#like i know his mom is mentioned in official novels

[hallowpen]

I genuinely forgot that I hadn't done one of these for episode fifteen...

I want to start off by taking a moment to discuss Khun Savitree.

She was put in a very difficult position where both action and inaction weren't entirely viable options for her, as it would affect her relationship to Kuea (and his willingness to provide for her and their unborn child). Another instance of class dynamics was put on display when Kuea, a man of higher status than Savitree, tried to discredit her in order to continue to conceal his indiscretion. Ultimately, her choice to reveal the nature of their relationship forces Kuea to marry her by order of the Prince, but the full consequences of that decision won't play out on screen.

I've been seeing a few misunderstandings surrounding Anil's father (possibly from the English translated version of the novel), so I just want to clarify: While His Royal Highness is considered to be the head of the Savettavarit Grand Palace, he is not the King... he is the son of the King.

With that being said, there are two forms of address that I did not mention previously that I should have: You might have heard Kuea and his family address those of royal rank by using the term กระหม่อม (pronounced 'kra-mom'). It is a formal and more official way to address members of royalty who would be referred to as 'his/her majesty'. Another formal address is ฝ่าพระบาท (pronounced 'faa phra-baat'). It is an expression of reverence toward royalty which can be translated as 'one who is representative of the foot of Lord Buddha'.

Figures who hold higher rank within the royal hierarchy are considered closest to the 'realm of heaven' and treated with almost god-like reverence (Which makes sense in regards to Patt's argument against Pin's pursuance of Anil, who should not be tempted to stoop below her station for one of lower status). As head of the Savettavarit Palace, His Royal Highness the Prince has final word amongst those who live within its walls and anyone who wishes to associate with them.

We're going to be talking about karma again, because it is sooo very rooted in all of the decisions Princess Patt and Khun Pin have made thus far. I know that it's hard to sympathize with a lot of their choices and how quickly they turn around from them, but hear me out.

Karma is defined as the concept where the intentions of our actions create consequences that affect both our present and future lives. Positive actions lead to positive consequences or 'good karma' and negative actions lead to negative consequences or 'bad karma'. I've been saying that Patt viewed her intention to love Im as a 'negative' action because it ended in what she believed was karmic tragedy. Flash forward to her insistence of Pin pursuing the opposite 'positive' action... which ultimately led to a void and fraudulent marriage. The law of karma would have Patt (and Pin) believe that Pin being saved from an unhappy life and marriage is a karmic reward for Pin AND Anil's good intentions toward one another... which would mean that the fates always intended for them to be together. It basically throws a wrench into Patt's entire belief system because she was wrong (and that's why she tries to make up for it). I can't think of a more coherent way to explain it unless you jump into my brain, so I hope that makes sense hehe

[nickpeppermint]

Okay, do we have any headcanons for Jeffs mom, or is he some kind of astroboy like android or a homunculus from the test tube, or just Dr Andonuts clone, cuz

Its sounds more realistic than a woman having enough chemistry with this man to create another human being

[chestnut-b]

Iruka Mentions in the Kakashi Retsuden Novel

"The sleep chakra point, a technique he had learned directly from Iruka, the principal of the ninja academy. When Kakashi mentioned in conversation that he had trouble sleeping sometimes, Iruka had taught him a secret jutsu for inducing restful sleep. The sticking point, through, was that it was hard to hit the spot on yourself, given the chakra point was on the back of the neck."

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

Kakashi confides in Iruka, and Iruka is more than willing to conduct some private lessons for the Rokudaime.

"Before he became Hokage, Kakashi had only known how to kill people. He had methods of capturing people without killing them, but they all invovled pain and torture. But as time wore on and the country grew stable, the shinobi principle of capture without killing had taken favor. And it was none other than the Sixth Hokage himself who struggled with how to write the guidelines for this new no-kill capture policy. He'd discussed it with Iruka, the principal of the academy at the time, and he had laughed. Kakashi remembered every single word of what he said.

(Iruka) "It's ok. It might not look it, but we do more than just teach students at the academy. We've saved jutsu to make an enemy fall asleep instantly or freeze them on the spot. Everything from old to new is right here."

Distracted by the memory of Iruka's proud face, Kakashi accidentally allowed a bit of fabric to rustle while strangling the ninth shinobi."

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

What can I say? Kakashi certainly doesn't need the Sharingan to remember Iruka's every word, his laugh and his proud (most definitely smiling) face. In fact it's so distracting he blows his cover on a dangerous infiltration mission remembering it. Yeeeesss.

Iruka is also the last major mention at the end of Kakashi's novel:

(Sarada) "I'm heading out. I got a present for Master Iruka," Sarada said, holding up a cherry pink paper bag. Strawberry Daifuku from Tami Traditional Sweets in the old city. They were widely known to be extraordinary and quickly sold out, so they were hard to get ahold of, a rare treat.

"Oh right, you're doing a homestay at Master Iruka's, right?" Kakashi said.

"Yeah!" Sarada nodded happily. "Cuz Mom and Dad are away on a long mission. Master Iruka's an amazing cook. He's teaching me all kinds of stuff. It's loads of fun."

"Ohh. He is pretty skilled."

Iruka was a longtime bachelor like Kakashi, but unlike Kakashi, who paid little attention to his personal life to start with, Iruka kept a neat home. In contrast with the desk of the Sixth Hokage, which was always covered with scattered papers and documents, the principal's office at the academy was famously neat and tidy.

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

Kakashi knows Iruka's a skilled cook. He knows Iruka keeps a neat home. (I wonder why) Kakashi's also recently developed a bit of an onsen interest. (Iruka's official data book entry lists onsens as his hobby.) They are both confirmed bachelors. Nice.

[storytellering]

Do you think DMC has a incestuous subtext? I am kind of new to the franchise (and also the fandom... Which isn't really respectful that I can see) and I want to know if I am not the only one who thinks that it's pretty obvious why the ships between DVN have many believers.

First of all, welcome to DMC, anon! And OH BOY, you'll definitely find that that's the majority opinion, at least within the Spardacest circles - honestly, most "normie" circles too. Every grass-touching, non-internet poisoned dudebro I've ever met and talked dmc with has made one or two incest jokes at me about it, definitely noting how the rivalry between the twins is very charged - the only people I've found who flat out deny it are the antis. To go more in depth about the actual subtext there - well, one should start with the roots of dmc in dmc1, right? DMC1 is definitely a gothic game - it's everywhere in the aesthetics, the inspirations, the imagery and the environment, and what is gothic horror without the incest? The initial incest in Kamiya's dmc, before Itsuno stepped in, was definitely obvious in Dante and Trish (who I'm pretty sure according to kamiya at least were supposed to be endgame) - and like, c'mon. You can say all you want that she only looks like his mom, she isn't actually Eva, she doesn't even have her personality... but from a moral perspective, that's still weird as fuck if we're going by real life standards, right? You wouldn't fuck a clone of your mom without it being at least a little bit incestuous.

Then Itsuno stepped in from 3 on, and the incestuous undertones became more focused on the immediate Sparda family - the twins, and eventually, Nero.

...Do I need to even explain it? Sure, in 3 the twins bicker and banter like real brothers, but there's definitely a suggestive edge to it - so many quips between them that really cannot be explained by "oh haha brotherly banter" without it getting at least a little bit weird. Not to mention all the "impalement as penetration" comparisons that can be drawn, and I'll leave a nice little video that goes deeper into a lot of that (as well as the gothic inspirations in the dmc franchise) so you can hear it from the mouth of someone far more eloquent than me.

And then in 4... I mean, if the amount of people who almost ubiquitously shipped Dante and Nero as soon as 4 dropped and continued doing so until 5 officially confirmed their relation (which, to be fair, Nero being Dante's nephew had actually been hinted at all along, but exactly because of so many people shipping them and not wanting it to be incestuous/the dudebros not liking Nero very much when 4 was new, pretty much everyone in the english speaking side of the fandom had been in denial about it until 5 spelled it out in big, bold letters) is kind of the test, no? That the tension and chemistry is so obvious the moment the incest element is hidden or unclear, everyone is suddenly in agreement about it. I could go on and on and on about Nero's obvious puppy crush/hero worship on Dante, Dante's immediate fondness of Nero, how if you read the 4 novels it's even more blatant and in your face... but all I'm gonna say is that that initial fight scene was softcore porn and no one can convince me otherwise, lmao. Listen, I'm just saying that if the intention wasn't to be suggestive, having Nero wrap his legs around Dante to pull him closer, bite his gun, and then straddle him like that was a very poor choice. Honorable mention for the reboot, whose devs were VERY aware of the tension between the Spardas in the og franchise, called it out by saying their game wasn't gonna do "all that gay shit" (obviously in the early 2010s the issue wasn't the incest, but it being GAY incest 🙄) and then accidentally made their version of the twins SO very....... whatever the hell is going on with the reboot twins. Not not-incestuous and definitely not straight, I'll tell you that.

And then 5, again. Do I need to explain it? Nero and V are, once again, a perfect textbook example of "couple that had so much natural chemistry everyone was flocking to it before it was revealed to be incest", plus the way everything about Dante's story, at the end, now that he's a weathered old man, is made to revolve around Vergil... yes, Dante is a depressed old alcoholic because he pushed everyone away, because of the laundry list of issues he ended up with because of everything that happened in his life, BUT Vergil was always front and center within it, even when he wasn't there. That Dante's story quite literally begins and ends with Vergil... well. I dunno about you, that just doesn't feel like your regular siblings dynamic. Also another honorable mention: "I'll make you submit" is a totally normal thing to say to your estranged father. Not weird at all with absolutely zero implications. OH, not to mention, even if we stay purely within canon and don't even look deeper at any implications or subtext... the literal only canon couple is incestuous, too. Let's not forget Kyrie and Nero are adopted siblings, Nero was raised as her brother, and the game itself calls it out in the character descritption (in 4's character bios it says Kyrie is at once Nero's "lover and family") + it's quite literally spelled out in the novels (having Nero think that "well, while it's true that he's been raised with Kyrie as siblings, he would've liked her even if they weren't family"). There's SO much more I could still go into, I have quite literally spent the past 3 years replaying the games over and over and overthinking/hyperanalizing every single frame, rereading the novels and the mangas to the point I could cite them by memory, and it's just... I dunno. I saw someone else say this somewhere, but if you're into DMC and grossed out by incest... this might not be the franchise for you.

[denv2]

Okay. I'll just ramble on by myself again today. There are so many things to say, but I'm bad at English, so I can only talk to myself and use a translator to post it.... (Why doesn't Tumblr have an official translator function. I don't want to compare, but twt(x) has Google Translate, but can't Tumblr have that too. Please play my wish. If it's a global app, let's have a translator) Anyway, I want to see more of Felix's story...

As always, I'm embarrassed to talk about headcanons alone, so I'll continue below. (99% IM!felix chat)(It's long)(chapter 172~ spoiler)

I've been mentioning something consistently... I keep thinking about Felix's backstory, which I'm rereading these days... Last time I read and drew a picture of chapter 181, but... Oh my God, I should've started at 172, but I realized I started in the middle.

In 172, Felix uses a gag to defeat the enemy. I love the description of his ability to use a gag, but what's even more thrilling is his reaction afterward. He spontaneously bursts out laughing in triumph after defeating the enemy through a gag. Then he immediately frowns.

'Too close. It was too close.' < This sentence actually made me pull my hair out...

It really shows how Felix is determined to never go back to being zany again. I love the way he checks himself because he's afraid he's going to turn into a zany person after one gag. I really like that... When I first read the novel, I didn't decide on a favorite and just enjoyed the story itself, but now that I'm reading the details again for the first time in a long time while knowing the whole story, I think there are so many things I forgot. And about the relationship between Felix and zany... There were more mentions than I thought, but I didn't notice this... Yes, in fact, the labyrinth part was so long that I was a little tired when I read that part before, but I didn't remember that a lot of Felix's backstory was solved from Felix's side during the labyrinth part...

I keep getting a little obsessed with Felix's past, Felix and his zany days, but there's a reason. I did fanart until March of this year, then I got a little busy for a while, so I was binge-watching chapters of the novel, and then I read chapters 349 and 350, and I loved them so much that I really fell in love with them, so I came back to drawing Felix after a long time? Chapter 349 is the adoption meeting between Canola and Felix, and I really love this chapter. The reason Boris's adoption was rejected was because Felix was zany (+ other unreliable behaviors), and I actually sympathized with Canola. Felix is a trustworthy protector, sure, but he's not perfect, and I like him more for that... As a side note, I do like Canola (I like her as a 2D character, she's like Noelle's mom from Deltarune lol) Anyway, it was Felix's mention of his inner zany that really opened my eyes to Felix and zany. After that, I thought I should re-read about Felix's past connections from his visions in the labyrinth, and then I grabbed chapter 181 and read it and loved it so much that I started drawing Alex and Kitty... But I should have read it from 172!!! 172 also had some really important Felix and ZANY, GAG references...

