and putting his arm around his shoulders and sitting close enough to touch that he does it constantly. I want good things for Freddy, what can I say?

A tangent about my AU

If you’re not aware, I have an AU called “FHS: Farewell Despair Highschool”, which is a crossover AU with the characters of FHS inserted into the plot of Danganronpa. I’m mentioning this here because working on this AU is actually what really sold me on the ship, so I’d thought it made sense to mention how their relationship works in it. Be warned though that if you haven't played Danganronpa this part might be confusing.

Since the AU takes most of its elements from Danganronpa, I thought it'd be interesting to think about what an actual full game for the AU would be like. Because the entire thing would be completely from Freddy's point of view, all the characters will be filtered through his eyes and they'll need to interact with him for plot and character progression. So, I had to think about how Freddy's relationship would be with all the characters, and how each of those connections would develop as the game progresses and more people die.

During murder investigations, Eak and Freddy end up working together quite often- with Eak being the one that watches over the scene of the crime and examines the corpse most often due to being one of the less squeamish students, while Freddy is the main detective that ends up solving all the cases. Due to this, Eak ends up being on Freddy's side when there's conflict amongst the class, becoming somewhat loyal to him. In his eyes, despite Freddy's flaws, he's still the one that's pushing them all forward by solving the mysteries so far- which means they'd all be dead without him. This becomes especially true given that Freddy's biggest rival is Meg, someone Eak doesn't get along with.

So, our anxiety ridden and zero self-esteem Freddy now has someone on his corner. Eak isn't the only one who's supported him, of course, but by Chapter 4 most of his friends are dead, leaving only Eak and Usagi as his main companions. He feels more confident in his reasoning abilities, given that he's been able to solve everything the game throws at him so far, but emotionally he's breaking down more and more as their numbers drop. He's in need of this small support system he's made for himself more than ever before…

…and then Eak becomes one of the killers. Not to save himself, mind you, but to get rid of all of them. Eak wants them all to die, for a reason he won't specify, but that he assures him is very important. He needs to kill them all for their own good, because he cares about them so much. They need to trust him and choose death. And Freddy doesn't get it, can't understand it, so he lets Eak die to save the rest.

Except he later finds out that Eak was very much telling the truth: he tried to kill them to keep a secret so horrible, so despairing, so awful that it threatens to destroy all of the survivors mentally. But together, they manage to pull through, and find out that everything that's happened to them was only part of a simulation. Which means that they have the chance to reunite with all of the dead students… Eak included.

Now, this AU isn't about freddeak. Not only is it not canon, but it's not even the main relationship Freddy builds in it- that would probably be Freddy and Usagi, or Freddy and Chica, or Freddy and Meg. But I thought the dynamic between these two was very interesting as I examined it more deeply, and I couldn't help but enjoy it a lot. I love the idea of them becoming friends. I love the idea of Eak defending Freddy when he's too unconfident to defend himself. I love the idea of Eak's betrayal, and how it's not actually a betrayal, but an act of love towards his classmates. I love how later learning the truth about what happened reframes it almost like it was Freddy who betrayed him, by not believing in him while Eak always believed in Freddy. I love the idea of them reuniting and working through their awful trauma together. It's very detached from anything canon, but it certainly won me over.

I actually have thought more about their reunion and the “post game” storyline and all that other stuff but that also has a lot to do with a larger group dynamic and both their relationships to Owynn so we'll leave it here for now. But since I mentioned Owynn, how about we transition to…

The larger OT3 dynamic

Okay last section I promise. Now, we'll be talking about my idea for freddeak in the context of eakoweddy (Fred is there too but won't be discussed much because he's got other stuff going on and this is already getting long).

So obviously I like eakwynn and oweddy- just following me for a while will make this abundantly clear. I like a lot of Owynn ships. However, I don't think a lot of Owynn ships would be necessarily healthy. He's the villain, he looks down at others, he's willing to hurt basically every character we've met so far for his own ends… he's just not a good dude. This isn't really a problem for me, as an enjoyer of complicated and toxic relationship dynamics, but it does leave me wondering: if we wanted a ship that could redeem and help Owynn become a better person, what would that look like?