And chapter 174... Awww. I'm going to paint a picture of Professor Wilson and Felix's past college relationship... As for Professor Wilson's characterization, I've been paying attention to it because of the cult references, but I've been rethinking that characterization as Felix's benefactor lately, so I'm appreciating that part anew, and it's great. I think I remember there was a side story about Felix and Professor Wilson in college in Inky Extra, but I need to read it again.

And chapter 179!! No why didn't I read chapter 179 again?! I thought I would find Felix's past part in the labyrinth part and read it again, so I clicked on the early and middle chapters of the labyrinth to find Felix and read it, but it was 181. There was 179 before 181, but I should have read it from here 😂.

But actually, it's probably a good thing I read chapter 179 now, because it's based on the Twisted Tales Felix animation. If I had read 179 when I reread chapter 181, I don't think I would have gotten as much detail as I did now, because I hadn't seen Twisted Felix yet! So I guess I found this at the right time... Anyway, I have a lot to say about chapter 179.

After realizing that Felix's former hometown is based on Twisted Tales... I can kind of imagine how he lived in the past, and I like that.

To digress for a second, I recently posted a picture of Felix as a showmanship-esque star in a tailcoat suit, and while I was drawing it, I was thinking that Felix, who is a real-life zany top-tier star, would never wear a suit like that, lol. But! I think he would have worn it at least once, but the normal show would have been a comedy show with gags, witty stand-up comedy and physical comedy, right? But I wanted to draw Felix the star in a suit, with a glow in his eyes... That zany, crazy presence! I tried to capture that in my own expression. And since Star Felix is Felix from the past, I wanted him to be a little younger than he is now... The hairstyle is also a little different from the current Felix I'm drawing now! The current Adventurer Felix has more wild hair and is a little unkempt, whereas the Star Felix I drew this time is very well-groomed for showmanship and has a slicked back hairdo.

Let's go back to 179 again. The first line that stood out to me was when Felix's friend asks, "You're not homeless again, are you?

Later on, Felix and Bendy meet up and Felix is telling Bendy about his past, and I think it's mentioned that after Alex, Felix's show fortunes started to change, and he was living an unstable life where he was doing well, and then all of a sudden he was homeless, and then he was doing well again, and then he was going back and forth like that. I think that's the fun part of the subtext, because you read the subtext first, you can see what the earlier reference is actually for.

Then there's Sheba... Actually, what I've been thinking about Sheba and what I drew with Alex and Kitty last time and what I drew after watching Twisted Tales... The character interpretations are mixed now. I drew Sheba last time, but I think I need to change the character design...! I want her to have more of a Twisted Tales feel to her. I feel like I need to do more characterization for Sheba, especially after seeing the scene where Felix's friends don't understand that he doesn't want to be zany, except for Sheba... I need to get her in line... I love Felix and Sheba's friendship in the original comic, but I need to re-read the parts where it's mentioned about their friendship in IM.

And about Candy, I'm actually really interested in Felix's past relationships with girls... Seriously, why is Felix so popular? lol I love it... I love that his past is so colorful... Candy, Nastassia... and Kitty (oh my god. I have so much to say about Kitty).

Okay, let's move on to 181. If I have something else to say about 179 later, I'll say it then. I'm going to say 181 again because it's Kitty...

One of Alex's lines to Felix is this: "Kitty was the last steady girl you had, right?" < Alex's provocation level is... Crazy... (in a positive way). I can't stop thinking about this. About Felix's stable attachment to a relationship.... He's been living alone ever since he left town... I don't think he was even interested in a relationship, because it ended so tragically.... Then one day he meets a rabbit...(Oh my god, but this isn't about Osix, so maybe later...)

I'm so curious about the end of Felix and Kitty's tragic past relationship... What the hell did Alex do? I've imagined some really horrible things, and I honestly don't think it's that bad, but what the hell made Kitty apologize to Felix and Felix turn away and avoid her? What the hell happened?"....

Awww... Felix and Kitty... I'm sure they were a great match before the tragedy... But... But now that they've been torn apart... I love this tragedy... I'm sorry Felix, but I really like ex relationships... because they're ex...

By the way, about Kitty's appearance, last time I drew her with ring earrings, I realized I should change the design to round earrings. I've got two pairs of Felix and Kitty and Oswald and Ortensia scheduled... so it's one of the things I'll definitely do. I'll probably change the earrings to be round then.

Now about Alex. There is so, so much to say about him...... I really love this dislike between Felix and Alex because it feels so good that the people they hate so much are cousins, blood relatives.

Cousins... I think this is more of a fear for Felix. If it were anyone else, he could just end the relationship cleanly. But I think the fact that they are family is more frightening... That's what I like so much. Felix hates and loathes Alex with all his heart. But Alex's attitude in the labyrinth is a little different from Felix's, isn't it? Felix is really hating him, but Alex is provoking him by raising him up... That's also very nice.

I love every single one of Alex's lines, it's so flavorful. I like villainous characters like Alex, but the reason why Alex is especially good is because it's a personalized antagonistic relationship with Felix that completely provokes Felix. He's so good at provoking...

I love the way Alex calls Kitty: 'beaut', 'kit', 'honey doll'... It's so sweet. It's so poisonous... And the things he says to Felix, it's so disturbing. He's so crazy.

'Long time no see, Feels', 'C'mon Feels, nothing to say to me? I've missed you!'(heck, this is soooo crazy.......), 'Still mad?', 'That's cute, Feels.'(noooooooo this is so insane....... alex..... love his poisoned words...), 'dear cousin?', 'cousin'

I love the way Alex says this... He's really provoking Felix with every line... I love how felix refers to alex as just 'Alex' but alex emphasizes the word 'cousin'. See why I said they have a better relationship because they're cousins? By referring to him as a cousin, he's subtly telling Felix that you're not really gone when you leave, that you're not really gone as long as you have the same blood in your veins. I think 'cousin' encompasses both mocking and taunting him for running away, but also letting him know that he's not really gone when he runs away.

But here's my question. When Alex mentions Felix's magic bag, he says it's supposed to be mine. Huh... I'm really curious about the past...

And then there's Alex's Felix costume... Seriously, I love this gimmick, it's a tradition, right? Alex mentions that it's the first time he's done it in a long time, and I wonder if there was an incident in the past where this costume caused a huge rift between Felix and the people around him. And... About Kitty... I can't get this thought out of my head. I'm sure it's because of Alex's appearance in the original Felix classic comics.... Yeah, right....... Oh, I'm thinking the worst again. I'm done here....

I find Felix's past parts so interesting and funny and I think about them a lot, but that's probably more because I like IM Felix.

I also realize that this whole past part isn't really real, it's just Labyrinth's hallucination. I think the real Alex and the real Kitty might react differently, but I honestly think Alex would be the same as Labyrinth lol. Considering the way Alex talks in the other books, yes. He really does have a mouth full of venom (which I love).

That was a really long rant... It's all running around in my head and I have nowhere to put it... I wanted to rant like this in my own personal space. I hope if anyone reads this far, they enjoyed it... Please someone talk to me about Felix🥺

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Hi! I saw you wanted some JonDami idea sooo:

• First time they hold hands

• First time Damian felt safe enough to fall asleep on Jon

• Discussing baby name when still in high school (which I did lmao)

• Seeking help from their siblings on how to ask the other in a date

• Eloping right out of high school to get married because they're idiots in love

• First kiss!! How did I forget that!!

• During patrol while high on adrenaline or maybe they were at the farm relaxing under the sunset or after playing video games and laughing with each other!

• One of my soft favourite to picture: leaning on each other, forehead against forehead or cheek against cheek, just existing and feeling the other's warmth

I have ton of other ideas and some hc but I think it's enough rn lol

Thx u byye!!

LET'S DO IT. (assume all ages are 16+ I guess, idk does it matter?)

First time they hold hands: pre-romance. Jon's powers shorted out and he fell outta the sky. Damian caught him by his hand just in time, and when he pulled him to safety he just...didn't let go. Jon noticed but didn't say a WORD.

First Time Damian fell asleep on him: Probably right after the relationship started/became official. They'd both had a rough hero week and Damian had been on edge just, forever. So they sit against a wall in the cave and one second they're sitting there in silence and the next, Damian's dropping against his shoulder already konked out. Jon panics for half a second but then Dick sees them and says 'He only sleeps when he feels safe.' and those words shake Jon to his core.

Baby names: This is all Jon. Jon just starts rambling about it one day. "How would we honor both our cultures? Or do we at all? Do we go with an -El name, or a name from your mom's side or just call him Bob?" Damian is endeared for a while but quickly gets so fucking annoyed because every name is more ridiculous than the last.

Siblings help: Jon obviously asks Kon and Kon is SO. JACKED. TO. HELP. He hesitates a little when he finds out it's Damian but, honestly, the kid is at least alright. Damian, much to the Kents surprise, does NOT ask Dick or even Tim. He consults Cass first, who asks Steph to standby as she gives her advice, and Jason, for reasons mentioned in previous asks in that he's a sucker for a classic romance novel so, clearly, he is An Expert.

Eloping: Honestly? Yes. And it happens at the same time one of them (I'm thinking Jon) says I love you for the first time. The other reciprocates (Damian) and one of them (Jon) sarcastically says 'really? well damn let's just go get married right now.' and Damian just goes. "Okay." and.......................they do. Maya officiates, Kathy is the witness, and the only family in attendance is the pets. (Goliath is flower girl)

First kiss: First kiss is at a Wayne Holiday gala/Justice League xmas party not long after they started dating and the end up under mistletoe. They do the hesitant peck thing first but then oh boy they like it and mmmmmm Clark and Bruce might have to rethink allowing sleepovers anymore.

Chillin': Jon gets so entranced when Damian laughs he literally just stops functioning. He will stop and stare and was even caught drooling a little bit once. (by Jason, no less.) If he's with Damian/it's just them, if Damian's laughing, he'll start laughing and just pull Damian as close as he can and they just keep laughing together.

SOFT FOREHEADS: There's some world-ending situation and they've been separated for most, if not all, of it. The day is saved and they're finally reunited on a rooftop somewhere. And they run desperately at each other but when they reach, they know the whole League is watching them and Damian's not big on PDA (and tbh neither is Jon, if only for protective reasons) so they just grab each other's hands and stare deep into each other's eyes until one of them well up with tears and closes his eyes and they just ~gentle forehead touch~

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

that soriku and the little mermaid gifset is killing me bc like

we have parallels between all the disney princess couples in the games and soriku???? i think??????? not just one but ALL?????????

like

snow white: probably weakest, but snow white ‘dead’ (asleep) and the prince saving her with love (ddd)

cinderella: also weaker but uhhhhh at the very least theres fairy godmother sending cinderella off to the ball to fufill her dream (MoM). and prince charming desperately looking for her is kinda?? soras journey in the first few games?????

sleeping beauty: ditto only true loves kiss breaking the spell (ddd) and also, aurora having a connection to prince phillip through her dreams (ddd/re:mind)

the little mermaid: ariel wants to leave the ocean and go explore another world. followed by eric looking for her, but shes been rEPLACED BY SOMEONE ELSE (VANESSA AKA NAMINE) WHOS USING SOMETHING OF HERS TO DISGUISE THEMSELF (ARIELS VOICE AKA THE METEOR SHOWER MEMORY) OH SHIT I JUST REALIZED THIS RIGHT AS IM TYPING THIS OUT WAIT WAIT HHOLD ON oOKAY okay im good im good now.  and then heres the gifset that started this all of course (kh2/re:coded)

beauty and the beast: right here babey! (kh1/kh2/ddd/com) + also this (chi)

aladdin: jasmine rebelling and sneaking out of the palace to go see the world. and this is from tvtropes but, ‘When Sora calls out for Riku after the second battle with the Parasite Cage, the staging of the scene is identical to when Aladdin called out for Jasmine after defeating Jafar in Agrabah: the Hero frantically calling out for their Love Interest as the room collapses around them while their allies drag them to safety.’ theres probably more with them but idk and its 4:30 am as i type this (kh1) ETA: aladdin and jasmine are directly compared to sora and riku in recom!

mulan: here + here >:^) (kh2 novel/ddd)

tangled: rapunzel wanting to leave her tower to see the world (kh3 novel) + this, after eugene is brought back to life with the power of true love (ddd)

and then frozen world doesnt even HAVE a couple BUT it does have anna and elsa! who are DIRECTLY compared to sora and riku!!! using the word love in english!!!! and the word used previously to describe rikus precious person in japanese (taisetsu)!!!!!!  here + here + multiple taisetsu links here

also uh???? anna frozen in ice??? sora frozen if you lose the yozora fight in re:mind???? hello???????????