I think Freddy, on his own, would have a good shot at it… but he'd definitely struggle. Freddy, for all he tries, isn't very good at being assertive with anyone that isn't Fred. He's often pushed around or ignored by others, and Owynn is very much used to doing these things. Owynn has also shown so far that he's likely to hide away his true intentions and personality with the heroes, so we don't know how willing he is to show Freddy his true colors. Not to mention the whole “Owynn blames Freddy for some unmentioned transgression and seems weirdly obsessive about his revenge” thing. Very gay, but not very healthy.

On the other hand, there's Eak. He already knows all the worst parts about Owynn, knows all of his flaws and bad intentions. That's one of the main appeals of eakwynn for me, the idea of falling in love with someone after already seeing them at their worst. And Eak is a headstrong guy, who isn't afraid to speak his mind, even when what he wants to say is rude. If Owynn wasn't holding Cami and Towntrap over his head, Eak would definitely call him out whenever he crosses a line. However, I don't think Eak would necessarily be able to really “redeem” Owynn. I always imagined their dynamic as a more mutual thing; Eak makes Owynn a bit of a better person, but Owynn also makes Eak a little worse. See, I think Eak being a very loyal person has the chance of making him a bit of an enabler, too willing to look past the bad behavior of someone he loves and too willing to defend them when he shouldn't. He can call out Owynn when it's necessary… but he might not want to do that.

But the two of them together? I think they would balance out each other's weaknesses. Freddy keeps Eak from forgetting his morality too much. Eak makes sure Freddy is heard and not brushed aside. Freddy shows Eak the best in Owynn, and Eak helps him brace himself for the worst of Owynn. They compliment each other wonderfully.

And they can also work as each other's emotional support. Because of course not everyone is going to accept that they want to date someone that hurt them both. I imagine the animatronics, Cami and Towntrap would be far from thrilled to learn about the relationship. But with both of them dating Owynn, they can talk about him without worrying about judgment from others. They get that part of each other. Bonding over mutual bad taste in guys.

It's nice to have a crazy guy to smooch, but sometimes you want to also smooch someone less crazy. They're each other's less crazy <3 and I think that's gay.

Conclusion: Eak and Freddy should kiss.

[dismie]

hi here's my smoking hot fresh off the griddle take on calling people pigs discourse because you said you wanted it in your tags 😁😁 eat up while it's hot yummy yummy yummy 😋

so i disagree with calling unsavory people animals/diseases/forces of nature/any other dehumanizing term for much the same reasons as that post you reblogged. fighting fire with fire (or in this case, fascist ideology with fascist ideology) has literally never once worked in the history of politics and i don't get why we expect it to now. (inb4 what about all the oppressed groups who have had to respond to violence with more violence are they WRONG??? no and you know that's not what i'm talking about i'm talking about philosophical concepts and ideology okay i just wanted to clear that up.) i think people get so bogged down in like... surface-level specifics of which oppressed group is being harmed by what that sometimes they fail to stop and consider the ideology behind it if you will? he who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster and all that. we should be fighting on the side of oppressed groups because we respect everyone's innate right to freedom and a quality life not because we like fighting so much. obviously it's better for someone with a bloodlust to use it for something good, but also i believe in leftists! i believe we can be more compassionate than the murder party! and we should be striving to achieve that!!

implying that fascists or bigots or cops or whatever are less than human also removes their agency from the situation. animals don't (to our knowledge?) understand morality and harmlessness and ethics and i don't think any of us really blame them. when a hamster eats her excess babies nobody should really blame her, that's just what millions of years of hamster trial-and-error has deduced to be the most effective way to ensure as much of your genes as possible can continue on. if a human parent that wasn't expecting twins decided to mend this problem in a similar way i imagine we would all have qualms with it? fascists *choose* to be violent, they *choose* to be bigoted, acting like it's simply how they are just lets them off the hook. humans are capable of both good and bad and a gazillion shades of gray and we need to be able to accept and understand that so we can make sure we're being good people, not just cover our ears and pretend we're not also capable of intense evil.

also maybe it's the crraaaaazzzyyyy ara (i'm also an ara LOL) in me talking but i think we should respect animals more than that! acting like humans are the pinnacle of creature and to be anything else is bad and wrong just doesn't sit right with me, even though i accept that that probably isn't the conscious intention of people who call others pigs. i dunno. i just think that if we want to stay humble and respectful of other life on earth we shouldn't use them as insults.

bonus: pigs are awesome and don't deserve to be associated with fascists. i'm not even sure which trait of pigs is supposed to make them like fascists? they're not particularly dirty when given enough space to actually get away from their waste. i mean they mudbathe but plenty of people use mud or clay on their skin too. they're quite smart and perceptive and even show empathy towards other pigs and humans in some cases. i don't think they're particularly ugly and while they can be aggressive, pretty much every animal (including non-fascist humans) can and is when they feel threatened.

sorry for rambling it's one in the morning right now so this might not make a lot of sense :D i feel like i should end this ask with an actual question. seeing as it's an ask and all. i came out into the living room because i heard a weird breathing sound and i thought it was my dog but it wasn't. got any theories?

Okay so:

1) I'd like you to know I was terrified when I open my notification bar and the words "Here's my fresh smoking off the griddle take since you..." came up because I recently made a bi erasure post and have already been getting anonymous hate. Thank you for instead being SANE this was a very informative ask and a wonderful surprise :)

2) this was a wonderfully worded explanation and I do agree on your points on morality and ethics and how animals can't understand them; I was mostly wondering because, obviously calling fascists/cops/capitalists pigs is a pretty well ingrained thing in leftist culture! I wanted to know what the updated concensus was and I am absolutely going to refrain from using the term to describe people in the future!

3) To answer your question about the origins of the term "Capitalist Pig", from your local National History Day finalist [my brag for the next year and a half]: the origins of the term actually trace back to the Soviets, who called Americans pigs---as well as political cartoons, as you might expect. Probably due to the "dirtiness" of pigs--and likely as well some fatphobia as well or a way to, like you're saying, dehumanize the enemies; though honestly, pigs are probably cleaner than some people I know...

4) most absolutely i fucking LOVE pigs all my homies LOVE pigs. and another point: petting them is so nice in a sensory way...

5.1) i love how the ask is unrelated your vibes are great

5.2) ghost

[byanyan]

@wbslngr sent:ㅤdescribe me 😈😈😈

byan describes your muse based purely on personal opinionㅤㅤ.・ (not accepting)

ㅤㅤ" peter? oh man, he's such a fuckin' dweeb. if he wasn't spider-man — ...am i allowed to say that? most people know by now, right? — anyway, yeah, if he wasn't spider-man, he'd be a total lost cause. i mean, photography? ...okay actually, the photography thing isn't that bad, it's just when he gets really geeky 'bout shit like cameras and lenses that it's like... dude, really? this is the thing you're gonna obsess over? "ㅤthey make a face — a bold move for someone who's gone off on bizarre and overly specific tangents regarding things like fabrics and threads.

ㅤㅤ" ugh, and his stupid legos, too. "ㅤthe eyeroll is so big, they're at risk of straining a muscle.ㅤ" what i'm tryin' to say is that he's a nerd. he actually tries in school an' takes all those stupid ap classes... —he wants to go to college! fuckin' nerd. an' like, somehow even though he's fuckin' spider-man, he's a complete wuss? he'll swing from buildings on this tiny little rope and fight these stupidly powerful freaks to 'save the city,' but half the rides at an amusement park are enough to make him scream like a five year old. s'the weirdest fuckin' thing, i don't get it. "ㅤbarely fighting back another eyeroll, byan closes their eyes and shakes their head.