ETA: okay wait there are some kristoff and anna parellels i forgot about/didnt think about IRT soriku LOL

(thank you @nobodyriku​)

literally the only disney princess couples (from the official disney princess lineup) that arent paralleled with soriku are pocahontas and (blech) john smith, and tiana and naveen. and thats bc those worlds arent in the games.

and HONORABLE MENTION goes to herc and megara. like even besides the taisetsu parallels, in the original movie theres herc diving into the river styx to save megaras soul. 

you know. like sora literally breaking time and space to save his friends, which starts with him following rikus light through the tunnel. where it kind of looks like hes swimming through water?????

and riku is the first one he finds

in. olympus.

like. do you see this. are we all seeing this. because holy moley, when you put it all together, its a lot

[theferalgremlin]

House of the dragon moonboard matchup for @sugutoad 🥰

I 100% ship you with Aegon II Targaryen 😍

- I think the first time you, Helaenas lady in waiting, catch Aegons attention is when you he got incredibly drunk one night and was coming to bed in his and Helaenas chambers. He in his drunken state was being loud and obnoxious and when you saw him tumbling in the hall towards his sleep chambers where Helaena was already fast asleep you immediately directed him to his older chambers where he slept before getting married. You somehow managed to get him into his sleeping clothes (while of course Aegon slurred stupid flirty remarks) and got him to fall asleep in his bed. When Aegon had awoken seeing you half asleep in a chair with a book in your lap he couldn't help but stare at you in both confusion and interest. Most of the servants, especially the girls, hated having to be in the same room with him longer than needed so he was surprised you'd stayed to watch over him. After you woke up and saw him staring you both became a bit flustered. When he asked you why you stayed you bluntly told him it was to make sure he didn't die from alcohol poisoning in the night then promptly shut your book, got up, and left.

- After that Aegon would often seek your undivided attention to get to know you better. He thought you're close relationship with his sister-wife was impressive considering most couldn't understand Helaena the way you seemed to and it honestly made him happy that Helaena had someone like you to depend on. He enjoyed your blunt attitude and found it witty and would usually end up bantering with you. When he starts to develop feelings for you its quite obvious, he'd often buy you frivolous things, mostly jewelry. He loved seeing you wear the things he'd buy you, it made him feel pride especially when he'd hear others comment on the beautiful pieces (and the even more beautiful woman wearing it). He once found a romance novel you had been reading and recreated a romantic outing from it. When he took you to the gardens and where a surprise picnic was and started quoting lines from the male protagonist of the book you quite literally fell over yourself (which he absolutely teased you for before picking you up and spinning you in his arms while shouting the embarrassing mushy quotes from the book that make you flustered and want to hide in a hole.) Also bonus points if it was an erotica novel because you might actually get him into reading.

- When he eventually becomes king he insists on marrying you and even gets Helaena to agree with the idea with no hesitation. She and the kids saw you as the second mom already since you were so involved and thought it would be wonderful to make it official and have a bestfriend for life. Not to mention you made her and Aegons relationship easier and a lot more friendly with you being their mediator. Aegon had you sketch out his outfit for your guys wedding and had it made by a tailor. He never looked prouder wearing something, he still treasures the outfit after the wedding and makes sure its always well kept. He did though design your crown personally (that poor blacksmith who had to work with Aegons shitty drawing skills 🤧) and it came out great (thank god).

Love song (just for funsies):

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi pt. 34

This playthrough/readthrough of Matsuribayashi is now officially as long as the entire Minagoroshi playthrough. By time all is said and done I believe it will be at least twice as long as Minagoroshi.

Mysterious death of the Furude couple continued

It’s kind of amusing seeing just how wrong-footed Ooishi is in regards to the mysterious deaths. He’s completely vindicated in thinking that Satoko is behind the deaths of her mother and stepfather, but just completely wrong about the other two. It doesn’t help that Oryou chimed in with the idea that the death of Rika’s dad was mystically demanded because of his lack of belief during the dam conflict.

So the two years that the killings/disappearances being ascribed to the curse must really have eaten away at Ooishi in the intervening time.

Breaking with the format somewhat I want to bring some attention to the manga version of these events. I have not read the entirety of the Matsuribayashi manga adaptation (primarily because for whatever reason the sites I’ve looked at the manga at only translated about half of Matsuribayashi in English, the rest is in Brazilian), but I felt somewhat compelled to look at the manga version of the deaths of the Furude couple.

Also a couple of minor snippets from Distrust of the mother of a queen

I like these pages because you don’t quite get the same amount of emotion in the visual novel as you do here in the manga. I suppose I should warn you ahead of time, this will get bloody.

As mentioned, I haven’t really read much of the manga, just the occasional bits here and there, but if there’s one thing I enjoy about them it’s these facial expressions. They’re wonderful, and I really wish the visual novels had something this going on. Not to keep harping on about Umineko, but that has some wonderful facial expressions, so I can only assume that the lack of them in Higurashi is just down to Ryukishi07, or whoever not being that confident in their artistic abilities.

It’s not really elaborated upon in the visual novel, but I think the idea that she was able to get Rika’s mom to leave just by mentioning she has a phone call is kind of silly. Just got to say though, A plus tackle there Okonogi. Just shoulder-check her into oblivion.

The death of the Furude priest happens as it does in the visual novel, and after she gets shoulder-checked to hell Rika’s mom wakes up strapped to a table.

Say what you will about Takano, she is definitely willing to get her hands dirty.

Extremely willing to get her hands dirty. You know, just in case the casual murder of five kids, and the brutal disembowelment of another wasn’t enough to convince you.

This is an unrelated thought that won’t make sense to you, but the use of the past tense “you were the queen carrier before Rika-chan” does answer that question I ask in a later part.

I’m pretty sure she’s just doing this because of the massive bone to pick she has with Rika’s mom. But who knows, I guess this implies when they performed the dissection of the dam murderer they had anesthetized the poor guy before they poked and prodded his noodle. Of course I suppose this all depends on if you accept the manga as canon to the visual novels.

Just grin and bear it! Also I would like to once again bring up my disappointment at the lack of murderous villain Takano art. Look at this million dollar smile.

Like I said, I need you to reconcile with yourself if you believe the events of the manga are canonical with the events of the visual novels. Also I once again want you to ask yourself if the troubled and abusive childhood of a person can be an acceptable justification for committing deeds like this.

[d999666]

Galactik football S1 ep2 review - (1/4)

a New Home

D'jok : well mom, do you see anything?

Maya : I see 3 boys who keep moving and breaking my concentration.

Mice : what are you looking for a good-looking girl treasure a good-looking girl with treasure?

Thrans : We looking for Aarch

Ahito : but he said he was going to form a team

Mice : and you think he's gonna consider you to be his player

D'jok : Why not? we're good right?

Mice : good for nothing.

>comment : D'jok, Ahito, and Thran are positive about the future. But microice is not positive. Why is his pessimistic attitude like that?

The three believe in their football abilities. But Microice is not. The difference between them is that Microice's house is poor. It seems that he did not believe in his talents and dreams because he was poor...?

Mice: Aarch has that gang leader bellow hot on his heels you know? I'm in a good position to know that doesn't make you want to stick around too long in the same spot.

D'jok : Why? you gave him his tickets back didn't you?

Mice : yeah, but that doesn't mean he's my best friend or anything.

>comment : The story behind this is detailed in The Rival of Akillian, which was officially published.

Rocket : Why do you still resent your brother? after all these years?

Norata : I resent them because of all these years

Rocket : everyone deserves a second chance

Norata : WHAT ABOUT ME? DID I GET A SECOND CHANCE? not a day doesn't go by that I don't suffer being a martyr. Aarch still ha his two legs..... I hope he uses them to walk over a cliff

>comment : Norata's family business is a florist, and Norata does research to improve flowers of unusual colors. Norata hopes that his son will continue his work. So he gave him a snowmobile to deliver flowers. The backstory comes in detail in the novel. Norata doesn't send Rocket to school, but homeschools him. So, Rocket is a loner without any friends of his age.

Aarch abandoned his planet, where the disaster began. He abandoned his brother, who had one leg amputated, and left to fulfill his dream. Norata had no one to turn to. his wife leaves, and the son is a newborn baby. In the novel, it is mentioned that his parents were crushed to death when the stadium collapsed. The only remaining brother, Aarch, had to stay in Akillian and take care of his brother and nephew. However, he abandoned everything for his dream and moved to The Shadows. This is Aarch's sin.

I understand Norata's mind.

>comment : Mice is very good at riding magnt boards. Four childhood friends + Sinedd all have their own personal boards, and they are mentioned to be good at boards.

>comment : Akillian's stadium was crushed to death during an ice age incident, so it is mentioned that no one comes near here.

Aarch : yong man you have a habit of falling from the sky.

Mice : another thing I'm good at is slipping out the window but I'll take the elevator this time.

Aarch : hold on kid. there's something you can do for me

>comment : Microice's joke is funny. It's interesting that Aarch's name for Mice changes from Young man to kids.

D'jok : we finally had our chance to do something with our lives something big

Thran : one thing's for sure the red tigers sure aren't gonna take us bunch of snubs

Mice's mother : So boys, microice isn't ready? you know a boy, your age, short, sly, nervous, always has an answer for everything? they say he's a friend of yours but somehow I still can't believe that

Mice : perhaps you're looking for me because when people look for me? they find me not like aarch's case except that i managed to find him without even looking for him.....

> Comment : D'jok wants to get out of his reality. Same with twins. I think I know from whom MICE's jokes were inherited.

> Comment : 4 childhood friends who spread the news to their friends for Aarch's test. They seem to have a lot of friends they know because they used to go to school. The boy Ahito broke the news to is a friend who goes with Sinedd. He immediately delivers the news to bald leader Gang.

Mice : I'm out of here. nothing left for me to do

Aarch : you don't want to stick around for the test?

Mice : Tests aren't really my things. just hearing the word makes me think I'm in school.

[The moment when Microice falls in love with Mei at first sight]

Sinedd : what's up with you microice? you look more stupid than usual.

Mice : Sinedd! what'd you come for to keep an eye on your friends bags? oh I forgot! you don't have any friends!

Sinedd : I'd rather have no friends than have yours!

D'jok : That's not nice Sinedd! you disappoint me?

Sinedd : I'm gonna destroy all of on the playing field. I got more talent in my little toe than all of you combined

Mice : That's what we're here to see buddy.

> Comment: What happened to Sinedd, Mice, and D'jok? Sinedd always quarrel with Mice. D'jok protects his friend. Why did you fight? I want to know why.

Ahito : Are you staying for the tryouts?

D'jok : It wouldn't happen to be because of this girl by any chance would it?

Mice : gils? what gilr?

D'jok, Ahito, Thrans : laugh

> Comment : I think everyone knows that Mike likes girls. I think he wants a girlfriend. And, that Mice didn't know a pretty girl like mei, it's likely Mei was homeschooled like Rocket. Her mom would have homeschooled her.

To be continued....

[the-s1lly-corner]

I wish to hear about the knd oc

>:3c

Give us the lore Silly!!!!

Sososo sorry for taking so long to get to this! Admittedly I was putting this off simply because theres so much lore! I'll be adding a cut to this because with me summarizing stuff, it's still a lot! I'll try to break it up in sections, since there are different.. chapters... for lack of a better word.. this ocs entire life is plotted out! From early childhood to present day when the show takes place! That's a lot of lore considering the character is well into adulthood by the time the main series happens!

Apologies if it's all over the place and some points are.. whack.. this is my first time putting everything into writing! I'll also need to talk about other ocs so this main one can make sense, mostly it'll be talking about their sector, in regards to other ocs! Also its 3am at the time of writing this + my stomach is being MEAN

With all that said, let's hope this doesnt turn into a novel!

Also also** lore may contradict what's in canon, maybe.. I'm not sure! I'm still not done reading the comics and I havent touched anything GKND so I'm unsure if theres any extra info that in unaware of that would complicate things

Feel free to send any questions about the oc!! Lore stuff, interactions with canon characters, ect!

cws: mentions of controlling/toxic parents but i dont go too in depth about it but just know that this is a part of her story. mentions of sexism as well, obligatory its there because "admin uses his ocs to process his experience with his gender as well as being afab and other stuff" but i dont go toooooo deep into it

Name; Rose Wood

Pronouns; she/her

Age; obviously since we're sliding around all over her time line I'll let you know based in the section... but shes in the same age group as Benedict and Monty

Appearance, present day; short, rocking a chubby mom bod! Red hair that's a little faded with a prominent streak of grey. Green eyes. Very curly and fluffy hair! Not sold on a length, but currently it's just last her shoulders! Often wears cardigans or sweaters, though I'm yet to make an "official" outfit for her... her default outfit! Short :( she stopped growing in her early/mid teens height wise, about 5'5

Appearance, KND era; assuming this is in the later half of her time as a KND operative shes tall by kid standards (assuming like. 4'6 is the average for girls as google is telling me). Lanky!! Very long hair, hair is more vibrant but that's really just a design choice rather than an in universe thing. Hair changes length, it starts at mid back but she cuts it to her jaw a few months before shes decommissioned. No default outfit but she swaps between her school uniform and baseball uniform (sports kid before her dad made her stop!!)

Personality; very sweet and kind, patient.. however shes no nonsense, though that develops slowly over time and really roots and shows itself in her young adult years. Lots of internalized feelings, as a child and teen, she feels she had to suck it up and put on a happy face because to do anything else would be "unbecoming", at least according to her parents. As an adult shes oblivious to the whole child vs adult war and doesnt realize how serious it is, shes just vibing

Occupations, past and current; knd operative (decommissioned), teacher (current)

Family; she doesnt talk to her parents all that much however she keeps in touch with her grandfather (very old, think 80s, rose was an oops baby + so was her dad LMAO), and 2 younger sisters. She does have other family members however they're not very fleshed out currently. She does have a son who is a teen by the time the main series takes place! Maybe I'll make a short follow up post on him!

Former Sector teammates, numbers and names; Numbuh 246 (Rose Wood), Numbuh 165 (Jamie Robinson), Numbuh 162 (Kimberly "Kimmy" Wilson), Numbuh 527 ("Sammy" Jones), Numbuh 129 (Davis Peterson) (the leader of the sector)

i'll probably make a separate post for her teammates, this post is already pretty long LMAO

KND days;

she joined within the very early days of the KND, after monty started it. i would go further and say shes a "first generation" knd operative, being there when they fought and overthrew grandfather. she didnt actually join a sector until the last year or two of her time as an operative, working solo prior on missions and helping built up the operation. thanks to her experience, she was sent to go basically work and "pass off her knowledge" before shes decommissioned.

a actually wrote in parallels between her sector and sector v for thematic reasons but i wont get into that here; but if i had to make a comparison shes like the numbuh 5 of the group. fairly level headed and in tune with whats going on as well as being able to step up when it counts to push through on a mission

"if she was sent to basically pass her experience, why wasnt she made the leader?". tight schedule on her part, parents cared a lot about keeping up appearances and they worked rose like a horse by having her sign up to a bunch of extra curriculars + her having her share of chores as well as her parents being strict. she just did not have a lot of time to spare. a lot of her ark is her slowly becoming more and more independent as time passes, but as of now shes pulling herself between being this model student to appease her parents and fighting for the knd's cause. ironic given the whole fighting against adult tyranny thing

there was some friction in the beginning when she first joined the sector, shes the second newest member the newest being 527 (Sammy). a lot of coming from 165 (Jamie), actually throws her failures in her face if they ever fumble a mission because of her whole history. they do eventually become buddies though, but its a slow burn!

she does get what she was sent to do done before she turns 13, her decommissioning is your standard decommissioning albeit with some pizzazz; she was a first gen operative but she was one of the last remaining ones at that time so its like. a whole chapter ending in their history with only a handful of others remaining. she doesnt get to be a secret operative

Teenager;

probably the most underdeveloped part of her story, i mostly focused on her childhood as well as the present day.. so this section and early adulthood is a little under baked. a lot of the themes as before are still here, overbearing and controlling strict parents completely dominate her time so she doesnt have much time to just. be. she does end up reconnecting with some of her old teammates, but theyre all of course decommissioned at this point in time. the only one who is still an operative is sammy, but thats due to them being so young in comparison to the rest of the sector and even then theyre at the end of their time as an operative. due to the whole "operatives arent to mess with the lives of ex operatives" rule thats mentioned, sammy doesnt interact much with rose or the others unless they approach them first.

main thing to note is that rose and davis have a short fling that quickly burns out due to teens being dumb: short explanation davis was insecure and jealous and rose did not want to deal with that on top of everything else going on with her. good for her for looking out for her health

she was not an evil teen, though, far too deep in her studies to really do anything rebellious as well as being afraid of falling behind and disappointing her parents

around this time, not long after her and davis break up her and her family moves out of town

Young adult;

she went NC with her parents not long after she turned 18, moving out soon after. she does keep in touch with her younger siblings, though. the breaking point was really her parents confirming that theyre disappointed with her existence. literally all but saying they wish they had a son instead of a daughter as a first born, lots of old values/views there that finally pushes rose over the edge. noting now that rose did have some feelings about her gender but never really explored it due to feeling the need to conform + this takes place pre 2000s so... but moving forward she does start to embrace herself and slowly take the time to get to know herself now that shes got the time and space to do so. i do like the idea of her experimenting between now and present day, and while she does eventually lean more towards presenting feminine there are instances where shes presenting more masc/feels more masc

while at college she meets someone, obligatory "i havent given him a name yet", they get together. everythings good, they have a kid. they break up. im still cooking up a reasoning for why they split but for now its just "they changed because they got married young, and now theyre older"

Present day;

a few years before the events of the show she moves back to town, i was going to say she moves in during the current events but i decided to be nice and give her a chance to get accustomed to being back in her hometown. i havent decided how it happens but she ends up getting in with the villains but like. not in the way that shes a villain too, in the "shes like the nice lady from down the street who makes some killer brownies so we all vibe with her". kind of just started as a joke that i turned into the canon for her because i can... kind of see that happening... this leads to her meeting benedict, blah blah she vaguely remembers him, they catch up and it leads to them getting together

i actually didnt originally ship them because "ooooooooouuugh father kinda...." actually it was because "the delightfuls need a decent parent figure because GOD!! i love father and my take on him does soften him a bit with time but GOOD LORD" and then it mixed with that and the "ooooooough hes kinda..." LMAO

not much to say other than shes the cool mom at the PTA meetings and just gets along with everyone, probably thinks the delightfuls and sector v are friends. which drives both of them up the wall they HATE it LMAO

Post series finale;

Dead/j

Okay well, that's just a concept. Admittedly I dont know what to do with her after the series finale takes place. Logically one can assume she just continues on with her day to day because shes not really involved in the fight against children, shes quite literally. Vibing and staying in her own lane asides from when she gets dragged into things by the people around her; even then shes still.. oblivious.. not much different than how Monty reacts to the knd stuff, when hes not recommissioned. Simply thinking it's this elaborate game of sorts, ESPECIALLY if she were to get dragged in through the delightfuls (who are. You know, effectively her step children thanks to her relationship with father)

[rodrigo-esc]

Cooking with Love Who: Jade and Rodrigo with mentions of others. @jadeclark What: Rodrigo and Jade are having a blast on their honeymoon! Where: NOLA! When: April 9th, 2024 A/N: Jadrigo take a cooking class together, Rodrigo devours all the food, they act all cute and meet two special peeps! It's adorable and I freakin love it.

JADE

Jade had been thoroughly jubilant since the day of the wedding. It was now hers and Rodrigo's second day in New Orleans and she had already fallen in love with the city. From the architecture to the monuments, the food and of course, the music. She absolutely loved New Orleans and already decided that she wanted to return again someday.

Today, she and Rodrigo had taken a bus tour of the city, which included a stop at one of the cemeteries, a park and one of the less populated Café du Monde spots for beignets and some coffee. After a late afternoon nap and freshening up, they were on their way to a cooking class in their rental car. Jade’s eyes were alight, watching the passing city. "I can't wait to visit some of the museums tomorrow. The jazz museum, the World War II museum, the Ogden museum of Southern Art..." Her words trailed off as she  pried her gaze from the passing city to look at her husband. "But I'm excited about dinner tonight! I haven't participated in a cooking class in such a long time. I wonder which dish we'll end up making: jambalaya, gumbo... and making the pralines would be fun."

RODRIGO

It was only their second day in New Orleans and Rodrigo couldn't help but call this the best trip he's ever taken. Someday, he hoped to take Jade and their future kids to Mexico and all but for now, this was his favorite. It was a new environment, someplace he could cherish with his wife forever. This was their memory and it was so rich in culture that he couldn't get enough of it.

He was taking everything in throughout their trip, enjoying all the sights and all the food in particular. Rodrigo had to go back for beignets as that was officially one of his favorite spots. He wondered how a place like this existed right under their noses and he had never explored it. Rodrigo followed the GPS on their rental car while listening to his wife and he smiled brightly as she went on. Her thoughts were his thoughts but hearing her vocalizing her excitement just made him fall in love with Jade all over again. It was endearing seeing her so happy. She deserved this and more. While he kept his gaze on the road, he listened intently, smiling and appreciating her awe. "I have never done a cooking class aside from learning things from you and my mom so this is pretty cool." He chuckled as she listed all the potential foods. "Whatever it is, I can't wait to eat it." He smirked, adjusting his Aviators before making a turn. "GPS says five more minutes. Okay, so I know what you're looking forward to but what's your favorite part so far?"

JADE

"This should be really fun then! If it's like other cooking classes I've been in, they'll have some ingredients already measured out for us and we'll mostly be chopping and prepping produce and meats." She gazed out of the windshield and  pulled her phone out to take a picture through the window. As she did this, she thought a moment about his question and then said, "I think it was the tour of the city. I liked getting to see a little bit of everything and getting some historical facts along the way. Anne Rice's old house looks like exactly the sort of place she would write about in her novels set here. Even the cemetery visit was fascinating. And the fresh beingets at Café du Monde were so good. I can't believe how much powdered sugar they put in the bags but they were so yummy.  We should try to get some each day we're here." Setting her phone back in her lap, she said, "I know it sounds cheesy but what's really made all of it has been doing this with you. What about you, honey? What's been your favorite part so far, and what are you looking forward to the most?"

RODRIGO

"That sounds like a lot of fun and getting to do that with you? Hello? Even better." He grinned, keeping his eyes on the road, smiling when he caught Jade taking a picture from his peripheral. "Oh good choice. The tour was really nice and such a learning experience. We have to come back sometime. I feel like we can celebrate some milestone anniversaries by returning." He liked the idea of that, of creating their own traditions and coming back to the place they were already falling in love with. "And yes, please. I am so here for getting beingets every day with that coffee? ooo that coffee was so good." He smirked, nodding in agreement to her suggestion. His smiled widened as he looked for a spot. "Not cheesy. I feel the same way. You've made the experience even more amazing." He watched the rear end camera and followed the lines to park in front of the location. "Well, definitely the Cafe." As if food would ever not be the best part of everything. "But I did love the tour and I can't wait to see the Jazz museum. I feel like that's going to be a great stop." He opened his door to look out and make sure he was good in the spot, shut the door and then cut the engine. Rodrigo removed his sunglasses and then tucked them into the case in the car. He grabbed the keys and then exited the car, walking over to Jade's side to open her door and help her out. "And of course, I'm looking forward to this class."

JADE

Jade giggled a little at Rodrigo and then turned her phone on him to get a candid photo of him while he drove with his sunglasses on. She looked at the photo on her phone for a moment and then placed the device back in her lap. "I like that idea. We should absolutely plan to come back someday. Maybe instead of staying in a hotel next time, we can look into an air bnb or something in the French Quarter. That would be amazing to be able to look out at the city life from one of those beautiful terraces." She smiled at the way her husband spoke of the coffee with the beignets, "They would be delicious for breakfast or even a nice dessert." While Rodrigo parked the car, Jade placed her phone in her purse and picked it up from between her feet. "I think this might be the most unforgettable trip I've ever taken. We've planned so much for ourselves," she noted with a small chuckle and then unbuckled her seatbelt. When Rodrigo opened the door, she stepped out, accepting his hand with a, "Thank you," and walked in with him. The moment they were inside, they were greeted by the buzz of chatter from the handful of others in the space. One person came up to them to say "Hello," and get them checked in. He then directed them to a tall-standing table where they would be preparing their meals. Ingredients had already been set out, along with measuring cups and spoons, as well as knives, cutting boards, bowls and a pair of dish towels. Jade looked at the different ingredients and a grin appeared on her face as she looked up to Rodrigo and told him, "I think we're making gumbo." After saying so, she looked back at the ingredients and touched and index to her lips, thinking, "Although, they have a lot of similar ingredients so it could be jambalaya. But... I still think we're making gumbo today." She lightly gasped when she saw the sugar, corn syrup and pecans. "And we're making the pralines!"

RODRIGO

Rodrigo chuckled when Jade took another photo. "Hey! Ya little sneak!" He grinned at his wife and cut off his engine. "That's a fantastic idea! We'd probably have more of an authentic experience in an air bnb so I would be down for that. " Rodrigo would make sure they return for coffee and beignets a couple of times before they had to leave New Orleans. "Oh, I agree! We'll take some home too before we leave." He walked with his wife toward the location of the class and Rodrigo smiled politely once they were greeted.  Their table had all the ingredients and supplies they needed as Jade had predicted. He listened to his wife with a smile on his face. Gumbo was delicious so that already made him perk up. "Well, you're the expert here! I'm all for Gumbo OR Jambalaya." He chuckled softly when she gasped thinking how endearing she was. "You're adorable. I have never made anything this complex so I'm really excited!"