ㅤㅤ" but then we get home an' he's lettin' me shove a needle through his ear for a new piercing or beggin' me to give him another tattoo? i dunno, he's got some wack priorities with the kindsa things he'll worry about. he's got some spirit, though. i mean, when he's not worried about things like the law. "ㅤthe scoff they exhale is really more of a snort.ㅤ" s'kinda funny, honestly — on the one hand, we're complete opposites, but on the other... in like, some smaller, more subtle ways, we have a lot more in common than i realized at first. we haven't really known each other that long, but i'm still noticin' that he's got some little habits that aren't so different from ones i've got. maybe that's jus' an inherent twin thing? i dunno. "ㅤfrowning slightly, they shake it off in a matter of seconds. this isn't relevant to describing peter.

ㅤㅤ" he's a dork, an' it's kinda embarrassin' to have him as a brother sometimes, but... he's not bad. i don't hate havin' him around, or anythin'. he's actually pretty fun to hang out with a lotta the time, since he mostly lets me drag him along without too much fussin'. maybe this is cheesy to say, but... in a way, we're kinda like two sides of the same coin; he's like, the chaotic good to my chaotic evil, or whatever. "

[miqo-tales]

Six Point One and done

Someday I'll put up my thoughts on 6.0, but till then, you'll have to settle for the new stuff.

As always, don't read unless you've finished 6.1.

MSQ

"What are your plans?" Nod and then kill things, I suppose. Same as always.

OK, Tataru, first, why does this mannequin have hair? And second, why didn't you make any pants for this outfit?

Yea, it's a game and all, but sometimes it's a little ridiculous how WoL will need to find/do something, take two steps in one direction, and usually (and sometimes literally) trip over the exact thing they needed to find/do the thing.

Genuinely shocked that Estinien was aware that he might be getting tricked.

Poor little mammet has to clean up Y'shtola's mess.

Geez, that look on Y'shtola's face when the voidgate is revealed. I genuinely thought she was possessed or something and was gonna do something.

Do love that the general consensus after that dungeon is "uh, whoops?"

Vrtra loves his people and would do anything to protect them, but also loaded up the treasure island/vault with deadly guards to kill anyone who went there. Hm.

Oh, ok. I didn't think they'd keep going with FF4 stuff after 6.0. And even if I had, I don't think I would have expected Golbez to show up.

It's funny that every reaction to hearing that Y'shtola wants to take a nice trip to the Void is just "OK, sure" and not "Are you fucking mad?"

I did the final role quest just before the Sharlayan stuff, so was amusing to see Fourchenault being pretty grumpy when he was actually sociable in the role quest.

I don't mind the "this person is following you" bits, but I don't see why they bother doing them if there's nowhere to get extra dialogue during it.

"What? Terrible forbidden knowledge? SIGN ME UP!"

I look forward to seeing that Nixie summoning in JP.

OK, that's Zenos' avatar, isn't it? That certainly stamps a big "YES" on him being dead, huh?

Course, if his avatar is gonna show up in MSQ, begs the question, who is they?

DUNGEON

Anyone else get Nyzul Isle flashbacks from this place?

I don't think I have to worry about farming the gear from here. Don't really care for it.

(If the gear didn't have the light blue accents, I'd like it more.)

RAID

G'raha just having the best day ever, isn't he? Not one but TWO fantastic adventures with their best buddy.

Deryk is totally one of the Twelve, right?

Or maybe the opo-opo is?

Raid really doesn't mess around. It feels like older content in the sense that there's a lot of things that can very easily wipe the entire raid.

That last song though, damn!

"Oh we pretended to be evil conquering gods so we could have a fight with you." OK, have you not been paying attention to the WoL at all? All you had to do was just ask.

I really only want one thing out of this raid, and that's for it to involve Azem somehow.

*****************************

It's funny that shortly before this patch hit, there was a some... discussion... on Twitter about how Y'shtola was boring and one-note and just the mascot (mascat?) character and everyone else got good development and she didn't and blah blah blah

And then this patch drops and it's the Y'shtola Power Hour.

I'll be honest, I was kinda expecting for SQEX to sorta retire Y'shtola, Thancred, and Urianger after 6.0? Not permanently, obviously, cause none of us are gonna deny that Y'shtola is pretty much the external face of the game. But I didn't think they'd have any focus or major interaction with any of those three till deeper into 6.x or maybe even till 7.0.