JADE

Jade giggled freely at Rodrigo's reaction to her taking his picture. "You look so happy and carefree, I couldn't help it!" She then reached in her purse for her new camera Rodrigo gifted her. She snapped another quick candid photo while he was parking and smiled to herself before putting it back in her purse. "I'd love that for us," she beamed when he responded about them staying in the French Quarter next time they came to The Crescent City. And once inside and settled at a table, Jade couldn't stop feeling so buoyant about everything, including her anticipation for the cooking class. "Im excited too, honey, this should be a lot of fun! And it looks like there are some shelves of communal seasonings and things. I hope we'll start soon." She looked around at the others there. A few people were individuals who were paired up at a table and two other tables appeared to be couples like themselves. The one nearest to them was an older couple who was looking over everything on the table in front of them. The man leaned over and seemed to whisper something that made the woman smile and look up at him with so much love. Seeing how sweet they were towards each other made her smile all over again. The instructor stood at the only remaining table and called for everyone's attention, welcoming them and going through some general safety tips. And although Jade had been listening and was ready to get started, she couldn't help occasionally glancing at the elderly couple.

RODRIGO

Rodrigo grinned at Jade's words. *Happy* and *carefree* were adjectives he was glad his wife was using to describe him. He felt both and she had everything to do with it. He glanced over, glad to see Jade using the camera he had gotten her as a wedding gift. He was already coming up with plans for their future visits in his head. He'd never forget this. Hearing how happy and in her element Jade felt, Rodrigo didn't care what they made. He was just glad to see her glow. Rodrigo looked around, taking in the place and how carefully planned everything seemed to be. He hadn't realized that his wife was doing the same until he noticed that her line of sight matched his. He had settled his gaze on an older couple endearingly caught up in one another. It made the corner of his lips twitch into a small smile and he looked away to check out their setting, the smile still there. He saw himself and Jade in them. It almost felt meant to be. When the instructor spoke, he looked up, eager to learn about what they'd be making but also hoping he could make friends with the couple he had been admiring.

JADE

Jade was fully enjoying the time she and Rodrigo were spending together. From their wedding day, onward, she was on such a cloud of bliss she'd never experienced for multiple days before. While inside the location of where they were having their cooking class, Jad tried to take her focus off of the elderly couple and hone in on the person leading the class. They'd finished their introduction to the group and then instructed everyone to wash their hands and begin with the roux and chopping the vegetables and andouille sausage that was at their stations and would be going into the gumbo. While everyone shuffled over to the few sinks around the room, Jade wnt with her husband and found them sharing a sink with the elderly couple. She smiled politely to them and said, 'hello' to them while gathering soap on her hands. The husband elbowed Rodrigo good-naturedly and said, "I think we've got the best-looking classmates here."

RODRIGO

When instructed to wash their hands, Rodrigo went off with Jade to do so.  It was a pleasant coincidence that they’d end up sharing a sink with the couple they had both been admiring.  He smiled at his wife being friendly and he nodded a ‘hello’ as well. When the husband nudged him, he smiled and glanced over to the two ladies and nodded. “Most definitely. How did we get so lucky?” He handed some paper towels to him and dried his hands. “Have you guys done this before? My wife found this event and we just had to do it. She’s always got the great ideas.”

JADE

Jade grinned through her bit of blushing at the exchange between Rodrigo and the older man. She pulled some paper towels for the wife and then dried her own hands as the man replied to Rodrigo, "I suppose we had the right lotto tickets in one pocket and a rabbit's foot in the other." The man had a bit of a Cajun accent as he spoke and then he smiled, "Sure have. We try to look for something to do together either once a week or every other week. Last time we took a cooking class was an Italian class." He turned to his wife, "'Member that, Bev?" he asked, balling up the paper towel he dried his hands with. Jade smiled to the couple and then the wife asked, "I remember. You two aren't from around here, are ya? You on vacation?" She'd looked from Rodrigo to Jade and then smiled wide, "Wait. No. You're on your honeymoon, aren't ya?"

RODRIGO

“ yeahhh that’s gotta be it. I’m Rodrigo.” After drying his hands and tossing the paper towel into the wastebasket, the school teacher extended his hand to shake the older man’s hand. “ that does sound nice though, taking a class every week. My wife and I like to do different things together. This was right up our alley.” When the wife spoke, Rodrigo was about to respond but then she guessed correctly. “That’s amazing! How’d you figure that out?” He chuckled, taking Jade’s hand as they walked to their tables.

JADE

"Jimmy," the man replied, returning Rodrigo's handshake with a firm grip of his own. "Oh we don't take classes every week. We just like doin' something fun - get outta the house once in a while." Jade smiled at him and waved when Rodrigo mentioned her and referred to her as his wife. It was still new and thrilled her hearing it aloud from him. The older woman introduced herself, "Bev. And y'all two just have that look about ya." Jade chuckled as well and introduced herself to the couple as well. As she held Rodrigo's hand, Bev said,  "Congratulation and you enjoy yourselves now," before turning to head back to the table with her husband. Jade was still smiling from the encounter as she whispered to Rodrigo, "They're so sweet!" just as the instructor walked the class through preparing the roux and advising everyone to dice most of the vegetables while the others could be cut slightly larger. Jade looked at the ingredients for the roux and the vegetables and asked Rodrigo, "What do you want to do, the roux or the veggies?"

RODRIGO

“Jimmy. So nice to meet you, Jimmy!” Rodrigo smiled at the man and nodded. “Absolutely ! I think that’s great. We’re the same. We’re always wanting to find something new to do or just go out on little dates.” He smiled at Jade when she waved and Rodrigo smiled at the older woman as well. “Bev. So nice to meet you. And thank you so much!” Rodrigo couldn’t stop smiling and he glanced at the couple a few times, nodding at Jade’s words. “They are! They seem so much like us. I can’t explain it.” Even though he didn’t know them at all, Rodrigo could feel a bit of a connection.  “I’ll do  the …” he thought about it for a moment and then responded, “ the vegetables. I trust you more with the roux!” He chuckled and placed the chopping board on the table before grabbing the knife. “ I just hope I cut these right .”

JADE

Jimmy leaned conspiratorially toward Rodrigo--who was notably taller than him--and loudly whispered, "I say it's the secret to a long and happy marriage." Bev smiled and gave her husband a good-natured shake of her head before giving the newlyweds well wishes and heading back to their table. And when Jade was back to hers and Rodrigo's table, she looked up to him and widened her eyes a bit, "I feel that way too. It really is just a feeling since we don't really know them but I had that feeling about them as well." Jade waited patiently for Rodrigo to decide what he wanted to do and when he chose the vegetables, she smiled and softly giggled, "Thank you, honey. And you'll be just fine. I have faith in you and your cutting abilities." While Rodrigo readied himself, Jade looked around before eyeing a pair of aprons folded at the far corner of the table. Silently, she criticized the instructor for not advising everyone of them and before she got started in the roux, she went to retrieve them. She first unfolded one with a few quick shakes at one corner, and then she stood behind her husband to wrap it around his waist. As she tied it at his back, she said, "I know your hands are busy." After affectionately touching the middle of his back, she turned on the heat for the saucepan, secured her own apron and combined flour and cooking oil, one after the other and stirring it non-stop with a metal whisk. "The day before we leave, do you want to do some shopping? We can pick out some souvenirs to bring back home for ourselves and our families."

RODRIGO

Rodrigo grinned at the man's advice, nodding and looking  towards the wives as he did so. "That's some solid advice, Jimmy. I appreciate it." He waved at Bev as they all went back to their stations but was sure to glance in their direction a few times as they began to dive into the recipe. Rodrigo listened to Jade with a small smile thinking about the interaction they just had with the older couple.  They looked so happy and so in love. He knew that would be his future with his wife and having a glimpse of that made him feel happy. "Glad we're in sync about these things." He then chuckled at her comment about his cutting skills. "I hope you're right. Oh!" He raised his arms so that Jade could place the apron on him and he then kissed her cheek in gratitude. "Thanks, honey." He began to cut the vegetables as instructed, placing them into a bowl as he finished each one. "I like that idea. I've gotta get something for my mom and Drew for sure and of course Fletcher. Maybe we can get Phoebe a cute little onesie or something." He continued cutting and then looked up, smiling at the older couple.  Bev was adjusting Jimmy's tie in the back and Rodrigo looked over to his wife. "See? They're like us."

JADE

Jade listened to Jimmy and Rodrigo with a gentle smile on her lips. It was nice to converse with two people who seemed to be from the area and yet exude a similar demeanor to them. She brightened up even more from Rodrigo having the same feeling she did about them. And when she put the apron on her husband, Jade grinned at his initial reaction and then leaned into his kiss to her cheek. "You're welcome." She got her apron on and got going on the roux knowing it was going to be a bit time-consuming, due to waiting on the heat. But she listened to Rodrigo respond to her suggestion and beamed as he spoke of his family and something to get for Phoebe. "That would be so cute! And I wonder if Drew might like something simple like a deck of cards? Do you think your mom might like something from the jazz museum?" Jade was stirring with the whisk, occasionally using it to break down any clumps of flour. She looked over to Jimmy and Bev and softly giggled when Jimmy smooched his wife's cheek. "Maybe that *will* be us in forty years." Her eyes were full of adoration as she looked up at Rodrigo, but her gaze soon returned to the roux.

The instructor projected some tips and next steps in the recipe for the group to follow. He walked around the room for a bit to look at everyone's progress up close and answer questions that arose for some. Jade was happy to be splitting the work between Rodrigo along the way. Even when the gumbo sat, seemingly finished and merely cooking away in the pot, they were able to move on to preparing the rice and the pralines together. Jade was smiling and laughing a little again at the stickiness of the pralines when it came time to preparing them to go on the parchment-covered cookie sheet to cool. "We have to be quick but careful," she said, reaching for the ice cream scoop. "Do you wanna scoop it or hold the pot near the cookie sheet?"

RODRIGO

Emma, for as long as Rodrigo has known her, has called him an old man and now that he was finding himself enjoying the conversation with Jimmy and Bev, he could see why.  Rodrigo cut up the last of his veggies but kept his focus on his wife and her preparation of the roux. He wanted to learn enough to be able to recreate it for them perhaps for an anniversary dish. Little details like that mattered a lot to him. "Oh! Drew would LOVE That. He's definitely a cards man. He's like a man's man, you know? So that's brilliant. Maybe a spirit or something. And Mom would love something from the museum. See? The brains of this relationship." He grinned at Jade, watching her at work. When Jade spoke of the older couple once more, he met her gaze and smiled right back at her. "I think you're right. We're going to be two lovebirds forever."

"Quick but careful, got it." Rodrigo's brows furrowed as he tried to work with the agonizing sensory issues he was experiencing with the praline's stickiness. "I once made pecan pie with my mom and I got brown sugar literally everywhere. You'd think I was like 7 or 8 or something. Nope. I was 23. Fletcher was laughing the entire time. There's video footage of my dilemma somewhere." He couldn't help but chuckle as he assisted his wife. Since she was the pro here, he was fine with being her second. "Okay, I can scoop it." he bared his teeth, making a face of being grossed out but over-exaggerating enough for his wife to know he was being dumb. "Even with gloves on, I felt that stickiness." He shook his head. "Again, this is why you're the pro." He smiled as the instructor approached them and looked pleased with their work. He silently gestured toward Jade with his head as if saying, *isn't she brilliant?*. This caused Bev to chuckle from their station. "Oh he's got it bad!, " She chuckled again and Rodrigo smiled at the older woman. "Darn straight, Bev."

JADE

"I know what you mean about him. I have no doubt we can find a nice deck for him. And your mom is likely to fuss at us for getting her something in the first place but I feel like we could find her something special to let her know that we were thinking of her." At the mention of them being lovebirds forever, Jade automatically glanced down at her wrist tattoo she and Rodrigo got on Valentine's Day and she smiled.

Jade listened to the story from around 7 years ago and looked up from the pot to Rodrigo, thinking for a moment before asking, "Are you sure you don't want me to scoop?" She wouldn't have minded and could see from the looks her husband was giving that it likely wasn't his desire. She picked up the potholders and started to place them over the handles but paused and held them out for Rodrigo. "Sweetie this is ridiculous, you don't need to scoop. Let me." She gently slapped the potholders to his chest and bumped his hip with hers before holding her hand out for the ice cream scooper. But she laughed a little at Bev and Rodrigo's exchange. "It's a two-way street, I promise you," she chimed in, looking from Bev to Rodrigo.

RODRIGO

"She will definitely fuss at us but now she has two kids to yell at." Rodrigo grinned, thinking about how easy it was for his mother to refer to Jade as her daughter. Rodrigo also looked down at his tattoo and smiled at his wife. "This was a great idea by the way. I'd be down to doing stuff like this back at home too by the way. I'm sure there are tons of events just like this. It'll help with improving my cooking skills but also, I get to do it with you which makes everything better."

"I got this!" He declared as confidently as possible but of course, Jade knew better and when she took over, he took the potholders she had given him and smiled sheepishly. "Thanks." He handed her the ice cream scooper and laughed. Jade knew him so well. "Yeah, she's crazy about me. It's my boyish charm for sure." He watched his wife and also the pot she had been handling, making sure he was some help at least. "What about you and Jimmy? How'd you two crazy kids fall in love? Wait, let me guess!" He bit his lip as he thought about the perfect trope for them. "Childhood best friends turned into lovers?"

JADE

Jade laughed a bit at Rodrigo's comment and then relished the warmth from being included as one of Emiliana's children. She knew her mother-in-law already felt that way but now that she and Rodrigo were married, she felt a little differently about it in a good way. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm actually okay with being fussed at if it's coming from your mom." She chuckled a bit and then said, "I love that idea. We could make it some of our dates if you'd like?"

While she appreciated Rodrigo's persistence, she was glad that he relented and let her handle the scooping. "Thank *you*," she said, glad that he wouldn't have to deal with the sticky texture beyond looking at it before it cooled. She took hold of the ice cream scooper and giggled some more from him referring to his own charm as 'boyish'. "Yes, that's it, among other things," she assured, grinning softly to herself as she scooped the first of the pralines onto the parchment paper lining the cookie sheet. She listened to Rodrigo, Jimmy and Bev while continuing to scoop the pralines in even portions to set and cool. Bev cut in before Jimmy could fully open his mouth, "Oh, we met in school alright, but it was in high school. He was sweet on some stuck-up little thing."

"It was only a little crush, Bev," Jimmy protested, busying himself by stirring their gumbo. He was sure to be blushing. But Bev went on to say, "I was jealous and kept tryin' to sabotage his advances on her. He was so mad at me! At first," she admitted with a laugh and a bit of a sheepish grin. Jade finished setting out the pralines and then asked, "So how did you two end up together?"

"Well, we had some mutual friends who got us to stop with the silly games and give each other an honest try. And we did, after a little bit of pigheadedness on his side."

"Hey!" Jimmy chided, to which Bev laughed. "That date was the beginning of it all for us. What about you two? What's your story?"

RODRIGO

Rodrigo was glad that his mother loved Jade as much as she did. More than that, he was happy and relieved that his wife would have a second chance at having a proper maternal figure in her life. There was no doubt in his mind that his mother would move mountains for Jade and she deserved that. "Good! Because she does it all with love." He chuckled. "And I do love that too." He knew that getting out and experiencing new things together was good for both of their mental health and seeing the perfect example in Bev and Jimmy, Rodrigo wanted to make sure he and Jade ended up just as happy years down the road.

Rodrigo smirked at Jade's response. "I can list all the reasons why I fell for her but we'd be here all day. Also, she made me WORK!" Rodrigo teased. "What can I do next?" Rodrigo whispered but listened intently to Bev as she readied herself to answer his question.  "Oh, let me find out, Jimmy!" Rodrigo chuckled and winked at the older man.  As he helped his wife, Rodrigo listened to the story, laughing at Jimmy's protest. "But your persistence paid off, Bev! That's great." He glanced over to Jade when she posed the next question and then shifted his gaze to Bev.

"Jimmy, my man you almost missed out!" He smiled at them both. At their question, Rodrigo nudged Jade with his elbow. "You want to take this one and tell them how you ran away from me?" Thinking back now, it was comical how he literally had to run after Jade in the parking lot of the school  and how he had promised himself he'd never smoke another cigarette again.

JADE

"I know. It's who *you* get it from," Jade noted. Rodrigo and his mother had their own personalities but they were both very loving and nurturing people in her experience. Even with Emiliana's very protective and intimidating brothers, she couldn't have asked to have married into a better family.

Jade blushed even harder listening to Rodrigo talk about her to the elderly couple. She smiled and then said, "I think all we have left to do is make the rice, which should be easy enough." They had one clean saucepan left and Jade was looking around for the uncooked rice, but the instructor seemed to pick up that everyone was about at the same place with the class and let them know that he had prepared a large pot of rice for the class to use. Jade relaxed from her search and, as everyone quickly dissolved back into varied conversations, she smiled, listening to Rodrigo easily interact with the couple. She admired him having such an effortlesslness at socializing with strangers as though they were longtime friends. And since they had nothing tondo but wait for the pralines to completely cool and for the instructor to let them all know when they could serve up their gumbo, Jade moved to stand beside her husband, slipping an a arm around his waist. "Sure, honey. Rodrigo's a teacher and was taking the lead on directing the students through the school msuical." She went on to explain about her younger siblings being students and her volunteering to help in lieu of their parents. "The time we were spending together led to feelings growing but I was afraid of my feelings and I mistook his ex for a current interest and literally ran from him, and my feelings." Jade was still a bit embarrassed but she looked up at him and said, "Thank goodness he caught me. And yes, I'm a runner. For exercise purposes," she added with a laugh.

RODRIGO

He couldn't believe how lucky he was finding someone who fit in with his family and who is adoring and just special all around. Jade was made for him. Rodrigo was convinced of this.

"Rice I'm great at. If you don't know how to make rice in a Latino household, they kick you out. True story." Rodrigo chuckled and then sighed when the instructor broke the surprise that he had prepared a large pot of rice. "Of course." He couldn't help but laugh again and turned his attention back to their new friends and his wife. He felt Jade's touch and leaned into her, leaving a soft kiss against her temple. He listened intently as she told their story and his smile wouldn't leave his face. It was nice to hear it and it was even nicer hearing Jade tell it. "As soon as I did catch up which left me out of breath and with spleen pain..." He chuckled. "I told her how I felt and one thing led to another and almost a year later, we're married. She's the love of my life."

JADE

Jade giggled from Rodrigo's comment over rice in Latino households, and then she gave him a consoling rub of his arm when the instructor let the class know that there'd be a communal pot of rice for the gumbo each of them prepared. She warmed all over again when he kissed her temple, always loving his kisses. While sliding an arm low around Rodrigo's back, she listened to him and grinned a bit as he finished off their story. Bev and Jimmy were also amused about the literal running the two of them had done. "And he's mine," Jade added without any doubt that Rodrigo was the love of her life.

The instructor soon encouraged everyone's help with cleaning up. He'd run a large sink of warm dish soap; beside the sink was a stainless steel counter. He let the class know that they could place all the utensils, measuring cups and measuring spoons directly in the soapy water and stack the sauce pans, frying pans and cookie sheets on the counter. "While you do that, I'll come around with paper plates for your pralines and bowls and disposable utensils for your gumbo. I'll include some to-go containers and bags as well," the instructor told them. Jade politely excused herself from the elderly couple while slipping her arm from around her husband to start gathering up the cooking and measuring utensils.

RODRIGO

He smirked when Jade giggled. Rodrigo loved to hear her laugh. Anytime he gave her a sliver of happiness, Rodrigo felt like he was on top of the world like he had achieved the greatest thing. In his mind, his wife deserved that. He also hadn't realized until then how much he enjoyed telling their story or hearing it from Jade as she told others. He knew that their relationship and the way they got together was special but hearing it made him feel warm all over again. Meeting Bev and Jimmy was no accident. Surely, this was a glimpse into their future together. He was certain of it. Rodrigo would strive to make Jade this happy for as long as they both lived and he hoped that was for a very long time.

When the instructor spoke and Jade followed his instruction, Rodrigo helped by also gathering up any utensils and measuring cups that Jade didn't. He also took the saucepan so that he could stack it with the others as instructed.  He offered to take Bev and Jimmy's things and then followed Jade to the sink. Once they returned, he was happy to see the paper plates and utensils so they could enjoy the meal they had created. Rodrigo rubbed his hands together with a giant grin, taking in the smells from around the room. "This is going to be amazing, I just know it. Are you having fun?" He glanced over to his wife with a smile.

JADE

Jade smiled yet again when Rodrigo came beside her and helped gather up the utensils and things for cleaning up. By the time they were done moving the used dishes, all that had been left at the table was the pot of gumbo, the parchment of pralines and the new disposable dining items dropped off at their table. Jade checked that the stove top was still on low for their gumbo and then she looked up to Rodrigo while pulling out two stools from under the table for them. "I am, yes! I'm really glad we decided to include this with our trip, and that we'll be able to take the extra gumbo with us back to our hotel room." As the class was finishing with clearing their cooking dishes and utensils to the sink, the instructor invited everyone enjoy their creations and help themselves to the large pot of rice. Jade picked up the two bowls and said, "I can get the rice for us, honey." She tilted her chin up in search for a kiss. After pecking his lips, she went to stand in the short line and then scooped a smaller portion of rice in one bowl for herself, and more in the other for Rodrigo. She carefully walked the two back to their table, the steam wafting up from each bowl. Picking up a ladle, she offered it to her husband, "Would you like to do the honors?"

RODRIGO

Rodrigo dried his hands and sat down beside Jade. He looked around at the other participants and smiled before reaching for his wife’s hand. So far, they had been enjoying their honeymoon and both of them were on cloud nine. “Yess having extras is a huge plus.” He chuckled. Whenever there’s food, Rodrigo would be there.

He kissed Jade when she got up to get the rice and watched her with a smile on his face. When she returned, he took the ladle and nodded. “I’d love to, Madame.” Rodrigo poured them a generous amount of the gumbo, the smell exciting him immediately. “Oh my God this smells like love. I can’t explain it.”

JADE

"It was certainly *made* with love," Jade replied, smiling as she took a seat and accepted her bowl from Rodrigo. "Bon appétit, mon amour," she replied in easy French, giving him a wink before dipping her spoon into the bowl. She mixed the rice a bit and then lifted some of the content to cool it off by blowing slowly before taking a bite. Jade shut her eyes and moaned, the flavors practically dancing in her mouth and down her throat. "This is amazing. I feel like being here has helped it taste that much more authentic. And I really loved getting to cook this with you." She enjoyed just a few more small bites before leaning into Rodrigo's side. "This might be my new favorite thing that we've done so far," she told him, a content smile on her lips. While she hadn't eaten much, eating more than two bites in front of so many others - especially people she didn't know - had been a big step for her. She'd relished every single bite and was looking forward to the leftovers later on with Rodrigo. Picking up one of the pralines, she broke the brittle-like dessert in half and bit into it. The sweetness hit her tongue right away and the crunchy texture with the pecans made her smile a bit again. "Pralines arent one of my favorite desserts but I've never really *made* them before today. This turned out really well." Setting the resr down, Jade ladled the rest of their gumbo into the container they were given. She secured its lid once the pot was empty and slid off her stool to add the pot, lid and ladle with the otherndirty dishes. She'd felt odd leaving so many dishes unwashed but the instructor had been clear. When she returned the table, Jade picked up her spoon to take one more bite for now but prior to eating it, asked Rodrigo, "Do you want to get some more rice to take with our leftovers? I'll bet there's still plenty of it left."

RODRIGO

Rodrigo clinked his bowl against Jade's with a smile. "Bon appetit, " He responded, mixing his ride in with the gumbo using his spoon. His excitement was evident on his face as he brought the spoon to his lips. Rodrigo blew on his food for a bit before taking his first taste and he shut his eyes as a smile formed against his lips. "Oh God...." He gathered more onto his spoon and had some more. "This is so good." He pointed to the gumbo with his spoon and nodded in response to Jade's observation. "I agree. I have never tasted gumbo like this and aw, babe..." He leaned into her side as well and smiled. "This has to be our official anniversary dish." He chuckled, making mental notes of all the things he wanted to do next year and the year after and every year after that for as long as they were alive and well. He was proud of Jade for eating the gumbo with the class there. It showed progress and he knew how hard that was for her. Without saying anything about it, he snaked his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head before releasing her to continue eating. "I've never had pralines, I think. But I'll save that for when we get back to the hotel." He had a few more spoonfuls of his gumbo, eating all of it pretty quickly. Once finished, he walked over to the sink to drop off with the other dirty dishes. When Jade mentioned getting more rice, he reached for their disposable ware. "Good idea. You don't have to ask me twice." He grinned as he sped off to take some more rice for the hotel and came back, adjusting the lid. "Alright! Look at us! " He  glanced over to Jimmy and Bev. "How are you two doing over there?"

JADE

"An anniversary dish," Jade echoed thoughtfully and smiled at the idea. She loved the thought of her and Rodrigo revisiting this memory each year, be it at their home or elsewhere. After they finished clearing their station and putting their leftovers in containers, Jade perched herself on the stool for a bit, but looked over to their new acquaintances. At Rodrigo's addressing them, Jimmy said, "My woman put her foot in this gumbo, like she does with everything she makes!" And Bev chuckled, giving her husband a harmless swat, "We made this *together*, Jimmy."