Now? Well, I'm kinda wondering if I've got it backwards and we don't see Alphinaud and Alisaie for a good while. And maybe by the time they show up they've, y'know, gotten taller? Probably not, but hey, who knows.

In any case, I dunno where this is going. How far into FFIV are they going to dig? Is 7.0 going to focus on the Thirteenth or is this a side story that will setup something else?

And most importantly, how badly is someone (possibly us or Y'shtola) gonna fuck something up?

[ari-shipping-stuff]

Monochrome Week 2020

Day Three - Fake Dating AU

———

@monochromeweek

———

The night was alive. Colorful lights pulsing like a heartbeat. Lively disco music pumping everyone up like an adrenaline rush.

Weiss usually scoffed at parties like this. Ugh. Dance clubs. So crowded. No oxygen. But surprisingly, she found that she could finally stop holding her breath.

Henry wasn't there, forcing her to dance. Or talk about him. Or stay at his side at all times because he had no life. She could bop her shoulders to the music in content freedom. Full-out dancing had always been Ruby and Yang's forte. Which was why she stayed back at the bar to talk with Blake.

They hadn't seen each other in nearly a year, ever since Blake transferred schools, which was a shame, considering that was the year their friend circle had formed.

Weiss was the tech-savvy one of them four. She kept tabs on everyone's social media (even if they didn't want her to) and had noticed several changes on Blake's account. She was never one to post selfies. Just pictures of cute cats and her dark academia. And even if she didn't post anything in months, Weiss thought her latest picture was something worth noting.

She took a sip from her Jack Frost, swirling it around to play with the ice.

"How's Adam?"

Blake nearly choked on her drink, coughing when she put it down.

"What?" she croaked.

"When were you going to tell us about him?" Weiss tilted her head.

Blake sighed, rubbing her temple.

"We lasted like a month, Weiss; there's nothing to tell."

Weiss raised a brow. "A month, huh? What happened there? You guys looked pretty sweet in that photo together."

Blake snorted. "He posted that one. Wanted the world to know I was his whore."

"Sounds bad."

"It was bad. Still is. I broke up with him, but he's just not giving up," she grimaced, downing a gulp of purple cocktail. "Bastard."

Weiss snorted.

Pause. Then—

"Your dad still brainwashing that Marigold guy?"

Weiss groaned, throwing her head back in frustration.

"He doesn't even need my dad to tell him to do stuff anymore. He just goes ahead and thinks I'm infatuated with him or something. You know, that 'hard to get' mentality or something."

"Yeah, I know the type." Blake replied dryly.

"You think they'd leave us alone if we got into a relationship?" Weiss snickered.

Blake snorted. "Yeah, maybe."

They settled into a comfortable silence then. Weiss accepted that statement as the joke it was supposed to be. But it began to resonate in her head. The more she thought about it, the more it began to make sense in its own ridiculous way.

"Weiss?"

"Hm?"

"What are you scheming in there?"

Weiss paused. She downed the rest of her cocktail.

".. What if we did?"

"What if we what?"

"What if we were in a relationship?" she said. "That would get them to piss off."

Blake raised her eyebrows, glancing away nervously. She bit her lip.

"I.. I don't know, Weiss.." she said. "Seems a little extreme, don't you think? A-And are we even sure it'll get them to leave us alone?"

"But it makes sense!" Weiss exclaimed. "You know they won't take our word for it, Blake. Neither of them will get the picture unless they see that we're interested in someone else."

Blake drank down the last of her Purple Rain, deep in thought. Weiss distracted herself with the lavender glitter on Blake's eyeshadow.

Blake pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

"Texting Yang. My place or yours?"

"Wh-What?"

Blake glanced at Weiss, standing up.

"So we can plan." Blake said. "We'd have to start as soon as possible, right?"

Weiss blinked up at her.

".. My place."

•

In all the years she knew Weiss, this was admittedly the first time Blake had ever been inside her room.