The older man winked and leaned towards Rodrigo, "Yeah, meaning she did the important stuff and I got to taste it."

Jade laughed and Bev rolled her eyes. And when the instructor came around to offer plastic bags and thank everyone for participating, Jade accepted the offer for a bag and began placing all the leftovers inside. Bev and Jimmy really were a lot like them, just a different generation apart. Their likeness, coupled with cooking a meal with Rodrigo had her feeling like the day had been so full in the best possible way. She'd still been feeling much like she had been on the day they'd married--like Rodrigo planted the light of the sun in her heart himself. Every moment spent with him let her love for him stay strong, vibrant and beautiful.

With the class concluding, Jade reached to undo her apron and fold it to leave on the table.  She stepped close to Rodrigo and kept her voice intimately low for only him. "As much as I hope that I never forget today, I think I would like to head back to the hotel now. Maybe I could have you all to myself for the rest of the day?"

RODRIGO

"Well, we're in the same boat. I would have dominated the rice but noooo." Rodrigo chuckled at Jimmy's words and began wiping down the counter.

He grinned at both Bev and Jimmy, unable to stop smiling as he listened to them. They were so amazing and so much like him and Jade. He loved the glimpse into their future. He already knew that he and his wife would be forever but seeing it here really made him so giddy. Rodrigo moved to sit beside Jade, waiting for the class to wrap up. He considered asking the other couple if they'd want to meet for a drink while they were in New Orleans but he figured it was best to keep the memory this way. 

Rodrigo helped Jade gather their food and watched her get everything together for them. He was the luckiest man in the world. He was so in love with his wife and was moved by the fact that she was experiencing so much happiness on their honeymoon. He wanted to bottle this feeling. Rodrigo's goal was to make sure Jade never felt the way she did while with her mother. He wanted her to have the best experiences, to feel like she can do anything and that she was capable of great things. He removed his apron and folded it as well, leaving it on top of Jade's. When she stepped closer, he placed his hands on her waist, leaning in slightly to hear what she had to say. He smirked, pressing a soft kiss against her cheek and moving a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think that's very doable..." He whispered, waving at their new friends who also seemed lost in one another. He took his wife's hand and they walked back to their card. Once they had arrived at the spot, Rodrigo took the plastic bag from her to leave it in the back seat and then walked back to open the door for her to let Jade in. Before she climbed in, he looked around and then gave her ass a tiny smack before squeezing it. "Come on, I'll give you a warmup before we get to the hotel." He eyed her outfit and grinned at the thought of getting her excited during their drive.

JADE

When the class concluded, Jade collected the bag of their leftovers and, on their way out, told Jimmy and Bev, "It was really nice to meet you both today." She shook their hands and walked out of the venue, feeling positively buoyant. And Rodrigo agreeing to them having alone time just added to it. As much as she was enjoying them seeing and experiencing New Orleans, she  equally loved intimate moments with her husband. She smiled gratefully to him when he took the bag from her, "Thank you, honey." And as she approached the passenger's door, she gasped and gave a little start when he smacked and squeezed her butt. A huge grin spread across her lips, "Well now I'm even more excited." She took her seat and buckled up, ready for the ride back to their hotel room.

[assignedpeanutallergyatbirth]

I’m not entirely sure how to articulate this thought, so bear with my internet. I would like to discuss two scenes in Stranger Things.

The first is S2 E1 starting 30:50, it’s a Wheeler dinner scene and Mike is told that he needs to put together two boxes worth of things to sell at the yard sale.

When he protests it goes like this:

Mike: “I’m fine with you giving away a couple, but the other ones just have way too much emotional value”

Karen: “Emotional value?”

Ted: “They’re hunks of plastic Michael.”

As the scene goes on, we find out that they’ve already taken away his Atari, and that the reason the Wheeler parents are doing all of this is because Mike has been acting out. This scene is particularly interesting because it falls between Lucas and Dusting finding out who Max is (plot relevant) and Nancy and Steve having dinner with Barb’s parents (plot relevant), but it doesn’t appear to have any plot relevance itself. Mike’s behavior isn’t mentioned again, and the only purpose this scene seems to serve is to show that Mike is struggling without El. Or to show that the Wheeler parents don’t understand him and do not try to.

The second scene, and the one that stands in sharp contrast in my mind, is in season 4. In S4 E9 1:52:19, right before the California crew shows up at the Wheeler house, Karen brings out a box of Nancy’s old things that she found in the attic. They are packing boxes to bring to the shelter at the school. Nancy finds her childhood stuffed animal Mr. Rabbit in one of these boxes, and Karen says “It’s okay if you want to save him, you know?” She acknowledges that this toy has emotional value to Nancy, while she scoffed at the concept that Mike’s possessions might be important to him.

Obviously the context of these two scenes is very different. Mike is being punished, while Nancy is donating voluntarily. In season 4, Hawkins has just experienced a massive earthquake and I’m sure Karen is very worried. She even expresses more worry towards Mike than we have ever seen when he arrives. But there is no reason why she should not have been this sympathetic in season 2. By that point Mike had already been through some shit, and even if she did not know the full extent, she knew that Will was presumed dead and was visited by the government officials who said that he was in great danger. But in season 2, she brushes it off as “We know you’ve had a hard year, Michael, but we’ve been patient.” She acknowledges his struggles and immediately dismissed them.

And I know that comparing scenes like this gets a little iffy, and that the Duffer brothers haven’t watched season 2 in a while — hence Will’s birthday. But the one thing that stays consistent is character writing (Mike’s character is consistently written, and I will probably have to word vomit a post about it at some point). So while I doubt that these two scenes are supposed to stand in contrast, the family dynamics that they highlight do stand out, and I feel that comparing them in this way is fair game.

Which gets me to the point of my argument. So often while discussing the Wheeler parents, we focus on the differences between Ted and Karen. But they both kind of suck. More significant, I would argue, is the difference in how the parents treat Mike and Nancy. Karen especially connects with Nancy more often than she does Mike. Any heart to heart conversations that we see her have are with Nancy. Her character building is done through connecting with Nancy, most especially the scenes after Nancy is fired from the newspaper. With Mike, the only support he seems to get from his mom comes in the form of 3 hugs: after they find “Will’s” body, after the Byers’s move, and after he comes back from California. If you read the novelization Lucas on the Line, Karen tries to help Mike in his (apparent and obvious) depression by inviting Lucas and Dustin over. She plans this whole themed sleepover, but then calls her son foul to Lucas, in front of Mike. She disregards anything that is important to Mike, yet still expects him to come to her with important things. However with Nancy, she makes more of an effort. She reaches out to Nancy first, after Nancy was fired from the newspaper. Karen has to knock on Nancy’s closed door in order to have this conversation. This is a decent amount of effort put in. Karen makes the first move, whereas with Mike, she relies on him to reach out, even going so far as to stop Ted from talking to him after “Will’s body is found because “He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

And please note: I have nothing against Nancy. I love Nancy as a character. I just think that the way the Wheeler parents, especially Karen, treat Nancy and Mike is very different and worth noting.

[syn0vial]

a favorite bounty hunter fam headcanon of mine:

so, in the expanded universe, boba has a very, uh, interesting childhood even before his father dies on geonosis. jango, paranoid as he is, fears losing his son to the point that he keeps his very existence a secret. only a handful of people on kamino know about boba and of those, boba only gets to regularly interact with three of them: his father, taun we, and his father's bounty hunter associate/rival/partner, zam wesell.

pretty much the only time boba gets to go anywhere new is when his father brings him along to watch and/or help jango kill people. what i'm getting at is: at the start, this kid has almost zero knowledge about anything outside of bounty hunting, much less what constitutes a normal childhood or family life.

this changes one day when zam sidles up to him and gives him a library card. which is very strange because, up to this point, boba didn't even know tipoca city had a library—a library that just so happens to be stocked with kid-friendly fiction novels that include heretofore alien concepts to him such as: moms. school. kids his age. and in this way, boba becomes somewhat more knowledgeable and a LOT more curious about life outside the little bubble his dad has prepared for him.

thing is, it's a weird library? it's not even really a library—it's literally just a slot in the wall where he goes and asks for a book and a droid will just. drop a book out. his dad isn't pleased with this arrangement bc he thinks books are a distraction and only wants boba to focus on things relevant to his future as a bounty hunter. still, he tolerates it.

everything up to this point has been pulled from legends media. now for my headcanon:

zam fucking put that library there.

think about it:

it is very unlikely that the library is an official fixture of tipoca city. for one, like i mentioned, it's not even a real library. it is, as far as we know, a closet with a bunch of books and a droid. furthermore, none of the books contained within would hold any interest to tipoca city's other residents. the kaminoans aren't the type to read children's fiction to their offspring. jango, as has already been established, doesn't even want boba to read fiction, period. and none of the other cloned kiddos would even be allowed to. it's obvious that this library was set up with a single person in mind and that person is boba fett.

zam has ample reason to set up this library for him. for one, she's just really fond of the kid. even jango, who is the pinnacle of parental paranoia, trusts their bond enough to leave boba in her care bc he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd never intentionally harm him. so setting up a nice little thing for boba would be in-character for her. in addition, zam does express to jango that she doesn't approve of his keeping boba so isolated. furthermore, when she gives the library card to boba, she explicitly recommends that he take up reading as a means of escapism. thus, her setting up the library could be her way of helping to break that isolation and monotony just a bit.

it wouldn't even be that difficult for zam to set up said "library." all she needs to do is rent a storage unit and then stock it with age-appropriate books and a droid. if anything, given the nature of the library, it seems more likely that a single person set it up than the kaminoans themselves.

the existence of the library irritates jango. zam loves to irritate jango.

i rest my case.

and hell, if i really wanna take this headcanon and run with it: the whole reason boba has his concord dawn story line as a teenager is that he begins to suspect he might be happier leading a "normal" life rather than one as a bounty hunter.

guess what would've formed his main basis for conceptualizing what a "normal" life looks like?

/will smith arms at the library

tl;dr, zam wesell almost derailed this kid's entire corruption arc by setting up the galaxy's most janky-ass library and she would've succeeded, too! if it weren't for that fucktrumpet lenovar

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[x0401x]

I think you should do a post after every Tsurune ep, it's really cathartic to read your thoughts!

If I keep getting messages asking for it, then sure! I’m sorry for being so slow with them, though. Grad school entrance exams are draining away every ounce of my sanity. :^)

I guess this ask means you want a review of episode 5 as well, so here we go! Again, sorry for the wait!

So this episode delivers a lot more of the novel that we didn’t get on S1, such as Kaito and Nanao’s family. I love that we finally got to see their moms and sisters, as well as the fact that they often do get-togethers. Bonus for showing what kinds of pronouns/nicknames they use for each other.

We also get more of the girls’ team being an actual part of the club. Getting a new menu for practice, actively interacting with the boys, helping with prep and cleaning, having screen time doing their own training and officially becoming a team of competitors instead of just... being there.

In the middle of the episode, there’s one more peek at Ryouhei’s house (first one was in episode 2) and at long last, his sister shows up! We only see her back but that’s still something. We’re gradually getting eased into what is probably the second most complicated family of the whole series, and I like that the way KyoAni is going about it is exactly how I’d pictured. Well, more like how I wished S1 was.

Most importantly, perhaps for the very first time in the anime, we got to see Minato thinking about Masaki for no reason. I know this doesn’t sound important, but if I were to pinpoint what Minato’s most frequent habit is in canon, I’d say it’s thinking about Masaki. Whenever Minato is thinking of anything in the novel, Masaki pops right up. That, of course, if he wasn’t already thinking about Masaki to begin with. I don’t remember a single scene from any of the three volumes where Minato is thinking or worrying about something without Masaki hijacking his mind. And it’s never accidental or even incidental. Masaki is one of Minato’s main concerns. He thinks of Masaki about as much as he thinks of his own life. Partly because, one way or another, Masaki is always involved in whatever aspect of his life he’s thinking about. And now KyoAni has given us a small, tiny crumb of that. True allies.

At this point, a good portion of this season feels like a catch-up to S1. Many events of volume 2 are being either omitted or cut out so that there's enough space for the content we didn’t get in S1 to be inserted in this one.

Now, as in every episode, for all the canon-compliant content we get, we get just as much (if not double) non-compliant content.

This episode gives us Nanao and Kaito in a symbiosis. Nanao takes care of Kaito, Kaito protects Nanao. They’re essentially opposites who complete each other. If you take out the OOC-ness, there’s no problem with this choice of narrative... except maybe for the fact that it’s extremely overused. I’ve talked about this before but I feel the need to stress out once again that trying to use formulas that have worked for other series isn’t an effective way to garner more popularity. It actually tends to do the contrary. I do have a lot of respect for the original work’s tendency to avoid that at all costs. Instead, it takes the most common tropes and subverts them. Nanao and Kaito have everything to fall into that commonplace storyline, but the author is having none of it.

Novel!Kaito and Nanao are opposites, true, yet not the kind of opposites who complete each other. Rather, the opposite that completes Kaito is Seiya, but KyoAni is still pretending that Seiya has this exact kind of relationship with Minato instead, so as I mentioned when I talked about episode 4, someone has to fill up that hole. Nanao has been replacing Seiya ever since S1, but I guess KyoAni realized how weird and incesty it looked with it being so one-sided. We only had Nanao obsessively looking out for Kaito in the same way that Seiya obsessively looked after Minato, except there was no deeper reason behind it like there was with Seiya (as in feeling guilty for the death of Minato’s mother). So now this relationship is being balanced out, making it a two-way avenue.

In the novel, Kaito’s been looking after Nanao ever since they were little kids because his aunt asked him to. Nanao had always drawn in the attention of the people around him, and this earned him both favor and disfavor. We’ve seen that in this episode. What we didn’t see, though, is that, because of this, Nanao’s mother asked Kaito to protect him, and the result is that Kaito eventually grew up to be Nanao’s dad. Nanao was well-aware of this and often used it to his advantage. Basically, novel!Kaito is an unwilling “father” with a willing “son” and novel!Seiya is a willing “mother” with an unwilling “son”. He and Seiya have that in common; they’re natural-born caretakers, except Kaito doesn’t realize that he’s in this position. It’s just automatic for him. He’s probably been doing this for longer than Seiya has. That last bit was also shown in this episode, but it was instead presented as Kaito taking the burden on his own accord and compared to Seiya taking on the role of Minato’s watchful eye.

In short, the novel draws a parallel between Kaito and Seiya and uses it as a plot device for their relationship, while the anime draws a parallel between Kaito and Nanao's relationship and Minato and Seiya's relationship. The reason why I'm iffy about this is that it acts as if Kaito taking on other people's burdens is something that he simply does out of nowhere. There doesn’t seem to be much reason for it. With Nanao, we can understand, because that’s his family, but what about him trying to take part of the blame for Minato’s screw-up? This is being presented to us as a habit of his, except with no motive other than “that’s just how he is”.

In the canon, that's not how things go. Kaito does have a lot of concerns regarding the people around him, but as any normal person, he won't break boundaries. If he's not being let into someone else's affairs, he won't butt in, no matter how much he wants to. I dare say that this is a major character trait of his and that is what makes him endearing. He's impulsive as shit, but when he sees that he might hurt someone's feelings or that his input won’t be constructive, he backs off. That’s contra-intuitive for the readers, as we go in expecting him to be the cliche that the anime is giving us, but he isn’t. It’s a pleasant surprise.

And just to put it out there, as far as canon goes, there's literally nothing that Kaito wants more than for Seiya to let him into his personal business. He really wishes that Seiya would share the load with him and that is the main source of his character conflicts in the novels. It sometimes even feels like a parallel to Masaki and Minato, where Minato often makes reluctant mental notes on the fact that Masaki hides a lot of stuff from him. Both Masaki and Seiya are described, from Minato and Kaito’s POVs respectively, as having too many secrets. But that's too gay for TV. A gayness that is worsened by the fact that we never get any explanation for this in the novel. Like, none. Kaito isn't like this with anyone else and the text never goes "it's all because of their strong friendship" on these two. Instead, it gives us a love song as the literal only allusion to their relationship. Go figure.

Can't be having that bullshit in the anime, so change it KyoAni shall. Because anime!Kaito started doing this entirely on his own instead of it being a request from his aunt, we’re getting a different dynamic. KyoAni is adamant about Seiya being Minato’s knight-in-shining-armor (even without him getting the glory for it in this season), and without his presence, Kaito was reduced to an onboxious, arrogant little shit without much personality other than being dedicated to nothing but archery and acting mean to everyone except the teachers in S1. Nanao was there as a plot device in order to make Kaito remotely likable and also so that he’d have some inkling of personality himself, given that most of his lines had gone to Seiya. Yet now he’s here to complement Kaito and vice-versa. In building them like that, KyoAni has turned them into Minato and Seiya, except with a rivalry added to it.

From a storytelling point of view, I find this repetition and lack of creativity to be rather underwhelming. And on a personal level, I still think the way KyoAni goes on about Kaito and Nanao’s relationship is tad creepy. It’s just weird and off-putting to see two cousins mourning so sorely the fact that they’re slowly breaking free from this take-what-you-give system they’ve developed over time. In the novel, Kaito is Nanao’s nanny, sure, but it’s literally just small everyday life things that he does, such as helping Nanao carry heavy luggage or patching him up when he gets hurt during practice. That’s as far as it goes, just like Seiya caring for Minato only goes as far as offering him tea and towels during breaks or nursing him when he gets sick (that, of course, after Seiya has had proper closure from his personal conflicts and stopped being paranoid over Minato’s wellbeing). It’s all pretty normal and chill, fitting perfectly within the scope of what relatives and/or best friends do for each other. And the closest it gets to anything marginally negative is Kaito pointing to Seiya that he’s babying Minato too much while Seiya retorts that Kaito babies Nanao too much, which Kaito is in complete denial about.

I'm also not behind the rivalry between Kaito and Nanao. It totally overshadows the one between Minato and Shuu, and narrative-wise, that's not supposed to happen. It also makes any other sort of rivalry from this point on to feel somewhat repetitive and it doesn't have much of a reason to exist other than cover up for the fact that Nanao and Kaito have no personality otherwise. Besides, it's a contradiction, as far as the boys' skills go. Nanao is a great archer, but he isn't supposed to be able to compete with Kaito. Kaito being the ace is what makes him the oomae to begin with.

Anyway, case in point. I'm not digging this route in the anime, but I’m just gonna turn a blind eye to it. I think we’ve earned a lot of positive stuff from this mess.

Yeah, the flashbacks had some weird undertones. But they were accurate. Everything we got in them after the innitial parts that show the beginning of the duo’s symbiosis is completely in tune with canon. The difference is that we got this in the books in the form of description, while the anime has given us actual scenes, with dialogue and all that. They even include a nod to S1′s drama CD, which elaborates on Kaito and Masaki’s first meeting (something that we also only get in the form of a monologue in the novel).

Speaking of monologues, I like that we’re finally getting some stuff from Nanao’s point of view. In S1, we see very little of him and only through other characters. This time, he’s being his own person and although he’s very toned-down in the anime (just like everyone else, really), that’s still his canon personality. He’s a lot less sparkly than his canon counterpart, but the essence of his character is indeed being presented to us viewers. Add that to the fact that he’s been given his original hairstyle in this season, and there you have it. At long last, it feels like I’m finally seeing Kisaragi Nanao in the anime for the very first time.

Not just that; I feel like we’re also properly seeing his relationship with other characters for the first time. In S1, we basically only got snippets of his relationship with Kaito and that’s it. Here, though, we’ve been getting to see not just a deeper look into said relationship but also him interacting significantly with other characters. The other boys analyzing him and Kaito, looking out for them, knowing them. These boys are on each other's radars. That’s some refreshing shit right there. At last, it feels like we're watching a series about a group of friends. I especially like the emphasis on Minato and Nanao's interaction. Another thing from volume 1 that's being added here. Better late than never.

I gotta confess that every time KyoAni fixes something they left a hole in during S1, it’s as if the fact that something was missing the whole time is being thrown in our faces. It also somehow feels like KyoAni is offering us an apology with each of these little fixes. It leaves a bitter aftertaste, but frankly, I appreciate the effort.

In conclusion, I can overlook the creepy vibes that Kaito and Nanao’s relationship give me in the anime because the pros are worth the cons in my book. But here’s where I draw the line: Kaito being portrayed as violent.

Kaito is described in the novel, throughout all three volumes, as “aggressive”. Because he is. Just not physically. He’s quick-tempered and he runs his mouth when he’s mad, and he’ll go as far as glaring and closing up distance with whoever he’s having a heated discussion with, but never, ever, has he laid a hand on anyone. As far as canon goes, Minato and Seiya are much more likely to throw fist than Kaito. The closest he’s gotten to hitting someone was in a scene where Eisuke insults Kazemai to their faces and he almost loses it, but his arm accidentally hits Seiya’s glasses and knocks them to the floor, which gives him immediate regret. The thing nobody should ever forget about Kaito is that he’s dense and inept, but he has a pure heart.

So Kaito punching his former teammate back in the day? Whack.

Kaito getting pissed during practice and being disrespectful in the dojo? Whack.

Kaito pulling Nanao and Seiya’s collars? Fucking whack, my dudes.

I know that the anime isn’t depicting Kaito like he’s an asshole. Rather, he’s being treated as a reckless kid who takes things too seriously and pushes his feelings and values onto other people. That’s how the novel treats him as well. But the whole point of Kaito is that he seems menacing yet isn’t. He’ll talk shit, sure, but it takes a lot to make him even be willing to physically harm someone. This felt like one of the by-the-book safe-formula things that KyoAni has added to the series because they learned it from Free!, and I’m not a fan of it.

There are things in this episode that I'm a fan of, though. I think the frame composition in this one was especially good. I specially love the way that Kaito and Nanao were placed in all sorts of yin-yang ways on-screen (even though this is something that's supposed to be a Minato and Shuu thing, I'm just taking whatever I can get). But above all, I love the way that Seiya and Kaito are poisitioned in the scenes where they appear together. Finally, the anime is beginning to take a step on closing the distance between them. The physical distance, at least. Their relationship is still nothing like it is in canon, but maybe this is a hint that they will get somewhere near the general area of how deeply connected they are in the books. Maybe.

There's some more stuff that I wanna give my two cents on, but I gotta take a look at the next episodes to make a judgement, so I'll leave just this here for now!

[mayskalih]

A rant about SasuSaku -

I'm happy some people share a similar sentiment regarding the SasuSaku ship. Kishimoto himself stated that Sakura was addicted to Sasuke using the word 中毒 (which has negative connotations as it's linked to poison) in an old interview. So from the get-go, he knew that this dynamic was unhealthy. While I adore the current SasuSaku relationship now, this was done by somebody else, not by Kishimoto. He might have approved the light novel but it's hard to determine whether or not he truly cared about it. The times he did write adult SasuSaku, he went out of his way to make Sasuke an absent father for 10 years (but he had time to visit Naruto several times?), and he made Sakura forget whether or not Sasuke wore glasses (BS - how could she forget?).

Making Sasuke/Sakura canon was a big mistake. It promoted a harmful message to his readers, particularly young girls, that being burned consistently is part of finding true love. And that they should stick by them to the very end because they will eventually get their happily ever after. Like Sakura. Kishimoto could have portrayed this broken/hurt relationship better.

I also dislike how it seemed like Naruto and Sasuke had to accept Hinata and Sakura's affections despite not displaying mutual feelings throughout the series. Naruto from the start stated that he fell for Sakura's smile (this was retconned to Naruto wanting to steal Sakura from Sasuke as part of their competition). Naruto was also stated to be a loner until Iruka came along (retconned to Hinata always being there for him). And you get Sasuke saying "I have no reason to be loved by you" to Sakura, attempting to stab her numerous times, whilst being in love with her.

Naruto only got with Hinata because Sakura put it in his head that he was in love with her when he couldn't even comprehend it himself. Sasuke only got with Sakura because..... I don't even know. If he wanted to revive his clan, Karin would have been a better option because of her bloodline. And since Kishi went out of his way to bait us into thinking that she was Sarada's mother, then I don't see why he didn't go down this route. Why does Sarada have glasses again??

Naruto was better off with Sakura (vice versa), because their pairing like ShikaTema actually made sense. Sasuke was better off alone in his redemption arc, dying with the burden of bearing the blood of the Uchiha (tragic but fitting). Hinata was better off focusing on becoming an adequate heir of the Hyuuga clan, like she said she would (but all we got was hearsay). Or even better, Naruto should have ended at 699 when Naruto gave Sasuke his headband back. That encapsulated the ethos of Naruto better because Shippuden was basically Naruto and Sasuke's story, anyways. We didn't need their satanic spawns, called Boruto.

Let's not forget how Kishimoto baited everyone by saying that Naruto resembled him, Sakura resembled his wife, and Sasuke resembled his brother. Yet in the end, Naruto didn't end up with Sakura. Apparently, his wife ignored him for days after the 700th chapter of Naruto came out, hahah. I don't blame her.

Sorry for the long rant but seeing mentions of SasuSaku compelled me.

I agree with a lot what is written here. I might be biased, since I never liked Sasuke from very beginning, so I wasn't happy when chapter 700 came out. Sakura being a single mom for 10y with alive father is just so so wrong... So I just pretend it didn't happen and happily live in my headcanons. The only 'official' couple I'm happy for is Shikamaru/Temari, this one you could feel coming and I love their bickering.