She thought it was regal-looking, to say the least. Perfectly cleaned. Icy white walls, silk curtains and sheets.. Like some ice castle.

Blake put down her bag, laying it next to the mountain of pillows at the head of the bed. She looked back at Weiss, only to see her pulling up a large frame of wood from a nearby chest.

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really need that corkboard?"

"Of course, we do!" Weiss said. "If we're going to make a game plan, we're going to have to do it properly!"

"You mean, we can't just do PDA and act like.. I dunno, Qrow and Clover?"

Weiss would've laughed at the inside joke, if not the circumstances. Instead, she shot Blake a sour pout. Which was far from the desired effect.

"Blake, if we're going to sell this to the public, you need to be serious about this," she scoffed, spreading out her arms for emphasis. "Like I said, we have to do this properly!"

"I am serious!" Blake exclaimed, crossing her arms. "If you're so experienced about stuff like this, why don't you tell me what your 'properly' means?"

Weiss blushed furiously, jabbing a finger at Blake. She opened her mouth, as if trying to say something. But nothing came out. She didn't know either.

Blake just sighed, propping herself on her arm.

"I'm starting to regret agreeing to this." she mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss cried, crossing her arms defensively. "I'll have you know, I'd make a great fake girlfriend if you were actually cooperating with me!"

"Uh-huh."

Weiss huffed, looking away, a pout on her lips. But her gaze found her clock. Then her expression softened. She punched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.

"We've spent all this time arguing.. My father will be home soon, and we don't even have so much as a first move!" she groaned.

Blake looked towards the white alarm clock, wincing. 10:50.

"Alright, look," she spoke up, surprising Weiss. "Let's say our relationship started off as a secret. Several months ago. And by secret—"

"—Not even Ruby and Yang would know." Weiss finished. She nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. Then.. We're going to make us public."

Blake pursed her lips. "I.. I'll ask around about you. Pretend I'm interested. Get people talking. Would that work?"

Weiss nodded, the tiniest of smiles forming on her face. It was a little infectious, prompting a grin from Blake.

"And," Weiss added. "There's a party tomorrow night. Ruby and Yang's place. It's a little less of your scene, but if we're seen dancing together or holding hands, it'll probably do something."

Blake nodded. "Yeah."

"That should be all we have to discuss now." Weiss said. "We'll think of more at the party, alright?"

Blake nodded, standing up. She reached towards her bag, only to have Weiss get there first.

Weiss raised her eyebrows, laughing lightly, handing it back.

Blake smiled a bit, glancing to the side.

"Looks like we never needed the corkboard, after all."

Weiss glared at her. "Just shut up and leave."

•

This was a slightly smaller party compared to last night. There were a few dancers in the middle of the living room. But mostly, people were in pairs or three's; talking in the corners. Fairy lights. Finally, some punch that wasn't spiked.

Weiss lounged on a bean bag with her usual group, in a circle on the couches they claimed early. But instead of contributing whatever bizarre shower thought debate was going on, Weiss just sipped on her punch, her mind far away.

"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby whispered. She sat on the couch right next to Weiss, so she only had to turn her head.

"Hm?"

"Did you and Blake talk much last night?"

Weiss already knew what prompted this question. Though it didn't stop her heart from racing.

"I guess so, yeah." she shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

"It's been a while, huh?" Ruby grinned crookedly. "Since the four of us were together in one place."

"Yeah," Weiss sighed, turning to check the door. "It was."

"So why'd you two leave early?"

Weiss flinched from the question. She took her time in answering.

"Winter got worried. She called and told me to come home. Guess Klein didn't tell her where I'd be." she shrugged. "Blake just wanted to walk me home."

Ruby's smile grew at that. "Mhm.."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her best friend, who swirled her punch around the red cup with her evil 'I'm planning something you definitely won't like' grin.

"Ruby.."

"Yes, Weiss?"

"Ruby."

She only giggled. She put her elbow on the armrest, with her face in her hand.

"Blake just texted us last night. Aand she was asking about you."

"Uh-huh. And?"

"And—" she raised her voice, prompting the rest of the party to join the conversation. "— it wasn't just me and Yang, Weiss. She texted all of us! Right, guys?"

There were collective sounds of agreement around the table. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"And?"

Ruby groaned.

"Well," Nora interrupted. "She kinda sounded like she was interested."

Ruby stood on the couch, gesturing to Nora with extreme exaggeration.

"Isn't she with that Adam Taurus guy you told us about, Weiss?" Jaune piped up. "The one in her picture?"

"They broke up." Weiss replied simply.

"Looks like someone asked." Yang smirked.

"Blake's fair game now." Nora added, sipping her punch.

If one could drink punch slyly, Weiss was certain Nora was doing it right.

"And Henry Marigold?" Oscar added quietly. He recoiled at the disappointed expressions he got from the majority of the group. "Not that I like him.. It's just that he's been pining for Weiss even before I got here. Wouldn't he take action?"

"So you do believe Weiss and Blake are getting together?" Nora asked, jabbing a chip in his direction.

Oscar shrugged. "Yes? I'm not Ren."

"Hey!"

Weiss sighed. Thank their lack of focus. At least, she wasn't being focused on anymore.

But then, as if on cue, Weiss caught the distant sounds of door chimes. She spun towards the door, and there she was, nervously recoiling into herself. It might've been the fairy lights, but Weiss could've sworn her cheeks were alight with pink.

She was about to get up to get her until she heard the obnoxiously loud coughing from behind her. Weiss gritted her teeth, smiling sarcastically at the group.

"And I suppose Blake just showed up because she wanted to?" Yang teased.

But as it turned out, Blake didn't wait for Weiss. She found the group herself, especially with Ruby's frantic waving.

"Blake!" she exclaimed, her voice reaching up a few more octaves. She gave Weiss a knowing sideways glance. "What brought you here~?"

Blake twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

"Oh, uh.. Weiss invited me last night."

"She did, did she?" Nora raised an eyebrow, elbowing Jaune excitedly.

Weiss buried her face in her hands miserably.

"Anyway.." Blake continued awkwardly. "I hope it's no trouble if I just, uh.." she reached down and gently grabbed Weiss's wrist. ".. Borrow Weiss for a minute?"

Yang cleared her throat.

Ruby grinned encouragingly, reaching up to whisper in Blake's ear. Whatever that was, caused Blake's face to grow increasingly red. She didn't say anything else and pulled Weiss up.

"Come on, Weiss." Blake sighed amusedly, dragging her to the dance floor.

Blake gingerly put her hands on Weiss's waist, bringing an intense blush to the shorter girl's face. She could still feel the burning gazes of her schoolmates in the back, and so desperately wanted to ignore it.

A cold jolt went up her spine when Blake took her hands, bringing them up to her shoulders. Weiss raised an eyebrow at her.

Blake could only shrug, looking down.

"You were zoning out." she mumbled.

Weiss nodded, moving forward, so that their bodies were touching.

It was Blake's turn to give her a questioning look.

Weiss hesitated, but she shrugged as well, laughing a bit.

"We look like we're being forced to dance."

Blake nodded. "Fair enough."

They swayed in silence from there, perfectly content in not talking. After a few minutes or so, Weiss saw cameras flashing in the corner of her eye. They were doing this for the public, weren't they? To shove it down the boys' throats.

Without a word, Weiss leaned her head on Blake's shoulder, breathing in a musk of honey.

"Convincing, right?" she whispered.

Blake snorted, a soft smile on her face.

•

They left as the party lost its swing. Blake's old school would certainly have something to talk about tomorrow. Weiss Schnee, leaving her Prince Charming for an old sweetheart. If Blake's friends weren't attending said school, she'd have no reason not to despise it.

Instead of heading home right away, they decided the night was still young and went to a restaurant near Blake's house. They were both so focused on their so-called 'photoshoot' they forgot to grab a handful of chips on the way out.

Next thing they knew, they were laughing so hard, they were choking on their sandwiches.

"I can't believe you would do me dirty like this!" Blake mocked, barely containing her laughter. "Oh, god, are you sure you guys were never together?"

"News spreads fast, doesn't it?"

"Especially when Ruby and Nora are the ones spreading it." Blake chuckled.

Weiss grinned. "Anything from your side?"

Blake snorted, shaking her head. "Honestly, I'm almost scared for when he does."

"Why's that?"

Blake shrugged, smirking sarcastically. "Let's just say he'd be far more intense than whiny texts."

Weiss frowned worriedly, tilting her head. Hesitantly, she laid a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Blake."

Something churned in the pit of Blake's stomach. Not in a bad way. Like light little flips. Flaps. Butterflies. But she couldn't wrap her head around it. Maybe it was something in the way Weiss could say her name like that. It soothed Blake easily. Even if just a little.

"I'm fine." Blake sighed, taking a mournful bite out of her grilled cheese. "He just texted me earlier this morning."

"He did?" Weiss murmured. "What'd he say?"

Blake took her time in answering, chewing ever so slowly. When she finally swallowed, it felt sharp.

"Just.. He called me out for avoiding him. Even though I explicitly told him we were over, he still thinks entitled to me." Blake growled. "He denied stalking me, manipulated me, and now he has the gall to say I'm overreacting? He's just unbelievable!"

Weiss felt her blood boil. This guy walked all over Blake, called her the bad guy, even after all that? She couldn't wait to meet this guy. If only to break his legs.

She carefully brought her hand to Blake's, gently stroking the back with her thumb.

Blake's eyebrows raised at the gesture. Instinctively, she stretched her fingers outwards, fitting them between Weiss's.

"I'd never do that.." Weiss mumbled.

Blake didn't know the thought process of that statement, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Then Weiss's eyes snapped up, meeting Blake's gaze. But Blake was losing her mind. Noticing everything.

Her heart stopped. She could smell Weiss's faint vanilla and petrichor musk. The usually-invisible specks of indigo in Weiss's large, sapphire eyes were easy to spot. As well as the faded scar running down her left eye.

This was the closest they've ever been to each other. Not just in the physical aspect. This was just so much more intimate than the dance somehow. Blake felt close to Weiss and it was driving her insane.

"Thanks."

———

this ended up being too long, which was why it took me ages to post. and this will also have a sequel on day five

though, this whole thing was my favorite to write ^^

— ari

———

part one | part two | part three | part four

[schafpudel]

#I actually really liked the intro episode of Don Kanonji #the idea of a 'hoax' TV medium actually having just enough of a foothold in this world to do damage #and then having to realize that and acknowledge his own relationship with it #I think this is why many of the later arcs disappointed; I was most interested in seeing how this world impacted and related to the mundane #similar powerful early episodes to me were the 'haunted cockatiel' and the episode with Orihime's brother #later arcs absolutely have their perks #I actually unironically like the 'king and his horse' speech #even though I think it plays to some limitations of the genre that everything has to be settled by hierarchical power levels and fighting #like I dunno maybe your ~EVIL SIDE~ isn't actually evil as much as someone who has not decided if they want to obey you or not #because why would they #do they respect you enough to actually want to help you with your goals #wouldn't anyone 'act up' in that situation trying to have their own priorities

Out of curiosity, any thoughts on the anime Bleach?

I consumed a fairly good chunk of it when I was younger. It's since faded in my passions. I think Rolling Star by Yui is by far my favorite of the openings but a lot of them are very good.

I think the visuals are fairly stylish but it suffers the shonen problem- granted, I think a lot of this is in the format of how long running shonens are produced- of starting out with a bold exciting concept and then sort of petering out in weird directions the longer it goes on. In Bleach's case, I really loved the design and concept of the early hollows, but from the Soul Society arc onward, this entire fascinating afterlife concept boils down to Fashion Sword Boys Fightin' It Out.

Most of my residual fondness for it has me eyeing @gallusrostromegalus's An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy, because it seems to be taking a lot of the later series and injecting that sense of weird monsters and afterlife ramifications back into it.